Do you have things in your past that haunt you; things that happened long years ago that remain transfixed in your memory? Perhaps it was a broken friendship, time in prison, a moral failure, or an addictive habit, where the guilt that gnaws at your soul makes life miserable.

You wish you could forget the things you have done, and that no one else would know, lest they see how much a sinner you have been, know your shame, and turn away in rejection. How often through the years have you wished you could run away, far away, to another city or town, to another state, perhaps to another country, where under a different name no one would know who you were and the things you did. No one would know your shame and condemn you.

Sinner, there is grace for you from the throne of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for sinners like you so that you may not be condemned for the wicked things you have done. His grace declares you not guilty. The Bible says, "Anyone who trusts in Him [Jesus] will never be put to shame." (Romans 10:11)

There is no longer a need to be tormented by the festering sores of your past, to live under a cloud of condemnation. Again the Word of God says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1) In Jesus there is freedom from sins that stain your past. God does not merely cover over your sins, for then there is the chance that they may be later uncovered. He does not merely file them away in a drawer somewhere, for the drawer later may be opened. He does not merely shred them, for the strips may be reconstructed at a later time. He does not merely delete them from the computer hard drive, for they may still be retrieved later. This is what God does with your sins:

"If You, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared." (Psalm 130:3-4)

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12)

"None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live." (Ezekiel 33:16)

"I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you." (Isaiah 44:22)

"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)

God does not keep a record of your sins; He removes them far from you; God remembers your sins no more; your sins are blotted out like a thick cloud; your sins are thrown down into the depths of the sea, never to be remembered anymore against you.

When you confess your sins to God and accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord, He forgives you eagerly, instantly, and completely (past, present, future). Do not be held in bondage. Believe what Jesus has done for you at Calvary, and rejoice in the forgiveness He has freely provided to you.