For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this.
First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
Did you notice the order of events up there?
It was a scandal when Jesus told people that their sins were forgiven. “Only God can forgive sins!” the religious folks said.
Even more scandalous was the teaching of the Apostle Paul when he quoted King David and said “Blessed is the man whose sins don’t count against him.”
Here, the author of Hebrews quotes Psalms also.
It’s hard to imagine God not remembering something, especially our sins. Especially when we remember our sins so well. Even if not in detail, sometimes we remember the results of our sins better than the act.
But God doesn’t remember them.
So if I gave you a special pass and you’d never get a speeding ticket, ever — not even pulled over — how fast would you drive? 90? 120?
I tried that once many years ago. I drove my car as fast as I could down a highway. I was on a road trip and I really wanted to burn up the miles and get to my destination. I was easily doing 90 miles an hour when my wheels, for maybe an eighth of a second, did that little squeal bark slide thing. For that short moment, I was completely out of control on a Smokey Mountain highway.
It got my attention. I also realized that I had spent the last few hours as tense and anxiety-laden as I had ever been in my life. To slow down was a big relief.
A lot of people’s first reaction to “your sins don’t count against you” is to drive 120 miles per hour. That’s what Jesus and Paul were both accused of. Licentiousness. Unrestrained ability to do whatever you want.
But that’s the thing. First, the Holy Spirit changes what you want. It’s kind of like a Twilight Zone episode. You make a deal with God to be able to do whatever you want for the rest of your life, but first He’s going to transform you so that you only want to do good and obey Him from the depths of your soul.
So yes, you can do whatever you want, but first, God Himself is going to live inside of you and satisfy your every need, so whatever you want turns out to be His will.
Sure, you won’t be perfect at it. You’ll mess up. You’ll make mistakes and sometimes not see that God fulfills all of your needs. But all of that has been forgiven. You’re free now to drive, live, and even die, in peace. God didn’t want you to live by limits. He wants you to live by His life.