Heidelberg Catechism, Question 84
Question 84
How is the kingdom of heaven opened and shut by the preaching of the holy gospel?
Thus: when, according to the command of Christ, it is declared and publicly testified to all and every believer, that whenever they receive the promise of the gospel by a true faith, all their sins are really forgiven them of God, for the sake of Christ’s merits (Acts 13;38, 39); and on the contrary, when it is declared and testified to all unbelievers, and such as do not sincerely repent, that they stand exposed to the wrath of God and eternal condemnation, so long as they are unconverted (John 8;24); according to which testimony God will judge them, both in this life and the life to come (Rom. 2;16).
Scripture references for paragraph 1
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Acts 13:3838Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
Acts 13:3939Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.
Acts 10:4343All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
Mark 2:3-53Then a paralytic was brought to Him, carried by four men.
4Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat.
5When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
John 6:3737Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.
Ezekiel 33:1111Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
John 8:2424That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Acts 8:2121You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
Matthew 3:77But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Matthew 3:88Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.
Matthew 18:33“Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Romans 2:1616on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
2 Corinthians 2:1515For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
2 Corinthians 2:1616To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?
2 Timothy 4:22Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.
Galatians 5:2121and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
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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