The Heidelberg: Lord's Day 36

September 6, 2009 • Heidelberg Catechism • by
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Q. 99. What is required in the third commandment?

A. That we, not only by cursing or perjury, but also by rash swearing, must not profane or abuse the name of God; nor by silence or connivance be partakers of these horrible sins in others; and, briefly, that we use the holy name of God no otherwise than with fear and reverence; so that he may be rightly confessed and worshipped by us, and be glorified in all our words and works.

Q. 100. Is then the profaning of God’s name, by swearing and cursing, so heinous a sin, that his wrath is kindled against those who do not endeavour, as much as in them lies, to prevent and forbid such cursing and swearing?

A. It undoubtedly is, for there is no sin greater or more provoking to God, than the profaning of his name; and therefore he has commanded this sin to be punished with death.

http://www.ccel.org/creeds/heidelberg-cat-ext.txt

The Heidelberg: Lord's Day 35

August 30, 2009 • Heidelberg Catechism • by
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Q. 96. What does God require in the second commandment?

A. That we in no wise represent God by images, nor worship him in any other way than he has commanded in his word.

Q. 97. Are images then not at all to be made?

A. God neither can, nor may be represented by any means: but as to creatures; though they may be represented, yet God forbids to make, or have any resemblance of them, either in order to worship them or to serve God by them.

Q. 98. But may not images be tolerated in the churches, as books to the laity?

A. No: for we must not pretend to be wiser than God, who will have his people taught, not by dump images, but by the lively preaching of his word.

http://www.ccel.org/creeds/heidelberg-cat-ext.txt

The Heidelberg: Lord's Day 34

August 23, 2009 • Heidelberg Catechism • by
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Q. 92. What is the law of God?

A. God spake all these words, Exodus 20:1-17 and Denteronomy 5:6-21, saying: I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

1st commandment:
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2nd commandment:
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

3rd commandment:
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

4th commandment:
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,
and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

5th commandment:
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

6th commandment:
Thou shalt not kill.

7th commandment:
Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8th commandment:
Thou shalt not steal.

9th commandment:
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

10th commandment:
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Q. 93. How are these commandments divided?

A. Into two tables; the first of which teaches us how we must behave towards God; the second, what duties we owe to our neighbour.

Q. 94. What does God enjoin in the first commandment?

A. That I, as sincerely as I desire the salvation of my own soul, avoid and flee from all idolatry, sorcery, soothsaying, superstition, invocation of saints, or any other creatures; and learn rightly to know the only true God; trust in him alone, with humility and patience submit to him; expect all good things from him only; love, fear, and glorify him with my whole heart; so that I renounce and forsake all creatures, rather than commit even the least thing contrary to his will.

Q. 95. What is idolatry?

A. Idolatry is, instead of, or besides that one true God, who has manifested himself in his word, to contrive, or have any other object, in which men place their trust.

http://www.ccel.org/creeds/heidelberg-cat-ext.txt

The Heidelberg: Lord's Day 33

August 16, 2009 • Heidelberg Catechism • by
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Q. 88. Of how many parts does the true conversion of man consist?

A. Of two parts; of the mortification of the old, and the quickening of the new man.

Q. 89. What is the mortification of the old man?

A. It is a sincere sorrow of heart, that we have provoked God by our sins; and more and more to hate and flee from them.

Q. 90. What is the quickening of the new man?

A. It is a sincere joy of heart in God, through Christ, and with love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works.

Q. 91. But what are good works?

A. Only those which proceed from a true faith, are performed according to the law of God, and to his glory; and not such as are founded on our imaginations, or the institutions of men.

http://www.ccel.org/creeds/heidelberg-cat-ext.txt

The Heidelberg: Lord's Day 32

August 9, 2009 • Heidelberg Catechism • by
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Q. 86. Since then we are delivered from our misery, merely of grace, through Christ, without any merit of ours, why must we still do good works?

A. Because Christ, having redeemed and delivered us by his blood, also renews us by his Holy Spirit, after his own image; that so we may testify, by the whole of our conduct, our gratitude to God for his blessings, and that he may be praised by us; also, that every one may be assured in himself of his faith, by the fruits thereof; and that, by our godly conversation others may be gained to Christ.

Q. 87. Cannot they then be saved, who, continuing in their wicked and ungrateful lives, are not converted to God?

A. By no means; for the holy scripture declares that no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, covetous man, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or any such like, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

http://www.ccel.org/creeds/heidelberg-cat-ext.txt

The Heidelberg: A Case for Catechesis Part 2

August 6, 2009 • Heidelberg Catechism • by
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Once we begin with a Biblically shaped anthropology, we can throw out this idea of moral neutrality. We are not simply blank slates approaching information. We must recognize our need for a Spirit filled, grace saturated, gospel shaped, discipleship driven, and pride humbling process of progressive sanctification that continually combats our vain idolatry. Catechesis is one of the tools the church has used throughout history to aid us in that process.

Also to be noted is the increasingly rapid trend towards a completely subjective approach to scripture, faith, and practice. This is not only an epidemic within our culture but is becoming broadly accepted within Evangelical circles as well. By subjective I mean that we approach scripture by asking the question, “What does this mean to me?” Or, worse yet, as is becoming increasingly common, to rephrase that question to ask how the text makes us feel; as if to say that our emotional experience is now the highest measure of truth.

The truth claims of scripture of completely objective; meaning that they are true whether we believe them or not. In countering subjectivity, what must be discerned is whether what we claim to be scriptural truth is the product of careful exegeses in exposing the original meaning of both human and Devine authorship; or whether the claim of scriptural truth is rather the product of inserting our own presuppositions into the text.

Catechesis provides the sound theological foundation from which we can build upon as we grow in our faith, understanding, and service. We are provided with a systematic summery of the teaching of scripture on key issues that are a sure rock bed to the Christian life. Whether we are children or adults; whether this is the first time through a catechism or simply a refresher; every believer will benefit greatly from the rich theological wealth and heritage preserved for us. Whether it be the Heidelberg Catechism or either of the Westminster Catechisms (longer or shorter), it would be an outstanding disciplinary exercise to regularly visit or revisit the historic reformed catechisms as well as spending a good deal time with their parent confessions.

The Heidelberg: A Case for Catechesis Part 1

August 5, 2009 • Heidelberg Catechism • by
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A few years ago Tim Keller made a comment during a conference workshop that has staid with me through the years. I don’t remember which conference it was, but I do clearly remember his words of caution: “We all bring our presuppositions to the Bible. The question is, are those good presuppositions.”

Our presuppositions are formed out of our understanding of who God is and how he relates to his creation. To address our presuppositions deals things primary to the development of our worldview. How our presuppositions come about carries over into our understanding of anthropology. To begin with anthropology takes us to not only to the origins of humanity but our understanding of our human nature and condition.

If we do not begin with a Biblically informed anthropology we will most likely error in our assumption of man’s moral ability. The human heart is an idol factory. Even as regenerate Christians we need to recognize our tendency towards assigning to God what is most pleasing to us. Left to our own devices, we will always default to creating a god that suits our own passions, pursuits, and desires.

The Heidelberg: An Introduction

August 4, 2009 • Heidelberg Catechism • by
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This past Sunday I began posting a series on the Heidelberg Catechism. You may or may not have seen that come through. While reflecting on the questions and answers I had a few thoughts come to mind. First, I should have provided some form of historical introduction to the Heidelberg Catechism prior to beginning this series. Hindsight is always 20 / 20. My second thought was that in addition to going into the history of the Heidelberg, I should have explained some of my reasoning for beginning this series. It is with the later of the two that I would like to begin this introduction.

It is my intention to continue posting the questions designated for each Lord’s Day for you to reflect upon, memorize, and use for personal or family devotional time. The questions and answers designated for that week will be posted each Sunday morning at 6:30 AM. I know that some are earlier risers and I wanted to be sure to have the questions and answers available for your morning devotionals if you so choose.

I also hope to post questions from time to time that we have already covered in the weeks prior. These will be a pop quiz of sorts to test how well you have memorized the answers to the questions.

The primary purpose for providing the questions and answers each week is to not only glean from the great theological wealth that the catechism has to offer but also introduce many who, like myself, may never have had the privilege of being instructed through a formal catechism. It is my hope that others will recognize the need for historic reformed catechisms to be brought back into our parish life and worship.

The Heidelberg: Lord's Day 31

August 2, 2009 • Heidelberg Catechism • by
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Q. 83. What are the keys of the kingdom of heaven?

A. The preaching of the holy gospel, and christian discipline, or excommunication out of the christian church; by these two, the kingdom of heaven is opened to believers, and shut against unbelievers.

Q. 84. How is the kingdom of heaven opened and shut by the preaching of the holy gospel?

A. Thus: when according to the command of Christ, it is declared and publicly testified to all and every believer, that, whenever they receive the promise of the gospel by a true faith, all their sins are really forgiven them of God, for the sake of Christ’s merits; and on the contrary, when it is declared and testified to all unbelievers, and such as do not sincerely repent, that they stand exposed to the wrath of God, and eternal condemnation, so long as they are unconverted: according to which testimony of the gospel, God will judge them, both in this, and in the life to come.

http://www.ccel.org/creeds/heidelberg-cat-ext.txt

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