First Presbyterian Church                                                                Rev. Michael J. Imperiale

Salt Lake City, Utah                                                                       August 6, 2006

                                          “The Confessing Church: The Heidelberg Catechism (1563)”

                                                                      Romans 7: 14-25

Introduction

“Q. 1. What is your only comfort, in life and in death?

“A. That I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that, without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

“Q. 2. How many things must you know that you may live and die in the blessedness of this comfort?

“A. Three. First, the greatness of by sin and wretchedness. Second, how I am freed from all my sins and their wretched consequences. Third, what gratitude I owe to God for such redemption.”

This is how professor of theology Zacharias Ursinus and preacher Kaspar Olevianus began their description of the biblical and reformed faith known as the Heidelberg Catechism. It was published in 1563 as the Reformation was still in its formative stages. Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox and others had begun several movements in their day, calling the church back to the Bible as our sole rule for life and faith, back to salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ. This was an era when the church was in serious need of refocusing on the essential basics of a biblical faith that challenged all the political, economic, social, and cultural trappings of the world around them.

The Reformation prompted a significant confessing church movement that has shaped western culture for 400 years. And I believe the western church including the church in the United States is in another critical time. The church needs reformation, renewal, and a recommitment to Jesus Christ alone as Lord of all and the way of salvation; to the Bible as God’s Word, the church’s only infallible rule of faith and life; and to a call to holiness in all aspects of life.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is a confessing church. We have accepted as “authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do” eleven creeds and confessions including The Heidelberg Catechism. Pastors, elders and deacons promise to fulfill their office “in obedience to Jesus Christ, under the authority of Scripture, and continually guided by our confessions.” A problem in our denomination today is that most have never read them!

It is my hope that this month’s sermons will prompt many to read, pray through, and reflect on one of our great confessions of faith. The Heidelberg Catechism is shaped by three sections as framed by this second question, “What three things must you know?” Parts I and II discuss our need for salvation and the gracious provision God has afforded us in Christ; Part III guides us in a life of thankfulness for all that our Lord and Savior has done for us. This week we look at our need for Christ; next week the Apostles’ Creed as the historic framework for authentic Christian doctrine; then Pastor Sue will cover the Ten Commandments as God’s ten freedoms offered us in a life of blessing and obedience; and lastly, I’ll work through the Lord’s Prayer as the Heidelberg Catechism comes to a close. So, here we go. I hope the church will gain much by renewing its confessional standards.

I. The Obvious Need

Romans 7 is a classic passage describing one’s personal experience in trying to live rightly in all aspects yet unable to do so. In fact, every culture studied by anthropologists reveals a standard of right and wrong that no one is able to live up to. Every human being (that’s you and I as well) knows how it feels. The apostle Paul put it this way: “What I don’t understand about myself is this: I decide one way, but then act another, even doing things I absolutely despise. I obviously need help. I decide to do good, but don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.”

Q. 7 asks, “Where, then, does this corruption of human nature come from? A. From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve; whereby our human life is so poisoned that we are all conceived and born in the state of sin.

“Q. 10. Will God let us get by with such disobedience and defection? A. Certainly not, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, both against our inborn sinfulness and our actual sins, and he will punish them according to his righteous judgment in time and in eternity.”

By our human nature, each of us is self-centered, not God-centered. I want to be in charge. I want to be independent of God. In fact, most negative human emotions like anger, depression, jealousy, frustration, tension, being offended and the like come when you or I are not calling the shots. By nature, we rebel.

Paul shares three lessons he’s learned in trying to deal with his own human nature. 1) Knowledge is not the answer. Paul felt fine as long as he didn’t know of or understand God’s law and commands. When he learned the truth, he now knew he was doomed. 2) Self-determination (struggling in one’s own strength) doesn’t succeed. Paul found himself sinning in ways that weren’t even attractive to him. And 3) Becoming a Christian doesn’t stamp out all sin and temptation from a person’s life. Indeed, I believe Romans 7 is describing Paul’s life as a Christian.

Q. 8 asks, “Are we so perverted that we are altogether unable to do good and prove to do evil? A. Yes, unless we are born again through the Spirit of God.” Being born again may take a moment of faith or a gradual development in one’s life, but being a Christian is a lifelong process. In I Corinthians 9, Paul likens it to a long distance race. In II Timothy 4, he compares it to an athletic event like a fight. No one in the world is innocent; no one deserves to be saved – not the irreligious who doesn’t know God’s laws, and not the Jew or Christian who knows them and tries to keep them. Each of us must totally depend on the person and work of Jesus Christ for our salvation, for our life.

II. God’s Provision

So, the Bible expresses here in Romans 7 what you and I can say as we deal with the reality of being human. When you’ve tried everything and nothing helps, when you’re at the end of your rope, you ask, “Is there no one who can do anything for me? Who will rescue me from this body of death?” The answer, “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

“Q. 20. Will all, then, be saved through Christ as they became lost through Adam? A. No. Only those who, by true faith, are incorporated into him and accept all his benefits.

“Q. 21. What is true faith? A. It is not only a certain knowledge by which I accept as true all that God has revealed to us in his Word, but also a wholehearted trust which the Holy Spirit creates in me through the gospel, that not only to others, but to me also God has given the forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation, out of sheer grace solely for the sake of Christ’s saving work.”

Conclusion

So far, all that I’ve quoted from The Heidelberg Catechism is not culturally conditioned, is not irrelevant for our times or changeable from one generation to the next. It is an “authentic and reliable exposition of what Scripture leads us to believe and do.” As a minister of the Word and Sacraments, I will continue to preach and teach the Bible and be led by the confessions as I lead the people of God. These are among my ordination vows.

So, let’s affirm our faith by accepting God’s invitation to come to the Table of our Lord. Q. 75 asks, “How are you reminded and assured in the Holy supper that you participate in the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross and in his benefits? A. In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread, and to drink of this cup in remembrance of him. He has thereby promised that his body was offered and broken on the cross for me, and his blood was shed for me, as surely as I see with my eyes that the bread of the Lord is broken for me, and that the cup is shared with me. Also, he has promised that he himself as certainly feeds and nourished my soul to everlasting life with his crucified body and shed blood as I receive from the hand of the minister and actually taste the bread and the cup of the Lord which are given to me as sure signs of the body and blood of Christ.”

Come to the Table. This is the joyful feast of the people of God.