Question 1: What is your only comfort in life and in death? My only comfort in life and in death is that I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has delivered me from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, also assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
Question 2: How many things must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort? Three: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am delivered from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.
Question 3: How do you come to know your misery? The law of God tells me.
Question 4: What does God’s law require of us? Christ teaches us this in summary: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
Question 5: Can you live up to all this perfectly? No. I am inclined by nature to hate God and my neighbor.
Question 6: Did God create man so wicked and perverse? No. God created man good and in his own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that he might truly know God his creator, love him with all his heart, and live with God in eternal happiness, for his praise and glory.
Question 7: Then where does man’s corrupt nature come from? From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise. This fall has so poisoned our nature that we are all conceived and born in sin.
Question 8: But are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil? Yes, unless we are born again by the Spirit of God.
Question 9: But doesn’t God do man an injustice by requiring in his law what man is unable to do? No, God created man with the ability to keep the law. Man, however, at the instigation of the devil, in willful disobedience, robbed himself and all his descendants of these gifts.
Question 10: Will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? Certainly not. He is terribly angry with the sin we are born with as well as our actual sins. God will punish them by a just judgment both now and in eternity, having declared: “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.”
Question 11: But isn’t God also merciful? God is certainly merciful, but he is also just. His justice demands that sin, committed against his supreme majesty, be punished with the supreme penalty—eternal punishment of body and soul.
Question 12: According to God’s righteous judgment we deserve punishment both now and in eternity: how then can we escape this punishment and return to God’s favor? God requires that his justice be satisfied. Therefore the claims of this justice must be paid in full, either by ourselves or by another.
Question 13: Can we make this payment ourselves? Certainly not. Actually, we increase our debt every day.
Question 14: Can another creature—any at all—pay this debt for us? No. To begin with, God will not punish any other creature for what a human is guilty of. Furthermore, no mere creature can bear the weight of God’s eternal wrath against sin and deliver others from it.
Question 15: What kind of mediator and deliverer should we look for then? One who is a true and righteous man, yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also true God.
Question 16: Why must the mediator be a true and righteous man? Because God’s justice requires that human nature, which has sinned, must pay for its sin; but a sinner could never pay for others.
Question 17: Why must he also be true God? So that, by the power of his divinity, he might bear in his humanity the weight of God’s wrath, and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.
Question 18: Then who is this mediator—true God and at the same time a true and righteous man? Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was given to us for our complete deliverance and righteousness.
Question 19: How do you come to know this? The holy gospel tells me. God himself began to reveal the gospel already in Paradise; later, he proclaimed it by the holy patriarchs and prophets and foreshadowed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law; and finally he fulfilled it through his own beloved Son.
Question 20: Are all people then saved through Christ just as they were lost through Adam? No. Only those are saved who through true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all his benefits.
Question 21: What is true faith? True faith is not only a sure knowledge by which I hold as true all that God has revealed to us in his Word; it is also a wholehearted trust, which the Holy Spirit works in me by the gospel, that God has freely granted, not only to others but to me also, forgiveness of sins, eternal righteousness, and salvation. These gifts are purely of grace, only because of Christ’s merit.
Question 22: What then must a Christian believe? All that is promised us in the gospel, a summary of which is taught us in the articles of our catholic and undoubted Christian faith.
Question 23: What are these articles? I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended to heaven, and sits 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.
Question 24: How are these articles divided? Into three parts: God the Father and our creation; God the Son and our deliverance; and God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.
Question 25: Since there is only one divine being, why do you speak of three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Because that is how God has revealed himself in his Word: these three distinct persons are one, true, eternal God.
Question 26: What do you believe when you say, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth”? That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by his eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ his Son. I trust him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.
Question 27: What do you understand by the providence of God? God’s providence is his almighty and ever present power, whereby, as with his hand, he still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand.
Question 28: What does it profit us to know that God created all things and still upholds them by his providence? We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love. All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.
Question 29: Why is the Son of God called “Jesus,” meaning “Savior”? Because he saves us from our sins, and because salvation should not be sought and cannot be found in anyone else.
Question 30: Do those who look for their salvation and security in saints, in themselves, or elsewhere really believe in the only Savior Jesus? No. Although they boast of being his, by their deeds they deny the only Savior, Jesus. Either Jesus is not a perfect Savior, or those who in true faith accept this Savior have in him all they need for their salvation.
Question 31: Why is he called “Christ,” meaning “Anointed”? Because he has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet and teacher, who perfectly reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God for our deliverance; our only high priest, who has set us free by the one sacrifice of his body, and who continually pleads our cause with the Father; and our eternal king, who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who guards us and keeps us in the freedom he has won for us.
Question 32: But why are you called a Christian? Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I share in his anointing. I am anointed to confess his name, to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a free conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for all eternity.
Question 33: Why is he called God’s “only begotten Son” when we also are God’s children? Because Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God. We, however, are adopted children of God—adopted by grace through Christ.
Question 34: Why do you call him “our Lord”? Because—not with gold or silver, but with his precious blood—he has set us free from sin and from the tyranny of the devil, and has bought us, body and soul, to be his very own.
Question 35: What does it mean that he “was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary”? That the eternal Son of God, who is and remains true and eternal God, took to himself, through the working of the Holy Spirit, from the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary, a truly human nature so that he might also become David’s true descendant, like his brothers in every way except for sin.
Question 36: How does the holy conception and birth of Christ benefit you? He is our mediator, and with his innocence and perfect holiness he removes from God’s sight my sin—the sin in which I was conceived.
Question 37: What do you understand by the word “suffered”? That during his entire life on earth, but especially at the end, Christ sustained in body and soul the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race. This he did so that, by his suffering as the only atoning sacrifice, he might set us free, body and soul, from eternal condemnation, and gain for us God’s grace, righteousness, and eternal life.
Question 38: Why did he suffer “under Pontius Pilate” as judge? So that he, though innocent, might be condemned by a civil judge, and so free us from the severe judgment of God that was to fall on us.
Question 39: Is it significant that he was “crucified” instead of dying some other way? Yes. This death convinces me that he shouldered the curse which lay on me, since death by crucifixion was accursed by God.
Question 40: Why did Christ have to go all the way to death? Because God’s justice and truth demand it: only the death of God’s Son could pay for our sin.
Question 41: Why was he “buried”? His burial testifies that he really died.
Question 42: Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die? Our death does not pay the debt of our sins. Rather, it puts an end to our sinning and is our entrance into eternal life.
Question 43: What further advantage do we receive from Christ’s sacrifice and death on the cross? Through Christ’s death our old selves are crucified, put to death, and buried with him, so that the evil desires of the flesh may no longer rule us, but that instead we may dedicate ourselves as an offering of gratitude to him.
Question 44: Why does the creed add, “He descended into hell”? To assure me during moments of deepest sorrow and severe temptation that Christ, my Lord, by his unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul, which he also suffered on the cross and before, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell.
Question 45: How does Christ’s resurrection benefit us? First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, so that he might make us share in the righteousness he won for us by his death. Second, by his power we too are already now resurrected to a new life. Third, Christ’s resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection.
Question 46: What do you mean by saying, “He ascended to heaven”? That Christ, while his disciples watched, was lifted up from the earth to heaven and will be there for our good until he comes again to judge the living and the dead.
Question 47: But isn’t Christ with us until the end of the world as he promised us? Christ is true man and true God. In his human nature Christ is not now on earth; but in his divinity, majesty, grace, and Spirit he is never absent from us.
Question 48: If his humanity is not present wherever his divinity is, then aren’t the two natures of Christ separated from each other? Certainly not. Since divinity is not limited and is present everywhere, it follows that Christ’s divinity is indeed beyond the bounds of the humanity he has taken on, but at the same time his divinity is in and remains personally united to his humanity.
Question 49: How does Christ’s ascension to heaven benefit us? First, he pleads our cause in heaven in the presence of his Father. Second, we have our own flesh in heaven as a guarantee that Christ our head will take us, his members, to himself in heaven. Third, he sends his Spirit to us on earth as a further guarantee. By the Spirit’s power we make it our whole concern to seek the things which are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, and not the things that are on earth.
Question 50: Why the next words: “and sits at the right hand of God”? Because Christ ascended to heaven there to show that he is head of his church, and that the Father rules all things through him.
Question 51: How does this glory of Christ our head benefit us? First, through his Holy Spirit he pours out his gifts from heaven upon us his members. Second, by his power he defends us and keeps us safe from all enemies.
Question 52: How does Christ’s return “to judge the living and the dead” comfort you? In all my distress and persecution I turn my eyes to the heavens and confidently expect as judge the very One who has already stood before God’s judgment seat in my stead and has removed the whole curse from me. He will cast all his and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but he will take me and all his chosen ones to himself into the joy and glory of heaven.
Question 53: What do you believe concerning the Holy Spirit? First, he, as well as the Father and the Son, is eternal God. Second, he has been given to me personally, so that, by true faith, he makes me share in Christ and all his blessings, comforts me, and remains with me forever.
Question 54: What do you believe concerning “the holy catholic church”? I believe that the Son of God through his Spirit and Word, out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and preserves for himself a community chosen for eternal life and united in true faith. And of this community I am and always will be a living member.
Question 55: What do you understand by “the communion of saints”? First, that believers one and all, as members of this community, share in Christ and in all his treasures and gifts. Second, that each member should consider it a duty to use these gifts readily and cheerfully for the service and enrichment of the other members.
Question 56: What do you believe concerning “the forgiveness of sins”? I believe that God, because of Christ’s satisfaction, will no longer remember any of my sins or my sinful nature which I need to struggle against all my life. Rather, by grace God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgment.
Question 57: How does “the resurrection of the body” comfort you? Not only my soul will be taken immediately after this life to Christ its head, but also my very flesh will be raised by the power of Christ, reunited with my soul, and made like Christ’s glorious body.
Question 58: How does the article concerning “life everlasting” comfort you? Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, so after this life I will have perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human heart has ever imagined: a blessedness in which to praise God eternally.
Question 59: What good does it do you, however, to believe all this? In Christ I am righteous before God and heir to eternal life.
Question 60: How are you righteous before God? Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments and of never having kept any of them, and even though I am still inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart.
Question 61: Why do you say that by faith alone you are righteous? It is not because of any value in my faith that I am worthy of God’s approval. Rather, only Christ’s satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness are my righteousness before God. I can receive this righteousness and make it mine in no other way than by faith alone.
Question 62: Why can’t our good works be our righteousness before God, or at least a part of it? Because the righteousness which can pass God’s judgment must be entirely perfect and must in every way measure up to the divine law. But even our best works in this life are imperfect and stained with sin.
Question 63: How can our good works be said to merit nothing when God promises to reward them in this life and the next? This reward is not earned; it is a gift of grace.
Question 64: But doesn’t this teaching make people indifferent and wicked? No. It is impossible for those grafted into Christ by true faith not to produce fruits of gratitude.
Question 65: It is by faith alone that we share in Christ and all his blessings: where then does that faith come from? The Holy Spirit produces it in our hearts by the preaching of the holy gospel, and confirms it through our use of the holy sacraments.
Question 66: What are sacraments? Sacraments are holy, visible signs and seals. They were instituted by God so that by their use he might the more fully declare and seal to us the promise of the gospel. And this is the promise: that God, because of Christ’s one sacrifice finished on the cross, graciously grants us the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Question 67: Are both the Word and the sacraments then intended to focus our faith on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Yes! In the gospel the Holy Spirit teaches us and through the holy sacraments he assures us that our entire salvation rests on Christ’s one sacrifice for us on the cross.
Question 68: How many sacraments did Christ institute in the New Testament? Two: holy baptism and the holy supper.
Question 69: How does holy baptism remind you and assure you that Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross benefits you personally? In this way: Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that, as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly his blood and Spirit wash away my soul’s impurity, in other words, all my sins.
Question 70: What does it mean to be washed with Christ’s blood and Spirit? To be washed with Christ’s blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ’s blood shed for us in his sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ’s Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life.
Question 71: Where does Christ promise that we are washed with his blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed with the water of baptism? In the institution of baptism where he says: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.” This promise is also repeated where Scripture calls baptism the “washing of rebirth” and the washing away of sins.
Question 72: Does this outward washing with water itself wash away sins? No, only the blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sins.
Question 73: Why then does the Holy Spirit call baptism the washing of rebirth and the washing away of sins? God has good reason for these words. He wants to teach us that the blood and Spirit of Christ wash away our sins just as water washes away dirt from our bodies. But more important, he wants to assure us, by this divine pledge and sign, that the washing away of our sins spiritually is as real as physical washing with water.
Question 74: Should infants, too, be baptized? Yes. Infants as well as adults are in God’s covenant and are his people. They, no less than adults, are promised the forgiveness of sin through Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit who produces faith. Therefore, by baptism, the mark of the covenant, infants should be received into the Christian church and should be distinguished from the children of unbelievers. This was done in the Old Testament by circumcision, which was replaced in the New Testament by baptism.
Question 75: How does the holy supper remind you and assure you that you share in Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross and in all his gifts? In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat this broken bread and to drink this cup in remembrance of him. With this command he gave these promises: First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely was his body offered and broken for me and his blood poured out for me on the cross. Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the one who serves, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, given me as sure signs of Christ’s body and blood, so surely does he himself feed and refresh my soul to eternal life with his crucified body and shed blood.
Question 76: What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ and to drink his shed blood? It means to accept with a believing heart the entire suffering and death of Christ and by believing to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. But it means more. Through the Holy Spirit, who lives both in Christ and in us, we are united more and more to Christ’s blessed body. And so, although he is in heaven and we are on earth, we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. And we forever live on and are governed by one Spirit, as members of our body are by one soul.
Question 77: Where does Christ promise that he will feed and refresh believers with his body and blood as surely as they eat this broken bread and drink this cup? In the institution of the Lord’s Supper: “The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” This promise is repeated by Paul in these words: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
Question 78: Do the bread and wine become the real body and blood of Christ? No. Just as the water of baptism is not changed into Christ’s blood and does not itself wash away sins, but is simply God’s sign and assurance, so too the bread of the Lord’s Supper is not changed into the actual body of Christ, even though it is called the body of Christ in keeping with the nature and language of sacraments.
Question 79: Why then does Christ call the bread his body and the cup his blood, or the new covenant in his blood? (And Paul uses the words, a sharing in Christ’s body and blood.) Christ has good reason for these words. He wants to teach us that as bread and wine nourish our temporal life, so too his crucified body and shed blood are the true food and drink of our souls for eternal life. But more important, he wants to assure us, by this visible sign and pledge, that we, through the Holy Spirit’s work, share in his true body and blood as surely as our mouths receive these holy signs in his remembrance, and that all of his suffering and obedience are as certainly ours as if we personally had suffered and paid for our sins.
Question 80: How does the Lord’s Supper differ from the Roman Catholic Mass? The Lord’s Supper declares to us that our sins have been completely forgiven through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ which he himself finished on the cross once for all. It also declares to us that the Holy Spirit grafts us into Christ, who with his true body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father where he wants us to worship him. But the Mass teaches that the living and the dead do not have their sins forgiven through the suffering of Christ unless Christ is still offered for them daily by the priests. It also teaches that Christ is bodily present in the form of bread and wine where Christ is therefore to be worshiped. Thus the Mass is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry.
Question 81: Who are to come to the Lord’s table? Those who are displeased with themselves because of their sins, but who nevertheless trust that their sins are pardoned and that their remaining weakness is covered by the suffering and death of Christ, and who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and to lead a better life. Hypocrites and those who are unrepentant, however, eat and drink judgment on themselves.
Question 82: Should those be admitted to the Lord’s Supper who show by what they say and do that they are unbelieving and ungodly? No, that would dishonor God’s covenant and bring his anger down on the entire congregation. Therefore, according to the instruction of Christ and his apostles, the Christian church is duty-bound to exclude such people, by the official use of the keys of the kingdom, until they reform their lives.
Question 83: What are the keys of the kingdom? The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Both of them open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers.
Question 84: How does the preaching of the holy gospel open and close the kingdom of heaven? According to the command of Christ: The kingdom of heaven is opened by proclaiming and publicly declaring to all believers, each and every one, that, as often as they accept the gospel promise in true faith, God, because of Christ’s merit, truly forgives all their sins. The kingdom of heaven is closed, however, by proclaiming and publicly declaring to unbelievers and hypocrites that, as long as they do not repent, the anger of God and eternal condemnation rest on them. God’s judgment of the one and the other is based on this gospel testimony.
Question 85: How is the kingdom of heaven closed and opened by Christian discipline? According to the command of Christ: Those who, though called Christians, profess unchristian teachings or live unchristian lives, and after repeated and loving counsel in any way refuse to abandon their errors or wickedness, and after being reported to the church, that is, to its officers, fail to respond also to their admonition—such persons the officers exclude from the Christian fellowship by withholding the sacraments from them, and God himself excludes them from the kingdom of Christ. Such persons, when they promise and demonstrate genuine reform, are received again as members of Christ and of his church.
Question 86: We have been delivered from our misery by grace through Christ without any merit of our own. Why then should we do good works? Because Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, is also restoring us by his Spirit into his image, so that with our whole lives we may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits, so that he may be praised through us, and so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits and by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ.
Question 87: Can those be saved who do not turn to God from their ungrateful and impenitent ways? By no means. Scripture tells us that no unchaste person, no idolater, adulterer, thief, no covetous person, no drunkard, slanderer, robber, or the like is going to inherit the kingdom of God.
Question 88: What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion? Two things: the dying-away of the old self, and the coming-to-life of the new self.
Question 89: What is the dying-away of the old self? It is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to dread it and to flee from it more and more.
Question 90: What is the coming-to-life of the new self? It is wholehearted joy in God through Christ and a love and delight to live according to the will of God by doing every kind of good work.
Question 91: What are good works? Only those which are done out of true faith, conform to God’s law, and are done for God’s glory; and not those based on our own opinion or human tradition.
Question 92: What is God’s law? God spoke all these words:
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT: You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT: Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT: Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT: You shall not murder.
THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT: You shall not commit adultery.
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT: You shall not steal.
THE NINTH COMMANDMENT: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
THE TENTH COMMANDMENT: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Question 93: How are these commandments divided? Into two tables. The first has four commandments, teaching us what our relation to God should be. The second has six commandments, teaching us what our duty is to our neighbor.
Question 94: What does the Lord require in the first commandment? That I, not wanting to endanger my very salvation, avoid and flee all idolatry, sorcery, superstitious rites, and prayer to saints or to other creatures. That I rightly know the only true God, trust him alone, and look to him for every good thing humbly and patiently; love, fear, and honor him with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against his will in any way.
Question 95: What is idolatry? Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God, who has revealed himself in his Word.
Question 96: What is God’s will for us in the second commandment? That we in no way make any image of God nor worship him in any other way than has been commanded in God’s Word.
Question 97: May we then not make any image at all? God cannot and may not be visibly portrayed in any way. Although creatures may be portrayed, yet God forbids making or having such images if one’s intention is to worship them or to serve God through them.
Question 98: But may not images be permitted in churches as “books for the unlearned”? No, we should not try to be wiser than God. He wants his people instructed by the living preaching of his Word—not by idols that cannot even speak.
Question 99: What is the aim of the third commandment? That we do not blaspheme or misuse the name of God by cursing, perjury, or unnecessary oaths, nor share in such horrible sins by being silent bystanders. In a word, it requires that we use the holy name of God only with reverence and awe, so that we may properly confess him, pray to him, and praise him in everything we do and say.
Question 100: Is blasphemy of God’s name by swearing and cursing really such a serious sin that God is angry also with those who do not do all they can to help prevent it? Yes, indeed. No sin is greater, no sin makes God more angry than blaspheming his name. That is why he commanded the death penalty for it.
Question 101: But may we swear an oath in God’s name if we do it reverently? Yes, when the government demands it, or when it is otherwise necessary to maintain and promote fidelity and truth, to the glory of God and the good of our neighbor. Such oath-taking is grounded in God’s Word and was rightly used by the people of God in the Old and New Testaments.
Question 102: May we also swear by saints or other creatures? No. A legitimate oath is an invocation of God, as the only one who knows my heart, to bear witness to the truth and to punish me if I swear falsely. No creature is worthy of such honor.
Question 103: What is God’s will for you in the fourth commandment? First, that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained, and that, especially on this festive day of rest, I regularly attend the assembly of God’s people to learn what God’s Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor. Second, that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin in this life the eternal Sabbath.
Question 104: What is God’s will for you in the fifth commandment? That I honor, love, and be loyal to my father and mother and all those in authority over me; that I submit myself with proper obedience to all their good teachings and discipline; and also that I be patient with their failings—for through them God chooses to rule us.
Question 105: What is God’s will for you in the sixth commandment? I am not to belittle, insult, hate, or kill my neighbor—not by my thoughts, my words, my look or gestures, and certainly not by actual deeds—and I am not to be party to this in others; rather, I am to put away all desire for revenge. I am not to harm or recklessly endanger myself either. Prevention of murder is also why government is armed with the sword.
Question 106: Does this commandment refer only to killing? By forbidding murder God teaches us that he hates the root of murder: envy, hatred, anger, vindictiveness. In God’s sight all such are murder.
Question 107: Is it enough then that we do not kill our neighbor in any such way? No. By condemning envy, hatred, and anger God wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to be patient, peace-loving, gentle, merciful, and friendly toward them, to protect them from harm as much as we can, and to do good even to our enemies.
Question 108: What does the seventh commandment teach us? God condemns all unchastity. We should therefore thoroughly detest it and, married or single, live decent and chaste lives.
Question 109: Does God, in this commandment, forbid only such scandalous sins as adultery? We are temples of the Holy Spirit, body and soul, and God wants both to be kept clean and holy. That is why he forbids everything which incites unchastity, whether it be actions, looks, talk, thoughts, or desires.
Question 110: What does God forbid in the eighth commandment? He forbids not only the theft and robbery which civil authorities punish, but God also labels as theft all wicked tricks and schemes by which we seek to get for ourselves our neighbor’s goods, whether by force or under the pretext of right, such as false weights and measures, deceptive advertising or merchandising, counterfeit money, exorbitant interest, or any other means forbidden by God. He also forbids all greed and pointless squandering of his gifts.
Question 111: What does God require of you in this commandment? That I do whatever I can for my neighbor’s good, that I treat others as I would like them to treat me, and that I work faithfully so that I may share with those in need.
Question 112: What is the aim of the ninth commandment? That I never give false testimony against anyone, twist no one’s words, do not gossip or slander, nor join in condemning anyone without a hearing or without a cause. Rather, I should avoid all lying and deceit as the devil’s own works, under penalty of God’s heavy wrath. In court and everywhere else, I should love the truth, speak it candidly, and openly acknowledge it. And I should do what I can to guard and advance my neighbor’s good name.
Question 113: What is the aim of the tenth commandment? That not even the slightest thought or desire contrary to any one of God’s commandments should ever arise in our hearts. Rather, with all our hearts we should always hate sin and take pleasure in whatever is right.
Question 114: But can those converted to God obey these commandments perfectly? No. In this life even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience. Nevertheless, with all seriousness of purpose, they do begin to live according to all, not only some, of God’s commandments.
Question 115: No one in this life can obey the Ten Commandments perfectly: why then does God want them preached so pointedly? First, so that the longer we live the more we may come to know our sinfulness and the more eagerly look to Christ for forgiveness of sins and righteousness. Second, so that we may never stop striving, and never stop praying to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to be renewed more and more after God’s image, until after this life we reach our goal: perfection.
Question 116: Why do Christians need to pray? Because prayer is the most important part of the thankfulness God requires of us. And also because God gives his grace and Holy Spirit only to those who pray continually and groan inwardly, asking God for these gifts and thanking him for them.
Question 117: What is the kind of prayer that pleases God and that he answers? First, we must pray from the heart to no other than the one true God, who has revealed himself in his Word, asking for everything he has commanded us to ask for. Second, we must fully recognize our need and misery, so that we may humble ourselves in the presence of his majesty. Third, we must rest on this unshakable foundation: even though we do not deserve it, God will surely listen to our prayer because of Christ our Lord, as he has promised us in his Word.
Question 118: What did God command us to pray for? Everything we need, spiritually and physically, as embraced in the prayer Christ our Lord himself taught us.
Question 119: What is this 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. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Question 120: Why did Christ command us to call God “our Father”? At the very beginning of our prayer Christ wants to kindle in us what is basic to our prayer—the childlike trust and reverence of God. God has become our Father through Christ and will much less deny us what we ask for in faith than our fathers would deny us earthly things.
Question 121: Why the words “in heaven”? These words teach us not to think of God’s heavenly majesty as something earthly, and to expect everything for body and soul from his almighty power.
Question 122: What is the first petition? “Hallowed be your name” means: Help us to really know you, to bless, worship, and praise you for all your works and for all that shines forth from them: your almighty power, wisdom, kindness, justice, mercy, and truth. And it means, Help us to direct our whole lives—our thoughts, words, and actions—so that your name is never blasphemed because of us but is always honored and praised.
Question 123: What is the second petition? “Your kingdom come” means: Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Preserve your church and make it grow. Destroy the devil’s work; destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your holy Word. Do this until your kingdom is so complete and perfect that in it you are all in all.
Question 124: What is the third petition? “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means: Help us and all people to reject our own will and to obey your will without any backtalk. Your will alone is good. Help everyone carry out the duties of his office and calling as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven.
Question 125: What is the fourth petition? “Give us today our daily bread” means: Do provide for all our physical needs so that we may come to know that you are the only source of everything good, and that neither our care and work nor your gifts can do us any good without your blessing. Therefore may we withdraw our trust from all creatures and place it only in you.
Question 126: What is the fifth petition? “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” means: Because of Christ’s blood, do not hold against us, poor sinners that we are, any of the sins we do or the evil that constantly clings to us. Forgive us just as we are fully determined, as evidence of your grace in us, to forgive our neighbors with all our heart.
Question 127: What is the sixth petition? “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” means: By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment. And our sworn enemies—the devil, the world, and our own flesh—never stop attacking us. And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the help of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle, but may firmly resist our enemies until we finally win the complete victory.
Question 128: What is the conclusion of your prayer? “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever” means: We have made all these requests of you because, as our all-powerful king, you not only want to, but are able to give us all that is good; and because your holy name, and not we ourselves, should receive all the glory, forever.
Question 129: What does that little word “Amen” express? “Amen” means: This shall truly and certainly be! It is even more sure that God listens to my prayer than that I really desire what I pray for.