I doubt that Abraham Lincoln had read the Heidelberg Catechism when he declared the last Thursday in November a day of national Thanksgiving. But in this post-Christian culture in which we live, it is a blessing the culture gives us a day to do what God commands—to be thankful. The federal government gives us the opportunity to honor God each November by slowing down, coming together, and remembering all the reasons we have before God to be grateful.
As we enter the Thanksgiving season, the Heidelberg Catechism serves as a helpful guide. The structure of the Heidelberg Catechism is intentionally structured so that the final note in our lives would be that of gratitude. The primary author of the catechism was Zacharius Ursinus, who was commissioned by Frederick III, sovereign of the Elector Palatinate. The goal of the catechism was to provide a basic summary of Protestant Reformed doctrine that was beginning to grow in that area. This catechism has become one of the most beloved confessions of the church and is officially part of the constitution of churches in the Dutch Reformed Tradition.
The structural outline of the catechism gives a basic outline for the Christian life. Ursinus divided the catechism into three sections. We can remember each section with a word beginning with G. Questions 1-11 concern our Guilt before God. Questions 12-85 concern the Grace of Christ. And finally, questions 86-115 concern our response to grace as living lives of Gratitude towards God. Guilt. Grace. Gratitude. “Three Gs” that so helpfully summarize the gospel and our response.
In Ursinus’s understanding, he sums up the entirety of the Christian life by grateful living toward God. In the final section on gratitude, the catechism includes questions and answers on the 10 Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. While most Christians only understand the law as a form of condemnation, Ursisnus understood that yes, the law does condemn—hence the reason for a whole section on guilt. For those born again and made new in Christ, the law also provides a guide for grateful living toward God. Gratitude is the overarching category for how Christians are to live.
From Ursinus’s Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism:
Gratitude should be at the heart of those who have received grace.
Thankfulness, of course, must be more than a holiday. Ursinus is saying the sum of the Christian life is thankfulness. In light of all that God has done for us through common and saving grace, the entirety of our demeanor is to be demonstrated by humble gratitude toward God.
Gratitude is, after all, God’s will for our lives.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Perhaps the most common prayer a believer will ever pray is that we might know God’s will. God’s will for whom to pick as a spouse. God’s will for what discipline to study in college or what job to take post-graduation. Thankfully, Paul makes discerning God’s will much easier. God’s will is that we would always be thankful.
As we near Thanksgiving, there are thousands of reasons to thank God. We ought to give thanks for the small joys of hobbies, the beauty of nature, and the consistent provision of our daily bread. But may our churches be grateful above all for eternal things. While we are guilty, God has been gracious.
All of us, like sheep, have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6), enslaved to various passions and pleasures (Titus 3:3). God commands us to have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3), and yet no one seeks God (Romans 3:11). Left on our own, we are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), and yet God has given us the great privilege of now calling him Father (Matthew 6:9), thereby giving us access to all things (Romans 8:32).
True gratitude before God is centered on the gospel from which all the other benefits flow. God-centered gratitude includes more than the gospel, but the gospel is certainly the beginning.
Brother pastor, during this Thanksgiving season, let us preach the pattern of the Heidelberg Catechism. Let us faithfully preach the guilt of all people. That all people have fallen short of the glory of God. That there is no exception or loopholes in God’s holy law. Let us preach with clarity and conviction the grace of Christ, who hung as our substitute on the cross. That our sin was imputed to him, and his righteousness imputed to us. Let us preach the resurrection and ascension. His resurrection is the proof of our justification. His ascension is the path to his throne where he now sits, a reminder of just how finished the work is. It is all grace.
Preach guilt and grace so that our people might be truly grateful before God not just for a day, but that it might become the defining characteristic of all we are as Christians.
The post Thanksgiving: Guilt, Grace, Gratitude appeared first on Focus on the Family.
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As we enter the Thanksgiving season, the Heidelberg Catechism serves as a helpful guide. The structure of the Heidelberg Catechism is intentionally structured so that the final note in our lives would be that of gratitude. The primary author of the catechism was Zacharius Ursinus, who was commissioned by Frederick III, sovereign of the Elector Palatinate. The goal of the catechism was to provide a basic summary of Protestant Reformed doctrine that was beginning to grow in that area. This catechism has become one of the most beloved confessions of the church and is officially part of the constitution of churches in the Dutch Reformed Tradition.
The structural outline of the catechism gives a basic outline for the Christian life. Ursinus divided the catechism into three sections. We can remember each section with a word beginning with G. Questions 1-11 concern our Guilt before God. Questions 12-85 concern the Grace of Christ. And finally, questions 86-115 concern our response to grace as living lives of Gratitude towards God. Guilt. Grace. Gratitude. “Three Gs” that so helpfully summarize the gospel and our response.
In Ursinus’s understanding, he sums up the entirety of the Christian life by grateful living toward God. In the final section on gratitude, the catechism includes questions and answers on the 10 Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. While most Christians only understand the law as a form of condemnation, Ursisnus understood that yes, the law does condemn—hence the reason for a whole section on guilt. For those born again and made new in Christ, the law also provides a guide for grateful living toward God. Gratitude is the overarching category for how Christians are to live.
From Ursinus’s Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism:
Gratitude should be at the heart of those who have received grace.
Thankfulness, of course, must be more than a holiday. Ursinus is saying the sum of the Christian life is thankfulness. In light of all that God has done for us through common and saving grace, the entirety of our demeanor is to be demonstrated by humble gratitude toward God.
Gratitude is, after all, God’s will for our lives.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Perhaps the most common prayer a believer will ever pray is that we might know God’s will. God’s will for whom to pick as a spouse. God’s will for what discipline to study in college or what job to take post-graduation. Thankfully, Paul makes discerning God’s will much easier. God’s will is that we would always be thankful.
As we near Thanksgiving, there are thousands of reasons to thank God. We ought to give thanks for the small joys of hobbies, the beauty of nature, and the consistent provision of our daily bread. But may our churches be grateful above all for eternal things. While we are guilty, God has been gracious.
All of us, like sheep, have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6), enslaved to various passions and pleasures (Titus 3:3). God commands us to have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3), and yet no one seeks God (Romans 3:11). Left on our own, we are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), and yet God has given us the great privilege of now calling him Father (Matthew 6:9), thereby giving us access to all things (Romans 8:32).
True gratitude before God is centered on the gospel from which all the other benefits flow. God-centered gratitude includes more than the gospel, but the gospel is certainly the beginning.
Brother pastor, during this Thanksgiving season, let us preach the pattern of the Heidelberg Catechism. Let us faithfully preach the guilt of all people. That all people have fallen short of the glory of God. That there is no exception or loopholes in God’s holy law. Let us preach with clarity and conviction the grace of Christ, who hung as our substitute on the cross. That our sin was imputed to him, and his righteousness imputed to us. Let us preach the resurrection and ascension. His resurrection is the proof of our justification. His ascension is the path to his throne where he now sits, a reminder of just how finished the work is. It is all grace.
Preach guilt and grace so that our people might be truly grateful before God not just for a day, but that it might become the defining characteristic of all we are as Christians.
The post Thanksgiving: Guilt, Grace, Gratitude appeared first on Focus on the Family.
Continue reading...