God Justifies the Ungodly

Introduction: God counts righteousness to sinners who believe, not to workers who earn. Summary: where we're at in Romans and where we're going in this passage. NOT BY WORKS (VV. 1–5) Question and answer 60 of our Heidelberg Catechism: "How are you righteous before God? Only by true faith in Jesus Christ...without any merit of my own, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, and had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me—if only I accept this gift with a believing heart." BUT BY FAITH (V. 5) AND WITH FULL FORGIVENESS (VV. 6–8) Justification has two sides: • Negatively: he doesn't count your sin against you. He takes away your guilt. • Positively: he counts righteousness to you. He grants you righteousness. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US AS A CONGREGATION?