Week 5

Question 1

Ezekiel

Answer 1

1-3 - Ezekiel’s Call
4-24 - Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem
25-32 - Oracles Against Foreign Nations
33-48 - Blessing for Judah and Jerusalem

Question 2

Daniel

Answer 2

1-6 - Narratives of Daniel and His Friends in Exile

7-12 - Visions of Daniel in Exile

Question 3

Where (book and chapter) do you find the Passover?

Answer 3

Exodus 12

Question 4

Where (book and chapter) do you find the Ten Commandments?

Answer 4

Exodus 20:2-17
Deuteronomy 5:6-21

Question 5

Where (book and chapter) do you find the Day of Atonement?

Answer 5

Leviticus 16

Question 6

Where (book and chapter) do you find the Shema and reiteration of the Law?

Answer 6

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Question 7

Where (book and chapter) do you find reference to the Watchman?

Answer 7

Ezekiel 33

Ezekiel 33:1-9, God appoints Ezekiel as a spiritual watchman over the house of Israel. His task is to warn the people of their sins and the coming judgment.

Question 8

Where (book and chapter) do you find the New Covenant?

Answer 8

Jeremiah 33:31-34

Question 9

Where (book and chapter) do you find the phrase, “I will pour out my Spirit?”

Answer 9

Joel 2:28

Question 10

Where (book and chapter) do you find the phrase, “The just shall live by faith?”

Answer 10

Habakkuk 2:4

Question 11

Where (book and chapter) do you find the phrase, “I am going to send my messenger?

Answer 11

Malachi 3:1

Question 12

Where (book and chapter) do you find the Messianic Psalms?

Answer 12

Psalms 2, 18, 22, 45, 69, 72, 110, 118, 132

Question 13

What is a covenant?

Answer 13

A covenant between God and Man in the Bible is a bond in blood, sovereignly administered.

Question 14

What is the Covenant of Works (Life)? Who are its parties?

Answer 14

“When God had created man, He entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death” (WSC 12).

Question 15

With whom was the covenant of grace made?

Answer 15

The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in Him with all the elect as His seed” (WLC 31).

Question 16

Was the covenant of grace always administered after one and the same manner?

Answer 16

The covenant of grace was not always administered after the same manner, but the administrations of it under the Old Testament were different from those under the New” (WLC 33).

Question 17

How was the covenant of grace administered under the Old Testament?

Answer 17

The covenant of grace was administered under the Old Testament, by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the passover, and other types and ordinances, which did all fore-signify Christ then to come,

Question 18

How is the covenant of grace administered under the New Testament?

Answer 18

“Under the New Testament, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the same covenant of grace was and still is to be administered in the preaching of the word, and the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Question 19

How is the Covenant of Grace related to the Abrahamic Covenant?

Answer 19

God’s covenant with Abraham is an administration of the covenant of grace under the Old Testament, consisting of promises (Descendants, Name, Land, Blessing to all Peoples; Genesis 12), prophecies, sacrifices (Genesis 15), and the sign of circumcision (Genesis 17), which all did fore-signify Christ then to come

Question 20

How is the Covenant of Grace related to the Mosaic Covenant?

Answer 20

God’s covenant with the people of Israel through Moses is an administration of the covenant of grace under the Old Testament, consisting of blessings (Numbers 6:24-26; Deuteronomy 33), prophecies (Deuteronomy 31-32), sacrifices (Leviticus 1-17), priesthood (Leviticus 8-10, 21-22), festivals (Leviticus 23-27), the passover (Exodus 12), promises attending the moral law (Exodus 20:6, 12; Deuteronomy 5:10, 16), and other types of ordinances (namely, the three kinds of law: moral, civil, and ceremonial), which did all fore-signify Christ then to come, and were for that time sufficient to build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they then had full remission of sin, and eternal salvation.

Question 21

How is the Covenant of Grace related to the Noahic Covenant?

Answer 21

God’s covenant with Noah is an administration of the covenant of grace under the Old Testament, consisting of promises (Genesis 8:21-22; 9:9-11), sacrifices (Genesis 8:20), the sign of the rainbow (Genesis 9:13-17), and the ordinances of the creation mandate (Genesis 9:1, 7) and capital punishment for murderers (Genesis 9:5-6), which did all fore-signify Christ then to come,

Question 22

Discuss the relationship between the Old and New Covenants. Defend from Scripture.

Answer 22

The Old and New Covenants are administrations of the Covenant of Grace, by which God condescends to meet with His people. In all administrations of the Covenant of Grace, God offers to sinners a Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, and life and salvation by Him, which is received by faith alone, and worked in them by His Holy Spirit. The Old Covenants fore-signified Christ, the substance of the Covenant of Grace, Who was exhibited under the New Covenant. With the coming of the New Covenant, the signs, types, cultic practices, and symbols of the Old Covenant passed away, in the light of something far more glorious.Genesis 15:6 - “He believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
Hebrews 8:13 - “ When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.”

Question 23

What is the Covenant of Redemption? Who are its parties?

Answer 23

WCF 8.1 It pleased God, in His eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King, the Head and Savior of His Church, the Heir of all things, and Judge of the world: unto whom He did from all eternity give a people, to be His seed, and to be by Him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.

Question 24

Explain and defend (with Scripture proofs) the orthodox doctrine of the person of Christ.

Answer 24

Jesus is both God and man (two natures, one person).

• He is God.
  o Jn. 1:1, 14
  o Hebrew 1:1-2
• He is Man.
  o Lk. 1:31, Gal. 4:4

He is both.
o Jn. 17:11 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

Question 25

Was Christ a human person?

Answer 25

Yes. Christ was a human person because he was truly human. Yet, he was also at the same time God.
o He was born of humans.
o He lived a human life with its weaknesses and needs.
o He died a human death.

Philippians 2 - “being born in the likeness of man…”

Question 26

Does Christ have a soul?

Answer 26

Yes. He took on the fullness of human life.
o Phil. 2:7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Question 27

What is kenosis?

Answer 27

Gk. word kenosis means ‘empty’ (Phil. 2:7). Kenosis is central to understanding the mystery of the incarnation—how Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, humbled Himself to redeem humanity.

Question 28

Did Christ lay aside any of His divine attributes at the incarnation?

Answer 28

No.
o Christ didn’t LAY ASIDE any of his divine attributes at the incarnation.
o But Christ did LIMIT his divine attributes at the incarnation.
Phil. 2:5-11

Question 29

Docetism

Answer 29

Idea that Jesus was fully God but not fully man.

Col 2:9

Question 30

Arianism

Answer 30

Idea that Jesus is not God but was instead God’s first creation and the highest of all created beings.

The Council of Nicea in 325 condemned Arianism

Question 31

Nestorianism

Answer 31

Two natures, Two persons.

Idea that Jesus is fully God and fully man but two separate persons not all at once. For example, Mary gave birth to a man, not God.
o This creates a distinction in Jesus’ persons that don’t exist in Scripture. Scripture never says that Jesus is God and man in a separate sense but that he is BOTH God and man together
Jn. 20 with Thomas’ confession; Phil. 2).

The Council of Chalcedon in 451 condemned Nestorianism

Question 32

Apollinarianism

Answer 32

One Nature (God). Two persons (God and superhuman with divine mind).

Christ is fully God and an elevated or divinized man who didn’t have an ordinary human mind; more divine than man.
o This denies the fact that Jesus became a true human with true human distinctions (Heb. 2) for the sake of becoming like us (Phil. 2).

The Council of Constantinople in 381 condemned Apollinarianism.

Question 33

Eutychianism/Monophysitism

Answer 33

One nature. One person.

This was a reaction against Nestorianism (2 separate persons) and stronger than Apollinarianism (God and extraordinary human fused). His view was that the divine so fused with the humanity of Christ that his humanity was engulfed.
o This denies the distinctions that are clear in Scripture that call Jesus one with the Father (Jn. 14; 17) but not so much so that it engulfs his human nature

Question 34

Are any of the early heresies regarding the natures of Christ held today?

Answer 34

• Jehovah’s Witnesses = Arian in that Jesus was a non-divine created being
• Mormonism = Arian in that Jesus was just a human who became God
• Unitarianism = Arian in that Jesus is not divine but is just a special human created by God who is not a Trinity

Question 35

Explain and defend the doctrine of the “communication of properties.”

Answer 35

This refers to the question of how Christ’s two natures (divine and human) communicate their properties to the one person of Christ. The answer is that both properties of the divine and the human are communicated fully to the one person of Christ but HIS NATURES DON’T COMMUNICATE PROPERTIES TO ONE ANOTHER.

For example, Christ the person can be said to be all-knowing and all-powerful (divine properties) while at the same time can be said to be limited in knowledge and able to die (human properties). But this does not mean that his divine nature shared its all-knowing property with his human nature or that his human nature shared its limited knowledge with his divine nature. The natures are only shared in the one person and not with one another.

Question 36

What is the “extra Calvinisticum?”

Answer 36

This is the doctrine that says that Christ’s divine nature is outside of and beyond (extra) his human nature which preserves the fact that the natures are distinct and don’t communicate their properties between one another.

In other words, the divine nature of Christ can be said to be omnipresent beyond/outside of (extra) his human nature while his human nature cannot be said to be omnipresent.

This also clears up the issue of communion between Lutherans and Calvinists:
* Lutherans say that Christ’s human nature has become ‘ubiquitous’ (omnipresent) because of his divine nature, therefore, his physical body can be said to be present in Communion.
* ***Calvinists say that Christ’s human nature is not omnipresent but that his divine nature is and thus we can rightly say that Jesus, the person, is present in Communion by means of his divine nature but he is not physically present by means of his human nature.

Question 37

Define the following names: Jesus

Answer 37

Jesus: Greek word for Joshua which means ‘Ya (Yahweh) saves’ (Mt. 1:21) ‘He will save his people from their sins.’

Question 38

Define the following names: Christ

Answer 38

Means ‘anointed one’. Originally this was not a title for one distinct office (because kings, prophets, and priests were all anointed) however the term is eventually used in Scripture to refer to a single anointed leader who will function as all three to teach God’s people (prophet), to save God’s people (priest) and to lead God’s people (king).

Question 39

Define the following names: Lord

Answer 39

Lord is the term that used to overlay the Hebrew term “Yahweh” in the OT

Question 40

Define the following names: Son of Man

Answer 40

This term means ‘someone descended from man’ (Psa. 8; Ezekiel) emphasizing Jesus’ humanity however it can also refer to a special human being who is before Yahweh himself and has Yahweh-qualities (Dan. 7). This is the most often self-ascribed term by Jesus for himself emphasizing his humanity, his representativeness as our head, and his deity.

Question 41

Define the following names: Son of God

Answer 41

‘Son of God’ is used to refer to Adam, the first man and thus the first “son” that God created. It also is used to refer to God’s people as a whole (Israel is God’s son). It can also refer to the kings of God’s people. So when used of Jesus it encapsulates all three: Jesus is God’s son in that he is descended from Adam, he is the sum representative of God’s people Israel, and he is the king of God’s people. But in a special sense Jesus is also God’s son because he is uniquely related to and linked to God as his Father unlike any other person.

Question 42

Define the following names: Lamb of God

Answer 42

This refers to the Passover lamb that was sacrificed as a sign over which God’s judgment passed in the Exodus. Thus, Jesus is the Passover Lamb of God whose own blood averts the judgment of God that his people deserve because of their sin (Jn. 1).

Question 43

How was Christ Born?

Answer 43

WSC Q. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.

Question 44

Explain and defend (including Scripture proofs) the virgin birth.

Answer 44

The Holy Spirit came upon Mary to enable her to have a child without having had sex. This was a miracle in that God caused an event above and outside of the normal means of creation.

1. Jesus’ virgin birth was foretold centuries before.
   a. Isa. 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel
   The Holy Spirit came upon Mary to enable her to have a child without having had sex. This was a miracle in that God caused an event above and outside of the normal means of creation.
2. Jesus’ virgin birth was foretold centuries before.
   a. Isa. 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel

Question 45

Trace revelation of the person and work of Christ from the beginning of the OT.

Answer 45

• Christ is the one who would descend from Adam and Eve and defeat evil (Gen. 3:15)
• Christ is the one who endured the flood of God’s wrath to spare his people (Gen. 6-9)
• Christ is the promised seed of Abraham who would bring blessing to the world (Gen. 12)
• Christ is the Passover Lamb who spared his people from divine judgment (Exo. 12; Isaiah 53)
• Christ is the faithful Israel who mediates God’s presence to the earth (Exo. 19:4-6)
• Christ is the tabernacle and temple of the holy presence of God himself (Exo. 40; 2 Chr. 7; Isa. 7)
• Christ is the accomplished sacrificial system to cleanse God’s people (Lev. 16)

KING: Christ is the king who would rule God’s people in righteousness by keeping God’s law (2 Sam. 7; Deut. 17)
* PROPHET: Christ is the prophet who would call people back to covenant faithfulness by speaking God’s words to them (Deut. 18)
* PRIEST: Christ is the priest who would faithfully minister to God’s people as a go-between between God and man through the sacrifice of himself (Lev. 10; Deut. 17).

Question 46

What is the humiliation of Christ?

Answer 46

WSC Q. 27. Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
A. Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.

Question 47

Define and distinguish the active and passive obedience of Christ.

Answer 47

Active Obedience is Christ’s righteous life. Upon belief, his active obedience is imputed to us as our own through which God declares us righteous.
o 2 Cor. 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

• Passive Obedience is Christ’s death for sin. Upon belief, his passive obedience is imputed to us as our own through which God declares our sins gone and paid for.
  o Isa. 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed

Question 48

What happened in the resurrection of Christ? Discuss “glorified body.”

Answer 48

1. Christ’s resurrection was bodily.
2. Christ’s resurrection defeated death.
3. Christ’s resurrection ensures our justification.
   a. He was raised for our justification because his resurrection reverses death which is a result of sin; thus, his resurrection reverses sin and death and so justifies sinners (Rom. 4; 1 Cor. 15).
4. Christ’s resurrection means that his people will resurrect too.

Christ’s glorified body was the same body pre-death but was changed post-death (1 Cor. 15). There is continuity in his pre and post-resurrection body.
o Pre-death: weak and mortal.
o Post-death: strong and immortal.

Question 49

What are the offices of Christ? How does Christ execute them?

Answer 49

o PROPHET: Christ reveals God’s will for our salvation to us by Word and Spirit.

PRIEST: Christ offers himself as a sacrifice to satisfy God’s justice and continues to intercede for us before God as we continue to sin.

o KING: Christ causes us to us submit to him, rules over us, defends us from evil, and holds back and ultimately conquers sin, Satan, and death.

Question 50

Who is the only Redeemer of God’s elect?

Answer 50

WSC Q. 21. Who is the redeemer of God’s elect?
A. The only redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.

Question 51

What is a redeemer?

Answer 51

A redeemer is someone who pays off someone’s debt (Lev. 25:25) or who pays for someone to get out of slavery. Thus, both ideas apply to Jesus as Redeemer:
* He redeems us by paying the debt for our sins.
* He redeems us by paying the price for our freedom.

Question 52

What is the atonement?

Answer 52

Atonement is reconciliation: bringing two estranged parties back together. This is done by:
* Expiation: cleansing and removing our sins.
* Propitiation: satisfying God’s wrath toward sin.
* Redemption: paying the debt created by sin to remove sinners from its bondage.

Christ’s death atones for our sins in that it brings us back into right relationship with the Holy God (reconciliation) by cleansing and removing our sins (expiation), by satisfying God’s wrath (propitiation), and by paying our debt for our sins in order to release us from sin’s bondage (redemption).

Question 53

Was the atonement necessary? Explain and defend (include Scripture proofs).

Answer 53

Yes, atonement is necessary.
1. God is holy and just - therefore, he must punish sinners for their sin. He cannot overlook sin because that would make him immoral and unjust.
a. Exo. 34:7 “but who will by no means clear the guilty…”

2. Sin makes us guilty and deserving of God’s wrath.
3. Sinners cannot atone for themselves. Sin makes us spiritually dead (Eph 2) and thus unable and unwilling to come to God.
4. Christ himself said atonement was necessary.
   a. Mk 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Question 54

Why isn’t a good life enough to gain salvation?

Answer 54

Big Idea: NO ONE can live a “good life” (Rom 3)

1. Salvation is a free gift that isn’t earned.

Question 55

Expiation

Answer 55

cleansing and removing of sin

Question 56

Propitiation

Answer 56

satisfying the wrath of God.

Question 57

Reconciliation

Answer 57

bringing God and man back into right relationship.

Question 58

Redemption

Answer 58

paying debts for saving and buying sinners out of slavery to sin.

Question 59

Imputation (remember Double Imputation

Answer 59

• counting or considering Christ’s righteousness as our own while
  2 Cor. 5:21 The great exchange

Question 60

What is the nature of the atonement? Discuss “penal substitutionary atonement.”

Answer 60

The nature of the atonement includes:
* Christ experiences God’s wrath for our sins and dies thereby satisfying both the penalty for sin and the wrath of God toward sin. Then he transfers that atoning act to us and considers it our own.

• Penal: Penalty for breaking a law
• Substitutionary: taking the place of another
• Atonement: cleansing for sin (expiation), satisfying God’s wrath (propitiation), paying debt and release from slavery (redemption), and reconciling us to God.

Question 61

What of Christ’s work remains to be done?

Answer 61

• Christ’s intercession (post-ascension reign)

Christ’s second coming work remains to be done.

Question 62

Were Old Testament believers saved by Christ? Explain and defend (include Scripture proofs).

Answer 62

Yes. Big Idea: NT believers are saved by looking back to Christ and OT believers were saved looking forward to Christ.

OT believers were saved by Christ because Christ’s salvation applies to his elect in all ages, which includes OT believers who preceded his incarnation, by means of the promises, types, and sacrifices which each pointed to Christ.

Gen. 3:15, Heb. 8:5, Gal. 3:8-9

Question 63

Will any for whom Christ died be lost? Explain and defend (include Scripture proofs).

Answer 63

No. Christ’s death is completely effective for those he has died for. In other words, Christ dies for his elect and no one else which ensures that the elect will never be lost.
* Jn. 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
* Jn. 10:27-28 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Question 64

Name the courts of the church.

Answer 64

Chapters 10-11
* Session
* Presbytery
* General Assembly

Question 65

What is the proper or original jurisdiction of each?

Answer 65

Chapters 10-11
* Original jurisdiction is the right to first hear and determine issues (BCO 31.1)
o Each court has its own jurisdiction but must submit to the review and control of courts above it.

The Session exercises jurisdiction over a single church, The Presbytery over what is common to the ministers, Sessions and churches within a prescribed district, and The General Assembly over such matters as concern the whole Church.

Question 66

What officers must each court have?

Answer 66

Chapters 10-11
* Moderator
o Moderators exist on sessions, presbyteries, and at GA.
o Keeps the order of the meetings, starts them, and ends them.

• Clerk/s
  o Clerk/s exist on sessions, presbyteries, and at GA.
  o Keeps records of transactions and proceedings.

Question 67

How are officers chosen? (Moderator/Clerk)

Answer 67

Chapter 12
* Moderator
o Session: pastor is elected as moderator
o Presbytery: new moderator elected at each meeting or one for a max term of one year
o GA: new moderator elected at each meeting (or in their absence the last moderator or longest member of the court)

• Clerk/s
  o Session, Presbtery, GA: elected to serve some definite period of time

Question 68

Who are the members of the church session?

Answer 68

Chapter 12
* Pastor
* Associate Pastor (NOT assistant pastor; but can attend and participate without a vote)
* Ruling elders

Question 69

What are the main duties of the session?

Answer 69

Chapter 12
* Church Members:
o Asking about the knowledge and morality of members
o Censuring the immoral (censure = formal disapproval)
o Urging parents to baptize their children
o Receiving members into communion
o Removing members from communion
o Allowing members to go to other churches

• Officers:
  o Examining, ordaining, and installing ruling elders (not teaching elders) and deacons
  o Requiring them to do their work
  o Examining deacon records
  o Approval of budget

Meetings:
o Calling congregational meetings
o Starting and controlling Sunday Schools and Bible classes (esp. for children)
o Starting and controlling all special groups (men’s, women’s, study groups). All groups are aimed at promoting missions at home, locally, and abroad.

• Worship:
  o Designating time and place
  o Designating special services
  o Designating music
  o Designating uses of the building
  o Ensuring that the Word is preached properly by qualified men
  o Assembling the people when no pastor is available
• Courts:
  o Observe lawful decisions of higher courts
  o Send representatives to higher courts

Question 70

Who are the members of presbytery?

Answer 70

Chapter 13
* All teaching elders accepted by Presbytery
* All churches accepted by Presbytery
* When meeting as a court the Presbytery consists of all teaching elders AND ruling elders

Question 71

To what church does a minister belong?

Answer 71

Chapter 13
To the Presbytery within the bounds of his geographical region.

Question 72

How is an ordained minister received into presbytery?

Answer 72

Chapter 13
* Ordinarily only when the candidate receives a definite call to an ecclesial work
o Exceptions occur for honorably retired ministers or in other circumstances deemed necessary by the Presbytery (like one in which a definite call has not surfaced yet)

Question 73

How is a church received into a presbytery?

Answer 73

Chapter 13
* Presbytery sends a commission to see if ruling elders:
o Adopt the doctrines of the PCA
o Adopt the polity of the PCA
o Vow to affirm the above before the commission

Question 74

What are the main duties and responsibilities of the presbytery?

Answer 74

Chapter 13
* Issues:
o Power to settle issues and disputes in all sessions

• Ministers:
  o Receiving candidates for ministry under its care
  o Examining and licensing ministers
  o Ordaining, installing, dismissing, removing, and judging ministers
  o Set apart some to be evangelists
• Sessions:
  o Reviewing records
  o Redressing improper proceedings
• Courts:
  o Seeing that higher courts are obeyed
• Churches:
  o Condemning immorality or false doctrine
  o Visiting churches
  o Uniting or dividing churches (upon request of members)
  o Forming and receiving new churches
  o Overseeing churches without pastors
  o Dissolving and dismissing churches (upon their request)
  o Devising measures to enlarge and enliven churches
• GA:
  o Proposing measures to GA in regard to enlarging and enlivening churches for the Church general

Question 75

What are the main duties and responsibilities of the GA?

Answer 75

Chapter 14
* Issues:
o Power to settle issues and disputes in all lower courts
o Opposing false doctrine and immorality in the Church
o Deciding controversies of doctrine and discipline

• Constitution:
  o Advising and instructing churches on how to abide by the constitution
  o Reviewing records of Presbyteries and helping them to abide by the constitution
• Growth:
  o Promoting the growth and health of churches
  o Erecting new presbyteries
  o Uniting or dividing presbyteries (with consent)
  o Starting and overseeing agencies for evangelistic work
  o Suppressing schisms
  o Promoting charity, truth, and holiness
• Other Bodies:
  o Accepting other ecclesiastical bodies upon a ¾ vote
  o Corresponding with other bodies
  o Uniting with other ecclesiastical bodies (who conform to the doctrines and order of the PCA)

Question 76

What are the permanent committees and agencies of the General Assembly?

Answer 76

Chapter 14
Permanent Committees
1. Administrative
2. Discipleship Ministries
3. MNA
4. MTW
5. RUM

Agencies
1. Covenant College
2. Covenant Theological Seminary
3. PCA Foundation (charitable financial services)
4. Retirement Benefits, Inc.
5. Ridge Haven Conference Center (PCA retreat center)

Question 77

What is a committee of commissioners?

Answer 77

Chapter 14
A committee of commissioners is when each presbytery elects one of its commissioners to serve within each of the 11 committees in the PCA (5 permanents, 5 agencies, and 1 special being the Interchurch Relations committee).

Each committee of commissioners:
* Reviews the minutes and recommendations of the committee/agency they oversee
* Reviews any other business as put forward by the PCA Stated Clerk
* Hears a report from the chairman, the coordinator, and staff members of the committee/agency
* After all of this, the committee of commissioners prepares a report for GA and are brought to the floor of GA by the committee of commissioners

The Overtures Committees is a special and temporary committee of commissioners that oversees proposed constitutional amendments as well as other overtures and business as put forward by the PCA Stated Clerk.

Question 78

How do a committee of commissioners and a permanent committee or agency differ?

Answer 78

Chapter 14
* Committees or Agencies:
o Are permanent
o Serves GA as a team regarding specific ministry needs

• Committee of Commissioners:
  o Are temporary
  o Oversee each committee
  o Deliberate, report, and conclude whatever is needed for the committee at GA

Question 79

What is the difference between a committee and a commission?

Answer 79

Chapter 15
* Committees are permanent and examine, consider, and report findings of ongoing ministry.

• Commissions are temporary and deliberate, conclude, and announce the official findings of the committees to conclude the business at GA.
  o Can be appointed to rule as an interim session
  o Can be appointed to oversee a particular judicial case by the Presbytery
  o Can be appointed as a provisional Presbytery in a foreign country where none exists