CONCERNING THE SCRIPTURES

Where can we learn the will of God and the truth concerning Christ? (6)

In the Holy Scriptures, which are known in our day as the Bible.



What is the Bible? (7)

It is a book written by the power of inspiration working in prophets and apostles who lived in Israel a long time ago. They lived at different times, and each wrote his part independently of the others; but one Spirit moved them all, and enabled them to make known to men the mind of God in history, precept and prophecy, so that the Bible though composed of many books and parts, is the one Word of God.



What are the names of the men principally employed by the Spirit of God in the writing of the Bible? (8)

Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Jude and Peter.


Into what parts is the Bible Divided? (9)

Into two parts: the Old and New Testaments. But in the days of Christ, the Scriptures were known as Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. The Old Testament was written by Moses and the Prophets, who came after him. The New Testament was written by the Apostles.


Over what period of time does the composition of the Bible extend? (10)

The Old Testament was begun by Moses about 1,600 years before Christ, and finished by Malachi a little over 1,200 years afterwards." (Before Christ 400) The New Testament was written during the lifetime of the Apostles, after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, over 1,900 years ago.


Of how many books is the Bible composed: and what are their names in order? (11)

The Bible is composed of sixty-six books arranged in the following order of names. OLD TESTAMENT: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Michah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. NEW TESTAMENT: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation.


What does the Bible, in its several books, reveal to us? (12)

The Bible, given by inspiration of God, reveals to us the truth concerning God and concerning man.



CONCERNING GOD

What does the Bible reveal concerning God? (13)

That there is only one God, the Father of all, even of the Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the common idea that God is a Trinity is unscriptural.

  • "There is ONE GOD and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5).
  • "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord" (Deut. 6:4).
  • "I am the Lord, and there is none else; there is no God beside me" (Isa. 45:5).
  • "To us there is but one God, the FATHER, of whom are all things" (1 Cor. 8:6).
  • "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 1:3).


What does the Bible reveal concerning the character of God? (14)

That He is kind, yet inflexible in the requirements of His law; loving and compassionate, yet terrible as a destroying fire against the rebellious and the guilty; forgiving towards offences, yet jealous of the dignity, the glory, and supremacy of His name. He is holy, and cannot look upon sin. He is wise, and cannot tolerate fools. He is true and faithful, and will destroy all the false and perfidious. He is just and true and perfect - at once the fountain of love and vengeance; the author of life and death; the source of reviving mercy and consuming fire. He is eternal, unchangeable, unsearchable, infinite, glorious in power and majesty - the King immortal, the Possessor of heaven and earth, to whom alone is glory due.

  • "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments" (Exo. 20:5-6).
  • "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them" (Psa. 103:8, 18).
  • "Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29).
  • "The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Ex. 34:6).
  • "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity" (Hab. 1:13).
  • "The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man" (Psa. 5:5 6).
  • "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints" (Rev. 15:3)
  • "The Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures" (Jer. 10:10-13).
  • "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he" (Deut. 32:4).
  • "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:7, 8, 16).
  • "For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:30-31).
  • "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand" (Deut. 32:39).
  • "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon" (Hos. 14:4, 6).
  • "They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them" (Deut. 32:21, 23).
  • "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Tim. 1:17).
  • "For I am the Lord, I CHANGE NOT" (Mal. 3:6).
  • "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable" (Psa. 145:3).
  • "Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite" (Psa. 147:5).
  • "The most high God, possessor of heaven and earth" (Gen. 14:19).
  • "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake" (Psa. 115:1).


Is God confined to heaven though dwelling there? (15)

No. He is everywhere present and nothing can be hid from His knowledge.

  • "Can any hide himself in secret places that I should not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord" (Jer. 23:24).
  • "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13).
  • "Lord thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising: thou understandest my thought afar off ... There is not a word in my tongue, but lo, thou knowest it altogether" (Psa. 139:1-4).




CONCERNING THE SPIRIT OF GOD

 In what way is God everywhere if He dwells in heaven? (16)

God is everywhere present by His spirit which proceeds from Him, and which fills all space.

  • "Thou sendest forth Thy spirit" (Psa. 104:30).
  • "Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell (sheol, the grave), behold, Thou art there" (Psa. 139:7-8).


What is the Spirit of God? (17)

It is His invisible power or energy breathed forth from His presence, and of like nature with His Glorious Person. By this, heaven and earth have been made and are preserved in being from moment to moment. In this we live and move and have our being in Him.

  • "The Spirit of God hath made me" (Job. 33:4).
  • "By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens" (Job. 26:13).
  • "Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created" (Psa. 104:30).
  • "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made" (Psa. 33:6).
  • "Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power" (Jer. 2:17).
  • "In the beginning the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:2).
  • "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
  • "If He gather unto Himself His spirit and His breath, all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust" (Job. 34:14-15).


Is God separate and different from the Spirit of God? (18)

No. God and His Spirit cannot be separated. They are both one. The sun and the light that comes from the sun are both one. So God, and the Spirit that comes from God, are both one. God is the centre and glorious substantial form of the Spirit that fills heaven and earth.

  • "See passages quoted in previous 4 answers, and also the following:
  • "The Lord God, and His Spirit, hath sent me" (Isa. 48:16).
  • "My Spirit shall not always strive with man" (Gen. 6:3).
  • "Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?" (Jer. 23:24).
  • "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" (Psa. 139:7).
  • "God is Spirit" (John 4:24).


Do these things teach you any lesson concerning your conduct? (19)

Yes. They teach me that I am always in the presence of God though I do not feel it, and that He always sees me" (even when it is dark) though I cannot see Him. Nothing can happen without His knowing it. Even my inmost thoughts and intentions He can discern, though I should seek to keep them secret.

  • "Thou God seest me" (Gen. 16:13).
  • "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight" (Heb. 4:13).
  • "The darkness hideth not from Thee ... The darkness and the light are both alike unto thee" (Psa. 139:12).
  • "A discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).




CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL BODY

 What is a Spiritual Body? (20)

It is a body made in the glorious nature of the Spirit of God, and therefore incorruptible in substance and immortal in life.

  • "There is a spiritual body ... Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual" (1 Cor. 15:44-46).
  • "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).
  • "He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. 8:11).
  • "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Cor. 15:49).
  • "This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Cor. 15:53).
  • "He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Phil. 3:21).


Is a spiritual body like a mortal body? (21)

It is like it in shape, but not in nature.

  • "We shall all be changed... This mortal must put on immortality" (1 Cor. 15:51 53).
  • "This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go" (Acts 1:11). Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself" (Luke 24:39).
  • "We shall be like him" (1 John 3:2).


What is the difference of nature between a spiritual body and a mortal body? (22)

A mortal body grows old, decays and dies; whereas a spiritual body lasts for ever. A mortal body is weak; a spiritual body is strong. A mortal body is corruptible, lustreless, and dishonorable, whereas a spiritual body is incorruptible, bright, and glorious. Even the clothes worn by a spiritual body can become as white as snow and as shining as the sun.

  • "Neither can they die any more" (Luke 20:36).
  • "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power" (1 Cor. 15:42).
  • "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters" (Rev. 7:16).
  • "Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord... I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me " (1 Cor. 9:1, Acts 26:13).
  • "His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light" (Matt. 17:2).
  • "His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow" (Matt. 28:3).
  • "They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).
  • "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever" (Dan. 12:3).


Shall we ever have our mortal bodies changed into spiritual bodies? (23)

All will experience this glorious change who believe, love, and obey the Truth steadfastly to the end. They will rise from the dead at the coming of Christ, and appear before him to be judged, along with all others who are at that time brought to judgment. When he has separated them from the unfaithful, the unfaithful will be dismissed from his presence to shame, corruption, and death, while they, the accepted, will be changed in a moment, all in one company, into the likeness of the body of their glorious judge.

  • "We (the accepted) shall all be changed" (1 Cor. 15:51).
  • "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things in body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10).
  • "He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Gal. 6:8).
  • "He that raised up Christ shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you... if so be that we suffer with him that we may be glorified together" (Rom. 8:11, 17).
  • "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2).
  • "Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?... Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matt. 7:22).
  • "He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Gal. 6:8).
  • "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment" (Matt. 25:46).
  • "They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power when He shall come" (2 Thess. 1:9).




CONCERNING ANGELS

 What are angels? (24)

They are glorious beings sent by God on various errands throughout the universe.

  • "Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word" (Psa. 103:20).
  • "Thou madest him (man) a little lower than the angels" (Heb. 2:7).
  • "There came two angels to Sodom at even" (Gen. 19:1).
  • "The man (i.e., angel) Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me and talked with me, and said...
  • "At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee" (Dan. 9:21 23).
  • "The angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth" (Luke 1:26).
  • "The angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them... and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:9-14).
  • "The Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with him" (Matt. 25:31). And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands" (Rev. 5:11).


What is the nature of the angels? (25)

They are spiritual bodies, and like men in their form and aspect.

  • "He maketh his angels spirits" (Isa. 104:4).
  • "Same have entertained angels unawares" (Heb. 13:2).
  • "The angel of the Lord appeared... Manoah said, art thou the man?... For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord.... the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar... Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord" (Jud. 13:3, 11, 16, 20, 21).
  • "The angel of the Lord descended from heaven... a young man clothed in a long white garment" (Matt. 28:2; Mark 16:5).


Are the angels, then, of the same nature as we shall become if we are saved at the resurrection?" (26)

Yes, exactly the same. The promise to us is that we shall become equal to them, and die no more.

  • "Those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. Neither can they die any more; for they are equal unto the angels" (Luke 20:35).


Have angels ever been seen upon earth? (27)

Yes, many a time. Three appeared to Abraham; two visited Sodom; one wrestled with Jacob, to whom also a host appeared; one led the Israelites out of Egypt; one withstood Balaam; one appeared to Gideon; one to Manoah; one to David; one to Daniel; one destroyed Sennacherib's army; one appeared to the father of John the Baptist; one to the mother of Jesus; one to the shepherds; a multitude sang on the plains of Bethlehem. They appeared also at the resurrection of Christ and at various times to the Apostles after Christ's ascension.

  • "Gen. 18:1; Gen. 19:1; Gen. 32:24 in connection with Hos. 12:4; Gen. 32:1; Ex. 14:19-24; Num. 22:22; Jud. 6:11; 13:3-16; 2 Sam. 24:16; Dan. 9:21, 10:7-12, 2 Kings 19:35; Luke 1:11-26; 2:9; Matt. 28:2; Luke 24:4; Acts 1:10; 5:19; 12:7-10; Rev. 1:1; 22:16.


Have the angels names? (28)

Yes, such as Gabriel; but the name by which they are commonly described in the Bible is simply angel. Sometimes they are spoken of as God.

  • "The angel Gabriel" (Luke 1:26).
  • "Michael the archangel" (Jude 9).
  • "And he (the angel) said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?
  • "Jacob, referring to this angel, said, I have seen God face to face" (Gen. 32:29-30).
  • "Jacob again says: The angel of the Lord spake unto me... I am the God of Bethel" (Gen. 31:13).
  • "The angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses... He said, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Ex. 3:2-6).


Why are the angels spoken of as if they were God? (29)

Because they come on God's business and work by His power and are of His nature. His name is in them.

  • "See previous proofs.
  • "Behold, I send an angel before thee... My name is in him" (Exod. 23:20-21).




CONCERNING MAN

 What does the Bible reveal concerning man? (30)

The Bible reveals that man is a living soul or creature, originally made of the dust of the ground, in the image of God.

  • "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (or creature)" (Gen. 2:7).
  • "In the image of God created He him" (Gen. 1:27).
  • "In the Sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Gen 3:19).
  • "He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust" (Psa. 103:14).
  • "I (Abraham) have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes" (Gen. 18:27).


Is man an immortal being? (31)

No: he is mortal. He dies and returns to the dust.

  • "Man dieth, and wasteth away" (Job 14:10).
  • "Shall mortal man be more just than God?" (Job 4:17).
  • "That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other... all are of the dust and all turn to dust again" (Eccl. 3:19-20).
  • "What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?" (Psa. 89:48).


Has man an immortal part that lives in death, as held by nearly every religious system on earth?" (32)

No: that doctrine is one of the many religious lies that have come to be regarded as truth. Man is wholly mortal. God only has immortality. Immortality is something a man has to seek for; it is a matter of promise and hope.

  • "The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4).
  • "The Gentiles shall come unto Thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies" (Jer. 16:19).
  • "The blessed and only Potentate... only hath immortality" (1 Tim. 6:16).
  • "The King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God" (1 Tim. 1:17).
  • "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality" (God will reward) eternal life" (Rom. 2:7).
  • "Jesus Christ hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10).
  • "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began" (Titus. 1:2).
  • "This is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life" (I John 2:25).


May not man's life be immortal though his body is mortal? (33)

Man's life is not himself. It is the power of God by which he lives, and which returns to God when man dies. If God were to gather it all to Himself, man would perish from the universe.

  • "With Thee is the fountain of life" (Psa. 36:9).
  • "God giveth to all life, and breath, and all things" (Acts 17:25).
  • "In His hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:10).
  • "The dust shall return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" (Eccl. 12:7).
  • "If God gather onto Himself His spirit and His breath, all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust" (Job. 34:14).
  • "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils" (Isa. 2:22).


Has man, then, no conscious existence in death? (34)

Man has no existence of any kind in death. He is dead - entirely dead for the time being, and knows no more than if he had never been born.

  • "The living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything" (Eccl. 9:5).
  • "In death there is no remembrance of Thee" (Psa. 6:5).
  • "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest" (Eccl. 9:10).
  • "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psa. 146:3-4).
  • "The grave cannot praise Thee: death cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee" (Isa. 38:18-19).
  • "Oh, that I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me. I should have been as though I had not been. I should have been carried from the womb to the grave" (Job 10:18-19).


Why is man in his present mortal and evil state? (35)

Man is mortal because of sin. It is God's law that sinners must die. Adam, our first father, sinned, and was sentenced to death before he had any children. Death began with him, and came to us through him. We receive the nature that he had after he was condemned to die. We thus inherit his sentence of death. Besides this, we are all sinners ourselves.

  • "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).
  • "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men" (Rom. 5:12).
  • "Because thou hast eaten of the tree which I commanded thee not to eat... dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return" (Gen. 3:17-19).
  • "In Adam all die" (1 Cor. 15:22).
  • "By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation" (Rom. 5:18).
  • "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).
  • "We had the sentence of death in ourselves" (2 Cor. 1:9).
  • "This mortal" (that is, deathful)" (I Cor. 15:53).
  • "This body of death" (Rom. 7:24).
  • "Our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11).


Does God intend that the human race shall always be subject to its present evil state? (36)

No: He purposes to take away sin from the earth altogether, and to cause death to cease.

  • "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction" (Hos. 13:14).
  • "He will swallow up death in victory" (Isa. 25:8).
  • "There shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying" (Rev. 21:4).
  • "The last enemy, death, shall be destroyed" (1 Cor. 15:26).
  • "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
  • "He hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light" (2 Tim. 1:10).


Will God bring about this great change without any reference to whether men please Him or not? (37)

No, the work will be thoroughly done in righteousness. As death came by sin, so life will come by obedience.

  • "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Rom. 5:19).
  • "The righteousness of God without the law is manifested... even the righteousness of God which is by faith" (Rom. 3:21-22).
  • "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" (1 Cor. 6:9).
  • "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Pet. 4:18).
  • "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7).
  • "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20).


The Scriptures declare that there is none righteous, no not one. How then can salvation come, if it is to depend on righteousness? (38)

The state of man, left to himself, is what the Scriptures describe. But God has not left man to himself. He has interposed in his affairs, and opened a way of righteousness in which He invites men to walk. God has brought righteousness near through Jesus Christ and asks men to lay hold of it by faith in him.

  • "He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him''" (Isa. 59:16).
  • "By the righteousness of one (Jesus) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life" (Rom. 5:18).
  • "Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30).
  • "They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Rom. 10:3-4).


How can men who have been sinners lay hold on the righteousness of God in Christ? (39)

Because God calls on them to repent, and offers to forgive their sins if they believe in Jesus and put on his name.


  • "God commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).
  • "Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins" (Acts 13:38).
  • "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isa. 55:7).
  • "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38).
  • "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).


Are such saved by faith in Christ alone? (40)

No. Faith justifies from all past sins, and ensures peace with God; But works are requisite to retain His favour and secure acceptance at the last.

  • "Being justified (or cleansed from past sin) by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).
  • "But let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12).
  • "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die" (Rom. 8:13).
  • "If after they have escaped the pollutions of the world... they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning" (2 Peter 2:20).
  • "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (Jas. 2:24).
  • "Do the first works... I will give to everyone of you according to your works" (Rev. 2:5,23).




CONCERNING CHRIST

 Who was Jesus Christ? (41)

Jesus Christ was the Son of God.

  • "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17).
  • "I am the Son of God" (John 10:36).
  • "Thou art the Son of God" (John 1:49).
  • "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mark 15:39).
  • "I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God" (John 1:34).


Was Jesus Christ a man, as well as the Son of God? (42)

Yes, he was a man also, made in all things like unto ourselves, yet without sin.

  • "Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you" (Acts 2:22).
  • "There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5).
  • "Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins" (Acts 13:38).
  • "In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren" (Heb. 2:17).


How was Jesus Christ both man and the Son of God? (43)

Because he was begotten of a human virgin-mother by the power of the Spirit of God, and not by a human father. Mary, a damsel descended from David, and betrothed to Joseph, also a descendant of David, was his mother; and God was his father. So that on his father's side he was the Son of God, and on his mother's side he was the son of David, and, therefore, a man partaking of David's nature, which was the nature common to all.

  • "Fear not (Joseph) to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 1:20).
  • "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).
  • "Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham" (Matt. 1:1).
  • "God sent forth His Son made of a woman" (Gal. 4:4).
  • "He was found in fashion as a man" (Phil. 2:8).
  • "Touched with the feeling of our infirmities, was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15).


Was Jesus both divine and human then? (44)

He was human as to the substance of which he was made; but divine as to the source from which he came; the Spirit from which he derived his wisdom; and the pattern of the character which he possessed.

  • "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same" (Heb. 2:14).
  • "I came down from heaven" (John 6:38).
  • "He was filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him" (Luke 2:40).
  • "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).


Was there a connection between Jesus and the Father that does not exist between God and other men? (45)

Yes. Jesus and the Father were one by the Spirit, which, proceeding from the Father, embraced then both. God was thus in Christ, and Christ was thus the manifestation of God: which things cannot be said of any other man.

  • "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30).
  • "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father... the Father dwelleth in me" (John 14:9-10).
  • "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself" (2 Cor. 5:19).
  • "God was manifest in flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16).


Was Jesus God co-equally and co-eternally with the Father, as Trinitarianism teaches? (46)

The man Christ Jesus, begotten of the Father and endowed immeasurably with His spirit, was distinct from the Father, though one with Him in the sense expressed in the last answer. But as to co-equality and co-eternity, these are ideas that owe their existence to the speculations and disputations of Church theologians in the third and fourth centuries. They do not belong to the New Testament system of doctrine concerning Christ. This system teaches that the God of Christ was the Father who fills heaven and earth by His Spirit. Christ disowned co-equality with the Father; and co-eternity is impossible in a son.

  • "The passages quoted under answers 41 to 45 answers, also the following:
  • "I am one that beareth witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me" (John 8:18).
  • "I am in the Father, and the Father in me" (John 14:11).
  • "My father is greater than I" (John 14:28).
  • "The head of Christ is God" (1 Cor. 11:3).
  • "When all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son himself be subject unto Him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28).




CONCERNING THE NAME OF JESUS

 Why was Jesus Christ called by that name? (47)

To show who he was and what was his mission.

  • "Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21).


In what way does His name show this? (48)

First by Jesus, which is a name of Hebrew origin, signifying God shall save; and then by Christ, which is a Greek word, meaning Anointed.

  • "They shall call his name Emmanuel, which, being interpreted is, God with us" (Matt. 1:23).
  • "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against HIS ANOINTED" (Psa. 2:2).
  • "For of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and
  • "Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together" (Acts 4:27).


What is anointing? (49)

It is the ceremony by which kings and priests were by divine appointment consecrated to their office. It consisted in putting holy oil on their heads.

  • "Then shalt thou (Moses) take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his (Aaron's) head and anoint him... and the priests' office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute" (Ex. 29:7-9).
  • Thou (Samuel) shalt anoint him (Saul) to be captain over My people Israel.... Then (Samuel) took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head" (1 Sam. 9:16, 10:1).
  • "Fill thine horn with oil and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: For I have provided Me a king among his sons... Thou shalt anoint unto Me him whom I name unto thee" (I Sam. 16:1-3).


Was Christ anointed with oil? (50)

No: he was anointed with that of which the oil of ancient custom was but a type. He was anointed with the spirit of God at his baptism in the Jordan.

  • "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good" (Acts 10:38).
  • "When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him" (Luke 3:21, 22).


Then a man bearing the name of Jesus Christ would be pointed out by that name as the man through whom God, by the anointing Spirit, would save men - from what? (51)

From their sins.

  • He (Jesus) shall save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21).



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