THE first part of the Catechism after the introductory Questions (1-3) deals with what man is to believe concerning God, and the second part beginning at Question 39 deals with the duty which God requires of man. This duty is defined to be “obedience to His revealed will.” The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience was the moral law. This rule is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments. The Westminster Divines then by Question and Answer deal with the Commandments separately, pointing out what is required and forbidden in each commandment, and stating the reasons annexed to the commandments. The Divines are very careful to point out that “no mere man since the Fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the Commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.” The way of life is not to be found through the Law, but it has its place, and an important place, in giving the sinner to see the utter hopelessness of obtaining righteousness by anything he can do himself. The law condemns, and its condemnation rests upon every sin, and this is a condemnation which every sin deserves both in this life and that which is to come. But God has made provision for escape from this condemnation, and in order to escape it He “requires of us faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption” (Question 85).
Then comes an excellent definition of this “faith in Christ”—it is a “saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the Gospel.” Faith receives and rests upon Christ “alone for salvation.” There is a wealth of meaning in the words, “alone for salvation.” “Why did God choose faith of all graces,” asks Thomas Goodwin, “to save a man by? Because the poorest in the world, the weakest understanding, can believe and trust. When he heareth that God will save sinners, he is able to trust God, as strongly and as firmly as the wisest understanding man in the world. Nay, your weak men, they are aptest to believe. They are more suited for faith.”
Another very fine Answer is that to the Question—”What is repentance unto life?” To which the answer is given—”Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.” This is one of those answers which grows on one the more it is studied as an excellent summary of the great doctrine with which it deals.
It is significant that the Westminster Divines introduce saving faith and repentance unto life under the section dealing with the duty God requires of man, but they carefully point out in the first section—dealing with what we are to believe concerning God—that we are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by His Holy Spirit, and this application is wrought by the Spirit working faith in us, thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling. In other words, while the Divines stress man’s responsibility, they are very careful to guard against the Arminian view that believing and repenting are in man’s power. Both are of grace, but men will be held accountable for not believing and repenting. The Answers given to the Questions dealing with the means of grace are of special interest. The outward and ordinary means, we are told, whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are His ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer, all of which are made effectual to the elect for salvation. And in continuation of this subject the Divines state that “the Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation,” and that the word may be made effectual unto salvation “we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.”
The Answers to the Questions on the Sacraments are drawn up with special care, and guard against the Romish, Lutheran, and Zwinglian views. The points dealt with are of special interest, and on the question to whom Baptism should be given, the Divines answer that “it is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible Church till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to Him; but the infants of such as are members of the visible Church are to be baptized.” The whole subject dealt with in this Answer bristles with controversy, but our space will not permit us to deal with such questions as the Two Covenant, Half-Way Covenant, etc., views, nor with the important subject of Pædobaptism, but a word of explanation is necessary in view of the practice in our own Church that it should be pointed out that “member” is not used in the sense of “communicant,” but in the sense of one who, himself or herself, had been baptized and had been admitted a member of the visible Church. The Shorter Catechism closes with the subject of Prayer, concluding with a brief commentary on the petitions in what is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.
We have now finished the task we set before ourselves. The subject would take many more articles than we have given to it, but it is to be hoped that the young especially will give diligent attention to the excellent manual which did so much in giving strength to the theological thinking of the Scottish people, and proved such an incalculable boon to our forefathers.