Not to be confused with Heidelberg Study: Intro. The Intro was just me setting up the project. The Introduction is the official project’s first entry. If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail. Or so they say. Let’s begin with the two questions that are in this section and then expand on them:
Q & A 1
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, 1 but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—2 to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.3 He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,4 and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.5 He also watches over me in such a way 6 that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven;7 in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.8
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life9 and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.10
1 1 Cor. 6:19-20
2 Rom. 14:7-9
3 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14
4 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2
5 John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11
6 John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5
7 Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18
8 Rom. 8:28
9 Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14
10 Rom. 8:1-17
Call it a recap of my last post, but I was raised in a tradition that had no founding documents. Each church was expected to share their beliefs in their own documentation and each one seemed to resemble the beliefs in the documentation of the church across the street. I was taught that creeds and confessions are redundant when we have the Bible, and to even be suspect of anyone that quotes from any extra-biblical source. Of course, every song you sing is extra-biblical, unless your church sings the Psalms exclusively. Also, every sermon is extra-biblical, unless the sermon is nothing more than the reading of the text.
A founding document is one way for churches to find unity amidst the myriad of tertiary, and less vital, reasons why another denomination is formed. The Apostle’s Creed ought to be recognized as a founding document that every Christian can affirm, though some will have a quibble here or there. This Heidelberg Catechism is one that every reformed Christian should affirm, though as we will eventually see, certain Anabaptist groups will reject it, as will many Baptist groups, following the spiritual lead of the Anabaptists.
The opening of the document begins with a telling question. Where does your comfort come from? Why should you live confidently in the knowledge that God has accepted you? Why should your final days be ones of anticipation and not dread?
1 Cor 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
The easiest way to find this comfort is to remember that it isn’t up to you. You don’t carry the burden of finding your own comfort. Which is controversial, truth be told. We want to be the masters of our own domain. And there’s the rub. The time spent controlling everything, or so we thought, in our own lives turned out to be the very period that caused the most grief when we realized just how much we had insulted our creator.
You see, God is not glorified when we view His mercy as little more than fire insurance. When we project our attitude toward Him as our backup plan. Oh, we may vocalize that God is our first priority, but the human condition is one that wants the credit. Total Depravity is not limited to overt actions. It includes priorities, and the heart of man is wicked, and in dire need of God’s intervention.
ROMANS 14:7-9 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Because it isn’t up to you, because you lack the wherewithal to turn to the only hope for this life and the next barring the intervention of the Holy Spirit, you should take great comfort that it isn’t your call. If I could choose Jesus I would reject Him every time. The command to repent and believe the gospel is ever-present, and it is stated as a command because the human heart will not be coaxed into such a demeaning position. We want the credit for making a choice based on our own goodness and intellect. But that isn’t available to us. It is God who bought you with a price. Your only recourse is to honor God. And your life will magnify God in this life and in the next, whether that be through your praise of Him or your righteous punishment for rejecting Him.
If you are to find any comfort in this life or in the next, it must originate from a source outside you. And the only one who can provide such security is Jesus, who created all things, who holds all things together, and who despised the shame of the cross to redeem all who He was sent to save. Simply put, Christ belongs to God and you belong to Christ. Your life and your death will all be to the glory of Jesus, whether you are a vessel of honor or of wrath. Only those who are found in Him will be unashamed.
1 John 1:7-9 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Ours is a debt too great for anyone to ever repay. Of course, when I say “anyone” I refer only to those who are in this mortal coil without being fully God at the same time. Jesus is the one whose sacrifice is worthy of all honor. He carried my sins to the cross, but His actions were not limited in scope to me. Jesus died for His bride. I am not His bride, but I am among His bride. I am a component of His bride. Because I am found in Him, I am beloved. There is no singular Christianity. Either I am a part of something bigger than me or I am nothing. There truly is no middle ground here.
And that’s truly a blessing.
JOHN 8:34-36 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Do you remember the tyranny of the Devil? I do. It didn’t seem like tyranny at the time. It felt more like freedom. I was free to live in accordance with my true master. I thought that master was myself, but all along it was my love of sin. Or to quote John 3, I loved the darkness more than the light, and that love was consistent with my slavery. So it didn’t feel like coercion, and it kind of wasn’t. It’s hard to say you’re a victim when you are participating. But the Bible does define that state as being a slave to sin, and who am I to redefine myself differently than the one who I belong to, both body and soul?
JOHN 10:27-30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Had I any say in the matter I would have rejected Jesus, for I was in love with the darkness. But Jesus chose me before the foundation of the world. He sent His Holy Spirit to ratify the relationship and I saw my savior in a new light. One that used to deter me, but now it was comforting. I began to follow this shepherd and recognize His voice. I trusted Him. I knew that my foolishness would not be sufficient to disqualify myself, for it was not my own merit that qualified me in the first place.
MATTHEW 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
This God who has claimed me as His own has also guaranteed my safety. This does not mean that pains and sorrows won’t find me. It does mean that nothing this world can put against me will be able to stand in defiance of the will of God. I have said to others that every pain and every disease was borne by Jesus and we will be healed of them all, in this life or in the next.
Christians still suffer and die. The stains of sin continue to ravage our mortal bodies. All of this is true and none of it contradicts the promises of the gospel. Like Lazarus, we all have walked out of a grave, yet still wearing our grave clothes. We all require assistance removing those wrappings, but unlike Lazarus we will not complete that task on this side of glory. But it will be a task completed. This is a promise of God.
EZEKIEL 36:25-26 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
This promise is expressed toward those whom He has predestined to be conformed to the image of His son, namely the elect. All things do work together for good for those called according to His purpose. And here’s one thing that you won’t see on too many Christian bumper stickers. The greatest good that can be worked in you is nothing more or less than your conformity to the Son of God. Here’s my scriptural evidence:
Romans 8:28-29 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
So yes, you can be assured of eternal life in Christ. Not because of your efforts, but rather despite them. If I were relying on my own works to be saved I would be lost. Less than lost. I would be worse off than if I had just done nothing. My own woks are nothing more than my preference to reject the gift of Christ in favor of the wages of my own sin. Turn from your sin! Turn to Christ and be saved! I don’t ask you to take a leap of faith in something unsure. I ask you to take a step off a sinking ship and onto a solid rock that can never be shaken.
EPHESIANS 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
It is Christ who changes you from the inside out. He removed the appetite for the unsatisfactory things of this world and adds a desire for the things of Him. He is the only thing that can satisfy, though most people in this current time reject Him because they love the darkness rather than the light. (John 3) But those called into conformity with the Son will find themselves in conformity with the Father as well, through the working of the Holy Spirit in them. The willingness to live for Him comes from a heart changed by God. The rejection of both the Father and the Son comes from a heart left in sinful desires. The Christian is not immune to sin or to struggles, for we do wear grave clothes for the remainder of our time in this life, but that is not the overall trajectory of our lives. Romans 8, as well as Ephesians 1, tell us that ours is a future of glory, and only those illuminated by the Spirit can look upon these promises with both anticipation and exultation!
Q & A 2
Q. What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?
A. Three things:
first, how great my sin and misery are;1 second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery;2 third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.3
1 Rom. 3:9-10; 1 John 1:10
2 John 17:3; Acts 4:12; 10:43
3 Matt. 5:16; Rom. 6:13; Eph. 5:8-10; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 2:9-10
As a new Christian, I was quite aware that I needed to learn how to live. What took years to grasp, though, is that Christianity is more than a new way to live. It is a new way to die. You die to yourself in this life, recognizing that it is Christ who lives through you. And one day will be your last. It is the one who has cast off the misery of sin in exchange for the righteousness of Christ who will suffer death only once.
GALATIANS 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
A prerequisite for Christianity is not that you achieve some level of goodness. Rather, the status as Christian is only made available to sinners, whom Christ died for. So far in this post I have remained fairly close to the scripture references given with the Heidelberg Catechism. I’m going off script here, not because the provided texts don’t make the point that we must know how great our sin is, for they do, but I frequently point to this text to show how humans are predisposed toward their own goodness, seeking to justify themselves. Ultimately, humanity tries to dismiss ourselves from any need of grace, for grace is only given to those who don’t deserve it. We want to deserve it. We crave the approval of others and a smug approval of ourselves. Only those broken by our sin will cast aside our works in exchange for the finished work of Jesus!
LUKE 18:11-14 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
In John 3:16, we are famously informed that our sin and misery can be dealt with only through Jesus, the only son of God the Father. The result of this is eternal life. Eternal life does mean just what it sounds like, but there’s more to it than just the absence of death in the live to come. It means that you begin to experience eternal life right now once you understand the biblical definition of eternal life. To have eternal life is to know the only true God and His son Jesus Christ. We begin forever now.
JOHN 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Turning to Jesus is not just a pass from Hell or access to Heaven. Turning Jesus is the only way for peace with God. Peace with God is worth far more than anything this world can offer you, whether the offer be legitimate or not. What profit is there to gain the whole world and to lose your soul? But there is great gain in knowing God. Oh Christian! Do not relegate your status in Jesus to merely a punched ticket.
Who the Son sets free will be free indeed. Whoever rejects the Son has also rejected the Father. There is salvation in no name other than Jesus. Nobody is exempt from this fact. No people group, reached or unreached. No philanthropist. No sage. No philosopher. Nobody. Jesus is the gate by which His sheep may enter the fold. Only those found in Him are heirs to the promises laid out throughout the Bible. In Him, all of the Bible holds together. He is the second Adam. He is the door to the ark of Noah. He is the fulfillment of Israel. He is the better David. He is all in all. And He is for you.
How do you thank one who freely set aside unimaginable glory to rescue you?
My 50,000 foot view response goes directly to Biblical Theology, where you take the entire Bible and regard it as a unified story written over 1500 years by 40 different authors from every economic class and in several languages and dialects. Somehow, this variety resulted in a unified story, and that story is that God created the Universe and everything in it. Everything that was made was intended to bring the utmost glory to God, that is the duty of all of creation, especially humanity made in the image of God.
Through the fall of our original representative, Adam, all of creation has been plunged into a chaos, not the same chaos that the Day 1 Earth represented, but certainly not the restful peace of Day 7 either. The created order has been marred by sin. The creator God has no obligation to accept anything less than perfection, and we see this as God instructs people to do what should have just come naturally to them in the moment. I think of God asking Adam where he was hiding. God knew where he was. But the question is one that shows that it was Adam who was now out of step with his original role. Cain was angry that his sacrifice wasn’t accepted and God told him to control himself. Not because God expected Cain to find it within himself to do what is right, but because God has a right to expect His creation to function as reflections of His glory throughout the world, regardless of the stain of our sin. The revealed expectations can be found throughout the text.
MATTHEW 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Christians must be sinners before they can be saved, but Christians are now indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We are no longer slaves to sin but are, rather, slaves to righteousness. That’s Romans 6, by the way. And like Onesimus from the book of Philemon, we too can be useful slaves on the run from our master. Nevertheless, our joyful task is now one of returning to the original role of expressing the glory of God throughout all corners of creation. We do good works, not to please God but because God is already pleased with us. Not pleased with our works, but pleased with the work of Christ which has been granted to us. Out of thankfulness, we present ourselves to the world as ambassadors to Jesus so His Father may receive further glory.
EPHESIANS 5:8-10 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
It is important to remember that we do not do good works out of obligation, but out of our joy in God. This is our thankfulness for all He has done for us, merely a fractional amount of thanks back for the immeasurable goodness that has been shown to us. We are not sinners because we sin. Rather, we sin because we are sinners. At the same time, our status is no longer filled with darkness, for we are children of light. We do not work to attain this status, rather we acknowledge this status based on the work of Jesus and seek the paths to follow that are most pleasing to the Lord. This is the Already and Not Yet.
Like Peter, we have such a tendency to look away from Jesus. He was in the middle of the sea and stopped trusting in the one who commands the wind and the waves. What was his alternative? And do realize that I am no better. I want to control the chaos around me rather than look to the author and finisher of my faith. I thank God for his provision when I accept who I am in Christ (never apart from Him!) and when I show thankfulness for all He has done. Not merely spoken thanks, but a thanks that is lived out to the glory of God.
1 PETER 2:9-10 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Let this permeate your soul. Every biblical blessing is yours in Christ. If you are apart from Christ, this is all available to you. I don’t invite you to Jesus, for He commands everyone everywhere to repent. The gospel is not optional. Recognize your need for a savior! Turn to the only savior! If you do, nobody will need to tell you to be thankful. Your gratitude will be evident to all.
Soli Deo Gloria
