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Heidelberg Catechism, Question 56

Question 56

What believest thou concerning, “The Forgiveness of sins?

That God, for the sake of Christ’s satisfaction (Eph. 1;7), will no more remember my sins (Jer. 31;34), neither my corrupt nature, against which I have to struggle all my life long (Rom. 7;24, 25): but will graciously, impute to me the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3;24), that I may never be condemned before the tribunal of God (Rom. 8;1).

Scripture references for paragraph 1

Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.

Ephesians 1:7

7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

1 John 2:2

2He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Jeremiah 31:34

34No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”

Romans 8:1

1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Psalms 103:10-12

10He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities.

11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.

12As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Romans 7:24

24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Romans 7:25

25Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Psalms 103:3

3He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,

Romans 7:18-21

18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

19For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do.

20And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

Galatians 5:17

17For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.

Romans 3:24

24and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 1:30

30It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

2 Corinthians 5:21

21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

John 5:24

24Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.

John 3:18

18Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Romans 8:33

33Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Romans 8:34

34Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.

Source and edition

Heidelberg Catechism. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879

Public Domain (historic text); CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikisource transcription). Source transcription.

Transcription licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.

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