|
Click here to
 |
Westminster Confession of Faith
(1646)
Dennis Bratcher, ed.
The Westminster Confession is one of the principal creedal confessions
of churches in the Reformed tradition. It is also known as the London
Confession, while a later slightly modified version that eliminated
chapters dealing primarily with church and state issues is known as the
Puritan Confession.
The Confession arose in the context of the English civil War between
Charles I and Parliament (1642-1646), a conflict that eventually cost
Charles I his head. This was an era when the Puritans, led by Oliver
Cromwell, and Puritan theology were gaining dominance in England. In
1643, the English Parliament convened an assembly of ministers,
representatives of both houses of parliament, and a few delegates from
Scotland at Westminster Abby in London. Both issues of church government
influenced by emerging presbyterianism, and theological issues
precipitated by old battles with Roman Catholicism and new threats to
Calvinism from growing Arminian views, were at stake.
The original Confession was completed in late 1646. It rejected any
Roman Catholic influence in matters of worship or theology and
solidified Puritan views on predestination with a strong affirmation of
classical Calvinism (chapters 3, 5, 9, and 17). At the same time, the
creed attempted to mediate between the decrees of God and human actions,
thus trying to balance the idea of the sovereignty of God with human
freedom and responsibility. The Creed is also known for its clear
articulation of the Protestant view of the authority of Scripture
(chapter 1), even though later fundamentalism would take parts of the
creed as the basis for developing more restrictive and sectarian
doctrines of Scripture (absolute inerrancy and infallibility).
The Confession did not achieve a central place in the Anglican
tradition, partly due to the waning influence of Puritans in the
following century. Yet with the migration of many Puritans to the new
colonies in North America, the confession became the most influential
Reformed confession in the larger English-speaking world. In various
forms, it became the central confessional creed of many Presbyterian,
Congregational, and Baptist churches, as well as other traditions that
shared similar views or were influenced by them. While much of the
Reformed tradition is today moving away from five-point Calvinism,
especially the predestination aspects, the Westminster Confession
remains as one of the most widely accepted of the Reformed Creeds
because of its clarity in expressing so many of the tenants central to
the Reformation.
In this version some archaic language has been updated for ease of
reading, and the numbering has been modernized from the original Roman
numerals. –Dennis Bratcher
Outline of the Confession
The Westminster
Confession
Chapter 1 - Of the Holy Scripture
1.1. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and
providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God,
as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that
knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation;
therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners,
to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his Church; and
afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and
for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the
corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to
commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the holy Scripture to
be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing his will unto
his people being now ceased.
1.2 Under the name of holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are
now contained all the Books of the Old and New Testament, which are
these:
Of the Old Testament:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth,
I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, II Kings, I Chronicles, II Chronicles,
Ezra, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos,
Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Nehemiah, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi.
Of the New Testament:
The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, The Acts of the
Apostles, Paul's Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians I, Corinthians II,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians I,
Thessalonians II, To Timothy I, To Timothy II, To Titus, To Philemon,
The Epistle to the Hebrews, The Epistle of James, The First and Second
Epistles of Peter, The First, Second, and Third Epistles of John, The
Epistle of Jude, The Revelation
All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and
life.
1.3. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine
inspiration, are no part of the Canon of Scripture; and therefore are of
no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or
made use of, than other human writings.
1.4. The authority of the holy Scripture, for which it ought to be
believed and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man or
Church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author thereof;
and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.
1.5. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an
high and reverent esteem of the holy Scripture; and the heavenliness of
the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the
consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all
glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's
salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire
perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it abundantly evidences itself
to be the Word of God; yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and
assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from
the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word
in our hearts.
1.6. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his
own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set
down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced
from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether
by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless we
acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary
for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word;
and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and
the government of the Church, common to human actions and societies,
which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence,
according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be
observed.
1.7. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor
alike clear to all; yet those things which are necessary to be known,
believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and
opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned,
but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a
sufficient understanding of them.
1.8. The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the
people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which at the time
of the writing of it was most generally known to the nations), being
immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence
kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentic; so as in all
controversies of religion the Church is finally to appeal unto them. But
because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God
who have right to, and interest in, the Scriptures, and are commanded,
in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be
translated into the language of every people to which they come, that
the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an
acceptable manner, and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures,
may have hope.
1.9. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture, is the
Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about the true
and full sense of any scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it may
be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.
1.10. The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to
be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers,
doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose
sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in
the Scripture.
Chapter 2 - Of God, and of the Holy Trinity.
2.1. There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in
being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body,
parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible,
almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all
things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous
will, for his own glory, most loving, gracious, merciful,
long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity,
transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him;
and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin; and
who will by no means clear the guilty.
2.2. God has all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself;
and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of
any creatures which he has made, nor deriving any glory from them, but
only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; he is the
alone foundation of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom, are
all things; and has most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them,
for them, or upon them, whatever himself pleases. In his sight all
things are open and manifest; his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and
independent upon the creature; so as nothing is to him contingent or
uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in
all his commands. To him is due from angels and men, and every other
creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience he is pleased to
require of them.
2.3. In the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons of one
substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the
Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit eternally
proceeding from the Father and the Son.
Chapter 3 - Of God's Eternal Decree.
3.1. God from all eternity by the most and holy counsel of his own
will, freely and unchangeably ordained whatever comes to pass; yet
because of that neither is God the author of sin; nor is violence
offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency
of second causes taken away, but rather established.
3.2. Although God knows whatever may or can come to pass, upon all
supposed conditions; yet he has not decreed any thing because he foresaw
it as future, as that which would come to pass, upon such conditions.
3.3. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men
and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others
foreordained to everlasting death.
3.4. These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are
particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain
and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished.
3.5. Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the
foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable
purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, has
chosen in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of his free grace and love
alone, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in
either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or
causes moving him to do so; and all to the praise of his glorious grace.
3.6. As God has appointed the elect unto glory, so has he, by the
eternal and most free purpose of his will, foreordained all the means to
accomplish it. Wherefore they who are elected, being fallen in Adam and
redeemed by Christ, are effectually called to faith in Christ by his
Spirit working in due season; are justified, adopted, sanctified, and
kept by his power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other
redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified,
and saved, but the elect only.
3.7. The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the
unsearchable counsel of his own will, by which he extends or withholds
mercy as he pleases, for the glory of his sovereign power over his
creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for
their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice.
3.8. The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be
handled with special prudence and care, that men attending to the will
of God revealed in his Word, and yielding obedience to it, may, from the
certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal
election. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and
admiration of God; and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation
to all that sincerely obey the gospel.
4.1. It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for the
manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness,
in the beginning, to create or make of nothing the world, and all things
in it, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all
very good.
4.2. After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and
female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge,
righteousness, and true holiness after his own image, having the law of
God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it; and yet under a
possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own
will, which was subject to change. Besides this law written in their
hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil; which as long as they kept it were happy in their
communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.
5.1. God, the great Creator of all things, upholds, directs, disposes,
and governs all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even
to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his
infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own
will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice,
goodness, and mercy.
5.2. Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the
first cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly, yet, by
the same providence, he orderes them to fall out according to the nature
of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.
5.3. God, in his ordinary providence, makes use of means, yet is free
to work without, above, and against them, at his pleasure.
5.4. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of
God, so far manifest themselves in his providence that it extends itself
even to the first Fall, and all other sins of angels and men, and that
not simply by permission, but such as has joined with it a most wise and
powerful bounding, and otherwise ordering and governing of them, in a
manifold dispensation, to his own holy ends; yet so, as its sinfulness
proceeds only from the creature, and not from God; who being most holy
and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.
5.5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God, oftentimes leaves for
a season his own children to manifold temptations and the corruption of
their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover
unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their
hearts, that they may be humbled; and to raise them to a more close and
constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them
more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for various other
just and holy ends.
5.6. As for those wicked and ungodly men whom God, as a righteous
judge, for former sins, blinds and hardens; from them he not only
withholds his grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their
understandings, and wrought upon their hearts; but sometimes also
withdraws the gifts which they had; and exposes them to such objects as
their corruption makes occasion of sin; and withal, gives them over to
their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan;
as a result they harden themselves, even under those means which God uses
for the softening of others.
5.7. As the providence of God, in general, reaches to all creatures,
so, after a most special manner, it takes care of his Church, and
disposes all things to its good.
Chapter 6. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and its
Punishment.
6.1. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtlety and temptations
of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. God was pleased,
according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit their sin, having
purposed to order it to his own glory.
6.2. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and
communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all
the faculties and parts of soul and body.
6.3. They being the root of mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed,
and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their
posterity, descending from them by original generation.
6.4. From this original corruption, by which we are utterly indisposed,
disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all
evil, proceeds all actual transgressions.
6.5. This corruption of nature, during this life, remains in those that
are regenerated; and although it be through Christ pardoned and
mortified, yet both itself, and all the motions of it, are truly and
properly sin.
6.6. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the
righteous law of God, and contrary to it, in its own nature brings guilt
upon the sinner, by which he is bound over to the wrath of God, and
curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries
spiritual, temporal, and eternal.
Chapter 7. Of God's Covenant with Man.
7.1. The distance between God and the creature is so great, that
although reasonable creatures owe obedience to him as their Creator, yet
they could never have any fruition of him, as their blessedness and
reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which he has
been pleased to express by way of covenant.
7.2. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein
life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition
of perfect and personal obedience.
7.3. Man by his fall having made himself incapable of life by that
covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the
covenant of grace, wherein he freely offered unto sinners life and
salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may
be saved, and promising to give to all those that are ordained unto
life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe.
7.4. This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in the Scripture by
the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ, the
testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all things belonging
to it, therein bequeathed.
7.5. This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law,
and in the time of the gospel: under the law it was administered by
promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and
other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all
fore-signifying Christ to come, which were for that time sufficient and
efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build
up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full
remission of sins, and eternal salvation, and is called the Old
Testament.
7.6. Under the gospel, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the
ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed, are the preaching of the
Word, and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's
Supper; which, though fewer in number, and administered with more
simplicity and less outward glory, yet in them it is held forth in more
fullness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy, to all nations, both Jews
and Gentiles; and is called the New Testament. There are not, therefore,
two covenants of grace differing in substance, but one and the same
under various dispensations.
Chapter 8. Of Christ the Mediator.
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
men, the prophet, priest, and king; the head and Savior of the Church,
the heir or all things, and judge of the world; unto whom, from all
eternity, he gave a people to be his seed, and to be by him in time
redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.
8.2. The Son of God, the second Person in the Trinity, being very and
eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, when the
fullness of time was come, took upon him man's nature, with all its
essential properties and common infirmities; yet without sin: being
conceived by he power of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin
Mary, of her substance, so that two whole, perfect, and distinct
natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together
in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which
person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator
between God and man.
8.3. The Lord Jesus in his human nature thus united to the divine, was
sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure; having in
him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, in whom it pleased the
Father that all fullness should dwell; to the end that being holy,
harmless, undefiled, and full of grace and truth, he might be thoroughly
furnished to execute the office of a Mediator and Surety. That office he
took not unto himself, but was called to by his Father; who put all
power and judgment into his hand, and gave him commandment to execute
the same.
8.4. This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which,
that he might discharge, he was made under the law, and perfectly
fulfilled it; endured most grievous torments immediately in his soul,
and most painful sufferings in his body; was crucified and died; was
buried, and remained under the power of death, yet saw no corruption. On
the third day he arose from the dead, with the same body in which he
suffered; with which also he ascended into heaven, and there sits at the
right hand of his Father, making intercession; and shall return to judge
men and angels, at the end of the world.
8.5. The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself,
which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, has fully
satisfied the justice of his Father; and purchased not only
reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven,
for all those whom the Father has given unto him.
8.6. Although the work of redemption was not actually wrought by Christ
till after his incarnation, yet the virtue, efficacy, and benefits of it
were communicated to the elect, in all ages successively from the
beginning of the world, in and by those promises, types, and sacrifices
by which he was revealed, and signified to be the seed of the woman,
which should bruise the serpent's head, and the Lamb slain from the
beginning of the world, being yesterday and today the same and for ever.
8.7. Christ, in the work of mediation, acts according to both natures;
by each nature doing that which is proper to itself; yet by reason of
the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature is
sometimes, in Scripture, attributed to the person denominated by the
other nature.
8.8. To all those for whom Christ has purchased redemption, he
certainly and effectually applies and communicates the same; making
intercession for them, and revealing unto them, in and by the Word, the
mysteries of salvation; effectually persuading them by his Spirit to
believe and obey; and governing their hearts by his Word and Spirit;
overcoming all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom, in such
manner and ways as are most consonant to his wonderful and unsearchable
dispensation.
9.1. God has endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that is
neither forced, nor by any absolute necessity of nature determined to
good or evil.
9.2. Man, in his state of innocence, had freedom and power to will and
to do that which is good and well-pleasing to God; but yet mutably, so
that he might fall from it.
9.3. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, has wholly lost all ability
of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural
man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not
able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself for
it.
9.4. When God converts a sinner and translates him into the state of
grace, he frees him from his natural bondage under sin, and, by his
grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is
spiritually good; yet so as that, by reason of his remaining corruption,
he does not perfectly, nor only, will that which is good, but also wills
that which is evil.
9.5. The will of man is made perfectly and immutable free to good
alone, in the state of glory only.
Chapter 10. Of Effectual Calling.
10.1. All those whom God has predestinated unto life, and those only,
he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call,
by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they
are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ: enlightening
their minds, spiritually and savingly, to understand the things of God,
taking away their heart of stone, and giving to them an heart of flesh;
renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that
which is good; and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as
they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.
10.2. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not
from any thing at all foreseen in man, who is altogether passive
concerning it, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he
is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered
and conveyed in it.
10.3. Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by
Christ through the Spirit, who works when, and where, and how he
pleases. So also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being
outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.
10.4. Others, not elected, although they may be called by the ministry
of the Word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet they
never truly come to Christ, and therefore cannot be saved: much less can
men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way
whatsoever, be they ever so diligent to frame their lives according to
the light of nature, and the law of that religion they do profess; and
to assert and maintain that they may is without warrant of the Word of
God.
11.1. Those whom God effectually calls, he also freely justifies: not
by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by
accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing
wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by
imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical
obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience
and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him
and his righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves,
it is the gift of God.
11.2. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his
righteousness, is the only instrument of justification; yet is it not
alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other
saving graces, and is no dead faith, but works by love.
11.3. Christ, by his obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of
all those that are thus justified, and made a proper, real, and full
satisfaction to his Father's justice in their behalf. Yet inasmuch as he
was given by the Father for them, and his obedience and satisfaction
accepted in their stead, and both freely, not for any thing in them,
their justification is only of free grace, that both the exact justice
and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of
sinners.
11.4. God did, from all eternity, decree to justify the elect; and
Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins and rise again
for their justification; nevertheless they are not justified until the
Holy Spirit, in due time, actually applies Christ unto them.
11.5. God continues to forgive the sins of those that are justified;
and although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet
they may by their sins fall under God's Fatherly displeasure, and not
have the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they humble
themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and
repentance.
11.6. The justification of believers under the Old Testament was, in
all these respects, one and the same with the justification of believers
under the New Testament.
12.1. All those that are justified, God quarentees, in and for his only
Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption: by which
they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges
of the children of God; have his name put upon them; receive the Spirit
of adoption; have access to the throne of grace with boldness; are
enabled to cry, Abba, Father; are pitied, protected, provided for, and
chastened by his as by a father; yet never cast off, but sealed to the
day of redemption, and inherit the promises, as heirs of everlasting
salvation.
13.1. They who are effectually called and regenerated, having a new
heart and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really
and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection,
by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them; the dominion of the whole body
of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more
weakened and mortified, and they more and more quickened and
strengthened, in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord.
13.2. This sanctification is throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect
in this life: there abides still some remnants of corruption in every
part, from which arises a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh
lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
13.3. In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may
much prevail, yet, through the continual supply of strength from the
sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part overcomes: and so the
saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
14.1. The grace of faith, by which the elect are enabled to believe to
the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their
hearts; and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word: by which
also, and by the administration of the sacraments, and prayer, it is
increased and strengthened.
14.2. By this faith, a Christian believes to be true whatever is
revealed in the Word, for the authority of God himself speaking in it;
and acts differently, upon that which each particular passage contains;
yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and
embracing the promises of God for this life, and that which is to come.
But the principle acts of saving faith are, accepting, receiving, and
resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal
life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.
14.3. This faith is different in degrees, weak or strong; may be often
and many ways assailed and weakened, but gets the victory; growing up in
many to the attainment of a full assurance through Christ, who is both
the author and finisher of our faith.
Chapter 15. Of Repentance Unto Life.
15.1. Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine of
which is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that
of faith in Christ.
15.2. By it a sinner, out of the sight and sense, not only of the
danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as
contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God, and upon the
apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves
for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God, purposing
and endeavoring to walk with him in all the ways of his commandments.
15.3. Although repentance is not to be rested in as any satisfaction
for sin, or any cause of the pardon from it, which is the act of God's
free grace in Christ; yet is it of such necessity to all sinners, that
none may expect pardon without it.
15.4. As there is no sin so small but it deserves damnation; so there
is no sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly
repent.
15.5. Men ought not to content themselves with a general repentance,
but it is every man's duty to endeavor to repent of his particular sins,
particularly.
15.6. As every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to
God, praying for pardon from them, upon which, and the forsaking of
them, he shall find mercy: so he that scandalizes his brother, or the
Church of Christ, ought to be willing, by a private or public confession
and sorrow for his sin, to declare his repentance to those that are
offended; who are then to be reconciled to him, and in love to receive
him.
16.1. Good works are only such as God has commanded in his holy Word,
and not such as, without warrant of the Word, are devised by men out of
blind zeal, or upon any pretense of good intention.
16.2. These good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, are
the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by them
believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify
their brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of
the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in
Christ Jesus for this, that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may
have the end, eternal life.
16.3. Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but
wholly from the Spirit of Christ. And that they may be enabled to do so,
besides the graces they have already received, there is required an
actual influence of the same Holy Spirit to work in them to will and to
do of his good pleasure; yet because of this they not to grow negligent,
as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon a special
motion of the Spirit; but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the
grace of God that is in them.
16.4. They, who in their obedience, attain to the greatest height that
is possible in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate and
to do more than God requires, that they fall short of much which in duty
they are bound to do.
16.5. We cannot, by our best works, merit pardon of sin, or eternal
life, at the hand of God, because of the great disproportion that is
between them and the glory to come, and the infinite distance that is
between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit, nor satisfy for
the debt of our former sins; but when we have done all we can, we have
done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants: and because, as they
are good, they proceed from his Spirit; and as they are wrought by us,
they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection that
they can not endure the severity of God's judgment.
16.6. Yet notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted
through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him, not as though
they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreprovable in God's
sight; but that he, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased to accept
and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied with many
weaknesses and imperfections.
16.7. Works done by unregenerate men, although for the matter of them
they may be things which God commands, and of good use both to
themselves and others; yet, because they proceed not from a heart
purified by faith; nor are done in a right manner, according to the
Word; nor to a right end, the glory of God; they are therefore sinful
and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God. And
yet their neglect of them is more sinful, and displeasing unto God.
Chapter 17. Of The Perseverance of the Saints.
17.2. They whom God has accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and
sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from
the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end,
and be eternally saved.
17.2. This perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own
free-will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing
from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy
of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit
and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of
grace; from all of which arises also the certainty and infallibility of
it.
17.3. Nevertheless they may, through the temptations of Satan and of
the world, the prevalence of corruption remaining in them, and the
neglect of the means of their perseverance, fall into grievous sins, and
for a time continue therein: by this, they incur God's displeasure, and
grieve his Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their
graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences
wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon
themselves.
Chapter 18. Of the Assurance of Grace and
Salvation.
18.1. Although hypocrites, and other unregenerate men, may vainly
deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in
the favor of God and estate of salvation, which hope of theirs shall
perish; yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in
sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may in
this life be certainly assured that they are in a state of grace, and
may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make
them ashamed.
18.2. This certainty is not simply conjectural and probably persuasion,
grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith,
founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward
evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the
testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we
are the children of God; which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance,
by which we are sealed to the day of redemption.
18.3. This infallible assurance does not so belong to the essence of
faith but that a true believer may wait long and conflict with many
difficulties before he becomes a partaker of it: yet, being enabled by
the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may,
without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means,
attain to it. And therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all
diligence to make his calling and election sure; that thereby his heart
may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and
thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of
obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance: so far is it from
inclining men to looseness.
18.4. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation shaken
in many ways, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in
preserving of it; by falling into some special sin, which wounds the
conscience, and grieves the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement
temptation; by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance and
suffering even those who fear him to walk in darkness and to have no
light: yet are they never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and
life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of
heart and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the
Spirit, this assurance may in due time be revived, and by which, in the
meantime, they are supported from utter despair.
19.1. God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound
him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual
obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon
the breach of it; and endued him with power and ability to keep it.
19.2. This law, after his Fall, continued to be a perfect rule of
righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai in
ten commandments, and written in two tables; the first four commandments
containing our duty toward God, and the other six our duty to man.
19.3. Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give
to the people of Israel, as a Church under age, ceremonial laws,
containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring
Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly
holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. All such ceremonial
laws are now abrogated under the New Testament.
19.4. To them also, as a body politic, he gave various judicial laws,
which expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any
other, now, further than the general equity of it may require.
19.5. The moral law forever binds all, as well justified persons as
others, to obedience to it; and that not only in regard of the matter
contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator
who gave it. Neither does Christ in the gospel in any way dissolve, but
much strengthen, this obligation.
19.6. Although true believers are not under the law as a covenant of
works, to be justified or condemned by it; yet is it of great use to
them, as well as to others; in that, as a rule of life, informing them
of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk
accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature,
hearts, and lives; so as, examining themselves by it, they may come to
further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin; together
with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection
of his obedience. It is likewise of use to the regenerate, to restrain
their corruptions, in that it forbids sin, and the threatenings of it
serve to show what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this
life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse of it
threatened in the law. The promises of it, in like manner, show them
God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon
the performance of it; although not as due to them by the law as a
covenant of works: so as a man's doing good, and refraining from evil,
because the law encourages to the one, and deterres from the other, is
no evidence of his being under the law, and not under grace.
19.7. Neither are the aforementioned uses of the law contrary to the
grace of the gospel, but do sweetly comply with it: the Spirit of Christ
subduing and enabling the will of man to do that freely and cheerfully,
which the will of God, revealed in the law, requires to be done.
Chapter 20. Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of
Conscience.
20.1. The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the
gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning
wrath of God, the curse of the moral law; and in their being delivered
from th present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, from
the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave,
and everlasting damnation; as also in their free access to God, and
their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a
childlike love, and a willing mind. All which were common also to
believers under the law; but under the New Testament the liberty of
Christians is further enlarged in their freedom from the yoke of the
ceremonial law, to which the Jewish Church was subjected; and in greater
boldness of access to the throne of grace, and in fuller communications
of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily
partake of.
20.2. God alone is Lord of the conscience, and has left it free from
the doctrines and commandments of men that are in any thing contrary to
his Word, or beside it in matters of faith on worship. So that to
believe such doctrines, or to obey such commandments out of conscience,
is to betray true liberty of conscience; and the requiring an implicit
faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of
conscience, and reason also.
20.3. They who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, do practice any
sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian
liberty; which is, that, being delivered out of the hands of our
enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and
righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
20.4. And because the powers which God has ordained, and the liberty
which Christ has purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but
mutually to uphold and preserve one another; they who, upon pretense of
Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise
of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of
God. And for their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such
practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to the known
principles of Christianity, whether concerning faith, worship, or
conversation; or to the power of godliness; or such erroneous opinions
or practices as, either in their own nature, or in the manner of
publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace
and order which Christ has established in the Church: they may be
lawfully called to account, and proceeded against by the censures of the
Church, and by the power of the Civil Magistrate.
Chapter 21. Of Religious Worship and the
Sabbath-day.
21.1. The light of nature shows that there is a God, who has lordship
and sovereignty over all; is good, and does good unto all; and is
therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and
served with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the
might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted
by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be
worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the
suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation or any other way
not prescribed in the holy Scripture.
21.2. Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit; and to him alone: not to angels, saints, or any other
creature: and since the Fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the
mediation of any other but of Christ alone.
21.3. Prayer with thanksgiving, being one special part of religious
worship, is by God required of all men; and that it may be accepted, it
is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of his Holy Spirit,
according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility,
fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and, if vocal, in a known
tongue.
21.4. Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men
living, or that shall live hereafter; but not for the dead, nor for
those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death.
21.5. The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear; the sound
preaching, and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God
with understanding, faith, and reverence; singing of psalms with grace
in the heart; as, also, the due administration and worthy receiving of
the sacraments instituted by Christ; are all parts of the ordinary
religious worship of God: besides religious oaths, and vows, solemn
fastings, and thanksgivings upon special occasion; which are, in their
several times and seasons, to be used in an holy and religious manner.
21.6. Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now,
under the gospel, either tied unto, or made more acceptable to, any
place in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed: but God
is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in private
families daily, and in secret each one by himself, so more solemnly in
the public assemblies, which are not carelessly or willfully to be
neglected or forsaken, when God, by his Word or providence, calls them.
21.7. As it is of the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion
of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in his Word, by a
positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages,
he has particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, to be kept
holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the
resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the
resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week,
which in Scripture is called the Lord's Day, and is to be continued to
the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath.
21.8. This Sabbath is to be kept holy unto the Lord when men, after a
due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs
beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own
works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and
recreations; but also are taken up the whole time in the public and
private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and
mercy.
Chapter 22. Of Lawful Oaths and Vows.
22.1. A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, in which upon just
occasion, the person swearing solemnly calls God to witness what he
asserts or promises; and to judge him according to the truth or
falsehood of what he swears.
22.2. The name of God only is that by which men ought to swear, and
therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence; therefore to
swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to swear
at all by any other thing, is sinful, and to be abhorred. Yet, as, in
matters of weight and moment, an oath is warranted by the Word of God,
under the New Testament, as well as under the Old, so a lawful oath,
being imposed by lawful authority, in such matters ought to be taken.
22.3. Whoever takes an oath ought duly to consider the weightiness of
so solemn an act, and by it guarantee nothing but what he is fully
persuaded is the truth. Neither may any man bind himself by oath to any
thing but what is good and just, and what he believes so to be, and what
he is able and resolved to perform. Yet it is a sin to refuse an oath
touching any thing that is good and just, being imposed by lawful
authority.
22.4. An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of the
words, without equivocation or mental reservation. It cannot oblige to
sin; but in any thing not sinful, being taken, it binds to performance,
although to a man's own hurt: nor is it to be violated, although made to
heretics or infidels.
22.5. A vow is of the like nature with a promissory oath, and ought to
be made with the like religious care, and to be performed with the like
faithfulness.
22.6. It is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone: and that
it may be accepted, it is to be made voluntarily, out of faith and
conscience of duty, in way of thankfulness for mercy received, or for
obtaining of what we want; by which we more strictly bind ourselves to
necessary duties, or to other things, so far and so long as they may
fitly facilitate them.
22.7. No man may vow to do any thing forbidden in the Word of God, or
what would hinder any duty therein commanded, or which is not in his own
power, and for the performance of which he has no promise or ability
from God. In which respects, monastical vows of perpetual single life,
professed poverty, and regular obedience, are so far from being degrees
of higher perfection, that they are superstitious and sinful snares, in
which no Christian may entangle himself.
Chapter 23. Of the Civil Magistrate.
23.1. God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world, has ordained
civil magistrates to be under him over the people, for his own glory and
the public good; and to this end, has armed them with the power of the
sword, for the defense and encouragement of them that are good, and for
the punishment of evil-doers.
23.2. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a
magistrate when called to do so; in the managing of it, as they ought
especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the
wholesome laws of each commonwealth, so, for that end, they may
lawfully, now under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary
occasions.
23.3. Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the administration
of the Word and Sacraments; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of
heaven; or, in the least, interfere in matters of faith. Yet, as nursing
fathers, it is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the Church of
our common Lord, without giving the preference to any denomination of
Christians above the rest, in such a manner that all ecclesiastical
persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of
discharging every part of their sacred functions, without violence or
danger. And, as Jesus Christ has appointed a regular government and
discipline in his Church, no law of any commonwealth should interfere
with, let, or hinder, the due exercise thereof, among the voluntary
members of any denomination of Christians, according to their own
profession of belief. It is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the
person and good name of all their people, in such an effectual manner as
that no person be suffered, either upon pretense of religion or
infidelity, to offer any indignity, violence, abuse, or injury to any
other person whatsoever: and to take order, that all religious and
ecclesiastical assemblies be held without molestation or disturbance.
23.4. It is the duty of the people to pray for magistrates, to honor
their persons, to pay them tribute and other dues, to obey their lawful
commands, and to be subject to their authority, for conscience' sake.
Infidelity, or difference in religion, does not void the magistrate's
just and legal authority, nor free the people from their obedience to
him: from which ecclesiastical persons are not exempted; much less has
the Pope any power or jurisdiction over them in their dominions, or over
any of their people; and least of all to deprive them of their dominions
or lives, if he shall judge them to be heretics, or upon any other
pretense whatsoever.
Chapter 24. Of Marriage and Divorce.
24.1. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman: neither is it
lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have
more than one husband at the same time.
24.2. Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife;
for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and of the Church
with an holy seed; and for preventing of uncleanness.
24.3. It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry who are able with
judgment to give their consent. Yet it is the duty of Christians to
marry only in the Lord. And, therefore, such as profess the true
reformed religion should not marry with infidels, Papists, or other
idolaters: neither should such as are godly be unequally yoked, by
marrying with such as are notoriously wicked in their life, or maintain
damnable heresies.
24.4. Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or
affinity forbidden in the Word; nor can such incestuous marriages ever
be made lawful by any law of man, or consent of parties, so as those
persons may live together, as man and wife. The man may not marry any of
his wife's kindred nearer in blood than he may of his own, nor the woman
of her husband's kindred nearer in blood than of her own.
24.5. Adultery or fornication, committed after a contract, being
detected before marriage, gives just occasion to the innocent party to
dissolve that contract. In the case of adultery after marriage, it is
lawful for the innocent party to sue out a divorce, and after the
divorce to marry another, as if the offending party were dead.
24.6. Although the corruption of man be such as is apt to study
arguments, unduly to put asunder those whom God has joined together in
marriage; yet nothing but adultery, or such willful desertion as can no
way be remedied by the Church or civil magistrate, is cause sufficient
of dissolving the bond of marriage; in which a public and orderly course
of proceeding is to be observed; and the persons concerned in it, not
left to their own wills and discretion in their own case.
25.1. The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of
the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered
into one, under Christ its head; and the spouse, the body, is the
fullness of Him that fills all in all.
25.2. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the
gospel (not confined to one nation as before under the law), consists of
all those throughout the world that profess the true religion, together
with their children; and is the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ; the
house and family of God, through which men are ordinarily saved and
union with which is essential to their best growth and service.
25.3. Unto this catholic and visible Church, Christ has given the
ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and
perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world; and
doth by his own presence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them
effectual for it.
25.4. This catholic Church has been sometimes more, sometimes less,
visible. And particular Churches, which are members of it, are more or
less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught and
embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or
less purely in them.
25.5. The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and
error: and some have so degenerated as to become apparently no Churches
of Christ. Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth, to
worship God according to his will.
25.6. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ:
nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that
Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalts himself in
the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.
Chapter 26. Of the Communion of the Saints.
26.1. All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their head, by his
Spirit and by faith, have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings,
death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in
love, they have communion in each other's gifts and graces, and are
obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as to
conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.
26.2. Saints by profession, are bound to maintain an holy fellowship
and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other
spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification; as also in
relieving each other in outward things, according to their several
abilities and necessities. Which communion, as God offers opportunity,
is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call upon the name
of the Lord Jesus.
26.3. This communion which the saints have with Christ, does not make
them in any wise partakers of the substance of the Godhead, or to be
equal with Christ in any respect: either of which to affirm, is impious
and blasphemous. Nor does their communion one with another as saints,
take away or infringe the title or property which each man has in his
goods and possessions.
27.1. Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace,
immediately instituted by God, to represent Christ and his benefits, and
to confirm our interest in him: as also to put a visible difference
between those that belong unto the Church, and the rest of the world;
and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according
to his Word.
27.2. There is in every sacrament a spiritual relation, or sacramental
union, between the sign and the thing signified; whence it comes to pass
that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other.
27.3. The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments, rightly
used, is not conferred by any power in them; neither does the efficacy
of a sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that
administers it, but upon the work of the Spirit, and the word of
institution, which contains, together with a precept authorizing the use
thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.
27.4. There be only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the
gospels, that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord: neither or
which may be dispensed by any but a minister of the Word, lawfully
ordained.
27.5. The sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard of the spiritual
things signified and exhibited by them, were, for substance, the same
with those of the New.
28.1. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus
Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the
visible Church, but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant
of grace, or his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission
of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in
newness of life: which sacrament is, by Christ's own appointment, to be
continued in his Churchy until the end of the world.
28.2. The outward element to be used in the sacrament is water, by
which the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit, by a minister of the gospel, lawfully
called to do so.
28.3. Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary; but
baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the
person.
28.4. Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience
unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents are
to be baptized.
28.5. Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance,
yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it as that
no person can be regenerated or saved without it, or that all that are
baptized are undoubtedly regenerated.
28.6. The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time when
it is administered; yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this
ordinance the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited
and conferred by the Holy Spirit, to such (whether of age or infants) as
that grace belongs to, according to the counsel of God's own will, in
his appointed time.
28.7. The sacrament of Baptism is but once to be administered to any
person.
Chapter 29. Of the Lord's Supper.
29.1. Our Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, instituted
the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be
observed in his Church unto the end of the world; for the perpetual
remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the sealing all
benefits of it to true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth
in him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe
unto him; and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and
with each other, as members of his mystical body.
29.2. In this sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any
real sacrifice made at all for remission of sins of the living or dead,
but a commemoration of that one offering up of himself, by himself, upon
the cross, once for all, and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise
unto God for the same; so that the Popish sacrifice of the mass, as they
call it, is most abominably injurious to Christ's one only sacrifice,
the only propitiation for all the sins of the elect.
29.3. The Lord Jesus has, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers to
declare his word of institution to the people, to pray, and bless the
elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common
to an holy use; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and
(they communicating also themselves) to give both to the communicants;
but to none who are not then present in the congregation.
29.4. Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest, or any
other, alone; as likewise the denial of the cup to the people;
worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about
for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use,
are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution
of Christ.
29.5. The outward elements in this sacrament, duly set apart to the
uses ordained by Christ, have such relation to him crucified, as that
truly, yet sacramentally only, they are sometimes called by the name of
the things they represent, that is, the body and blood of Christ;
although, in substance and nature, they still remain truly, and only,
bread and wine, as they were before.
29.6. That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread
and wine, into the substance of Christ's body and blood (commonly called
transubstantiation) by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, is
repugnant, not to Scripture alone, but even to common-sense and reason;
it overthrows the nature of the sacrament; and has been, and is, the
cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries.
29.7. Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in
this sacrament, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet
not carnally and corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon
Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death: the body and blood of
Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the
bread and wine; yet as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of
believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their
outward senses.
29.8. Although ignorant and wicked men receive the outward elements in
this sacrament, yet they receive not the thing signified by it; but by
their unworthy coming to it are guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord, to their own damnation. All ignorant and ungodly persons, as they
are unfit to enjoy communion with him, so are they unworthy of the
Lord's table, and cannot, without great sin against Christ, while they
remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted to it.
Chapter 30. Of Church Censures.
30.1. The Lord Jesus, as king and head of his Church, has in it
appointed a government in the hand of Church officers, distinct from the
civil magistrate.
30.2. To these officers the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are
committed, by virtue of which they have power respectively to retain and
remit sins, to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the
word and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry
of the gospel, and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall
require.
30.3. Church censures are necessary for the reclaiming and gaining of
offending brethren; for deterring of others from like offenses; for
purging out of that leaven which might infect the whole lump; for
vindicating the honor of Christ, and the holy profession of the gospel;
and for preventing the wrath of God, which might justly fall upon the
Church, if they should suffer his covenant, and the seals thereof, to be
profaned by notorious and obstinate offenders.
30.4. For the better attaining of these ends, the officers of the
Church are to proceed by admonition, suspension from the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper for a season, and by excommunication from the Church,
according to the nature of the crime, and demerit of the person.
Chapter 31. Of Synods and Councils.
31.2. For the better government and further edification of the Church,
there ought to be such assemblies as are commonly called synods or
councils.
31.2. As magistrates may lawfully call a synod of ministers and other
fit persons to consult and advise with about matters of religion; so, if
magistrates be open enemies of the Church, the ministers of Christ, of
themselves, by virtue of their office, or they, with other fit persons,
upon delegation from their churches, may meet together in such
assemblies.
31.3. It belongs to synods and councils, ministerially, to determine
controversies of faith, and cases of conscience; to set down rules and
directions for the better ordering of the public worship of God, and
government of his Church; to receive complaints in cases of
maladministration, and authoritatively to determine the same: which
decrees and determinations, if consonant to the Word of God, are to be
received with reverence and submission, not only for their agreement
with the Word, but also for the power whereby they are made, as being an
ordinance of God, appointed thereunto in his Word.
31.4. All synods or councils since the apostles' times, whether general
or particular, may err, and many have erred; therefore they are not to
be made the rule of faith or practice, but to be used as a help in both.
31.5. Synods and councils are to handle or conclude nothing but that
which is ecclesiastical: and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs
which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble petition in
cases extraordinary; or by way of advice for satisfaction of conscience,
if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate.
Chapter 32. Of the State of Man After Death, and
of the Resurrection of the Dead.
32.1. The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see
corruption; but their souls (which neither die nor sleep), having an
immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls
of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into
the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and
glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies; and the souls of
the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter
darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two
places for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledges
none.
32.2. At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be
changed: and all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies,
and none other, although with different qualities, which shall be united
again to their souls forever.
32.3. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised
to dishonor; the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honor, and be
made conformable to his own glorious body.
Chapter 33. Of the Last Judgment.
33.1. God has appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world in
righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given
of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be
judged; but likewise all persons, that have lived upon earth, shall
appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their
thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have
done in the body, whether good or evil.
33.2. The end of God's appointing this day, is for the manifestation of
the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his
justice in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and
disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and
receive that fullness of joy and refreshing which shall come from the
presence of the Lord: but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the
gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and
punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and
from the glory of his power.
33.3. As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there
shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin, and for the
greater consolation of the godly in their adversity: so will he have
that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security,
and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will
come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.
Amen.
Outline of the Westminster
Confession
Chapter 1 - Of the holy Scripture
Chapter 2 - Of God, and of the Holy Trinity
Chapter 3 - Of God's Eternal Decree
Chapter 4 - Of Creation
Chapter 5 - Of Providence
Chapter 6. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and its
Punishment.
Chapter 7. Of God's Covenant with Man.
Chapter 8. Of Christ the Mediator.
Chapter 9. Of Free Will.
Chapter 10. Of Effectual Calling.
Chapter 11. Of Justification.
Chapter 12. Of Adoption.
Chapter 13. Of Sanctification
Chapter 14. Of Saving Faith.
Chapter 15. Of Repentance Unto Life.
Chapter 16. Of Good Works.
Chapter 17. Of The Perseverance of the Saints.
Chapter 18. Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation
Chapter 19. Of the Law of God.
Chapter 20. Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of
Conscience.
Chapter 21. Of Religious Worship and the
Sabbath-day.
Chapter 22. Of Lawful Oaths and Vows.
Chapter 23. Of the Civil Magistrate.
Chapter 24. Of Marriage and Divorce
Chapter 25. Of the Church.
Chapter 26. Of the Communion of the Saints.
Chapter 27. Of the Sacraments
Chapter 28. Of Baptism
Chapter 29. Of the Lord's Supper
Chapter 30. Of Church Censures.
Chapter 31. Of Synods and Councils.
Chapter 32. Of the State of Man After Death, and
of the Resurrection of the Dead.
Chapter 33. Of the Last Judgment.
-Dennis Bratcher, Copyright ©
2018, Dennis
Bratcher, All Rights Reserved
(No copyright claims are made for the text of the original document.)
See Copyright and User Information Notice
|
Related pages
Theology Topics
Creeds and Confessions
Historical Theology
Scot's Confession |
