The Canons of Dort (part 3)
The Canons of Dort
Continued Third And Fourth Heads of Doctrine - The Corruption of Man, His Conversion to God, and the Manner in Which It Occurs Article 1 - The Effect of the Fall In the beginning man was created in the image of God. He was adorned in his mind with true and wholesome knowledge of his Creator and of all spiritual things; his will and heart were upright, all his affections pure, and therefore man was completely holy. But rebelling against God through the instigation of the devil and through his own free will, he deprived himself of these excellent gifts, and instead brought upon himself blindness, horrible darkness, vanity, and perverseness of judgment in his mind; malice, rebelliousness, and stubbornness in his will and heart; and impurity in all his affections.
Article 2 - Corruption Propagated
Since after the fall man became corrupt, he as a corrupt father brought forth corrupt children. Thus the corruption has spread from Adam to all his descendants, with the exception of Christ alone, not by imitation, as the Pelagians of old maintained, but by the propagation of a vicious nature, according to the righteous judgment of God.
Article 3 - Man’s Total Inability
Therefore all men are conceived in sin and are born as children of wrath, incapable of any saving good, inclined to evil, dead in sins, and slaves of sin. And without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit they neither will nor can return to God, reform their depraved nature, or prepare themselves for its reformation.
Article 4 - The Inadequacy of the Light of Nature To be sure, there is left in man after the fall, some light of nature, whereby he retains some notions about God, about natural things, and about the difference between what is honourable and shameful, and shows some regard for virtue and outward order. But he is so far from arriving at the saving knowledge of God and true conversion through this light of nature that he does not even use it properly in natural and civil matters. Rather, whatever this light may be, man wholly pollutes it in various ways and suppresses it by his wickedness. By doing this, he makes himself inexcusable before God.
Article 5 - The Inadequacy of the Law
What holds for the light of nature also applies to the Ten Commandments, given by God through Moses particularly to the Jews, for though it reveals the greatness of sin, and more and more convicts man of his guilt, yet it neither points out a remedy nor gives him power to rise out of this misery. Rather, weakened by the flesh, it leaves the transgressor under the curse. Man cannot, therefore, through the law obtain saving grace.
Article 6 - The Need for the Gospel
What, therefore, neither the light of nature nor the law can do, God performs by the power of the Holy Spirit through the word or ministry of reconciliation, which is the gospel of the Messiah, by which it has pleased God to save men who believe, both under the old and new dispensation.
Article 7 - Why the Gospel Is Sent to Some and Not to Others
Under the old dispensation God revealed this mystery of His will to few. Under the new dispensation, however, He took the distinction between the peoples away and revealed it to more. The cause of this very distribution of the gospel is not to be ascribed to the worthiness of one people above another, nor to the better use of the light of nature, but to the sovereign good pleasure and undeserved love of God. Therefore we to whom so great a grace is granted, beyond and contrary to all we deserve, ought to acknowledge it with a humble and grateful heart. But as regards others to whom this grace is not given, we ought with the apostle to adore the severity and righteousness of the judgments of God but by no means inquisitively to pry into them.
Article 8 - The Earnest Call by the Gospel But as many as are called by the gospel are earnestly called, for God earnestly and most sincerely reveals in His Word what is pleasing to Him, namely, that those who are called should come to Him. He also earnestly promises rest of soul and eternal life to all who come to Him and believe.
Article 9 - Why Some Who Are Called Do Not Come
It is not the fault of the gospel, nor of the Christ offered by the gospel, nor of God, who calls through the gospel and who even confers various gifts upon them, that many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not converted. The fault lies in themselves. Some of them do not care and do not receive the word of life. Others do indeed receive it, but not into their hearts, and therefore, after the joy of a temporary faith has vanished, they turn away. Still others choke the seed of the word by the thorns of the cares and the pleasure of this world, and bring forth no fruit. This our Saviour teaches in the parable of the seed, Matthew 13:1-58.
Article 10 - Why Others Who Are Called Do Come
Others who are called by the ministry of the gospel do come and are converted. This is not to be ascribed to man. He does not distinguish himself by his free will above others who are furnished with equal or sufficient grace for faith or conversion (as the proud heresy of Pelagius maintains). It is to be ascribed to God. He has chosen His own in Christ from eternity and calls them effectually in time. He gives them faith and repentance; He delivers them from the power of darkness and transfers them to the kingdom of His Son. All this He does that they may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvellous light, and may boast not of themselves but of the Lord, according to the testimony of the apostles in various places.
Article 11 - How God Brings About Conversion
God carries out His good pleasure in the elect and works in them true conversion in the following manner. He takes care that the gospel is preached to them, and powerfully enlightens their minds by the Holy Spirit, so that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God. By the efficacious working of the same regenerating Spirit He also penetrates into the innermost recesses of man. He opens the closed and softens the hard heart, circumcises that which was uncircumcised, and instils new qualities into the will. He makes the will, which was dead, alive; which was bad, good; which was unwilling, willing; and which was stubborn, obedient. He moves and strengthens it so that, like a good tree, it may be able to produce the fruit of good works.
Article 12 - The Divine Character of Regeneration This conversion is that regeneration, new creation, resurrection from the dead, making alive, so highly spoken of in the Scriptures, which God works in us without us. But this regeneration is by no means brought about only by outward preaching, by moral persuasion, or by such a mode of operation that, after God has done His part, it remains in the power of man to be regenerated or not regenerated, converted or not converted. It is, however, clearly a supernatural, most powerful, and at the same time most delightful, marvellous, mysterious, and inexpressible work. According to Scripture, inspired by the Author of this work, regeneration is not inferior in power to creation or the resurrection of the dead. Hence all those in whose hearts God works in this amazing way are certainly, unfailingly, and effectually regenerated and do actually believe. Therefore the will so renewed is not only acted upon and moved by God but, acted upon by God, the will itself also acts. Hence also man himself is rightly said to believe and repent through the grace he has received.
Article 13 - Regeneration Is Incomprehensible As long as they are in this life, believers cannot fully understand the way in which God does this work. Meanwhile, however, it is enough for them to know and experience that by this grace of God they believe with the heart and love their Saviour.
Article 14 - Faith a Gift of God
Faith is therefore a gift of God, not because it is merely offered by God to the free will of man, but because it is actually conferred on man, instilled and infused into him. It is not a gift in the sense that God confers only the power to believe and then awaits from man’s free will the consent to believe or the act of believing. It is, however, a gift in the sense that He who works both to will and to work brings about in man both the will to believe and the act of believing, and indeed all things in all.
Article 15 - Christian Attitude with Respect to God’s Undeserved Grace This grace God owes to no one. For what could He owe to man? Who has given Him first that he might be repaid? What could God owe to one who has nothing of his own but sin and falsehood? He, therefore, who receives this grace owes and renders eternal thanks to God. He who does not receive this grace, however, either does not care at all for these spiritual things and is pleased with what he has, or in false security vainly boasts that he has what he does not have. Further, about those who outwardly profess their faith and amend their lives we are to judge and speak in the most favourable way, according to the example of the apostles, for the inner recesses of the heart are unknown to us. As for those who have not yet been called, we should pray for them to God, who calls into existence the things that do not exist. But we must by no means act haughtily towards them, as if we had distinguished ourselves.
Article 16 - Man’s Will Not Taken Away But Made Alive
Man through his fall did not cease to be man, endowed with intellect and will; and sin, which has pervaded the whole human race, did not deprive man of his human nature, but brought upon him depravity and spiritual death. So also this divine grace of regeneration does not act upon men as stocks and blocks and does not take away the will and its properties, or violently coerce it, but makes the will spiritually alive, heals it, corrects it, pleasantly and at the same time powerfully bends it. As a result, where formerly the rebellion and resistance of the flesh fully dominated, now a prompt and sincere obedience of the Spirit begins to prevail, in which the true, spiritual renewal and freedom of our will consists. And unless the admirable Author of all good should deal with us in this way, man would have no hope of rising from his fall through this free will, by which he, when he was still standing, plunged himself into ruin.
Article 17 - The Use of Means The almighty working of God whereby He brings forth and sustains this our natural life does not exclude but requires the use of means, by which He according to His infinite wisdom and goodness has willed to exercise His power. So also the aforementioned supernatural working of God whereby He regenerates us, in no way excludes or overthrows the use of the gospel, which the most wise God has ordained to be the seed of regeneration and the food of the soul. For this reason the apostles and the teachers who succeeded them, in the fear of the Lord instructed the people concerning this grace of God, to His glory and to the abasement of all pride. In the meantime, however, they did not neglect to keep them, by the holy admonitions of the gospel, under the administration of the Word, the sacraments, and discipline. So today those who give or receive instruction in the Church should not dare to tempt God by separating what He in His good pleasure has willed to be kept very close together. For grace is conferred through admonitions, and the more readily we do our duty, the more this favour of God, who works in us, usually manifests itself in its lustre and the more directly His works proceed. To God alone all glory, both for the means and for their saving fruit and efficacy, is due throughout eternity. Amen.
Rejection of Errors
Having explained the true doctrine of the corruption of man and his conversion to God, Synod rejects the following errors:
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Error: It is improper to say that original sin as such is sufficient to condemn the whole human race or to deserve temporal and eternal punishment.
Refutation: This contradicts the apostle, who declares: Sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned, Romans 5:12. And in Romans 5:16 : The judgment following one trespass brought condemnation. Also Romans 6:23 : The wages of sin is death.
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Error: 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 can therefore not have been separated from his will when he fell.
Refutation: This error is contrary to the description of the image of God which the apostle gives in Ephesians 4:24, when he connects it with righteousness and holiness, which undoubtedly belong to the will.
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Error: In spiritual death the spiritual gifts are not separate from the will of man, since the will as such has never been corrupted but only hampered through the darkness of the understanding and the unorderliness of the passions. If these hindrances have been removed, the will can exert its full innate power. The will is of itself able to will and to choose, or not to will and not to choose, all manner of good which may be presented to it.
Refutation: This is an innovation and an error, and tends to extol the powers of the free will, contrary to what the prophet Jeremiah states in Jeremiah 17:9, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt. And the apostle Paul writes: Among these (the sons of disobedience) we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of the body and mind, Ephesians 2:3.
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Error: The unregenerate man is not really or totally dead in sins, or deprived of all powers unto spiritual good. 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.
Refutation: These things militate against the express testimony of Scripture: You were dead through your trespasses and sins, Ephesians 2:1, Ephesians 2:5. And every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart is only evil continually, Genesis 6:5 and Genesis 8:21. Moreover, only the regenerate and those who are called blessed hunger and thirst after deliverance from misery and after life, and offer to God the sacrifice of a broken spirit, Psalms 51:19 and Matthew 5:6.
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Error: The corrupt and natural man can so well use the common grace (which for the Arminians is 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. In this way God on His part shows Himself ready to reveal Christ to all men, since He administers to all sufficiently and efficiently the means necessary for the knowledge of Christ, for faith and repentance.
Refutation: Both the experience of all ages and Scripture testify that this is untrue. He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation, they do not know His ordinances, Psalms 147:19, Psalms 147:20. In past generations He allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways, Acts 14:16. And Paul and his companions were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them, Acts 16:6, Acts 16:7.
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Error: In the true conversion of man no new qualities, powers, or gifts can be infused by God into the will. 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. It cannot be said to be a gift, except with respect to the power to attain to this faith.
Refutation: This teaching contradicts 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 within them, and I will write it upon their hearts, Jeremiah 31:33. And: I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, Isaiah 44:3. And: God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us, Romans 5:5. This also militates against the constant practice of the Church, which prays by the mouth of the prophet: Bring me back that I may be restored, Jeremiah 31:18.
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Error: The grace whereby we are converted to God is only a gentle advising. This manner of working which consists in advising is the most noble manner in the conversion of man and is most in harmony with man’s nature. There is no reason why this advising grace alone should not be sufficient to make the natural man spiritual. Indeed, God does not bring about the consent of the will except through this moral suasion. The power of the divine working surpasses the working of Satan, in that God promises eternal while Satan promises only temporal goods.
Refutation: This is entirely Pelagian and contrary to the whole Scripture, which teaches beyond this moral suasion yet another, far more powerful and divine manner of the working of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of man: A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, Ezekiel 36:26.
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Error: In regenerating man God does not use the powers of His omnipotence so as to forcefully and infallibly bend man’s will to faith and conversion. Even if all the works of grace have been accomplished which God employs to convert man and even if God intends his regeneration and wills to regenerate him, man may yet so resist God and the Holy Spirit, and indeed often does so resist, that he entirely prevents his regeneration. It therefore remains in man’s power to be regenerated or not.
Refutation: 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. It is contrary to the apostles, who teach that we believe according to the working of His great might, Ephesians 1:19, pray that our God may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith by His power, 2 Thessalonians 1:11, and declare that His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, 2 Peter 1:3.
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Error: Grace and free will are partial causes which together work the beginning of conversion. In the order of these causes grace does not precede the working of the will. God does not efficiently help the will of man unto conversion until the will of man moves itself and determines to do this.
Refutation: The ancient Church has long ago condemned this doctrine of the Pelagians according to the words of the apostle: So it depends not upon man’s will or exertion, but upon God’s mercy, Romans 9:16. Also: For who sees anything different in you? What have you that you did not receive? 1 Corinthians 4:7. And: God is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure, Php 2:13.
Fifth Head of Doctrine - The Perseverance of the Saints Article 1 - The Regenerate Not Free from Indwelling Sin
Those whom God according to His purpose calls into the fellowship of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and regenerates by His Holy Spirit, He certainly sets free from the dominion and slavery of sin, but not entirely in this life from the flesh and from the body of sin.
Article 2 - Daily Sins of Weakness
Therefore daily sins of weakness spring up and defects cling to even the best works of the saints. These are for them a constant reason to humble themselves before God, to flee to the crucified Christ, to put the flesh to death more and more through the Spirit of prayer and by holy exercises of godliness, and to long for the goal of perfection until at last, delivered from this body of death, they reign with the Lamb of God in heaven.
Article 3 - God Preserves His Own
Because of these remains of indwelling sin and also because of the temptations of the world and of Satan, those who have been converted could not persevere in that grace if left to their own strength. But God is faithful, who mercifully confirms them in the grace once conferred upon them and powerfully preserves them in that grace to the end.
Article 4 - Saints May Fall into Serious Sins The power of God whereby He confirms and preserves true believers in grace is so great that it cannot be conquered by the flesh, yet the converted are not always so led and moved by God that they cannot in certain particular actions turn aside through their own fault from the guidance of grace and be seduced by and yield to the lusts of the flesh. They must therefore constantly watch and pray that they may not be led into temptation. When they do not watch and pray, they not only can be drawn away by the flesh, the world, and Satan into serious and atrocious sins, but with the righteous permission of God are sometimes actually drawn away. The lamentable fall of David, Peter, and other saints, described in Holy Scripture, demonstrates this.
Article 5 - The Effects of Such Serious Sins By such gross sins, however, they greatly offend God, incur deadly guilt, grieve the Holy Spirit, suspend the exercise of faith, very grievously wound their consciences, and sometimes for a while lose the sense of God’s favour - until they return to the right way through sincere repentance and God’s fatherly face again shines upon them.
Article 6 - God Will Not Permit His Elect to Be Lost But God, who is rich in mercy, according to the unchangeable purpose of His election, does not completely withdraw His Holy Spirit from His own even in their deplorable fall. Neither does He permit them to sink so deep that they fall away from the grace of adoption and the state of justification, or commit the sin unto death or the sin against the Holy Spirit and, totally deserted by Him, plunge themselves into eternal ruin.
Article 7 - God Will Again Renew His Elect to Repentance For in the first place, in their fall, He preserves in them His imperishable seed of regeneration, so that it does not perish and is not cast out. Further, through His Word and Spirit He effectually renews them to repentance. As a result they grieve from the heart with a godly sorrow for the sins they have committed; they seek and obtain through faith with a contrite heart forgiveness in the blood of the Mediator; they again experience the favour of a reconciled God and adore His mercies and faithfulness. And from now on they more diligently work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.
Article 8 - The Grace of the Triune God Preserves So it is not through their own merits or strength but through the undeserved mercy of God that they neither totally fall back from faith and grace nor persist in their backslidings and are finally lost. As far as they are concerned, this could not only easily happen but would undoubtedly happen. But as far as God is concerned, this cannot possibly happen, since His counsel cannot be changed, His promise cannot fail, the calling according to His purpose cannot be revoked, the merit, intercession, and preservation of Christ cannot be nullified, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit can neither be frustrated nor destroyed.
Article 9 - The Assurance of This Preservation
Believers themselves can be certain and are certain of this preservation of the elect to salvation and the perseverance of true believers in the faith. This assurance is according to the measure of their faith, by which they surely believe that they are and always shall remain true and living members of the Church, and that they have forgiveness of sins and life eternal.
Article 10 - The Ground of This Assurance This assurance is not produced by a certain private revelation besides or outside the Word, but by faith in the promises of God, which He has most abundantly revealed in His Word for our comfort; by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, witnessing with our spirit that we are children and heirs of God (Romans 8:16); and, finally, by the serious and holy pursuit of a good conscience and of good works. And if the elect of God did not have in this world the solid comfort of obtaining the victory and this unfailing pledge of eternal glory, they would be of all men the most miserable.
Article 11 - This Assurance Not Always Felt
Scripture meanwhile testifies that believers in this life have to struggle with various doubts of the flesh and, placed under severe temptation, do not always feel this full assurance of faith and certainty of persevering. But God, the Father of all comfort, will not let them be tempted beyond their strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13), and by the Holy Spirit will again revive in them the certainty of persevering.
Article 12 - This Assurance Does Not Lead to Complacency So far, however, is this certainty of perseverance from making true believers proud and complacent that, on the contrary, it is the true root of humility, childlike reverence, genuine godliness, patience in every conflict, fervent prayers, constancy in the cross and in the confession of the truth, and lasting joy in God. Further, the consideration of this benefit is for them an incentive to the serious and constant practice of gratitude and good works, as is evident from the testimonies of Scripture and the examples of the saints.
Article 13 - This Assurance Does Not Lead to Carelessness This renewed confidence does not produce carelessness or neglect of godliness in those who have been restored after their fall; rather, it renders them more careful and diligent to discern the ways of the Lord so that by walking in them they may retain the certainty of persevering. They do this lest, because of their abuse of His fatherly goodness, the reconciled God should again turn away His face from them (the contemplation of which is to the godly sweeter than life, and the withdrawal of it more bitter than death), and they should fall into more severe torments of soul.
Article 14 - The Use of Means Included As it has pleased God to begin this work of grace in us by the preaching of the gospel, so He maintains, continues, and perfects it by the hearing and reading of His Word, by meditation upon it, by its exhortations, threatenings, and promises, and by the use of the sacraments.
Article 15 - This Doctrine Hated by Satan But Loved by the Church This doctrine of the perseverance of true believers and saints, and of the certainty of it, which God has most abundantly revealed in His Word, for the glory of His Name and for the consolation of the godly, and which He impresses on the hearts of believers, the flesh does not really understand. Satan hates it, the world ridicules it, the ignorant and hypocrites abuse it, and the heretics oppose it. The Bride of Christ, however, has always most tenderly loved and constantly defended it as a treasure of inestimable value, and God, against whom no counsel can avail and no strength can prevail, will see to it that she continues to do so to the end. To God alone, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be honour and glory forever. Amen.
Rejection of Errors Having explained the true doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, Synod rejects the following errors:
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Error: The perseverance of the true believers is not a fruit of election or a gift of God obtained by the death of Christ. It is a condition of the new covenant, which man before his so-called decisive election and justification must fulfil through his free will.
Refutation: Holy Scripture testifies that perseverance follows out of election and is given to the elect in virtue of the death, resurrection, and intercession of Christ: The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, Romans 11:7. Also: He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also give us all things with Him? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8:32-35.
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Error: God does indeed provide the believer with sufficient powers to persevere, and is ready to preserve these in him if he will do his duty. But though all these things have been established which are necessary to persevere in faith and which God will use to preserve faith, even then it still always depends on the decision of the will whether he will persevere or not.
Refutation: This idea contains outright Pelagianism. While it wants to make men free, it makes them robbers of God’s honour. It militates against the consistent consensus of the evangelical doctrine, which takes from man all cause of boasting, and ascribes all the praise for this benefit to the grace of God alone. It is also contrary to the apostle, who declares that it is God who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 1:8.
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Error: True regenerate believers not only can fall completely and definitely from justifying faith and also from grace and salvation, but indeed they often do fall from them and are lost forever.
Refutation: This opinion makes powerless the grace of justification and regeneration and the continuous preservation by Christ, contrary to the expressed words of the apostle Paul: God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God, Romans 5:8, Romans 5:9. And contrary to the apostle John: No one born of God commits sins; for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God, 1 John 3:9, and also to the words of Jesus Christ: I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has 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, John 10:29.
Paragraph 4 Error: True regenerate believers can commit the sin unto death or the sin against the Holy Spirit.
Refutation: After the apostle John had spoken in the fifth chapter of his first letter, 1 John 5:16 and 1 John 5:17, of those who sin unto death and he had forbidden to pray for them, he immediately added 1 John 5:18 : We know that any one born of God does not sin (namely, with that kind of sin), but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
Paragraph 5 Error: Without a special revelation we can have no certainty of future perseverance in this life.
Refutation: By this doctrine the sure comfort of the true believers in this life is taken away, and the doubts of the followers of the pope are again introduced into the Church. The Holy Scriptures, however, always deduce this assurance, not from a special and extraordinary revelation, but from the very marks of the children of God and from the very constant promises of God. So especially the apostle Paul declares that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, Romans 8:39. And John writes: All who keep his commandments abide in Him, and He in them. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us, 1 John 3:24.
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Error: By its very nature the doctrine of the certainty of perseverance and salvation causes false security and is harmful to godliness, good morals, prayers, and other holy exercises. On the contrary, it is praiseworthy to doubt.
Refutation: This doctrine ignores the effective power of God’s grace and the working of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. It contradicts the apostle John, who teaches the opposite with these express words in his first letter: Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure, 1 John 3:2, 1 John 3:3. Furthermore, it is refuted by the example of the saints both of the Old and New Testament who, although they were certain of their perseverance and salvation, nevertheless continued in prayer and other exercises of godliness.
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Error: The faith of those who believe for a time does not differ from justifying and saving faith except with respect to its duration.
Refutation: In Matthew 13:20-23 and Luke 8:13-15 Christ Himself clearly indicates, besides this duration, a threefold difference between those who believe only for a time and true believers. He declares that the former receive the seed on rocky ground, but the latter on good soil or in a good heart; that the former are without root, but the latter have a firm root; and that the former are without fruit, but the latter bring forth fruit in various measures, constantly and steadfastly.
Paragraph 8 Error: It is not absurd that one, having lost his first regeneration, is again and even often born anew.
Refutation: This doctrine denies that the seed of God, by which we are born again, is incorruptible. It is contrary to the testimony of the apostle Peter: You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, 1 Peter 1:23.
Paragraph 9 Error: Christ has prayed nowhere that believers should infallibly continue in faith.
Refutation: This contradicts Christ Himself, who says: I have prayed for you (Simon) that your faith may not fail, Luke 22:32. It also contradicts the apostle John, who declares that Christ has not prayed for the apostles only, but also for all who through their word would believe: Holy Father, keep them in Thy Name, and I do not pray that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil one, John 17:11, John 17:15, John 17:20.
Conclusion This is the clear, simple, and upright declaration of the orthodox doctrine with respect to the five articles disputed in The Netherlands; and this is the rejection of the errors by which the Churches have for some time been disturbed. The Synod judges this declaration and rejection to be taken from the Word of God and to be in agreement with the Confessions of the Reformed Churches. Hereby it becomes evident that some acted very improperly and against all truth, fairness, and love by wanting to persuade the public of the following:
- The doctrine of the Reformed Churches concerning predestination and related subjects, by its very character and tendency, turns the hearts of men away from all godliness and religion.
- It is an opiate for the flesh administered by the devil, and a stronghold of Satan, where he lies in wait for all, wounds multitudes, and mortally pierces many with the darts both of despair and false security.
- It makes God the author of sin, an unjust tyrant and hypocrite; and is nothing more than a renewed Stoicism, Manicheism, Libertinism, and Mohammedanism.
- It leads to sinful carelessness, since it makes people believe that nothing can prevent the salvation of the elect, no matter how they live, and that, therefore, they may safely commit the most atrocious crimes. On the other hand, it would not in the least contribute to the salvation of the reprobate, even if they had performed all the works of the saints.
- The same doctrine teaches that God has predestined and created the greatest part of the world for eternal damnation by a mere arbitrary act of His will, without taking into account any sin.
- In the same manner in which election is the source and cause of faith and good works, reprobation is the cause of unbelief and ungodliness.
- Many innocent children of the believers are torn from their mothers’ breasts and tyrannically thrown into hell, so that neither baptism nor the prayers of the Church at their baptism can be of any help to them. And there is much more of this kind which the Reformed Churches not only do not confess but even detest wholeheartedly.
Therefore, this Synod of Dort adjures, in the name of the Lord, all who piously call upon our Saviour Jesus Christ not to judge the faith of the Reformed Churches from the slander gathered from here and there. Neither are they to judge from personal statements of some ancient or modern teachers, often quoted in bad faith, or taken out of context and explained contrary to their meaning. But one ought to judge the faith of the Reformed Churches from the public Confessions of these Churches themselves and from this declaration of the orthodox doctrine, confirmed by the unanimous consent of all and each of the members of the entire Synod.
Moreover, the Synod warns the slanderers themselves to consider the severe judgment of God which awaits them, for bearing false witness against the Confessions of so many Churches, for disturbing the consciences of the weak, and for trying to make many suspicious of the community of the true believers.
Finally, this Synod exhorts all their fellow servants in the gospel of Christ to conduct themselves in a God-fearing and pious manner when they deal with this doctrine in schools and Churches. In teaching it, both by the spoken and written word, they ought to seek the glory of God’s Name, the holiness of life, and the consolation of afflicted souls. Their thinking and speaking about this doctrine should be in agreement with the Scripture, according to the analogy of faith. And they must abstain from all those phrases which exceed the prescribed limits of the genuine meaning of the Holy Scriptures and which may provide shameless sophists with a good opportunity to attack or even slander the doctrine of the Reformed Churches. May Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is seated at the Father’s right hand and gives gifts to men, sanctify us in the truth, bring to the truth those who err, shut the mouths of the slanderers of the sound doctrine, and equip the faithful ministers of His Word with the Spirit of wisdom and discretion, that whatever they say may tend to the glory of God and the edification of those who hear them. Amen.