A. I believe that the Son of God through His Spirit and Word, out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and preserve for Himself a community chosen for eternal life and united to true Faith. And of this community I am and always will be a living member.
55. Q. What do you understand by "The Communion of the Saints"?
A. First, that believers one and all, as members of this community, share in Christ and in all His treasures and gifts. Second, that each member should consider it a duty to use these gifts readily and cheerfully for the service and enrichment of the other members.
56. Q. What do you believe concerning "the forgiveness of sins"?
A. I believe that God, because of Christ's atonement, will never hold against me any of my sins nor my sinful nature which I need to struggle against all my life. Rather, in His grace God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgment.
"Just as God reckoned the sinless Christ as a sinner by imputing to Him our sin, so God reckons us righteous in Christ because the sinlessness of the Lord Jesus has been imputed to us. Jesus was not punished because He actually possessed sin in Himself, just as we are not justified because we actually possess righteousness in ourselves. Rather, both things happen by imputation. Imputation means instead of holding $500 in your hand, someone else wires it to your account. The money is not actually in your physical possession, but it is legally and truthfully considered to be yours. This is what imputation is al about, God counting to us a perfect life of obedience richer than we've ever lived. Thus He grants us a perfect righteousness we have no chance to ever achieve.
The Good News We Almost Forgot, Kevin DeYoung, Moody Publishers, 2010, pp. 106, 109.
Blessed Lord's Day to you, Persis!
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