Catechism

Answer:  God is a spirit (John 4:24) who is the creator of everything (Genesis 1:1). He is perfectly good (Psalm 34:8) and has all power (Isaiah 40:10). God is a personal being with the ability to think, feel, speak, and act.

Answer:  No. There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4) and He exists as a unity of three persons called the trinity. These three persons are the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:9-11).

Answer:   God has always existed and had no beginning (Genesis 1:1). He is the only self-existent being.

Answer:   They love one another (John 14:31; 17:26; Galatians 5:22). They are equal, though they have different roles (Matthew 28:18-20).

Answer:   The Father loves the Son (John 3:35). He providentially cares for the world and all who are in it (Matthew 6:26). He reveals Jesus to people (Matthew 16:17) and draws them to Him (John 6:44). He forgives sins (Matthew 6:14). He listens to and answers prayers (Matthew 6:9-13). He sends the Holy Spirit to mankind (John 14:26). He keeps believers from the devil (John 10:29), and He sends them out in His service (John 20:21).

Answer:   The Son offers forgiveness and saves people from their sins (Matthew 9:6; Luke 19:10). He serves as judge over mankind (John 5:22).

Answer:   The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin and convinces them of the truth of Jesus (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit regenerates those who trust Christ (John 3:5-6). When a person becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit begins to live in that person and to help him become holy (Romans 8:9). He intercedes for us (Romans 8:26).

Answer:   We know God through the wonders of creation (Psalm 19:1-4), through His image in which we are made (Genesis 1:27), and especially through His Son Jesus (John 1:18). We know about God from the Scriptures, the Bible.

Answer:   The Scriptures are God’s inspired and inerrant message to mankind (2 Timothy 3:16). Whatever the Bible says is true, is true. Whatever it says is false, is false  (John 17:17). There are sixty-six different books of Scripture, thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament.

Answer:   The books of the Old Testament are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

Answer:  The books of the New Testament are Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation.

Answer:  Holy men of God wrote the Bible, being guided in their writing by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21).

Answer:  The incarnation is the act by which the Son of God became a human being named Jesus, being born of the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:23).

Answer:  No. Jesus was fully man (1 Timothy 2:5) and fully God at the same time (John 1:1), having both a human and divine nature.

Answer:  All human beings are made in the image of God. However, because of Adam’s fall into sin, all are born with a sinful nature, are guilty before God, and are spiritually separated from Him (Ephesians 2:1-3).

Answer:  Sin is a violation of the law of God (1 John 3:4).

Answer:  Jesus suffered and died on the cross that mankind may have their sins forgiven and be cleansed (1 Peter 1:18-19). In his death, Jesus took our place under the wrath of God. He was punished for our sins in our place (Isaiah 53:5-6).

Answer:  On the third day Jesus rose from the grave, never to die again (Luke 24:1-8). This rising is called the resurrection.

Answer:  Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven (Acts 1:1-3) where He now lives, seated at the right hand of the Father (Colossians 3:1)

Answer:  A person’s sins are forgiven and he is saved when through faith he commits his life in obedience to Jesus (Ephesians 1:7) and repents of his sin (Luke 13:3).

Answer:  To repent of sin is to turn away from it (Ezekiel 18:30).

Answer:  Justification is the act whereby God declares the sinner forgiven of his sins and in right standing with Him (Romans 5:1). When we place our faith in Christ, His righteous life and His death become ours. He paid to God what we owed and could not pay (Romans 3:21-25; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Answer:  Sanctification is the process a Christian enters at conversion in which he becomes more and more holy throughout his life (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Answer:  Yes. Though a believer enjoys the keeping power of God (John 10:28), he can stray into sin and harden his heart against God’s convicting power to the point that he could abandon his faith in Jesus.  Such a person is lost forever and without hope (Hebrews 6:4-6).

Answer:  Baptism is the act of immersing a Christian in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in obedience to the command of Jesus (Matthew 28:19).

Answer:  A believer is baptized to obey the command of Jesus and to show others his decision to follow God.

Answer:  Baptism symbolizes the union the believer enjoys in Jesus’ death and resurrection (Romans 6:1-4). It also symbolizes having our sins washed away (Acts 22:16).

Answer:  The church is a local organization of believers, joined together to worship God (Acts 13:2), to teach and learn the Scriptures (Roman 16:25), to hold one another accountable (Matthew 18:15-17), and to serve as a witness to unbelievers (1 Thessalonians 1:8).

Answer:  The pastor is the main preacher and teacher of the church, who exercises oversight over the group (1 Timothy 3:1-7). Deacons are godly men who assist the pastor and congregation in carrying out the mission of the church (1 Timothy 3:8-10).

Answer:  The Lord’s Supper is a memorial celebration of Jesus’ death for sinners in which believers eat bread and drink juice that represent Jesus’ body and blood given for us on the cross (1 Corinthians 11:29-30).

Answer:  Only those who have been saved should participate in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:29-30).

Answer:  It is a commemoration of Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet which teaches humility and reminds the believer of the necessity of a daily cleansing from sin (John 13:2-17).

Answer:  Prayer is speaking to God.

Answer:  When a person dies, his spirit goes either to heaven (Philippians 1:23) or to hell (Luke 16:22-23).

Answer:  At death, the body is left on earth. When Jesus returns, the bodies of the dead will be resurrected and reunited with their spirits (John 5:28-29).

Answer:  Yes. At a time that God the Father has planned, Jesus will gloriously return to earth (Hebrews 9:28). He will then take all believers to heaven and condemn all unbelievers to hell (Matthew 25:31-46).

Answer:  The Ten Commandments can be found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.

Answer:  “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Answer:  The First Commandment directs us to worship God only and to glorify Him as God.

Answer:  “You shall not make for yourself an idol.”

Answer:   The Second Commandment means that in the worship of God we must not use any images.

Answer:  “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.”

Answer:  The Third Commandment means God’s names must always be used with respect and reverence.

Answer:  “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”

Answer:  The Fourth Commandment instructs us to keep one day in seven as a special day of worship, set apart from the other six days. In the Christian era, this day is Sunday in celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on that day.

Answer:  “Honor your father and your mother.”

Answer:  The Fifth Commandment directs us to show proper respect and obedience to our parents. By extension, the commandment also commands us to show proper respect to all those with legitimate authority over us.

Answer:  “You shall not murder.”

Answer:  The Sixth Commandment teaches us that human life is sacred. We should use all lawful means of preserving human life, both ours and others. It is wrong to commit murder.

Answer:  “You shall not commit adultery.”

Answer:  The Seventh Commandment means that the marriage covenant is to be guarded from any sexual impurities. Husbands and wives are to be faithful to one another.

Answer:  “You shall not steal.”

Answer:  The Eighth Commandment teaches that private ownership must be respected and not violated in any way.

Answer:  “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”

Answer:  The Ninth Commandment directs us always to tell the truth.

Answer:  “You shall not covet.”

Answer:  The Tenth Commandment instructs us to be content with what things we have and not to be longing for other things.