The Shorter Catechism, Week by Week

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StartTo glorify God and enjoy himStart

Man's chief end and the Scriptures

  1. To glorify God and enjoy him The Shorter Catechism's first question asks what human life is for, and answers that our chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever. It is one end with two sides: not adding to God's glory but acknowledging it, and delighting in God himself.
  2. Scripture, the only rule Question 2 answers that the Word of God in the Scriptures is the only rule to direct us how to glorify and enjoy God; Question 3, that the Scriptures principally teach what we are to believe concerning God and what duty he requires of us. Those two parts become the catechism's plan.

God and his works

  1. God is a Spirit Question 4 answers that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. Three words qualify all seven, so that nothing in God has limits, beginning or end, or ever alters.
  2. One God in three persons Question 5 answers that there is but one only, the living and true God; Question 6, that there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. It is the faith of the Trinity that the churches of East and West have kept together.
  3. The decrees of God Question 7 answers that God's decrees are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby for his own glory he has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass; Question 8, that he executes them in the works of creation and providence. Neither chance nor fate, but the wise and holy will of our Father stands over all things.
  4. Creation and the image of God Question 9 answers that God made all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good; Question 10, that God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
  5. Providence and the covenant of life Question 11 answers that God's providence is his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions; Question 12, that with man as first created God entered into a covenant of life, upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil upon pain of death.

Sin and misery

  1. The fall of our first parents Question 13 answers that our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created by sinning against God; Question 14 defines sin as any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God; Question 15 names the first sin, their eating the forbidden fruit.
  2. In Adam Question 16 answers that the covenant was made with Adam not only for himself but for his posterity, so that all mankind sinned in him and fell with him; Question 17, that the fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery. Adam as our head points us to the one Man whose obedience makes many righteous.
  3. The estate of sin and misery Question 18 answers that the sinfulness of fallen man lies in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness and the corruption of his whole nature, with all the actual sins that proceed from it; Question 19 counts its misery, from lost communion with God to the pains of hell. The catechism names misery this plainly so that grace may be seen.

Christ the Redeemer

  1. The covenant of grace Question 20 answers that God did not leave all mankind to perish in sin and misery, but out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life and entered into a covenant of grace to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer. Here the whole catechism turns to good news.
  2. The only Redeemer Question 21 answers that the only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God who became man and is God and man in two distinct natures and one person for ever; Question 22, that he took a true body and a reasonable soul, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, yet without sin.
  3. Christ our prophet Question 23 answers that Christ as our Redeemer executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest and of a king, both in his humiliation and in his exaltation; Question 24, that he executes the office of a prophet in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
  4. Priest and king Question 25 answers that Christ executes the office of a priest in once offering himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us; Question 26, that he executes the office of a king in subduing us to himself, ruling and defending us, and restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
  5. Humiliation and exaltation Questions 27 and 28 follow Christ down and up: born low, under the law, through this life's miseries, God's wrath and the cross to the grave; then risen on the third day, ascended, seated at God's right hand, and coming to judge the world.

Redemption applied

  1. The Spirit applies redemption Questions 29 and 30 ask how what Christ has done becomes ours. His Holy Spirit applies the redemption Christ purchased, by working faith in us and so uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.
  2. Effectual calling Question 31 teaches that effectual calling is the Spirit's work, convincing us of sin, enlightening our minds and renewing our wills, so that he persuades and enables us to embrace Christ, freely offered in the gospel. Question 32 names what the called receive in this life.
  3. Justification Question 33 teaches that justification is an act of God's free grace: he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight, not for anything in us but only for Christ's righteousness, which God reckons to us and we receive by faith alone.
  4. Adoption and sanctification Question 34 teaches that in adoption God, by his free grace, receives us among his children with all their privileges; Question 35, that in sanctification he renews the whole person after his image, so that more and more we die to sin and live to righteousness.
  5. Assurance, peace and joy Question 36 names five gifts that come with justification, adoption and sanctification in this life: assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, and perseverance in it to the end. Each comes from God, and each can be sought again when it seems lost.
  6. At death and at the resurrection Questions 37 and 38 name what believers receive from Christ at death and at the resurrection: souls made perfect and passing at once into glory, bodies resting in Christ till the last day, and then open acknowledgement and the full enjoying of God.

The moral law and the Ten Commandments

  1. The rule of obedience: the moral law The catechism's second part begins: God requires obedience to his revealed will, and its rule is the moral law, written on the heart from the first and summed up in the Ten Commandments.
  2. The sum and preface of the commandments Question 42 sums up the ten commandments as love for God and love for our neighbour; Questions 43 and 44 hear in the preface that because God is the Lord, our God and Redeemer, we are bound to keep his commandments. The law is given to people already redeemed.
  3. The first commandment: no other gods The first commandment requires us to know and acknowledge God as the only true God and our God, and to worship and glorify him accordingly; it forbids denying him, failing to glorify him, and giving his glory to anything else. It is a life lived before the face of the God who sees all things.
  4. The second commandment: worship as God appoints The second commandment teaches how God is to be worshipped: as he appoints in his Word, not by images or ways of our own devising, for he is our sovereign and owner and zealous for his worship.
  5. The third commandment: God's name The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of all by which God makes himself known, his names, titles and attributes, his ordinances, Word and works, and forbids profaning or abusing any of it. Others may let the offender go, but the Lord will not suffer him to escape his righteous judgment.
  6. The fourth commandment: one day in seven The fourth commandment requires one whole day in seven to be kept holy to God: the seventh day until Christ rose, and since then the first day of the week, the Christian sabbath.
  7. The fourth commandment: keeping the day holy The sabbath is kept holy by resting all day in public and private worship, with room for works of necessity and mercy. The Catechism forbids neglecting or profaning it, and gives God's own reasons for it.
  8. The fifth commandment: honour The fifth commandment begins with father and mother and reaches every relation, above us, below us and beside us. Its duties run both ways, and its promise of long life holds as far as it serves God's glory and our good.
  9. The sixth commandment: life The sixth commandment requires every lawful effort to preserve our own life and the lives of others, and forbids taking life unjustly or anything that leads to it. It guards the life that bears God's image, reaches down to anger and hatred in the heart, and calls us to gentleness and mercy.
  10. The seventh commandment: purity The seventh commandment requires us to preserve our own and our neighbour's chastity in heart, speech and behaviour, and forbids all unchaste thoughts, words and actions. It honours marriage and single life as God's gifts, and Christ's washing grace is open to those who have fallen.
  11. The eighth commandment: honest gain The eighth commandment requires the lawful getting and furthering of our own and others' wealth and outward estate, and forbids whatever unjustly hinders them. Since everything belongs to God, we work honestly with what he has entrusted to us, guard our neighbour's goods, and share with the poor.
  12. The ninth commandment: truth and a good name The ninth commandment requires us to maintain and promote truth between one person and another, and our own and our neighbour's good name, especially when we bear witness; it forbids whatever harms the truth or a good name. The people of the God who cannot lie speak the truth in love and guard their neighbour's name.
  13. The tenth commandment: contentment The tenth commandment reaches beneath our deeds to the heart's desires. The Shorter Catechism teaches that it requires full contentment with our own condition and a charitable spirit toward our neighbour and all that is his, and forbids all discontent, envy and inordinate desire.
  14. No one keeps the law perfectly Having taught the commandments, the Shorter Catechism confesses that no mere man keeps them perfectly in this life, that some sins are more heinous than others, and that every sin deserves God's wrath and curse: a confession that sends us not to despair but to the blood of Christ.

Faith, repentance and the means of grace

  1. The way of escape If every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, how may we escape it? Question 85 answers that God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, and the diligent use of the outward means by which Christ gives us the benefits of redemption; and God gives what he requires.
  2. Faith in Jesus Christ Question 86 teaches that faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, a gift of God, by which we receive and rest upon Christ alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel. Faith saves not by its own worth but because it receives Christ.
  3. Repentance unto life Question 87 teaches that repentance unto life is a saving grace by which a sinner, truly seeing his sin and grasping God's mercy in Christ, grieves for and hates his sin, turns from it to God, and sets himself with full purpose to a new obedience.
  4. The means of grace and the Word Question 88 answers that the outward and ordinary means by which Christ gives us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments and prayer; Question 89, that the Spirit makes the reading and especially the preaching of the Word an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners and building them up in holiness and comfort.
  5. Reading and hearing the Word Question 90 teaches that for the Word to become effectual to salvation we must attend to it with diligence, preparation and prayer, receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts and practise it in our lives. It is an answer for the whole day of a hearer: before, during and after.
  6. What a sacrament is Question 91 answers that the sacraments work not by any virtue in them or in the minister, but only by Christ's blessing and his Spirit in those who receive them by faith; Question 92, that a sacrament is a holy ordinance of Christ in which, by sensible signs, Christ and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed and applied to believers.
  7. What baptism signifies Question 93 answers that the sacraments of the New Testament are baptism and the Lord's Supper; Question 94, that in baptism the washing with water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit signifies and seals our ingrafting into Christ, our share in the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's.
  8. To whom baptism is given Question 95 answers that baptism is not to be given to those outside the visible church until they profess faith in Christ and obedience to him, but that the infants of members of the visible church are to be baptised. Here the Reformed differ among themselves, so this week sets out infant baptism and believers' baptism both as Reformed.
  9. The Supper: partaking of Christ Question 96 teaches that in the Lord's Supper, by giving and receiving bread and wine as Christ appointed, his death is shown forth, and that worthy receivers are made partakers of his body and blood with all his benefits, not in a bodily way but by faith, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.
  10. Coming worthily to the table Question 97 teaches that those who would worthily partake of the Lord's Supper are to examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, their faith to feed upon him, and their repentance, love and new obedience. The examination is not meant to leave only the perfect at the table, but to bring the weak back to Christ.

Prayer and the Lord's Prayer

  1. What prayer is Question 98 answers that prayer is an offering up of our desires to God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies. Prayer is not a skill with words but one of the means by which Christ gives us the benefits of redemption.
  2. The Lord's Prayer and its preface Question 99 answers that the whole Word of God directs us in prayer, but the special rule is the Lord's Prayer; Question 100, that its preface teaches us to draw near to God with holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, and to pray with and for others.
  3. Thy name and thy kingdom Question 101 answers that in the first petition we pray that God would enable us and others to glorify him in all whereby he makes himself known, and dispose all things to his glory; Question 102, that in the second we pray for Satan's kingdom to be destroyed, the kingdom of grace advanced and the kingdom of glory hastened.
  4. Thy will be done Question 103 answers that in the third petition we pray that God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey and submit to his will in all things, as the angels do in heaven: to obey the will he has revealed in his Word, and to submit to the will he works out in his providence.
  5. Our daily bread Question 104 answers that in the fourth petition we pray that of God's free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them. Every meal is received as grace, ‘enough’ is met with thanks, and our neighbour's bread is asked for with our own.
  6. Forgiveness and temptation Question 105 answers that in the fifth petition we pray that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins; Question 106, that in the sixth we pray that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted.
  7. The kingdom, the power and the glory: Amen Question 107 answers that the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teaches us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power and glory to him, and to say Amen in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard. The catechism that began by asking what we are for ends in praise and Amen.