Devotional Heidelberg Catechism
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
IN the early 1560s, Elector Frederick III requested a new catechism be composed for teaching young people, a guide for preaching in provincial churches, and a form of confessional unity among the several Protestant factions in the province of Palatinate.
So much of the reformation was about a critique of the Catholic Church, therefore, much of its early theology was reactive to the abuses the Reformers had experienced. This catechism was less about proving someone wrong, and more about uniting people together in the hope and power of Jesus Christ.
This catechism was less about proving someone wrong, which so much of the Reformation was focused on in the late 1500s, and the authors focused on the things we can agree upon, on a
If it’s been a while
Body
Body
Q.
What is your only comfort
in life and death?
A.
That I am not my own,
For many of us, the idea that our body does not belong to us sounds terrible, even cruel. Even images of slavery come to mind, where people wept that they were “owned” by someone else. So how could it be that "that I am not my own” might give me comfort?
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Well if I am not my own, who do I belong to?
Well if I am not my own, who do I belong to?
Well if I am not my own, who do I belong to?
but belong with body and soul,
both in life and in death,
Romans 17:7-9
7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
Therefore, come what may to my body or soul, I belong to Jesus, come what may, my only comfort in life or in death, is that someone else has claim on my life, and that someone else has power.
What is that power?
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
JOhn 10:28
23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins
with his precious blood,
and has set me free
from all the power of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
He has fully paid for all my sins
with his precious blood,
and has set me free
from all the power of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
here’s the power:
He has fully paid for all my sins
with his precious blood,
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
and has set me free
from the tyranny of the devil.
and has set me free
from all the power of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
Jesus became flesh and blood, endured all the temptations of the devil, even endured the temptation of trying to avoid death. NO, Says Jesus, he will take death, so that the power of death might be destroyed - so that the power of the devil can be destroyed.
8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
He also preserves me in such a way
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
He also watches over me in such a way
The confidence we can have in prayer is how closely God watches over his children. That not even a hair from our head can fall without the will of our father.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
h
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
2 Thessalonnians 3:3
that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven;
The confidence we can have in prayer is how closely God watches over his children. That not even a hair from our head can fall without the Father allowing it.
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish.
in fact, all things must work together
for my salvation.
And it’s in prayer that we plea to God and discover from God how He is working all things together for our salvation.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit
assures me of eternal life
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us,
21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
This comfort is not just for us to sit around like some trust fund kid who can live foolishly without discipline. This assurance means we can live wholeheartedly, not in fear, but willing and ready to live for Him.
What does living for him look like? It means being Spirit-led. That means in everything we do, we can follow God. What does God have for us? To love Him by loving people. By following Him as he heals through us, making us agents and active members of his healing, restoration, burden-bearing, generously forgiving people.
May this pause not be a time where we wait to live, but use this as a time where sports, plans, and other distractions have been ripped away, so that we can find new ways to wholeheartedly live for him.
It means helping the world find the same comfort - that they are not their own. but belong, both in body and in soul, in life or in death, to the faithful savior, Jesus Christ.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.