My previous posts were highlighting the misery section of the catechism. Why did the Heidelberg focus so much on misery to begin the document? If you don’t see the need for grace, the reality of God’s unmerited favor won’t seem quite as amazing to you. Our Western mindsets are ones that respond most readily to the forensic aspect of the gospel, our guilt and God’s provision on our behalf. Had the catechism been written from a different worldview, another angle of God’s work would be highlighted.
Colossians 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
A missionary spoke at church a few months ago. He has been serving in Africa for a time, and the tribes he works with are very aware of the spiritual realm. The work of Jesus triumphing over the demonic realm is every bit as true as the obedience of Jesus winning salvation from the due penalty for our sin. And just as an African needs a mediator to speak on behalf of their sin, a Western man needs the unseen realm to be conquered on his behalf by the one who created all things. The Heidelberg was written in a time and place, and the legal demands of God’s decree was highlighted. I say this not to dilute the value of this catechism, but to recognize the context from whence it came.
Today we turn a corner to discuss the deliverance of God. This deliverance is both legal and spiritual. And in a sense, the two categories ought to run together for there is no separation between the demands of God and the actions of those under His authority. Every action is theological and every doctrine has a manifestation in what we might call the “real world.” The Dark Ages were anything but dark and the Enlightenment was anything but enlightened. Modernism was a grave mistake for our civilization and it will be put to open ridicule in due time. We have been delivered from the misery of sin and one day we will see the culmination of this delivery.
Q & A 12
Q. According to God’s righteous judgment we deserve punishment both now and in eternity:
how then can we escape this punishment and return to God’s favor?
A. God requires that his justice be satisfied.1 Therefore the claims of this justice must be paid in full, either by ourselves or by another.2
1 Ex. 23:7 Rom. 2:1-11
2 Isa. 53:11; Rom. 8:3-4
A common strategy to opine about this document is to focus on the answers, but I want to begin with the question this time. You see, God’s judgment truly is righteous. It is right and good that I deserve eternal punishment for the eternal guilt that I earned and continue to earn. Anyone who believes that our punishment ought to be temporal hasn’t contemplated the extent of our debt to a holy God who created all things to His glory and holds them all together for our good. God will not hold anyone “less guilty” than another when perfect symmetry to His standard is the only acceptable result.
Proverbs 17:15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
At a first glance, many may read this proverb with a hint of interest. Of course God is one who judges rightly. He would not condemn anyone who didn’t deserve it, nor would He ever give approval to anyone who had lived before Him dishonorably. But then you look to the cross. Make a mental note of this. We’ll be returning to it.
Q & A 13
Q. Can we make this payment ourselves?
A. Certainly not. Actually, we increase our debt every day.1
1 Matt. 6:12; Rom. 2:4-5
I have made this point before and it tends to not go over very well. People generally don’t want to hear it! You can say that you had only accumulated debt to your creator all your life and nobody bats an eye, but then you remark that even after coming to faith you continue to miss the mark and people lose their minds.
I get it. Before coming to faith, I wanted only to sin. I didn’t want to do what is right. I participated in sin. I cooperated in sin. I craved sin. But then I was broken, recognized that even my good works were as filthy rags, and turned in desperation to the only one who could save. I was a new creation, with a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone. I was careful to walk in the statutes of God with the Holy Spirit within me. Why would I then continue to fall short?
The Christian life is not easy. It is a life of continual conflict. You see, we wrestle with our flesh, and though that is a battle that we wish weren’t present in us, it is a great grace! Romans 7 shows that even an apostle with a deep understanding of the law of God has this same struggle. I hate the sin within me and no longer cooperate with it, but stand against it.
Sometimes I do so triumphantly. Sometimes I fall short. But I struggle where I once had relished my sin. The struggle with sin is something that causes many Christians to despair, but this should not be! No, I do not suggest anyone sin so that grace may abound. But at the same time I have counseled others to take comfort in the struggle. Once they were willing participants. Now they are living in opposition in the very sin that creeps through at times.
Do you enjoy your sin or do you hate your sin? Falling short is something we all deal with. And as you are more and more sanctified you become more and more aware of sins that you had overlooked before. This is a lifelong process. As you grow in the grace of Christ you become more aware of areas that need to be conformed to Christ. If you never see any need for transformation that is more reason to despair than if you become aware of your sin.
If you have some notion of trying to negotiate with God for the satisfaction of your sin, you are deficit spending. Your debt is not erased through your own actions, no matter how noble or how well meaning they may be. Attempting to satisfy God through your own actions is nothing more than you demonstrating pride in yourself.
James 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
The desire to attain the salvation of God apart from the atoning work of one another is the sin of pride. Full stop. Better to recognize your immeasurable need and your incalculable lack before a holy God if you wish to be found acceptable. The alternative is to be in sync with the world around you, which seems attractive at first glance, until you recognize that the gate to eternal life is narrow and it is the few who find it, not the many.
Q & A 14
Q. Can another creature—any at all—pay this debt for us?
A. No. To begin with, God will not punish any other creature for what a human is guilty of.1 Furthermore, no mere creature can bear the weight of God’s eternal wrath against sin and deliver others from it.2
1 Ezek. 18:4, 20; Heb. 2:14-18
2 Ps. 49:7-9; 130:3
The sacrificial system in the Old Testament is sometimes referred to as an example to the contrary. Some would say that the transfer of sins to an animal from a person undermines this teaching. This is incomplete at best, as this practice was never meant to be perpetual, but rather pointed to a future perfect sacrifice that didn’t need to be repeated. The protoevangelium in Genesis 3 states that “he shall bruise your head,and you shall bruise his heel.” This is referring to a serpent, and in context it is fair to assume that the serpent would strike the heel of the one bruising its head. It is also fair to consider that the serpent bruised this heel in the act of striking it with a venomous bite.
The perfect sacrifice was always meant to be killed in the act of delivering humanity from the curse of sin. The one bruising the head of the serpent would do so in the act of receiving the venom from the same serpent. The death of bulls and goats was repeated regularly. It was never… finished. I cannot atone for the sins of anyone else. I have enough sins on my own. No animal could ever provide satisfaction for anyone’s sins. No parent could cover the sins of their children. Not if God is to remain a righteous judge.
Q & A 15
Q. What kind of mediator and deliverer should we look for then?
A. One who is a true1 and righteous2 human, yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also true God.3
1 Rom. 1:3; 1 Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:17
2 Isa. 53:9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 7:26
3 Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Jer. 23:6; John 1:1
God is just in His judgement, His wrath, His punishment. He never doesn’t do right, to use a double negative for effect. Everyone awaiting a final judgement in Hell is fully deserving of it, even as nobody awaiting a final glory in the New Heavens and New Earth truly deserves it. Not according to their own means at least!
We need a substitute, one who will stand in our place before almighty God. This substitute must be true, that is, the substitute must be a human. The blood of bulls and goats is insufficient to cover the sins of humans. Hebrews 10:4 makes this clear, but don’t stop there. The old economy of temple, sacrifices and ceremonies has been replaced by the new economy found in Jesus whom all of the previous things pointed to. You did keep reading after verse 4, and if you didn’t, please do!
1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
Sacrifice is necessary, but better than sacrifice is obedience. We have all failed to obey as we ought. We are not morally upright as Adam was before the fall. We are stained by sin, and that stain continues to spread as we add to it. We require a substitute who is not only true, but who is also righteous.
Hebrews 7:26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
Jesus is the spotless lamb. Not because he had no physical blemish but because he had no moral blemish. He is able to serve as our high priest forever! He was raised to an incorruptible life and will never need to be replaced due to death. He is without guilt so there will never be a sacrifice for His sin. He can serve us as our mediator continually forever! How can this be? How can one meet all these requirements? He is fully man and yet completely unstained by the same sin that you and I struggle with! How is this possible? With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Jesus is truly man. Jesus is truly God. Jesus threads that needle, so to speak, and fills every role that we require for satisfaction with God. I say He threaded that needle, but that is not a good metaphor. It is possible to drop a thread from an airplane, let wind gusts take it hundreds of miles, and then have it land through the eye of a needle suspended in your outstretched hand. Unlikely, but not out of the realm of possibility. For thousands of years, mankind looked for one who would crush the head of the serpent as he took a lethal wound to his heel and nobody was able to accomplish it. It was impossible for anyone who was truly human for they could not be truly righteous. Only God is good. God is holy, which means that He is set apart. He is not like us. He is what we require but could never attain on our own.
Proverbs 17:15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
And there it is. This is the plot twist that the entire Bible hinges on. We know that person to be Jesus, so we are responsible for what we do with this knowledge. Adam and Eve only had to believe what portions of the promise had been granted them, and do so in faith in the one making that promise. Noah had a bit more information. Abraham even more. David still more. As God reveals more of Himself, humanity was responsible to more and more until the information about this serpent destroyer was completed.
This additional information culminated in Jesus, and we all know He lived the sinless life that any descendant of Adam couldn’t. He then bore the sins of many in the way that nobody but God would be able to. And as this transaction was ratified through the resurrection, God justified the wicked by condemning the righteous. The only way for God to not become an abomination to Himself was for the eternal Son to willingly die for His bride.
God’s perfect justice had to be satisfied, either through the sinner or through another. It would be justice for all of humanity to drink the cup of God’s wrath. That would be right and good, even if every person made in the image of God were to suffer forever in outer darkness. Nobody would have reason to object. But God, being rich in mercy, stood in our place, and fulfilled the oldest prophecy given about the final defeat of Satan and of our sin. He took our shame and gave us His righteousness so that we might be called sons of God, and if you are resting in His work, that is what you are.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
