Baptist Catechism Q. 91-100

The Wages of Sin and the Need to Escape God’s Wrath

Keech's Catechism questions 91 through 100. Question 91. What does every sin deserve? Answer. Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life and in that which is to come. Question 92. What does God require of us that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?

Answer. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward and ordinary means by whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption.

Faith in Jesus Christ and Repentance Unto Life

Question 93. What is faith in Jesus Christ? Answer. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel. Question 94. What is repentance unto life?

Answer. Repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience.

The Outward and Ordinary Means of Redemption

Question 95. What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption? Answer. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the word, baptism, the Lord's Supper, and prayer, all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.

Question 96. How is the word made effectual to salvation? Answer. The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.

Question 97. How is the word to be read and heard that it may become effectual to salvation? Answer. That the word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer, receive it in faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as Effectual Means

Question 98. How do baptism and the Lord's Supper become effectual means of salvation? Answer. Baptism and the Lord's Supper become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them or in him that administers them, but only by the blessing of Christ and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them.

Question 99. Wherein do baptism and the Lord's Supper differ from the other ordinances of God? Answer. Baptism and the Lord's Supper differ from the other ordinances of God in that they were specially instituted by Christ to represent and apply to believers the benefits of the new covenant by visible and outward signs.

The Meaning of Baptism

Question 100. What is baptism? Answer. Baptism is a holy ordinance wherein the washing with the water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit signifies our engrafting into Christ and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace and our engagement to be the Lord's.