Grace: Getting past your past

This last Sunday I preached on 1 Timothy 1:12-18 in which Paul recounts his past life before God converted him, his salvation story, and the future impact he believes his story of God’s grace can have on others. He recalls the memories of previous years when he was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent opponent of the law. He even says that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost” (v. 15).

Recently I read a small booklet by Pastor Robert Jones called “Bad Memories” in which he demonstrates that God’s grace has the power to transform our lives and our memories. Today, many who believe in the power of psychology, including many Christian counselors, would frown on Paul’s choice of words here in recalling his former days and his present life. For many the best way to deal with bad memories is by erasing or altering your memories through drugs, alcohol, shock treatments or demon deliverance ministries. Some would argue that we should just forget the past pointing to Philippians 3:13. However in this passage Paul is not dealing with his past memories, but rather the way in which he had previously tried to achieve the righteousness of God.

Jones shows from Scripture how that God doesn’t want to remove our memories, he wants to redeem them. The bad memories of our past sins, even the worst of them, can be opportunities for life-changing growth. We shouldn’t dwell on them, nor should we avoid them, run from them, cover over them or get rid of them.

From Joseph’s life we learn that our past doesn’t need to control our future (Genesis 37-50). This story is a marvelous story of God’s mercy and sovereignty and Joseph’s response of faith and obedience. The hope of the gospel can help us put the right interpretation on our past and turn something evil into something good by remembering how God was in our past (Genesis 50:20). We need a “gospel” interpretation of our past. We don’t need to run from it, avoid it, or hide it. We need to look at the past through God’s lenses!

Allowing God’s grace to redeem our past brings three great benefits according to Jones. First, we experience deepening repentance. One of the values of being conscious of your past sins is that it drives you to seek reconciliation and restitution with those you have mistreated. It also sensitizes you to new temptations in the same area (Proverbs 26:11)

Part of repentance is shame. There is nothing wrong with shame: It keeps a man back from pride. There is no contradiction between a present enjoyment of justification and a proper sense of shame about past sin. Both mark a maturing Christian. (Ezek 16:60-63; 36:31-32). Calvin wrote, "those who have learned well to be earnestly dissatisfied with themselves and to be confounded with shame at their wretchedness" truly understand the Christian gospel. Properly remembering our past sin with its shame will deter us from repeating them and help us receive God's saving grace.

A second benefit of a redeemed memory is heightened gratitude. Big sinners need a big Savior and they respond with big praise (Luke 7:36-50). C. J. Mahaney, director of Sovereign Grace Ministries and former pastor of Covenant Life Church speaks of the redeemed memory God has given him and how thankful he is for it: “Many people today try to run from the past. I suppose I could try to as well, by leaving the hometown that holds so many reminders of my sinfulness. But I consider living here a gift from God. The regular reminders of my past are precious to me. Why? Because, like Paul, I never want to forget the great mercy shown to me."

Finally, a redeemed memory often leads to broader effectiveness in helping others who must deal with their past sins. Paul believed his past was redeemed by God’s grace so that “Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16). A Christian whose “bad memories” have been redeemed can offer great hope to others in similar circumstances by holding out his or her life as an example of God’s hope at work (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).