“For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins”
and has forgotten
“Forgotten” means forgetfulness. Literally, “forgotten” means to take forgetfulness or receive forgiveness. Someone or something else gives this person amnesia. Others influence him to become dull spiritually. This person cannot recall proper spiritual information and loses sight of the spiritual significance.
We get the English word lethal, lethargy and the mythical river Lethe (which was supposed to cause forgetfulness of the past to those who drank of it) from the root of the Greek word for “forgotten.”
There is a progression here. First we grow blind to spiritual things and then we end with forgetting that God forgave us our sins. People in marriage can forget what caused them to love each other in the beginning. The hurts that come between them can distort the memory of first love.
You might be in love and yet forgetful of that fact. Bitterness and antagonism have replaced the knowledge of that love. Such things distort memories. Negative attitudes toward one another create a vacuum that sucks in negative attitudes and distorts the love of the past. The pleasant memories fade away.
When we became Christians, a great love affair began. We loved God because of his grace and forgiveness to us. We recognized that everything depended on His provision for us. At the point where we tasted grace, the wonder of our love for God was great. But something happened to distort that love. We “took on forgetfulness.” We can come to the place where we forget. We are like those who never came to Christ.
Principle:
Forgetfulness causes a vacuum in our souls toward God.
Application:
Some Christians are Christians so long that they forget that they were once non-Christians. They forget that they had a life B.C.,–before Christ. This is spiritual complacency and lethargy. These people become Christians and then sleep for the rest of their Christian life. They do not want to be disturbed: “Don’t wake me up. Don’t bother me. I don’t want to get involved. Do not expect anything of me.”
Receiving forgetfulness is a process. It begins when one stops studying the Word. They can no longer discern truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
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