Heidelberg Catechism
Doctrinal Standards & Ecumenical Creeds
| Lord's Day 20 | ’ |
| Q & A 53 |
Q. What do you believe concerning "the Holy Spirit"? A. First, he, as well as the Father and the Son, is eternal God.^1 Second, he has been given to me personally,^2 so that, by true faith, he makes me share in Christ and all his blessings,^3 comforts me,^4 and remains with me forever.^5 ^1 Gen. 1:1-2; Matt. 28:19; Acts 5:3-4 ^2 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; Gal. 4:6 ^3 Gal. 3:14 ^4 John 15:26; Acts 9:31 |
| Lord's Day 21 | ’ |
| Q & A 54 |
Q. What do you believe concerning "the holy catholic church"? A. I believe that the Son of God through his Spirit and Word,^1 out of the entire human race,^2 from the beginning of the world to its end,^3 gathers, protects, and preserves for himself a community chosen for eternal life^4 and united in true faith.^5 And of this community I am^6 and always will be^7 a living member. ^1 John 10:14-16; Acts 20:28; Rom. 10:14-17; Col. 1:18 ^4 Matt. 16:18; John 10:28-30; Rom. 8:28-30; Eph. 1:3-14 ^6 1 John 3:14, 19-21 |
| Q & A 55 |
Q. What do you understand by "the communion of saints"? A. First, that believers one and all, as members of this community, share in Christ and in all his treasures and gifts.^1 Second, that each member should consider it a duty to use these gifts readily and cheerfully for the service and enrichment of the other members.^2 ^1 Rom. 8:32; 1 Cor. 6:17; 12:4-7, 12-13; 1 John 1:3 ^2 Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:20-27; 13:1-7; Phil. 2:4-8 |
| Q & A: 56 |
Q. What do you believe concerning "the forgiveness of sins"? A. I believe that God, because of Christ's atonement, will never hold against me any of my sins^1 nor my sinful nature which I need to struggle against all my life.^2 Rather, in his grace God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgment.^3 ^1 Ps. 103:3-4, 10, 12; Mic. 7:18-19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; 1 John 1:7; 2:2 ^2 Rom. 7:21-25 |
| Lord's Day 22 | ’ |
| Q & A 57 |
Q. How does "the resurrection of the body" comfort you? A. Not only my soul will be taken immediately after this life to Christ its head,^1 but even my very flesh, raised by the power of Christ, will be reunited with my soul and made like Christ's glorious* body.^2 ^2 1 Cor. 15:20, 42-46, 54; Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2 |
| Q & A 58 |
Q. How does the article concerning "life everlasting" comfort you? A. Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy,^1 so after this life I will have perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human heart has ever imagined: a blessedness in which to praise God eternally.^2 ^1 Rom. 14:17 ^2 John 17:3; 1 Cor. 2:9 *The first edition had here the German word for "holy." This was later corrected to the German word for "glorious." |
| Lord's Day 23 | ’ |
| Q & A 59 |
Q. What good does it do you, however, to believe all this? A. In Christ I am right with God and heir to life everlasting.^1 |
| Q & A: 60 |
Q. How are you right with God? A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ.^1 Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God's commandments and of never having kept any of them,^2 and even though I am still inclined toward all evil,^3 nevertheless, without my deserving it at all,^4 out of sheer grace,^5 God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ,^6 as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me.^7 All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart.^8 ^1 Rom. 3:21-28; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9; Phil 3:8-11 ^2 Rom. 3:9-10 ^3 Rom. 7:23 ^4 Tit. 3:4-5 |
| Q & A 61 |
Q. Why do you say that by faith alone you are right with God? A. It is not because of any value my faith has that God is pleased with me. Only Christ's satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness make me right with God.^1 And I can receive this righteousness and make it mine in no other way than by faith alone.^2 |
| Lord's Day 24 | ’ |
| Q & A 62 |
Q. Why can't the good we do make us right with God, or at least help make us right with him? A. Because the righteousness which can pass God's scrutiny must be entirely perfect and must in every way measure up to the divine law.^1 Even the very best we do in this life is imperfect and stained with sin.^2 ^1 Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:10 (Deut. 27:26) ^2 Isa. 64:6 |
| Q & A 63 |
Q. How can you say that the good we do doesn't earn anything when God promises to reward it in this life and the next?^1 A . This reward is not earned; it is a gift of grace.^2 ^1 Matt. 5:12; Heb. 11:6 |
| Q & A 64 |
Q . But doesn't this teaching make people indifferent and wicked A. No. It is impossible for those grafted into Christ by true faith not to produce fruits of gratitude.^1 |
| Lord's Day 26 | ’ |
| Q & A 69 |
Q. How does baptism remind you and assure you that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross is for you personally? A. In this way: Christ instituted this outward washing^1 and with it gave the promise that, as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly his blood and his Spirit wash away my soul's impurity, in other words, all my sins.^2 ^1 Acts 2:38 |
| Q & A 70 |
Q. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and Spirit? A. To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ's blood poured out for me in his sacrifice on the cross.^1 To be washed with Christ's Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life.^2 ^1 Zech. 13:1; Eph. 1:7-8; Heb. 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rev. 1:5 ^2 Ezek. 36:25-27; John 3:5-8; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 6:11; Col. 2:11-12 |
| Q & A 71 |
Q. Where does Christ promise that we are washed with his blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed with the water of baptism? A. In the institution of baptism where he says: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."^1 "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."^2* This promise is repeated when Scripture calls baptism the washing of rebirth^3 and the washing away of sins.^4 ^1 Matt. 28:19 ^2 Mark 16:16 ^3 Tit. 3:5 ^4 Acts 22:16 *Earlier and better manuscripts of Mark 16 omit the words "Whoever believes and is baptized . . . condemned." |
| Lord's Day 27 | ’ |
| Q & A 72 |
Q. Does this outward washing with water itself wash away sins? A. No, only Jesus Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sins.^1 |
| Q & A 73 |
Q. Why then does the Holy Spirit call baptism the washing of rebirth and the washing away of sins? A. God has good reason for these words. He wants to teach us that the blood and Spirit of Christ wash away our sins just as water washes away dirt from our bodies.^1 But more important, he wants to assure us, by this divine pledge and sign, that the washing away of our sins spiritually is as real as physical washing with water.^2 ^1 1 Cor. 6:11; Rev. 1:5; 7:14 ^2 Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27 |
| Q & A 74 |
Q. Should infants, too, be baptized? A. Yes. Infants as well as adults are in God's covenant and are his people.^1 They, no less than adults, are promised the forgiveness of sin through Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit who produces faith.^2 Therefore, by baptism, the mark of the covenant, infants should be received into the Christian church and should be distinguished from the children of unbelievers.^3 This was done in the Old Testament by circumcision,^4 which was replaced in the New Testament by baptism.^5 ^1 Gen. 17:7; Matt. 19:14 ^2 Isa. 44:1-3; Acts 2:38-39; 16:31 ^4 Gen. 17:9-14 ^5 Col. 2:11-13 |
| Lord's Day 28 | ’ |
| Q & A 75 |
Q. How does the Lord's Supper remind you and assure you that you share in Christ's one sacrifice on the cross and in all his gifts? A. In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat this broken bread and to drink this cup. With this command he gave this promise:^1 First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely his body was offered and broken for me and his blood poured out for me on the cross. Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the one who serves, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, given me as sure signs of Christ's body and blood, so surely he nourishes and refreshes my soul for eternal life with his crucified body and poured-out blood. ^1 Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-25 |
| Q & A 76 |
Q. What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ and to drink his poured-out blood? A. It means to accept with a believing heart the entire suffering and death of Christ and by believing to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life.^1 But it means more. Through the Holy Spirit, who lives both in Christ and in us, we are united more and more to Christ's blessed body.^2 And so, although he is in heaven^3 and we are on earth, we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone.^4 And we forever live on and are governed by one Spirit, as members of our body are by one soul.^5 ^1 John 6:35, 40, 50-54 ^3 Acts 1:9-11; 1 Cor. 11:26; Col. 3:1 ^4 1 Cor. 6:15-17; Eph. 5:29-30; 1 John 4:13 ^5 John 6:56-58; 15:1-6; Eph. 4:15-16; 1 John 3:24 |
| Q & A 77 |
Q. Where does Christ promise to nourish and refresh believers with his body and blood as surely as they eat this broken bread and drink this cup? A. In the institution of the Lord's Supper: "The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."^1 This promise is repeated by Paul in these words: "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf."^2 |
| Lord's Day 29 | ’ |
| Q & A 78 |
Q. Are the bread and wine changed into the real body and blood of Christ? A. No. Just as the water of baptism is not changed into Christ's blood and does not itself wash away sins but is simply God's sign and assurance,^1 so too the bread of the Lord's Supper is not changed into the actual body of Christ^2 even though it is called the body of Christ^3 in keeping with the nature and language of sacraments.^4 ^3 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:26-28 ^4 Gen. 17:10-11; Ex. 12:11, 13; 1 Cor. 10:1-4 |
| Q & A 79 |
Q. Why then does Christ call the bread his body and the cup his blood, or the new covenant in his blood? (Paul uses the words, a participation in Christ's body and blood.) A. Christ has good reason for these words. He wants to teach us that as bread and wine nourish our temporal life, so too his crucified body and poured-out blood truly nourish our souls for eternal life.^1 But more important, he wants to assure us, by this visible sign and pledge, that we, through the Holy Spirit's work, share in his true body and blood as surely as our mouths receive these holy signs in his remembrance,^2 and that all of his suffering and obedience are as definitely ours as if we personally had suffered and paid for our sins.^3 ^1 John 6:51, 55 ^2 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:26 ^3 Rom. 6:5-11 |
| Lord's Day 30 | ’ |
| Q & A *80 |
Q. How does the Lord's Supper differ from the Roman Catholic Mass? A. The Lord's Supper declares to us that our sins have been completely forgiven through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ which he himself finished on the cross once for all.^1 It also declares to us that the Holy Spirit grafts us into Christ,^2 who with his very body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father^3 where he wants us to worship him.^4 But the Mass teaches that the living and the dead do not have their sins forgiven through the suffering of Christ unless Christ is still offered for them daily by the priests. It also teaches that Christ is bodily present in the form of bread and wine where Christ is therefore to be worshiped. Thus the Mass is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry. ^1 John 19:30; Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 25-26; 10:10-18 ^2 1 Cor. 6:17; 10:16-17 ^3 Acts 7:55-56; Heb. 1:3; 8:1 ^4 Matt. 6:20-21; John 4:21-24; Phil. 3:20; Col. 3:1-3 *Question and answer 80 were altogether absent from the first edition of the catechism but were present in a shorter form in the second edition. The translation here given is of the expanded text of the third edition. |
| Q & A 81 |
Q. Who are to come to the Lord's table? A. Those who are displeased with themselves because of their sins, but who nevertheless trust that their sins are pardoned and that their continuing weakness is covered by the suffering and death of Christ, and who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and to lead a better life. Hypocrites and those who are unrepentant, however, eat and drink judgment on themselves.^1 ^1 1 Cor. 10:19-22; 11:26-32 |
| Q & A 82 |
Q. Are those to be admitted to the Lord's Supper who show by what they say and do that they are unbelieving and ungodly? A. No, that would dishonor God's covenant and bring down God's anger upon the entire congregation.^1 Therefore, according to the instruction of Christ and his apostles, the Christian church is duty-bound to exclude such people, by the official use of the keys of the kingdom, until they reform their lives. ^1 1 Cor. 11:17-32; Ps. 50:14-16; Isa. 1:11-17 |
| Lord's Day 31 | ’ |
| Q & A 83 |
Q. What are the keys of the kingdom? A. The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Both preaching and discipline open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers.^1 |
| Q & A 84 |
Q. How does preaching the gospel open and close the kingdom of heaven? A. According to the command of Christ: The kingdom of heaven is opened by proclaiming and publicly declaring to all believers, each and every one, that, as often as they accept the gospel promise in true faith, God, because of what Christ has done, truly forgives all their sins. The kingdom of heaven is closed, however, by proclaiming and publicly declaring to unbelievers and hypocrites that, as long as they do not repent, the anger of God and eternal condemnation rest on them. God's judgment, both in this life and in the life to come, is based on this gospel testimony.^1 ^1 Matt. 16:19; John 3:31-36; 20:21-23 |
| Q & A 85 |
Q. How is the kingdom of heaven closed and opened by Christian discipline? A. According to the command of Christ: Those who, though called Christians, profess unchristian teachings or live unchristian lives, and after repeated and loving counsel refuse to abandon their errors and wickedness, and after being reported to the church, that is, to its officers, fail to respond also to their admonition-- such persons the officers exclude from the Christian fellowship by withholding the sacraments from them, and God himself excludes them from the kingdom of Christ.^1 Such persons, when promising and demonstrating genuine reform, are received again as members of Christ and of his church.^2 ^1 Matt. 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 5:3-5, 11-13; 2 Thess. 3:14-15 |
| Lord's Day 32 | ’ |
| Q & A 86 |
Q. We have been delivered from our misery by God's grace alone through Christ and not because we have earned it: why then must we still do good? A. To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by his blood. But we do good because Christ by his Spirit is also renewing us to be like himself, so that in all our living we may show that we are thankful to God for all he has done for us,^1 and so that he may be praised through us.^2 And we do good so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits,^3 and so that by our godly living our neighbours may be won over to Christ.^4 ^1 Rom. 6:13; 12:1-2; 1 Pet. 2:5-10 ^ ^3 Matt. 7:17-18; Gal. 5:22-24; 2 Pet. 1:10-11 ^4 Matt. 5:14-16; Rom. 14:17-19; 1 Pet. 2:12; 3:1-2 |
| Q & A 87 |
Q. Can those be saved who do not turn to God from their ungrateful and impenitent ways? A. By no means. Scripture tells us that no unchaste person, no idolater, adulterer, thief, no covetous person, no drunkard, slanderer, robber, or the like is going to inherit the kingdom of God.^1 |
| Lord's Day 33 | |
| Q & A 88 |
Q. What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion? A. Two things: the dying-away of the old self, and the coming-to-life of the new.^1 |
| Q & A 89 |
Q. What is the dying-away of the old self? A. It is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to hate it more and more, and to run away from it.^1 ^1 Ps. 51:3-4, 17; Joel 2:12-13; Rom. 8:12-13; 2 Cor. 7:10 |
| Q & A 90 |
Q. What is the coming-to-life of the new self? A. It is wholehearted joy in God through Christ^1 and a delight to do every kind of good as God wants us to.^2 ^1 Ps. 51:8, 12; Isa.57:15; Rom. 5:1; 14:17 |
| Q & A 91 |
Q. What do we do that is good?? A. Only that which arises out of true faith,^1 conforms to God's law,^2 and is done for his glory;^3 and not that which is based on what we think is right or on established human tradition.^4 ^2 Lev. 18:4; 1 Sam. 15:22; Eph. 2:10 ^3 1 Cor. 10:31 |