As we come to the fall of the year and our Reformed Churches begin their catechism classes, the question often arises, "What is this all about?" The question arises because even though all Reformed and Presbyterian churches were practicing careful catechetical classes for covenant young people 75 years ago, very few of us have continued this practice into the 21st century. The form of catechetical instruction was also quite uniform among Reformed churches in the past. The course of study included the history of God's people found in the Bible along with the memorization and understanding of the Heidelberg Catechism in Reformed churches, and of the Westminster Shorter Catechism in Presbyterian Churches. The real question then should be, "Why did so many Reformed churches drop this practice during the last century?" Have children become far more educated and mature in their Christian faith than their grandmothers and grandfathers were? Has the Bible become less true and less important to a robust Christian faith? Has a systematic knowledge of Bible doctrine, as summarized in our creeds, somehow become unnecessary for leading a truly committed Christian life? Or have parents and churches simply gotten lazy and fallen in with the very weak educational practices and standards of our time. We don't have to go very far for answers. When one-third of Nebraska school children read below grade level, it is not surprising that more than two-thirds of Reformed young people are treated like babies in their so-called "profession of faith" classes.

God's Covenants with Mankind

God created trees mature and fulfilling God's will for them. They had fruit on them with the next generation of seeds already in them. Plants are naturally experts at their own reproduction. For animals, God gave them the specific command to multiply. He did this by placing instincts in them that moved them to reproduce willingly, using the minds and bodies He had given them for this, among other purposes. Man, on the other hand, was created to exercise God's rule over creation by having dominion over all the fish, birds, animals, and creeping things, and also to use them for his own needs and purposes to the glory of God. This complex task required a complex mind and nature for man, and the ability to receive words communicated from God. This is because spiritual relationships, like remembering the Day of Rest, entering into monogamous marriages, and obeying the commandment not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil could only be communicated by words. It is particularly true that the only way God could establish a personal relationship with human beings would be through words.

Now the words by which God establishes His relationship to the human race, as well as the nature of marriage and His commandments demanding good and forbidding evil, form a covenant between God and the creatures He made in His own image. This first covenant God establishes with mankind has often in the past been called the "Covenant of Works," but probably is better called the "Covenant of Creation," because human works could never have merited all that God freely provided to mankind under this covenant. In any case, after man fell into sin, God came and transformed the creation covenant by graciously providing the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, even though man as a sinner deserves eternal death. We call this additional covenant the "Covenant of Grace," because its most prominent feature is the unmerited favor of grace given freely to God's chosen people. All human beings are still under the Covenant of Creation and owe God a perfect life as well as bearing the just penalty of their sins in hell. Those who are also in the Covenant of Grace have the promises of God that they are united to Christ through faith and thus have the forgiveness of their sins and eternal life. The writer of Hebrews declares that Christ is the surety, that He is the one who makes these promises sure by His perfect life and death.

Privileges and Responsibilities in the Covenant of Grace

When we speak of the Covenant of Grace we must distinguish outward membership in this Covenant, by which we have the promises of the Covenant, and inward spiritual membership by which we receive the things promised in the Covenant. Outward membership belongs to all those who confess faith in Christ, and to their children (Gen. 17:7; Acts 2:39). Inward membership belongs to those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and have exercised true faith in Christ. The apostle Paul makes this distinction clear at the end of Romans 2, where he says, "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of heart, in the spirit...." It is at the point of regeneration that God's sovereignty enters the covenant, because while all confessors and their children are outward members of the Covenant of Grace, God alone decides who will be regenerated to become true believers.

Now, we could speak of many privileges of being born and living in the Covenant of Grace, but the apostle Paul at the beginning of Romans 3 immediately follows his teaching of inward vs. outward membership in the Covenant with the question, "What advantage then has the Jew and what is the profit of circumcision?" His answer tells us all, "Much in every way, chiefly because to them were committed the words of God." (The Greek word often translated "oracles" here, is literally the "words" of God.) Notice carefully that the great benefit of being outward members of the Covenant of Grace is that we have the words of God. We live in families and churches that preach, teach, and believe those words. We live under the outward discipline of those words. And we hear constantly the call to believe them in our hearts and live by them. Even more importantly, these are the words that the Holy Spirit promises to use, and does use to regenerate our hearts (1 Peter 1:23). God can of course regenerate without the word, as He does sometimes in babies, but His normal method is to use His Word.

With this in mind, we can now speak of the requirements or stipulations that God places upon His people in the outward Covenant of Grace, so that they might receive the blessings this Covenant promises. The main and fundamentally important requirement of receiving the promises of the Covenant of Grace is faith. From Abel, who "by faith offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, to Abraham, who "believed God and it was accounted to Him for righteousness," down to the present day when "those who are of the faith, they are the children of Abraham," God's people receive the promised blessing of the Covenant through faith. Now, just because faith is a "gift of God, and not of works," does not mean that it is not a real requirement. God regenerates us to produce true faith, so all the glory belongs to Him alone, but every true preacher from Christ on down calls men to "repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). The Bible is clear, believers are saved and unbelievers are lost.

The Necessity of Thorough Catechization

Because true faith can only be, as the Heidelberg Catechism says in Q21, "an assured knowledge whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His word," we need to know and understand the Bible's teaching. We cannot be ignorant of biblical teaching and be real Christians. All Church members, not just Covenant youth need to be thoroughly trained in the Bible's teaching, in its history, its dealings of God with His people, and in the functions of God leading His people out of slavery in Egypt and back from the exile, so that they will truly know that God is their only Savior and King. We need to know the progressive revelation about the coming of Christ in the Old Testament and the fulfillment of His work in the New Testament. We must also know thoroughly the Bible's doctrines of creation, fall, redemption, and sanctification by the Holy Spirit. We use the term "catechization" because this means teaching in such a way that the young person can echo it back in his or her own confession of faith.

Now the fact is, you and I do not know anything we have not memorized. It is not possible to do mathematics without memorizing the sums and times tables. In the same way, it is not possible to do Christianity from the heart if we do not have the truths of Christianity in our hearts through memorization. A creed is simply a sound expression of biblical truth that the church has adopted to enable its members to know and be unified in the truths of the Bible. My ignorance and your ignorance are just not good enough to serve God.

Why Do We Have "Confirmation?"

First of all, because as Jesus put it, "to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required." Covenant children are privileged to grow up under the teaching and discipline of God's word. They must respond to that word in faith, lest their damnation be greater than that of unbelievers out of the general population (see Matt. 11:20-24 for this principle).

Second, covenant children do not become members of the Church by their profession of faith, they have already been members since conception in the womb. What has happened is that God has confirmed His promises of blessing to them by working a true faith in them by His Word. They now not only have the promises of the Covenant of Grace; they have received the blessings promised. Therefore they are qualified to partake of the Lord's Supper, which is believers eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance of Christ's death for their sins.

Third, the Church confirms to them, by its discipline of accepting their confessions of faith, that their faith is a true faith. Without the church to judge my confession of faith, my assurance may be a delusional self-deception.

Fourth, we practice covenant confirmation because in it we are following the Old Testament example of receiving young men and women as adult members of the Covenant when they reach an age and maturity by which they can make a credible profession of faith. We see this in particular with Jesus, who first attended the Passover with His parents at the age of twelve.

Fifth, we are following Christ's example with respect to the responsibility of those who have been trained in Christian teaching. In Matthew 16:13ff, we find Christ demanding a confession of faith from His disciples after He has taught them and is ready to go the way of the cross. He did not just leave them; He brought them along, but He brought them along as men who confessed with the Apostle Peter, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Conclusions

As modern-day Christians we must be aware that the historic practices of the Church did not grow up in a vacuum, but are based on biblical principles and practices. True faith is indeed a "sure knowledge by which I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word." Pastors who are not teaching and leading their people into a broader and deeper knowledge of God's word and the doctrines of our creeds are sinning against God and His people. Parents who want their children confirmed without teaching them the sound principles of a biblical faith, are robbing them of the very advantage of the Covenant of Grace. We all want the best food, clothing, and medical care for our children, which are all material things. How can we want less than the best for them spiritually?

Millions of young boys and girls over the past 450 years have memorized the Heidelberg Catechism. Is this work? Of course it is. To gain anything valuable takes work. But is it impossible or unbearable hard work? Not at all. Pastors must learn how to memorize so that they can teach the children of the church how to memorize. We do this with songs and Bible verses from the ages of four and five on up. This not only makes learning the Catechism very doable, it gives them a tool for success in all the endeavors of life.