Westminster Larger Catechism (2024 Version) Questions 1 - 40

Updating the language of the WLC to a more modern and easier to understand english

1. What is the ultimate goal of humans?

The ultimate goal of humans is to honor God and fully enjoy being with Him forever.

2. How do we know that there is a God?

The simple truths we know naturally and the work God has done clearly show that there is a God. However, only His Word and Spirit can fully and effectively reveal Him to humans for their salvation.

3. What is the Word of God?

The Holy Scriptures, which include both the Old and New Testaments, are the Word of God. They are the only guide for what we believe and how we should live.

4. How do we know that the Scriptures are the Word of God?

The Scriptures show that they are the Word of God by their greatness and purity, by how all parts agree and their overall goal of giving glory to God. They also show their power to convince and change sinners, comfort, and build up believers for salvation. However, it is the Spirit of God, working with the Scriptures in a person's heart, that ultimately convinces them that the Scriptures are the Word of God.

5. What do the Scriptures mainly teach?

The Scriptures mainly teach what humans should believe about God and what responsibilities God gives to humans.

WHAT HUMANS SHOULD BELIEVE ABOUT GOD

6. What do the Scriptures reveal about God?

The Scriptures reveal who God is, the different persons within the Godhead, His plans, and how He carries out those plans.

7. Who is God?

God is a Spirit, infinite in existence, glory, happiness, and perfection. He is all-sufficient, eternal, unchanging, beyond human comprehension, everywhere present, all-powerful, all-knowing, supremely wise, completely holy, absolutely just, extremely merciful and gracious, very patient, and overflowing with goodness and truth.

8. Are there multiple gods?

There is only one God, who is alive and true.

9. How many persons are there in the Godhead?

There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one true and eternal God, sharing the same essence, equal in power and glory, but distinct in their personal roles.

10. What are the distinct roles of the three persons in the Godhead?

The Father's unique role is to be the one who generates the Son, the Son's unique role is to be generated by the Father, and the Holy Spirit's unique role is to come from both the Father and the Son, from all eternity.

11. How can we tell that the Son and the Holy Spirit are God, just like the Father?

The Scriptures show that the Son and the Holy Spirit are God, equal with the Father, by giving them names, attributes, actions, and worship that are meant only for God.

12. What are God's decrees?

God's decrees are the wise, free, and holy decisions that come from His will. These decrees have been set from eternity, determining everything that happens over time, especially concerning angels and humans.

13. What has God decreed specifically about angels and humans?

By an eternal and unchangeable decree, God has, out of pure love, chosen some angels for glory. In Christ, He has also chosen some people for eternal life and determined how that will happen. Additionally, according to His supreme power and mysterious will, He has chosen to pass over and foreordain others to dishonor and punishment for their sins, all for the glory of His justice.

14. How does God carry out His decrees?

God carries out His decrees through creation and providence, following His perfect foreknowledge and the free, unchangeable counsel of His will.

15. What is the work of creation?

The work of creation is when God, at the beginning, made the world and everything in it from nothing, using the power of His word. He did this for Himself, within six days, and everything was very good.

16. How did God create angels?

God created all angels as spirits that are immortal, holy, very knowledgeable, and powerful. They are meant to follow His commands and praise His name, but they are still subject to change.

17. How did God create humans?

After God created all other creatures, He made humans, male and female. He formed the man's body from the dust of the ground and the woman from the man's rib, giving them living, intelligent, and immortal souls. He made them in His image, with knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. They had God's law written in their hearts, the ability to follow it, and control over other creatures, but they were also capable of falling.

18. What are God's works of providence?

God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful ways of maintaining and governing all His creatures, guiding them and all their actions for His glory.

19. What is God's providence toward angels?

God allowed some angels to willfully and permanently fall into sin and damnation, while He kept the rest in holiness and happiness, using them as He pleased for His power, mercy, and justice. All of this serves to glorify Him.

20. What was God's providence toward humans in their original state?

God placed humans in paradise, tasked them with taking care of it, gave them the freedom to eat from the fruit of the earth, and put all creatures under their control. He ordained marriage to provide them with companionship, allowed them to commune with Him, instituted the Sabbath, and entered into a covenant of life with them, with the tree of life as a symbol. He also forbade them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, warning that disobedience would bring death.

21. Did humans remain in the state in which God originally created them?

No, our first ancestors, given the freedom of their own will, were tempted by Satan and disobeyed God's command by eating the forbidden fruit. Because of this, they fell from the state of innocence in which they were created.

22. Did all of humanity fall because of the first act of disobedience?

Yes, because the covenant was made with Adam as a representative not just for himself but for all his descendants, everyone who comes from him through ordinary birth sinned with him and fell along with him in that first act of disobedience.

23. What state did humanity fall into because of the disobedience?

The disobedience caused humanity to fall into a state of sin and misery.

24. What is sin?

Sin is any action or failure to act that doesn't meet God's law or violates it, given as a guide for all rational beings.

25. What is the essence of the sinful state into which humans fell?

The sinful state into which humans fell involves the guilt from Adam's first sin, the lack of the righteousness in which he was created, and the corruption of human nature. This makes people entirely inclined to evil and resistant to anything spiritually good, leading to ongoing sinful behavior. This is often called "original sin," from which all actual sinful actions emerge.

26. How is original sin passed from our first ancestors to their descendants?

Original sin is passed down from our first ancestors to their descendants through natural birth, so everyone born this way inherits sin.

27. What misery did the fall bring to humanity?

The fall caused humanity to lose its relationship with God and experience His displeasure and curse, making us naturally prone to His wrath, slaves to Satan, and deserving of all punishments in this world and the one to come.

28. What are the punishments for sin in this world?

The punishments for sin in this world can be internal, like spiritual blindness, reprobate feelings, strong delusions, hard-heartedness, guilty conscience, and corrupt desires; or external, like God's curse on creation, and other hardships that affect our bodies, reputations, relationships, jobs, and other areas of life, culminating in death itself.

29. What are the punishments for sin in the next world?

The punishments for sin in the world to come include everlasting separation from God's comforting presence and severe physical and spiritual torment without end in hellfire.

30. Does God leave all of humanity to perish in the state of sin and misery?

No, God doesn't leave everyone to perish in the state of sin and misery that resulted from the breaking of the first covenant, known as the covenant of works. Out of His love and mercy, He saves His chosen ones from this state and brings them into a state of salvation through a second covenant, known as the covenant of grace.

31. With whom was the covenant of grace made?

The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and through Him with all the chosen ones as His spiritual descendants.

32. How does God's grace manifest in the second covenant?

God's grace in the second covenant is shown in how He provides a mediator, life, and salvation to sinners freely. He requires faith as the condition for connecting with this mediator, promising and giving His Holy Spirit to all His chosen ones, to create faith and other saving graces in them. The Spirit also enables them to perform all holy acts of obedience, proving the authenticity of their faith, showing thankfulness to God, and following the path He has set for salvation.

33. Was the covenant of grace always carried out in the same way?

No, the covenant of grace was carried out differently under the Old Testament compared to the New Testament.

34. How was the covenant of grace carried out under the Old Testament?

Under the Old Testament, the covenant of grace was carried out through promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the Passover, and other types and rituals that all pointed to the coming of Christ. These were enough to build up faith in the promised Messiah and led to full forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation.

35. How is the covenant of grace carried out under the New Testament?

Under the New Testament, where Christ has already come, the covenant of grace is carried out through the preaching of the Word and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. In these, grace and salvation are presented with greater clarity, fullness, and effectiveness to all nations.

36. Who is the mediator of the covenant of grace?

The only mediator of the covenant of grace is Jesus Christ, who is the eternal Son of God, equal with the Father, and who became human at the right time. He remains both God and man, with two distinct natures in one person, forever.

37. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become human?

Christ, the Son of God, became human by taking on a real body and a reasonable soul. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, using her substance, and was born of her, without any sin.

38. Why did the mediator have to be God?

The mediator needed to be God to ensure that His human nature would not be overwhelmed by the infinite wrath of God and the power of death. Being God also gives value and effectiveness to His suffering, obedience, and intercession, allowing Him to meet God's justice, gain God's favor, acquire a special people, give His Spirit to them, conquer their enemies, and bring them to everlasting salvation.

39. Why did the mediator have to be human?

The mediator needed to be human to represent our nature, follow the law, suffer, and intercede for us. This way, He could understand our weaknesses, leading to our adoption as God's children and allowing us to approach God with confidence.

40. Why did the mediator have to be both God and human in one person?

The mediator needed to be both God and human in one person to reconcile God and humans. This way, the works of each nature could be accepted by God for us, and we could rely on them as the works of the whole person.