was afterwards abused through lust by the children of the first world
and also through hardness of heart by the Jews, the great Lawgiver of
the New Testament restored it according to its original ordinance,
Matt. 19:4; and the Apostle says, 1 Cor. 7:39: “The wife is bound by
the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead,
she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.”
By this we understand that a believer is not at liberty to unite in
marriage with an unbeliever; but only with one, who, with him, of
one heavenly Father, of incorruptible seed, and thus of a spiritual
generation, is born anew, heavenly and spiritual; for since they in
baptism have offered up their members unto God, and have given them to
the obedience of their Head, Christ, they cannot take away these, their
members from Christ, their Head, and be yoked together with one who is
unregenerated. Gen. 2:24; 6:1,2; Deut. 24:1; Matt. 19:8; 1 Pet. 1:23;
John 3:15; Rom. 12:1; 1 Pet. 1:22; Eph. 5:23.
6. The _Office of the secular Authority_ we recognize as an ordinance
of God, for the protection of the good, and the punishment of the
wicked; we also recognize that we owe unto it honor, obedience, custom,
taxes, and tribute, and that we should also pray for it; but we do not
find that Paul mentions it among the offices of the church, nor that
Christ taught his disciples such a thing, or called them to it; but, on
the contrary, that he enjoined them to follow him in his defenseless
life and cross-bearing footsteps, prohibiting all revenge, not only
that with arms, but also to return railing for railing; and, on the
contrary, commanding to pray for one’s enemies, to do good unto them
who do us evil; and much of a similar nature which is connected with
the office of the magistracy; hence we are afraid to fill such offices
in our Christian calling. Rom. 13:2,3; 1 Pet. 2:13; Acts 4:19; Matt.
22:17; Rom. 13:7; Tit. 3:1; Jer. 29:7; 1 Cor. 12:28; Matt. 20:25; Luke
22:25; John 8:12; 10:27; Heb. 12:2; 1 Pet. 2:21; Rom. 12:19; Matt. 5:44.
7. The _Swearing of oaths_ permitted in the Old Testament, and in which
many abuses have crept, is prohibited by Christ and James, without any
distinction; therefore it is not lawful for a Christian to swear the
oath of blasphemy. Deut. 6:13; 10:20; Matt. 5:37; James 5:12.
8. But as in a good government ordinances without penalties lose
their force the Lord also has not failed to place penalties to his
ordinances; for Paul says: “Them that sin, rebuke before all, that
others also may fear.” 1 Tim. 5:20. Christ also, in Matt. 18, has
taught us to rebuke sinners. Paul teaches to purge out the old leaven,
and to put away from among us those that are wicked; by which we
understand the _Christian Ban_ which is instituted for the shaming and
conversion of the sinner, and for the purpose of keeping the church
pure, lest a little leaven leaven the whole lump (1 Cor. 5:6,13;
Deut. 13:5; 2 Thess. 3:14; Gal. 5:9), according to Matt. 16:19: “I
will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” and Matt.
18:18: “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
This discipline is used against those who have once been enlightened,
and have received for truth the sound doctrine of Christ, but who
afterwards fall into false doctrine and heresy. These, after they
have been admonished once or twice, but still persist in their evil
principles, shall, by _Christian Separation_, be avoided and shunned,
Tit. 3:10. Further, it is also used against persons who are going
astray in the gross works of the flesh, upon sufficient confession of
such persons themselves, or upon the testimony of other commendable
witnesses; for such the church must have, before she may proceed with
the separation. Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; 1 Cor. 5:3; 6:9.
9. We understand, that _Marrying out of the Church_ is sinful, since
it is contrary to the command of the Lord, and has at various times
been reproved by the Lord and his prophets, through deeds as well as
through words; and since it is a sin, arising either from a carnal,
sensual life, or from a want of confidence in God, as though he would
not provide him with a virtuous spouse; and is, moreover, committed
with premeditation, for which reason it cannot be included in Gal.
6:1: “If a man be overtaken in a fault,... restore such a one in the
spirit of meekness,” but much rather in Num. 15:30: “The soul that
doeth aught presumptuously,... shall be cut off from among his people,”
therefore many godfearing men, who were assembled at different times,
have understood, as also we understand, that marriage out of the
church, with impenitents and unbelievers, is also to be punished with
separation from the church, that they may the more earnestly seek
repentance.
But as all sins are not equally great, and do not actually deserve
separation without previous admonition, there is observed in the
reproving of sin between brother and brother the rule in Matt.
18:15–18. And if any man is overtaken in a fault, then the rule Gal.
6:1 is followed.
Now, since we also understand that there can be no separation where
no withdrawing is found, we confess also that we are in duty bound to
admonish (1 Thess. 3:15) the one separated, to reconcile himself to
the church by true repentance; and if there is in him a willingness to
reconcile himself, to make haste with the anointing or _reinstating_,
and not to wait with those who have married out of the church, until
he or she bring with him, or her, the spouse married out of the
church. 2 Cor. 2:8. But if the good admonition should be heedlessly
rejected, since the daily intercourse of the ungodly apostates is
unedifying, polluting, offensive, and frequently hardens the sinner
in his wicked life; we confess that the person separated, or punished
with the ban, is to be avoided and shunned, even without the aforesaid
admonition, immediately after the separation, in common, free, worldly
transactions, as: In eating and drinking, buying and selling, and such
like unnecessary matters; yet with this distinction, that it be done
with such moderation and discretion that the word of God may everywhere
retain its place, and the higher laws and commandments of the Lord, by
which the believer is bound to the separated one, be not broken, but
that everywhere necessity, word, promise, love, benevolence, mercy,
justice, and Christian discretion be observed. 1 Cor. 5:5; 2 Tim.
2:16–18; 2 Thess. 3:14; Tit. 3:10; Luke 6:36; 2 Pet. 1:6.
Likewise, if one man understand the passage respecting shunning, in 1
Cor. 5, in a higher, and another man, in a lower sense, both men being
godfearing in their life, they should, until further enlightenment, be
borne with in love, without contention or disputing.
Whosoever seeks, in human weakness, to live according to these, the
chief, as well as to other commandments, doctrines, and ordinances
of the Lord (more explicitly defined in his holy Word), and thus to
accomplish his pilgrimage on this earth, of him we believe that he
will not only feel at his departure from earth a sure witness of his
conscience, and have a glad hope; but at the resurrection of the dead
will indeed find it to be so, that all his sins will be forgiven him
through the holy merits and comforting intercession of Christ. Luke
24:47; Col. 1:14; Acts 13:38; 1 Tim. 2:5; 1 John 2:1; Rom. 8:34.
Finally, we believe also, that our Savior Jesus Christ, forever
blessed, shall visibly come again in the clouds, like as he ascended
before; not so humble, lowly, and serving, as he appeared to the world
in his holy incarnation; but glorious and magnificent, with the power
and glory of all his angels; not to call the sinner to repentance,
but to hold the last judgment; to which end he will not only sit upon
the throne of his glory, but, as the natural sun in Spring-time draws
forth from the earth, not only flowers, herbs and good fruits, but also
nettles, thistles, and thorns, so also, the true Sun of righteousness,
Jesus Christ, blessed forever, will then, with the sound of the trumpet
call forth and cause to arise from the earth, all the great number of
the dead who from the beginning of the world up to the present day have
lived, died, and sown their bodies in the earth to corruption, and as
the womb her fruit so shall the sea, hell, and death give up their
dead; then shall the dead be covered with their own skin, and with
their own eyes behold God, yea, be clothed with their own bodies, in or
with which they have here served or despised the Lord. And after those
who then will be still living, will have been changed to immortality
in the twinkling of an eye, the general multitude of all mankind will
be placed before the holy throne of God, where the books of conscience
shall be opened, and also another book, which is the book of life; and
the dead shall be judged according to that which is written in these
books, that every one may receive in his own body, either good or
evil, according to what they have done, or how they have lived here.
Then will the Lord, as a righteous Judge, separate the believers from
the ungodly, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats; and
will set the believers, as obedient lambs, on his right hand; but the
unbelievers, as wicked, rebellious, stinking goats, on his left hand.
He will look upon the lambs with his loving eyes, and say to them in a
voice sweet as the honey comb: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” But
upon the goats his angry face shall be like the lightning, and his
voice sound like the thunder, and he shall say to them: “Depart from
me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels. Matt. 1:21; Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 1:15; Acts 1:11; Rev. 1:7; Matt.
24:30; 2 Thess. 1:7; Matt. 25:31; 16:27; Acts 17:31; Jude 14; Dan.
7:9,13; Mal. 4:2; 1 Thess. 4:16; Matt. 24:31; John 5:29; Dan. 12:2; 1
Cor. 15:42; 4 Esdr. 7:32; Rev. 20:13; Job 19:26; Rev. 1:7; 2 Cor. 5:10;
Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6; 1 Cor. 15:51; Matt. 25:32; Ezek. 34:17; Matt.
25:33,34,41; 4 Esdr. 16:10; 2 Thess. 1:8; Luke 17:24.
And we also further confess that then the heavens shall pass away with
a great noise, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon be changed into
blood, the stars shall fall from heaven, and the earth and all that
is therein shall be burned with fire; and then shall the irrevocable
sentence of the Greatest King be executed. 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 6:12,13.
Then shall the ungodly, like sheep for the slaughter, be driven to
hell, and be cast into the great bottomless pit, where there will be
no lack of fuel. There they shall not be laid on beds of down, but on
biting moths, and be covered with gnawing worms, and tormented with
flaming fire, so that their worm shall not die, neither shall their
fire be quenched, but the torment of their pain shall ascend as the
smoke of a fiery furnace, and it shall last forever and ever. But on
the contrary, we confess, that the blessed of God shall be caught up in
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and shall then be led by the
Lord Christ, their spiritual bridegroom, into heaven, before the throne
of God, where he shall deliver up again to the Father the kingdom and
all power, that God may be all in all. Ps. 49:14; Is. 30:33; 14:11; 2
Thess. 1:9; Mark 9:48; Is. 66:24; Rev. 9:2; 14:11; 1 Thess. 4:17; Matt.
25:6; 1 Cor. 15:28.
Then shall the blessed of God be changed through the glory of God from
glory to glory, their tears shall be wiped away; the crown of life,
of glory, and of gladness, shall be placed on their heads; palms of
victory shall be put in their hands, and they shall be adorned with
the white robe of the righteousness of the saints. Thus shall they be
joined to all the saints of God, and be led to the fountain of living
waters, there to be refreshed for everlasting consolation; they shall
be fed on the spiritual mount Zion, yea, shall follow the sweet lamb
Jesus Christ, who has bought them with his blood and death, in the
heavenly pleasure grounds, through contemplation of the holy God in
his inestimable throne, the heavens in their beauty, and the angels in
their joy. 2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:21; Is. 25:8; Rev. 7:17; James 1:12;
2 Tim. 4:8; 4 Esdr. 2:43,46; Rev. 7:9; 19:8; Matt. 8:11; Rev. 7:17;
14:1,4; 4 Esdr. 8:21; Bar. 3:24.
Then shall the blessed of God abound in heavenly joy, so that with
angelic tongues and heavenly voices they will begin to sing with all
the saints of God the new song, giving unto him who sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb, praise, honor, glory, and blessing, for ever
and ever. Amen. Rev. 14:3; 7:10,12.
_Thus done by us, the undersigned ministers, teachers, and elders of
the United Friesic and High German Churches, for ourselves, as well
as in the name of our fellow-brethren and ministers, and strangers
assembled at these proceedings with us, here at Amsterdam. October
the 7th, 1730, new style, and was subscribed to by fourteen persons,
heads of the Churches, for themselves as well as in the name of the
churches by whom they were sent._
THIRD CONFESSION.
Drawn up at Dort, at a certain peace convention on the 21st of April,
1632, being a statement of the chief articles of our general Christian
faith, as the same are taught and practiced throughout in our church.
I. OF GOD AND THE CREATION OF ALL THINGS.
Since we find it testified that without faith it is impossible to
please God, and that he that would come to God must believe that there
is a God, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek him: therefore,
we confess with the mouth, and believe with the heart, with all the
pious, according to the holy Scriptures, in one eternal, almighty, and
incomprehensible God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and in none more,
nor in any other; before whom no God was made or existed, nor shall
there be any after him: for of him, and through him, and in him, are
all things; to him be praise and honor forever and ever, Amen. Heb.
11:6; Deut. 6:4; Gen. 17:1; Is. 46:8; 1 John 5:7; Rom. 11:36.
Of this same one God, who worketh all in all, we believe and confess
that he is the Creator of all things visible and invisible; that he, in
six days, created, made, and prepared, heaven and earth, and the sea,
and all that in them is; and that he still governs and upholds the same
and all his works through his wisdom, might, and the word of his power.
1 Cor. 12:6; Gen. 1; Acts 14:15.
And when he had finished his works, and had ordained and prepared them,
each in its nature and properties, good and upright, according to his
pleasure, he created the first man, the father of us all, Adam; whom
he formed of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life, so that he became a living soul, created by God
in his own image and likeness, in righteousness and holiness, unto
eternal life. He regarded him above all other creatures, endowed him
with many high and glorious gifts, placed him in the pleasure garden or
paradise, and gave him a command and prohibition; afterwards he took a
rib from Adam, made a woman therefrom, and brought her to him, joining
and giving her to him for a helpmate, companion and wife; and in
consequence of this he also caused, that from this first[45] man Adam,
all men that dwell upon the whole earth have descended. Gen. 1:27;
2:7,17,18,22.
[45] The old edition says: _only_ or _one_. See Acts 17:26: “And hath
made of one blood all nations of men.”
II. OF THE FALL OF MAN.
We believe and confess, according to the holy Scriptures, that these
our first parents, Adam and Eve, did not continue long in this
glorious state in which they were created, but that they, seduced by
the subtlety and deceit of the serpent, and the envy of the devil,
transgressed the high commandment of God and became disobedient to
their Creator; through which disobedience sin has come into the world,
and death by sin, which has thus passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned, and, hence, brought upon themselves the wrath of God, and
condemnation; for which reason they were of God driven out of paradise,
or the pleasure garden, to till the earth, in sorrow to eat of it, and
to eat their bread in the sweat of their face, till they should return
to the earth, from which they were taken; and that they, therefore,
through this one sin, became so ruined, separated, and estranged from
God, that they, neither through themselves, nor through any of their
descendants, nor through angels, nor men, nor any other creature
in heaven or on earth, could be raised up, redeemed, or reconciled
to God, but would have had to be eternally lost, had not God, in
compassion for his creatures, made provision for it, and interposed
with his love and mercy. Gen. 3:6; 4 Esdr. 3:7; Rom. 5:12,18; Gen.
3:23; Ps. 49:8; Rev. 5:9; John 3:16.
III. OF THE RESTORATION OF MAN THROUGH THE PROMISE OF THE COMING CHRIST.
Concerning the restoration of the first man and his posterity
we confess and believe, that God, notwithstanding their fall,
transgression, and sin, and their utter inability, was nevertheless
not willing to cast them off entirely, or to let them be forever lost;
but that he called them again to him, comforted them, and showed them
that with him there was yet a means for their reconciliation, namely,
the immaculate Lamb, the Son of God, who had been foreordained thereto
before the foundation of the world, and was promised them while they
were yet in paradise, for consolation, redemption and salvation, for
themselves as well as for their posterity; yea, who through faith, had,
from that time on, been given them as their own; for whom all the pious
patriarchs, unto whom this promise was frequently renewed, longed and
inquired, and to whom, through faith, they looked forward from afar,
waiting for the fulfillment, that he by his coming, would redeem,
liberate, and raise the fallen race of man from their sin, guilt and
unrighteousness. John 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:19; Gen. 3:15; 1 John 3:8; 2:1;
Heb. 11:13,39; Gal. 4:4.
IV. OF THE COMING OF CHRIST INTO THIS WORLD, AND THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH
HE CAME.
We believe and confess further, that when the time of the promise, for
which all the pious forefathers had so much longed and waited, had come
and was fulfilled, this previously promised Messiah, Redeemer, and
Savior, proceeded from God, was sent, and, according to the prediction
of the prophets, and the testimony of the evangelists, came into the
world, yea into the flesh, was made manifest, and the Word himself
became flesh and man; that he was conceived in the virgin Mary, who was
espoused to a man named Joseph, of the house of David; and that she
brought him forth as her firstborn son, at Bethlehem, wrapped him in
swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger. John 4:25; 16:28; 1 Tim.
3:16; John 1:14; Matt. 1:23; Luke 2:7.
We confess and believe also, that this is the same whose goings forth
have been from of old, from everlasting, without beginning of days,
or end of life; of whom it is testified that he himself is the Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last; that
he is the same, and no other, who was foreordained, promised, sent,
and came into the world; who is God’s only, first and own Son; who was
before John the Baptist, before Abraham, before the world; yea, who
was David’s Lord, and the God of the whole world, the firstborn of
every creature; who was brought into the world, and to whom a body was
prepared, which he yielded up as a sacrifice and offering, for a sweet
savor unto God, yea, for the consolation, redemption, and salvation of
all mankind. John 3:16; Heb. 1:6; Rom. 8:32; John 1:30; Matt. 22:43;
Col. 1:15; Heb. 10:5.
But as to how and in what manner this precious body was prepared, and
how the Word became flesh, and he himself man, in regard to this we
content ourselves with the statement pertaining to this matter which
the worthy evangelists have left us in their accounts, according to
which we confess with all the saints, that he is the Son of the living
God, in whom alone consist all our hope, consolation, redemption,
and salvation, which we neither may nor must seek in any other. Luke
1:31,32; John 20:31; Matt. 16:16.
We furthermore believe and confess with the Scriptures, that, when he
had finished his course, and accomplished the work for which he was
sent and came into the world, he was, according to the providence of
God, delivered into the hands of the unrighteous; suffered under the
judge, Pontius Pilate; was crucified, died, was buried, and, on the
third day, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven; and that he sits
on the right hand of God the Majesty on high, whence he will come again
to judge the quick and the dead. Luke 22:53; 23:1; 24:6,7,51.
And that thus the Son of God died, and tasted death and shed his
precious blood for all men; and that he thereby bruised the serpent’s
head, destroyed the works of the devil, annulled the handwriting and
obtained forgiveness of sins for all mankind; thus becoming the cause
of eternal salvation for all those who, from Adam unto the end of the
world, each in his time, believe in, and obey him. Gen. 3:15; 1 John
3:8; Col. 2:14; Rom. 5:18.
V. THE LAW OF CHRIST, _i. e._ THE HOLY GOSPEL OR THE NEW TESTAMENT.
We also believe and confess that before his ascension he instituted his
New Testament, and, since it was to be and remain an eternal Testament,
that he confirmed and sealed the same with his precious blood, and gave
and left it to his disciples, yea, charged them so highly with it, that
neither angel nor man may alter it, nor add to it nor take away from
it; and that he has caused the same, as containing the whole counsel
and will of his heavenly Father, as far as is necessary for salvation
to be proclaimed in his name by his beloved apostles, messengers, and
ministers--whom he called, chose, and sent into all the world for
that purpose--among all peoples, nations, and tongues; and repentance
and remission of sins to be preached and testified of; and that he
accordingly has therein declared all men without distinction, who
through faith, as obedient children, heed, follow, and practice what
the same contains, to be his children and lawful heirs; thus excluding
no one from the precious inheritance of eternal salvation, except the
unbelieving and disobedient, the stiffnecked and obdurate, who despise
it, and incur this through their own sins, thus making themselves
unworthy of eternal life. Jer. 31:31; Heb. 9:15–17; Matt. 26:28; Gal.
1:8; 1 Tim. 6:3; John 15:15; Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; Rom.
8:17; Acts 13:46.
VI. OF REPENTANCE AND REFORMATION OF LIFE.
We believe and confess, that, since the imagination of man’s heart is
evil from his youth, and, therefore, prone to all unrighteousness, sin,
and wickedness, the first lesson of the precious New Testament of the
Son of God is repentance and reformation of life, and that, therefore,
those who have ears to hear, and hearts to understand, must bring forth
genuine fruits of repentance, reform their lives, believe the Gospel,
eschew evil and do good, desist from unrighteousness, forsake sin, put
off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness: for, neither baptism,
supper, church, nor any other outward ceremony, can without faith,
regeneration, change or renewing of life, avail anything to please God
or to obtain of him any consolation or promise of salvation; but we
must go to God with an upright heart, and in perfect faith, and believe
in Jesus Christ, as the Scripture says, and testifies of him; through
which faith we obtain forgiveness of sins, are sanctified, justified,
and made children of God, yea partake of his mind, nature and image, as
being born again of God from above, through incorruptible seed. Gen.
8:21; Mark 1:15; Ezek. 12:2; Col. 3:9,10; Eph. 4:22,24; Heb. 10:22,23;
John 7:38.
VII. OF HOLY BAPTISM.