To be a Christian is to have faith in Christ that trusts in Him for the forgiveness of sins. Faith in Christ is the victory that overcomes the devil, the world, and our own sin (1 John 5:4). Through such faith in Christ, love is born in us that we might serve our neighbor. Through such faith we learn to live in our earthly callings in the joy and freedom of the forgiveness of sins. Jesus Christ is the object of our worship and the source of our life and salvation. He is our highest good. Apart from Him there is no good. Paul confessed this at the end of his long and difficult ministry:

Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:7-1 1 NIV).

Faith in Christ is the goal of all catechesis. I want to know Christ, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but having the righteousness that comes by faith in Christ. The Lutheran catechist Oswald Ries understood this and included this passage from Philippians at the beginning of his work, That I May Know Him, first published in 1970. Man is the sinner. I am the sinner. Christ is the Savior. Apart from Him there is no salvation. Christ is righteous because He died for my sins and the sins of the whole world. My righteousness cannot save me, because it is tainted through and through with sin. Christ’s righteousness is my only salvation, it is God’s gift to me through the Gospel. I receive this righteousness—the forgiveness of all my sins—through faith in Him.

Catechesis involves teaching, but it is not the same thing as education. Education is concerned with passing on a body of information, or developing the intellect or skills of an individual. These are not the goals of catechesis. Catechesis is mainly concerned about converting the sinful heart from unbelief to faith in Christ. This is true of catechesis both prior to and following Baptism. Catechesis and evangelism are not essentially different. They are the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins through which the Holy Spirit calls sinners to faith in Christ and preserves them in that faith. We continue to catechize those who have been converted to faith in Christ, not because they have a need for more information, but because they continue to have an unbelieving Old Adam that must be put to death, so that the new man of faith might come forth and arise by power of the Gospel. This process continues throughout the Christian’s life. While many things are learned in catechesis about the Bible and the liturgy, they are all to serve the ongoing need for the catechetical preaching of repentance and faith.

Catechesis deals with the proclamation of a word that is contrary to the sinner’s nature and one that he does not want to hear: "All my righteousness is filth" and "faith in Christ is a gift of God, not of works." These are the two major stumbling blocks for the catechumen. These two truths are central to Lutheran catechesis. They are the most important themes in the first three lessons. Unless the catechumen is converted to these two truths, the catechist can go no further with the catechumen, and nothing else matters in his catechesis. It must be remembered that faith in Christ is a miracle of the Holy Spirit. Conversion is not worked by man—it is worked by the Spirit. Thus faithful catechesis will produce either hardness of heart or faith in Christ. This must be clearly understood. There is no middle ground. Nevertheless, the catechist who sows the seed of repentance and faith in Christ is called to be patient with his catechumens, allowing the Holy Spirit to do His work in their hearts "when and where He pleases" through the Word that he has taught.

Catechumens attend Divine Service, they listen to preaching, and they are given prayers to pray and sections of the catechism and Scriptures upon which to meditate and learn by heart. This is a very important part of their catechesis. It does not all take place in the classroom. Catechumens are taught to confess sin and they are given opportunity to do so privately, so that they will hear the absolution and learn from its reception how to forgive others who have sinned against them. Catechesis involves "the doing" of those things which will continue to be part of the Christian’s life after Baptism: attending the Divine Service, confessing sin, hearing preaching and the absolution, receiving the Lord’s body and blood, and living in one’s calling. A man’s calling includes confessing his faith in Christ, loving his wife and children unconditionally, teaching his family the Word of God, praying for them and his neighbors, forgiving the trespasses of those who have sinned against him, suffering for the sake of the Gospel, and contending with his own weakness and failings in the joy and confidence of Christ’s forgiveness. All this flows from faith in Christ. This is the life into which the catechumen is born in Baptism. Catechesis enables the Christian to live faithfully in that calling by hearing the Word of Christ and doing those very things that will continue to be a part of his life.

Lutheran Catechesis proceeds from the basic understanding that the Small Catechism is a prayer book and handbook for the Christian faith and life, rather than a textbook. A textbook is used for a course of instruction, but rarely used again. A prayer book is used continually. A prayer book speaks to all our needs, giving us God’s promises, so that we might learn to "ask Him as dear children ask their dear father." It even gives us the very words to pray. As a handbook the catechism teaches us how to understand and interpret the Bible, the liturgy, and our own lives in relation to all that God has done and continues to do for us. It sets forth in plain, simple language what all Christians need to know for their faith and life. Its explanations are devotional in character. They invite us to return to the central truths of our faith again and again for all that we need to live as Christians in this world.

The text of the Small Catechism is to be learned by heart if it is to function as a prayer book and handbook for Christians. It is to be learned by heart, word for word, so that it can be used for the rest of their lives. Memorization of texts is not part of our modern culture and is deemed unimportant. It was very important for Luther. He wished for his catechumens to develop a love affair with the texts of the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the sacraments. To know these texts was to know God. We know of no Jesus except that Jesus who is revealed to us in the sacred Scriptures. The catechism gives us the most important texts or primary vocabulary of the Scriptures. Luther’s explanations of those texts were written so that the catechumen might learn to embrace Jesus through those texts with an ever deeper faith and understanding. Christian faith rests in the words and promises of God. It does not rely upon personal experience, emotion, or human intellect. There is no faith in Christ apart from His Word. The catechism reveals that Word of God to us. The catechism is learned by heart, so that the catechumen might learn to pray those texts and use them in confessing the faith in his vocation. The catechism gives him the words to say.

"First teach them the words, then teach them what they mean" is an axiom for Luther’s approach to catechesis. Baptized children learn the language of their heavenly Father in the same way all children learn a language. They hear their father and mother speaking to them over and over and over again, until they begin to speak the language themselves. They begin to use the words that they have heard, even before they fully understand what the words mean. So it is for the baptized and the catechumen. We hear the Word of God over and over and over again until it becomes imbedded in our hearts. We begin to hear, learn, and use words before we fully understand what those words mean. In fact, learning to believe and understand those words is the lifelong process of catechesis. This process, like faith itself, begins with hearing and receiving the Word in the heart. Only in this way does the Word of God become our own word in our confessions of the faith and in our prayers. If we wait to teach the language of the Scriptures and catechism until people know what the words mean, or are "old enough" to understand them, then we will never use the words or teach them anything.

When the language of the catechism is learned by heart, it becomes an indispensable aid in meditation, and is continually used by the Holy Spirit for our comfort and to awaken in us new understandings. Christian meditation is to give one’s mind and heart to the contemplation of God’s Word. It is to reflect upon and ponder the Word of God. To put it crassly, Christian meditation is the "regurgitation of the Word of God. Like a cow that chews her cud, it involves recalling the Word of God that has been previously "implanted" in the heart, for the purpose of receiving from it even greater blessings for our faith and life. This can only happen when the Word of God and the text of the catechism are committed to memory, or "learned by heart." Unlike other forms of meditation which teach the individual to find renewed strength and peace from that which is within the self, Christian meditation directs us from our sinful self to find our comfort, strength, and life in the "implanted word, which is able to save [our] souls (James 1:21).

It is important to note again that the primary texts of Luther’s Small Catechism are not "Luther’s." The primary texts of the Small Catechism belong to the church of all times and in all places. They are the most important texts for the church and they are all taken from the Bible. They answer practical questions for every Christian: What is God’s Law? The Ten Commandments. What is the Gospel? The Creed. How do Christians pray? The Lord’s Prayer. How do we become Christians? The Sacrament of Holy Baptism. How is our faith strengthened? The preaching of absolution. What medicine does God give us against the devil, the world, and our sinful nature? The Sacrament of the Altar. These texts are not unique to Lutherans. They are Christian, catholic (universal, world-wide), and biblical. Luther’s explanations were written to help us understand and use them rightly.

Each of the Six Chief Parts, with the exception of Confession, begins with the phrase, "As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household." The catechism is for home use by the head of the family to teach and practice the faith with his children. Parents are the primary catechists of their children. The catechism gives the head of the family everything that he needs to teach his family what they are to believe and do as Christians. It teaches them what and how to pray. It teaches them the calling from God where they are to live their faith in Christ. And it teaches them where to find God’s salvation and help against all sin and temptation in their lives.

God passes on His word of faith through the instrumentality of others. This is God’s way. The primary focus of the pastor’s catechesis is adults. He teaches adults, passing the word of faith on to them, so that they are enabled to catechize their children by word and example. Even when the pastor teaches the baptized children of his adult members, he is teaching those children in the place of their parents. He must do everything in his power to engage the parents in ongoing catechesis, so that the catechesis of the children of his congregation may not be hindered. If parents are enlightened by the Holy Spirit through faithful catechesis, the catechesis of the children of those parents will readily follow, without coercion, and bear much fruit.

Taken from Lutheran Catechesis, by Rev. Peter Bender, Copyright 1999,