I was talking to a friend about the value of the Catechisms (mainly Heidelberg and Westminster) and it came to me to turn them into something like an open-book test.
The catechisms are designed like this: A question. An answer. Supporting verses from the Bible.
But how about this? A question. Supporting verses from the Bible. A: __________________. Wouldn’t this be a good way to approach it? I’m going to ask you the question, then I’m going to give you the Bible verses from which you can get the answer, and then I’m going to ask you to write an answer.
So here’s what I get from my 2013 450th Anniversary Edition of the Heidelberg Catechism in Modern English:
Q1: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
Romans 14:7-8 – “7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”
1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,”
1 Corinthians 3:23 –“and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
1 Peter 1:18-19 – “18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
1 John 1:7 – “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 2:2 – “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 3:8 – “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
John 6:39 – “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”
Matthew 10:29-30 – “29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.”
Luke 21:18 – “But not a hair of your head will perish.”
Romans 8:28 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 – “21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 – “13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guaranteeof our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
Romans 8:16 – “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”
Romans 8:1 – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Do you think with that you could come up with an answer? I know it would certainly make me think. Just looking at these verses gives me the idea to write something like this:
“Whether I live or die, I am the Lord’s. My body is a temple for his Spirit, and I am not my own, but belong to Christ. I am ransomed and cleansed from my sins by his precious blood. He is the propitiation of my sins and destroys the works of the devil in my life. He will not let me go, and protects me right to the very hairs on my head. In him, all things will work for my good. I am sealed in his Spirit, and as a child of God I am no longer condemned because I am in Christ Jesus.”
Yup. It’s all in there. Certainly means for comfort in life and in death.
And because I put in the hard work with the rest of the Word, I know it’s true.