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Part two of this series is here.
14. Can any mere creature make satisfaction for us?
14. Can any mere creature make satisfaction for us?
None, for first, God will not punish any other creature for the sin which man committed;1 and further, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin 2 and redeem others from it.
1 Heb 2:14-18. 2 Ps 130:3.
One thing conferred significance to the sacrifice of animals under the typological administrations of the covenant of grace (i.e. those epochs of redemptive history from after the fall until the inauguration of the New Covenant): the obedience and death of Jesus the Messiah as the lamb of God. Read the rest of this entry »
Thanks to Justin Taylor for pointing me to Robert Gagnon’s brief essay here. On one level the argument isn’t really about fidelity to the original German and Latin texts but about the meaning of the proof texts cited in HC Q. 87, particularly 1 Cor 6.
Let me be clear that I have no sympathy for the pro-homosexual agenda in the PCUSA or anywhere else. Read the rest of this entry »
Thanks to Stephen Ley for alerting me to this interesting discussion. I don’t pretend to understand the intricacies of PCUSA (the mainline, largest and most liberal Presbyterian body in North America).
What is interesting about this sort of argument in this context is that it is an appeal an historic confessional document, it is an appeal to return to the original text, and it demonstrates some knowledge of the original text. Parts of the overture may, however, be relying on some older historical theology and historiography so I’m not sure all the points are correct and the last point makes one wonder if there is not some agenda (of what sort I don’t know) relative to the PCUSA’s stance concerning homosexuality. Clearly that is how the folks at Presbyterians for Renewal are taking this overture. Here is the substance of the overture. Read the rest of this entry »
14. Can any mere creature make satisfaction for us?
None, for first, God will not punish any other creature for the sin which man committed;1 and further, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin 2 and redeem others from it.
1 Heb 2:14-18. 2 Ps 130:3.
Much of the history of Israel is a history of blood. Moses shed Egyptian blood to save the life of an Israelite slave. Yahweh delivered Israel out of the house of slavery through bloodshed. Joshua and the Judges shed Canaanite blood as they conquered the promised land. David was a man of blood as he assumed and defended his throne. The entire Old Testament (Mosaic) cultic (religiious) system was bloody. Indeed, the quantity of animal blood shed by priests in the service of Yahweh was so great that it has become a scandal to modern sensibilities. Read the rest of this entry »
From 7 Feb 2007
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A correspondent to the HB writes:
About 7 years ago during a study of Romans in BSF, God rocked my theological world! My thinking was turned upside down as I embraced the doctrines of grace and began to see God and myself in a more biblical way. Over the next few years I began to read and study the Reformation and sought out contemporary authors who were firmly planted in this tradition. The White Horse Inn, Modern Reformation, RC Sproul, JI Packer — all these helped me grow in the knowledge and grace of Christ. The Heidelberg Catechism came up often on the WHI and I downloaded the catechism from the internet. As I began to read it the first question/ answer brought me to my knees as I knew an assurance that had often been lacking. My family is now a part of a small RCUS mission work in Bentonville, AR and we know that God has richly blessed us with a faithful pastor. Not many in the “Bible Belt” have ever heard of the Reformed denonminations, but I for one am most thankful that God lead me to the reformed confessions and cathechisms! It would be a terrible thing for these denominationns to take lightly the great treasures handed down to them from men who were willing to die for their faith in the all-sufficient Savior.
In Christ,
Johnna Duncan
13. Can we ourselves make this satisfaction.
By no means, on the contrary, we daily increase our guilt.1
1 Job 9:2, 3. Job 15:15,16. Matt 6:12. * Matt 16:26.
Only Christianity accounts for sin. Read the rest of this entry »
12. Since then by the righteous judgment of God we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, how may we escape this punishment and be again received into favor?
God wills that His justice be satisfied;1 therefore we must make full satisfaction to the same, either by ourselves or by another.2
1 Exodus 20:5. Exodus 23:7. 2 Romans 8:3,4.
The catechism says “God wills….” Our classic theologians spoke of God’s beneplacitum or his “good pleasure.” Sinners cannot stand before before a righteous and holy God. Not only does his nature make it that only the righteous can stand before God but also the divine will. God wills according to his nature, but the introduction of the reference to the divine will is very important. God is king and his will is sovereign. This a great lesson for our age. Read the rest of this entry »
I met Brian and Carla Bywaters last week in Ponte Vedra, FL at the Gospel-Driven Life Conference hosted by PV PCA. They were enthusiastic about the conference. In our conversations he mentioned that he had set Question 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism to song in order to memorize it. Well, that got my attention. He has graciously consented to allow me to post it on the web. Here it is.
If you want to contact Brian he’s at bbywaters at gmail dot com.
10. Will God suffer such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished?
By no means,1 but He is terribly displeased with our inborn as well as our actual sins, and will punish them in just judgment in time and eternity, as He has declared: “Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them.”2
1 Hebrews 9:27. 2 Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10; * Romans 1:18. * Matthew 25:41.
Eternal punishment is one thing, but what about “temporal” punishment? Does God punish sin and sinners in this life? Read the rest of this entry »
10. Will God suffer such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished?By no means,1 but He is terribly displeased with our inborn as well as our actual sins, and will punish them in just judgment in time and eternity, as He has declared: “Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them.”21 Hebrews 9:27. 2 Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10; * Romans 1:18. * Matthew 25:41.
Adam did not act as a purely private person. This is another idea that is hard for us to understand today. We don’t always clearly distinguish between “private” and “public” acts or roles. Adam had a public, official role to perform as the representative of all humanity. He was created good (Col 3:10), in the image of his Creator. He was, as Augustine said, “able to sin, able not to sin.” Read the rest of this entry »
10. Will God suffer such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished?
By no means,1 but He is terribly displeased with our inborn as well as our actual sins, and will punish them in just judgment in time and eternity, as He has declared: “Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them.”2
1 Hebrews 9:27. 2 Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10; * Romans 1:18. * Matthew 25:41.
Most people in our age seemed truly shocked by the notion that there is an abiding, universal, unbending moral standard. Read the rest of this entry »
The Heidelberg Catechism, building on the breakthrough of the first stage of the Reformation, is organized in three parts. Remarkably, as basic an insight as this is, it continues to elude nearly all evangelicals and many ostensibly Reformed folk. Read the rest of this entry »
Americans know in their heart of hearts they’re going to die but they don’t like to admit it. It’s a mark of our post-Christianity that this culture is so obsessed with youth and beauty. Most folk don’t die at home anymore. Many folk have never seen a dead person. We go away to antiseptic hospital rooms to die and are boxed up and delivered to the funeral home and, in many cases, (even the “open casket” seems to be disappearing) never seen again. Read the rest of this entry »
R. Scott Clark
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