Word of Salvation – Vol. 34 No. 05 – Feb 1989

 

Why Do You Believe All This?

 

Sermon by Rev. M. P. Geluk on Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 23

Reading: Romans 7:21-8:17

Singing: BoW.P.89:1,2; 89:5,6; BoW.H.802; 811; Ps.H.326

 

Sometimes a book, a play, or a film has an epilogue.  In an epilogue a. concluding comment is given.  The main things have been said, the characters have played their parts, the story is finished.  But the epilogue might just tell you what happened to those who played such a vital role in the story.  You're not left hanging in mid-air, wonderi.ng what happened after all the action died down.

Question 59 of Lord's Day 23 is a kind of an epilogue.  "What good does it do your however, to believe all this?"

That question does not stand on its own of course.  It's the concluding part of something that has gone before it.  Well, if Question 59 is an epilogue, then what is the main story?

The main story is the Apostles' Creed, that very old and short statement on the Christian faith which so many Christians, including ourselves, recite. so often.  The Apostles' Creed has twelve brief statements of faith and in the foregoing Lord's Days the Catechism has elaborated on each one of them.  We too have looked at each of them and we were taught and reminded of what Christians believe the Bible to be saying about God the Father and our creation, God the Son and redemption, and God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.  Putting it like that is just a quick way of referring to scriptural teachings such as the Trinity, the Providence of God, the Person and Work of Christ, His humiliation and exaltation, the Holy Spirit's Person and Work which includes the church, the believers' standing before God and the things that will happen to believers when they die and when Christ comes back to judge the living and the dead.

All that is the main story and now in the epilogue we are asked, what good does it do us to believe all this?  It is not the first time we have been asked that sort of question.  At other times we have been asked: How does the knowledge of God's creation and providence help us? (Q.28 ).  How do the holy conception and birth of Christ benefit you? (Q.36).  What further advantage do we receive from Christ's sacrifice and death on the cross? (Q.43 ). How does Christ's resurrection benefit us? (Q.45).  How does Christ’s ascension into heaven benefit us? (Q.49).  And how does Christ's return and the resurrection of the body and life everlasting comfort you? (Q.52, 57, 58)

We should really have more of these epilogues.  From now on ask yourself after every reading of God's Word, what good did it do me to hear all that?  What good did it do me this Bible reading, that Bible study, that home visit...?  Yes, there should be more epilogues, even if it is only to stop us from having the good things about God go in one ear and out the other.

Why Do I Believe All This?  Today we give our attention to this question, having looked previously at the content of the Christian faith by way of the Apostles' Creed.
Why do you-believe all this?
And we answer:

            1.  Because I am no longer condemned.

            2.  Because I am saved by grace.

            3.  Because God is now pleased with me.

1. In the first place then: Why do I believe all this?  Because I am no longer condemned!  This answer about no longer being condemned should ring out joyfully and convincingly from everyone's lips.  But does it?  People might be challenged to read the Bible a bit more often, and to make the worship service a joyful occasion and not a drag and some have been known to answer: but it doesn't do anything to me!

That's a sad thing, isn't it?  A person who has been brought up in a Christian home; maybe he went to a Christian school, came to church regularly and heard many sermons, had catechism instruction, but all of that did not do anything for him.  Maybe the Bible was not read at home as often as it should have, maybe he played up too much at school, and maybe he wasn’t paying enough attention in church and catechism class.  Yes, whatever. But, even the little bit that might have got through did not do anything.  At least, so it may seem.

But what is it supposed to do anyway?  WelI, is not the main message of Scripture that only in Christ can a sinner be right with God and have eternal life?  Is that not the thrust of all that the Catechism teaches about the Apostles' Creed?  And isn't that that the aim of preaching and teaching the Word of God?  To show that all men are sinners and in need of salvation because God is holy and will punish the sinner.  To show that God is also merciful and therefore has given His only begotten Son who died in the place of the sinner.  Through Christ, therefore, the sinner can be forgiven.  And the resurrected Christ will give the cleansed and pardoned sinner a new life and a new existence.  Indeed, that is the Gospel, the good news of salvation.  That's what we may believe to be true.  And those who do are no longer condemned. They are now right with God and have eternal life.

The reason why all this does not do anything for some is because they are atheists.  I am not thinking so much of the kind of atheist who has given serious thought to the question whether or not there is a God.  There are not so many who, by thinking things through, come to the conclusion that there is no God.  C. S. Lewis was one person who felt that he had to constantly get to the bottom line in order to justify his belief that there is no God.  Well, you know where his deep and logical reflection got him!  He was forced to become a Christian!  At the end of his logical reflections he saw God everywhere.

But few atheists think about their beliefs as Lewis did.  Most are just practical atheists.  That is, they don’t bother to think things through.  They just live from day to day and work and live in God' s creation without ever seriously asking who the Creator might be.  They see themselves and other people and never seriously wonder if there is not a divine judge who will require of all men to give an account of all their actions.  They' do not bother to find out if they are under God's favour or His wrath.  Such practical atheists are the kind of people we run into every day.  In fact, some are from Christian hones, attend Christian schools, and show up in church and catechism class.  Ask them if they believe the doctrines of the Christian faith and they will probably say: I suppose so!  Ask them why, and they will shrug their shoulders.  What you don't hear is the joyful and confident reply: because I am no longer condemned!

Why are some like that?  They too hear the preaching and teaching of God's Word about being right with God and eternal life and it doesn't do anything to them.  Well, not only are they practical atheists but also materialists.  That's because our culture is thoroughly materialistic.  They cannot think of goodness and happiness without thinking of things.

Ask them, or ask yourselves: what makes you happy?  What is it that makes you feel good?  What you hope to hear may not be forthcoming.  They may not say: because I am no longer condemned before God because I am now in a right relationship with Him through Christ and He has given me eternal life.  Instead they might talk about their possessions, the things they have which they can feel and touch.

As a matter of fact, even Bible-believing Christians may not say much anymore about being right with God and having eternal life as being the most important benefits of believing.  Influenced by our materialistic culture, modern-day evangelists and preachers might say that the good of believing, or of "accepting Christ", as many would put it, is to be delivered from all sorts of nasty habits and situations.  Yes, accept Christ and you will find that you can run your business better, control your life more, be more of a sportsman when playing football, experience more joy and happiness, discover the power of prayer, and learn to be more positive.

That is, all kinds of promises are made and they will be fulfilled when you accept Christ.  But every good result just mentioned is promised in almost the same language when you buy anyone of the many products our materialistic culture produces.  Follow this diet, that self-awareness class; or these meditations and yoga exercises and results are guaranteed!  Now such promises are popular and people like that kind of religion.  And if that is the good of believing then many will express faith.  Why not, it brings results doesn't it?

But our Catechism teaches a different good.  It points us to the joy of being made right with God through Christ.  There are many glad tidings these days, many messages of some kind of salvation.  But which one promises the believer escape from the holy and just anger of God?  Which one says: believe this and you will not be condemned?

It is the message that you find in the Confessions of the Christian church, and which this church sees as being scriptural.  Indeed, does not God say in His Word: "The soul that sins shall die." (Ezek.18:4)?  By nature we are "objects of God's wrath" (Eph.2:3).  "Whoever does not believe stands condemned already." (Jn.3:18).

It is against that background that the Bible's message about salvation in Christ is so meaningful.  Without God the Father and our creation, without God the Son and our redemption, and without God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification we are eternally lost and stand condemned.

But now the central message of the Bible; which the Catechism has summarized so well, is that there is an escape from God's judgment.  We hear of Christ who saves the sinner from the justice of God.  The sinner may now receive the mercy of God and live forever with God as His Deliverer and Protector and not as his Judge.  Through Christ, the sinner is made right with God and given eternal life.

What is so good about believing all this?  That I no longer stand condemned!  Yes, the believer has peace with God. (Rom.5:1).  A peace which does not depend on my experience of it but on Christ.  That makes my salvation more secure than heaven and earth, for they will pass away but not Christ.  He is eternal, and so am I, for He has made me share in Him.

2.  Why do you believe all this?  In the second place we answer: because I am saved by grace!

Answer 60 of Lord's Day 23 wants to make very sure that we clearly see that our being made right with God is a work of grace.  Grace means that we do not deserve it at all.  It has always been necessary to emphasize that sinners are saved by grace. In Eph.2:8-9 we read:
            "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith –
             and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God –
             not by works so that no-one can boast."

Whenever you speak to unsaved sinners about being right with God, they nearly always tell you that they expect God to accept them on the basis of their good works.  Why, they have been good and decent people, haven't they?  Of course, they will admit to not being perfect but they would be rather surprised if God would turn them down.  After all, there are other people much worse than they.

For these people to see that salvation is not by works but by grace, they first have to learn about what sin really is.  After they have been made to see what God thinks of sin and therefore of them, they begin to be less confident about being right with God.  Whatever hope they have left of making it on their own is further taken from them when it is pointed out that God is absolutely holy and just and will by no means acquit the guilty.

Thus when sin is looked at the way God looks at it and God Himself is seen as altogether pure and holy, then the need for Christ is being felt for the first, time.  And when you begin to realise that the only way to be right with God is by having the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ credited to you, it is then that you understand the meaning of grace.

When you stand before God all by yourself, God will say that you are unsatisfactory, unrighteous and unholy.  And God is right.  That's the way it is with all sinners.  But when Christ stood before God in His human nature then God knew that He was satisfactory, righteous and holy.  Of course He was, for Christ was God's Son born without sin and truly obedient to His will and therefore perfect.  But Christ is now the One who suffered and died for the sinner.  The result of that wonderful exchange is that Christ took the sinner's place and the sinner may stand where Christ stood.  That is what the Bible means when it speaks of being "saved by grace".

But if it is necessary for the unsaved sinner to hear all this and believe it before salvation applies to him, then it remains necessary for the Christian to be reminded of grace.  Whilst the unsaved sinner is inclined to think his good works will save him, the saved Christian is inclined to think that his sirs will condemn him.

Of course, I am making generalisations here.  There are unsaved sinners who see their sin very clearly and there are Christians who still rely on their good works.  But whichever way unbelievers or believers look at themselves, they need to hear that it is salvation by grace.

However, the Catechism in Answer 60 is concerned about Christians who are troubled by their consciences which accuse them of having grievously sinned against all God's commandments and of never having kept any of them, and who still experience an inclination toward all evil.  If you were to ask these Christians about the advantage of believing the doctrines of the Christian faith, they would probably say: Yes, I know that it is through Christ that I am right with God, but I don't feel that I am right with Him.  My conscience reminds me and accuses me of sinning against God all the time.  I feel so worthless, for I am easily led to do evil things!

There are people who don't really think negatively about themselves but they pretend to be great sinners.  They reason as follows: Christ did not come to save those who feel good about themselves; He came to save sinners.  Now I want to be saved too so I have to be seen as someone who is conscious of his sin.  And thus they will tell you how bad they are and how bad it is that others do not feel as sinful about themselves as they do.  But these people boast of their sinfulness like others boast of their goodness.

However, the Catechism has those Christians ln mind who are genuinely troubled by their sinful natures.  And the Catechism is very kind to them.  This Confession is truly the church's book of comfort.  It knows of the struggles of the Apostle Paul who said:
            "I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do
             but what I hate I do... For I have the desire to do what is good,
             but I cannot carry it out...  For what I do is not the good l want to do;
             no; the evil I do not want to do this I keep on doing...
             In my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law
             at work in the members of my body, waging war
             against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner
             of the law of sin at work within my members." (Rom.7:15, 18, 19, 22, 23).

Paul confessed that he really felt wretched about this whole nasty struggle within himself.  Yet, he knew that salvation is by grace, for he cries jubilantly that God through Christ has rescued him from this body of death (vss.24,25).

The Apostle John knew of the same victory for he too speaks of it:
            "We set our hearts at rest in his presence
             whenever our hearts condemn us.  For God is greater
             than our hearts, and he knows everything." (1Jn.3:19,20).

Yes, God knows everything and He also knows that He has made the believing sinner right with Him through Christ.  Therefore the Catechism can say that event though our consciences accuse us of many sins, and even though we are still inclined to evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace God grants and credits me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ.

Yes, thank God for that word "nevertheless".  It points us away from our own struggles and to Christ.  So why do I keep on believing all this?  Because I am saved by grace!  My sins I do as a Christian cannot ruin what God has done for me through Christ.

Some might feel with all this talk about the struggle with sin in a Christian's life that the Catechism is overdoing it a bit . That it is either over-estimating the power of sin or under-estimating the power of the Holy Spirit.

To answer that charge one would probably first have to settle the question whether Paul, when speaking about his struggle with sin, was referring to his life as a Christian or before he was a Christian.  It is, of course, also possible that some Christians experience the power of sin more than others, and that some Christians are less troubled by their sin than others.

In any case, the full comfort of grace reaches out to us most strongly when the Catechism states that a believer in Christ is made so perfectly right with God that it seems:
            "as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner,
             as if I had been as perfectly obedient
             as Christ was obedient for me."

3.  And so we come to the third and final answer to the question: Why do I believe all this?
            Because God is now pleased with me.

Yes, God must be.

Because if Christ has made me so right with God that it is as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ Himself, then it must follow that God is pleased with me.

Of course, I am now not looking at myself as I am in myself.  If I do that then I am back to my accusing conscience and evil inclinations.  But I must, not do that.  For if I do then I can't help thinking that God is very displeased with me.  But God sees more than just me struggling along.  He sees me in Christ.

In fact God is so much one with Christ, that what Christ has done for believing sinners is first and foremost always before God.  God no longer wants to see me with my sin and in my sinful nature.  That's when I was cut off from God because He is altogether holy.  But now Christ the Mediator has come and God sees me cleansed and made pure.  So He is pleased with all His children whose sins are no longer held against them.  For He sees them in Christ.  When God looks at the Christian, He sees what Christ has done and God is pleased with the result.  It glorifies Christ as Saviour and it honours God who initiated this salvation.

Now the only way for me to keep seeing these things this way is to have faith.  As soon as I stop believing what God has done in Christ, I am back to square one.  If I let go of faith then I am seeing only my sinful self again.  But that is not what I want to do.  I don't want to look at myself apart from Christ, for then I am without hope and things become dark in me and around me.  So what I need to do is to keep on accepting this gift of God with a believing heart.

May God keep us from adding to this faith!  It's not faith plus something else.  We know there are those who come to God and say: here is my faith and my obedience, or my faith and my Sabbath keeping, or my faith and my many hours of witnessing, or my faith and my spiritual gifts.  But all that will only put us back in areas of doubt.  If I turn my faith into a good work and begin to hope that God will say: What a nice faith, or what a fine obedience, of how well he keeps the Sabbath, or how keen his witness, or how spectacular his spiritual gifts, then I have returned to uncertainty.  For deep down I know my faith is not always what it should be, nor are all those other works so perfect.  And if I can't see how imperfect I am in all my works then it must be that I am so arrogantly full of myself which must be a deep insult to God who alone is good.

Humility has always been a rather elusive virtue.  And as soon as you think you have got it then you've lost it already.  But see Christ's work as the only basis for being made right with God and then you know about the grace of God.  And when you see the grace of God, then you are humbled.

Faith must focus on Christ alone, and that means, in the words of the old form for public profession of faith, "...that you seek your life not in yourselves, but only in Jesus Christ your Saviour".

AMEN.