A Baptist Catechism for Boys and Girls

• Part 1 - Questions about God, Man and Sin
• Part 2 - Questions about the Ten Commandments
• Part 3 - Questions about Salvation
• Part 4 - Questions about Prayer
• Part 5 - Questions about the Word, the Church and the Ordinances
• Part 6 - Questions about the Last Things

Part 5 - Questions about the Word, the Church and the Ordinances

1. Q. How does the Holy Spirit bring us to salvation?
A. He uses the Bible, which is the Word of God (1 Thes. 1:5, 6; 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:15, 16; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:22, 23).

2. Q. How can we know the Word of God?
A. We are commanded to hear, read and search the Scriptures (1 Pet. 2:2; Rv. 3:22; Mt. 21:42; 22:29; 2 Tim. 3:14-17).

3. Q. What is a church?
A. A church is an assembly of baptized believers joined by a covenant of discipline and witness who meet together regularly under the preaching of the Word of God (Mt. 18:20; Acts 2:42).

4. Q. What two ordinances did Christ give to his Church?
A. Baptism and the Lord's Supper (Mt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:24-26).

5. Q. Why Did Christ give these ordinances?
A. To show that his disciples belong to him, and to remind them of what he has done for them (Mt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:24-26).

6. Q. What is Baptism?
A. The dipping of believers into water, as a sip of their union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection (Jn. 3:23; Acts 2:41; 8:12, 35-38; Col. 2:12).

7. Q. What is the purpose of baptism?
A. Baptism testifies to believers that God has cleansed them from their sins through Jesus Christ (Acts 22:16; Col. 2:11-14).

8. Q. Who are to be baptized?
A. Only those who repent of their sins, and believe in Christ for salvation should be baptized (Acts 2:37-41; 8:12; 18:8; 19:4, 5).

9. Q. Should babies be baptized?
A. No; because the Bible neither commands it, nor gives any example of it.

10. Q. What is the Lord's Supper?
A. At the Lord's Supper, the church eats bread and drinks the fruit of the vine to remember the sufferings and death of Christ (Mk. 14:22, 24; 1 Cor. 11:23-29).

11. Q. What does the bread represent?
A. The bread represents the body of Christ, broken for our sins (Mt. 26:26; 1 Cor. 11:24).

12. Q. What does the fruit of the vine represent?
A. The fruit of the vine represents the blood of Christ, shed for our salvation (Mt. 26:27, 28; 1 Cor. 11:25).

13. Q. Who should partake of the Lord's Supper?
A. The Lord's Supper is for those only who repent of their sins, believe in Christ for salvation, receive baptism, and love their fellow men (Mt. 5:21-24; 1 Cor. 10:16, 17; 11:18, 20, 27-33; 1 Jn. 3:24-27; 4:9-11).