Westminster Shorter Catechism #5

Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?
A. There is but one only,s the living and true God.t

(s) Deut 6:4; Isa 44:6; Isa 45:21-22; 1 Cor 8:4-6
(t) Jer 10:10; John 17:3; 1 Thess 1:9; 1 John 5:20

Westminster Shorter Catechism #4

Q. 4. What is God?

A. God is a Spirit,g infinite,h eternal,i and unchangeable,k in his being,l wisdom,m power,n holiness,o justice,p goodness,q and truth.r

(g) Deut 4:15-19; Luke 24:39; John 1:18; John 4:24; Acts 17:29
(h) 1 Kgs 8:27; Ps 139:7-10; Ps 145:3; Ps 147:5; Jer 23:24; Rom 11:33-36
(i) Deut 33:27; Ps 90:2; Ps 102:12,24-27; Rev 1:4,8
(k) Ps 33:11; Mal 3:6; Heb 1:12; Heb 6:17-18; Heb 13:8; Jas 1:17
(l) Exod 3:14; Ps 115:2-3; 1 Tim 1:17; 1 Tim 6:15-16
(m) Ps 104:24; Rom 11:33-34; Heb 4:13; 1 John 3:20
(n) Gen 17:1; Ps 62:11; Jer 32:17; Matt 19:26; Rev 1:8
(o) Hab 1:13; 1 Pet 1:15-16; 1 John 3:3,5; Rev 15:4
(p) Gen 18:25; Exod 34:6-7; Deut 32:4; Ps 96:13; Rom 3:5,26
(q) Ps 103:5; Ps 107:8; Matt 19:17; Rom 2:4
(r) Exod 34:6; Deut 32:4; Ps 86:15; Ps 117:2; Heb 6:18

Westminster Shorter Catechism #3

Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God,e and what duty God requires of man.f

(e) Gen 1:1; John 5:39; John 20:31; Rom 10:17; 2 Tim 3:15
(f) Deut 10:12-13; Josh 1:8; Ps 119:105; Mic 6:8; 2 Tim 3:16-17

Westminster Shorter Catechism #2

Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,c is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.d

(c) Matt 19:4-5; Gen 2:24; Luke 24:27,44; 1 Cor 2:13; 1 Cor 14:37; 2 Pet 1:20-21; 2 Pet 3:2,15-16
(d) Deut 4:2; Ps 19:7-11; Isa 8:20; John 15:11; John 20:30-31; Acts 17:11; 2 Tim 3:15-17; 1 John 1:4

Matthew 1:21 (ESV)

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Westminster Shorter Catechism #1

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God,a and to enjoy him forever.b

(a) Ps 86:9; Isa 60:21; Rom 11:36; 1 Cor 6:20; 1 Cor 10:31; Rev 4:11
(b) Ps 16:5-11; Ps 144:15; Isa 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil 4:4; Rev 21:3-4

John 11:25,26 (ESV)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

Westminster Shorter Catechism #87

Q. 87. What is repentance unto life?

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

(n) Acts 11:18; 2 Tim 2:25
(o) Ps 51:1-4; Joel 2:13; Luke 15:7,10; Acts 2:37
(p) Jer 31:18-19; Luke 1:16-17; 1 Thess 1:9
(q) 2 Chr 7:14; Ps 119:57-64; Matt 3:8; 2 Cor 7:10

Is the Romans Road Enough?

How much does a person have to know to become a Christian?

In some of the conversion instances in Scripture they turned away from idols, which means they at the very least had to have knowledge and an understanding of who the true God was.

Peoples like the Hindus, with insufficient knowledge, can simply add Jesus to their list of false ‘gods’.

I believe the Gospel in America is so diluted that many, if not most, Americans do not have a true understanding of Who God is, and have therefore cast their trust upon an idol of their own making.

So how much knowledge is sufficient?

The Power of the Gospel

Heard a great Q&A with RC Sproul and Al Mohler that really got my brain rockin’ cuz I’ve been thinking this for awhile now.

There is one reason and ONLY one reason why our churches have a big emphasis on programs, meeting people where they’re at, meeting people’s felt needs, our emphasis on being non-offensive, trying to find out what the needs of the local community are and meet them, and it’s because WE DON’T BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL ALONE TO SAVE.

The things we stress in our churches today for reaching and evangelizing the masses and keeping members in the congregation, are frighteningly absent from Scripture. Why do I use the word, “frightening”? Because it reveals the documented trust the disciples in Scripture had in the power of the Gospel alone to save and keep the believer saved and in the body, and reveals our mistrust of the same. And I use the word ‘mistrust’ purposefully; if we trusted the Gospel, we would rely solely on it and not our ‘programs’.

This also leads to our churches being used inappropriately. Our churches are not evangelization centers, hospitals for the ‘broken’, entertainment centers where we have to have occasional ‘special’ music or lead guitar solos during the congregational singing, they are where believers in Jesus Christ gather to worship the true God of the Scriptures and hear His Word proclaimed. While unbelievers may sit in the services, the church is not for them, it is for believers.

Do we really want to honor God and show that we believe in the power of the Gospel to save? Then cancel all the programs, cancel all the specials, cancel the building program, cancel the pizza parties — and put the emphasis where it belongs, on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His Word, and His ability to save and keep those for whom He died. God does not need buildings or money, He doesn’t even need us, but we should be a people willing to proclaim the Gospel and suffer for it.

Are we trusting in the power of the Gospel to save and keep those who are saved from falling away, or are we trying to help God by adding our own unique spin on it?

What does God’s Word say about the Gospel? Does God plead and beg sinners to repent? Absolutely not! Scripture is clear that God COMMANDS all men and women everywhere to repent. So why do we, as God’s amabassadors and heralds of His Good News, present to a lost, dying, rebellious, sin-loving, God-hating world a weak and begging god, instead of a full, bold proclamation that God’s wrath abides on the sinner and He will by no means clear the guilty, but for those who repent and put their trust in Christ there is mercy and forgiveness.

May God grant us repentance from our worldy wisdom and help us to fully trust the power of His Gospel.