Belgic Confession
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Article 24 – Man’s Sanctification and Good Works
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Article 25 – The Abolishing of the Ceremonial Law
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Article 26 – Christ’s Intercession
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Article 27 – The Holy Catholic Church
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Article 28 – Every One Is Bound to Join Himself to the True Church
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Article 29 – The Marks of the True Church
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Article 30 – The Government of the Church And Its Offices
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Article 31 – The Ministers, Elders, and Deacons
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Article 32 – The Order and Discipline of the Church
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Article 33 – The Sacraments
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Article 34 – The Sacrament of Baptism
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Article 35 – The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
Article 24 – Man’s Sanctification and Good Works
We believe that this true faith, being wrought in man by the hearing of the Word of God and the operation of the Holy Spirit, regenerates him and makes him a new man, causing him to live a new life, and freeing him from the bondage of sin. Therefore it is so far from being true that this justifying faith makes men remiss in a pious and holy life, that on the contrary without it they would never do anything out of love to God, but only out of self-love or fear of damnation. Therefore it is impossible that this holy faith can be unfruitful in man; for we do not speak of a vain faith, but of such a faith which is called in Scripture a faith working through love, which excites man to the practice of those works which God has commanded in His Word.
These works, as they proceed from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable in the sight of God, forasmuch as they are all sanctified by His grace. Nevertheless they are of no account towards our justification, for it is by faith in Christ that we are justified, even before we do good works; otherwise they could not be good works, any more than the fruit of a tree can be good before the tree itself is good.
Therefore we do good works, but not to merit by them (for what can we merit?); nay, we are indebted to God for the good works we do, and not He to us, since it is He who worketh in us both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. Let us therefore attend to what is written: When ye shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do. In the meantime we do not deny that God rewards good works, but it is through His grace that He crowns His gifts.
Moreover, though we do good works, we do not found our salvation upon them; for we can do no work but what is polluted by our flesh, and also punishable; and although we could perform such works, still the remembrance of one sin is sufficient to make God reject them. Thus, then, we would always be in doubt, tossed to and fro without any certainty, and our poor consciences would be continually vexed if they relied not on the merits of the suffering and death of our Saviour.
Genesis 4:4; Isaiah 26:12; Isaiah 28:16; Isaiah 64:6; Habakkuk 2:4; Matthew 7:17; Matthew 10:42; Matthew 25:34,35; Luke 17:10; John 5:24; John 6:29; John 8:36; John 15:5; Acts 15:9; Romans 2:6; Romans 4:4; Romans 6:4,22; Romans 8:15; Romans 9:32; Romans 10:11,17; Romans 11:6; Romans 14:23; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Galatians 3:5; Galatians 5:6; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 1:1,29; Philippians 2:13; Colossians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 2:12; Titus 3:5,8; Hebrews 11:6; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 John 8; Revelation 2:11; Revelation 3:12,21.
Article 25 – The Abolishing of the Ceremonial Law
We believe that the ceremonies and symbols of the law ceased at the coming of Christ, and that all the shadows are accomplished; so that the use of them must be abolished among Christians; yet the truth and substance of them remain with us in Jesus Christ, in whom they have their completion. In the meantime we still use the testimonies taken out of the law and the prophets to confirm us in the doctrine of the gospel, and to regulate our life in all honourableness to the glory of God, according to His will.
Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:1; Galatians 4:10,11; Galatians 5:2-4; Colossians 2:16,17; 2 Peter 1:19.
Article 26 – Christ’s Intercession
We believe that we have no access unto God but alone through the only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous; who therefore became man, having united in one person the divine and human natures, that we men might have access to the divine Majesty, which access would otherwise be barred against us. But this Mediator, whom the Father has appointed between Him and us, ought in no wise to affright us by His majesty, or cause us to seek another according to our fancy. For there is no creature, either in heaven or on earth, who loves us more than Jesus Christ; who, though existing in the form of God, yet emptied himself, being made in the likeness of men and of a servant for us, and in all things was made like unto his brethren. If, then, we should seek for another mediator who would be favourably inclined towards us, whom could we find who loved us more than He who laid down His life for us, even while we were His enemies? And if we seek for one who has power and majesty, who is there that has so much of both as He who sits at the right hand of God and to whom hath been given all authority in heaven and on earth? And who will sooner be heard than the own well beloved Son of God?
Therefore it was only through distrust that this practice of dishonouring, instead of honouring, the saints was introduced, doing that which they never have done nor required, but have on the contrary steadfastly rejected according to their bounden duty, as appears by their writings. Neither must we plead here our unworthiness; for the meaning is not that we should offer our prayers to God on the ground of our own worthiness, but only on the ground of the excellency and worthiness of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose righteousness is become ours by faith.
Therefore the apostle, to remove this foolish fear, or rather distrust, from us, rightly says that Jesus Christ in all things was made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. And further to encourage us to go to Him, he says: Having then a great high priest, who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need. The same apostle says: Having boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, etc. Likewise: Christ hath his priesthood unchangeable; wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
What more can be required? Since Christ Himself says: I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me. To what purpose should we, then, seek another advocate, since it has pleased God to give us His own Son as an Advocate? Let us not forsake Him to take another, or rather to seek after another, without ever being able to find him; for God well knew, when He gave Him to us, that we were sinners.
Therefore, according to the command of Christ, we call upon the heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our only Mediator, as we are taught in the Lord’s Prayer; being assured that whatever we ask of the Father in His Name will be granted us.
Psalm 44:21; Jeremiah 2:13,3; Daniel 9:17,18; Hosea 13:9; Matthew 11:27; Matthew 28:18; Mark 16:19; Luke 11:2; John 4:17; John 10:11; John 14:6,13,17; John 15:1; John 16:23; John 16:23; Acts 4:12; Acts 10:26; Acts 14:15; Romans 5:8; Romans 8:33; 1 Corinthians 1:31; Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12,19; Philippians 2:7; Colossians 3:1; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 2:17,18; Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 7:24,25; Hebrews 10:19,22; 1 John 2:1; 1 John 4:10.
Article 27 – The Holy Catholic Church
We believe and profess one catholic or universal Church, which is a holy congregation of true Christian believers, all expecting their salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by His blood, sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
This Church has been from the beginning of the world, and will be to the end thereof; which is evident from this that Christ is an eternal King, which without subjects He cannot be. And this holy Church is preserved or supported by God against the rage of the whole world; though it sometimes for a while appears very small, and in the eyes of men to be reduced to nothing; as during the perilous reign of Ahab the Lord reserved unto Him seven thousand men who had not bowed their knees to Baal.
Furthermore, this holy Church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or to certain persons, but is spread and dispersed over the whole world; and yet is joined and united with heart and will, by the power of faith, in one and the same Spirit.
Genesis 22:17; 2 Samuel 7:16; 1 Kings 19:18; Psalm 46:5; Psalm 89:37,38; Psalm 102:14; Psalm 110:2-4; Isaiah 1:9; Isaiah 2:2; Jeremiah 31:36; Matthew 16:18; Matthew 28:20; Luke 1:32,33; Luke 12:32; Luke 17:21; John 16:33; Acts 4:32; Romans 9:29; Romans 11:2,4; Romans 12:4; Ephesians 4:3,4; 2 Timothy 2:19; Revelation 12:6,14.
Article 28 – Every One Is Bound to Join Himself to the True Church
We believe, since this holy congregation is an assembly of those who are saved, and outside of it there is no salvation, that no person of whatsoever state or condition he may be, ought to withdraw from it, content to be by himself; but that all men are in duty bound to join and unite themselves with it; maintaining the unity of the Church; submitting themselves to the doctrine and discipline thereof; bowing their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ; and as mutual members of the same body, serving to the edification of the brethren, according to the talents God has given them.
And that this may be the more effectually observed, it is the duty of all believers, according to the Word of God, to separate themselves from all those who do not belong to the Church, and to join themselves to this congregation, wheresoever God has established it, even though the magistrates and edicts of princes were against it, yea, though they should suffer death or any other corporal punishment. Therefore all those who separate themselves from the same or do not join themselves to it act contrary to the ordinance of God.
Psalm 2:10-12; Psalm 22:23; Isaiah 49:22; Isaiah 52:11; Daniel 3:17,18; Daniel 6:8-10; Joel 2:32; Matthew 11:29; Matthew 12:30; Matthew 24:28; Acts 2:40; Acts 4:17,19; Acts 17:7; Acts 18:13; 1 Corinthians 12:12; 2 Corinthians 6:17; Ephesians 4:3,12,16; Hebrews 2:12; 1 Peter 3:20; Revelation 14:14; Revelation 17:14; Revelation 18:4.
Article 29 – The Marks of the True Church
The Marks of the True Church
We believe that we ought to discern diligently and very carefully by the Word of God what is the true church, for all sects which are in the world today claim for themselves the name of “the church.”
We are not speaking here of the hypocrites, Who are mixed among the good in the church And who nonetheless are not part of it,
Even though they are physically there. But we are speaking of distinguishing the body and fellowship of the true church from all sects that call themselves “the church.”
The true church can be recognized If it has the following marks: The Church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel; It makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them. It practices church discipline for correcting faults.
In short, it governs itself according to the pure Word of God, rejecting all things contrary to it and holding Jesus Christ as the only Head. By these marks one can be assured Of recognizing the true church— and no one ought to separate from it.
As for those who are of the church, We can recognize by the distinguishing marks of Christians. Namely by faith, And by their fleeing from sin and pursuing righteousness, Once they have received the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ.
They love the true God and their neighbors without turning to the right or left, and they crucify the flesh and its works.
Though great weakness remains in them, They fight against it by the Spirit all the days of their lives, Appealing constantly to the blood, suffering, death, and obedience of Jesus, in whom they have forgiveness of their sins, through faith in Him.
As for the false church, It assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God. It does not want to subject itself to the yoke of Christ. It does not a administer the sacraments as Christ commanded in His Word, It rather adds to them and subtracts from them as it pleases. It bases itself on men, more than on Jesus Christ. It persecutes those who live holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuke it for its faults, greed, and idolatry.
These two churches are easy to recognize and thus to distinguish from each other.
Article 30 – The Government of the Church And Its Offices
We believe that this true Church must be governed by that spiritual polity which our Lord has taught us in His Word; namely, that there must be ministers or pastors to preach the Word of God and to administer the sacraments; also elders and deacons, who, together with the pastors, form the council of the Church; that by these means the true religion may be preserved, and the true doctrine everywhere propagated, likewise transgressors punished and restrained by spiritual means; also that the poor and distressed may be relieved and comforted, according to their necessities. By these means everything will be carried on in the Church with good order and decency, when faithful men are chosen, according to the rule prescribed by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy.
Matthew 18:17; Luke 10:16; John 20:23; Acts 6:3; Acts 14:23; Acts 26:17,18; 1 Corinthians 4:1,2; 1 Corinthians 5:4,5; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Timothy 3:1; Titus 1:5.
Article 31 – The Ministers, Elders, and Deacons
We believe that the ministers of God’s Word, the elders, and the deacons ought to be chosen to their respective offices by a lawful election by the Church, with calling upon the name of the Lord, and in that order which the Word of God teaches. Therefore every one must take heed not to intrude himself by improper means, but is bound to wait till it shall please God to call him; that he may have testimony of his calling, and be certain and assured that it is of the Lord.
As for the ministers of God’s Word, they have equally the same power and authority wheresoever they are, as they are all ministers of Christ, the only universal Bishop and the only Head of the Church.
Moreover, in order that this holy ordinance of God may not be violated or slighted, we say that every one ought to esteem the ministers of God’s Word and the elders of the Church very highly for their work’s sake, and be at peace with them without murmuring, strife, or contention, as much as possible.
Isaiah 61:1; Jeremiah 23:21; Acts 1:23; Acts 6:3; Acts 13:2; Acts 26:16,17; 1 Corinthians 3:9; 1 Corinthians 4:1; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:12,13; 1 Timothy 5:17,22; Hebrews 5:4; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 2:25; 1 Peter 5:4.
Article 32 – The Order and Discipline of the Church
In the meantime we believe, though it is useful and beneficial that those who are rulers of the Church institute and establish certain ordinances among themselves for maintaining the body of the Church, yet that they ought studiously to take care that they do not depart from those things which Christ, our only Master, has instituted. And therefore we reject all human inventions, and all laws which man would introduce into the worship of God, thereby to bind and compel the conscience in any manner whatever. Therefore we admit only of that which tends to nourish and preserve concord and unity, and to keep all men in obedience to God. For this purpose, excommunication or church discipline is requisite, with all that pertains to it, according to the Word of God.
Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:9; Matthew 18:17; Romans 16:17,18; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Corinthians 7:23; Galatians 5:1; Colossians 2:6,7; 1 Timothy 1:20.
Article 33 – The Sacraments
Article 33 – The Sacraments
We believe that our gracious God, taking account of our weakness and infirmities, has ordained the sacraments for us, thereby to seal unto us His promises, and to be pledges of the good will and grace of God towards us, and also to nourish and strengthen our faith; which He has joined to the Word of the gospel, the better to present to our senses both that which He declares to us by His Word and that which He works inwardly in our hearts, thereby confirming in us the salvation which He imparts to us. For they are visible signs and seals of an inward and invisible thing, by means whereof God works in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the signs are not empty or meaningless, so as to deceive us. For Jesus Christ is the true object presented by them, without whom they would be of no moment.
Moreover, we are satisfied with the number of sacraments which Christ our Lord has instituted, which are two only, namely, the sacrament of baptism and the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Genesis 9:13; Genesis 17:11; Matthew 26:36; Matthew 28:19; Romans 4:11; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Colossians 2:11,17.
Article 34 – The Sacrament of Baptism
We believe and confess that Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law, has made an end, by the shedding of His blood, of all other sheddings of blood which men could or would make as a propitiation or satisfaction for sin; and that He, having abolished circumcision, which was done with blood, has instituted the sacrament of baptism instead thereof; by which we are received into the Church of God, and separated from all other people and strange religions, that we may wholly belong to Him whose mark and ensign we bear; and which serves as a testimony to us that He will forever be our gracious God and Father.
Therefore He has commanded all those who are His to be baptised with pure water, into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, thereby signifying to us, that as water washes away the filth of the body when poured upon it, and is seen on the body of the baptised when sprinkled upon him, so does the blood of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit internally sprinkle the soul, cleanse it from its sins, and regenerate us from children of wrath unto children of God. Not that this is effected by the external water, but by the sprinkling of the precious blood of the Son of God; who is our Red Sea, through which we must pass to escape the tyranny of Pharaoh, that is, the devil, and to enter into the spiritual land of Canaan.
The ministers, therefore, on their part administer the sacrament and that which is visible, but our Lord gives that which is signified by the sacrament, namely, the gifts and invisible grace; washing, cleansing, and purging our souls of all filth and unrighteousness; renewing our hearts and filling them with all comfort; giving unto us a true assurance of His fatherly goodness; putting on us the new man, and putting off the old man with all his deeds.
We believe, therefore, that every man who is earnestly studious of obtaining life eternal ought to be baptised but once with this only baptism, without ever repeating the same, since we cannot be born twice. Neither does this baptism avail us only at the time when the water is poured upon us and received by us, but also through the whole course of our life.
Therefore we detest the error of the Anabaptists, who are not content with the one only baptism they have once received, and moreover condemn the baptism of the infants of believers, who we believe ought to be baptised and sealed with the sign of the covenant, as the children in Israel formerly were circumcised upon the same promises which are made unto our children. And indeed Christ shed His blood no less for the washing of the children of believers than for adult persons; and therefore they ought to receive the sign and sacrament of that which Christ has done for them; as the Lord commanded in the law that they should be made partakers of the sacrament of Christ’s suffering and death shortly after they were born, by offering for them a lamb, which was a sacrament of Jesus Christ. Moreover, what circumcision was to the Jews, baptism is to our children. And for this reason St. Paul calls baptism the circumcision of Christ.
Genesis 17:11,12; Leviticus 12:6; Matthew 3:11; Matthew 19:14; Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; John 1:29; John 19:34; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:16; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3; Romans 10:4; 1 Corinthians 3:5,7; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 7:14; 1 Corinthians 10:2; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 4:5,22-24; Ephesians 5:26; Colossians 2:11,12; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 6:2; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 3:21; 1 John 1:7; Revelation 1:6.
Article 35 – The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
We believe and confess that our Saviour Jesus Christ did ordain and institute the sacrament of the holy supper to nourish and support those whom He has already regenerated and incorporated into His family, which is His Church.
Now those who are regenerated have in them a twofold life, the one corporal and temporal, which they have from the first birth and is common to all men; the other spiritual and heavenly, which is given them in their second birth, which is effected by the Word of the gospel, in the communion of the body of Christ; and this life is not common, but is peculiar to God’s elect. In like manner God has given us, for the support of the bodily and earthly life, earthly and common bread, which is subservient thereto and is common to all men, even as life itself. But for the support of the spiritual and heavenly life which believers have He has sent a living bread, which descended from heaven, namely, Jesus Christ, who nourishes and strengthens the spiritual life of believers when they eat Him, that is to say, when they appropriate and receive Him by faith in the spirit.
In order that He might represent unto us this spiritual and heavenly bread, Christ has instituted an earthly and visible bread as a sacrament of His body, and wine as a sacrament of His blood, to testify by them unto us that, as certainly as we receive and hold this sacrament in our hands and eat and drink the same with our mouths, by which our life is afterwards nourished, we also do as certainly receive by faith (which is the hand and mouth of our soul) the true body and blood of Christ our only Saviour in our souls, for the support of our spiritual life.
Now, as it is certain and beyond all doubt that Jesus Christ has not enjoined to us the use of His sacraments in vain, so He works in us all that He represents to us by these holy signs, though the manner surpasses our understanding and cannot be comprehended by us, as the operations of the Holy Spirit are hidden and incomprehensible. In the meantime we err not when we say that what is eaten and drunk by us is the proper and natural body and proper blood of Christ. But the manner of our partaking of the same is not by the mouth, but by the spirit through faith. Thus, then, though Christ always sits at the right hand of His Father in the heavens, yet does He not therefore cease to make us partakers of Himself by faith. This feast is a spiritual table, at which Christ communicates Himself with all His benefits to us, and gives us there to enjoy both Himself and the merits of His sufferings and death: nourishing, strengthening, and comforting our poor comfortless souls by the eating of His flesh, quickening and refreshing them by the drinking of His blood.
Further, though the sacraments are connected with the thing signified nevertheless both are not received by all men. The ungodly indeed receives the sacrament to his condemnation, but he does not receive the truth of the sacrament, even as Judas and Simon the sorcerer both indeed received the sacrament but not Christ who was signified by it, of whom believers only are made partakers.
Lastly, we receive this holy sacrament in the assembly of the people of God, with humility and reverence, keeping up among us a holy remembrance of the death of Christ our Saviour, with thanksgiving, making there confession of our faith and of the Christian religion. Therefore no one ought to come to this table without having previously rightly examined himself, lest by eating of this bread and drinking of this cup he eat and drink judgement to himself. In a word, we are moved by the use of this holy sacrament to a fervent love towards God and our neighbour.
Therefore we reject all mixtures and damnable inventions which men have added unto and blended with the sacraments, as profanations of them; and affirm that we ought to rest satisfied with the ordinance which Christ and His apostles have taught us, and that we must speak of them in the same manner as they have spoken.
Isaiah 55:2; Matthew 26:11,26; Mark 6:26; Mark 14:22; Mark 16:19; Luke 22:19,20; John 3:5,6; John 5:23,25; John 6:32,33,35,51,55,56,63; John 10:28; Acts 2:42; Acts 3:21; Acts 20:7; Romans 8:22,23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 10:2-4,16,17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25,27-29; 2 Corinthians 6:14,15; Ephesians 3:17; 1 John 5:12.