Shorter Catechism: Question 20

Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to die in sin and misery?

A. 20. From all eternity and merely because it pleased Him, God chose some to have everlasting life. These He freed from sin and misery by a covenant of grace and brought them to salvation by a redeemer. 

Monday:

Almost as soon as Adam and Eve fell into sin and misery through their disobedience, God  made them a very comforting promise. God promised that someday  Someone would be born of a woman who would crush the head of Satan, who had deceived them. The Fall, with all its terrible consequences of  pain, death and the judgment of God, did not take God by surprise. He had always planned that His people would be His people because of what He would do for them, not because of what they would do for themselves. For centuries after the Fall, God's people waited for the birth of the One whom God had promised. The whole Old Testament looked forward to His coming. It contains many prophecies that Jesus fulfilled perfectly. Some of these Old Testament prophesies tell of what this Promised One would do for His people. He would save them from their sins and misery by taking the judgment their sins deserved and by living a life of perfect obedience to God in their place. For just one example of  such a prophesy written hundreds of years  before Jesus came:

Isaiah 53:5-6, 11

 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

- Training Hearts, Teaching Minds: Family Devotions Based on the Shorter Catechism 

Shorter Catechism Answers

Recently there was a discussion going on in this blog that had to do with whether or not God chose people to go to heaven while also choosing others to go to hell. A lot of other issues came up as well, but we will get to those later.  I feel like it is necessary for me to explain what my position is and why I have it. I feel like t his is important because most of the people reading this are of a young adult age. Meaning they probably still live under the authority of their parents. This way, if I explain myself you can take these things to you parents so that you may discuss them.
 I also know many people reading this don't know what I'm talking about. Here is the link to the discussion so that you can catch up. (Session II: Debate) I know that many of you who read the discussion still won't understand why I can believe in such a harsh judgment. Which is the reason why I will be going through and posting a study on question #20: Did God leave all mankind to die in sin and misery? Before I begin, I'd like to explain what The Shorter Catechism is.

"The Shorter Catechism comes from the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

A catechism is simply an instructional guide. It is a handbook of questions and answers designed to teach principles of religion. To "catechize" children is to  teach them to memorize the answers found in a catechism, so that when the catechism questions are asked, the children can reply with the correct responses. Because a good catechism is at the same time concise and thorough, when children have learned it well, their understanding of the basic doctrines of Christian faith can be tested and fond to be complete.

Once, catechisms were used routinely. Church and family worked together to provide the most effective teaching possible for children growing up in Christian circles. Parents would work with their children at home, requiring them to memorize the answers to the catechism (and memorizing the answers themselves, as well).

It is said that if we require our children to memorize by rote, they will only memorize meaningless sounds and words without understanding them. Certainly we do a disservice to our children if we insist that they memorize words they do not understand, while we fail to take the time to discuss, teach and explain the meaning to them. The solution, however, is not to discard memorization as  a teaching method, but to faithfully supply meaning by discussing and explaining."

- Training Hearts, Teaching Minds: Family Devotions Based on the Shorter Catechism (Introduction)

If more questions arise as to what the shorter catechism is I will post more on the subject. However this should suffice for the weeks scheduled postings. Next week I will continue to post more on Omnibus I. Until then please enjoy and comment away on the upcoming one weeks devotion on question 20 from Training Hearts, Teaching Minds.