Theology Matters

Lesson 22: Questions  44, 45, and 46

In Lesson 21, we considered what happens to the wicked at death and at the day of judgment. We saw that the souls of the wicked are cast into the torments of hell at death, while their bodies lie in their graves until the resurrection and judgment of the great day (Q42). We also saw that, at the day of judgment, the wicked will be raised, sentenced body and soul, and punished forever with the devil and his angels (Q43). Those are heavy truths. 

Question 44 is an inflection point in the catechism.

Question 6: What is the Bible about?

Questions 7 through 43 have fleshed out “what man ought to believe concerning God”. Now, with Question 44, we begin the second part of that answer: “what duty God requireth of man.”

Before we begin, I want to say something frankly. Faithful Christians have disagreed about aspects of the Law of God, especially how the moral law relates to the Christian life under the New Covenant. I want to give grace to brothers and sisters who disagree with me, and I am willing to discuss and even debate those questions outside of class. But in class, we do not have time to chase every side trail. Clarifying questions are welcome, especially if you are trying to understand what is being taught. But I do need time to teach the material without turning the class into an extended debate.

Question 44: How then shall we live?

This is a simple answer, but it is not shallow. After teaching us about salvation, death, resurrection, judgment, and eternal destiny, the catechism now asks: what does God require of man? The answer is “obedience to His revealed will.”

That word duty is important. The catechism does not ask what man finds inspiring, what man prefers, what man feels is meaningful, or what man considers spiritually useful. It asks what duty God requires. 

Man is a creature. 

God is the Creator. 

Man is not autonomous. 

He is not self-defining. 

He does not get to invent his own moral universe. 

God made man, and therefore God has the right to command man.

This is already offensive to the modern mind. We live in a time when many people treat obedience as a threat to authenticity. They assume freedom means self-rule. But Scripture teaches the opposite. True freedom is not freedom from God’s will. True freedom is life ordered under God’s will. When a fish is “free” from water, it is not flourishing. When man is “free” from God, he is not liberated. He is dying.

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?

Notice that this passage does not treat obedience as mysterious. God has told man what is good. He has revealed what He requires. Man’s duty is not to speculate upward into the clouds, trying to discover a hidden moral standard. God has spoken. He requires justice, mercy, and humility.

That phrase “to walk humbly with your God” is essential. 

Biblical obedience is not mere external conformity, though external conformity matters. 

It is not simply keeping up appearances, though appearances matter. 

It is the life of a creature before the face of God. Humility is built into obedience because obedience begins with the confession that God is God and I am not.

And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

This comes after Saul had disobeyed the command of the Lord while trying to preserve a religious-looking excuse. He claimed the spared animals were for sacrifice (i.e., worship). Samuel’s response is devastating. God does not desire religious performance as a substitute for obedience. 

“To obey is better than sacrifice.”

That matters because sinners are very skilled at religious substitution. We would rather do something impressive than submit to something plain. We would rather offer a grand gesture than obey a clear command. We may prefer dramatic sacrifice, public intensity, emotional display, or theological talk over simple obedience. But God is not fooled. 

The duty God requires is obedience to His revealed will.

This also helps us understand the role of doctrine. True doctrine never exists to make us clever rebels. Sound theology should make us obedient worshipers. If our doctrine increases our confidence while leaving us careless about obedience, something has gone wrong. Knowledge and obedience are not enemies. The Bible presents true knowledge of God as the root of faithful obedience.

Now we must be careful. When the catechism says God requires obedience, it is not saying fallen man can render that obedience in his own strength. It is not saying obedience is the ground of our justification. We have already learned that justification is God’s gracious act of pardoning all our sins and accepting us as righteous in His sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. We do not obey in order to become justified. We obey because we are justified.

But that does not mean obedience becomes optional. Grace does not cancel duty. Grace restores us to God so that we may begin, however imperfectly, to walk in His ways. Christ did not redeem a people so they might remain lawless. He saves rebels and makes them sons, servants, and worshipers.

So Question 44 teaches us a foundational principle: God requires obedience to His revealed will. 

Not obedience to human tradition. 

Not obedience to personal preference. 

Not obedience to cultural fashion. 

Not obedience to private impressions that contradict Scripture. 

Obedience to His revealed will. 

And that means the Christian life must be governed by the Word of God.

Question 45: What rule do we obey?

Question 45 takes the general principle of Question 44 and applies it more specifically. Since God requires obedience to His revealed will, what did He first reveal to man as the rule of that obedience? The catechism answers: “the moral law.”

This is where controversy often increases. 

Many Christians hear “law” and immediately think “legalism”. 

Others hear “moral law” and assume we are retreating from the gospel, weakening grace, or putting Christians back under Moses in a way that undermines the New Covenant. 

We need to slow down.

Legalism is a real danger. We should reject it. Legalism treats obedience as the ground of acceptance with God, adds human traditions as though they were divine commands, or uses law without Christ and without grace. 

But the moral law itself is not legalism. 

God’s commands are not the enemy. 

Sin is the enemy. 

Self-righteousness is the enemy. 

Misusing the law is dangerous; the law itself is holy.

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:12-16, ESV)

Paul teaches that even Gentiles, who did not receive the law in the same covenantal form as Israel, still show “the work of the law” written on their hearts. Their consciences accuse or excuse them. This does not mean fallen man has saving righteousness by nature. He does not. It does mean man remains a moral creature living before God’s moral order.

This is why all human beings have some sense of right and wrong, even when that sense is corrupted, suppressed, inconsistent, or misdirected. Men may deny God, but they cannot escape moral reality. They still accuse. They still defend. They still appeal to justice. They still condemn betrayal, cruelty, theft, and dishonesty when those sins are committed against them. Their conscience bears witness that they live under moral obligation.

That matters because the moral law is not an arbitrary list God invented at Sinai. The moral law reflects God’s own righteous character and the moral order He built into creation. Man is not a blank canvas morally. God made man in His image, obligated to love, worship, trust, and obey Him.

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. (Romans 10:5, ESV)

Paul is contrasting righteousness based on the law with righteousness based on faith. The one who would be justified by law must do the law. That is a crushing word to sinners. The law does not grade on a curve. It does not say, “Try your best and perhaps God will accept you.” If you seek life by law-keeping, the demand is obedience. Perfect, unerring, perpetual obedience. 

This is why the law exposes our need for Christ. The moral law tells us what righteousness requires, and then our sin shows us that we have not met that requirement. The law is good; we are not. The problem is not that God’s standard is defective. The problem is that man is guilty and corrupt.

So we must hold two truths together: 

If we confuse those two truths, we will fall into error. 

The Reformed path is neither lawlessness nor self-righteousness. 

It is gospel obedience: justified by Christ alone, and then taught by grace to walk in God’s ways.

This is why the sequence of the catechism matters. 

It does not begin with the law (what we do). It begins with God, Scripture, creation, providence, sin, Christ, redemption, effectual calling, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, death, resurrection, and judgment (what we believe). 

Only then does it unfold the moral law in detail. That order is pastoral and theological. The law is not being introduced as a ladder into God’s favor. It is being introduced as the revealed rule of obedience for creatures before God, and for redeemed people who now belong to Christ. It is not optional for any human, but true obedience is only possible for redeemed believers.

So Question 45 teaches us that God first revealed the moral law as the rule of man’s obedience. That law condemns us when we seek righteousness by it, but it also teaches us what obedience looks like. 

For the unbeliever, it exposes guilt. 

For the believer, it remains a duty, lived through Christ, by the Spirit, in gratitude, faith, and love.

Question 46: Where is the moral law summarized?

Question 46 now tells us where the moral law is summarized. The catechism says it is “summarily comprehended in the ten commandments.” That phrase means the Ten Commandments summarize the moral law. They do not exhaust every possible application, but they give the central summary.

“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and make an ark of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’ So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark that I had made. And there they are, as the Lord commanded me.” (Deuteronomy 10:1-5, ESV)

The Ten Commandments were written by the very finger of God on tablets of stone. That alone should make us slow to treat them lightly. 

They are not merely Israelite cultural artifacts. 

They are not moral suggestions. 

They are not an embarrassing older stage of religion that Christians must outgrow. 

They are the summary of God’s moral law.

Now, we need to say this carefully. The Ten Commandments were given at Sinai within the Mosaic covenant. That historical setting matters. We must not flatten all biblical covenants as though nothing changes from Moses to Christ. The New Covenant is not simply the Mosaic covenant reprinted. Christ has fulfilled the law. The ceremonial and civil aspects of Israel’s covenant life are not binding on the church in the same way they were binding on national Israel.

The catechism is not saying the Mosaic Law remains over the Christian as a covenant.

It is saying the moral law is summarized in the Ten Commandments. That is an important distinction. The moral law did not begin at Sinai. Sinai gave a covenantal publication of the moral law, written by the finger of God, summarized in ten words. But the moral law itself is rooted in God’s character and creation order.

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:16-22, ESV)

Jesus points the rich young man to commandments from the Decalogue: murder, adultery, theft, false witness, honoring father and mother, and loving neighbor. Jesus does not treat the commandments as morally irrelevant. He uses them to expose the man’s understanding of goodness, obedience, and his own heart. In context, the man was claiming perfect righteousness for the second table of the Law, those commandments that govern relationships between man and man. He was wrong about this, so Jesus then goes back to the first table and exposes how this man’s wealth is a god competing with God, violating the First Commandment. 

This is one use of the law: it exposes sin. The rich young man thought he had kept these commands. But when Christ pressed him, his idolatry was revealed. He loved his possessions. The law did not save him. It exposed him. That should teach us how to study the Ten Commandments. We must not study them superficially. 

“You shall not murder” does not merely forbid the physical act of murder while permitting hatred. 

“You shall not commit adultery” does not merely forbid the outward act while permitting lust. 

“You shall not steal” does not merely forbid robbery while permitting greed and exploitation. 

The commandments reach the heart. Jesus shows this in Matthew 5. (We’ll unpack these later.)

At the same time, we should not study the commandments only as instruments of condemnation. For the believer, the law also teaches the shape of love. Jesus says the whole law hangs on love for God and love for neighbor. That does not make the commandments disappear. It shows their inner logic. 

The first table teaches love for God. The second table teaches love for neighbor.

This is why we should not pit love against law. Biblical love is not lawless sentiment. If I say I love God while worshiping idols, taking His Name in vain, and refusing His appointed worship, I am lying. If I say I love my neighbor while dishonoring authority, hating, lusting, stealing, lying, and coveting, I am lying. Love fulfills the law because love gladly seeks the good that God commands.

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

Here, John makes the explicit point that “sin is lawlessness.” Do you wish to avoid sin? The Law, even the Mosaic Law, especially the Ten Commandments, shows us the pattern for lawful obedience.

So as we begin this section, we need the right posture. 

We do not come to the Ten Commandments trying to earn justification. Christ is our righteousness.

We do not come as autonomous critics sitting over God’s law. God is our Lord. 

We do not come as legalists looking for ways to feel superior. We are sinners saved by grace. 

We do not come as antinomians looking for loopholes. We are children learning our Father’s will.

Conclusion

Questions 44, 45, and 46 bring us into a new major section of the catechism. We have considered salvation in Christ, the benefits believers receive, the destiny of believers, and the destiny of the wicked. Now we begin to consider the duty God requires of man.

FIRST, we should believe differently. 

We should stop thinking of obedience as a threat to grace. 

Biblical obedience is not the enemy of the gospel. 

Self-righteousness is the enemy. 

Legalism is the enemy. 

Lawlessness is the enemy. 

Obedience to God’s revealed will is our duty and the grateful calling of every redeemed child.

SECOND, we should understand the law rightly. 

The moral law reveals God’s righteous standard. 

It exposes our sin. 

It shows our need for Christ. 

For the believer, it serves as a rule of grateful obedience. 

We are not justified by law-keeping. 

We are justified by Christ alone. 

But the Christ Who justifies us also teaches us to walk in His ways.

THIRD, we should come to the Ten Commandments humbly. 

We should not come eager to argue, looking for loopholes, or trying to soften God’s commands. 

We should come ready to listen. 

We should come as people who:

So as we enter this section on the moral law, let us remember the catechism’s order. 

Grace has come first. 

Christ has come first. 

Justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, and resurrection hope have come first. 

Now, standing in that grace, we ask: “Lord, what do You require of us?” 

And the answer begins here: 

Lesson 21: Questions  42 and 43

Last week’s lesson was heavy because Questions 39, 40, and 41 dealt with significant issues in the life of the believer: the benefits we receive now, what happens to believers at death, and what believers receive at the resurrection. This week’s lesson is also heavy, but in a different way. Questions 42 and 43 turn from the destiny of believers to the destiny of the wicked. We are dealing with death, hell, resurrection, judgment, and eternal punishment, so we must speak carefully, humbly, and biblically.

Question 42: What happens to the wicked at death?

Question 42 is deliberately parallel to Question 40. In Question 40, the catechism told us that at death the souls of believers are made perfect in holiness and immediately pass into glory, while their bodies rest in the grave till the resurrection. Now we are told what happens to the wicked at death. The contrast is sobering. The believer’s soul passes immediately into glory. The wicked person’s soul is cast into the torments of hell.

That is not easy to say. It should not be easy to say. Christians must never speak of hell with cruelty, levity, or fleshly satisfaction. But we also must not speak more softly than Scripture speaks. The catechism is not inventing a doctrine to frighten people. It is summarizing the Bible’s own teaching.

FIRST, the catechism teaches that death does not bring unconscious nothingness for the wicked. Jesus teaches this in the account of the rich man and Lazarus:

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ (Luke 16:19-24, ESV)

Now, there are debates about how to classify Luke 16. Some call it a parable; others see it as an account using real persons. But either way, the teaching is plain enough for our purposes. The rich man dies and is in torment. He is conscious. He is aware. He desires relief. Death has not brought peace, repentance, or communion with God. It has brought him into misery.

That should sober us. Many people imagine death as a universal soft landing. They assume that when life ends, accountability fades and everyone enters peace. Scripture does not teach that. For the believer, to be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord. For the wicked, death brings the soul into torment.

SECOND, the catechism says that the bodies of the wicked “lie in their graves, till the resurrection and judgment of the great day”. In other words, the wicked are not finished with judgment at death. Their souls are in torment, and their bodies remain in the grave until the final resurrection and judgment.

Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. (Psalm 49:14, ESV)

The wicked may follow many guides in this life: pride, ambition, pleasure, money, reputation, false religion, self-rule. But if they die outside of Christ, death becomes their shepherd.

And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” (Acts 1:24-25, ESV)

That phrase, “to go to his own place”, is sobering. Judas did not simply vanish into nothingness. He did not pass into peace. Having turned aside from his apostleship and betrayed the Lord, he went to the place fitting for one who died outside of repentance. The verse does not tell us every detail about the intermediate state, but it does teach that death does not erase accountability. The wicked dead are not simply gone. They remain before God, awaiting the resurrection and judgment of the great day.

THIRD, Question 42 reminds us that God’s judgment is not theoretical. Jude gives several historical examples of divine judgment. 

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 5-7, ESV)

These examples teach us that God’s patience is not permission. God may delay judgment, but He does not forget sin. Sodom and Gomorrah are not merely ancient moral warnings; they are examples of divine judgment. They show that unbelief and rebellion end in destruction and fire.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

We do not need to settle every question about that passage here. Good interpreters have debated the details. But the catechism is drawing on a broader biblical pattern: Scripture can speak of departed spirits as imprisoned, awaiting the fullness of divine judgment. The wicked dead are not simply gone. They are not dissolved into the universe. They remain accountable before God.

Question 40 teaches the intermediate state of the righteous (those united to Christ). Question 42 teaches the intermediate state of the wicked. At death, their souls are cast into torment. Their bodies lie in the grave. And, like believers, both body and soul await the resurrection and judgment of the great day, though with very, very different outcomes.

This should shape the way we think about death and evangelism. If these things are true, then death is not a small matter. And if Christ is the only Redeemer, then refusing Christ is not a small matter. We do not warn people because we are harsh. We warn because Scripture warns. We plead because Christ is merciful. We preach because there is salvation in no other Name.

And we must remember this personally. It is possible to talk about hell as though it were merely a doctrine “out there”. But Scripture presses it upon the conscience. The question is not only, “What happens to the wicked?” The question is also, “Am I in Christ?” The only safe refuge from the judgment of God is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Question 43: What happens to the wicked on judgment day?

Question 43 moves from what happens to the wicked at death to what happens at the day of judgment. Again, notice the parallel with Question 41. Believers are raised in glory, openly acknowledged and acquitted, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God forever. The wicked are also raised, but not unto glory. They are raised unto judgment.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:25-29, ESV)

There is one resurrection event in view, but two destinies. 

That means the Christian doctrine of resurrection is not automatically good news for everyone. Resurrection is glorious news for those in Christ. It is terrifying news for those outside of Christ.

The catechism is careful to say that “the bodies of the wicked” are raised out of their graves. 

Believers are saved body and soul.

The wicked are judged body and soul. 

Human beings are not souls merely trapped in disposable bodies. God created man body and soul. Sin has corrupted the whole person. Judgment comes upon the whole person. The same body that served sin will be raised to stand before God.

Then the catechism says that the wicked “shall be sentenced, together with their souls”. Judgment is not arbitrary. God does not rage irrationally. He sentences. He judges according to truth. He brings every work into judgment. The final judgment is not chaos; it is the public administration of divine justice.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46, ESV)

Question 43 clearly enunciates the doctrine commonly called eternal conscious torment (ECT).

It is not temporary correction. 

It is not purgatory. 

It is not mere nonexistence. 

It is punishment “for ever”, as the catechism says.

This has recently become a hot-button issue again. In recent months, Kirk Cameron publicly questioned the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment and has expressed sympathy for annihilationism or conditional immortality, which holds that the wicked are ultimately destroyed rather than punished consciously forever. That discussion stirred significant debate among evangelicals, including responses from those defending eternal conscious torment (ECT) as the historic and biblical view.  

We should not treat that debate as unimportant. We should also not treat it as though the church is free to choose the view that feels most emotionally manageable. 

The question is not first, “Which doctrine do I find easiest?” 

The question is, “What has God said?”

And this is where we must be honest. We do not take joy in the thought of hell. We should not relish the suffering of the wicked. There is something deeply wrong with the heart that talks about eternal punishment with a smirk. God Himself says He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but calls the wicked to turn and live: 

Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11, ESV)

And yet, in a qualified way, we do rejoice in this doctrine, not because we enjoy misery, but because we love justice. Eternal punishment means that God’s justice finally triumphs over sin. 

Every evil hidden in the dark is brought into the light. 

Every rebellion against God is answered. 

Every oppression, blasphemy, cruelty, and impenitent sin is judged by the righteous King.

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, ESV)

That is weighty language: vengeance, punishment, destruction, exclusion from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of His might. We should not try to sand off the edges. Scripture speaks this way because sin against God is more serious than we naturally imagine.

This is one of the hardest lessons for modern people to receive. We tend to measure guilt by our own feelings, not by the holiness of God. We assume that finite creatures cannot deserve everlasting punishment. But that assumes sin is measured mainly by the duration of the act rather than the glory of the One sinned against. Sin against the infinite, holy, eternal God is not a small thing.

Still, we must be careful. The doctrine of eternal conscious torment is not a license for speculation beyond Scripture. We do not need to describe hell in grotesque detail beyond what God has revealed. The catechism itself is restrained. It says “unspeakable torments”. That is enough. In these realities, we must faithfully say what God has said and teach what the Scriptures teach: no more, no less.

So Question 43 teaches several things. The wicked will be:

This should humble us. No Christian believes this because he is morally superior to the wicked. By nature, we also were children of wrath. If we are saved, it is not because we were wiser, softer, or more deserving. It is because God had mercy. The doctrine of hell should never produce pride. It should produce worship, trembling, evangelistic urgency, and deep gratitude for Christ.

Conclusion

Questions 42 and 43 are heavy, but they are necessary. The catechism has shown us the destiny of believers in life, death, resurrection, and glory. Now it shows us the destiny of the wicked in death, resurrection, judgment, and eternal punishment.

At death, the souls of the wicked are cast into torment, while their bodies lie in the grave until the resurrection and judgment of the great day. At the day of judgment, their bodies are raised, reunited with their souls, and sentenced to unspeakable torments with the devil and his angels forever.

So let this lesson make us sober, not harsh; urgent, not manipulative; humble, not proud. 

We were not saved because we deserved rescue. 

We were saved because of Christ, Who bore judgment for His people. 

Therefore, let us flee to Him, cling to Him, and proclaim Him.

And let us worship the God Whose mercy is deep and Whose justice is perfect.

Lesson 20: Questions  39, 40, and 41

In our last lesson we considered the saving benefits given to believers, who partake of justification, adoption, sanctification, and the benefits of salvation (Q35). We then considered justification as God’s gracious pardon in Christ (Q36), adoption as His receiving us as sons (Q37), and sanctification as His work of renewing us after His image (Q38). Now the catechism asks what flows from these blessings in this life, at death, and at the resurrection.

Question 39: What benefits do we get now?

This question gathers up the fruit of justification, adoption, and sanctification, listing 5 benefits: 

FIRST, believers receive “assurance of God’s love”.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5, ESV)

That passage ties assurance to justification. Assurance is not optimism, temperament, or vague religious confidence. It rests on Christ’s finished work, received by faith, and applied by the Spirit. Our feelings rise and fall, but Christ does not. If you are justified in Him, God’s love is not a fragile possibility, but a covenant reality.

SECOND, believers receive “peace of conscience”. Since God has pardoned (justification) and accepted (adoption) us in Christ, conscience may still convict us, but it cannot condemn those whom God has justified.

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17, ESV)

We have peace with God through justification (Romans 5:1). Therefore, peace of conscience comes because righteousness has been given as a gift. It does not come from pretending sin is small. It comes from seeing that Christ is sufficient.

Tender consciences may ask, “How can I have peace when I still see so much sin in me?” The answer is not, “Look less seriously at sin”, but, “Look more steadily at Christ”. Peace comes from seeing that Christ has satisfied divine justice and that His righteousness is counted to the believer.THIRD, believers receive “joy in the Holy Spirit”. As cited above, Romans 5:5 says that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Christian joy is not mere cheerfulness. It is the Spirit-given delight of knowing God’s love in Christ, even amid sorrow and suffering, because suffering is no longer under wrath, but under the Father’s wise government.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15-17, ESV)

The Holy Spirit teaches the adopted to approach God as children received in the Son.

FOURTH, believers receive “increase of grace”. Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” Sanctification is not instant perfection, but neither is it stagnation. Grace grows.

This guards us from both perfectionism and defeatism. We should not expect sinless maturity in this life, but neither should we expect no real progress. The Christian life is renewal, more and more, after the image of God.

So we should ask:

Growth may be slow, but it is real. 

FIFTH, believers receive “perseverance therein to the end”. 

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13, ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5, ESV)

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6, ESV)

Notice both sides. The inheritance is kept for us, and we are guarded by God’s power through faith. God began a good work in us when He saved us — through our effectual calling, justification, and adoption — and will faithfully and diligently complete that work through sanctification unto glorification (more on that in the next question).

Believers persevere because God preserves. Warnings, discipline, preaching, prayer, and fellowship are real means, but our final safety rests on God’s power, not ours.

Question 40: What benefits do we get at death?

This question matters because every one of us will face death unless the Lord returns first. We will bury people we love and others may one day bury us. So the catechism does not pretend death is harmless. Death entered through sin. Death tears soul from body. Death brings grief. Scripture calls death an enemy. But for the believer, death is a conquered enemy.

FIRST, “the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness”. 

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

That phrase, “the spirits of the righteous made perfect”, is what the catechism has in view. At death, the believer’s soul is “made perfect in holiness”. Sanctification is completed with respect to the soul. No more indwelling sin, unbelief, pride, disordered desires, or coldness toward God.

SECOND, believers “do immediately pass into glory”. 

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

That is immediate comfort. To be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord. There is no soul-sleep here. There is no purgatory. There is no uncertain waiting room of purification. Christ has purified His people by His blood, and at death their souls immediately pass into glory.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. (Philippians 1:21-23, ESV)

Paul says that to die is gain because death brings the believer to Christ. He does not describe death as nothingness for a while. He says that to depart and be with Christ is far better. The believer’s hope at death is not vague spirituality. It is personal communion with Christ.

Luke 23:43 gives the same comfort. Jesus tells the repentant thief, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Not eventually. Not after purgatorial cleansing. Today, and with Christ Himself.

This is why I have said that — for the Christian — death can be a friend. The Scriptures identify death as an enemy and death IS an enemy, the last enemy, and a defeated enemy, but under God’s sovereign hand, death brings the believer into the presence of God. Therefore, our enemy death also serves us.THIRD, believers’ bodies “do rest in the grave till the resurrection.” This is wonderfully careful. The soul immediately passes into glory, but the body is not abandoned.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, ESV)

Paul calls dead believers “those who have fallen asleep”, not because their souls are unconscious, but because their bodies rest in hope.

Isaiah 57:1-2 says that “the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.” The grave is bodily rest, not punishment, for the believer.

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

Job expects personal, embodied vindication before God. The grave will not have the last word.

Question 41: What benefits do we get at the resurrection?

Question 40 brings us to death; Question 41 beyond death to resurrection. The Christian hope is not finally escape from the body. Christ made us, redeemed us, and will glorify us body and soul.

FIRST, believers will be “raised up in glory”. 

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

This does not mean we receive a different body. Paul’s language of sowing and raising preserves continuity: the same body is raised, but transformed, glorified, and conformed to Christ’s.

Christianity is not embarrassed by the body. The body is created by Christ, assumed by Christ, redeemed by Christ, indwelled by the Spirit, and destined for resurrection.

SECOND, believers “shall be openly acknowledged, and acquitted in the day of judgment”. 

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33, ESV)

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:21-23, ESV, emphasis added)

Believers may be despised in this life. They may be mocked, persecuted, forgotten, or treated as insignificant. Most saints live quiet lives that never receive public honor. But at the resurrection and judgment, Christ will openly acknowledge His people. He will not be ashamed of them.

The catechism also says believers will be “acquitted in the day of judgment”. This does not mean we are justified for the first time at the last day. The justification already possessed in Christ will be publicly manifested and vindicated before all.

That should give sobriety, but not terror. The One Who judges is the One Who died, rose, and intercedes for us. The last day will not reverse the gospel for believers. It will reveal it.

THIRD, believers will be “made perfectly blessed, both in soul and body, in the full enjoyment of God”. This is the summit: not a return to ordinary earthly life, but perfect communion with God, body and soul united and glorified to live in the very presence of our God.

1 John 3:2 says that “when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” There is the blessed hope: likeness to Christ and sight of Christ. We shall see Him as He is.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV)

The present Christian life is real, but partial. We truly know God, but not yet as we will. We truly love Christ, but not yet as we will. The resurrection brings the fullness.

FOURTH, this blessedness is “to all eternity”. 

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, ESV)

That is the final comfort: “we will always be with the Lord.” 

No more death, separation, sin, curse, weak bodies, dim sight, or interrupted communion. 

The great blessing is God Himself.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”

Conclusion

Questions 39, 40, and 41 give us a beautiful progression: what believers receive in this life, at death, and at the resurrection. In this life, grace bears fruit in assurance, peace, joy, growth, and perseverance. At death, the soul is made perfect in holiness and immediately passes into glory, while the body rests in the grave, still united to Christ. At the resurrection, believers are raised in glory, openly acknowledged and acquitted, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God forever.

So take this lesson with you this week in two ways:

We can face life, death, judgment, and eternity because Christ is sufficient for all of it.

Lesson 19: Questions  35, 36, 37, and 38

In our last lesson we considered how the Holy Spirit applies the redemption purchased by Christ. We saw that we are made partakers of Christ’s redemption by the effectual application of it to us by His Holy Spirit (Q32), that the Spirit applies redemption by working faith in us and uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling (Q33), and that effectual calling is the Spirit’s work of convincing, enlightening, renewing, persuading, and enabling sinners to embrace Christ freely offered in the gospel (Q34). Now we look at what benefits belong to those who have been effectually called.

Question 35: What benefits belong to believers?

This question is a doorway into the riches of salvation. Once the Spirit has effectually called us, worked faith in us, and united us to Christ, we receive justification, adoption, sanctification, and the benefits that accompany or flow from them.

Notice the phrase “in this life”. The catechism will later speak of the benefits believers receive at death and at the resurrection, but here it teaches that salvation is not only future. We are not yet glorified, but already, in Christ, we are justified, adopted, and sanctified.

Romans 8:29-30 gives us the golden chain of God’s saving purpose: 

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Paul does not treat predestination, calling, justification, and glorification as uncertain possibilities. Those whom God predestines, He effectually calls. Those whom He calls, He justifies. The call reaches its saving end because it is the call of God’s grace and power.

Ephesians 1:5 says that God “predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will”. Adoption is not an afterthought. It belongs to God’s eternal purpose in Christ. God did not merely intend to pardon criminals while keeping them at a distance. He purposed to receive pardoned sinners as sons.

Then 1 Corinthians 1:30 gathers the whole matter into Christ Himself: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption”. Every saving benefit comes to us in Christ. We do not receive justification over here, adoption over there, and sanctification somewhere else, as isolated gifts detached from the Savior. We receive Christ, and in Christ we receive all His benefits.

That is why Question 35 belongs immediately after effectual calling, in which the Spirit unites us to Christ, in Whom we partake of what belongs to Him as our Mediator: righteousness in justification, sonship in adoption, and renewal in sanctification. The benefits flow from union with Christ and only from union with Christ.

This should keep us from shrinking salvation. Salvation is not only forgiveness, nor only moral transformation, nor only a changed identity. The catechism is more balanced and more biblical: the effectually called receive justification, adoption, sanctification, and all accompanying blessings.

So Question 35 gives us the map. The next questions begin to unfold the territory. What is justification? What is adoption? What is sanctification? We need all three. Guilty sinners need pardon and righteousness. Orphans need to be received as sons. Corrupt sinners need to be renewed in holiness. Christ gives to His people the whole salvation that they need.Question 36: What is justification?

Justification is one of the central doctrines of the Christian faith. If we misunderstand justification, we will misunderstand the gospel. The catechism defines it carefully. It is “an act of God’s free grace”. That means justification is not a process by which we slowly become acceptable to God. It is God’s act as Judge, declaring the sinner righteous in His sight on account of Christ.

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (Romans 3:23-25, ESV)

Justification is free to us, but it is not cheap. It is by grace as a gift, but it comes through redemption in Christ Jesus and through His propitiating blood. God justifies sinners without compromising His justice, because Christ has satisfied divine justice.

The catechism says that in justification God “pardoneth all our sins”. Romans 4:6-8 says, 

just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

Justification includes real pardon. The believer’s sins are not ignored, minimized, or excused. They are forgiven because Christ bore them.

But justification is more than pardon. The catechism also says God “accepteth us as righteous in his sight”. That matters because forgiveness alone would not answer the whole problem. We do not merely need our sins removed. We need a righteous standing before God. 

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:18-21, ESV)

So in justification, our sins are not counted against us, and Christ’s righteousness is counted to us. That is why the catechism says this happens “only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us”. Romans 5:17-19 contrasts Adam and Christ. 

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

The catechism’s word “imputed” is essential. It means counted or reckoned. Justification is not God pretending we are righteous, nor waiting until we become righteous enough in ourselves. It is God counting Christ’s righteousness to us, crediting His representative obedience to believers.Finally, the catechism says this righteousness is “received by faith alone”. 

…yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:16, ESV)

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11, ESV, emphasis added)

Faith does not earn justification. Faith receives Christ. It is an empty hand, not a price paid. The ground of justification is Christ’s righteousness. The instrument is faith alone.

This should humble and steady us. If you are justified, you are not more justified on your best day and less justified on your worst day. Your standing rests on Christ, not on the shifting quality of your obedience. That does not make obedience unimportant. It makes obedience grateful rather than desperate. The justified sinner obeys not to create peace with God, but because peace has already been made through Christ.

Question 37: What is adoption?

If justification brings us into the courtroom, adoption brings us into the household. God not only pardons and accepts us as righteous in Christ; He receives us as children. Adoption, like justification, is “an act of God’s free grace”. It is not earned by our worthiness, but granted freely in Christ.

1 John 3:1 says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” John does not present adoption as a small thing. He calls us to behold it. “See what kind of love”. That is the language of wonder. The holy God does not merely acquit guilty sinners. He calls them His children.

The catechism says that in adoption we are “received into the number” of the sons of God. Adoption brings us into a family, not a private spiritual arrangement between isolated individuals and God. We belong with all those who call upon the same Father through the same Son by the same Spirit.

John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”. This right does not come by nature. We are not children of God simply because we are creatures. We become children of God by grace, through receiving Christ and believing in His name. Adoption is a privilege given in union with the Son.

Romans 8:14-17 opens this further. 

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Adoption changes how we approach God. We do not come as slaves terrified of rejection, but as children taught by the Spirit to cry, “Abba! Father!”

The catechism also says we have “a right to all the privileges of the sons of God”. Romans 8:17 says,  “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ”. That is almost too much to take in. The adopted are heirs. We share, by grace, in the inheritance of Christ. Not because we are naturally worthy, but because God has united us to His Son and received us in Him.

This doctrine has deep pastoral sweetness. Many Christians know how to think of God as Judge, and it is right that we do. But believers must also learn to think of God as Father. Not indulgent, not soft toward sin, not like fallen earthly fathers, but holy, loving, wise, and faithful. Adoption means you are not merely tolerated in the house. You are received.

This should also shape how we live. If God is our Father, then we should not live like spiritual orphans. We should not be driven by fear, envy, or the need to prove ourselves. We should live as children: trusting the Father’s care, receiving the Father’s discipline, bearing the family likeness (this is sanctification; see the next question), and loving the brothers and sisters He has given us.

Question 38: What is sanctification?

Sanctification is closely related to justification and adoption, but it must be distinguished from them. Justification and adoption are acts of God’s free grace; sanctification is “the work of God’s free grace”. In justification, God declares us righteous in Christ. In adoption, God receives us as sons through Christ. In sanctification, God progressively renews us in holiness according to Christ’s image.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul says, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” Sanctification is not optional. It belongs to salvation. The same Spirit Who calls us and unites us to Christ also sanctifies us. Grace changes the sinner.

The catechism says sanctification renews us “in the whole man after the image of God”. Ephesians 4:23-24 says we are “to be renewed in the spirit of [our] minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Sanctification is not superficial behavior management. It reaches the whole person: mind, will, affections, speech, habits, desires, physical body, and conduct.

This renewal is “after the likeness of God”. Sin ruins us; grace restores us. The goal of sanctification is not mere respectability, discipline, or religious appearance, but likeness to God in true righteousness and holiness. God is making His children resemble their Father.

The catechism then says we are enabled “more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness”. Romans 6:4 says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Union with Christ means union with His death and resurrection. His people are brought into a new life. Romans 6:6 adds, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Sin is no longer our master. Believers still battle sin, even painfully, but they are no longer its slaves. Christ has broken sin’s reigning power.

Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” That verse is precious in relation to sanctification. The fight against sin does not begin under condemnation. It begins in Christ, free from condemnation. We do not pursue holiness in order to become justified. We pursue holiness because we are justified, adopted, and united to Christ.

This protects us from two errors. 

First, we must not confuse sanctification with justification. We grow in holiness, but it is not the ground of our acceptance with God. Christ is. 

Second, we must not separate sanctification from justification. God sanctifies whom He justifies. Grace pardons and renews. Again, God makes His children resemble Him.

The phrase “more and more” is also pastorally wise. Sanctification is real, but ordinarily progressive. Christians should expect growth, not instant perfection. We should not excuse sin, but neither should we despair because the battle continues. The same God Who pardoned and received us also renews us after His image and enables us to fight sin and walk in new obedience.

Conclusion

Questions 35 through 38 show us the richness of the salvation given to those who are effectually called. The Spirit does not unite us to Christ and leave us empty-handed. 

Taken together, these benefits answer our need beautifully. As guilty sinners, we need justification. As alienated orphans, we need adoption. As corrupted sinners, we need sanctification. Christ supplies all three. There is no deficiency in His salvation.

So take this lesson with you this week in two ways.

Do not reduce salvation to one benefit only. 

Receive the fullness of what God gives in Christ.

Do not obey in order to become accepted. 

Obey because in Christ you already are accepted, loved, and being renewed.

You are justified in Christ. 

You are adopted through Christ. 

You are being sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. 

And all of it is God’s free grace.

Lesson 18: Questions  32, 33, and 34

In our last lesson we considered Christ’s humiliation and exaltation. He humbled Himself in His low birth, His life under the law, His sufferings, His bearing the wrath of God, His cursed death, His burial, and His remaining under the power of death for a time (Q30). Then He was exalted in His resurrection, ascension, sitting at the Father’s right hand, and future coming to judge the world (Q31). Now the catechism turns from redemption accomplished by Christ to redemption applied to us by the Holy Spirit.

Question 32: How are we redeemed?

This question is necessary. Christ has purchased redemption. He has obeyed, suffered, died, risen, ascended, and reigns. But how does that redemption become ours? How are sinners made partakers of what Christ has accomplished?

The catechism answers: “by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit”. That means salvation is not only planned by the Father and purchased by the Son; it is also applied by the Spirit. The work of Christ is not left suspended in history as a bare possibility, waiting for spiritually dead sinners to activate it by their own native power. The Holy Spirit effectually applies what Christ purchased.

That word “partakers” matters. The catechism does not ask merely how we hear about redemption, admire redemption, or understand redemption outwardly. It asks how we partake of it. In other words, how do we come into actual possession of Christ and His benefits?

John 1:11-12 says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” That passage holds two truths together. 

First, fallen man does not naturally receive Christ. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. The problem is not that Christ lacks glory, but that sinners are blind, proud, and unwilling apart from grace. We see this as we look at Acts 17 and Romans 8:

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31, ESV)

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8, ESV, emphasis mine)

Second, those who do receive Him, those who believe in His name, are given the right to become children of God. Receiving Christ and believing in His name are not empty religious gestures. They are God’s appointed means by which sinners come into the privileges of salvation. But John does not allow us to think that this receiving arises from unaided human strength. John 1:13 says that these children of God “were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” We truly receive Christ. We truly believe. But the new birth behind that believing is of God.

Titus 3:4-6 teaches the same truth:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior… (Titus 3:4-6, ESV)

The Spirit does not bring us another salvation. He applies the salvation purchased by Christ. He does not compete with Christ. He brings us to Christ and makes us partakers of Christ.

This is why the catechism uses the word “effectual”. The Spirit’s saving application actually accomplishes what God intends. It is not a weak influence that may or may not succeed. It is not mere external persuasion. It is not a theoretical salvation awaiting a human decision. It is the powerful work of God by which the redeemed are brought to receive the Redeemer.

This should keep us from two errors. On one side, we must not think of Christ’s redemption as accomplished but uncertain in its application. Christ did not purchase a salvation that may finally fail to save His people. No, Christ saves His people. On the other side, we must not detach the Spirit’s work from Christ’s finished work. The Spirit applies redemption purchased by Christ. The foundation is Christ’s blood and righteousness. The application is the Spirit’s gracious and powerful work.

In this we see the Trinitarian nature of the Gospel:

If you could lose your salvation, you would, but you cannot, for it is all of God from start to finish.

Question 33: How is redemption applied?

Question 32 told us that the Holy Spirit effectually applies Christ’s redemption to us. Question 33 now asks how He does that. The answer is wonderfully precise: “by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ, in our effectual calling.”

First, the Spirit applies redemption “by working faith in us”. Faith is not a natural power fallen man already possesses in himself. Faith is something the Spirit works in us. That does not make faith fake. We really believe. We really receive Christ. We really trust Him. But even that believing is the fruit of grace. It is a gift. 

Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”. Salvation is by grace through faith, and the whole arrangement is gift. Faith is not a meritorious work that earns salvation. Faith is the empty hand receiving Christ. It is the means by which we receive Him, not the ground on which God accepts us. Christ saves. Faith receives Him.

Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Notice the order. They heard the word of truth. They believed in Christ. They were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. The Spirit is not an optional addition to the Christian life. He is the seal and guarantee of the inheritance.

John 6:37 says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” That is one of the strongest comforts in Scripture. All whom the Father gives to the Son will come to the Son. And all who come to Christ will never be cast out. The sinner’s coming is real, but it is grounded in the Father’s giving and secured by the Son’s welcome.

John 6:39 adds, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” Christ does not merely make salvation possible and then hope His people endure. He saves His people. He loses none of them. He will raise all of them on the last day.

Second, the Spirit applies redemption by “uniting us to Christ”. This is crucial. There is no salvation for those detached from Christ. We are saved by being joined to Christ Himself. Christ is not merely the supplier of salvation, as though He hands us forgiveness, righteousness, life, and hope while remaining separate from us. No, the Spirit unites us to Christ, for only in union with Christ are we saved.

Ephesians 3:17 says, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”. Faith is not bare agreement with facts (though the content of our faith is critical; belief in a false gospel cannot save). Rather, faith is the Spirit-worked bond by which we receive and rest upon Christ. Through faith, Christ dwells in His people and we abide in Him.

1 Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Salvation brings us into communion with Christ. God does not merely call us into moral improvement, religious activity, or doctrinal awareness. He calls us into fellowship with His Son.

This guards us from thinking mechanically about salvation. We are not saved by association with the church, exposure to preaching, knowledge of doctrine, or outward morality. These are important fruits, but the root of our salvation is Christ’s work of redemption, applied to us by the Spirit working faith in us and thereby uniting us to Christ.

And this happens “in our effectual calling”. The gospel call is preached outwardly: repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But in effectual calling, the Spirit works inwardly so that the sinner truly comes. He works faith. He unites to Christ. He brings the sinner into fellowship with the Son.

This should make us humble. If you believe in Christ, Who worked that faith in you? The Holy Spirit did. If you are united to Christ, Who joined you to Him? The Holy Spirit did. Our salvation is the gracious work of God’s Spirit applying the redemption purchased by Christ.

Question 34: What is effectual calling?

Now the catechism defines the phrase it has just used. What is effectual calling? The answer is one of the most pastorally helpful definitions in the catechism. It shows us what the Spirit does in bringing sinners to Christ. He convinces, enlightens, renews, persuades, and enables.

First, effectual calling is “the work of God’s Spirit”. 2 Timothy 1:9 says God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began”. This call is not rooted in our works, but in God’s purpose, grace, and timing.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 says, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These truths belong together. God (the Father) chose. The Spirit sanctifies. The sinner believes the truth. God calls through the gospel. The goal is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Second, the Spirit convinces us “of our sin and misery”. Acts 2:37 gives a vivid example: “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” That is the Spirit’s work, not flattering sinners, but convicting them of sin and misery.

This conviction is mercy. It may feel painful, but it is kindness. A sinner who does not know his guilt and misery will not flee to Christ. The Spirit wounds in order to heal. He exposes sin so that sinners will stop hiding, stop excusing, and stop pretending.

Third, the Spirit enlightens “our minds in the knowledge of Christ”. Acts 26:18 says that Paul was sent “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Jesus].” Fallen sinners are not merely guilty. They are darkened. They may know religious vocabulary, but unless the Spirit opens the eyes, they do not behold Christ savingly. 

This enlightening is not new revelation beyond Scripture. It is the Spirit enabling us to see the truth of Christ in Scripture. He opens the mind to understand that Christ is not merely a teacher, not merely an example, but the only Redeemer of God’s elect, freely offered to sinners.Fourth, the Spirit renews “our wills”. Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” That is not mere advice. That is transformation.

Fallen man’s problem is not that he has a good will but bad information. His will is bound by sin. Therefore, the Spirit renews the will. He does not drag sinners to Christ while they remain hostile. He changes the heart so that Christ becomes desirable. He makes the unwilling willing.

Finally, the Spirit persuades and enables us “to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel”. John 6:44 says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” That is inability stated plainly. But John 6:45 adds, “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me”. That is effectiveness stated plainly. Those taught by God come to Christ.

Philippians 2:13 says, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” God works not only in outward circumstances, but in the will itself. Effectual calling does not destroy the human will. It renews it. The sinner comes freely, for God has made him willing by grace.

We should not miss the sweetness of the phrase “freely offered to us in the gospel”. Effectual calling does not make the gospel offer less free. It explains how sinners come to embrace that free offer. Christ is freely offered. Sinners are truly invited. The command to repent and believe is sincere. The promise is real: all who come to Christ will be received; none who repent and believe are rejected.

So if you have embraced Christ, give thanks, for the Holy Spirit convicted, enlightened, renewed, persuaded, and enabled you to embrace Jesus Christ.

If you have not embraced Christ, He is freely offered to you in the gospel. Come to Him.

Conclusion

Questions 32, 33, and 34 move us from redemption accomplished to redemption applied. Christ purchased redemption, but we are made partakers of it only by the effectual application of it to us by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit applies what Christ purchased. 

So take this lesson with you this week in two ways.

FIRST, let it shape what you believe: redemption must not only be decreed by the Father and accomplished by Christ, but applied by the Holy Spirit. If you are in Christ, you are there because the Spirit brought you to Him. Your faith is not a boast. Your union with Christ is not self-created. Your calling is not because of your works, but because of God’s purpose and grace.

SECOND, let that corrected belief change what you do.

The Father elected to redeem a people.

The Son redeemed that people.

The Spirit applies redemption to that people.

And it is all of grace.

Lesson 17: Questions  30 and 31

In our last lesson we considered how Christ executes the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King for His people. As Prophet, He reveals to us, by His Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation (Q27). As Priest, He offers Himself once for all and ever lives to intercede (Q28). As King, He subdues us to Himself, rules and defends us, and restrains and conquers all His and our enemies (Q29). Now the catechism turns from the offices to the two estates in which He executes them: His humiliation and His exaltation.

Question 30: What was Christ’s humiliation?

This question asks us to consider the depth of Christ’s descent. The eternal Son of God did not merely appear among us in glory, nor did He come as a heavenly visitor untouched by our condition. He humbled Himself. He entered our world, our weakness, our misery, our law-obligation, our suffering, our death, and our grave. His humiliation is the path by which the Lord of glory stooped to save His people.

The catechism begins by saying that Christ’s humiliation consisted “in his being born, and that in a low condition”. Luke 2:7 says, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger”. That is astonishing. The One through Whom all things were made was laid in a feeding trough. The eternal Son did not enter the world surrounded by earthly splendor. He was born without riches, in obscurity and weakness.

That low condition matters. Christ did not merely become man in some abstract sense. He took the form of a servant. He came down into the ordinary hardships of human life. He was not born in Caesar’s palace, but in Bethlehem. He was not laid on a royal bed, but in a manger. From the beginning, His humiliation was visible. The King came humble and lowly.

The catechism then says He was “made under the law”. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law”. That phrase is full of gospel. Christ did not come as One exempt from obedience. He placed Himself under the very Law His people had broken. He was born under its commands, under its obligations, and under its curse-bearing demands as the Surety of His people.

This means Christ’s obedience was not decorative. He did not merely show us what righteousness looks like from a distance. He obeyed in our nature, in our place, under God’s Law. Where Adam disobeyed, Christ obeyed. Where Israel failed, Christ succeeded. Where we sin every day, Christ obeyed perfectly before the Father. His humiliation includes not only what He suffered, but the entire life of obedience He lived from His birth in Bethlehem to His death on the cross.

The catechism also says that Christ underwent “the miseries of this life”. Hebrews 12:2-3 tells us to “[look] to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame…. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself”. Christ knew the weariness of a fallen world. He knew hunger, sorrow, hatred, loneliness, temptation, opposition, misunderstanding, and grief. He was not insulated from misery.

Isaiah 53:2-3 gives us this portrait plainly: “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” That is not sentimental language. It tells us that the promised Servant would be familiar with sorrow. He would not merely observe grief from heaven. He would know it by experience.

This should comfort suffering Christians. Our Savior is not distant from our afflictions. He knows what it is to live in this groaning world. He knows what it is to be despised, misunderstood, opposed, and sorrowful. Yet His suffering was never meaningless, never faithless, never sinful. He endured the miseries of this life in perfect trust, love, and obedience.

But the catechism goes deeper still. Christ’s humiliation consisted in undergoing “the wrath of God”. Here we come to holy ground. Luke 22:44 says, “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” In Gethsemane, Christ was not merely nervous about physical pain. He was facing the cup the Father had given Him. He was facing judgment, wrath, and curse in the place of His people. The agony of Gethsemane is the agony of the obedient Son willingly receiving the cup appointed by the Father for the salvation of His elect.

Matthew 27:46 brings us to the cry of the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We should speak carefully here. Christ is citing Psalm 22, a psalm that moves from suffering to vindication, from anguish to victory, from the mockery of enemies to the praise of God among the congregation. This cry is not confusion, unbelief, or a rupture within the Trinity. The Father did not turn His face away from the Son. The Son did not cease to trust the Father. The Spirit did not cease to uphold the incarnate Christ in His obedience. Yet the Son, as Mediator, truly bore the judgment due to His people. He endured the wrath of God against sin, not as a private person separated from the Father’s love, but as the willing Surety of His people, offering Himself in perfect obedience. He stood where guilty sinners deserved to stand, bearing the curse so that we might receive blessing.

This is why the cross cannot be reduced to moral example, political martyrdom, or inspiring sacrifice. It is substitution. Christ bore wrath. He satisfied divine justice. He gave Himself for sinners under the judgment of God. If we soften this, we lose the heart of the gospel.

The catechism then says He suffered “the cursed death of the cross”. Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” The cross was not only painful. It was humiliating and cursed. Christ did not die an honorable death in the eyes of men. He was publicly exposed, mocked, condemned, and crucified.

And yet, in that cursed death, our blessing was secured. The obedient One went all the way. He did not stop short of the finish line, short of death, or short of the cross. The Son of God humbled Himself to the lowest place so that guilty sinners might be lifted up in Him.

The catechism also includes His burial. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 says that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”. His burial matters because it confirms the reality of His death. Christ did not faint. He did not appear to die. He truly died, and His body was laid in the tomb.

Finally, the catechism says He continued “under the power of death for a time.” Matthew 12:40 says, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Acts 2:24 says, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” Peter then cites Psalm 16, including the promise, “For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption” (Acts 2:27), and explains that David “foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ” (Acts 2:31).

So Christ truly came under death’s power, but only for a time. Death held Him truly, but not finally. The grave received Him, but could not keep Him. His humiliation went all the way down to burial and the state of death, but death could not claim Him as its rightful prisoner. He had no sin of His own. He bore ours by appointment and covenant mercy.

So in His humiliation Christ went down into our need, entered the depths of our misery, and humbled Himself for us and for our salvation.

Note the past tense for all discussions of Christ’s humiliation. It happened, but is over.Question 31: What is Christ’s exaltation?

Question 30 takes us down into the depths of Christ’s humiliation. Question 31 lifts our eyes to the glory of His exaltation. The same Christ Who humbled Himself has been raised, ascended, enthroned, and appointed Judge of all. His humiliation was not defeat. His suffering was not failure. His death was not the end. The Father vindicated the Son; the crucified Redeemer now lives and reigns.

The catechism begins with His resurrection: “in his rising again from the dead on the third day”.

This matters because the resurrection is God’s public declaration that Christ’s work was accepted. If Christ had remained in the grave, we would have no gospel. A dead redeemer cannot save. But Christ is not dead. He has been raised. Death did not conquer Him. Sin did not have the final word. The curse did not consume Him. The grave did not keep Him.

The resurrection also means that Christ’s people have a living Savior. We do not merely remember a heroic teacher from the past. We belong to the risen Lord. He is alive now. His prophetic word still addresses His church. His priesthood continues. His kingship is active. The resurrection means that all His saving work is living, effectual, and secure.

The catechism then says that Christ’s exaltation consists “in ascending up into heaven”. The catechism cites Mark 16:19, but I am choosing to cite Acts 1:9 instead: “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” We should not pass over the ascension too quickly. It is one of the great events of Christ’s exaltation. The risen Christ did not merely come back from the dead and remain on earth. He ascended to the Father.

The ascension tells us that Christ’s earthly humiliation is finished. The days of weakness, rejection, suffering, and visible lowliness are over. He has gone into heaven as the victorious God-man. Our nature is now represented in glory. The Son Who took a true body and a reasonable soul (Q25) did not lay aside His humanity when He ascended. He remains God and man in one person forever, and as the incarnate Mediator He has entered heaven for us. Our Redeemer is not absent in the sense of being inactive or far away in indifference. He is ascended in triumph. He is present with His church by His Word and Spirit, and He represents His people in heaven. We have a Man in glory. We have a Brother at the Father’s right hand. We have a Redeemer Who has gone ahead of us.

The catechism then says that Christ’s exaltation consists “in sitting at the right hand of God the Father”. Ephesians 1:20 says that God “raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places”. This is royal language. Christ is not waiting to become King. He is enthroned. He sits at the right hand of the Father, the place of highest honor, authority, and rule.

This does not mean the Son was ever less than divine. According to His divine nature, He always possessed all glory, majesty, and authority. But as the incarnate Mediator, having accomplished redemption, He is exalted. The One Who humbled Himself is now openly enthroned. The One men mocked as king now reigns as King indeed.

This is why Christians should not speak as though history is out of control. We do not yet see every enemy finally subdued, but we do see Jesus crowned with glory and honor. He rules now. His kingdom is not fragile. His enemies are not equal rivals. The nations will rage, the church will suffer, and believers will feel weak, but Christ sits at the right hand of God.

His rule also comforts us because the seated Christ is our Priest-King. He reigns and intercedes. He now lives in glory. His sitting does not mean idleness. It means His sacrificial work is complete, His authority is established, and His saving ministry continues from heaven.

Finally, the catechism says that Christ’s exaltation consists “in coming to judge the world at the last day”. Acts 1:11 says, “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” The ascended Christ will return. His exaltation is not only past and present; it also has a future public display. The One Who went up will come again.

Acts 17:31 says that God “has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” The risen Christ is the appointed Judge. The Man Who was judged by men will judge all men. The One condemned unjustly will judge righteously.

This is both sobering and comforting. 

It is sobering because no one will escape His judgment. History is moving toward a fixed day. Nothing will successfully oppose Christ. Every person will answer to Him.

But it is also comforting because the Judge is righteous. The world is full of injustice, confusion, cruelty, and hidden evil. Many wrongs are never made right in this life. Many faithful saints suffer quietly. Many wicked men appear to prosper. But Christ will judge the world in righteousness. Nothing will be hidden. Nothing will be crooked. Nothing will be overlooked. No sin goes unpunished.

For believers, the coming judgment should not produce terror as it does for those outside Christ. Our Judge is our Redeemer. The One Who will come to judge the living and the dead is the same One Who bore wrath for His people, rose for their justification, ascended for their good, and reigns for their preservation. We do not await a stranger. We await Christ.

Christ was not merely humble, but is also exalted. He descended for our salvation, and He has been raised in glory. He lives, reigns, intercedes, and will come again.

Conclusion

Questions 30 and 31 belong together. If we separate them, we will distort the work of Christ. Question 30 teaches us the depth of His humiliation. Question 31 teaches us the height of His exaltation. 

He went down into lowliness, obedience, misery, wrath, the cross, burial, and death. 

He rose, ascended, sat down at the Father’s right hand, and will come again to judge the world.

Taken together, these questions show us the whole movement of Christ’s saving work. He humbled Himself because He was merciful. He is exalted because His suffering work was finished, accepted, and victorious.

So take this lesson with you this week in two ways:

And live in obedience to God’s Law this week as one whose Savior has gone down into death, come up in victory, and now reigns until every enemy is placed beneath His feet.

Lesson 16: Questions 27, 28, and 29 

In our last lesson we considered the threefold office of Christ as our Redeemer. We saw that He executeth the offices of a Prophet, of a Priest, and of a King, both in His estate of humiliation and exaltation (Q26). That answer gave us the frame. These three questions now fill in the substance. They show us how Christ carries out each office for the salvation, preservation, and good of His people, and they also help us see why every Christian home must look to Him as the source and standard of all faithful leadership.

Question 27: How is Christ a prophet?

Christ is our Prophet because He reveals. He does not merely offer wise religious reflections, moral advice, or elevated spiritual sentiment. He reveals “to us, by His Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.” That is necessary because fallen man is not only guilty before God. He is also blind. Left to ourselves, we do not know God savingly, nor do we discover the way of peace on our own.

John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” That is the prophetic office in its highest form. Christ does not guess at God. He does not speak from a distance. He comes from the Father and makes the Father known. The prophets of old were true servants and messengers, but Christ is more than a servant. He is the eternal Son. He knows the Father perfectly and therefore reveals Him perfectly.

This is why Christ is not merely one prophet among many. He is the great and final Prophet to Whom all the others pointed. 1 Peter 1:10-12 tells us that the prophets searched and inquired carefully concerning the salvation that was to come, and that it was “the Spirit of Christ in them” Who was indicating the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. Even before the incarnation, Christ was speaking. The prophetic ministry of the Old Covenant was already dependent on Him.

Then in the days of His flesh, He revealed the Father directly. In John 15:15, Jesus says to His disciples, “for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” That is both tender and authoritative. He does not keep His people at a distance. He makes known to them what He has heard from the Father. His prophetic office is not data transfer. It is self-disclosure for the good of His people.

John 20:31 states the purpose of that revelation plainly: “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” Christ reveals the will of God not to satisfy curiosity, but for our salvation. His teaching is saving teaching. He reveals so that sinners may believe and live.

The catechism also says that Christ reveals “by His word and Spirit”. We must hold those together. Christ reveals by His Word. The truth of salvation is objective, spoken, written, preached, and heard. But Christ also reveals by His Spirit. The same truth that strikes the ear outwardly must be applied inwardly by the Holy Spirit if sinners are to receive it rightly. 

The Word without the Spirit leaves us with outward hearing only. 

Claims of the Spirit without the Word leave us chasing imagination and subjectivity. 

Christ joins both.

That matters for the life of the church, because faithful preaching is one of the appointed means by which Christ still exercises His prophetic office. He is present when His Word is read and preached faithfully. He still teaches His people. He still corrects them, illumines them, and leads them into truth.

Husbands and fathers are prophets in the home in a real, though subordinate, sense: not by receiving new revelation or fore-telling future things, but by forth-telling the Word of God and representing Him to their families. Their calling is to bring the voice of God to bear in the household through the faithful reading, teaching, application, and exhortation of Scripture. A husband therefore must not lead by whim, temperament, or mere pragmatism, but by the revealed Word of God. He is not the source of truth, but he is charged to speak it; not a redeemer or mediator, but a covenant head who must declare what God has said. When he teaches, corrects, warns, or leads family worship, he must do so as a man under authority, echoing the voice of Christ rather than competing with it. A faithful husband is a prophet to his family: bearing and declaring the light God has given.

So Christ executeth the office of a Prophet in revealing to us, by His Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. He makes known the God we could not discover, the salvation we could not devise, and the truth we could never find on our own. And every faithful husband and father will reflect this role in the home for his family, “bringing God to His people”, as it were. 

Question 28: How is Christ a priest?

If Christ as Prophet answers our ignorance, Christ as Priest answers our guilt. Here we are brought to the very heart of the gospel. The catechism tells us that Christ executes the office of a Priest in two great ways: 

Hebrews 9:14 says, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Christ does not bring another offering. He offers Himself. He is both Priest and sacrifice. He is the spotless One Whom our sin required.

Hebrews 9:28 adds that Christ was “offered once to bear the sins of many”. That word “once” matters immensely. His priestly sacrifice is not repeated, because it does not need to be. The cross is not an ongoing offering. It is a finished sacrifice, complete and sufficient. Divine justice has been satisfied by the self-offering of the Son.

The catechism says that this sacrifice was made “to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God”. That language is necessary. Our problem is not merely that we feel far from God. Our problem is that we are guilty before a holy God. Sin deserves judgment. On the cross, Christ satisfies God’s justice for His people. Hebrews 2:17 says, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” He turns away wrath by dealing with sin, bringing reconciliation made through priestly blood.

But Christ’s priestly work did not end at the cross. Hebrews 7:24-25 says, “but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” The Priest Who died for us now lives for us. He appears before the Father on the basis of His finished work. His intercession is not an attempt to persuade an unwilling Father to become kind. The Father Himself sent the Son in love. Rather, Christ’s intercession is the continual presentation of His redemption for His people.

This is one of the sweetest comforts in the Christian faith. Our standing before God does not rest on the strength of our devotion, the consistency of our repentance, or the steadiness of our obedience. It rests on Christ our High Priest. He offered Himself once for all; He always lives to intercede.

A faithful husband will act as a priest in his home in a real, though subordinate, sense: not by offering atoning sacrifice or mediating between God and his family, but by interceding for them, seeking their peace, bearing burdens, leading them in and to worship, and giving himself for their good. He cannot make propitiation, but he can pray; he cannot reconcile his household to God by blood, but he can labor to lead them in the peace and order of Christ. He must not use headship as a cover for selfishness, harshness, or mere command, but must lead with tenderness and sacrificial care. In this way, a faithful husband is a priest to his family: not competing with Christ’s unique priesthood, but reflecting it in a creaturely, dependent, and imperfect way.

So Christ executeth the office of a Priest by once offering up Himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God, and by making continual intercession for us. He is the faithful High Priest guilty sinners need. And every faithful husband and father will reflect this role in the home for his family, “bringing His people to God”, as it were.

Question 29: How is Christ a king?

If Christ as Prophet answers our ignorance and Christ as Priest answers our guilt, Christ as King answers our rebellion, weakness, and danger. He does not merely teach us and cleanse us. He rules us. He gathers a people, subdues them to Himself, defends them, and triumphs over every enemy that stands against them.

The catechism begins with Christ “subduing us to himself”. That is exactly where it should begin, because the first enemy Christ conquers in salvation is the rebel heart (think of Pastor Mike’s “glory-robbing rebels” line here). Fallen sinners do not naturally submit to Christ. Acts 15:14-16 speaks of God taking from the Gentiles “a people for his name” and connects that work to the restoration of David’s fallen tent. Christ the King gathers His people and brings them under His gracious rule.

This subduing is not the cruelty of a tyrant, but the mercy of a Savior-King. He subdues us to free us from the bondage of sin. Before Christ rules us, sin rules us. His conquest is our liberation.

The catechism then says He executes the office of a King “in ruling”. Isaiah 33:22 says, “For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.” Christ does not merely claim authority. He actually governs His people. He gives order, direction, law, and discipline. Faith is not mere admiration. It is allegiance.

Then the catechism says He executes the office of a King “in defending us”. Isaiah 32:1-2 says, “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness”, and then describes refuge, shelter, and streams of water in a dry place. Christ’s kingship is not only authority over His people; it is also protection for His people. He does not rule and then abandon. He guards what He governs.

Finally, the catechism says He restrains and conquers all His and our enemies. 1 Corinthians 15:25 says, “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet”. Psalm 110 shows the same glorious reality. He reigns at the Father’s right hand until every enemy is subdued. Some enemies He restrains now. Others He progressively conquers. All will finally fall beneath His feet. Sin, Satan, every hostile power, and finally, death, will not prevail against Him.

A faithful husband will act as a king in his home in a real, though subordinate, sense: not by possessing absolute authority, ruling a private kingdom, or demanding reverence for himself, but by providing and protecting, leading and ordering, loving and serving his household under the authority of Christ. He cannot rule as Christ rules, for Christ alone is King of the church, and all human authority is subordinate, accountable, and limited. But he can reflect Christ’s kingly care by cultivating structure, making wise decisions, accepting responsibility, guarding the home from spiritual, moral, and physical danger, and establishing habits of worship, honesty, kindness, modesty, chastity, order, obedience, and repentance. 

He must not rule with selfishness or harshness, but must lead with humility and love. He must not rule for his own convenience, but must lead for the flourishing of his family. He must not crush, but protect. He must not demand reverence for himself, but must cultivate reverence for Christ. 

In this way, a faithful husband is a king to his family: not competing with Christ’s unique kingship, but reflecting it in a creaturely, dependent, and imperfect way. A husband who abdicates leaves his family exposed. A husband who dominates wounds his family. A husband who leads under Christ seeks their good with steadiness, gravity, and love. He takes responsibility. He does not flee difficulty. He does not outsource spiritual development while retaining only the language of authority. He is first in repentance, first in responsibility, and first in bearing the weight of leadership.

So Christ executeth the office of a King in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies. He is the enthroned and reigning King His people need. And every faithful husband and father will reflect this role in the home for his family, providing and protecting in a way that echoes Christ’s love for His bride, the Church.

Conclusion

Questions 27, 28, and 29 show us how Christ executes His offices for His people. 

Taken together, these questions show the completeness of our Redeemer. He does not save in fragments. He teaches the ignorant (Prophet), atones for the guilty (Priest), and rules the rebellious (King). He answers our darkness, our guilt, and our danger. There is no deficiency in Him.

And they also help us think more clearly about the home. Husbands and fathers must never rival Christ in these offices. They are not redeemers, not mediators, and not sovereigns. But under Christ they are called to reflect, in lesser, derivative, and subordinate ways, something of His prophetic, priestly, and kingly care by teaching the Word, praying sacrificially, and leading responsibly.

So take this lesson with you this week in two ways.

FIRST, let it shape what you believe: that Jesus Christ is the complete Redeemer of His people — our Prophet, Priest, and King. He teaches the ignorant, atones for the guilty, intercedes for the needy, subdues the rebellious, rules the weak, defends the endangered, and conquers every enemy.

And believe that Christ’s offices give shape to godly order in the home. Our culture despises this, especially when applied to husbands and fathers. But Scripture is our standard, not culture. A husband is not Christ. He is not the Redeemer, the Mediator, or the lord of anyone’s conscience. Yet under Christ, he is called to reflect something of Christ’s prophetic, priestly, and kingly care.

Husbands and fathers, believe your leadership is a holy responsibility, not an optional preference. 

Wives and mothers, believe this order is not a threat, but a gift when exercised under Christ. 

Children, believe God’s order in the home is for your good.

SECOND, let that corrected belief change what you do.

Husbands and fathers, do not abdicate, dominate, or drift. Teach the Word. Pray for and with your family. Lead in worship. Protect your household from spiritual, moral, and physical danger. Confess sin first. Repent quickly. Lead as a man under authority, remembering that your authority is never original, never absolute, and never for yourself.

Wives and mothers, honor what Christ honors. Encourage faithful leadership. Submit to your husband in everything as to the Lord. Do not despise imperfect obedience, but help with wisdom, patience, prayer, and honest, humble speech.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Honor your father and your mother. Receive instruction, correction, and discipline as gifts from the Lord.

We can live this way because Christ, as our Redeemer, is our perfect Prophet, Priest, and King.

Lesson 15: Question  26

In our recent lessons we have traced a careful path through the catechism. We considered Adam’s federal headship (Q15), the estate of sin and misery into which mankind fell and the sinfulness and misery of that fallen estate (Q16-22), and then the mercy of God in not leaving His people to perish there (Q23). Last time we saw that the only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ (Q24), the eternal Son of God Who became man for us and for our salvation (Q25). That naturally brings us to the next question: having come as our Redeemer, what does Christ actually do for us? The catechism answers by teaching us that He executes 3 offices — Prophet, Priest, and King — and that those offices help us understand the fullness of His saving work.

Question 26: What are Christ’s offices?

This answer gives us one of the great organizing categories of Christology (the study of Christ) and soteriology (the study of salvation) in the Reformed tradition. It does not merely list titles. It teaches us how to think about Christ’s saving work as a whole. Christ is not only a Redeemer in some vague or sentimental sense. He redeems by executing offices. 

He acts for His people in ordered, appointed ways. 

He is our Prophet, our Priest, and our King.

That threefold structure matters because it answers the whole ruin of man. Fallen man is ignorant, guilty, and rebellious. He needs light for his darkness, atonement for his guilt, and rule for his disorder. He needs truth brought to him, peace made for him, and power exercised over him and for him. 

Christ meets that need perfectly. 

As Prophet, He reveals God to us and speaks the words of life. 

As Priest, He offers Himself for us and intercedes for us. 

As King, He rules over us, defends us, and subdues His and our enemies. 

The catechism will unfold those 3 offices more fully later, but here it gives us the broad frame.

It is important to notice that the catechism says Christ “executeth” these offices. That present tense matters. It does not say merely that He once executed them, as though His work were only past. Nor does it say merely that He will execute them, as though His work were only future. He executes them. Christ is not a retired Redeemer. He is the living and active Christ, carrying out His appointed work for His people now. Some aspects of His work are finished in one sense, especially His once-for-all sacrifice. But His office-bearing is not dormant. He still speaks. He still intercedes. He still reigns.

The answer also says that He executes these offices “both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.” That line is important because it tells us that these offices are not limited to one phase of Christ’s work. He carried them out in His earthly ministry, and He carries them out still in His risen and exalted glory. 

His Humiliation spans from His birth through His earthly ministry to His death, burial, and resurrection. His Exaltation spans from His resurrection and ascension into Eternity Future.

The form of His office-bearing differs across those estates, but the offices remain His.

Before Christ, no one united these offices in one person; not Abraham; not Moses; not David.The Prophetic Office

Acts 3:22 cites Moses (from Deuteronomy 18:15) saying, “The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.” Peter applies that promise to Christ. Jesus is not one more prophet in a long series merely. He is the Prophet like Moses, the climactic Revealer sent from God. And Hebrews 12:25 presses the urgency of hearing Him: “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.” The point is striking. Christ is not only the One Who once spoke in Galilee and Judea. He is the One Who speaks from heaven. His prophetic office did not end at the ascension. Refusing Him is still the great danger.

2 Corinthians 13:2-3 adds another dimension. Paul warns the Corinthians that when he comes again, he “will not spare them”, and then explains why he speaks so firmly: they are seeking “proof that Christ is speaking in me.” The Corinthians demanded Paul’s “credentials”, and Paul answers in a way that asserts Christ is truly speaking through his apostolic ministry in both Word and authority. 

That shows that Christ’s prophetic office did not end with His earthly ministry. The risen Lord continued to execute His prophetic office through the men He appointed. That gives us a helpful bridge to the church today. Christ continues to execute His prophetic office through His Word and Spirit. When Scripture is faithfully preached, Christ speaks.

The Priestly Office

The priestly office is brought into view in Hebrews 5:5-7 and Hebrews 7:25. Christ did not seize this honor for Himself. He was appointed by the Father: “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”, and “You are a priest forever” (Hebrews 5:5-6; both cited from Psalm 110). His priesthood is not self-assumed. It is divinely ordained. And Hebrews 5:7 reminds us that this priestly work was carried out in the days of His flesh, with real suffering, tears, reverence, and obedience. Christ’s priesthood is not cold or abstract. It is costly, personal, and incarnate.

Hebrews 7:25 then shows the ongoing glory of that priesthood: “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” There is the present tense again. He always lives. He makes intercession. Christ’s priesthood did not end when He offered Himself on the cross. The sacrifice was completed once for all, but the priestly ministry continues in His intercession. He is still our Priest in heaven.

The Kingly Office

Then the kingly office comes into view through Psalm 2, Isaiah 9, and Matthew 21. Psalm 2:6 says, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” Christ is not merely prophetic and priestly.

Psalm 2:8-11 then fills out the scope of His reign: the nations are His heritage, the ends of the earth His possession, and kings are warned to “serve the Lord with fear”. Christ’s kingship is therefore not narrow or tribal. It is universal in scope. He is not merely King of inward religious feeling. He is the enthroned Son to Whom all rulers owe allegiance.

Notice how all 3 of the Messianic offices are spoken of in the New Testament by using citations from the Old Testament. There is more to be said than we can cover right here, but there is a beautiful continuity from the types and shadows of the Old Testament to the work and ministry of Christ.The Unity of the Offices

Now if we step back, we can see why this answer is so rich. It teaches us not only what Christ is called, but how He saves. Consider the ruin described in earlier lessons. 

Because of sin, man is alienated from God and darkened in understanding and needs a Prophet. 

Because of guilt, wrath, and curse, he needs a Priest. 

Because of corruption, bondage, and rebellion, he needs a King. 

If Christ lacked any one of these offices, our salvation would be incomplete.

Suppose Christ were only a Prophet. Then He could teach us the truth, but who would atone for our sins? Light alone cannot remove guilt.

Suppose Christ were only a Priest. Then He could offer sacrifice and intercede, but who would subdue our rebellious hearts and conquer our enemies? Forgiveness alone does not govern the church. 

Suppose Christ were only a King. Then He could rule with power, but who would make God known savingly and who would reconcile us by blood? Authority alone is not atonement. 

We need all three.

This is one helpful application of this Scriptural doctrine. It keeps us from shrinking Christ to one favored theme. Some people speak of Jesus almost entirely as Teacher. Others speak of Him almost entirely as Sacrifice. Others speak of Him chiefly in terms of rule and kingdom. But the catechism helps us confess the whole Christ. He teaches, atones, and reigns. He reveals, reconciles, and rules. He is not less than any one of these, and He is never only one of them.

It is also worth noticing that these offices belong to Christ “as our Redeemer”. That phrase gives the answer its warmth. The catechism is not just handing us doctrinal categories for sorting theological data. It is telling us what Christ is for us. 

He is not merely a Prophet, but our Prophet. 

He is not merely a Priest, but our Priest. 

He is not merely a King, but our King. 

Every office is covenantally and personally directed toward the good of His people.

His prophetic office is not merely informative. He speaks to save. He reveals the Father, exposes our sin, comforts the weary, and makes known the way of life. 

His priestly office is not merely ceremonial. He gives Himself, bears our guilt, and pleads for us before God. 

His kingly office is not merely political imagery. He actually reigns over His church, restrains and conquers His and our enemies, and orders all things for the good of His people.

We should also think more carefully about the phrase “both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.” The catechism is preparing us for categories it will unfold later. Christ’s humiliation includes His incarnation, low condition, suffering, death, and burial. His exaltation includes resurrection, ascension, reigning at the right hand of God, and coming again in glory. 

And in both estates He executes the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King.

Christ’s Humiliation

In His humiliation, He is the Prophet Who teaches with authority, the Priest Who offers Himself in suffering obedience, and the King Who enters Jerusalem meek and lowly. There is something especially beautiful about seeing all three offices under the shadow of humiliation. His prophetic office, priesthood, and even His kingship are all marked by gentleness. Matthew 21:5 is not accidental. Your King comes humble. He is no tyrant. His reign begins in the path of obedience and sacrifice.

Christ’s Exaltation

In His exaltation, those same offices appear in heavenly glory. As Prophet, He speaks from heaven and by His Spirit illumines His church. As Priest, He appears in the presence of God for us and ever lives to intercede. As King, He is enthroned above all rule and authority and will reign forever and ever. The offices are the same, but the mode is heightened in exaltation. What was once veiled in weakness is now displayed in glory.

Application

This matters pastorally because it keeps us from treating Christ as though He were relevant only to the past. Some people think of Jesus chiefly in historical terms. He once taught. He once died. He once rose. All of that is gloriously true. But Scripture wants you to see that the Redeemer is alive and active now. He executes these offices now. He is the living Christ of present faith.

That should affect the way we hear His Word. Christ is our Prophet, so we must listen to Him with reverence. Acts 3:22 says, “You shall listen to him.” Hebrews 12:25 says, “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.” There is no safe neutrality toward Christ’s prophetic word. To neglect or resist His voice is not a small error. It is rebellion against the One appointed by God to reveal Him.

It should also affect the way we deal with guilt. Christ is our Priest, so we must not try to make atonement for ourselves. We do not need a new priesthood, a fresh sacrifice, or a human mediator alongside Him. Hebrews 7:25 is enough to steady the conscience: He is able to save to the uttermost. The priestly work of Christ is complete in its sacrifice and continual in its intercession.

And it should affect the way we think about obedience and the Christian life. Christ is our King, so faith is not mere admiration. It is allegiance. His kingship comforts us because He defends His people, but it also confronts us because He rules His people. Christ does not bow to us. We bow to Him. Psalm 2:10-11 is not only for pagan rulers. It is a word of warning and wisdom to all: “Serve the Lord with fear”.

There is also a beautiful coherence to these offices when held together. 

Christ’s prophetic word directs us to His priestly sacrifice. 

His priestly sacrifice secures our pardon and access to God under His kingly rule. 

His kingly rule protects and governs those whom He has 

reconciled by His priestly work 

and instructed by His prophetic word. 

The offices are distinct, but do not compete. 

They harmonize in the one saving work of the one Redeemer.

And because this lesson is a launching pad for the next, it is helpful to say clearly what this week is doing. We are not yet unpacking each office in detail. We are learning the frame. We are standing back far enough to see the whole Christ in His mediatorial work. Next week the catechism will slow down and consider how Christ executes each office specifically. This week we are laying the beam that will support those later walls. If you understand this answer well, the next lesson will feel coherent rather than scattered.

Conclusion

Question 26 is short, but it opens up a great deal. It teaches us that Christ’s saving work is not vague. As our Redeemer, He executes the offices of a Prophet, a Priest, and a King. He does so in both His humiliation and exaltation. The whole Christ answers the whole need of fallen man.

This answer also prepares us well for what follows. It tells us that Christ is not merely one thing for His people. He is the Prophet Who speaks God’s truth, the Priest Who reconciles sinners to God, and the King Who rules and defends His people. If we understand that structure now, we will be ready next week to consider each office more carefully and more fruitfully.

So take this lesson with you this week in two ways.

Hear Him. Trust Him. Obey Him.

Lesson 14: Questions  23, 24, and 25

In Lesson 13 we considered the sinfulness and misery of the estate whereinto man fell. We saw that our ruin is not shallow. It consists in guilt, lack of righteousness, corruption of nature, and actual transgressions (Q21). We also saw that, by the Fall, mankind lost communion with God, came under His wrath and curse, and was made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever (Q22). That leaves us with the great question of the gospel: did God leave mankind there? The next three questions move us from ruin to redemption, from misery to mercy, and from rebellion to rescue by a Redeemer. 

Question 23: How did God respond?

This question is one of the sweetest turning points in the catechism. After several lessons describing the Fall, sin, guilt, corruption, wrath, curse, misery, death, and judgment, the catechism now asks whether God left all mankind to perish in that estate. The answer is no!

Notice how the answer begins: “God having out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life”. The catechism begins where salvation truly begins: not in man’s will, not in man’s worthiness, not in man’s foresight, but in God’s eternal purpose. The phrase “mere good pleasure” matters. It tells us that the reason for election is found in God Himself, not in anything foreseen in us. He did not choose because He looked down the “corridors of time” and found some who would be wiser, softer, or better than others. Fallen men do not distinguish themselves from one another in that way. If salvation rested on foreseen goodness in man, no one would be saved.

Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will”. That text is plain. God chose His people “before the foundation of the world”. And He did so “according to the purpose of his will”. The ground of election is not man’s deserving, but God’s gracious purpose.

The answer does not stop with election. It says that God “did enter into a covenant of grace”. This is important. God’s decree and God’s accomplishment belong together. Election is not a bare choice floating above history. The God Who chose a people also established the gracious means by which He would save them. He entered 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.” God is not improvising a rescue after man’s fall. He purposed to save, and He ordained the whole arrangement by which His elect would be rescued. In the Covenant of Works, Adam failed as the representative head of mankind. In the Covenant of Grace, God provides another Head, a Redeemer Who will succeed where Adam failed.

Romans 3:20-22 helps us here: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” 

That text tells us two things that belong directly to this question. First, the law cannot justify sinners. It can expose sin, but it cannot save. Second, God has manifested a righteousness apart from the law in Jesus Christ. That is Covenant of Grace language. Salvation does not come by fallen man rendering the obedience he already failed to render, but by God providing righteousness in His Son.

Galatians 3:21-22 says something similar: “For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” The law cannot give life to the guilty and corrupt. Scripture shuts us up under sin so that salvation might be seen for what it is: promise, grace, gift, and mercy in Christ.

This question therefore teaches us several things at once:

That last phrase, “to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer”, is worth lingering over. Salvation is described here as a transfer of estate. 

In Adam we stood in sin and misery. In Christ we are brought into salvation. 

The gospel is not merely comfort for people who remain what they always were. It is transfer from one estate into another. God does not merely soothe the miserable. He saves the guilty. He does not merely lessen the symptoms of the Fall. He delivers from the estate itself.

And all of this is “by a Redeemer.” The catechism is preparing us for the next question. God saves graciously, but still according to justice. He does not ignore sin; He delivers sinners by a Redeemer. There must be One Who acts for His people, pays their debt, obeys in their place, bears their curse, and brings them home to God. Grace is not opposed to justice. In the Covenant of Grace, grace triumphs through justice, because God’s wrath is satisfied by a righteous Redeemer. 

Question 24: Who is our Redeemer?

Question 23 announces that God saves by a Redeemer; Question 24 identifies Him. The answer is gloriously exclusive and gloriously full: “The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ”. Not one among many. Not the best of several options. Not a moral teacher who shows the way to redemption. The only Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ.

That word “only” matters. It rules out every rival. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all”. The logic is plain. One God, one Mediator. The gulf between holy God and sinful man is so great that only One appointed Mediator can bridge it, and that Mediator is Christ Jesus.

Notice also that He is called “the Lord Jesus Christ”. Every part of that name matters. He is Jesus, because He saves His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). He is Christ, the Anointed One promised in the Scriptures. And He is Lord, not merely in the sense of courtesy, but as the exalted divine King. The Redeemer is not a creature promoted into a saving office. He is the Lord. He is Yahweh.

The catechism then tells us Who He is in Himself: “being the eternal Son of God”. Redemption requires more than a sinless man only. The Redeemer is the eternal Son. He did not begin to exist at Bethlehem. He did not become the Son by incarnation. He was the eternal Son of God and then “became man”. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. That does not mean the Word ceased to be what He was. It means the eternal Word took to Himself what He had not been before: true humanity.

Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law”. He was the Son before He was sent. The Incarnation is not the origin of His Sonship. It is the mission of the Son into our history. That is a precious truth because it means our salvation rests upon One Who comes from heaven above, not one who rises from the earth below.

The answer continues: He “became man, and so was and continueth to be God and man”. The incarnation is not temporary. The Son did not assume humanity for thirty-three years and then lay it aside. He remains what He became. He “continueth to be God and man”. The risen and exalted Christ is still the God-man. That matters because our Mediator before the Father is not a divine abstraction, but the incarnate Son, our Brother according to His manhood, and our Lord according to His deity.

Romans 9:5 speaks of “Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” Luke 1:35 speaks of the holy child to be born of Mary as “the Son of God.” Colossians 2:9 says, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily”. Those texts together help us say what the catechism says: the Redeemer is truly divine and truly human. Full deity dwells bodily in Him. He is no half-God and no adopted man. He is the eternal Son incarnate.

The catechism then gives one of the church’s most important theological formulations: “in two distinct natures, and one person for ever.” This guards us on both sides. Christ is not two persons loosely joined together, as though a divine person and a human person merely cooperate. Nor are His deity and humanity mixed together into some third kind of being. He is one person, the eternal Son, subsisting in two distinct natures, divine and human.

This is not needless theological precision. It is salvation-level precision. 

Hebrews 7:24-25 makes the pastoral use of this doctrine plain: “he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Because the Redeemer continues forever, His saving work does not expire. His priesthood does not fail. His intercession does not weaken. The One Who took our nature and accomplished redemption remains our living High Priest.

So this answer teaches both exclusivity and sufficiency. Christ is the only Redeemer, and therefore no other can save. But Christ is also the perfect Redeemer, and therefore no other is needed. He is the eternal Son made man, one person in two natures forever. He is exactly the Redeemer sinners need.

Question 25: How does the Incarnation work?

Question 24 tells us that the eternal Son became man. Question 25 tells us how. And again the catechism is careful. Christ became man “by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul”. He did not merely appear human. He did not merely inhabit a body as though the body were enough. He assumed a complete human nature.

Hebrews 2:14 says, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things”. Hebrews 2:17 says, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect”. And Hebrews 10:5 says, “a body have you prepared for me”. The Son took true humanity to Himself. He did not redeem us from a distance. He entered our condition, apart from sin, in true humanity.

The catechism also says He took a “reasonable soul”. That phrase may sound old, but it is important. It means Christ assumed a true human soul, a rational human inner life, not merely a body animated by deity. Matthew 26:38 says, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death”. Christ had a true human psychology, true human affections, true human experiences of sorrow, fatigue, hunger, and suffering, yet all without sin. He is truly man.

The answer then tells us how He entered the world: “being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her”. Luke 1:27 identifies Mary as a virgin. Luke 1:31 says, “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son”. When Mary asks how this will be, since she is a virgin in Luke 1:34, Gabriel answers in Luke 1:35, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you”. And Elizabeth blesses Mary in Luke 1:42 as the mother of the promised child. Galatians 4:4 gathers it up simply: the Son was “born of woman”.

All of this means that Christ’s humanity is real, historical, and derived from Mary. He is not a heavenly apparition. He is born of a woman, as promised in Genesis 3:15. He truly enters our race. Yet He is not conceived by ordinary generation (remember Question 19). He is conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. This preserves both His true humanity and His unique person. He is one of us, yet not merely one of us.

Finally, the catechism adds the necessary safeguard: “yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15 says that He was “tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 7:26 says that He is “holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners”. This matters immensely. If Christ had taken our guilt or corruption into His own person, He could not save us. A sinner cannot redeem sinners. The Redeemer must be truly like us, but unlike us in this: He must be without sin.

This is why the virgin conception is not an ornamental doctrine. It belongs to the fitness of the Redeemer. Christ is truly man, but He is not another fallen son of Adam in need of rescue. He enters our humanity in holiness. He assumes our nature without assuming our sin. He comes not merely to share our misery, but to conquer it.

There is pastoral sweetness here as well. Because He took a true body and a reasonable soul, He is not unable to sympathize with His people. He knows hunger, weariness, sorrow, pain, and temptation. Yet because He is without sin, His sympathy is never compromised by corruption. He is near enough to understand, and holy enough to save.

Conclusion

These three questions mark a glorious transition in the catechism. 

God did not leave all mankind to perish, but out of His mere good pleasure elected some to everlasting life and entered into a covenant of grace (Q23). The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ (Q24), the eternal Son of God become man, by taking to Himself a true body and a reasonable soul, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin (Q25).

The movement is beautiful and deliberate. 

From eternity, God purposed to save. 

In history, He sent His Son, Who, in the Incarnation, took our nature. 

And in all of this, the mercy of God shines without diminishing the holiness of God.

God did not leave His people in sin and misery.

He gave them a Redeemer.

So take this lesson with you this week in two ways:

Lesson 13: Questions  21 and 22

In Lesson 12 we considered Adam as the federal head of mankind and saw that, in his first transgression, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation sinned in him and fell with him (Q19) and that the Fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery (Q20). This lesson presses one step deeper. It asks not only whether man fell, but what that fallen estate now consists of. What is sinful about it? What is miserable about it? The catechism’s answer is searching, but it is also clarifying, because it teaches us to diagnose the human condition with precision.

Question 21: What is Original Sin?

This is one of the most important definitions in the catechism because it forces us to think beyond surface behavior. The question is not simply, “Why do men do sinful things?” The question is, “What is sinful about the estate itself?” In other words, what is true of man now that he is fallen? The answer is not short because the ruin is not simple. The catechism identifies four parts of this sinfulness: 

We begin with the first: the guilt of Adam’s first sin. The catechism does not leave Q19 behind and move on as though federal headship were a passing detail. It brings Adam’s first transgression directly into the description of our present condition. We are sinful, in part, because Adam’s guilt is ours. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”. In the rest of this chapter, Paul traces the entrance of sin and death into the human race through one man. Adam’s first sin was not a private mistake with private consequences. It was the transgression of a representative head, and its guilt extends to his posterity.

That matters because many people are willing to admit that they sin personally, but they resist the idea that they are born guilty in Adam. Yet Scripture is not embarrassed by this doctrine. Men do not begin life morally neutral, as if they stand where Adam once stood and choose their own course. Men begin life already fallen in Adam. That is why the human problem is deeper than bad habits or poor examples. There is a legal dimension to our ruin from the very beginning.

Second, the catechism also says that the sinfulness of this estate consists in “the want of original righteousness”. The old word “want” simply means lack. Fallen man does not merely possess guilt. He lacks something he ought to have. Adam was created upright. He was created in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, but that original righteousness did not pass to his posterity in the state of the Fall. What once adorned man in creation is now absent by nature in fallen man.

This is an important distinction. Sin is not merely the presence of evil; it is also the absence of good. Fallen man is not only polluted. He is emptied of that original righteousness in which he was first made. He does not begin from a morally full condition and then add a few sins on top. He begins lacking what he ought to possess before God. That is one reason why the gospel must do more than erase guilt. The sinner does not need pardon only. He needs righteousness. He needs to be counted righteous in Christ because he has none of his own.

This also explains why external morality can be so deceptive. A man may appear orderly, disciplined, and respectable before other men. His actions may look good outwardly, but if not done from faith, from a renewed heart, and unto the glory of God, they are not righteous. That is why we must not confuse social decency with spiritual health. Apart from Christ, fallen man does not merely do some sinful things; all his works are corrupted by sin.

Third, the catechism says that the sinfulness of this estate consists in “the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin”. Here the focus shifts from legal standing and lost righteousness to inward condition. Man is not only guilty in Adam and lacking the righteousness he once had. He is corrupt in the whole of his nature. This phrase must be handled carefully. The catechism does not mean man is as wicked as possible. It does not mean every sinner expresses every form of evil to the highest degree. God restrains sin by His common grace. But the catechism does mean that no part of man is untouched by the Fall. The corruption is total in extent, not maximal in degree. The mind is darkened; the will bent; the affections disordered; the conscience defiled. Even the body is subject to weakness, decay, and death. The ruin runs through the whole man.

Ephesians 2:1-3 speaks with painful clarity here: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked … and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Notice the language Paul uses. He does not say merely that men become sinful by imitation. He says they are dead in sins and “by nature children of wrath”. That is not a description of a spiritually healthy person who simply needs better information. It is a description of a person ruined at the root.

This is why Scripture speaks of the necessity of the new birth. Fallen man does not need a little encouragement added to an otherwise healthy moral core. He needs to be made alive. He needs a new heart. He needs the Spirit of God to bring him to life. The doctrine of original sin is not an abstract puzzle for theologians. It explains why salvation must be supernatural from beginning to end.

James 1:14-15 shows how this inward corruption gives rise to outward sin: “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin”. Temptation is not merely an external pressure. It draws strength from something already present in us. Sin progresses because our desires have been bent out of shape; it is not merely around us, but in us.

Our Lord confirms the same truth in Matthew 15:19: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” That verse is devastating because it makes clear that sin is not merely a contamination from the outside. It comes from the heart. Wicked acts have a wicked source. A corrupt fountain produces corrupt streams.

Fourth, that leads to the last part of the answer: “together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.” The catechism is careful not to leave sin at the level of inherited guilt or inward corruption only. It says actual transgressions proceed from original sin. In other words, the fallen estate shows itself. Actual sins in thought, word, and deed are the fruit of a sinful nature.

This matters because some people will speak very readily about brokenness in the abstract while avoiding personal guilt in the concrete. They are willing to say man is fallen in some general sense, but hesitant to say, “I have actually sinned against God.” The catechism will not permit that distance. Original sin gives rise to actual sins, and those actual sins are truly ours. We do not merely suffer from Adam’s fall. We participate in its pattern every day.

This answer also helps us think properly about repentance. Real repentance is not merely being sorry for a handful of isolated actions. It is agreeing with God about the depth of the problem. It is confessing that sin is not just what I have done, but what I am by nature in Adam. It is not less than sorrow over actual transgressions, but it is more. It is the acknowledgment that the tree is bad and not merely that the fruit is blemished.

There is something pastorally steadying about the catechism’s precision here. It does not flatter us, but neither does it leave us confused. It tells us why the human problem is so deep and why Christ must be such a complete Savior. If guilt is part of our ruin, we need pardon. If lack of righteousness is part of our ruin, we need a righteous standing. If corruption is part of our ruin, we need renewal. If actual transgressions proceed daily from that corruption, we need ongoing cleansing and sanctification. Christ answers the whole condition, not just one sliver of it.

Question 22: What is the misery of natural man’s estate?

If Question 21 exposes the sinfulness of the fallen estate, Question 22 opens up its misery. This answer is not repeating the last one. It is showing us what sin has brought upon man. The structure is important. First sin, then misery (see Q20). First rebellion, then consequence. The catechism is teaching us that misery is not random. It is the bitter fruit of a broken relationship with God.

First, the answer begins with the deepest misery of all: “All mankind by their fall lost communion with God”. That is first for a reason. Man was made for fellowship with God. He was not made merely to exist, nor merely to work, nor merely to enjoy created things. He was made to know God and live before His face. But by the Fall that communion was lost.

Genesis 3:8,10 show the change immediately. “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day”, and instead of delight there is dread. Adam says, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid”. Sin turned the presence of God from joy into terror. The One Whose fellowship should have been man’s blessedness became the One from Whom man hid.

Genesis 3:24 completes the picture: “He drove out the man”. The expulsion from Eden was more than a change of address. It was a visible sign of broken fellowship. Man was barred from the garden because man had lost communion with God. This is the root misery beneath all other miseries. When fellowship with God is lost, everything else comes apart in time.

Second, the catechism says that fallen man is under God’s wrath and curse. That language is severe, but it is necessary. Ephesians 2:2-3 says that we “once walked” according to this world and were “by nature children of wrath”. Galatians 3:10 says, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse”. This is not the language of inconvenience. It is the language of judgment.

We need to understand this rightly. God’s wrath is not sinful temper. It is His holy and settled opposition to evil. His curse is not petty spite. It is His righteous sentence against sin. Fallen man is not merely in trouble. He stands under divine displeasure. That is a far more serious thing than many are willing to admit.

This is one reason why modern people often prefer to speak of pain without guilt, or trauma without judgment. Those categories can describe real aspects of human suffering, but they do not go deep enough. The catechism insists that the misery of our estate cannot be understood unless we reckon with God’s wrath and curse. If we remove judgment from the picture, we may still talk about brokenness, but we will no longer be talking about the Fall in a biblical way.

Third, the answer says that fallen man is made liable “to all miseries in this life”. That is a broad phrase, and intentionally so. It gathers up the whole field of sorrow, pain, disorder, weakness, frustration, and grief that marks human life in a fallen world. Disease, decay, fear, toil, conflict, bodily suffering, inward turmoil, and the countless burdens of life east of Eden all belong here.

Lamentations 3:39 says, “Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?” That does not mean every specific sorrow can be traced neatly to one specific personal sin. Scripture is more careful than that. But it does mean that human misery belongs to a world under judgment. Suffering is not an alien category unrelated to sin. It is part of life in a fallen order.

This truth should make Christians sober, but also tender. The doctrine of the Fall does not train us to be hard toward the suffering. Just the opposite. We know why the world groans. We know why grief cuts so deeply. We know why frustration clings to human labor and why the human heart so often feels heavy. The catechism teaches us to look at suffering with seriousness, but never with coldness.Fourth, the catechism says that man is liable “to death itself”. Romans 6:23 states it plainly: “For the wages of sin is death”. Death is not merely a biological fact. It is a judicial wage. It is the public sign that sin has entered and that judgment stands. That is why death feels wrong even when it feels common. It is not native to the creation as God first made it. It is an enemy.

Every funeral bears witness to the truthfulness of this answer. No matter how ordinary death may appear in a fallen world, it remains terrible. It tears lives apart, reminding man that he is dust under sentence. The catechism singles out death because death is the great visible proof that the Fall was no small matter.

This is not to say that death cannot be a friend to believers in certain circumstances.

Fifth, and heaviest of all, the answer says that fallen man is liable “to the pains of hell for ever.” This is the furthest reach of misery under judgment. Matthew 25:41 speaks of “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”, and Matthew 25:46 says, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” The catechism does not soften this because Scripture does not soften it.

Hell is not a metaphor for temporary regret. It is not a passing consequence. It is everlasting punishment under the righteous judgment of God. The catechism includes it here because it wants us to see the full seriousness of the fallen estate. If we stop short of judgment to come, we have not yet spoken as plainly as Christ Himself spoke. And yet this answer, severe as it is, is meant to serve the gospel. It shows us what Christ has come to save His people from. 

Question 22 is dark, but in a way that prepares the eye to see the brightness of the Redeemer.

We should not hear this answer as though its purpose were to frighten. It should sober us, yes. But its deeper purpose is to make us truthful, and therefore ready for grace. A small view of misery will produce a small view of salvation. But when we see what has really been lost and what judgment really hangs over fallen man, then the saving work of Christ appears in its proper magnitude.

Conclusion

Questions 21 and 22 take us below the surface. They show us that the fallen estate is not defined merely by a few sinful acts or a few painful consequences. 

Its sinfulness consists in: guilt, lost righteousness, inward corruption, and actual transgressions. 

Its misery consists in: lost communion with God, His wrath and curse, the sorrows of this life, death itself, and everlasting judgment in Hell.

The catechism is teaching us to be precise. Our problem is not merely that we do wrong things now and then. Nor is it merely that life is hard. We are fallen men and women in Adam, and our ruin reaches both inward and outward, both now and for eternity. That is why Christ must be received as a whole Savior. We need reconciliation. We need righteousness. We need rescue. 

So take these questions with you this week in two ways.

In Adam, sin and misery define our estate.

In Christ, grace and life define our hope.