“then he adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more'” (Hebrews 10:17 ESV).
While the Biblical definition of “sin” encompasses the inappropriate behaviors we generally associate with that word, it primarily means “to miss the mark.” In other words, sin involves our failure to live up to the perfect standard that God established when He created the first human beings. Although this definition may seem relatively mild, we should note that sin is coupled with a reference to “lawless deeds” in the passage quoted above.
“Lawless deeds” can be defined as, “contempt and violation of law, iniquity, [and] wickedness.” (1) The fact that these ideas are joined together in Hebrews 10:17 is significant. Much as we saw earlier in our look at Hebrews 8:12, this conveys more than just a failure to live up to God’s standards; it involves a willful neglect of God’s intent or purpose.
For instance, consider Jesus’ teaching on this subject from the Gospel of Matthew…
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” (Matthew 7:21-23).
While these individuals were seemingly engaged in practices that honored God, their lawless deeds were clearly evident to Jesus. In fact, Paul the Apostle acknowledged that the “mystery of lawlessness” was already at work in his day according to 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Sadly, such acts of lawlessness run like a thread through the course of human history extending as far back as our first human ancestors.
1 John 3:4-6 serves to further our understanding of this idea in a more positive manner by speaking of Christ and His work in our lives…
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him” (NIV).
Thus, we can be encouraged by the fact that God works within us “…to will and to do His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). We can also be thankful that He no longer remembers our “sins and lawless deeds” through Christ’s sacrificial work on our behalf.
(1) G458 anomia https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=g458