Q. 2: How doth it appear that there is a God?
A.: The very light of nature in man, and the works of God, declare plainly that there is a God; (1) but His Word and Spirit only do sufficiently and effectually reveal Him unto men for their salvation.(2)
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(1) Rom. 1:19-20; Ps. 19:1-3; Acts 17:28
(2) 1 Cor. 2:9-10; 2 Tim. 3:15; Isa. 59:21
Q. 5: What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A.: The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.(1)
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(1) 2 Tim. 1:13
Q. 36: Who is the Mediator of the covenant of grace?
A.: The only mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ,(1) who, being the eternal Son of God, of one substance and equal with the Father,(2) in the fullness of time became man,(3) and so was and continues to be God and man, in two entire distinct natures, and one person for ever.(4)
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(1) 1 Tim. 2:5
(2) John 1:1, 14; 10:30; Phil. 2:6
(3) Gal. 4:4
(4) Luke 1:35; Rom. 9:5; Col. 2:9; Heb. 7:24-25
Q. 38: Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God?
A.: It was requisite that the Mediator should be God, that He might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God, and the power of death;(1) give worth and efficacy to His suffering, obedience, and intercession;(2) and to satisfy God's justice,(3) procure His favor,(4) purchase a peculiar people,(5) give His Spirit to them, (6) conquer all their enemies,(7) and bring them to everlasting salvation. (8)
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(1) Acts 2:24-25; Rom. 1:4; 4:25; Heb. 9:14
(2) Acts 20:28; Heb. 9:14; 7:25-28
(3) Rom. 3:24-26
(4) Eph. 1:6; Matt. 3:17
(5) Titus 2:13-14
(6) Gal. 4:6
(7) Luke 1:68-69, 71, 74
(8) Heb. 5:8-9; 9:11-15
Q. 40: Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God and man in one person?
A.: It was requisite that the Mediator, who was to reconcile God and man, should Himself be both God and man, and this in one person, that the proper works of each nature might be accepted of God for us,(1) and relied on by us, as the works of the whole person. (2)
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(1) Matt. 1:21, 23; 3:17; Heb. 9:14
(2) 1 Pet. 2:6
Q. 18: What are God's works of providence?
A.: God's works of providence are His most holy,(1) wise,(2) and powerful preserving(3) and governing (4) all His creatures; ordering them, and all their actions,(5) to His own glory.(6)
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(1) Ps. 145:17
(2) Ps. 104:24; Isa. 28:29
(3) Heb. 1:3
(4) Ps. 103:19
(5) Matt. 10:29-31; Gen. 45:7
(6) Rom. 11:36; Isa. 63:14
Q. 23: Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
A.: The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.(1)
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(1) Rom. 5:12; 3:23
Q. 24: What is sin?
A.: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, any law of God, given as a rule to the reasonable creature.(1)
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(1) John 3:4; Gal. 3:10, 12
Q. 27: What misery did the fall bring upon mankind?
A.: The fall brought upon mankind the loss of communion with God,(1) His displeasure and curse; so as we are by nature children of wrath,(2) bond slaves to Satan,(3) and justly liable to all punishments in this world, and that which is to come.(4)
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(1) Gen. 3:8, 10, 24
(2) Eph. 2:2-3
(3) 2 Tim. 2:26
(4) Gen. 2:17; Lam. 3:39; Rom. 6:23; Matt. 25:41, 46; Jude 7
Q. 28: What are the punishments of sin in this world?
A.: The punishments of sin in this world are either inward, as blindness of mind,(1) a reprobate sense, (2) strong delusions, (3) hardness of heart, (4) horror of conscience,(5) and vile affections;(6) or outward, as the curse of God upon the creatures for our sakes,(7) and all other evils that befall us in our bodies, names, estates, relations, and employments'(8) together with death itself.(9)
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(1) Eph. 4:18
(2) Rom. 1:28
(3) 2 Thess. 2:11
(4) Rom. 2:5
(5) Isa. 33:14; Gen. 4:13; Matt. 27:4
(6) Rom. 1:26
(7) Gen. 3:17
(8) Deut. 28:15-18
(9) Rom. 6:21, 23
Q. 29: What are the punishments of sin in the world to come?
A.: The punishments of sin in the world to come, are everlasting separation from the comfortable presence of God, and most grievous torments in soul and body, without intermission, in hell-fire for ever.(1)
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(1) 2 Thess. 1:9; Mark 9:43-44, 46, 48; Luke 16:24
Q. 30: Doth God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
A.: God doth not leave all men to perish in the estate of sin and misery,(1) into which they fell by the breach of the first covenant, commonly called the covenant of works.(2) but of His mere love and mercy delivereth His elect out of it, and bringeth them into the estate of salvation by the second covenant, commonly called the covenant of grace.(3)
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(1) 1 Thess. 5:9
(2) Gal. 3:10, 12
(3) Titus 3:4-7; Gal. 3:21; Rom. 3:20-22
May God Almighty bless us in our study of His Word.
Source: (a) Reformed Confessions Harmonized, Baker Books, Joel R. Beeke, Sinclair B. Ferguson, Editors, 1999
Blessings!
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