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The Baptist Catechism

Question 22

    What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?

    All mankind by their fall lost communion with God,a are under his wrath and curse,b and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.c

    1. aGenesis 3:8, 10, 24
    2. bEphesians 2:2-3; Galatians 3:10
    3. cLamentations 3:39; Romans 6:23; Matthew 25:41, 46
    Beddome's Scriptural Exposition 34 questions answered from Scripture

    1. Is fallen man rendered unworthy of communion with God? Yes.

      “For what communion hath light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14

    2. And unfit for it? Yes.

      “For can two walk together unless they are agreed?” Amos 3:3

    3. And is he excluded from it? Yes.

      “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God” Isaiah 59:2

    4. But may not this breach be repaired? Yes.

      “Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” Ephesians 2:13

    1. Is fallen man under God’s wrath? Yes.

      “And were by nature the children of wrath even as others” Ephesians 2:3

    2. Will this wrath certainly find out those who are the subjects of it? Yes.

      “There is no escaping” Ezra 9:14

    3. Is it therefore a dreadful thing to be exposed to it? Yes.

      “Who can stand before his indignation?” Nahum 1:6

    4. And are the saints sensible that it is so? Yes.

      “Rebuke me not in thy wrath” Psalm 38:1

    1. Is fallen man under God’s curse? Yes.

      “As many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse” Ephesians 3:11

    2. Is there a curse upon the bodies of the wicked? Yes.

      “It shall come into their bowels like water, and like oil into their bones” Psalm 109:18

    3. And upon their labours? Yes.

      “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came too little” Haggai 1:9

    4. And upon their families? Yes.

      “The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked” Proverbs 3:33

    5. And upon their enjoyments? Yes.

      “I will curse your blessings, yea I have cursed them already” Malachi 2:2

    6. Does this curse extend to sinners of every degree? Yes.

      “It goes forth over the face of the whole earth, and cutteth off on every side” Zechariah 5:3

    1. Are fallen men subject to many internal and spiritual evils? Yes.

      “This is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart” Jeremiah 4:18

    2. Are they subject to the tyranny of Satan? Yes.

      “He worketh in the children of disobedience” Ephesians 2:2

    3. And to judicial blindness? Yes.

      “God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see” Romans 11:8

    4. And to hardness of heart? Yes.

      “Having their conscience seared” 1 Timothy 4:2

    5. And to vile affections? Yes.

      “For this cause God gave them up to vile affections” Romans 1:26

    6. And to strong delusions? Yes.

      “God shall send them strong delusion to believe a lie” 2 Thessalonians 2:11

    7. And to great distress and perplexity of mind? Yes.

      “Terrors take hold of him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night” Job 27:20

    1. Is fallen man subject to many external evils? Yes.

      “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked” Psalm 32:10

    2. Is he exposed to bodily diseases? Yes.

      “The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever” Deuteronomy 28:22

    3. And to toil and labour? Yes.

      “In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread” Genesis 3:9

    4. And to crosses and disappointments? Yes.

      “Thou shalt build, but I will throw down” Malachi 1:4

    5. And to contempt and reproach? Yes.

      “Thou shalt become a proverb and a bye-word” Deuteronomy 28:37

    6. Is all this a sad inheritance from our first parents? Yes.

      “For man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards” Job 5:7

    1. Are all mankind by the fall become liable to death? Yes.

      “The wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23

    2. Doth sin make death terrible? Yes.

      “The sting of death is sin” 1 Corinthians 15:56

    3. And that even to the saints? Yes.

      “There are some of them, who through fear of death are all their life-time subject to bondage” Hebrews 2:15

    1. Have we by sin forfeited the happiness of heaven? Yes.

      “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight” Psalm 5:5

    2. And incurred the pains of hell? Yes.

      “Let them go down quick into hell” Psalm 55:15

    3. And are those pains everlasting? Yes.

      “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction” 2 Thessalonians 1:9

    4. And is this the due desert of sin? Yes.

      “For it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation” 2 Thessalonians 1:6

    Benjamin Beddome (1717–1795), pastor at Bourton-on-the-Water. Verses from the King James Version.

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