Divine Election and Reprobation - Articles of
Faith
Article 1
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: That every mouth may be stopped, and
all the world may be brought under the judgment of God (Rom. 3:19).
And: For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God (Rom.
3:23). And: For the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).
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 eternal life (I John 4:9; John 3:16).
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 pleases;
by whose ministry men are called to repentance and faith in Christ
crucified. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed? And how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach
except they be sent (Rom. 10:14, 15).
Article 4
The wrath of God
abides 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.
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
have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). Likewise: To you it hath been granted
in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, etc. (Phil. 1:29).
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, A.V.). Who worketh
all things after the counsel of his will (Eph. 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, the 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 it to their own destruction, yet to holy and pious souls
affords unspeakable consolation.
Article 7
Election is the
unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation of the
world, He has 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
others, but with them involved in one common misery, God has 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 the
riches of His glorious grace; as it is written: Even as he chose
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blemish before him in love: having foreordained
us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Eph. 1:4,
5,6). And elsewhere: Whom he foreordained, them he also called:
and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified,
them he also glorified (Rom. 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 the New Testament;
since the Scripture declares the good pleasure, purpose, and counsel
of the divine will to be one, according to which He has chosen us
from eternity, both to grace and to glory, to salvation and to the
way of salvation, which He has ordained that we should walk therein
(Eph. 1:4, 5; 2:10).
Article 9
This election was
not founded upon foreseen faith and the obedience of faith, holiness,
or any other good quality or disposition in man, as the prerequisite,
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 the testimony
of the apostle: He hath chosen us (not because we were, but) that
we should be holy, and without blemish before him in love (Eph.
1:4).
Article 10
The good pleasure
of God is the sole cause of this gracious election; which does 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 anything good or
bad, etc., it was said unto her (namely, to Rebekah), The elder
shall serve the younger. Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but
Esau I hated (Rom. 9:11, 12, 13). And as many as were ordained to
eternal life believed (Acts 13:48).
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.
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.
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 the 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; Rom. 11:33, 34; 12:3; Heb. 6:17, 18).
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 decree; whom God, out of His sovereign, most just,
irreprehensible, and unchangeable good pleasure, has decreed to
leave in the common misery into which they have wilfully plunged
themselves, and not to bestow upon them saving faith and the grace
of conversion; but, permitting 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.
Article 16
Those in whom a
living faith in Christ, an assured confidence of soul, peace of
conscience, an earnest endeavor after filial obedience, a glorying
in God through Christ, is not as yet strongly felt, and who nevertheless
make use of the means which God has 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 to be
terrified by the doctrine of reprobation have they 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.
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 ought not to doubt the election and
salvation of their children whom it pleases God to call out of this
life in their infancy (Gen. 17:7; Acts 2:39; I Cor. 7:14).
Article 18
To those who murmur
at the free grace of election and the just severity of reprobation
we answer with the apostle: Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest
against God? (Rom. 9:20), and quote the language of our Savior:
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? (Matt.
20:15). And therefore, with holy adoration of these mysteries, we
exclaim in the words of the apostle: O the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past tracing out! For who hath known
the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counsellor? or who hath
first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
For of him, and through him, and unto him are all things. To him
be the glory for ever. Amen. (Rom. 11:33-36).
The Canons of Dordt, First Head of Doctrine
Divine Election and Reprobation - Rejection of
Errors
The 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 unto salvation, 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 manifested thy name unto the
men whom thou gavest me out of the world (John 17:6). And as many
as were ordained to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48). And: Even
as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blemish before him in love (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 whom he foreordained, them he also called:
and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified,
them 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, the act of faith
which from its very nature is undeserving, as well as its 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 saved
us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works,
but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in
Christ Jesus before times eternal (II Tim. 1:9).
Paragraph 4
Who teach: That
in the election unto faith this condition is beforehand demanded
that man should use his innate understanding of God [1] 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: Among whom we also all once lived in the
lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest; but God,
being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even
when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together
with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), and raised us up with
him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ
Jesus; that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus; for by grace
have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory (Eph.
2:3-9).
1. "The light of nature" has
been changed to "his innate understanding of God".
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 of works, but of him that calleth
(Rom. 9:11). And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed
(Acts 13:48). He chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy (Eph. 1:4). Ye did not choose me, but I chose
you (John 15:16). But if it is by grace, it is no more of works
(Rom. 11:6). Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he
loved us, and sent his Son (I 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 to 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
election 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 shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? (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 of 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: He hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth
(Rom. 9:18). And also this: Unto you it is given to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given (Matt. 13:11).
Likewise: I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and
didst reveal them unto babes; yea, Father, for so it was well-pleasing
in thy sight (Matt. 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: Behold, unto
Jehovah thy God belongeth heaven and the heaven of heavens, the
earth, with all that is therein. Only Jehovah had a delight in thy
fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you
above all peoples, as at this day (Deut. 10:14, 15). And Christ
said: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for
if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done
in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes
(Matt. 11:21).
The Canons of Dordt, Second Head of Doctrine
The Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men
Thereby - Articles of Faith
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
henceforward 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 steadfastly 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.
The Canons of Dordt, Second Head of Doctrine
The Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men
Thereby - Rejection of Errors
The 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: When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall 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 Christ hath become the surety and
mediator of a better, that is, the new covenant, and that a testament
is of force where there hath been death (Heb. 7:22; 9:15, 17).
Paragraph 3
Who teach: That
Christ by His satisfaction merited neither salvation itself for
anyone, 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
the most important fruit or benefit thereby gained, and bring again
out of 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, inasmuch 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 is in Christ Jesus; whom God set forth to be a propitiation,
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 they contradict
the apostle, who declares: Christ loved me, and gave himself up
for me (Gal. 2:20). Likewise: Who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth?
It is Christ Jesus that 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: This is my commandment, that ye love one another,
even as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:12, 13).
The Canons of Dordt, Third and Fourth Heads of
Doctrine
The Corruption of Man, His Conversion to God,
& the Manner Thereof - Articles of Faith
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 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.
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 imitation,
as the Pelagians of old asserted, but by the propagation of a vicious
nature, in consequence of the just judgment of God.
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.
Article 4
There remain, however,
in man since the fall, the glimmerings of natural understanding,[1]
whereby he retains some knowledge of God, of 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 understanding
of nature from being 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 understanding,
such as it is, man in various ways renders wholly polluted, and
hinders in unrighteousness, by doing which he becomes inexcusable
before God.
1. "Light" has been changed to
"understanding".
Article 5
Neither can the
decalogue delivered by God to His peculiar people, the Jews, by
the hands of Moses, save men.[1] 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 this
misery, but, being weak through the flesh, leaves the transgressor
under the curse, man cannot by this law obtain saving grace.
1. This sentence has replaced the following:
"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."
Article 6
What, therefore,
neither the innate understanding [1] 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.
1. "Light of nature" has been
changed to "innate understanding".
Article 7
This mystery of
His will God revealed 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 innate understanding of
God,[1] 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.
1. "Light of nature" has been
changed to "innate understanding of God".
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; others, 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 understand 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 our 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 its properties,
or do violence thereto; but it 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 manifests 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.
The Canons of Dordt, Third and Fourth Heads of
Doctrine
The Corruption of Man, His Conversion to God,
& the Manner Thereof - 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, as through one man sin entered
into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto
all men, for that all sinned (Rom. 5:12). And: The judgment came
of one unto 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 affections; and that, these hindrances having
been removed, the will can then bring into operation its native
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 it is exceedingly corrupt (Jer. 17:9); and
of the apostle: Among whom (sons of disobedience) we also all once
lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh
and of the mind (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: Ye were dead
through your trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1, 5). And: Every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (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 (Psa. 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 showeth
his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances unto Israel.
He hath not dealt so with any nation; and as for his ordinances,
they have not known them (Psa. 147:19, 20). Who in the generations
gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own way (Acts
14:16). And: And they (Paul and his companions) having been forbidden
of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia, when they were come
over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit
of Jesus suffered them not (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: I will put my law in their inward parts, and
in their heart will I write it (Jer. 31:33). And: I will pour water
upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will
pour my Spirit upon thy seed (Isa. 44:3). And: The love of God hath
been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was
given unto us (Rom. 5:5). This is also repugnant to the constant
practice of the Church, which prays by the mouth of the prophet
thus: Turn thou me, and I shall be turned (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 promises only temporal goods.
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: A
new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and
I will 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 the 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 according 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 (II Thess. 1:11); and that his divine
power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and
godliness (II Peter 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: So then it is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy (Rom. 9:16).
Likewise: For who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that
thou didst not receive? (I Cor. 4:7). And: For it is God who worketh
in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).
The Canons of Dordt, Fifth Head of Doctrine
The Perseverance of the Saints - Articles of
Faith
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 from 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 of 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
neglected, they are not only liable to be drawn into 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 Spirit; 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
(I 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.
The Canons of Dordt, Fifth Head of Doctrine
The Perseverance of the Saints - 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 intercession of Christ:
But the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened (Rom. 11:7).
Likewise: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for
us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifieth; who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus that died,
yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession 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 things which are necessary to persevere in
faith and which God will use to preserve faith are made use of,
even then it ever depends on the pleasure of the will whether it
will persevere or not.
For this idea contains
an outspoken Pelagianism, and while it would make men free, it makes
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, who shall
also confirm you unto the end, that ye be unreprovable in the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ (I 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: That, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much
more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from
the wrath of God through him (Rom. 5:8, 9). And contrary to the
apostle John: Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because
his seed abideth in him; and he can not sin, because he is begotten
of God (I John 3:9). And also contrary to the words of Jesus Christ:
I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and
no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who hath given
them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them
out of the 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
whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not (meaning a sin of that
character), but he that was begotten of God keepeth himself, and
the evil one toucheth him not (I 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: No creature shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord (Rom. 8:39). And John declares: And he that keepeth his commandments
abideth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth
in us, by the Spirit which he gave us (I 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 the opposite with express words in his first epistle:
Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest
what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested,
we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is. And every
one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he
is pure (I 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,
besides 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 in 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.
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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:
Having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible
(I Peter 1:23).
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Who teach: That
Christ has in no place prayed that believers should infallibly continue
in faith.
For they contradict
Christ Himself, who says: I made supplication for thee (Simon),
that thy faith fail not (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, keep
them in thy name, and: I pray not that thou shouldest take them
from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil
one (John 17:11, 15, 20).
The Canons of Dordt, Conclusion
And this is the
perspicuous, simple, and 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:
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 an 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 an interpolated Stoicism,
Manicheism, Libertinism, Turcism; that it renders men carnally secure,
since they are persuaded by it that nothing 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
to 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 ; and many other things of the same kind
which the Reformed Churches not only do not acknowledge, but even
detest with their whole soul.
Wherefore, this
Synod of Dordt, 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.
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.
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.
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.
