1. Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31), and to enjoy
him for ever (Ps. 73:25-26).
2. Q.
What rule has God
given to direct us how we may glorify him?
A. The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the
Old and New Testaments (Eph. 2:20; 2 Tim. 3:16) is the only rule to direct us how we may
glorify God and enjoy him (1 Jn. 1:3).
3. Q.
What do the
Scriptures principally teach?
A. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe
concerning God, and what duty God requires of man (2 Tim. 1:13; Eccl. 12:13).
4. Q.
What is God?
A. God is Spirit (Jn. 4:24), infinite (Job 11:7), eternal (Ps.
90:2; 1 Tim. 1:17), and unchangeable (Jas. 1:17) in his being (Exod. 3:14), wisdom, power
(Ps. 147:5), holiness (Rev. 4:8), justice, goodness and truth (Exod. 34:6-7).
5. Q.
Are there more
Gods than one?
A. There is but one only (Deut. 6:4), the living and true God
(Jer. 10:10).
6. Q.
How many persons
are there in the Godhead?
A. There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and
glory (1 Jn. 5:7; Matt. 28:19).
7. Q.
What are the
decrees of God?
A. The decrees of God are his eternal purpose according to the
counsel of his own will, whereby for his own glory he has foreordained whatever comes to
pass (Eph. 1:11-12).
8. Q.
How does God
execute his decrees?
A. God executes his decrees in the works of creation (Rev. 4:11),
and providence (Dan. 4:35).
9. Q.
What is the work
of creation?
A. The work of creation is God's making all things (Gen. 1:1) of
nothing, by the Word of his power (Heb. 11:3), in six normal consecutive days (Exod.
20:11), and all very good (Gen. 1:31).
10. Q.
How did God
create man?
A. God created man, male and female, after his own image (Gen.
1:27), in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness (Col 3:10; Eph. 4:24) with dominion over
the creatures (Gen. 1:28).
11. Q.
What are God's
works of providence?
A. God's works of providence are his most holy (Ps. 145:17),
wise, (Isa. 28:29) and powerful (Heb. 1:3), preserving and governing all his creatures,
and all their actions (Ps. 103:19; Matt. 10:29).
12. Q.
What special
act of providence did God exercise toward man in the state wherein he was created?
A. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life
with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; (Gal. 3:12) forbidding him to eat of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death. (Gen. 2:17)
13. Q.
Did our first
parents continue in the state wherein they were created?
A. Our first parents being left to the freedom of their own will,
fell from the state wherein they were created, by sinning against God, (Eccl. 7:29) by
eating the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:6-8).
14. Q.
What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity to, or transgression of the law
of God (1 Jn. 3:4).
15. Q.
Did all mankind
fall in Adam's first transgression?
A. 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 (1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 5:12).
16. Q.
Into what
estate did the fall bring mankind?
A. The fall brought mankind into a state of sin and misery (Rom.
5:18).
17. Q.
Wherein
consists the sinfulness of that state whereinto man fell?
A. The sinfulness of that state whereinto man fell, consists in
the guilt of Adam's first sin (Rom. 5:19), the want of original righteousness, (Rom. 3:10)
and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin (Eph. 2:1;
Ps. 51:5), together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it (Matt. 15:19).
18. Q.
What is the
misery of that state whereinto man fell?
A. All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God (Gen. 3:8,
24), are under his wrath and curse (Eph. 2:3; Gal. 3:10), and so made liable to all the
miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever (Rom. 6:23;
Matt. 25:41).
19. Q.
Did God leave
all mankind to perish in the state of sin and misery?
A. God having, out of his good pleasure from all eternity,
elected some to everlasting life (2 Thess. 2:13), did enter into a covenant of grace to
deliver them out of the state of sin and misery, and to bring them into a state of
salvation by a Redeemer (Rom. 5:21).
20. Q.
Who is the
Redeemer of God's elect?
A. The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ (1
Tim. 2:5), who being the eternal Son of God, became man (Jn. 1:14), and so was and
continues to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person for ever (1 Tim. 3:16;
Col. 2:9).
21. Q.
How did Christ,
being the Son of God, become man?
A. Christ, the son of God, became man by taking to himself a true
body (Heb. 2:14), and a reasonable soul (Matt. 26:38; Heb. 4:15), being conceived by the
power of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary, and born of her (Lk. 1:31, 35), yet without
sin (Heb. 7:26).
22. Q.
What offices
does Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A. Christ as our Redeemer executes the offices of a prophet (Acts
3:22), of a priest (Heb. 5:6), and of a king (Ps. 2:6), both in his state of humiliation
and exaltation.
23. Q.
How does Christ
execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us
(Jn. 1:18), by his Word (Jn. 20:31), and Spirit (Jn. 14:26), the will of God for our
salvation.
24. Q.
How does Christ
execute the office of a priest?
A. Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering
up himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice (Heb. 9:28), and to reconcile us to God
(Heb. 2:17), and in making continual intercession for us (Heb. 7:25).
25.
Q. How does Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executes the office of a king in subduing us to
himself, (Ps. 110:3) in ruling and defending us (Matt. 2:6; 1 Cor. 15:25), and in
restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
26. Q.
Wherein did
Christ's humiliation consist?
A. Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in
a low condition (Lk. 2:7), made under the law (Gal. 4:4), undergoing the miseries of this
life (Isa. 53:3), the wrath of God (Matt. 27:46), and the cursed death of the cross;
(Phil. 2:8) in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time (Matt.
12:40).
27. Q.
Wherein
consists Christ's exaltation?
A. Christ's exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead
on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4), in ascending up into heaven, and sitting at the right hand
of God the Father (Mk. 16:19), and in coming to judge the world at the last day (Acts
17:31).
28. Q.
How are we made
partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?
A. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ,
by the effectual application of it to us (Jn. 1:12) by his Holy Spirit. (Tit. 3:5-6)
29. Q.
How does the
Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
A. The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ,
by working faith in us (Eph. 2:8), and by it uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling
(Eph. 3:17).
30. Q.
What is
effectual calling?
A. Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit (2 Tim. 1:9)
whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery (Acts 2:37), enlightening our minds in the
knowledge of Christ (Acts 26:18), and renewing our wills (Ezek. 36:26), he does persuade
and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel (Jn. 6:44-45).
31. Q.
What benefits
do they who are effectually called, partake of in this life?
A. They who are effectually called, do in this life partake of
justification (Rom. 8:30), adoption (Eph. 1:5), sanctification, and the various benefits
which in this life do either accompany, or flow from them (1 Cor. 1:30).
32. Q.
What is
justification?
A. Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he
pardons all our sins (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7), and accepts us as righteous in his sight (2
Cor. 5:21) only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us (Rom. 5:19), and received by
faith alone (Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9).
33. Q.
What is
adoption?
A. Adoption is an act of God's free grace (1 Jn. 3:1), whereby we
are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God
(Jn. 1:12; Rom. 8:17).
34. Q.
What is
sanctification?
A. Sanctification is the work of God's Spirit (2 Thess. 2:13),
whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God (Eph. 4:24), and are
enabled more and more to die to sin, and live to righteousness (Rom. 6:11).
35. Q.
What are the
benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
A. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from
justification (Rom. 5:1-2, 5), are assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in
the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17), increase of grace, perseverance in it to the end (Prov.
4:18; 1 Jn. 5:13; 1 Pet. 1:5).
36. Q.
What benefits
do believers receive from Christ at their death?
A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in
holiness (Heb. 12:23 and do immediately pass into glory, (Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:8; Lk.
23:43), and their bodies, being still united to Christ (1 Thess. 4:14), do rest in their
graves (Isa. 57:2) till the resurrection (Job 19:26).
37. Q.
What benefits
do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A. At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory (1
Cor. 15:43), shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment (Matt.
10:32), and made perfectly blessed both in soul and body in the full enjoying of God (1
Jn. 3:2) to all eternity (1 Thess. 4:17).
38. Q.
What shall be
done to the wicked at their death?
A. The souls of the wicked shall at their death be cast into the
torments of hell (Lk. 16:22-24), and their bodies lie in their graves till the
resurrection, and judgement of the great day (Ps. 49:14).
39. Q.
What shall be
done to the wicked at the day of judgment?
A. At the day of judgment the bodies of the wicked being raised
out of their graves, shall be sentenced, together with their souls, to unspeakable
torments with the devil and his angels for ever (Dan. 12:2; Jn. 5:28-29; 2 Thess. 1:9;
Matt. 25:41).
40. Q.
What did God
reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
A. The rule which God first revealed to man for his obedience, is
the moral law (Deut. 10:4; Matt. 19:17), which is summarised in the ten commandments.
41. Q.
What is the sum
of the ten commandments?
A. The sum of the ten commandments is to love the Lord our God
with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and
our neighbour as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-40).
42. Q.
Which is the
first commandment?
A. The first commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other gods
before me."
43. Q.
What is
required in the first commandment?
A. The first commandment requires us to know (1 Chron. 28:9) and
acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God (Deut. 26:17), and to worship and
glorify him accordingly (Matt. 4:10).
44. Q.
Which is the
second commandment?
A. 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 shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."
45. Q.
What is
required in the second commandment?
A. The second commandment requires the receiving, observing
(Deut. 32:46; Matt. 28:20), and keeping pure and entire all such religious worship and
ordinances as God has appointed in his Word (Deut. 12:32).
46. Q.
What is
forbidden in the second commandment?
A. The second commandment forbids the worshipping of God by
images, (Deut. 4:15-16) or any other way not appointed in his Word (Col. 2:18).
47. Q.
Which is the
third commandment?
A. 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 takes his name
in vain."
48. Q.
What is
required in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of
God's names (Ps. 29:2), titles, attributes (Rev. 15:3-4), ordinances (Eccl. 5:1), Word
(Ps. 138:2), and works (Job 36:24; Deut. 28:58-59).
49. Q.
Which is the
fourth commandment?
A. 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 maidservant, nor they 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."
50. Q.
What is
required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God such
set times as he has appointed in his Word, expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy
Sabbath to himself (Lev. 19:30; Deut. 5:12).
51. Q.
How is the
Sabbath to be sanctified?
A. 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 (Lev.
23:3), and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship
(Ps. 92:1-2; Isa. 58:13-14), except so much as is taken up in the works of necessity and
mercy (Matt. 12:11-12).
52. Q.
Which is the
fifth commandment?
A. 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."
53. Q.
What is
required in the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment requires the preserving the honour, and
performing the duties belonging to every one in their various positions and relationships
as superiors (Eph. 5:21-22; Eph. 6:1, 5; Rom. 13:1), inferiors (Eph. 6:9), or equals (Rom.
12:10).
54. Q.
What is the
reason annexed to the fifth commandment?
A. 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 (Eph. 6:2-3).
55. Q.
Which is the
sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment is, "Thou shalt not kill."
56. Q.
What is
forbidden in the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life
(Acts 16:28), or the life of our neighbour unjustly (Gen. 9:6), or whatever tends to it
(Prov. 24:11-12).
57. Q.
Which is the
seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment is, "Thou shalt not commit
adultery."
58. Q.
What is
forbidden in the seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts (Matt.
5:28; Col. 4:6), words (Eph. 5:4; 2 Tim. 2:22), and actions (Eph. 5:3).
59. Q.
Which is the
eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment is, "Thou shalt not steal."
60. Q.
What is
forbidden in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment forbids whatever does or may unjustly
hinder our own (1 Tim. 5:8; Prov. 28:19; Prov. 21:6), or our neighbour's wealth, or
outward estate (Eph. 4:28).
61. Q.
Which is the
ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment is, "Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbour."
62. Q.
What is
required in the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment requires the maintaining and promoting
of truth between man and man (Zech. 8:16), and of our own (1 Pet. 3:16; Acts 25:10), and
our neighbour's good name (3 Jn. 1:12), especially in witness-bearing (Prov. 14:5, 25).
63. Q.
What is the
tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment is, "Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, or his
maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's."
64. Q.
What is
forbidden in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment forbids all discontentment with our own
estate (1 Cor. 10:10), envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, (Gal. 5:26) and
all inordinate emotions and affections to anything that is his (Col. 3:5).
65. Q.
Is any man able
perfectly to keep the commandments of God?
A. No mere man, since the fall, is able in his life perfectly to
keep the commandments of God (Eccl. 7:20), but does daily break them in thought, (Gen.
8:21) word (Jas. 3:8), and deed (Jas. 3:2).
66. Q.
Are all
transgressions of the law equally heinous?
A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various
aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others (Jn. 19:11; 1 Jn. 5:15).
67. Q.
What does every
sin deserve?
A. Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life
and that which is to come (Eph. 5:6; Ps. 11:6).
68. Q.
How may we
escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?
A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, we
must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 3:16), trusting alone to his blood and
righteousness. This faith is attended by repentance for the past (Acts 20:21) and leads to
holiness in the future.
69. Q.
What is faith
in Jesus Christ?
A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace (Heb. 10:39), whereby
we receive (Jn. 1:12), and rest upon him alone for salvation (Phil. 3:9), as he is set
forth in the gospel (Isa. 33:22).
70. Q.
What is
repentance to life?
A. Repentance to life is a saving grace (Acts 11:18), whereby a
sinner, out of a true sense of his sins (Acts 2:37), and apprehension of the mercy of God
in Christ (Joel 2:13), does with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it to God (Jer.
31:18-19), with full purpose to strive after new obedience (Ps. 119:59).
71. Q.
What are the
outward means whereby the Holy Spirit communicates to us the
benefits of redemption?
A. The outward and ordinary means whereby the Holy Spirit
communicates to us the benefits of Christ's redemption, are the Word, by which souls are
begotten to spiritual life; Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Prayer, and Meditation, by all
which believers are further edified in their most holy faith (Acts 2:41-42; Jas. 1:18).
72. Q.
How is the Word
made effectual to salvation?
A. The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the
preaching of the Word, an effectual means of convicting and converting sinners, (Ps. 19:7)
and of building them up in holiness and comfort (1 Thess. 1:6), through faith to salvation
(Rom. 1:16).
73. Q.
How is the Word
to be read and heard that it may become effectual to salvation?
A. That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must
attend to it with diligence (Prov. 8:34), preparation (1 Pet. 2:1-2), and prayer (Ps
119:18), receive it with faith (Heb. 4:2), and love (2 Thess. 2:10), lay it up into our
hearts (Ps. 119:11), and practise it in our lives (Jas. 1:25).
74. Q.
How do Baptism
and the Lord's Supper become spiritually helpful?
A. Baptism and the Lord's Supper become spiritually helpful, not
from any virtue in them, or in him who does administer them (1 Cor. 3:7; 1 Pet. 3:21), but
only by the blessing of Christ (1 Cor. 3:6), and the working of the Spirit in those who by
faith receive them (1 Cor. 12:13).
75. Q.
What is
Baptism?
A. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by
Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:19), to be to the person baptised a sign of his fellowship with
him, in his death, and burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:3; Col. 2:12), of his being
ingrafted into him (Gal. 3:27), of remission of sins (Mk. 1:4; Acts 22:16), and of his
giving up himself to God through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life (Rom.
6:4-5).
76. Q.
To whom is
Baptism to be administered?
A. Baptism is to be administered to all those who actually
profess repentance towards God (Acts 2:38; Matt. 3:6; Mk. 16:16; Acts 8:12, 36-37; Acts
10:47-48), and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and to none other.
77. Q.
Are the infants
of such as are professing to be baptised?
A. The infants of such as are professing believers are not to be
baptised, because there is neither command nor example in the Holy Scriptures for their
baptism (Exod. 23:13; Prov. 30:6).
78. Q.
How is baptism
rightly administered?
A. Baptism is rightly administered by immersion, or dipping the
whole body of the person in water (Matt. 3:16; Jn. 3:23), in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, according to Christ's institution, and the practice of
the apostles (Matt. 28:19-20), and not by sprinkling or pouring of water, or dipping some
part of the body, after the tradition of men (Jn. 4:1-2; Acts 8:38-39).
79. Q.
What is the
duty of such as are rightly baptized?
A. It is the duty of such as are rightly baptized, to give up
themselves to some particular and orderly Church of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:47; 9:26; 1 Pet.
2:5), that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless (Lk.
1:6).
80. Q.
What is the
Lord's Supper?
A. The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the New Testament,
instituted by Jesus Christ; wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to
his appointment, his death is shown forth (1 Cor. 11:23-26), and the worthy receivers are,
not after a corporeal 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 (1 Cor.
10:16).
81. Q.
What is
required to the worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper?
A. It is required of them who would worthily partake of the
Lord's Supper, that they examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body
(1 Cor. 11:28-29), of their faith to feed upon him (2 Cor. 13:5), of their repentance (1
Cor. 11:31), love (1 Cor. 11:18-20), and new obedience, (1 Cor. 5:8) lest coming
unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves (1 Cor. 11:27-29).
82. Q.
What is meant
by the words, "until he come," which are used by the apostle Paul in reference to the Lord's Supper?
A. They plainly teach us that our Lord Jesus Christ will come a
second time; which is the joy and hope of all believers (Acts 1:11 1 Thess. 4:16).
