Lord's Day 9: Heidelberg Catechism

Q24: What do you believe when you say, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth"?

A24: That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by His eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ His Son. I trust Him so much that I do not doubt He will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and He will turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because He is almighty God; He desires to do this because He is a faithful Father.

Lord's Day 8: Heidelberg Catechism

Q24: How are these articles divided?

A24: Into three parts: God the Father and our creation; God the Son and our deliverance; God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.

Q25: Since there is but one God, why do you speak of three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

A25: Because that is how God has revealed Himself in His Word: these three distinct persons are one, true, eternal God.

Lord’s Day 7: Heidelberg Catechism

Q20: Are all saved through Christ just as all were lost through Adam?

A20: No. Only those are saved who by true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all His blessings.

Q21: What is true faith?

A21: True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in His Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance, created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel, that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation.

Q22: What then must a Christian believe?

A22: Everything God promises us in the gospel. That gospel is summarized for us in the articles of our Christian faith--a creed beyond doubt, and confessed throughout the world.

Q23: What are these articles?

A23: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Lord’s Day 6: Heidelberg Catechism

Q16: Why must He be truly human and truly righteous?

A16: God's justice demands that human nature, which has sinned, must pay for its sin; but a sinner could never pay for others.

Q17: Why must He also be truly God?

A17: So that, by the power of His divinity, He might bear the weight of God's anger in His humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.

Q18: And who is this Mediator—true God and at the same time truly human and truly righteous?

A18: Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was given us to set us completely free and to make us right with God.

Q19: How do you come to know this?

A19: The holy gospel tells me. God Himself began to reveal the gospel already in Paradise; later, He proclaimed it by the holy patriarchs and prophets, and portrayed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law; finally He fulfilled it through His own dear Son.

Lord's Day 5: Heidelberg Catechism

Q12: According to God's righteous judgment we deserve punishment both in this world and forever after: How then can we escape punishment and return to God's favor?

A12: God requires that His justice be satisfied. Therefore the claims of His justice must be paid in full, either by ourselves or another.

Q13: Can we pay this debt ourselves?

A13: Certainly not. Actually, we increase our guilt every day.

Q14: Can another creature--any at all--pay this debt for us?

A14: No. To begin with, God will not punish another creature for what a human is guilty of. Besides, no mere creature can bear the weight of God's eternal anger against sin and release others from it.

Q15: What kind of Mediator and Deliverer should we look for then?

A15: One who is truly human and truly righteous, yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also true God.

Lord's Day 4: Heidelberg Catechism

Q9: But doesn't God do us an injustice by requiring in His law what we are unable to do?

A9: No, God created humans with the ability to keep the law. They, however, tempted by the devil, in reckless disobedience, robbed themselves and all their descendants of these gifts.

Q10: Will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished?

A10: Certainly not. He is terribly angry about the sin we are born with as well as the sins we personally commit. As a just judge He punishes them now and in eternity. He has declared: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law'.

Q11: But isn't God also merciful?

A11: God is certainly merciful, but He is also just. His justice demands that sin, committed against His supreme majesty, be punished with the supreme penalty--eternal punishment of body and soul.

Lord's Day 3: Heidelberg Catechism

Q6: Did God create people so wicked and perverse?

A6: No. God created them good and in His own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that they might truly know God their creator, love Him with all their heart, and live with Him in eternal happiness for His praise and glory.

Q7: Then where does this corrupt human nature come from?

A7: From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise. This fall has so poisoned our nature that we are born sinners--corrupt from conception on.

Q8: But are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil?

A8: Yes, unless we are born again, by the Spirit of God.

Lord's Day 2: Heidelberg Catechism

Q3: How do you come to know your misery?

A3: The law of God tells me.

Q4: What does God's law require of us?

A4: Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22--"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Q5: Can you live up to all this perfectly?

A5: No. I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbor.

The Gospel --> I am a sinner who cannot please God.

Lord's Day 1: Heidelberg Catechism

Q1: What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A1: That I am not my own, but belong--body and soul, in life and in death--to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.

Q2: What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?

A2: Three things: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.

The Gospel--> Guilt, Grace, Gratitude