Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 5

The Commentary of Dr. Zacharias Ursinus on the Heidelberg Catechism I. What the Deliverance of Man Is

His deliverance, therefore, from this misery, requires, first, the pardon and abolishing of sin, and a restoration of the righteousness lost: and secondly, a release from all punishment and misery. As therefore, the misery of man consists of two parts—sin and death—so his deliverance consists of two parts—a deliverance from sin and death.

Question 12: Since, according to God’s righteous judgment we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, how can we escape this punishment and be again received into favor?

We all, by nature, prefer to think of God only in terms of his goodness and mercy. We would like him to be the kind of God who is willing just to let our sins go, without insisting on justice. As a matter of fact, that is the way many people today do think about God. But they are only deceiving themselves. When they do this, they are really imagining a false god—an idol. For in truth God is holy and righteous and will not compromise justice. — G. I. Williamson

Living and Dying in Joy: A Devotional Guide to the Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 5

Q&A 12

Q. Since, according to God’s righteous judgment we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, how can we escape this punishment and be again received into favor?

A. God demands that his justice be satisfied. Therefore we must make full payment, either by ourselves or through another.

QUESTION 12 Yamang ayon sa matuwid na kahatulan ng Diyos ay nararapat lamang tayong parusahan sa buhay na ito at maging sa susunod, paano natin matatakasan ang kaparusahang ito at muling magiging katanggap-tanggap sa Kaniya?

Titiyakin ng Diyos na ang Kanyang katarungan ay matutugunan. Kaya nga dapat itong bayaran nang buo sa pamamagitan natin o ng iba.

Exodus 20:5 CSB

Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,

Exodus 23:7 CSB

Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty.

Exodus 34:6–7 CSB

The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

Question 13: Can we by ourselves make this payment?

Living and Dying in Joy: A Devotional Guide to the Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 5

Q&A 13

Q. Can we by ourselves make this payment?

A. Certainly not. On the contrary, we daily increase our debt.

QUESTION 13 Kaya ba nating bayaran ang pagkaka-utang na ito?

Hinding-hindi. Sa katunayan, araw-araw pa nga nating nadaragdagan ang ating pagkaka-utang.

Psalm 130:3 CSB

Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

The Commentary of Dr. Zacharias Ursinus on the Heidelberg Catechism Question 13 Can We Ourselves Then Make This Satisfaction?

We cannot make this satisfaction by and of ourselves, neither by obedience nor by punishment.

We cannot make it by obedience, because whatever good we perform we owe to God by present obligation. Hence it is impossible for us to satisfy for our past offences by any present obedience which we may render to the law of God, for we cannot deserve any thing at the hands of God for the present, much less for the time to come; neither can a double merit, that is to say, a merit for the present and the future, proceed from one satisfaction.

We can’t pay the debt we owe to God. The more we try to dig ourselves out, the deeper our pit gets. — Kevin DeYoung

The Commentary of Dr. Zacharias Ursinus on the Heidelberg Catechism Question 13 Can We Ourselves Then Make This Satisfaction?

Neither can we make satisfaction to God for our sins by punishment, because our guilt being infinite, deserves an infinite punishment—one that is eternal, or that is equivalent to everlasting punishment. Sin being an offence against the highest good, deserves eternal condemnation, or at least such a temporal punishment as is equivalent to that which is eternal.

Question 14: Can any mere creature pay for us?

Living and Dying in Joy: A Devotional Guide to the Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 5

Q&A 14

Q. Can any mere creature pay for us?

A. No. In the first place, God will not punish another creature for the sin that man has committed. Furthermore, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin and deliver others from it.

QUESTION 14 Kaya ba tayong tubusin ng ibang nilalang rin lamang?

Hindi. Una sa lahat, hindi paparusahan ng Diyos ang iba pang nilalang para sa kasalanang tao ang may gawa. Bukod rito, walang sinumang nilalang lamang ang makakakaya ng tindi ng walang hanggang pagkapoot ng Diyos laban sa kasalanan at iligtas ang iba mula rito.

Ezekiel 18:4 CSB

Look, every life belongs to me. The life of the father is like the life of the son—both belong to me. The person who sins is the one who will die.

Proverbs 17:15 ESV

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

Hebrews 10:4 CSB

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Nahum 1:6 CSB

Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before him.

Question 15: What kind of mediator and deliverer must we seek?

Living and Dying in Joy: A Devotional Guide to the Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 5

Q&A 15

Q. What kind of mediator and deliverer must we seek?

A. One who is a true and righteous man, and yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, one who is at the same time true God.

QUESTION 15 Anong uri ng Tagapamagitan at Tagpagligtas ang dapat nating hanapin?

Dapat siya ay tunay na tao at tunay na matuwid at higit na mas makapangyarihan kaysa lahat ng mga nilalang, samakatuwid, Siya ay dapat ring maging tunay na Diyos.

If God will not punish a non-human for human sin, and yet, a human cannot bear the weight of divine wrath, the only one who can deliver us is a being who is both human and divine. DeYoung, Kevin L

Hebrews 2:14–17 CSB

Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it is clear that he does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring. Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 7:26 CSB

For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Romans 8:3 CSB

For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,