Question 11.What are God's works of providence?
Ans. God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.
Q. 11.1. What are the parts of God's providence?
A. The parts of God's providence are1. His preservation of things. "O Lord, thou preservest man and beast."Ps 36:6. 2. His government of things. "Thou shalt govern the nations upon the earth."Ps 67:4.
Q. 11.2. What is it for God to preserve things?
A. God preserveth things1. When he continueth and upholdeth them in their being. "O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven; thou hast established the earth, and it abideth; they continue this day according to thine ordinances."Ps 119:89-91. 2. When he maketh provision of things needful for their preservation. "The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing."Ps 145:15-16.
Q. 11.3. What is it for God to govern things?
A. God governeth things when he ruleth over them, disposeth and directeth them to his and their end. "He ruleth by his power for ever, his eyes behold the nations; let not the rebellious exalt themselves."Ps 66:7. "A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps."Prov 16:9.
Q. 11.4. What is the subject of God's providence?
A. The subject of God's providence is1. All his creatures, especially his children. "Upholding all things by the word of his power."Heb 1:3. "His kingdom ruleth over all."Ps 103:19. "One sparrow falleth not to the ground without your Father;ye are of more value than many sparrows."Matt 10:29,31. "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and if God clothe the grass of the field, shall he not much more clothe you?"Matt 6:26,28,30. 2. All the actions of his creatures. (1.) All natural actions. "In him we live and move."Acts 17:28, (2.) All morally good actions. "Without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5); that is, nothing that is good. (3.) All casual actions. "He that smiteth a man that he die, and lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand, I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee."Exod 21:12-13. (4.) All morally evil actions or sins.
Q. 11.5. How doth God's providence reach sinful actions?
A. 1. God doth permit men to sin. "Who in time past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways."Acts 14:16. "These things hast thou done, and I kept silence."Ps 50:21. 2. God doth limit and restrain men in their sins. "The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain."Ps 76:10. "Because thy rage against me is come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook into thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back," etc.2 Kings 19:28. 3. God doth direct and dispose men's sins to good ends, beyond their own intentions. "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, I will send him against an
hypocritical nation," (namely, to chastise it for its sin) "howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so," etc.Isa 10:5-7. "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to save much people alive."Gen 50:20.
Q. 11.6. What are the properties of God's providence?
A. 1. God's providence is most holy. "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works."Ps 145:17. 2. God's providence is most wise. "O Lord, how manifold are thy works!" (speaking of the works of providence, as well as creation) "in wisdom hast thou made them all."Ps 104:24. 3. God's providence is most powerful. "He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand."Dan 4:35. "He ruleth by his power for ever."Ps 66:7.
Question 12.What special act of providence did God exercise towards man in the estate wherein he was created?
Ans. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.
Q. 12.1. What is a covenant?
A. A covenant is a mutual agreement and engagement, between two or more parties, to give or do something.
Q. 12.2. What is God's covenant with man?
A. God's covenant with man is his engagement, by promise, of giving something, with a stipulation, or requiring something to be done on man's part.
Q. 12.3. How many covenants hath God made with man?
A. There are two covenants which God hath made with man1. A covenant of works; 2. A covenant of grace.
Q. 12.4. When did God enter into a covenant of works with man?
A. God did enter into a covenant of works with man immediately after his creation, when he was yet in a state of innocency, and had committed no sin.
Q. 12.5. What was the promise of the covenant of works which God made with man?
A. The promise of the covenant of works was a promise of life; for God's threatening death upon man's disobedience (Gen 2:17), implieth his promise of life upon man's obedience.
Q. 12.6. What life was it that God promised to man in the covenant of works?
A. The life that God promised to man in the covenant of works was the continuance of natural and spiritual life, and the donation of eternal life.
Q. 12.7. Wherein doth natural, spiritual, and eternal life consist?
A. 1. Natural life doth consist in the union of the soul and body. 2. Spiritual life doth consist in the union of God and the soul. 3. Eternal life doth consist in the perfect, immutable, and eternal happiness, both of soul and body, through a perfect likeness unto, and an immediate vision and fruition of God, the chief good.
Q. 12.8. What was the condition of the first covenant, and that which God required on man's part in the covenant of works?
A. The condition of, and that required by God on man's part, in the covenant of works, was perfect obedience. "The law is not of faith, but, The man that doeth them shall live in them" (Gal 3:12); compared with Gal 3:10: "As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."
Q. 12.9. In what respect was this obedience (required of man in the first covenant) to be perfect?
A. The obedience required of man in the first covenant was to be perfect1. In respect of the matter of it. All the powers and faculties of the soul, all the parts and members of the body, were to be employed in God's service, and made use of as instruments of righteousness. 2. It was to be perfect in respect of the principle, namely, habitual righteousness, and natural disposition and inclination to do any thing God required, without any indisposition
or reluctance, as the angels do obey in heaven. 3. It was to be perfect in respect of the end, which was chiefly to be God's glory, swaying in all actions. 4. It was to be perfect in respect of the mannerit was to be with perfect love and delight, and exactly with all the circumstances required in obedience. 5. It was to be perfect in respect of the timeit was to be constant and perpetual.
Q. 12.10. What is the prohibition, or the thing forbidden in the covenant of works?
A. The thing forbidden in the covenant of works, is the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. "And the Lord commanded, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it."Gen 2:16-17.
Q. 12.11. Why was this tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
A. Because man, by eating the fruit of this tree, did know experimentally what good he had fallen from, and had lost, namely, the image and favour of God; and what evil he was fallen into, namely, the evil of sin and misery.
Q. 12.12. What was the penalty or punishment threatened upon the breach of the covenant of works?
A. The punishment threatened upon the breach of the covenant of works, was death. "In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."Gen 2:17. "The wages of sin is death."Rom 6:23.
Q. 12.13. What death was it that God threatened as the punishment of sin?
A. The death which God threatened as the punishment of man's sin, was temporal death, spiritual death, and eternal death.
Q. 12.14. Wherein doth temporal, spiritual, and eternal death consist?
A. 1. Temporal death doth consist in the separation of the soul from the body; this man was liable unto in the day that he did eat of the forbidden fruit, and not before. 2. Spiritual death doth consist in the separation of the soul from God, and the loss of God's image; this death seized upon man in the moment of his first sin. 3. Eternal death
doth consist in the exclusion of man from the comfortable and beatifical presence of God in glory for ever, together with the immediate impressions of God's wrath, effecting most horrible anguish in the soul, and in the extreme tortures in every part of the body, eternally in hell.
Question 13.Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
Ans. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.
Q. 13.1. What is meant by the freedom of the will?
A. By the freedom of the will is meant, a liberty in the will of its own accord to choose or refuse; to do or not to do; to do this, or to do that, without any constraint or force from any one.
Q. 13.2. How many ways may the will be said to be free?
A. The will may be said to be free three ways. 1. When the will is free only to good; when the will is not compelled or forced, but freely chooseth only such things as are good. Thus, the will of God (to speak after the manner of men) is free only to good; he can neither do nor will any thing that is evil. Such also is the freedom of the wills of angels, and such will be the freedom of all the glorified saints in heaven; there neither is, nor will be, any inclination of the will unto any evil thing for ever, and yet goodwill be of free choice. 2. The will may be said to be free only unto evil, when the will is not constrained, but freely chooseth such things as are evil and sinful. Thus, the will of the devil is free only unto sin; and thus the wills of all the children of men in the world, whilst in a state of nature, are free only unto sin. 3. The will may be said to be free both unto good and evil, when it sometimes chooseth that which is good, sometimes chooseth that which is evil. Such is the freedom of the wills of all regenerate persons, who have in some measure recovered the image of God; they choose good freely, through a principle of grace wrought in them by the Spirit; yet,
through the remainder of corruption, at some times their wills are inclined to that which is sinful.
Q. 13.3. What freedom of will had man at his first creation?
A. The freedom of will which man had at his first creation, was a freedom both to good and evil. Though the natural inclination and disposition of his will was only to good, yet, being mutable or changeable, through temptation it might be altered, and might become inclinable unto evil.
Q. 13.4. How were our first parents left to the freedom of their own wills?
A. Our first parents were left by God to the freedom of their own wills, when God withheld that further grace (which he was nowise bound to give unto them) which would have strengthened them against the temptation, and preserved them from falling into sin.
Q. 13.5. How did our first parents fall, when they were left to the freedom of their own wills?
A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own wills, through the temptation of the devil, who spake unto them in the serpent; through the desirableness of the fruit of the forbidden tree to their sensual appetite; and through the desirableness of being made wise, and like unto God, by eating thereof, under their rational appetite; and through the hopes of escaping the punishment of death threatened by God; they did venture, against the express command of God, to eat of this tree. The woman being first beguiled and perverted by the devil, did eat; and then the man, being persuaded by his wife and the devil too, did eat also. "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat."Gen 3:4-6. "The serpent beguiled Eve, through his subtlety."2 Cor 11:3. "The woman being deceived, was in the transgression."1 Tim 2:14.
Q. 13.6. What was the state in which our first parents were created, from whence they fell?
A. The state wherein our first parents were created, and from whence they fell, was a state of innocency. "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions."Eccles 7:29.
Q. 13.7. Whereby did our first parents fall from the state wherein they were created?
A. Our first parents fell from the state wherein they were created, by sinning against God.
Question 14.What is sin?
Ans. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
Q. 14.1. What is meant by the law of God, which sin is a breach of?
A. By the law of God is meant the commandments which God, the Creator, and Supreme King, and Lawgiver, hath laid upon all the children of men, his creatures and subjects, as the rule of their obedience.
Q. 14.2. Where is the law of God to be found?
A. The law of God in some part of it, and more darkly, is to be found written upon the hearts of all men (Rom 2:15); but most plainly and fully it is to be found written in the Word of God.
Q. 14.3. How many kinds of laws of God are there in the Word of God?
A. 1. There is the judicial law, which concerned chiefly the nation of the Jews, and in every respect doth not bind all other nations. 2. There is the ceremonial law, which was in no part of it binding upon any, but for a time; namely, before the coming of Christ, who fulfilled this law, and abrogated it. 3. There is the moral law, written at first by God himself, on tables of stone; which is a standing rule of obedience unto the end of the world.
Q. 14.4. What is meant by want of conformity to the law of God?
A. By want of conformity to God's law, is meant, both
an unsuitableness and disagreeableness to the law, and a not observation, and not obedience to it.
Q. 14.5. What sins doth want of conformity to the law include?
A. The sins included in the want of conformity to the law of God, are1. Original sin, and that natural enmity in the heart against the law of God. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to his law, neither indeed can be."Rom 8:7. 2. All sins of omission. The former is a want of conformity of heart, the latter a want of conformity of life, to God's law.
Q. 14.6. What is it to transgress the law of God?
A. To transgress the law is to pass the bounds which are set in the law.
Q. 14.7. How doth it appear that the transgression of the law is sin?
A. It doth appear from 1 John 3:4: "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth the law; for sin is the transgression of the law."
Q. 14.8. Is nothing a sin, then, but what is against God's law?
A. Nothing is a sin but what God hath either expressly or by consequence forbidden in his law.
Question 15.What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
Ans. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.
Q. 15.1. Why did God forbid our first parents to eat of this fruit?
A. Not because there was any intrinsical evil in the fruit of the forbidden tree, it being as indifferent in itself to eat of this tree as any other tree in the garden; but God did forbid them to eat of the fruit of this tree, to try their obedience.
Q. 15.2. Could this sin, of eating the forbidden fruit, be very heinous, when the thing in itself was indifferent?
A. 1. Though the eating the fruit was indifferent in
itself, yet when so expressly forbidden by God it ceased to be indifferent, but was absolutely unlawful, and a great sin. 2. This sin of eating the forbidden fruit was such a sin as included many other sins, as it was circumstantiated.
Q. 15.3. What sins did the eating of the forbidden fruit include?
A. The sins included in our first parents' eating the forbidden fruit were1. Rebellion against God their sovereign, who had expressly forbidden them to eat of this tree. 2. Treason, in conspiring with the devil, God's enemy, against God. 3. Ambition, in aspiring to a higher state, namely, to be as God. 4. Luxury, in indulging so much to please the sense of taste, which did inordinately desire this fruit. 5. Ingratitude to God, who had given them leave to eat of any tree of the garden besides. 6. Unbelief, in not giving credit to the threatening of death, but believing the devil, who said they should not die, rather than God, who told them they should surely die, did they eat of this fruit. 7. Murder, in bringing death, by this sin, upon themselves, and all their posterity. These, and many other sins, were included in this sin of our first parents' eating of the forbidden fruit; which did render it exceeding heinous in the sight of God.
Question 16.Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?
Ans. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.
Q. 16.1. Did all mankind, without any exception, fall in Adam's first transgression?
A. No; for our Lord Jesus Christ, who was one of Adam's posterity, did not fall with Adam, but was perfectly free, both from original and actual sin. "For such an high priest became us, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners."Heb 7:26. "Who did no sin."1 Pet 2:22.
Q. 16.2. How was it that the Lord Jesus Christ escaped the fall with Adam?
A. Because our Lord Jesus descended from Adam by extraordinary generation, being born of a virgin. "Now the birth of Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."Matt 1:18.
Q. 16.3. Did all the posterity of Adam, besides Christ, fall in his first sin?
A. All the posterity of Adam, besides Christ, descending from him by ordinary generation, did fall in his first sin. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."Rom 5:12.
Q. 16.4. How could all the posterity of Adam, being then unborn, fall in his sin?
A. All the posterity of Adam were in him before they were born, and so they sinned in him, and fell with him. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."1 Cor 15:22.
Q. 16.5. How were all Adam's posterity in him when he first sinned?
A. 1. They were in him virtuallythey were in his loins; and as Levi is said to pay tithes in Abraham, when only in his loins (Heb 7:9), so Adam's posterity sinned in his loins. 2. They were in him representatively; Adam was the common head and representative of all mankind.
Q. 16.6. What reason is there that the posterity of Adam should fall with Adam their representative?
A. Because the covenant of works, wherein life was promised upon condition of obedience, was made with Adam, not only for himself, but also for his posterity; therefore, as if Adam had stood, all his posterity had stood with him; so Adam falling, they all fell with him.
Q. 16.7. How could Adam be the representative of all his posterity, when there was none of them in being to make choice of him for their representative?
A. 1. It was more fit Adam should be the representative of his posterity than any one else, being the father of them all. 2. Though they did not choose him for their representative,
yet God did choose him; and God made as good a choice for them as they could have made for themselves.
Question 17.Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
Ans. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
Question 18.Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
Ans. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
Q. 17&18.1. How many sorts of sin are there which denote the sinfulness of the estate of man by the fall?
A. There are two sorts of sin, namely, original sin and actual sin.
Q. 17&18.2. Wherein doth original sin consist?
A. Original sin doth consist in three things. 1. In the guilt of Adam's first sin. 2. In the want of original righteousness. 3. In the corruption of the whole nature.
Q. 17&18.3. How are all the children of men guilty of Adam's first sin?
A. All the children of men are guilty of Adam's first sin by imputation: as the righteousness of Christ, the second Adam, is imputed unto all the spiritual seed, namely, to all believers; so the sin of the first Adam is imputed to all the natural seed which came forth of his loins. "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."Rom 5:19.
Q. 17&18.4. What is included in the want of original righteousness?
A. The want of original righteousness doth include1. Want of true spiritual knowledge in the mind. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God;
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."1 Cor 2:14. 2. Want of inclination and power to do good; and want of all spiritual affections in the will and heart. "In me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing; ... but how to perform that which is good I find not."Rom 7:18.
Q. 17&18.5. Is the want of original righteousness a sin?
A. Yes; because it is a want of conformity to the law of God, which requireth original and habitual righteousness, as well as actual.
Q. 17&18.6. If God withhold this original righteousness, is not he the author of sin?
A. No; because though man be bound to have it, yet God is not bound to restore it when man hath lost it; and it is not a sin, but a punishment of the first sin, as God doth withhold it.
Q. 17&18.7. How could the souls of Adam's posterity, not yet created, nor having relation to Adam, be justly deprived of original righteousness?
A. The souls of Adam's posterity never had a being without relation of Adam; they being created in the infusion and conjunction of them to their body, and, through their relation to the common head, partake justly of the common punishment.
Q. 17&18.8. Wherein doth consist the corruption of the whole nature of man?
A. The corruption of the nature of man doth consist in the universal depravation which is in every part of man since the fall. 1. In the darkness and defilement of the mind. "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord."Eph 5:8. And, "The minds and consciences of the unbelieving are defiled."Titus 1:15. 2. In the crookedness and enmity of the heart and will against God and his law. "The carnal mind" (that is, the carnal heart) "is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."Rom 8:7. As also in the inclination of the heart unto sin, and the worst of sins, there being the seed of all manner of sins in the heart, as it is corrupted with original sin. "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies."Matt 15:19. 3. In the disorder and distemper of the affections, all of them being naturally set upon wrong objects through this inherent corruption. 4. The members also of the body are infected, being ready weapons and instruments of unrighteousness.Rom 6:13.
Q. 17&18.9. How is the corruption of nature conveyed, then, to all the children of men?
A. 1. It is not from God, who is the author of all good, but of no evil; for though he withhold original righteousness, yet he doth not infuse original corruption. 2. It is conveyed by natural generation, in the union and conjunction of soul and body; the soul, being destitute or void of original righteousness, is infected with this corruption, as liquor is tainted which is put into a tainted vessel: but the way of its conveyance is one of the most difficult things in divinity to understand.
Q. 17&18.10. Have we reason to deny this original corruption, because we have not reason clearly to understand the way of its conveyance?
A. No; because1. The Scripture doth assert that our natures, since the fall, are corrupt. "Adam" (though made after the likeness of God) "begat a son after his own likeness" (Gen 5:3); that is, with a corrupt nature. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh."John 3:6. "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."Ps 51:5. "You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins."Eph 3:1. 2. Experience doth tell us, that in every one there is a natural antipathy to good, and proneness to evil: therefore, as when a man's house is on fire, it is greater wisdom to endeavour to quench it than to inquire how it was set on fire; so it is greater wisdom to endeavour the removal of this natural corruption, than to inquire how it was conveyed.
Q. 17&18.11. Do not sanctified persons beget children without natural corruption?
A. No; because parents that are sanctified are sanctified but in part, their nature remaining in part corrupt; and they beget children according to their nature, and not
according to their grace; as the winnowed corn that is sown groweth up with husks upon it, or as the circumcised Jews did beget uncircumcised children in the flesh as well as the heart.
Q. 17&18.12. Why is this sin called original sin?
A. Because we have it from our birth or original, and because all our actual transgressions do proceed from it.
Q. 17&18.13. What is actual sin?
A. Actual sin is any breach of God's law, either of omission or commission; either in thought, heart, speech, or action. Of which more in the commandments.
Question 19.What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
Ans. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.
Q. 19.1. Wherein doth man's misery by the fall consist?
A. Man's misery by the fall doth consist in three things. 1. In what man hath lost. 2. In what man is brought under. 3. In what man is liable unto.
Q. 19.2. What hath man lost by the fall?
A. Man by the fall hath lost communion with God.
Q. 19.3. Wherein did the communion with God consist which man by the fall hath lost?
A. The communion with God which man by the fall hath lost consisted in the gracious presence and favour, together with the sweet fellowship and enjoyment, of God in the garden of Eden. This, man by the fall was deprived of; and all his posterity, whilst in their fallen estate, are without. "And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. And the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden; and so drove out the man."Gen 3:8,23-24. "At that time we were without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world."Eph 2:12.
Q. 19.4. Is the loss of communion with God a great misery and loss?
A. Yes; because God is our chief good, and in communion with him doth consist man's chiefest happiness; therefore the loss of communion with God is man's greatest loss.
Q. 19.5. What is man brought under by the fall?
A. By the fall, man is brought under God's wrath and curse. "And were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."Eph 2:3. "As many as are of the works of the law" (that is, all who are under the covenant of works, as all unbelievers are), "are under the curse."Gal 3:10.
Q. 19.6. Is it a great misery to be under God's wrath and curse?
A. Yes; because as his favour is better than life, so his wrath and displeasure is worse than death. His blessing maketh man blessed and happy; his curse maketh man wretched and miserable.
Q. 19.7. What is that punishment which man is liable unto by the fall?
A. Man is liable, by the fall1. Unto all miseries in this life. 2. To death itself. 3. To the pains of hell for ever.
Q. 19.8. What are the miseries in this life which man is liable unto by the fall?
A. The miseries in this life which man is liable unto by the fall, are either external, or internal and spiritual.
Q. 19.9. What are the external miseries of this life which the fall hath brought upon mankind?
A. All the external miseries which either are or have been in the world, are the effects of the fall; and sin doth expose men to all sorts of miseries. 1. To more public and general calamities; such as pestilence, famine, sword, captivity, and the like. "I will send upon you famine and pestilence, and bring the sword upon thee."Ezek 5:17. 2. Sin doth expose men unto more private and particular miseries, such as(1.) All sorts of sickness in their bodies. "The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning," etc.Deut 28:22. (2.) Losses of their estates. "Thou shalt build an house, but thou shalt not dwell therein; thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather
the grapes thereof."Deut 28:30. (3.) Reproach and disgrace on their names. "Thou shalt become a proverb and a byword."Deut 28:27. (4.) Losses of relations, and every other external affliction and misery men are liable unto in this life for their sins.
Q. 19.10. What are the internal and spiritual miseries which men are liable unto in this life by the fall?
A. Men by the fall are liable1. To the thraldom of the devil, to be led about by him at his will. "And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."2 Tim 2:26. 2. To judiciary blindness of mind, and a reprobate sense. "God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear."Rom 11:8. "Because they liked not to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind."Rom 1:8. 3. To judiciary hardness of heart, and searedness and benumbedness of conscience. "Whom he will he hardeneth."Rom 9:18. "Having their conscience seared as with a hot iron."1 Tim 4:2. "Who being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.Eph 4:19. 4. To vile actions. "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: and they burned in their lust one towards another, working that which is unseemly."Rom 1:26-27. 5. To strong delusions, and belief of damnable errors. "God shall send them strong delusions, to believe a lie; that they all might be damned that believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."2 Thess 2:11-12. 6. To distress and perplexity of mind, dread and horror of spirit, and despairful agonies, through the apprehension of certain future wrath. "There remaineth nothing but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversary."Heb 10:27.
Q. 19.11. What is the punishment which man by the fall is liable unto at the end of his life?
A. Man by the fall at the end of his life, is liable unto death itself. "Death passed upon all, for that all have sinned."Rom 5:12. "The wages of sin is death."Rom 6:23.
Q. 19.12. Is death a punishment unto all upon whom it is inflicted?
A. 1. Though death be the consequent of sin in all, yet to believers, through Christ, it is unstinged, and it is an outlet from misery, and an inlet to glory. 2. Death, to the wicked and unbelievers, is a dreadful punishment, being a king of terrors, and grim sergeant, that is sent by God to arrest the wicked, and convey them into future misery.
Q. 19.13. What is the punishment which man by the fall is liable unto in the other world?
A. The punishment which man by the fall is liable unto in the other world, is the punishment of hell for ever.
Q. 19.14. Wherein doth consist the punishment of hell?
A. The punishment of hell doth consist1. In the punishment of loss. 2. In the punishment of sense.
Q. 19.15. What will be the punishment of loss in hell?
A. The punishment of loss in hell, will be a banishment from the comfortable presence of God, and an exclusion or shutting out from heaven; where the saints will have a fulness and eternity of joy and happiness. "Depart from me, ye cursed."Matt 25:41. "Ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out."Luke 13:28. "In thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."Ps 16:11.
Q. 19.16. What will be the punishment of sense in hell?
A. The punishment of sense in hell, will be both on the soul and on the body. 1. The souls of the wicked in hell will be filled with horror and anguish through the strokes of God's immediate vengeance, and the bitings of the never-dying worm of conscience. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."Heb 10:31. "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."Mark 9:44. 2. The bodies of the wicked in hell will be most grievously tormented in every part and member, and that both in extremity and to eternity. "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."Matt 25:41. "The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather
out of his kingdom all them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."Matt 13:41-42.
Question 20.Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
Ans. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter 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.
Q. 20.1. Do all mankind perish in the estate of sin and misery into which they are fallen?
A. No; for some God doth bring out of this estate of sin and misery into an estate of salvation. "Being in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which to them is an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God."Phil 1:28.
Q. 20.2. Whom doth God bring into an estate of salvation?
A. God doth bring all his elect people into an estate of salvation, unto which he hath chosen them. "God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation."2 Thess 2:3.
Q. 20.3. Who are the elect people of God?
A. The elect people of God are those whom, from all eternity, out of his mere good pleasure, he hath chosen unto everlasting life. "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, according to the good pleasure of his will."Eph 1:4-5. "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed."Acts 13:48.
Q. 20.4. By whom doth God bring his elect into an estate of salvation?
A. God doth bring his elect into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer. "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."Acts 4:12.
Q. 20.5. In what way doth God bring his elect into an estate of salvation?
A. God doth bring his elect into an estate of salvation in the way of his covenant.
Q. 20.6. By virtue of which covenant of God is it that his elect are saved?
A. 1. Not by virtue of the covenant of works. "As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law."Gal 3:10,21. 2. It is by virtue of the covenant of grace that the elect are saved.
Q. 20.7. With whom was the covenant of grace made?
A. As the covenant of works was made with the first Adam, and all his posterity, so the covenant of grace was made with Christ, the second Adam, and in him with all the elect, as his seed, which are the Israel of God. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made," (that is, not the promises of making all nations blessed.) "He saith not, Unto seeds; as of many but as of one, To thy seed, which is Christ."Gal 3:16. "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel."Heb 8:10.
Q. 20.8. Was it the same covenant which was made with Christ and the elect?
A. No; for there was a covenant which God made with Christ as Mediator, and the representative of the elect, which was the foundation of all that grace which was afterwards promised in that covenant of grace which he made with ourselves in and through Christ.
Q. 20.9. What was the covenant which God made with Christ as the head and representative of the elect?
A. God did covenant and promise to Christ, as the representative of the elect, that, upon condition he would submit to the penalty which the sins of the elect did deserve, and undertake in all things the office of a Mediator, he should be successful, so as to justify and save them. "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. And by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many."Isa 53:10-11.
Q. 20.10. Was this a covenant of grace which God made with Christ, when it required perfect obedience?
A. It was a covenant of grace in reference to the elect, whom Christ did represent; since hereby the obedience was accepted at the hands of their representative which the covenant of works required of themselves. "Who hath saved us, according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."2 Tim 1:9.
Q. 20.11. What are the promises of the covenant of grace which God hath made with the elect through Christ?
A. The promises of the covenant of grace, which God hath made with the elect, through Christ, are either more general or more particular. 1. More generally, God hath promised to the elect, through Christ, "that he will be to them a God, and they shall be to him a people."Heb 8:10. These two promises are so general and comprehensive, that they include all the rest. The promise that "he will be to them a God," doth include his special favour and affection, together with all the expressions of it, in taking care of them, and making provision of all temporal and spiritual good things for them here, and giving them eternal life and happiness in the other world. The promise that "they shall be to him a people," doth include the giving them all those gifts and qualifications which are requisite to that estate and relation. 2. More particularly, God, in the covenant of grace, hath promised to the elect through Christ(1.) Illumination; that he will teach them the knowledge of himself, and that more fully and clearly than they had been, or could be, taught one by another. "They shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest."Heb 8:11. (2.) Remission; that he will forgive their sins. "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."Heb 8:12. (3.) Sanctification. "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their heart."Heb 8:10. There are also other promises of sanctification which belong to this covenant. "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh; and I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes; and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."Ezek 36:25-27.
Q. 20.12. What is the condition of the covenant of grace?
A. The condition of the covenant of grace, whereby the elect have an actual interest in the things promised, is faith; by which they have an interest in Christ. "Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."John 3:16. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."Acts 16:31.
Q. 20.13. Why is the covenant with the elect called the covenant of grace?
A. Because not only the things promised to the elect are grace, or the free gifts of God, which they do not in the least deserve; but also because faith (the condition of this covenant, whereby the promises are made theirs) is God's gift and work, wrought in them by his Spirit, which in his covenant he promiseth unto them. "By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."Eph 2:8. "You are risen through the faith of the operation of God."Col 2:12.
Q. 20.14. Was the covenant which God made with the children of Israel of old a covenant of works, or a covenant of grace?
A. The covenant which God made of old with the children of Israel was not a covenant of works, but the same covenant of grace, as to the substance of it, which is made known in the gospel. For1. It was impossible that any of the fallen children of Adam should be justified and saved by the covenant of works. "By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."Gal 2:16. 2. The children of Israel had the same Mediator of the covenant, and Redeemer, which the people of God have now, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was typified by Moses, and by the sacrifices under the law. 3. They had the same promises of remission and salvation. 4. They had the same condition of faith required to enable them to look to and lay hold on Christ, held forth to them in types and figures.
Q. 20.15. Wherein doth the dispensation of the covenant
of grace under the gospel differ from the dispensation of it under the law?
A. The dispensation of the covenant of grace under the gospel doth differ from the dispensation of it under the law1. In regard of the easiness of the covenant under the gospel. Under the law it was burdensome; and ceremonial rites and services required are called a "yoke of bondage" (Gal 5:1); which yoke is now removed. 2. In regard of the clearness of the dispensation under the gospel. Under the law, Christ was not yet come, but was held forth in types, and figures, and dark shadowsand the promises, especially of eternal life, were more obscure; but now the shadows are fled, Christ the substance being come, and life and immortality are brought more clearly to light by the gospel.2 Tim 1:10. 3. In regard of the power and efficacy. There was a weakness in the legal dispensation, and therefore a disannulling of it.Heb 7:18. Under the gospel there is a more powerful influence of the Spirit, which is promised more plentifully.Acts 2:17. 4. In regard of the extent of it. The legal dispensation was confined to the nation of the Jews; whereas the gospel dispensation doth extend to the Gentiles, and every nation. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."Mark 16:15.