Theology Matters

 Lesson 26: Questions 58, 59, 60, and 61 In our last lesson we considered the second commandment. We saw that God must be worshiped only as He has appointed, that His ordinances must be received, observed, and kept pure and entire, that worship by images or any other unauthorized way is forbidden, and that God’s jealousy is a holy zeal for His own glory and the covenant purity of His people (Q54-5...

 Lesson 25: Questions 54, 55, 56, and 57 In our last lesson we considered the first commandment. We saw that God requires us to have no other gods before Him, which means we must know and acknowledge Him as the only true God and our God, and worship and glorify Him accordingly. We also saw that the first commandment forbids atheism, false worship, idolatry of the heart, and giving to any creature...

Lesson 24: Questions  50, 51, 52, and 53 In Lesson 23, we began to work through the Ten Commandments by considering the preface to the law. We saw that God identifies Himself as the Lord, the covenant God Who redeemed Israel out of bondage, and that His authority to command is grounded in Who He is and what He has done (Q47-49). That order matters. God does not present His law as an abstract code...

Lesson 23: Questions  47, 48, and 49 In Lesson 22, we began our introduction to the Law of God. We saw that the duty God requires of man is obedience to His revealed will (Q44), that the rule God first revealed to man for his obedience was the moral law (Q45), and that the moral law is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments (Q46). That means we are not approaching the Ten Commandments as a...

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 sou...

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...

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 c...

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 call...

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 fut...

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 al...

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,...

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...

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...

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 est...

(Sorry for the audio; I had to use phone audio in the middle for about 10 minutes.) Lesson 12: Questions  19 and 20 In Lesson 11 we considered the Fall itself. We saw that our first parents did not continue in the estate wherein they were created, but fell by sinning against God (Q16), defined sin as any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God (Q17), and saw that the particula...

Lesson 11: Questions  16, 17, and 18 In our last lesson we considered two truths that must be held together.  Q14: God governs all His creatures and all their actions in His most holy, wise, and powerful providence.  Q15: In the estate wherein man was created, God entered into a covenant of life with Adam, upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of g...

Lesson 10: Questions  14 and 15 In our last questions we considered God’s work of creation and the creation of man. We saw that the world is not self-made but God-made, spoken into being by His word, and declared “very good” (Genesis 1:31). We also saw that mankind is not an accident or an animal with religious feelings, but God’s image bearer, created male and female with a real calling in the wo...

Guest Speaker: Tadd Smoak Why Creeds & Confessions?   Shortly after we moved to Summerville, a couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses showed up at our door. Two ladies, humbly dressed and smiling, gave a presentation from Psalm 37. The thesis of their speech was from verse 29 that “the righteous will inherit the land” (v. 29). If we seek good for our neighbors, we will be righteous and live forever, th...

Lesson 8: Questions  12 and 13 Last time we considered how God not only decrees all things from all eternity, but also carries out His decree in real history, especially through His works of creation and providence. Today we focus on creation itself, and then on man as God’s image-bearer. Question 12: What is the work of creation? What is the work of creation? The work of creation is God’s making...

Lesson 7: Questions  10 and 11 In Lesson 6 we asked who God is. We saw that: He is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being and all His perfections There is but one only, the living and true God This one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the same in essence, equal in power and glory This week we ask a different kind of question. If this is who God is, what has He purposed to d...

Lesson 6: Questions 7 , 8, and 9 In lessons 3, 4, and 5, we stood together on the “front porch” of the catechism. We saw that God is the first and chiefest Being (Q1), that everyone ought to believe there is a God (Q2), that He has made Himself known in creation and conscience, and that He speaks savingly in His Word by His Spirit (Q3). We learned that the Holy Scriptures are the only certain rule...

Lesson 5: Questions 5 and 6  In Lessons 3 and 4 we saw that God is the first and chiefest Being (Q1), that everyone ought to believe there is a God (Q2), and that He has not left Himself without witness. The light of nature in us and the works of God around us plainly declare that there is a God, but His Word and Spirit alone reveal Him fully and savingly (Q3). We also saw that the Holy Scriptures...

Lesson 4: Questions 3 and 4  In our first two lessons we asked what a catechism is, why it is worth our time, and how this particular Baptist Catechism is structured. In Lesson 3 we began the catechism itself and saw that God is the first and chiefest Being, and that everyone ought to believe there is a God. Today we go one step further and ask two very basic but very important questions: 1) How m...

Lesson 3: Questions 1 and 2  This is our first “real” catechism lesson after two weeks of introduction. We have asked what a catechism is, why we should use one, how it relates to Scripture and to confessions of faith, and how this particular Baptist Catechism is structured. Now we begin at the beginning. Today we take up Questions 1 and 2, which lay the foundation for everything that follows. Bef...

Lesson 2: Catechism Use and Structure  This week I want to turn from the “what” and the “why” to the “how.” If a catechism is a biblically-shaped, historically-tested tool for teaching the core doctrines of the faith, then how do we actually use that tool in real life? What might it look like for you, for your family, and for our church to put this catechism to work over the coming year? And as we...