Heidelberg Catechism
Question 2: How many things are necessary for you to know, that you may live and die in the joy of this comfort?
Answer 2: Three things:[1] First, how great my sin and miseries are.[2] Second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries.[3] Third, how I may express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.[4]
Bible
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, looking at how you died for me fills me with wonder and adoration for you. Continue to help me to express my gratitude towards you by returning your love for me with love for you. Amen.
Regards
Kruger
Here are the Scripture references to the above question and answer in the Heidelberg Catechism. Feel free to look them up and ask questions about them - some are not that clear!
[1] Lk 24:46-47; Rom 7:24-25; 1 Cor 6:11; Tit 3:3-7; [2] Jn 9:41, 15:22;Rom 3:9-10; 1 Jn 1:10; [3] Jn 17:3; Acts 4:12, 10:43; Gal 3:13; [4] Mt 5:16; Rom 6:13; Eph 5:8-11; Col 3:17; 1 Pt 2:9-12
Question 2: How many things are necessary for you to know, that you may live and die in the joy of this comfort?
Answer 2: Three things:[1] First, how great my sin and miseries are.[2] Second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries.[3] Third, how I may express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.[4]
• Christianity is in many ways more realistic than any other faith...
• The Heidelberg Confession, which aims to summarise the Christian faith, categorises it into three parts. The first of which is to know my own sin.
• And this is real. This is what we are confronted with daily - sin and misery.
• But it doesn't start with other people's sin - it starts with my own! Now just realise the power of this statement as a starting point - it works against religious superiority or arrogance. In fact, it empowers the believer to relate to anyone, no matter what their history or sin is.
• Far from allowing one to wallow in their sin and misery, Christianity aims to give a believer 'the joy of this comfort'.
• The joy comes when we realise the method of our salvation. It is not by a distant impersonal god that initiates a mechanical system to save us but a knowable, approachable God that personally comes to save us at great cost to himself.
• He enters our reality - our sin and misery. He's even crushed by it only to be raised to life to prove that there in now deliverance for all that believe in him
• And this gives us the hope and joy we long for - the one that made us loves us so much that he willingly and gladly died for us.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, looking at how you died for me fills me with wonder and adoration for you. Continue to help me to express my gratitude towards you by returning your love for me with love for you. Amen.
Regards
Kruger
Here are the Scripture references to the above question and answer in the Heidelberg Catechism. Feel free to look them up and ask questions about them - some are not that clear!
[1] Lk 24:46-47; Rom 7:24-25; 1 Cor 6:11; Tit 3:3-7; [2] Jn 9:41, 15:22;Rom 3:9-10; 1 Jn 1:10; [3] Jn 17:3; Acts 4:12, 10:43; Gal 3:13; [4] Mt 5:16; Rom 6:13; Eph 5:8-11; Col 3:17; 1 Pt 2:9-12
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