What does the Law of God require of us?

by Patte Smith on Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 1:11pm ·

Question 4. What doth the Law of God require of us?


Answer. Christ teaches us that briefly, Matt. 22:37-40,
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength. [b] 
This is the first and the great commandment;
and the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets."

Question 5. Canst thou keep all these things perfectly?


Answer. In no wise; [c] for I am prone by nature to hate God and my neighbor. [d]

[a]: Rom. 3:20[b]: Luke 10:27[c]: Rom. 3:10; 1John 1:8[d]: Rom. 8:7, Tit. 3:3

Question 9: Is God, then, not unjust by requiring in His Law what man cannot do?


Answer: No, for God so created man that he was able to do it.[1] But man, at the instigation of the devil,[2] in deliberate disobedience[3] robbed himself and all his descendants of these gifts.[4]

[1] Gen. 1:31. [2] Gen. 3:13; John 8:44; I Tim. 2:13, 14. [3] Gen. 3:6. [4] Rom. 5:12, 18, 19

Question 10: Will God allow such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished?

Answer: Certainly not. He is terribly displeased with our original sin as well as our actual sins. Therefore He will punish them by a just judgment both now and eternally,[1] as He has declared:[2] Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them (Galatians 3:10).

[1] Ex. 34:7; Ps. 5:4-6; 7:10; Nah. 1:2; Rom. 1:18; 5:12; Eph. 5:6; Heb. 9:27. [2] Deut. 27:26.

Question 11: But is God not also merciful?


Answer: God is indeed merciful,[1] but He is also just.[2] His justice requires that sin committed against the most high majesty of God also be punished with the most severe, that is, with everlasting, punishment of body and soul.[3]

[1] Ex. 20:6; 34:6, 7; Ps. 103:8, 9. [2] Ex. 20:5; 34:7; Deut. 7:9-11; Ps. 5:4-6; Heb. 10:30, 31. [3] Matt. 25:45,46.

Question 12. Since then, by the righteous judgment of God, we deserved temporal and eternal punishment, is there no way by which we may escape that punishment, and be again received into favor?


Answer. God will have His justice [a] satisfied; and therefore we must make this full [b] satisfaction, either by ourselves, or by another.
a]: Ex. 20:5[b]: Deut. 24:16; 2Cor. 5:14,15

Question 13. Can we ourselves then make this satisfaction?


Answer. By no means; [c] but on the contrary we [d] daily increase our debt.
[c]: Job 9:2,3; Job 15:14,15,16[d]: Mat. 6:12; Isa. 64:6

Question 15. What sort of a mediator and deliverer then must we seek for?


Answer. For One who is very Man, [g] and perfectly righteous; and yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, One who is also very [h] God.
[g]: 1Cor. 15:21; Rom. 8:3[h]: Rom. 9:5; Isa. 7:14

~ HEIDELBURG CATECHISM

And these words,
which I command you this day,
shall be in your heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way,
and when thou liest down,
and when thou risest up.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7