Deleted!

My e-mail server has a new feature in the “Trash” folder: “Recover Deleted Items.” 
I understand the value of this feature.  If I accidentally delete a message that I intended to keep (I’m sure that has happened in the past!), I can click on this button and retrieve it.

On the other hand, when I saw this new feature, I thought, “Why would anyone want to recover items that they have deleted?”  The things that I delete are spam messages, ads in which I have no interest (and didn’t want in the first place!), old news, junk mail (how did I get on their mailing list?), and messages that I don’t want on my computer or in my mind.  I’ve also deleted messages that after I’ve thought about them, decided not to send them out.  I don’t want to recover any of the messages that I’ve intentionally deleted!

Do you think God has a “feature” that “recovers deleted items”?  Some fear that the sins that God has forgiven will be brought up again at judgment.  Such people live in constant fear that the mistakes of their past will haunt them throughout eternity.

That’s NOT what God wants for you and for me!

Consider a few of the passages of Scripture that inform us about how God forgives:

• “For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  – Psalm 103:11-12
   

• Micah the prophet praised God for His mercy and compassion:  “You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”  – Micah 7:19
   

• The writer of the book of Hebrews extolled the blessings of the New Covenant in which there is complete forgiveness: “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” – Hebrews 8:12

Did you catch that?  “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 
He will NOT recover deleted items!

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.  Through Jesus, we can have forgiveness for our sins and receive the gift of eternal life: “For the wages of sin is DEATH, but the gift of God is eternal LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

God will forgive those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ (Acts 2:38).  Then, as one continues to walk in the light of His Word, the blood of Jesus will continue to cleanse that one of sin (1 John 1:7).

Through Christ, our sins are “washed away” (Acts 22:16), “forgiven” (Acts 2:38), “covered” (Romans 4:7)..... DELETED!!  And God won’t recover any deleted items!

Won’t YOU accept His offer of forgiveness and life on His terms?