Devotional #115

Question 115. Why will God then have the Ten Commandments so strictly preached, since no man in this life can keep them?

Answer: First, that all our lifetime we may learn more and more to know (a) our sinful nature, and thus become the more earnest in seeking the remission of sin, and righteousness in Christ (b); likewise, that we constantly endeavour and pray to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, that we may become more and more conformable to the image of God, till we arrive at the perfection proposed to us, in a life to come (c).

(a) Romans 3:20: For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Psalm 32:5: I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

(b) Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Romans 7:24-25: Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

(c) 1 Corinthians 9:24: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
Philippians 3:11-14: that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

For your personal reflection:
Today concludes the Heidelberg Catechism’s examination of the 10 Commandments and their continuing role in our lives.  The Commandments highlight for us the biblical understanding that to desire anything other than God is to begin a departure from God.  The great Apostle, Paul, would tell us in Colossians 3.5 that the moment we desire what God has forbidden we are, in actuality, forsaking the one True God and serving an idol of our own desire and creation.  Those in Christ have learned of His love and what He meant when He said we would be born from above.  This union with Christ creates within us a new heart and true life.  The Law having driven us to Christ, is now written on our heart and becomes a desire rather than a demand.  And, so, Paul, writing in Romans 7.22 declares that in Christ he delights in the Law.  John would write (1 John 5.3) of God’s commands as no longer being an unpleasant burden to the one in Christ.
Are the commandments for unbelievers or believers?
How do the commandments speak to those outside of Christ and those in Christ?
How do the commandments speak to you?