Gadsby's Catechism, 1809
 

Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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 whatever 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 13

How did God create man?

Answer. God created man, male and female; in the image of God created 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 18

What is sin?

Answer. Sin is the transgression of the law of God.

1 John 3:4.

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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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 lack 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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Question 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 forever.

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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Question 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, entered 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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.

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Question 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 Spirit) 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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 bosom 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 honored by all the redeemed throng, forever 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 42

What blessings do they that are effectually called partake of in this life?

Answer. Those who 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 45

What is sanctification?

Answer. Sanctification may be taken in a three-fold sense.

1 Thessalonians 5:23.

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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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 Spirit.

Romans 12:2; 15:16; Ephesians 4:22-24; 5:26-27; Colossians 3:10; Titus 3:4-6.

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Question 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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Question 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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Question 51

Which is the first commandment?

Answer. I am the Lord your God: You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:2, 3; Deuteronomy 5:6, 7.

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Question 52

Which is the second commandment?

Answer. You shall not make to yourself any graven image, or the likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or 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 those who hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20:4-6; Deuteronomy 5:8-10.

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Question 53

Which is the third commandment?

Answer. 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.

Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11.

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Question 54

Which is the fourth commandment?

Answer. 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 shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor the 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 seventh day and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15.

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Question 55

Which is the fifth commandment?

Answer. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you.

Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16.

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Question 56

Which is the sixth commandment?

Answer. You shall not kill.

Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17.

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Question 57

Which is the seventh commandment?

Answer. You shall not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18.

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Question 58

Which is the eighth commandment?

Answer. You shall not steal.

Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19.

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Question 59

Which is the ninth commandment?

Answer. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20.

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Question 60

Which is the tenth commandment?

Answer. 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.

Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21.

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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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 honorable, 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 who 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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Question 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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Question 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 Savior 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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Question 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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Question

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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Question 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 enters 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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 those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who 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 lies 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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Question 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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Question 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 you see the day approaching." "As God has distributed to every man, as the Lord has called every one, so let him walk: And so ordain I in all churches." "Neither be you called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all you are brethren." "Keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you." "Let all things be done decently and in order." "Finally, be 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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Question 81

Can you give a proof of the gospel as a rule in case of personal offences?

Answer. Yes; as it is written, "If your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: if he shall hear you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, then take with you 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 you as an heathen man and a publican."

Matthew 18:15-17.

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Question 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.

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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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 food indeed and their drink indeed; and as often as they do it they show forth His death until 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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Question 90

Who are the proper subjects of this ordinance?

Answer. Those who have been quickened by the Spirit, called out of darkness into God's marvelous 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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Question 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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Question 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 hidden 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 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 until 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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Question 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, forever 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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Question 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 lives and abides forever; 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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Question 99

Are the elect able to do this for themselves?

Answer. No; for it is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing.

John 3:1-8, 27; 6:29, 63.

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Question 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 sepulchers. They 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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Question 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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Question 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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Question 103

Is salvation wholly of grace?

Answer. Yes; wholly of grace! without money and without price; for, "by grace are you 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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Question 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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Question 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 has 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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Question 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, who sanctifies 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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Question 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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Question 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 until 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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Question 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.