A Puritan Catechism

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Questions 61-70

61.  Q. Which is the ninth commandment? 

A. The ninth commandment is, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." 

62.  Q. What is required in the ninth commandment? 

A. The ninth commandment requires the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man (Zech. 8:16), and of our own (1 Pet. 3:16; Acts 25:10), and our neighbour's good name (3 Jn. 1:12), especially in witness-bearing (Prov. 14:5, 25). 

63.  Q. What is the tenth commandment? 

A. The tenth commandment is, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, or his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's." 

64.  Q. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment? 

A. The tenth commandment forbids all discontentment with our own estate (1 Cor. 10:10), envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, (Gal. 5:26) and all inordinate emotions and affections to anything that is his (Col. 3:5).

65.  Q. Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? 

A. No mere man, since the fall, is able in his life perfectly to keep the commandments of God (Eccl. 7:20), but does daily break them in thought, (Gen. 8:21) word (Jas. 3:8), and deed (Jas. 3:2). 

66.  Q. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous? 

A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others (Jn. 19:11; 1 Jn. 5:15). 

67.  Q. What does every sin deserve? 

A. Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come (Eph. 5:6; Ps. 11:6). 

68.  Q. How may we escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin? 

A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 3:16), trusting alone to his blood and righteousness. This faith is attended by repentance for the past (Acts 20:21) and leads to holiness in the future. 

69.  Q. What is faith in Jesus Christ? 

A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace (Heb. 10:39), whereby we receive (Jn. 1:12), and rest upon him alone for salvation (Phil. 3:9), as he is set forth in the gospel (Isa. 33:22).

70.  Q. What is repentance to life? 

A. Repentance to life is a saving grace (Acts 11:18), whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sins (Acts 2:37), and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ (Joel 2:13), does with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it to God (Jer. 31:18-19), with full purpose to strive after new obedience (Ps. 119:59). 

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