THE
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
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 To Timothy I
Mark To Timothy II
Luke To Titus
John To 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.
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.
I.
God from all eternity did by the most 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 og 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 theselves.
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.
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.
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 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 hath
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 aprt of their sacred functions, without
violence or danger. And, as Jesus Christ hath 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
[6.175]
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.
[6.176] 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.
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.
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.
Charles Herle, Prolocuter.
Cornelius Burges, Assessor.
Herbert Palmer, Assessor.
Henry Robroughe, Scriba.
Adoniram Byfield, Scriba.
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