Okay, at least one more day this week, maybe more, as I’m really enjoying Kevin DeYoung’s commentary on it:
2. Q: “What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?”
A: Three things: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.
DeYoung points out that some have criticized the Heidelberg catechism because it begins with man’s “comfort,” in contrast to the Westminster Catechism, which begins with the glory of God: “What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever.” He comments, “…if we want to be picky, Westminster can be criticized for starting with what Christ has done for us, like the Heidelberg.” And then he goes on to say they BOTH begin in the right place, Heidelberg with grace and Westminster with glory.
Question 2 deals with how we receive comfort from knowing that we belong to Christ. Knowing that Christ has fully paid for all our debts and freed us from the tyranny of the devil is meaningless if we don’t know we need to be freed. DeYoung remarks that the rest of the Catechism follows a three-fold outline: sin, salvation, sanctification to serve:
“All three things are necessary. If we don’t know about our sin — which brings a true sense of guilt — we will be too confident in our abilities to do right and make the world a better place. We will ignore our most fundamental problem, which is not lack of education, or lack of opportunity, or lack of resources but sin and its attendant misery. But if we don’t know how we are set free from this sin and misery — which comes through God’s grace — we will try to fix ourselves in futility or give up altogether in despair. And if we don’t know how to thank God, showing gratitude for such deliverance, we will live in a self-centered, self-referential bubble, which is not why God saved us from our sin and misery in the first place. “
What do you think? Is it necessary, as DeYoung says, to know about our sin in order to receive comfort and joy in belonging to Christ?
How do you see guilt, grace, and gratitude played out in your life?
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