For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Hebrews 10:16,17 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; …
Psalm 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.
Psalm 65:3 Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.
and will remember their sins no more.”
This phrase signifies the complete and total forgiveness offered by God, where sins are not only forgiven but also forgotten. In ancient cultures, memory was often linked to record-keeping and accountability. The idea of God not remembering sins indicates a divine choice to erase the record of wrongdoing, offering believers a fresh start. This concept is echoed in Psalm 103:12, where sins are described as being removed "as far as the east is from the west." It underscores the transformative power of Christ's sacrifice, which not only covers sin but eradicates its eternal consequences, fulfilling the promise of a restored relationship with God.
- The word “For” ties Hebrews 8:12 to the whole New Covenant promise described just before (Hebrews 8:10-11).
- God Himself is giving the reason we can trust this covenant: He is acting on our behalf.
- Cross reference: “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 9:15). The grounding is not in our performance but in God’s initiative.
- God’s pledge is personal: “I will.” The action originates with Him, underscoring grace rather than human merit (Ephesians 2:8-9).
- Forgiveness here covers “iniquities”—the crooked, willful violations that stain conscience and break fellowship.
• Colossians 2:13-14 shows how the record of debt is canceled at the cross.
• Ephesians 1:7 highlights that “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”
- In the wider context, Hebrews points to Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice (Hebrews 7:27; 10:12). God’s forgiveness is complete because Jesus fully paid the price.
- God’s “forgetting” is not amnesia but a deliberate choice never to bring the matter up again in judgment.
• Psalm 103:12: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
• Isaiah 43:25: “I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.”
• Micah 7:19: “You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
- Practically, this means:
• No lingering guilt for sins confessed and forgiven (1 John 1:9).
• Bold access to God’s presence (Hebrews 4:16).
• Freedom to live in joyful obedience, motivated by gratitude rather than fear (Romans 8:1-4).
Hebrews 8:12 guarantees that in the New Covenant God Himself wipes out every trace of our wrongdoing and chooses never to revisit it. Because forgiveness rests on Christ’s finished work, believers stand cleansed, uncondemned, and welcomed into unhindered fellowship with Him.
(12) Merciful.--Literally, propitious. On the kindred word "make propitiation," see Hebrews 2:17.To their unrighteousness.--Rather, to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins will I remember no more. The words "and their iniquities" are omitted by the best authorities. Here is given the third and chief promise: the characteristic of the new covenant is the full pardon of sin.
Of this new covenant, "ordained" on the three promises of an inward revelation, universal knowledge of God, and free pardon of sin, Jesus is the Mediator. How this is to be understood the writer himself will teach, for all these promises are present (virtually or formally) in the last portion of his argument (Hebrews 10:14-18). In part they belong to the new covenant from the beginning. The pardon is spoken of not as a gift to individuals, but rather as from the first a characteristic of the covenant (Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 10:18). The first promise is seen in the gift of the Holy Spirit, and in the teaching represented by the Sermon on the Mount, in which inward principles of life take the place of many an outward rule. The second waits for full accomplishment, but is seen in the abolition of distinctions between nation and nation, and the common influence of the Holy Spirit.
This subject has presented difficulties, because it has been forgotten that this Scripture speaks of no sudden change in man's relation to God. The essential promises of the new covenant were not unknown under the old. "Thy law is within my heart" is the saying of one Psalmist; "Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin," of another. But in regard to the nation there was failure. The rites of the Law did not lead to the perception of spiritual truths; ordinances which were intended to teach the divine intolerance of sin became mere ceremonies; external sanctions did not preserve the nation in true obedience to God's law. To all, the former covenant (like the first Tabernacle, Hebrews 9:9) was a parable, explained only when the new covenant (which was in truth before the old, Galatians 3:17) was "ordained." . . .
Parallel Commentaries ...