Blog Archives: January 2017 — December 2017

Question 19: What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? Answer: All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever. Sin and misery, both a part of our fallen state, are twins. One is cause and the other is effect; the two cannot be separated. But while sin gives us the perspective of crime and evil, misery gives us the perspective of tragedy. The first and greatest tragedy of the fall is our ...

Question 17: Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? Answer: The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery. Question 18: 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 actual transgressions which proceed from it. After dividing the state of the fall into the two ...

Question 16: Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression? Answer: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression. This question states the federal headship of Adam. In other words, it reminds us that Adam was our representative before God, so that we bear the consequences of his sin. The answer to this question may be offensive to many, because it appears to be unfair. Why were ...

Question 15: 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 the forbidden fruit. Many have wondered, "Why this particular act? Why should something so simple and seemingly benign plunge humanity into sin and misery?" Although a full answer to this question may be impossible, Sinclair Ferguson has helpfully suggested that the implied message from God to Adam and Eve through this tree went ...

Question 14: What is sin? Answer: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. The first thing we must notice in this question is that sin is to be understood in relation to the law of God, which is to say that it must be understood in relation to God himself. God created man and woman in his own image with particular instructions about the privileges and responsibilities that came with bearing his image. By sinning we do not merely break a standard; we insult and rebel against our Creator, breaking our ...

Question 13: 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. This great tragedy is recorded in Genesis 3:6-13. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of ...

Question 12: What special act of providence did God exercise towards man in the estate wherein he was created? Answer: 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. A covenant is a bond between God and man in which God initiates a relationship with man by speaking to him, setting laws, and promising rewards and punishments in accordance with these laws. Without God's sovereign initiative ...

Question 11: What are God's works of providence? Answer: God's works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. The work of creation lasted for the first six days of history; the works of providence have lasted every day since. When God rested on the seventh day he did not cease from work entirely, but only from the work of creation (Gen. 2:1-3). As Jesus said, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (John 5:17) It could not be otherwise; not one ...

Question 10: How did God create man? Answer: God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. It has been said that man is both noble and cruel. These two ideas correspond to the two most important things that the Bible tells us about our nature: first, that we are made in God's image; second, that we are sinful. However, only one of these two was present at creation, in which God made all things good. That was our nobility our creation in God's image. ...

Question 9: What is the work of creation? Answer: The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good. This question takes us directly to Genesis 1, which begins, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." It is essentially a brief commentary on this chapter. "Of nothing" indicates that God did not simply organize pre-existent material into a universe. He created the material. We can see the importance of this distinction when we come to Genesis ...

Question 8: How doth God execute his decrees? Answer: God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence. While pondering the decrees of God stretches our minds as far as they can go, considering the works of God is much more straightforward. God's decrees are plans, not actual "things" in any concrete sense. God's works are the unfolding of those plans in real life experience. There are two basic works identified here. The first is the work of creation, which was accomplished in six days at the beginning of time. The ...

Question 7: 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 hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. How far can the human mind go in understanding God? Although we are creatures bound by time who cannot fully comprehend what it means for God to exist without having that same boundary, God does allow us a small glimpse beyond the border of time. He does this by teaching us of his eternal decree. Before there was time (and even to say ...

Question 6: How many persons are there in the Godhead? Answer: There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. The teaching that the one God exists in three Persons is a great and difficult mystery. It is not the teaching that the one God has three "sides" or "faces", but is not truly three - this is the heresy known as modalism. Nor is it the teaching that Father, Son, and Spirit can be separated into three distinct beings - the ...

Question 5: Are there more Gods than one? Answer: There is but one only, the living and true God. At times the Bible will make reference to other gods. In doing so it acknowledges that people often treat things other than God as objects of worship. However, these gods have two great weaknesses: they are dead, and they are false. They are dead because there is no life in them. They neither live nor give life. They are false because the name 'god' is ultimately incorrect. They are not gods at all. Moses challenges the people of Israel in ...

Question 4: What is God? Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Of all of the questions and answers in the catechism, this certainly must be the boldest. How could we dare to ask, and hope to answer, a question about the nature of God himself? To speak about God is to speak about something great, something mysterious, something that certainly cannot be contained within a few words. If people ever think that they have put God in a box or fit him ...

Question 3: What do the Scriptures principally teach? Answer: The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Right after this our catechism will ask, "What is God?" But if we want our answer to that question to carry any weight, we need to answer another question first: "By what authority do you describe God that way?" We have already seen that Scripture is the word of God. This question builds on that truth by reminding us that the most important thing God could tell us about, ...

Question 2: What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him? Answer: 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. The phrase word of God in the answer to this catechism question should be both extroardinary and precious to us. It is extraordinary because it means God has revealed himself to us using human words, words which we can easily identify as the contents of particular books, and yet those words are truly ...

Question 1: What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins with one of the most profound questions we can ever ask: what is the purpose of humanity? Or to put it in personal terms: Why am I here, what am I doing, and where am I going? God has not left us any doubt about this matter. Romans 11:36 says, "From him and through him and to him are all things: to him be the glory forever." 1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us, "Therefore whether you eat or ...