Faith and Duty: What the Scriptures Primarily Teach (WSC 2 & 3)

It’s all nice and good to say that our chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever, but how do you figure out how to do that?

That’s where we turn in questions 2-3:

Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?

A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,[3] is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.[4]

Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?

A. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God,[5] and what duty God requires of man.[6]

It’s tempting to think that the catechism is dividing everything into “thinking” – what man is to believe concerning God – and “doing” – what duty God requires of man.

But that would be to forget what we have just learned in question one: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” Neither thinking nor doing is ultimate.

Rather, the ultimate thing is to glorify and enjoy God. Or, to say it another way – to love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

So, as we think about what we are to believe and what we are to do – we must never forget that faith and practice, the knowing and the doing, are both rooted in the fundamental orientation of our hearts and lives toward God.

Our text tonight is the whole Bible...