Grace and Peace Episode 5

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Grace and Peace Episode 5

Presbyterian Church of Easton

September 29, 2020

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2

Heidelberg Catechism

Q9.  But doesn’t God do us an injustice by requiring in his law what we are unable to do?

A.  No, God created human beings with the ability to keep the law.  They, however, provoked by the devil, in willful disobedience, robbed themselves and all their descendants of these gifts. 

Q10.  Does God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished?

A.  Certainly not.  God is terribly angry with the sin we are born with as well as the sins we personally commit. As a just judge, God will punish them both now and in eternity, having declared:“Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.”

Q11.  But isn’t God also merciful?

A. God is certainly merciful, but also just.  God’s justice demands that sin, committed against his supreme majesty, be punished with the supreme penalty— eternal punishment of body and soul

So far we have seen that as a result of our earliest ancestors, Adam and Eve, we are predisposed to sin.   We often miss the mark that God sets for us.   And as a result, we are miserable.  This leads us to an important question.   Why would God hold us accountable to obey a law we cannot obey?  This just does not seem right.  In fact, it seems to be unjust. 

The catechism answers this by saying that Adam and Eve were able to obey the law.   But, they freely chose to violate the law.   And as a result of what they did, we are lawbreakers and miserable.   

This leads us to another question.   If we break the law because of our ancestors then why are we punished?  And the catechism answers:  You broke the law.   God is just.   Therefore you will be punished.

This is certainly a downer.   We will be punished for doing things we are compelled to do,  It doesn’t seem right, but God’s justice demands it.   So our only hope is to throw ourselves upon the mercy of God.  The good news is that God is merciful.  The bad news is that God is also just and will punish lawbreakers.   

Into this seemingly hopeless situation, we are comforted by knowing that we “belong— body and soul, in life and in death—to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.  He has fully paid for all our sins with his precious blood and has set us free from the tyranny of the devil.  He also watches over us in such a way that not a hair can fall from our heads without the will of our Father in heaven;  in fact, all things must work together for our salvation.  Because we belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures us of eternal life and makes us wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

Heavenly Father, We confess that we continue to be disobedient in many ways.   And we deserve punishment.   So we ask for mercy.  We ask for a savior.   We ask for someone to redeem us from sin and pay for our punishment.  And so we ask for Jesus.  Amen.