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The Canons of Dordt |
First Head of Doctrine. Of Divine Predestination |
Article 1. |
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As all men have sinned in Adam, lie under the curse, and are deserving of eternal death, God would have done no injustice by leaving them all to perish, and delivering them over to condemnation on account of sin, according to the words of the apostle, Romans 3:19,"that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." And verse 23:"for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." And Romans 6:23:"for the wages of sin is death."
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Article 2. |
| But in this the love of God was manifested, that he sent his only begotten Son into the world, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I John 4:9.John 3:16.
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Article 3. |
| And that men may be brought to believe, God mercifully sends the messengers of these most joyful tidings, to whom he will and at what time he pleaseth; by whose ministry men are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. Romans 10:14, 15:"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?"
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Article 4. |
| The wrath of God abideth upon those who believe not this gospel. But such as receive it, and embrace Jesus the Savior by a true and living faith, are by him delivered from the wrath of God, and from destruction, and have the gift of eternal life conferred upon them.
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Article 5. |
| The cause or guilt of this unbelief as well as of all other sins, is no wise in God, but in man himself; whereas faith in Jesus Christ, and salvation through him is the free gift of God, as it is written: "By grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God," Ephesians 2:8."And unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him," etc. Philippians 1:29.
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Article 6. |
| That some receive the gift of faith from God, and others do not receive it proceeds from God's eternal decree, "For known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world," Acts 15:18."Who worketh all things after the counsel of his will," Ephesians 1:11.According to which decree, he graciously softens the hearts of the elect, however obstinate, and inclines them to believe, while he leaves the non-elect in his just judgment to their own wickedness and obduracy. And herein is especially displayed the profound, and merciful, and at the same time the righteous discrimination between men, equally involved in ruin; or that decree of election and reprobation, revealed in the Word of God, which though men of perverse, impure and unstable minds wrest to their own destruction, yet to holy and pious souls affords unspeakable consolation.
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Article 7. |
| Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation of the world, he hath out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of his own will, chosen, from the whole human race, which had fallen through their own fault, from their primitive state of rectitude, into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ, whom he from eternity appointed the Mediator and Head of the elect, and the foundation of Salvation.
This elect number, though by nature neither better nor more deserving than the others, but with them involved in one common misery, God hath decreed to give to Christ, to be saved by him, and effectually to call and draw them to his communion by his Word and Spirit, to bestow upon them true faith, justification and sanctification; and having powerfully preserved them in the fellowship of his Son, finally, to glorify them for the demonstration of his mercy, and for the praise of his glorious grace; as it is written: "According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved," Ephesians 1:4,5,6.And elsewhere: "Whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified," Romans 8:30. |
Article 8. |
| There are not various decrees of election, but one and the same decree respecting all those, who shall be saved, both under the Old and New Testament: since the scripture declares the good pleasure, purpose and counsel of the divine will to be one, according to which he hath chosen us from eternity, both to grace and glory, to salvation and the way of salvation, which he hath ordained that we should walk therein.
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Article 9. |
| This election was not founded upon foreseen faith, and the obedience of faith, holiness, or any other good quality of disposition in man, as the pre-requisite, cause or condition on which it depended; but men are chosen to faith and to the obedience of faith, holiness, etc., therefore election is the fountain of every saving good; from which proceed faith, holiness, and the other gifts of salvation, and finally eternal life itself, as its fruits and effects, according to that of the apostle: "He hath chosen us (not because we were) but that we should be holy, and without blame, before him in love," Ephesians 1:4.
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Article 10. |
| The good pleasure of God is the sole cause of this gracious election; which doth not consist herein, that out of all possible qualities and actions of men God has chosen some as a condition of salvation; but that he was pleased out of the common mass of sinners to adopt some certain persons as a peculiar people to himself, as it is written, "For the children being not yet born neither having done any good or evil," etc., it was said (namely to Rebecca): "the elder shall serve the younger; as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated," Romans 9:11,12,13."And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed," Acts 13:48.
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Article 11. |
| And as God himself is most wise, unchangeable, omniscient and omnipotent, so the election made by him can neither be interrupted nor changed, recalled or annulled; neither can the elect be cast away, nor their number diminished. |
Article 12. |
| The elect in due time, though in various degrees and in different measures, attain the assurance of this their eternal and unchangeable election, not by inquisitively prying into the secret and deep things of God, but by observing in themselves with a spiritual joy and holy pleasure, the infallible fruits of election pointed out in the Word of God -- such as a true faith in Christ, filial fear, a godly sorrow for sin, a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, etc.
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Article 13. |
| The sense and certainty of this election afford to the children of God additional matter for daily humiliation before him, for adoring the depth of his mercies, for cleansing themselves, and rendering grateful returns of ardent love to him, who first manifested so great love towards them. The consideration of this doctrine of election is so far from encouraging remissness in the observance of the divine commands, or from sinking men in carnal security, that these, in the just judgment of God, are the usual effects of rash presumption, or of idle and wanton trifling with the grace of election, in those who refuse to walk in the ways of the elect.
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Article 14. |
| As the doctrine of divine election by the most wise counsel of God, was declared by the prophets, by Christ himself, and by the apostles, and is clearly revealed in the Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, so it is still to be published in due time and place in the Church of God, for which it was peculiarly designed, provided it be done with reverence, in the spirit of discretion and piety, for the glory of God's most holy name, and for enlivening and comforting his people, without vainly attempting to investigate the secret ways of the Most High. Acts 20:27;Romans 11:33,34;12:3;Hebrews 6:17,18.
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Article 15. |
| What peculiarly tends to illustrate and recommend to us the eternal and unmerited grace of election, is the express testimony of sacred Scripture, that not all, but some only are elected, while others are passed by in the eternal election of God; whom God, out of his sovereign, most just, irreprehensible and unchangeable good pleasure, hath decreed to leave in the common misery into which they have willfully plunged themselves, and not to bestow upon them saving faith and the grace of conversion; but leaving them in his just judgment to follow their own ways, at last for the declaration of his justice, to condemn and punish them forever, not only on account of their unbelief, but also for all their other sins. And this is the decree of reprobation which by no means makes God the author of sin (the very thought of which is blasphemy), but declares him to be an awful, irreprehensible, and righteous judge and avenger thereof.
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Article 16. |
| Those who do not yet experience a lively faith in Christ, an assured confidence of soul, peace of conscience, an earnest endeavor after filial obedience, and glorying in God through Christ, efficaciously wrought in them, and do nevertheless persist in the use of the means which God hath appointed for working these graces in us, ought not to be alarmed at the mention of reprobation, nor to rank themselves among the reprobate, but diligently to persevere in the use of means, and with ardent desires, devoutly and humbly to wait for a season of richer grace. Much less cause have they to be terrified by the doctrine of reprobation, who, though they seriously desire to be turned to God, to please him only, and to be delivered from the body of death, cannot yet reach that measure of holiness and faith to which they aspire; since a merciful God has promised that he will not quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed. But this doctrine is justly terrible to those, who, regardless of God and of the Savior Jesus Christ, have wholly given themselves up to the cares of the world, and the pleasures of the flesh, so long as they are not seriously converted to God.
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Article 17. |
| Since we are to judge of the will of God from his Word, which testifies that the children of believers are holy, not by nature, but in virtue of the covenant of grace, in which they, together with the parents, are comprehended, godly parents have no reason to doubt of the election and salvation of their children, whom it pleaseth God to call out of this life in their infancy.
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Article 18. |
| To those who murmur at the free grace of election, and just severity of reprobation, we answer with the apostle: "Nay, but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" Romans 9:20,and quote the language of our Savior: "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own?" Matthew 20:15.And therefore with holy adoration of these mysteries, we exclaim in the words of the apostle: "O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counselor? or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him are all things: to whom be glory for ever. - Amen."(Rom. 11:33-36)
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Rejection of the ErrorsThe true doctrine concerning Election and Reprobation having been explained, the Synod rejects the errors of those: |
PARAGRAPH 1. |
| Who teach: That the will of
God to save those who would believe and would persevere in faith
and in the obedience of faith is the whole and entire decree of
election, and that nothing else concerning this decree has been
revealed in God's Word.
For these deceive the simple and plainly contradict the Scriptures, which declare that God will not only save those who will believe, but that He has also from eternity chosen certain particular persons to whom, above others, He will grant in time, both faith in Christ and perseverance; as it is written "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. (John 17:6). "and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)". And "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Eph 1:4)." |
PARAGRAPH 2. |
| Who teach: That there are
various kinds of election of God unto eternal life: the one
general and indefinite, the other particular and definite; and
that the latter in turn is either incomplete, revocable,
non-decisive, and conditional, or complete, irrevocable,
decisive, and absolute. Likewise: That there is one election
unto faith and another unto salvation, so that election can be
unto justifying faith, without being a decisive election unto
salvation.
For this is a fancy of men's minds, invented regardless of the Scriptures, whereby the doctrine of election is corrupted, and this golden chain of our salvation is broken: "And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Rom 8:30)." |
PARAGRAPH 3. |
| Who teach: That the good
pleasure and purpose of God, of which Scripture makes mention in
the doctrine of election, does not consist in this, that God
chose certain persons rather than others, but in this, that He
chose out of all possible conditions (among which are also the
works of the law), or out of the whole order of things, that act
of faith which from its very nature is undeserving, as well as
it incomplete obedience, as a condition of salvation, and that
He would graciously consider this in itself as a complete
obedience and count it worthy of the reward of eternal life.
For by this injurious error the pleasure of God and the merits of Christ are made of none effect, and men are drawn away by useless questions from the truth of gracious justification and from the simplicity of Scripture, and this declaration of the apostle is charged as untrue: "who has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time (2 Tim 1:9)." |
PARAGRAPH 4. |
| Who teach: That in the
election unto faith this condition is beforehand demanded that
man should use the light of nature aright, be pious, humble,
meek, and fit for eternal life, as if on these things election
were in any way dependent.
For this savors of the teaching of Pelagius, and is opposed to the doctrine of the apostle when he writes: "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast (Eph 2:3-9)." |
PARAGRAPH 5. |
| Who teach: That the
incomplete and non-decisive election of particular persons to
salvation occurred because of a foreseen faith, conversion,
holiness, godliness, which either began or continued for some
time; but that the complete and decisive election occurred
because of foreseen perseverance unto the end in faith,
conversion, holiness, and godliness; and that this is the
gracious and evangelical worthiness, for the sake of which he
who is chosen is more worthy than he who is not chosen; and that
therefore faith, the obedience of faith, holiness, godliness,
and perseverance are not fruits of the unchangeable election
unto glory, but are conditions which, being required beforehand,
were foreseen as being met by those who will be fully elected,
and are causes without which the unchangeable election to glory
does not occur.
This is repugnant to the entire Scripture, which constantly inculcates this and similar declarations: Election is "not by works but by him who calls (Rom 9:12)." "And all who were appointed for eternal life believed (Acts 13:48)." "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight (Eph 1:4)." "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name (John 15:16)." "And if by grace, then it is no longer by works (Rom 11:6)." "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son (1 John 4:10)." |
PARAGRAPH 6. |
| Who teach: That not every
election unto salvation is unchangeable, but that some of the
elect, any decree of God notwithstanding, can yet perish and do
indeed perish.
By this gross error they make God be changeable, and destroy the comfort which the godly obtain out of the firmness of their election, and contradict the Holy Scripture, which teaches that the elect can not be led astray (Matt 24:24), that Christ does not lose those whom the Father gave him (John 6:39), and that God also glorified those whom he foreordained, called, and justified (Rom 8:30). |
PARAGRAPH 7. |
| Who teach: That there is in
this life no fruit and no consciousness of the unchangeable
elect to glory, nor any certainty, except that which depends on
a changeable and uncertain condition.
For not only is it absurd to speak of an uncertain certainty, but also contrary to the experience of the saints, who by virtue of the consciousness of their election rejoice with the apostle and praise this favor of God (Eph 1); who according to Christ's admonition rejoice with his disciples that their names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20); who also place the consciousness of their election over against the fiery darts of the devil, asking: "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? (Rom 8:33)." |
PARAGRAPH 8. |
| Who teach: That God, simply
by virtue of His righteous will, did not decide either to leave
anyone in the fall of Adam and in the common state sin and
condemnation, or to pass anyone by in the communication of grace
which is necessary for faith and conversion.
For this is firmly decreed: "God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden (Rom 9:18)." And also this: "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them (Mat 13:11)." Likewise: "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes , Father, for this was your good pleasure (Mat 11:25-26)." |
PARAGRAPH 9. |
| Who teach: That the reason
why God sends the gospel to one people rather than to another is
not merely and solely the good pleasure of God, but rather the
fact that one people is better and worthier than another to
which the gospel is not communicated.
For this Moses denies , addressing the people of Israel as follows: "To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today (Deu 10:14-15)." And Christ said: "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes (Mat 11:21)." |
SECOND HEAD OF DOCTRINE. THE DEATH OF CHRIST, AND THE REDEMPTION OF MEN THEREBY |
ARTICLE 1. |
| God is not only supremely
merciful, but also supremely just. And His justice requires (as
He has revealed Himself in His Word) that our sins committed
against His infinite majesty should be punished, not only with
temporal but with eternal punishments, both in body and soul;
which we cannot escape, unless satisfaction be made to the
justice of God.
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ARTICLE 2. |
| Since, therefore, we are
unable to make that satisfaction in our own persons, or to
deliver ourselves from the wrath of God, He has been pleased of
His infinite mercy to give His only begotten Son for our Surety,
who was made sin, and became a curse for us and in our stead,
that He might make satisfaction to divine justice on our behalf.
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ARTICLE 3. |
| The death of the Son of God is
the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin,
and is of infinite worth and value, abundantly sufficient to
expiate the sins of the whole world.
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ARTICLE 4. |
| This death is of such infinite
value and dignity because the person who submitted to it was not
only really man and perfectly holy, but also the
only-begotten Son of God, of the same eternal and infinite
essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, which
qualifications were necessary to constitute Him a Savior for us;
and, moreover, because it was attended with a sense of the wrath
and curse of God due to us for sin.
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ARTICLE 5. |
| Moreover, the promise of the
gospel is that whosoever believes in Christ crucified shall not
perish, but have eternal life. This promise, together with the
command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and
published to all nations, and to all persons promiscuously and
without distinction, to whom God out of His good pleasure sends
the gospel.
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ARTICLE 6. |
| And, whereas many who are
called by the gospel do not repent nor believe in Christ, but
perish in unbelief, this is not owing to any defect or
insufficiency in the sacrifice offered by Christ upon the cross,
but is wholly to be imputed to themselves.
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ARTICLE 7. |
| But as many as truly believe,
and are delivered and saved from sin and destruction through the
death of Christ, are indebted for this benefit solely to the
grace of God given them in Christ from everlasting, and not to
any merit of their own.
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ARTICLE 8. |
| For this was the sovereign
counsel and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father
that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious
death of His Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing
upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring
them infallibly to salvation; that is, it was the will of God
that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby He confirmed the
new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people,
tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were
from eternity chosen to salvation and given to Him by the
Father; that He should confer upon them faith, which, together
with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, He purchased
for them by His death; should purge them from all sin, both
original and actual, whether committed before or after
believing; and having faithfully preserved them even to the end,
should at last bring them, free from every spot and blemish, to
the enjoyment of glory in His own presence forever.
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ARTICLE 9. |
| This purpose, proceeding from
everlasting love towards the elect, has from the beginning of
the world to this day been powerfully accomplished, and will
henceforeward still continue to be accomplished, notwithstanding
all the ineffectual opposition of the gates of hell; so that the
elect in due time may be gathered together into one, and that
there never may be wanting a Church composed of believers, the
foundation of which is laid in the blood of christ; which may
stedfastly love and faithfully serve Him as its Savior (who, as
a bridegroom for his bride, laid down His life for them upon the
cross); and which may celebrate His praises here and through
all eternity.
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Rejection of the ErrorsThe true doctrine having been explained, the Synod rejects the errors of those: |
PARAGRAPH 1. |
| Who teach: That God the
Father has ordained His Son to the death of the cross without a
certain and definite decree to save any, so that the necessity,
profitableness, and worth of what christ merited by His death
might have existed, and might remain in all its parts complete,
perfect, and intact, even if the merited redemption had never in
fact been applied to any person.
For this doctrine tends to the despising of the wisdom of the Father and of the merits of Jesus Christ, and is contrary to Scripture. For thus says our Savior: "I lay down my life for the sheep ... and I know them. (John 10:15, 27)." And the prophet Isaiah says concerning the Savior: "Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand (Isa 53:10)." Finally, this contradicts the article of faith according to which we believe the catholic Christian Church. |
PARAGRAPH 2. |
| Who teach: That it was not
the purpose of the death of Christ that He should confirm the
new covenant of grace through His blood, but only that He should
acquire for the Father the mere right to establish with man such
a covenant as He might please, whether of grace or of works.
For this is repugnant to Scripture which teaches that "Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant that is a new covenant ..." and that "it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. (Heb 7:22; 9:15, 17)." |
PARAGRAPH 3. |
| Who teach: That Christ by
His satisfaction merited neither salvation itself for any one,
nor faith, whereby this satisfaction of Christ unto salvation is
effectually appropriated; but that He merited for the Father
only the authority or the perfect will to deal again with man,
and to prescribe new conditions as He might desire, obedience to
which, however, depended on the free will of man, so that it
therefore might have come to pass that either none or all should
fulfill these conditions.
For these adjudge too contemptuously of the death of Christ, in no wise acknowledge that most important fruit or benefit thereby gained and bring again out of the hell the Pelagian error. |
PARAGRAPH 4. |
| Who teach: That the new
covenant of grace, which God the Father, through the mediation
of the death of Christ, made with man, does not herein consist
that we by faith, in as much as it accepts the merits of Christ,
are justified before God and saved, but in the fact that God,
having revoked the demand of perfect obedience of faith, regards
faith itself and the obedience of faith, although imperfect, as
the perfect obedience of the law, and does esteem it worthy of
the reward of eternal life through grace.
For these contradict the Scriptures, being: "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood (Rom 3:24-25)." And these proclaim, as did the wicked Socinus, a new and strange justification of man before God, against the consensus of the whole Church. |
PARAGRAPH 5. |
| Who teach: That all men have
been accepted unto the state of reconciliation and unto the
grace of the covenant, so that no one is worthy of condemnation
on account of original sin, and that no one shall be condemned
because of it, but that all are free from the guilt of original
sin.
For this opinion is repugnant to Scripture which teaches that we are by nature children of wrath (Eph 2:3). |
PARAGRAPH 6. |
| Who use the difference
between meriting and appropriating, to the end that they may
instil into the minds of the imprudent and inexperienced this
teaching that God, as far as He is concerned, has been minded to
apply to all equally the benefits gained by the death of Christ;
but that, while some obtain the pardon of sin and eternal life,
and others do not, this difference depends on their own free
will, which joins itself to the grace that is offered without
exception, and that it is not dependent on the special gift of
mercy, which powerfully works in them, that they rather than
others should appropriate unto themselves this grace.
For these, while they feign that they present this distinction in a sound sense, seek to instil into the people the destructive poison of the Pelagian errors. |
PARAGRAPH 7. |
| Who teach: That Christ
neither could die, nor needed to die, and also did not die, for
those whom God loved in the highest degree and elected to
eternal life, since these do not need the death of Christ.
For the contradict the apostle, who declares, Christ: "loved me and gave himself for me (Gal 2:20)." Likewise: "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died (Rom 8:33-34)", namely, for them; and the Savior who says: "I lay down my life for the sheep (John 10:15)." And: "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:12-13)." |
THIRD AND FOURTH HEADS OF DOCTRINE. THE CORRUPTION OF MAN, HIS CONVERSION TO GOD, AND THE MANNER THEREOF |
ARTICLE 1. |
| Man was originally
formed after the image of God. His understanding was adorned
with a true and saving knowledge of his Creator, and of
spiritual things; his heart and will were upright, all his
affections pure, and the whole man was holy. But, revolting from
God by the instigation of the devil and by his own free will, he
forfeited these excellent gifts; and an in the place thereof
became involved in blindness of mind, horrible darkness, vanity,
and perverseness of judgment; became wicked, rebellious, and
obdurate in heart and will, and impure in his affections.
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ARTICLE 2. |
| Man after the fall
begat children in his own likeness. A corrupt stock produced a
corrupt offspring. Hence all the posterity of Adam, Christ only
excepted, have derived corruption from their original parent,
not by limitation, as the Pelagians of old asserted, but by the
propagation of a vicious nature, in consequence of the just
judgment of God.
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ARTICLE 3. |
| Therefore all men
are conceived in sin, and are by nature children of wrath,
incapable of saving good, prone to evil, dead in sin, and in
bondage thereto; and without the regenerating grace of the Holy
Spirit, they are neither able nor willing to return to God, to
reform the depravity of their nature, or to dispose themselves
to reformation
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ARTICLE 4. |
| There remain,
however, in man since the fall, the glimmerings of natural
light, whereby he retains some knowledge of God, or natural
things, and of the difference between good and evil, and shows
some regard for virtue and for good outward behavior. But so far
is this light of nature from begin sufficient to bring him to a
saving knowledge of God and to true conversion that he is
incapable of using it aright even in things natural and civil.
Nay further, this light, such as it is , man in various ways
renders wholly polluted, and hinders in unrighteousness, by
doing which he becomes inexcusable before God.
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ARTICLE 5. |
| In the same light
are we to consider the law of the decalogue, delivered by God to
His peculiar people, the Jews, by the hands of Moses. For though
it reveals the greatness of sin, and more and more convinces man
thereof, yet, as it neither points out a remedy nor imparts
strength to extricate him from his misery, but, being weak
through the flesh, leaves the transgressor under the curse, man
cannot by this law obtain saving grace.
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ARTICLE 6. |
| What, therefore,
neither the light of nature nor the law could do, that God
performs by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the word or
ministry of reconciliation; which is the glad tidings concerning
the Messiah, by means whereof it has pleased God to save such as
believe, as well under the Old as under the New Testament.
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ARTICLE 7. |
| This mystery of His
will God reveals to but a small number under the Old Testament;
under the New Testament (the distinction between various peoples
having been removed) He reveals it to many. The cause of this
dispensation is not to be ascribed to the superior worth of one
nation above another, nor to their better use of the light of
nature, but results wholly from the sovereign good pleasure and
unmerited love of God. Hence they to whom so great and so
gracious a blessing is communicated, above their desert, or
rather notwithstanding their demerits, are bound to acknowledge
it with humble and grateful hearts, and with the apostle to
adore, but in no wise curiously to pry into, the severity and
justice of God's judgments displayed in others to whom this
grace is not given.
|
ARTICLE 8. |
| As many as are
called by the gospel are unfeignedly called. For God has most
earnestly and truly declared in His Word what is acceptable to
Him, namely, that those who are called should come unto Him. He
also seriously promises rest of soul and eternal life to all who
come to Him and believe.
|
ARTICLE 9. |
| It is not the fault
of the gospel, nor of Christ offered therein, nor of God, who
calls men by the gospel and confers upon them various gifts,
that those who are called by the ministry of the Word refuse to
come and be converted. The fault lies in themselves; some of
whom when called, regardless of their danger, reject the Word of
life; other, though they receive it, suffer it not to make a
lasting impression on their heart; therefore, their joy, arising
only from a temporary faith, soon vanishes, and they fall away;
while others choke the seed of the Word by perplexing cares and
the pleasures of this world, and produce no fruit. This our
Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt 13).
|
ARTICLE 10. |
| But that others who
are called by the gospel obey the call and are converted is not
to be ascribed to the proper exercise of free will, whereby one
distinguishes himself above others equally furnished with grace
sufficient for faith and conversion (as the proud heresy of
Pelagius maintains); but it must be wholly ascribed to God, who,
as He has chosen His own from eternity in Christ, so He calls
them effectually in time, confers upon them faith and
repentance, rescues them from the power of darkness, and
translates them into the kingdom of His own Son; that they may
show forth the praises of Him who has called them out of
darkness into His marvelous light, and may glory not in
themselves but in the Lord, according to the testimony of the
apostles in various places.
|
ARTICLE 11. |
| But when God
accomplishes His good pleasure in the elect, or works in them
true conversion, He not only causes the gospel to be externally
preached to them, and powerfully illuminates their minds by His
Holy Spirit, that they may rightly under and discern the things
of the Spirit of God; but by the efficacy of the same
regenerating Spirit He pervades the inmost recesses of man; He
opens the closed and softens the hardened heart, and circumcises
that which was uncircumcised; infuses new qualities into the
will, which, though heretofore dead, He quickens; from being
evil, disobedient, and refractory, He renders it good, obedient,
and pliable; actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree,
it may bring forth the fruits of good actions.
|
ARTICLE 12. |
| And this is that
regeneration so highly extolled in Scripture, that renewal, new
creation, resurrection from the dead, making alive, which God
works in us without out aid. But this is in no wise effected
merely by the external preaching of the gospel, by moral
suasion, or such a mode of operation that, after God has
performed His part, it still remains in the power of man to be
regenerated or not, to be converted or to continue unconverted;
but it is evidently a supernatural work, most powerful, and at
the same time most delightful, astonishing, mysterious, and
ineffable; not inferior in efficacy to creation or the
resurrection from the dead, as the Scripture inspired by the
Author of this work declares; so that all in whose heart God
works in this marvelous manner are certainly, infallibly, and
effectually regenerated, and do actually believe. Whereupon the
will thus renewed is not only actuated and influenced by God,
but in consequence of this influence becomes itself active.
Wherefore also man himself is rightly said to believe and repent
by virtue of that grace received.
|
ARTICLE 13. |
| The manner of this
operation cannot be fully comprehended by believers in this
life. Nevertheless, they are satisfied to know and experience
that by this grace of God they are enabled to believe with the
heart and to love their Savior.
|
ARTICLE 14. |
| Faith is therefore
to be considered as the gift of God, not on account of its being
offered by God to man, to be accepted or rejected at his
pleasure, but because it is in reality conferred upon him,
breathed and infused into him; nor even because God bestows the
power or ability to believe, and then expects that man should by
the exercise of his own free will consent to the terms of
salvation and actually believe in Christ, but because He who
works in man both to will and to work, and indeed all things in
all, produces both the will to believe and the act of believing
also.
|
ARTICLE 15. |
| God is under no
obligation to confer this grace upon any; for how can He be
indebted to one who had no previous gifts to bestow as a
foundation for such recompense? Nay, how can He be indebted to
one who has nothing of his own but sin and falsehood? He,
therefore, who becomes the subject of this grace owes eternal
gratitude to God, and gives Him thanks forever. Whoever is not
made partaker thereof is either altogether regardless of these
spiritual gifts and satisfied with his own condition, or is in
no apprehension of danger, and vainly boasts the possession of
that which he has not. Further, with respect to those who
outwardly profess their faith and amend their lives, we are
bound, after the example of the apostle, to judge and speak of
them in the most favorable manner; for the secret recesses of
the heart are unknown to us. And as to others who have not yet
been called, it is our duty to pray for them to God, who calls
the things that are not as if they were. But we are in no wise
to conduct ourselves towards them with haughtiness, as if we had
made ourselves to differ.
|
ARTICLE 16. |
| But as man by the
fall did not cease to be a creature endowed with understanding
and will, nor did sin which pervaded the whole race of mankind
deprive him of the human nature, but brought upon him depravity
and spiritual death; so also this grace of regeneration does not
treat men as senseless stocks and blocks, nor take away their
will and it properties, or do violence thereto; but is
spiritually quickens, heals, corrects, and at the same time
sweetly and powerfully bends it, that where carnal rebellion and
resistance formerly prevailed, a ready and sincere spiritual
obedience begins to reign; in which the true and spiritual
restoration and freedom of our will consist. Wherefore, unless
the admirable Author of every good work so deal with us, man can
have no hope of being able to rise from his fall by his own free
will, by which, in a state of innocence, he plunged himself into
ruin.
|
ARTICLE 17. |
| As the almighty
operation of God whereby He brings forth and supports this our
natural life does not exclude but require the use of means by
which God, of His infinite mercy and goodness, has chosen to
exert His influence, so also the aforementioned supernatural
operation of God by which we are regenerated in no wise excludes
or subverts the use of the gospel, which the most wise God has
ordained to be the seed of regeneration and food of the soul.
Wherefore, as the apostles and the teachers who succeeded them
piously instructed the people concerning this grace of God, to
His glory and to the abasement of all pride, and in the
meantime, however, neglected not to keep them, by the holy
admonitions of the gospel, under the influence of the Word, the
sacraments, and ecclesiastical discipline; so even now it should
be far from those who give or receive instruction in the Church
to presume to tempt God by separating what He of His good
pleasure has most intimately joined together. For grace is
conferred by means of admonitions; and the more readily we
perform our duty, the more clearly this favor of God, working in
us, usually manifest itself, and the more directly His work is
advanced; to whom alone all the glory, both for the means and
for their saving fruit and efficacy, is forever due. Amen.
|
REJECTION OF ERRORS. The true doctrine having been explained, the Synod rejects the errors of those: |
PARAGRAPH 1. |
| Who teach: That it
cannot properly be said that original sin in itself suffices to
condemn the whole human race or to deserve temporal and eternal
punishment.
For these contradict the apostle, who declares: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned (Rom 5:12)." And: "The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation (Rom 5:16)." And "the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23)." |
PARAGRAPH 2. |
| Who teach: That
the spiritual gifts or the good qualities and virtues, such as
goodness, holiness, righteousness, could not belong to the will
of man when he was first created, and that these, therefore,
cannot have been separated therefrom in the fall.
For such is contrary to the description of the image of God which the apostle gives in Eph. 4:24, where he declares that it consists in righteousness and holiness, which undoubtedly belong to the will. |
PARAGRAPH 3. |
| Who teach: That in
spiritual death the spiritual gifts are not separate from the
will of man, since the will in itself has never been corrupted,
but only hindered through the darkness of the understanding and
the irregularity of the affection; and that, these hindrances
having been removed, the will can then bring into operation its
nature powers, that is, that the will of itself is able to will
and to choose, or not to will and not to choose, all manner of
good which may be presented to it.
This is an innovation and an error, and tends to elevate the powers of the free will, contrary to the declaration of the prophet: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure (Jer 17:9)"; and of the apostle: "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts (Eph 2:3)." |
PARAGRAPH 4. |
| Who teach: That
the unregenerate man is not really nor utterly dead in sin, nor
destitute of all powers unto spiritual good, but that he can yet
hunger and thirst after righteousness and life, and offer the
sacrifice of a contrite and broken spirit, which is pleasing to
God.
For these things are contrary to the express testimony of Scripture: "you were dead in your transgressions and sins (Eph 2:1, 5)." And: "every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. (Gen 6:5, 8:21)." Moreover, to hunger and thirst after deliverance from misery and after life, and to offer unto God the sacrifice of a broken spirit, is peculiar to the regenerate and those that are called blessed (Ps 51:17; Matt 5:6). |
PARAGRAPH 5. |
| Who teach: That
the corrupt and natural man can so well use the common grace (by
which they understand the light of nature), or the gifts still
left him after the fall, that he can gradually gain by their
good use a greater, that is, the evangelical or saving grace,
and salvation itself; and that in this way God on His part shows
Himself ready to reveal Christ unto all men, since He applies to
all sufficiently and efficiently the means necessary to
conversion.
For both the experience of all ages and the Scriptures testify that this is untrue. "He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws (Psa 147:19-20)." "In the past, he let all nations go their own way (Acts 14:16)." And: "Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to (Acts 16:6-7)." |
PARAGRAPH 6. |
| Who teach: That in
the true conversion of man no new qualities, powers, or gifts
can be infused by God into the will, and that therefore faith,
through which we are first converted and because of which we are
called believers, is not a quality or gift infused by God but
only an act of man, and that it cannot be said to be a gift,
except in respect of the power to attain to this faith.
For thereby they contradict the Holy Scriptures, which declare that God infuses new qualities of faith, of obedience, and of the consciousness of His love into our hearts: ""This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts (Jer 31:33)." And: "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants (Isa 44:3)." And: "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (Rom 5:5)." This is also repugnant to the constant practice of the Church, which prays by the mouth of the prophet thus: "Restore me, and I will return (Jer 31:18)." |
PARAGRAPH 7. |
| Who teach: That
the grace whereby we are converted to God is only a gentle
advising, or (as others explain it) that this is the noblest
manner of working in the conversion of man, and that this manner
of working, which consists in advising, is most in harmony with
man's nature; and that there is no reason why this advising
grace alone should not be sufficient to make the natural man
spiritual; indeed, that God does not produce the consent of the
will except through this manner of advising; and that the power
of the divine working, whereby it surpasses the working of
Satan, consists in this that God promises eternal, while Satan
promise only temporal good.
But this is altogether Pelagian and contrary to the whole Scripture, which, besides this, teaches yet another and far more powerful and divine manner of the Holy Spirit's working in the conversion of man, as in Ezekiel: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezek 36:26)." |
PARAGRAPH 8. |
| Who teach: That
God in the regeneration of man does not use such powers of His
omnipotence as potently and infallibly bend man's will to faith
and conversion; but that all the works of grace having been
accomplished, which God employs to convert man, man may yet so
resist god and the Holy Spirit, when God intends man's
regeneration and wills to regenerate him, and indeed that man
often does so resist that he prevents entirely his regeneration,
and that it therefore remains in man's power to be regenerated
or not.
For this is nothing less than the denial of all that efficiency of God's grace in our conversion, and the subjecting of the working of Almighty God to the will of man, which is contrary to the apostles, who teach that we believe accord to the working of the strength of his might (Eph 1:19); and that God fulfills every desire of goodness and every work of faith with power (2 Th 1:11); and that "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3)." |
PARAGRAPH 9. |
| Who teach: That
grace and free will are partial causes which together work the
beginning of conversion, and that grace, in order of working,
does not precede the working of the will; that is, that God does
not efficiently help the will of man unto conversion until the
will of man moves and determines to do this.
For the ancient Church has long ago condemned this doctrine of
the Pelagians according to the words of the apostle: "It does
not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's
mercy (Rom 9:16)." Likewise: "For who makes you different
from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And
if you did receive it (1 Cor 4:7)?" And: "for it is God
who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose (Phil 2:13)."
|
FIFTH HEAD OF DOCTRINE. THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS |
ARTICLE 1. |
| Those whom God, according to
His purpose, calls to the communion of His Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ, and regenerates by the Holy Spirit, He also delivers
from the dominion and slavery of sin, though in this life He
does not deliver them altogether form the body of sin and from
the infirmities of the flesh.
|
ARTICLE 2. |
| Hence spring forth the daily
sins of infirmity, and blemishes cleave even to the best works
of the saints. These are to them a perpetual reason to humiliate
themselves before God and to flee for refuge to Christ
crucified; to mortify the flesh more and more by the spirit of
prayer and by holy exercises of piety; and to press forward to
the goal of perfection, until at length, delivered from this
body of death, they shall reign with the Lamb of God in heaven.
|
ARTICLE 3. |
| By reason of these remains of
indwelling sin, and also because the temptations of the world
and of Satan, those who are converted could not persevere in
that grace if left to their own strength. But God is faithful,
who, having conferred grace, mercifully confirms and powerfully
preserves them therein, even to the end.
|
ARTICLE 4. |
| Although the weakness of the
flesh cannot prevail against the power of God, who confirms and
preserves true believers in a state of grace, yet converts are
not always so influenced and actuated by the Spirit of God as
not in some particular instances sinfully to deviate from the
guidance of divine grace, so as to be seduced by and to comply
with the lusts of the flesh; they must, therefore, be constant
in watching and prayer, that they may not be led into
temptation. When these are great and heinous sins by the flesh,
the world, and Satan, but sometimes by the righteous permission
of God actually are drawn into these evils. This, the lamentable
fall of David, Peter, and other saints described in Holy
Scripture, demonstrates.
|
ARTICLE 5. |
| By such enormous sins, however,
they very highly offend God, incur a deadly guilt, grieve the
Holy Spirit, interrupt the exercise of faith, very grievously
wound their consciences, and sometimes for a while lose the
sense of God's favor, until, when they change their course by
serious repentance, the light of God's fatherly countenance
again shines upon them.
|
ARTICLE 6. |
| But God, who is rich in mercy,
according to His unchangeable purpose of election, does not
wholly withdraw the Holy Spirit from His own people even in
their grievous falls; nor suffers them to proceed so far as to
lose the grace of adoption and forfeit the state of
justification, or to commit the sin unto death or against the
Holy Spirt; nor does He permit them to be totally deserted, and
to plunge themselves into everlasting destruction.
|
ARTICLE 7. |
| For in the first place, in
these falls He preserves in them the incorruptible seed of
regeneration from perishing or being totally lost; and again, by
His Word and Spirit He certainly and effectually renews them to
repentance, to a sincere and godly sorrow for their sins, that
they may seek and obtain remission in the blood of the Mediator,
may again experience the favor of a reconciled God, through
faith adore His mercies, and henceforward more diligently work
out their own salvation with fear and trembling.
|
ARTICLE 8. |
| Thus it is not in consequence
of their own merits or strength, but of God's free mercy, that
they neither totally fall from faith and grace nor continue and
perish finally in their backslidings; which, with respect to
themselves is not only possible, but would undoubtedly happen;
but with respect to God, it is utterly impossible, since His
counsel cannot be changed nor His promise fail; neither can the
call according to His purpose be revoked, nor the merit,
intercession, and preservation of Christ be rendered
ineffectual, nor the sealing of the Holy Spirit be frustrated or
obliterated.
|
ARTICLE 9. |
| Of this preservation of the
elect to salvation and of their perseverance in the faith, true
believers themselves may and do obtain assurance according to
the measure of their faith, whereby they surely believe that
they are and ever will continue true and living members of the
Church, and that they have the forgiveness of sins and life
eternal.
|
ARTICLE 10. |
| This assurance, however, is
not produced by any peculiar revelation contrary to or
independent of the Word of God, but springs from faith in God's
promises, which He has most abundantly revealed in His Word for
our comfort; from the testimony of the Holy Spirit, witnessing
with our spirit that we are children and heirs of God (Rom
8:16); and lastly, from a serious and holy desire to
preserve a good conscience and to perform good works. And if the
elect of God were deprived of this solid comfort that they shall
finally obtain the victory, and of this infallible pledge of
eternal glory, they would be of all men the most miserable.
|
ARTICLE 11. |
| The Scripture moreover
testifies that believers in this life have to struggle with
various carnal doubts, and that under grievous temptations they
do not always feel this full assurance of faith and certainty of
persevering. But God, who is the Father of all consolation, does
not suffer them to be tempted above that they are able, but will
with the temptation make also the way of escape, that they may
be able to endure it (1 Cor 10:13), and by the Holy
Spirit again inspires them with the comfortable assurance of
persevering.
|
ARTICLE 12. |
| This certainty of
perseverance, however, is so far from exciting in believers a
spirit of pride, or of rendering them carnally secure, that on
the contrary it is the real source of humility, filial
reverence, true piety, patience in every tribulation, fervent
prayers, constancy in suffering and in confessing the truth, and
of solid rejoicing in God; so that the consideration of this
benefit should serve as an incentive to the serious and constant
practice of gratitude and good works, as appears from the
testimonies of Scripture and the examples of the saints.
|
ARTICLE 13. |
| Neither does renewed
confidence of persevering produce licentiousness or a disregard
of piety in those who are recovered from backsliding; but it
renders them much more careful and solicitous to continue in the
ways of the Lord, which He has ordained, that they who walk
therein may keep the assurance of persevering; lest, on account
of their abuse of His fatherly kindness, God should turn away
His gracious countenance from them (to behold which is to the
godly dearer than life, and the withdrawal of which is more
bitter than death) and they in consequence thereof should fall
into more grievous torments of conscience.
|
ARTICLE 14. |
| And as it has pleased God, by
the preaching of the gospel, to begin this work of grace in us,
so He preserves, continues, and perfects it by the hearing and
reading of His Word, by meditation thereon, and by the
exhortations, threatenings, and promises thereof, and by the use
of the sacraments.
|
ARTICLE 15. |
| The carnal mind is unable to
comprehend this doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and
the certainty thereof, which God has most abundantly revealed in
His Word, for the glory of His Name and the consolation of pious
souls, and which He impresses upon the hearts of the believers.
Satan abhors it, the world ridicules it, the ignorant and
hypocritical abuse it, and the heretics oppose it. But the bride
of Christ has always most tenderly loved and constantly defended
it as an inestimable treasure; and God, against whom neither
counsel nor strength can prevail, will dispose her so to
continue to the end. Now to this one God, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, be honor and glory forever. Amen.
|
REJECTION OF ERRORS. The true doctrine having been explained, the Synod rejects the errors of those: |
PARAGRAPH 1. |
| Who teach: That the
perseverance of the true believers is not a fruit of election,
or a gift of God gained by the death of Christ, but a condition
of the new covenant which (as they declare) man before his
decisive election and justification must fulfil through his free
will.
For the Holy Scripture testifies that this follows out of election, and is given the elect in virtue of the death, the resurrection, and the intercession of Christ: "What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened (Rom 11:7)." Likewise: "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:32-35)?" |
PARAGRAPH 2. |
| Who teach: That God does
indeed provide the believer with sufficient powers to persevere,
and is ever ready to preserve these in him if he will do his
duty; but that, though all though which are necessary to
persevere in faith and which God will use to preserve faith are
made us of, even then it ever depends on the pleasure of the
will whether it will persevere or not.
For this idea contains outspoken Pelagianism, and while it would make men free, it make them robbers of God's honor, contrary to the prevailing agreement of the evangelical doctrine, which takes from man all cause of boasting, and ascribes all the praise for this favor to the grace of God alone; and contrary to the apostle, who declares that it is God, "He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 1:8)." |
PARAGRAPH 3. |
| Who teach: That the true
believers and regenerate not only can fall from justifying faith
and likewise from grace and salvation wholly and to the end, but
indeed often do fall from this and are lost forever.
For this conception makes powerless the grace, justification, regeneration, and continued preservation by Christ, contrary to the expressed words of the apostle Paul: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him (Rom 5:8-9)." And contrary to the apostle John: "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God (1 John 3:9)." And also contrary to the words of Jesus Christ: "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand (John 10:28-29)." |
PARAGRAPH 4. |
| Who teach: That true
believers and regenerate can sin the sin unto death or against
the Holy Spirit.
Since the same apostle John, after having spoken in the fifth chapter of his first epistle, vs. 16 and 17, of those who sin unto death and having forbidden to pray for them, immediately adds to this in vs. 18: "We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin (meaning a sin of that character); the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him (1 John 5:18)." |
PARAGRAPH 5. |
| Who teach: That without a
special revelation we can have no certainty of future
perseverance in this life.
For by this doctrine the sure comfort of the true believers is taken away in this life, and the doubts of the papist are again introduced into the Church, while the Holy Scriptures constantly deduce this assurance, not from a special and extraordinary revelation, but from the marks proper to the children of God and from the very constant promises of God. So especially the apostle Paul: "neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:39)." And John declares: "Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us (1 John 3:24)." |
PARAGRAPH 6. |
| Who teach: That the doctrine
of the certainty of perseverance and of salvation from its own
character and nature is a cause of indolence and is injurious to
godliness, good morals, prayers, and other holy exercises, but
that on the contrary it is praiseworthy to doubt.
For these show that they do not know the power of divine grace and the working of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And they contradict the apostle John, who teaches that opposite with express words in his first epistle: "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure (1 John 3:2-3)." Furthermore, these are contradicted by the example of the saints, both of the Old and the New Testament, who though they were assured of their perseverance and salvation, were nevertheless constant in prayers and other exercises of godliness. |
PARAGRAPH 7. |
| Who teach: That the faith of
those who believe for a time does not differ from justifying and
saving faith except only in duration.
For Christ Himself, in Matt 13:20, Luke 8:13, and in other places, evidently notes, beside this duration, a threefold difference between those who believe only for a time and true believers, when He declares that the former receive the seed on stony ground, but the latter in the good ground or heart; that the former are without root, but the latter have a firm root; that the former are without fruit, but that the latter bring forth their fruit in various measure, with constancy and steadfastness. |
PARAGRAPH 8. |
| Who teach: That it is not
absurd that one having lost his first regeneration is again and
even often born anew.
For these deny by this doctrine the incorruptibleness of the seed of God, whereby we are born again; contrary to the testimony of the apostle Peter: "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable (1 Pet 1:23)." |
PARAGRAPH 9. |
| Who teach: That Christ has in
no place prayed that believers should infallibly continue in
faith.
For the contradict Christ Himself, who says: "I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail (Luke 22:32)", and the evangelist John, who declares that Christ has not prayed for the apostles only, but also for those who through their word would believe: "Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name," and "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one (John 17:11, 15, 20)." |
CONCLUSION |
|
And this is the perspicuous, simple, an ingenuous declaration
of the orthodox doctrine respecting the five articles which have
been controverted in the Belgic Churches; and the rejection of
the errors, with which they have for some time been troubled.
This doctrine the Synod judges to be drawn from the Word of God,
and to be agreeable to the confession of the Reformed Churches.
Whence it clearly appears that some, whom such conduct by no
means became, have violated all truth, equity, and charity, in
wishing to persuade the public:
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| "That the doctrine of the Reformed Churches concerning predestination, and the points annexed to it, by its own genius and necessary tendency, leads off the minds of men from all piety and religion; |
| that it is a opiate administered by the flesh and the devil; and the stronghold of Satan, where he lies in wait for all, and from which he wounds multitudes, and mortally strikes through many with the darts both of despair and security; |
| that it makes God the author of sin, unjust, tyrannical, hypocritical; that it is nothing more than interpolated Stoicism, Manicheism, Libertinism, Turcism; |
| that it renders men carnally secure, since they are persuaded by it that noting can hinder the salvation of the elect, let them live as they please; and, therefore, that they may safely perpetrate every species of the most atrocious crimes; and that, if the reprobate should even perform truly all the works of the saints, their obedience would not in the least contribute tot their salvation; |
| that the same doctrine teaches that God, by a mere arbitrary act of his will, without the least respect or view to any sin, has predestinated the greatest part of the world to eternal damnation, and has created them for this very purpose; |
| that in the same manner in which the election is the fountain and cause of faith and good works, reprobation is the cause of unbelief and impiety; |
| that many children of the faithful are torn, guiltless, from their mothers' breasts, and tyrannically plunged into hell: so that neither baptism nor the prayers of the Church at their baptism can at all profit them;" |
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and many
other things of the same kind which the Reformed Churches not
only do not acknowledge, but even detest with their whole soul.
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| Wherefore, this Synod of Dort, in the name of the Lord, conjures as many as piously call upon the name of our Savior Jesus Christ to judge of the faith of the Reformed Churches, not from the calumnies which on every side are heaped upon it, nor from the private expressions of a few among ancient and modern teachers, often dishonestly quoted, or corrupted and wrested to a meaning quite foreign to their intention; but from the public confessions of the Churches themselves, and from this declaration of the orthodox doctrine, confirmed by the unanimous consent of all and each of the members of the whole Synod. |
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Moreover, the Synod warns calumniators themselves to consider
the terrible judgment of God which awaits them, for bearing
false witness against the confessions of so many Churches; for
distressing the consciences of the weak; and for laboring to
render suspected the society of the truly faithful.
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Finally, this Synod exhorts all their brethren in the gospel
of Christ to conduct themselves piously and religiously in
handling this doctrine, both in the universities and churches;
to direct it, as well in discourse as in writing, to the glory
of the Divine name, to holiness of life, and to the consolation
of afflicted souls; to regulate, by the Scripture, according to
the analogy of faith, not only their sentiments, but also their
language, and to abstain from all those phrases which exceed the
limits necessary to be observed in ascertaining the genuine
sense of the Holy Scriptures, and may furnish insolent sophists
with a just pretext for violently assailing, or even vilifying,
the doctrine of the Reformed Churches.
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| May Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who, seated at the Father's right hand, gives gifts to men, sanctify us in the truth; bring to the truth those who err; shut the mouths of the calumniators of sound doctrine, and endue the faithful ministers of his Word with the spirit of wisdom and discretion, that all their discourses may tend to the glory of God, and the edification of those who hear them. Amen. |