Gratitude The Law of God shows us how we as the people of God should live as a response to our salvation. Q/A:

Since we have been saved by Christ without any merit of our own, Why should we do good works?

Because we belong to Christ and he commands us Because God by his Holy Spirit is changing us to be more like Jesus Because we are thankful to God for all the he has done for us Because we want to praise God Because we want to be assured of our faith by seeing the fruits of it Because we want to win our neighbours to Christ

Those who, having been saved by God, continue in their wicked and ungrateful lives, and do not turn to God – what about them? No one who has been saved by God (justified by faith) will be the same person Someone who has God’s Spirit living in them is a changed person and where God’s Spirit is, the fruit of God’s Spirit will be seen One cannot be saved by God and continue to live in sin – the fruit of your life is the real evidence/testimony to the reality of saving faith Cannot be saved if our lives do not also show radical changes

Abraham FAITHFAITH GOOD WORKS/LIVING

Non-Christian = Under the judgement of God Christian = Justified by faith and delivered from sin now has God the Holy Spirit living in his heart PERFECTION=JESUSCHRISTPERFECTION=JESUSCHRIST BADGOOD IMMATUREMATURE

100% PERFECTION = JESUS CHRIST GOOD BAD Nelson Mandela / Barack Obama / Mother Teresa / Your own mother? Adolf Hitler / Hendrik Verwoerd / Joseph Stalin / Robert Mugabe? Esmari JC Andile Buyi Godwin RajMukesh Consolate

Question Why do you think does the catechism only consider good works, after we have already looked at: A) Our sin and misery B) Deliverance

What does true conversion consist of? Mortification – the killing of the old sinful nature that seeks to please self Quickening – the renewal/rebirth of a new nature that seeks to please God To mortify = to put to death/to kill.

What is mortification of the old nature? A true heartfelt sorrow that we have sinned against God A hate of our sin and a desire to flee from them/put them to death What is the quickening of the new nature A true heartfelt joy in God through Christ A love and delight to live according to the will of God in all manner of good works

What are good works? A - Works done from/as a result of true faith A’ – Those who do not have true faith, do good works in order to earn their salvation/from selfish motives B – Works done according to the law of God B’- Those who do not know God, seek to do good according to the law and customs of society only. C – Works done to the glory of God C’ – Those who do not know God, do good works so that their own names might be mentioned/praised as a result of the good which they do.

Questions: Is it really necessary for someone to be converted? Why? How can someone know if he has truly been converted or not? Is conversion a ‘one-time’ event, or a ‘continuous process’? What would you say of someone who is ‘heartily willing and ready to live for God’ and ‘loves and delights to live according to the will of God in all good works? Are those marks of someone who has been converted?

How do we know what good works are / what are the kind of things which are pleasing to God?

What is the law of God? How is God’s law divided?

What is the law of God? How is God’s law divided? Into two tables / spheres of life 1)What must be our attitude to God / How should we worship God 2)What duties do we owe our neighbour / How should we serve God

Notice: 1)There is an order of importance in the commandments – God is central and most important and our greatest sins are in the area of worship 2)Each commandment teaches both what is required and what is prohibited 3)The Ten Commandments are a sufficient summary of God’s holy will. Nothing needs to be added or taken away.

Is the worship of God more important than our duty to man?

Doxology - Praise Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Doxology Know that the Lord our God is good; his mercy is forever sure; his truth at all times firmly stood, and shall from age to age endure.

Test At the end of the Catechism class, we will be visiting everyone individually, to see how well you have grasped/understood the Catechism. Next week, we will hand out the list of ‘Questions’ that we will be asking, to see if you can give an answer to them. This will give you time to go home, read through the questions, and look through the Catechism for answers, which you can then learn. We want to make sure that those who are in leadership positions in church (i.e. anyone who leads a Bible Study/is involved in any official teaching), are at least able to answer these questions, when/if someone asks them.