THE BELGIC CONFESSION
Truly the Christian Confession of the Belgic Reformed
Churches, containing the Summary of Doctrine about God and about
the Eternal Salvation of Souls.
Article 1: About the Nature of God
We believe in the heart and confess with the mouth
that there is a unique and simple spiritual Being, Who we call God,
eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, and infinite,
Who is wise and the overflowing source of all good things.
Eph. 4:8; 2 Deuter. 6:4; 1 Tim 2:5; 2
Cor. 8:6; John 4:24; Isa. 40:28, 44:6.
Article 2: About the Knowledge of God
Moreover, we
know God by two means, first, by the creation, preservation, and
government of this whole world. For it is before our eyes as a most
beautiful Book in which all creatures, from the least to the greatest,
are as certain letters and marks through which the invisible things
of God can be examined and understood, certainly His eternal power
and His divinity as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. This knowledge
is sufficient for convicting any given people and rendering them
inexcusable. But He also bears His very self to us, much more clearly
and openly, in His holy and divine Word; indeed, as much as is expedient
in this life for His glory and for the salvation of His own people.
Psalm 19; Ephes. 4:6; 2 Cor. 2:6.
Article 3: About Holy Scripture
We confess that this Word of God has
neither been sent or delivered by any human will, but that holy men
of God, having been filled up by the Spirit, have spoken it forth,
as blessed Peter witnesses. 2 Pet. 1:21. Afterwards, however, God
Himself, according to that great care and concern that He bears for
His own people and their salvation, commanded His servants, the Apostles
and Prophets, to commit His oracles to writings, to the point that
He Himself scratched out the two tables of the Law with His own finger,
which is the reason why we call writings of this sort holy and divine
Writings.
Article 4: About the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testaments
Moreover,
we hold that Sacred Scripture is encompassed in these two volumes
of the Old and New Testaments, the books of which are called canonical;
about these there was never a controversy. And this is not only their
number but also their order, having been received in the Church of
God: The Five Books of Moses, the book of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the
two books of Samuel, two of Kings the two books of Chronicles, which
is called Paralipomenon, the first of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job,
likewise the Psalms of David, the three books of Solomon, certainly
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs, the Four Major Prophets,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, and to these twelve other
Minor Prophets. Again, there are canonical books of the New Testament:
the Four Gospels, obviously blessed Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
the Acts of the Apostles, the Fourteen Letters of Blessed Paul, and
the Seven Letters of the Remaining Apostles, the Apocalypse of the
Blessed Apostle John.
Article 5: About the Authority of Holy Scripture
We receive all these
books, alone, as holy and canonical, by which our faith can be supported,
confirmed, and established. And so, without any doubt, we believe
all these things that are contained in them, and not so much because
the Church receives and endorses them as Canon as because the Holy
Spirit testifies to our consciences that they have arisen from God,
and, about this, mostly because they also witness and prove themselves
by this sacred authority and holiness of theirs, since even the blind
themselves can clearly observe, just as if they could perceive with
their senses, the fulfillment and occurrence of the things that had
been predicted.
Article 6: About the Difference Between Canonical and Apocryphal
Books
We then establish a distinction between these Holy
Books and those that are called Apocrypha, namely that the Apocrypha
certainly can be in the Church, and it is also lawful even to select
lessons from them, insofar as they echo the Canonical books. But,
by no means is their authority or stability such that any dogma concerning
the Faith and the Christian Religion could be definitely established
from their testimony. Far from that, they cannot infringe upon, or
lessen, the authority of the others.
Article 7: About the Perfection of Scripture
Moreover, we believe
that this Holy Scripture most perfectly contains the whole will of
God and that all things are taught in it abundantly, whatsoever is
necessary to be believed by people in order to grasp salvation. And
so, since the entire account of divine worship is there exactly and
profusely established, no one, however much gifted with apostolic
dignity, nor likewise any Angel cast down from heaven, as blessed
Paul says, is lawfully allowed to teach otherwise than what we have
already thoroughly learned long ago in the Holy Scriptures. For since
it is forbidden, lest anyone either add to or subtract from the Word
of God, it is sufficiently made known that this holy doctrine is
perfect and absolute in all its numbers and parts. Therefore, no
other Writings of humans, however much gifted with sanctity, nor
custom, nor any majority, nor antiquities, neither rules of the times
nor succession of persons, nor any councils, nor finally any human
decrees or statutes ought to be pitted against or held on par with
these divine Scriptures and this naked truth of God, because the
truth of God surpasses all things. For all human beings are liars,
themselves vainer than vanity. For this reason, we reject, with our
whole soul, whatsoever does not agree with this most certain rule,
as we have been taught by the Apostles when they say, “Test the spirits
whether they are from God,” and also, “If anyone comes to you, and
does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house,”
etc. 2 Tim. 3:14, 17; 1 Pet. 1:1; Prov. 30:5; Gal. 3:15; Apoc. 22:18;
John 15:15; Act 20:27; 1 Tim 1:3; 2 John 1:10; Gal. 1:8; 1 Cor. 15:2;
Act. 26:22; Rom. 15:4; 1 Pet. 4:11; John 4:25; Es. 1:12; 1 Cor. 2:4;
Rom. 3:4; 1 Cor. 3:11; Deut 12:32; Matth. 15:3, 17:5; Mark. 7:7;
1 Thess. 2:2; 1 John 4:1.
Article 8: About the Holy Trinity of Persons in a Single Divine Essence
Joined
to this truth and the Word of God, we believe in one God alone (Who
is one essence, with incommunicable properties in three persons,
having had a real distinction of affairs from eternity), certainly
in accordance with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 1 John 2:10;
Esa. 43:11; John 1:12, 1; 1 John 1:1; Apoc. 19:13; Prov. 8: 22; John
1:14. For the Father is the cause, origin, and beginning of all visible
and invisible things. The Son is the Word, the Wisdom, and the Image
of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the true power and strength that
emanates from the Father and the Son. Nevertheless, this distinction
does not make it that God is divided, as if into three parts, seeing
that Scripture teaches us that the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit each has a hypostasis, or a subsistence, distinguished by
their properties. Thus these three persons are nevertheless one God
alone. Therefore, it is certain then that the Father is not the Son,
nor is the Son the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit either the Father
or the Son. At the same time, however, these persons, so distinct,
are neither divided, nor confused, nor mingled together. For the
Father did not take on human flesh, nor the Holy Spirit, but only
the Son. The Father never was without His Son, nor without His Holy
Spirit, since these same persons are of the same eternal essence.
Far from these, there is neither a first nor a last, for all three
are one, in truth and power, in goodness and mercy.
Article 9: About the Holy Trinity
We certainly know all these things
to such an extent according to the testimonies of Holy Scripture
as much from their own effects, especially from those we feel within
our very selves. And indeed, the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures
that teach us to believe in this sacred Trinity run throughout in
the Old Testament need not be enumerated so much as selected with
reliable judgment. These are of such a sort: God first says in Genesis,
“Let Us make humanity according to Our image and likeness.” And then,
“He created them male and female.” Likewise, “Behold, Adam has been
made, as it were, one of Us.” Gen. 3:5. From this, namely because
it is said, “Let Us make humanity according to Our image,” it appears
that there is a plurality of Persons in the Deity. But since “God
created, etc.” is said, a unity of Divinity is indicated. How many
persons there are, although it is obscurely delivered in the Old
Testament, is placed before us in the New with bright light. For
when our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan, Matth. 3:16,
the voice of the Father was heard proclaiming, “This is my dear Son;”
the Son Himself was seen in the water; and, truly, the Holy Spirit
appeared under the form of a dove. In the common baptism of all believers
we are commanded to use this formula: “Baptize all peoples in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” So also,
in the Gospel of Luke 1:35 the Angel Gabriel addresses Mary, the
mother of our Lord: “The Holy Spirit come upon you and the power
of the Most High will overshadow you, and for this reason the One
who will be born from you, He will be called the Son of God.” Again,
“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and
the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.” Again, “There are
three who testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit,
which three are one” 1 John 5:7. In all of these, we are most amply
taught that there are three Persons in one God. Moreover, although
this doctrine surpasses the whole comprehension of human nature,
we nevertheless firmly believe it now according to the Word of God,
anticipating, until we may fully enjoy the knowledge of this in heaven.
Furthermore, we must note the office and effect of these three Persons
Who stretch out towards us. For the Father is called our Creator
on account of His power. The Son is called our true Savior and Redeemer
because He has redeemed us by his blood. The Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier
because He dwells in our hearts. Mal. 2:10; 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 John 4:14;
Gal. 4:6; Tit. 3:5; Rom. 8:9; Rom. 14:16. Moreover, the Church has
always held this doctrine of the Holy Trinity from the age of the
Apostles all the way up to this time now and has defended it against
Jews, Muslims, and other psuedo-Christians and heretics, such as
Marcion, Mani, Praxeas, Sabellius, Paul of Samosata, and the like,
who have been deservingly condemned by the blessed fathers. And so,
in this matter, we willingly here receive the Three Symbols, the
Apostles’, Nicene, and the Athanasian, and whatever judgment, along
with their Symbols, they established concerning this dogma.
Article 10: About the Eternal Deity of the Son of God, Our Lord Jesus
Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ, with respect to His
divine nature, is the only Son of God begotten from eternity not
made or created John 1:18, 49, for He would be a creature but for
the exact same essence of the Father and coeternal to Him, and Who
is the true image of the substance of the Father and the splendor
of His glory, equal to Him in all things Col. 1:15; John 10:30; Phil.
2:6; Hebr. 1:3; John 8:23, 9:36: Act. 8:37; Rom. 9:5. Moreover, He
is the Son of God, not only from the time He took on our human nature
but from all eternity, as this collective testimony teaches us: Moses
says “God created the world,” and blessed John says, “All things
had been made through the Word, Who is called God.” Thus the Apostle
asserts to the Hebrews that God created all things through the Son,
Jesus Christ Colos. 1:16. And so it follows that He Who is called
God, the Word, the Son, and Jesus Christ already then existed when
He created all things. For this reason the prophet Micah says, in
the fifth chapter, verse two, “His origin is without beginning, from
eternal times.” Again, “He is without beginning of days, and without
end of life.” He is therefore true God, eternal, omnipotent, Whom
we honor and worship.
Article 11: About the Person and Eternal Deity
of the Holy Spirit
We believe and confess that the Holy Spirit proceeds
from the Father and the Son, from eternity, and so, neither made,
nor created, nor begotten, but only from the Two proceeding, Who
is the third of the Trinity of Persons in regards to order, of the
same essence, glory, and majesty with the Father and the Son. And
therefore He is true and eternal God, as the Holy Scriptures teach
us. Heb. 7:3; John 14:6, 15:26.
Article 12: About the Creation of the World and about Angels
We believe
that the Father, through His Word, that is through the Son, created
heaven, earth, and all remaining nature from nothing when it seemed
opportune to Him, and, that there is a form for each of them in turn,
and that He has assigned various duties so that they might serve
the interests of their Creator. Even now He maintains, sustains,
and rules them by His eternal providence and immeasurable power.
And this is so that they may also serve humanity, as humanity may
serve the interests of its true God. Furthermore, He created the
angels good in nature so that they might be His messengers and serve
the interests of His elect. Nevertheless, several of them have fallen
down from the excellent nature in which God created them into eternal
perdition, and others, certainly by the grace of God alone, have
stood firm in their original state. Indeed, the devils and the excrement-ridden
demons are so corrupt and depraved that they conspire as enemies-of-the-State
against both God and all good people. As thieves from a look out,
they lie in ambush with all their strength for the Church and each
of its members in order to ruin and destroy them all by their deceptions.
For this reason, having been sentenced to eternal condemnation on
account of their own evil, they daily await the dreadful punishment
of their deeds. And therefore we reject the error of the Sadducees
in this place, who deny that there are any Spirits or Angels. Likewise,
the error of the Manicheans, who assert that the Devils hold an origin
from themselves and are evil on account of their nature, but not
corrupted by willful disobedience. John 15:26; Gen. 1:1; Isai. 40:26;
Heb. 3:4; Apo. 4:11; 1 Tim 4:3,1; Col. 1:16; Heb 3:14, 1:3; Psal.
103:21, 4:3,8; John 8:44; 2 Pet. 2:4; Luc. 8:31; 1 Pet. 5:8; Matt.
25:40; Act. 23:8.
Article 13: About the Providence of God
We believe that this Most
High God, after He created all things, did not in the least hand
them over to fate or the rule of fortune, but continually rules and
governs them according to the precept of His sacrosanct will so that
nothing may happen in this world apart from His decree and ordination.
Neither is it possible to say that God is the author of or the guilty
party in the evils that occur in this world. For both His power and
goodness lie widely open as immeasurable and incomprehensible, and
His work and proceedings are sacredly and justly determined and executed,
although both the Devil and the wicked unjustly act. Truly, whatsoever
He does, having exceeded human constraints, we do not wish to inquire
about these things pryingly and beyond our constraints. In fact,
on the contrary, we nevertheless humbly and reverently adore the
hidden and just judgments of God. For it is enough for us, as disciples
of Christ, to learn no more than that which He Himself teaches us
in His Word, without transgressing the limits that we regard as lawful.
Truly, this doctrine brings immeasurable comfort to us. For from
it we know that nothing happens to us by fortune, but only all things
by the will of our heavenly Father, Who truly keeps watch for us
with fatherly care, having subjugated all things unto Himself so
that not even a hair our head (which have all been numbered down
to the individual one) can be plucked out, nor can the smallest chick
fall to the ground, apart from the will of our Father. And so we
thoroughly rest in this, acknowledging that God restrains the devils
and all our enemies, just as curbed with whips, so that no one is
strong enough to hurt us apart from His will and good permission.
And therefore in this place we reject the detestable opinion of the
Epicureans, who create an idle god, doing nothing and forfeiting
all things. Act. 23:8; John 5:17; Heb. 1:3; Prover. 16:4; Iacob.
4:15; Jacob. 4:15; Job 1:21; 2 Kings 22:20; Act. 4:28; 1 Sam. 8:25;
Psal. 115:3; Isa. 45:7; Amos 3:6; Deut. 19:5; Prover. 21:1; Ps. 105:25;
Isa. 10:5; 2 Thess. 2:11; Ezech. 41:9; Rom 1:28; 1 Kings 11:23; Gen.
45:8, 50:20; 2 Sam. 16:10; Matt. 8:31; 1 John 3:8.
Article 14: About the Creation, the Fall and Corruption of Humanity
We
believe that God certainly created humanity from the mud of the earth
and created them in His image, good, certainly just and also holy,
who could by their own choice arrange their will and conform it to
the will of God. In truth, when they were in honor they were unaware
and did not understand their excellence. But knowing and desiring,
they subjected their very selves to sin and to the consequence of
death and the curse. By bending the ear towards the words and allurements
of the devil, they transgressed the commandment of life, which they
had received from the LORD, and through this penalty they carried
themselves away and alienated themselves from God (their true life),
having wholly damaged and corrupted their own nature by sin. By this,
it was accomplished that they handed themselves over as liable to
death of both the body and the soul. And so accomplished as wicked
and perverse in all their ways and pursuits, they cast off all those
splendid gifts with which God had adorned them, to the point that
nothing remains except small sparks and tiny vestiges, which are
sufficient for rendering people inexcusable, because whatever light
in us has turned into blind shadows, so that Scripture itself teaches,
saying: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
grasp it.” For here John clearly calls people “darkness.” Therefore
whatever is drudged up concerning the free will of humanity, we deservedly
reject it, since humanity is the “slave of sin, ” and no good can
come out of humanity, “unless it was given to it from heaven.” For
who dares to boast that he can perform anything that he desires,
since Christ Himself says, “No one can come to me, unless my Father,
Who sent me, draws him”? May he who hears “all flesh has been afflicted
with hostility against God” glorify his own will? May he who knows
“the human soul is not capable of the things that are of the Spirit
of God,” pride himself about his own knowledge? In short, may he
who understands that we are not sufficient for any thought according
to our very selves but that what we are sufficient for is entirely
from God, even drag out any thought of his into the public gaze?
Therefore, what the Apostle said ought to remain firm and fixed:
“God is He Who works in us so that we both desire and work according
to His gratuitous good will.” For no mind, no desire, in which Christ
Himself has not first worked acquiesces to the will of God, which
He Himself teaches us, saying, “Without me you can do nothing.” Matt.
20:29, 30; Gen 1:26; Eccle. 7:30; Eph. 4:24; Psal. 49; Isa. 59:2;
Gen. 8:17; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 3:10; Act. 4:16; 1 Kings 1:20, 21; Act.
17:27; Eph. 5:8; John 1:5; Isa. 26:12; Psal. 94:11; John 3:27; John
6:44; Rom 8:7; 1 Cor. 2:14; 2 Cor. 3:5; Philip. 2:13; John 15:5.
Article 15: About Original Sin
We believe that sin, which is called
Original, has been sown into and poured throughout the whole human
race by the disobedience of Adam. Moreover, original sin is a corruption
of the entire nature and a hereditary crime, with which even infants
themselves are polluted in the womb of their mother. And just as
a toxic root, it sprouts forth every type of sin in humanity, and,
in the presence of God, it is so filthy and detestable, that it is
sufficient for the condemnation of the entire human race. Truly,
it is not thoroughly extinguished nor plucked out by the roots through
Baptism, seeing that just as waves of a stream continually rise up
and pour forth from a corrupt bubbling spring, so too from it. Although,
to the children of God it is not handed over or imputed to condemnation,
but for them it is remitted according to the pure grace and mercy
of God, not so that they may fall asleep confident in this remission,
but so that with the sense of this corruption it wakes up more frequent
groans in the faithful, and so that by it they more passionately
desire themselves to be free from this body of death. From this,
we therefore damn the error of the Pelagians, who assert that this
original sin is nothing other than imitation. Phil. 2:13; John 15:5;
Psal. 51:7; Rom. 3:10; Gen. 6:3; John 3:6; Rom. 5:14; Eph. 1:5; Rom.
7:18, 24.
Article 16: About Divine Predestination
We believe that God, after
all the offspring of Adam thus fell head over heels into perdition
and destruction by the guilt of the first man, demonstrated and put
forth His very self as such a kind as He is: both merciful and also
just. Indeed, merciful in freeing and saving from damnation and ruin
those whom in His eternal council He elected, out of gratuity apart
from any work, according to His goodness through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Truly just, in leaving behind others in their fall and ruin into
which they threw their very selves head over heals.
Article 17: About the Restoration of the Human Race by the Son of
God
We believe that our God Most High, (since He saw
that humanity had thus cast itself into the damnation of death of
both body and soul, and had made themselves utterly miserable and
also cursed), having drawn together both His miraculous wisdom and
goodness in order that He might both seek after and also kindly console
them who had fled from Him on account of fear, with the promise that
His Son shall born from a woman, Who would crush the head of the
serpent and render them blessed and happy.
Article 18: About the Incarnation of the Son of God
Truly we confess
that God then finally fulfilled the promise (that He made to the
Fathers, by the mouth of his holy Prophets), when, at the time He
Himself established, He sent into this world this only and eternal
Son of His, “Who received the form of a servant,” “made similar to
humanity,” truly assuming a real human nature with all its weaknesses,
except sin, when He was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary
by the power of the Holy Spirit, without the work of any man. Again,
He not only assumed a human nature as far as the body but also unto
the soul. For He had been endowed with a true human soul so that
he would be a real human. Indeed, since the soul no less than the
body itself is guilt of damnation, it was necessary that he assume
both body and soul in order that he might save them both together.
For this reason, against the heresy of the Anabaptists who deny that
Christ assumed human flesh from his mother, we confess that Christ
“partook of the same flesh and blood just as His own brethren,” made
“flesh from the loins of David,” “the same flesh from the seed of
David,” “and fruit from the womb of the virgin Mary,” “born from
a woman,” “seed of David,” “a flower from the root of Jesse,” “from
the tribe of Judah,” “and having descended from the Jews themselves
according to the flesh,” and, in short, “True seed of Abraham and
of David” because “He had assumed the seed of Abraham, except for
sin,” as it is said, “He was made similar to His brothers in all
things, to a degree that He is truly Emmanuel, that is, God with
us.”
Article 19: About the Hypostatic, or Personal, Union of the Two Natures
in Christ
We believe that, through this conception, the Person
of the Son has been inseparably joined and united with human nature,
not so that there are two Sons of God or two Persons, but two natures
joined in a single person, each of which retains its own properties
to the point that just as the Divine nature has always remained uncreated
without beginning of days or end of life, filling heaven and earth,
so too the Human nature has not lost its properties but has remained
as a creature, having a beginning of days and a finite nature. Although
He gave immortality to it through His resurrection, that nevertheless
did not steal or change the truth of human nature for Him. For our
salvation and resurrection hang upon the truth of His body. Moreover,
these two natures are so united and joined together in one person
that they cannot be separated even by His death. Therefore, what
he commended to the Father at His dying was a real human spirit,
going out from His own body. But meanwhile, the Divine nature always
(even while lying in the grave) remained united to the Human, to
the point that Deity itself was no less in Himself when He was still
an infant, although it did not show itself for a little while. On
account of this, we confess His self to be true God and true man:
indeed, true God in order that He would conquer death, and true man
in order that He would fall to death in the weakness of His flesh
in our place.
Article 20: About the Manner of Redemption, through the Declaration
of the Justice and Mercy of God in Christ
We believe that God, Who
is consummately and perfectly both merciful and just, has sent His
Son so that He would assume that nature in order that He should make
satisfaction in that very nature that sinned through disobedience,
and in order that concerning sin, He should endure the just penalties
by His bitter suffering and death. Therefore, God displayed and stretched
forth His justice upon His own Son, laden with our sins. He liberally
poured out and stretched forth His goodness and mercy upon us, worthily
deserving condemnation, when He handed His Son over to death on account
of our offenses, out of his immeasurable love for us, and in turn
raised Him from death on account of our justification, so that we
would obtain immortality and eternal life through Him.
Article 21: About the Satisfaction of Christ for Our Sins
We believe
that Jesus Christ is that consummate High Priest, established in
eternity with an oath according to the Melchizedekian order, and
that He presented His very self in our name in the presence of the
Father for the placation of His wrath with full satisfaction, placing
His very self upon the altar of the cross and pouring out His blood
for the purgation of our sins, just as the Prophets had predicted
it would happen. For it is written, “the castigation of our peace
was placed on the Son of God,” and “we are healed by his wounds.”
Again, “He Himself was led to death as a lamb,” and He was “numbered
among sinners” and condemned as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, even
though he had previously declared Him innocent. Therefore, He paid,
“for what He had not stolen,” and the just suffered for the unjust,
both in His soul and body, so while sensing the awe-striking debt
for our sins, He sweated blood and water and He even finally cried
out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” And He endured all
these things for the remission of our sins. For this reason, we rightly
say with blessed Paul “we know nothing whatsoever, except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified,” in fact, “we consider all things as excrement
on account of the excellence of the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,
” so that he who is in His wounds finds every kind of consolation.
And so nothing is necessary lest we would hope for or think up for
ourselves any other reckonings with which we can be reconciled to
God besides this one and only complete oblation, by which all believers,
who are sanctified, are consecrated and perfected unto eternity.
And moreover this is the reason why He Himself was called by the
Angel, “Jesus,” that is, “Savior, because He is going to save His
people from their sins.”
Article 22: About Justifying Faith and about Justification in Faith
We
believe that the Holy Spirit imparts true faith indwelling within
our hearts so that we arrive at a true knowledge of such a great
mystery; a faith that embraces Jesus Christ with all His merits and
claims Him as made our own. For it is necessary that either all the
things that are required for our salvation are not in Christ, or,
that if all things are in Him, then he who possesses Christ by faith
also has perfect salvation at the same time. And therefore it is
a wholly horrendous blasphemy against God to assert that Christ is
less than sufficient, but also that other things likewise are needed.
For it would follow from here, that Jesus Christ is only Savior in
part. And therefore we deservedly say with blessed Paul, “We are
justified by faith alone, or by faith apart from works of the Law.”
Otherwise, properly speaking, we by no means understand faith itself,
through itself, or from itself, to justify us; it is as if it were
no more than an instrument by which we lay hold of Christ our righteousness.
Therefore our righteousness is Christ Himself, Who imputes all His
own merits to us. Truly faith is the instrument by which we are bound
to Him in fellowship and the communion of all His good works, and
also preserved in the same, to the point that all those, having been
made ours, are more than enough for the absolution from our sins.
Article 23: About Our Justification, by Which We Stand Fast in God’s
Presence
We believe that all our happiness is situated in
the remission of our sins, which is in Jesus Christ, and that our
whole justification before God is contained in it alone, as blessed
Paul teaches us according to David, proclaiming Blessed, “those to
whom God imputes righteousness apart from works.” But also the same
Apostle says, “We are justified through the redemption made in Jesus
Christ.” On account of this, as supported by solid ground, we present
all glory to God, perceiving ourselves in extreme humility so that
we may properly know of what sort our selves really are. And so,
we presume nothing whatsoever on account of ourselves or any of our
merits, but having been supported only by the obedience of Christ
crucified, we thoroughly acquiesce to it, so that when we believe
in Him it becomes ours. Again, this alone is abundantly sufficient
both for covering over all our iniquities and also for rendering
us safe and secure against all temptation at the same time. And indeed
this drives all fear, all trembling, and finally all dread far away
from the conscience, where we approach near to God and we do not
imitate the example of the first of our parents, who, fleeing because
of fear, attempted to hide and cover themselves with fig leaves.
Certainly it is proper that if we were to stand in the presence of
God, relying ever so little upon ourselves or any other creature,
it is certain that we would be instantly engulfed in wrath. For this
reason, it is preferable for each of us, in turn, to call out with
David: “Lord, do not enter into judgment with your servant, because
any living thing will not be justified in your gaze.”
Article 24: About Sanctification and about Good Works
We believe that
this true faith, through the hearing of the Word of God and the work
of the Holy Spirit, on account of God, acts and works so that it
enlivens us unto living a new life and renders us free from the slavery
of sin. Therefore, this justifying faith is far from such a sort
that it would call people away from, or make them tepid towards,
an upright and holy rule of living, but on the contrary, apart from
it no one can ever act or work anything good on account of God (but
all things either on account of Him or on account of fear of just
condemnation). Therefore, it is not possible that this holy faith
is idle in a person. For we do not speak of an vain faith or dead
faith, but only of that which in Scripture is said “to be worked
through charity,” and which drives a person so that he practices
these works themselves that God Himself prescribes in His own Word.
Truly these good works, having sprouted forth from the sincere root
of this faith, are therefore finally good and accepted by God because
they are sanctified by His grace. Neverthless, they are entirely
of no importance for our justification. For we are justified in Christ,
even before we had put forth any good works. For before faith, our
works no more can be good than fruit of a tree can be good before
the tree itself was good. Therefore, we certainly do good works,
but not so that we merit anything by them. For what could we merit?
But rather we are more and more bound to God for good works (if we
do them), not God to us. For God is He Who “works in us both so that
we desire, and also so that we work, according to His gratuitous
goodness.” According to which, it is necessary for us always to look
back upon that which is written, “When you have done all the things
that are commanded to you, say, ‘We are useless servants, for we
have done what we owed’.” Again, we would not deny that God rewards
good works in His own people, but we say that it occurs out of His
own pure grace so that He crowns His own gifts in us. Moreover, although
we do good works, we nevertheless do not all place any hope of salvation
in them, for we can do no work that is not polluted by the sin of
the flesh and also worthy of punishment and penalty. But even if
we could bring forth any work of ours, a single recollection of a
sin is nevertheless sufficient for removing it from the gaze of God.
And so, we would always be in doubt, wavering here and there, and
our miserable consciences would always be disturbed unless they would
lean upon the unique merit of the death and suffering of our Savior
and, in that, repose.
Article 25: About the Abrogation of Ceremonies of the Law and about
the Agreement between the Old and New Testaments
We believe that all
the ceremonies and forms of the Law and all the shadows finally have
ceased with the advent of Christ, to the point that, likewise, their
uses among Christians ought also now be lifted and abolished. Meanwhile,
their truth and substance remain with us, in Christ, in Whom they
all have been fulfilled. And so, we continue to use the witnesses
of the Law and Prophets, in order that they themselves would build
us up in the doctrine of the Gospel and that we would place our whole
life honorably unto the glory of God together next to His will.
Article 26: About the Intercession of Christ
Furthermore, we believe
that we have no access to God except through this only Mediator and
Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous, Who therefore was made man
(uniting divine and human natures) in order that He would open up
an entrance to the majesty of God for us miserable humans, which
had otherwise been shut eternally to us. Nevertheless, the Majesty
and power of this Mediator (Whom the Father had established between
Himself and us) ought not terrify us in the least, lest for that
reason we would think that we ought to seek after another for ourselves,
according to our own judgment. For there is, neither among heaven
nor among the terrestrial creatures, one who more lovingly embraces
us than Christ Himself, Who, “although He was in the form of God,
emptied His very self,” and, on account of us, “was made like His
brethren in all things.” But if we had to contrive another Mediator
for ourselves through seeking, who would deem us of some worth, who
would love us more zealously than He Himself Who willingly abandoned
His own life on our behalf when we were up to that point enemies?
Again, if another had to be sought out by us, who excels in consummate
authority and power, who has ever obtained so much as He Who is seated
“at the right hand of the Father,” and to Whom “all power on heaven
and earth has been given”? And finally, who shall have been heard
by God more clearly than That Only-Begotten, the Elect Son of God?
Therefore, unbelief alone has led to this custom by which we afflict
the Saints (those we think in heaven) with dishonor, when we accomplish
that which is so far removed from those things they ever did while
living, but rather they constantly repelled this, in accordance with
their duty, just as their writings testify. And our vileness here
is not to be dragged out as an excuse for such sacrilege. For we
do not in the least offer prayers propped up with our dignity, but
with the dignity and excellence only of our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose
righteousness is ours by faith, according to which place the Apostle
justly, since he would shake off this inane fear (or rather unbelief)
from us, says, “Christ was made like His brethren in all things,”
so that he would be a merciful and faithful High Priest, in these
things which were in accordance with the ritual for the expiation
of the sins of the people in the presence of God. For according to
this, He can aid those who are tested, because he had fully endured
when He was tested. In addition, so that he would increase our spirits
in which we may come near to this High Priest more confidentially,
the same Apostle adds, “Therefore, having a great High Priest, Who
has entered into heaven, Jesus Christ the Son of God, let us hold
on to our profession. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable
to be moved with a sense of our weaknesses, but One tested in all
things, similar to us, except for sin. Therefore, let us proceed
with faith up to the throne of grace so that we may pursue mercy
and come upon grace unto favorable aid.” The same apostle says, “We
have freedom for entering into the sacristy through the blood of
Jesus. Let us therefore approach with a firm persuasion of faith,
etc.” Likewise, “Christ has an eternal priesthood, from which He
can also save those who approach through His blood unto God, always
living, so that He may always intercede on their behalf.” What need
is there for other things? Since Christ Himself says, “I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No one comes to my Father except through
Me,” why should we seek another advocate for ourselves? Most certainly,
since it has pleased God Himself to give His Son to us as an advocate,
let us not having abandoned Him, seek another, lest in always having
to follow fate we may never come across any other. For when God gave
That One to us, He knew, without a doubt, that we were miserable
sinners. According to which, it happens that in remaining close to
the commandment of Christ Himself, we only call upon the heavenly
Father through Jesus Christ our only mediator Himself, as He Himself
also taught us in the Lord’s Prayer. For we are certain
that we are going to receive all the things for which we ask in His
name, from the Father.
Article 27: About the Catholic Church
We believe and confess a single
Catholic or universal Church, which is the true congregation or assembly
of all the faithful who await their entire salvation from Jesus Christ
alone, obviously in so far as they have been absolved with His blood
and sanctified and sealed through His Spirit. Furthermore, this Church
has existed from the beginning of the world and is going to endure
until its end, even as it appears from this: the fact that Christ
is an eternal King, Who cannot be without subjects. Moreover, God
protects this Church from all the furor and assault of the world,
although, from a human perspective, it may appear very small, as
if it were extinguished, just as in that most dangerous time of Ahab,
it was said that God reserved for Himself seven thousand men who
had not bent the knee before Baal. And finally, this holy Church
is neither situated in or circumscribed by a particular place, nor
bound or tied down to any particular individual, but sown and poured
forth throughout the whole world, although at the same time it is
thoroughly bound together and also united in soul and will and a
single same spirit and power of faith.
Article 28: About the Communion of the Saints with the True Church
We
believe that since this holy assembly and congregation is of those
who ought to be saved and that there is no salvation outside of it,
no one (regardless of whatever status or name he may be) ought to
withdraw or separate his very self from it, so that being content
with such a habit, he would live alone and apart. But on the contrary,
each and every one ought to attach and hold themselves to this assembly,
and anxiously preserve the unity of the Church, and they ought to
subjugate their very selves to both its doctrine and its discipline,
and finally, they ought to willingly place the neck under the yoke
of Christ and serve the interests of the edification of the brethren,
as communal members of a single body, just as God has lavishly given
to each one his own gifts. Furthermore, so that this may be better
observed, it is the duty of all believers, according to the word
of God, to separate their very selves from those who are established
outside the Church and to join their very selves to this assembly
and congregation of the faithful, wherever God has established it,
regardless of whether hostile decrees of princes and magistrates
forbid it, even those who would do so indicting with a punishment
of beheading and death of the body. And so, whosoever withdraws from
this true Church, or refuses to join their selves to it, openly fights
against the command of God.
Article 29: About the Marks of the True Church
We believe that we
ought to seek and discern according to the word of God, with consummate
diligence and prudence, what then this true Church may be, since
all of the sects, however many flourish in the world today, seize
upon and cloak themselves with the title of “Church.” We are certainly
not now speaking of the assembly of hypocrites, who are mixed among
the good in the Church although they do not rightly extend into the
Church in which they are bodily present, but of having to distinguish
the congregation of the true Church from all sects, which falsely
glorify themselves as members of the Church. Therefore the true Church
will be distinguished from the false by these marks; if the pure
preaching of the Gospel and the legitimate administration of the
sacraments, according to the prescription of Christ, flourishes,
likewise if the right ecclesiastical discipline is used for the restraint
of sin. And finally, (so that we embrace the whole Word alone), it
measures all things according to the standard of the Word of God
and repudiates whatever things are hostile to it and acknowledges
Christ as the only head. It is certain that by these marks it is
possible to distinguish the true Church, from which it is not lawful
for anyone to be separated. Moreover, those who are true members
of this Church can be judged by marks according to the communion
of all Christians, of such a sort is Faith, by which, once apprehending
Christ as their Savior, they flee from sin and seek after righteousness;
likewise, they love their neighbors, and, not turning to the left
or right, they crucify their flesh with its works, even though it
is too little, as if a greater weakness is in them, but regarding
that, they fight against it by the power of the Spirit throughout
the whole course of life, and, constantly fleeing to the blood, death,
suffering, and obedience of our Lord Christ, as to the most safe
protection, since they know that in Him alone they have forgiveness
of sins, through faith in Him. Truly the False Church, on the contrary,
always assigns more authority to its very self, and its institutions
and traditions, than to the word of God. It does not suffer to subject
itself to the yoke of Christ, nor does it administer the sacraments
according to the prescription of Christ, but it adds something to
them in this way, and subtracts from them in that way, according
to it’s judgment. Furthermore, it always relies more upon humans
than on Christ, and, in a hostile manner, it persecutes those who
piously desire to conform their lives according to the prescription
of the word of God or who indict and repudiate its sins as greed
and idolatry. Therefore, from this, in turn, it is easy to discern
and recognize either Church from one another.
Article 30: About Control of the Church
We believe that this true
Church ought to be ruled and governed according to the spiritual
order that God has instructed us with His Word, so that there would
be Pastors and Ministers in it who purely preach and administer the
Sacraments. Likewise, there should be Elders and Deacons who compose
the Senate of the Church, so that just as by these means true Religion
can be preserved, true doctrine retained and propagated, and people
given over to sin censored and corrected, and also, just as they
can be restrained with the same bridle of discipline, so also are
the poor and afflicted can be assisted with help and comfort according
to their particular need. For then all things will be done duly and
in good order, when faithful and pious men are elected to its government
according to the prescription of blessed Paul, which is held in Tim.
3 and Tit. 1.
Article 31: About the Calling of Ministers of the Church
We believe
that Ministers, Elders, and Deacons ought to be called and put forward
to their offices by a legitimate election of the Church, having been
invited to it by the grave invocation of God, in the order and manner
that is prescribed to us in the word of God. Moreover, above all
else, each person ought to take care lest he carry his very self
into these duties by forbidden means. For everyone must wait until
they are called by God Himself, so that they may have sure testimony
about their calling, and so that they may know it to be from the
Lord. Moreover, all of the Ministers of the word of God, in whatsoever
place they may be, all have similar and equal power and also authority,
so that they are all equally Ministers of Christ, of this only universal
Bishop and head of the Church. Again, lest this holy order of God
be either violated or departed from in contempt, all of the Ministers
and Elders of the Church ought to be honorably esteemed on account
of the work incumbent upon them and peace ought to be cultivated
with them, and, in turn, quarrels and contentions ought to be refrained
from as much as is possible.
Article 32: About the Power of the Church in Composing Ecclesiastical
Laws and in Administering Discipline
At the same time, we believe
that it is certainly useful that Elders, who control the Church,
set up an order among themselves for the conservation of the body
of the Church. Let them earnestly take precautions in this way, lest
by this arrangement they contort or turn aside from these that Christ
Himself, our only Teacher, once established.
And so we reject all human inventions and laws that have been drug
into the worship of God, lest our consciences are bound to or strung
up by them in any way. And so, we receive those alone that are either
for the fostering and nourishing of concord, or for keeping us in
the obedience of God. And truly for this, excommunication is especially
necessary, according to the command that seizes upon the word of
God and those other supplements of attached ecclesiastical discipline.
Article 33: About the Sacraments
We believe that God, mindful of our
sluggishness and weakness in reason, established sacraments for us,
so that He would imprint His promises upon us and thus be most certain
pledges for us, of divine goodness and of His gifts, having been
instituted for the fostering and sustaining of our faith. He truly
attached these to the word of the Gospel so that He would put forth
before our external senses both the very thing itself that He proclaims
to us in His word and also even that which He Himself internally
works in our hearts, and finally, so that He would confirm in us,
more and more, the salvation that He deemed worthy to communicate
to us. For the sacraments are signs and visible symbols of internal
and invisible things, through which, as through means, God Himself
works in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. And therefore these
signs are not in the least empty, or vacuous, or established for
our deception or frustration. For their truth is Jesus Christ Himself,
without Whom they would certainly be nothing of importance. Moreover,
the number of the remaining sacraments that Christ Himself, our true
and only Teacher, has instituted is sufficient for us. Truly there
are only two, obviously the sacrament of baptism and of the Supper
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Article 34: About Baptism
We believe and confess that Jesus Christ,
(Who is the end of the Law), has now, by the pouring out of His own
blood, put in place the end of having to use the pouring out of all
other bloods for the propitiation of sin. And, having abolished Circumcision,
which was occurring in Blood, He instituted Baptism in its place,
by which we are received into the Church of God and separated from
all other peoples and foreign religions, since we have been consecrated
to Him alone, Whose signet and insignia we bear. And finally, Baptism
is a testimony to us that That One Himself, Who is the favorably
inclined Father towards us, will be God to us throughout eternity.
Therefore, the Lord commanded all His own to be baptized, by pure
water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit, in order that, through the same Holy Spirit, He would indicate
the blood of Christ to work and act internally in the soul, in the
same way that water operates externally upon bodies. For just as
water, having been poured out upon us, and residing upon of the body
to be baptized, and itself clearly seen, washes filth away from the
body, so too the Blood of Christ also cleans that one from sins,
washes the soul and thoroughly cleanses it from iniquities, and regenerates
us children of wrath as children of God. But this does not happen
because of this material of the water, but by the very sprinkling
of the most precious Blood of the Son of God, Who is for us as the
Red Sea through which it is necessary to cross, so that we can escape
from the tyranny of the Pharaoh, that is, of the Devil, and to enter
into the spiritual land Canaan. And so, Ministers certainly offer
sacraments and the visible thing to us, but the Lord Himself produces
what is signified in the Sacrament, certainly the invisible gifts
and graces, washing, purifying, and cleansing our souls from all
their filth and sins; likewise, renewing and filling up our hearts
with all consolation, and finally, granting assurance of His fatherly
goodness to us, and clothing us with the new man and stripping off
the old with all of its deeds. On account of these reasons, we believe
that every person who seeks to obtain eternal life ought to be baptized
with one (and once is enough) baptism, which it is never to be repeated
afterwards, since we certainly cannot be born twice. Nevertheless,
this baptism not only benefits us only in that moment at which water
settles down upon us or at which we are moistened by it, but also
throughout the whole span of our life. And so we call down a solemn
curse upon this error of the Anabaptists, who not only have not been
content in receiving Baptism once and for all, but who also damn
the Baptism of the children from the faithful. We believe that, for
the same reason, they ought to be baptized and sealed with the sign
of the covenant in which little children were once circumcised in
Israel, certainly because the same promises have been made to our
infants. And in fact Christ has poured out His blood so that He would
wash adults no less than infants. And therefore, it is fitting for
them to receive the sign or the Sacrament of the thing that Christ
has done for their sake, just as in the Law, the Lord commanded the
Sacrament of the death and suffering of Christ to be communicated
to recently born children by offering a lamb in their place, which
was the future Sacrament of Christ. In addition, the things that
Circumcision fulfilled for the Jewish people are the same things
that Baptism fulfills for the children of the faithful. And this
is the reason why Paul calls Baptism the Circumcision of Christ.
Article 35: About the Supper of the Lord
We believe and confess that
our Blessed Savior Jesus Christ has established the sacred Sacrament
of His Supper, so that He would nourish in it and sustain those whom
He has already regenerated and planted into His family, namely, the
Church. Truly those who have been regenerated have two lives inside
themselves: one that is carnal and transitory that they have carried
with them from their first birth, and this one is common to all people;
the other is holy and heavenly, which is given to them in that second
birth, which comes from the word of the Gospel in union with the
body of Christ, and this life is particular to the elect of God alone.
Just as God certainly instituted earthly and material bread, suitable
for the preservation of this carnal and terrestrial life, which is
as common to all as life itself, so too has God sent life-giving
bread, which has descended from heaven, which is particular to the
faithful, namely, Jesus Christ. He nourishes and sustains the spiritual
life of the faithful when He is eaten, that is, applied and received
by the Spirit through faith. Moreover, so that Christ would form
or depict this holy and celestial bread for us, He has established
terrestrial and visible bread and wine in the Sacrament of His Body
and Blood. He truly witnesses to us in these things. As we truly
accept and hold of this Sacrament in our hands and eat it with our
mouths (from where this life of ours is afterwards sustained), so
also truly for the maintaining of spiritual life in us, we receive
the true body and blood of Christ our only Savior in our souls, by
faith, which is the counterpart to the hand and mouth of our soul.
Truly, it is most certain that Christ did not so anxiously entrust
His Sacrament to us without reason, as He actually accomplishes in
us whatever He Himself represents to us in His sacred signs, although
the manner itself exceeds our natural capacity, nor can it be perceived
in any of this, because clearly all the operations of the Holy Spirit
are hidden and incomprehensible. Moreover, we certainly do not error
in saying that that which is eaten is the very most natural body
of Christ, and that that which is drunk is His true blood, but the
instrument or medium through which we eat and drink these is not
the mouth of the body but our spirit itself, and that through faith.
And so Christ always resides at the right hand of the Father in heaven,
but this does not therefore in the least keep Him from communicating
Himself to us through faith. Again, this Supper is a meal of the
Spirit, in the midst of Whom Christ brings His self forth to us for
partaking with all of His works, and makes it so that, in this, just
as which we enjoy His very self, so too do we enjoy the merits of
His suffering and death. For He nourishes, reinforces, and consoles
our miserable afflicted souls that are destitute of all consolation
by the eating of His very own flesh; likewise He sustains and recreates
them by the drinking of His blood. In addition, although the Sacraments
are joined to the signified things themselves, both of those things,
nevertheless, are not received by all. Indeed, the evil person certainly
receives the Sacrament to his own damnation, but he does not receive
the thing or truth of the Sacrament. For example, Judas and Simon
Magus indeed both received the Sacrament, but truly not in the least
Christ Himself Who was signified in it, for He is communicated to
believers alone. Finally, we communicate with this sacred Sacrament
in the meeting of the people of God, with consummate humility and
reverence, piously celebrating the memory of the death of Christ
our Savior with acts of gratitude, and there publicly declaring the
confession of faith and of the Christian Religion. And so, no one
who has not first examined his very self ought to bring himself to
this table, lest eating from this bread or drinking from this cup,
he eats and drinks judgment and damnation upon his very self. Again,
by the use of this Sacrament, the most passionate love towards both
God Himself and towards neighbor is inflamed in us. And so, indeed
we rightly reject as true profanity all the mockery and damnable
fabrications of people, (which they have added to and mixed among
the Sacraments), and we affirm that we ought to be content only with
that entire pious order and rite that Christ and the Apostles have
handed over to us, and we ought to speak of the same mysteries in
the way in which they have also spoken of them.
Article 36: About the Magistracy
We believe that the Most High God
has established Kings, Princes, and Magistrates, because of the corruption
and depravity of the human race, and that He desires that this World
be governed by these laws and firm polity for the punishment of human
evils and that all things be conducted among people in a right order.
For this reason He has armed the magistrates themselves with the
sword, so that they would inflict evil people with punishment, and
truly protect good people. Again, it is the duty of these, not only
to anxiously preserve civil polity, but also to give true effort
that the holy ministry would be preserved, and that all idolatry
and adultery of the worship of God would be removed from the public
square, that the Kingdom of Antichrist would be destroyed, that the
Kingdom of Christ would be truly extended. Finally, it is of their
duty to bring it about that the sacred word of the Gospel would be
preached from everywhere so that everyone, in turn, can freely worship
purely and venerate God according to the prescription of His word.
Moreover, all people, of whatsoever status, or state, or respect
they may be, ought to be subject to the lawful Magistrates, to pay
tax and tribute to them, and to follow and obey them in all things
that are not opposed to the word of God, and also to pour out prayers
on their behalf so that God would deem it worthy to lead them in
all of their actions, and so that we could truly lead, with all piety
and honesty, a tranquil and quiet life under their very selves. For
this reason we detest all Anabaptists and anarchists, who reject
their Superiors and Magistrates and subvert right and law, who make
all goods common, and finally, who efface and disfigure the honest
order and hierarchy that God has established among people.
Article 37: About the Final Judgment, the Resurrection of the Flesh
and Eternal Life
Finally, we believe, according to the word of God,
that when the time predestined by God and unknown to all creatures
arrives, and the number of the Elect will be completed, our Lord
Jesus Christ is going to return from heaven, bodily and visibly,
just as He once ascended there, decorated with consummate Majesty,
and He will reveal Himself as a judge of the living and of the dead,
having set this old world ablaze with fire and flame in order that
He would purify it. Then truly all creatures, so as with men also
with women and infants, as many as have thereupon lived, back from
the beginning up unto the end of the world, will appear in the presence
of this consummate Judge, certainly called forth by the sound of
both the Archangel and by the trumpet of God. For all of the previously
dead will then rise up from the ground and, by the Spirit, the soul
of every one of them, in turn, will be united and joined together
with their own body in which they had lived. Again, those who will
be living up unto that ultimate day will be transformed in but a
moment and a blink of the eye, clearly from corruption into an incorruptible
nature. Then the books, certainly the consciences, will be opened
up and the dead will be judged according to the things that they
did in this world, whether good or bad. In fact, people are then
even going to render an account of every idle word that they have
spoken, which the world now regards as sport and joke. In short,
then all the hypocrisies, and secrets of people, and the things of
their hearts, will be openly uncovered in presence of all people,
so that, with singular merit, the thought of this is rightly horrible
and terrifying to the wicked and reprobate, and truly both most greatly
hoped for and also an enormous consolation for the elect. For then
their redemption will be made thoroughly obvious, and they will obtain
the most pleasant fruits of their labor and pain that have endured
in this life; then their innocence will be openly acknowledged by
everyone, and they themselves, in turn, will see the terrifying vengeance
that the Lord will take upon those whom have tyrannically afflicted
them with various torments and molestations in this world. Again,
evil people will be convicted by the own testimony of their consciences,
and indeed rendered immortal, but in that state so that they will
always be tortured eternally in the never-ending fire that has been
prepared for the Devil. But on the contrary, the faithful and Elect
will truly be given crowns of honor and glory, and the Son of God
will confess their name in the presence of God the Father and of
the Angels, and every tear will be wiped from their eyes. And so,
their cause, which is damned as heresy and wickedness by Magistrates
and judges, will then be acknowledged to be the cause of the Son
of God. And the Lord will freely reward them with such glory as no
person ever can imagine with the mind. Therefore, we wait upon that
great day of the Lord with consummate eagerness so that, as happy
people, we will most fully acquire and will thoroughly enjoy throughout
eternity all of those things promised by God in Jesus Christ the
Lord. Apoc. 22:20. Come again Lord Jesus.
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