Heidelberg Catechism Week 5

12. Q. 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? A. God requires that His justice be satisfied. Therefore the claims of His justice must be paid in full, either by ourselves or another.

13. Q. Can we pay this debt ourselves? A. Certainly not. Actually we increase our guilt every day.

14. Q. Can another creature - any at all - pay this debt for us? A. 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.

15. Q. What kind of mediator and deliverer should we look for then? A. One who is truly human and truly righteous, yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also true God.

My reflections on the reading from the book...

This week's questions continue along the theme of "the crisis of the human condition." We are challenged through these questions to acknowledge our inability to atone for our sins. No one cannot bear the weight of divine wrath! We need a Deliverer!

Kevin DeYoung explains where the catechism is leading its students: "Heidelberg's logic is marching us in a straight line to Christ. Our Deliverer is not named until [Week Six], but that's the only option Question 15 leaves on the table."

I think about my friend who professes a rather liberal Orthodox religiosity. She does not attend church but seems confident of her position before God. The truth is, her version of God is that He is the loving Father of the entire world. Her optimistic view of man's condition fails to recognize sin and its eternal consequences, and thus has no need of a Saviour. Any problem she faces, she attempts to resolve through persuasion, psychological insight, or other man-made contrivances. 

She often shares with me the relational difficulties in her life, and they always boil down to humanity's condition of selfishness, pride, and depravity. I pray that my continued friendship with her might be a means of leading her to an understanding of Christ as the only Way!

Thy work alone, my Saviour,
Can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within.

 (Horatius Bonar)