Throughout the history of the church, godly men and women have taken seriously the command to “lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul” and to “teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

We have been given great help in our task by men who wrote instructional material that we could then use with our children. The Greek word katechesis refers to instruction by word of mouth. We instruct our children with questions and answers that cover the great truths of the Bible.

By doing this with music, we help them create a memorable mental framework for truth. As they grow older, they will be confronted with competing beliefs, assertions, worldviews, half-truths, and lies. Having heard the truth in their youth and having a solid framework for knowing what is true about God, themselves, and the world, they will be equipped to navigate what they hear in the future.

Answer: No, my heart must be changed before I can go to Heaven.

Scripture: For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

Answer: Regeneration, being “born again.” 

Scripture: I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit in you, and move you to follow my decrees and you will be careful to keep my laws.  Ezekiel 36:26-27

Answer: Only God can change a sinner’s heart.

Scripture: Salvation is found in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.  Acts 4:12

Answer: The only Savior of men is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the eternal Son of God, became man and so is both God and man in two natures and one person. 

Scripture: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6

Answer: My heart is changed by the Holy Spirit because of the grace of God.

Scripture: When the kindness and love of God appeared, God our Savior, He saved us, not because of righteous things we’ve done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Titus 3:4-6

Answer: Grace is God’s kindness to us when we deserve punishment.

Scripture: You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord, your God, has chosen you out of all the earth, a people, God’s treasured possession.  Deuteronomy 7:6

Answer: Christ perfectly kept the law of God and suffered the punishment due for my sins.

Scripture: God made Him, who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.  2 Corinthians 5:21

Answer: No one can be saved by his own works.

Scripture: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.  Ephesians 2:8-9

Answer: God regenerates, justifies, and sanctifies those who believe in Christ.

Scripture: You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.  1 Corinthians 6:11

Answer: Justification is God forgiving all my sins and declaring me to be righteous. 

Scripture: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Romans 8:1

Answer: I’m justified by faith in the work of Christ, on the grounds of His righteousness. 

Scripture: Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Galatians 2:16

Answer: Sanctification is God making me holy in heart and behavior.

Scripture: May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; God will make it happen.  1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Answer: Dying to sin and living to righteousness. 

Scripture: I’ve been crucified with Christ. 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 for me.  Galatians 2:20

Answer: Christ died for all who were given to Him by the Father.

Scripture: But you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, they follow me. I give to them eternity, and they shall never perish; no not one. No one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all.”  John 10:26-29

Answer: Whoever repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the evil man his thoughts; let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, turn to our God, for He will freely pardon.  Isaiah 55:7

Answer: To repent is to be sorry for sin, and to hate and forsake it because it displeases God.

Scripture: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear and I’ll forgive their sins.  2 Chronicles 7:14

Answer: Faith in Christ is trusting in Him alone for salvation. 

Scripture: The righteousness that comes from God is by faith in Christ. Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ.  Philippians 3:9