NO MORE. Hebrews 8:12-13 Growth in Christ is a continual process that will not be finished, at least until we reach heaven. We aren't really sure whether we will keep growing in the Lord in the future. But until we get there, growth is normal in the life of a child of God. When that growth slows or stops, we notice it. Joy either diminishes or comes to a halt, and we become critical and bitter, which can lead us to criticize others. We become ineffective in sharing our faith and in our spiritual lives. We lose interest in reading the Bible, and prayer fades into just a habit or even becomes meaningless.
It is our responsibility, when signs of spiritual decline appear in our lives, to consider what we need to do to regain spiritual momentum and what we should stop doing or thinking that has caused this dryness of soul and spirit. How gracious and good of God to assure us that when we fail, He will be "merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more."
There are at least four true things believers know are the results of being blessed in the new covenant. First, God’s law is written on the minds and hearts of those who believe, not on tablets of stone. Second, we have an ongoing relationship with God who promised, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” [2 Cor. 6:16]. Third, everyone will know God. Our knowledge of Him is personal. We do not need someone else to tell us about Him or teach us about Him because believers are “taught of (by) God.” Fourth, our sins are forgiven and will not be remembered again by God. “There is no more sacrifice for sins.” God’s holiness and justice are satisfied with the sacrifice our Lord Jesus Christ made for us.
God, in His mercy, chose to “remember our sins no more.” They will never be held against us in the future. When we recognize sin as believers, we confess and turn away from it, and the joy of fellowship with God is restored. Since the new covenant came into effect, the old covenant has become obsolete, even though some Hebrew believers didn’t realize that. They either didn’t accept it or were slow to embrace the freedom from the law that our Lord Jesus Christ provided when He fulfilled all the demands of the law against us. Because of the blessings of the new covenant, our Lord Jesus is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This is the New Testament in His blood, or that is made by His blood.
The Hebrew believers reading this letter were reminded of Jeremiah's prophecy, in which he predicted that the old covenant was passing away even in his time. Israel had not continued to keep the terms of the covenant since they were in the wilderness and had settled in Canaan. Therefore, “God regarded them not.” Shortly after this epistle was written, the temple, priesthood, and even Jerusalem, were destroyed, “nigh vanishing away.”
Now, under the blessings of the new covenant, in which our sins are not remembered and a personal relationship with God as our Father is established, every believer knows the Lord. The Holy Spirit of God can personally and directly teach every believer. Every believer can enter the Holiest of All and speak to God. That is when the eyes of our understanding are enlightened, and the hope of our calling is claimed. Every believer can experience a life of love and service for God and can have a foretaste of “the riches of the glory of our inheritance.” We can experience the greatness of His power even in the hardest of testing times.
God’s acceptance of us does not depend on how much or how quickly we are growing spiritually. It also does not depend on achieving sinless perfection. We will have lessons to learn, make mistakes, and sometimes fail Him. But God has guaranteed complete forgiveness, so we cannot lose our acceptance with Him, because that is our position in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can find comfort and courage in the knowledge that our Great High Priest lives and makes intercession for us.