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Heidelberg Catechism | Questions 60 and 61

Here's the text from questions 60 and 61 in the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) that we confesse today in our worship together:

I am made
    right with God
  only by true faith
    in Jesus Christ.

Even though my conscience accuses
  me of having grievously sinned
    against all God’s commandments
  and of never having kept
    any of them,
  and even though I am still inclined
    toward all evil,
  nevertheless,
    without deserving it at all,
    out of sheer grace
God grants and credits to me
  the perfect satisfaction,
    righteousness,
    and holiness of Christ,
  as if I had never sinned
    nor been a sinner,
  as if I had been
  as perfectly obedient
    as Christ was obedient for me.

All I need to do
  is to accept this gift of God
  with a believing heart.
 
When I say that by faith alone
    I am right with God;
  it is not because of any
    value my faith has
    that God is pleased with me.

Only Christ’s satisfaction,
  righteousness, and holiness
  make me right with God.

And I can receive this righteousness
  and make it mine
  in no other way
  than by faith alone.

John Calvin | Hold Fast Bravely

"For we await salvation from him not because he appears to us afar off, but because he makes us, ingrafted into his body, participants not only in all his benefits but also in himself…But since Christ has been so imparted to you with all his benefits that all his things are made yours, that you are made a member of him, indeed one with him, his righteousness overwhelms our sins; his salvation wipes out your condemnation; with his worthiness he intercedes that your unworthiness may not come before God’s sight. Surely this is so: We ought not to separate Christ from ourselves or ourselves from him. Rather we ought to hold fast bravely with both hands to that fellowship by which he has bound himself to us."

John Calvin, 1559
Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.2.24

John Calvin | Death & Resurrection

"Both things* happen to us by participation in Christ. For if we truly partake in his death, 'our old man is crucified by his power and the body of sin perishes', that the corruption of original nature may no longer thrive. If we share in his resurrection, through it we are raised up into newness of life to correspond with the righteousness of God."

John Calvin, 1559
Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.3.9

* "Both things" refers to the dying to ourselves and being made alive by the Holy Spirit that are an integral part of our repentance.

John Calvin | He Is Yet Our Life

"Indeed, he states that 'he has chosen us in him' from eternity 'before the foundation of the world,' through no merit of our own 'but according to the purpose of divine good pleasure'; that by his death we are redeemed from the condemnation of death and freed from ruin that we have been adopted unto him as sons and heirs by our Heavenly Father; that we have been reconciled through his blood; that, given into his protection, we are released from the danger of perishing and falling; that thus ingrafted into him we are already, in a manner, partakers of eternal life, having entered in the Kingdom of God through hope. Yet more: we experience such participation in him that, although we are still foolish in ourselves, he is our wisdom before God; while we are sinners, he is our righteousness; while we are unclean, he is our purity; while we are weak, while we are unarmed and exposed to Satan, yet ours is that power which had been given him in heaven and on earth, by which to crush Satan for us and shatter the gates of hell; while we still bear about with us the body of death, he is yet our life."

John Calvin, 1559
Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.15.5

John Calvin | Christ the Only Food

"Now Christ is the only food of our soul, and therefore our Heavenly Father invites us to Christ, that, refreshed by partaking of him, we may repeatedly gather strength until we shall have reached heavenly immortality."

John Calvin, 1559
Institutes of the Christian Religion, 4.17.1

The Trinity

This morning we prayed the prayer The Trinity which comes from our Puritan Heritage. You can find this prayer and many others in the book The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. Highly recommended!

Three in one, one in three,
  God of my salvation,
Heavenly Father, blessed Son,
  eternal Spirit,
 I adore You as
  one Being,
  one Essence,
  one God in three distinct Persons,
 for bringing sinners
  to Your knowledge
  and to Your kingdom.

O Father, You have loved me
 and sent Jesus to redeem me;
O Jesus, You have loved me
 and assumed my nature,
 shed Your own blood
  to wash away my sins,
 wrought righteousness
  to cover my unworthiness;
O Holy Spirit, You have loved me
 and entered my heart,
 implanted there eternal life,
 revealed to me the glories of Jesus.

Three Persons and one God,
 I bless and praise You,
 for love so unmerited,
 so unspeakable, so wondrous,
 so mighty to save the lost
 and raise them to glory.

O Father, I thank You that
 in fullness of grace
 You have given me to Jesus,
 to be His sheep, jewel, portion;
O Jesus, I thank You that
 in fullness of grace
 You have accepted, espoused,
 bound me;
O Holy Spirit, I thank You that
 in fullness of grace
 You have exhibited Jesus
 as my salvation,
 implanted faith within me,
 subdued my stubborn heart,
 made me one with Him for ever.

O Father, You are enthroned
 to hear my prayers,
O Jesus, Your hand is outstretched
 to take my petitions,
O Holy Spirit, You are willing
 to help my infirmities,
 to show me my need,
 to supply words,
 to pray within me, to strengthen me
  that I faint not in supplication.

O Triune God,
  who commands the universe,
 You have commanded me to
  ask for those things
  that concern Your kingdom
   and my soul.
Let me live and pray as one baptized
 into the three fold Name.

(The song we sang this morning, Heavenly Father, Beautiful Son, is based on this very prayer...and I must confess that this is the most horribly named song we sing...after all, it's about the Trinity! I supppose the writers just thought Heavenly Father, Beautiful Son, Spirit of Light and Truth was just to bulky!)

Heidelberg Catechism | Question 54

The Heidelberg Catechism dates from 1563. Here is the question that goes with the answer we used during worship this morning. You will also find the bible references on which this answer is based.

Q: What do you believe concerning "the holy catholic church"?

A: I believe that the Son of God
 through His Spirit and Word,¹
 out of the entire human race,²
 from the beginning of the world ¹
  to its end,³
 gathers, protects, and preserves ¹
  for Himself ¹
 a community chosen for eternal life⁴
  and united in true faith.⁵
And of this community ¹
 I am⁶ and always will be⁷
 a living member. ¹

¹ John 10:14-16; Acts 20:28; Rom. 10:14-17; Col. 1:18
² Gen. 26:3b-4; Rev. 5:9
³ Isa. 59:21; 1 Cor. 11:26
⁴ Matt. 16:18; John 10:28-30; Rom. 8:28-30; Eph. 1:3-14
⁵ Acts 2:42-47; Eph. 4:1-6
⁶ 1 John 3:14, 19-21
⁷ John 10:27-28; 1 Cor. 1:4-9; 1 Pet. 1:3-5