In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

The author of the hymn that we just sang (CW #389) wrote a magazine article in 1775 in which he calculated how many sins a person commits in a lifetime. He calculated an average of one sin per second. He figured that by age ten, we have committed more than 315 million sins! So, at age 20, we would have committed more than 630 million. He figured that we would cross the billion mark in our early thirties. And at age eighty, we would have committed more than 2.5 billion sins. At the conclusion of his article, he printed this hymn to indicate that the only way that we can obtain eternal life is that Jesus Christ washes all of our sins away with his holy, precious blood. And that is the point of the verses before us. We can be sure and certain that we are, in fact,

1. The objects: "ungodly" sinners

We often say that there are only two categories: sinners and holy people. And we all fall into the category of sinners. But there is another category within the sinners column. Sinners can be divided into penitent sinners and impenitent sinners. Penitent sinners are troubled by their sins. They are broken and contrite in heart. They seek God's forgiveness. Impenitent sinners are not sorry for their sins. They cling to them. They make excuses for them. They will lash out at you for suggesting that they should repent. God calls us to rightly divide his Word of truth. We should apply the gospel to penitent sinners. We should comfort penitent sinners with Christ's forgiveness. On the other hand, we must apply the law, in all of its sharpness and severity, to impenitent sinners.

However, it is possible to see one more distinction among sinners. Some sinners are like Judas. They know that they did something wrong. They feel badly about it. They might even say that they are sorry and try to make it right. But, they think that Christ did not pay for their sins. So they despair. These sinners are lost, unless we can get to them first and share with them a Bible passage just like this one. Despairing sinners do feel badly about their sins. They don't make excuses or lie about their sins. They don't even try to cover them up. But what they lack is saving faith. And what they need is this very part of God's Word. Listen again to verses 6-7. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. {7} Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. {8} But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Notice carefully who Christ died for. He died for "the ungodly." He died for "sinners." We didn't deserve it. The people described here are not "pretty good." These people, the objects of God's love, are ungodly sinners. We are included here. Christ died for you and for me! Christ even died for people like Judas Iscariot. Yes, Jesus died for Judas. Jesus paid for his sins too! The problem was that Judas didn't think so. He didn't believe that he could be forgiven. He didn't believe that he would be forgiven. He didn't believe that he was forgiven. So, in his despair and agony of soul, he committed suicide. What a tragedy! His case is closed, but there are other people like him all over the place. These people think that they cannot be forgiven. They think that their sins are too bad, their mistakes are too big, and their debt is too large. They know that they have broken God's commandments. They are afraid that they are going to perish.

Are you one of those people? Are you afraid that you have done something that is so bad, so terrible, that even Christ cannot help you? Are you constantly feeling guilty? Remember these words. Christ died for ungodly sinners. Christ died for you! If your conscience doesn't make you feel guilty, be sure that you have not simply become smug or self-righteous. You are a sinner too! And so am I. All have sinned. There is not one person here, not one, who has avoided sin. We have no idea how many sins we have committed, but there have been a lot of them! Yet, no matter how many we have committed, we can be sure that Christ died for us. We can thank God that we are justified by his blood... Now, let us carefully consider...

2. The payment: Christ's blood

Before God could forgive us, Christ had to pay for our sins. God's justice demanded a payment for sin. And the payment was more than any of us could pay. Scripture says, (Ps 49:7) "No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him, the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough." The price that we owed for sin was infinite. Either we had to suffer in hell for all eternity, or someone eternal would have to die. That's where Jesus comes in. Because he is true God and true man in one person, and because he is eternal, his blood shed on the cross was an infinite payment for sin. Either we had to die eternally, or someone eternal had to die. And that's exactly what Jesus did. He died on the cross to pay for our sins.

In preparing this message, I studied again all of the passages in the Bible that I could find that talk about Jesus' blood. And there are many of them! Consider just a few. Hebrews 9:22 reminds us that "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." 1 John 1:7 tells us that "The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." The blood that saves is the blood of God's Son. Ephesians 1:7 says, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins." 1 Peter 1:18-19 adds, "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." The Bible reader often finds passages like these. For example, Acts 20:28 is really talking about what pastors need to do. But listen to the end of this passage. "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." Did you happen to notice whose blood paid the price for us? It said, "Be shepherds of the church of GOD, which HE [GOD] bought with his own blood." God bought the church with his own blood! And of course, that is talking about Jesus. Jesus is God. And his blood shed on the cross is the blood of God in the flesh.

This is really talking about our Savior's death on the cross. It would not have been enough for him to go to one of those Red Cross stations and just give his blood. He had to go to the cross. He had to die. That is the point. But the Bible again and again speaks this way. The blood of Jesus, God's Son, purifies us from all sin. Some modern theologians don't like this. For example, the Today's English Version of the Bible (TEV), goes out of its way to remove these references to blood. They extracted the word blood from this passage right here! That is not for men to decide! God inspired his writers to write the word "blood." We should receive God's Word with thanks, humbly believe it and boldly confess it. Jesus saved us by washing away our sins with his blood! Revelation 1:5 says that he "loves us and has freed us [or washed us] from our sins by his blood." The payment for sin was Jesus blood, shed on the cross, where our Savior died for us. And so, we are justified by his blood. Now, consider what that means...

3. The verdict: "not guilty"

The Bible term "justified" is a courtroom term. It means that a judge declares a defendant to be "not guilty." It means to acquit. On the basis of Jesus' perfect life and all-atoning death on the cross, God has acquitted sinners. He has declared sinners to be "not guilty" through Christ. Because Jesus lived our life and died our death on the cross, God has declared that we are "not guilty" of sin anymore. That is the gospel. That's what it means to be "justified by his blood." Because of all that Jesus did for us, God has declared this verdict: You are forgiven through Christ.

The only ones who benefit from this verdict are those who believe. Believers are the only ones who will be in heaven. But, what we believe is this: We have been forgiven through Christ. We don't believe that we might be forgiven, or we could be forgiven, but that we have been forgiven, because of all that Jesus did to redeem us. I can say to anyone who is troubled by sin, "Jesus died for you and won your forgiveness." If only we could go back in time to talk to Judas! Judas admitted that he had sinned. He felt badly about it. He gave the money back. But he didn't think that he could be forgiven. He needed to hear that he was forgiven. He needed to hear that Jesus was going to the cross to pay for his sins too. Perhaps Judas would not have believed, but he certainly didn't receive any help from the Jews. Do you know someone that needs to hear the Gospel? We need to tell them, before they despair completely.

If you are living with guilt, constantly feeling like your load of sin is clinging to you, then hear the Word of the Lord! Jesus died for you! You are forgiven through Christ! You are justified by his blood! God has declared you "not guilty." Believe it! And then renounce your sin and leave it! Go now and sin no more. Follow Christ more closely. Hear that good news again and again. Think about the words that we sing in the hymns today. Take heart, we are "justified by his blood!" There is no need to feel guilty about those past sins anymore! Jesus washed them away with his holy, precious blood. And God has said that we are "not guilty." And if he says it's so, it's so! Amen.