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Gadsby’s Catechism for Children and Schools
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GADSBY’S CATECHISM
Q.1 Who is the only self-existent Being?
ANSWER God is the only self-existent Being.
Exodus 3:14; Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 45:5, 22; John 8:58.
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Q.2 Ought everyone to believe that there is a God?
ANSWER Everyone ought to believe that there is a God, and it is their great sin and folly who do not:
Psalm 9:17; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Mark 16:16; John 8:24; 16:8, 9; 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12.
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Q.3 How may we know that there is a God?
ANSWER The works of creation and providence plainly declare that there is a God, but His Word and Spirit only do it effectually to the salvation of His people.
Job 38; 39; Psalm 19; John 16:8-14; 17:8; 1 Corinthians 2:10.
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Q.4 What is the Word of God?
ANSWER The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the Word of God, and the only certain rule of faith and obedience.
Psalm 119:140; Proverbs 30:5; Isaiah 40:8; 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
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Q.5 What things are chiefly contained in the Holy Scriptures?
ANSWER The Holy Scriptures chiefly contain what man is to believe concerning God, and what God requires of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14; Micah 6:8; 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
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Q.6 What is God?
ANSWER God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.
Exodus 34:5-7; John 4:24; 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:15, 16; Hebrews 12:29; Revelation 22:13.
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Q.7 Are there more Gods than one?
ANSWER There is but one only living and true God.
Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5, 6, 21, 22; 1 Timothy 2:5; Romans 8:28-30; 9:6-24; Ephesians 1:11, 12; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14.
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Q.8 How many Persons are there in the Godhead?
ANSWER There are three Persons in the Godhead - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and these Three are One, the same in essence, and equal in power and glory.
Matthew 3:16, 17; 12:31, 32; 28:19; John 5:23; 15:26; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 5:7.
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Q.9 Can God be frustrated in His purposes and designs?
ANSWER No, for He works all things after the counsel of His own will, and will do all His pleasure.
Job 23:13; Isaiah 43:13; 46:10; Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:11, 12.
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Q.10 What are the decrees of God?
ANSWER The decrees of God are His eternal purpose according to the counsel of His will, whereby, for His own glory, He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
Isaiah 46:10; Romans 8:28-30; 9:6-24; Ephesians 1:11, 12; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14.
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Q.11 How does God execute his decrees?
ANSWER God executes his decrees in the works of creation, providence and grace.
Numbers 23:19-23; Job 37:13; Psalm 107:25-30; Daniel 4:35; Revelation 4:11.
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Q.12 What is the work of creation?
ANSWER The work of creation is God’s, making all things out of nothing by the word of His power, and all very good.
Genesis 1; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 11:3.
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Q.13 How did God create man?
ANSWER God created man, male and female; in the image of God created He them, with dominion over the creatures.
Genesis 1:26-31; 2:7, 18-23; Psalm 8:3-8, 119:73; Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-9.
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Q.14 What are God’s works of providence?
ANSWER God’s works of providence are His most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing of all His creatures and all their actions.
1 Samuel 3:18; Job 23:13, 14; Psalm 31:15; 103:19; 145:15, 16; Proverbs 5:21; 16:9, 33; 20:24; Matthew 10:29; Hebrews 1:3.
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Q.15 What are God’s works of grace?
ANSWER God’s works of grace are the rich displays of His everlasting love in redemption, regeneration and the glorious works connected therewith.
Jeremiah 31:3; Ephesians 2; Philippians 2:13; Revelation 1:5, 6.
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Q.16 What special act of providence did God exercise towards man in the estate wherein He created him?
ANSWER When God created man He gave him a law, promising him a continuance of the life and blessings which he then possessed on condition of his perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil upon pain of death.
Genesis 2:15-17.
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Q.17 Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
ANSWER Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created by sinning against God.
Genesis 3; Ecclesiastes 7:29.
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Q.18 What is sin?
ANSWER Sin is the transgression of the law of God.
1 John 3:4.
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Q.19 What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
ANSWER The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating of the forbidden fruit.
Genesis 3:6, 7.
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Q.20 Did all mankind fall in Adam’s transgression?
ANSWER All mankind, descending from Adam by ordinary generation lay in his loins, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression.
1 Kings 8:46; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:9-19, 23; 5:12, 19; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 22.
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Q.21 Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
ANSWER The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
Genesis 3:7-24; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:10-12; 5:12; 8:22.
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Q.22 Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
ANSWER 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 the actual transgressions which proceed from it.
Psalm 51:5; 58:3; Isaiah 1:6; 6:5; 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 15:19; Romans 3:10; 7:14.
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Q.23 What is the misery of that estate whereunto man fell?
ANSWER All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, incurred the curse of the law, and so were made liable to all the miseries of this life, and to death itself; and all who die in sin must endure the pains of hell for ever.
Genesis 3:16-24; Job 5:7; 14:1, 2; Isaiah 64:6; Matthew 22:13; 25:41; Romans 3:23; 8:7; 1 Corinthians 2:14.
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Q.24 Did God leave all mankind to perish in that estate of sin and misery?
ANSWER No; God, having out of His own good pleasure from eternity elected some of them to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of that estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into a state of salvation by a Redeemer.
Romans 3:21-25; 9:6-24; Ephesians 1:4-7; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2.
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Q.25 What is meant by a covenant of grace?
ANSWER The covenant engagement entered into, in the counsels of eternity, by the Triune God in behalf of the elect; in which covenant the elect were given to the Person of the Son, and made His care and charge, and all spiritual blessings were treasured up and secured in Him, and so made sure to all the seed of promise.
2 Samuel 23:5; Psalm 89:27-37; Isaiah 55:3; Hosea 2:23; John 17:2; Hebrews 2:13; 8:10.
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Q.26 On whom did the conditions of the covenant fall?
ANSWER The Second Person in the Trinity, who, knowing the elect would destroy themselves by sin, engaged to be accountable for them, and to take all the consequences connected therewith upon Himself, and in His own time to send them the Holy Spirit, who should teach them all truth; and, at last, present them to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
Isaiah 9:6, 7; John 16:7-14; 17:8-15; Ephesians 5:25-27; Hebrews 9:28.
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Q.27 Is there anything in the covenant of grace of a precarious or uncertain nature?
ANSWER No; for it is ordered in all things and sure, and is confirmed by the promise and oath of God.
2 Samuel 23:5; Psalm 89:33-37; Jeremiah 33:20, 21; Matthew 24:35; John 17:12, 24; Romans 11:29.
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Q.28 Are the called according to God’s purpose to take any consolation from the glory and stability of this covenant?
ANSWER Yes; for it contains all their salvation, and all their desire.
2 Samuel 23:5; Isaiah 54:10; John 10:28-29; Hebrews 6:17-20.
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Q.29 Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
ANSWER The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ who, being the Lord of life and glory, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and Man in two distinct natures but one Person for ever.
Genesis 3:15; Matthew 1:21, 23; John 1:14; 1 Timothy 2:5; 3:16; Hebrews 1:1-9; 2:9; 13:8.
Q.30 How did Christ, the Lord of life and glory, become man?
ANSWER Christ, the Lord of life and glory, became man by taking upon Him the nature of His people, being conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary (by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost) and born of her, yet without sin.
Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:20-23; Luke 1:31-35; John 1:14; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:6-8; Hebrews 2:14-18.
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Q.31 What offices does Christ execute as the Redeemer of God’s elect?
ANSWER Christ, as the Redeemer of God’s elect, executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest and of a king, both in His estate of humiliation and exaltation.
(Prophet) Luke 7:16; John 1:1,14; 6:14; 13:19; Acts 3:22-25; 7:37-38.
(Priest) Hebrews 2:17, 18; 3:1; 4:14-16; 5:5-7; 7:24-28; 10:19-22.
(King) Psalm 2:6; 24:7-10; Psalm 45; Zechariah 9:9; Revelation 11:15; 19:16.
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Q.32 How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
ANSWER Christ executes the office of a prophet in revealing to the elect, by His word and Spirit, the will of God in their salvation.
John 1:18; 6:33,45,63; 10:27-28; 13:19; 14:26; 15:15.
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Q.33 How does Christ execute the office of a priest?
ANSWER Christ executes the office of a priest in His once offering up of Himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and to reconcile the elect unto God, and in making continual intercession for them.
Isaiah 53:6-11; Romans 8:34; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; Hebrews 2:17; 7:25; 9:28.
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Q.34 How does Christ execute the office of a king?
ANSWER Christ executes the office of a king by subduing the elect to Himself, ruling and defending them, and conquering all His and their enemies.
Psalm 110:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:8.
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Q.35 Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
ANSWER Christ’s humiliation consisted in His being born of a woman, made under the law, and becoming a servant, though He was Lord of all; in His undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; and in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.
Isaiah 53; Matthew 12:40; 27:46; Luke 22:42-44; 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 5:7, 8.
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Q.36 Wherein consists Christ’s exaltation?
ANSWER Christ’s exaltation consists in His rising again from the dead on the third day; in ascending up into heaven with the elect on His breast as trophies of victory; in sitting at the right hand of the Father; and in coming to judge the world at the last day, accompanied by all His holy angels, and His Bride adorned in His glory, who shall meet Him in the air at His coming; and in His sitting upon His throne of glory, to be admired and honoured by all the redeemed throng, for ever and ever.
Luke 24:1-7; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:4; Ephesians 1:20-23; Philippians 2:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 5:11-14; 20:11; 21:2-4.
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Q.37 What special blessings do God’s people derive from the Lord Jesus Christ?
ANSWER As all spiritual blessings are treasured up and secured in Christ, so they are dealt out to the elect as is most for God’s glory to give, and His people’s good to receive.
John 1:16; Romans 8:28-39; Ephesians 1:3-6; Philippians 4:19.
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Q.38 What is Jesus Christ unto the elect?
ANSWER Jesus Christ is made of God unto the elect wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption; He is their head, life, strength, portion and their all in all.
Psalm 18:1, 2; 73:25-26; 142:5; Song of Solomon 5:9-16; Jeremiah 23:6; 1 Corinthians 1:30, 31; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:23; Colossians 3:3, 4,11.
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Q.39 How are the elect made partakers of the redemption by Christ?
ANSWER The elect are made partakers of the redemption by Christ in the effectual application of it to them by His Spirit.
Zechariah 4:6; John 3:27; 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:10; 6:11; Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13.
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Q.40 How does the Spirit apply the redemption by Christ to the elect?
ANSWER The Spirit applies the redemption by Christ to the elect by working faith in them, and thereby bringing them to a knowledge of their union to Christ in effectual calling.
John 6:29; 16:8-15; 1 Corinthians 1:8, 9; Ephesians 2:8-10; 3:17-19; Philippians 2:13; 2 Timothy1:9; Hebrews 3:1.
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Q.41 What is effectual calling?
ANSWER Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit whereby, convincing them of sin, enlightening their minds in the knowledge of Christ, and creating them anew, He enables the elect to embrace Jesus Christ, freely given to them in the gospel.
John 6:37; 16:8-11,13, 14; 17:3; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Ephesians 2:1; 1 John 2:27; Revelation 22:17.
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Q.42 What blessings do they that are effectually called partake of in this life?
ANSWER They that are effectually called do, in this life, partake of justification, adoption, sanctification and the several blessings which do in this life accompany them.
Psalm 68:18; Romans 5:1, 2; 8:30-32; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:5.
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Q.43 What is justification?
ANSWER Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein the elect are accepted as righteous in God’s sight alone, for the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and they receive it by faith.
Romans 4:3-5,24-25; 5:18, 19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:5-11; Philippians 3:9; Titus 3:7.
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Q.44 What is adoption?
ANSWER Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby the elect are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.
Jeremiah 31:9; Romans 8:15-17; 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18; Galatians 4:4-7; 1 John 3:1, 2.
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Q.45 What is sanctification?
ANSWER Sanctification may be taken in a three-fold sense.
1 Thessalonians 5:23.
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Q.46 What is the first sense of sanctification?
ANSWER To sanctify is to appoint, consecrate, or set apart any person or thing to a holy and special use; thus the elect were sanctified by God the Father.
Exodus 30:28-29; Leviticus 20:24; Psalm 4:3; John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 6:17; Jude 1:1.
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Q.47 What is the second sense of sanctification?
ANSWER The elect are sanctified by the blood of Christ, which blots out their transgressions as a cloud, has satisfied divine justice, removed the curse and purges the conscience from dead works.
Isaiah 43:25; 44:22; John 17:19; 1 Corinthians 1:2,6-11; Ephesians 2:13; Colossians 2:13, 14; Hebrews 9:14; 10:10,14; 13:12.
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Q.48 What is the third sense of sanctification?
ANSWER The third sense of sanctification is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby the elect are renewed after the image of God, which is called the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 12:2; 15:16; Ephesians 4:22-24; 5:26-27; Colossians 3:10; Titus 3:4-6.
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Q.49 What law was Christ made under in His estate of humiliation?
ANSWER The law of works.
Matthew 5:17, 18; Romans 5:19; Galatians 4:4, 5.
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Q.50 What is meant by the law of works?
ANSWER The law of God, commonly called the moral law, chiefly contained in the ten commandments.
Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21.
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Q.51 Which is the first commandment?
ANSWER I am the Lord thy God: Thou shalt have no other gods before me:
Exodus 20:2, 3; Deuteronomy 5:6, 7.
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Q.52 Which is the second commandment?
ANSWER Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, or the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or 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.
Exodus 20:4-6; Deuteronomy 5:8-10.
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Q.53 Which is the third commandment?
ANSWER 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.
Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11.
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Q.54 Which is the fourth commandment?
ANSWER 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 thy cattle, nor the 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 seventh day and hallowed it.
Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15.
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Q.55 Which is the fifth commandment?
ANSWER Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16.
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Q.56 Which is the sixth commandment?
ANSWER Thou shalt not kill.
Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17.
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Q.57 Which is the seventh commandment?
ANSWER Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18.
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Q.58 Which is the eighth commandment?
ANSWER Thou shalt not steal.
Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19.
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Q.59 Which is the ninth commandment?
ANSWER Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20.
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Q.60 Which is the tenth commandment?
ANSWER 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 anything that is thy neighbour’s.
Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21.
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Q.61 Is man, in a state of nature, bound to obey this law?
ANSWER Yes; and every act of disobedience deserves God’s righteous wrath and indignation; for the law is holy, just and good.
Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Matthew 5:19; 22:37-40; Romans 6:23; 7:12; Hebrews 2:2.
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Q.62 Wherein does disobedience to God’s law consist?
ANSWER Disobedience to God’s law consists in sinful thoughts, words and works.
Deuteronomy 27:26; Proverbs 24:9; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 12:36; 15:18-20; Romans 6:23; Galatians 3:10; 1 John 3:4.
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Q.63 Can the law show any mercy to transgressors?
ANSWER The law is a transcript of God’s holiness and justice, and contains a righteous display of His wrath and indignation against ungodliness and ungodly men, and pronounces the man accursed who continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do them; therefore it cannot show mercy to transgressors.
Deuteronomy 27:26; Matthew 15:18-20; Galatians 3:10, 11; Hebrews 2:2; 10:28; 12:18-21; 1 Peter 1:15,16.
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Q.64 How then can God be just, and yet justify transgressors of His holy law?
ANSWER The Lord Jesus Christ, as the Head and Representative of His people, was made under the law to redeem them that were under it; and, in His people’s room and stead, has fulfilled, magnified and made it honourable, wrought out and brought in an everlasting righteousness for their justification; was made sin for them, and they are made the righteousness of God in Him: Thus God is just, and yet the justifier of all that believe in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 42:21; 53:10, 11; Daniel 9:24; Romans 3:26; 5:15-21; 10:4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; 4:4; 1 Peter 3:18.
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Q.65 How does a poor sinner come to the knowledge of his election and justification?
ANSWER By faith in Christ Jesus, as his elect Head, and the Lord his righteousness and strength:
Isaiah 26:3, 4; 45:22-25; Romans 3:21-26; 4:23, 24; 5:1, 2; 1 Corinthians 2:10-12.
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Q.66 What is faith?
ANSWER Faith is a grace of the Holy Spirit, whereby the sinner believes in God as He is revealed in His Word; and whereby he beholds and receives Jesus Christ as a Saviour just suited to his case in the glory of His Person, fullness, work, offices and relationship; and it is called “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
John 6:29; 16:13, 14; Romans 10:9-11; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 2:8-10; Hebrews 11:1.
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Q.67 What is repentance unto life?
ANSWER Repentance unto life is a grace of the Spirit, whereby a sinner, under a true sense of his sin, and an experimental acquaintance with God’s pardoning mercy in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God with full purpose of heart, and to serve the Lord in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
Joel 2:12, 13; Luke 23:40-42; Acts 2:37; 5:31; 11:18; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:9, 10; 1 Thessalonians 1:9.
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Q.68 What is love?
ANSWER Love is a grace of the Spirit, communicated to the believer, whereby he loves and delights in God, and in His ways, Word, worship and people.
Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 5:6,22; 1 John 3:14; 4:7-21; 5:1-3.
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Q.69 What is hope?
ANSWER Hope is a grace of the Spirit, whereby the believer expects all that the Lord in His Word has promised to give, and is “an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.”
Psalm 42:11; Proverbs 14:32; Acts 26:6, 7; Romans 5:2,4, 5; 8:24, 25; Colossians 1:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:16; Titus 2:13; 3:7; Hebrews 3:6; 6:11,18-20.
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Q.70 What is patience?
ANSWER Patience is a grace of the Spirit, whereby the believer submissively waits the will of God, for the accomplishment of blessings promised.
Psalm 40:1; Romans 5:3, 4; 8:25; Hebrews 6:12-15; 10:35, 36; 12:1; James 5:7, 8, 10, 11.
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Q.71 What blessings are connected with faith in Christ Jesus?
ANSWER The blessings connected with faith in Christ Jesus are, a freedom from the bondage of sin, Satan, the world, death and the law, with free access to the Father, and a hearty welcome to all the glory of the gospel and the blessings of God’s house.
John 3:14-17; Romans 5:2; 6:14; 8:1-4; Ephesians 2:18-22; 1 John 2:12-14; 5:4, 5.
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Q.72 Since a believer is made free from the law, is it any part of his freedom to be at liberty to sin?
ANSWER No; for he is called to holiness; and though he is dead to, and free from, the law of works, he is not now, nor does he wish to be, without law to God but is under the law of Christ.
Luke 6:46; Romans 6:1, 2, 6, 7,11-19; 7:1-6; 1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 5:1,13-25; Colossians 2:6, 7; 2 Timothy 2:19; Titus 3:8.
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Q.73 What is the law of Christ?
ANSWER The law of Christ is the gospel of His grace, which is the law from Zion, called the law of faith, the law of liberty, and the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 2:2, 3; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Micah 4:1, 2; Romans 3:27; 7:21-25; 8:1-4; Galatians 6:2; Hebrews 1:8; 8:6-13; James 1:25.
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Q.74 What is the gospel?
ANSWER The gospel may be taken in a limited or in a more extensive sense:
Mark 1:14, 15; John 1:17; Romans 1:16; Ephesians 3:6; 1 Timothy 1:11,14, 15.
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Q.75 What is meant by the gospel in a limited sense?
ANSWER Glad tidings of great joy, or a free proclamation of rich mercy, without money and without price, to poor, sin-burdened sinners; with the glorious invitations, doctrines and promises of God’s everlasting love, and the blessings these truths contain.
Isaiah 55:1-3, 6, 7; Matthew 11:28-30; Luke 2:10, 11,14; 11:9, 10; John 1:16, 17; 3:14-17; 7:37; Romans 1:16; 10:13; Titus 3:4-7; Revelation 21:6; 22:17.
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Q.76 What is meant by the gospel in a more extensive sense?
ANSWER The above things, together with the precepts and ordinances enjoined on the church by Christ and His apostles, and the things connected therewith.
Matthew 28:18-20; John 13:34; 14:15; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Ephesians 2:8-10; Colossians 2:6, 7; Titus 3:8, 9; 1 John 2:6; 2 John 6.
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Q.77 Is the gospel, in all its branches, a sufficient rule of life to a believer in Christ?
ANSWER Yes; for through the life-giving power of the Spirit, faith lives upon Christ, the Living Head, and gospel precepts are the believer’s rule in the world, in the family, in the church, and in case of personal offences.
John 14:21; Romans 6:14; 8:9-11,14; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Galatians 6:14-16; Philippians 3:16; Colossians 3:1-3.
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Q.78 Can you give a proof of the precepts of the gospel as a rule to a believer in the world?
ANSWER Yes; for it is written, “I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” “Recompense to no man evil for evil: Provide things honest in the sight of all men: If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.” “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal.”
Matthew 5:43-48; Romans 12:17, 18; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-25; 4:1; 1 John 2:15.
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Q.79 Can you give a proof of the precepts of the gospel as a rule in the family?
ANSWER Yes; as it is written, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” “Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged,” “but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Ephesians 5:22-25,33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21.
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Q.80 Can you give a proof of the gospel as a rule in the church?
ANSWER Yes; as it is written, “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” “As God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk: And so ordain I in all churches.” “Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” “Keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.” “Let all things be done decently and in order.” “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.”
Matthew 23:8-10; 1 Corinthians 7:17; 11:2; 14:40; Ephesians 6:9; Hebrews 10:24, 25; 1 Peter 3:8-11; 5:1-5.
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Q.81 Can you give a proof of the gospel as a rule in case of personal offences?
ANSWER Yes; as it is written, “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother: But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established: And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church, but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”
Matthew 18:15-17.
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Q.82 Does the gospel require anything of believers towards God?
ANSWER Believers are not their own, but are bought with a price: God, in the gospel, requires them to glorify Him in their body and their spirit, which are His, and to worship Him in spirit and in truth; and His grace enables them so to do.
John 4:23, 24; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Titus 3:8.
Q.83 How many ordinances has Christ instituted in His church?
ANSWER Two, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord.
Matthew 3:15; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 22:15-20; Acts 9:18; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
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Q.84 What is Baptism?
ANSWER Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus Christ, to be unto the person baptized a sign of his fellowship with Him in His death, burial and resurrection; of his death unto sin, wrath and the law, and all other lords; of his resurrection unto life, and of his giving up himself unto God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:11-13; 3:1-3; 1 Peter 3:21.
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Q.85 To whom is Baptism to be administered?
ANSWER Baptism is to be administered to those who are blessed with and actually profess repentance towards God, and faith in, and obedience to, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 2:37, 38, 41; 8:12,36, 37; 10:47, 48; 22:16.
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Q.86 Are infants proper subjects of Baptism?
ANSWER There is neither command nor example in the Holy Scriptures, nor certain consequences from them, to baptize infants; therefore they ought not to be baptized.
Mark 16:15, 16; Acts 8:37.
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Q.87 How is Baptism rightly administered?
ANSWER Baptism is rightly administered by immersion, or dipping the whole body of the person baptized in the water, 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; and not in sprinkling or pouring of water, after the tradition of men.
Matthew 3:16; 28:19; Acts 8:38-39; Romans 6:4, 5; Colossians 2:12.
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Q.88 What is the duty and privilege of those who are rightly baptized?
ANSWER It is the duty and privilege of those who are rightly baptized to give up themselves to some orderly church of Jesus Christ, that they may walk, in all the commandments of Christ their Head.
Mark 16:15, 16; Acts 8:37.
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Q.89 What is the Lord’s Supper?
ANSWER The Lord’s Supper is an Ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus Christ, wherein, by partaking of bread and wine, by faith in Christ, the worthy receivers do set forth the broken body and the shedding of the blood of Jesus as their meat indeed and their drink indeed; and as oft as they do it they show forth His death till He come.
Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 10:16, 17; 11:23-27.
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Q.90 Who are the proper subjects of this ordinance?
ANSWER They who have been quickened by the Spirit, called out of darkness into God’s marvellous light, who have repented unto life, believed in Christ unto the salvation of the soul, been brought into sensible union with Christ and been baptized in His name.
Acts:2:41; 11:18; 1 Corinthians 5:7-11; 11:28; Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:6; 1 Peter 2:9.
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Q.91 What must God’s people expect when they transgress the law of Christ?
ANSWER God has declared He will visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes; therefore they must expect fatherly chastisement.
Psalm 89:30-33; Isaiah 26:16; Jeremiah 31:18-20; Micah 7:9; Hebrews 12:5-13.
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Q.92 Can God’s people ever perish everlastingly?
ANSWER No; for they shall never perish; but, in spite of sin, Satan, the world and the flesh, shall have everlasting life; for their life is hid with Christ in God, and because He lives, they shall live also.
John 3:14-16; 10:28-29; 14:19; 17:24; Colossians 3:3; 1 Peter 1:5.
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Q.93 Are men able to obtain these blessings by works of righteousness?
ANSWER No; sin has rendered man hateful in the sight of God’s holy law; made the whole head sick and the whole heart faint; killed him to everything that is good; so that by nature he has neither power nor will to come to Christ, the only way of obtaining the blessings of the gospel.
Isaiah 1:5, 6; John 1:13; 3:27; 6:44; Romans 8:7, 8; 9:16; 1 Corinthians 2:14, Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5.
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Q.94 Is it no sin for men to neglect the reading of God’s Word and the preaching of the gospel?
ANSWER It is a great sin for men to neglect the reading of God’s Word; and their neglect of and enmity to the gospel of Christ will add to the everlasting misery of all who have so done, and who die in their sins.
Matthew 11:20-24; John 3:18-21; 5:39, 40; 8:24.
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Q.95 Ought all men to pray?
ANSWER All men ought to pray for the things which they feel they need, and which God, in His Word, has promised to give; and it is their sin if they do not.
Isaiah 55:6, 7; Ezekiel 36:37; Luke 18:1; Romans 12:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Timothy 2:8.
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Q.96 What shall be done to the wicked at their death?
ANSWER The souls of the wicked shall, at their death, be cast into the torments of hell and their bodies shall be in their graves till the resurrection, and the judgment of the great day.
Psalm 9:17; Matthew 3:12; 24:51; Luke 16:23-26; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 6:2; 9:27; Jude 7.
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Q.97 What shall be done to the wicked at the day of judgment?
ANSWER 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 and the vengeance of God’s righteous displeasure, with the devil and his angels, for ever and ever.
Daniel 12:2; Matthew 10:28; 13:38-42; 25:41, 46; John 5:29; Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8.
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Q.98 What has God said shall take place with the elect in this life?
ANSWER God has declared that they shall be born again, not of corruptible but of incorruptible seed, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever; and that He will put His laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts, and He will be their God, and they shall be His people.
Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; 1 Peter 1:23-25.
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Q.99 Are the elect able to do this for themselves?
ANSWER No; for it is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.
John 3:1-8, 27; 6:29, 63.
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Q.100 Are not a circumspect walk and a sound creed sufficient evidences of Christianity?
ANSWER No; for men may be beautiful without, and be but as whited sepulchres; and may profess a sound creed, but never feel its power, nor receive the truth in the love of it:
Matthew 15:8, 9; 23:23-28; Romans 2:28-29; Philippians 3:4-7,18; 2 Thessalonians 2:10; 2 Timothy 3:5.
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Q.101 Where must a poor sinner flee for refuge from wrath, sin and the law?
ANSWER Jesus Christ is the only refuge from the storm and the only foundation for a poor sinner to build his hopes upon.
Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 46:1,11; 62:5-8; 94:22; Isaiah 4:6; 25:4; 28:16; 32:2; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Hebrews 6:18.
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Q.102 But will it not be presumption for a poor sinner to venture wholly upon Christ for salvation, without bringing a good heart, or something good, to recommend him to His notice?
ANSWER No; it is the privilege of a sensibly poor, helpless, guilty, undone sinner to call upon God in the day of trouble; and He has promised to hear and to deliver him, and he shall glorify Him; “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Psalm 50:15; Isaiah 55:1-8; John 7:37; Acts 4:12.
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Q.103 Is salvation wholly of grace?
ANSWER Yes; wholly of grace! without money and without price; for, “by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”.
Isaiah 55:1, 2; Ephesians 2:5, 8; 2 Timothy 1:9; Revelation 21:6; 22:17.
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Q.104 Are God’s people to expect nothing but peace and prosperity in this life?
ANSWER In this life, God’s people will find a warfare, for the world, flesh and Satan will be continually up in arms against them; so that in this world they must have tribulation; but in Christ, and only in Christ they have peace.
John 14:27; 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3; 7:18, 19,24; Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Timothy 2:3, 4,12; 1 Peter 5:8-11; Revelation 7:14.
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Q.105 How then can they hold out to the end if the world, flesh and Satan are against them?
ANSWER Jesus Christ, as the Captain of their salvation, fights their battles, and they shall be more than conquerors through Him that hath loved them.
Exodus 14:13, 14; 2 Chronicles 20:17; Romans 8:31-39; 1 Timothy 6:12; Hebrews 2:10.
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Q.106 Do the prayers and offerings of the elect ascend to the Father, with acceptance, on the ground of their own goodness?
ANSWER No; for Christ is the only way of access unto the Father; and the prayers and offerings of His people can only ascend to the Father with acceptance as they are offered up on Christ the altar, that sanctifieth both the gift and the giver; for the Father is well pleased with Him for His righteousness’ sake.
Isaiah 42:21; John 17:19, 20; Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:24-28; 10:10-12,19-22; 13:10-15.
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Q.107 What does this teach the elect?
ANSWER This teaches the elect that they are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ in all their approaches unto the Father, and to trust only in Him, and not in themselves.
Psalm 40:4; 62:8; 125:1; Romans 13:14; Philippians 3:3; Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:24-27; 10:19-22.
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Q.108 What will become of believers at their death?
ANSWER The souls of believers, at their death, shall enter into immortal glory and be with Christ, which is far better; and their bodies shall rest in their graves till the resurrection.
Luke 16:22; 23:43; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
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Q.109 What will become of believers at the resurrection?
ANSWER At the resurrection the bodies of believers shall be raised like unto the glorious body of Christ, their Head, and soul and body be forever with the Lord in that eternal kingdom of felicity which God has prepared for them, where they shall see as they are seen, and know as they are known; and with one immortal tongue sing to the glory of rich, free and sovereign grace, forever and ever: Amen.
Job 19:25-27; Psalm 17:15; Isaiah 25:8; 26:19; Daniel 12:2; Hosea 13:14; John 5:28, 29; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Corinthians 15; Philippians 3:20, 21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 John 3:1, 2; Revelation 5;13, 14; 7:9-17; 14:1-5.
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