Tag Archives: Heidelberg Catechism

God’s anger proves His love…

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Q. 9. Is not God unjust in requiring of man in his Law what he cannot do?

A. No, for God so created man that he could do it. But man, upon the instigation of the devil, by deliberate disobedience, has cheated himself and all his descendants out of these gifts.

 

Q. 10. Will God let man get by with such disobedience and defection?

A. Certainly not, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, both against our inborn sinfulness and our actual sins, and he will punish them according to his righteous judgment in time and in eternity, as he has declared: “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, and do them.”

 

Q. 11. But is not God also merciful?

A. God is indeed merciful and gracious, but he is also righteous. It is his righteousness which requires that sin committed against the supreme majesty of God be punished with extreme, that is, with eternal punishment of body and soul.

 

If God knew it was impossible for us to perfectly uphold His law, isn’t it unfair and even cruel of God to expect complete obedience from us? 

The truth is, we were created good and able to uphold and fulfill God’s righteous law.  Indeed, when God created man and woman, he looked and said, “It is good,” a pronouncement that was not given easily.

But through willful disobedience, we have been cheated, in fact we cheat ourselves, out of this pristine condition; this right relationship with God.  We therefore experience the wrath and judgment of God, the just reward for our sinfulness and our sins. 

Keep in mind, however, that the wrath of God is not separated from the mercy and love of God.  It is precisely because God is loving and merciful that we experience his wrath.  Were God unloving and unmerciful, He would have left us alone in our sins; he never would have spoken a harsh word of correction; He never would have called us to something better.

Prayer

Almighty God, how I have fallen short of your will for my life, that I live in faith and obedience before you.  Your word of rebuke and correction are hard to hear, but they remind me of your continued love and mercy.  Strengthen me, by your Holy Spirit, to walk in your way of Holiness for your name’s sake.

In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Is God the author of sin?

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Q. 6. Did God create man evil and perverse like this?

A. No. On the contrary, God created man good and in his image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that he might rightly know God his Creator, love him with his whole heart, and live with him in eternal blessedness, praising and glorifying him.

Q. 7. Where, then, does this corruption of human nature come from?

A. From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden; whereby our human life is so poisoned that we are all conceived and born in the state of sin.

Q. 8. But are we so perverted that we are altogether unable to do good and prone to do evil?

A. Yes, unless we are born again through the Spirit of God.

 Is God to blame for the problem of sin in the world today?  Couldn’t God have prevented all the sin and evil in the world by just not putting the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden in the first place?

God created us so that we might know Him, love Him, and live with Him.  But we were not pre-programmed to do so; we were given a choice.  God wants us to come to Him freely, to choose to know Him, love Him, and glorify Him.  With the choice comes the tremendous potential for good and evil.

If we are honest with ourselves, each of us knows that, like Adam and Eve, we have placed ourselves in the center of the garden; we have put ourselves in the place of God.  Instead of trusting in God to be our source of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we have taken this role upon ourselves.  We have, as Satan promised, become like God, in that we are now the center of our universe.  But since we are not God, we cannot maintain this charade; we cannot live apart from the source of life so we are cursed with death.

The Reformed Faith is not pessimistic about the state of humanity, neither is it optimistic.  It is realistic.  We believe that humanity is fallen and in desperate need of a savior.  We are so perverted that we are altogether unable to do good and prone to do evil, unless we are born again through the Spirit of God.  “Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24-25)

Prayer

Father God, in the light of your Word, I know who I really am.  I am a sinner, broken, in need of your forgiveness and healing.  God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner, and grant me peace. 

For Jesus’ sake.  Amen.