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

Question 34: Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through Christ alone, must we still do good works and obey God’s Word? Answer: Yes, because Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, also renews us by his Spirit; so that our lives may show love and gratitude to God; so that we may be assured of our faith by the fruits; and so that by our godly behavior others may be won to Christ. Christians often struggle with the question of assurance. How can I know that I truly belong to

This week we begin with Question 32 of the New City Catechism, found in Part 2 (questions 21-35), which focuses on Christ, redemption, and grace. Question 32: What do justification and sanctification mean? Answer: Justification means our declared righteousness before God, made possible by Christ’s death and resurrection for us. Sanctification means our gradual, growing righteousness, made possible by the Spirit’s work in us. The saving work of Christ affects two things about

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. The doctrines of the final judgment and hell have been among the most controversial in the history of the Christian church. The main reason for this controversy is th

Question 26: What else does Christ’s death redeem? Answer: Christ’s death is the beginning of the redemption and renewal of every part of fallen creation, as he powerfully directs all things for his own glory and creation’s good. The final two visions of the book of Revelation are of a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:1-8), followed by a vision of the New Jerusalem, the holy city coming down out of heaven (Rev. 21:9-22:5). In these alternate pictures of the same reality, G

Question 26: What else does Christ’s death redeem? Answer: Christ’s death is the beginning of the redemption and renewal of every part of fallen creation, as he powerfully directs all things for his own glory and creation’s good. Jesus Christ came into this world as a man, where he lived his life in obedience to God and died in the place of men. The redeeming work of Christ was for the primary purpose of achieving the forgiveness of sins and the counting of righteousness to t

This week we begin with Question 26 of the New City Catechism, found in Part 2 (questions 21-35), which focuses on Christ, redemption, and grace. Question 26: What else does Christ’s death redeem? Answer: Christ’s death is the beginning of the redemption and renewal of every part of fallen creation, as he powerfully directs all things for his own glory and creation’s good. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, it was not only humanity that was affected by their acti

Question 25: Does Christ’s death mean all our sins can be forgiven? Answer: Yes, because Christ’s death on the cross fully paid the penalty for our sin, God graciously imputes Christ’s righteousness to us as if it were our own and will remember our sins no more. If we are going to be right with God and inherit eternal life, two things need to happen: (1) we must have our sins forgiven, which removes God’s wrath from us; (2) we must have righteousness counted to us, which enti

Question 24: Why was it necessary for Christ, the Redeemer, to die? Answer: Since death is the punishment for sin, Christ died willingly in our place to deliver us from the power and penalty of sin and bring us back to God. By his substitutionary atoning death, he alone redeems us from hell and gains for us forgiveness of sin, righteousness, and everlasting life. Because Jesus Christ died our death, enduring our punishment, we have no punishment from God to face. We have been

Question 22: Why must the Redeemer be truly human? Answer: That in human nature he might on our behalf perfectly obey the whole law and suffer the punishment for human sin; and also that he might sympathize with our weaknesses. As one who was fully human, Jesus knew the experiences of human weakness. He got hungry and thirsty. He needed sleep. Although the Scripture never specifically tells us so, we can assume he got sick at times as we all do. His experiences as a man were

Question 22: Why must the Redeemer be truly human? Answer: That in human nature he might on our behalf perfectly obey the whole law and suffer the punishment for human sin; and also that he might sympathize with our weaknesses. It was specifically through his human nature that Jesus Christ “suffered the punishment for human sin.” By going to the cross as a sinless man, he offered up his own life in the place of his covenant people, bearing in himself the punishment that our s

This week we begin with Question 22 of the New City Catechism, found in Part 2 (questions 21-35), which focuses on Christ, redemption, and grace. Question 22: Why must the Redeemer be truly human? Answer: That in human nature he might on our behalf perfectly obey the whole law and suffer the punishment for human sin; and also that he might sympathize with our weaknesses. As a man, Jesus Christ obeyed God’s law perfectly. He is described as one who knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21). I

Question 20: Who is the Redeemer? Answer: The only Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in whom God became man and bore the penalty for sin himself. Not only did God the Son add humanity to himself, becoming the God-man in the incarnation, but he also “bore the penalty for sin himself” by dying on the cross in the place of sinners. The meaning of the cross of Jesus Christ is varied and rich, but the heart of it all is the bearing of the penalty for sin i

Question 19: Is there any way to escape punishment and be brought back into God’s favor? Answer: Yes, to satisfy his justice, God himself, out of mere mercy, reconciles us to himself and delivers us from sin and from the punishment for sin, by a Redeemer. The catechism notes that God “delivers us from sin and from the punishment for sin” through Christ. Notice the two accomplishments mentioned there. Let’s take the last one first: through Jesus Christ, God delivers us from th

Question 18: Will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished? Answer: No, every sin is against the sovereignty, holiness, and goodness of God, and against his righteous law, and God is righteously angry with our sins and will punish them in his just judgment both in this life, and in the life to come. God judges sins both in history and at the end of history. There is a final judgment coming, but the word “final” indicates that there are other judgments that pre

Question 18: Will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished? Answer: No, every sin is against the sovereignty, holiness, and goodness of God, and against his righteous law, and God is righteously angry with our sins and will punish them in his just judgment both in this life, and in the life to come. After David had committed the sins of adultery and murder, he prayed to the Lord in confession, “Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your

Question 16: What is sin? Answer: Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law—resulting in our death and the disintegration of all creation. What is the result of our sin? The catechism identifies “death and the disintegration of all creation.” God made us as his image to rule over his world so that it would flourish. But when humanity fell into sin, leading

Question 16: What is sin? Answer: Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law—resulting in our death and the disintegration of all creation. The catechism defines sin, in part, as “living without reference” to God. Did you realize that you can be a “good” person who keeps all the rules of society, who always treats other people with kindness, who never acts s

This week we begin with Question 16 of the New City Catechism, found in Part 1 (questions 1-20), which focuses on God, creation and the fall, and the law. Question 16: What is sin? Answer: Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law—resulting in our death and the disintegration of all creation. Do fish know that they are in water? They probably don’t. With wa

Question 15: Since no one can keep the law, what is its purpose? Answer: That we may know the holy nature and will of God, and the sinful nature and disobedience of our hearts; and thus our need of a Savior. The law also teaches and exhorts us to live a life worthy of our Savior. The law of God points out our sins and points us to Christ. In this way, the law serves the gospel. But what if we are already believers in Christ? What is the law’s role for us then? First, it is im