Contents
Westminster Shorter Catechism (1674)
Q1: What is the chief end of man?
A1: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.
Q2: What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy
Him?
A2: The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments, is the
only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.
Q3: What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A3: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning
God, and what duty God
requires of man.
Q4: What is God?
A4: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being,
wisdom, power, holiness,
justice, goodness, and truth.
Q5: Are there more Gods than one?
A5: There is but one only, the living and true God.
Q6: How many persons are there in the Godhead?
A6: There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost; and these
three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
Q7: What are the decrees of God?
A7: The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of
his will, whereby, for
his own glory, he hath fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass.
Q8: How doth God execute his decrees?
A8: God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.
Q9: What is the work of creation?
A9: The work of creation is, God's making all things of nothing, by the word
of his power, in the
space of six days, and all very good.
Q10: How did God create man?
A10: God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge,
righteousness, and
holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
Q11: What are God's works of providence?
A11: God's works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful
preserving and governing
all his creatures, and all their actions.
Q12: What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the
estate wherein he was
created?
A12: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with
him, upon condition of
perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, upon the
pain of death.
Q13: Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were
created?
A13: Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from
the estate wherein they
were created, by sinning against God.
Q14: What is sin?
A14: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of
God.
Q15: What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate
wherein they were created?
A15: The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they
were created, was their
eating the forbidden fruit.
Q16: Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?
A16: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his
posterity; all mankind,
descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with
him, in his first
transgression.
Q17: Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
A17: The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
Q18: Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
A18: The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt
of Adam's first sin, the
want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature,
which is commonly called
Original Sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
Q19: What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
A19: All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his
wrath and curse, and so
made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of
hell for ever.
Q20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and
misery?
A20. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected
some to everlasting life,
did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin
and misery, and to bring
them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
Q21: Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?
A21: The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being
the eternal Son of
God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two
distinct natures, and
one person, for ever.
Q22: How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A22: Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body,
and a reasonable soul,
being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin
Mary, and born of her
yet without sin.
Q23: What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A23: Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest,
and of a king, both in
his estate of humiliation and exaltation.
Q24: How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A24: Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his
word and Spirit, the will of
God for our salvation.
Q25: How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
A25: Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of
himself a sacrifice to satisfy
divine justice, and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession
for us.
Q26: How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A26: Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in
ruling and defending us,
and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
Q27: Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist?
A27: Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low
condition, made under the
law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed
death of the cross; in
being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.
Q28: Wherein consisteth Christ's exaltation?
A28: Christ's exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the
third day, in ascending
up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in
coming to judge the world at
the last day.
Q29: How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by
Christ?
A29: We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by
the effectual application of
it to us by his Holy Spirit.
Q30: How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by
Christ?
A30: The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by
working faith in us, and
thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.
Q31: What is effectual calling?
A31: Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby convincing us of
our sin and misery,
enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills,
he doth persuade and
enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.
Q32: What benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this
life?
A32: They that are effectually called do in this life partake of justification,
adoption, and
sanctification, and the several benefits which, in this life, do either
accompany or flow from them.
Q33: What is justification?
A33: Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein He pardoneth all
our sins, and accepteth
us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to
us, and received by
faith alone.
Q34: What is adoption?
A34: Adoption is an act of God's free grace, whereby we are received into
the number, and have a
right to all the privileges of the Sons of God.
Q35: What is sanctification?
A35: Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are
renewed in the whole man
after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and
live unto
righteousness.
Q36: What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from
justification, adoption,
and sanctification?
A36: The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from
justification, adoption, and
sanctification, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the
Holy Ghost, increase
of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.
Q37: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A37: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and
do immediately pass
into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their
graves till the resurrection.
Q38: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A38: At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be
openly acknowledged and
acquitted in the day of judgement, and made perfectly blessed in the full
enjoying of God to all
eternity.
Q39. What is the duty which God requireth of man?
A39. The duty which God requireth of man is obedience to His revealed
will.
Q40. What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
A40. The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was
the Moral Law.
Q41. Where is the Moral Law summarily comprehended?
A41. The Moral Law is summarily comprehended in the Ten
Commandments.
Q42. What is the sum of the Ten Commandments?
A42. The sum of the Ten Commandments is, "to love the Lord our God"
with all our heart, all our
soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbor as
ourselves.
Q43. What is the preface to the Ten Commandments?
A43. The preface to the Ten Commandments is in these words, "I am the
Lord your God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house Of Slavery.\"
Q44. What doth the preface to the Ten Commandments teach us?
A44. The preface to the Ten Commandments teacheth us, That because God
is The Lord, and our
God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all His
commandments.
Q45: Which is the First Commandment?
A45: The First Commandment is, "thou shalt have no other gods before
Me."
Q46: What is required in the First Commandment?
A46: The First Commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God
to be only true God,
and our God; and to worship and glorify Him accordingly.
Q47: What is forbidden in the First Commandment?
A47: The First Commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping
and glorifying the true
God, as God, and the giving of that worship and glory to any other which is
due to Him alone.
Q48: What are we specially taught by these words, "before me" in the
First
Commandment?
A48: These words "before me" in the First Commandment, teach us, That
God who seeth all
things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any
other God.
Q49: Which is the Second Commandment?
A49: The Second Commandment is, "thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth, thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
for I the Lord thy God
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of
them that love Me, and
keep my commandments."
Q50: What is required in the Second Commandment?
A50: The Second Commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and
keeping pure and entire,
all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in His
Word.
Q51: What is forbidden in the Second Commandment?
A51: The Second Commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by
images, or any other way
not appointed in His Word.
Q52: What are the reasons annexed to the Second Commandment?
A52: The reasoned annexed to the Second Commandment are, God's
sovereignty over us, and the
zeal He hath to His own worship.
Q53: Which is the Third Commandment?
A53: The Third Commandment is, "thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain: for
the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain."
Q54: What is required in the Third Commandment?
A54: The Third Commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of
God's names, titles,
attributes, ordinances, Word, and works.
Q55: What is forbidden in the Third Commandment?
A55: The Third Commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing
anything whereby God maketh
Himself known.
Q56: What is the reason annexed to the Third Commandment?
A56: The reason annexed to the Third Commandment is, That however the
breakers of this
commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God
will not suffer them to
escape His righteous judgement.
Q57: Which is the Fourth Commandment?
A57: The Fourth Commandment is, "Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it
holy. Six days shalt
thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the
LORD thy God: in it
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maid-
servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six
days the LORD made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh
day: wherefore the LORD
blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."
Q58: What is required in the Fourth Commandment?
A58: The Fourth Commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set
times as He appointed
in His Word; expressly one whole day in seven to be a holy Sabbath to
Himself.
Q59: Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly
Sabbath?
A59: From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God
appointed the seventh day
of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever
since, to continue to the
end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.
Q60: How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
A60: The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even
from such worldly
employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending
the whole time in the public
and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up
in the works of
necessity and mercy.
Q61: What is forbidden in the Fourth Commandment?
A61: The Fourth Commandment forbiddeth the omission or careless
performance of the duties
required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in
itself sinful, or by
unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or
recreations.
Q62: What are the reasons annexed to the Fourth Commandment?
A62: The reasons annexed to the Fourth Commandment are, God's allowing
us six days of the
week for our own employments, His challenging a special propriety in the
seventh, His own
example, and His blessing the Sabbath-day.
Q63: Which is the Fifth Commandment?
A63: The Fifth Commandment is, "honour thy father and thy mother, that
thy days may be long
upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."
Q64: What is required in the Fifth Commandment?
A64: The Fifth Commandment requireth the preserving the honour, and
performing the duties,
belonging to every one in their several places and relations, as superiors,
inferiors, or equals.
Q65: What is the forbidden in the Fifth Commandment?
A65: The Fifth Commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of, or doing
anything against, the honour
and duty which belongeth to every one in their several places and
relations.
Q66: What is the reason annexed to the Fifth Commandment?
A66: The reason annexed to the Fifth Commandment is a promise of long
life and prosperity (as far
as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good) to all such as keep this
commandment.
Q67: Which is the Sixth Commandment?
A67: The Sixth Commandment is, "thou shalt not kill."
Q68: What is required in the Sixth Commandment?
A68: The Sixth Commandment requireth all lawful endeavours to preserve
our own life, and the
life of others.
Q69: What is forbidden in the Sixth Commandment?
A69: The Sixth Commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own life,
or the life of our
neighbour unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto.
Q70: Which is the Seventh Commandment?
A70: The Seventh Commandment is, "thou shalt not commit adultery."
Q71: What is required in the Seventh Commandment?
A71: The Seventh Commandment requireth the preservation of our own
and our neighbor's
chasity, in heart, speech, and behaviour.
Q72: What is forbidden in the Seventh Commandment?
A72: The Seventh Commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts, words,
and actions.
Q73: Which is the Eighth Commandment?
A73: The Eighth Commandment is, "thou shalt not steal."
Q74: What is required in the Eighth Commandment?
A74: The Eighth Commandment requireth the lawful procuring and
furthering the wealth and
outward estate of ourselves and others.
Q75: What is forbidden in the Eighth Commandment?
A75: The Eighth Commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth or may
unjustly hinder our own or
our neighbour's wealth or outward estate.
Q76: What is the Ninth Commandment?
A76: The Ninth Commandment is, "thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbour."
Q77: What is required in the Ninth Commandment?
A77: The Ninth Commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of
truth between man and
man, and of our own and our neighbour's good name, especially in witness-
bearing.
Q78: What is forbidden in the Ninth Commandment?
A78: The Ninth Commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudical to
truth, or injurious to our
own or our neighbour's good name.
Q79: Which is the Tenth Commandment?
A79: The Tenth Commandment is, "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
house, thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor
his ox, nor his ass, nor
any thing that is thy neighbour's."
Q80: What is required in the Tenth Commandment?
A80: The Tenth Commandment requireth full contentment with our own
condition, with a right and
charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour, and all this is his.
Q81: What is forbidden in the Tenth Commandment?
A81: The Tenth Commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our
own own estate, envying or
grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate motions and
affections to any thing that is
his.
Q82: Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?
A82: 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.
Q83: Are all transgression of the law equally heinous?
A83: Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations are
more heinous in the sight
of God than others.
Q84: What doth every sin deserve?
A84: Every sin deserveth God's wrath and curse, both in this life, and that
which is to come.
Q85: What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and
curse
due to us for sin?
A85: To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth
of us faith in Jesus
Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means
whereby Christ
communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.
Q86: What is faith in Jesus Christ?
A86: Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest
upon him alone for
salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.
Q87: What is repentance unto life?
A87: Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true
sense of his sin, and
apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of
his sin, turn from it
unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.
Q88: What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us
the
benefits of redemption?
A88: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to
us the benefits of
redemption, are his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and
prayer; all which are made
effectual to the elect for salvation.
Q89: How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
A89: The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of
the Word, an effectual
means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in
holiness and comfort,
through faith, unto salvation.
Q90: How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become
effectual
to salvation?
A90: The the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend
thereunto with diligence,
preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our
hearts, and practise it in our
lives.
Q91: How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
A91: The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any
virtue in them, or in him
that doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the
working of his Spirit in them
that by faith receive them.
Q92: What is a sacrament?
A92: A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, by
sensible signs, Christ, and
the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to
believers.
Q93: Which are the sacraments of the New Testament?
A93: The sacraments of the New Testament are, Baptism, and the Lord's
supper.
Q94: What is baptism?
A94: Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water in the name
of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ,
and partaking of the
benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's.
Q95: To whom is baptism to be administered?
A95: Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible
church, till they profess
their faith in Christ, and obedience to him; but the infants of such as are
members of the visible
church are to be baptized.
Q96: What is the Lord's supper?
A96: The Lord's Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving
bread and wine,
according to Christ's appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worth
receivers are, not after
a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body
and blood, with all his
benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.
Q97: What is required to be the worthy receiving of the Lord's supper?
A97: It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord's
super, that they examine
themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of their faith to
feed upon him, of their
repentance, love, and new obedience; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and
drink judgement to
themselves.
Q98: What is prayer?
A98: Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for things agreeable
to his will, in the name
of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his
mercies.
Q99: What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?
A99: The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special
rule of direction is that
form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The
Lord's Prayer.
Q100: What doth the preface of the Lord's prayer teach us?
A100: The preface of the Lord's prayer, which is, "Our Father which art in
heaven," teacheth us to
draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a
father, able and ready to
help us; and that we should pray with and for others.
Q101: What do we pray for in the first petition?
A101: In the first petition, which is, "Hallowed be thy name," we pray, That
God would enable us
and others to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known;
and that he would dispose
all things to his own glory.
Q102: What do we pray for in the second petition?
A102: In the second petition, which is, "Thy kingdom come," we pray, That
Satan's kingdom may
be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves
and others brought into it,
and kept in it; and the kingdom of glory may be hastened.
Q103: What do we pray for in the third petition?
A103: In the third petition, which is, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in
heaven," we pray, That
God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and
submit to his will in all
things, as the angels do in heaven.
Q104: What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A104: In the fourth petition, which is, "Give us this day our daily bread,"
we pray, That of God's
free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life,
and enjoy his blessing
with them.
Q105: What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
A105: In the fifth petition, which is, "And forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors," we
pray, That God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which
we are able to be rather
encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to
forgive others.
Q106: What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
A106: In the sixth petition, which is, "And lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil,"
we pray, That God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or
support and deliver us when
we are tempted.
Q107: What doth the conclusion the Lord's prayer teach us?
A107: The conclusion of the Lord's prayer, which is, "For thine is the
kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever, Amen." teacheth us, to take our encouragement in
prayer from God only,
and in our prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power and glory to
him.
And, in testimony of our desire, and assurance to be heard, we say,
Amen.
Q1: What is the chief end of man?
A1: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.
Q2: What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy
Him?
A2: The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments, is the
only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.
Q3: What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A3: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning
God, and what duty God
requires of man.
Q4: What is God?
A4: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being,
wisdom, power, holiness,
justice, goodness, and truth.
Q5: Are there more Gods than one?
A5: There is but one only, the living and true God.
Q6: How many persons are there in the Godhead?
A6: There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost; and these
three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
Q7: What are the decrees of God?
A7: The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of
his will, whereby, for
his own glory, he hath fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass.
Q8: How doth God execute his decrees?
A8: God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.
Q9: What is the work of creation?
A9: The work of creation is, God's making all things of nothing, by the word
of his power, in the
space of six days, and all very good.
Q10: How did God create man?
A10: God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge,
righteousness, and
holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
Q11: What are God's works of providence?
A11: God's works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful
preserving and governing
all his creatures, and all their actions.
Q12: What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the
estate wherein he was
created?
A12: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with
him, upon condition of
perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, upon the
pain of death.
Q13: Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were
created?
A13: Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from
the estate wherein they
were created, by sinning against God.
Q14: What is sin?
A14: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of
God.
Q15: What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate
wherein they were created?
A15: The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they
were created, was their
eating the forbidden fruit.
Q16: Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?
A16: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his
posterity; all mankind,
descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with
him, in his first
transgression.
Q17: Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
A17: The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
Q18: Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
A18: The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt
of Adam's first sin, the
want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature,
which is commonly called
Original Sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
Q19: What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
A19: All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his
wrath and curse, and so
made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of
hell for ever.
Q20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and
misery?
A20. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected
some to everlasting life,
did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin
and misery, and to bring
them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
Q21: Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?
A21: The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being
the eternal Son of
God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two
distinct natures, and
one person, for ever.
Q22: How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A22: Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body,
and a reasonable soul,
being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin
Mary, and born of her
yet without sin.
Q23: What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A23: Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest,
and of a king, both in
his estate of humiliation and exaltation.
Q24: How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A24: Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his
word and Spirit, the will of
God for our salvation.
Q25: How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
A25: Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of
himself a sacrifice to satisfy
divine justice, and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession
for us.
Q26: How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A26: Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in
ruling and defending us,
and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
Q27: Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist?
A27: Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low
condition, made under the
law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed
death of the cross; in
being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.
Q28: Wherein consisteth Christ's exaltation?
A28: Christ's exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the
third day, in ascending
up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in
coming to judge the world at
the last day.
Q29: How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by
Christ?
A29: We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by
the effectual application of
it to us by his Holy Spirit.
Q30: How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by
Christ?
A30: The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by
working faith in us, and
thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.
Q31: What is effectual calling?
A31: Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby convincing us of
our sin and misery,
enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills,
he doth persuade and
enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.
Q32: What benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this
life?
A32: They that are effectually called do in this life partake of justification,
adoption, and
sanctification, and the several benefits which, in this life, do either
accompany or flow from them.
Q33: What is justification?
A33: Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein He pardoneth all
our sins, and accepteth
us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to
us, and received by
faith alone.
Q34: What is adoption?
A34: Adoption is an act of God's free grace, whereby we are received into
the number, and have a
right to all the privileges of the Sons of God.
Q35: What is sanctification?
A35: Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are
renewed in the whole man
after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and
live unto
righteousness.
Q36: What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from
justification, adoption,
and sanctification?
A36: The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from
justification, adoption, and
sanctification, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the
Holy Ghost, increase
of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.
Q37: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A37: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and
do immediately pass
into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their
graves till the resurrection.
Q38: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A38: At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be
openly acknowledged and
acquitted in the day of judgement, and made perfectly blessed in the full
enjoying of God to all
eternity.
Q39. What is the duty which God requireth of man?
A39. The duty which God requireth of man is obedience to His revealed
will.
Q40. What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
A40. The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was
the Moral Law.
Q41. Where is the Moral Law summarily comprehended?
A41. The Moral Law is summarily comprehended in the Ten
Commandments.
Q42. What is the sum of the Ten Commandments?
A42. The sum of the Ten Commandments is, "to love the Lord our God"
with all our heart, all our
soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbor as
ourselves.
Q43. What is the preface to the Ten Commandments?
A43. The preface to the Ten Commandments is in these words, "I am the
Lord your God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house Of Slavery.\"
Q44. What doth the preface to the Ten Commandments teach us?
A44. The preface to the Ten Commandments teacheth us, That because God
is The Lord, and our
God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all His
commandments.
Q45: Which is the First Commandment?
A45: The First Commandment is, "thou shalt have no other gods before
Me."
Q46: What is required in the First Commandment?
A46: The First Commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God
to be only true God,
and our God; and to worship and glorify Him accordingly.
Q47: What is forbidden in the First Commandment?
A47: The First Commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping
and glorifying the true
God, as God, and the giving of that worship and glory to any other which is
due to Him alone.
Q48: What are we specially taught by these words, "before me" in the
First
Commandment?
A48: These words "before me" in the First Commandment, teach us, That
God who seeth all
things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any
other God.
Q49: Which is the Second Commandment?
A49: The Second Commandment is, "thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth, thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
for I the Lord thy God
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of
them that love Me, and
keep my commandments."
Q50: What is required in the Second Commandment?
A50: The Second Commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and
keeping pure and entire,
all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in His
Word.
Q51: What is forbidden in the Second Commandment?
A51: The Second Commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by
images, or any other way
not appointed in His Word.
Q52: What are the reasons annexed to the Second Commandment?
A52: The reasoned annexed to the Second Commandment are, God's
sovereignty over us, and the
zeal He hath to His own worship.
Q53: Which is the Third Commandment?
A53: The Third Commandment is, "thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain: for
the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain."
Q54: What is required in the Third Commandment?
A54: The Third Commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of
God's names, titles,
attributes, ordinances, Word, and works.
Q55: What is forbidden in the Third Commandment?
A55: The Third Commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing
anything whereby God maketh
Himself known.
Q56: What is the reason annexed to the Third Commandment?
A56: The reason annexed to the Third Commandment is, That however the
breakers of this
commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God
will not suffer them to
escape His righteous judgement.
Q57: Which is the Fourth Commandment?
A57: The Fourth Commandment is, "Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it
holy. Six days shalt
thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the
LORD thy God: in it
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maid-
servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six
days the LORD made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh
day: wherefore the LORD
blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."
Q58: What is required in the Fourth Commandment?
A58: The Fourth Commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set
times as He appointed
in His Word; expressly one whole day in seven to be a holy Sabbath to
Himself.
Q59: Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly
Sabbath?
A59: From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God
appointed the seventh day
of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever
since, to continue to the
end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.
Q60: How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
A60: The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even
from such worldly
employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending
the whole time in the public
and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up
in the works of
necessity and mercy.
Q61: What is forbidden in the Fourth Commandment?
A61: The Fourth Commandment forbiddeth the omission or careless
performance of the duties
required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in
itself sinful, or by
unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or
recreations.
Q62: What are the reasons annexed to the Fourth Commandment?
A62: The reasons annexed to the Fourth Commandment are, God's allowing
us six days of the
week for our own employments, His challenging a special propriety in the
seventh, His own
example, and His blessing the Sabbath-day.
Q63: Which is the Fifth Commandment?
A63: The Fifth Commandment is, "honour thy father and thy mother, that
thy days may be long
upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."
Q64: What is required in the Fifth Commandment?
A64: The Fifth Commandment requireth the preserving the honour, and
performing the duties,
belonging to every one in their several places and relations, as superiors,
inferiors, or equals.
Q65: What is the forbidden in the Fifth Commandment?
A65: The Fifth Commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of, or doing
anything against, the honour
and duty which belongeth to every one in their several places and
relations.
Q66: What is the reason annexed to the Fifth Commandment?
A66: The reason annexed to the Fifth Commandment is a promise of long
life and prosperity (as far
as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good) to all such as keep this
commandment.
Q67: Which is the Sixth Commandment?
A67: The Sixth Commandment is, "thou shalt not kill."
Q68: What is required in the Sixth Commandment?
A68: The Sixth Commandment requireth all lawful endeavours to preserve
our own life, and the
life of others.
Q69: What is forbidden in the Sixth Commandment?
A69: The Sixth Commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own life,
or the life of our
neighbour unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto.
Q70: Which is the Seventh Commandment?
A70: The Seventh Commandment is, "thou shalt not commit adultery."
Q71: What is required in the Seventh Commandment?
A71: The Seventh Commandment requireth the preservation of our own
and our neighbor's
chasity, in heart, speech, and behaviour.
Q72: What is forbidden in the Seventh Commandment?
A72: The Seventh Commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts, words,
and actions.
Q73: Which is the Eighth Commandment?
A73: The Eighth Commandment is, "thou shalt not steal."
Q74: What is required in the Eighth Commandment?
A74: The Eighth Commandment requireth the lawful procuring and
furthering the wealth and
outward estate of ourselves and others.
Q75: What is forbidden in the Eighth Commandment?
A75: The Eighth Commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth or may
unjustly hinder our own or
our neighbour's wealth or outward estate.
Q76: What is the Ninth Commandment?
A76: The Ninth Commandment is, "thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbour."
Q77: What is required in the Ninth Commandment?
A77: The Ninth Commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of
truth between man and
man, and of our own and our neighbour's good name, especially in witness-
bearing.
Q78: What is forbidden in the Ninth Commandment?
A78: The Ninth Commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudical to
truth, or injurious to our
own or our neighbour's good name.
Q79: Which is the Tenth Commandment?
A79: The Tenth Commandment is, "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
house, thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor
his ox, nor his ass, nor
any thing that is thy neighbour's."
Q80: What is required in the Tenth Commandment?
A80: The Tenth Commandment requireth full contentment with our own
condition, with a right and
charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour, and all this is his.
Q81: What is forbidden in the Tenth Commandment?
A81: The Tenth Commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our
own own estate, envying or
grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate motions and
affections to any thing that is
his.
Q82: Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?
A82: 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.
Q83: Are all transgression of the law equally heinous?
A83: Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations are
more heinous in the sight
of God than others.
Q84: What doth every sin deserve?
A84: Every sin deserveth God's wrath and curse, both in this life, and that
which is to come.
Q85: What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and
curse
due to us for sin?
A85: To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth
of us faith in Jesus
Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means
whereby Christ
communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.
Q86: What is faith in Jesus Christ?
A86: Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest
upon him alone for
salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.
Q87: What is repentance unto life?
A87: Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true
sense of his sin, and
apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of
his sin, turn from it
unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.
Q88: What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us
the
benefits of redemption?
A88: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to
us the benefits of
redemption, are his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and
prayer; all which are made
effectual to the elect for salvation.
Q89: How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
A89: The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of
the Word, an effectual
means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in
holiness and comfort,
through faith, unto salvation.
Q90: How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become
effectual
to salvation?
A90: The the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend
thereunto with diligence,
preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our
hearts, and practise it in our
lives.
Q91: How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
A91: The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any
virtue in them, or in him
that doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the
working of his Spirit in them
that by faith receive them.
Q92: What is a sacrament?
A92: A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, by
sensible signs, Christ, and
the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to
believers.
Q93: Which are the sacraments of the New Testament?
A93: The sacraments of the New Testament are, Baptism, and the Lord's
supper.
Q94: What is baptism?
A94: Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water in the name
of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ,
and partaking of the
benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's.
Q95: To whom is baptism to be administered?
A95: Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible
church, till they profess
their faith in Christ, and obedience to him; but the infants of such as are
members of the visible
church are to be baptized.
Q96: What is the Lord's supper?
A96: The Lord's Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving
bread and wine,
according to Christ's appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worth
receivers are, not after
a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body
and blood, with all his
benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.
Q97: What is required to be the worthy receiving of the Lord's supper?
A97: It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord's
super, that they examine
themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of their faith to
feed upon him, of their
repentance, love, and new obedience; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and
drink judgement to
themselves.
Q98: What is prayer?
A98: Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for things agreeable
to his will, in the name
of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his
mercies.
Q99: What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?
A99: The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special
rule of direction is that
form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The
Lord's Prayer.
Q100: What doth the preface of the Lord's prayer teach us?
A100: The preface of the Lord's prayer, which is, "Our Father which art in
heaven," teacheth us to
draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a
father, able and ready to
help us; and that we should pray with and for others.
Q101: What do we pray for in the first petition?
A101: In the first petition, which is, "Hallowed be thy name," we pray, That
God would enable us
and others to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known;
and that he would dispose
all things to his own glory.
Q102: What do we pray for in the second petition?
A102: In the second petition, which is, "Thy kingdom come," we pray, That
Satan's kingdom may
be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves
and others brought into it,
and kept in it; and the kingdom of glory may be hastened.
Q103: What do we pray for in the third petition?
A103: In the third petition, which is, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in
heaven," we pray, That
God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and
submit to his will in all
things, as the angels do in heaven.
Q104: What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A104: In the fourth petition, which is, "Give us this day our daily bread,"
we pray, That of God's
free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life,
and enjoy his blessing
with them.
Q105: What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
A105: In the fifth petition, which is, "And forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors," we
pray, That God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which
we are able to be rather
encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to
forgive others.
Q106: What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
A106: In the sixth petition, which is, "And lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil,"
we pray, That God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or
support and deliver us when
we are tempted.
Q107: What doth the conclusion the Lord's prayer teach us?
A107: The conclusion of the Lord's prayer, which is, "For thine is the
kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever, Amen." teacheth us, to take our encouragement in
prayer from God only,
and in our prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power and glory to
him.
And, in testimony of our desire, and assurance to be heard, we say,
Amen.
