Library 3.0

Question 1 Q. What is your only comfort in life and death? A. That I, with body and soul, both in life and death (Rom. 14:8), am not my own (1 Cor. 6:19), but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:23; Tit. 2:14), who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins (1 Pet. 1:18, 19; 1 John 1:7; 2:2, 12), and delivered me (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8; John 8:34-36) from all the power of the devil (John 6:39; 10:28, 29; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5), and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head (Matt. 10:30; Luke 21:18); indeed, that everything must fit His purpose for my salvation, (Rom. 8:28) therefore by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:14; Rom. 8:16) and makes me heartily willing and ready, always, to live for him. (Rom. 8:14; 1 John 3:3)

Question 2 Q. How many things are necessary for you to know that you may live and die happily, enjoying this comfort? A. Three (Matt. 11:28-30; Eph. 5:8). First, how great my sins and misery are, (John 9:41; Matt. 9:12; Rom. 3:10; 1 John 1:9, 10) second, how I am delivered from all my sins and misery (John 17:3; Acts 4:12; 10:43), third, how I am to express my thankfulness to God for such deliverance (Eph. 5:10; Ps. 50:14; Matt. 5:16; 1 Pet. 2:12; Rom. 6:13; 2 Tim. 2:15).

Question 3 Q. Where do you learn of your sin and its miserable consequences? A. Out of the law of God (Rom. 3:20).

Question 4 Q. What does God require of you in His law? A. Jesus Christ teaches this in summary in Matthew 22:37-40: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like unto it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27).

Question 5 Q. Are you able to keep God’s law? A. In no way (Rom. 3:10, 20, 23; 1 John 1:8, 10), for by nature I am inclined to hate God and my neighbor, and to break God’s commandments in thought, word, and deed (Rom. 8:7; Eph. 2:3; Tit. 3:3; Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 7:23).

Question 6 Q. Did God create man so wicked and perverse like this? A. By no means. On the contrary, God created man good (Gen. 1:31) and in His own image (Gen. 1:26, 27); that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that he might rightly know God his Creator, love Him with his whole heart, and live with Him in eternal blessedness, praising and glorifying Him always. (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10; 2 Cor. 3:18)

Question 7 Q. Where, then, does this depraved nature of man come from? A. From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12, 18, 19); by which our nature became so corrupt that we are all conceived and born in sin. (Ps. 51:5; Gen. 5:3)

Question 8 Q. But are we so corrupt that we are wholly unable to do any good, and inclined to all evil? A. Yes, indeed, (Gen. 8:21; 6:5; Job 14:4; 15:14, 16, 35; John 3:6; Isa. 53:6) unless we are born again by the Spirit of God. (John 3:3, 5; 1 Cor. 12:3; 2 Cor. 3:5)

Question 9 Q. Does not God, then, wrong man by requiring of him in His law that which he cannot do? A. Not at all; for God created man capable of doing it (Eph. 4:24). But man, following the urging of the devil (Gen. 3:13; 1 Tim. 2:13, 14), by deliberate disobedience, deprived himself and all his descendants of these gifts (Gen. 36; Rom. 5:12)

Question 10 Q. Will God allow such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? A. Certainly not, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 5:12) both against our inborn sinfulness as well as our actual sins, and He will punish them according to His righteous judgment both in time and eternity (Ps. 50:20; 5:5; Nah. 1:2; Ex. 20:5; 34:7; Rom. 1:18; Eph. 5:6). Just as He has declared: Cursed is every one who does not continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, and do them (Deut. 27:26; Gal. 3:10).

Question 11 Q. But is not God also merciful? A. God is indeed merciful and gracious (Ex. 34:6, 7; 20:6), but He is also true and righteous (Ps. 7:9; Ex. 20:5; 23:7; 34:7; Ps. 5:4, 5; Nah. 1:2, 3). And His truth and righteousness require that He punish sin committed against His supreme majesty with extreme, that is, with eternal punishment of body and soul.

Question 12 Q. Since, then by the righteous judgment of God we deserve punishment both in this life and forever, is there no way by which we may escape that punishment and again be received into favor? A. God will have His righteousness satisfied (Gen. 2:17; Ex. 23:7; Ezek. 18:4; Matt. 5:26; 2 Thes. 1:6; Luke 16:2); therefore, full payment must be made to His righteousness, either by ourselves or by another (Rom. 8:4).

Question 13 Q. Can we make this payment ourselves? A. By no means. On the contrary, we increase our debt each day (Job 9:2; 15:15, 16; 4:18, 19; Ps. 130:3; Matt. 6:12; 18:25; 16:26).

Question 14 Q. Can any mere creature make the payment for us? A. None. First of all, God does not want to punish any other creature for the sin which man has committed (Ezek. 18:4; Gen. 3:17). And, further, no mere creature can bear the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin and redeem others from it (Nah. 1:6; Ps. 130:3).

Question 15 Q. Then, what kind of mediator and redeemer must we seek? A. One who is a true (1 Cor. 15:21) and righteous (Heb. 7:26) man and yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is at the same time true God (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Jer. 23:6; Lk. 11:22)

Question 16 Q. Why must he be a true and righteous man? A. Because God’s righteousness requires that the same human nature which has sinned should make satisfaction for sin (Ezek. 18:4, 20; Rom. 5:18; 1 Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:14-16), but one who himself is a sinner cannot pay for others (Heb. 7:26, 27; Ps. 49:8; 1 Pet. 3:18).

Question 17 Q. Why must he at the same time be true God? A. So that by the power of His deity (Isa. 9:6; 63:3) He might bear in His human nature (Deut. 4:24; Nah. 1:6; Ps. 130:3) the burden of God’s wrath (Isa. 53:4, 11), and recover for us and restore to us righteousness and life. (Isa. 53:5, 11)

Question 18 Q. But who is this Mediator who is at the same time true God (1 Jn. 5:20; Rm. 9:5; 8:3; Ga. 4:4; Isa. 9:6; Jer. 23:6; Mal. 3:1) and a true (Lk. 1:42; 2:6, 7; Rom. 1:3; 9:5; Phil. 2:7; Heb. 2:14-17; 4:15) and perfectly righteous man (Isa. 53:9, 11; Jer. 23:5; Lk. 1:35; Jn. 8:46; Heb. 4:15; 7:26; 1 Pet. 1:19; 2:22; 3:18)? A. Our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 2:5; Mt. 1:23; 1 Tim. 3:16; Lk. 2:11; Heb. 2:9), who was made to us wisdom of God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30).

Question 19 Q. From where do you know this? A. From the Holy Bible which is God’s inspired revelation of Himself (Ps. 19:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:15, 16).

Question 20 Q. What do you mean by inspired revelation? A. That the Holy Spirit moved men to write the scriptures and guided them in their work so they wrote the Word of God without any kind of error. (2 Pet. 1:19)

Question 21 Q. Why did God give us this true and complete revelation? A. To tell us about Himself. Especially of His holy gospel which He first revealed in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15), afterward proclaimed by the holy patriarchs (Gen. 22:18; 12:3; 49:10) and prophets (Isa. 53; 42:1-4; 43:25; 49:5, 6, 22, 23; Jer. 23:5, 6; 31:32, 33; 32:39-41; Mic. 7:18-20; Acts 10:43; 3:22-24; Rm. 1:2; Heb. 1:1) and foreshadowed through the sacrifices and other rites of the Old Testament (Heb. 10:1, 7; Col. 2:7; Jn. 5:46), and finally fulfilled by His only begotten Son (Rm. 10:4; Ga. 4:4; 3:24; Col. 2:17).

Question 22 Q. Will everyone, then, be saved through this gospel as they became lost through Adam? A. No (Mt. 7:14; 22:14). But only those who are made to share in Christ and all His benefits by a true and living faith (Mark 16:16; Jn. 1:12; 3:16, 18, 36; Isa. 53:11; Ps. 2:12; Rm. 11:20; 3:22; Heb. 4:3; 5:9; 10:39; 11:6).

Question 23 Q. What is true faith? A. It is not only a certain knowledge by which I accept as true all that God has revealed to us in His Word (Jas. 2:19), but also a firm confidence (Heb. 11:1, 7; Rm. 4:18-21; 10:10; Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:16; Jms. 1:6) which the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22; Mt. 16:17; 2 Cor. 4:13; Jn. 6:29; Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1:19; Acts 16:14) creates in me through the gospel (Rm. 1:16; 10:17; 1 Cor. 1:21; Acts 10:44; 16:14), that, not only to others but to me also God has given the forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation (Rm. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:10, 38; Gal. 2:16), out of sheer grace solely for the sake of Christ’s saving work (Eph. 2:8; Rm. 3:24; 5:19; Lk. 1:77, 78).

Question 24 Q. What, then, and how can I believe? A. All that God has revealed to us about Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19); and about how He has created us, and redeemed us when fallen (Gen. 1:1; Mark 1:15; John 20:31); as well as the reason, result, and goal of His great and marvelous work of salvation (2 Tim. 1:13; Heb. 11:6; 1 Jn. 5:7; Lk. 1:1).

Question 25 Q. Since there is but one Divine Being (Dt. 6:4; Eph. 4:6; Isa. 44:6; 45:5; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6), why do you speak of three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? A. Because God has thus revealed Himself in His Word (Isa. 61:1; Lk. 4:18; Gen. 1:2, 3; Ps. 33:6; Isa. 48:16; Mt. 3:16, 17; 28:19; 1 Jn. 5:7), that these three distinct persons are the one, true, eternal God (Isa. 6:1, 3; Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 2 Cor. 13:14; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 2:18; Tit. 3:5, 6)

Question 26 Q. What do you believe concerning God the Father Almighty, Creator of all things? A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth with all that is in them (Gen. 1, 2; Ex. 20:11; Job 38, 39; Acts 4:24; 14:15; Ps. 33:6; Isa. 45:7) is for the sake of Christ, His Son, my God and my Father (Jn. 1:12; Rm. 8:15; Gal. 4:5-7; Eph. 1:5). I trust in Him so completely that I have no doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul (Ps. 55:22; Mt. 6:25, 26; Lk. 12:22). Moreover, whatever evil He sends upon me in this troubled and tearful life He will turn to my good (Rm. 8:28); for He is able to do it, being almighty God (Isa. 46:4; Rm. 10:12), and is willingly determined to do it, being a faithful Father (Mt. 6:32, 33; 7:9, 10, 11).