“What, then, is the context within which catechizing is to occur if it is to have its optimum sanctifying impact? First, the well-ordered Christian home is the foundation upon which is built the discipleship of covenant children in the ‘discipline and instruction’ (NASB, ESV), what the old version termed the ‘nurture and admonition of the Lord’ (Eph. 6:4 KJV). Fathers are charged with this responsibility” (Terry L. Johnson, Catechizing Our Children: The Whys and Hows of Teaching the Shorter Catechism Today, 2).

“Without conviction of sin there will never be acceptance of the gospel. It is the preaching of man’s total depravity and inability manifested in the overt transgression of God’s law that is calculated to induce this sense of sin, of helplessness and of need. And so this doctrine of depravity and inability is not only necessary as belonging to the whole counsel of God but is also one of the most fruitful elements of that counsel in promoting the interests of wholesome effective evangelism” (John Murray, Collected Writings, vol. 1, 129).

“The faith which God foresees is the fruit and not the root of electing grace” (John Murray, Collected Writings, vol. 1, 121).