THE CATECHISM, OR METHOD OF INSTRUCTION IN THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. A THE SAME IS TAUGHT IN THE REFORMED CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND, AND IN AMERICA. Question 1. I. LORD'S DAY. HAT is thy only comfort in life and death? WH Answer. That I with a body and soul, both in life and death, b am not my own, but belong cunto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious d blood, hath fully e satisfied for all my sins, and delivered ƒ me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me g that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair h can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be i subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his holy spirit, he also assures me j of eternal life, and makes k me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him. a 1 Cor. 6. 19, 20 b Rom. 14. 7, 8, 9. c 1 Cor. 3. 23. d'l Pet. 1. 18, 19. e 1 John 1. 7. ƒ1 John 3. 8. Heb. 2. 14, 15. g John 6. 39. and 10. 28, 29. h Luke 21 18. Mat. 10. 30. i Rom. 8. 28. j 2 Cor. 1 22. and 5. 5. k Rom. 8. 14. and 7. 22. Q. 2. How many things are necessary for thee to know, that thou, enjoying this comfort, mayest live and die happily ? A. Three; the first, how great m my sins and miseries are the second, how I may be delivered n from all my sins and miseries: the third, how I shall express my grati tude o to God for such deliverance. Luke 24, 47, m 1 Cor. 6. 10, 11. John 9. 41. Rom. 3. 10, 19. n John 17. 3. o Eph. 5. 8, 9, 10. II. LORD'S DAY. THE FIRST PART. OF THE MISERY OF MAN. Q. 3. Whence knowest thou thy misery? a Rom. 3. 20. Q. 4. What doth the law of God require of us? A. Christ teaches us that briefly, Mat. xxii. 37—40, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. b This is the first and the great command; and the second is like to this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commands hang the whole law and the prophets." b Luke 10. 27. Q. 5. Canst thou keep all these things perfectly? A. In no wise; c for I am prone by nature to hate God and my neighbour.d c Rom. 3 10. 1 John 1. 8. d Rom. 8. 7. Tit. 3. 3. III. LORD'S DAY. Q. 6. Did God then create man so wicked and perverse? A. By no means; but God created man good, a and after his own image, in b righteousness and true holiness, that he might rightly know God his Creator, heartily love him and live with him in eternal happiness to glorify and praise him.c a Gen. 1. 31. b Gen. 1. 26, 27. Col. 3. 10. Eph. 4. 24. c Eph. 1. 6. 1 Cor. 6. 20. Q. 7. Whence then proceeds this depravity of human nature? A. From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, din Paradise; hence our nature is become so corrupt, that we are all conceived and born in sin.e d Gen. 3. 6. Rom. 5. 12, 18, 19. e Psa. 51. 5. Gen. 5. 3. Q. 8. Are we then so corrupt that we are wholly incapable of doing any good, and inclined to all wickedness? A. Indeed we are; ƒ except we are regenerated by the spirit of God.g Gen. 6. 5. Job. 14. 4. and 15. 14, 16. g John 3. 5. Eph. 2. 5. IV. LORD'S DAY. Q. 9. Doth not God then do injustice to man, by requiring from him in his law, that which he cannot perform? A. Not at all: a For God made man capable b of performing it; but man, by the instigation c of the devil, and bis own wilful disobedience, d deprived himself and all his posterity of those divine gifts. a Eccl. 7. 29. b John 8. 44. 2 Cor. 11. 3. c Gen. 3. 4, 7. d Rom. 5. 12. Q. 10. Will God suffer such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? A. By no means: e but is terribly displeased ƒ with our original as well as actual sins; and will punish them in his just judgment temporally and eternally, as he hath declared, g"Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law, to do them." e Psa. 5. 5. f Rom. 1. 18. Deut. 28. 15. Heb. 9. 27. g Deut. 27. 26. Gal. 3. 10. Q. 11. Is not God then also merciful? A. God is indeed merciful, h but also just; i therefore his justice requires, j that sin which is committed against the most high majesty of God, be also punished with extreme, that is, with everlasting k punishment, both of body and soul. h Ex. 34. 6. i Ex. 20. 5. Job 34. 10, 11. j Psa. 5. 5, 6. k Gen. 2. 17. Rom. 6. 23. V. LORD'S DAY. THE SECOND PART. OF MAN'S DELIVERANCE. Q. 12. Since then, by the righteous judgment of God, we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, is there no way by which we may escape that punishment, and be again received into favour? A. God will have his justice a satisfied: and therefore we must make this full b satisfaction, either by ourselves, or by another. a Ex. 20. 5. b Deut. 24. 16. 2 Cor. 5. 14, 15. Q. 13. Can we ourselves then make this satisfaction A. By no means; c but on the contrary we d daily crease our debt. c Job 9. 2, 3. and 15. 14, 15, 16. d Mat. 6. 12. Isa. 64. 6. Q. 14. Can there then be found any where, one, a mere creature, able to satisfy for us? A. None; for first God will not e punish any other creature for the sin which man hath committed; and fur ther, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God's eternal wrath against sin, so as to f deliver others from it. e Ezek. 18. 20. Rev. 5. 3. Psa, 49. 8, 9. Q. 15. What sort of a mediator and deliverer then must we seek for? A. For one who is very man, g and perfectly righteous; and yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, one who is also very h God.. g 1 Cor. 15. 21. Rom. 8. 3. h Rom. 9. 5. Isa. 7. 14. ས་ས་པ་ས་ཡ VI. LORD'S DAY. Q. 16. Why must he be very man, and also perfectly righteous? A. Because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which hath sinned, should a likewise make satisfaction for sin; and one, who is himself a sinner, b cannot satisfy for others. a Rom. 5. 12, 15. b1 Pet. 3. 18. Isa. 53. 11. Q. 17. Why must he in one person be also very God? A. That he might, by the power of his Godhead c sus tain in his human nature, the burthen of God's wrath; and might d obtain for, and restore to us, righteousness and life. c 1 Pet. 3. 18. Acts 2. 24. Isa. 53. 8. d 1 John 1. 2. Jer. 23. 6. 2 Tim. 1. 10. John 6. 51. Q. 18. Who then is that mediator, who is in one person both very God, and a real righteous man? A. Our Lord Jesus Christ: e" who of God is made unto fus wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." e Mat. 1. 23. 1 Tim. 3. 16. Luke 2. 11. f1 Cor. 1. 30. Q. 19. Whence knowest thou this? A. From the holy gospel, which God himself revealed first in Paradise; g and afterwards published by the Patriarchs h and Prophets, and was pleased to represent it, by the shadows i of sacrifices and the other ceremonies of the law; and lastly, has accomplished it j by his only begot ten Son. g Gen. 3. 15. h Gen. 22. 17, 18, and 28. 14. Rom. 1. 2. Heb. 1. John 5. 46. i Heb. 10. 7, 8. j Rom. 10. 4. Heb. 13. 8. |