A Puritan Catechism With Proofs
Compiled by C. H. Spurgeon*
I am persuaded that the use of a good
Catechism in all our families
will be
a great safeguard against the increasing errors of the times,
and
therefore I have compiled this little manual from the Westminster
Assembly's
and Baptist Catechisms, for the use of my own church and
congregation. Those who use it in their
families or
classes must
labour
to explain the sense; but the words should be carefully
learned
by heart, for they will be understood better as years pass.
May the Lord bless my dear friends and
their
families evermore, is
the
prayer of their loving Pastor.
C. H. Spurgeon
Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
II Timothy 2:15
Questions with answers
(
questions only)
1 Q
What is the chief end of man?
A
Man's chief end is to glorify God,
# 1Co 10:31
and to enjoy him
for ever.
# Ps 73:25,26
2 Q
What rule has God given to direct us how we may glorify him?
A
The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments
# Eph 2:20 2Ti
3:16
is the only rule
to direct us how we may
glorify God and enjoy him.
# 1Jo 1:3
3 Q
What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A
The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God,
and what duty God
requires of man.
# 2Ti 1:13 Ec
12:13
4 Q
What is God?
A
God is Spirit,
# Joh 4:24
infinite,
# Job 11:7
eternal,
# Ps 90:2 1Ti
1:17
and unchangeable
# Jas 1:17
in his being,
# Ex 3:14
wisdom, power,
# Ps 147:5
holiness,
# Re 4:8
justice,
goodness and truth.
# Ex 34:6,7
5 Q
Are there more Gods than one?
A
There is but one only,
# De 6:4
the living and
true God.
# Jer 10:10
6 Q
How many persons are there in the Godhead?
A
There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy
Spirit, and these three are
one God, the same in essence, equal
in power and glory.
# 1Jo 5:7 Mt
28:19
7 Q
What are the decrees of God?
A
The decrees of God are his eternal purpose according to the counsel of
his
own will, whereby for his
own glory he has foreordained
whatever comes to pass.
# Eph 1:11,12
8 Q
How does God execute his decrees?
A
God executes his decrees in the works of creation,
# Re 4:11
and providence.
# Da 4:35
9 Q
What is the work of creation?
A
The work of creation is God's making all things
# Ge 1:1
of nothing, by
the Word of his power,
# Heb 11:3
in six normal
consecutive days,
# Ex 20:11
and all very
good.
# Ge 1:31
10 Q
How did God create man?
A
God created man, male and female, after his own image,
# Ge 1:27
in
knowledge, righteousness, and
holiness
# Col 3:10
Eph 4:24
with
dominion over the creatures.
# Ge 1:28
11 Q
What are God's works of providence?
A
God's works of providence are his most holy,
# Ps 145:17
wise,
# Isa 28:29
and
powerful,
# Heb 1:3
preserving
and governing all his
creatures, and all their actions.
# Ps
103:19 Mt 10:29
12 Q
What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the
state wherein he was created?
A
When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him,
upon condition of perfect
obedience;
# Ga 3:12
forbidding
him to eat of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil,
upon pain of death.
# Ge 2:17
13 Q
Did our first parents continue in the state wherein they were created?
A
Our first parents being left to the freedom of their own will, fell
from the state wherein they
were created, by sinning
against God,
# Ec 7:29
by eating
the forbidden fruit.
# Ge 3:6-8
14 Q
What is sin?
A
Sin is any want of conformity to, or transgression of the law of God.
# 1Jo 3:4
15 Q
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.
# 1Co
15:22 Ro 5:12
16 Q
Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
A
The fall brought mankind into a state of sin and misery.
# Ro 5:18
17 Q
Wherein consists the sinfulness of that state whereinto man fell?
A
The sinfulness of that state whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt
of Adam's first sin,
# Ro 5:19
the want
of original righteousness,
# Ro 3:10
and the
corruption of his whole nature,
which is commonly called
original sin,
# Eph 2:1
Ps 51:5
together
with all actual transgressions
which proceed from it.
# Mt 15:19
18 Q
What is the misery of that state whereinto man fell?
A
All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God,
# Ge 3:8,24
are under
his wrath and curse,
# Eph 2:3
Ga 3:10
and so
made liable to all the miseries
in this life, to death itself,
and to the pains of hell for
ever.
# Ro 6:23
Mt 25:41
19 Q
Did God leave all mankind to perish in the state of sin and misery?
A
God having, out of his good pleasure from all eternity, elected
some to everlasting life,
# 2Th 2:13
did enter
into a covenant of grace to
deliver them out of the state of
sin and misery, and to bring
them into a state of salvation
by a Redeemer.
# Ro 5:21
20 Q
Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?
A
The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ,
# 1Ti 2:5
who being
the eternal Son of God,
became man,
# Joh 1:14
and so was
and continues to be God and
man, in two distinct natures
and one person for ever.
# 1Ti 3:16
Col 2:9
21 Q
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,
# Heb 2:14
and a
reasonable soul,
# Mt 26:38
Heb 4:15
being
conceived by the power of the
Holy Spirit in the Virgin
Mary, and born of her,
# Lu
1:31,35
yet
without sin.
# Heb 7:26
22 Q
What offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A
Christ as our Redeemer executes the offices of a prophet,
# Ac 3:22
of a
priest,
# Heb 5:6
and of a
king,
# Ps 2:6
both in
his state of humiliation and
exaltation.
23 Q
How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A
Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us,
# Joh 1:18
by his
Word,
# Joh 20:31
and Spirit,
# Joh 14:26
the will
of God for our salvation.
24 Q
How does Christ execute the office of a priest?
A
Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering up himself
a sacrifice to satisfy
divine justice,
# Heb 9:28
and to
reconcile us to God,
# Heb 2:17
and in
making continual intercession
for us.
# Heb 7:25
25 Q
How does Christ execute the office of a king?
A
Christ executes the office of a king in subduing us to himself,
# Ps 110:3
in ruling
and defending us,
# Mt 2:6
1Co 15:25
and in
restraining and conquering all
his and our enemies.
26 Q
Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist?
A
Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low
condition,
# Lu 2:7
made under
the law,
# Ga 4:4
undergoing
the miseries of this life,
# Isa 53:3
the wrath
of God,
# Mt 27:46
and the
cursed death of the cross;
# Php 2:8
in being
buried, and continuing under
the power of death for a time.
# Mt 12:40
27 Q
Wherein consists Christ's exaltation?
A
Christ's exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the
third day,
# 1Co 15:4
in
ascending up into heaven, and
sitting at the right hand of God the
Father,
# Mr 16:19
and in
coming to judge the world at the
last day.
# Ac 17:31
28 Q
How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?
A
We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the
effectual application of it to
us
# Joh 1:12
by his
Holy Spirit.
# Tit 3:5,6
29 Q
How does the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
A
The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working
faith in us,
# Eph 2:8
and by it
uniting us to Christ in our
effectual calling.
# Eph 3:17
30 Q
What is effectual calling?
A
Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit
# 2Ti 1:9
whereby,
convincing us of our sin and
misery,
# Ac 2:37
enlightening our minds in the knowledge
of Christ,
# Ac 26:18
and
renewing our wills,
# Eze 36:26
he does
persuade and enable us to
embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to
us in the gospel.
# Joh
6:44,45
31 Q
What benefits do they who are effectually called, partake of in
this
life?
A
They who are effectually called, do in this life partake of
justification,
# Ro 8:30
adoption,
# Eph 1:5
sanctification, and the various
benefits which in this life do either
accompany, or flow from them.
# 1Co 1:30
32 Q
What is justification?
A
Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardons
all our sins,
# Ro 3:24
Eph 1:7
and
accepts us as righteous in his
sight
# 2Co 5:21
only for
the righteousness of Christ
imputed to us,
# Ro 5:19
and
received by faith alone.
# Ga 2:16
Php 3:9
33 Q
What is adoption?
A
Adoption is an act of God's free grace,
# 1Jo 3:1
whereby we
are received into the
number, and have a right to all the
privileges of the sons of God.
# Joh 1:12
Ro 8:17
34 Q
What is sanctification?
A
Sanctification is the work of God's Spirit,
# 2Th 2:13
whereby we
are renewed in the whole man
after the image of God,
# Eph 4:24
and are
enabled more and more to die to
sin, and live to righteousness.
# Ro 6:11
35 Q
What are the benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow
from justification, adoption,
and sanctification?
A
The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from
justification,
# Ro
5:1,2,5
are
assurance of God's love, peace of
conscience, joy in the Holy
Spirit,
# Ro 14:17
increase
of grace, perseverance in it
to the end.
# Pr 4:18
1Jo 5:13 1Pe 1:5
36 Q
What benefits do believers receive from Christ at their death?
A
The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness,
# Heb 12:23
and do
immediately pass into glory,
# Php 1:23
2Co 5:8 Lu 23:43
and their
bodies, being still united to
Christ,
# 1Th 4:14
do rest in
their graves
# Isa 57:2
till the
resurrection.
# Job 19:26
37 Q
What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A
At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory,
# 1Co 15:43
shall be
openly acknowledged and
acquitted in the day of judgment,
# Mt 10:32
and made
perfectly blessed both in soul
and body in the full enjoying
of God
# 1Jo 3:2
to all
eternity.
# 1Th 4:17
38 Q
What shall be done to the wicked at their death?
A
The souls of the wicked shall at their death be cast into the torments
of hell,
# Lu
16:22-24
and their
bodies lie in their graves
till the resurrection, and
judgement of the great day.
# Ps 49:14
39 Q
What shall be done to the wicked at the day of judgment?
A
At the day of judgment the bodies of the wicked being raised out of
their graves, shall be
sentenced, together with their souls, to
unspeakable torments with the
devil and his angels for ever.
# Da 12:2
Joh 5:28,29 2Th 1:9 Mt 25:41
40 Q
What did God reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
A
The rule which God first revealed to man for his obedience is the
moral law,
# De 10:4
Mt 19:17
which is
summarised in the ten
commandments.
41 Q
What is the sum of the ten commandments?
A
The sum of the ten commandments is to love the Lord our God with all
our heart, with all our soul,
with all our strength,
and with
all our mind; and our
neighbour as ourselves.
# Mt
22:37-40
42 Q
Which is the first commandment?
A
The first commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
43 Q
What is required in the first commandment?
A
The first commandment requires us to know
# 1Ch 28:9
and
acknowledge God to be the only true
God, and our God,
# De 26:17
and to
worship and glorify him
accordingly.
# Mt 4:10
44 Q
Which is the second commandment?
A
The second commandment is, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water
under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them: for I the Lord
thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the
third and fourth generation of
them that hate me; and
shewing mercy unto thousands of
them that love me, and keep my
commandments."
45 Q
What is required in the second commandment?
A
The second commandment requires the receiving, observing,
# De 32:46
Mt 28:20
and
keeping pure and entire all such
religious worship and
ordinances as God has appointed in
his Word.
# De 12:32
46 Q
What is forbidden in the second commandment?
A
The second commandment forbids the worshipping of God
by images,
# De
4:15,16
or any
other way not appointed in his
Word.
# Col 2:18
47 Q
Which is the third commandment?
A
The third commandment is, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain; for the Lord
will not hold him
guiltless
that takes his name in
vain."
48 Q
What is required in the third commandment?
A
The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of
God's names,
# Ps 29:2
titles,
attributes,
# Re 15:3,4
ordinances,
# Ec 5:1
Word,
# Ps 138:2
and works.
# Job
36:24 De 28:58,59
49 Q
Which is the fourth commandment?
A
The fourth commandment is, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it
holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the
seventh day is the Sabbath of
the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt
not do any work, thou, nor
thy son, nor thy daughter,
thy manservant, nor thy
maidservant, nor thy cattle,
nor thy stranger that is within
thy gates. For in six days
the Lord made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in
them is, and rested the seventh
day: wherefore the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day and
hallowed it."
50 Q
What is required in the fourth commandment?
A
The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God such set times
as he has appointed in his
Word, expressly one whole day
in seven, to be a holy
Sabbath to himself.
# Le 19:30
De 5:12
51 Q
How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
A
The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even
from such worldly employments
and recreations as are lawful
on other days,
# Le 23:3
and
spending the whole time in the
public and private exercises
of God's worship,
# Ps
92:1,2 Isa 58:13,14
except so
much as is taken up in the
works of necessity and mercy.
# Mt
12:11,12
52 Q
Which is the fifth commandment?
A
The fifth commandment is, "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy
days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth
thee."
53 Q
What is required in the fifth commandment?
A
The fifth commandment requires the preserving the honour, and
performing
the duties belonging to
every one in their various positions
and relationships as
superiors,
# Eph
5:21,22 6:1,5 Ro 13:1
inferiors,
# Eph 6:9
or equals.
# Ro 12:10
54 Q
What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?
A
The reason annexed to the fifth commandment is, a promise of long life
and prosperity -- as far as
it shall serve for God's
glory, and their own good -- to
all such as keep this commandment.
# Eph 6:2,3
55 Q
Which is the sixth commandment?
A
The sixth commandment is, "Thou shalt not kill."
56 Q
What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?
A
The sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life,
# Ac 16:28
or the
life of our neighbour unjustly,
# Ge 9:6
or
whatever tends to it.
# Pr
24:11,12
57 Q
Which is the seventh commandment?
A
The seventh commandment is, "Thou shalt not commit adultery."
58 Q
What is forbidden in the seventh commandment?
A
The seventh commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts,
# Mt 5:28
Col 4:6
words,
# Eph 5:4 2Ti 2:22
and
actions.
# Eph 5:3
59 Q
Which is the eighth commandment?
A
The eighth commandment is, "Thou shalt not steal."
60 Q
What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?
A
The eighth commandment forbids whatever does or may unjustly hinder our
own,
# 1Ti 5:8
Pr 28:19 21:6
or our
neighbour's wealth, or outward
estate.
# Eph 4:28
61 Q
Which is the ninth commandment?
A
The ninth commandment is, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbour."
62 Q
What is required in the ninth commandment?
A
The ninth commandment requires the maintaining and promoting of truth
between man and man,
# Zec 8:16
and of our
own,
# 1Pe 3:16
Ac 25:10
and our
neighbour's good name,
# 3Jo 1:12
especially
in witness-bearing.
# Pr
14:5,25
63 Q
What is the tenth commandment?
A
The tenth commandment is, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house;
thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour's wife, nor his
manservant, or his maidservant,
nor his ox, nor his ass, nor
anything that is thy
neighbour's."
64 Q
What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
A
The tenth commandment forbids all discontentment with our own estate,
# 1Co 10:10
envying or
grieving at the good of our
neighbour,
# Ga 5:26
and all
inordinate emotions and
affections to anything that is his.
# Col 3:5
65 Q Is
any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?
A
No mere man, since the fall, is able in his life perfectly to keep the
commandments of God,
# Ec 7:20
but does
daily break them in thought,
# Ge 8:21
word,
# Jas 3:8
and deed.
# Jas 3:2
66 Q
Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?
A
Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various aggravations, are
more
heinous in the sight of God
than others.
# Joh
19:11 1Jo 5:15
67 Q
What does every sin deserve?
A
Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that
which is to come.
# Eph 5:6
Ps 11:6
68 Q
How may we escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?
A
To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, we must
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
# Joh 3:16
trusting
alone to his blood and
righteousness. This faith is attended
by repentance for the past
# Ac 20:21
and leads
to holiness in the future.
69 Q
What is faith in Jesus Christ?
A
Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace,
# Heb 10:39
whereby we
receive,
# Joh 1:12
and rest
upon him alone for salvation,
# Php 3:9
as he is
set forth in the gospel.
# Isa 33:22
70 Q
What is repentance to life?
A
Repentance to life is a saving grace,
# Ac 11:18
whereby a
sinner, out of a true sense
of his sins,
# Ac 2:37
and
apprehension of the mercy of God in
Christ,
# Joe 2:13
does with
grief and hatred of his sin
turn from it to God,
# Jer
31:18,19
with full
purpose to strive after new
obedience.
# Ps 119:59
71 Q
What are the outward means whereby the Holy Spirit communicates to us
the benefits of
redemption?
A
The outward and ordinary means whereby the Holy Spirit
communicates to us the benefits of
Christ's redemption, are the Word,
by which souls are begotten
to spiritual life; Baptism,
the Lord's Supper, Prayer, and
Meditation, by all which
believers are further edified in
their most holy faith.
# Ac
2:41,42 Jas 1:18
72 Q
How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
A
The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching
of the Word, an effectual
means of convicting and converting
sinners,
# Ps 19:7
and of
building them up in holiness and
comfort,
# 1Th 1:6
through
faith to salvation.
# Ro 1:16
73 Q
How is the Word to be read and heard that it may become effectual
to salvation?
A
That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend to
it with diligence,
# Pr 8:34
preparation,
# 1Pe 2:1,2
and prayer,
# Ps 119:18
receive it
with faith,
# Heb 4:2
and love,
# 2Th 2:10
lay it up
into our hearts,
# Ps 119:11
and
practise it in our lives.
# Jas 1:25
74 Q
How do Baptism and the Lord's Supper become spiritually helpful?
A
Baptism and the Lord's Supper become spiritually helpful, not from any
virtue in them, or in him who
does administer them,
# 1Co 3:7
1Pe 3:21
but only
by the blessing of Christ,
# 1Co 3:6
and the
working of the Spirit in those
who by faith receive them.
# 1Co 12:13
75 Q
What is Baptism?
A
Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus
Christ,
# Mt 28:19
to be to
the person baptised a sign of
his fellowship with him, in
his death, and burial, and
resurrection,
# Ro 6:3
Col 2:12
of his
being ingrafted into him,
# Ga 3:27
of
remission of sins,
# Mr 1:4
Ac 22:16
and of his
giving up himself to God
through Jesus Christ, to live and
walk in newness of life.
# Ro 6:4,5
76 Q To
whom is Baptism to be administered?
A
Baptism is to be administered to all those who actually profess
repentance towards God,
# Ac 2:38
Mt 3:6 Mr 16:16 Ac 8:12,36,37
10:47,48
and faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ, and
to none other.
77 Q
Are the infants of such as are professing to be baptised?
A
The infants of such as are professing believers are not to be baptised,
because there is neither
command nor example in the Holy
Scriptures for their baptism.
# Ex 23:13
Pr 30:6
78 Q
How is baptism rightly administered?
A Baptism is rightly
administered by immersion, or dipping the whole body
of the person in water,
# Mt 3:16
Joh 3:23
in the
name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
according to Christ's
institution, and the practice of the
apostles,
# Mt
28:19,20
and not by
sprinkling or pouring of
water, or dipping some part of
the body, after the tradition
of men.
# Joh
4:1,2 Ac 8:38,39
79 Q
What is the duty of such as are rightly baptized?
A
It is the duty of such as are rightly baptized, to give up themselves
to some particular and
orderly Church of Jesus Christ,
# Ac 2:47
Ac 9:26 1Pe 2:5
that they
may walk in all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord
blameless.
# Lu 1:6
80 Q
What is the Lord's Supper?
A
The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted
by Jesus Christ; wherein, by
giving and receiving bread and
wine, according to his
appointment, his death is shown
forth,
# 1Co
11:23-26
and the
worthy receivers are, not after
a corporeal and carnal
manner, but by faith, made
partakers of his body and blood,
with all his benefits, to their
spiritual nourishment, and growth
in grace.
# 1Co 10:16
81 Q
What is required to the worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper?
A
It is required of them who would worthily partake of the Lord's
Supper, that they examine
themselves of their knowledge
to discern the Lord's body,
# 1Co
11:28,29
of their
faith to feed upon him,
# 2Co 13:5
of their
repentance,
# 1Co 11:31
love,
# 1Co
11:18-20
and new
obedience,
# 1Co 5:8
lest coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves.
# 1Co
11:27-29
82 Q
What is meant by the words, "until he come," which are used by the
apostle Paul in reference to the
Lord's Supper?
A
They plainly teach us that our Lord Jesus Christ will come a second
time; which is the joy and hope
of all believers.
# Ac 1:11
1Th 4:16
* Published
about Oct 14, 1855, when Spurgeon was 21 years old. On
Oct.
14, Spurgeon preached (sermon no. 46) to several thousand who
gathered
to hear him at New Park Street Chapel. When the sermon was
published
it contained an announcement of this catechism. The text
that
morning was, "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all
generations."
Ps. 90:1.