Today is the day recognized as the 450th anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism. Question 1′s answer is the belief of all Christians, regardless of human denomination.

What is thy only comfort in life and death? 

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.”

(Some may note that the stained glass below with the lamb and the motto, “Our Lamb has conquered – Let us follow Him” is not from the Reformed, but from the Moravians. I used it because Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf who led the original Moravians at Herrnhut understood that Christians, despite differences on many things, could unite around the atoning wounds of Jesus Christ. The motto, and the question from the Heidelberg, is that of all believers.)

 

lamb