For our Scripture reading, turn with me to Romans 3. As we read together verses 9 through the end of the chapter, verse 31. Romans 3, beginning at verse 9. Hear now the Word of God. What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all. We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away. They have together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves. Their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too. Since there is only one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all. Rather, we uphold the law. And if you would consider with me in the back of the Psalter hymnal our confessional reference from Lord's Day 21 once again, The third and final question and answer of that Lord's Day, page 28 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. Question and answer 56, as we have been considering the Apostles' Creed as explained in the Heidelberg Catechism. We confess together with our voices what we believe. Question 56, page 28. The question asks, what do you believe concerning the forgiveness of sins? I believe that God, because of Christ's atonement, will never hold against me any of my sins, nor my sinful nature, which I need to struggle against all my life. Rather, in His grace, God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgment. Dear people of God, we all like to hear a little good news once in a while, don't we? Sometimes, though, that good news seems like a rare commodity in a world where so much seems to go wrong. We can think recently, in the past months, of the terrorist activity. Even the physical things, the fires going on, the drought that we're facing. Murders, kidnappings, rapes. Seems like a rare commodity. But for the child of God, there is good news, you see, that transcends the bounds of any evil that may come our way. And what is that good news? Peter says in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. That good news, beloved, is the forgiveness of sins. We've been considering the benefits or blessings of Christ's work as we've been looking at the Apostles' Creed. Blessings that are applied to your heart and my heart and our lives by the work of the Holy Spirit. And this, the forgiveness of sins, is really the great benefit of Christ's work. In fact, without this benefit, there would be no holy Catholic Church. There would be no communion of saints. There would be no resurrection of the body and there would be no life everlasting. Without this great benefit, beloved, there would be no restored fellowship with God. And it's interesting that this article of the Creed is rightly placed in the context of the work of the Holy Spirit and our sanctification, as well as in the context of the church and the communion of saints. And this is important for us to notice because it is only within this context that God works forgiveness. The Holy Spirit working with His tool, the Word of God, convicts us of our sin and our need for forgiveness. And He incorporates the elect into the life of the church and also into the fellowship of the communion of saints. As well, He gives us the assurance and the joy of forgiveness and also brings the forgiven sinner then to the point of forgiving others. You see, beloved, all of this belongs in the context of the church as the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Outside of the church, there are no spiritual gifts. 1 John 1 verse 7 says, But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. You see, the truth is, outside that sphere of light governed by the Word of God and the Spirit of God, The blood of Christ does not function in its cleansing effectiveness. Apart from the body of Christ, there is no forgiveness. Yet by the grace of God as believers, we rejoice in the saints' blessed assurance of forgiveness. This is God's word of comfort. And as we consider this word of God, notice, first of all, the grave need for forgiveness. Secondly, the just reason for forgiveness. and then finding the eternal benefits of forgiveness. Now, beloved, if there's one thing that is or ought to be basic to the life and ministry of the church, it is the truth that all men are sinners. Now, some would say, why would you want to make that basic to the heart and life of the church? That's not very nice. It ought to be more like inclusion. Everybody is welcome. Invite everybody in. And indeed, that's true too. But what needs to be, what is basic to the life and ministry of the church is that which we all have in common, and that is that all men are sinners. Paul says there is none righteous, no not one, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And therefore all, every single one, are subject to the wrath and punishment of God. All are in need of forgiveness, and that need is a grave need. Now you may recall that in Lord's Day 3, we were reminded that God created man good, and after His own image that is in true righteousness and holiness, that he might rightly know God, His Creator, heartily love Him and live with Him in eternal blessedness to praise and glorify Him. Man was created for the life of blessed fellowship with God, but in sin, man has cast himself into the depths of death. And beloved, this truth of man's sin must be preached. And it must be preached earnestly. It must be preached faithfully. Many ministers today shy away from preaching this offense because they don't want to scare people away. It's offensive, they say. Well, that's good because an offense is supposed to be offensive. A couple of years ago in an article in the magazine Table Talk, R.C. Sproul talked about a pastor he knew. And this pastor, Sproul said, frequently expressed his philosophy of ministry by saying, we must scratch people where they itch. We must address their felt needs. And then Sproul answers this, the problem with focusing on felt needs is that people often do not feel the real needs they have. And how true that is. Beloved, this is true with sin. Man doesn't naturally know his sin. And therefore, he doesn't naturally feel his need for forgiveness. Today's evangelical principles of church growth try to teach us that you don't grow a church by telling people they are sinners. But the truth of the Word of God teaches us that this is exactly how God grows His church. The truth of man's sin and misery is what the good news is for. The good news of Christ's saving sacrifice for the remission of sins is what the Gospel is all about. And this Gospel is only good news to those who confess this truth by the grace of God. You see, to tell this good news without telling why it is good is like telling one there is a cure for cancer or heart disease or Alzheimer's without telling them that they have cancer, heart disease, or Alzheimer's. And to proclaim Jesus saves, Jesus saves without telling what he saves from is absolutely meaningless. The gospel of Jesus Christ makes no sense without the truth of sin. You see, we only have reference to Christ because of our sin from which he saves us. The gospel is truly good news only to those who have been convicted by the Holy Spirit of the bad news of their condition, of their deadly situation, which is alienation from God and the wages of condemnation. Now the Bible is filled with the truth of man's grave need for forgiveness. We find that all throughout Romans, Paul thoroughly explains the truth of man's desperate condition in this particular book. In chapter 1, he speaks of the unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness and who exchange the truth of God for the lie. In chapter 3, Paul quotes, as we read from various Old Testament passages, which describe man's corruption from inside out. Notice particularly verses 13 and 14. Their throats are open graves. Their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. From the throat, to the tongue, to the lips, to the mouth. From inside out. In chapter 5, Paul clearly explains the need for this great exchange in that in Adam we have only death, but life is only in Christ. Now what is sin? Boys and girls, what is sin? You might say, sin is when I do something wrong, and that's definitely true. But the Bible describes sin in different ways. It is missing the mark. That is missing the purpose for which we were created. That mark was to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. In Scripture, sin is also called transgression or trespass. In other words, crossing over, trans, crossing over the boundaries of God's law and the blessed order set by Him for living in relationship with Him and our neighbor. Therefore, it is revolting against the law of God. It is crossing the boundaries of His law. Why do we need forgiveness? Because our God is a holy God and He can only have fellowship with a holy people. Sin is also called debt. We have a debt when we have obligations that are unmet. When we owe money to the bank, for example, we have a debt at the bank. Sin is disobedience. And as John says in 1 John 3, verse 4, it is lawlessness. And that means that sin is rebellion against the Creator. Congregation, nowhere in Scripture, absolutely nowhere, is sin described as simply a sickness or a mistake or a simple lapse in moral judgment as so many have tried to reduce sin to. Sin is always willful and it is always, even when we sin against each other, it is always in relation to God. It is ultimately against Him, and it will only affect us. It will only affect our conscience by the conviction of the Holy Spirit when we understand who God is, that He is eternal, that He is sovereign, that He alone punishes sin. Sin is a willful and radical attack on and break with covenant with God. Sin is an offense that alienates one from the eternal God, And it requires reconciliation and forgiveness. It requires that. This is our fundamental need. And David knew that as he expressed in Psalm 25, verse 18, look on my affliction and on my pain and forgive all my sin. David knew that he could live with affliction. He could live with pain, but he could not live eternally with unforgiven sin. only when we understand our grave need for forgiveness as David did, will we cry, let me lose everything, but not the forgiveness of sins. We must truly know our need for forgiveness in order to be able to say with Paul, oh, wretched man that I am. Now sometimes, of course, it's easy to camouflage our sin before others, but not before the sight of God. He knows our unfaithfulness. He knows our thoughtlessness and our lovelessness. And His patience is seen in that He puts up with me as I struggle all my life against sin, as the catechism rightly says. Even as one redeemed, born again with a new heart, who stands before God justified even today. Yet I struggle with sin my whole life long. What sin needs to be forgiven? Well, my original sin, which I inherited from Father Adam, which includes my sinful corruption that saturates my whole being, thoughts, words, actions, motives, desires, and also my actual sin that I commit daily. So often we try to soften our sinful condition and say, well, we're not so bad. I could be doing this or this or this. We're not as bad as these people. But truly, beloved, especially when we're tempted to compare ourselves with others, Paul's confession is to be ours. I am the chief of sinners. And although we cannot truly plunge the length and breadth and depth of the pool of our sin, God's will is that only when we see the magnitude of our sin through the spectacles of conviction, Only then will we also see His amazing grace that He no more remembers our sin. Beloved, the good news and blessed assurance of forgiveness is given to those who recognize the depth of their sin and misery and understand their grave need for forgiveness. Only they can truly rejoice in the just reason for forgiveness. Why is there forgiveness for sin committed against the Most High Majesty of God? The catechism says, because of Christ's atonement. Boys and girls, by atonement we mean the saving work of Jesus and all that it accomplished for us, against Satan. All that it accomplished. The older version of the catechism says, for the sake of Christ's satisfaction, by means of His saving work, He secured satisfaction with God. The fact that God forgives sin is good news. And the basis, the just reason for God's forgiveness is Jesus Christ and His saving work. Now listen close to this. God doesn't forgive us because we are sorry or because we have confessed our sin. If our penitence was the basis for our forgiveness, That would make forgiveness dependent upon us. Now, to be sure, sorrow, confession, and repentance are necessary. The means that God uses in order to give to us the assurance of His forgiveness by His grace. And it is true that unconfessed sin leaves one without assurance. David demonstrates that in Psalm 32 as he struggles with unconfessed sin. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin to you and my iniquity I have not hidden. Excuse me. I said I will confess my transgression to the Lord. And you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Indeed, we must confess our sin to God as detailed as possible. Yet the basis, the just reason for our forgiveness is still outside of us. It's not because of us. It is because of Christ's atonement. Because of His satisfaction. In fact, Christ's atonement is also the basis for our sorrow for sin, for our repentance, and the basis for the fact that we will even seek forgiveness. By His Spirit and in His grace, Jesus Christ works these things in the hearts of those for whom He died. Now think about that word satisfaction for a moment. Someone needed to be satisfied that someone is God. When we are not satisfied, that means things are not right. In sin, we stole from Him. He has not received the honor and the glory due His name through the perfect obedience of His people. He's not received it. And therefore, he became dissatisfied with mankind and his justice. The fact that he is a holy and just God demanded that he be satisfied. And that he be given that which was kept from him. And therefore, through his life and death of perfect obedience, Christ fulfilled perfectly our covenantal obligation. He was perfectly obedient to God's law in our place. and he was perfectly obedient under the death of the cross, enduring the wrath and punishment of God in our place. Jesus Christ is the just reason for our forgiveness. That's what Paul says in verses 24 through 26 as he speaks of God's people, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished and did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Now the Catechism references the very word of the Lord in Isaiah 43 which says, I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins. In fact, the older version of the Catechism says exactly that. That's the answer that he will no more remember. And that's what it means here in this updated version, that God will never hold against me any of my sins. But now contrary to the opinion of many, this doesn't mean that God forgets our sin. Now you and I may have a hard time distinguishing between remembering no more and forgetting. To us, often they are the same thing. But they're very much different. And to be distinguished for God to forget our sins would mean for Him to abandon His justice and to minimize the obligation of obedience. Beloved, He did not forget our sins. But He very much remembered them against His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. Christ took my sin and stood before God as a sinner in my place. God saw all my sins and all the sins of His people on Jesus Christ. And therefore, God does not remember my sin against me and He does not remember your sin against you. This is the Gospel's good news. And it is for those who acknowledge their sin and embrace by grace through faith the promise of the Gospel of forgiveness. And this is what makes the setting of the church so important because we can only speak of forgiveness where the Gospel is proclaimed and applied in the power and presence of the Spirit. Forgiveness is experienced only when the call to be reconciled to God is heard and received. And believers experience forgiveness by God's grace only through the believing response of faith which acknowledges the need for forgiveness and understands the costliness of Christ's active and passive obedience. And it's for that reason, beloved, that it is potentially deadly to indiscriminately say to the world, smile, God loves you, and God has a wonderful plan for your life. God does not have a wonderful plan for everyone's life. To say these things apart from the preaching of sin, the need to repent, and the promise of God's forgiving grace is to cheapen forgiveness. To say these things indiscriminately gives no indication of the grave need for forgiveness and the costliness of forgiveness. It does little more than to make Jesus Christ no more than an option of convenience. But to confess, I believe, the forgiveness of sins means that one acknowledges that reconciliation and peace with God and forgiveness of sins are given only to those who embrace Christ by grace through faith, believing that forgiveness for my sins depends wholly and completely on His saving sacrifice of satisfaction to God. Who truly knows what forgiveness is? Only those who can say with heart and mouth amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. What does it mean for you and me as believers that God's justice has been satisfied, that all of our sins have been paid for? It means that we enjoy the eternal benefits of forgiveness. And what are these benefits? Reconciliation and peace with God. Restored fellowship of the child with His Heavenly Father. Notice again how the Catechism puts it. I believe that God, because of Christ's atonement, will never hold against me any of my sins nor the sinful nature which I need to struggle against all my life. Rather, in His grace, God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgment. And there's both a negative and positive aspect of forgiveness. Negatively, in that God, in His mercy, keeps something away from us that would destroy us. And positively, that He gives something wonderful to us. Negatively, God will never hold against me that which separated me from Him, my sin. Forgiveness means that all my sin is canceled. All of my debt is paid. Because our Lord's work was not only partially satisfying, it was completely satisfying. He forgives generously, liberally, and radically. God's forgiveness is such that the matter is completely settled. And therefore to say that God could never forgive my big sins is to offend Him again. With God's forgiveness, there is no probation period. His forgiveness is right now, instant. There's no contract period that expires at the end of which time another fee has to be paid to renew the contract. Jesus paid the price forever. The fact that God will no more remember my sins means indeed that He will never hold my sins against me. Never, ever will my sins be held before my eyes to accuse me. He will never stick them in my face. They have been removed, as the psalmist says, as far as the east is from the west. When it comes to our forgiveness of others, we have a hard time remembering no more because sometimes we like to hold on to another's sin as reserve ammunition just in case the time comes when we need to stick it in their face and say, remember when? Remember when? But true forgiveness, beloved, is to never hold against again. With God's forgiveness, the scarlet red crimson is made white as snow. And although we still struggle with our sinful nature and the result of sin our whole life long, yet our blessed assurance is that God remembers our sins no more. And when we shall stand before Him face to face one day, we will be clothed in the white robes of Christ's righteousness. That's the positive side of the eternal benefits of forgiveness. In His grace, God grants me the righteousness of Christ. You see, in His mercy, God doesn't give me the just wage of my sin, but in His grace, He gives me the undeserved righteousness of Christ to stand before Him. Just like the prodigal son, who not only received his father's forgiveness, but was also given a ring for his finger and clothed in the best garment, the forgiven sinner is totally restored to the status of a child of God. Our ring is the righteousness of Christ. Our status in Christ is as if we had been strictly obedient. And God's gracious purpose for remembering my sins no more and graciously granting unto me the righteousness of Christ is to free me forever from judgment. Even as Paul says, Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. the believer's blessed assurance beloved is that the judgment seat of God that judgment seat which will be terrifying for those who stand there without Christ that judgment seat of God will not be terrifying for the believer then at that time for the sake of Christ's satisfaction God's promises shall be fulfilled for we shall not perish but have eternal life as the heavenly father says to his redeemed children, Come, enter into the joy of your Lord. Beloved, the forgiveness of God also changes our lives today. Satan would have us believe. Young people, I want you to listen to this. Satan would have us believe that it is okay to sin since God will forgive us anyway. I had a friend a few years ago who had a relative, a Christian relative, who said that to him. He said, I can go out and get drunk tonight because I can just ask for forgiveness tomorrow and all will be well. I can do that every night. It doesn't matter. That's what Satan wants us to believe. That it's okay to sin because God will just forgive us anyway. But then when we listen to Satan, then he comes back with a different story and says, that sin is too great. God cannot forgive that. Of course, he's a liar on all counts. but those who know the forgiving grace of God and the cost of that forgiveness struggle to fight against sin so that every forgiven sin makes the next sin more difficult to commit because by the grace of God we understand what Christ paid for that sin. We profess that we believe the forgiveness of sins. And beloved, this isn't just an unsure hope but a belief in a reality. the forgiveness of sins is real faith is a firm knowledge a sure knowledge and a firm conviction and therefore I can say I know my sins are forgiven this is my assurance because Jesus said go in peace your sins are forgiven you in the world saints are nothing more than moral heroes but with God saints are forgiven sinners who have been given the righteousness of Jesus Christ beloved This is the believer's blessed assurance. This is the good news of the Gospel. But there's also a warning. The warning is that God always remembers. Always remembers the sins of those who did not and do not cling to the cross of Jesus. He will hold them against them forever. For them there is no forgiveness of sins and apart from repentance and faith they will come into condemnation. They will spend eternity trying, trying to satisfy God's justice, but not getting anywhere. Sin separates from God. And therefore, eternal life or eternal death depends upon the forgiveness of sins. Do we really understand that this is the best and most wonderful gift Christ could give us? Even as we sing from time to time, from Psalm 32, how blessed is he whose trespass has freely been forgiven, whose sin is wholly covered before the sight of heaven. What is our response to be to God's forgiving grace? We sang it earlier. Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. I come. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we thank You and praise You for Your Word of Truth, for the precious gift of forgiveness of all of our sins, apart from which we cannot have a saving relationship with You through Jesus Christ. Father, we pray that You would help us to understand more and more every day the depth of our sin and misery, only then to be raised higher and higher in the joy of salvation, in the joy of what Jesus Christ has done. Sometimes we take it for granted. But help us to understand exactly, O Lord. Help us to understand what Christ has saved us from. We thank You that as Your people, we will never have to endure what He endured. But in store for Your people is the blessed assurance of life, abundant life in your courts forever. Father, if there's one here this morning who does not have that blessed assurance, work in the heart of that one powerfully and effectively. Bring that one to a knowledge of their sin and misery and a desire to repent, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to also be able to claim this promise that I know I am forgiven. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in his name, amen. Thank you.