Good Morning!
We are now in the home stretch of the Shorter Catechism. Having just gone through the whole of the Ten Commandments we now enter into a section which helps us further understand the nature of sin, what it is, how it works, and more crucially how the LORD sees transgressions of His law. This is important because too often we have a man-centered view of both the law and God. We only think of either in the context of how they affect us rather than looking at them from their own position and place.
In today’s catechism review we will expand on that thought and seek to better comprehend why it is that sin makes Jehovah so angry and why we should respect, and rightly fear breaking the statutes of God with much more horror than we presently do in many ways.
Here are the catechism questions for this week:
Q. 82. Is any man able perfectly to keep the Commandments of God?
A. No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God,
but does daily break them in thought, word, and deed.
Q. 83. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?
A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.
Q. 84. What doth every sin deserve?
A. Every sin deserves God’s wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come.
Take note of what the questions are saying. 1) We all sin, even as redeemed men and women. Beware of anyone who says they are without sin (1 John 1:8). 2) There are sins that are worse than others. This is illustrated for us in the penal codes found in Exodus-Deuteronomy. Murder does not have the same punishment as theft. False Prophets face a much greater judgment than men who defraud a neighbor. 3) That being said no matter how small or how great every violation of the law of God requires justice. As James reminds us to break one part of the law is to break the whole matter, since the LORD is infinite, to sin against Him is to do it infinitely.
A great weakness of the Christian church today is that we are not afraid to sin. We blow off the promises and curses of the Old Testament, and the warnings of the New Testament, for a couple of reasons. First we do so because we don’t think God acts like He did in those days. Whether it is because of the continuing influence of traditional dispensationalism or the incipient entrance of emotional liberalism many have a view to Jehovah that neuters both His power and His authority. This act of domesticating God makes Him our pet rather than to rightly respect the I am who I am. So many consider Him only when they are in need, as if He is a divine vending machine. That kind of concept of the Divine is blasphemous. We not only violate the Third Commandment with such nonsense, but we invite His wrath for it. That leads us to the second reason we disregard the warnings of the Scriptures. We do not spend enough time contemplating who God is. Rather than only thinking about His works, we need to prayerful reconsider His attributes. What does it mean that He is holy? That He is righteous? The more we understand those truths the more that sin will be despicable and gross to us, at least they should be. If we see God’s Perfection for what it is and then it has no effect on us than we are an unbeliever, or worse, hardened against sin. There is a reason why holy men of God in the Bible fall on their face before Jehovah. They know themselves unworthy to be in His presence because they acutely feel their sin, know their sin, and see their sin brightly.
However, I need to not leave you in despair. Remember the story of the woman who was cleansed from her bleeding? Here is the word from Matthew 9:20-22:
And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.
Notice the way she approached Christ, with fear and trembling, yet in hope and assurance of faith. This is the manner in which all Believers should consider themselves in the face of not only the law of God, but in life in general. God is to be honored, and rightly understood with His power and glory ever in our sight. That’s why what the Apostle Paul succinctly marks out in Galatians 3:10 is so vital to understand in light of Q. 84, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
If we are to see sin for what it is we must never believe that we are saved by the following of the law, for even when we do that which is right according to the letter we violate it in the spirit due to the presence of the old man. Our good works are good, not because of us, but because of Christ. If you wish to be seen as holy by the LORD and intend to gain that by obedience to the commandments of God then you will be cursed. Our promise in the gospel is that our Redeemer has kept the law perfectly for us, and having nailed the requirements of that law to the tree, we no longer are held by that Covenant of Works, which Adam broke in the Garden. That does not mean, to repeat what has been said before, we should sin that grace might abound, but it is precisely because of the grace offered and granted in Christ that we put sin to death and live in the power of our Savior to be sanctified in Him in all ways.
Here is one more word on the matter:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/erik-raymond/motivations-to-hate-sin/
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church