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Heidelberg Catechism, Question 114

Question 114

But can those who are converted to God, perfectly keep these commandments?

No; but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only small beginnings of this obedience (Phil. 3;13), yet so, that with a sincere resolution, they begin to live, not only according to some, but all the commands of God (Phil. 3;13, 14).

Scripture references for paragraph 1

Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.

Philippians 3:13

13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

Psalms 19:12

12Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

James 3:2

2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.

Job 9:1-3

1Then Job answered:

2“Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?

3If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

1 John 1:8

8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Ecclesiastes 7:20

20Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Philippians 3:14

14I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

Romans 7:22

22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.

Psalms 119:60

60I hurried without hesitating to keep Your commandments.

Psalms 119:106

106I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments.

Psalms 119:127

127Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, even the purest gold.

Psalms 119:128

128Therefore I admire all Your precepts and hate every false way.

Source and edition

Heidelberg Catechism. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879

Public Domain (historic text); CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikisource transcription). Source transcription.

Transcription licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.

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