Question 35: Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through faith alone, where does this faith come from? Answer: All the gifts we receive from Christ we receive through the Holy Spirit, including faith itself. Jesus told the Jewish religious leader Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Religious credentials and a respectable life do not gain entrance to the kingdom. Why is that? It is because “flesh” (f

This week we begin with Question 35 of the New City Catechism, found in Part 2 (questions 21-35), which focuses on Christ, redemption, and grace. Question 35: Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through faith alone, where does this faith come from? Answer: All the gifts we receive from Christ we receive through the Holy Spirit, including faith itself. In John 6, Jesus feeds a crowd of over 5,000, and then the next day encounters them again on the other side of the Sea of Ga

This week we begin with Question 28 of the New City Catechism, found in Part 2 (questions 21-35), which focuses on Christ, redemption, and grace. Question 28: What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith? Answer: At the day of judgment they will receive the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them. They will be cast out from the favorable presence of God, into hell, to be justly and grievously punished, forever. Revelation 20:11-15

Question 27: Are all people, just as they were lost through Adam, saved through Christ? Answer: No, only those who are elected by God and united to Christ by faith. Nevertheless, God in his mercy demonstrates common grace even to those who are not elect, by restraining the effects of sin and enabling works of culture for human well-being. The salvation that comes through Jesus Christ comes only to those united to him by faith. But that does not mean God has no blessings at al

This week we begin with Question 27 of the New City Catechism, found in Part 2 (questions 21-35), which focuses on Christ, redemption, and grace. Question 27: Are all people, just as they were lost through Adam, saved through Christ? Answer: No, only those who are elected by God and united to Christ by faith. Nevertheless, God in his mercy demonstrates common grace even to those who are not elect, by restraining the effects of sin and enabling works of culture for human well-

Question 14: Did God create us unable to keep his law? Answer: No, but because of the disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, all of creation is fallen; we are born in sin and guilt, corrupt in our nature and unable to keep God’s law. No one relishes the thought that he or she is guilty and corrupt before God and completely unable to do anything about it. The Bible’s teaching on our sin problem indicates that we are completely helpless on our own, held under sin’s po

Question 13: Can anyone keep the law of God perfectly? Answer: Since the fall, no mere human has been able to keep the law of God perfectly, but consistently breaks it in thought, word, and deed. It is beyond our ability to understand how deep sin runs in us. We tend to think of sins as individual acts of wrongdoing that punctuate otherwise upright lives, but the Bible presents a different picture. Sin is not only specific deeds of lawbreaking, but it is also the environment

Question 6: How can we glorify God? Answer: We glorify God by enjoying him, loving him, trusting him, and by obeying his will, commands, and law. As good Protestants, we know that we are not saved by our works. All the obedience we can render to God would never be enough to deliver us from his coming wrath because, at the end of it all, we remain in Adam, and therefore guilty before him, no matter how much we may try to obey. Our salvation is a gift of his grace, whereby the

Faith is the result of the miracle of the new birth, produced in us by the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.

The only way we can come to Jesus in faith is if we are drawn to him by the powerful working of the Father. Faith is a gift.

What are the "books" in Revelation 20:12? And what does "the book of life" represent?

Until the day of final judgment, God shows grace in many ways to believers and unbelievers alike.

The cross of Christ does not automatically save all, but only those covenantally united to Christ. This union begins with God's choice.

We cannot rightly understand God's grace until we first understand the depths of our sin.

Sin is not merely isolated acts of disobedience. It is a condition in which we exist and live our lives in this world.

How do our works of obedience relate to faith? Why should we pursue good works if we know that good works do not save us?