Tabernacle Presbyterian & the New City Catechism

Q. What do we believe about the Holy Spirit?

A. That he is God, coeternal with the Father and the Son, and that God grants him irrevocably to all who believe.

Children's Answer: That he is God, coeternal with the Father and the Son.

Q. Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through faith alone, where does this faith come from?

A. All the gifts we receive from Christ we receive through the Holy Spirit, including faith itself.

Q. Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through Christ alone, must we still do good works and obey God's Word?

A. 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.

Children's Answer: Yes, so that our lives may show love and gratitude to God; and so that by our godly behavior others may be won to Christ.

Q. Should those who have faith in Christ seek their salvation through their own works, or anywhere else?

A. No, they should not, as everything necessary to salvation is found in Christ. To seek salvation through good works is a denial that Christ is the only Redeemer and Savior.

Children's Answer: No, everything necessary to salvation is found in Christ.

Q. What do justification and sanctification mean?

A. 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.

Children's Answer: Justification means our declared righteousness before God. Sanctification means our gradual, growing righteousness.

Q. What do we believe by true faith?

A. Everything taught to us in the gospel. The Apostles’ Creed expresses what we believe in these words: We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Q. What is faith in Jesus Christ?

A. Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed in his Word, trusting in him, and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.

Children's Answer: Receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.

Q. How can we be saved?

A. Only by faith in Jesus Christ and in his substitutionary atoning death on the cross; so even though we are guilty of having disobeyed God and are still inclined to all evil, nevertheless, God, without any merit of our own but only by pure grace, imputes to us the perfect righteousness of Christ when we repent and believe in him.

Children's Answer: Only by faith in Jesus Christ and in his substitutionary atoning death on the cross.

Q. What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith?

A. 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.

Children's Answer: They will be cast out from the presence of God, into hell, to be justly punished, forever.

Q. Are all people, just as they were lost through Adam, saved through Christ?

A. 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.

Children's Answer: No, only those who are elected by God and united to Christ by faith.