From Discipleship Weekly
(a publication of the Presbyterian Church of Islip)
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A Word from Our Sponsor
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." -- Matthew 5:17 The Heidelberg Catechism: Part 1- Of Man's Misery Week 2 3. Q. Where do you learn of your sin and its wretched consequences (or, "your misery")? A. From the law of God. 4. Q. What does God's law require of us?
A. Christ teaches us this in a summary in Matthew 22: "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." 5. Q. Can you keep all this perfectly?
A. No, I am inclined by nature to hate God and my neighbour. [Rom. 3:10,23; I John 1:8,10; Gen. 6:5; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 7:23; 8:7; Eph. 2:3; Titus. 3:3] Suggestions for discussion and review:
Which do you think demands more of us: the Ten Commandments or Christ's summary of them in Q&A 4? Why? How did you react to Answer 5, and why? How can you deal with this? In the original German, the word translated as misery in the Catechism meant separation or exile. How does that describe the condition of those without Christ? The Incarnation shows man the greatness of his misery by the greatness of the remedy which he required. -- Blaise Pascal |