Children’s Catechism

Something special for families. Looking for something to help your children grow in the faith? This Children’s catechism is just the right tool

 1.            Question:  Who made you?
Answer:  God.

 2.            Q.  What else did God make?
A.  God made everything.

 3.            Q.  Why did God make you and all things?
A.  For his own glory.

 4.            Q. How can you glorify God?
A.  By loving him and doing what He commands.

 5.            Q.  Why should you glorify God?
A.  Because He made me and takes care of me.

 6.            Q.  Is there more than one God?
A.  There is only one God.

 7.            Q.  How many persons are in the one God?
A.  Three (3) persons.

 8.            Q.  Who are they?
A.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 9.            Q.  What is God?
A.  God is a Spirit, and does not have a body.

 10.         Q.  Where is God?

A. God is everywhere.

 11.         Q.  Can you see God?
A.  No; I cannot see God, but He always sees me.

 12.         Q.  Does God everything?
A.  Yes; nothing can be hid from God.

 13.         Q.  Can God do everything?
A.  Yes; God can do anything He wants.

 14.         Q.  Where do you learn how to love and obey God?
A.  Only in the Bible.

 15.         Q.  Who wrote the Bible?
A.  Men who were guided by the Holy Spirit.

 16.         Q.  Who were our first parents?
A.  Adam and Eve.

 17.         Q.  Of what were our first parents made?
A.  God made Adam’s body out of the earth, and He made Eve from Adam’s body.

 18.         Q.  What did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies?
A.  He gave them souls that would never die.

 19.         Q.  Have you a soul as well as a body?
A.  Yes; I have a soul that will never die.

 20.         Q.  How do you know that you have a soul?
A.  Because God tells me so in the Bible.

 21.         Q.  In what condition did God make Adam and Eve?
A.  They were holy and happy with God.

 22.         Q.  What is a covenant?
A.  A solemn bond between two or more persons.

 23.         Q.  What covenant did God make with Adam?
A.  The covenant of works.

 24.         Q.  What was Adam bound to do by the covenant of works?
A.  To obey God perfectly.

  25.         Q.  What did God promise in the covenant of works?
A.  To reward Adam with eternal life, if Adam obeyed him.

 26.         Q.  What if Adam disobeyed God?
A.  He would die.

 27.         Q.  Did Adam keep the covenant of works?
A.  No; He sinned against God.

 28.         Q.  What is Sin?
A.  Sin is disobeying or not keeping God’s law in any way.

 29.         Q.  What is disobeying God’s law?
A.  Doing what God says not to do?

 30.         Q.  What is not keeping God’s law?
A.  Not being or doing what God requires.

 31.         Q.  How did Adam and Eve sin?
A.  By eating the fruit God said not to eat.

 32.         Q.  Who tempted them to this sin?
A.  The devil tempted Eve, and she gave the fruit to Adam.

 33.         Q.  What happened to Adam and Eve when they sinned?
A.  They became sinful and were separated from God.

 34.         Q.  Did Adam act for himself alone in the covenant of works?
A.  No; he represented all of his descendants.

 35.         Q.  How have Adam’s descendants been affected by his sin?
A.  Every human being is born with a sinful nature.

 36.         Q.  What do we call the sinful nature which we get from Adam?
A.  Original sin.

 37.         Q.  What does every sin deserve?
A.  God’s anger and punishment.

 38.         Q.  Can anyone go to heaven with this sinful nature?
A.  No; our hearts must be changed before we can go to heaven.

 39.         Q.  What is a change of heart called?
A.  Regeneration or being born again.

 40.         Q.  Who can change a sinner’s heart?
A.  Only the Holy Spirit.

 41.         Q.  Can anyone be saved through the covenant of works?
A.  No one can be saved by works.

 42.         Q.  Why can none be saved through the covenant of works?
A.  Because all have broken it, and are condemned by it.

 43.         Q.  With whom did God the Father make the covenant of grace?
A.  With Christ, His eternal Son.

 44.         Q.  Did Christ act for Himself alone in the covenant of grace?
A.  No; He acted for all God’s chosen people.

 45.         Q.  What did Christ have to do in the covenant of grace?
A.  He had to obey the whole law for His people and suffer the punishment for their sins.

 46.         Q.  Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever commit any sin?
A.  No; He perfectly obeyed God all the time.

 47.         Q.  How did the Son of God suffer?
A.  By becoming human and making atonement for our sins.

 48.         Q.  What is the atonement?
A.  By suffering and dying for His people, Christ took the punishment we deserve.

 49.         Q.  What did God promise to do in the covenant of grace?
A.  To justify and sanctify those for whom Christ died.

 50.         Q.  What happens in justification?
A.  God’s forgives sinners, and accepts them as if they had never sinned.

 51.         Q.  What is sanctification?
A.  God makes the hearts and actions of believers holy.

 52.         Q.  For whom did Christ obey and suffer?
A.  For those the Father has given him.

 53.         Q.  How did Christ live on earth?
A.  He was poor and suffered.

 54.         Q.  How did Christ die?
A.  In pain and disgrace on the cross.

 55.         Q.  Who will be saved?
A.  Only those who truly repent of their sin and believe in Christ.

 56.         Q.  What happens when you repent?
A.  You become sorry for your sin.  You hate them and stop doing them.  Instead you do what pleases God.

 57.         Q.  What happens when you believe in Christ?
A.  To trust Christ alone to save you.

 58.         Q.  Can you repent and believe in Christ by your own power?
A.  No; I must have the Holy Spirit’s help.

 59.         Q.  How can you get the Holy Spirit’s help?
A.  God has told us to pray to Him for the Holy Spirit.

 60.         Q.  How long ago is it since Christ died?
A.  Almost two thousand years ago.

 61.         Q.  How were people saved who lived before Christ?
A.  They believed in a Savior that God would send.

 62.         Q.  How did these people show their faith?
A.  By obeying God and offering sacrifices to Him in the way He commanded.

 63.         Q.  Why did God command these sacrifices?
A.  To teach them about Christ, the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice for sin.

 64.         Q.  What are the basic works of Christ?
A.  The works of prophet, priest, and king.

 65.         Q.  How is Christ a prophet?
A.  By teaching us the will of God.

 66.         Q.  How is Christ a priest?
A.  By dying for the sins of His people and pleading with God for them.

 67.         Q.  How is Christ a king?
A.  By ruling over the world and defending His people.

 68.         Q.  Why do you need Christ as a prophet?
A.  Because I need to know the will of God.

 69.         Q.  Why do you need Christ as a priest?
A.  Because I am guilty of sin.

 70.         Q.  Why do you need Christ as a king?
A.  Because I am weak and helpless.

 71.         Q.  How many commandments did God give on Mount Sinai?
A.  Ten Commandments.

 72.         Q.  What are the Ten Commandments sometimes called?
A.  The Decalogue.

 73.         Q.  What do the first four commandments teach?
A.  How to love God.

 74.         Q.  What do the last six commandments teach?
A.  How to love other people and ourselves.

 75.         Q.  What is the sum of the Ten Commandments?
A.  To love God with all our heart, and our neighbors as we love ourselves.

 76.         Q.  Who is your neighbor?

A.     Everyone else.

 77.         Q.  Is God pleased with those who love and obey him?
A.  Yes; he says, “I love those who love me.”

 78.         Q.  Is God pleased with those who do not love and obey him?
A.  No; “God is angry with the wicked every day.”

 79.         Q.  What is the first commandment?
A.  The first commandment is: “You shalt have no other gods before Me.”

 80.         Q.  What does the first commandment teach us?
A.  To worship only God.

81.         Q.  What is the second commandment?
A.  The second commandment is: “You shalt not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth; you shall not worship them nor serve them: for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those that hate Me; but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me, and keep My commandments.”

82.         Q.  What does the second commandment teach us?
A.  To worship God in the way He tells us and not with images or idols.

 83.         Q.  What is the third commandment?
A.  The third commandment is: “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain: for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”

 84.         Q.  What does the third commandment teach us to do?
A.  To honor God’s name, His word, and His works.

 85.         Q.  What is the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment is: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or the stranger that stays with you.  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath Day, and made it holy.”

 86.         Q.  What does the fourth commandment teach us to do?
A.  To keep the Sabbath holy.

 87.         Q.  How do we keep the Sabbath holy?
A.  By worshipping God with His people, praising and thanking Him, singing and praying to Him, reading and listening to the Bible, and doing good to others.

 88.         Q.  What day of the week is the Christian Sabbath?
A.  Sunday, the first day of the week, called the Lord’s Day.

89.         Q.  Why is it called the Lord’s Day?

A.  Because on Sunday, the first day of the week Christ rose from the dead.

 90.         Q.  What is the fifth commandment?
A.  The fifth commandment is: “Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you.”

 91.         Q.  What does the fifth commandment teach me?
A.  To love and obey our parents and everyone in authority over us.

 92.         Q.  What is the sixth commandment?
A.  The sixth commandment is: “You shalt not murder.”

 93.         Q.  What does the sixth commandment teach us?
A.  Not to get mad at, hate, or hurt anyone.

 94.         Q.  What is the seventh commandment?
A.  The seventh commandment is: “You shall not commit adultery.”

95.         Q.  What does the seventh commandment teach us?
A.  To keep ourselves sexually pure in what we think, say, and do, and to help others be the same way.

 96.         Q.  What is the eighth commandment?
A.  The eighth commandment is: “You shall not steal.”

 97.         Q.  What does the eighth commandment teach us?
A.  To be honest and hardworking and to respect what belongs to others.

 98.         Q.  What is the ninth commandment?
A.  The ninth commandment is: “You shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

 99.         Q.  What does the ninth commandment teach us?
A.  To always tell the truth.

 100.     Q.  What is the tenth commandment?
A.  The tenth commandment is: “You shall not covet thy neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

 101.     Q.  What does the tenth commandment teach us?
A.  To be satisfied with who we are and with what we have.

 102.     Q.  Can anyone perfectly obey the Ten Commandments?
A.  Since Adam’s fall, no one except Christ has ever perfectly obeyed the Ten Commandments or ever can.

 103.     Q.  What is the purpose of the Ten Commandments?
A.  They tell us how to live and show us that we need a savior.

 104.     Q.  What is prayer?
A.  Prayer is asking God for what He has promised to give us.

 105.     Q.  In whose name should we pray?
A.  Only in the name of Christ.

 106.     Q.  What has Christ given us to teach us how to pray?
A.  The Lord’s Prayer.

 107.     Q.  Repeat the Lord’s Prayer.
A. “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”

 108.     Q.  How many requests are there in The Lord’s Prayer?
A.  Six.

 109.     Q.  What is the first request?
A. “Hallowed be thy name.”

 110.     Q.  What do we pray for in the first request?
A.  That we and everyone else might glorify God’s name.

 111.     Q.  What is the second request?
A. “Thy kingdom come.”

 112.     Q.  What do we pray for in the second request?
A.  That Satan’s power may be destroyed and that Christ may everywhere be honored as King over all.

 113.     Q.  What is the third request?
A. “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

 114.     Q.  What do we pray for in the third request?
A.  That we on earth may serve God as the angels do in heaven.

 115.     Q.  What is the fourth request?
A. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

 116.     Q.  What do we pray for in the fourth request?
A.  That God would give us everything we need to live.

 117.     Q.  What is the fifth request?
A. “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

 118.     Q.  What do we pray for in the fifth request?
A.  That God would pardon all our sins for Christ’s sake, as we also have forgiven others.

 119.     Q.  What is the sixth request?
A. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

 120.     Q.  What do we pray for in the sixth request?
A.  That God would keep us from sin.

 121.     Q.  How many sacraments are there?
A.  Two.

 122.     Q.  What are they?
A.  Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

 123.     Q.  Who established these sacraments?
A.  The Lord Jesus Christ.

 124.     Q.  Why did Christ establish these sacraments?
A.  To identify, comfort, and strengthen His covenant people.

 125.     Q.  What sign is used in baptism?
A.  Washing with water.

 126.     Q.  What does this washing mean?
A.  That we belong to God and that by faith we are cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ.

 127.     Q.  In whose name are we baptized?
A.  In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 128.     Q.  How is baptism rightly administered?

A.    The Church has historically recognized that baptism may rightly be administered by immersion in water, or by pouring or sprinkling with water.

 129.     Q.  What does your baptism mean you must do?

A.     Be a true follower of Christ.

Paedobaptist

 130.       Q.  Who should be baptized? (Paedobaptist)

A.     Those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and their (infant) children.

 131.       Q.  Why should the (infant) children of believers be baptized?

A.     To testify they are heirs of the blessing promised to believers’ children.

132.       Q.  Does Christ care for little children?
A.  Believers and their children.

 Credobaptist

 130.  Q.  Who should be baptized? (Credobaptist)

         A.  Only those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 131.  Q.  Why should only believers be baptized?

         A.  Because Scripture nowhere commands the baptism of believers’ (infant) children.

 132.  Q.  Does Christ care for little children?

         A.  Yes, because He says, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

133.     Q.  What is the Lord’s Supper?
A.  Eating bread and drinking wine to remember the sufferings and death of Christ.

 134.     Q.  What does the bread represent?
A.  Christ’s body, broken and given to us.

 135.     Q.  What does the wine represent?
A.  Christ’s blood, poured out for the forgiveness of sin.

 136.     Q.  Who should receive the Lord’s Supper?
A.  Only those who are truly sorry (repent) for their sins, and who trust Christ to save them.

 137.     Q.  After being crucified, did Christ stay in the grave?
A.  No; he rose from the dead on the third day.

 138.     Q.  Where is Christ now?
A.  In heaven, representing us before God.

 139.     Q.  Will he come again?
A.  Yes; at the end of time Christ will come to judge the world.

 140.     Q.  What happens to human beings when they die?
A.  Our bodies decay and turn back into the earth; our souls live on, in heaven or hell.

 141.     Q.  Will the bodies of the dead be raised to life again?
A.  Yes; When Christ returns, the bodies of the dead will be raised and joined to their souls forever.

 142.     Q.  What happens to the wicked in the Day of Judgment?
A.  They shall be thrown into hell.

 143.     Q.  What is hell?
A.  A place of terrible and endless punishment.

 144.     Q.  What will happen to the righteous?
A.  They go to heaven.

 145.     Q.  What is heaven?
A.  A glorious, happy place, where believers will be with God forever.