Heidelberg Catechism 

Q.1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?
Answer. That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death (Rom 14:7-9; 1 Thess 5:9-10), am not my own (1 Cor 6:19-20), but belong to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ (1 Cor 3:22-23; Tit 2:14), who with his precious blood (1 Pet 1:18-19) has fully satisfied for all my sins (1 John 1:7; 2:1-2), and redeemed me from all the power of the devil (John 8:34-36; 1 John 3:8; Heb 2:14-15); and so preserves me (John 6:38-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess 3:3; 1 Pet 1:5) that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head (Matt 10:29-31; Luke 21:18-19); yea, that all things must work together for my salvation (Rom 8:28). Wherefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life (Rom 8:15-16; 2 Cor 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph 1:13-14), and makes me heartily willing and ready, henceforth to live unto him (Rom 7:22†; 8:14; Phil 2:13; Heb 13:20-21; 1 John 3:3; 4:13; Ezek 36:27).
Q. 2. How many things are necessary for thee to know, that thou in this comfort mayest live and die happily?
A. Three things (Luke 24:46-47; 1 Cor 6:11; Tit 3:3-7; Matt 11:28-30): First, the greatness of my sin andmisery (John 9:41; 15:22; Rom 3:10; 7:24; Matt 9:12; 1 John 1:9-10; Rom 1:18-3:21). Second, how I am redeemed from all my sins and misery (John 17:3; Acts 4:12; 10:43; Rom 7:25; Col 1:13-14; 1 Pet 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7; Rev 1:5; Rom 3:21-11:36; Phil 2:5-11). Third, how I am to be thankful to God for such redemption (Eph 5:8-11; Rom 6:1-2; 6:11–14; 2 Tim 2:15-16; 1 Pet 2:9-12; Matt 5:16; Ps 50:14-15; 116:12-13; Rom 12:1-16:27).
THE FIRST PART: OF MAN’S MISERY
Q. 3. Whence knowest thou thy misery?
A. Out of the Law of God (Rom 3:20; 7:7; John 5:45).
Q. 4. What does the Law of God require of us?
A. This Christ teaches us in sum, Matt. 22: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first and great commandment; and the second is like unto it: Thous shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.—On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matt 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27-28; Deut 6:4-5; Lev 19:18; Luke 5:27; Rom 13:10).
Q. 5. Canst thou keep all this perfectly?
A. No (Rom 3:10-12, 23; 1 John 1:8, 10; Rom 7:18; Jas 2:10; 3:2); for I am by nature prone to hate God and my neighbor (Rom 8:7; Eph 2:3, 5; Tit 3:3; Gen 6:5; 8:21; Jer 13:23; 17:9; Rom 7:23-25; Matt 6:24).
Q. 6. Did God create man thus wicked and perverse?
A. No (Gen 1:31); but God created man good, and after his own image (Gen 1:26-27; Gen 2:7)—that is, in righteousness and true holiness; that he might rightly know God his Creator, heartily love him, and live with him in eternal blessedness, to praise and glorify him (Eph 4:24; Col 3:10; 2 Cor 3:18; Eph 1:6; 1 Cor 6:20; Ps 8; Rev 21:3).
Q. 7. Whence, then, comes this depraved nature of man?
A. From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise (Gen 3; Rom 5:18-19), whereby our nature became so corrupt that we are all conceived and born in sin (Ps 51:5; Gen 5:3; 8:21;John 3:6; Eph 2:3).
Q. 8. But are we so far depraved that we are wholly unapt to any good, and prone to all evil?
A. Yes (John 3:6; Gen 6:5-6; 8:21; Job 14:4; 15:14, 16, 35; Isa 53:6); unless we are born again by the Spirit of God (John 3:3, 5; 1 Cor 12:3; 2 Cor 3:5; Phil 2:13).
Q. 9. Does not God, then, wrong man by requiring of him in his law that which he can not perform?
A. No; for God so made man that he could perform it (Eph 4:24; Col 3:10; Luke 10:30; Gen 1:31; Eccl 7:29); but man, through the instigation of the devil (Gen 3:13; John 8:44; 1 Tim 2:14; 2 Cor 11:3), by willful disobedience (Gen 3:6-7), deprived himself and all his posterity of this power (Rom 5:12; Ps 51:5).
Q. 10. Will God suffer such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished?
A. By no means (Rom 5:12; Heb 9:27); but he is terribly displeased with our inborn as well as actual sins, and will punish them in just judgment in time and eternity (Heb 10:31; Gen 2:17; Ps 5:4-6; 7:11; 50:21; 90:11; Nah 1:2; Exod 20:5; 34:7; Deut 28:15; Rom 1:18; 2:5, 9; Eph 5:6), as he has declared: Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them (Deut 27:26; Gal 3:10).
Q. 11. Is, then, God not also merciful?
A. God is indeed merciful (Exod 34:6-7; 20:6; Ps 103:8-9), but he is likewise just (Exod 20:5; 23:7; 34:7; Deut 7:9-11; Ps 5:5-7; 7:9; Job 34:10-11; Nah 1:2-3; Rom 1:18; 2:5–6; 2 Cor 6:14-17; Heb 10:31); wherefore his justice requires that sin, which is committed against the most high majesty of God, be also punished with extreme, that is, with everlasting punishment (Gen 2:17; Rom 6:23) of body and soul (Matt 25:35-46).
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