The Heidelberg Catechism
Lord's Day 1 (Q & A 1 2)
Lord's Day 1
Q & A 1
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own,^1
but belong—
body and soul,
in life and in death—^2
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.^3
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,^4
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.^5
He also watches over me in such a way^6
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven:^7
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.^8
Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life^9
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.^10
^1 1 Cor. 6:19-20
^2 Rom. 14:7-9
^3 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14
^4 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2
^5 John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11
^6 John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5
^7 Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18
^8 Rom. 8:28
^9 Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14
^10 Rom. 8:1-17
Q & A 2
Q. What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?
A. Three things:
first, how great my sin and misery are;^1
second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery;^2
third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.^3
The Heidelberg Catechism
Lord's Day 2 (Q & A 3 4 5)
Lord's Day 3 (Q & A 6 7 8)
Lord's Day 4 (Q & A 9 10 11)
Lord's Day 2
Q & A 3
Q. How do you come to know your misery?
A. The law of God tells me.^1
^1 Rom. 3:20; 7:7-25
Q & A 4
Q. What does God's law require of us?
A. Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22—
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind
and with all your strength.^1^*
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it:
Love your neighbor as yourself.^2
All the Law and the Prophets hang
on these two commandments.
^1 Deut. 6:5
^2 Lev. 19:18
*Earlier and better manuscripts of Matthew 22 omit the words "and with all your strength."
They are found in Mark 12:30.
Q & A 5
Q. Can you live up to all this perfectly?
A. No.^1
I have a natural tendency
to hate God and my neighbor.^2
^1 Rom. 3:9-20, 23; 1 John 1:8, 10
^2 Gen. 6:5; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 7:23-24; 8:7; Eph. 2:1-3; Titus 3:3
Lord's Day 3
Q & A 6
Q. Did God create people so wicked and perverse?
A. No.
God created them good^1 and in his own image,^2
that is, in true righteousness and holiness,^3
so that they might
truly know God their creator,^4
love him with all their heart,
and live with him in eternal happiness
for his praise and glory.^5
^1 Gen. 1:31
^2 Gen. 1:26-27
^3 Eph. 4:24
^4 Col. 3:10
^5 Ps. 8
Q & A 7
Q. Then where does this corrupt human nature come from?
A. From the fall and disobedience of our first parents,
Adam and Eve, in Paradise.^1
This fall has so poisoned our nature^2
that we are born sinners—
corrupt from conception on.^3
^1 Gen. 3
^2 Rom. 5:12, 18-19
^3 Ps. 51:5
Q & A 8
Q. But are we so corrupt
that we are totally unable to do any good
and inclined toward all evil?
A. Yes,^1 unless we are born again,
by the Spirit of God.^2
^1 Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Job 14:4; Isa. 53:6
^2 John 3:3-5
Lord's Day 4
Q & A 9
Q. But doesn't God do us an injustice by requiring in his law what we are unable to do?
A. No, God created humans with the ability to keep the law.^1
They, however, tempted by the devil,^2
in reckless disobedience,^3
robbed themselves and all their descendants of these gifts.^4
^1 Gen. 1:31; Eph. 4:24
^2 Gen. 3:13; John 8:44
^3 Gen. 3:6
^4 Rom. 5:12, 18, 19
Q & A 10
Q. Will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished?
A. Certainly not.
He is terribly angry
about the sin we are born with
as well as the sins we personally commit.
As a just judge
he punishes them now and in eternity.^1
He has declared:
"Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do
everything written in the Book of the Law.\9^2
^1 Ex. 34:7; Ps. 5:4-6; Nah. 1:2; Rom. 1:18; Eph. 5:6; Heb. 9:27
^2 Gal. 3:10; Deut. 27:26
Q & A 11
Q. But isn't God also merciful?
A. God is certainly merciful,^1
but he is also just.^2
His justice demands
that sin, committed against his supreme majesty,
be punished with the supreme penalty—
eternal punishment of body and soul.
The Heidelberg Catechism
Part II: Deliverance
Lord's Day 05 (Q & A 12 13 14 15)
Lord's Day 06 (Q & A 16 17 18 19)
Lord's Day 07 (Q & A 20 21 22 23)
Lord's Day 08 (Q & A 24 25)
Lord's Day 5
Q & A 12
Q. According to God's righteous judgment
we deserve punishment
both in this world and forever after:
how then can we escape this punishment
and return to God's favor?
A. God requires that his justice be satisfied.^1
Therefore the claims of his justice
must be paid in full,
either by ourselves or another.^2
^1 Ex. 23:7; Rom. 2:1-11
^2 Isa. 53:11; Rom. 8:3-4
Q & A 13
Q. Can we pay this debt ourselves?
A. Certainly not.
Actually, we increase our guilt every day.^1
^1 Matt. 6:12; Rom. 2:4-5
Q & A 14
Q. Can another creature—any at all—
pay this debt for us?
A. No.
To begin with,
God will not punish another creature
for what a human is guilty of.^1
Besides,
no mere creature can bear the weight
of God's eternal anger against sin
and release others from it.^2
^1 Ezek. 18:4, 20; Heb. 2:14-18
^2 Ps. 49:7-9; 130:3
Q & A 15
Q. What kind of mediator and deliverer
should we look for then?
A. One who is truly human^1 and truly righteous,^2
yet more powerful than all creatures,
that is, one who is also true God.^3
^1 Rom. 1:3; 1 Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:17
^2 Isa. 53:9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 7:26
^3 Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Jer. 23:6; John 1:1
Lord's Day 6
Q & A 16
Q. Why must he be truly human
and truly righteous?
A. God's justice demands
that human nature, which has sinned,
must pay for its sin;^1
but a sinner could never pay for others.^2
^1 Rom. 5:12, 15; 1 Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:14-16
^2 Heb. 7:26-27; 1 Pet. 3:18
Q & A 17
Q. Why must he also be true God?
A. So that,
by the power of his divinity,
he might bear the weight of God's anger in his humanity
and earn for us
and restore to us
righteousness and life.^1
^1 Isa. 53; John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:21
Q & A 18
Q. And who is this mediator—
true God and at the same time
truly human and truly righteous?
A. Our Lord Jesus Christ,^1
who was given us
to set us completely free
and to make us right with God.^2
^1 Matt. 1:21-23; Luke 2:11; 1 Tim. 2:5
^2 1 Cor. 1:30
Q & A 19
Q. How do you come to know this?
A. The holy gospel tells me.
God himself began to reveal the gospel already in Paradise;^1
later, he proclaimed it
by the holy patriarchs^2 and prophets,^3
and portrayed it
by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law;^4
finally, he fulfilled it
through his own dear Son.^5
^1 Gen. 3:15
^2 Gen. 22:18; 49:10
^3 Isa. 53; Jer. 23:5-6; Mic. 7:18-20; Acts 10:43; Heb. 1:1-2
^4 Lev. 1-7; John 5:46; Heb. 10:1-10
^5 Rom. 10:4; Gal. 4:4-5; Col. 2:17
Lord's Day 7
Q & A 20
Q. Are all saved through Christ
just as all were lost through Adam?
A. No.
Only those are saved
who by true faith
are grafted into Christ
and accept all his blessings.^1
^1 Matt. 7:14; John 3:16, 18, 36; Rom. 11:16-21
Q & A 21
Q. What is true faith?
A. True faith is
not only a knowledge and conviction
that everything God reveals in his Word is true;^1
it is also a deep-rooted assurance,^2
created in me by the Holy Spirit^3 through the gospel,^4
that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ,^5
not only others, but I too,^6
have had my sins forgiven,
have been made forever right with God,
and have been granted salvation.^7
^1 John 17:3, 17; Heb. 11:1-3; James 2:19
^2 Rom. 4:18-21; 5:1; 10:10; Heb. 4:14-16
^3 Matt. 16:15-17; John 3:5; Acts 16:14
^4 Rom. 1:16; 10:17; 1 Cor. 1:21
^5 Rom. 3:21-26; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-10
^6 Gal. 2:20
^7 Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:10
Q & A 22
Q. What then must a Christian believe?
A. Everything God promises us in the gospel.^1
That gospel is summarized for us
in the articles of our Christian faith—
a creed beyond doubt,
and confessed throughout the world.
^1 Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:30-31
Q & A 23
Q. What are these articles?
A. I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Lord's Day 8
Q & A 24
Q. How are these articles divided?
A. Into three parts:
God the Father and our creation;
God the Son and our deliverance;
God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.
Q & A 25
Q. Since there is but one God,^1
why do you speak of three:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
A. Because that is how
God has revealed himself in his Word:^2
these three distinct persons
are one, true, eternal God.
^1 Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6