07055.1 - Second Helvetic Confession - 1
§55.1. The Second Helvetic Confession, A.D. 1566 -Part 1.
Literature
Confessio Helvetica Posterior . The Latin text, Zurich, 1566, 1568, 1608, 1651, etc.; recent editions by J. P. Kindler, with Preface of Winer, Sulzbach, 1825; by Fritzsche, Turici, 1839; and by Ed. Böhl, Vienna, 1866: also in the Collections of Corpus et Syntag. Confess., Oxford Sylloge, Augusti, and Niemeyer. The German text appeared frequently-Zurich, 1566; Basle, 1654; Berne, 1676, etc., and in the Collections of Beck, Mess, and Böckel. French ed. Geneva, 1566, etc. English translations in Hall’s Harmony of Protestant Confessions (not complete); another by Owen Jones: The Church of the Living God ; also the Swiss and Belgian Confessions and Expositions of the Faith, translated into the English language in 1862. London (Caryl Book Society), 1865 (complete, but inaccurate), and a third by Prof. Jerem. H. Good (of Tiffin, O.) in Bomberger’s Reformed Church Monthly (Ursinus College, Pa.), for Sept. 1872, to Dec. 1873 (good, but made from the German translation).
Joh. Jak. Hottinger: Helvetische Kirchengeschichte, Zurich, 1708, Part III. pp. 894 sqq.
Hagenbach: Kritische Geschichte der Entstehung und Schicksale der ersten Basler Confession.Basel, 1827 (1828), pp. 85 sqq.
Niemeyer: Collect., Prolegomena, pp. lxiii.-lxviii.
L. Thomas: La Confession Helvétique, études historico-dogmatiques sur le xvie. siècle.Genève, 1853.
K. Sudhoff: Art. Helvetische Confession, in Herzog’s Theol. Encyklop. 2d ed. Vol. V. pp. 749-755.
Carl Pestalozzi: Heinrich Bullinger. Leben und ausgewählte Schriften. Nach handschriftlichen und gleichzeitigen Quellen. Elberfeld, 1858 (5th Part of Väter und Begründer der reform. Kirche ), pp. 413-421.
Before we proceed to the Calvinistic Confessions, we anticipate the Second Helvetic Confession , the last and the best of the Zwinglian family.
BULLINGER.
It is the work of Henry Bullinger (1504-1575), the pupil, friend, and successor of Zwingli, to whom he stands related as Beza does to Calvin. He was a learned, pious, wise, and faithful man, and the central figure in the second period of the Reformation in German Switzerland. Born at Bremgarten, in Aargau, [See
Bullinger proved to be the right man in the right place. He raised the desponding spirits, preserved and completed the work of his predecessor, and exerted, by his example and writings, a commanding influence throughout the Reformed Church inferior only to that of Calvin. He was in friendly correspondence with Calvin, Bucer, Melanchthon, Laski, Beza, Cranmer, Hooper, [See
COMPOSITION.
Bullinger was one of the principal authors of the First Helvetic Confession, and the sole author of the Second. In the intervening thirty years Calvin had developed his amazing energy, while Romanism had formularized its dogmas in the Council of Trent.
Bullinger composed the Second Helvetic Confession in 1562, in latin, for his own use, as an abiding testimony of the faith in which he had lived and in which he wished to die. He showed it to Peter Martyr, who fully consented to it, shortly before his death (Nov. 12, 1562). Two years afterwards lie elaborated it more fully during the raging of the pestilence, and added it to his will, which was to be delivered to the magistrate of Zurich after his death, which he then expected every day. [See
PUBLICATION. But events in Germany gave it a public character. The pious Elector of the Palatinate, Frederick III., being threatened by the Lutherans with exclusion from the treaty of peace on account of his secession to the Reformed Church and publication of the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), requested Bullinger (1565) to prepare a clear and full exposition of the Reformed faith, that he might answer the charges of heresy and dissension so constantly brought against the same. Bullinger sent him a manuscript copy of his Confession. The Elector was so much pleased with it that he desired to have it translated and published in Latin and German before the meeting of the Imperial Diet, which was to assemble at Augsburg in 1566, to act on his alleged apostasy. In the mean time the Swiss felt the need of such a Confession as a closer bond of union. The First Helvetic Confession was deemed too short, and the Zurich Confession of 1545, the Zurich Consensus of 1549, and the Geneva Consensus of 1552 touched only the articles of the Lord’s Supper and predestination. Conferences were held, and Beza came in person to Zurich to take part in the work. Bullinger freely consented to a few changes, and prepared also the German version. Geneva, Berne, Schaffhausen, Biel, the Grisons, St. Gall, and Muhlhausen expressed their agreement. Basle alone, which had its own Confession, declined for a long time, but ultimately acceded. The new Confession appeared at Zurich, March 12, 1566, in both languages, at public expense, and was forwarded to the Elector and to Philip of Hesse. [See
AUTHORITY. The Helvetic Confession is the most widely adopted, and hence the most authoritative of all the Continental Reformed symbols, with the exception of the Heidelberg Catechism. Besides the Swiss Cantons and the Palatinate, in whose name it was first issued, the Reformed Churches of Neufchatel (1568), Basle, France (at the Synod of La Rochelle, 1571), Hungary (at the Synod of Debreczin, 1567), Poland (1571 and 1578), and Scotland (1566) [See
It was translated not only into German, French, and English, but also into Dutch, Magyar, Polish, Italian, Arabic, and Turkish. [See
Like most of the Confessions of the sixteenth century, the Helvetic Confession is expanded beyond the limits of a popular creed into a lengthy theological treatise. It is the matured fruit of the preceding symbolical labors of Bullinger and the Swiss Churches. It is in substance a restatement of the First Helvetic Confession, in the same order of topics, but with great improvements in matter and form. It is scriptural and catholic, wise and judicious, full and elaborate, yet simple and clear, uncompromising towards the errors of Rome, moderate in its dissent from the Lutheran dogmas. It proceeds on the conviction that the Reformed faith is in harmony with the true Catholic faith of all ages, especially the ancient Greek and Latin Church.
Hence it is preceded by the Imperial edict of 380 (from the recognized Justinian code), which draws the line between orthodoxy and heresy, and excludes as heresies only the departures from the Apostolic and Nicene faith. It inserts also the brief Trinitarian creed ascribed to the Roman Pope Damasus (from the writings of Jerome), and referred to in said decree as a standard of orthodoxy. [See
Upon the whole, the Second Helvetic Confession, as to theological merit, occupies the first rank among the Reformed Confessions, while in practical usefulness it is surpassed by the Heidelberg and Westminster Shorter Catechisms, and in logical clearness and precision by the Westminster Confession, which is the product of a later age, and of the combined learning and wisdom of English and Scotch Calvinism. [See
CONTENTS. In view of the importance of this Confession, I give here a condensed translation of the original. [See
Chap. I. The Holy Scriptures . -This chapter lays down the evangelical rule of faith, or the objective principle of Protestantism.
We believe and confess that the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the true Word of God, and have sufficient authority in and of themselves, and not from men; since God himself through them still speaks to us, as he did to the Fathers, the Prophets, and Apostles. They contain all that is necessary to a saving faith and a holy life; and hence nothing should be added to or taken from them (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19). From the Scriptures must be derived all true wisdom and piety, and also the reformation and government of the Churches, the proof of doctrines, and the refutation of errors (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Timothy 3:15; 1 Thessalonians 2:13;Matthew 10:20). God may illuminate men directly by the Holy Spirit, without the external ministry; yet he has chosen the Scriptures and the preaching of the Word as the usual method of instruction. The apocryphal books of the Old Testament, though they may be read for edification, are not to be used as an authority in matters of faith. [See
We condemn the doctrines of the Gnostics and Manichæans, and all others who reject the Scriptures in whole or in part.
Chap. II. The Interpretation of the Scriptures; the Fathers, Councils, and Traditions . -We acknowledge only that interpretation as true and correct which is fairly derived from the spirit and language of the Scriptures themselves, in accordance with the circumstances, and in harmony with other and plainer passages (2 Peter 1:20-21).
We do not despise the interpretation of the Greek and Latin fathers and the teaching of Councils, but subordinate them to the Scriptures; honoring them as far as they agree with the Scriptures, and modestly dissenting from them when they go beyond or against the Scriptures. In matters of faith we can not admit any other judge than God himself, who through his Word tells us what is true and what is false, what is to be followed, and what is to be avoided.
We reject traditions which contradict the Scriptures, though they may claim to be apostolical. For the Apostles and their disciples could not teach one thing by writing, and another by word of mouth. St. Paul preached the same doctrine to all the churches (1 Corinthians 4:17;2 Corinthians 1:13;2 Corinthians 12:18). The Jews likewise had their traditions of the elders, but they were refuted by our Lord as ’making void the Word of God’ (Matthew 15:8-9; Mark 7:6-7).
Chap III. Of God, his Unity and Trinity .-We believe and teach that God is one in essence (Deuteronomy 6:4; Exodus 20:2-3, etc.), and three in persons-Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Father hath begotten the Son from eternity; the Son is begotten in an unspeakable manner; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeds from both, and is to be worshiped with both as one God. There are not three Gods, but three persons-consubstantial, coeternal, distinct as to person and order, yet without any inequality. The divine essence or nature is the same in the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Luke 1:35;Matthew 3:17;Matthew 28:19;John 1:32; John 14:26; John 15:26). In short, we accept the Apostles’ Creed, which delivers to us the true faith.
We therefore condemn the Jews and Mohammedans, and all who blaspheme this holy and adorable Trinity. We also condemn all heretics, who deny the Deity of Christ and the Holy Ghost.
Chap. IV Of Idols, Images of Gods and of Saints. -As God is a spirit, he can not be represented by any image (John 4:24; Isaiah 40:18 hew:18 hew:18; Isaiah 44:9-10; Jeremiah 16:19; Acts 17:29, etc.). And although Christ assumed man’s nature, yet he did so not in order to afford a model for sculptors and painters. He instituted for the instruction of the people the preaching of the Gospel, and the sacraments, but not images. Epiphanius tore down an image of Christ and some saint in a church, because he regarded it contrary to the Scriptures.
Chap. V. The Adoration and Invocation of God through the only Mediator Jesus Christ .-God is the only object of worship (Matthew 4:10). And he is to be worshiped ’in spirit and in truth’ (John 4:24), and through our only and sufficient Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1).
Hence we neither adore nor invoke the departed saints, and give no one else the glory that belongs to God alone (Isaiah 42:8; Acts 4:12).
Nevertheless, we neither despise nor undervalue the saints, but honor them as the members of Christ and the friends of God, who have gloriously overcome the flesh and the world; we love them as brethren, and hold them up as examples of faith and virtue, desiring to dwell with them eternally in heaven, and to rejoice with them in Christ.
Much less do we believe that the relics of saints should be worshiped. Nor do we swear by saints, since it is forbidden to swear by the name of strange gods (Exodus 23:13;Deuteronomy 10:20).
Chap. VI.The Providence of God.-We believe that the wise, eternal, and almighty God by his providence preserves and rules all things in heaven and earth (Psalms 113:4-6; Psalms 139:3-4; Acts 17:28;Romans 11:36).
We therefore condemn the Epicureans, who blasphemously affirm that God neither sees nor cares for men (Psalms 94:3-9).
We do not despise as unnecessary the means whereby divine Providence works, but make use of them as far as they are commended to us in the Word of God. We disapprove of the rash words of those who say that our efforts and endeavors are vain.
St. Paul well knew that he was sailing under the providence of God, who had assured him that he must bear witness at Rome (Acts 23:11), and that not a soul should perish (Acts 27:21; Acts 27:34); nevertheless, when the sailors were seeking flight, he said to the centurion and the soldiers: ’Unless these abide in the ship, ye can not be saved’ (Acts 27:31). For God has appointed the means by which we attain to the end. [See
Chap. VII. Of the Creation of all Things; of Angels, the Devil, and Man. -This good and almighty God created all things, visible and invisible, by his eternal Word, and preserves them by his coeternal Spirit (Psalms 33:6; John 1:3). He made all things very good and for the use of man (Genesis 1:31).
We condemn the Manichæans who impiously imagine two coeternal principles, the one good, the other evil, and two antagonistic gods.
Angels and men stand at the head of all creatures. Angels are ministers of God (Psalms 104:4), and ministering spirits sent for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14). The devil was a murderer and liar from the beginning (John 8:44).
Some angels persevered in obedience, and are ordained unto the faithful service of God and men; but others fell of their own accord and ran into destruction, and have become enemies of God and men.
Man was made in the image and likeness of God, and placed by God in paradise as ruler over the earth (Genesis 1:27-8; Genesis 2:8). This is celebrated by David in the 8th Psalm. Moreover, God gave him a wife and blessed them (Genesis 2:22 sqq.).
Man consists of two diverse substances in one person-of an immortal soul, which, when separated from the body neither sleeps nor dies, and of a mortal body, which at the last judgment, shall be raised again from the dead.
We condemn those who deny the immortality, or affirm the sleep of the soul, or teach that it is a part of God.
Chap. VIII. Of Man’s Fall, Sin, and the Cause of Sin. -Man was created according to the image of God, in true righteousness and holiness, good and upright. But by the instigation of the serpent, and through his own guilt, he fell from goodness and rectitude, and became, with all his offspring, subject to sin, death, and various calamities.
Sin is that inborn corruption of man, derived and propagated from our first parents, whereby we are immersed in depraved lusts, averse to goodness and prone to all evil, and unable of ourselves to do or think any thing that is good. And as years roll on, we bring forth evil thoughts, words, and deeds, as corrupt trees bring forth corrupt fruits (Matthew 12:33). Therefore we are all by nature under the wrath of God, and subject to just punishment. By death we understand not only the dissolution of the body, but also the eternal punishments of sin (Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:5; Romans 5:12).
We therefore acknowledge that there is original sin in all men, and that all other sins, whether mortal or venial, also the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost, spring from this same source. We acknowledge also that sins are not equal, but some are more grievous than others (Matthew 10:14-15; Matthew 11:24;1 John 5:16-17).
We condemn the Pelagians, who deny original sin; the Jovinianists, who with the Stoics declare all sins to be equal; and those who make God the author of sin against the express teaching of Scriptures (Psalms 5:5-7; John 8:44). When God is said to blind or harden men, or to give them over to a reprobate mind (Exodus 7:13; John 12:40), it is to be understood as a righteous judgment. Moreover, God overrules the wickedness of men for good, as he did in the case of the brethren of Joseph.
Chap. IX. Of Free Will and Man’s Ability. -The will and moral ability of man must be viewed under a threefold state.
First, before the fall, he had freedom to continue in goodness, or to yield to temptation.
Secondly, after the fall, his understanding was darkened and his will became a slave to sin (1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 3:5; John 8:34; Romans 8:7). But he has not been turned into ’a stone or stock;’ nor is his will (voluntas ) a non-will (noluntas ). [See
Thirdly, in the regenerate state, man is free in the true and proper sense of the term. His intellect is enlightened by the Holy Spirit to understand the mysteries and the will of God; and the will is changed by the Spirit and endowed with the power freely to will and to do what is good (Romans 8:5-6; Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26; John 8:36;Php 1:6;Php 1:29;Php 2:13). In regeneration and conversion men are not merely passive, but also active. They are moved by the Spirit of God to do of themselves what they do. But even in the regenerate there remains some infirmity. The flesh strives against the spirit to the end of life (Romans 7:14; Galatians 5:17).
We condemn the Manichæans, who deny that evil originated in the free will of man, and the Pelagians, who teach that fallen man has sufficient freedom to keep God’s commandments. The former are refuted by Genesis 1:27; Ecclesiastes 7:29; the latter by John 8:36.
Chap. X. The Predestination of God and the Election of Saints. -God has from eternity predestinated or freely chosen, of his mere grace, without any respect of men, the saints whom he will save in Christ (Ephesians 1:4; 2 Timothy 1:9-10).
God elected us in Christ and for Christ’s sake, so that those who are already implanted in Christ by faith are chosen, but those out of Christ are rejected (2 Corinthians 13:5). [See
Although God knows who are his, and a ’small number of the elect’ is spoken of, yet we ought to hope well of all, and not rashly count any one among the reprobate (2 Timothy 2:19;Matthew 20:16;Php 1:3sqq.).
We reject those who seek out of Christ whether they are chosen, and what God has decreed concerning them from eternity. We are to hear the gospel and believe it, and be sure that if we believe and are in Christ, we are chosen. We must listen to the Lord’s invitation, ’Come unto me’ (Matthew 11:28), and believe in the unbounded love of God, who gave his own Son for the salvation of the world, and will not that ’one of these little ones should perish’ (John 3:16;Matthew 18:14). [See
Let, therefore, Christ be the mirror in which we behold our predestination. We shall have a sufficiently evident and sure testimony of being written in the book of life if we live in communion with him, and if in true faith he is ours and we his. And if we are tempted concerning our predestination, let this be our comfort-that God’s promises are general to believers, as he himself says: ’Seek, and ye shall find, and whosoever asketh shall receive’ (Matthew 7:8 sq.). We pray with the whole Church, ’Our Father which art in heaven;’ by baptism we are ingrafted into the body of Christ, and we are often fed in the Church by his flesh and blood unto life everlasting. Thus strengthened, let us ’work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it, is God who worketh in us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure’ (Php 2:12-13). [See
Chap. XI. Jesus Christ true God and Man, and the only Saviour of the World. -We believe and teach that the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, was from eternity predestinated by the Father to be the Saviour of the world; that he was begotten of the Father from all eternity in an ineffable manner (Isaiah 53:8; Micah 5:2; John 1:1). Therefore the Son, according to his Divinity, is coequal and consubstantial with the Father; true God, not merely by name or adoption or by conferring of a dignity, but in essence and nature (1 John 5:20; Php 2:6; Hebrews 1:2-3; John 5:18; John 17:5).
We abhor the blasphemous doctrine of Arius and Servetus in opposition to the Son of God.
We also believe and teach that the same eternal Son of God became the Son of Man, of the seed of Abraham and David, not through the will of man (Ebionites), but he was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the ever-Virgin Mary (ex Maria semper virgine ), as taught in the gospel history and the Epistles (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:34-35; 1 John 4:3; Hebrews 2:16). The body of Christ was therefore neither a mere appearance, nor brought down from heaven (the Gnostics, Valentinus and Marcion). Moreover his soul was not without reason (Apollinaris), nor his flesh without a soul (Eunomius); but he had a rational soul, and a flesh with senses capable of true suffering (Matthew 26:36; John 12:27).
Hence we acknowledge in one and the same Lord Jesus Christ two natures, a divine and a human, which are conjoined and united in one person without absorption or confusion and mixture.
We worship one Lord Christ, not two; one true God-Man, coequal (or of one substance, consubstantialis,homoousios) with the Father as regards his divine nature, and coequal with us men, sin only excepted (Hebrews 4:15), as regards his human nature.
We therefore abominate Nestorianism, which dissolves the unity of person, and Eutychianism, Monothelitism, and Monophysitism, which destroy the proper character of the human nature.
We do not teach that the divine nature of Christ did suffer, nor that the human nature of Christ is every where present. The true body of Christ was not deified so as to put off its properties and to be absorbed into the divine substance. But we believe that our Lord Jesus Christ did truly suffer for us in the flesh (1 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 4:1), and that the Lord of glory was crucified for us (1 Corinthians 2:8). For we accept believingly and reverently the ’communication of properties,’ which is deduced from the Scriptures and employed by the ancient Church in explaining and harmonizing seemingly contradictory passages. [See
We believe and teach that Christ, in the same flesh in which he died, rose from the dead (Luke 24:30), and ascended to the right hand of God in the highest heaven (Ephesians 4:10), which signifies his elevation to the divine majesty and power, but also a definite place (John 14:2; Acts 3:21). The same Christ will come again to judgment, when the wickedness of the world shall have reached the highest point, and Antichrist corrupted the true religion. He will destroy Antichrist, and judge the quick and the dead (2 Thessalonians 2:8; Acts 17:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:17). The believers will enter into the mansions of the blessed; the unbelievers, with the devil and his angels, will be cast into everlasting torment (Matthew 25:41; 2 Timothy 2:11; 2 Peter 3:7).
We reject all who deny the real resurrection; who teach the ultimate salvation of all the godless, and even the devil. We also reject the Jewish dream of a millennium, or golden age on earth, before the last judgment.
We believe and teach that Christ is the only Redeemer of the whole world, in whom all are saved that were saved before the law, under the law, and under the gospel, or will yet be saved to the end of the world (John 10:1, John 10:7; Acts 4:12; Acts 15:11; 1 Corinthians 10:1, 1 Corinthians 10:4; Revelation 13:8).
We therefore confess and teach with a loud voice: Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of the world, the King and High-priest, the true Messiah, whom all the shadows and types of the Law and the Prophets did prefigure and promise. God did send him to us, and we need not look for another. There remains nothing but that we should give all glory to him, believe in him, and rest in him alone.
And, to say much in a few words, we sincerely believe and loudly confess all that has been determined out of the Holy Scriptures concerning the mystery of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and is contained in the creeds and decrees of the first four œcumenical Councils held in Niceæ, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, in the Creed of St. Athanasius, and all similar creeds; and we reject all contrary to the same. In this manner we retain, unchanged and entire, the Christian, orthodox, and catholic faith; knowing that nothing is contained in the aforesaid creeds which does not correspond with the Word of God and aid in setting forth the true faith. [See
Chap. XII. The Law of God. -The law of God explains the will of God and the difference between what is good and bad, just and unjust. It is therefore good and holy. It is twofold: the law of nature inscribed on the hearts of men (Romans 2:15), and the written law of Moses. The latter we divide for perspicuity’s sake into the moral law, comprehended in the two tables of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:1-26; Deuteronomy 5:1-33); the ceremonial law, concerning worship and sacred rites; and the judicial, concerning polity and economy. The law of God is complete, and allows no addition nor subtraction (Deuteronomy 4:2;Isaiah 30:21). It is given to us, not that by keeping it we might be justified, but that we may be led to a knowledge of sin and guilt, and, despairing of our own strength, turn by faith to Christ (Romans 4:15; Romans 3:20; Romans 8:3; Galatians 3:21-24). Christ is the end of the law, and redeemed us from the curse of the law (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:13). He enables us to fulfill the law, and his righteousness and obedience are imputed to us through faith. The law is abolished inasmuch as it no more condemns and works wrath in them that believe, who are under grace, and not under the law. Besides, Christ has fulfilled all the types of the law, and put the substance in the place of the shadows; in him we have all fullness. Nevertheless, the law is useful in showing us all virtues and vices, and in regulating the life of new obedience. Christ did not come to destroy, but to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17).
We therefore condemn old and modern Antinomianism.
Chap. XIII. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. -The law works wrath and announces the curse (Romans 4:15;Deuteronomy 27:26); the gospel announces grace and blessing (John 1:17). Nevertheless, those who lived before and under the law were not deprived altogether of the gospel, but had great promises (Genesis 3:15; Genesis 22:18; Genesis 49:10). The promises were partly temporal, partly spiritual and eternal. By the gospel promises the fathers obtained salvation in Christ. In the strict sense of the term the gospel is the glad tidings of salvation by Christ, in whom we have forgiveness, redemption, and everlasting life. Hence the history of Christ recorded by the four Evangelists is justly called the gospel.
Compared with the legalism of the Pharisees the gospel appeared to be a new doctrine, as it is even now called new by the Papists; but in fact it is the oldest doctrine, for God foreordained from eternity to save the world through Christ, and has revealed this plan in the gospel (2 Timothy 1:9-10). It is therefore a grave error to call our evangelical faith a recent innovation.
Chap. XIV. Of Repentance and Conversion. -Repentance (metanoia) is a change of heart produced in a sinner by the word of the gospel and the Holy Spirit, and includes a knowledge of native and actual depravity, a godly sorrow and hatred of sin, and a determination to live hereafter in virtue and holiness. True repentance is turning to God and all good, and turning away from the devil and all evil. It is the free gift of God, and not the result of our own strength (2 Timothy 2:25).
We have examples of true repentance in the woman that was a sinner (Luke 7:38), in Peter after his fall (Luke 22:62), in the prodigal son (Luke 15:18), and the publican in the temple (Luke 18:13).
It is sufficient to confess our sins to God in private and in the public service; it is not necessary to confess to a priest, for this is nowhere commanded in the Scriptures; although we may seek counsel and comfort from a minister of the gospel in time of distress and trial (comp. James 5:16). The keys of the kingdom of heaven, out of which the Papists forge swords, sceptres, and crowns, are given to all legitimate ministers of the Church in the preaching of the gospel and the maintenance of discipline (Matthew 16:19; John 20:23; Mark 16:15; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19). We condemn the profitable popish doctrine of penance and of indulgences, and apply to them Peter’s word to Simon Magus: ’ Thy money perish with thee’ (Acts 8:20).
Chap. XV. Of True Justification of Believers. -’To justify’ means, with the Apostle when treating of this subject, to remit sins, to absolve from guilt and punishment, to receive into grace, and to pronounce just (Romans 8:33;Acts 13:38;Deuteronomy 25:1;Isaiah 5:23). By nature we are all sinners and guilty of death before the tribunal of God, and we can be justified only by the merits of Christ crucified and risen again. For his sake God is reconciled, and imputes to us not our sins, but the righteousness of Christ as our own, so that we are purged and absolved from sin, death and damnation, and heirs of eternal life. Properly speaking, God alone justifies and justifies only for Christ’s sake, not imputing to us our sins, but the righteousness of Christ.
We therefore teach and believe, with the Apostle, that the sinner is justified by faith alone in Christ (sola fide in Christum ), not by the law, nor by any works (Romans 3:28; Romans 4:2 sqq.; Ephesians 2:8-9). Righteousness is imputed to faith because it receives Christ as our righteousness and ascribes all to the grace of God, but not because it is our work: it is the gift of God. As we receive food by eating, so faith appropriates Christ.
We do not divide justification by ascribing it partly to the grace of God or to Christ, and partly to our works or merits, but solely and exclusively to the grace of God in Christ through faith. We must first be justified before we can do good works. Love is derived from faith (1 Timothy 1:5; Galatians 5:6).
Therefore we speak here not of a false, dead faith, but of a living and vivifying faith which lives in Christ, our life, and proves its life by living works. Even James (James 2:1-26) does not contradict our doctrine, for he speaks of a dead faith which even demons have, and he shows that Abraham proved his living and justifying faith by works.
Chap. XVI. Faith and Good Works, their Reward and the Merit of Man. -Christian faith is not a human opinion and persuasion, but a most firm confidence and clear and steady assent of the mind, a most certain apprehension of the truth of God as laid down in the Scriptures and the Apostles’ Creed, and therefore of God himself as the highest good, and especially of the divine promise and of Christ, who is the crown of all promises. Such a faith is a free gift of God, who of his grace grants it to his elect through his Holy Spirit by means of the preaching of the gospel and believing prayer when and in what measure he pleases. This faith has degrees and is subject to growth; hence the prayer of the Apostles: ’Lord, increase our faith’ (Luke 17:5). [Then follow a number of Scripture proofs: Hebrews 11:1; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Php 1:29; Romans 12:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Romans 10:16; Acts 13:48;Galatians 5:6, etc.]
We teach that good works proceed from a living faith, through the Holy Spirit, and are done by believers according to the will and rule of the Word of God (2 Peter 1:5 sqq.; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:23).
Good works must be done, not to merit thereby eternal life, which is a free gift of God (Romans 6:23), nor for ostentation or from selfishness, which the Lord rejects (Matthew 6:2; Matthew 23:5), but for the glory of God, to adorn our calling and to show our gratitude to God, and for the good of our neighbor (Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 3:17; Php 2:4; Titus 3:14). Although we teach that man is justified by faith of Christ and not by any works, we do not condemn good works. Man is created and regenerated by faith in order to work unceasingly what is good and useful. ’Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit’ (Matthew 7:17). ’He that abideth in me, the same bringeth forth much fruit’ (John 15:5). ’We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them’ (Ephesians 2:10).
We condemn, therefore, all who despise good works or declare them useless; at the same time we do not deem them necessary to salvation, in the sense that without them no one was ever saved; for we are saved by Christ alone; but good works are necessarily born of faith, and improperly salvation may be ascribed to them which properly is ascribed to grace (Romans 11:6).
God is well pleased and approves of works which are done by us through faith (Acts 10:35; Colossians 1:9-10). He also richly rewards them (Jeremiah 31:16;Matthew 5:12;Matthew 10:42). But we ascribe this reward not to the merits of man who receives it, but to the goodness and faithfulness of God who promises and grants it, although he owes nothing to his creatures. Even if we have done all, we are unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10). We say with Augustine, that God crowns and rewards in us, not our merits, but the gifts of his grace. It is a reward of grace, not of merit. We have nothing but what we have received (comp. 1 Corinthians 4:7).
We therefore condemn those who so defend the merits of men as to set at naught the grace of God.