This week we come to Question 6 of the New City Catechism, found in Part 1 of the catechism (questions 1-20), which focuses on God, creation and the fall, and the law.
Question 6: How can we glorify God?
Answer: We glorify God by enjoying him, loving him, trusting him, and by obeying his will, commands, and law.
In the middle of the answer to this question we find the words “trusting him.” Glorifying God begins with faith in his promises. Faith says to God, “You are worthy of my trust and reliance. You are true to all that you have said. Knowing that I cannot meet my own needs, cover my own sins, or provide hope to myself by my own efforts, I now look outside myself to all that you have promised to me in your Son.”
If we do not trust God, we cannot consciously live for his glory. Refusal to trust him is the greatest insult to him imaginable. Regarding Abraham’s faith in God’s extraordinary promise to provide a son to him and Sarah in their old age, Paul writes, “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Rom. 4:20-21). In this passage, trusting God is equal to glorifying God.
Faith itself is God’s gift to us, the result of the powerful working of his Word in our hearts (Rom. 10:17). The God who gives us faith is also the God who nourishes and strengthens our faith as we learn through the experiences of life to trust his Word more and more.
Suggested passage for family or personal reading: Romans 4:1-8. What does this passage teach us about what faith is and what it is not? What is the result of faith, according to Paul’s teaching here?