CATECHISM CHALLENGE - L.D. 4

Lord’s Day 4 – Study Questions

Q. 9 But doesn't God do us an injustice by requiring in his law what we are unable to do?

A. No, God created humans with the ability to keep the law. They, however, tempted by the devil, in reckless disobedience, robbed themselves and all their descendants of these gifts.

Q. 10 Will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished?

A. Certainly not. He is terribly angry about the sin we are born with as well as the sins we personally commit. As a just judge he punishes them now and in eternity. He has declared: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.

Q. 11 But isn't God also merciful?

A. God is certainly merciful, but he is also just. His justice demands that sin, committed against his supreme majesty, be punished with the supreme penalty—eternal punishment of body and soul.

1. God asked Job if he was just. (Job 40:2) If Job in all his suffering and seeming injustices against him could not accuse God of being unjust, can you? (Read: Job 40:1-42:6)

2. In what state did the LORD God create mankind? (Gen. 1:26-27, 31) Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were able to obey the law because God had created them in his image and very good. Was God then just in condemning our first parents unto death? (Q&A 9; Gen 2:17)

3. If God is just and must punish sin, how well have you done in obeying everything in the law? (Galatians 3:10) If you haven’t, what are you without trusting in Jesus finished work on the cross?

4. We know God is just, but isn’t God also merciful? (Ex 34:6-7; Heb 10:30-31) Can God be merciful without being just?

5. How then does God punish sin? (Matt. 25:31-46) Jesus’ parable of the Final Judgment chillingly portrays the eternity of those who lived for their own kingdom and did not want God’s rule. Are you a sheep or a goat?

Audio: Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 4