2.5 KiB
Lord’s Day 4
9. Q. But doesn’t God do man an injustice by requiring in his law what man is unable to do?
A. No, God created man with the ability to keep the law.1 Man, however, at the instigation of the devil,2 in willful disobedience,3 robbed himself and all his descendants of these gifts.4
1 Gen. 1:31; Eph. 4:24 2 Gen. 3:13; John 8:44 3 Gen. 3:6 4 Rom. 5:12, 18, 19
10. Q. Will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished?
A. Certainly not. He is terribly angry with the sin we are born with as well as our actual sins. God will punish them by a just judgment both now and in eternity,1 having declared: “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.”2
1 Ex. 34:7; Ps. 5:4–6; Nah. 1:2; Rom. 1:18; Eph. 5:6; Heb. 9:27 2 Gal. 3:10; Deut. 27:26
11. Q. But isn’t God also merciful?
A. God is certainly merciful,1 but he is also just.2 His justice demands that sin, committed against his supreme majesty, be punished with the supreme penalty—eternal punishment of body and soul.3
1 Ex. 34:6–7; Ps. 103:8–9 2 Ex. 34:7; Deut. 7:9–11; Ps. 5:4–6; Heb. 10:30–31 3 Matt. 25:35–46