The Forgiveness of Sins

Do you ever talk about sin with your friends or your family? If you do, how do you talk about sin? Do you minimize it (“That sin isn’t so bad.”)? Do you deny it (“How can it be sin if it seems so good to me?”)? Or do you press into it (“Why does that sin seem so good to you?” and “What does God say about that sin?”)?

It seems common in our day for sin to be denied and even embraced. Adultery is an affair. Sexual immorality is cohabitation or sleeping around or just what young people do. Drunkenness is alcoholism. Greed is ambition. We prioritize self-care and productivity without realizing we’ve crossed the line into selfishness and pride.

There is a sense in which our culture is no different than any other since Genesis 3. Adam and Eve blamed their sin on others and tried to cover it up right from the beginning. But each culture has its own peculiar expressions of sin.

Sin is a universal problem, and the Bible speaks directly to the matter. In fact, the Bible speaks so honestly and so insightfully about sin that we can often be surprised by how well the Bible seems to know us.

We have arrived now near the end of the Apostles’ Creed. Today we’re focusing on “the forgiveness of sins,” so we are going to talk a lot about sin, and we’re also going to talk about the forgiveness that is offered to sinners like us in and through Christ. In just a moment, we will start from a psalm which affirms this forgiveness is a reality for those who look to God for it… But let me first give a little background to the psalm itself.

Psalm 130 is a Psalm of ascent. There are 15 Psalms categorized in this way, Psalms 120-134. These Psalms would traditionally be sung by Israelites who were traveling to Zion or Jerusalem to worship on a major religious day in the year. It is no surprise, then, that the Psalms of ascent are full of confession and hope.

The New Testament Church is not the same as the Old Testament nation-state of Israel, but these Psalms of ascent do reflect the same sort of hopeful approach toward God that New Testament Christians can make today. Just like Israel of old, we too are sinners; and just like Israel of old, we know that our hope for “steadfast love” and “plentiful redemption” is only in the LORD (v7).

In order for us to feel a better sense of this today, I’m going to include the phrase “the people of God” each time the word “Israel” shows up in verses 7 and 8. Again, this Psalm of ascent was originally for Israel, but Israel (as the Old Testament people of God) was always meant to be a foreshadowing of Christ and His New Testament people.

If you have questions about this, then let’s get together and talk about it, but I’m going to leave the introduction at that.

Let’s stand together as I read Psalm 130:1-8.

Scripture Reading

Psalm 130:1–8 (ESV)

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O [people of God], hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem [His people] from all [their] iniquities.

Main Idea:

We believe the forgiveness of sins comes from God to all those who repent and believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Sermon

1. What is Sin?

We believe in the forgiveness of sins. And it is necessary that we begin by defining what sin is.

Both the Westminster Shorter and Keach’s Baptist catechism (based on the 1689 London Confession) define sin in the same way: “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.”[1] This definition comes from the Bible itself which says a whole lot about sin.

The Bible uses various words as synonyms for sin. One of those words is “trespass” (Rom. 5:20), which means to overstep a boundary. It is as though God has established the fence-lines around what is morally good, and sin is when we step outside of the fenced area.

Another synonym (a lot like “trespass”) is “transgression” (Heb. 2:2), which emphasizes the legal and the positive aspects of sin. Now, when I say positive here, I’m not saying sin is good. Rather I’m referring to the positive or active way in which we all sin, positively or actively doing what God forbids or prohibits.

When we think of God’s law, what comes to our minds is probably the Ten Commandments. Most of us can at least name a few of them… and if you can, then you might notice that the Ten Commandments are largely negative laws: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3); “You shall not make for yourself a carved image” (Ex. 20:4); “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13); “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14).

A transgression, then, is positively or actively doing one or more of these things God has forbidden. If we give our ultimate love or gratitude or trust to someone or something other than God… if we create some sort of image in order to depict God… if we unjustly take the life of another person, or if we are unfaithful in our marriage… then we transgress God’s law… we sin.

But just as we can sin actively, so too, we can sin passively or by neglect. We often sin by not doing what God commands, and the Bible calls this “disobedience” (Heb. 2:2; cf. James 4:17). When we know what is right, and we do not do it, then we disobey God’s law. When we know God’s ethical standard, and we fail to meet it, then we are disobedient. When we read or hear God’s command, and we do not submit to and obey it, then we sin.

Friends, defining sin this way probably makes us all feel pretty guilty, and that’s because we are guilty. Sin is not just a mistake or an accident; sin is a conscious decision to go past the line God has drawn or to stop short of it.

Anyone who has children knows what transgressions and disobedience look like. You tell your child to stop yelling, to stop running, or to stop using that tone of voice, but he doesn’t stop… he transgresses your laws. You tell your child to make her bed, to clean his room, or to brush her teeth, but she doesn’t do it… she disobeys your laws.

In our case, though, in the case of humanity and God’s law, sin is not just a violation of laws that are good and right, sin is cosmic treason. Our transgressions step over those boundaries which were made by the Creator of the universe! Our disobedience shows a disregard for God’s teaching, His commands, and His rules.

And, friends, this is no small transgression or disobedience. There certainly are varying degrees of consequences for our sins in this life, but any and every sin deserves nothing short of God’s justice… and it is coming for us.

The Scripture says, “Let no one deceive you with empty words… the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6). And again, “We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice [sin]. Do you suppose… that you will escape the judgment of God? …because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render each one according to his works…” (Rom. 2:2-6).

This is the place Psalm 130 begins! It is “out of the depths” the psalmist “cries” to God (v1). And the cry he makes is a “plea for mercy” (v2) because he knows that “If… [the] LORD should mark iniquities,” no one “could stand” (v3).

Friends, this is where we must begin as well! We need to try to understand, as much as we are able, the depth of our situation. Before we run to some shallow excuse (“Everyone sins!”) or some vague idea of forgiveness (“God forgives!”), we need to let the weight of our sin bear down on us a bit… otherwise we won’t be able to understand or appreciate the solution offered in the Bible to sinners like us.

If God “marks” our “iniquities,” if God counts our sins against us, then we are undone. When the Old Testament prophet Isaiah saw a glimpse of God’s holiness in the temple, he cried out a curse upon himself. He said, “Woe is me! For I am lost” (Is. 6:5). When Moses came near to a display of God’s presence (in a burning bush), Moses “hid his face” and “was afraid to look” (Ex. 3:6). When God’s presence came near to the disciples who walked with Jesus, “they fell on their faces and were terrified” (Matt. 17:6)… and all because they were sinners.

Friends, one day very soon, we shall all stand in the presence of the holy God, and we shall all be fully exposed. Our sin – every wicked thought, every transgressive word, and every disobedient deed – will be revealed for what it was and is, and God’s holiness will demand justice. What we need is not some 12-step-plan to do better; what we need is forgiveness… and, praise God, He gives it!

2. Forgiveness from God

We believe the forgiveness of sins comes from God.

The psalmist says, “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared” or “honored” or “revered” or “respected” (v3-4).

This song of ascent was originally written and sung by Old Testament Israelites who knew that God is both righteous and gracious, just and merciful. In fact, they had an entire sacrificial system, wherein they made sacrifices to God on a daily, monthly, and seasonal basis, which taught them visually that God is both just (i.e., breaking His laws demands justice) and merciful (i.e., in some way God spares sinners from the justice they deserve). No animal sacrifice ever satisfied God’s justice, but it was a picture or foreshadowing of the way in which God’s justice would ultimately be satisfied.

We will get to that beautiful reality in a moment, but for now, we want to emphasize the idea that forgiveness is not something God has to be manipulated into. No, the forgiveness of sins is God’s idea… He is the initiator of forgiveness… He has decided and planned to give it… and it can be no other way.

This is logically true, since God is the one whose law has been broken, and God is the one whose holiness demands justice… God must be the one to offer forgiveness to those who are guilty. That’s why the psalmist “waits” for “the LORD” (v5); his “hope” is in God’s “word” (v5), and his “soul” eagerly watches for the arrival of God’s promise “more than watchmen for the morning” (v6).

But where does the psalmist get the idea that God “forgives” sin (v4)? How does he know that “with the LORD there is steadfast love” (v7), which is the origin or spring of God’s forgiveness? Well, he gets this idea from God’s own self-revelation, which God disclosed at that climactic point of the Exodus story.

You might remember, if you’ve read through Exodus before, that God rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt by bringing 10 plagues or strikes or judgments… and these judgments were both against Egypt and for Israel… God saved His people through judgment. And when God brought His people to Mt. Sinai, to give them His law and to ratify His covenant with them, they wasted no time in transgressing. While Moses was at the top of the mountain receiving God’s special revelation, the people of Israel were at the bottom of that very mountain worshiping a golden calf (Ex. 32:1-6).

For their transgression, the people deserved God’s wrath, but instead of destroying them, God renewed His covenant and even revealed something new and special about Himself. The whole book of Exodus is about revealing the “name” of “the LORD.” God showed His power to judge Egypt and save Israel, “so that [His] name may be proclaimed in all the earth” (Ex. 9:16). But in Exodus 34, just after the people of Israel rebelled against God and transgressed His law, God came again to Israel and “proclaimed” His own “name,” saying, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” (Ex. 34:6-7).

That’s where the psalmist got the idea that God forgives sin… because God Himself said so! Friends, I wonder if you know God in this way. Do you know God as a cosmic judge who looks at you with fury in His eyes? Since we are sinners, we do deserve God’s justice, but the Bible teaches us that God is “merciful and gracious,” that He is “abounding in steadfast love,” and that He delights in “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex. 34:6-7). Or as the psalmist says it in Psalm 130, “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness…” (v3-4).

Brothers and sisters, when we sin, we ought not run away from God, we ought not try to cover our sin in some foolish way… we ought to run to the only one who can forgive our sin, the only one who can cleanse us from our impurity… we ought to confess our faults and failures to the God who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Ex. 34:6-7).

But how does God forgive sin? How can a holy God look with love and grace and forgiveness upon guilty sinners like us? Ah, “with him” there “is plentiful redemption” (v7)… through Jesus Christ!

3. Through Jesus Christ

We believe the forgiveness of sins comes through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Since God’s holiness demands justice when sinners transgress or disobey His law, and since we have transgressed and disobeyed millions of times in our lives, and since we come into this world with the verdict of “guilty” already declared upon us because of the sin of our first parents, God’s justice must be satisfied in order for Him to forgive. And praise God! He has done what is necessary to satisfy His own justice on behalf of sinners like us!

This, now, is getting to the burning heart of the gospel. Both in the Old Testament and in the New, God reveals Himself as the God who “redeems” His people (v8). But in the New Testament, we come to know the fullness of what this means. Let’s turn together to Romans 3 to see this concept explained.

In Romans chapters 1 and 2, the Apostle Paul describes the natural state of humanity. He explains there how bad and how pervasive sin is. And in chapter 3, Paul summarizes what he’s said up to that point. I’ll start in the middle of v9.

“9b For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ 13 ‘Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ 14 ‘Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’ 15 ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.’ 18 ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”

This is a terrible diagnosis! This passage teaches us that our transgressions and our disobedience spring forth from our sinful hearts. We sin because we are sinners! Sin is what we do, because sinners is what we are. We do works of unrighteousness because we are not “righteous” (v10). We speak evil words because our “throat is an open grave” (v13). Our lives or “paths” are full of “ruin and misery” because we do not “seek God” (v16, 11).

We disobey and we transgress because “there is no fear of God” in us (v18). And even when someone does tell us about God’s law, when they teach us what is right, it does not make us do better, but it condemns us further (v19-20).

Friends, I wonder if you have ever thought, “I’ll get my life in order, and then I’ll get right with God.” Or, “Tomorrow” or “Next week” or “Next year I’ll do better.” But how many times have we wanted to be better or do better and failed?

It is not in us to be better! If we look to ourselves, then all we will ever be is unrighteous sinners. We need someone or something outside of us to step in and make us what we are not! And this is exactly what verses 21-26 are about!

“24b through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he [i.e., God] might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

This passage contains several Bible or churchy words that need explaining, but I’m going to focus our attention on two of them – “redemption” (v24) and “propitiation” (v25).

The word translated “redemption” (v24) carries the idea of freeing a slave or a prisoner by way of a ransom payment. This is easy enough to understand after what we’ve already been talking about this morning. We are naturally slaves to sin, and we are held as prisoners under its power. And God’s law also enslaves and imprisons us, since, though the law itself is right and good, we constantly rebel against it and thereby only intensify our guilt.

How, then, are sinners “redeemed”? What ransom payment is sufficient to free those who are guilty and who everyday only compound their own guilt? Oh, let me tell you the excellent news! God Himself has put forward Jesus Christ as a propitiating offering!

This word, “propitiation,” might seem strange to us, and I don’t care if you ever learn to pronounce it correctly, but, friends, the idea this word conveys should be a reality, a promise, a word we cherish. Propitiation is the place or means whereby justice is satisfied, in this case God’s justice against sinners.

And how did Jesus Christ propitiate or satisfy God’s justice? He did it “by his blood” or by His death (v25)! That is, when Jesus Christ died upon the cross, He was counted as the guiltiest sinner who ever lived, even though He never sinned. God imputed or transferred to Christ the guilt of all the transgressions and all the disobedience of those He sent Christ to redeem. As Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”

Brothers and sisters, this is how God can be at the same time both “just” and “the justifier” of sinners. God’s holiness demands justice, and justice has been poured out upon Jesus Christ. And God Himself has shown what it means that He is “merciful and gracious… and abounding in steadfast love” (Ex. 34:6-7).

This truth, this concept of propitiation and redemption, should make our hearts rejoice with gratitude, but only if we are repenting and believing ones.

4. To Those Repenting and Believing

We believe the forgiveness of sins comes from God to all those who repent and believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

In Romans 3, we’ve read about the beautiful and profound way in which God has redeemed sinners through Jesus Christ… but did you notice the qualifier that kept coming up in that passage? Hopefully you still have your Bible open at Romans 3. Look down at v21-26 again.

“21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he [i.e., God] might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

The simple and consistent message of the Bible is that sinners can only find forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ, and that forgiveness only comes from God to those sinners who repent or turn from their sin and believe or trust or have faith in Christ… I like to say it like this, “Sinners go to heaven all the time, but unrepentant and unbelieving ones never do.”

Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin, and they both refer to the comprehensive change that happens in the mind and heart and life of someone whose eyes and ears are opened to the message I’ve been explaining this morning. If you believe the facts I’ve laid out are true, that you are a sinner and that Christ has lived and died in the place of sinners, then repentance and faith are the only right response… but repentance and faith are not something we can simply conjure up in ourselves.

Repentance is a change in one’s intellect (the mind), one’s emotions (the affections and desires), and one’s volition (the will and intentions). Repentance is a change of mind, heart, and will in the sinner who comes to believe that Jesus Christ really does redeem sinners. And repentance includes turning away from sin, confessing sin for what it is, and hating that sin ever was something that we love.

Charles Simeon (a preacher in Cambridge, England, during the early 1800s) said, “One of the most fundamental marks of true repentance is a disposition to see our sins as God sees them.”[2]

Faith is a tandem trait of repentance, and one who is faithing or believing is also repenting. Faith, biblically speaking, is a kind of trust in God that exceeds mere knowledge of facts… faith is more than knowing, but it is not less.

Theologians spell out three distinct features or characteristics of saving faith: (1) knowledge, (2) assent, and (3) faith or belief. All three are necessary, and each one builds upon the other.

First, there is knowledge… knowledge of the gospel itself. Who is Jesus? What did He do? Why did He do it? What does that mean for sinners like you?

One must know the basic answers to such questions in order to proceed. If you need help understanding the content of the gospel, then ask any Christian you know to read through the Gospel of John with you. Get together and talk about what you’re reading, and ask lots of questions.

Second, there is assent… one must assent or agree or accept the content of the gospel as true. Jesus really is God’s Son. Jesus really did live and die. Jesus really did make atonement or sacrifice for sin. Jesus really is the risen Lord and Christ, the only Savior of sinners.

If you have doubts about such claims, then don’t pretend… and don’t despair. Christians have been making a thoughtful and intelligent case for the reliability of these claims since the very beginning. There are more books on the subject of apologetics than you have time to read. Tell me what you’re interested in studying, and I can probably recommend some good sources.

But if you do know the facts about the person and work of Christ (at least the basics), and you do believe that the facts are true… then you’ve done well, but the Scripture says that this is the sort of belief that demons have (James 2:19). There is still something more to saving faith than a mere assent to the facts or agreement that all of this is true. One must actually entrust their souls to Jesus or give himself or herself over to the care of Christ!

It is one thing to know that a chair exists, it is another to believe that a chair can hold your weight… but it is something else entirely to sit yourself down into a chair.

This is the point at which one exercises saving faith, not mere knowledge or assent. And this kind of faith comes along with repentance… the two go hand-in-hand. And both of these are the gift of God… only God can change a sinner’s heart, and only God can cause a sinner to move from loving sin to loving Christ.

Friends, this is the sort of faith that one must have in order to benefit from the forgiveness of sins we’ve been talking about this morning. Therefore, we must repent and believe the gospel, which is the message of the forgiveness of sins… we must preach and teach this gospel to those who are not repenting and believing… and we must pray that the Lord would grant the good gifts of repentance and faith.

Conclusion

Charles Spurgeon (a great Baptist pastor in London during the 1800s) once urged his congregation to look to Christ for their forgiveness by telling them a story about Martin Luther (that German reformer from the 1500s). Luther was keenly aware of his sin, and he often spoke of the devil himself tormenting him because of his weaknesses and failures.

Spurgeon said of Luther, “when the devil came to him, [the devil] brought him a long sheet containing a list of his sins, or of a great number of them, and Luther said to him, ‘Is that all?’

‘No,’ said the devil.

‘Well,’ said Luther, ‘go and fetch some more then.’ Away went Satan to bring him another long list, as long as your arm.

Luther [again said], ‘Is that all?’

‘Oh, no!’ said the devil, ‘I have more yet.’

‘Well, go and bring them all,’ said Luther. ‘Fetch them all out, the whole list of them.’ Then it was a very long black list. I think that I have heard that it would have gone round the world twice.” Spurgeon said, “I know that mine would.”

Then he asked his congregation, “Well, what did Luther say when he saw them all? He said, ‘Write at the bottom of them, “The blood of Jesus Christ… cleanses us from all sin!” It does not matter how long the list is when you write those blessed words at the end of it. The sins are all gone then.”[3]

Friends, we believe the forgiveness of sins comes from God to all those who repent and believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

My prayer is that God would help us all to better understand the depths of our sin, that He would help us know the joy of forgiveness through Christ, that God would grant us all faith and repentance… so that we all may be partakers of this marvelous gift.

And my prayer is that God would help us to tell others about this marvelous gift of forgiveness… so that they might become partakers as well.

Endnotes

[1] Question and answer 18 in Keach’s catechism, and number 14 in the Westminster Shorter catechism. I highly recommend both of these catechisms as learning and teaching tools for Christians young and old. They provide an excellent summary of orthodox Christian doctrine from two similar streams of Protestantism, the Baptists and the Presbyterians. The Baptist catechism, also known as Keach’s catechism, can be viewed here: http://baptiststudiesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/keachs-catechism-of-1677.pdf, and the Westminster Shorter catechism can be viewed in PDF form here: https://prts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Shorter_Catechism.pdf [2] Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 862. [3] Charles Spurgeon. 300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon. Edited by Elliot Ritzema and Lynnea Smoyer. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017. “Is That All?”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Holcomb, Justin S. Know the Creeds and Councils. Know Series. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014.

Mohler Jr., R. Albert. The Apostles’ Creed: Discovering Authentic Christianity in an Age of Counterfeits. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2019.

Packer, J. I. Affirming the Apostles’ Creed. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008.

Sproul, R. C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version. 2015 Edition. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015.

Spurgeon, Charles. 300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon. Edited by Elliot Ritzema and Lynnea Smoyer. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.

Water, Mark. The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations. Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000.

Witsius, Herman, and Donald Fraser. Sacred Dissertations, on What Is Commonly Called the Apostles’ Creed. Vol. 2. London: Khull, Blackie & Co., 1823.

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