The Memory of Sin, a Gift

"A new heart also will I give you. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways."Ezek. 36:26,31

This verse says that the memory of our badness is a gift of God's goodness. "A new heart will I give you; then shall ye remember your own evil ways." We’d think it would be the other way around. Many today assume, “A new heart will erase old memories." Yet the Spirit, through the prophet’s pen, says, “When the new heart is given, old sins will finally be seen.” In other words, for the soul redeemed by Christ, the valley of sin will only become visible upon the vista of Christ's redeeming work. This is the experience of all God’s children. They know that the memory of sin is one of the gifts of the Father. His first gift is law-fear. His second is a sense of sin. Then a humbling of self, followed by a sight of Christ, and finally a fleeing to Christ for salvation. These gifts are all forward in direction, making the soul "press toward the mark of the prize." But when the mark of the prize is secured, when the top of the hill is taken, the Lord says to the soul, "Now look back!" There, for the first time, memory awakens, and many of our yesterday’s appear with their long shadows and dark shades. Then with Paul, we beat upon our chest and say, "O wretched man that I am!"

This verse tells us that the godly pain for sin is only felt with a new heart. For the redeemed, there is the great comfort of the thought that the burdens of yesterday are new strengths for today. They were once a curse. Now they are a blessing. When the demerits of my yesterday’s assail me, the shadows of my past appall me, and the deeds of my darkness rise up against my soul, I can only bear the burden of the past by drawing nearer to Christ.

The memory of sin is a gift of the Father.