Calvary Windsor Catechism

Creation and conscience clearly declare that God exists, but only God’s Word and Spirit reveal him to us for our salvation.

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

The Bible shows itself to be God’s Word by the divine wisdom of its teaching, the unity of its parts, and its power to convert sinners and to edify saints. However, only the Spirit of God can make us willing to agree and submit to the Bible as the Word of God.

The Scriptures mainly teach what man must believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man - all of it pointing to and reaching its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

God is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. He is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable in his power and perfection, goodness and glory, wisdom, justice, and truth. Nothing happens except through him and by his will.

There are three persons in the Godhead: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are the one living and true God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby for his own glory, he has foreordained whatever comes to pass.

God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

God’s works of providence are the holy, wise, and powerful acts by which he preserves and governs all his creatures, and all their actions.

The work of creation is God’s making all things out of nothing, by the word of his power - and everything he made was very good.

God created us male and female in his own image to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. Therefore, humanity’s ultimate purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

God requires man to obey him perfectly, from the heart, in faith and love, to the glory of God.

From the beginning, God wrote his unchanging moral will on every human heart. Later, under the Old Covenant, he summarized that same moral will for Israel in the Ten Commandments.

First, that we know and trust God as the only true and living God. Second, that we avoid all idolatry and do not worship God improperly. Third, that we treat God’s name with fear and reverence, honouring also his Word and works.

Fourth, that we regularly spend time in public and private worship of God, rest from routine employment, serve the Lord and others, and so anticipate the eternal Sabbath. Fifth, that we love and honour our father and our mother, submitting to their godly discipline and direction.

Sixth, that we do not hurt, or hate, or be hostile to our neighbour, but be patient and peaceful, pursuing even our enemies with love. Seventh, that we abstain from sexual immorality and live purely and faithfully, whether in marriage or in single life, avoiding all impure actions, looks, words, thoughts, or desires, and whatever might lead to them. Eighth, that we do not take without permission that which belongs to someone else, nor withhold any good from someone we might benefit.

Ninth, that we do not lie or deceive, but speak the truth in love. Tenth, that we are content, not envying anyone or resenting what God has given them or us.

The sum of the Ten Commandments is to love the Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and to love our neighbour as ourselves.

Since the fall, no mere human has been able to keep the law of God perfectly, but consistently breaks it in thought, word, and deed.

No, but because of the disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, all of creation is fallen; we are all born in sin and guilt, corrupt in our nature and unable to keep God’s law.

God gave the law to show the holiness of his character, to expose the sinfulness of our hearts, to make our guilt plain, and to drive us to Christ, so that we would be justified by faith alone, apart from works of the law.

No. Some sins are more evil in God’s sight than others, both in themselves and because of the persons, motives, and circumstances involved.

Sin is anything we think, say, or do that disobeys the revealed will of God which teaches that we are to act in perfect holiness from a heart of faith to the glory of God.

Yes. God appointed Adam as the representative head of the entire human race; therefore, his guilt is counted as ours, and we are born guilty. At the same time, we inherit his fallen nature, so we are born corrupt and inclined to evil from the womb.

No. Sin is rebellion against God, the perfect Lawgiver and Judge. Therefore, he is righteously angry with our sins and must, in justice, punish them both in this life and in the life to come.

Yes. In his great mercy God promised and provided a New Covenant in which he forgives our sins, changes our hearts, and rescues us from wrath - entirely by his grace, through the Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Unlike the Old Covenant, which could not overcome our hard and sinful hearts, the New Covenant is founded on better promises: God forgives all our sins, writes his law on our hearts, gives us his Spirit, and causes us to know and love him - doing through Jesus and the Spirit what the law, weakened by our flesh, could never do.

God ratified the New Covenant by the blood of our Redeemer – Jesus Christ, who is himself truly God and truly human.

That in human nature he might perfectly obey the whole law on our behalf and suffer the punishment for human sin; and also that we might have the assurance that he sympathizes with our human weaknesses.

That because of his divine nature his obedience and suffering would be perfect and effective; and also that he would be able to bear the righteous justice of God against sin and yet overcome death.

The only Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who took on our humanity and offered himself as the once-for-all sacrifice whose blood ratifies the New Covenant and secures all its promises.

Jesus receives a bride - the church, the New Covenant community. Also, he receives the entire renewed creation as his everlasting dominion, with every enemy defeated, and all things placed under his feet, to the glory of God forever.

Because death is the penalty for sin, Christ died willingly as our substitute, bearing the curse and securing, by his atoning blood, all the promised blessings of the New Covenant: complete forgiveness, a new heart, righteousness, the gift of the Spirit, and eternal life.

No. Everyone is born a sinner, guilty and separated from God because of Adam. Only those who repent of their sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ are saved and brought into the blessings of the New Covenant.

Yes. As a testimony of his goodness, God shows common grace to all people, restraining sin and giving many temporal blessings even to those who will never believe.

At the day of judgment, they will receive the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them. They will be cast out from the favourable presence of God, into hell, to be justly and grievously punished, forever.

Only by faith in Jesus Christ and in his substitutionary atoning death on the cross. God, apart from any merit of our own, but only by pure grace, unites us to Christ, imputing to us his perfect righteousness when we repent and believe in him.

All spiritual blessings flow from our union with Christ, including justification, adoption, and sanctification.

Justification means our declared righteousness before God, made possible by Christ’s death and resurrection for us. Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are made fellow heirs with Christ and have a right to all the privileges as his children. Sanctification means our gradual, growing righteousness, made possible by the Spirit’s work in us.

No. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. All that is necessary for our salvation is found in him. Therefore, to seek justification by works is to frustrate the grace of God and to declare that Christ died for no purpose.

Christ has redeemed us so that we might become zealous for good works - not to earn salvation, but as the fruit of the salvation we have freely received.

All the gifts we receive from Christ we receive through the Holy Spirit, including faith itself.

The Holy Spirit gives us new desires to love God, and his people, to hate sin, and to live a life that pleases and honours Jesus, to the glory of the Father.

The church should be marked by a sacrificial love for one another - like a family that bears each other’s burdens, forgives generously, serves humbly, speaks truth in grace, and pursues unity and peace. In this way, we show the world that we are truly Jesus’ disciples.

Yes, we still sin, but we no longer love sin or want to stay in it. When we do sin, we are sorry, confess it to God, and turn away from it because Jesus has set us free from sin’s mastery.

We should quickly confess it to God with genuine sorrow, trusting his faithful promise to forgive us for Jesus’ sake. We should then turn away from that sin in repentance, relying on the Holy Spirit’s power to help us obey and grow in holiness.

No. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. All the punishment our sins deserve - past, present, and future - was poured out on Jesus at the cross. When we sin, our heavenly Father lovingly corrects us as his children, for our good, to help us grow in holiness.

Yes. God, by his grace and power, will keep all true believers in the faith until the end, enabling them to persevere and finally bringing them to glory. Those who fall away completely and finally were never truly united to Christ.

God helps us obey by the conviction, comfort, and counsel of the Holy Spirit, by his Word, by prayer, by the encouragement of other believers, and by the administration of the ordinances in the church.

Christians can expect joy in knowing Jesus, growth in holiness, and trials and suffering for his sake.

God uses trials to make us more like Jesus, to strengthen our faith, to help us comfort others, and to direct our hope away from the things of this life and towards the next.

Our great hope is the return of Jesus Christ. He will raise and transform our bodies, remove all sin and suffering, and dwell with us forever in his new creation.

We should, by the power of the Holy Spirit, live holy and godly lives, love and serve one another, make disciples of all nations, and do everything for the glory of God.

That he is God, coeternal with the Father and the Son, and that God grants him as our helper, and the irrevocable seal of our final salvation.

The Holy Spirit assures us that we are children of God, convicts us of our sin, comforts us, guides us, and gives us spiritual gifts and the desire to obey God. He also enables us to pray, and to understand God’s Word.

Prayer is pouring out our hearts to God in praise, petition, confession of sin, and thanksgiving.

With love, perseverance, and gratefulness; in humble submission to God’s will, knowing that, for the sake of Christ, he always hears our prayers.

The whole Word of God directs and inspires us in what we should pray, including the prayer Jesus himself taught us, commonly known as “The Lord’s Prayer” or “The Model Prayer.”

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

With diligence, preparation, and prayer; so that we may accept it with faith, store it in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.

The invisible church consists of believers from every nation, throughout all time, who will be gathered into one body under Christ the head.

A church is a group of baptized believers who regularly gather together in organized assemblies, with a commitment to live out their discipleship in the context of loving relationships, continuing as one body in the apostle’s doctrine, fellowship, prayer, and the practice of the ordinances, under the oversight of appointed leadership.

The ordinances, instituted by Christ, namely baptism and the Lord’s Supper, are visible signs that we are bound together as a community of faith by his death and resurrection. By our use of them the Holy Spirit more fully declares the promises of the gospel to us.

Baptism is the full immersion of a believer in water, through which they publicly declare their repentance, faith in Jesus Christ, and commitment to live as his disciple. As the sign of the New Covenant, baptism pictures the cleansing from sin, union with Christ, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and one’s addition to Christ’s church.

Baptism is to be administered to all those who actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ; and to no other.

No. There is no command or example in the Scriptures to baptize infants, or any implication from them to do so.

They are to join a faithful local church, walk in obedient fellowship, submit to its care, and participate in its worship, ministry, and ordinances.

Christ ordained this communal meal for his church, commanding us to eat bread and drink the cup in thankful remembrance of his death. By this act the Holy Spirit builds us up in faith as we express our trust in Christ alone for eternal life, our dependence on his cross, our appropriation of all new-covenant benefits, and our union with him and one another.

We must humbly examine ourselves, discerning the Lord’s body - recognizing the Supper as a memorial and proclamation of Christ’s sacrificial death while honouring the unity of his church as one body - so that we do not partake unworthily and invite judgment.

No. The Father is fully satisfied by Christ's once and for all atoning work, of which the Lord's Supper is a celebration.

Christ rose bodily from the grave on the third day after his death and is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling his kingdom and interceding for us, until he returns to reward his church, judge the nations, and renew the whole world.

Because Christ triumphed over sin and death, all who trust in him are raised to new life in this world and to everlasting life in the world to come. But those who do not trust in Christ will be raised to everlasting death.

It reminds us that this present fallen world is not all there is. Soon we will live with and enjoy God forever, in the new heaven and the new earth, where we will be fully and forever freed from all sin and will inhabit resurrection bodies in a renewed, restored creation.