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Heidelberg Catechism, Question 21

Question 21

What is true faith?

True faith is not only a certain knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in his word (James 2;19); but also an assured confidence (Heb. 11;1), which the Holy Ghost works by the gospel in my heart (Rom. 10;17); that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness and salvation, are freely given by God (Rom. 10;10); merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits. (Eph. 2;8, 9.)

Scripture references for paragraph 1

Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.

James 2:19

19You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

Luke 8:13

13The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.

Matthew 13:21

21But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

John 17:3

3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

Hebrews 11:1

1Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.

Romans 4:20

20Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

Romans 4:21

21being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.

Ephesians 3:11

11according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 3:12

12In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.

Hebrews 3:6

6But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope of which we boast.

Acts 8:37
Romans 10:17

17Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:13

13And in keeping with what is written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,” we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak,

Galatians 5:22

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Romans 10:10

10For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

Romans 10:9

9that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Galatians 2:20

20I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Ephesians 1:6

6to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

Ephesians 1:7

7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

2 Timothy 4:8

8From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

Ephesians 2:8

8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Ephesians 2:9

9not by works, so that no one can boast.

Romans 3:24

24and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:32

32He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?

Source and edition

Heidelberg Catechism. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879

Public Domain (historic text); CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikisource transcription). Source transcription.

Transcription licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.

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