Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 4
9. Does not God, then, do injustice to man by requiring of him in His Law that which he cannot perform?
No, for God so made man that he could perform it (Eph. 4:24); but man, through the instigation of the devil, by willfull disobedience deprived himself and all his descendants of this power (Rom. 5:12).
10. Will God allow such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished?
Certainly not (Heb. 9:27), but He is terribly displeased with our inborn as well as our actual sins, and will punish them in just judgment in time and eternity, as He has declared: "Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Deut. 27:26; Gal. 3:10).
11. But is not God also merciful?
God is indeed merciful (Ex. 34:6-7), but He is likewise just (Ex. 20:5; Ps. 5:5-6; 2 Cor. 6:14-16); His justice therefore requires that sin which is committed against the most high majesty of God, be punished with extreme, that is, with everlasting punishment both of body and soul. |
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