Heidelberg Catechism - Jesus Christ as our only comfort in life and in death

[Korean-American Christian]

Holding forth the gospel of redemption in Jesus Christ as our only comfort in life and in death, the Heidelberg Catechism presents, very personally, what is necessary to know that we may live and die happily in the comfort of belonging to the Triune God through Jesus Christ by faith.

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

What are your opinions on the Heidelberg Catechism?

Are you a fan?

Or not so much?

 

[Faith Alone 1 Cor 15:1-4]

I'd rather read Bible than any book written by man , don't understand why people even bother reading something else when they didn't even read 10% of Bible .

 

[AMR]

What are your opinions on the Heidelberg Catechism?

The HC, WCF, Belgic, and Second Helvetic are all wonderful historic summaries of the teachings within Scripture.

It’s impossible not to be confessional. Everyone is confessional. Making statements such as "Just Me and My Bible!" is a confession. So whether it’s written and whether it’s biblical is another matter. And everyone is a theologian, even the people who say theology is bad. It’s always better when we’re clear on our theology, and for that nothing beats writing it down on paper. Writing does not guarantee infallibility, of course, but it does make it easier to determine whether the doctrine we’re confessing aligns with Scripture.

The point of a confession of faith isn’t to put something above Scripture. The point of a confession is to ensure the public teaching of the church is as close to the teaching of Scripture as possible. When we don’t write down our theology and confess it publicly as a church, it leads not to healthy freedom but to unhealthy restriction.

The Confessional approach is taught in Scripture in plain terms. 2 Corinthians 4:2 states, "But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God." The Confession manifests the truth in a way that others can plainly judge it for themselves; it does not hide the truth under a blanket of implicit authority whereby the truth can be turned into whatever suits the individual. Furthermore, Scripture testifies to the function of the ministry to teach the truth in a form of words which can be learned, taught to others, and entrusted to others to teach it. 2 Timothy 1:13 states, "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." 2:2 continues, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."

Confessions serve to define a like-minded community of the saints. These subordinate standards define what is in and what is out. Boundary markers. They provide convenient summaries of doctrine for teaching church members as well as being used for church discipline.

When individuals claim to be "Scriptural" in a sense which disallows the possibility of a confession subordinate to Scripture, they (1) deny to the church the authority to declare its mind as to what the Scriptures teach, and (2) take away from individuals the right to prove all things, to hold fast that which is good, and to abstain from all appearance of evil. So, by denying the proper function of Confessions to explicitly and subordinately interpret what Scripture teaches, the individual or the "church" sets their own implicit authority in a place of supremacy over others.

 

[Rescued One]

Holding forth the gospel of redemption in Jesus Christ as our only comfort in life and in death, the Heidelberg Catechism presents, very personally, what is necessary to know that we may live and die happily in the comfort of belonging to the Triune God through Jesus Christ by faith.

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

What are your opinions on the Heidelberg Catechism?

Are you a fan?

Or not so much?

I've never read all of it. The Arminians most likely hate it. Church of the Nazarene is very Arminian. May I ask what prompted you to change denominations?

 

[Korean-American Christian]

I've never read all of it. The Arminians most likely hate it. Church of the Nazarene is very Arminian. May I ask what prompted you to change denominations?

My dear sister, I will give you the short answer first

I left the Korean Presbyterian mega-church that I was attending because the senior pastor's sermons were putting me to sleep. Before I began worshiping at my Nazarene church on Sundays, I had participated in Wednesday night Bible studies at the Nazarene church. I fell in love with the lively Bible discussions during Wednesday night Bible study. With my mother's consent, I left the Korean Presbyterian mega-church and became a member of the Nazarene church where I was participating in Wednesday night Bible studies.

Here is my long(er) answer -

I am a Christian who loves the Heidelberg Catechism, but I also love my local Nazarene church because Pastor Javier is a compassionate servant of God who loves his church members and because my church of 15 church members is a loving family.

I grew up in Korean Presbyterian churches because the Presbyterian denomination is the largest church denomination in South Korea. Both of my parents were members of Presbyterian churches in South Korea before they moved to the United States. My dad is an ordained minister in the Korean Presbyterian Church in America.

From the time I was about 7 years old to the time I reached the age of 24, I disliked attending church.

After I graduated from university, I moved to South Korea to teach English conversation classes in elementary schools and middle schools. I chose to live in my parents' hometown. Because I was living in my parents' hometown, I decided to begin attending the church where my uncle was the pastor. My uncle's church in South Korea is affiliated with the Canadian Reformed Churches. While I was attending my uncle's church, I fell in love with the Heidelberg Catechism.

After I permanently returned to the United States, I tried attending different churches....I tried attending a Korean Pentecostal church, but I did not feel at home at the Korean Pentecostal church. Because I was unable to find a church home, I began attending the Korean Presbyterian mega-church that both of my parents were attending. Although I am an adult, my mother had to practically force me to attend church on Sundays.

I have an intense aversion to Korean churches because Korean churches are performance-based....it's almost as if I have to earn my salvation....

My dad insisted that I attend only Korean churches. My dad strongly believes that I should "be with my own people" (Korean people).

Spiritually, I was struggling. That is the reason that I began attending Wednesday night Bible study. I absolutely loved the very lively Bible discussions that we had during Wednesday night Bible study.

After a few months of attending Wednesday night Bible study at the Nazarene church, I asked my mother if I could leave the Korean Presbyterian mega-church and worship on Sundays at the Nazarene church. I was very, very surprised when she gave her consent.

 

[Rescued One]

I'm sad. I was working on a long post that disappeared. Maybe I'll try again later.

 

[Radagast]

Holding forth the gospel of redemption in Jesus Christ as our only comfort in life and in death, the Heidelberg Catechism presents, very personally, what is necessary to know that we may live and die happily in the comfort of belonging to the Triune God through Jesus Christ by faith.

It's a gem. Especially that first Q & A:

What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own,
but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

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

Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.