Shorter Catechism Q. 24. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet? A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. Commentary: A prophet is a spokesman. He speaks on behalf of another person. In this sense, he is like … [Read more…]
Shorter Catechism Q. 23. What offices doth Christ execute as our redeemer? A. Christ, as our redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation. Commentary: The last two questions considered the person of Christ. This question begins to look at his work … [Read more…]
Shorter Catechism Q. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin. … [Read more…]
Shorter Catechism Q. 21. Who is the redeemer of God’s elect? A. The only redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever. Commentary: God delivers us out of … [Read more…]
Shorter Catechism Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery? A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring … [Read more…]
Shorter Catechism Q. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever. Commentary: When God created the … [Read more…]
Shorter Catechism Q. 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? A. 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 … [Read more…]
Shorter Catechism Q. 17. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? A. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery. Commentary: My former professor of Systematic Theology told us a (fictional?) story about a young man who had been raised in a Reformed and Presbyterian home and who had been taught the … [Read more…]
Shorter Catechism Q. 16. Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression? A. 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. Commentary: Adam, the first human being, and Jesus, who is … [Read more…]
Shorter Catechism Q. 15. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created? A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating the forbidden fruit. Commentary: As noted in WSC 13, our first parents, being left to the freedom of … [Read more…]
