broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Acts v. 3, 4. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. Heb. i. 3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.

Q. 7. What are the decrees of God?

A. The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass."

r Rom. xi. 36. For of him, and through him, and to him are all things to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Eph. i. 11. In whom aiso we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Acts ii. 23. Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.

Q. 8. How doth God execute his decrees?

A. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.s

Rev. iv. 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Dan. iv. 35. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? Isa. xl. 26. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

Q. 9. What is the work of Creation?

A. The work of creation is, God's making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good."

* Gen. i. 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Heb. xi. 3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Ps. xxxiii. 9. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

Gen. i. 31. And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Q. 10. How did God create man?

A. God created man male and female, after his own image," in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness," with dominion over the creatures."

Gen. i. 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Col. iii. 10. And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

y Eph. iv. 24. And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

* Gen. i. 28. And God said unto them, . . . have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Q. 11. What are God's works of providence?

A. God's works of providence are, his most holy." wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

a Ps. cxlv. 17. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

Ps. civ. 24. O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all.

Heb. i. 3. And upholding all things by the word of his power. Neh. ix. 6. Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshipeth thee. Matt. x. 30. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Q. 12. What special act of providence did God exercise towards man, in the estate wherein he was created?

A. 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 pain of death."

d Gal. iii. 12. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Gen. ii. 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Q. 13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?

A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of

their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God."

e Rom. v. 12. As by one man sin entered into the world. Gen. iii. 6. 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.

Q. 14. What is sin?

A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God!

Rom. iv. 15. For where no law is, there is no transgression. Jas. ii. 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Jas. iv. 17. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. 1 Jno. iii. 4. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law for sin is the transgression of the law.

Q. 15. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?

A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.

9 Gen. iii. 12, 13. And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Q. 16. Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?

A. 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.*

h Gen. i. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

i Acts xvii. 26. And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. * 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22. For since by man came death, by man came

also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Q. 17. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? A. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.'

Rom. v. 12, 13. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: For until the law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Q. 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?

A. 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."

m Rom. v. 18, 19. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Eph. ii. 1. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Rom. viii. 7, 8. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Q. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?

A. All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with. God," are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever."

" Gen. iii. 8, 24. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.-So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life.

Eph. ii. 3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

P Rom. vi. 23. For the wages of sin is death. Mark ix. 47, 48. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

A. 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."

Eph. i. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

Tit. i. 2. In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. Tit. iii. 7. That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. John xvii. 6. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

Q. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?

A. The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man,' and so was, and continueth to be, God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person," for

ever.w

1 Tim. ii. 5. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

* John i. 14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

u Rom. ix. 5. Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Col. ii. 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

w Heb. xiii. 8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.

Q. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become

man?

A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul," being