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  Part 3: Man's Gratitude to God   Question 86: Since we have been saved from our misery by God's grace through Christ, not by our own efforts, why should we do good works? Answer: It is true that Christ has redeemed us with his blood; but we do it so that we may give thanks to God for all his graces bestowed upon us throughout our lives, and so that Christ may be glorified through us. Furthermore, not only may we ourselves be assured of our faith by the fruits of salvation, but also by our godly conduct we may be able to win our neighbors to Christ. We must be clear about what "good" means. It's easy to think of good as doing something that positively influences others, but that's not what the Bible means by good. Regarding good (Hebrew: tov), ​​ Luke 18:18-19 says, “ A ruler asked him, ‘ Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? ’ Jesus said to him, ‘ Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ’” The goodness mentioned ...

  Question 84: How is the kingdom of heaven opened and closed by the preaching of the gospel? Answer: It is opened by the command of Christ. That is, by publicly proclaiming and declaring to all believers that God, through the merits of Christ, forgives all their sins when they believe the promise of the gospel with true faith. But it is closed to unbelievers and hypocrites by publicly proclaiming and declaring that they are subject to God's wrath and eternal damnation unless they repent. God's judgment in this life and the life to come is based on this gospel testimony.   The unlocking of the keys of the kingdom of heaven is connected to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. God unlocked the keys of the kingdom of heaven on earth when the disciples preached and those who accepted the gospel received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the keys are unlocked in heaven, and God uses Satan to judge those who accept the gospel. Just as Satan tempted Jesus, God presents thre...

  Question 83: What are the keys of the kingdom of heaven? Answer: The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline for repentance. That is, through these two things, the gates of heaven are opened to believers and closed to unbelievers. Matthew 16:19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." The keys to the kingdom of heaven are those who open and close the gates to enter heaven. God entrusted them to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ, in turn, entrusted them to his apostles. Jesus gives the keys to the kingdom of heaven to those who are entrusted with the treasury of heaven. Matthew 13:52 Jesus said to them, “ Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old. ” Jesus entrusted the keys to the kingdom of heaven to his apostles, and even today, a tem...

(8) Jacob and Bethel Genesis 28:10-19 『 Then Jacob set out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. When he came to a certain place, the sun had set, and he stayed there. He took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and lay down in it to sleep. Then he dreamed that a ladder was set up on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending on it. The Lord stood above it and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie will I give to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed in you and in your descendants. I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Then Jacob awoke from his sle...

  Question 82: May those who by word and deed manifest unbelief and ungodliness be admitted to the Lord's Supper? Answer: No. For this is a violation of God's covenant and brings down God's wrath upon the whole congregation. Therefore, according to the teaching of Christ and the apostles, the Christian church is bound to publicly exercise the keys of the kingdom of heaven to exclude them until they repent. The Bible speaks of partaking of the Lord's Supper: 1 Corinthians 11:26-29, "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself." Every time we partake of the Eucharist...

  Question 81: Who may partake of the Lord's Table? Answer: Those who detest their sins, believe that their sins are forgiven and their wickedness is covered by Christ's suffering and death, and desire to live a better life by strengthening their faith. But hypocrites and the unrepentant will eat and drink judgment upon themselves. Those who believe that they died with Jesus and were resurrected with him can participate in the Eucharist because they are participants in the New Covenant. Those who do not participate in the New Covenant cannot participate in the Eucharist. Those who participate in the New Covenant are freed from sin and, through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, receive resurrection life from heaven. Those who believe in resurrection after physical death have never received resurrection life in the present. Jesus' death on the cross was not only to resolve the problem of sin, but also to grant resurrection life. Resurrection signifies a return to the ki...