First Catechism

Biblical Truth for God’s Children

1.           Q. Who made you?

A.    God.

2.           Q. What else did God make?

A.     God made all things.

3.         Q. Why did God make you and all things?

A.     For his own glory.

4.        Q. How can you glorify God?               

A.     By loving him and doing what he commands.

5.        Q. Why are you to glorify God?               

A.     Because he made me and takes care of me.

6.        Q. Are there more gods than one?   

A.    There is only one true God.

7.        Q. How many persons is this one true God?

A.    Three.

8.                 Q. Name these three persons.

A.     The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

9.        Q. What is God? 

A.     God is a Spirit and has no body as we do.

10.       Q. Where is God?        

A.    God is everywhere.

11.       Q. Can you see God? 

A.     No – I cannot see God, but he can always see me.

12.      Q. Does God know all things?           

A.     Yes – nothing can be hid from God.

13.      Q. Can God do all things?           

           A. Yes – God can do all his holy will.

14.      Q. Where do you learn how to love and obey God?  

A.    In the Bible alone.

15.       Q. Who wrote the Bible? 

A.     Chosen men who wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

16.      Q. Who were our first parents?  

A.    Adam and Eve.

17.             Q. How did God make our first parents?

A.    God made Adam’s body out of the ground, and Eve’s body out of a rib from Adam.

18.       Q. What did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies?           

A.     He gave them spirits that will last forever.

19.      Q. Do you have a spirit as well as a body?      

A.    Yes – and my spirit is going to last forever.

20.             Q. How do you know your spirit will last forever?

A.    Because the Bible tells me so.

21.      Q. In what condition did God make Adam and Eve?   

A.     He made them holy and happy.

22.       Q. What is a sacred covenant?

A.    A relationship that God sets up with us and guarantees by his word.

23.      Q. What covenant did God make with Adam?    

A.     The covenant of life.

24.       Q. What did God require Adam to do in the covenant of life?    

A.     To obey him perfectly.

25.             Q. What did God promise in the covenant of life?    

A.     To reward Adam with life if he obeyed him.

26.      Q. What did God threaten in the covenant of life?    

A.     To punish Adam with death if he disobeyed him.

27.       Q. Did Adam keep the covenant of life?    

A.    No – he sinned against God.

28.             Q. What is sin?     

A.    Any thought, word or deed that breaks God’s law by omission or commission.

29.      Q. What is a sin of omission?   

A.     Not being or doing what God requires.

30.      Q. What is a sin of commission?

A.    doing what God forbids.

31.      Q. What does every sin deserve?         

A.     The wrath and curse of God.

32.      Q. What was the sin of our first parents?         

A.     Eating the forbidden fruit.

33.             Q. Who tempted them to this sin?

A.     Satan tempted Eve first, and then he used her to tempt Adam.

34.      Q. How did Adam and Eve change when they sinned?   

A.     Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable.

35.       Q. Did Adam act for himself alone in the covenant of life?

A.     No – he represented the whole human race.

36.       Q.What did Adam’s sin do to you?           

A.     It made me guilty and sinful.

37.      Q. How sinful are you by nature?           

A.     I am corrupt in every part of my being.

38.      Q. Can you go to heaven with this sinful nature?           

A.     No – my heart must be changed before I can be fit for heaven.

39.       Q.What is the changing of your heart called?

A.    The new birth, or regeneration.

40.      Q. Who is able to change your heart? 

A.    The Holy Spirit alone.

41.       Q.Can you be saved through the covenant of life?    

A.     No – because I broke it and am condemned by it.

42.       Q. How did you break the covenant of life?    

A.    Adam represented me, and so I fell with him in his first sin.

43.      Q. How, then, can you be saved?

A.    By the Lord Jesus Christ in the covenant of grace.

44.      Q. Who was represented by Jesus in the covenant of grace?

A.    His elect people.

45.             Q. How did Jesus fulfill the covenant of grace?

A.    He kept the whole law for his people, and then was punished for all their sins.

46.       Q. Did Jesus ever sin?           

A.     No – he lived a sinless life.

47.      Q. How could the Son of God suffer?

A.    The Son of God became a man so that he could obey and suffer.

48.      Q. For whom did Christ obey and suffer?     

A.     For all who were given to him by the Father.

49.      Q. What kind of life did Christ live on earth? 

A.     A life of poverty and suffering.

50.      Q. What kind of death did Jesus die?       

A.     The painful and shameful death of the cross.

51.      Q. What is meant by the atonement?    

           A. Christ satisfied God’s justice by his suffering and death in the place of sinners.

52.       Q. What did God the Father guarantee in the covenant of grace?        

A.     To justify and sanctify all those for whom Christ died.

53.       Q. How can God justify you?    

A.    By forgiving all my sins and declaring me righteous.

54.      Q. How can God sanctify you?  

A.     By making me holy in heart and conduct.

55.      Q. What must you do to be saved?

A.     I must repent of my sins, believe in Christ and live a new life.

56.      Q. How do you repent of your sins?  

A.     By being sorry enough for my sin to hate it and forsake it.

57.      Q. Why must you hate and forsake your sin?        

A.     Because it displeases God.

58.      Q. What does it mean to believe in Christ?           

A.     To trust in him alone for my salvation.

59.      Q. Can you repent and believe by your own power?           

A.     No – I cannot do anything good unless the Holy Spirit enables me.

60.      Q. How can you get the help of the Holy Spirit?

A.    God will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.

61.             Q. How long ago did Christ die?

A.     About two thousand years.

62.       Q. How were sinners saved before Christ came? 

A.    By believing in a messiah to come.

63.      Q. How did they show their faith?  

A.    By offering the sacrifices God required.

64.      Q. What did these sacrifices represent?      

A.     Christ, the Lamb of God, who would come to die for sinners.

65.       Q. How many offices did the Lord Jesus fulfill as the promised Messiah?        

A.     He fulfilled three offices.

66.      Q. What are they?  

A.    The offices of prophet, priest, and king.

67.      Q. How is Christ your prophet?

A.     He teaches me the will of God.

68.       Q. How is Christ your priest?    

A.    He died for my sins, and prays for me.

69.      Q. How is Christ your king?      

A.    He rules over me and defends me.

70.      Q. Why do you need Christ as your prophet?         

A.     Because I am ignorant by nature.

71.      Q. Why do you need Christ as your priest?

A.    Because I am guilty of breaking God’s law.

72.      Q. Why do you need Christ as your king?  

A.    Because I am weak and helpless.

73.      Q. How many commandments did God write down on the stone tablets?          

A.     Ten commandments.

74.      Q. What do the first four commandments teach you?   

A.     What it means to love and serve God.

75.             Q. What do the last six commandments teach you?   

A.     What it means to love and serve my neighbor.

76.      Q. What is the sum of the Ten Commandments?      

A.     To love God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself.

77.       Q. Who is your neighbor?       

A.    Everybody is my neighbor.

78.      Q. Is God pleased if you love and obey him?       

A.     Yes – he loves those who love him.

79.      Q. Is God displeased with those who refuse to love and obey him?   

A.    Yes – God is angry with the wicked every day.

80.             Q. What is the first commandment?

A.     “You shall have no other gods before me.”

81.      Q. What does the first commandment teach you?      

A.     To worship the true God, and him alone.

82.      Q. What is the second commandment?         

A.     “You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.” (NKJV)

83.             Q. What does the second commandment teach you?

A.    To worship God only as he commands – without any statues or pictures.

84.      Q. What is the third commandment?         

A.     “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” (NKJV)

85.       Q.What does the third commandment teach you?      

A.     To reverence God’s name, especially in keeping my vows.

86.       Q. What is the fourth commandment?         

A.     “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son nor daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the havens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

87.      Q. What does the fourth commandment teach you?      

A.     To work six days and to keep a holy Sabbath.

88.      Q. What day of the week is the Christian Sabbath?        

A.    The first day of the week, which is the Lord’s Day.

89.      Q. Why is it called the Lord’s Day?   

A.    Because on that day our Lord rose from the dead.

90.      Q. How should you keep the Lord’s Day?   

A.    I should rest from my daily work and faithfully worship God.

91.      Q. What is the fifth commandment?         

A.     “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

92.      Q. What does the fifth commandment teach you?      

A.    To love and obey my parents and all others that God appoints to teach and govern me.

93.       Q. What is the sixth commandment?         

A.     “You shall not murder.”

94.      Q. What does the sixth commandment teach you?      

A.     Not to take anyone’s life unjustly.

95.      Q. What is the seventh commandment?         

A.     “You shall not commit adultery.”

96.      Q. What does the seventh commandment teach you?      

A.    Not to have sex with anyone outside the bonds of holy marriage.

97.      Q. What is the eighth commandment?         

A.     “You shall not steal.”

98.      Q. What does the eighth commandment teach you?      

A.     Not to take anything owned by another person.

99.      Q. What is the ninth commandment?         

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

100.     Q. What does the ninth commandment teach you?      

A.    To tell the truth at all times.

101.     Q. What is the tenth commandment?         

A.     “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

102.    Q. What does the tenth commandment teach you?      

A.     To be content with whatever God chooses to give me.

103.     Q. Can you keep the Ten Commandments perfectly?   

A.    No – since the fall of Adam, the only one who has been able to do this is Jesus.

104.     Q. Of what use are the Ten Commandments to you?       

A.     They teach me what is pleasing to God, and how much I need a savior.

105.     Q. What is prayer?           

A.     Prayer is asking God for the things he has promised in the Bible – and giving thanks for what he has given.

106.    Q. In whose name are we to pray?  

A.    In the name of Christ only.

107.     Q. What did Christ give us to teach us about prayer?

A.    The Lord’s Prayer.

108.     Q. What is the Lord’s Prayer?          

A.     “Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

109.     Q. How many things do we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer?          

A.     Six.

110.     Q.What do we pray first?      

A.    “Hallowed be your name.”

111.     Q. What does it mean to pray, “Hollowed be your name”?  

A.    We are asking God to enable us and all creation to honor his name.

112.    Q. What do we pray second?  

A.    “Your kingdom come.”

113.     Q. What does it mean to pray, “Your kingdom come”?          

A.     We are asking God to bring more and more people to believe and obey his gospel.

114.    Q. What do we pray third?     

A.    “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

115.    Q. What does it mean to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?       

A.    We are asking God to make us able and willing to serve him as the angels do in heaven.

116.     Q. What do we pray fourth?   

A.     “Give us today our daily bread.”

117.     Q. What does it mean to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”?          

A.     We are asking God to provide us with all that we really need.

118.     Q. What do we pray fifth?      

A.    “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

119.         Q. What does it mean to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”?

A.     We are asking God to forgive our sins for Christ’s sake, and to make us willing to forgive others.

120.     Q. What do we pray sixth?     

A.     “And lead us not in to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

121.     Q. What does it mean to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one?”                

A.     We are asking God to keep us from being tempted, or to make us strong enough to resist if we are tempted.

122.    Q. How many sacraments are there?       

A.     Two.

123.     Q.What are they called?

A.     Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

124.     Q. Who appointed these sacraments?   

A.     The Lord Jesus Christ.

125.     Q. Why did Christ appoint these sacraments?   

A.     To mark us off from the world, and to give us comfort and strength.

126.    Q. What sign is used in baptism?        

A.     Washing with water.

127.    Q. What does this washing with water represent?      

A.     Union with Christ by cleansing through his blood.

128.     Q. In whose name are you baptized?        

A.    In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

129.         Q. Who are to be baptized?

A.     Believers and their children.

130.     Q. Why are we baptized even as little infants?          

A.     Because God’s command to Abraham is obeyed in our baptism.

131.     Q. What did Jesus say about little children?        

A.     “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

132.    Q. What does your baptism call you to be?

A.    A true follower of Christ.

133.         Q. What sign is used in the Lord’s Supper?

A.    Eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance of the suffering and death of Jesus.

134.     Q. What does the bread represent?      

A.    Christ’s body sacrificed for our sins.

135.    Q. What does the wine represent?      

A.     Christ’s blood shed for our sins.

136.    Q. Who may rightly partake of the Lord’s Supper?          

A.     Those who repent of their sins, believe in Christ and live a new life.

137.     Q. Did Christ remain in the tomb after he was buried?           

A.     No – he came back out of his tomb on the third day.

138.     Q. Where is Jesus now?  

A.     At the right hand of the Father, praying for us.

139.     Q. Will the Lord Jesus come again?   

A.     Yes! He will return to judge the world on the last day.

140.     Q.What will happen to us when we die? 

A.    Our bodies will return to dust, while our spirits return to God.

141.    Q. Will the bodies of all the dead be raised again? 

A.     Yes – some will be raised to everlasting life and others to everlasting death.

142.    Q. What will God do to the unbelievers on the last day? 

A.    He will cast them into the lake of fire, along with Satan and his angels.

143.     Q. What will the lake of fire be like?   

A.     It will be an awful place, where the lost will suffer for their sins forever.

144.    Q. What will God do for believers on the last day?   

A.     He will give them a home in the new heaven and the new earth.

145.     Q. What will the new heaven and the new earth be like? 

A.    It will be a glorious and happy place, where the saved will be with Jesus forever.

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