Harmony of the Westminster Standards
Index

Introductory: Questions 1-3

Doctrinal Heading
Of Man’s Chief End and Happiness
KNOWLEDGE is a necessary foundation of faith and holiness; and where ignorance reigns in the mind, there is confusion in the heart and life. We have the word of truth in our hands, and many methodical systems of divine truths, amongst which the Shorter Catechism, composed by the Reverend Assembly of divines at Westminster, in pursuance of the solemn league and covenant, as a part of the then intended uniformity between the three nations, is deservedly reckon the chief. -TB

WSC Q#1 – What is the chief end of man?
WLC Q#1 – What is the chief and highest end of man?

Doctrinal Heading – The Doctrine of Holy Scripture
The Divine Authority of the Scriptures
THE next head which falls to be touched is the holy scripture, the rule which God has given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. We are poor blind creatures, that know not our way, neither how we should glorify God, nor how we may come to the enjoyment of him. Therefore God hath given us the revelation of his mind in that great point. The connection between this and the preceding question is abundantly obvious; the one points out the end for which we were made, the other the rule to direct us how to attain to that end. And in this text we have two things.
1. The divine authority of the scriptures asserted.
2.The use and end of the scriptures. -TB
WSC Q#2 – What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
WLC Q#3 – What is the Word of God?
WLC Q#4 – How doth it appear that the Scriptures are of the Word of God?
WCF I.II-III – Of the Holy Scripture

WSC Q#3 – What do the Scriptures principally teach?
WLC Q#5 – What do the Scriptures principally teach?
WCF I.IV-X – Of the Holy Scripture

Doctrinal Heading – The Being, Attributes and Persons of the Godhead
Of God and His Perfections
SIMONIDES, a heathen poet, being asked by Riero king of Syracuse, What is God? desired a day to think upon it; and when that day was at an end, he desired two days; and when these were past, he desired four days. Thus he continued to double the number of days in which he desired to think of God, ere he would give an answer. Upon which the king expressing his surprise at his behavior, asked him, What he meant by this? To which the poet answered, ‘The more I think of God, he is still the more dark and unknown to me. Indeed no wonder that he made such an answer; for he that would tell what God is in a measure suitable to his excellency and glory, had need to know God even as he is known of him, which is not competent to any man upon earth. Agur puzzles the whole creation with that sublime question, What is his name? Prov. 30:4. But though it is impossible in our present state to know God perfectly, seeing he is incomprehensible; yet so much of him is revealed in the scriptures as is necessary for us to know in order to our salvation. -TB

WSC Q#4 – What is God?
WLC Q#2 – How doth it appear that there is a God?
WLC Q#6 – What do the Scriptures make known of God?
WLC Q#7 – What is God?
WCF I.I – Of the Holy Scripture.
WCF II:I-II – Of God, and of the Holy Trinity.

WSC Q#5 – Are there more gods than one?
WLC Q#8 – Are there more gods than one?

WSC Q#6 – How many persons are there in the Godhead?
WLC Q#9 – How many persons are there in the Godhead?
WLC Q#10 – What are the personal properties of the three persons in the Godhead?
WLC Q#11 – How doth it appear that the Son and the Holy Ghost are God equal with the Father?
WCF II.III – Of God, and of the Holy Trinity.

Doctrinal Heading – The Decrees, or the Eternal Purpose of God
The Decrees, or the Eternal Purposes of God
ACCORDING to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. (Ephesians 1:11)
The apostle here gives an instance of the sovereign freedom of divine grace through Jesus Christ in the believing Jews.
1. There is here the high privilege they were advanced to, a right to the heavenly inheritance, which had been forfeited by the sin of man.
2. Through whom they had obtained it, in him; by virtue of the merits, the obedience and satisfaction of Christ.
3. Why they obtained it, while others had not. Not that they were more worthy than others, but because they were predestinated, elected, or foreordained to salvation, and all the means of it.
4. There is the certainty of the efficacy of predestination. It is according to his purpose; that is, his firm purpose and peremptory decree to bring such things to pass. And this certainly in particular is evinced by a general truth, Who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will. -TB

WSC Q#7 – What are the decrees of God?
WLC Q#12 – What are the decrees of God?
WLC Q#13 – What hath God especially decreed concerning angels and men?
WCF III – Of God’s Eternal Decree.

WSC Q#8 – How doth God execute his decrees?
WLC Q#14 – How doth God execute his decrees?

Doctrinal Heading – Creation and Providence
Creation and Providence
HAVING discoursed to you of the decrees of God, whereby he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, I come now to treat of the execution of these decrees. That question, ‘How doth God execute his decrees?’ being only an introduction to what follows, it is needless to insist on it. Only you must know, that for God to execute his decrees, is to bring to pass what he has decreed. Now, what God from all eternity decreed is brought to pass in the works of creation and providence. Nothing falls out in either of these but what was decreed; nor does it fall out in any other way than as it was decreed. The decrees of God are as it were the scheme, draught and pattern of the house; and the works of creation and providence are the house, built in every point conformable to the draught. -TB
WSC Q#9 – What is the work of creation?
WLC Q#15 – What is the work of creation?
WLC Q#16 – How did God create angels?
WCF IV.I – Of Creation

WSC Q#10 – How did God create man?
WLC Q#17 – How did God create man?
WCF IV.II – Of Creation

WSC Q#11 – What are God’s works of providence?
WLC Q#18 – What are God’s works of providence?
WLC Q#19 – What is God’s providence toward the angels?
WCF V.I-VII – Providence

Doctrinal Heading – Of God’s Covenant with Man
The Covenant of Works , or of Life.
Gen. 2:16-17 – HAVING already shown, that God from all eternity decreed whatsoever comes to pass; that he executes his decrees in works of creation and providence; that he made all things of nothing by the word of his power; that he made man upright, adorned with his moral image, consisting in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness; and that his providence, extends to all his creatures and all their actions: that which now falls to be considered is the special act of providence which God exercised towards man, in the estate wherein he was created, namely, the covenant of works which God made with Adam. This covenant is sometimes called the covenant of works, because works, or obedience, was the condition of it; and sometimes the covenant of life, because life was promised therein as the reward of obedience. -TB
WSC Q#12 – What was the providence of God toward man in the estate in which he was created?
WLC Q#20 – What was the providence of God toward man in the estate in which he was created?
WCF VII.II-II – Of God’s Covenant with Man

WSC Q#13 – Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
WLC Q#21 – Did man continue in that estate wherein God at first created him?
WCF VI.I – Of Creation

Doctrinal Heading – Estate of Sin & Misery
Original Sin
1John 3:4 – IN these words we have an answer to that question, “What is sin?” It is a transgression of the law: for “where no law is, there is no transgression,” Rom. 5:15. But because the word transgression seems to import something positive and actual, therefore it is added in the Catechism, it is a “want of conformity unto the law,” which is a more general definition: and this meaning the word in the original most properly bears. Hence both a want of conformity unto the law of God, and a transgression of it, are taken into the description; and in effect they are both one thing. -TB
WSC Q#14 – What is sin?
WLC Q#24 – What is sin?

WSC Q#15 – What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
WCF VI.II – Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment thereof

WSC Q#16 – Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?
WLC Q#22 – Did all mankind fall in that first transgression?
WCF VI.III – Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment thereof

WSC Q#17 – Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
WLC Q#23 – Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?

WSC Q#18 – Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
WLC Q#25 – Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
WLC Q#26 – How is original sin conveyed from our first parents unto their posterity?
WCF VI.IV-V – Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment thereof

WSC Q#19 – What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
WLC Q#27 – What misery did the fall bring upon mankind?
WLC Q#28 – What are the punishments of sin in this world?
WLC Q#29 What are the punishments of sin in the world to come?
WCF VI.VI – Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment thereof

Doctrinal Heading – Of God’s Covenant with Man 
The Covenant of Grace
1Cor. 15:45 – IN these words we have an answer to that question, “What is sin?” It is a Go made man upright, and entered into a covenant with him, forbidding him to eat of a certain tree in the garden of Eden, on pain of death, natural, spiritual, and eternal, and promising him, in case of continued obedience, life in its utmost extent. But, alas! Man being in honour did not continue a night, but foully revolted from obedience and allegiance he owed to his mighty Creator and bountiful Sovereign. Thus his misery was originally owing to the breaking of the covenant of works; and in that dismal state he and all his descendants had remained for ever, if God, in the wonderful depths of his amazing love and grace, had not from all eternity devised a method of recovery, by entering into a covenant with his own Son as second Adam, head and representative of those destinated by sovereign pleasure to be heirs of salvation. Thus fallen man’s recovery, from the first to the last step thereof, is entirely owing to the fulfilling of that covenant entered into betwixt the Father and the Son from eternal ages, and in it the whole mystery of our salvation lies. -TB
WSC Q#20 – Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
WLC Q#30 – Doth God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
WLC Q#31 – With whom was the covenant of grace made?
WLC Q#32 – How is the grace of God manifested in the second covenant?
WLC Q#33 – Was the covenant of grace always administered after one and the same manner?
WLC Q#34 – How was the covenant of grace administered under the Old Testament?
WLC Q#35 – How is the covenant of grace administered under the New Testament?
WCF VII.I-VI – Of God’s Covenant with Man

Doctrinal Heading – Mediator God/Man
The Person of Jesus Christ the Mediator
Gal. 4:4,5 -When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
WE are now to speak of the Mediator of the new covenant, Jesus Christ, and to consider our Redeemer in his person, offices, and states. As to the first of these, it is plainly taught in the text.
In the former chapter, and in the first part of this, the apostle insists upon the church’s freedom from the Mosaic dispensation, which was a very toilsome and burdensome service. This he illustrates by the similitude of a pupil and his tutors, ver. 1, 2,. and then he applies it in the following verse, (1.) To the church’s bondage under the Old Testament dispensation, when she was in her infant state, kept in subjection under that rigid and strict administration, which served for a rudiment, whereby she was instructed for the most part by resemblances taken from earthly things. (2.) To her freedom from that bondage under the New Testament, in the words of our text. Where we have,
1. The season in which this freedom or redemption was brought about: When the fullness of the time was come, says the apostle.
2. We have the means of this deliverance, namely Christ’s incarnation, and manifestation in the flesh; God sent forth his own Son, made of a woman.
3. We have the condition in which Christ came: made under the law.
4. The freedom and deliverance itself: God sent forth his Son to redeem them that were under the law. -TB
WSC Q#21 – Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
WLC Q#36 – Who is the Mediator of the covenant of grace?
WLC Q#38 – Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God?
WLC Q#39 – Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be man?
WLC Q#40 – Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God and man in one person?
WCF VIII.II, III, VII – Of Christ the Mediator

WSC Q#22 – How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
WLC Q#37 – How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?

Doctrinal Heading – Offices of Jesus Christ
The Offices of the Mediator: The Prophetic
Zech. vi. 13. – Even he shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a Priest upon his throne.
HAVING shewn that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Redeemer of elect sinners, and that it was necessary he should be God and man in one person, to qualify him for his Mediatory undertaking, I come now to speak of the offices which Christ executes as our Redeemer, from the text now read.
In the 11th verse of this chapter, there is a typical action crowning Joshua the high priest with two crowns, which is applied and explained in the following verses as representing Christ in his offices, who has on his head many crowns. In the 12th verse, there is a. prophecy of the incarnation of Christ, under the metaphor of a branch, as sprung from the family of David, and making but a mean appearance in the world, ‘as a root out of a dry ground.’ In the verse where our text lies, we have the offices which he was to execute as our Redeemer; which are three.
1. The office of a Prophet; He shall build the temple of the Lord; that is, his own church, whereof the temple was a. type, by the word of the gospel, which it is his work to promulgate as a Prophet.
2. The office of a Priest; namely to expiate the sins of his people to purchase peace for them, and to manage their cause with God.
3. That of a King; for he has a throne, which denotes his kingly office. -TB
WSC Q#23 What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?
WLC Q#41 – Why was our Mediator called Jesus?
WLC Q#42 – Why was our Mediator called Christ?
WCF VIII.I – Of Christ the Mediator

WSC Q#24 – How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?
WLC Q#43 – How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?

Doctrinal Heading – Benefits Applied to the Elect
The Offices of the Mediator: The Priestly and the Kingly
Hebrews 7:17- You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
IT is evident from the context; that the apostle is speaking of Christ Priest, applying to him this passage taken from Psa. 110:4. Thou art a Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. Where two things are proposed; 1. That he is indeed a Priest, whose business it is to offer sacrifices. 2. That he is so after the order of Melchizedek; noting thereby the similitude betwixt the two, the one being a notable type of the other. This likeness consists not in an unbloody sacrifice, that of bread and wine, which Melchizedek brought forth to Abraham when he returned from the slaughter of the kings who had taken Sodom and Gomorrah; but, In the name, Christ being the true ‘King of righteousness,’ and ‘ King of peace,’ in which respect Melchizedek was only a type of him, Heb. vii. 2. -TB
WSC Q#25 – How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
WLC Q#44 – How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
WCF VIII.V – Of Christ the Mediator

WSC Q#26 – How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
WLC Q#45 – How doth Christ execute the office of a king?

Doctrinal Heading – Humiliation and Exaltation
The Humiliation and Exaltation of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 2:8- He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
HAVING discoursed of our Redeemer and his incarnation, the several offices he executed under that character, I come now to treat of his amazing humiliation and abasement, he willingly submitted, in order to accomplish the redemption of the elect sinners.
The text holds forth his state of humiliation.
1. The voluntariness of it.
2. The Nature of it.
3. The depth of it.
4. The continuance of it. -TB
WSC Q#27 – Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
WLC Q#46 – What was the estate of Christ’s humiliation?
WLC Q#47 – How did Christ humble himself in his conception and birth?
WLC Q#48 – How did Christ humble himself in his life?
WLC Q#49 – How did Christ humble himself in his death?
WLC Q#50 – Wherein consisted Christ’s humiliation after his death?
WCF VIII.IV – Of Christ the Mediator

WSC Q#28 – Wherein consisteth Christ’s exaltation?
WLC Q#51 – What was the estate of Christ’s exaltation?
WLC Q#52 – How was Christ exalted in his resurrection?
WLC Q#53 – How was Christ exalted in his ascension?
WLC Q#54 – How is Christ exalted in his sitting at the right hand of God?
WLC Q#55 – How doeth Christ make intercession?
WLC Q#56 – How is Christ to be exalted in his coming again to judge the world?
WLC Q#57 – What benefits hath Christ procured by his mediation?
WCF VIII.VI-VIII – Of Christ the Mediator

Doctrinal Heading – Effectual Calling into Union with Christ
Redemption; Union with Christ; Effectual Calling. 
Titus 3:5- not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
HAVING taken a view of our glorious Redeemer, in his person, incarnation, offices, and his twofold state of humiliation and exaltation, let us now proceed to consider the application of that redemption which he purchased for us by his obedience and death. – TB
WSC Q#29 – How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?
WLC Q#58 – How do we come to be made partakers of the benefits which Christ hath procured?

WSC Q#30 – How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
WLC Q#59 – Who are made partakers of redemption through Christ?

WSC Q#31 – What is effectual calling?
WLC Q#66 – What is that union which the elect have with Christ?
WLC Q#67 – What is effectual calling?
WLC Q#68 – Are the elect only effectually called?
WLC Q#60 – Can they who have never heard the gospel, and so know not Jesus Christ, nor believe in him, be saved by their living according to the light of nature?
WCF X – Of Effectual Calling

Doctrinal Heading – Effectual Calling
The Benefits of Redemption: Justification
Rom. viii. 30.—Whom he called, them he also justified,- and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
IN this and the preceding verse is the golden chain of salvation, consisting of five links. The first two lie out of the sinner’s view, till they be brought to light by means of the third. The first is God’s foreknowledge, or eternal free-love and favor to some of mankind, laid on them from everlasting. The second is the predestination of these, electing them to everlasting life, and the means leading thereto. The third is the calling of the predestinated, calling them effectually, which is done in time, of which we have spoke before. There are other two that hang upon this. The fourth is the justification of the called which may imply the whole of the relative change made upon them, both their justification and adoption; for it is evident from verse 29, that the apostle has respect to adoption in this chain. The fifth is the glorifying of the justified, which may import the whole of the real change made on the elect, namely, the sanctifying of them here, and glorifying of them hereafter. For what is grace but glory in the bud, and glory but grace brought to perfection and therefore believers, ‘with open face be- holding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord,’ 2 Cor. iii. 18. Thus effectual calling, as it rises from eternal love, so it makes the soul happy here and hereafter. – TB
WSC Q#32 – What benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this life?
WLC Q#61 – Are all they saved who hear the gospel, and live in the church?
WLC Q#62 – What is the visible church?
WLC Q#63 – What are the special privileges of the visible church?
WLC Q#64 – What is the invisible church?
WLC Q#65 – What special benefits do the members of the invisible church enjoy by Christ?
WLC Q#69 – What is the communion in grace which the members of the invisible church have with Christ?
WCF XXV – Of the Church
WCF XXVI – Of the Communion of Saints

WSC Q#33 – What is justification?
WLC Q#70 – What is justification?
WLC Q#71 – How is justification an act of God’s free grace?
WCF XI.I-VI- Of Justification

Doctrinal Heading – Sanctification
The Benefits of Redemption: Adoption and Sanctification
2 Cor. VI: 18. —And I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
THESE words do hold forth the singular privilege of those that obey the call of the gospel, ver. 17.—’ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.’ That call is not a call to separate from a church, but from those that are out of the church, ver. 14.’ Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?’ not only from outward visible communion with idolaters, but to separate from the unconverted to inward invisible communion with the family of God, ver 18. In a word, it is a call to come out of the world lying in wickedness, and to join the heavenly society.
… Thus the text proposes a great privilege of those that are effectually called, that is, adoption into the family of God – TB
WSC Q#34 – What is adoption?
WLC Q#74 – What is adoption?
WCF XII – Of Adoption

WSC Q#35 – What is sanctification?
WLC Q#75 – What is sanctification?
WLC Q#77 – Wherein do justification and sanctification differ?
WLC Q#78 – Whence ariseth the imperfection of sanctification in believers?
WCF XIII – Of Sanctification
WCF XVI – Of Good Works

WSC Q#36 – What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
WLC Q#79 – May not true believers, by reason of their imperfections, and the many temptations and sins they are overtaken with, fall away from the state of grace?
WLC Q#80 – Can true believers be infallibly assured that they are in the estate of grace, and that they shall persevere therein unto salvation?
WLC Q#81 – Are all true believers at all times assured of their present being in the estate of grace, and that they shall be saved?
WCF XVII – Of the Perseverance of the Saints
WCF XVIII – Of Assurance of Grace and Salvation

Doctrinal Heading – Benefits in Life – Death
Death and the Middle State
PHIL. 1:21 —To me—to die is gain.
ALL must die; but as men’s lives are very different, so their account in death also. To an ungodly man death is a loss, the greatest loss : but to a believer it is gain, the greatest gain. Paul was now a prisoner in Rome, and his case in itself was doubtful whether it would terminate in life or death, (though he was assured it would not be death at that time, ver. 25.) But having taken a view of both, he does in the text, in his own person, give us, (1.) The sum of a believers life, that is, Christ. As all the lines drawn from the circumference meet in the centre, so the whole of a believer’s life in Christ, his honour being the scope of all.
(2.) His estimate of a believer’s death; he will not be a loser, but a gainer by it- TB
WSC Q#37 – What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
WLC Q#82 – What is the communion in glory which the members of the invisible church have with Christ?
WLC Q#83 – What is the communion in glory with Christ which the members of the invisible church enjoy in this life?
WLC Q#84 – Shall all men die?
WLC Q#85 – Death, being the wages of sin, why are not the righteous delivered from death, seeing all their sins are forgiven in Christ?
WLC Q#86 – What is the communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death?
WLC Q#87 – What are we to believe concerning the resurrection?
WCF XXXII – Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead

Doctrinal Heading – Resurrection – Judgment
The Resurrection and the Judgment
HEB. 11:35 — That they might obtain a better resurrection.
IN this chapter the apostle brings in a cloud of witnesses to the truth and excellency of religion, and the power of faith, shewing the great things faith can do, and also can suffer. In this verse we have an instance of each kind. (1.) Faith got back the dead, in the case of Elijah and the widow of Serapta’s dead son, 1 Kings 17:22, 23 and of Elisha and the Shunamite’s son, 2 Kings 4:35, 36. Herein the faith of the prophets, and the faith of the women too, was active, though the former was more strong than the latter. (2.) Faith made constant martyrs, helped them to bear most cruel tortures even to death, refusing deliverance on sinful terms; which seems to respect the martyrs of the Jewish church under Antiochus Epiphanes. What carried them up was the faith of a better resurrection. Hence two things they had the faith of:
1. Of a resurrection, that thore would be a resurrection of the body; that they and their enemies, and all mankind, after death, would rise again.
2. Of a resurrection for themselves, better than that deliverance from death, which their enemies offered them.—They saw by an eye of faith a glorious resurrection abiding them and all the people of God, attended with so many glorious benefits as might counterbalance their heaviest sufferings. – TB
WSC Q#38 – What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
WLC Q#88 – What shall immediately follow after the resurrection?
WLC Q#89 – What shall be done to the wicked at the day of judgment?
WLC Q#90 – What shall be done to the righteous at the day of judgment?
WCF XXXIII – Of the Last Judgment

Doctrinal Heading – Moral Law and Man’s Duty
The Law of God; Christian Liberty
1 SAM. 15.22 — And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
THIS text is a reproof given to one that wore a crown, teaching him, that though he was Israel’s sovereign, he was God’s subject. Saul had been sent, by God’s express command, on an expedition against the Amalekites, with a solemn charge utterly to’ destroy all that they had, and spare them not; but to slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass,’ ver. 3. The expedition was crowned with success. Saul having destroyed all the people, took Agag their king prisoner, and saved the best of the cattle; and when quarrelled by Samuel for this his partial obedience to the heavenly mandate, he pretended that the people had spared the sheep and oxen, which had been devoted to destruction as well as the people, to sacrifice unto the Lord in Gilgal. The words of the text contain Samuel’s answer to this silly apology: Hath the Lord (says he) as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? importing, that obedience to the voice and will of God is more acceptable to him than all the sacrifices
in the world. – TB
WSC Q#39 – What is the duty which God requireth of man?
WLC Q#91 – What is the duty which God requireth of man?

WSC Q#40 – What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
WLC Q#92 – What did God at first reveal unto man as the rule of his obedience?
WLC Q#93 – What is the moral law?
WLC Q#94 – Is there any use of the moral law to man since the fall?
WLC Q#95 – Of what use is the moral law to all men?
WLC Q#96 – What particular use is there of the moral law to unregenerate men?
WLC Q#97 – What special use is there of the moral law to the regenerate?
WCF XIX.I & XXI.I – Of the Law of God – Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day

WSC Q#41 – Where is the moral law summarily comprehended?
WLC Q#98 – Where is the moral law summarily comprehended?
WLC Q#99 – What rules are to be observed for the right understanding of the Ten Commandments?
WLC Q#100 – What special things are we to consider in the Ten Commandments?
WCF XIX.II-VI – Of the Law of God

WSC Q#42 – What is the sum of the Ten Commandments?
WLC Q#102 – What is the sum of the four commandments which contain our duty to God?
WLC Q#122 – What is the sum of the six commandments which contain our duty to man?
WCF XX – Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience

Doctrinal Heading – Means of Grace – First Table
The Means of Grace: The Commandments: The First Table
Matt. 19:17. – If thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments.
THIS is Christ’s answer to a self-justiciary, who expected life by the works of the law. Christ, to convince him of his folly, sends him to the law, saying, If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. There are only two things which I take notice of here for our purpose. 1. That by the commandments are understood the ten commandments, ver. 18, where several of them are specified. 2. That under these commandments he comprehends the whole moral law; for this resolution of the young man’s question is founded on that. Gal. 3:12, ‘The man that doth them shall live in them;’ compared with ver. 10, ‘For as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse.’ The man had deceived himself in taking the commandments only according to the letter, and therefore thought he had kept them; but Christ finds him out new work in these commandments, which he had not thought of. – TB
WSC Q#43 – What is the preface to the Ten Commandments?WLC Q#101 – What is the preface to the Ten Commandments?

WSC Q#44 – What doth the preface to the ten commandments teach us?

WSC Q#45 – Which is the first commandment?
WLC Q#103 – Which is the first commandment?

WSC Q#46 – What is required in the first commandment?
WLC Q#104 – What are the duties required in the first commandment?

WSC Q#47 – What is forbidden in the first commandment?
WLC Q#105 – What are the sins forbidden in the first commandment?

WSC Q#48 – What are we specially taught by these words before me in the first commandment?
WLC Q#106 – What are we specially taught by these words before me in the first commandment?

WSC Q#49 – Which is the second commandment?
WLC Q#107 – Which is the second commandment?
WCF XXI – Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day

WSC Q#50 – What is required in the second commandment?
WLC Q#108 – What are the duties required in the second commandment?

WSC Q#51 – What is required in the second commandment?
WLC Q#109 – What are the duties required in the second commandment?

WSC Q#52 – What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?
WLC Q#110 – What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to enforce it?

WSC Q#53 – Which is the third commandment?
WLC Q#111 – Which is the third commandment?
WCF XXII.I – Of Lawful Oaths and Vows

WSC Q#54  – What is required in the third commandment?
WLC Q#112 – What is required in the third commandment?
WCF XXII.II – Of Lawful Oaths and Vows

WSC Q#55 – What is forbidden in the third commandment?
WLC Q#113 – What are the sins forbidden in the third commandment?
WCF XXII.III – Of Lawful Oaths and Vows

WSC Q#56 – What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?
WLC Q#114 – What reasons are annexed to the third commandment?
WCF XXII.IV – Of Lawful Oaths and Vows

WSC Q#57 – Which is the fourth commandment?
WLC Q#115 – Which is the fourth commandment?

WSC Q#58 – What is required in the fourth commandment?
WLC Q#116 – What is required in the fourth commandment?
WCF XXII.VII – Of Lawful Oaths and Vows

WSC Q#59 – Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?

WSC Q#60 – How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
WLC Q#117 – How is the Sabbath or the Lord’s day to be sanctified?
WLC Q#118 – Why is the charge of keeping the Sabbath more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors?
WCF XXI.VIII – Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day

WSC Q#61 – What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?
WLC Q#119 – What are the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment?

WSC Q#62 – What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
WLC Q#120 – What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to enforce it?
WLC Q#121 – Why is the Word Remember set in the beginning of the fourth commandment?

Doctrinal Heading – Means of Grace – Second Table
The Means of Grace: The Commandments: The Second Table
Exodus XX. 12.—Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
WE come now to the second table of the law, which teacheth us our duty to man, i. e. to ourselves and others. There are two parts of religion, piety towards God, comprehending our duty to God, immediately delivered in the four first commandments; righteousness, our duty to our neighbour, delivered in the last six. As God has set the four first commands to maintain his own worship and honour in the world; so he has covered man with the last six. The fifth command is a fence for him in his station, whatever it is; the sixth guards his life; the seventh is a fence to his chastity; the eighth, to his goods; the ninth, to his name; and the tenth, to all that is his. Over these hedges no man must break, under the pain of the Lawgiver’s displeasure.
Religion must run through the whole course of our conversation, and mix itself with all our actions, those that respect men! as well as those that respect God immediately. Therefore in vain do they pretend to religion, that make no conscience of their duty to men. Religion makes not a man only a good man but a good neighbour. And it is observable, that these duties are ordinarily made the trying point to professors of religion. And if ye have got any good of the late solemn occasion, ye will not only love God more, but love your neighbour more; not only grow in duties of piety towards God, but of righteousness to men, giving everyone their due, Micah vi. 6, 7, 8; Zech. viii. 16, 17; -Matt. xix. 18, 19; Rom. xiii. 8, 9, 10.  -TB
WSC Q#63  – Which is the fifth commandment?
WLC Q#123 – Which is the fifth commandment?
WLC Q#124 – Who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment?
WLC Q#125 – Why are superiors styled father and mother?

WSC Q#64 – What is required in the fifth commandment?
WLC Q#126 – What is the general scope of the fifth commandment?
WLC Q#127 – What is the honour that inferiors owe to their superiors?

WSC Q#65 – What is forbidden in the fifth commandment?
WLC Q#128 – What are the sins of inferiors against their superiors?
WLC Q#129 – What is required of superiors towards their inferiors?
WLC Q#130 – What are the sins of superiors?
WLC Q#131 – What are the duties of equals?
WLC Q#132 – What are the sins of equals?

WSC Q#66 – What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?
WLC Q#133 – What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment, the more to enforce it?

WSC Q#67 – Which is the sixth commandment?
WLC Q#134 – Which is the sixth commandment?
WCF XXIII – Of the Civil Magistrate

WSC Q#68 – What is required in the sixth commandment?
WLC Q#135 – What are the duties required in the sixth commandment?
WCF XXX – Of Church Censures

WSC Q#69 – What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?
WLC Q#136 – What are the sins forbidden in the sixth commandment?
WCF XXXI – Of Synods and Councils

WSC Q#70 – Which is the seventh commandment?
WLC Q#137 – Which is the seventh commandment?
WCF XXIV.I – Of Marriage and Divorce

WSC Q#71 – What is required in the seventh commandment?
WLC Q#138 – What are the duties required in the seventh commandment?
WCF XXIV.II & III – Of Marriage and Divorce

WSC Q#72 – What is required in the seventh commandment?
WLC Q#139 – What are the duties required in the seventh commandment?
WCF XXIV.IV-VI – Of Marriage and Divorce

WSC Q#73 – Which is the eighth commandment?
WLC Q#140 – Which is the eighth commandment?

WSC Q#74 – What is required in the eighth commandment?
WLC Q#141 – What are the duties required in the eighth commandment?

WSC Q#75 – What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?
WLC Q#142 – What are the sins forbidden in the eighth commandment?

WSC Q#76 – Which is the ninth commandment?
WLC Q#143 – Which is the ninth commandment?

WSC Q#77  – What is required in the ninth commandment?
WLC Q#144  – What are the duties required in the ninth commandment?

WSC Q#78 – What is forbidden in the ninth commandment?
WLC Q#145 – What are the sins forbidden in the ninth commandment?

WSC Q#79 – Which is the tenth commandment?
WLC Q#146 – Which is the tenth commandment?

WSC Q#80 – What is required in the tenth commandment?
WLC Q#147 – What are the duties required in the tenth commandment?

WSC Q#81 – What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
WLC Q#148 – What are the sins forbidden in the tenth commandment?

Doctrinal Heading – Of Man’s Inability to Keep the Law Perfectly
Man’s Free Agency and Ability; Guilt and its Degrees
Eccles. VVI. 20 – For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth
good, and sinneth not.
HAVING at considerable length endeavored to open up and explain the law of God, as abridged in the ten commandants, in some measure in Its spirituality and extent, by describing the several duties required, and sins forbidden therein; and shewn the absolute impossibility of yielding a perfect obedience thereto, in order to give a title to eternal life; and directed you to come to Christ by faith, as the end of the law for righteousness, that your guilt may be removed by the application of his blood to your consciences, and that ye may be sanctified by his Spirit: I now proceed to the exposition of the remaining questions in the Catechism, which I shall mostly discuss in a very short discourse on each, as I have been so long on the former part of this excellent composition.
Here is the undoubted character of all the human race, fixing imperfection and sinfulness on the best of the kind in this world, and so concluding all to be liable to sin, and under it. – TB
WSC Q#82 – Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?
WLC Q#149 – Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?

WSC Q#83 – Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?
WLC Q#150 – Are all transgressions of the law of God equally heinous in themselves, and in the sight of God?
WLC Q#151 – What are those aggravations that make some sins more heinous than others?

WSC Q#84 – What doth every sin deserve?
WLC Q#152 – What doth every sin deserve at the hands of God?

Doctrinal Heading – Faith and Repentance
 Repentance & Faith the Means there of.
Heb. ii. 3.—How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?
A SINNER having heard that sin deserves God’s wrath and curse, the question that natively follows is. What way one may escape them ? This is answered by the weighty question in the text. How shall we
escape, if we neglect so great salvation? Which we may take up in these two things. (1.) There is no escaping for sinners, if they neglect the great salvation; they perish without remedy. (2.) They that do not neglect it, shall surely escape. Here let us consider,
1. The danger sinners are in by their sin. They are in hazard of perishing under God’s wrath and curse; for that is the just recompense of every sin, Heb. ii. 2; of God’s wrath consuming them, and his curse binding them down under it forever. He intimates, that all are liable to God’s wrath and curse, while he says. How shall we escape, &c.
2.  The way how they may escape; namely, by not neglecting, but falling in with the great salvation. The words intimate, (1.) That there is a possibility of escaping; sinners are not shut up hopeless under the curse. (2.) The way of escape is not by fleeing from the Judge, and the execution of his sentence: nay, he is omniscient and omnipresent; one cannot outwit him, or get away from his sight, or out of his reach. Nor is it by resisting for he is omnipotent, and none can outbrave him, nor make head against him. But he may escape by falling in with the means of escape appointed by himself, and required by him to be made use of by us. He has provided us with a salvation, a great one; i.e. the gospel, which teaches the way of eternal salvation. He requires us, not to neglect it, but to improve it for our escape. It is neglected by unbelief, impenitency, and not using the means prescribed. On the contrary, then, he requires of us faith and repentance, which are the substance of the gospel. Acts xx. 21; ‘ testifying to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ;’ and he requires of us the use of the means by which the salvation held forth in the gospel is obtained, Prov. viii. 34; ‘ Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of ray doors:’ for surely, they neglect and slight the gospel, who do not believe, repent, or use the ordinary means of obtaining the salvation. – TB

WSC Q#85 – What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse, due to us for sin?
WLC Q#153 – What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us by reason of the transgression of the law?
Question #85- Illustrated by John Whitecross

WSC Q#86 – What is faith in Jesus Christ?
WLC Q#72 – What is justifying faith?
WLC Q#73 – How doth faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?
WCF XIV – Of Saving Faith.
WCF IX  – Of Free-Will.
Question #86- Illustrated by John Whitecross

WSC Q#87 – What is repentance unto life?
WLC Q#76 – What is repentance unto life?
WCF XV – Of Repentance unto Life.

Doctrinal Heading – Of Christ’s Ordinances
The Means of Grace: The Word.
Isa. xii. 3. – Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
THIS song looks to the days of the gospel, wherein Christ having come and purchased salvation, the tidings of it are carried through the world in the gospel, and it is communicated to Jews and Gentiles through the means of grace. Here we have,
1. A benefit to be had in the church, water, i.e. gospel grace, the benefits of Christ’s redemption, as suitable to needy, fainting souls, as water to the thirsty. See John iv. 14. and vii. 37.
2. The way of its communication to poor sinners. It is to be drawn out of the wells of salvation. These are gospel-ordinances, the wells in this valley of Baca for the life of souls, and refreshment of spiritual travelers. All the elect capable to draw, do draw out of them. This is the sense, whether the allusion be to the wells in the wilderness for the Israelites, or to the Jews fetching water out of the spring of Siloam at the feast of tabernacles in the night, with mirth and music, to the temple, and pouring it on the altar.
The text furnishes this doctrine.
Doct. ‘The Lord’s ordinances are the wells of salvation to the elect.’ Or, ‘The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption, are, his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.’ -TB

WSC Q#88 – What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption?
WLC Q#154 – What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of his mediation?

WSC Q#89 – How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
WLC Q#155 – How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
WLC Q#156 – Is the Word of God to be read by all?

WSC Q#90 – How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?
WLC – Q#157 How is the Word of God to be read?
WLC – Q#158 By whom is the Word of God to be preached?
WLC – Q#159 How is the Word of God to be preached by those that are called thereunto?
WLC – Q#160 How is the Word of God to be preached by those that are called thereunto?

Doctrinal Heading
The Sacraments The Means of Grace: The Sacraments – General.
1 Cor. xii. 13 – For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we he bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
I COME now to handle the questions in the Catechism concerning the sacraments. And the first of these is that touching the efficacy of these holy ordinances, which is one of the doctrines of this text, in which the apostle explains and confirms the doctrine of the mystical union betwixt Christ and his people from the two sacraments.
I explained this text at large, when speaking of the mystical union from it. I shall only consider it now, in so far as it relates to the sacraments. And so there is,
1. The number of the sacraments of the new Testament. These are two, viz. baptism, ‘ we are all baptized,’ &c. and the Lord’s Supper, called here drinking; the denomination being taken from the cup, as it is called breaking of bread, the name being taken from the bread therein used. Acts ii. 42. The former is the sacrament of our initiation into Christ, and union with him; the other, of our nourishment in, and communion with him.
2. The efficacy of these sacraments. They are effectual to salvation in those in whom they have their effect, they being united to Christ into one body, and partaking more and more of his Spirit, in those ordinances respectively which so secures their salvation from
sin, and wrath too.
3. To whom they are effectual. Not to all, but to believers only. We all, viz. who are members of Christ, ver. 11.
4. How they become effectual. Their efficacy is not from themselves, nor from the administrator, but from the Spirit of Christ. By one Spirit are we all baptized, &c. So their efficacy depends on the operation of the Holy Ghost in and by them; and to this is presupposed the blessing of Christ, since the Holy Spirit does not work with means unblessed by Jesus Christ. -TB
WSC – Q#91 How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
WLC – Q#161 How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
WCF XXVII.III – Of the Sacraments

WSC Q#92 – What is a sacrament?
WLC Q#162 – How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
WLC Q#163 – What are the parts of a sacrament?
WCF XXVII.1 Of the Sacraments
WCF XXVII.2 Of the Sacraments

WSC Q#93 – Which are the sacraments of the New Testament?
WLC Q#164 – How many sacraments hath Christ instituted in his church under the New Testament?
WCF XXVII.IV-V – Of the Sacraments

Doctrinal Heading
The Sacraments
Baptism The Means of Grace: The Sacraments – Baptism
Matt. xxviii. 19.—Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
In [this] text we have the institution of baptism. And herein consider,
1. The ordinance itself; baptizing in the name of the holy blessed Trinity. This is expressly instituted by Jesus Christ: Go ye there-
fore, and baptize, etc.
2. The administrators of baptism; ye apostles, and your successors, in ‘teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded. And lo I am with you always even to the end of the world.’
3. The subjects of baptism; all nations which are taught Gr. discipled, made disciples of Christ. First, they are to be discipled, and then baptized. -TB
WSC Q#94 – What is Baptism?
WLC Q#165  – What is Baptism?
WCF XXVIII.I-III  – Of Baptism

WSC Q#95 – To whom is Baptism to be administered?
WLC Q#16- Unto whom is Baptism to be administered?
WLC Q#167 – How is our Baptism to be improved by us?
WCF XXVIII.IV-VII – Of Baptism

Doctrinal Heading
The Sacraments
Lord’s Supper The Means of Grace: The Sacraments – The Lord’s Supper
1 Cor. xi. 23, 24, 25.—I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which
was betrayed, took bread ; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner, also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying. This cup h the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
These words afford us the answer to that question, ‘What is the sacrament of the Lord’s supper?’ and declare to us the nature of that holy ordinance which we are now in expectation of, and now falls to be explained? -TB

WSC Q#96 – What is the Lord’s Supper?
WLC Q#168 – What is the Lord’s Supper?
WLC Q#169 – How hath Christ appointed bread and wine to be given and received in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper?
WLC Q#170 – How do they that worthily communicate in the Lord’s Supper feed upon the body and blood of Christ therein?
WCF XXIX – Of the Lord’s Supper.

WSC Q#97 – What is required for the worthy receiving of the Lord’s Supper?
WLC Q#171 – How are they that receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to prepare themselves before they come unto it?
WLC Q#172 – May one who doubteth of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation, come to the Lord’s Supper?
WLC Q#173 – May any who profess the faith, and desire to come to the Lord’s Supper, be kept from it?
WLC Q#174 – What is required of them that receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in the time of the administration of it?
WLC Q#175 – What is the duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper?
WLC Q#176 Wherein do the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper agree?
WLC Q#177 – Wherein do the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper differ?

Doctrinal Heading
Prayer
The Means of Grace: Prayer
EPH. Vi:18.—Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance, and supplication
for all saints.
PRAYER is a duty of natural religion, and by God’s appointment is one of the chief means by which Christ communicates the benefits of redemption to sinners; and this important duty is enjoined in these words. In which we have,
1. The duty itself, praying. This is recommended and enjoined to all, as ever they would stand, and not be ruined by their spiritual enemies.
2. The amplification of this weighty subject; where notice,
(1.) The time of it, always, or at every season. We must always be in a praying frame, and miss no season wherein God calls for it, but in every season of prayer be praying, 2 Sam. ix:7.
(2.) The kinds of prayer, all prayer, i.e. all sorts of prayer, public, private, secret, ordinary, extraordinary, &c. petitioning prayer, for good things, here called prayer in a strict sense; supplicatory prayer, deprecating evils, called supplication.
(3.) The manner of prayer.
1. It must be in the Spirit; not with the lip, tongue, and memory only, but with the heart or inward man, or rather by the Spirit of God, with his assistance.
2. With watchfulness, keeping the soul in a wakerife disposition for it, and in it, that the heart wander not.
3. With all perseverance, continuing instant in it, whatever may occur to discourage us. -TB

WSC Q#98 – What is prayer?
WLC Q#178 – What is prayer?
WLC Q#179 – Are we to pray unto God only?
WLC Q#180 – What is it to pray in the name of Christ?
WLC Q#181 – Why are we to pray in the name of Christ?
WLC Q#182 – How doth the Spirit help us to pray?
WLC Q#183 – For whom are we to pray?
WLC Q#184 – For what things are we to pray?
WLC Q#185 – How are we to pray?

WSC Q#99 – What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?
WLC Q#186 – What rule hath God given for our direction in the duty of prayer?
WLC Q#187 – How is the Lord’s Prayer to be used?
WLC Q#188 – Of how many parts doth the Lord’s Prayer consist?

WSC Q#100 – What doth the preface of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?
WLC Q#189 – What doth the preface of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?

WSC Q#101 – What do we pray for in the first petition?
WLC Q#190 – What do we pray for in the first petition?

WSC Q#102 – What do we pray for in the second petition?
WLC Q#191 – What do we pray for in the second petition?

WSC Q#103 – What do we pray for in the third petition?
WLC Q#192 – What do we pray for in the third petition?

WSC Q#104 – What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
WLC Q#193 – What do we pray for in the fourth petition?

WSC Q#105 – What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
WLC Q#194 – What do we pray for in the fifth petition?

WSC Q#106 – What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
WLC Q#195 – What do we pray for in the sixth petition?

WSC Q#107 – What doth the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?
WLC Q#196 – What doth the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?