“The first act of the love of God the Father wherein there is anything ad extra, or without the divine essence, is the person of Christ considered as invested with our nature.”

John Owen [Works, 9:614] quoted in Kelly M. Kapic, Christian Life, 73.

Sin disorders everything, from our heads to our hearts, from the land to political systems, from our souls to the social structures we inhabit. A realist analysis of Christian life will include, in its proper place, an examination of this disorder. Everything is not terrible, but there is no part of God’s good creation that hasn’t been affected by sin.

Kelly M. Kapic, Christian Life, 72.

Life is God’s great gift, to be preserved for His uses, not thrown away.

John G. Paton, The Autobiography of the Pioneer Missionary to the New Hebrides (Vanuatu), 108.

What two great works of God does the Sabbath day call to our minds? The works of creation and redemption, which, as the catechism informs us, together “contain a short abridgment of religion.” These two works of God, creation and redemption, form the subject matter of the whole Bible. The Bible is the inspired record of God’s works of creation and redemption. The Sabbath day calls these two works of God to our minds and because God instituted the Sabbath when he finished his work of creation, and our Savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, which is the Christian Sabbath.

J. G. Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary, 337.

How does keeping the Sabbath help us to perform other religious duties better? A spiritual observance of the Sabbath day helps to keep us in touch with God. When we are really in communion with God, all other religious duties can be performed more earnestly and willingly. But if we neglect the Sabbath, our communion with God will be weakened, and we will be likely also to neglect other duties.

J. G. Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary, 337.

To remember the Sabbath day in advance helps us to keep it.

J. G. Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary, 336.

Why must we pray for the welfare of the church? The church is not a mere human organization; it is the house of God, a divine institution, the body of which Christ is the head. The true welfare of God’s people, even the peace and prosperity of the nations of the world, really depends on the spiritual welfare and security of the church. This of course does not mean merely one denomination, but the whole visible church of God on earth. The Bible teaches that God deals with the nations in accordance with their treatment of his covenant people, his church. God said to Abraham: “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3) . . . the true welfare and prosperity of the church are very closely related to the peace and prosperity of the nations of the world. It is still true that God will bless them that bless Zion, and curse them that curse Zion.

J. G. Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary, 531-532.

Why must we pray for the whole church of Christ on earth? We must pray for the whole church of Christ on earth because of the spiritual unity of the church as one body under Christ the head. Our prayers are not to be limited to our own congregation nor even to our own denomination; they are to include all branches of the church of Christ. This does not mean, of course, that we are to pray in detail for all branches of the church; but it does mean that we are not to limit our intercessions to that branch of the church of which we ourselves are members. We are to pray for Christ’s church and kingdom as a whole; we are not to be nearsighted or denominationally minded in the matter of intercessory prayer. We should of course pray especially for our own denomination, for which we have special concern and responsibility; but this should never exclude the larger outlook of pleading with God for the whole church of Christ in all the world.

J. G. Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary, 526.

Q. What is meant by praying in the Spirit? — A. Our praying with the gifts, and especially with the grace of the Spirit, Jude 20, 1 Cor. 14:15, Rom. 8:26.

Q. Wherein do the gift and grace of prayer differ? — A. The gift of prayer lieth in conceiving and uttering suitable expressions in an affecting manner; but the grace of prayer lies in the fervency of our desire after God.

John Brown of Haddington, Questions and Answers on the Shorter Catechism, 338.

Rather, we should seek the grace of the Holy Spirit that we may frame acceptable and fervent prayers in our own words. We must always be on our guard against the tendency to religious formalism.

J. G. Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary, 525.