Lord’s Day 21c; Psalm 130

I BELIEVE THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS

I. What Forgiven

A. To be forgiven is that God (against Whom all sin is committed) does not punish me for my sins and sinfulness (which I justly

deserve) and that He declares me to be perfectly right (did all the right things) in His sight.

B. To understand forgiveness well, one must accurately understand sin; to do that, one must accurately know God.

1. Sin is active rebellion against God, His being and His will (commandments; I John 3:4b).

2. Every human is conceived a sinner because of Adam, our first father and our representative head (Rom. 5:12).

C.Each and every sin is against the holy God which He must punish with His just wrath (Rom. 6:23; Heb. 12:29; Canons I –

1).

II. Forgiveness means that the perfectly just God completely punished each sin and all sinfulness for us and counts us to be

holy.

A. “Will no more remember my sins” means that God does not remember our sins in His wrath, but sees us as redeemed

sinners.

1. First, forgiveness means that God sets the sinner from his personal responsibility to bear the punishment by having

Another carry the punishment to complete execution, so God is fully satisfied for all our sins.

2. And forgiveness means that God “graciously imputes to me the righteousness of Christ.”

B. We are so forgiven that “I may never be condemned before the tribunal of God.”

C.How do sinners receive forgiveness? The Spirit uses…

III. Why does God forgive?

A. God does not forgive so we may be careless.

B. God forgives so that He may be feared (Ps. 130:4).

1. No one fears God like those who experience His forgiveness (Micah 7:18).

2. Forgiveness gives the forgiven the occasion, the ground, and the material to have awe of Jehovah.