- What is the chief end of man?
Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
- What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.
- What do the scriptures principally teach?
The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
- What is God?
God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
- Are there more gods than one?
There is but one only, the living and true God.
- How many persons are there in the Godhead?
There are 3 persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
- What are the decrees of God?
The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his own will, whereby, for his own glory, he has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
- How does God execute his decrees?
God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence.
- What is the work of creation?
The work of creation is, God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of 6 days, and all very good.
- How did God create man?
God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
- What are God’s works of providence?
God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all of his creatures, and all of their actions.
- What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created.
When God created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death.
- Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.
- What is sin?
Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
- What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.
- Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first sin?
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.
- Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
- Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions that proceed from it.
- What is that misery of the estate whereinto man fell?
All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.
- Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
God, having out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
- Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man, into two distinct natures, and one person, forever.
- How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
- What offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer?
Christ, as our Redeemer, executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.
- How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
Christ executes the office of prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
