https://open.spotify.com/episode/5envUKev3Ayr9b60O79BpG?si=nF4_KAWnQ3m_mO3tdsYXNw In the garden, Adam and Eve needed neither redeemer nor mediator. They were free to bathe in the presence of God and to enjoy the world that He given them to steward. But they rejected their communion with God in a feeble attempt to seize even more power than God had already granted them. …
Continue reading Question 21: What Sort of Redeemer Is Needed to Bring Us Back to God?
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1KsMAyIAiPhbYwS6NApizi?si=yAGRzZ36QHi7VdD90uUKFw Although much of the New City Catechism so far has been establishing the reality of our sin and condemnation that makes the gospel necessary, we finally arrived at that good news in the previous question, where we confessed that there is indeed a way for us "to escape punishment and be brought back into …
Let your steadfast love comfort meaccording to your promise to your servant. Psalm 119:76 ESV As we have already seen, the psalmist is clearly writing from a place and time of affliction. His enemies encircle him like wolves, taunting him. Yet, like Job, he has not cursed God; rather, he has pointedly declared his absolute …
Continue reading Let Your Steadfast Love Comfort Me | Psalm 119:76
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5JdQsZpRhSguoT7EL6Zzyx?si=dcYo3aeeTCOhKcZJSvCX4A The New City Catechism is divided into three parts. The first part focuses upon God the Father, creation, the Fall, and God's law. The second part concerns Christ, redemption, and grace. The third part instructs us on the Holy Spirit, our restoration to God, and our growing in His grace. Although this is the …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6aB9296UvJlkSJY3wAumXK?si=F0AoM0wmS7qHqeENoENHDg Since Question 6 our catechism established God's law and our inability to keep it as God requires, forcing us to conclude that we are, in our very nature, sinners and idolaters. Our present question follows logically and ought to be of the utmost importance: will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished? …
Continue reading Question 18: Will God Allow Our Disobedience and Idolatry to God Unpunished?
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4M3WQ8BtkuGKoDfZLplB9I?si=FNEWPYbrTViwoH7JThg9Ng This question is a subdivision of the previous but is also a further explanation of the first part of Question 9. The First Commandment (which reads, “You shall have no other gods before me”) is, at its core, God denouncing idolatry, condemning it as sin. He will not have us trusting in created things …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6hWHVZcKXsVMBYelVlOgoa?si=d7a9d16631384c39 Although God’s law is good and although obedience to God’s law leads to a life of joy and blessing, we are unable to keep His commandments because of the sinful nature that we have inherited from our forefather, Adam. When he committed the original sin, he plunged all of humanity into a world of …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6eEKU3zR5vVdM9Ua1QpOxx?si=cdfa310b70754ff0 The first clause of this question effectively summarizes Questions 13 and 14. Because Adam's original sin as the father and representative of all mankind, we are each born in sin and corruption, who no longer possess the ability to keep God's law. You will notice, however, that the Bible repeatedly praises and rejoices in …
Continue reading Question 15: Since No One Can Keep the Law, What Is Its Purpose?
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5fuGsUPnIZNRUX9h2Oiy0K?si=e92b5c42e56c4dc2 This question was forecast in the opening phrase to Question 13's answer: "since the Fall." No human has been able to keep God's law since the Fall. Thus, we can imply that before the Fall humans were indeed able to keep God's law, and now our present question makes that implication explicit. No, God …
Continue reading Question 14: Did God Create Us Unable to Keep His Law?
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0jB7pqYp0ntRKUUwA3RTcv?si=v4iRmUI8RfyGYK3YJQDkHw With the Ten Commandments as the summary of God's law having been covered in Questions 8-12, the New City Catechism now asks a crucial question: Can anyone keep the law of God perfectly? Of course, perfect obedience was established back in Question 7, and it ought to have been lingering in our minds throughout …
Continue reading Question 13: Can Anyone Keep the Law of God Perfectly?
B. C. Newton 