The following text is from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, with several omissions and revisions in keeping with the spirit of John Wesley’s Revision of the Shorter Catechism. The only addition is the section headings.
Introduction
Question. 1. What is the chief end of man?
Answer. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Corinthians 10:31; Romans 11:36; Psalm 73:25–28.
Q. 2. What rule has God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. 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.
Key Scripture(s): 2 Timothy 3:16; Ephesians 2:20; 1 John 1:3–4.
Q. 3. 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.
Key Scripture(s): 2 Timothy 1:13; 2 Timothy 3:16.
God and Creation
Q. 4. What is God?
A. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
Key Scripture(s): John 4:24; Job 11:7–9; Psalm 90:2; James 1:17; Exodus 3:14; Psalm 147:5; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 15:4; Exodus 34:6–7.
Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?
A. There is but one only, the living and true God.
Key Scripture(s): Deuteronomy 6:4; Jeremiah 10:10.
Q. 6. 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 substance, equal in power and glory.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 28:19.
Q. 9. What is the work of creation?
A. The work of creation is God’s making all things out of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.
Key Scripture(s): Genesis 1; Hebrews 11:3.
Q. 10. How did God create man?
A. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
Key Scripture(s): Genesis 1:26–28; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24.
Q. 11. What are God’s works of providence?
A. God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.
Key Scripture(s): Psalm 145:17; Psalm 104:24; Isaiah 28:29; Hebrews 1:3; Psalm 103:19; Matthew 10:29–31.
Q. 12. What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created?
A. 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 pain of death.
Key Scripture(s): Psalm 145:17; Psalm 104:24; Isaiah 28:29; Hebrews 1:3; Psalm 103:19; Matthew 10:29–31.
The Fall and Sin
Q. 13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.
Key Scripture(s): Genesis 3:6–8, 13; Ecclesiastes 7:29.
Q. 14. What is sin?
A. Sin is a transgression of the law of God.
Key Scripture(s): 1 John 3:4.
Q. 15. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
A. The sin by which our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating the forbidden fruit.
Key Scripture(s): Genesis 3:6, 12.
Q. 17. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
A. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
Key Scripture(s): Romans 5:12.
Q. 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell consists in the lack 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.
Key Scripture(s): Romans 5:12, 19; Romans 5:10–20; Ephesians 2:1–3; James 1:14–15; Matthew 15:19.
Q. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.
Key Scripture(s): Genesis 3:8, 10, 24; Ephesians 2:2–3; Galatians 3:10; Lamentations 3:39; Romans 6:23; Matthew 25:41, 46.
Christ the Redeemer
Q. 21. Who is the redeemer of mankind?
A. The only redeemer of mankind is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Timothy 2:5–6; John 1:14; Galatians 4:4; Romans 9:5; Luke 1:35; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 7:24–25.
Q. 22. 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 and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
Key Scripture(s): Hebrews 2:14, 16; Hebrews 10:5; Matthew 26:38; Luke 1:27, 31, 35, 42; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 7:26.
Q. 23. What offices does Christ execute as our redeemer?
A. Christ, as our redeemer, executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.
Key Scripture(s): Acts 3:21–22; Hebrews 12:25, cf. 2 Corinthians 13:3; Hebrews 5:5–7; Hebrews 7:25; Psalm 2:6; Isaiah 9:6–7; Matthew 21:5; Psalm 2:8–11.
Q. 24. How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
Key Scripture(s): John 1:18; 1 Peter 1:10–12; John 15:15; John 20:31.
Q. 25. How does Christ execute the office of a priest?
A. Christ executes 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.
Key Scripture(s): Hebrews 9:14, 28; Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 7:24–25.
Q. 26. How does Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executes 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.
Key Scripture(s): Acts 15:14–16; Isaiah 33:22; Isaiah 32:1–2; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Psalm 110.
Q. 27. Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
A. 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.
Key Scripture(s): Luke 2:7; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 12:2–3; Isaiah 53:2–3; Luke 22:44; Matthew 27:46; Philippians 2:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4; Acts 2:24–27, 31.
Q. 28. Wherein consists Christ’s exaltation?
A. Christ’s exaltation consists 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.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Corinthians 15:4; Mark 16:19; Ephesians 1:20; Acts 1:11; Acts 17:31.
Partaking of Redemption by the Spirit
Q. 29. 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 by his Holy Spirit.
Key Scripture(s): John 1:11–12; Titus 3:56.
Q. 30. 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, and thereby uniting us to Christ.
Key Scripture(s): Ephesians 1:13–14; John 6:37, 39; Ephesians 2:8; Ephesians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 1:9.
Q. 32. What benefits do they that truly believe partake of in this life?
A. Those who truly believe 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.
Key Scripture(s): Romans 8:30; Ephesians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 1:26, 30.
Q. 33. What is justification?
A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.
Key Scripture(s): Romans 3:24–25; Romans 4:6–8; 2 Corinthians 5:19, 21; Romans 5:17–19; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 3:9.
Q. 34. What is adoption?
A. 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.
Key Scripture(s): 1 John 3:1; John 1:12; Romans 8:17.
Q. 35. What is sanctification?
A. 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 to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.
Key Scripture(s): 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Ephesians 4:23–24; Romans 6:4, 6.
Q. 36. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
A. 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 Spirit, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.
Key Scripture(s): Romans 5:1–2, 5; Romans 14:17; Proverbs 4:18; 1 John 5:13; 1 Peter 1:5.
Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A. The souls of believers at their death pass into glory, and their bodies rest in their graves till the resurrection.
Key Scripture(s): Hebrews 12:23; 2 Corinthians 5:1, 6, 8; Philippians 1:23; Luke 23:43; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; Isaiah 57:2; Job 19:26–27.
Q. 38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A. At the resurrection, believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Corinthians 15:43; Matthew 25:23; Matthew 10:32; John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:17–18.
The Ten Commandments
Q. 39. What is the duty which God requires of man?
A. The duty which God requires of man is obedience to his revealed will.
Key Scripture(s): Micah 6:8; 1 Samuel 15:22.
Q. 40. What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
A. The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience was the moral law.
Key Scripture(s): Romans 2:14–15; Romans 10:5.
Q. 41. Where is the moral law summarily comprehended?
A. The moral law is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments.
Key Scripture(s): Deuteronomy 10:4; Matthew 19:17.
Q. 42. 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 neighbor as ourselves.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 22:37–40.
Q. 43. What is the preface to the Ten Commandments?
A. The preface to the Ten Commandments is in these words, “I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:2.
Q. 44. What does the preface to the Ten Commandments teach us?
A. The preface to the Ten Commandments teaches us that because God is the Lord, and our God, and redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments.
Key Scripture(s): Luke 1:74–75; 1 Peter 1:15–19.
Q. 45. Which is the first commandment?
A. The first commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:3.
Q. 46. What is required in the first commandment?
A. The first commandment requires us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Chronicles 28:9; Deuteronomy 26:17; Matthew 6:10; Psalm 29:2.
Q. 47. What is forbidden in the first commandment?
A. The first commandment forbids the denying, or not worshiping and glorifying the true God as God, and our God; and the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to him alone.
Key Scripture(s): Psalm 14:1; Romans 1:21; Psalm 81:10–11; Romans 1:25–26.
Q. 48. What are we specially taught by these words before me in the first commandment?
A. These words before me in the first commandment teach us that God, who sees all things, takes notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other god.
Key Scripture(s): Ezekiel 8:5–18; Psalm 44:20–21.
Q. 49. Which is the second commandment?
A. The second commandment is, “You shall not make unto you any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord your 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.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:4–6.
Q. 50. What is required in the second commandment?
A. The second commandment requires the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God has appointed in his word.
Key Scripture(s): Deuteronomy 32:46; Matthew 28:20; Acts 2:42.
Q. 51. What is forbidden in the second commandment?
A. The second commandment forbids the worshiping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in his word.
Key Scripture(s): Deuteronomy 4:15–19; Exodus 32:5, 8; Deuteronomy 12:31–32.
Q. 52. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the second commandment are God’s sovereignty over us, his propriety in us, and the zeal he has for his own worship.
Key Scripture(s): Psalm 95:2–3, 6; Psalm 45:11; Exodus 34:13–14.
Q. 53. Which is the third commandment?
A. The third commandment is, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:7.
Q. 54. What is required in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 6:9; Deuteronomy 28:58; Psalm 68:4; Revelation 15:3–4; Malachi 1:11, 14; Psalm 138:1–2; Job 36:24.
Q. 55. What is forbidden in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment forbids all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God makes himself known.
Key Scripture(s): Malachi 1:6–7, 12; Malachi 2:2; Malachi 3:14.
Q. 56. What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?
A. 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 judgment.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Samuel 2:12, 17, 22, 29; 1 Samuel 3:13; Deuteronomy 28:58–59.
Q. 57. Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God: in it you shalt not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your 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.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:8–11.
Q. 58. 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.
Key Scripture(s): Deuteronomy 5:12–14.
Q. 59. Which day of the seven has God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?
A. Till 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.
Key Scripture(s): Genesis 2:2–3; 1 Corinthians 16:1–2; Acts 20:7.
Q. 60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day; 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.
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:8, 10; Exodus 16:25–28; Nehemiah 13:15–19, 21–22; Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7; Psalm 92; Isaiah 66:23; Matthew 12:1–31.
Q. 61. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment forbids 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.
Key Scripture(s): Ezekiel 22:26; Amos 8:5; Malachi 1:13; Acts 20:7, 9; Ezekiel 23:38; Jeremiah 17:24–26; Isaiah 58:13.
Q. 62. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’s allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, his claiming special ownership of the seventh, his own example, and his blessing the Sabbath day.
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:9, 11.
Q. 63. Which is the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment is, “Honor your father and your mother; that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:12.
Q. 64. What is required in the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment requires preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to everyone in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors, or equals.
Key Scripture(s): Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:17; Romans 12:10.
Q. 65. What is forbidden in the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment forbids the neglecting of, or doing anything against, the honor and duty which belongs to everyone in their several places and relations.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 15:4–6; Ezekiel 34:2–4; Romans 13:8.
Q. 66. 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.
Key Scripture(s): Deuteronomy 5:16; Ephesians 6:2–3.
Q. 67. Which is the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment is, “You shall not murder.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:13.
Q. 68. What is required in the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment requires all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life, and the life of others.
Key Scripture(s): Ephesians 5:28–29; 1 Kings 18:4.
Q. 69. What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbor unjustly, or whatsoever tends unto it.
Key Scripture(s): Acts 16:28; Genesis 9:6.
Q. 70. Which is the seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment is, “You shalt not commit adultery.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:14.
Q. 71. What is required in the seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment requires the preservation of our own and our neighbor’s chastity, in thought, speech, and behavior.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Corinthians 7:2–3, 5, 34, 36; Colossians 4:6; 1 Peter 3.
Q. 72. What is forbidden in the seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 15:19; Matthew 5:28; Ephesians 5:3–4.
Q. 73. Which is the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment is, “You shall not steal.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:15.
Q. 74. What is required in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment requires the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others.
Key Scripture(s): Genesis 30:30; 1 Timothy 5:8; Leviticus 25:35; Deuteronomy 22:1–5; Exodus 23:4–5; Genesis 47:14, 20.
Q. 75. What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment forbids whatsoever does or may unjustly hinder our own or our neighbor’s wealth or outward estate.
Key Scripture(s): Proverbs 21:17; Proverbs 23:20–21; Proverbs 28:19; Ephesians 4:28.
Q. 76. Which is the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment is, “You shalt not bear false witness against you neighbor.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:16.
Q. 77. What is required in the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment requires the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our neighbor’s good name, especially in witness-bearing.
Key Scripture(s): Zechariah 8:16; 3 John 12; Proverbs 14:5, 25.
Q. 78. What is forbidden in the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment forbids whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own or our neighbor’s good name.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Samuel 17:28; Leviticus 19:16; Psalm 15:3.
Q. 79. Which is the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment is, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Key Scripture(s): Exodus 20:17.
Q. 80. What is required in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment requires full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor, and all that is his.
Key Scripture(s): Hebrews 13:5; 1 Timothy 6:6; Job 31:29; Romans 12:15; 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Corinthians 13:4–7.
Q. 81. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment forbids all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Kings 21:4; Esther 5:13; 1 Corinthians 10:10; Galatians 5:26; James 3:14, 16; Romans 7:7–8; Romans 13:9; Deuteronomy 5:21.
Q. 83. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?
A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.
Key Scripture(s): Ezekiel 8:6, 13, 15; 1 John 5:16; Psalm 78:17, 32, 56.
Q. 84. What does every sin deserve?
A. Every sin deserves God’s wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come.
Key Scripture(s): Ephesians 5:6; Galatians 3:10; Lamentations 3:39; Matthew 25:41.
Escaping the Wrath of God
Q. 85. What does God require of us that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?
A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption.
Key Scripture(s): Acts 20:21; Proverbs 2:1–5; Proverbs 8:33–36; Isaiah 55:3.
Q. 86. What is faith in Jesus Christ?
A. 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.
Key Scripture(s): Hebrews 10:39; John 1:12; Isaiah 26:3–4; Philippians 3:9; Galatians 2:16.
Q. 87. What is repentance unto life?
A. 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, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.
Key Scripture(s): Acts 11:18; Acts 2:37–38; Joel 2:12; Jeremiah 3:22; Jeremiah 31:18–19; Ezekiel 36:31; 2 Corinthians 7:11; Isaiah 1:16–17.
Q. 88. What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption?
A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 2:42, 46–47.
The Word
Q. 89. 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 convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation.
Key Scripture(s): Nehemiah 8:8; 1 Corinthians 14:24–25; Acts 26:18; Psalm 19:8; Acts 20:32; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; Romans 10:13–17; Romans 1:16.
Q. 90. 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 thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.
Key Scripture(s): Proverbs 8:34; 1 Peter 2:1–2; Psalm 119:18; Hebrews 4:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:10; Psalm 119:11; Luke 8:15; James 1:25.
The Sacraments
Q. 91. How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
A. The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that does administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Peter 3:21; Matthew 3:11; 1 Corinthians 3:6–7; 1 Corinthians 12:13.
Q. 92. What is a sacrament?
A. A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ in which, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.
Key Scripture(s): Genesis 17:7, 10; Exodus 12; 1 Corinthians 11:23, 26.
Q. 93. Which are the sacraments of the New Testament?
A. The sacraments of the New Testament are baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 28:19; Matthew 26:26–28.
Q. 94. What is baptism?
A. Baptism is a sacrament in which the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, does signify and seal our grafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:4; Galatians 3:27.
Q. 95. To whom is baptism to be administered?
A. 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.
Key Scripture(s): Acts 8:36–37; Acts 2:38–39; Genesis 17:10, cf. Colossians 2:11–12; 1 Corinthians 7:14.
Q. 96. What is the Lord’s Supper?
A. The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament in which, by giving and receiving bread and wine according to Christ’s appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worthy 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.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; 1 Corinthians 10:16.
Q. 97. What is required to the worthy receiving of the Lord’s Supper?
A. It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord’s Supper, 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 judgment to themselves.
Key Scripture(s): 1 Corinthians 11:28–29; 2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 Corinthians 11:31; 1 Corinthians 10:16–17; 1 Corinthians 5:7–8; 1 Corinthians 11:28–29.
The Lord’s Prayer
Q. 98. What is prayer?
A. 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 acknowledgment of his mercies.
Key Scripture(s): Psalm 62:8; 1 John 5:14; John 16:23; Psalm 32:5–6; Daniel 9:4; Philippians 4:6.
Q. 99. What rule has God given for our direction in prayer?
A. 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.
Key Scripture(s): 1 John 5:14; Matthew 6:9–13, cf. Luke 11:2–4.
Q. 100. What does the preface of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?
A. The preface of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, “Our Father who is in heaven,” teaches 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.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 6:9; Romans 8:15; Luke 11:13; Acts 12:5; 1 Timothy 2:1–2.
Q. 101. What do we pray for in the first petition?
A. In the first petition, which is, “Hallowed be your name,” we pray that God would enable us and others to glorify him in all that whereby he makes himself known; and that he would dispose all things to his own glory.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 6:9; Psalm 67:2–3; Psalm 83.
Q. 102. What do we pray for in the second petition?
A. In the second petition, which is, “Your 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 that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 6:10; Psalm 68:1, 18; Revelation 12:10–11; 2 Thessalonians 3:1; Romans 10:1; John 17:9, 20; Revelation 22:20.
Q. 103. What do we pray for in the third petition?
A. In the third petition, which is, “Your 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.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 6:10; Psalm 67; Psalm 119:36; Matthew 26:39; 2 Samuel 15:25; Job 1:21; Psalm 103:20–21.
Q. 104. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A. 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.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 6:11; Proverbs 30:8–9; Genesis 28:20; 1 Timothy 4:4–5.
Q. 105. What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
A. 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 the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 6:12; Psalm 51:1–2, 7, 9; Daniel 9:17–19; Luke 11:4; Matthew 18:35.
Q. 106. What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
A. 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.
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 6:13; Matthew 26:41; 2 Corinthians 12:7–8.
Q. 107. What does the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?
A. The conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, “For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Amen,” teaches 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.”
Key Scripture(s): Matthew 6:13; Daniel 9:4, 7–9, 16–19; 1 Chronicles 29:10–13; 1 Corinthians 14:16; Revelation 22:20–21.
