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The Amnesia Solution?

“But isn’t confession needed under ‘normal’ circumstances in order to be forgiven? Sure, God doesn’t concern himself with sins we’ve forgotten. But what about the ones we still remember doing?”

This may sound plausible on the surface. But there’s no biblical reason for distinguishing confessed sins from unconfessed sins. And there’s no difference between remembered sins and forgotten sins. If sins we’ve forgotten were no longer on God’s radar simply because we’ve forgotten them, the best solution would be for us to contract some sort of spiritual amnesia. If we forget them, apparently the God of the universe forgets them too!

Is that what the Bible actually teaches? Not at all. Our forgiveness is not dependent on our memory, our words, our confession, or our asking. Our forgiveness rests solely on the “once for all” blood sacrifice of Christ. And there’s no mention of any last-minute cleansing that we get right before we hit heaven.

But what if my life is taken before I can confess, repent from, or ask for forgiveness for a sin? Catholic priests offer confession and communion at your deathbed. Since they teach transubstantiation, they hold that bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ. So communion translates into a last-minute, blood-based forgiveness before you meet your God.

Miss out on that, and you may be out of luck.

Although this concept ignores the “once for all” nature of Christ’s sacrifice, at least it’s more consistent than some of our muddy Protestant thought. It shows some understanding of God’s economy, that only blood brings forgiveness. However, the big Catholic mistake is equating wine with blood. Doing so communicates that Christ’s blood and the corresponding forgiveness are doled out in portions, over and over. This is hardly different from the Old Testament atonement (covering of sins) provided through animal blood once a year.

So the Catholic obtains more forgiveness and cleansing weekly through the Mass. The Jew obtained more forgiveness and cleansing yearly at the Day of Atonement. And many Protestants believe in a word-based economy, thinking they receive more forgiveness and cleansing as they ask God directly for it. But all three systems ignore what the Bible clearly teaches—God’s blood economy that brought “once for all” forgiveness and cleansing through the one-time sacrifice of Jesus (Heb. 7:27; 9:26). Any of our systems—whether Jewish or Catholic or Protestant—that ignore God’s blood economy and the “once for all” sacrifice of Jesus Christ are innately flawed.

The truth is simple. We’ve been forgiven—past tense (Col. 2:13). And we’ve been cleansed—past tense (Heb. 10:2). Here’s how the God of the universe puts it:

Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins. (Heb. 10:17–18)

The Lord’s Prayer

But what about the Lord’s Prayer? Jesus says, “Forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” Everyone’s jaws dropped when they heard that one. Jesus was saying here’s how to pray: “God, please give me the same amount and type of forgiveness that I’ve passed on to others.” Then in the conclusion to Jesus’s prayer, he really hits them hard. He warns that they won’t be forgiven unless they go around forgiving others first:

For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. (Matt. 6:14–15 NASB)

That’s right. Jesus tells his Jewish listeners that their forgiveness is conditional upon their forgiving others first. Take a moment. Read the Lord’s Prayer slowly, especially the ending and the conclusion. Now compare it, for example, with these passages written after the cross:

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph. 4:32)

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances