cient of holiness, Gal. iii. 2; and faith is wrought in the soul, as the spring and fountain thereof, chap. v. 6. Q. 16. Why doth God front his law with this grant of himself as the Lord our God? A. It is in these words: [which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt,out of the house of bondage.] Q. 21. How are these words explained in our Catechism? A. Of our spiritual redemption by Jesus Christ: for, [the preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, That because God is the Lord, and our God and REDEEMER, therefore we are bound to keep all hie A. Because it is comprehensive of all the promises of the covenant, and of the blessings that are wrapt up in them, and therefore the best encouragement to the commandments.] obedience of faith; for, because he is our God, he will give us one heart, and one way; he will not turn away from us to do us good, but will put his fear in our hearts, that we shall not depart from him, Jer. xxxii. 38, 39, 40. Q. 17. Why doth God make this declaration of his grace in the present time [I AM] and not in the future, I WILL BE thy God? A. To show that God's covenant of promise is always a solid ground and foundation for the present actings of faith, in every case and circumstance whereiu we can be situate, James ii. 23. Q. 18. Why doth God, in this grant, address the sinner in the singular number, I am [THY] God? A. That every individual sinner, to whom the revelation of his grace doth come, should believe it with a particular applicatory faith, Zech. xiii. 9. “I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is MY GOD." Q. 19. How may we know, if ever we have, by faith, received the offer and grant that God makes of himself in the word? Q. 22. Wherein lies the strength of this argument, for enforcing our obedience to the commands of God? A. It lies in this, That as he brought Israel of old out of their bondage in Egypt, so he delivereth us out of our spiritual thraldom: and therefore we should "serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life," Luke i. 74, 75. Q. 23. In what respects did the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt resemble our spiritual redemption by Christ? A. The Israelites were made to serve the Egyptians with rigour, Exod. i. 14; so sinners by nature, are under the most cruel bondage and servitude to sin and Satan, 2 Pet. iii, 19: the Israelites were not able of themselves to shake off the Egyptian yoke, Exod. ii. 23; no more are sinners of mankind capable to extricate themselves from a state of spiritual slavery in which they are naturally inthralled, Rom. v. 6: the Israelites were brought out of Egypt, with A. By our love and esteem of a strong hand and a stretched out him, Exod. xv. 2.; by our repos-arm, Psal. cxxxvi. 12; so are we ing entire trust and confidence in out of our spiritual thraldom, him, Psal. xviii. 2.; by our like- by the mighty power of God, ness and conformity to him, 1 John Psal. cx. 2, 3: the Egyptians were iii. 3.; aad by our longing after destroyed, when Israel were dethe full fruition and enjoyment of livered, Exod. xiv. 28; so prinhim, Psal. lxxiii. 25. cipalities and powers were spoiled, Col. ii. 15. transgression finished, Dan. ix. 24. and death unstinged, 1 Cor. xv. 55. when our Q. 20. What is the THIRD ARGUMENT, in the Preface, for enforcing our obedience? Q. 24. Seeing the deliverance of Israel, which was typical of our spiritual deliverance, was brought about by divine power without the payment of a price, will it follow, that our spiritual redemption was without a price also? A. By no means; unless the similitude betwixt the type and the antitype did hold in every respect, which it cannot possibly do: for, though there be a resemblance betwixt them in some things, yet there is always a disparity in others; as might be made evident in every one of the scripture types and metaphors, whereunto divine things are compared: for instance, Jonah was alive in the whale's belly, whereas Christ was actually dead in the grave. more extensive than the other, John xvii. 24. "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." Q. 28. How then are these scriptures to be explained, which seem to speak of an universal purchase of all mankind; such as that Christ died for all, 2 Cor. v. 15; that he tasted death for every man, Heb. ii. 3; that he is the propitiation for the sins of the world, 1 John ii. 2; and the like? A. They are to be explained in a limited sense, of some only, and not of every individual of mankind; as the like general terms are undoubtedly to be understood in other places of scripture; such as Col. i. 6. and Rev. xiii. 3; for, if it is alleged that the above scripture expressions prove an universal purchase, it may be said, with the same parity of reason, that they prove an universal application thereof, which few will as Q. 25. Since God brought all the Israelites without exception, out of Egypt, doth it not from thence follow, that Christ redeem- sert. ed all mankind from their spiritual bondage? A. No; because the Israelites did not typify and represent all mankind, but the elect only, Psal. CXXXV. 4. Q. 26. How do you prove that the elect only, and not all mankind, were redeemed by Christ? Q. 29. Doth not the universal offer of Christ prove the universal redemption of all, at least, within the visible church? A. No: it only proves the unquestionable duty of all to believe, upon the call and command of God, 1 John iii.23; and the infinite intrinsic worth of the satisfaction of Christ for the salvation of all, if it had been so designed, chap. iv. 14. A. From the Father's gift of them to him from eternity, John xvii. 6; from his representing them in his death, John x. 11; and Q.-30. Doth the redemption from his intercession within the veil purchased by Christ bring any for them only, John xvii. 9. "Ibenefit or advantage to the repropray for them; I pray not for the bate world? world, but for them which thou hast given me." Q. 27. Are the purchase and intercesssion of Christ precisely of the same extent? A. Surely they are; for, his intercession being founded on his purchase, and consisting in a presenting of the merit thereof before the throne, Heb. ix. 24. it clearly follows that the one can be no A. It is owing thereunto that the gospel is sent among them, John iv. 4: that temporal judgments are shortened, Mark xiii. 20; and it is on account of the elect who are to spring of them, that they are preserved for a while in this world, Rom. xi. 30; but then these, or the like benefits, are not to be considered as the fruit of Christ's purchase to the reprobate themselves, but to the elect only, who are living among them, 2 Cor. iv. 15. or, who are to descend from them, Isa. vi. 13. Q. 31. Wherein consists the spiritual bondage we are naturally under, and redeemed from by Christ? A. It consists in our being under the wrath of God, John iii. 18; the guilt, power, and pollution of sin, Rom. viii. 7; the tyranny of Satan, Eph. ii. 2; the snares and temptations of the world, 1 John ii. 16; and in our liableness to the pains of hell for ever, Mat. XXV. 46. Q. 32. What right had Christ to be our Redeemer from this state of spiritual bondage? A. He had a right of property, and a right of propinquity. Q. 33. How had he a right of property? A. As he is God, he is the original owner, Rom. ix. 21; and as he is Mediator, he has the elect gifted unto him by his Father, John xvii. 6. Q. 34. How hath he a right of propinquity? A. He hath it by the legal union which subsisted betwixt him and us from eternity, in virtue of his being made a surety of a better testament, Heb. vii. 22; and by the assumption of our nature in time, whereby he became our kinsman, and is not ashamed to call us brethren, Heb. ii. 11, 12. Q. 35. What doth God's delivering Israel out of the land of Egypt teach us, with respect to his church and people in general? A. It teacheth us, that as affliction is the lot of the Lord's people, in this present evil world, so deliverance therefrom is secured in due time, Psal. xxxiv. 19. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." Q. 36. What is the difference betwixt the afflictions of the godly, and those of the wicked? A. The afflictions of the godly are the chastisements of a gracious Father, flowing from love, and designed for their profit, Heb. xii. 6, 10; but the afflictions of the wicked are the punishments of an avenging Judge, flowing from wrath, and designed for their ruin and destruction, Eccl. v. 17. Q. 37. What improvement ought we to make of our spiritual redemption? A. it should excite us to "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and not to be entangled again with the yoke of bondage," Gal. v. 1; to ascribe all the praise of our spiritual liberty to our glorious Deliverer, Rev. i. 5, 6; and to testify our gratitude and thankfulness to him, by a conversation becoming the gospel, Phil. i. 27. QUEST. 45. Which is the first commandment? ANS. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. QUEST. 46. What is required in the first commandment? ANSW. The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly. Q. 1. Why are most part of the commands of the law delivered in negative terms? A. Because negative precepts are of the strictest obligation, binding always, and at all times. Q. 2. Why is the 'first commandment, in particular, so expressed? A. Because of the perpetual propensity of our natures, since the fall, to depart from the living God, through an evil heart of unbelief, Heb. iii. 12. the promise in the preface is revealed, is obliged, by the command, to believe it, with application, John iii. 18. Q. 8. Can the obligation of the law be in the least weakened by the grace of the gospel, published in the preface? A. So far from it, that it is impossible for any man to share of the grace of the gospel published in the preface, but in a way of believing, enjoined in the first command of the law, Rom. iii, 31. Q. 3. Why is this commandment set in the front of all the rest? A. To teach us, that the having JEHOVAH to be our God, is the leading and fundamental duty of the law, Exod. xv. 2; which sweetly and powerfully influences "Do we make void the law obedience to all the other com- through faith? God forbid." mands of it, Psal. cxviii. 28. Q. 4. What influence has obedience to the first, upon obedience to the other precepts of the law? A. As obedience to the first commandment, is to believe that God is our God, upon the gift of himself to us, in these words, [I am the Lord thy God]; so, without believing this it is impossible we can do any thing else that will please him, Heb. xi, 6; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin, Rom. xiv. 23. Q. 9. What are the chief duties required in the first commandment, as thus connected with the preface? A. [To know and acknowledge God, to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly]. Q. 10. What KNOWLEDGE of God doth the first commandment require? A. It requires us to know that God is; and that he is such a God as he hath manifested himself to be in his word, Heb. xi. 6. Q.11. What hath God mani Q. 5. Why do this, and other commands, run in the second per-fested himself to be in his word? son singular, THOU, and not in the plural, you, or YE? A. He hath manifested himself to be, "The Lord, the Lord God A. To signify, that God would merciful and gracious, long sufferhave us to take his command-ing, and abundant in goodness ments, as spoken to each of us in particular, as if we were mentioned by name. Q. 6. What is the connection betwixt the preface and the first commandment? A. The preface reveals and exhibits the object of faith, and the first commandment enjoins the duty of believing on that object: the one makes a grant of grace; and the other warrants us to lay hold on it. Q.7. Are the preface and first commandment of equal extent? A. Yes: every one to whom and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and that he will by no means clear the guilty," namely, without a satisfaction, Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7; or, he hath manifested himself to be in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, 2 Cor. v. 19. Q. 12. What is it to [know] God as he is in Christ? A. It is to know that he is well pleased for Christ's righteousness sake, because he has magnified the law, and made it honourable, Isa. xlii. 21. Q. 13. How is the knowledge of God usually distinguished? A. Into speculative or common, and practical or saving knowledge. Q. 14. What is the speculative or common knowledge of God? A. It is only a floating knowledge of him in the head, without any saving influence or efficacy upon the heart and practice: as is to be found in ungodly persons or hypocrites, who may "profess that they know God, but in works they deny him," Tit. i. 16. Q. 15. What is it to have a sav ing and practical knowledge of him? A. It is to have such a lively apprehension of his relation to us, as our God in Christ, as is accompanied with an habitual conformity to his will, in heart and life, 1 John ii. 3, 4. Q. 16. What are the evidences of true saving knowledge? A. It is an experimental, Col. i. 6. interesting, Psal. xli. 11. sanctifying, 2 Pet. i. 8. and humbling knowledge, Job xl. 4, 5. Q. 17. What is it to [acknowledge] God? acknowledge God to be [the only true God]? A. It is to believe and profess, that he alone, and none else, is possessed of all infinite perfection; and that the perfections of the divine nature are most eminently displayed and manifested in the person of Christ, our only Saviour and Redeemer, Hos. xiii. 4-" Thou shalt know no God but me; for there is no Saviour besides me." Q.21. What is it to know and acknowledge God to be [our God]? A. It is to profess our relation to him, as his people, upon the faith of the grant that he makes of himself to us as ours, in the word, Deut. xxvi. 17, 18. Psal. xlviii, 14. Q. 22. Can we know and ac-" knowledge God to be our God, (as required in this commandment) unless we believe in Christ? A. No; for "no man cometh unto the Father but by me," says Christ-" He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," John xiv. 6. 9. Q. 23. Is not faith, or believing in Christ, a gospel precept only, and not required in the law? A. It is to own, avouch, and A. By no means: for in the confess him, both in secret, and gospel, strictly and properly tak before the world, Rom. x. 10.-en, as it is contra-distinct from the With the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Q. 18. Why are the knowing and acknowledging God joined together? law, there can be no precept; because the gospel in this strict sense, is nothing else than a promise, or glad tidings of a Saviour, with grace, mercy, and salvation in him, for lost sinners of Adam's family: according to the following scriptures, Gen. iii. 15. Isa. lxi. 1, 2, 3. Luke ii. 10, 11. A. Because wherever the saving knowledge of God is implanted in the heart, there will be always some evidences thereof, either to ourselves or others, discovered in Q. 24. Since faith and repentthe life, Dan. xi. 32.-"The peo-ance are duties consequential to ple that do know their God, shall the entrance of sin, and the revebe strong, and do exploits.' lation of the gospel, must they not therefore be new precepts, not given to Adam in innocence? Q. 19. What should we know and acknowledge God to be? A. We should know and acknowledge him to be [the only true God, and our God.] Q. 20. What is it to know and A. Though there was no occasion for the exercise of these duties in an innocent state; yet, Adam being bound by the law of |