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Lesson 13 The Life of Thankfulness Lord's Day 32 - 33 Lord's Days 32-52 are the third part of the Catechism. These are the questions 86-129. This part deals with the life of the converted one as a life of thankfulness.
Do you still remember question #2 about the three things which we must know that we may
in comfort live and die happily? You will be able to trace this back in the epistle to
the Romans. The Heidelberg Catechism, following in the footsteps of this epistle, has
been divided accordingly.
Q. 86. Since then we are delivered from our misery, merely of
grace, through Christ, without any merit of ours, why must we still do good works?
(a) Romans 6:13, 12:1-2, 1 Peter 2:5, 9, 1 Corinthians 6:20; Why Must We Still Do Good Works? The question is understandable. If salvation is a matter of mere grace, why then must we still do good works? Do we not confess that it is all the work of God, from beginning to end? Christ draws a person out of the bottomless pit of misery. Man himself does not contribute anything to that. In no way does he even deserve to be drawn out of that pit. In opposition to other religions, we have confessed that good works have no weight in the balances regarding deliverance. Do we then not contradict ourselves when we again bring up good works? The answer is surprisingly simple: Christ redeemed His children with His blood. He also actually delivered them from the power of Satan. The debt is forgiven. However, the Lord does more. Man is also thoroughly polluted with the filthiness of sin. Therefore he must be changed, indeed, be renewed, as we already have seen in question and answer 6. He must again be in the likeness of God, as Adam was before the fall. God's image must be restored in him. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul said: "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29). This is no small thing: to be delivered from hell, from the slavery of Satan, to be made a child of God from being a child of the devil. What an honor! And what a glorious future: to live forever in heaven with the Lord, restored in God's image and in the likeness of the Lord Jesus. Should that not cause a person to be thankful? Of course, thankfulness will be expressed, in words and deeds. These then are those good works. A four-fold function Good works have a four-fold function.
A. By no means; for the Holy Scripture declares that no unchaste person, idolator, adulterer, thief, covetous man, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or any such like, shall inherit the kingdom of God (a). (a). 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Ephesians 5:5-6, 1 John 3:14. Will unrepentant, ungodly persons be saved? Paul wrote: "Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The previous answer indicates why a redeemed sinner ought to show his thankfulness in a godly life. However, if this does not happen and he lives in all kinds of sins, can he then expect to be saved? Here the answer is very clear: In no wise. Antinomians There have always been people who made good works a ground upon which they expect their salvation. They want to earn heaven. But there have also been people who turned the other way. We call them antinomians: people who are against (anti) a new life in accordance to the law (nomos). They continue living in many sins. They proceed to speak well of this. They reason, "This would make grace much greater." But that is impossible. If we say that we possess grace, we cannot continue to live in sin. God's Word is very clear in this, as we read in the text quoted above from 1 Corinthians 6. Christ not only delivers from guilt, but also renews by the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the person who may be joined to Christ through faith hates sin with everything that is in him. If a Christian falls into one of the sins mentioned, he cannot continue living in it, for then he has no rest until he has taken refuge to the blood of Christ and has received forgiveness. Therefore, this cannot be lacking in sanctification.
Q. 88. Of how many parts does the true conversion of man consist? (a). Romans 6:1, 4-6, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:5-6, 8-10, 1 Corinthians 5:7, 2 Corinthians 7:10. Conversion Without conversion unto God no person can be saved. It is stated more than 140 times in the Bible: repent ye. But that repentance must be true and genuine. Then it is necessary in the first place to know what conversion actually is. An unconverted person runs away from God. He must stand still, turn around, and return to God. In order for him to stand still and return, a new birth is necessary, which is called regeneration. Christ said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Regeneration is the beginning of conversion. It causes a process to begin that will last a lifetime: a distancing one's self from his old lifestyle and a restoration of man to be what he was when God created him, namely, as bearer of God's image. In answer 88 the distancing of one's self from his old lifestyle is called the mortification of the old man. The restoration of God's image in man is denominated in the answer as the quickening of the new man. What these expressions mean are explained in the following questions.
Q. 89. What is the mortification of the old man? (a). Romans 8:13, Joel 2:13, Hosea 6:1. What is the old man? Is it someone who is old? No, the old man is the man before his conversion, the man who by nature is prone to hate God and his neighbor. Because of sin, he is incapable of doing any good and is inclined to all evil. We have learned what that consists of in questions 5 and 8 of Lord's Days 2 and 3. Review these once more. In this respect, every person who is not yet converted is only an "old man." Everything in the old man is directed against God. And that has to die. This does not happen all at once in regeneration. No, the old man is so strong that it takes a lifetime to mortify it. Thus the old man still continues to live in a regenerated person. However, the Lord guarantees that victories will be gained over the old man. The regenerated person A regenerated person can never, completely and absolutely, fall back into that old lifestyle again, although he is sometimes afraid that this will happen. It does require much striving and prayer. The latter is especially needed, for God's help is essential in this strife. In regeneration, a person receives a new heart and a new life. By the mouth of Ezekiel, God said to the people exiled in Babylon, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them" (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Then he begins to see that he has sinned his entire life, indeed, that he is entirely sinful. That causes sorrow, namely grief and remorse. It is not in a way where he will scold himself and think, "How foolish I have been; now I am left with the sad consequences." It is not only of concern because he finds the consequences of sin the worst part. If that were the case, he would only have regret about what he had done. No, he finds the worst part to be that he has sinned against God. He has remorse because of sin itself. With his sins, he has angered God, that God who never has been anything but good to him. Pangs of Love To begin to be aware that a person is nothing more than a sinner causes pangs of love, for such a person has acquired love for God. He desires to eradicate those sins, root and branch, in order to make everything well again with the Lord. But in that he has no success. He sees more and more sin in his heart. However, he may also experience that his sins are washed away by the blood of Christ. It was for that reason that the Lord Jesus died on the cross. When this happens, peace enters his heart. Then it is well again between God and himself. This makes him exceedingly thankful. Out of thankfulness, he increasingly hates sin. And whenever it is at all possible, he runs away from sin. He wants to eradicate sin from his life. This is what is mean by fleeing from sin. At the moment God's child dies, the old man also dies. Then all his sins die. They are buried with him. And when one day the Lord Jesus returns and God's child is resurrected, he will be totally renewed. No trace of sin will be found in him anymore. His heart is then as pure as Adam's was in Paradise.
Q. 90. What is the quickening of the new man?
(a). Romans 5:1, 14:17, Isaiah 57:15; Conversion: sorrow and joy The previous answer showed us a mark of true conversion: sorrow of heart, mortification, a breaking down, hating and fleeing from everything that is wrong. Now a different mark comes to light, which is, a joy of heart in God. This joy stands in opposition to sorrow. That joy begins at regeneration. Then God's love enters the heart. And love is accompanied with joy. With a sorrow over sin, there is at the same time a joy in the heart. This is wonderful indeed! Because the love of and unto God is shed abroad in the heart, that joy has everything to do with God. It comes from Christ, although that person is not yet aware of it. That awareness comes with the knowledge of Christ, because it is especially a joy in God through Christ. Then that joy is also much deeper. In any case, it is not a superficial, transient joy. No, that joy is and remains in the heart. This is why the word "sincere" is used. For that reason, Peter could write, "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8) Thankfulness Together with that joy, there is also thankfulness for the deliverance received. That thankfulness desires to express itself. A "thankfulness" which only exists in words is not true thankfulness. True thankfulness wants to express itself in deeds. It wants to know: "What does the Lord desire of me?" That I desire to do with all my ability. My whole life must a single testimony of thankfulness. I want to live for the Lord. In such a life good works will be seen. If there are no good works, then my faith is a dead faith. The apostle James wrote in his epistle, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26).
Q. 91. But what are good works?
(a). Romans 14:23; What are good works? What actually are good works or good deeds? Everyone at one time or another does things which are good in principle. A person does his work faithfully, takes good care of his wife and children, does not steal, does not swear, and leads a decent life. This is certainly not wrong, so it must be good. In a sense, this is true, but there is an expression, "When two people do the same thing, that does not mean that it is always the same thing." For instance, I can, as an employee in a certain business, do my work faithfully and conscientiously. I am trustworthy. Why do I do this? Is it because the Lord requires this of me? Or is it done to gain the favor of people that they trust me completely? I am even in the possession of the key to the safe. On an evil day I seize the opportunity and run off with a large sum of money. Of what value then was my earlier t rustworthiness? We could mention many such examples. From a true faith Before He calls something good, the Lord looks at the heart. Why is this done? What is the intended by this? Answer 91 says that good works must meet three requirements in order to truly be good works: they must be fruits of a true faith, must correspond completely with what God requires in His law, and must be focused on God's honor. To do a good work, I need faith. Paul tells us, "For whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). This indicates that there is a bond with the Lord Jesus. I feel myself to be dependent on Him and pray for His help. I realize that sin cleaves to that work and pray for His cleansing blood. I am also convinced in this work I seek to serve God. According to the Law Is what I do according to God's law? God's law unerringly declares who God Himself is. Therefore, He can only be satisfied with what completely agrees with His law. Otherwise He can never call it good. He Himself is perfect. Therefore He can never be satisfied with something that is less than perfect. Thus, we will never be able to think, "This is also possible." The Lord Jesus says, "But in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9) To the Honor of God Is it my desire to honor God with my deeds, or do I have myself in view? For example, it is possible that a man is very religious in order to be respected by men. The Lord Jesus says, "Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward" (Matthew 6:2). The Lord created us to honor Him in thoughts, words and deeds. If we fall short of this, then it is a matter of sinning. To sin indeed means, "missing the mark." In one of the epistles of Paul we read, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). Perhaps you think this is strict. But it is true. God's child does not desire it otherwise. He or she wants to be entirely God-oriented. That makes him or her happy. Questions to go with Lesson 13 (Lord's Day 32 and 33)
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