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Westminster confession of faith 1646
Chapter I. Of the holy Scripture
Chapter II. Of God, and of the
Holy Trinity
Chapter III. Of God's Eternal Decree
Chapter IV. Of Creation
Chapter V. Of Providence
Chapter VI.
Of
the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment thereof
Chapter VII. Of God's Covenant with
Man
Chapter VIII. Of Christ the Mediator
Chapter IX. Of Free Will
Chapter X. Of Effectual Calling
Chapter XI. Of Justification
Chapter XII. Of Adoption
Chapter XIII. Of Sanctification
Chapter XIV. Of Saving Faith
Chapter XV. Of Repentance Unto Life
Chapter XVI. Of Good Works
Chapter XVII. Of The
Perseverance of the Saints
Chapter XVIII. Of the
Assurance of Grace and Salvation
Chapter XIX. Of the Law of God
Chapter XX. Of
Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience
Chapter XXI. Of
Religious Worship and the Sabbath-day
Chapter XXII. Of Lawful Oaths and Vows
Chapter XXIII. Of the Civil Magistrate
Chapter XXIV. Of Marriage and Divorce
Chapter XXV. Of the Church
Chapter XXVI. Of the Communion
of the Saints
Chapter XXVII. Of the Sacraments
Chapter XXVIII. Of Baptism
Chapter XXIX. Of the Lord's Supper
Chapter XXX. Of Church Censures
Chapter XXXI. Of Synods and Councils
Chapter XXXII.
Of the State of Man After Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead
Chapter XXXIII. Of the Last Judgment
CHAPTER I.
Of the holy Scripture.
I. 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 are they 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 maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those
former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.
II. 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 Ecclesiastes
Exodus The Song of Songs
Leviticus Isaiah
Numbers Jeremiah
Deuteronomy Lamentations
Joshua Ezekiel
Judges Daniel
Ruth Hosea
I Samuel Joel
II Samuel Amos
I Kings Obadiah
II Kings Jonah
I Chronicles Micah
II Chronicles Nahum
Ezra Habakkuk
Nehemiah Zephaniah
Esther Haggai
Job Zechariah
Psalms Malachi
Proverbs
Of the New Testament
The Gospels according to Thessalonians II
Matthew Timothy I
Mark Timothy II
Luke Titus
John Philemon
The Acts of the Apostles The Epistle to the
Paul's Epistles to the Romans Hebrews
Corinthians I The Epistle of James
Corinthians II The First and Second
Galatians Epistles of Peter
Ephesians The First, Second, and
Philippians Third Epistles of John
Colossians The Epistle of Jude
Thessalonians I The Revelation
All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and
life.
III. 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.
IV. The authority of the holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed
and obeyed, dependeth 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.
V. 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 doth abundantly evidence
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.
VI. 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.
VII. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike
clear unto 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.
VIII. 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 authentical; 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
unto, 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 unto 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.
IX. 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.
X. The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be
determined, and all decress 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.
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CHAPTER II.
Of God, and of the Holy Trinity.
I. 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 won
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.
II. God hath 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 hath 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 hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for
them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth. 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.
III. In the unity of the Godhead there be three Persons of one substance,
power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is
eternall begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from
the Father and the Son.
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CHAPTER III.
Of God's Eternal Decree.
I. God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own
will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as
thereby 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.
II. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass, upon all
supposed conditions; yet hath he not decreed any thing because he foresaw
it as future, as that which would come to pass, upon such conditions.
III. 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.
IV. These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are
particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and
definite that it can not be either increased or diminished.
V. 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, hath 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 thereunto; and all to the praise of his glorious grace.
VI. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath he, by the eternal
and most free purpose of his will, foreordained all the means thereunto.
Wherefore they who are elected being fallen in Adam are redeemed by
Christ, are effectually called unto 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.
VII. The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the unsearchable
counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he
pleaseth, 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.
VIII. 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 thereunto, 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.
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CHAPTER IV.
Of Creation.
I. It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 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 therein, whether
visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good.
II. 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 unto 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 while they kept were happy in their communion with God,
and had dominion over the creatures.
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CHAPTER V.
Of Providence.
I. God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct dispose, and
govern 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.
II. 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 ordereth them to fall out according to the nature of second
causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.
III. God, in his ordinary providence, maketh use of means, yet is free to
work without, above, and against them, at his pleasure.
IV. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God,
so far manifest themselves in his providence, that it extendeth itself
even to the first Fall, and all other sins of angels and men, and that not
by a bare permission, but such as hath 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 the sinfulness
thereof proceedeth 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.
V. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God, doth oftentimes leave 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 sundry other just
and holy ends.
VI. As for those wicked and ungodly men whom God, as a righteous judge,
for former sins, doth blind and harden; from them he not only withholdeth
his grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their
understandings, and wrought upon their hearts; but sometimes also
withdraweth the gifts which they had; and exposeth them to such objects as
their corruption makes occasion of sin; and withal, gives them over to
their own lusts, the temptatoins of the world, and the power of Satan;
whereby it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those
means which God useth for the softening of others.
VII. As the providence of God doth, in general, reach to all creatures,
so, after a most special manner, it taketh care of his Church, and
disposeth all things to the good thereof.
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CHAPTER VI.
Of the
Fall of Man, of Sin, and of
the Punishment thereof.
I. Our first parents, begin seduced by the subtilty and temptations of
Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin God was
pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, having
purposed to order it to his own glory.
II. 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.
III. 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.
IV. From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed,
disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil,
do proceed all actual transgressions.
V. This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that
are regenerated; and although it be through Christ pardoned and mortified,
yet both itself, and all the motions thereof, are truly and properly sin.
VI. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the
righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature,
bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby 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.
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CHAPTER VII
Of God's Covenant with Man.
I. The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although
reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they
could never have any fruition of him, as their blessedness and reward, but
by some voluntary condescencion on God's part, which he hath been pleased
to express by way of covenant.
II. 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.
III. 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 unto all those that are ordained unto
life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe.
IV. 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.
V. 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.
VI. 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
fulness, 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.
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CHAPTER VIII.
Of Christ the Mediator.
I. 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 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.
II. The Son of God, the second Person in the Trinity, being very and
eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did, when the
fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all the
essential properties and common infirmities thereof; yet without sin:
being conceived by he power of the Holy Ghost, 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.
III. 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. Which office he took not
unto himself, but was thereunto called by his Father; who put all power
and judgment into his hand, and gave him commandment to execute the same.
IV. This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which, that
he might discharge, he was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfill
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 sitteth at the right hand of
his Father, making intercession; and shall return to judge men and angels,
at the end of the world.
V. The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself,
which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath 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 hath given unto him.
VI. Although the work of redemption was not actually wrought by Christ
till after his incarnation, yet the virtue, efficacy, and benefits thereof
were communicated into the elect, in all ages successively from the
beginning of the world, in and by those promises, types, and sacrifices
wherein he was revealed, and signified to be the seed of the woman, which
should bruise the serpant's head, and the Lamb slain from the beginning of
the world, being yesterday and today the same and for ever.
VII. Christ, in the work of mediation, acteth 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.
VIII. To all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption, he doth
certainly and effectually apply and communicate 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 wisdon, in such
manner and ways as are most consonant to his wonderful and unsearchable
dispensation.
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CHAPTER IX.
Of Free Will.
I. God hath 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.
II. Man, in his state of innocency, 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.
III. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath 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 thereunto.
IV. When God converts a sinner and translates him into the state of grace,
he freeth 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 doth not perfectly,
nor only, will that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil.
V. The will of man is made perfectly and immutable free to good alone, in
the state of glory only.
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CHAPTER X.
Of Effectual Calling.
I. All those whom God hath 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 unto 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.
II. 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 therein,
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.
III. Elect infants, dying in infance, are regenerated and saved by Christ
through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth. So
also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly
called by the ministry of the Word.
IV. 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 can not be saved: much less can
men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way
whatsoever, be they never 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.
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CHAPTER XI.
Of Justification.
I. Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth: 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 alons; 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.
II. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is
the alone 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 worketh by love.
III. Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of
all those that are thus justified, and did make a proper, real, and full
satisfaction o 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.
IV. 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
doth, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them.
V. God doth continue 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.
VI. The justification of believers under the Old Testament was, in all
these respect, one and the same with the justification of believers under
the New Testament.
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CHAPTER XII.
Of Adoption.
All those that are justified, God vouchsafeth, 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.
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CHAPTER XIII.
Of Sanctification.
I. 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.
II. This sanctification is throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect in
this life: there abideth still some remnants of corruption in every part,
whence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
III. In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much
prevail, yet, through the continual supply of strength rom the sanctifying
Spirit of Christ, the regerate part doth overcome: and so the saints grow
in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
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CHAPTER XIV.
Of Saving Faith.
I. The grace of faith, whereby 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.
II. By this faith, a Christian believeth to be true whatesoever is
revealed in the Word, for the authority of god himself speaking therein;
and acteth differently, upon that which each particular passage thereof
containeth; 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.
III. 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.
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CHAPTER XV.
Of Repentance Unto Life.
I. Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine whereof is
to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that of faith
in Christ.
II. 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.
III. Although repentance be not to be rested in as any satisfaction for
sin, or any cause of the pardon thereof, 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.
IV. 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.
V. 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.
VI. As every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to God,
praying for the pardon thereof, upon which, and the forsaking of them, he
shall find mercy: so he that scandelizeth 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
thereupon to be reconciled to him, and in love to receive him.
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CHAPTER XVI.
Of Good Works.
I. Good works are only such as God hath commanded in his holy Word, and
not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men out of blind
zeal, or upon any pretense of good intention.
II. 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 thereunto, that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may
have the end, eternal life.
III. 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 thereunto,
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 are they not hereupon 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.
IV. They, who in their obedience, attain to the greatest height which 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.
V. We can not, 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.
VI. 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.
VII. 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 can not 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.
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CHAPTER XVII.
Of The Perseverance of the
Saints.
I. They whom God hath 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.
II. 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
which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.
III. Nevertheless they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the
world, the prevelancy of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of
the means of their perseverance, fall into grievous sins; ad for a time
continue therein: whereby 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.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
Of the Assurance of
Grace and Salvation.
I. 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.
II. This certainty is not a bare 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, whereby
we are sealed to the day of redemption.
III. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith
but that a true believer may wait long and conflict with many difficulties
before he be 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 thereunto. 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 Ghost, 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.
IV. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways
shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of
it; by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the conscience, and
grievth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation; by God's
withdrawing the light of his countenance and suffering even such as 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 the which, in the meantime, they are supported from utter
despair.
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CHAPTER XIX.
Of the Law of God.
I. 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.
II. 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.
III. 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 which ceremonial laws are now abrogated
under the New Testament.
IV. To them also, as a body politic, he gave sundry judicial laws, which
expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any other,
now, further than the general equity thereof may require.
V. The moral law doth forever bind all, as well justified persons as
others, to the obedience thereof; 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 doth Christ in the gospel any way dissolve,
but much strengthen, this obligation.
VI. Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works,
to be thereby justified or condemned; 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 thereby, 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 thereof 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 thereof; 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 encourageth to the one,
and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law,
and not under grace.
VII. Neither are the forementioned 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, requireth to be done.
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CHAPTER XX.
Of Christian
Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience.
I. The liberty which Christ hath 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 thos
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.
II. God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the
doctrines and commandments of men which 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 ts 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.
III. 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.
IV. And because the powers which God hath ordained, and the liberty which
Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to
uphold and preserve one another; they who, upon pretence 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 hath
established in the Church, they may lawfully be called to account, and
proceeded against by the censures of the Church, and by the power of the
civil magistrate.
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CHAPTER XXI.
Of Religious Worship
and the Sabbath-day.
I. The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and
sovereignty over all; is good, and doeth good unto all; and is therefore
to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all
the hearth, 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.
II. Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost; 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.
III. 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.
IV. 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.
V. 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.
VI. 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, calleth thereunto.
VII. 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 hath
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.
VIII. 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 wordly 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.
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CHAPTER XXII.
Of Lawful Oaths and Vows.
I. A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, wherein upon just
occasion, the person swearing solemnly calleth God to witness what he
asserteth or promiseth; and to judge him according to the truth or
falsehood of what he sweareth.
II. 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.
III. Whosoever taketh an oath ought duly to consider the weightiness of so
solemn an act, and therein to avouch 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 believeth 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.
IV. An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of the words,
without equivocation or mental reservation. It can not 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.
V. 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.
VI. 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; whereby we more strictly bind ourselves to necessary duties,
or to other things, so far and so long as they may fitly conduce
thereunto.
VII. 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 hath 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.
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CHAPTER XXIII.
Of the Civil Magistrate.
I. God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil
magistrates to be under him over the people, for his own glory and the
public good; and to this end, hath 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.
II. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a
magistrate when called thereunto; in the managing whereof, 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.
III. The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of
the Word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of
heaven: yet he hath authority, and it is his duty, to take order, that
unity and peace be preserved in the Church, that the truth of God be kept
pure and entire; that all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed; all
corruptions and abuses in worship and discipline prevented or reformed;
and all the ordinances of God duly settled, administered, and observed.
For the better effecting whereof, he hath power to call synods, to be
present at them, and to provide that whatsoever is transacted in them be
according to the mind of God.
IV. 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, doth not make boid 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 hath 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.
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CHAPTER XXIV.
Of Marriage and Divorce.
I. 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.
II. 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.
III. 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.
IV. 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.
V. Adultery or fornication, committed after a contract, being detected
before marriage, giveth 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.
VI. Although the corruption of man be such as is apt to study arguments,
unduly to put asunder those whom God hath 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; wherein 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.
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CHAPTER XXV.
Of the Church.
I. 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 the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the
fullness of Him that filleth all in all.
II. 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.
III. Unto this catholic and visible Church, Christ hath 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
thereunto.
IV. This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less,
visible. And particular Churches, which are members thereof, 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.
V. 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.
VI. 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 exalteth himself in the Church
against Christ, and all that is called God.
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CHAPTER XXVI.
Of the Communion of the Saints.
I. 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.
II. 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
necesities. Which communion, as God offereth opportunity, is to be
extended unto all those who, in every place, call upno the name of the
Lord Jesus.
III. This communion which the saints have with Christ, doth 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 doth their communion one with another as saints, take
away or infringe the title or property which each man hath in his goods
and possessions.
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CHAPTER XXVII.
Of the Sacraments.
I. 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 thw world; and
solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to his
Word.
II. 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.
III. The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments, rightly used,
is not conferred by any power in them; neither doth the efficacy of a
sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth administer
it, but upon the work of the Spirit, and the word of institution, which
conatins, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise
of benefit to worthy receivers.
IV. 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.
V. The sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard of the spiritual things
thereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the same with those
of the New.
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
Of Baptism.
I. 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.
II. The outward element to be used in the sacrament is water, wherewith
the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost, by a minister of the gospel, lawfully called thereunto.
III. Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary; but baptism is
rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the person.
IV. 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.
V. 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.
VI. The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it
is administered; yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinancy
the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred
by the Holy Ghost, to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace
belongeth unto, according to the counsel of God's own will, in his
appointed time.
VII. The sacrament of Baptism is but once to be administered to any
person.
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CHAPTER XXIX.
Of the Lord's Supper.
I. Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein 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 thereof
unto 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.
II. In this sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real
sacrifice made at all for remission of sins of the quick 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 alone
propitiation for all the sins of the elect.
III. The Lord Jesus hath, 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.
IV. 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.
V. 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
thigns they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ; albeit, in
substance and nature, they still remain truly, and only, bread and wine,
as they were before.
VI. 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;
overthroweth the nature of the sacrament; and hath been, and is, the cause
of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries.
VII. 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.
VIII. Although ignorant and wicked men receive the outward elements in
this sacrament, yet they receive not the thing signified thereby; but by
their unworthy coming thereunto are guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord, to their own damnation. Wherefore all ignorant and ungodly persons,
as they are unfit to enjoy communion with him, so are they unworthy of the
Lord's table, and can not, without great sin against Christ, while they
remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted thereunto.
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CHAPTER XXX.
Of Church Censures.
I. The Lord Jesus, as king and head of his Church, hath therein appointed
a government in the hand of Church officers, distinct from the civil
magistrate.
II. To these officers the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are committed, by
virtue whereof 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.
III. 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.
IV. 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.
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CHAPTER XXXI.
Of Synods and Councils.
I. For the better government and further edification of the Church, there
ought to be such assemblies as are commonly called synods or councils.
II. 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.
III. It belongeth 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.
IV. 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.
V. 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.
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CHAPTER XXXII.
Of the State of Man After Death,
and of the Resurrection of the Dead.
I. 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 acknowledgeth none.
II. 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.
III. 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.
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CHAPTER XXXIII.
Of the Last Judgment.
I. God hath 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.
II. 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.
III. 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.
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