Preview - The Heidelberg Diary

THE HEIDELBERG DIARY Daily Devotions

on the Heidelberg Catechism

WILLEM J. OUWENEEL

INTRODUCTION

I

n this book we will embark upon a very special adventure. I will introduce to you one of the most influential guides on Christian doctrine that Protestant Christianity has ever seen.

It is called the Heidelberg Catechism, because it was drafted in the city of Heidelberg, and officially adopted there on January 19, 1563.

This German city, on the banks of the Neckar River, was once the capital of one of the most important of the many independent regions into which the German (“Holy Roman”) Empire was divided at the time. The land was so important because it was one of only seven lands whose rulers elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Therefore, these rulers were called prince-electors.

At the time, the land was ruled by elector Count Frederick III of the Palatinate (1515–1576), whose nickname was “the Pious.”

Frederick was a convinced adherent of the Reformation, which Martin Luther had started in Wittenberg, two years after Frederick’s birth, and promoted Protestantism in his land as much as possible. Protestantism had already been divided into Lutherans and Calvinists, who disagreed on some important issues, such as the Lord’s Supper.

The Calvinists were usually referred to as “Reformed,” and this was where Frederick’s theological convictions lay. In order to help his subjects understand the Christian faith as Protestants interpreted it, Frederick made a plan. Heidelberg had a university, which of course had a theological faculty. This was now in the hands of the Protestants. Frederick asked the professors, especially the young Zacharias Ursinus, to develop a kind of course in which

The Heidelberg Diary

the main elements of the Christian faith were to be explained.

Such a doctrinal summary was called a catechism, from a Greek verb meaning “to teach orally.” Catechesis was the age-old term for religious teaching of children and of adult converts. A catechism usually takes the form of a series of questions and answers on religious subjects. Typically the pupils were required to learn both the questions and the answers by heart.

The Heidelberg Catechism was not the first Protestant catechism. Luther’s Large Catechism dates from 1529, and the first version of Calvin’s Genevan Catechism from 1541. Despite some of their non-trivial disagreements, we should not exaggerate the differences between the two groups. Indeed, the Reformed Ursinus was a pupil and friend of Luther’s most influential colleague and fellow-thinker, Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560). However, in drafting the Heidelberg Catechism, Ursinus and Olevianus relied more on the Genevan Catechism, and also on the simple catechism written by the Polish Reformer John à Lasco (1499–1560).

The well-known Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms date from nearly 100 years later (about 1647), and are much more extensive, including a number of theological ideas that at the time of the Heidelberg Catechism had hardly been developed. In my opinion, the Heidelberg Catechism therefore stands closer to scriptural language than the Westminster Catechisms; it is also simpler and more concise. At any rate, I would hardly know a catechism that I would recommend more to evangelical readers than that of Heidelberg.

The catechism was brought from Heidelberg to the Netherlands

by Peter Dathenus (c. 1531–1588), one of the leading theologians in the Dutch-speaking world at the time. In 1573, the provincial synod of the Dutch city of Alkmaar required that, in the afternoon service at all churches, a sermon on a subject from the Heidelberg Catechism was to be preached, an example soon followed in other Dutch provinces. In 1586, the Heidelberg Catechism was accepted by the National Synod of The Hague. The famous Synod of Dort (1618–1619) reviewed the Heidelberg Catechism, and prescribed it for all professors, pastors, elders and deacons in the Dutch Reformed Church. Dutch Reformed immigrants took the catechism with them to the English-speaking world. vi

Introduction

Of course, the Heidelberg Catechism is not inspired like the Bible. It is a piece of fallible human writing, and while theologians today and throughout history have taken issue with it on various points, it remains a masterpiece of Reformed theology. Of course, it is missing certain elements that, if it were written today, would probably be included, such as the place of Israel, more details on the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer and the meaning of the kingdom of God in believers’ practical life. But remember, it was written to teach children and newly-converted Christians.

The catechism contains three parts: misery, deliverance and gratitude; these parts cover sixteen subjects, and the subject matter is divided into fifty-two Lord’s Days, so that the pastor can preach on the catechism for a whole year, and then start again.

There are 129 sets of questions and answers. I have distributed the contents over 365 days, so that the reader can use the book as a daily devotional. On some Q&As I dwell for just one day, on others for as many as five. I wish the reader God’s richest blessing as they move from Day 1 to Day 365. How great it would be if parents would study this book with their children! After all, the catechism was intended for the youngsters in Christian families in the first place.

My aim is not teaching the Heidelberg Catechism as such, but, like the catechism itself, my desire is to bring the reader closer to Scripture, and in so doing, closer to the God of Scripture and to his only Son, Jesus Christ.

I thank Dr. Nelson D. Kloosterman very warmly for his expert editorial work on the manuscript of this book. And I am deeply thankful to John Hultink, for encouraging me to undertake this project.

Willem J. Ouweneel Cwm Cywarch, Dinas Mawddwy,Wales, UK July 18, 2015 Revised January 29, 2018, Grimsby, Ontario, Canada

vii

Daily Devotions on the Heidelberg Catechism

DAY 1

My Only Comfort (Lord’s Day 1, Q&A 1, part 1)

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

A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ.

W

hat a tremendous start for the catechism! We are not plunged right away into complex theological subjects, instead we are asked a very personal and very practical question. “Your” is singular here. You, Christian, what is your comfort? Whatever your sins, whatever your health condition, whatever your social, economic or any other circumstances, where do you find the comfort and consolation that helps you persevere?

We need comfort when we are mourning, when we feel miserable, when we are crying. No one can go through life without experiencing seasons of sorrow. When you do, you need comfort. You may have good people around you who offer words of consolation.

But where do you find a true, deep and lasting comfort, not only in this life, but also in death—and beyond?

The answer is striking: I am not my own. I belong to him who is the greatest possible blessing, not only for my soul but even for my body; not only during my entire life here on earth, but also in the face of death.

Notice that the “I” who answers here speaks as a believer. This is almost always the case in the catechism. This is not an evangelistic work to attract outsiders—although they may be attracted by it when reading it—but to instruct believers, especially young believers. The catechism takes for granted that the children of those believers who faithfully serve the Lord, are believers themselves. At the youngest possible age, they may learn what it is to belong not to oneself, nor to one’s parents, but to Jesus Christ.

Finally, the text does not say something like “Jesus is mine,” although that is certainly true. It says instead, “I belong to Jesus.”

I am his servant. He is my Saviour. The bride in the Song of Solomon begins by saying, “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (2:16), but later she says, “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me” (7:10). To belong to Jesus—what is greater for a believer than this?

1

The Heidelberg Diary

DAY 2

He Delivered Me from Sin and the Devil

(Lord’s Day 1, Q&A 1, part 2)

A. … He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

A

fter the believer has said that he belongs to his faithful Saviour Jesus Christ, he tells us how he came to belong to him. By nature, none of us has such a relationship with Jesus Christ. Originally, we were all his enemies. How did we come to belong to him as his servants and followers? What did we do in order to enter into such a relationship? Nothing. The only thing we contributed—if you can say it that way—was our sins. Jesus himself did everything. This was already alluded to in his title “Saviour,” that is, the One who saved us.

The questions naturally follow: from what did he save us, and how did he save us from these evils? All such questions are dealt with extensively later in the catechism. But already here, the answers are neatly summarized. Jesus saved us from the power of sin and the devil. The text alludes to 1 Peter 1:18–19, “You were ransomed…with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” A costly price was paid so that our sins could be blotted out forever.

Moreover, Jesus has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

John says, “The Son of God appeared…to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). It is God’s plan that people “may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18). Through his death, Jesus destroyed “one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” In this last verse, death is mentioned as a third power that we have been freed from. Jesus is “our Savior… who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10).

What a terrific start for the catechism! It presents to us the surpassingly important Man who is described in it—Jesus Christ, the Son of God—as well as his wonderful work of redemption. He gave his blood, that is, his life, and set me free from sin and the devil. By dying he delivered me from death! In life or death, what could be a greater comfort than this?

2

Daily Devotions on the Heidelberg Catechism

DAY 3

He Watches Over Me (Lord’s Day 1, Q&A 1, part 3)

A. … He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

J

esus not only delivered me from the power of sin, the devil and death. Jesus not only makes sure that one day I will enter into everlasting blessedness, he also watches over me on this earth now. He keeps me and guides me in every way. The catechism illustrates this by comparing two sayings that Jesus himself has spoken. One is from Matthew 10:29, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” The other saying is from Luke 21:18, “not a hair of your head will perish.” Here, God the Father is introduced for the first time in the catechism. Jesus the Son, my Saviour, watches over me and the Father protects me.

Not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father.

The text in Matthew says it slightly differently, “without your Father” (kjv). That is, I am not always sure whether a certain evil befalls me because my Father wants it. But I am always sure that no evil can befall me apart from my Father. In some way or another, he is always involved. I am not always sure whether it is he who causes me to go through a dark valley, but the least I can say is that he is always at my side in such a valley.

The difficult things in my life—even if they are sometimes caused by the devil —are always part of God’s ways with me here on earth. The text alludes to the words of the apostle Paul: “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Whatever things happen to us in life, they can never come as a surprise to God. On the contrary, he uses them to reach the great goal of our earthly life, namely, to worship God and to become more and more conformed to the image of Christ (v. 29). Nothing in my life is in vain, nothing is left to chance. In life or death, I am always in the hands of him who guides and steers my entire life.

3

The Heidelberg Diary

DAY 4

He Gives Me Assurance (Lord’s Day 1, Q&A 1, part 4)

A. … Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life.

T

he Word of God tells us that whoever believes in the Son of God will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:15–16).

By the Holy Spirit, Jesus assures me that I have eternal life because of faith in him: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16). When he was still on earth, Jesus himself made this firm promise: “My sheep hear my voice…I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand…no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:27–29). How much does this magnify our comfort! Jesus gives his followers eternal life, and no power in the universe can snatch them out of his hand, or out of the Father’s hand.

John likes to speak of eternal life as something we already possess in the present. This is in line with John’s emphasis that Jesus himself is our life: “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life” (1 John 5:11–12). The apostle Paul often speaks of eternal life as something to look forward to: “Now that you have been set free from sin…the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Rom. 6:22). Eternal life lies ahead of us, but to some extent we can already enjoy it now, for eternal life is life in the Son. It is a type of life that is ours now, because we belong to Jesus.

Finally, notice the word “assure”: What power can take from us what the Son of God himself assures to us? “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39).

4

Daily Devotions on the Heidelberg Catechism

DAY 5

I Wish to Live for Him (Lord’s Day 1, Q&A 1, part 5)

A. …and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

T

he first answer given in the catechism ends with a note about our devotion and consecration to Christ. It is a sad thing for Christians to be too much concerned with heaven as a final destination, and too little focused on the purpose that God has for their present life on earth. Christianity is not just about heaven or hell. It is first and foremost about the question, For whom are you living—here on earth? This is reiterated in Q&A 1 of the later Westminster Catechism: “man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God and fully to enjoy him forever.”

Later in the catechism, we will see that we do not believe in Jesus only as Saviour, but also as Lord. These two titles of his are inseparable.You have a Saviour who takes you to heaven; you have a Lord who takes you through this world. He is in charge. As the apostle Paul says, Christ “died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:15). And elsewhere: “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8).

We have been placed under the “law of Christ.” To be sure, serving the Lord is a divine obligation. But it is much more than that; we serve him not simply because we must, but because we have been made “wholeheartedly willing and ready” to serve him.

Believers have been given a renewed heart, which loves the Lord and therefore loves to serve him. As Jesus said: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me” (John 14:15, 21). So, Jesus’ commandments are kept because of love for him. Therefore, the law of Christ is a “law of liberty” (Jas. 1:25; 2:12) because it sets us free from bondage to sin, death and the devil. In fact, this law demands of us precisely what our renewed hearts by the Holy Spirit desire most of all: serving our Lord, living for him. Perhaps this is a good way of describing all subsequent questions and answers in the catechism: they aim at helping us to better learn how to worship God and how to live for Christ.

5