Shorter Catechism Qs. 82–84

Q. 82. Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?

A. No mere man, since the fall, is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.

Q. 83. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

A. Some sins in themselves, and by reasons of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.

Q. 84. What doth every sin deserve?

A. Every sin deserveth God’s wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come.

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“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20 ESV)

“For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.” (James 3:2 ESV)

“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”” (Galatians 3:10 ESV)

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41 ESV)

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When we study or talk about God’s Law, we need to be careful. Time to time we meet people whose attitude can be described as “Law is bad, and the Gospel is good.” The Law is not bad. Matthew Henry once described the Law as the sunlight that shines upon a dunghill. The stench comes from the dunghill that is our heart, not from the Law. God’s holy commands are good. We are sinful. So rather than thinking “The Law is bad”, we ought to believe, “The Law is good, and it exposes how desperately I need grace.”

In other words, the study of God’s Law ought to humble us. The Law does not give us any grounds for boasting. See Q.82 and Eccl 7:20 above. There is not one person who is not a Law-breaker. And, yes, there are degrees of sinfulness (Q. 83). Clearly, being idle is not the same thing as adultery. But even the sins we have categorized as too small and too common to merit scrutiny deserve God’s wrath and curse. This is shocking only because we revolt at the idea of total commitment and total purity before God. The degrees of sinfulness matters, but does not change the fact that sin is sin, deserving of God’s wrath and curse.

And do not boast because you have carefully kept yourself from falling into scandal. If we read our Lord’s teaching in Matthew 25:31ff., the sheep and the goats are separated, the sheep to receive blessing and the goats to receive curse, not because of any “sins of commission” but entirely because of “sins of omission.” The goats were not cursed because they did something they should not have done, but because they did not do something they should have done. They were cursed for their sins of omission. If so, who of us can boast that we have done all of our many duties?

We have now finished our study of the Decalogue. Are we humbler for it? Humility here means treasuring Jesus as our only hope, boasting in him alone as our forgiveness and righteousness. Please make sure you have learned this. It’s Jesus or bust. That’s what the Law should teach us. Jesus or bust!