The Heidelberg Catechism - The Foundations Of Our Faith

ROMANS 6      THE POWER OF A NEW IDENTITY In working through the Heidelberg Catechism, we come soon to consider the relationship of the believer to the ten commandments of God. But before we can deal with the Ten Commandments, we need to work out some things in the believers' lives. We as believers have an unusual relationship with the Ten Commandments. It is like a mother in law. You can't live with them nor without them. You and I must figure out our relationship with them. How do we do that? We know from our weekly law/grace readings that the law cannot save us. It shows us our sin and our need of a saviour. We know from our previous studies that no matter how much we try, we cannot save ourselves, and in fact the whole nature of grace is to bring us to rely totally upon the grace of God revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ and brought to us by Him alone! Later,  in Romans 7 the apostle Paul also instructs about the Law of God. The duty towards the law, The death of the l...

REPENTANCE   Luke 15: 3-24 Luke 15: The Lost Sheep 1       Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." 3       So He told them this parable, saying,4 "What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. The Lost Coin 8       "Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the h...

Heidelberg Catechism   LORD'S DAY 28 75. Q. How does the Lord's supper signify and seal to you that you share in Christ's one sacrifice on the cross and in all his gifts? A. In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and drink of this cup in remembrance of him. With this command he gave these promises: First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely was his body offered for me and his blood poured out for me on the cross. Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the minister and taste with my mouth the bread and the cup of the Lord as sure signs of Christ's body and blood, so surely does he himself nourish and refresh my soul to everlasting life with his crucified body and shed blood.   76. Q. What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ and to drink his shed blood? A. First, to accept with a believing heart all the suffering and the death of Chri...