REFORMATION 500 WEEK 33: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM QA’S 88-91

Reformation 500 WEEK 33: Heidelberg Catechism QA’s 88-91

Question 88: In how many things does true repentance or conversion consist? In two things: the dying of the old man, and the making alive of the new.

Having considered why we must do good works (out of thankfulness for salvation), we will now learn that doing good works is part of what it means to live a repentant and converted life – which is exactly what sanctification involves.

The terms repentance (change of mind) and conversion (turning around) basically mean the same thing: to turn from sin to God for forgiveness and to obey Him out of thankfulness for salvation in Christ (Acts 11:21). “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). The repentance of the Gentiles (Acts 11:18) is called “the conversion of the Gentiles” (Acts 15:3).

                When God grants us true repentance so that we are truly converted, this is the beginning of our life-long experience of sanctification. By His Holy Spirit God has set us free from the enslaving power of our old sinful nature by giving us a new holy nature (2 Cor. 5:17). This does not mean we no longer have our old sinful nature, but it does mean we are no longer slaves to it (Rom. 6:6, 14). We have a new nature that hates sin and desires to please God out of thankfulness for salvation (Col. 3:10). “There is a part of us which is renewed [the new man] and a part which retains its natural corruption [the old man]” (Calvin). The process of sanctification is the process of repentance and conversion, of turning from our old sinful nature and living according to our new nature. Scripture says to “put to death” (Col. 3:5) or “put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and … put on the new man which was created according to God [in His image], in righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-23). We are sanctified “so that we may more and more die unto sin and lead holy and unblameable lives” (Q&A 70).

Question 89: What is the dying of the old man? Heartfelt sorrow for sin, causing us to hate and turn from it always more and more.

The dying of the old man is the life-long process of mortification, of putting to death our sins by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit: “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13). “Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5; cf. Eph. 5:22-32). The Holy Spirit works in our hearts a godly sorrow for sin (Joel 2:13), which causes us to hate our sins and to turn from them more and more; “godly sorrow produces repentance” (2 Cor. 7:10). “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:6). This is a very painful process (Gal. 5:17). The apostle Paul, speaking as a new man in Christ, expressed what is true for every believer, “I do the very thing I hate…. For I do not do the good I want to do but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin [my old sinful nature] that dwells in me” (Rom. 7:15, 19-20). “Our conversion to God is not perfect in this life, but is here continually advancing, until it reaches the perfection which is promised in the life to come” (Ursinus, 474). “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it” (Phil. 1:6). 

Question 90: What is the making alive of the new man? Heartfelt joy in God through Christ, causing us to take delight in living according to the will of God in all good works.

The making alive of the new man is the life-long process of God remaking us into His holy image, causing us out of thankfulness and joy to put on the new man. The old man must decrease. The new man must increase. Paul tells his fellow believers: “you have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him…. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering,” etc. (Col. 3:10, 12). “Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us” (Eph. 5:1-2). Just as heartfelt sorrow causes us to hate sin and turn from it more and more, heartfelt joy in God through Christ causes us to take delight in living according to God’s will in all good works (Rom. 5:1; Gal. 2:20). “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). When we do not put our sins to death but give in to them, then we must confess our sins to God and pray for the renewal of the new man. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me…. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Psalm 51:10, 12; cf. Jer. 31:18; Luke 12:32). “Revive us, and we will call upon Your name” (Psalm 80:18).

To sum up, the sanctified life is putting off the old man and putting on the new man. For example, “putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with His neighbor” (Eph. 4:25). “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor…that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification” (Eph. 5:28-29). To put it very simply: “Turn away from evil and do good” (1 Peter 3:11).

Question 91: What are good works? Those only which proceed from true faith, and are done according to the Law of God, unto His glory, and not such as rest on our own opinion or the commandments of men.

Three things are necessary for our works to be good: (1) A good root: True faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). Remember that prior to regeneration we are spiritually dead incapable of doing anything good. “A bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matt. 7:18; cf. Matt. 12:33). The Lord makes us spiritually alive, giving us faith in Christ; and from the seed of faith comes a tree full of good fruit. True believers are “those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit” (Mark 4:20; cf. Heb. 13:15); (2) A good standard: God’s law (John 14:15; 1 John 2:4) – not what is right in our own eyes (Judges 21:25); not according to the traditions or commandments of men (Matt. 15:9). (3) A good goal: God’s glory; “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). To do anything to the glory of God, “is to do it, that we may testify our love, reverence and obedience to God, and that for the sake of showing our thankfulness for the benefits which we have received,” and not “from a desire to advance our own selfish interests;” God must “be respected first whenever we do anything; nor must we care what men may say, whether they praise or reproach us” (Ursinus, 478). Our good works are not perfectly good, but the unregenerate have no good works at all!

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 Heidelberg Catechism 88-91

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 33

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts. 

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 25: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, QUESTION 65-68

Reformation 500 WEEK 25: Heidelberg Catechism, QUESTION 65-68

Question 65: Since, then, we are made partakers of Christ and all His benefits by faith only, where does this faith come from? The Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the Holy Gospel, and confirms it by the use of the holy sacraments.

     We have learned that salvation is received by faith alone in Christ alone. Now we will learn where our faith in Christ comes from, and how it is strengthened.

     We have already learned in Question 8 that we are spiritually dead, unable to believe in Christ, unless we are regenerated. Therefore, our faith in Christ is “not of ourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). “For to you it has been granted…to believe in Him” (Phil. 1:29). Saving faith is given to us “through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Saving faith is given only to God’s elect.

     Question 65 correctly teaches that, “the Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the Holy Gospel.” “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? …So, then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:14, 17). It pleases God “through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21); you have “been born again…through the word of God...which was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23, 25). While Paul preached to Lydia, “the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul” (Acts 16:14; cf. 10:44). “Justifying faith is, therefore, “not ordinarily produced in adults without the preaching of the gospel” (Ursinus, 113).

     After the Holy Spirit creates faith in our hearts He confirms it, that is, strengthens it “by the use of the holy sacraments [i.e. baptism and the Lord’s Supper].”  The Bible’s teaching concerning the sacraments is explained in Questions 66-82.

Question 66: What are the sacraments? The sacraments are visible holy signs and seals appointed by God for this end, that by their use He may the more fully declare and seal to us [believers] the promise of the Gospel, namely, that of free grace He grants us the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life for the sake of the one sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross.

     The word sacrament (sacred or holy ceremony) is the word the Christian church has traditionally used to refer to the holy ceremonies of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

     Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the NT signs and seals of salvation for believers, replacing the OT signs and seals of salvation: circumcision and Passover. A sign symbolizes or points to something. A seal confirms or certifies something (like a seal on a diploma or a signature on a contract). The terms sign and seal come from Romans 4:11 where Paul spoke of Abraham receiving “the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised.” God first established His covenant of grace with Abraham by saving him through faith in Christ (Rom. 4:12; Gal. 3:17). Then He gave him circumcision as “a sign of the covenant” (Gen. 17:11), to certify Abraham’s salvation in Christ. The cutting of the foreskin symbolized and certified the removal of sin’s penalty and corruption in Christ who “was cut off” for the sins of His people (Isaiah 53:8). In this way, Abraham’s faith in Christ was confirmed and strengthened (John 8:58). The Passover was also a sign of salvation for believers. The blood of the Passover Lamb – “the blood shall be a sign for you” (Ex. 12:13) – was a picture of salvation from the bondage of sin through the blood of “Christ, our Passover, sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7) – “the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). “This is My blood of the new covenant” (Mark 14:24). 

     Now that the true blood has flowed, there is no longer the shedding of blood in either circumcision or Passover. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are now the signs and seals of God’s covenant of grace with believers in Christ. “Sacraments are, therefore, the signs of the everlasting covenant between God and the faithful” (Ursinus, 354).

     The holy sacraments symbolize and certify what God promises all believers in the Gospel: forgiveness of sins and everlasting life for the sake of the one sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross (Acts 10:43-48).

Question 67: Are both the Word and the sacraments designed to direct our faith to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Yes, truly, for the Holy Spirit teaches in the Gospel and assures us by the holy sacraments, that our whole salvation stands in the one sacrifice of Christ made for us on the cross.

     The word and sacraments preach the same Gospel, only in different ways. The Holy Spirit teaches us believers in the Gospel that Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross is the only ground of our salvation. There is no other reason why God saves us from our sins “except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). The Holy Spirit uses the sacraments (the symbols of salvation through the cross) to assures us of the same Gospel. The water in baptism symbolizes and certifies that “the blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper symbolize and certify that we are saved only because of His broken body and shed blood on the cross. “The sacraments differ from the word in this, that they signify by actions and gestures what the word does by language” (Ursinus, 356). It is like showing your love with a kiss after saying, “I love you.” The kiss without the words is not a sign of love (Judas kissed Jesus!). Water, bread and wine without the Gospel are not signs and seals of salvation. They need the word of the cross to set them apart from ordinary use so they become holy (set apart) signs and seals of salvation for believers.

Question 68: How many sacraments has Christ instituted in the New Testament? Two: Holy Baptism and the Holy Supper.

     Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only two sacraments instituted by Christ. The Roman Catholic Church adds confirmation, penance, ordination, extreme unction, and marriage. But the Bible does not support this. Neither do the ancient church fathers, two of whom, Ambrose and Augustine, said the only two sacraments were baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These two sacraments are to be faithfully observed in the church until Christ returns (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:26); so “they may be marks by which the true church may be known and distinguished from all other religions” (Ursinus, 342). 

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 Heidelberg Catechism 65-68

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 25

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 24: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM QA’S 62-64

Reformation 500 WEEK 24: Heidelberg Catechism QA’s 62-64

Question 62: But why cannot our good works be the whole or part of our righteousness before God? Because the righteousness which can stand before the judgment seat of God must be perfect throughout and entirely conformable to the divine law, but even our best works in this life are all imperfect and defiled with sin.

     We have learned that, “to justify” means “to declare one righteous.” The key question is: on what basis does God declare the believer in Christ to be righteous?

     For the Roman Catholic Church, God declares someone righteous only if they are first sanctified, that is, made inwardly righteous by an infusion of grace (which happens by baptism) and then they cooperate with infused grace by doing righteous things (good works). As long as they keep doing good works, God will keep declaring them righteous. Those who commit a mortal sin lose the grace of justification. But they can be restored to a state of justification through the sacrament of penance. Therefore, for Rome, we are justified on the basis of an imperfect righteousness done by us.

     How does Rome interpret Paul’s statement in Romans 3:28: “a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law”? They argue that “works of the law” refers only to the ceremonies of the law (e.g. circumcision, animal sacrifices, etc.), and not the moral law (i.e. the Ten Commandments). Therefore, they maintain that no one is justified by the ceremonial works of the law, but they are justified by doing the good works required in the NT. With this understanding, they appeal to James 2:24, “a man is justified by works [i.e. good works], and not by faith only.”

     But Rome misinterprets both Paul and James. First of all, nowhere does Paul say a man is not justified by ceremonial works but he is justified by good works. Second, James uses the term justify differently than Paul. “To be justified” has another meaning besides “to be declared righteous before God.” It can also mean “shown to be righteousness before men” (e.g. Luke 7:35; Rom. 3:4). Therefore, Paul speaks “of that righteousness by which we are justified before God…but James speaks of that righteousness by which we are justified before men by our works” (Ursinus, 338). James is rebuking the person who claims to believe in Jesus, but does not have good works to show for it. “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?” (James 2:14). True believers bear fruit out of thankfulness for salvation: “every good tree produces good fruit” (Matt. 7:17). Therefore, “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (2:17). James challenges the professing believer without good works, to “show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (2:18). Thus, the correct way to understand James 2:24 is: “a man is justified [shown to be righteous] by works, and not by faith only.”

     Rome’s fatal mistake is to refuse to accept the biblical truth that perfect righteousness is the requirement for eternal life (Gal. 3:21), which is precisely why we need Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to us!

     Thus, our “works, as they proceed from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable in the sight of God, forasmuch as they are all sanctified by His grace. Nevertheless, they are of no account towards our justification, for it is by faith in Christ that we are justified, even before we do good works (Belgic Confession, Article 24).

Question 63: Do our good works merit [DESERVE] nothing, even though it is God's will to reward them in this life and in that which is to come? The reward comes not of merit, but of grace.

The Bible says that God will reward our good works, both in this life and in that which is to come (Psalm 18:20; 19:10-11; Mark 10:28-29; Matt. 5:11-12; 6:6; Heb. 6:10; 11:6; Rev. 22:12). The rewards include peace, joy, and spiritual prosperity (Deut. 12:28; Psalm 1:1-3; Psalm 119:165; Prov. 3:13-17; John 10:10; 14:21).

But this does not mean our good works deserve to be rewarded. Only perfect righteousness deserves to be rewarded. “Therefore, we do good works, but not to merit by them (for what can we merit?); nay, we are indebted to God for the good works we do, and not He to us, since it is He who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure [Phil. 2:13]. Let us therefore attend to what is written: When you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do [Luke 17:10]. In the meantime, we do not deny that God rewards good works, but it is through His grace that He crowns His gifts” (Belgic Confession, article 24).

Question 64: But does not this doctrine make men careless and profane? No, for it is impossible that those who are implanted into Christ by true faith, should not bring forth fruits of thankfulness.

     The Roman Catholics slander the reformed doctrine of justification by saying that it makes men careless and profane. They maintain that if you teach people to believe they are justified by faith in Christ even before they do good works, then that will make them care less about doing good works and encourage them to live in sin.

     But the easy reply is that being set free from eternal condemnation makes us thankful, not profane! For when we are united to Christ by true faith we receive both justification and sanctification (1 Cor. 6:11; see again Question 43). God first justifies us by declaring us perfectly righteousness in Christ, and then by His Holy Spirit He begins the process of sanctification which restores God’s holy image in us, purifying us from the inward corruption of sin, and making us inwardly righteous and holy, so that we hate sin and do good works out of thankfulness for salvation (Eph. 4:24-25; Tit. 2:14; 1 John 2:4; 3:10). True believers are “those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some hundred” (Mark 4:20). “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Good works are the fruit of justification – which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23); “the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Eph. 5:9). Since the Holy Spirit is producing good fruit in our lives (He “makes me heartily willing and ready to live unto Him,” Question 1), it is impossible that those who are implanted into Christ by true faith, should not bring forth fruits of thankfulness (Jer. 32:40; Ezek. 36:27).

     “He, therefore, who boasts of having applied to himself by faith the death of Christ, and yet has no desire to live a holy and godly life… gives conclusive evidence that the truth is not in him; for all those who are justified are willing and ready to do those things which are pleasing to God” (Ursinus, 227).

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 Heidelberg Catechism 62-64

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 24

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 17: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, QUESTION 45

Reformation 500 WEEK 17: Heidelberg Catechism, QUESTION 45

Question 45: WHAT BENEFIT DO WE RECEIVE FROM THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST? First, by His resurrection He has overcome death, so that He might make us partakers of the righteousness which He has obtained for us by His death. Second, by His power we are also now raised up to a new life. Third, the resurrection of Christ is to us a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection.

     Question 45 explains the biblical basis of article 5 of the Apostles’ Creed: “The third day He arose from the dead.” The core of the gospel is that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). The soul of Christ, which (for three days) had been in the hands of His Father in heaven, truly did return to His body in the tomb and come forth from the grave. His resurrected body was adorned with immortality, no longer subject to the frailties of a human body, but it was still flesh and bones (Luke 24:36-43; John 20:24-29). Christ’s resurrection “is proven by the testimony of angels, women, evangelists, apostles, and other saints, who saw Him, felt Him, and talked with Him after His resurrection [Matt. 28:1-9; 1 Cor.5-8; Acts 1:2-3]” (Ursinus, 233). Even Christ’s enemies could not deny but tried to cover up the fact of the empty tomb (Matt. 28:11-15).

     Christ’s resurrection was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Psalm 16:8-11; Luke 24:46-47). Christ Himself foretold His own resurrection (Matt. 12:40; 16:21; 26:32). His resurrection proved He truly was the Messiah, the Son of God, who came to give eternal life to all who believe in Him (John 20:30-31; Rom. 1:1-4).  

     Christ rose from the dead to give us believers the benefits which He obtained for us by His death. The first benefit is justification (which will be explained more fully in Question 60). Christ “was raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). Justification is God’s verdict that we are forgiven the eternal penalty of sin and accepted as righteous on the basis of the righteousness of Christ imputed to us (Rom. 4:1-8; 22-24). We are justified the moment God works true faith in our hearts (Rom. 3:28). 

     The second benefit of Christ’s resurrection is that by the power of His Holy Spirit we are regenerated (born again), that is, raised spiritually from the dead, which is exactly why we believe in Jesus (Eph. 2:8), and confess our sins to God (1 John 1:9), and desire to please God out of thankfulness for our salvation (Rom. 6:4). “And you God made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1; cf. John 3:3).

     The third benefit of Christ’s resurrection is that it guarantees our physical bodies will also be raised from the dead (Rom. 6:5; 1 Cor. 15:20-23). Our salvation includes both soul and body. Both soul and body belong to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:19-20). “He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies” (Rom. 8:11). Since we still have to suffer death in our body, we “who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for … the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23). Our resurrected body will be like Christ’s resurrected body (this will be explained more fully in Question 57). “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Phil. 3:20-21).

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 HC QAs 45

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 17

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 15: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, QUESTION 37-39

Reformation 500 WEEK 15: Heidelberg Catechism, QUESTION 37-39

Question 37: What do you understand by the word suffered? That all the time He lived on earth, but especially at the end of His life, He bore, in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race; in order that by His suffering, as the only atoning sacrifice, He might redeem our body and soul from everlasting damnation, and obtain for us the grace of God, righteousness, and eternal life.

Questions 37-44 explain the biblical basis of article 4 of the Apostles Creed: “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell.” We begin with the word “suffered.” From the moment of His birth to the hour of His death, Jesus Christ suffered all the miseries and weaknesses of our humanity, except for sin (Heb. 4:15). He hungered, thirsted, was fatigued, and afflicted with sadness and grief. “He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). His most bitter anguish of soul was on the cross, where He suffered the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race. It was this that caused Him to cry out, “My God, My God, why have Your forsaken Me” (Matt. 27:46). “Christ suffered… according to the human nature only, both in body and soul; for the divine nature is immutable, impassible [incapable of suffering or feeling pain], immortal, and life itself, and so cannot die” (Ursinus, 215). Christ suffered and was forsaken in His humanity in the place of humanity, so all who believe in Him will never be forsaken.

Question 38: Why did He suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge? That He, being innocent, might be condemned by the temporal judge, and thereby deliver us from the severe judgment of God, to which we were exposed.

Jesus Christ suffered the grossest injustice under Pontius Pilate, because Pilate officially declared Him innocent (“I find no fault with this man”), but then condemned Him to die by crucifixion! This was God’s plan (John 19:11), so that it might be perfectly clear that Jesus Christ was condemned to die – not for his own sins, but for the sins of all who would believe in Him. The innocent was declared guilty so that the guilty might be declared innocent, as it says in 1 Peter 3:18: “Christ has suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”

Question 39: Is there anything more in His having been crucified than if He had suffered some other death? Yes, for thereby I am assured that He took upon Himself the curse which lay upon me, because the death of the cross was accursed of God.

It was necessary for Jesus Christ to die by crucifixion (being nailed to a cross made of two pieces of wood), because it was an Old Testament curse for a criminal’s dead body to be hung on a tree; as a warning to others that “he who is hanged is accursed of God” (Deut. 21:23). If Jesus had died in some other way, then “His death would not have been counted as accursed of God, a punishment for sin on behalf of you and me” (Jones, Study Helps, 87). “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree)” (Gal. 3:13). Christ's accursed death on the cross saved us from God's eternal curse upon sin!

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 HC QAs 35-36

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 15

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 13 WILLIAM TYNDALE PART 2

Reformation 500 WEEK 13    William Tyndale Part 2

     While Tyndale was in hiding trying to finish his English translation of the Bible, the king of England, Henry VIII, was trying to divorce Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; and niece of Emperor Charles V), the first of his six wives ("divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived"), because she had provided him with no male heir. Henry appealed to the pope for annulment, arguing that he had violated Leviticus 20:21, “If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing…. They shall die childless.” What Henry really wanted was to marry Anne Boleyn, with whom he had been having an affair.

     The question of the legality of Henry’s marriage was considered by the universities; and scholars decided that the king was justified in pursuing divorce. But the pope (for political reasons) refused to give in; and threatened excommunication.

     After reading a copy of Tyndale’s Obedience of the Christian Man, given to him by Anne Boleyn, Henry decided he needed a “scholar like Tyndale to advance his cause of gaining a divorce from his first wife, and establishing himself as a higher authority in England than the pope, so he sent agents after Tyndale to offer him a salary and safe passage back to England. Tyndale respectfully refused this offer, saying he would return to England only if the king granted approval and made arrangements for the Bible to be translated into the English language” (Christian History #16).

     On Jan. 25, 1533, Henry secretly married Anne Boleyn. In May, Thomas Cranmer, the newly installed Archbishop of Canterbury, pronounced the king’s marriage to Catherine null and void. On June 1, 1533, Cranmer crowned Anne as queen (shortly thereafter she gave birth to Elizabeth). In 1534, Henry had Parliament pass the Law of Supremacy, which decreed that the king, not the pope, “justly and rightfully is and ought to be the supreme Head of the Church of England.”

     In 1535, while Tyndale was living in Antwerp, Belgium, “he was betrayed into the hands of local authorities and agents of Charles V by Henry Phillips, a down-and-out student who professed to be sympathetic to Tyndale’s work” (DeMar, 220).

     Tyndale was imprisoned for more than a year at Vilvorde Castle near Brussels. At his trial, acting as his own lawyer, Tyndale maintained that faith alone justifies before God. He was condemned as a heretic to be strangled and then burned. On October 6, 1536, when the executioner was attaching the wire around his throat, Tyndale’s last words were, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.”

     Less than two years later, King Henry “decreed that a copy of the English Bible be placed in every church in the kingdom…. Not long after Tyndale’s death, an English bishop declared to a gathering of churchmen, ‘The common people now know the Holy Scripture better than most of us’.” (Trial and Triumph, 130).

     “Tyndale’s English translation took the English language and turned it into beautiful prose. He coined new terms like ‘scapegoat,’ ‘longsuffering,’ and ‘peacemaker’.” (DeMar, 218). It is estimated “that ninety percent of Tyndale is reproduced in the King James Version of the New Testament” (Our English Bible, 26).

Also during 1534-1536, John Calvin was converted and published the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion. To Calvin we turn next.

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation500 William Tyndale Pt 2

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 13

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 13: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, QUESTION 33-34

Reformation 500 WEEK 13: Heidelberg Catechism, QUESTION 33-34

Question 33: Why is He called God’s only begotten Son, since we also are the children of God? Because Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God, but we are children of God by adoption, through grace, for His sake.

“God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Sons begotten [brought into existence by the process of reproduction] from parents “are properly called natural sons, to whom the essence and nature of their parents is communicated [not wholly but in part]” (Ursinus, 181). But the Son of God is eternal, as we have already proven in Question 25: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the one, true, eternal God. Thus, the Son of God, even before He became a man, has always been God’s only-begotten Son (John 17:5). In a manner that is altogether beyond our comprehension, the Father communicates the whole divine essence to the Son: “as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26). “The Father has, therefore, communicated to Him the life by which He Himself lives by Himself, …which life is that one and eternal Deity” (Ursinus, 181); “since the divine essence is infinite, indivisible, and not communicated in part…the Son has the whole essence communicated to Him, [and] He is, for this reason, equal with the Father, and consequently, true God” (Ursinus, 193). Jesus Christ is according to His eternal divine nature the natural and only Son of God.

The only way for sinners to become children of God is by adoption. God sent His Son into the world to die for our sins, so that God might, for His Son’s sake, confer upon us the right and title of the sons of God, which we forfeited in Adam (John 1:12; Luke 3:38). Before the foundation of the world, God “predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:5). “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father!” (Gal. 4:4-6).

Question 34: Why do you call Him our Lord? Because not with silver or gold, but with His precious blood He has redeemed and purchased us, body and soul, from sin and from all the power of the devil, to be His own.

The title “Lord” means “master, owner.” In the Old Testament, a slave could be freed if a ransom were paid to his master. By our willful disobedience in Adam, we became “slaves of sin” (Rom. 6:20) and the devil (2 Tim. 2:25-26), as God’s just punishment for our sin. But Jesus Christ our Savior has redeemed us from the slavery of sin and Satan, by “giving His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45) – to fully satisfy God’s justice; “you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold…but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Since His Church was “purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28), all believers belong to Him as His bondservants (Rom. 6:20-22). By the grace of His Holy Spirit we call Him LORD (1 Cor. 12:3), and are thankful to Him for our redemption. “For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). 

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 HC QAs 33-34

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 13

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 11 LUTHER ZWINGLI

Reformation 500 WEEK 11    Luther Zwingli

Philip of Hesse, “along with other German and Swiss princes and rulers, faced three enemies: France, from the West; the Islamic forces or ‘Turks,’ from the East; and the Pope, ubiquitously [everywhere]. The princes could not afford to be divided; their lives and the survival of their provinces demanded a united front among the splintered reform movements to withstand these enemies at the gate” (Nichols, Luther, 117).

     “But theologians on neither side would bless a military covenant unless there were first an agreement in religion. The Swiss felt that the Lutherans were still tainted with popery.” The Lutherans “believed the Swiss were of one stripe with the [radical reformers].” Plus, Luther was against using the sword “in the defense of religion because the sword belongs only to the magistrate to keep peace”(Bainton, 91f). 

     Prince Philip summoned an impressive gathering of theologians to his castle at Marburg on the first three days of October 1529. From the Swiss Confederacy, Zwingli was joined by John Oecolampadius, from Basel; and Martin Bucer, from Strassburg. “Luther was joined by Justas Jonas and Philip Melanchthon as representatives of Wittenberg” (Nichols, 118). “It was the first council among Protestants, and the first attempt to unite them” (Schaff, 7:637).

     Both sides discussed fifteen articles, expressing the basics of evangelical doctrine. They agreed on all but the last article which concerned the Lord’s Supper. Both Luther and Zwingli condemned the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation [the bread and wine change into the body and blood of Christ]; and “Zwingli agreed that the celebration is something more than a memorial because there is a spiritual communion with Christ” (Bainton, 92). Zwingli argued for a spiritual eating of Christ on the basis of John 6:63: “the words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” “Zwingli reasoned: Christ ascended to heaven, therefore he cannot be on earth with his body” (Schaff, 7:642). But Luther insisted that “This is my body” (which he wrote with chalk on the banquet table) should be taken literally. Thus, Christ’s physical body is in the sacrament. “I believe, said Luther, that Christ is in heaven, but also in the sacrament, as substantially as he was in the Virgin’s womb. I care not whether it be against nature and reason, provided it be not against faith” (Ibid, 642).

     The conference ended with this final statement: “although at present we are not agreed on the question whether the real body and blood of Christ are corporally present in the bread and wine, yet both parties shall cherish Christian charity for one another, so far as the conscience of each will permit; and both parties will earnestly implore Almighty God to strengthen us by his Spirit in the true understanding. Amen.”

     The Conference “was by no means a total failure. It prepared the way for the Augsburg Confession, the chief [creed] of the Lutheran Church” (Schaff, 7:649).

     Zwingli and his fellow Swiss went home and ended up fighting and losing a war against the Catholics. Zwingli was killed in battle, and his body was quartered by the executioner. “Luther did not soften at the news but regarded Zwingli’s death as a judgment for having taken the sword on behalf of the gospel” (Bainton, 94). “While eventually the Reformed tradition would claim Calvin as its foundational theologian, there would still be much in it that bore Zwingli’s imprint” (Gonzalez, 65). 

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation500 Luther Zwingli

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 11

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 8: MARTIN LUTHER’S 1521-1525

Reformation 500 WEEK 8: Martin Luther’s 1521-1525

     When Martin Luther refused to recant at the Diet of Worms, he sealed “his doom as a heretic. German nobles quickly surrounded him and led him safely from the hall,” and “when it became clear that the German nobles would not hand Luther over to the papal authorities, Charles V placed him under the imperial ban. Luther could be hunted down and killed by anyone – a ruling that he lived under for the rest of his life. Further, anyone harboring Luther would also fall under the same condemnation. Frederick the Wise [Luther’s prince and friend] fully predicted the outcome at Worms. He arranged for Luther to be kidnapped and taken to one of his castles” (Nichols, 42).

     Luther was taken to the castle, “the Wartburg, whose wooded rocky heights overlooked the pretty little town of Eisenach. Here Luther stayed for ten months [from 1521 to March 1522] while the storm quieted” (Kuiper, 181). Writing occupied most of his time. “He translated the Bible into the German language, the language of his people. In the Roman Catholic Church the Bible was studied only by the church leaders and scholars. Luther held that every man has the right and the duty to read and study the Bible for himself” (Kuiper, 184).

     When Luther returned to Wittenberg in March, 1522, “his breach with Rome was both irreparable and final. Now Luther had to oversee the establishment of a new church” (Nichols, 45). “Luther retained the idea that there is only one, true, visible Church. He did not think of himself and his followers as having left the Church. The Romanists were the ones who had departed from the New Testament Church. Luther did not feel that he had established a new church. All that he had done was to reform the Church that had become deformed” (Kuiper, 185).

     Luther “instituted numerous reforms, including congregational singing, the use of German in addition to Latin, and a new-found emphasis on the sermon” Nichols, 47). We still sing his most famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”

     “Luther challenged the celibacy of the priesthood and monks,” and backed it up “by marrying priests and by assisting nuns in escaping the convents at great personal risk. On one occasion, he assisted twelve nuns,” who “escaped on a wagon containing barrels used to store herring” (Nichols, 48). Luther later married one of these nuns – Katherina Von Bora – on June 13, 1525. They lived happily ever after.

     Two months before his wedding, Luther’s reform efforts were taken in a fanatical direction in the Peasants’ War. “German peasants found inspiration in both the life and writings of Martin Luther. As Luther threw off the shackles of the Medieval Roman church’s oppressive theology, so the peasants sought to rid themselves of the oppressive economic and political structures of the Medieval political world” (Nichols, 47). At first, “Luther was in sympathy with them. But when under the leadership of fanatics they began to kill and destroy, Luther turned against them and urged the government to put down their uprising with a firm hand. From that moment the lower classes turned their backs upon Luther and the Reformation” (Kuiper, 237).      

While Luther was finishing (in his opinion) his greatest work, The Bondage of the Will, another radical movement was taking place in Switzerland, led by a group who felt that Zwingli’s reforms were not going fast enough or far enough. Stay tuned.

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation500 Heidelberg Catechism QAs 24-25

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 8

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 8: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, QUESTIONS 24-25

Reformation 500 WEEK 8: Heidelberg Catechism, QUESTIONS 24-25

Question 24: How are these articles [of the Apostles creed] divided? Into three parts: the first is of God the Father and our creation; the second, of God the Son and our redemption; the third, of God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.

We can see how the Apostles’ Creed is based on the truth of the Trinity, the most basic truth of all (Matt. 28:19). “The Creed is divided into three parts, one each for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Jones, Study Helps, 55). These three Persons are indivisibly One God, having in common all the divine attributes (characteristics). Each Person is equally “eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good, and the overflowing fountain of all good” (Belgic Confession, article 1). All three Persons create, redeem, and sanctify, but in a different order and manner of working. God the Father made all things through His Son [John 1:3] and by His Holy Spirit [Gen. 1:2; Psalm 33:6; 104:30]. “The work of creation is attributed to the Father…because He is the fountain of Divinity, and of all divine works, and so of creation [John 5:17, 26]; …Redemption is attributed to the Son…because the Son is that Person who immediately [most directly] performs the work of redemption; for the Son alone was made a ransom for our sins [Mark 10:45]”; and “sanctification is attributed to the Holy Spirit,” because He “is that Person who immediately [most directly] sanctifies us [1 Pet. 1:2]” (Ursinus, Commentary, 120). For example, “God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts” (Galatians 4:6).

Question 25: Since there is but one Divine Being, why do you speak of three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Because God has so revealed Himself in His Word, that these three distinct persons are the one, true, eternal God.

The term Trinity (“three-in-one”) is used by the Christian Church to summarize the biblical truth that there is “one only God, who is the one single essence, in which are three Persons, really, truly and eternally distinct” (Belgic Confession, article 8). It is simply a matter of allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture. There are Scriptures which reveal that “the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4; cf. Isaiah 45:21; 1 Cor. 8:4); and there are Scriptures which reveal three distinct divine Persons. For example, “when our Lord was baptized in Jordan, the voice of the Father was heard, saying, This is My beloved Son (Matt. 3:17); the Son was seen in the water, and the Holy Spirit appeared in the shape of a dove” (Belgic, article 9). Jesus promised His disciples: “when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26). The church’s benediction is: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen” (2 Cor. 13:14). The prayers of believers are Trinitarian: “through [Christ] we have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18). God is one in essence, three in Person. People often object to using theological terms like essence and person. “Indeed, I could wish they were buried, if only among all men this faith was agreed on: that Father and Son and Holy Spirit are one God, yet the Son is not the Father, nor the Spirit the Son, but that they are differentiated by a peculiar quality” (John Calvin, Institutes, 1.13.5). 

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation500 Heidelberg Catechism QAs 24-25

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 8

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 7: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, QUESTIONS 20-23

Reformation 500 WEEK 7: Heidelberg Catechism, QUESTIONS 20-23

Question 20: Are all men, then, saved by Christ as they have perished in Adam? No, only those who by true faith are engrafted into Him and receive all His benefits.

Although Adam represented and acted on behalf of all mankind, Christ represented and acted on behalf of those who believe in Him and thereby receive the salvation He earned for them. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).

Question 21: What is true faith? True faith is not only a sure knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word, but also a hearty trust, which the Holy Spirit works in me by the Gospel, that not only to others, but to me also, forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness, and salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits.

Faith by definition is to rely upon the word of another. When a jury reaches a verdict, they are relying upon the testimony of faithful witnesses. Faith in God is to rely upon God’s Word (the Bible). True (saving) faith is to be convinced by the Holy Spirit that God’s Word is truth (John 17:17; 10:35; 2 Tim. 3:16); and, especially, to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation (John 5:24). Since He merited (earned) salvation for me, I embrace Him with a believing heart and seek nothing more besides Him.

Question 22: What, then, is necessary for a Christian to believe? All that is promised us in the Gospel, which the articles of our Catholic, undoubted Christian faith teach us in summary.

In order to truly believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and not be deceived by those who preach “another Jesus” (2 Cor 11:4), we need to believe specifically what the Bible says about who Jesus is and what He has done to save His people from their sins. These key doctrines of the gospel are summarized in the articles [statements] of Apostles’ Creed (not written by the apostles but based on their teaching in the New Testament). This Creed is called catholic, meaning universal, because it contains the universal beliefs of all Christians. They are undoubted (not doubted) by true believers.

Question 23: What are these articles? I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Begotten Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall 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.

The next 35 Questions and Answers (24-58) explain the biblical basis of these articles. 

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation500 Heidelberg Catechism QAs 20-23

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 7

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.