This from Michael Horton’s Christless Christianity:

The good news [i.e. the gospel] is that Christ’s righteousness is greater than my sin.  Fully absolved in Christ, I am free to confess my sin, receive the assurance of pardon, and go on in my imperfect yet Spirit-led obedience.

…The gospel is so odd, even to us Christians, that we have to get it again and again.  That is why God has graciously created different avenues for getting it to us:  He proclaims it by the mouth of another in Christ’s name, bathes me in it with water, and puts it in my hand through bread and wine.   (p.121)