Christ has born the punishment of my sin: Isaiah 53:3–6.
3. I have relieved you of your burden: Psalm 81.
4. The Lord gives grace: Psalm 103.
5. The Lord clothes me with a robe of righteousness: Isaiah 61:1–3, 10, 11.
6. He gives me a new heart and a new spirit: Ezekiel 11:19–21, 36:24–28.
Do you realize how extraordinary and bewildering this simple affirmation is? All the wrongs are mine and, in order to find me, in order to save me, God comes alongside me! In Jesus Christ He gives wisdom for the foolish, righteousness for the unrighteous, holiness for sinners, redemption for the lost! God Himself, the God of heaven and earth, the Creator, the Holy One! He gives his only Son for me! “Thou hast given commandment to save me” (Psalm 71:3). It is unimaginable and amazing!
The Word of God And the Testimony of Holy Scripture
24. How do you know all this? How can you be sure that God loves us and will be our Father and our Savior, so you can put all your trust in Him?
We know it by the Holy Word God has left us. In the Word, especially the gospel, He gives us access to his heavenly Kingdom.
According to Scripture, God Himself from the beginning, in the earthly paradise, revealed the promise of the Gospel. He continued to announce it by the holy patriarchs and the prophets, and to represent it by the sacrifices and the other ceremonies of the Old Testament. He fulfilled it at last in his only and well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was born a descendent of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 1:1–4
cf; Genesis 3:15; 22:18; 49:10; Isaiah 8:17–22; John 5:46; Acts 3:22–24; 10:43; Romans 10:4; Galatians 4:3; Hebrews 1:10.
Bible Readings:
1. Eyewitnesses: 1 John 1:1–4, 2 Peter 1:16–21.
2. The Scripture was fulfilled: Luke 4:16–21; Romans 15:4; Galatians 4:4–7; Hebrews 1:4.
25. How may we profit ourselves by the Holy Scriptures?
We must receive what the Word teaches us with a complete certainty of conscience, as a true deliverance from the mouth of God Himself. We must submit ourselves with docility, to love it with a deep and sincere affection, and write it in our hearts so that we follow it and conform ourselves to it.
You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14–17
26. According to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures of which you speak, are all men therefore saved by Christ, just as previously they were lost?
Alas, no!
Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. Matthew 7:13–14
Only those who have been made one flesh with Christ by a true faith, who appropriate his benefits to themselves, keep his commandments, and remain in his love.
With the aid of the Holy Spirit, we must be born anew. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:3–6. See Questions 82–110).
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12–13
By his knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11
The image of God we were created with (Question 10) is progressively restored in our present earthly life by the new Spiritual birth, while we await the crowning renewal which will come at the resurrection of the dead.
But we all, with unveiled face beholding in as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created Him. Colossians 3:9–10
In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:22–24
You are not saved simply because Christ is the Savior of the world, of all men indiscriminately. The only one who is saved is the one who lays hold of the promises of God with a full confidence and who receives the benefits promised and given to those who believe that God has spoken the truth:
Do you understand what it looks like for a person to be “born anew?” What changes do you look for as necessary in yourself so that you can see yourself to be “born anew”?
Lesson 4
Christian Faith
SUMMARY: My faith is the firm assurance of the truth of the Word of God and his promises, unshakable trust that God will give to me personally everything necessary for my happiness and salvation.
The summary of the Christian faith is contained in the Apostles’ Creed, which teaches, in three parts, of God the Father and our creation, of God the Son and our redemption, of God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification. This is to say: God the Father, God for me; God the Son, God with me; God the Spirit, God in me.
Readings for the week: Monday, Question 27: 1 and 2; Tuesday, Question 27: 3; Wednesday, Question 28: 1, Question 33: 1; Thursday, Question 33: 2 and 3; Friday, Question 33: 4; Saturday, Question 33: 5.
27. How do you lay hold of this salvation that God offers you in the Gospel?
By faith alone in the grace of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus said “do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, even God has set his seal.” They said therefore to him, “what shall we do that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” John 6:27–29
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8
He who believes in the
