Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Grace and Peace Episode 32
Presbyterian Church of Easton
April 25, 2021
Grace and Peace Episode 32
Presbyterian Church of Easton
April 25, 2021
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2
Heidelberg Catechism
59Q. What good does it do you, however, to believe all this?
A. In Christ I am righteous before God and heir to life everlasting.
59Q. What good does it do you, however, to believe all this?
A. In Christ I am righteous before God and heir to life everlasting.
60Q. How are you righteous before God?
A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments, of never having kept any of them, and of still being inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without any merit of my own, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, and as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is accept this gift with a believing heart.
A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments, of never having kept any of them, and of still being inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without any merit of my own, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, and as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is accept this gift with a believing heart.
61Q. Why do you say that through faith alone you are righteous?
A. Not because I please God by the worthiness of my faith. It is because only Christ’s satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness make me righteous before God and because I can accept this righteousness and make it mine in no other way than through faith.
A. Not because I please God by the worthiness of my faith. It is because only Christ’s satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness make me righteous before God and because I can accept this righteousness and make it mine in no other way than through faith.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
If we appeared before God today to account for our lives, what would say? Would we tell God that we have perfectly obeyed all that he commanded? If you did that we would be lying. Every day, in numerous ways, we disobey God. And the punishment for disobedience is death. But if we believe in Jesus Christ, if our faith is in him, then when we appear before God the sentence is not death but eternal life.
The reason for this is that Christ lived a perfect life. He was obedient in every way. Jesus was perfectly righteous. And if we believe in him and trust in his love then his righteousness is imputed for us.
When the day comes and we appear before God to account for our lives, God will look at us and see Jesus. We will be clothed in Jesus’ righteousness. And God will pronounce the sentence, “not guilty, all your sins are paid in full, welcome to heaven and your eternal life”.
This all comes to us as a free gift of God’s grace. This gift is available to all who believe in his Son.
This all comes to us as a free gift of God’s grace. This gift is available to all who believe in his Son.
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we ask you for the gift of faith in your Son, Jesus Christ. Bless us with saving grace. And we thank you for promising us eternal life. All this we pray in our savior’s glorious name, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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