AC 9333 - our sins are not wiped away but are withheld

AC 9333
. . . falsities and evils are not driven out from a person, but are removed.
He who does not know how the case is
with a person's liberation from evils and falsities,
or with the forgiveness of his sins,
may believe that sins are wiped away when they are said to be forgiven.
This belief comes from the literal sense of the Word,
where such an expression is sometimes used,
giving rise in the minds of many to the error
that after they have received absolution they are righteous and pure.
But these people know nothing whatever
about the way in which sins are forgiven;
namely, that a man is not purified from them;
but is withheld from them by the Lord
when he is of such a character that he can be kept in good and truth;
and that he can be kept in good and truth when he has been regenerated;
for he has then acquired a life of the good of charity and the truth of faith.