^J Ar-rr-7 4. / 6X I90I A COMMENTARY The Confession of Faith. WITH QUESTIONS FOR THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS AND BIBLE CLASSES BY THE ,/ REV. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER HODGE. D.D., Pkofessor op Didactic and Polemical Theology in the Theological Seminary of the Peesbyterian Church at Princeton, N. J. WITH APPENDIX. PHILADELPHIA: PRESBYTERIAK BOARD OF PUBLICATION A:N'D SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK, 1901. Rntered according to Act of Congress, in th« year 186^, by THE TRUSTEES OP THE '^ PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, In the Clerk's Office of tlie District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of PennsylTania. PREFACE. This Commentary on the "Confession of Faith" consists of an analysis of its chapters and sections, with proofs and iHustra- tions of its doctrines. It aims to bring out the natural and his- torically-established sense of the text. Its design is to stimulate and facilitate the study of this excellent body of Christian truth among theological students, Bible-class scholars, ruling elders and ministers. It was first published in 1869, and, having been cir- culated in Great Britain and Ireland as well as in America, the Board of Publication has been encouraged to issue a new edition. Two appendices have been added to this edition. The first contains the statement of the representative theologians, Dr. Chai'les Hodge and Dr. Henry B. Smith, as to the sense in which the historical Presbyterian Church understands intrants into her ministrj'to accept the " Confession of Faith as containing the sys- tem of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures ; " in which under- standing the two branches of the Presbyterian Church are thus shown to have been perfectly agreed. The second appendix con- tains the only two official explanations of the sense in which the Westminster Confession is understood by their respective denom- inations made by representative bodies — i. e. the " Auburn Decla- ration" in 1837 and the "Declarative Act" of the United Pres- byterian Sj'nod of Scotland in 1879. In the mean time very much light has been thrown upon the Westminster Assembly and its proceedings by the labors of the \ Rev. Dr. A. F. Mitchell, professor of ecclesiastical history in St. \ Mary's College. St. Andrews. In 1867 and 1874 he published with a learned introduction, the Minutes of the Wcstmiii.ster Asftem- hly and his Baird lecture for 1882, The Westminster Assembly^ its History and Standards. The new information, however, relates 4 PREFACE. entirely to the sources from which the doctrine of our standards was drawn, and to the part performed b}^ the several persons co- operating in their composition. It does not give occasion to the modification of a single interpretation advanced in this Com- mentary. While the doctrine of this Confession is in perfect harmony with that of the Reformed divines of Holland and Switzerland, especially with the form their doctrine assumed after the rise of what has been called "the Covenant Theology," nevertheless Dr. Mitchell shows that it is drawn almost entirely from British sources : "There was perhaps no branch of the mediasval Church where the system of doctrine developed by Augustine had so unquestionably retained its old supremacy to the last as the Anglo-Norman. The system of its greatest theologians, Anselm and Bradwardine, appropriated by Wyclif and the Lollards, con- tinued or revived by Tyndale, Frith, Barnes and their coadjutors, may be said to have formed the substratum of the Reformed teaching." "With respect to the doctrine of the covenants, which some assert to have been derived from Holland, I think myself now, after careful investigation, entitled to maintain that there is nothing taught in the Confession which had not been long before in substance taught by RoUock and Howie in Scot- land, and by Cartwright, Preston, Perkins, Ames and Ball in England. The remarkable treatise of Ball on The Covenant of Ch-ace was published with recommendatory notices by Reynolds, Cawdrey, Calamy, Hill, Ashe and Burgess at the very time the Assembly began to frame its Confession." Dr. Mitchell proves that the Confession was conformed in the order of its chapters and the type of its doctrine more to the "Articles of the Irish Church " than to any other model. These were drawn up by Archbishop Ussher in 1615, when he was pro- fessor of divinity in Trinity College, Dublin. The correspond- ence of the Larger Catechism is also very striking with the Bodij of Christian Dnctnne, a compilation attributed to Ussher when a youth, and circulated in the Westminster Assembly. A. A. Hodge. Peinckton, N. J., June, 18S5. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. A SHORT HISTORY OF CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS. PAQI The Scriptures the only Standard of faith and practice. — Man's part in the matter of interpretation. — The origin of Creeds. — The true use of Creeds and Confessions. — Difi'erent conditions imposed upon private members and upon office-bearers. — The "Adopting Act" of the original Synod. — The final adoption of our Standards in their present form, A.D. 17S8. — I. The ancient Creeds which ex- press the faith of the whole Church, viz.: the Apostles', the Nicene, the Athanasian Creeds, and those of the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon. — II. The Creeds and Confessions of the dilTercnt branches of the Church since the Reformation : 1. The Doctrinal Standards of the Church of Rome. — 2. The Doctrinal Standards of the Greek Church. — 3. The Confessions of the Lutheran Church. — 4. The Con- fessions of the Reformed or Calvinistic Churches. — The adoption of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms by the Presbyterians and Congregationalists of America 29 CHAPTER II. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF THE "WESTMINSTER CONFESSIOS AND CATECHISMS. Thb usual mode in which the Protestant Confessions were produced. — The origin of the " Canons of the Synod of Dort" and the " West- minster Confession." — The Reformation in Scotland, its origin, character and political eftects. — The " National Covenant," A.D. 1638, and the '•Solemn League and Covenant," A.D. 1643. — The Reformation in England, its origin, character and effect.s. — The tyranny of the Stuirts. — The Long Parliament. — The ordinance calling an Assemblj of Divines at Westminster -The compositioD & > CONTENTS. PAQI of the Assembly. — Its organization. — The different parties repre- sented.— The preparation of a " Directory of Worship, Government and Discipline." — The preparation of the Confession of Faith and Catechisms. — The establishment by Parliament of the Presbj-terian Church. — The ratification of the Confession by the Parliament and by the Scotch Assembly. — The Dissolution of the Long Parliament. — The adoption of the Westminster Standards by the original Pres- byterian Synod in America, A.D. 1729. — The passages relating to the civil magistrate excepted to and altered 41 COMMENTARY ON THE CONFESSION OF FAITH. CHAPTER I.^ OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. ^ Beotion I. teaches — (1.) The light of nature sufiicicnt to leave men without excuse. (2.) Not sufficient to enable any to attain salva- tion. (3.) Hence God has at different times made a supernatural revelation of himself to some favored portion of the race. (4.) This revelation, having been committed to vrriting, is exclusively em- braced in the Holy Scriptures. Sections II. and III. teach — (1.) That these Holy Scriptures include the Old and the New Testaments and all the particular books named. (2.) The books called "Apocrypha" form no part of the Sacred Canon. (3.) All the canonical books were divinely inspired, and hence are an infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice. Sections IV. and V. teach — (1.) The authority of Scripture rests not on the Church, but immediately upon God. (2.) Their internal characteristics prove the Scriptures to be divine. (3.) Their high- est evidence is the direct work of the Spirit on the heart. Section VI, teaches — (1.) The Scriptures are a complete rule of faith and practice. (2.)' Nothing in the present dispensation is to be added to them or to take their place. (3.) Yet the spiritual illumi- nation of each person by the Holy Ghost is necessary. (4.) Men are left to apply the principles revealed to practical details accord- ing to the leadings of Providence. Section VII. affirms that the Scriptures are peuspicuous. Sections VIII. teaches — (1.) That the absolute rule of faith is the Scripture in the original tongues. (2.) That we possess an essen- tially pure and reliable text. (3.) That they ought to be tranp- lated into the languages of all people. CONTENTS. 7 PAGB Bections IX. AND X. teach — (1.) The only infallible rule for the in- terpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself. (2.) The Scriptures are the suprcmt judge iu all controversies respecting religion 67 CHAPTER II. ^ OF GOD AND OF THE HOLY TRINITY. Sections I. and II. teach — (T.) There is but one lining and tiyie God. (2.) This God is a free personal Spirit, without bodily parts or pas- sions. (3.) He possesses all absolute perfections in himself. (4.) He possesses all relative perfections with respect to his creatures. (5.) He is the self-existent and absolutely independent Supporter, Proprietor and Disposer of all his creatures. Section III. teaches — (1.) That Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each equally that one God, and possess in common all the divine perfec- tions. (2.) That they are three distinct persons although one sub- stance. (3.) That they are distinguished from one another by cer- tain personal properties and modes of operation and of manifesta- tion— as follows, etc 89 CHAPTER III. '^ OF god's eternal decree. Sections I. and II. teach — (1.) God has from eternity followed an unchangeable plan in all his works. (2.) This plan comprehends all things and events whatsoever that come to pass. (3.) This plan, as a whole, and in all its parts, is an absolutely sovereign purpose. (4.) This purpose is in reference to all its objects certainly eflS- cacious. (5.) It is in all its parts consistent with his own perfec- tions. (6.) It is in all things perfectly consistent with the nature of the creatures severally affected by it. Sections III., IV. and V. aflSrm — (1.) That God's eternal purpose determines what individuals shall be effectually called through faith unto salvation, and that the rest shall be condemned for their sin. (2.) This determination is unchangeable. (3.) It is not conditioned upon foreseen faith or obedience, but is sovereignly determined by the wise counsel of his own will. (4.) The ultimate end of his election is the praise of his glorious grace. Section VI. aflBrms — (1.) That God's all comj)rehensive purpose de- termines all the means and conditions as well as all the ends he has chosen to effect, and that in the logical order the end takes prece- dence of the means. (2.) That in the matter of human redemption the "end" is the salvation of the elect — the " means" are redemp- tion by Christ, regeteration, sanctification, etc. (3.) That hence the 8 CONTENTS. PAGI "means" are only intended to be applied to those for whom the " end" is intended; i. e., no^e but the elect are redeemed by Christ, effectually called, etc., etc. Section VII. affirms — (1.) That the sovereign destination of some to grace involves the sovereign determination to withhold grace from the non-elect. (2.) That God treats the non-elect upon principles of strict justice, and condemns them for their sins. Section VIII. teaches that this doctrine is a great mystery, and should be handled with special care Ill CHAPTER IV. ^ OF CREATION. Section I. teaches — (1.) Neither the elementary substance nor the form of the universe nor of any of its parts is self-existent or eternal. (2.) The triune God originally created the elementary substances of the universe out of nothing, and arranged all the forms they as- sume, and reconstructed this earth into its present condition in the space of six days. (3.) When finished all God's works were very good, each after its kind. (4.) The final end of God in his creation was the manifestation of his own glory. Section II. teaches — (1.) Man was created immediately by God, and last of all the creatures. (2.) The whole human family has de- scended from one pair. (3.) God originally created man in his own image — (a) a personal spirit (b) an intelligent, righteous and holy spirit, with dominion over the creatures. (4.) God furnished Adam with a moral nature in a perfect state, and a positive revelation of his will. (5.) But while capable of obedience, Adam was left, under a special test, capable of falling 127 CHAPTER V. >" OF PROVIDENCE. Section I. teaches — (1.) God continues to uphold all his creatures in being, and in the possession and exercise of the qualities and active powers with which he endowed them. (2.) God directs all the ac- tions of his creatures according to their respective properties and relations. (3.) This providential control extends to all his crea- tures and all their actions. (4.) It is the consistent execution in time of his eternal purpose. (5.) Its final end is the manifestation of his own glory. Sections II. and III. teach — (1.) God's providential control over every being and event is certainly efficacious. (2.) As to manner, it is in every case perfectly consistent with the nature of the agent subject to it. (3.) God ordinarily effects his purposes through the CONTENTS. 9 PAQl Agency of second causes. (4.) At times, however, immediately by the direct energy of his power. Section IV. teaches — (1.) God not oily permits sinful acts, but he directs and controls them. (2.) Yet the sinfulness of these actions is only from the sinning agent, and God in no case is either the author or approver of sin. Suctions V., VI. and VII. teach — (1.) The general providence of God comprehends several distinct systems. (2.) These are subordinated to each other in a certain order — the general to the special, the physi- cal to the moral, and the moral to the spiritual. (.3.) The relation of providence to the gracious influences of the Spirit, and of "com- mon " to "efficacious" grace. (4.) The discipline of God's people. (5.) The judicial abandonment of the reprobate 144 CHAPTER VI.^ OF THE FALL, OF MAN, OP SIN AND OP THE PUNISHMENT '• THEREOF. Section I. teaches — (1.) Our first parents being created holy, and en- dowed with sufficient knowledge, sinned. (2.) Their sin was eating the forbidden fruit. (3.) They were seduced thereto by Satan. (4.) This sin was, by way of permission, embraced in the divine plan. (5.) God designed to order it to his own glory. The twofold mys- tery involved in the origin of sin stated and considered. Section II. teaches — (1.) By this sin they were immediately cut off from communion with God. (2.) And consequently lost all original right- eousness. (3.) And became dead in sin and wholly defiled. (4.) This moral corruption extends to all faculties and parts of soul and body. Sections III. and IV. teach — (1.) Adam was both the natural and federal head of all mankind. (2.) The penal consequences of his sin are at birth actually inflicted upon all his descendants. (3.) Hence they all inherit his moral corruption. (4.) This innate de- pravity is total, involving disinclination and inability for all good, and inclination to ail evil. (5.) From this inward state all actual transgressions proceed. Sections III. and IV. teach — (1.) Innate moral corruption remains in the regenerate as long as they live. (2.) In them it is pardoned lor Christ's fake, (.i.) It is gradually brought into subjection by the Holy Ghost. (4.) All that remains of it is intrinsically of the nature of sin. (5.) Original sin (t. e., a corrupt habit of soul) is as much a violation of God's law as actual transgression. (6.) All sin whether original or actual, deserves punishment. (7.) All sin is death, unless grace prevent ]6< 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. ^ OF god's covenant with man. ' Vila Sections I. and II. teach — (L) Every creature is under an essential and unlimited debt to his Creator. (2.) But the fruition of the Creator by the creature is a matter of sovereign grace. (3.) God has graciously pleased to offer men and angels a reward upon con- dition they render an obedience to which thej* are previously bound. (4.) In this covenant Adam is the representative of his descendants. (5.) The promise of their covenant was life — the condition, perfect obedience. Sections III. and IV. — The Arminian and Calvinistic views of the Covenant of Grace contrasted. The Calvinistic view stated and sup- ported with proof. Sections V. and VI. — (1.) This covenant, although variously admin- istered, is one. (2.) Its manner of administration under the Old Testament stated. (3.) Its manner of administration under the New Testament stated 183 CHAPTER VIII.*' OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. Section I. teaches — (1.) The covenanted Head of the Church is the God-man. (2.) His mediatorial office embraces the three functions of prophet, priest and king. (3.) As Mediator, Christ is Head Oi his Church, Heir of all things and Judge of the world. Section II. teaches — (1.) Christ was true man. (2.) He was abso- lutely sinless. (3.) He was very God, the second Person of the Trinity. (4.) The God-man was one single person. (5.) This single personality was that of the Eternal Son of the Father. (6.) The two natures in him continue distinct. Sections III. and IV. teach — (1.) The human nature of Christ was greatly exalted by the incarnation. (2.) Christ performs all media- torial actions as God-man. (3.) He acts in virtue of his appoint- ment by the Father. (4.) He assumed it voluntarily. (5.) He acts as Meiliator in his estate of exaltation, and (6) in his estate of hu- miliation. Sections V. and VI. teach — (I.) Christ satisfied for his people (a) by his obedience, (6) by his sutTcrings. (2.) lla fully satisfied for them in strict jusb.je. (3.) He secured for them (a) remission of sins, (6) an everlasting inheritance. (4.) The benefits of this redemption are applied to his people by the Holy Ghost. Sbction VII. teaches — (1.) The properties of each nature of Christ are CONTENTS. 11 PAD I exercised in all his actions as Mediator. (2.) The Person is indif- Icruntly designated in the style of either nature, and the properties (if either nature are indifferently predicated of the Person. bECTioN VIII. teaches — (1.) Christ as mediatorial King applies his re- demption to those for whom he purchased it. (2.) He applicH it (a) by intercession, (i) revelation, (c) effectual calling, (d) providences, (a.) He certainly applies it to "all those for whom he hath pur- chased it" 218 CHAPTER IX. K OF FREE WILL. Section I. teaches that man is endowed with a rational and moral power of self-determination. Sections II., III., IV. and V. teach the peculiar conditions of human Jiberty. (1.) In the estate of original innocence. (2.) In the pres- ent estate of sin. (3.) In the estate of imperfectly sanctified saints on earth. (4.) In the estate of glory 230 CHAPTER X. "^ OF EFFECTUAL CALLING. Sections I. and II. teach — (1.) That there is an internal as well as an external call necessary to save men. (2.) Its subjects are the elect only. (3.) The Holy Ghost is sole agent, who effects it by the in- strumentality of the truth. (4.) It consists in an effectual act of divine power. (5.) It effects a radical change in the moral condition of the whole man. Section III. teaches that infants and others incapable of knowing the truth are regenerated by the Spirit without it. Section IV. teaches — (1.) The non-elect will perish certainly, but only because they freely reject Christ. (2.) Men can be saved only by Christ. (3.) In the case of sane adults the knowledge of Christ and his work is necessary 2ii CHAPTER XL" OF JUSTIFICATION. Sections I. and II. teach — (1.) All and only those effectually called are justified. (2.) Justification is a judicial act of God, and is a declaration that the person justified is right in the eye of law. (3.) It proceeds upon the imputation of Christ's righteousness. (4.) This 12 CONTENTS. PAOl imputation is conditioned on faith. (5.) This faith is the gift of God. (6.) Faith alone, but not faith which is alone, justilies. Section III. teaches — (1.) That justification proceeds upon the full legal satisfaction rendered by Christ. (2.) It is nevertheless a stu- pendous exercise of free grace. Section IV. teaches that the elect are never justified until they believe in Christ. Sections V. and VI. teach — (1.) That justified men, although they may temporarily fall under God's displeasure because of sin, will never be finally abandoned. (2.) The Old Testament believers were justified upon the same principles as modern believers 249 CHAPTER XII, OF ADOPTION. / The relation of regeneration, faith, justification, sauctification and adoption. The elements and consequences of adoption 263 CHAPTER XIII. »^ OF SANCTIFICATION. This Chapter teaches — (1.) The gracious principle implanted in re- generation is gradually developed in sanctification. (2.) Sanctifica- tion is both negative and positive. (3.) It involves the entire man. (4.) It is never perfect in this life. (5.) Nevertheless, through grace it shall never fail 274 CHAPTER XIV. "^ OF SAVING FAITH. Saving faith defined. Section I. teaches — (1) That saving faith is the work of the Holy Ghost (2) by means of the AVord, (3) and strengthened by the use of the sacraments and prayer. Section II. teaches — (1.) Saving faith rests upon the truth of God speaking in the Word. (2.) It embraces all the contents of the \f ord. (3.) It is a complex state of mind varying with its objects. (4.) The specific act of faith which justifies includes (a) assent, (6) trust. Section III. teaches — (1.) True faith varies in ditforoiit persons in degree, and in the same person at ditferent times. (2.) It is assailed and often enfeebled, but always gains the victory. (3.) In time it grows up to the measure of full assurance..^, , 284 CONTENTS. 15 CHAPTER XV. ^ OF KEPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. PAoa Bections I. AND II. teach— (1.) True repentance rests on (a) sense of guilt and pollution, (h) apprehension of mercy in Christ. (2.) It consists in (a) hatred of fin, (6) turning unto God, (c) an endeavour after new obedience. (3.) It is both a duty and a grace. (4.) It should be faithfully preached. Sections III., IV. and V. teach— (1.) There is no merit in repentance. (2.) The greatest sin when repented of will be forgiven. (3.) We should repent of the sinfulness of our nature, and of every sinful act in particular. Section VI. teaches— (1.) That every man should make private con- fession of sin to God. (2.) Should confess injuries to the person injured, and public offences to the Church. (3.) Christians should forgive all repentant offenders..... 297 CHAPTER XVI. *^ OF GOOD WOKKS. Sections I. and II. teach- (1.) Every work in order to be good must (o) be commanded ; (h) must spring from a good motive. (2.) The effects of good works are various and as follow. Section III. teaches— (1.) The ability to produce good works is wholly from God. (2.) Continuous sanctifying as well as regenerative grace is needed. (3.) Nevertheless wc must exert ourselves and use means thereto. Sections IV., V. and VI. teach— (1.) Works of " supererogation " are impossible. (2.) The best works of believers imperfect. (3.) They are nevertheless accepted through Christ and rewarded for his sake. Section VII. teaches— (1.) Works of unregenerate men may be good relatively to their fellows. (2.) But relatively to God they are all irreligious and unacceptable 313 CHAPTER XVII. '^ OP THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. This Chapter teaches— (1.) The true believer can never finally fall away. (2.) The ground of this certain perseverance is not in the believer, but in th? purpose, promise and grace of God. (3.) The true believer may, however, fall temporarily, the occasions and effecU of trhich falls arc as follow 321 14 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVIII. OF ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION. PASI Sections I. and II. teach— (1.) There is a false assurance which dis- appoints. (2.) There is a true assurance amounting to an infallible certainty. (3.) It rests (a) upon the divine truth of the promises, {b) upon the inward evidence of grace, (c) upon the witness of the Spirit. Sections III. and IV. (each— (I.) This assurance is not of the essence of faith. (2.) It is attainable, and should be sought as a great ad- vantage. (3.) May be lost in divers ways. (4.) The true believer is never allowed finally to fall into despair, and assurance once lost may be revived 33fi CHAPTER XIX. OF THE LAW OP GOD. Sections I. and II. teach — (1.) Man was created a moral agent, sub- ject to a moral law of absolute perfection. (2.) God put Adam, the natural head of the human race, under trial of obedience for a spe- cial probationary period. (3.) This law since the fall is not the condition of salvation, but continues the standard of life and cha- racter. (4.) It is summarily comprehended in the Ten Command- ments. Sections III., IV. and V. teach — (1.) God gave the Jews also a cere- monial law. (2.) Also a system of judicial laws. (3.) Both these have ceased to be in force in the Christian dispensation. (4.) On the other hand, the moral law continues in unabated force. Sections VI. and VII. teach — (1.) Since the fall no man can be saved by the law. (2.) Believers are not under the law as a condition of falvation. (3.) Nevertheless, the law is of manifold uses under the gospel, as follows 357 CHAPTER XX. OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY AND LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. Section I. teaches — (1) Christian liberty is common to all believers in all ages, and includes (a) deliverance from the guilt of sin, (6) and from the bondage of corruption, (c) peace with God, {d) deliver- ance from the bondage of Satan, (e) and of afflictions and death, (/) and of the grave. (2.) This liberty is greater under the new than under the old dispensation. CONTENTS. 16 PAOI Sections II., III. and IV. teach — (1.) God alone is Lord of the con- science. (2.) His will is revealed only in Scripture. (3.) Hence either to require or to yield belief to the doctrines of men is treason to God. (4.) Christian liberty has, however, its duo evid and limits. (5.) God has establislicd both Church and State, and requires obe- dience to each. (6.) The Church has a divine right of exercising government and discipline 365 CHAPTER XXI. OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP AND THE SABBATH DAY. Sections I. and II. teach — (1.) The obligation of worship is a dictate of nature. (2.) Scripture prescribes how we should worship God, and all man-prescribed methods arc sinful. (3.) The Father, Son and Holy Ghost the only proper object of worship, and all worship must be offered through Christ. (4.) Worship of saints and angels unlawful. Sections III. and IV. teach — (1.) Prayer is a principal part of wor- ship. (2.) It should be offered for all men. (3.) The conditions of acceptable praj'er as follow. (4.) The object of prayer as follows. Sections V. and VI. teach of public, family and private worship, etc. Sections VII. and VIII. teach of the law of the Sabbath and the proper method of its observance 387 CHAPTER XXIT. OF LAWFUL OATHS AND VOWS. Sections I., II., III. and IV. teach — (1.) The nature of a lawful oath. (2.) The only Name in which it is lawful to swear. (3.) The pro- priety of taking oaths upon lawful occasions. (4.) The sense in which an oath is to be interpreted. (5.) The extent and grounds of its obligation. 8bctions v., VI. AND VII. teach of the nature and obligations of a TOW - CHAPTER XXIII. OP THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. Sections I. and II. teach — (1.) Civil government originates not with the people, but with God; this proved. (2.) The pro.ximate end the good of the community; the ultimate end the glory of God. (3.) Christian magistrates should promote piety, etc. (4.) It id lawful for Christians to be magistrates. (5.) Justifiable war is lawful. 397 16 CONTENTS. PAoa Sections III. ani IV. teach, in opposition to Re nish and Erastian error, that the State and Church are not to interfere with one another 408 CHAPTER XXIV. OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. Sections I., II. and III. teach — (1.) Marriage is a divine institution, and a religious as well as a civil contr.act. (2.) The ends of the institution are as follow. (3.) Lawful only between one woman and one man at a time. (4.) Marriage lawful for all men, and good. (5.) Persons of different religions should not intermarry. Sections IV., V. and VI. teach — (1.) The divine law as to incest. (2.) As to DIVORCE 420 CHAPTER XXV. OF THE CHURCH. V Sections I., II. and III. teach — (1.) The scriptural doctrine as to the invisible catholic Church. (2.) As to the visible catholic Church. (3.) That this catholic visible Church is endowed with the means of grace. (4.) That out of it is no ordinary possibility of salvation. Sections IV., V. and VI. teach — (1.) That the visible catholic Church varies in purity and visibility at different times and places. (2.) That it can never fail. (3.) That Christ is the only Head of the Church 435 CHAPTER XXVI. OP COMMUNION OF SAINTS. This Chapter teaches — (1.) Of the union of Christ and his people. (2.) Of his consequent fellowship with them. (3.) Of their union with one another. (4.) Their consequent fellowship. (5.) Their mutual duties. 441 CHAPTER XXVII. OP THE SACRAMENTS, / Sections I. and II. teach — (1.) A sacrament is an ordinance instituted by Christ. (2.) It consists of (a) a visible sign; (i) an inward spiritual grace signified by it. (3.) The nature and consequents of the sacramental union between the sign and the grace. (4.) They are designed to "represent, seal and apply" the benefits of Christ to believers. (5.) And to be badges of our profession. CONTENTS. 17 PAQI Section III. teaches — (1.) That the virtue of the sacrament is not in- herent. (2.) That it does not depend upon the piety or "intention" of the administrator. (.3.) But upon (a) the divine appointment, (6) the sovereign grace of the Holy Ghost. Section IV. teaches that there are only two sacraments. Section V. teaches that the sacraments of the old and the new dis- pensations were substantially the same 459 CHAPTER XXVIII. »^ OF BAPTISM. Sections I., II. and III. teach— (1.) Baptism is a New Testament sacrament. (2.) It is a washing with water in the name of the Trinity. (3.) Its design is to signify and seal our engrafting into Christ and our engagement to be his. Section IV. teaches that not only professors of religion, "but also the infants of one or both believing parents, are to be baptized." Sections V., VI. and VII. teach — (1.) Baptism is not essential to sal- vation. (2.) Its observance, however, a duty. (3.) Its efiScacy is not tied down to the moment of application. (4.) To be adminis- tered but once 481 CHAPTER XXIX. ^ OF THE lord's SUPPER. Section I. teaches — (1.) Of the time and the Person by whom this or- dinance was instituted. (2.) Of its perpetual obligation. (3.) Of its design and effect. Sections II., III., IV., V. and VI. teach the true doctrine in opposition to the following errors: (1.) Transubstantiation. (2.) Sacrifice of the mass. (3.) The elevation and worship of the elements. (4.) Den3'ing the cup to the laity. (5.) Private communion. Sections VII. and VIII. teajh — (1.) The relation between the bread and wine and the flesh and blood of Christ only moral. (2.) Christ's body is present only virtually. (3.) Believers feed on him only through faith, (5) precisely as they do at other times 495 CHAPTER XXX. OF CHURCH CENSURES. bKCTTON I. teaches — (1.) Christ has appointed a government for tlj« Church, (2) which is distinct from that of the State, 2 18 CONTENTS. PAOI Sections II., III. and IV. teach— (1.) As to the nature and extent of church power. (2.) As to the ends of diacipline. (3.) As to the methods through which it should be administered 504 CHAPTER XXXI. OF SYNODS AI^D COUNCILS. SnCTiON I. teaches of synods and councils, and the right of church officers to call them. Suctions II., III. and IV. teach — (1.) The classes of subjects falling under the jurisdiction of synods and councils. (2.) The grounds of their binding power. (3.) The extent to which submission to their decisions is a duty 514 CHAPTER XXXII. / OF THK STATE OF MEN AFTER DEATH, AND OF THE RESURREC- TION OF THE DEAD, Section I. teaches — (1.) Man consists of soul and body. (2.) In death the body decomposes, and the soul of the believer (a) is at once made perfect, (h) continues conscious and happy, (c) is with Christ, (d.) The souls of the wicked are in conscious misery with the devil, (e.) These conditions are irreversible, (/.) Romish doctrine as to pur- gatory, etc., disproved. Sections II. and III. teach — (1.) There is to be a simultaneous resur- rection of the just and of the unjust, (2.) Those then living are to be changed. (3.) The identical bodies laid in the grave to be raised, (4.) The animal bodies of the saints to be made "spiritual," (5.) The bodies of the unjust to be raised to dishonour 526 CHAPTER XXXIII. *^ OF THE LAST JUDGMENT, Skction's I. AND II. teach — (1.) God has appointed a day of general judgment. (2.) He has committed the judgment to the Mediator. (3.) The persons to be judged include angels and the whole human race. (4.) It is to reach to thoughts and feelings as well as words and deeds. (5.) It will vindicate the justice and display the grace of God. (fi.) The righteous are to be exalted to eternal honour and felicity. (7.) The ungodly are to be remanded to conscious misery and dishonour for all eternity. Section III. teaches — (1.) Of the certainty of the fact, (2) but of the uncertainty of the tine of the judgment, and of the designed effect of this uncertainty 538 Appendix I „ 539 Appendix II , 544 INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. A SHORT HISTORY OF CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS. It is asserted in the first chapter of this Confession, and vin- dicated in this exposition that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, having been given by inspiration of God, are for man in his present state the only and the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice. All that man is to believe concerning God, and the entire duty which God requires of man, are revealed therein, and are to be believed and obeyed because contained therein, because it is the word of God. This divine word, there- / fore, is the only standard of doctrine which has intrinsic authority binding the conscience of men. And all other standards are of j value or authority only in proportion as they teacb what the i Scriptures teach. While, however, the Scriptures are from God, the understand-! ing of them belongs to the part of men. Men must interpret to/ the best of their ability each particular part of Scripture sepa- rately, and then combine all that the Scriptures teach upon every subject into a consistent whole, and then adjust their teachingH upon different subjects in mutual consistency as parts of a har- monious system. Every student of the Bible must do this, and all make it obvious that they do it by the terms they use in their prayers and religious discourse, whether the}- admit or deny the propriety of human creeds and confessions. If they refuse the assistance afforded by tho statements of doctrine slowly elabo 19 20 INTRODUCTION. rated and defined by the Chui'ch, they must make out their own creed by their own unaided wisdom. The real question is not, (as often pretended, between the word of God and the creed of man, but between the tried and proved faith of the collective body of God's people, and. the private judgment and the un- . assisted wisdom of the repudiator of creeds. As we would have anticipated, it is a matter of fact that the (Church has advanced very gradually in this work of the accurate interpretation of Scripture and definition of the great doctrines I which compose the system of truth it reveals. The attention of the Church has been specially directed to the study of one doc- ti-ine in one age, and of another doctrine in another age. And as •she has thus gradually advanced in the clear discrimination of ; gospel truth, she has at different periods set down an accurate statement of the results of her new attainments in a Creed or *" Confession of Faith, for the purpose of preservation and popular instruction. In the mean time, heretics spring up on all occa- sions, who pervert the Scriptures, who exaggerate certain aspects of the truth and deny others equally essential, and thus in effect - turn the truth of God into a lie. The Church is forced, there- - fore, on the great principle of self-preservation, to form such ac- _ curate definitions of every particular doctrine misrepresented as shall include the whole truth and exclude all error, and to make such comprehensive exhibitions of the system of revealed truth as a whole that no one part shall be either unduly diminished or exaggerated, but the true proportion of the whole be preserved. At the same time, provision must be made for ecclesiastical dis- cipline, and to secure the real co-operation of those who profess to work together in the same cause, so that public teachers in the same communion may not contradict one another, and the one pull down what the other is striving to build up. Formularies must also be prepared, representing as far as possible the com- mon consent, and clothed with public authority, for the instruc- tion of the members of the Church, and especially of the children. Creeds and Confessions, therefore, have been found necessary in all ages and branches of the Church, and, when not abused, have been useful for the following purposes: (1.) To mark, disseminate and preserve the attainments made in the knowledge HISTORY OF CEEEDS. 21 of Christian truth bj' any branch of the Church in any crisis of its development. (2.) To discriminate the truth fi-om the glosses of false teachers, and to present it in its integrity and due pro- portions. (3.) To act as the basis of ecclesiastical fellowship among those so nearly agreed as to be able to labor together in harmony. (4. ) To be used as instruments in the great work of popular instruction. It must be remembered, however, that the matter of these Creeds and Confessions binds the consciences of men only so far as it is purely scriptural, and because it is so ; and as to the form in which that matter is stated, they bind those only who have voluntarily subscribed the Confession, and because of that subscription. In all churches a distinction is made between the terms upon which private members are admitted to membership, and the terms upon which office-bearers are admitted to their sacred trusts of teaching and ruling. A Church has no right to make anything a condition of membership which Christ has not made a condi- tion of salvation. The Church is Christ's fold. The sacraments are the seals of his covenant. All have a right to claim admit- tance who make a credible profession of the true religion — that is, who are presumptively the people of Christ. This credible pro- fession of course involves a competent knowledge of the funda- mental doctrine of Christianity — a declaration of personal faith in Christ and consecration to his service, and a temper of mind and habit consistent therewith. On the other hand, no man car. be inducted into any office in any Church who does not profess to believe in the truth and wisdom of the constitution and laws which it will be his duty to conserve and administer. Otherwise all harmony of sentiment and all efficient co-operation in action would be impossible. The original Synod of our American Presbyterian Church in the year 1729 solemnly adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as the doctrinal standards of the Church. The record is as follows : "All the ministers of the Synod now present, which were eighteen in number, except one, that declared himself not pre- pared, [but who gave his assent at the next meeting], after propo* 22 INTKODUCTION. ing all the scruples any of them had to make against any articlea and expressions in the Confession of Faith, and Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, have unanimously agreed in the solution of those scruples, and in de- claring the said Confession and Catechisms to be the Confession of their Faith, except only some clauses in the twentieth and twenty-third chapters, ' Concerning the Civil Magistrate.' " Again, in the year 1788, preparatory to the formation of the General Assembly, "the Synod, having fully considered the draught of the Form of Government and Discipline, did, on review of the whole, and hereby do, ratify and adopt the same, as now altered and amended, as the Constitution of the Presby- terian Church in America, and order the same to be considered and strictly observed as the rule of their proceedings, by all the inferior judicatories belonging to the body. " The Synod, having now revised and corrected the draught of a Directory for Worship, did approve and ratify the same, and do hereby appoint the same Directory, as now amended, to be the Directory for the worship of God in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Thej'^ also took into consideration the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and, having made a small amendment of the Larger, did approve and do hereby approve and ratify the said Catechisms, as now agreed on, as the Catechisms of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. And the Synod order that the Directory and Catechisms be printed and bound up in the same volume with the Confession of Faith and the Form of Government and Discipline; that the whole be considered as the standard of our doctrine, government, discipline and worship, agreeably to the resolutions of the Synod at their present session." What follows is a very brief and general history of the princi- pal Creeds and Confessions of the several branches of the Chris- tian Church. In this statement they are grouped according tc the order of time and the churches which adhere to them : I. Tlce ancient Creeds^ icMch exx>ress the common faith of the V)hole Church. The Crf eds formed before the Reformation are very few, relato HISTORY OF CREEDS. 23 to the fundamental principles of Christianity, especially the Trin- ity and the Person of the God-man, and are the common heritage of the whole Church. 1st. The Apostles Creed. This was not written by the apostles, but was gradually formed, bj' common consent, out of the Con- fessions adopted severally by particular churches, and used in the reception of its members. It reached its present form, and universal use among all the churches, about the close of the second century. This Creed was appended to the Shorter Cate- chism, together with the Lord's Praj'er and Ten Commandments, in the first edition published by order of Parliament, "not as though it were composed by the apostles, or ought to be esteemed canonical Scripture, . . . but because it is a brief sum of Chris- tian faith, agreeable to the Word of God, and anciently received in the churches of Christ." It was retained by the framers of our Constitution as part of the Catechism.* It is as follows : " I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth ; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord ; who was con- ceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; he de- scended into hell (Hades) ; the third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost ; the Holy Catholic Church ; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen." 2d. The Nicene Creed. This Creed is formed on the basis of the Apostles' Creed, the clauses relating to the consubstantial divinity of Christ being contributed by the great Council held in Nice in Bithynia, A. D. 325, and those relating to the divinity and personality of the Holy Ghost added by the Second (Ecu- menical Council, held at Constantinople, A, D. 381 ; and the "filioque" clause added by the Council of the Western Church, held at Toledo, Spain, A. D. 569. In its present form it is the Creed of the whole Christian Church, the Greek Church reject- ing only the last added clause. It is as follows : ♦Assembly's Digest, p. 11. 24 INTKODUCTIOJS'. "I believe in one God, Maker of heaven and earth, and all things visible and invisible ; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father ; by whom all things were made : who, for us men and for our salva- tion, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried ; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead ; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord the Giver of life, who pro- ceedeth from the Father and the Son (filioque), who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified ; who spake by the prophets. And I believe in one Catholic and Apos- tolic Church ; 1 acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins ; and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." 3d. As subsequently heretical opinions sprang up in its bosom with respect to the constitution of the person of Christ, the Church was forced to provide additional definitions and muni- ments of the truth. One heretical tendency culminated in Nes- torianism, which maintains that the divine and human natures in Christ constitute two persons. This was condemned by the Creed of the Council of Ephesus, A. D. 43L The opposite heretical tendency culminated in Eutyehianism, which maintains that the divine and human natures are so united in Christ as to form but one nature. This was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon, A. D. 451. These Creeds, defining the faith of the Church as embracing two natures in one person, are received and approved by the entire Church. They are sufficiently quoted in the body of the following "Commentary." 4th. The Athanasian Creed. This Creed was evidently com- posed long after the death of the great theologian whose name it bears, and after the controversies closed and the definitions estab- lished by the above-mentioned Councils of Ephesus and Chalce- HISTOHY OF CREEDS. 25 don. It is a grand and unique monument of the unchangeable faith of the whole Church as to the great mysteries of godliness, the Trinitj' of Persons in the one God and the duality of natures in the one Christ. It is too long to quote here in full. What relates to the Person of the God-man is as follows : "27. But it is necessary to eternal salvation that he should also faithfully believe in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 28. It is therefore true faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is both God and man. 29. He is God ; gene- rated from eternity from the substance of the Father ; man born in time from the substance of his Mother. 30. Perfect God, perfect man, subsisting of a rational soul and human flesh, 31. Equal to the Father in respect to his divinity, less than the Father in respect to his humanity. 32. Who, although he ia God and man, is not two, but one Christ. 33. But two not from the conversion of divinity into flesh, but from the assumption of his humanity into God. 34. One not at all from confusion of substance, but from unity of Person. 35. For as rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ," etc. II. The Creeds and Confessions of the different hrancJies of the Church since the Reformation. 1st. The Doctrinal Standards of the Church of Rome. In order to oppose the progress of the Reformation, Pope Paul III. called the last great Oecumenical Council at Trent (1545- 1563). The deliverances of this Council, entitled Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, form the highest doctrinal rule known to that Church. The decrees contain the positive state- ments of doctrine. The canons explain the decrees, distribute the matter under brief heads and condemn the opposing of Prot- estant doctrine on each point. The Roman Catechism, which explains and enforces the canons cf the Council of Trent, was prepared and promulgated by the authority of Pope Pius IV., A.D. 1556. The Tridentine Confession of Faith was also imposed upon all the priests and candidates of the Romish Church and converts from other churches. In addition to these, difi'erent papal bulls and some private 26 INTRODUCTION. writings have been authoritatively set up as standards of the true faith by tlie autliority of popes; e. g., the Catechism of Bellar- iiiine, A.D. I6O0, and the bull Uuigenitus of Clement XL, 1711. The theology taught in all these papal standards is Arminianism. 2d. The Doctrinal Standards of the Greek Church. The ancient Church divided from causes primarily political and ecclesiastical, secondarily doctrinal and ritual, into two great sections — the Eastern or Greek Church, and the Western or Latin Church. This division began to culminate in the seventh, and was consummated in the eleventh century. The Greek Church embraces Greece, tlie majority of the Christians of the Turkish Empire and the great mass of the civilized inhabitants of Russia. All the Protestant churches have originated through the Reformation from the Western or Roman Church. This Church arrogates to herself pre-eminently the title of the "orthodox," because the original creeds defining the doctrine of the Trinity and the Person of Christ, which have been mentioned above, were produced in the Eastern half of the ancient Church, and hence are in a peculiar sense her inheritance. Greek the- ology is very imperfectly developed bej'ond the ground covered by these ancient creeds, which that Church magnifies and main- tains with singular tenacity. They possess also a few confessions of more modern date, as "The Orthodox Confession" of Peter Mogilas, A.D. 1642, me- tropolitan bishop of Kiew, the Confession of Gennadius, A.D. 1453. ,^— , 3d. The Confessions of the ^utheranf Church. The entire Protestant world from the time of the Reformation has been divided into two great families of churches — the Lu- theran, including all those which received their characteristic impress from the great man whose name they bear; the Re- formed, including all those, on the other hand, which derived their character from Calvin. Tlie Lutheran family of churches embraces all those Protestants of Germany and the Baltic provinces of Russia who adhere to the Augsburg Confession, together with the national churchea of Denmark, of Norway and Sweden, and the large denominatioo of that name in America, IIISTUKY OF CREEDS. 27 Thoir Symbolical Books are: (1.) The Augsbur? Cutif'ession, the joint authors of which wore Luther and Mclancthon. Hav- ing been signed by the Protestant i)rincesand leaders, it was pre- sented to the emperor and imperial Diet in Augsburg A.D. 1530. It is the oldest Protestant confession, the ultimate basis of Lu- theran theology, and the only universally accepted standard of the Lutheran churches. (2.) The Apology (Defence) of the Augsburg Confession, pre- pared by Melancthon A.D. 1530, and subscribed by the Protest- ant theologians A.D. 1537 at Smaloald. (3.) The Larger and Smaller Catechisms, prepared by Luther A.D. 1529, " the first for the use of preachers and teachers, the last as a guide in the instruction of youth." (4.) The Articles of Smalcald, drawn up by Luther A.D. 1 536, and subscribed by the evangelical theologians in Februarj'^, A.D. 1537, at the place whose name they bear. (5.) The Formula Concordiae (Form of Concord), prepared in A.D. 1577 by Andrea and others for the purpose of settling cer- tain controversies which had sprung up in the Lutheran Church, especially {a) concerning the relative activities of divine grace and the human will in regeneration, (i) concerning the nature of the Lord's presence in the Eucharist. This confession con- tains a more scientific and thoroughly developed statement of the Lutheran doctrine than can be found in any other of their public symbols. Its authority is, however, acknowledged only by the high Lutlieran party ; that is, by that party in the Church which consistently carries the peculiarities of Lutheran theology out to the most complete logical development. 4th. The Confessions of the Reformed or Calvinistic churches. The Reformed churches embrace all those churches of Ger- many w!ii;li subscribe the Heidelberg Catechism ; the Protestant churches of Switzerland, France, Holland, England and Scot- land: the Independents and Baptists of England and America, and the various branches of the Presbyterian Church in England und America. The Reformed Confessions are very numerous, although they all substantially agree as to the system of doctrine they teach. Those most generally receive37 and regarded as of the highest 28 INTRODUCTION^. Bymbolical authority as standards of the common system, are tha following : (1.) The Second Helvetic Confession, prepared by Bullinger, A. D. 1564. "It was adopted by all the Reformed churches in Switzerland, with the exception of Basle (which was content with its old symbol, the First Helcetic), and by the Reformed churches in Poland, Hungary, Scotland and France,"* and has always been regarded as of the highest authority by all the Reformed churches. (2.) The Heidelberg Catechism, prepared by Ursinus and Ole- vianus, A. D. 1562. It was established bj' civil authority, the doctrinal standard, as well as instrument of religious instruction for the churches of the Palatinate, a German State at that time including both banks of the Rhine. It was endorsed by the Sy- nod of Dort, and is the Confession of Faith of the Reformed churches of Germany and Holland, and of the German and [Dutch] Reformed churches in America. (3. ) The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. These were originally drawn up by Cranmer and Ridley, A. D. 1551, and revised and reduced to the present number by the bishops, at the order of Queen Elizabeth, A. D. 1562. These Articles are Calvinistic in doctrine, and constitute the doctrinal standard of the Episcopal churches in England, Scotland, America and the Colonies. (4. ) The Canons of the Synod of Dort. This famous Synod was convened in Dort, Holland, by the authority of the States General, for the purpose of settling the questions brought into controversy by the disciples of Arminius. It held its sessions from November 13, A. D. 1618, to May 9, A. D. 1619. It con- sisted of pastors, elders and theological professors from the churches of Holland, and deputies from the churches of Eng- land, Scotland, Hesse, Bremen, the Palatinate and Switzerland ; the French delegates having been prevented from being present by order of their king. The Canons of this Synod were received by all the Reformed churches as a true, accurate and eminently autht ritative exhibition of the Calvinistic System of Theology. They constitute, in connection with the Heidelberg Catechism, * Shedd's Hist, of Christian Doctrine. HISTORY OF CREEDS. 29 the doctrinal Confession of the Reformed Church of Holland, and of tlie [Patch] Reformed Church of America. (5. ) The Confession and Catechisms of the W£stminster_As- sembly. A short account of the origin and constitution of this Assemblj^ and of the production and reception of its doctrinal deliverances, is presented in the next chapter. This is the com- mon doctrinal standard of all the Presbyterian churches in the world of English and Scotch derivation. It is also of all Creeds the one most highly approved by all the bodies of Congregation alists in England and America. The Congregational Convention called by Cromwell to meet at Savoy, in London, A. D. 1658, de- clared their approval of the doctrinal part of the Confession and Catechisms of the Westminster Assembly, and conformed their own deliverance, the Savoy Confession, very nearly to it. Indeed. " the dilFerence between these two Confessions is so very small, that the modern Independents have in a manner laid aside the use of it (Savoy Conf.) in their families, and agreed with the Presbyterians in the use of the Assembly's Catechisms."* All the Assemblies convened in New England for the purpose o£ settling the doctrinal basis of their churches have either en- dorsed or explicitly adopted this Confession and these Catechisms as accurate expositions of their own faith. This was done by the Synod which met at Cambridge, Massachusetts, June, 1647, and again August, 1648, and prepared the Cambridge Platform. And again by the Synod which sat in Boston, September, 1679, and May, 1680, and produced the Boston Confession. And again by the Synod which met at Saybrook, Connecticut, 1708, and produced the Saybrook Platform. f QUESTIONS. 1. What is the only absolute and essentially authoritative standard of faith ? 2. Whence do all human Creeds derive their authority? 3. Upon whom rests the necessity and obligation of gathering together all the Scripture teaches on any subject, and of adju^iin^ * Neal : Puritans, II. 178. I Phedd's Hist, of Cbtistian Doctrine. 30 INTRODUCTION. dicir teaching on one subject with all the other elements of the system of truth? 4. Is it better for a man to form these opinions without or with the assistance of the great bod.y of his fellow-Christians? 5. In what form have the opinions of the great mass of the Christian Church on these subjects been expressed and preserved? 6. What then is the first great purpose for which Creeds and Confessions are useful? 7. What is the second great end ? 8. What is the third? 9. What x?, the fourth? 10. On what ground, and how far does the matter of these Confessions bind the consciences of men? 11. Whom and on what ground does the form of these Con- fessions bind? 12. What are the terms upon which private members are ad- mitted to the Church ? 13. What are the terms upon which preachers and rulers are admitted to office in the Church? 14. Why should the terms be so far different in the two cases? 15. When, and by what representative body of our Church, were the Westminster Confession and Catechisms first adopted as our standard of faith ? 16. Read the adopting act. 17. Read the action of the General Synod, passed A. D. 1788. 18. To what class of topics do all the Creeds before the Refor- mation relate? 19. What is the origin of what is commonly called the Apos- tles' Creed? 20. Bas it always had a place in our Catechism? 21. Read it. 22. When and by what Councils was the Nicene Creed pro- duced ? 23. Read it. 24. What opposite heretical tendencies, respecting the Person of Christ, subsequently sprang up in the Church ? 25. What was the date and design of the Creed of the Council of Ephesus? HISTORY OF CREEDS. 31 26 "What was the date and design of tlie Creed of the Council of Chalccdon? . 27. What was the origin of the Creed falsely attributed to the groat Athauasius? 28. Read that portion of it which relates to the Person of Christ. 29. What are the doctrinal standards of the Cliurch of Rome? 30. What is the character of the theology they teach? 31. When, why, and into what divisions did the Church of the Middle Ages separate ? 32. What countries are embraced in the bounds of the Greek Church? 33. What are the doctrinal standards of the Greek Church? 34. Into what two great divisions did the churches of the Reformation separate? 35. What is the common characteristic of the Lutheran churches ? 36. What is the common characteristic of the Reformed churches ? 37. What churches belong to the Lutheran family? 38. What is the name, date and origin of their principal and universally-received standard of faith? 39. What are their other symbolical books? 40. What is the origin, purpose and character of the Form of Concord, and in what estimation is it held? 41. What churches are embraced in the Reformed or Calvin- istic family? 42. What account is here given of the Second Helvetic Con- fession ? 43. What account is here given of the Heidelberg Catechism? 44. Of what churches is it the accredited standard? 45. What is here said of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of End and ? 4(i. T>y whom, where, when and for what purpose was the Synod of Dort convened ? 47. Of what parties was it composed? 48. Tn what estimation have its "Canons*^' been held, and of what chunho.J arc tliev the .'Standard? 32 INTRODUCTION. 49. Of what churches are the Westminster Confession and Catechisms the standard of faith ? 50. How far have they been adopted by the Congregationalists of England? 51. Upon what occasions and to what extent have they been wlopted by the Congregationalists of New England? CHAPTER II. SOME ACCOL'NT OF THE ORIGIN OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION AND CATECHISIMS. Most of the Confessions of the Reformed and Lutheran churches were composed by single authors, or by a small group of theologians to whom the task of drawing up a standard of doctrine had been committed. Thus, Luther and Mclancthon were the principal authors of the Augsburg Confession, the common standard of faith and bond of union of the Lutheran chuiches. The Second Helvetic Confession was composed by Bullinger, to whom the work was entrusted by a number of Swiss theologians ; and the celebrated Heidelberg Catechism was composed by Ursinus and Olevianus, who had been ap- pointed thereto by Frederick III., Crown Prince of the Palatinate. The Old Scotch Confession, which was the standard of the Pres- byterian Church of Scotland for nearly one hundred years before the adoption of the Westminster Confession, was composed by a committee of six theologians, at the head of whom was John Knox, appointed by the Scottish Parliament. Tlio Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England and of the Ei)iscopal Church of America were prepared by the bishops of that Church in 1562, as the result of the revision of "The Forty-two Articles of Edward Sixth," which had been drawn up by Archbishop Cran- mer and Bishop Ridley in 1551. The "Canons of the Synod of Dort," of high authority among all the Reformed churclies, and the Standard of the Church of Holland, were on the other hand drawn up by a great international Synod convened in Dort by the States General of the Nether- lands, and composed of representatives of all the Reformed churches except that of Franco. And the Confession of Faith .? 33 54 INTRODUCTIOJT. and Catechisms of our Church were drawn up by a large and illustrious national assembly of divines and civilians convened in Westminster, England, by the Long Parliament from July I, 1643, to February 22, 1648 ; a very brief account of which it is the design of this chapter to give. The Reformation in Scotland had received its first impulse from the return of the illustrious Patrick Hamilton, in 1528, from the Continent, where he had enjoyed the mstructions of Luther and Melancthon. It was in no degree a political revolution, nor did it originate with the governing classes. It was purely areligious revolution, wrought among the masses of the people and the body of the Church itself, under the direction at different times of several very eminentjeaders, the chief of whom were John Knox and Andre wJVIelville. ' ' The Church of Scotland framed its Con- fession of Faith and its First Book of Discipline, and met in its first General Assembly for its own government, seven years before it had even received the sanction of the legislature. Its first General Assembly was held in 1560, while the first Act of Par- Hament recognizing it as the National Church was passed in 1567."* It continued to maintain in a good degree its indepen- dence of civil dictation and its integrity as a Presbyterian Church until after King James assumed the throne of England. After that time, through English influence and the increased power of the throne, the independence of the Church of Scotland was often temporarily destroyed. In resistance to this invasion of their religious liberties, the friends of liberty and of the Reformed religion among the Scotch nobility, clergy and people, signed the ever-memorable National Covenant at Sterling, Februaiy 28, 1638, and the Solenm League and Covenant between the king- doms of England and Scotlanrl in 1643. "This Solemn League and Covenant (subscribed by the Scotch General Assembly, the EnglisTT Parliament and Westminster As.sembly) bound the united kingdoms to endeavour the preservation of the Reformed religion in the Church of Scotland, in doctrine, worship, discipline and government, and the reformation of religir)n in the kingdoms of England and Ireland, according to the Word of God and the • Hetherington's " Historj' of the Wesfinin.'-tfr Assembly," p. 88. WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 35 example of the best Reformed churches. "* It was in furtherance of the same design of securing in both kingdoms religious liberty, a more perfect reformation and ecclesiastical uniformity, that the Scotch people gave the effective support of their sympathy to the English Parliament in their struggle with Charles I., and that the Scottish Church sent her most eminent sons as delegates to the Westminster Assembly. The Reformation in England presents two distinct phases — that of a genuine work of grace, and that of a political and eccle- siastical revolution. In the former character it was introduced by the publication of the Word of God, the Greek Testament of Erasmus, published in Oxford, 1517, and the English translation of the Bible by Tyndal, which was sent over from Worms to England in 1526. Bj' the English Bible, together with the labours of many truly pious men both among the clergy and laity, a thoroughly popular revolution was wrought in the relig- ion of the nation, and its heart rendered permanently Protestant. The real Reformers of England, such as Cranmer, Ridley, Hooper, Latimer and Jewell, were truly evangelical and tho- roughly Calvinistic, in full sympathy and constant correspondence with the great theologians and preachers of Switzerland and Germany. This is illustrated in their writings, in the Forty-two Articles of Edward VI., 1551, the present doctrinal Articles of the Church of England, prepared in 1562, and even in the Lambeth Articles, drawn up by Archbishop Whitgift as late as 1595. Although this work of genuine reformation was in the first instance materially aided by the politico-ecclesiastical revolution introduced by Henry VIII. and confirmed by his daughter, Queen Elizabeth, it was nevertheless greatly impeded and prematurely arrested by it. "The Act of Supremacy," which irade the sov- ereign the earthly head of the Church, and subjected all questiomi of doctrine, church order and discipline to his absolute control, enabled Elizabeth to arrest the constitutional changes in the Church set up by the process of reform at that precise point which was determined by her worldly taste and her lust of power. An aristocratic hierarchy naturally sided with the Court, and * Uetherington's " History of the Church of Scotland," p 187. 36 INTRODUCTION. became the facile instrument of the Crown in repressing both the religious and civil liberties of the people. G-raduall}' the strugcle between the part}' called Puritan and the repressive Court party became more intense and more bitter during the whole period of the reigns of James I. and Charles I. Anew element of conflict was introduced in the fact that the despotic Court party natui-ally abandoned the Calvinism of the founders of the Church, and adopted that Arminianism which has always prevailed among the parasites of arbitrary power and the votaries of a churchly and sacramental religion. The denial of all reform, and the unrelenting execution of the " Act of Uniformity," repressing all dissent while robbing the people of every trace of religious liberty, necessarily led to such an extension of the royal prerogative, and such constant resort to arbitrary measures and acts of violence, that the civil liberties of the subject were equally trampled under foot. At last, after hav- ing for an interval of eleven years attempted to govern the nation through the Stai- Chamber and Court of High Commission, and having prorogued the refractory Parliament which met in the spring of that year, the king was forced to appeal again to the country, which sent up in November, 1640, that illustrious body subsequently known as the Long Parliament. In the IMay of the next year this body rendered itself practically independent of the king's caprice by passing an act, providing that it should be dissolved only at its own consent, and at the same time all the members of both houses, except two of the peers, subscribed a bond binding them to persevere in the defence of their liberties and of the Protestant religion. In the same year Parliament abolished the Court of High Commission and the Star Chamber; and in November, 1642, it was ordained that after November 5, 1643, the office of archbishop and bishop, and the whole framework of prelate government, should be abolished. In June 12, 1643, the Parliament passed an act entitled "An ordinance of the Lords and Commons in Parliament, for the call- ing of an Assembly of Divines and others, to be consulted with by the Parliament for the settling of the government and liturgy of the Church of England, and clearing of the Doctrine of said Church from false aspersions and interpretations." As the WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 37 pro -existing government of the Church by bishops had ceased to exist, and yet the Church of Christ in England remained, the only universally recognized authority which could convene the representatives of the Church in General Assembly was the National Legislature. The persons who were to constitute this Assembly were named in the ordinance, and comprised the flower of the Church of that age ; subsequently about twenty-one clergy- men were superadded to make up for the absence of others. The original list embraced the names of ten lords and twenty com- moners as lay-members, and one hundred and twenty-one divines. Men of all shades of opinion as to Church govei'nment were em- braced in this illustrious company — Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Independents and Erastians. "In the original ordinance four bishops were named, one of whom actually attended on the first day, and another excused his absence on the ground of necessary duty ; of the others called, five became bishops afterward, and about twenty-five declined attending, partly because it was not a regular convocation called by the king, and partly because the Solemn League and Covenant was expressly condemned by his majesty."* The Scotch General Assembly also sent as delegates to Westminster the best and ablest men she had — ministers Alex- ander Henderson, the author of the Covenant, George Gillespie, Samuel Rutherford and Robert Baillie ; and elders Lord John Maitland and Sir Archibald Johnston. Only sixty appeared the first day, and the average attendance during the protracted sittings of the Assembly ranged between sixty and eighty. Of these the vast majority were Presbyterians, after the Episcopalians had withdrawn subsequently to the sign- ing of the Solemn League and Covenant. The vast majority of the Puritan clergy, after the example of all the Reformed churches of the Continent, were inclined to Presbyterianism, and in many places, especially in the city of London and its neighbourhood, had erected presbyteries. There were only five prominent Indepeydents in the Assembly, headed by Dr. Thomas Goodwin and Rev. Philip Nye. These were called; from the attitude of opposition to the majority which they occupied, " The Five Dissenting Brethren." In spite of the * Het Islington's " llistorj' of the Westminster Assembly," p. 99. 38 INTRODUCTION. small ness of their number, they possessed considerable influence in hindering, and finally pi-eventing, the Assembly in its work of national ecclesiastical construction, and their influence was due to the support they received from politicians without the x\ssem- bly, in the Long Parliament, in the army, and, above all, from the great Cromwell himself. The Erastians, who held that Christian pastors are simply teachers and not rulers in the Church, and that all ecclesiastical as well as all civil power rests exclusively with the civil magis- trate, were represented in the Assembly by only two ministers — Thomas Coleman and John Lightfoot, assisted actively by the learned layman, John Selden. Their influence was due to the fact that the Parliament sympathized with them, and as a matter of course all worldly politicians. The prolocutor, or moderator, appointed by the Parliament, was Dr. Twisse, and after his death he was succeeded by Mr. ' Herle. On the 1st of July, 1643, the Assembly, after hearing a sermon from the prolocutor in the Abbey Church, Westminster, was organized in Henry the VII. 's Chapel. After the weather grew cold they met in the Jerusalem Chamber, "a fair room in the Abbey of Westminster." When the whole Assembly had been divided for despatch of business into three equal committees, they took up the work which was first assigned to them by Par- liament— namely, the revision of the " Thirty-nine Articles," the already existing Creed of the English Church. But on the 12th of October, shortly after subscribing the Solemn League and Cove- nant, Parliament directed the Assembly "to consider among themselves of such a discipline and government as may be most agreeable to God's holy word." They consequently entered iui mediately upon the work of preparing a Directory of Govern- ment, Worship and Discipline. Being delayed by constant con- troversies with the Independent and Erastian factions, they did not complete this department of their work until near the close of 1644. Then they began to prepare for the composition of a Confession of Faith, and a committee was appointed to prepare and arrange the main propositions to be embraced in it. This committee consisted of the Kev. Drs. Gouge, Temple and Hoyle ; WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 8 Charles II. in 1662. * Hethurington's " Hist. Westminsttr Assembly," p. 245. 40 INTRODUCTION. After the completion of the Catechisms, many of the members quietly dispersed and returned to their homes. "Those that leniained in London were chiefly engaged in the examination of such ministers as presented themselves for ordination or induc- tion into vacant charges. They continued to maintain their '.brmal existence until the 22d of February, 1649, about three \veeks after the king's decapitation, having sat five years, six months and twenty-two days, in which time they had held one thousand one hundred and sixt3'-three sessions. They were thee changed into a committee for conducting the trial and examina tion of ministers, and continued to hold meetings for this pur- pose, every Thursday morning, until March 25, 1652, when, Oliver Cromwell having forcibly dissolved the Long Parliament by whose authority the Assembly had been at first called together, that committee also broke up, and separated without any formal dissolution, and as a matter of necessity." The Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Westminster Assembly were adopted by the original Synod in North America, A. D. 1729, as the "Confession of Faith of this Church," and it has been received as the standard of faith by all the branches of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, England, Ireland and America ; and it is highly reverenced, and its Catechisms used as means of public instruction, by all the Congregational bodies of Puritan stock in the world.* Although the Westminster Assembly resolutel}' excluded from their Confession all that they recognized as savouring of Erastian error, yet their opinions as to church establishments led to views concerning the powers of civil magistrates, concerning religious things {circa sacra), which have always been rejected in this country. Hence, in the oj-iginal "Adopting Act," the Synod declared that it did not receive the passages relating to this point in the Confession "in any such sense as to suppose the civil magistrate hath a controlling power over synods with respect to the exercise of their ministerial authority ; or power to persecute any for their religion, or in any sense contrary to the Protestant succession to the throne of Great Britain." * See " The West. Assembly, its History and Standards," by Alex. F. Mitchell, D. D., for the most full and authoritative account of the Bources and genesis of the Westminster Confession and Catechism. WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. . 41 And again, when the Synod revised and amended its stand- ards ii. 1787, in preparation for the organization of the General Assembly in 1789, it "took into consideration the last paragraph of the twentieth chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith ; the third paragrajih of the twenty-third chapter, and the first paragraph of the thirty-first chapter ; and, having made some alterations, agreed that the said paragraphs as now altered be printed for consideration." As thus altered and amended, thia Confession and tliese Catechisms were adopted as the doctrinal part of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in Americn in 17S8, and so stand to this day. The original Articles of the Westminster Confession as to thr civil magistrate which are altered in our Confession ai"e as follow: Westm. Conf , chap. 2l\ § 4, of certain oifenders it is said : "They may be proceeded against by the censures of the Church and by the power of the civil magistrate." Chap. 23, ^ 3: "The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the Word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the king- dom of heaven ; yet he hath authority, and it is his duty, to take order that unity and peace be preserved in the Church; that the truth of God be kept pure and entire ; that all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed, all corruptions and abuses in worship and discipline prevented or reformed, and all ordinances of God duly settled, administered and observed. For the better effecting whereof, he hath power to call synods, to be present at them, and to provide that whatsoever is transacted in them be according to the mind of God." Chap. 31, ^ 2: "As magistrates may law- fully call a synod of ministers and other fit persons to consult and advise with about matters of religion, so, if magistrates be open enemies to the Church, the ministers of Christ of themselves, '^v virtue of their office, or they with other fit persons upon delega- tion from their churches, may meet together in such assemblies." QUESTIONS. 1. How were most of the Confessions of the Lutheran ana Reformed churches composed? 2. What is peculiar in the case of the Canons of the Synod ol Dort and the Confession and Catechisms of Westminster? 42 INTRODUCTION. 3. State the general character of the Reformation in Sf ;;tland. 4. What were the character and design of the Soleni't' i^eague and Covenant, and by what parties was it contracted? 5. What was the general character of the Reformation in England ? 6. What was the principal instrumentality by which the work was effected ? 7. What was the character of the theology, and what the direc- tion of the sympathies, of the early English Reformers? 8. What was the character of the influence exerted upon the English Reformation by her first Protestant sovereigns? 9. What proved to be the civil effects of the attempt upon the part of the Crown to repress religious liberty ? 10. State some of the first acts of the Long Parliament. 11. When and for what purpose was the Assembly of Divines called at Westminster? 12. What was the number and what was the character of the persons composing that Assembly ? 13. Who were the representatives of the Scotch Church? 14. Into what three principal parties were the members of thi.o Assembly divided? and to which party did the vast majority of the Assembly belong? 15. How was the Assembly organized? IG. What was the first work performed by the Assembly? 17. When and how did they proceed to frame a Confession ol Faith? 18. How did they proceed to frame the Catechisms? 19. What was the action of the Long Parliament touching the '?»ork of the Assembly? 20. What the action of the Scotch General Assembly as to the same? 21. What was the ultimate fate of the Presbyterian establish ment in England? 22. Of what churclies is the Westminster Confession the Con- stitutional Standard of Doctrine? 23. When and with what exceptions was this Confession adopted by the Presbyterian Church in America? 24. When and why and in what sections was it amended? Confession of Faith. CHAPTER I. OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. Section I. — Although the Hght of nature, and the -works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable ;^ yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation ;^ therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his Church f and afterward, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corrup- tion of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing ;* which maketh the Holy Scripture to be most necessary ;* those former ways of God's re- vealing his will unto his people being now ceased.* 1 Roin. ii. 14, 15; i. 19, 20; Ps. six. 1-3; Rom. i. 32; ii. 1.— « 1 Cor. i. 21 ; ii. 13, 14.— 3 Hebrews i. 1.—* Prov. xxii. 19-21 ; Luke i. 3, 4 ; Rom. XV. 4; Matt. iv. 4, 7, 10; Isa. viii. 19, 20.— 5 2 Tim. iii. 15; 2 Pet. i. 19. — « Hebrews i. 1, 2. This section affirms the following propositions : 1st. That tlie light of natnre, and the works of crea- tion and providence are sufficient to makt known the fact tl;at there is a God, and somewliat of his natnre and i3 44 CONFESSION OF FAITH. character, so as to leave the disobedience of men without excuse. 2d. That nevertheless the amount and kind of know- ledge tluis attainable is not sufficient to enable any to secure salvation. 2d. TJiat consequently it has pleased God, of his sovereign grace, to make in various ways and at differ- ent times a supernatural revelation of himself and of his purposes to a chosen portion of the human family. 4th. And that subsequently God has been pleased to commit that revelation to writing, and that it is now exclusively embraced in the Sacred Scriptures. 1st. The light of nature and the works of creation and providence are sufficient to enable men to ascertain the fact that there is a God and somewhat of his nature and character, and thus render them inexcusable. Tiiree generically distinct filse opinions have been en- tertained with respect to the ca^iacity of men in their present circumstances to attain to any positive know- ledge of the being and character of God. (1.) There is the assumption of all those extreme rationalists who deny the existence of any world beyond the natural one discoverable by our senses, and especially of that school of Positive Philosophy inaugurated by Auguste Comte in France, and represented by Joliu Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer in England, who affirm that all possible human knowledge is confined to the facts of our experience and the uniform laws which regulate the succession of those facts; that it is not possible for the human mind in its present state to go beyond the sim])le order of nature to the knowledge of an absolute first cause, f)r to a designing and disposing HOLY SClill'TUJlE. 45 supreme intelligence, even though such an one actually exists ; that whether there be a God or not, yet as a matter of fact he is not revealed, and as a matter of principle coukl not, even if revealed, be recognized by man in the present state of his faculties. This assumption is disproved: («.) By the fact that men of all nations, ages and degrees of culture have discerned the evidences. of the presence of a God in the works of nature and providence, and in the inward workings of their own souls. This lias been true, not only of individuals, communities or generations unen- lightened by science, but pre-eminently of some of the very first teachers of positive science in the modern scientific age, such as Sir Isaac Newton, Sir David Brewster, Dr. Faraday, etc. (6.) By the fact that the works of nature and providence are full of the manifest (races of design, and that they can be scientifically ex- plained, and as a matter of fact are explained by these very skeptics themselves, only by the recognition and accurate tracing out of the evident " intention" which each of these works is adapted to subserve in their mutual relations, (c.) The same is disproved from the fact that conscience, which is a universal and indestruct- ible element of human nature, necessarily implies our accountability to a personal moral governor, and as a matter of fact has uniformly led men to a recognition of his existence and of their relation to him. (2.) An extreme opinion on this subject has been held by some Christians, to the effect that no true and certain! knowledge of God can be derived by man, in his present ' condition, from the light of nature in the entire absence of a supernattiral revelation ; that we are altogether de- 46 CONFESSION CF FAITH. pendent upon such a revelation for any certain know- ledge that God exists, as well as for all knowledge of his nature and his purposes. This opinion is disproved : (a.) By the direct testi- mony of Scripture. Rom, i. 20-24; ii. 14, 15. (6.) By the fact that many conclusive arguments for the exist- ence of a great first Cause, who is at the same time an intelligent personal Spirit and righteous moral Governor, have been drawn by a strict induction from the facts of nature alone, as they lie open to the natural understand- ing. The fact that this ai'gument remains unanswerable shows that the process by which the conclusions are drawn from purely natural sources is legitimate, (c.) All nations, however de-i'tute of a supernatural revelation they may have been, have yet possessed some knowledge of a God. And in the case of the most enlightened of the heathen, natural religion has given birth to a con- siderable natural theology. We must, however, distin- guish between that knowledge of the divine character w^hich may be obtained by men from the works of nature and providence in the exercise of their natural powers alone, without any suggestions or assistance derived from a supernatural revelation — as is illustrated in the theological writings of some most eminent of the heathen who lived before Christ — and that knowledge which men in this age, under the clear light of a super- natural revelation, are competent to deduce from a study of nature. The natural theology of the modern ration- alists demonstrably owes all its special excellences to that Christian revelation it is inteuded to supersede. (3.) The third erroneous opinion which has been en- tertained on this subject is that of deists and theistic HOLY SCRIPTURE. 47 rationalists, viz. : that the ligM of nature, wlien legiti- mately used, isjjerfectly sufficient of itself to lead mcu to all necessary knowledge of God's being, nature and purposes. Some German rationalists, while admitting that a supernatural revelation has been given in the Christian Scriptures, yet insist that its only office is to illustrate and enforce the truths already given through the light of nature, which are sufficient in themselves, and need re-enforcement only because they are ordinarily not properly attended to by men. But, in opposition to this, the Confession teaches — 2d. That the amount of knowledge attainable by the light of nature is not sufficient to enable any to secure salvation. This is proved to be true : (a.) From Scripture. 1 Cor. i. 21 ; ii. 13, 14. (6.) From the fact that man's moral relations to God have been disturbed by sin; and while the natural light of reason may teach an anfallen being spontaneously how he should approach and serve God, and while it may teach a fallen being what the nature of God may demand as to the punish- ment of sin, it can teach nothing l)y way of anticipation as to what God may be sovereignly disposed to do in the way of remission, substitution, sanctification, resto- ration, etc. (c.) From the facts presented in the past history of all nations destitute of the light of revelation, both before and since Christ. The truths they have held have been incomplete and mixed with fundamental error; their faith has been uncertain; their religious rites have been deo^rading; and their lives immoral. The only appai'ent exception to this fact is found in the case of some rationalists in Christian lands, and their 48 CONFESSION OF FAITH. exceptional superiority to others of their creed is due tc the secondary influences of that system of supernatural religion which they c4eny, but the power of which they cannot exclude. Hence, the Confession teaches in this section — 3d. That, consequently, it has pleased God of his sovereign grace to make, in various ways and at differ- ent times, a supernatural revelation of himself and of his purposes to a chosen portion of the human family. And that — 4th. God has been pleased subsequently to commit that revelation to writing, and it is now exclusively embraced in the Sacred Scriptures. Since, as above shown, the light of nature is insuffi- cient to enable men to attain such a knowledge of God and his will as is necessary for salvation, it follows (a) that a supernatural revelation is absolutely necessary for man ; and (6) from M^hat natural religion alone teaches us of the character of God, it follows that the giving of suc.i a revelation is in the highest degree im^edeytly p,ix)bable on his part. Man is essentially a moral agent and needs a clearly revealed rule of duty, and a religious being craving communion with God. In his natural state these are both unsatisfied. But God is the author of human nature. His intelligence leads us to believe that he will complete all his works and crown a relig- ious nature with the gift of a religion practically adequate to its wants. The benevolence of God leads us to anticipate that he will not leave his creatures in bewilderment and ruin for the want of light as to tlioir condition and duties. And his righteousness occasions the presumption tliat ho \\\\\ at some lime speak in HOLY SCRIPTURE. 49 definite and authoritative tones to the conscience of his subjects. (c.) As a matter of fact, Gyd has given such a revela- tion. Indeed he has in no period of human liistory left }:iraself without a witness. His communications to mankind through the first three thousand years were made in very " diverse manners," by theophanies and audible voices, dreams, visions, the Urim and Thummim, and prophetic inspiration ; and the results of these com- munications were diffused and perpetuated by means of tradition. The fact that such a revelation has been made, and that we have it in the Christian Scriptures, is fully sub- stantiated by that mass of proof styled the " evidences of Christianity," The main departments of this evi- dence are the following : (a.) The Old and New Testaments, whether the word of God or not, bear all the marks of genuine and authen- tic historical records. (6.) The miracles recorded in these Scriptures are established as facts by abundant testimony, and when admitted as facts they demonstrate the religion they accompany to be from God. (e.) The same is true in all respects with regard to the many explicit jprophecies already fulfilled which are contained in the Scriptures. ((/.) The unparalleled perfection of the moral sys- tem they teach, and the supernatural intelligence they discover in adaptation to all human characters and con- ditions in all ages. (e.) The absolutely perfect excellence of its Founder. (/.) The spiritual_ power of Christianity, as shown 50 CONFESSION OF FAITH. in the religious experience of individuals, and also in the wider influence it exerts over communities and na- tions in successive generations. For the questions concerning the Holy Scriptures as containing the whole of this revelation now made by God to men, see below. Section II. — Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these : OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Genesis. I. Kings. Ecclcsiastes. Amos. Exodus. II. Kings. The Song of Solo- Obadiah. Leviticus. I. Chronicles. mon. .Tonah. Nuuibors. 11. Chronicles. Isaiali. Micah. Deuterouoiny. Ezra. Jeremiah. Nahum. Joshua. Nehemiah. Lami-ntations. Ual.akkuk. Judges. Esther. E/.ekic'l. Zcphaniah. Ruth. Joh. Daniel. Hai,-gai. I. Samuel. Psalms. Hosea. Zechariah. II. Samuel. i'roverbs. Joel. Malachi. OF THE NEW 1 TESTAMENT. Matthew. I. Corinthians. I. Timothy. I. Peter. Mark, II. Corinthians. II. Timothy. II. Peter. Luke. Galatians. Titus. I. John. John. Ephesians. Philemon. II. John. Acts of the Apostles. rhilippians. Epistle to the He- III. John. Epistle to the Ro- Colossians. brews. Jude. mans. I. Tliessalonians. II. Thessalonians. Epistle of James. The Revelation All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life.' Section III. — The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scrip- ture, and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other hu- man writings.* f Luke xW. 29, 31; Eph. ii. 20; Rev. xxii. IS, 19; 2 Tim. iii. 16.— » Luke xxiv. 27, 44; Rom. iii. 2; 2 Pet. i. 21. These sections affirm the following propositions : 1st. That the complete cdnon of Scripture embraces HOLY SCIilPTUllE. 51 in the two great divisions of the Okl and the New Tes- taments all the particular hooks here named. 2d. That the books commonly called Apocrypha form no part of that canon, and are to be regarded as of no more authority than any other human writings. 3d. That all the canonical books were divinely in- spired, and are thus given to us as an authoritative rule of faith and practice. 1st. The complete canon of Scripture embraces in the two great divisions of the Old and New Testaments all the particular books here named. The Old Testament is the collection of inspired writ- ings given by God to his Church during the Old Dis- pensation of the Covenant of Grace, and the New Tes- tament is the collection of those inspired writings which he gave during the New or Christian Dispensation of that Covenant. We determine what books have a place in this canon or divine rule by an examination of the evidences which show that each of them, severally, was written by the inspired prophet or apostle whose name it bears, or, as in the case of the gospels of Mark and Luke, written under the superintendence and published by the author- ity of an apostle. This evidence in the case of the Sar- cred Scriptures is of the same kind of historical and critical proof as is relied upon by all literary men to establish the genuineness and authenticity of any other ancient writings, such as the Odes of Horace or the works of Herodotus. In general this evidence is (a) Internal, such as language, style and the character of the matter they contain; (b) External, such as the testi- mony of contemporaneous writers, the universal consent 52 CONFESSION OF FAITH. of coutenipomry readers, and corroborating history drawn from independent credible sources. The genuineness of the books constituting the Old Testament canon as now received by all Protestants is established as follows : (1.) Christ and his apostles endorse as genuine and authentic the canon of Jewish Scriptures as it existed in their time, {a.) Christ often quotes as the word of God the separate books and the several divisions embraced in the Jewish Scriptures, viz. : the Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings or Psalms. Mark xiv. 49 ; Luke xxiv. 44 ; John v. 39. (6.) The apostles also quote them as the word of God; 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16; Acts i. 16. (c.) Christ often rebuked the Jews for disobeying, but never for forging or corrupting their Scriptures, Matt. xxii. 29. (2.) The Jewish canon thus endorsed by Christ and his apostles is the same as that we now have, (a.) The New Testament writers quote as Scripture almost every one of the books we recognize, and no others. (6.) The Septuagint, or Greek translation of the Hebrew Scrip- tures, made in Egypt B. C. 285, which was itself fre- quently quoted by Christ and his apostles, embraced every book contained in our copies, (c.) Josephus, born A. D. 37, enumerates as Hebrew Scriptures the same books by their classes, (d.) The testimony of the early Christian writers uniformly agrees with that of the an- cient Jews as to every book, (e.) Ever since the time of Christ, both Jews and Christians, while rival and hostile parties, have separately kept the same canon, and agree perfectly as to the genuineness and authen- ticity of every book. The evidence which establishes the canonical author- HOLY SCRIPTURE. 53 ity of several books of the New Testament may be gene- rally stated as follows: (a.) The early Christian writers in all parts of the world agree in quoting as of apostoli- cal authority the books we receive, while they quote all other contemporaneous writings only for illustration. 16.) The early Church Fathers furnish a number of catalogues of the books received by them as apostolical, all of which agree perfectly as to most of the books, and differ only in a slight degree with reference to some last written or least generally circulated, (c.) The earliest translations of the Scriptures prove that, at the time they were made, the books they contain were recognized as Scripture. The Peshito, or early Syriac translation, agrees almost entirely witli ours, and the Vulgate, pre- pared by Jerome A. D, 385, was based on the Italic or early Latin version, and agrees entirely with ours. (d.) The internal evidence corroborates the external testimony in the case of all the books. This consists of the language and idiom in which they are written ; the harmony in all essentials in the midst of great vari- ety in form and circumstantials; the elevated spirituality and doctrinal consistency of all the books, and their practical power over the consciences and hearts of men. 2d. But the books called Apocrypha form no part of Ihe sacred Canon, and are to be regarded as of no more authority than any otlier luunnn writings. Tiie word apocryjjlia (anytliing hidden) has leen applied to certain ancient wi'itings whose authorship is not manifest, and for which unfounded claims have been set up for a place in the canon. Some of these have been associated with the Old and some with the New Testament. In this section of the Confession, however, 54 CONFESSION OF FAITH. the name is applied principally to those spurious Scrip, tures for which a place is claimed in the Old Testament canon l)y thi; Roman Church. These are Tobit, Wisdom, Judith, JEcclefiiasticus, Baruch and the two l)o()ks of Maccabees. They also prefix to the book of Daniel the History of Susannah, and insert in the third chapter the Song of the Three Children, and add to the end of the book the History of Bel and the Dragon. That these books have no right to a place in the canon is proved by the following facts: (a.) They never formed a part of the Hebrew Scriptures. They have always been rejected by the Jews, to whose guar- dianship the Old Testament Scriptures were committed. (6.) None of them were ever quoted by Christ or the apostles, (c.) They were never embraced in the list of the canonical books by the early Fathers ; and even in the Roman Church their authority was not accepted by the most learned and candid men until after it was made an article of faith by the Council of Trent, late in the sixteenth century, [d.) The internal evidence i)re- sented by their contents disproves their claims. Kone of them make any claim to inspiration, while the best of them disclaim it. Some of them consist in childish fables, and incnlcate bad morals. And this section teaches — 3d. That all the canonical Scriptures were divinely inspired, and are thus given us as an authoritative nde of faith and practice. The books of Scripture were written by the instru- mentality of men, and the national and personal pecu- liarities of their authors have been evidently a? freely expressed in their writing, and their natural faculti*^, HOLY SCRIPTURE. 55 intellectual and moral, as freely exercised in their pro- duction, as those of the authors of any other writings. Nevertheless, these books are, one and all, in thought and verbal expression, in substance and form, wholly the Word of God, conveying, with absolute accuracy and di\ine authority, all that God meant them to convey, without any human additions or admixtures. This was accomplished by a sujiernatural influence of the Spirit of God acting upon the spirits of the sacred writers, called " inspiration," which accompanied them uniformly in what they wrote, and which, w ithout vio- lating the free operation of their faculties, yet directed them in all they wrote and secured the infallible expres- sion of it in words. Tiie nature of this divine influence we, of course, can no more understand than we can in the case of any other miracle. But the eflects are plain and certain, viz.: that all written under it is the very Word of God, of infallible truth and of divine author- ity; and this infallibility and authority attach as well to the verbal^ expression in which the revelation is con- veyed as to the matter of the revelation itself. The fact that the Scriptures are thus inspired is proved, because they assert it of themselves; and be- cause they must either be credited as true in this respect, or rejected as false in all respects; and because God authenticated the claims of their writers by accompany- in"; their teachinij with "sio;ns and wonders and divers miracles." Heb. ii. 4. Wherever God sends his "sign," tliere he commands belief, but it is impossible that he could unconditionally command belief except to truth infallibly conveyed. {(I.) The OM Testament writers claimed to be in- 56 CONFESSION OF FAITH. spired. Deut. xxxi. 19-22, xxxiv. 10; Num. xvi. 28, 29; 2 Sam. xxiii. 2. As a characteristic fact, they speak ill the name of God, prefacing their messages with a " Thus saith the Lord," " The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Deut. xviii. 21, 22; 1 Kings xxi. 20; Jer. ix. 12, etc. (6.) Tlie New Testament writers introduce their quo- tations from the Old Testament with such formulas as " The Holy Ghost saith," Heb. iii. 7 ; " The Holy Ghost this signifying," Heb. ix. 8 ; " Saith God," Acts ii. 17 ; 1 Cor. ix. 9, 10 ; " The Lord by the mouth of his ser- vant David saith," Acts iv. 25; "The Lord limiteth in David a certain time, saying," Heb. iv. 7. (c.) The inspiration of the Old Testament is expressly affirmed in the New Testament. I^uke i. 70 ; Heb. i. 1 ; 2 Tim. iii. 16 ; 1 Pet. i. 10-12 ; 2 Pet. i. 21. (d.) Christ and his apostles constantly quote the Old Testament as infallible, as that which must be fulfilled. Matt. v. 18; John vii. 23; Luke xxiv. 44; Matt. ii. 15-23, etc. (e.) Inspiration was promised the apostles. Matt. x. 19; xxviii, 19, 20; Luke xli. 12; John xiii. 20; xiv. 26 ; XV. 26, 27 ; xvi. 13. (/,) They claimed to have the Spirit in fulfilment of the [)romise of Christ. Acts ii. 33 ; xv. 28 ; 1 Thoss. i. 5. To speak as the prophets of God. 1 Cor. iv. 1 ; 1 Thess. iv. 8. To speak with plenary authority. 1 Cor. ii. 13; 2 Cor. xiii. 2-4; Gal. i. 8, 9. They put their writings on a level with the Old Testament Scrip- tures. 2 Pec. iii. 16 ; 1 Thess. v. 27. Section IV. — The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed aiiJ obeyed, depeudoth not upon the testi- HOLY SCRIPTURE. 67 nionj' of any man or Church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; and, therefore, is to be received, bet^ause it is the word of God.® Skction V. — We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverend esteem of the Holy Scrip- ture,'" and the heavenlincss of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellences, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the word of God ; yet notwithstanding our full per- suasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing wit- ness by and with the word in our hearts." 9 2 Pet. i. 19-21; 2 Tim. iii. 16; 1 John v. 9 ; 1 Thess. ii. 13.— lo 1 Tiin. iii. 15.— 11 1 John ii. 20-27; John xvi. 13, 14; 1 Cor. ii. 10-12; Isa.. lix. 21. This section teaches the following propositions : 1st. That the authority of the inspii-ed Scriptures does not rest upon the testimony of the Church, but directly upon God. This proposition is designed to deny the Romish heresy that the inspired Church is the ultimate source of all. divine knowledge, and that the written Scripture and ecclesiastical tradition alike depend upon the authori- tative seal of the Church for their credibility. They thus make the Scriptures a product of the Spirit through the Church, while in fact the Church is a product of the Spirit through the instrumentality of the word. It is true that the testimony of the early Church to the apostolic authorship of the several books is of fnnda- niental imi)ortance, just as a subject may bear witness to the identity of an heir to the crown, but the au- thority of the Scriptures is no more derived from the 58 confessio:n' of faitu. Cliurcli, ihiin that of the king from the subject who proves the fact that he is the legal heir. 2d. Tliat the internal evidences of a divine origin contained in and inseparable from the Scriptures them- selves are conclusive. This is a part of the evidences of Christianity con- sidered under Section 1st. The internal marksof a divine origin in the Bible are such as — {a.) The phe- nomena it presents of a supernatui'al intelligence; in ^ unity of design developed through its entire structure, although it is composed of sixty-six separate books, by forty different authors, writing at intervals through six- teen centuries ; in its perfect freedom from all the erroi'S incident to the ages of its production with regard to f icts or opinions of whatever kind ; in the marvellous knowledge it exhibits of human nature under all pos- sible relations and conditions; in the original and lumi- nous solution it aifords of many of the darkest problems of human history and destiny. (6.) The unparalleled perfection of its moral system ; in the exalted view it gives of God, his law and moral government; in its ex- alted yet practical and beneficent system of morality, set forth and effectively enforced; in its wondrous ])ower over the human conscience; and in the unrivalled extent and persistence of its influence over communities of men. 3d. Yet that the highest and most influential faith in the truth and authority of the Scriptures is the direct work of the Ploly Spirit on our hearts. The Scriptures to the unregenerate man are like light to the blind. They may be felt as the rays of the sun are felt by the blind, but they cannot be fully seen The Holy Spirit opens the blinded eyes and gives (hie HOLY SCRIPTURE. 69 gensibility to tlie diseased heart, and thus assurance comes with tlie evidence of spiritual experience. When iirst regenerated, he begins to set the Scriptures to the test of experience, and the more he advances the more lie proves them true, and tlie more he discovers of their limitless breadth and fulness, and their evidently de- signed adaptation to all human wants under all possible conditions. Section VI. — The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is eitlier expressly set down in Scripture, or bj' good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture : unto which noth- ing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of men.^''^ Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the word ;" and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed." " 2 Tim. iii. 15-17 ; Gal. i. 8, 9 ; 2 Thess. ii. 2.— '3 John vi. 45 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9-12.—" 1 Cor. xi. 13, 14 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 26, 40. This section teaches the following propositions : 1st. The inspired Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are a complete rule of faith and practice ; they embrace the whole of whatever supernatural revelation God now makes to men, and are abundantly sufficient for all the practical necessities of men or communities. This is proved (a) from the design of Scripture. It professes to lead us to God. Whatever is necessary to that end it must teach us. If any supplementary knowledge is necessary, it must refer to it. Incom- 60 CONFESSION OF FAITH. pleteness in such an undertaking would be falsehood. But (6) while Christ and his apostles constantly refer to Scripture as an authoritative rule, neither they nor the Scri])tures themselves ever refer to any other source . of divine revelation whatsoever. They therefore assume all the awful prerogatives of completeness. John xx. 31 ; 2 Tim. iii. 15-17. And (c), as a matter of fact, the Scriptures do teach a perfect system of doctrine, and all the principles which are necessary for the practical regu- lation of the lives of individuals, communities and churches. The more diligent men have been in the study of the Bible, and the more assiduous they have been in carrying out its instructions into practice, the less has it been possible for them to believe that it is incomplete in any element of a perfect rule of all that which man is to believe concerning God, and of all that duty which God requires of man. 2d. Nothing during the present dispensation is to be added to this com])lete rule of faith, either by new reve- lations of the Spirit or traditions of men. No new revelations of the Spirit are to be expected now, because (a) he has already given us a complete and all-sufficient rule; (6) because, while the Old Testament foretells the new dispensation, the New Testament does not refer to any further revelation to be expected before the second advent of Christ. Tiiey always refer to the "coming" or "appearance" of Christ as the very next supernatural event to be anticipated, (c.) As a matter ^ of fact, no pretended revelations of the Spirit since the days of the ai)ostles have borne the marks or been accompanied with the "signs" of a supernatural revela- tion. On the contrary, all that have been made pul lie — HOLY SCRIPTURE. 61 Ifts those of Swedenborg and the Mormons — are incon- 'sistent with Scripture truth, directly oppose the author- ity of Scripture and teach bad morals; while private revelations have been professed only by vain enthusiasts, and are incapable of verification. Traditions of men cannot be allowed to supplement Scripture as a rule of faith, because (a) the Scriptures, while undertaking to lead men to a saving knowledge of God, never once ascribe authority to any such a sup- plementary rule. (6.) Christ rebukes the practical ob- servance of it in the Pharisees. Matt. xv. 3-6 ; Mark vii. 7. (c.) Tradition cannot supplement Scripture, be- cause, while the latter is definite, complete and perspicu- ous, the former is essentially indeterminate, obscure and fragmentary, (d) The only system of ecclesiastical tradition which pretends to rival the Scriptures as a rule of faith is that of the Roman Church, and her traditions are, many of them, demonstrably of modern origin ; none can be traced to the apostolic age, much less to an apostolic origin ; they are inconsistent with the clear teaching of Scripture and with the opinions of many of the highest authorities in that Church itself in past ages. 3d. Nevertheless, a personal spiritual illumination by the power of the Holy Ghost is necessary in every case for the practical and saving knowledge of the truth .embraced in the Scriptures. This necessity does not ^ result from any want of either completeness or clearness in the revelation, but from the fact that man, in a state of nature, is carnal, and unable to discern the things of the Spirit of God. Spiritual illumination differs from inspiration, therefore, (a) in that it conveys no new 62 COXFEbblOX OF FAITH. truths to the nnderstanding, but simply opens the mind and heart of tlie subject to the spiritual discernment and appreciation of the truth already objectively pre- sented in the Scriptures, and (b) in that it is an element in regeneration common to all the children of God, and not peculiar to prophets or apostles; (c) and hence, in that it is private and personal in its use, and not j)ublic. 4th. That, while the Scriptures are a complete rule of faith and practice, and while nothing is to be re- garded as an article of faith to be believed, or a religious duty obligatory upon the conscience, which is not ex- plicitly or implicitly taught in Scripture, nevertheless they do not descend in practical matters into details, but, laying down general principles, leave men to apply them, in the exercise of their natural judgment, in the light of experience and in adaptation to changing cir- cumstances, as they are guided by the sanctifying influ- ences of the Holy Spirit. This liberty, of course, is allowed only within the limits of the strict interpretation of the principles taught in the Word, and in the legitimate application of those principles, and applies to the regulation of the practical life of the individual and of the Church in detailed adjustments to changing circumstances. Section VII. — All diings in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all ;^* j'et those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed, for salvation, aro 80 clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient under- standing of them.'* "2 Pet. iii. IG.— isps. cxix. 105, 130. HOLT( SCRIPTURE. 63 This section affirms that the Scriptures are in such a sense perspicuous that all that is necessary for man to know, m order to his salvation or for his j^ractical guidance in duty, may be learned therefrom, and that they are designed for the personal use and are adapted to the instruction of the unlearned as well as the learned. Protestants admit that many of the truths revealed in the Scriptures in their own nature transcend human understanding, and that many prophecies remain inten- tionally obscure until explained by their fulfilment in the developments of history. Nevertheless, Protestants affirm and Romanists deny (a) that every essential article of faith and rule of practice may be clearly learned from Scripture ; and (6) that private and unlearned Christians may be safely allowed to interpret Scripture for themselves. On the other hand, it is true that, with the advance of historical and critical knoM'ledge. and by means of controversies, the Church as a community has made progress in the accurate inter})retation of Scripture and in the full comprehension of the entire system of truth revealed therein. That the Protestant doctrine on this subject is true, is proved (a) from the fact that all Christians promiscu- ously are commanded to search the Scriptures. 2 Tim. iii. 15-17 ; Acts xvii. 11 ; John v. 39. (6.) From the fact that the Scriptures are addressed either to all men or to the Avhole body of believers. Deut. vi. 4-9; Luke i. 3; Rom. i. 7 ; 1 Cor. i. 2; 2 Cor. i. 1. And the salutations of all the Epistles except tKose to Timothy and Titus, (c.) The Scriptures are affirmed to be perspicuous. 64 CONFESSION OF FAITH. Ps.cxix. 105,130; 2 Cor. iii. 14; 2 Pet. i. IS, 19; 2 Tim. iii. 15-17. (c/.) The Scriptures uddress men as a divine law to be obeyed and as a guide to salvation. If for all prac- tical purposes they are not perspicuous they must mis- lead, and so falsify their pretensions. (e.) Experience has uniformly proved the truth of the Protestant doctrine. Those churches which have most faithfully disseminated the Scriptures in the vernacular among the mass of the people have conformed most entirely to the plain and certain sense of their teaching in faith and practice; while those churches which have locked them up in the hands of a priesthood have to the greatest degree departed from them both in letter and spirit. Section VIII. — The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of Grod of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which at the time of the wiiting of it was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical ;" so as in all controversies of re- ligion the Church is finally to appeal unto them.^* But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of G-od. who have right unto and interest in the Scriptures, and are com- manded, in the fear of God, to read and search them,^® therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come,'"' that the word of God dwelling plenti- fully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner,*" and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope.^^ " Matt. V. 18.— 18 Isa. viii. 20 ; Acts w. 15; John v. 39, 46.— 19 John v. :9._20 1 Cor. xiv. 6, 9, 11, 12, 24, 27, 28.— 21 Col. iii. 16.— ^ Rom. xv. 4. This section teaches : 1st. That the Old Testament having been originally HOI.Y SCRIPTURE. QFi written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek, which were tJie common languages of the large body of | the Chun^h in their respective periods, the Scrijitures in those languages are the absolute rule of iiiith, and ulti- | mate appeal in all controversies. 2d. That the original : sacred text has come down to us in a st«te of essential purity. 3d. That the Scriptures should be translated into the vernacular languages of all people, and copies put into the hands of all capable of reading them. The true text of the an(;icnt Scriptures is ascertained by means of a careful collation and comparison of the following: 1st. Ancientjmanuscripts. The oldest ex- isting Hebrew manuscripts date from the ninth or tenth century. The oldest Greek manuscrijits date from the fourth to the sixth century. Many hundi*eds of these' have been collated by eminent scholars in forming the text of modern Hebrew and Greek Testaments. The differences are found to be unimportant, and the essen- tial integrity of our text is established. 2d. Quotations' from the apostolic Scriptures found in the writings of tlie early Christians. These are so numerous that the whole New Testament might be gathered from the works of writers dating before the seventh century, and they prove the exact state of the text at the time in which they were made. 3d. Early translations into other languages. The principal of these are the Samaritan Pentateuch, which 1 the Samaritans inherited from the ten tribes ; the Greek , Septuagint, B. C. 285 ; the Peshito or ancient Syriac \ version, A. D. 100 ; the Latin Vulgate of Jerome. A. D. | 385 ; the Coptic of the fifth century, and others of less ' critical value. 5 66 CONFESSION' OF FAITH. Section IX. — The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not man- ifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.^ Section X. — The supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be detei-mined, and all decrees of councils, opin- ions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but tbe Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.** «3 2 Pet. i. 20, 21 ; Acts xv. 15, 16.— 2* Matt. xxii. 29, 31; Eph. ii. 20; Acts xxviii. 25. These sections teach : 1st. That the infallible and only true "rule" for the interpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself, 2d. That the Scriptures are the supreme "judge" in all contro- versies coucernino; relio-ion. The authority of the Scriptures as the ultimate rule of faith rests alone in the fact that they are the word of God. Since all these writings are one revelation, and the only revelation of his Avill concerning religion given by God to men, it follows : 1st. That they are complete as a revelation in themselves, and are not to be supplemented or explained by ligiit drawn from any other source. 2d. That the difleront sections of this revelation rautiially supplement and explain one an- other. The Holy Spirit who ins[)ired the Scriptures is the only adequate expounder of his own words, and he is promised to all the children of God as a Spirit of light and truth. In depcndance upon his guidance, Christians are of course to study the Scriptures, using all the helps of true learning to ascertain their meaning; but this meaninrr is to be sona-ht in the lisrht of tho HOLY SCRIPTURE. 67 Scriptuics themselves taken as a wliole, and not in the light either of tradition or of philosopliy. *' A rule is a standard of judgment; -a, judge is the expounder and applier of that rule to the decision of particular cases." The Romish doctrine is, that the Papal Church is the infallible teacher of men in religion; that, consequently, the Church authoritatively determines, (1) what is Scripture ; (2) what is tradition ; (3) what is the true sense of Scripture and of tradition ; and (4) what is the true application of that rule to every particular question of faith or practice. The Protestant doctrine is, 1st. That the Scriptures are the only rule of faith and practice ; '2d. (a) nega- tively, that there is no body of men qualified or author- ized to interpret the Scriptures or to apply their teach- ings to the decision of particular questions in a sense binding upon their fellow-Christians ; (6) positively, tliat the Scriptures are the only authoritative voice in the Church, which is to be interpreted and applied by every individual for himself, with the assistance, though not by the authority, of his fellow-Christians. Creeds and confessions, as to form, bind those only wlio volun- tarily profess them ; and as to matter, they bind oidy so far as they affirm truly what the Bible teaches, and because the Bible does so teach. This must be true, 1st. Because the Scriptures, which j)rofess to teach us the way of salvation, refer us to no standard or judge in matters of religion beyond or above themselves, and because no body of men since the apos- tles have ever existed with the qualifications or with the authority to act in the office of judge for their fellows. 68 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 2d. Because, as we have seen, the Scriptures are thera- gelves complete and perspicuous. 3d. Because all Christians are commanded to search the Scriptures, and to judge l)oth doctrines and pi'ofessed teachers themselves. John v. 39; 1 John ii. 20, 27; iv. 1, 2; Acts xvii. 11 ; Gal. i. 8 ; 1 Thess. v. 21. 4th. Be(!ause all ChrislJans are promised the Holy Spirit to guide them in the understanding and practical use of the truth. Rom. viii. 9 ; 1 John ii. 20, 27. QUESTIONS. 1. What propositions are affirmed in the first section? 2. What is the first stated false opinion as to the capacity of men to attain to a knowledge of God ? 3. How is it proved to be fixlse ? 4. What is the second false opinion stated? 5. How is it proved to be false ? 6. What is the third false opinion stated ? 7. How is it proved to be false? • 8. How can it be shown that a supernatural revelation from God to man is antecedentlj^ probable? 9. By what means was such a revelation at first given? 10. How has it since been embodied and transmitted? 11. How may the fact that the Christian Scriptures contain such a revelation be proved ? 12. What propositions are taught in the second and third sections ? 13. What is the Old Testament? 14. What is the New Testament? 15. By what principles are we to determine whether or not a book has a right to a place in the canon of Scripture? ■ 16. How is the genuineness of all the books received by Prot- estants in the Old Testament established? 17. How is the genuineness cf the books of the New Testament proved ? HOLY SCRIPTURE. 69 18. What are the Apocrypha? 19. How can it be proved that they are no part of Sacred Scripture ? 20. What is inspiration ? 21. What are the effects of inspiration, and how far do they extend in the case of the Scriptures? 22. State the evidence tluit the Scriptures are inspired. 23. Show that the authority of Scripture does not rest upon the testimony of the Church. / 24. What are the internal evidences which authenticate the claims of Scripture ? 25. How does the Holy Ghost bear witness to the Scriptures? 26. What is meant by the affirmation that the Scriptures as a rule of faith and practice are complete? 27. How may it be proved ? 28. Prove that no additional revelations of the Spirit aye to be expected during the present dispensation. 29. Prove that traditions of men are not to be admitted. 30. How does spiritual illumination differ from inspiration? 31. What liberty of action do the Scriptures allow for the reason and choice of men in prudentially ordering matters that concern religion ? / 32. What is meant by affirming that the Scriptures are per- spicuous ? 33. What do Protestants admit and what do they affirm on this subject? 34. Prove that the Scriptures are perspicuous. 35. What propositions are affirmed in the eighth section ? 36. By what means is the integrity of the text of our modern copies of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures established? 37. What i>ropositions do the ninth and tenth sections affirm? 38. Show tliat Scripture must be interpreted by Scripture. 39. What is the Kouiish doctrine as to the authority of the Church in questions of faith and practice? 40. What is the difference between a "rule" and a "judge?" . 41. What is the Protestant doctrine as to the true judge of controversies? 42. Prove the truth of the Protestant doctrine. CHAPTER II. OF GOD AND OP THE HOLY TEINITY. Section I. — There is but one onV living and true God,* who is infinite in being and perfection,' a most pure spirit,* invisible,'' without body, parts,* or passions,'' immutable,* immense,' eter- nal,^" incomprehensible," almighty,^* most wise,^* most holy," most free,^* most absolute,^* working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will," for his own glory j^" most loving,^' gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin ■,'^° the rewarder of them that diligently seek him f^ and withal most just and terrible in his judgments ;^^ hating all sin,^ and who will by no means clear the guilty.^* Section II. — God hath all life,'^ glory, ^® goodness,'^' blessed- ness,''® in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all- sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath* made,^ not deriving any glory from them,'" but only manifest- ing his own glory, in, by, unto and upon them : he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom and to whom, are all things;'^ and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth." In his sight all things are open and manifest ;" his knowledge is infinite, infallible and independent upon the crea- ture,** so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain.'^ He is most holy in all liis counsels, in all his works and in all his com- mands." To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service or obedience, he is pleased to require of them." > Deut. vi. 4 ; 1 Cor. viii. 4, 6.—' 1 Thcss. i. 9 ; Jer. x. 10.— » Job xi. 7- 9 ; xxvi. 14.— ♦ John iv. 24.-5 i Tim. i. 17.— * Deut. iv. 15, 16 ; John iv. 24; Luke .xxiv. 39.— T Acts xiv. 11, 15.-8 James i. 17; Mai. iii. 6.— » J 70 GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY. 71 Kings viii. 27 ; Jer. xxiii. 23, 24.— lo Ps. xo. 2 ; 1 Tim. i. 17.— li Pa, -^^ 3.— 1* Gen. xvii. 1; Rev. iv. 8.— »» Rom. xvi. 27.— " Isa. vi. 3; Rev.'iv. 8._I5 Ps. cxv. 3.— ifi Ex. iii. 14.—" Eph. i. 11.— i* Prov. xvi. 4; Rom. xi. 36._i9 1 John iv. S, U.—'^ Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7.—" Heb. xi. 6.— « Neh. ix. 32, 33.— M Ps. V. 5, 6.-2* Neh. i. 2, 3 ; Ex. xxxiv. 7.—^ John v. 26.-26 Acts vii. 2.—" Ps. cxix. 68.-28 i Tim. vi. 15; Rom. ix. 6.— » Acts xvii. 24, 2f.,_*> Job xxii. 2, 3.-31 Rom. xi. 36.-32 ^gv. iv. 11 ; 1 Tim. vi. 15 ; Dan. iv. 25, 35.-33 Heb. iv. 13.-34 Rom. xi. 33, 34 ; Ps. cxlvii. 5.-35 Acts xv. 18; Ezek. xi. 5.-36 i^g. cxlv. 17; Rom. vii. 12.— 37 Rev. v. 12, 14. These sections teach the following propositions : 1st. There is but one living and true God. 2d. This God is a free personal Spirit, witl^out bodily- parts or passions. 3d. He possesses all absolute perfections in and of himself. 4th. He possesses all relative perfections with respect to his creatures. 5th. He is self-existent and absolutely independent, the sole support, proprietor and sovereign disposer of all his creatures. 1st. There is but one living and true God. There have been false gods innumerable, and the title god has been applied to angels (Ps. xcvii. 7), be- cause of their spirituality and exalted excellence, and to magistrates (Ps. Ixxxii. 6), because of their authority; and Satan is called " the god of this world" (2 Cor. iv. 4), because of his usurped dominion over the wicked. In opposition, therefore, to the claims of all false gods, and in exclusion of all figurative use of the term, it is affirmed that there is but one true God, one living God. This affirmation includes two propositions : (a.) There is but one God, (6.) This one God is an absolute unit, incapable of division. ■V 72 CONFESSION OF FAITH. riiat there is but one God is proved — (1) From the met tJiat every argumeut that establishes the being of God, suggests the existence of but one. There must be one first cause, but there is no evidence of more than one. There must be one designing intelligence and one moral governor, but neither the argument from desio'n nor from conscience suggests more than one. (2.) The creation throughout its whole extent is one system pre- senting absolute unity of design, and hence evidently emanating from one designing intelligence. (3.) The same is true of the system of providential government. (4.) The sense of nioral accountability innate in man witnesses to the unity of the source of all absolute authority. (5.) All the instincts and cultivated habits of reason lead us to refer the multiplicity of the phe- nomenal world backward and upward to a ground of absolute unity, which being infinite and absolute, ne- cessarily excludes division and rivalry. (6.) The Scrip- tures constantly affirm this truth. Deut. vi. 4; 1 Cor. viii. 4. The indivisible unity of this one God is proved by the same arguments. For an essential division in the one Godhead would in effect constitute two Gods ; be- sides, the Scriptures teach us that the Christian Trinity is one undivided God : " I and my Father are one." John X. 30. 2d. This God is a free personal Spirit, without bodily parts or passions. There is a very ancient prevalent and persistent mode of thought which pervades a great deal of our literature in the present day, which tends to compound God with the world, and to identify him with the laws of nature, GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY. 73 the order and beauty of creation. In one way or another he is considered as sustaining to the phenomena ol nature the relation of soul to body, or of whole to parts, or of permanent substance to transient modes. Now all the arguments that establish the being of a God agree with the Scriptures in setting him forth as a personal spirit distinct from the world. By spirit we mean the subject to which the attributes of intelligence, feeling and will belong as active prop- erties. Where these unite there is distinct personality. The argument from design proves that the great first cause to whom the system of the universe is to be re- ferred possesses both intelligence, benevolence and will in selecting ends, and in choosing and adapting means to effect those ends. Therefore he is a personal spirit. The argument from the sense of moral accountability innate in all men proves that we are subject to a supreme Lawgiver, exterior and superior to the persons he governs, one who takes knowledge of us, and will hold us to a strict personal account. Therefore he is a personal spirit distinct from — though intimately asso- ciated with — the subjects he governs. We know spirit by self-consciousness, and in affirm- ing that God is a spirit we (1) affirm that he possesses in infinite perfection all those properties which belong to our spirits, (a) because the Scriptures affirm that we were created in his image, (6) because they attribute all these properties severally to him, (c) because our religious nature demands that we recognize them in him, (d) be- cause their exercise is evidenced in his works of creation and providence, (e) because they were possessed by the iliviue nature in Christ. And (2) we deny that the ,^ 74 CONFESSION OP FAITH. properties of matter, such as bodily parts and passions, belong to him. We make this denial, (a) because there is no evidence that he does possess any such properties, and, (6) because, from the very nature of matter and its affections, it is inconsistent with those infinite and abso- lute perfections which are of his essence, such as sim- plicity, unchangeableness, unity, omnipresence, etc. When the Scriptures, in condescension to our weak- ness, express the fact that God hears by saying that he has an ear, or that he exerts power by attributing to him a hand, they evidently speak metaphorically, because in the case of men spiritual faculties are exercised through bodily organs. And when they speak of his repenting, of his being grieved or jealous, they use metaphorical language also, teaching us that he acts toward us as a man would when agitated by such passions. Such me- taphors are characteristic rather of the Old than of the New Testament, and occur for the most part in highly rhetorical passages of the poetical and prophetical books. 3d. Pie possesses all absolute perfections in and of himself. 4th. He possesses all relative perfections with respect to his creatures. The attributes of God are the properties of his all- perfect nature. Those are absolute which belong to (jod, considered in himself alone — as self-existence, immensity, eternity, intelligence, etc. Those are rela- tive which characterize him in his relation to his crea- tures— as omnipresence, omniscience, etc. ^V It is evident that we can know only such properties ^t of God as he has condescended to reveal to us, and only A GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY. 75 60 much of these as he has revealed. The question, then, is, What has God revealed to us of his perfections in his word? (1.) God is declared to be infinite in his being. Hence he can exist under none of the limitations of time or space. He must be eternal and he must fill all immensity. These three, therefore, must be the com- mon perfections of all the properties that belong to his essence. He is infinite, eternal, omnipresent in his being; infinite, eternal, omnipresent in his wisdom, in his power, in his justice, etc. When God is said to be infinite in his knowledge or his power, we mean that he knows all things, and that he can effect all that he wills, without any limit. When M^e say that he is infinite in his truth, or his justice, or his goodness, we mean that he possesses these properties in absolute perfection. (2.) His immensity. When we attribute this perfec- tion to God, we mean that his essence fills all space. This cannot be effected through multiplication of his essence, since he is ever one and indivisible; nor through its extension or diffusion, like ether, through the inter- planetary spaces, because it is pure spirit. The Spirit of God, like the spirit of a man, must be an absolute unit, v/ithout extension or dimensions. Therefore, the entire indivisible Godhead must, in the totality of his being, be simultaneously present every moment of time at every point of space. He is immense absolutely and from eternity. He has been omnipresent, in his essence and in all the properties thereof, ever since the creation, to every atom and element of which it consists. Al- though God is essentially equally omnipresent to all creatures at all times, yet, as he variously manifests 76 CONFESSION OF FAITH. himself at different times and places to his intelligeni creatures, so he is said to be peculiarly present to them under such conditions. Thus, God was present to Moses in the burning bush. Ex. iii. 2-6. And Clirist promises to be in the midst of two or three met together in his name. Matt, xviii. 20. (3.) His eternity. By affirming that God is eternal, we mean that his duration has no limit and that his existence in infinite duration is absolutely perfect. He could have had no beginning, he can have no end, and in his existence there can be no succession of thoughts, feelings or purposes. There can be no increase to his knowledge, no change as to his purpose. Hence the past and the future must be as immediately and as im- mutably present with him as the present. Hence his existence is an ever-abiding, all-embracing present, which is always contemporaneous with the ever-flowing times of his creatures. His knowledge, which never can change, eternally recognizes his creatures and their actions in their several places in time, and his actions upon his creatures pass from him at the precise moments predetermined in his unchanging purpose. Hence God is absolutely unchangeable in his being and in all the modes and states thereof. In his know- ledge, his feelings, his purposes, and hence in his en- gagements to his creatures, he is the same yesterday, to-day and for ever. " The counsel of the Lord stand- eth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations." Ps. xxxiii. 11. (4.) The infinite intelligence of God, including om- niscience and absolutely perfect wisdom, is clearly taught in Scripture. God's knowledge is infinite, not I GOD AND THE HOLY TKINITY. 77 only as to the range of objects it embraces, but also as to its perfection, (a.) We know tilings only as they stand related to our organs of perception, and only in their properties. God knows them immediately, in the lio-ht of his o\^n intelligence and in their essential nature. (6.) We know things successively as they are present to us, or as we pass inferentially from the known to the before unknown.. God knows all things eternally by one direct, all-comprehensive intuition, (c.) Our knowledge is dependent ; God's is independent. Ours is fragmentary ; God's total and complete. Ours is in great measure transient ; God's is permanent. God knows himself, the depths of his own infinite and eternal being, the constitution of his nature, the ideas of his reason, the resources of his power, the pur- poses of his will. In knowing the resources of his power he knows all things possible. In knowing thf immutable purposes of his will he knows all that has existed or that will exist, because of that purpose. Wisdom presupposes knowledge, and is that excellent practical use which the absolutely perfect intelligence and will of God make of his infinite knowledge. It is exercised in the election of ends, general and special, and in the selection of means in order to the accom- plishment of those ends, and is illustrated gloriously in [he perfect system of God's works of creation, provi- dence and grace. (5.) The omnipotence of God is the infinite efficiency resident in and inseparable from the divine essence to effect whatsoever he wills without any limitation soever, except such as lies in the absolute and immutable per- fections of hi^^ owi nature. The power of God is both 78 CONFESSION OF FAITH. unlimited in its range and infinitely perfect in its mode of action. (1.) We are conscious that the powers inhe- rent in our wills are very limited. Our wills can act directly only upon the course of our thoughts and a few bodily actions, and can only very imperfectly control these. The power inherent in God's will acts directly upon its objects, and effects absolutely and uncondition- ally all he intends. (2.) We work th"ough means; the effect often follows only remotely, ana '^nr action is conditioned by external circumstances. God acts imme- diately with or without means as he pleases. When he acts through means it is a condescension, because the means receive all their efficiency from his power, not his power from the means. And the power of God is absolutely independent of all that is exterior to his own all-perfect nature. The power of God is the power of his all-perfect, self- existent essence. He has absolutely unlimited power to do whatsoever his nature determines him to will. But this power cannot be directed against his nature. The ultimate principles of reason and of moral right and wrong are not products of the divine power, but are principles of the divine nature. God cannot change the nature of right and wrong, etc., because he did not make himself, and these have their determination in his own eternal perfections. He cannot act unwisely or unright- eously, not for want of the power as respects the act, but tor want of will, since God is eternally, immutably and most freely and spontaneously wise and righteous. God's omnipotence is illustrated, but never exhausted, in his works of creation and providence. God's power is exercised At his will, but there ever remains an infinite GOD AND THE HOLY TKINITY. 79 re-icrve of" possibility lying back of the actual exercise of power, since the Creator always infinitely transcends his creation. (6.) The absolutely perfect goodness of God. The moral perfection of God is one absolutely perfect right- eousness. Relatively to his creatures his infinite moral perfection always presents that aspect which his infinite wisdom decides to be appropriate to the case. He is not alternately merciful and just, nor partially merciful and partially just, but eternally and perfectly merciful and just. Both are right; both are equally and spon- taneously in his nature, and both are perfectly and freely harmonized by the infinite wisdom of that nature. His goodness includes (a) Benevolence, or goodness ^^■^^ viewed as a disposition to promote the happiness of his sensitive creatures ; (6) Love, or goodness viewed as a disposition to promote the happiness of intelligent crea- tures, and to regard with complacency their excellences (c) Mercy, or goodness exercised toward the miserable {d) Grace, or goodness exercised toward the undeserving. The grace of God toward the undeserving evidently rests upon his sovereign will (Matt. xi. 26 ; Rom. ix. 15), and can be assured to us only by means of a posi- tive revelation. Neither reason nor conscience nor ob- servation of nature can assure us, independently of his own special revelation, that he will be gracious to the guilty. Our duty is to forgive injuries; we as individ- uals have nothing to do with either forgiving or pardon- ing sin. That God's goodness is absolutely perfect and inoxhn,nstible is proved from universal experience, as well as from Scripture. James iii. 17; v. 11. It is exercised, however, not in making the happiness of hia 80 CONFESSION OF FAITH. creatures ir.discriminately and unconditionally a chief end, but is regulated by his wisdom in order to the accomplishment of the supreme ends of his own glory and their excellence. (7.) God is absolutely true. This is a common prop- erty of all the divine perfections and actions. His knowledge is absolutely accurate ; his wisdom infallible; his goodness and justice perfectly true to the standard of his own nature. In the exercise of all his properties God is always self-consistent. He is also always abso- lutely true to his creatures in all his communications, sincere in his promises and threatenings, and faithful in their fulfilment. This lays the foundation for all rational confidence in the constitution of our own natures and in the order of the external world, as well as in a divinely-accredited, supernatural revelation. It guarantees the validity of the information of our senses, the truth of the intuitions of reason and conscience, the correctness of the inferences of the understanding, and the general credibility of hu- man testimony, and pre-eminently the reliability of every word of the inspired Scriptures. (8.) The infinite justice of God. This, viewed abso- lutely, is the all-perfect righteousness of God's being considered in himself. Viewed relatively, it is his infi- nitely righteous nature exercised, as the moral governor of his intelligent creatures, in the imposition of right- eous laws, and in their righteous execution. It appears in the general administration of his government vnewed as a whol i, and distributively in his dealing to individ- uals that treatment which righteously belongs to them, according to hiji own covenants and their own deserts. GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY. 81 God is most willingly just, but his justice is no more an optional product of his will than is his self-existent being. It is an immutable principle of his divine con- stitution. He is " of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity." Heb. i. 13. " He cannot deny himself." 2 Tim. ii. 13. God does not make his demands just by willing them, but he wills them be- cause they are just. The infinite righteousness of his immutable being determines him to regard and to treat all sin as intrin- sically hateful and deserving of punishment. The pun- ishment of sin and its consequent discouragement is an obvious benefit to the subjects of his government in general. It is a revelation of righteousness in God, and a powerful stimulant to moral excellence in them. But God hates sin because it is intrinsically hateful, and punishes it because such punishment is intrinsically righteous. This is proved — {a.) From the direct assertions of Scripture : " To me belongeth vengeance and recompense." Deut. xxxii. 35. " According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay." Isa. lix. 18. "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them which trou- ble you." 2 Thess. i. 6. " Knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death." Rom. i. 32. [b.) The Scriptures teach that the vicarious suffering of the penalty due to his people by Christ as their sub- stitute was absolutely necessary to enable God to con- tinue just and at the same time the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Rom. iii. 26. " If righteous- ness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Gal. 5 82 CONFESSION OF FAITH. ii, 21. "If there had been a law that could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." Gal. iii. 21. That is, if God could have in consistency with justice pardoned sinners without an expiation, 'verily" he would not have sacrificed his own Son "in vain." (c.) It is a universal judgment of awakened sinners that their sin deserves punishment and that im- mutable righteousness demands it. And this is the sentence universally pronounced by the moral sense of enlightened men with regard to all crime. (d.) The same changeless principle of righteousness was inculcated by all the divinely-appointed sacrifices of the Mosaic dispensation : " Almost all things by the law are purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood is no remission." Heb. ix. 22. It has also been illustrated in the sacrificial rites of all heathen nations, and in all human laws and penalties. (9.) The infinite holiness of God. Sometimes this term is applied to God to express his perfect purity: " Sanctify yourselves and be ye holy, for I am holy." Lev. xi. 44. In that case it is an element of his per- fect righteousness. " The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Ps. cxlv. 17. Some- times it expresses his transcendently august and vener- able majesty, which is the result of all his harmonious and blended perfections in one perfection of absolute and infinite excellence. " And one cried to another, Holy ! holy ! holy ! is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." Isa. vi. 3. 5th. God is self-existent and absolutely independent, the so e support, proprietor and sovereign disposer of GOD AND THE HOLY TKIMTY. 83 his creatures. Since God is eternal and the Creator out of nothing of all things that exist besides himself, it follows (rt) that his own being must have the cause of its existence in itself — that is, that he is self-existent; (6) that he is absolutely independent in his being, purposes and actions of all other beings; and (c) that all other beings of right belong to him, and in fact are absolutely- dependent upon him in their being, and subject to him in their actions and destinies. Tne sovereignty of God is his absolute right to govern and dispose of the work of his own hands according to his own good pleasure. This sovereignty restb not in his will abstractly, but in his adorable per- son. Hence it is an infinitely wise, righteous, benevo- lent and powerful sovereignty, unlimited by anything outside of his own ^perfections. The grounds of his sovereignty are — (a) His infinite superiority. (6.) His absolute ownership of all things as created by him. (c.) The perpetual and absolute dependence of all things upon him for being, and of all intelligent creatures for blessedness. Dan. iv. 25, 35 ; Rev. iv. 11. Section III. — In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.^ The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding ; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father ;'* tlie Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.*" ^ 1 J.,hn V. 7 ; Matt. iii. 16, 17; xxviii. 19; 2 Cor. xiii. 14.— »9 John i. 14, 18.— «) John XV. 20; Gal. iv. 6. Having before ^^hown that there is but one living and S4 CONFESSION OF FAITH. true God, and that his essential properties embrace all perfections, this Section asserts in addition — 1st, That Father, Son and Holy Ghost are each equally that one God, and that the indivisible divine esscHce and all divine perfections and prerogatives be- long to each in the same sense and degree. 2d. That these titles. Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are not different names of the same person in different relations, but of different persons. 3d. That these three divine persons are distinguished from one another by certain personal properties, and are revealed in a certain order of subsistence and of operation. These propositions embrace the Christian doctrine of the Trinity (three in unity), which is no part of nat- ural religion, though most clearly revealed in the in- spired Scriptures — indistinctly, perhaps, in tlie Old Testament, but with especial definiteness in the New Testament. 1st. Father, Son and Holy Ghost are each equally the one God, and the indivisible divine essence, and all divine perfections and prerogatives belong to each in the same sense and degree. Since there is but one God, the infinite and the abso- lute First Cause, his essence, being spiritual, cannot bo divided. If then Father, Son and Holy Ghost are that one God, they must each equally consist of that same essence. And since the attributes of God are the in- herent properties of his essence, they are inseparable from that essence ; and it follows that if Father, Son and Holy Ghost consist of the same numerical essence, they must have the same identical attributes in common; GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY. 85 that is, there is common to them the one intelligence and the one will, etc. The Scriptures are full of the evidences of i his fun- damental truth. It has never been questioned whether the Father is God. That the Son is the true God is proved by the following considerations : (1.) Christ existed before he was born of the Virgin. (a.) He was with the Father before the world was. John viii. 58 ; xvii. 5. (6.) " He came into the world." " He came down from heaven." John iii. 31 ; xvi. 28. (2.) AU the names and titles of God are constantly applied to Christ, and to none others except to the Father and the Spirit : as Jehovah, Jer. xxiii. 6 ; mighty God, everlasting Father, Isa. ix. 6 ; God, John i. 1 ; Heb. i. 8 ; God over all, Rom. ix. 5 ; the true God and everlasting life, 1 John v. 20 ; the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty, Rev. i. 8. [3.) All divine attributes are predicated of him Eternity, John viii. 58 ; xvii. 5 ; Rev. i. 8 ; xxii. 13 immutability, Heb. i. 10, 11; xiii. 8; omnipresence Matt, xviii. 20 ; John iii. 13 ; omniscience. Matt. xi. 27 John ii. 25;. Rev. ii. 23; omnipotence, John v. 17 Heb. i. 3. (4.) The Scriptures attribute all divine works to Christ: Creaiion, John i. 3-10; Col. i. 16, 17; preser- vation and providential government, Heb. i. 3; Col. i. 17 ; Matt, xxviii. 18; the final judgment, John v. 22; Matt. XXV. 31, 32; 2 Cor. v. 10; giving eternal life, John X. 28; sending the Holy Ghost, John xvi. 7; Banctification, Eph. v. 25-27. (5.) The Scriptures declare that divine worship should 86 CONFESSION OP FAITH. be paid to him : Heb. i. 6 ; Rev. i. 5, 6 ; v. 11, 12 ; 1 Cor. i. 2 ; John v. 23. Men are to be baptized into the name of Jesus, as well as into the name of the Father and the Holy Ghost. The grace of Jesus is invoked in the apostolical benediction. That the Holy Ghost is the true God is proved in a similar manner. (1.) He is called God. What the Spirit says Jehovah says. Compare Isa. vi. 8, 9 with Acts xxviii. 25, and Jer. xxxi. 33 with Heb. x. 15, 16. To lie to the Holy Ghost is to lie to God. Acts v. 3, 4. (2.) Divine perfections are ascribed to him : Omnis- cience, 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11; omnipresence, Ps. cxxxix. 7; omnipotence, Luke i. 35 ; Rom. viii. 11. (3.) Divine works are attributed to him : Ci'eation, Job xxvi. 13; Ps. civ. 30; miracles, 1 Cor. xii. 9—11 ; regeneration, John iii. 6 ; Titus iii. 5. (4.) Divine worship is to be paid to him. His gra- cious influences are invoked in the apostolical benedic- tion. 2 Cor. xiii. 4. We are baptized into his name. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is never forgiven. Matt. xii. 31, 32. 2d. These titles, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are not the names of the same pers n in different relations, but of different persons. Since there is but one indivisible and inalienable spir- itual essence which is common to Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and since they have in common one infinite intelligence, power, will, etc., when we say they are distinct persons we do not mean that one is as separate from the other ao one human person is from every other. Their mode of subsistence in the one substance must GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY. 87 ever continue to us a profound mystery, as it transcends all analogy. All that is revealed to us is, that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost stand so distinguished and related that, 1st. They use mutually the personal pro- nouns I, thou, he, when speaking to or about each other. Thus Christ continually addresses the Father, and speaks of the Father and of the Holy Ghost: *' And I will pray the Father and he will give you an- other Comforter," John xiv. 16; "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory I had with thee before the world was," John xvii, 5. Thus Christ speaks of the Holy Ghost : " I will send him;" "fie will testify of me;" "Whom the Father will send in my name," John xiv. 26, and xv. 26. 2d. That they mutually love one another, act upon and through one another, and counsel together. The Father sends the Son, John xvii. 6, and the Father and Son send the Spirit, Ps. civ. 30 ; the Father giveth com- mandment to the Son, John x. 18; the Spirit "speaks not of himself" — "he testifies of" and "glorifies" Christ. John xvi. 13-15. 3d. That they are eternally mutually related as Father arid Son and Spirit. That is, the Father is the Father of the Son, and the Son the Son of the Father, and the Spirit the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. 4th. That they work together in a perfectly harmonious economy of operations upon the creation — the Fatlier creating and sitting supreme in the general administration; the Son becoming incarnate in human nature, and, as the theanthropos, discharging the functions of mediatorial prophet, priest and king ; the Holy Ghost making his grace omnipresent, and ap- ))lying it to the souls and bodies of his members: the 88 CONFESSION OF FAITH. Father the absolute origin and source of life and law; the Sou the Revealer; the Holy Ghost the Executor. Tliere are a number of Scripture passages in which all the three pe«:sons are set forth as distinct and yet as divine: Matt, xxviii. 19 j 2 Cor. xiii. 14; Matt. iii. 13-17; John xv. 26, etc.; 1 John i. 7. 3d. These three divine persons are distinguished frou? one another by certain personal properties, and are re- vealed in a certain order of subsistence and of operation. The " attributes" of God are the properties of the divine essence, and therefore common to each of the three persons, who are " the same in substance," and therefore " equal i power and glory." The " proper- ties" of each divine person, on the other hand, are tliose peculiar modes of personal subsistence, and that pecu- liar order of operation, which distinguishes each from the other, and determines the relation of each to the other. This is chiefly expressed to us by the personal names by which they are revealed. The peculiar per- sonal property of the first Person is expressed by the title Father. As a person he is eternally the Father of his only begotten Son. The peculiar personal pro- perty of the second Person is expressed by the title Son. As a person he is eternally the only begotten Son of the Father, and hence the express image of his person, and the eternal Word in the beginning with God. The peculiar property of the third {)erson is expressed by the title Spirit. This cannot express his essence, because his essence is also the essence of the Father and the Son, It nuist express his eternal personal relation to the other divine persons, because he is as a person constantly designated as the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of GOD AND THE HOI A' TRINITY. 89 the Son. They are all spoken of in Scrij)ture in a con- stant order ; the Father first, the Son second, the Spirit third. The Father sends and operates through both the Son and Spirit. The Sou sends and operates through the Spirit. Never the reverse in either case. The Son is sent by, acts for and reveals the Father. The Spirit is sent by, acts for and reveals both the Father and the Son, The persons are as eternal as the essence, equal in honour, power and glory. Three Per- sons, they are one God, being identical in essence and divine perfections. " I and my Father are one." John X. 30. "The Father is in nie and 1 in him." John x. 38. " He that hath seen the Sou, hath seen the Father." John xiv. 9-11. The most ancient and universally accepted statement of all the points involved in the doctrine of the Trinity, is to be found in the Creed of the Council of Nice, A. D. 325, as amended by the Council of Constantinople, A. D. 381, and is given in full in the first Chapter of the Introduction to this volume. QUESTIONS. 1. What propositions are taught in the first and second Sec- tions ? 2. To whom has the title God been applied? 3. What two propositions are involved in the affirmation that there is but one living and true God ? 4. How may the truth that there is but one God be proved ? 5. How may the indivisible unity of that one God be proved? 6. How may it be proved that God is a personal spirit? 7. What do we mean when we say that God is a spirit? 8. How can the fact that the Sci-iiitures attribute bodily parts and passions to God be explained? 90 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 9. How may it be proved that bodily parts and passions do not belong to God. 10. What is the distinction between the absolute and the rela- tive perfections of God ? 11. What is meant when we affirm that God is infinite? 12. What is the difference between the immensity and the om- nipresence of God ? 13. In what sense is God omnipresent? 14. In what different ways is he present to his creatures ? 15. How does the eternity of God differ from the temi)ora] existence of his creatures ? 16. What is involved in the affirmation that he is eternal? 17. In what sense is God unchangeable? and prove that he is so. 18. What two principal divisions does the infinite intelligence of God embrace? 19. How does God's mode of knowing differ from ours? 20. What are the objects embraced by God's knowledge ? 21. What is wisdom, and how is the wisdom of God exerciscid, and in what departments is it illustrated ? 22. What is included in the affiirmation that God's power is infinite ? 23. How does the exercise of his power differ from ours? 24. What are the limitations of God's power? And why can- not God do that which is unwise or unrighteous? 25. Does the moral character of God include inconsistent ele- ments ? 26. What does the absolute goodness of God include ? 27. How can it be proved that grace is based on sovereign will? 28. How can the absolute goodness of God be proved ? 29. What is the grand end which that goodness proposes to itself? 30. What is included in the affirmation that God is absolutely true? 31. For what does this divine attribute lay the foundation? 32. What is the distinction between the absolute and relative justice of God ? GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY. 91 33. How is tlie relative justice of God exercised ? 34. Show that the justice of God is an immutable principle of his nature? 35. Why does God punish sin ? 36. State the proofs of the above answer. 37. What is meant by the infinite holiness of God? 38. What is included in the absolute sovereignty of God? Prove that he possesses that attribute. 39. What propositions are taught in Section III. ? 40. What is meant by the term "Trinity," and from what source do we derive our knowledge of the truths expressed by it? 41. If there is but one God, and if Father, Son and Holy Ghost are that one God, what relation must they severally sustain to the divine essence? 42. State the proof that the Son is the true God. 43. State the proof that the Holy Ghost is the true God. 44. How may it be proved that Father, Son and Holy Ghost are distinct Persons ? 45. What is the distinction between the attributes of God and the personal properties of Father, Son and Holy Ghost ? 46. What are the personal properties of the Father ? 47. What are the personal properties of the Son ? 48. What are the personal properties of the Holy Ghost ? 49. How is this docjtrine defined in the Nicene Creed? CHAPTER III. OF god's eternal decree. Section I. — God from all eternity did, by the meet wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass:^ yet so as thereby neither is Grod the author of sin,'' nor is violence oifered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.^ Section II. — Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions,* j^et hath he not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.* 1 Eph. i. 11 ; Rom. xi. 33; Heb. vi. 17; Rom. ix. 15, 18.— « James i. 13, 17 ; 1 John i. 5.-3 Acts ii. 23 ; Matt. xvii. 12 ; Acts iv. 27, 28 ; John six, 11; Prov. xvi. 33.—* Acts xv. 18; 1 Sam. xxiii. 11, 12; Matt. xi. 21, 23.— 6 Rom. ix. 11, 13, 16, 18. These Sections affirm the following propositions : 1st. God has had from eternity an unchangeable plan with reference to his creation. 2d. This plan comprehends and determines all things and events of every kind that come to pass. 3d. This all-comprehensive purpose is not, as a whole nor in any of its constituent elements, conditional. It in no respect depends upon his foresight of events not embraced in and determined by his purpose. It is an absolutely sovereign purpose, depending only on " the wise and holy counsel of his own will." «2 god's eteen.vl decree. 93 4th. This purpose is, in relation to all the objects embraced within it, certainly efficacious. 5th. It is in all things consistent with his own most wise, benevolent and holy nature. 6th. It is in all things perfectly consistent with the nature and mode of action of the creatures severally embraced within it. 1st. God has had from eternity an unchangeable plan with reference to his creatures. As an infinitely intelligent Creator and providential Ruler, God must have had a definite purpose with reference to the being and destination of all that he has created, comprehending in one all-perfect system his chief end therein, and all subordinate ends and means in reference to that chief end. And since he is an eternal and unchangeable being, his plan must have existed in all its elements, perfect and unchangeable, from eternity. Since he is an infinite, eternal, unchange- able and absolutely wise, powerful and sovereign Per- son, his purposes must partake of the essential attributes of his own being. And since God's intelligence is abso- lutely perfect and his plan is eternal, since his ultimate end is revealed to be the single one of his own glory, and the whole work of creation and providence is ol)served to form one system, it follows that his plan is also single — one all-comprehensive intention, providing for all the means and conditions as well as the ends selected. 2d. The plan of God comprehends and determines all things and events of every kind that come to pass. (1.) This is rendered certain from the fact that all God's works of creation and providence constitute one 84 CONF£Si5iO^' OF FAITH. system. No event is isolated, either in the physical or moral world, either in heaven or on earth. All of God's supernatural revelations and every advance of human science conspire to make this truth conspicu- ously luminous. Hence the original intention which determines one event must also determine every other event related to it as cause, condition or consequent, direct and indirect, immediate and remote. Hence, the plan which determines general ends must also determine even the minutest element comprehended in the system of which those ends are parts. The free actions of free agents constitute an eminently important and effective element in the system of things. If the plan of God did not determine events of this class, he could make nothing certain, and his government of the world would be made contingent and dependent, and all his purposes fallible and mutable. (2.) The Scriptures expressly declare this truth. (a.) Of the whole system in general. He "worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Eph. i. 11, (6.) Of fortuitous events. Pro v. xvi. 33 ; Matt. x. 29, 30. (c.) Of the free actions of men. " The king's heart is in the hands of the Lord ; as rivers of water, he turn- eth it whithersoever he will." Prov. xxi. 1. " We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph. ii. 10. "It is God that worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. ii. 13. [d.) Of the sinful actions of men. " Him, being de- livered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge god's eternal decree. 95 of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have cruei- tied and slain." Acts ii. 23. " For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do what- soever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." Acts iv. 27, 28. Compare Gen. xxxvii. 28 with Gen. xlv. 7, 8 ; Isa. x. 5. It must be remembered, however, that the purpose of God with respect to the sinful acts of men and wicked angels is in no degree to cause the evil, nor to approve it, but only to permit the wicked agent to perform it, and then to overrule it for his own most wise and holy ends. The same infinitely perfect and self-consistent decree ordains the moral law which forbids and punishes all sin, and at the same time permits its occurrence, limiting and determining the precise channel to which it shall be confined, tlje precise end to which it shall be directed, and overruling its consequences for good. '' But as for you, ye thought evil against me ; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive." Gen. 1. 20. 3d. This all-comprehensive purpose is not, as a whole nor in any of its constituent elements, conditional. It in no respect depends upon his foresight of events not embraced in and determined by his purpose. It is abso- lutely sovereign, depending only on the " wise and holy counsel of his own will." A very obvious distinction must always be kept in mind between an event being conditioned on other events, and the decree of God with reference to that event being conditioned. Calvinists believe, as all men must, 96 CONFESSION OF FAITH. that all events in the system of things depend upoo their causes, and are suspended on conditions. That is, if a man does not sow seed, he will not reap; if he does sow, and all the favorable climatic influences are present, he will reap. If a man believes, he shall be saved; if he does not believe, he will not be saved. But the all- comprehensive purpose of God embraces and determines the cause and the conditions, as well as the event sus- pended upon them. The decree, instead of altering, de- termines the nature of events, and their mutual relations. It makes free actions free in relation to their agents, and contingent events contingent in relation to their condi- tions, while, at the same time, it makes the entire system of events, and every element embraced in it, certainly future. An absolute decree is one which, while it may determine many conditional events by determining their conditions, is itself suspended on no condition, A con- ditional decree is one which determines that a certain event shall happen on condition that some other unde- creed event happens, upon which undecreed event the decree itself, as well as the event decreed, is suspended. The Confession in this Section teaches that all the decrees of God are unconditional. All who believe in a divine government agree with Calvinists that the decrees of God relating to events produced by necessary causes are unconditional. The only debate relates to those decrees whicii are concerned with the free actions of men and of angels. The Socinians and Rationalists maintain that God cannot certainly foresee free actions, because from their very nature they are uncertain until they are performed. Arminians admit that he certainly foresees them, but god's eternal decree. 97 deny that lie determines them. Calvinists affirm that he foresees them to be certainly future because he has determined them to be so. Tlie truth of the Calvinistic view is proved — (1.) From the fact that, as shown above, the decrees of God determine all classes of events. If every event that comes to pass is foreordained, it is evident that there is nothing left undetermined upon which the decree can be conditioned. (2.) Because the decrees of God are sovereign. This is evident, (a) because God is the eternal and absolute Creator of all things. All creatures exist, and are what they are, and possess the properties peculiar to them, and act under the very conditions in which they act, because of God's plan. (6.) It is directly affirmed in Scripture. Dan. iv. 35; Isa. xl. 13, 14; Rom. ix. IS- IS; Eph. i. 5. (3.) God's decree includes and determines the means and conditions upon which events depend, as well as the events themselves : "According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, thai we should be holy." Eph. i. 4. " By grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God" Eph ii. 8. "God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." 2 Thess. ii. 13. In the case of Paul's shipwreck, God first promised Paul absolutely that not a life should be lost. Acts xxvii. 24. But Paul said, verse 31 : " Except these men abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." (4.) The Scriptures declare that the salvation of in- dividuals is conditional upon the personal act of faith, 98 CONFESSION OF FAITH. and at the same time that the decree of God with regard to the salvation of individuals rests solely upon " the counsel of his own will," '' his own good pleasure." "For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God accord- ing to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, etc." Rom. ix. 11. "Having predestinated us according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Eph. i. 11 ; i. 5 ; Matt. xi. 25, 26. 4th. The purpose of God is, with reference to all the objects embraced within it, certainly efficacious. The decree of God is merely a purpose which he exe- cutes in his works of creation and providence. When it is said that all the decrees of God are certainly effica- cious, it is not meant that they are the proximate causes of events, but that they render, under the subsequent economy of creation and providence, every event em- braced in them absolutely certain. This is evident — (1) From the nature of God as an infinitely wise and power- ful person and absolute sovereign. (2.) From the fact that the decrees relate to all events without exception, and are sovereign and unconditional. (3.) The Scriptures declare, with reference to such events, that there is a needs-he that they should happen as it was determined. Matt. xvi. 21 ; Luke xxiv. 44 ; xxii. 22. 5th. This purpose must in all things be perfectly con- sistent with his own most wise, benevolent and holy nature. This is a self-evident truth from the nature of God as an eternal, absolutely perfect And unchangeal)le b^ing. god's eternal decree. 99 His decrees must be absolutely perfect in wisdom and righteousness. The problem of the permission of sin is to us insol- uble, because unexplained. The fact is certain, the rea- son beyond discovery. If God be infinitely wise and powerful, he might have prevented it. It is evident that it is consistent with absolute righteousness to per- mit it and to overrule it. The Arminian admits thai God foresaw that sin and misery would certainly eventu- ate upon the conditions of creation he established. He is therefore as unable as the Calvini.st is to explain why God, notwithstanding that certain knowledge, did not change those conditions. It remains, however, certain (1) that God is not the cause of sin, (a) because he is absolutely holy ; (6) be- cause sin is in its essence dpo/xia (violation of God's will) ; (c) because man as a free agent is the respon-sible cause of his own actions : (2) that God has permitted sin for the purpose of overruling it in the interests of righteousness and benevolence, the highest glory of God and excellence of the moral creation. Gth. The purpose of God is in all things perfectly consistent with the nature and the mode of action of the creatures severally embraced within it. This is certain, (1) because the one eternal, self-con- sistent, all-comprehensive purpose of God at the same time determines the nature of the agent, his proper mode of action and each action that shall eventuate. As God's purpose cannot be inconsistent with itself, the element of it determining the nature of the agent cannot be in- consistent with the element of it determining any par- ticular actit)n of the agent. 100 CONFESSION OF FAITH. (2.) Because the decrees of God are not the proximate causes of events; they only make a given event certainly future. It provides that free agents shall be free agents, and free actions free actions, and that a given free agent shall exist, and that he shall freely perform a certain free action under certain conditions. Now, that a given free action is certainly future, is obviously not inconsistent with the perfect freedom of the agent in that act: (1.) Because all admit that God certainly foreknows the free actions of free agents, and if so, they must be certainly future, although free. (2.) God's actions are certainly holy, though free, and the same is true of all glorified spirits in heaven. (3.) The actions of the devil, and finally reprobate men and an- gels, will for ever be certainly wicked, yet free and responsible. Section III. — By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels® arc predestinated unio everlast- ing life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.' Section IV. — These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number is so certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished.® Section V. — Those of maftkind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory,^ out of his mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving him thereunto ;*" and all to the praise of his glorious grace." 6 1 Tim. V. 21; Matt. xxv. 41.— T Rom. ix. 22, 23; Eph. i. 5, 6; Prov. xvi. 4.-8 2 Tim. ii. I?; John xiii. 18.- » Eph. i. 4, 9, 11; Rom. viii. 30; 2 Tim. i. 9; 1 Thess r. 9.— i" Rom. ix. 11, 13, 16; Eph. i. 4, 9.—" Eph. i. 6, 12. god's eternal decree. 101 The preceding Sections having affirmed that the eter- nal, sovereign, immutable, unconditional decree of God determines all events of every class that come to pass, these Sections proceed to affirm, by way of specification, the following propositions : 1st. The decree of God determine-v that, out of the mass of fallen humanity, certain individuals shall attain to eternal salvation, and that the rest shall be left to be dealt with justly for their sins. 2d. That this determination is unchangeable. 3d. That it is not conditioned upon foreseen faith or good works or perseverance, but that in each case it rests upon sovereign grace and personal love according to the secret counsel of his will. 4th. That the ultimate end or motive in his election is the manifestation of his own glory, the praise of his glorious grace. 1st. The decree of God determines that out of the mass of fallen humanity certain individuals shall attain to eternal salvation, and that the rest shall be left to be dealt with justly for their sins. The Socinian holds that the free acts of men, being in their nature^1[ihcertain, cannot be foreknown as certainly future. Since, therefore, God does not foreknow who will repent and believe, his election amounts to no more than his general purpose to save all believers as a class. The Arminian holds that God, foreseeing from all eternity who will repent and believe, elects those indi- viduals to eternal life on that condition of faith and repentance, thus certainly foreknown. The Calvinist holds that God has elected certain indi- viduals to eternal life, and all the means and conditions 102 CONIESSION OF FAITH. thereof, on the ground of his sovereign good pleasure. He chooses them to faith and repentance, and not be- cause of their faith and repentance. That God does choose individuals to eternal life is certain. (1.) The subjects are always spoken of in Scripture as individ- uals: "As many as were ordained to eternal lile be- lieved." Acts xiii. 48 ; 2 Thess. iii. 13 ; Eph. i. 4. (2.) The names of the elect are said to be "written in heaven," and to be " in the book of life." Phil. iv. 3 ; Heb. xii. 23. (3.) The blessings to which men are elected are such as pertain to individuals not to communities, and they are represented as elected to these spiritual qualifi- cations, and not because they belong to the class which possesses them. They are elected "to salvation," "to the adoption of sons," " to be holy and without blame before him ih love." 2d. This election is unchangeable. This is self- evident. 3d. It is not conditioned upon foreseen faith or re- pentance, but in each case upon sovereign grace and personal love, according to the secret counsel of his will. (1.) It is expressly declared not to rest upon works ; but foreseen faith and repentance are works. Rom. xi. 4-7 ; 2 Tim. i. 9. (2.) Faith and repentance are expressly said to be the fruits of election, and consequently cannot be its condi- tions. They are also declared to be the gifts of God, and cannot be, therefore, the conditions upon which he sus- pends his purpose. Eph. ii. 10; i. 4; 1 Pet. i. 2; Eph. ii. 8 ; Acts V. 31 ; 1 Cor. iv. 7. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; . . . and this is the Father's will, that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing." god's eternal decree. 103 John vi. 37; 39. " But ye believe not, because ye are not my sheep." John x. 26. "And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." Acts xiii. 48. (3.) The Scriptures represent men by nature as " dead in trespasses and sins," and faith and repentance as the exercise of regenerated souls, and regeneration as the work of God — a " new birth," a " new creation," a '' quickening from the dead." Faith and repentance, therefore, must be conditioned upon God's purpose, and cannot condition it. (4.) The Scriptures expressly say that election is con- ditioned on the " good pleasure of God's Avill." " Hav- ing predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, acGording to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace. ... In whom we have obtained an inheritance, being predesti- nated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will." Eph. i. 5, 11 ; Matt. xi. 25, 26 ; John xv. 16, 19. (5.) God claims the right of sovereign, unconditional election as his prerogative. " Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel to honour and another to dishonour?' Rom. ix. 4. If of the same lump, the difference is not in the clay. " So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that run- neth, l>ut of God that showeth mercy." E,om. ix. 16. 4th. The ultimate end or motive of God in election is the piaise of his glorious grace. This is expressly asserted in Eph. i. 15. In the Chapter on Creation it will be shown that the final end of God in all his works, a? a whole, is the manifesta- tion of his own glory. If it be the final end of the 104 CONFESSION OF FAITH. whole, it must be the end also of the special destination of all the parts. Section VI. — As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath lie, by the eternal and most free purpose of his will, foreor- dained all the means thereunto." Wherefore they who are elected being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ;'* are effectually called unto faith in Christ by his Spirit working in due season ; are justified, adopted, sanctified,'* and kept by his power through faith unto salvation.'^ Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified and saved, but the elect only.'® " 1 Pet. i. 2; Epli. i. 4, 6; ii. 10; 2 Thess. ii. 13.— 13 1 Thess. v. 9, 10| Tit. ii. 14.—" Rom. viii. 30; Eph. i. 5 ; 2 Thess. ii. 13.— 15 1 Pet. i. 5.— 16 John xvii. 9; Rom. viii. 28; John vi. 64, 65; viii. 47; x. 26; 1 John ii. 19. This section affirms : 1st. That although the decree of God is one eternal, all comprehensive intention, the several elements em- braced within it necessarily sustain the relation to one another of means to ends. In determining the ends he intends to accomplish, God at the same time determines the means by which he intends to accomplish them. And God's pui'pose with respect to the end necessarily, in the logical order, takes precedence of and gives direc- tion to his purpose with respect to the means. 2d. That, in the matter of tiie redemption of men, the end which God determined was the salvation of certain individuals, called " the elect," and that ho ap- pointed, as means to that end, redemption by Christ, effectual calling, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance in grace unto death. 3d. That as the means are intended to effect the end, 80 they are not to be exercised in the case of any whose god's eternal decree. 105 salvation has not been adopted as that end. None but the elect are redeemed by Christ, or effectually called, or justified, or adopted, or sanctified. 1st. That the purposes of God do sustain the relation to one another of means to ends is evident — (1.) From the fact that his purposes are the product of an infinite intelligence, the very ofifiee of which is to co-ordinate a great system of means in the accomplishment of a great design. (2.) God accomplishes his eternal purposes in his works of creation and providence, and in the economy of both he habitually uses systems of means in subordi- nation to predetermined ends. (3.) All the events de- creed as a matter of fact eventuate in the relation of means in subordination to ends. They must therefore have been embraced in the same order in the divine decree. (4.) God explicitly tells us that he determines one thing in order to accomplish another. He predesti- nates men to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, to the praise of the glory of his grace. 2 Thess. ii. 13 ; Eph. i. 6. 2d. That the gift of Christ to make atonement for sin, and of the Holy Ghost to regenerate and sanctify, are in the divine intention designed as means to accom- plish his purpose to secure the salvation of the elect, has been doubted by some theologians, but is explicitly affirmed both positively and negatively in this Section of the Confession. In the time that this Confcssioii was written, the phrase "to redeem" was used in the same sense in which we now use the phrase "to make atonement for." The Confession affirms, first, posi- tively, that Christ was eternally appointed to make atonement as a means of executing the purpose to save 106 CONFESSION OF FAITH. the elect; and second, negatively, that he has made atonement for none others. The class of theoloo;ians who do not agree with the Confession at this point, view the purposes of God, with respect to man's salvation and the gift of Christ to be a Saviour, as sustaining respectively the following order: Out of infinite pity and universal benevolence, God determined to give his Son to die for the redemption from the curse of the law of all mankind, ruined by the fall ; but, foreseeing that if left to themselves all men would certainly reject Christ and be lost, God, in order to carry out and apply his plan of human redemption, and moved by a special love to certain persons, elected them out of the masa of mankind to be recipients of the special eifectual grace of the Holy Ghost, and thus to salvation. The doctrine taught in the Confession and held by the great body of the Reformed churches is, that God, moved by a special personal love, elected cer- tain men out of the mass of the fallen race to salvation, and in order to accomplish that purpose he determined to send Christ to die for them and the Holy Ghost to renew and sanctify them. That the view of the Confession is the true one is plain — (1.) From the very statement of the case. The gift of Christ to die for the elect is a very adequate means to accomplish the decree of their salvation. But, on the other hand, the decree to give the efficacious influences of the Holy Ghost only to the elect is a very inadequate means of accomplishing the jnirpose of redeeming all men by the sacrifice of Christ. A pur- pose to save all and a purpose to save only some could not coexist in the divine mind. god's eternal decree. 107 (2.) All the purpo.'^os of God, being unchangeable, self-consistent and certainly efficacious, must perfectly correspond to the events which come to pass in time. He must have predestinated to salvation those and those only who are as a matter of fact saved ; and he must have intended that Christ should redeem those and those only who are redeemed. God's purpose in tlie gift of Christ cannot be in any respect in vain. (3.) Christ says explicitly, " I lay down my life for my sheep." John x. 15. 3d. None but the eleot are redeemed by Christ, or effectually called, or justified, or adopted, or sanctified. This is only the negative statement of the same truth, designed to make the positive affirmation of it the more explicit and emphatic. The doctrine as to the design of God in the sacrifice of Christ is stated again in Chapter VIII., Section viii. of the Confession, and will be more appropriately stated and discussed in that place. Section VII. — The rest of mankind, God was pleased, accord- ing to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he ex- tendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice." " Matt. xi. 25, 2(); Rom. ix. 17, 18, 21, 22; 2 Tim. ii. 19, 20; Jude 4; 1 Pet. ii. 8. This Section teaches the following propositions: 1st. Tiiat as God has sovereignly destinated certain pel sons, called the elect, through grace to salvation, so he has sovereignly decreed to withhold his grace from the rest; and that this withholding rpsts upon the un- 108 CONFESSION OF FAITH. searchable counsel of his own will, and is for the glory of his sovereign power. 2d. That God has consequently determined to treat all those left in their sins with exact justice according to their own deserts, to the praise of his justice, which demands the punishment of all unexpiated sin. This decree of reprobation, as it is called, is the aspect which God's eternal purpose presents in its relation to that portion of the human family which shall be finally condemned for their sins. It consists of two elements: (1.) Negative, inasmuch as it involves a determination to pass over these, and to refuse to elect them to life. (2.) Positive, inasmuch as it involves a determination to treat thera on the princi- ples of strict justice precisely as they deserve. In its negative aspect, reprobation is simply not election, and is absolutely sovereign, resting upon his good pleasure alone, since those passed over are no worse than those elected. In respect to its positive element, reprobation is not in the least sovereign, but purely judicial, be- cause God has determined to treat the reprobate pre- cisely according to their deserts in the view of absolute justice. Our Standards are very careful to guard this point explicitly. This Section says that God has or- dained the non-elect " to dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice." The same is repeated in almost identical language in the answer to the thirteenth question of the Larger Cat- echism. This doctrine, instead of being inconsistent with the principles of absolute justice, necessarily follows from the application of those principles to the case in ha)id. god's eternal decree. 109 (1.) All men alike are '' by nature the children of wrath," and justly obnoxious to the penalty of the law antecedently to the gift of Christ to l)e their Saviour. It is because they are in this condition that vicarious satisfaction of divine justice was absolutely necessary in order to the salvation of any, otherwise, the Apostle says, " Christ is dead in vain." Hence if any are to be saved, justice itself demands that their salvation shall be recognized as not their right, but a sovereign con(;es- sion on the part of God. None have a natural right to salvation. And the salvation of one cannot give a right to salvation to another. (2.) Salvation is declared to be in its very essence a matter of grace, and if of grace, the the selection of its subjects is inalienably a matter of divine discretion. Lam. iii. 22 ; Rom. iv. 4 ; xi. 6 ; Eph. i. 6, 7; John iii. 16; 1 John iii. 16; iv. 10. This doctrine as above stated is true, (1) because it is necessarily involved in the scriptural doctrine of elec- tion taught in the preceding Sections. (2.) It is expressly taught in Scripture: "Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." Rom. ix. 18 ; 1 Pet. ii. 8 ; Rev xiii. 8 ; Jude 4. (3.) God asserts the right involved as his righteous prerogative: "Thou wilt say then unto me. Why doth he yet find fault? Who art thou that repliest against God ? Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump, to make one vessel to honour and another to dishonour? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long Buffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction : and that he might make known the riches of his g\ory on no CONFESSION OF FAITH. the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory." Rom. ix. 19-23. Section VIII. — The doctrine of this high mystery of predes- tination is to be handled with special prudence and care/* that men attending the will of God revealed in his worc», md yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election.^® So shall tliis doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence and admiration of God,^" and of humility, diligence and abundant consolation, to aL that sincerely obey the gospel." 18 Romans ix. 20; xi. 33; Deut. sxix. 29.— 19 2 Pet. i. 10.— «» Eph. i. 6; Rom. xi. 33.-21 Rom, xi. 5, 6, 20 ; 2 Pet. i. 10 ; Roui. viii. 33 ; Luke x. 20. This Section teaches that the high mystery of predes- tination is to be handled with special prudence and care. This necessity arises from the fact that it is often abused, and that its proper use is in the highest degree im- portant. The principle of divine sovereignty in the distribu- tion of grace is certainly revealed in Scripture, is not difficult of comprehension, and is of great practical use to convince men of the greatness and independence of God, of the certain efficacy of his grace and security of his promises, and of their own sin and absolute depend- ence. But the philosophy of the relation of his sov- ereign purpose to the free agency of the creature, and to the permission of moral evil, is not revealed in the Scriptures, and cannot be discovered by human reason, and therefore ought not to be raslily meddled with. This truth ought not, moreover, to be obtruded out of its due place in the system, which includes the equally certain truths of the freedon) of man and the free offers i>f the gospel to alh (jod's eternal decree. Ill While the principle of sovereign election as lying at the foundation of all grace is thus clearly revealed, the election or non-election of particular persons is not re- vealed in the Scriptures. The precejitive and not the decretive will of God is the rule of human duty. Elec- tion is first with God, and grace consequent upon it. But with man duty and grace are first, and the inference of personal election only consequent upon th6 possession of grace. The command to repent and believe is ad- dressed to all men indiscriminatelv, and the obligation rests equally upon all. The concern of the inquirer is simply with the fact that the grace is offered, and as- sured to him upon condition of acceptance, and with his duty to accept and improve it. Afterward it is the great privilege of the believer to make the fact of his eternal calling and election sure, by adding to faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, etc., for if he do these things he shall never fall. 2 Pet. i. 5-10. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the first proposition taught in the first and second Sections ? 2. What is the second proposition there taught? 3. What is the third? 4. What is the fourth f 5. What is the fifth? G. What is the sixth ? 7. IIow can it be shown that God must have had from eternity ft definite plan in his works? 8. Wliat must have been the general attributes of that pUm? 9. What is meant when we say the decrees of God are cue purpose ? 10. Show from the relation in which all things stand to each il2 CONFESSION OF FAITH. other, that the purposes of Grod must relate to and determine all events of every kind? ] 1. Prove the same from Scripture. 12. What relation does the eternal purpose of God sustain to the sinful acts of men ? 13. What is tlie diiference between an event being conditional, and the decree of God with reference to it being conditional ? 14. What is an unconditional, and what a conditional decree? 15. With respect to what class of events do Arminians con- tend that God's decrees are conditional? 16. Prove that none of the purposes of God are conditional. 17. What do you mean when you say that all the decrees of God are certainly efficacious? 18. Prove that they are so. 19. Prove that all the purposes of God must be consistent with his own perfections. 20. Prove that God cannot be the author of sin. 21. Prove that the decrees of God are not inconsistent with the liberty of free agents. 22. Show that the certainty of a free act is not inconsistent with the liberty of the agent in the act. 23. What is the first proposition taught in the third, fourth and fifth Sections? 24. What is the second proposition there taught? 25. What is the third? 26. What is the fourth ? 27. State respectively the Socinian, the Arminian and the Cal- vinistic doctrines as to the election of individuals to salvation. 28. Show from Scripture that God has chosen individuals, not classes, to eternal life. 29. Show from Scripture th; this election is not conditioned upon the foreseen faith and rep ance of the person elected. 30. Show that it is grounded ne ujion the good pleasure of God. 31. What is God's ultimate end in election? 32. What is i\\(i first proposition affirmed m the sixth Section? 33. What is the second proposition? 34. What is the third? god's ETERNA7. DECREE. 113 35. How can you prove that God does purpose oni thing in order to another thina? 36. What according to this Section is the relation which God's purpose to give Christ sustains to his purpose to secure the sal- vation of the elect? 37. State the two different views which have been entertained on this subject. 38. iHow is this matter stated in this Section, (1) negatively, (2^ j)ositively ? 39. Show that the order of God's purposes set forth in thif section is both the natural one and the true one. 40. What is ilicjirst proposition taught in the seventh Section? 41. What is the second proposition there taught? 42. State the negative element involved in God's reprobation of the wicked. 43. State the positive element involved. 44. Show that the Confession and Catechism carefully mark the distinction. 45. Show that this doctrine is eminently just. 46. Show that it is true. 47. What is taught in the eighth Section? 48. Why should this doctrine be carefully handled? 49. What are the practical uses of it? 50. What is the rule of human duty ? 51. What is the great concernment of the religious inquirer. 52. How is the fact of a man's personal election to be ascer- tained? 6 CHAPTER IV. OF CREATION. Section I.— It pleased God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost,* f<)v the manifestation of the glor}' of his eternal power, wisdom and goodness," in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good.' 1 Heb. i. 2; .Tohn i. 2, 3 ; Gen. i. 2; Job xxvi. 1.3; .\xxiii. 4.— » Rom. i. 20; Jer. x. 12; Ps. civ. 24; xxxiii. 5, 6.— » Gen. i. 1, to end; Heb. xi. .3; Col. i. 16; Acts xvii. 24. Compare with tliis Section, Larger Catechism ques- tions 15 and 16, This Section teaches : 1st. That neither the world (the visible universe) nor anything therein is either, as to substance or form, self- existent or eternal. 2d. That the one God, who is Father, Son and Holy- Ghost, in the beginning created the elements of the world out of nothing, and brought them to their present form, and that the particular stages of this work which are recorded in Genesis were accomplislied in the space of six days. 3d. That when finished by God all things were very good, after their kind. 4th. That the design of God in creation was the man- ifestation of his own glory. 114 CREATION. 11 J There is a very obvious distinction between tlie sub- stances of things and the forms into wliicli those sub- stances are disposed. In our experience tlie elementary substances which constitute things are permanent, as oxygen, hydrogen and the like, while the organic and inorganic forms in which they are combined are con- stantly changing. Tiiat personal spirits and the various forms in which the material elements of the universe are disposed are not self-existent or eternal is self-evi- dent, and the universality, the constancy and the ra{)idity of the changes of the latter are rendered more obvious and certain with every advance of science. That the elementary substances of things were created out of nothing was never believed by the ancient heathen philosophers, but is a fundamental principle of Chris- tian theism. This is proved by the following consider- ations : (1st.) The Scriptures speak of a time when the world was absolutely nonexistent. Christ speaks of the glory " which I had with thee before the world was." John xvii. 5, 24. " Before thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Ps. xc. 2. (2d.) The Hebrew word translated " to create," and used by Moses to reveal the fact that God created the M'orld, is the very best afforded by any human language anterior to revelation to express the idea of absolute makincr. It is introduced at the beginning of an ac- count of the genesis of the heavens and of the earth. In the beginning — in the absolute beginning — God created all things (heaven and earth). After that there was chaos, and subsequently the Spirit of God, brood- 116 CONFESSION OF FAITH. ing over the deep, brought the ordered world into being. The creation came before chaos, as chaos before the bringing of things into their present form. Therefore tiie substances of things must have had a beginning as well as their present forms. (3d.) The Scriptures always attribute the existence of things purely to the " will," " word," " breath" of God, and never, even indirectly, imply the presence of any other element or condition of their being, such as pre- existing matter. " By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do ap- pear." Heb. xi. 3 ; Ps. xxxiii. 6 ; cxlviii. 5. (4th.) If God be not the creator of substance ex nihilo, as well as the former of worlds and of things, he cannot be absolutely sovereign in his decrees or in his works of creation, providence or grace. On every hand he w6uld be limited and conditioned by the self-existent qualities of pre-existent substance, and their endless consequences. But the Scriptures always represent God as the absolute sovereign and proprietor of all things. Rom, xi. 36 ; 1 Cor. viii. 6 ; Col. i. 16; Rev. iv. 11 ; Neh. ix. 6. (5th.) The same traces of designed and precalculated correspondences may be clearly observed in the element- VLvy and essential properties and laws of matter that are observed in the adjustments of matter in the existing forms of the world. If the traces of design observed in the existing forms of the world prove the existence of an intelligent former, for the same reason the traces of design in the elementary constitution of matter proves the existence of an intellio;ent creator of those elements out of nothing. CREATION. 117 2d. Hence tlieologians have distinguished between the o'eatlo prima or first creation of the elementary substance of things ex nlhilo, and tlie creatio aecunda or second creation or combination of the elements and the formation of things, and their mutual adjustments in the system of the universe. This Section attributea creation in both of these senses to the one true God, Father, Sou and Holy Ghost. The Scriptures attribute creation — (a.) To God abso- lutely without distinction of person. Gen. i. 1, 26. (6.) To the Father. 1 Cor. viii. 6. (c.) To the Father through the Son. Heb. i. 2. (d) To the Father through the Spirit. Ps. civ. 30. (e.) To the Son. John i. 2, 3. (/.) To the Spirit. Gen. i. 2 ; Job xxxiii. 4. This Section, using the precise words of ' Scripture, Ex. XX. II, declares that .God performed the work of creation in the sense of formation and adjustment of the universe in its present order " in the space of six days." Since the Confession was written the science of geology has come into existence, and has brought to light many facts before unknown as to the various con- ditions through which this world, and probably the stellar universe, have passed previously to the establish- ment of the present order. These facts remain in their general character unquestionable, and indicate a pro- cess of divinely regulated development consuming vast periods of time. In order to adjust the conclusions of that science with the inspired record found in the first chapter of Genesis, some suppose that tlie first verse relates to the creation of the elements of things at the absolute beginning, and then, after a vast interval, dur- ing v'hich the changes discovered by science took place, 118 confessiojST of faith. the second and subsequent verses narrate how God in six successive days reconstructed and prepared the world and its inhabitants for the residence of man. Others have supposed that the days spoken of are not natural days, but cycles of vast duration. jSTo adjustment thus far suggested has been found to remove all difficulty. The facts which are certain are: (1.) The record in Genesis has been given by divine revelation, and there- fore is infallibly true. (2.) The book of revelation and the book of nature are both fi-om God, and will be found, when both are adequately interpreted, to coincide perfectly. (3.) The facts upon which the science of geology is based are as yet very .imperfectly collected and much more imperfectly understood. The time has not come yet in which a profitable comparison and adjustment of the two records can be attempted. (4.) The record in Genesis, brief and general as it is, was designed and is admirably adapted to lay the foundation of an intelligent faith in Jehovah as the absolute creator and the immediate former and providential ruler of all things. But it was not designed either to prevent or to take the place of a scientific interpretation of all exist- ing phenomena, and of all traces of the past history of the world which God allows men to discover. Appa- rent discrepancies in established truths can have their ground only in imperfect knowledge, God requires us both to believe and to learn. He imposes upon us at present the necessity of humility and patience. 3d. God himself pronounced all the works of his hands when completed very good. Gen. i. 31. This does not mean that finite and matoi'ial things possessed an absolute perfection, nor even that they possessed the \ CREATION. 119 highest excellence consistent with their nature. But it moans-^(l.) That all things in this world were at that time excellent according to their respective kinds — the luiman souls morally excellent after the law of raoral agents, and the world and all its organized inhabitants excellent according to their several natures and rela- tions. (2.) That each and the whole was perfectly good with reference to the general and special design of God in their creation. 4th, With respect to the final end of God in the creation of the universe two distinct opinions have been entertained by theologians: (1.) That God proposed for himself as his ultimate end the i)romotion of the happi- ness, or as others say the excellence, of his creatures. (2.) That God proposed for hin -elf the manifestation of his own glory. This is obviously a question of the highest import- ance. Since the chief end of every system of means and agencies must govern and give character to the whole system, so our view of the chief end of God in his works must give character to all our views as to his creative, providential and gracious dispensations. Our Confession very explicitly takes the position that the chief end of God in his eternal purposes, and in their tem])oral execution in creation and providence; is the manifestation of his own glory. Chaptei' iii., §§ 3, 5, 7 ; iv., § 1 ; v., § 1 ; vi., § 1 ; xxxiii., § 2 ; Larger Cate- chism, Qs. 12 and 18; Shorter Catechism, Q. 7. That this opinion is true is j)roved — (1.) The Scriptures explicitly assert that this is the chief end of God in creation. Col. i. 16 ; Prov. xvi. 4; and of things as created. Rev. iv. 11 ; Rom. xi. 36. 120 CONFESSION OF FAITH. (2,) They teach that the same is the chief end of God in his eternal decrees. Eph. i. 5, 6, 12. (3.) Also of God's providential and gracious govern- ing and disposing of his creatures. Rom. ix. 17, 22, 23, Eph. iii. 10. (4.) It is made tlie duty of all moral agents to adopt the same as their personal ends in all things. 1 Cor. X. 31; 1 Pet. iv. 11. (5.) The manifestation of his own glory is intrin- sically the highest and worthiest end that God could propose to himself. (6.) The highest attainment of this supreme end car- ries with it the largest possible measure of good to the creature. (7.) God as the absolute creator and sovereign can- not have the final ends or motives of his action exterior to himself. Otherwise all God's actions would be sub- ordinated to the finite and created ends he had adopted as his ultimate objects. Section II. — After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female,* with reasonable and immortal souls,' endued with knowledge, righteousness and true holiness, after his own image,* having the law of God written in their hearts,' and power to fulfil it f and j'et under a possibility of transgressing, being loft to the liberty of their own will, whicJi was subject unto change.® Besides this law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ;^° which while tlley kept, they were happy in their commniiion with God, and had dominion over the creatures." * Gen. i. 27.-5 Gen. ii. 7 ; Eccles. xii. 7 ; Luke xxiii. 4.3 ; Matt. x. 28.— « Gon. i. 2C ; Col. iii. 10 ; Epli. iv. 24.—'' Rom. ii. 14, 15.-8 Eccles. vii. 29.— • Qen. iii. 6 ; Eooles. vii. 29.-10 Gen. ii. 17 ; iii. 8-11, 23.—" (Jen. i. 26, 28. CREATION. 121 Compare this Section with chapter vi,, §§ 1 ami 3, and L. Cat., Q. 17, and S. Cat., Q. 10. This Section teaches : 1st. That, last of all the inhabitants of this earth, man was created immediately by God. 2d. That God created one human pair, from whom the entire human race has descended by generation. 3d. That God created men in his own image, (a) as possessing reasonable and immortal souls, (6) as endued Avith knowledge, righteousness and true holiness, and holding dominion over the lower creation. 4th. That God furnished Adam with sufficient know- ledge for his guidance, a law written on his heart and a special external revelation of his will. 5th. That while creating Adam holy and capable of obedience, and subjecting him to a special test of that obedience in forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God also left him capable of falling. 1st. Man was created immediately by God, and last of the creatures. According to God's plan of successive creation, and of progressive advance in complexity and excellence of organization and endowment, man's true place is last in order as the immediate end and crown of this lower creation. The scientilic advocates of the hyi)othesis of organic development have denied that man was created immediately by God, and have held that the higher and more complex living organisms were devclo[)ed gradually and by successive stages from the lower anil more simple as the physical condition of the world became gradually favourable t(» their existence, and that man at the proper time came last of all from 122 CONFESSION OF FAITH. tlie last link in the order of being immediately below liim. That man on the contrary was immediately created by God, his body out of earthly materials pre- viously created and his soul out of nothing, is rendered certain by the followino; evidence: (1.) The hypothesis of development is a mere dream of unsanctified reason, utterly unsup})orted by facts. Not one single individual specimen of an organized being passing in transition from a lower species to a higher has been found among the myriads of existing species, nor among the fossil remains of past species preserved in the record of the rocks. The hypothesis is also rejected by the highest scientific authorities, as Hugh Miller, Agassiz, Lyell, Owen, etc. (2.) The Scriptures expressly affirm the fact of man's immediate creation. Gen. i. 26, 27 ; ii. 7. (3.) This truth is rendered obvious, also, by the im- mense distance which separates man from the nearest of the lower animals; from the incomparable superiority of man in kind as well as degree; and from the revealed and experienced fact that " God is the Father of our spirits," and that we are immortal, "joint heirs with Christ." 2d. That God created one human pair, from whom the entire race in all its varieties has descended by generation, is a iundamental truth of the Christian reve- lation. One class of scientists, as Sir Charles Lyell, have concluded from the j)ositions and associations in which human remains have been found, that man has existed upon the earth thousands of years before Adam, who is regarded as the ancestor only of a particular variety oi" CREATION. 123 the race. All this weighs nothing against the positive teaciiiug of the Scriptures, since the facts upon which the conclusion is based are not all certainly substanti- ateil, and have not been thoroughly digested; and in any event can prove nothing as to the relation of Adam to the race, but only that he was created longer ago than we supposed. Another class, of which the leader is Professor Agassiz, maintain that the differences between the different vari- eties of the human race are so great and so persistent that it is imjiossible that they could have been generated from the same paients, and that the progenitors of each variety were created sejjarately, ea<;h in theii- apj)ropriate geographical centre. This conclusion of science may be fairly balanced by the extreme opposite one above stated. If, in view of all the facts of the case, it is pos- sible for one chiss of philosophers to conclude that men, monkeys and dogs, etc., have descended, under the modi- fying influence of different conditions, from like progeni- tors, surely it is folly for another class to affirm that it is impossible that all the varieties of men have sprung from the, same parents. That the doctrine of this Sec- tion is true is proved — (1.) The differences between the varieties of the human family are no greater than have been effected by differences of condition and training among individuals of some of the lower orders of animals of known com- mon descent. (2.) The luiman family form one and not different species, (a.) Because the races freely intermix and pro- duce permanently fertile offspring. (6.) Because their mental, moral and spiritual natures are identical. 124 CONFESSION OF FAITH. (3.) Archaeological, historical and philological iiivCvS- tigations all indicate a common origin to all nations. (4.) The Scriptures directly assert tiiis fact. Acts xvii. 26 ; Gen. x. And the scriptural doctrines of original sin and of redemption presuppose it as a fun- damental and essential condition. 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22 ; Rom. V. 12-19. 3d. God created man in his own image. This propo- sition includes the following elements : (1.) Man was created like God, as to the physical constitution of his nature— a rational, moral, free, per- sonal spirit. This fact is the essential condition upon which our ability to know God, as well as our capacity to be subjects of moral government, depends. And in this respect the likeness is indestructible. (2.) He was created like God as to the perfection and integrity of his nature. This includes (a) knowledge (Col. iii. 10), or a capacity for the right apprehension of spiritual things. This is restored when the sinner is regenerated in the grace of spiritual illumination. (6.) Righteousness and true holiness (Eph. iv. 24), the perfect moral condition of the soul, and eminently of the character of the governing affections and will. (3.) In respect to the dignity and authority delegated to him as the head of this department of creation. Gen. i. 28: Pelagians have held that a created holiness is an absurdity; that, in order that a permanent disposition or habit of the .soul should have a moral character, it must be self-decided — i. e., formed by a previous un- biassed choice of the will itself. They therefore hold that God created -Adam simply a moral agent, with all CREATION. 125 the constitutional faculties prerequisite for moraj action, and perfectly unbiassed by any tendency of his nature either to good or evil, and left him to form his own moral character — to determine his own tendencies by his own volition. But this view is not true, because — (1.) It is absurd. A state of moral indifference in an intelligent adult moral agent is an impossibility. Such indifference is itself sin. It is of the essence of moral good that it brings the will and all the affections of the soul under obligation. (2.) If God did not endow man with a positive moral character, he could never have acquired a good one. The goodness of a volition arises wholly from the posi- tive goodness of the disposition or motive which prompts it. But if Adam was created without a positive holy disposition of soul, his first volition must have either been sinful from defect of inherent goodness, or at best indifferent. But it is evident that neither a sinful nor an indifferent volition can give a holy moral character to whatever dispositions or habits may be consequent upon it. (3.) The Scriptures teach that Adam was created " in righteousness and true holiness." (a.) God proclaimed all his works "very good." But the "goodness" of a moral agent essentially involves a holy character. (b.) Eccles. vii. 29: "God made man upright, but tliey have sought out many inventions." (c.) In Genesis it is declared that man was created in "the image of God." In Eph. iv. 24 and Col. iii. 10, men in regeneration are declared to be recreated in "the image of God." Regeneration is the restoration of human nature to its pristine condition, not a transmuta- 126 CONFESSION OF FAITH. tion of that nature into a new form. The likeness to God which was lost by the fall must therefore be the same as that to Avhich we are restored in the new birth. But the latter is said to consist in "knowledge, right- eousness and true holiness." (4.) Christ is the model nian (1 Cor. xv. 45, 47), pro- duced by immediate divine power in the womo of the Virgin, not only without sin, but positively predeter- mined to holiness. In his mother's womb he was called "that holy thing." Luke i. 35. 4th. That God should have furnished Adam with sufficient knowledge for his guidance is necessarily im- plied in the fact that Adam was a holy moral agent and God a righteous moral governor. Even his corrupt and degenerate descendants are declared to have in the law written upon the heart a light sufficient to leave them "without excuse." Rom. i. 20; ii, 14, 15. Adam moreover enjoyed special and direct revelation from God, and was particularly directed as to the divine will with respect to his use of the fruit of the tree of know- ledge of good and evil, concerning which we shall have occasion to speak more particularly under Chapter vi., § 1, and vii., § 2. 5th. That Adam, although created holy and capable of obedience, was at the same time capable of falling, is evident from the event. This appears to have been the moral condition in which both angels and men were created. It evidently was never intended to be the per- manent condition of any creature. It is one, also, of the special elements of which we can liave no knowledge, either from experience or observation. God, angels and saints in glory are free, but with natures certainly and CREATION. 127 infallibly prompting them to holiness. Devils and fallen men are free, with natnres infallibly prompting them to evil. The imperfectly sanctified Christian is the subject of two conflicting inherent tendencies, the law in the members and the law of the Spirit ; and his only security is that he is " kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." This point will come up again under Chapter vi., § 5. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the Jirst proposition taught in the first Section? 2. What is the second proposition there taught? 3. What is the third f 4. What is the /owr^Af 5. What obvious distinction is to be made as to the two stages of creation ? 6. State the different proofs that God created the elements of which all things are composed out of nothing. 7. To whom do the Scriptures refer the work of creation ? 8. Show that the Scriptures refer it to the Father; to the Son ; to the Holy Ghost. 9. What does the first chapter of Genesis teach as to the time occupied in bringing the world and its inhabitants to their present form ? 10. What in general are the indications of the science of geology on the subject? 11. What adjustments between the inspired record and the con- clusions of that science have been proposed? 1'2. What is the present duty of Christians in respect to this (jncstion? 13. In what sense were all things pronounced to be "very good ?" 14. What two distinct opinions have been entertained with respect to the final end of God in creation? 15. Show the great importance of this question. 128 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 16. What is the doctrine of the Confession on this subject, and In what passages and connections is it taught? 17. Prove that God's chief end in all his purposes, and in the execution thereof, is his own glory. 18. What is the^re^ proposition taught in the second Section? 19. What is the second proposition there taught? 20. What is the third? 21. What is the fourth? 22. Whatis the^/i!/i.? 23. What different opinions have been entertained as to the production of man ? 24. State the evidence that man was immediately created by God. 25. What different opinions have been entertained as to the fact of the propagation of the whole race from one pair? 26. Refute the false theories. 27. State the evidence for the generic unity of the human race and its descent from Adam and Eve. 28. Show why this fact is of fundamental importance. 29. What elements are included in the proposition that " God created man in his own image?" 30. What is the Pelagian doctrine as to the moral condition in which Adam was created ? 31. Show that this doctrine involves an absurdity. 32. Prove that Adam was created positively holy. 33. Show that Adam was furnished with sufficient knowledge for his guidance. 34. What was the special characteristic in Adam's condition as a moral agent? And how did his condition differ from that of all moral agents at present of whose case we have any know- led«;3 ? CHAPTER V. OF PROVIDENCE. Section I. — God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold,' direct, dispose and govern all creatures, actions and things,* from the greatest even to the least,* by his most wise and lioly provi- dence,* according to his infallible foreknowledge,^ and the free and immutable counsel of his own will,® to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness and mercy.' 1 Heb. i. 3.— ■■i Dan. iv. 34, 35; Ps. cxxxv. 6: Acts xvii. 25, 2G, 28; Job xxxviii., xxxix., xl., xli. — * Matt. x. 29-31. — * Prov. xv. 3; Ps. civ. 24; cxlv. 17.— 5 Acts XV. 18; Ps. xciv. 8-11.— « Eph. i. 11; Ps. xxxiii. 10, 11.— ' Isa. Ixiii. 14; Epb. iii. 10; Rom. ix. 17; Uen. xlv. 7; Ps. cxlv. 7. Since the eternal and immutable purpose of God has certainly predetermined whatsoever comes to pass, it follows that he must execute his own purpose not only in his works of creation, but likeM^se in his continual control of all his creatures and all their actions. This Section therefore teaches — 1st. That God having created the substances of which all things are composed out of nothing, having endued these substances with their respective properties and powers, and having put of them formed all things organic and inorganic, and endowed them severally with their respective properties and faculties, he continues to sustain them in being and in the possession and exercise of those properties during the entire period of theii existence. 9 ' 120 130 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 2(1. That God directs all the actions of his creatures according to their respective })roj)erties and relations. 3d. That his providential control extends to all his creatures and all their actions of every Kind. 4th. That his providential control is in all respects the consistent execution of iiis eternal, immutable and sovereign purpose. 5th. That the final end of his providence is the mani- festation of his own glory. 1st, With regai'd to the question how God is concerned in upholding and preserving the things he has made, three different classes of opinion have prevailed : (1.) Deists and Rationalists generally regard God as sustaining no other relation to his works than that of the first of a series of causes and effects. He is sup- posed to touch the creation only at its commencement, and having given to things a permanent independent being exterior to himself, he leaves them to the unmodi- fied exercise of their own faculties. (2.) Pantheists regard all the plienomena of the uni- veise of every kind as merely the various modes of one universal absolute substance. The substance is one, tlie modes many; the substance abides, the modes rapidly succeed each other; the substance is God, the modes we call things. Some true Christian theologians have taken a view of the relation of God to the world which comes perilously near, if it does not coincide with, this great pantheistic heresy. This view is that God's power is constantly exerted in continually creating every individual thing again and again every fraction of dura- tion; that created things have no real being of their own, anc^ exist only as thus they are each moment the PROVIDENCE. 131 product of creative energy; and hence that the imnie- iliate cause of the state or action of any creature one moment of time is not its state or action the previous moment, but the direct act of divine creative power. If this be so, it is plain that God is the only real asent in the universe : that he is the immediate cause of all things, including all evil passions and wicked thoughts and acts ; that consciousness is a thorougii delusion, and the free agency and moral accountability of man vain imaginations. (3.) The third view is the true one, and it stands intermediate between the two above stated extremes. It may be stated as follows: (a.) God gave to all sub- stances, both material and spiritual, a real and per- manent existence as entities. (6.) They really possess all such active and passive properties as God has severally endued them with. (c.) These properties have a real and not merely an apparent efficiency as second causes in producing the effects proper to them. {d.) But these created substances, although possessing a real existence exterior to God, and exerting real etli- ciency as causes, are not self-existent; that is, the ground of their continued existence is in God and not in them. Though not to be confounded with God, they are not to be separated from him, but " in him live and move, and have all their being." (e.) The precise nature of the exercise of divine energy whereby God interpenetrates the universe with his presence, embraces it and all things therein in his power and upholds them in being, is not revealed, and of course is indiscoverable. 132 CONFESSION OF FAITH. That God always continues to exert his almighty power in upholding in being and in the possession and use of their endowments all things he has made is proved — (1.) From the fact that continued dependence is in- separable from the idea of a creature. The abiding cause of the creature's continued existence must ever be in God, as it is not in itself. (2.) The relation of the creation to God cannot be analogous to that of a product of human skill to its maker. The one is exterior to his work. The intelli- gence and the power of the other is eternally omnipres- ent to every element of his work. (3.) A sense of absolute dependence for continued being, power and blessedness is involved in the religious consciousness of all men. (4.) It is explicitly taught in Scripture : " By him all things consist." Col. i. 17; Heb. i. 3. "He upholds all things by the word of his power." Heb. i. 3. " In him we live and move and have our being." Acts xxvii. 28. "Oh bless our God, which iioldeth our soul in life." Ps. Ixvi. 8, 9; Ixiii. 8; xxxvi. 6. 2d. That God governs the actions of his creatures; and 3d. That his government extends to all bis creatures and all their actions, is proved : (1.) By the fact that the religious nature of man de- mands the recognition of this truth. It is involved in the sense of dependence and of subjection to a moral government wiiich is involved in all religious feeling, and is recognized in all religions. (2.) It is evidenced in the indications of intelligence everywhere present in the operations of external nature. The harmony, the due proportion and the exquisite con- PROVIDENCE. 133 currence in action which continue among so many ele- ments throughout ceaseless changes prove beyond ques- tion the presence of an intelligence embracing all and directing each. (3.) The same is likewise indicated in the intelligent design evidently pursued in the developments of human history during long [)eriods and throughout vast areas, and embracing myriads of agents. "That God is ia history" is a conclusion of just science as well as a dic- tate of true religion. (4.) The Scriptures abound in prophesies fulfilled and- uafultilled, and promises and threatenings. Many of these are not mere enunciations of general principles, but specific declarations of purpose with reference U his ti'eatment of individuals conditioned upon their con- duct. The fulfilment of these could not be left to the ordinary course of nature, since there is often no natural connection between what is threatened or promised and the conditions on which they are suspended. God must therefore, by a constant providential reguhition of the system of things, execute his own word to his creatures. (5.) The Scriptures explicitly dechire that such a providential control is exerted (a) over the physical world [a] in general. Job xxxvii. 6-13 ; Ps. civ. 14 ; cxxxv. 6,7; cxlvii. 15-18. [6] Individual events in the natural worUl, however trivial. Matt. x. 29. (6.) Over fortuitous eveiUs. Job v. 6; Prov. xvi, 33. (c.) Over the brute creation. Ps. civ. 21-27 ; cxlvii. 9. {d.) Over the general affairs of men. Job xii. 23; Isa. x. 12 -15 ; Dan. ii. 21 ; iv. 25. (e.) Over the circumstances of individuals. 1 Sam. ii. 6, 7, 8; Prov. xvi. 9; Janies iv. 13-15. (/.) Over the free actions of men. Ex. (34 CONFESSION OF FAITH. xii. 36 ; Ps. xxxiii. 14, 15 ; Pro v. xix. 21 ; xxi. 1 ; Phil, ii. 13. {g.) Over the sinful actions of men, 2 Sam. xvi. 10; Ps. Ixxvi. 10; Acts iv. 27, 28. [h.) Especially all that is good in man, in pi'inciple or action, is attributed to God's constant gracious control. Phil. ii. 18; iv. 13; 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10; Eph. ii. 10; Ps. cxix. 36; Gal. v. 22-25. 4th. That the providential control of all things by God is the consistent execution in time of his eternal and immutable purpose is evident (1) from the statement of the case. Since God's eternal purpose relates to and determines all that comes to pass, and since it is immu- table, his providential control of all things must be in execution of his purpose. And since his purpose is in- finitely wise, righteous and benevolent, and absolutely sovereign (as shown above), his providential execution of the decree must possess the same characteristics. (2.) The same is explicitly declared in Scripture : " He worketh all things after the council of his own will." Eph. i. 11 ; Isa. xxviii. 29 ; Acts xv. 18. 5th. It is evident that the chief design of God in his ecernal purpose and in his works of creation must also be his chief end in all his providential dispensations. This has been shown above to be the manifestation of his own glory. It is also directly asserted as the final end of his providence. Rom. ix. 17 xi. 36. Section II. — Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, all things coni6 to pass immutably and infallibly ;* yet, by the same providence, he ordereth them to fall out according to the nature of second causes, either neces- Barily, freely or contingcnlly.' Section III.— God in his ordinary providence maketh use of PROVIDENCE. 130 means.'" yet is free to work witliout," above," and against them," at his pleasure. 8 Acts ii. 23.— 9 Gen. viii. 22; Jer. xxxi. 35; Ex. xxi. 13; Deut. xix. 6; 1 Kings xxii. 28, 34; Isa. x. 6, 7.—'° Acts xxvii. 31, 44: Isa. Iv. 10, 11; Hos. ii. 21, 22.—" Hos. i. 7; Matt. iv. 4; Job xx.\iv. 10.—" Rom. iv. 19- 21.—" 2 Kings vi. 6 ; Dan. iii. 27. These Sections teach : 1st. That as the execution of an eternal and sovereign purpose, God's, providential control is in the case of every being and event certainly efficacious, 2(1. That the manner in which he controls his crea- tures and their actions, and effects his purposes through them, is in every case perfectly consistent with the nature of the creature and of his action. 3d. That God ordinarily effects his purposes through means; that is, through the agency of second causes sub- ject to his control. 4th. But that he possesses, and at times at his sover- eign pleasure exercises, the power of eifccting his pur- pose immediately by the direct energy of his power. 1st. That the providential control which God exer- cises over all his creatures and all their actions is always certainly efficacious, plainly follows : (1.) From his own infinite wisdom and power. (2.) From tlie fact, before proved, that his eternal purpose determines the occurrence of all that comes to pass, and is immutable and certainly efficacious, (3.) Tlie fact is expressly de- clared in Scripture. Job xxiii. 13; Ps. xxxiii. 11 ; Lam. ii. 17. 2d. That the manner in which God controls his crea- tures and their actions, and efPects his purposes through them, is in every case })erfectly consistent with the 136 CONFESSION OF FAITH. nature of the creature and of his mode of action, is certain — (1.) From the fact that God executes the different parts of the same eternal, self-consistent purpose in his worlds of creation and providence. It is in the execution of the same unchangeable plan that God first created every thing, endowed it with its properties, determined its mode of action and its mutual relations to all othei things, and ever afterward continues to })reserve it iu the possession of its properties and to guide it in the exercise of them. As God must always be consistent to his own plan, so his mode of action upon the crea^ tures whose existence and constitution has been deter- mined by that plan must always be consistent with their natures and mode of action so determined. (2.) The same fact is proved by our uniform expc rience and observation. We are conscious of acting freely according to the law of our constitution as free agents. Even in the writings of the prophets and apos- tles, who wrote under the control of a specific divine influence, rendering even their selection of words infal- Jibly accurate, we can plainly see that the spontaneous exercise of the faculties of the writers was neither super- seded nor coerced. Every agent in. the material and brute creations, also, is observed constantly to act, under all changing conditions, according to the uniform law of its nature. (3.) In perfect consistency with this, we see every- where in the material world, in the lives of individual men and in all human history plain evidences of adjust- ments and combinations of elements and agents in the order of contrivance to effect purpose. This in priuci- PROVIDENCE. 137 pie is analogous to, though in many ways infinitely more perfect than, the methods by which man controls natural agents to effect his purpose. If the laws of nature and the properties of things, when imperfectly understood, can be brought subject to the providence of man, there certainly can be no difficulty in believing that they are infinitely more under the control of that God who not only understands them perfectly, but made them originally that they might subserve his purpose. It is just the perfection of God's adjustments that every event, as well as general results, are determined by his intention. Even the human soul, in the exercise of free agency, acts according to a law of its own, excluding necessity, but not excluding certainty. The springs of free action are within the soul itself. And yet, as these are modified without interfering with the liberty of the agent by the influence of other men, they certainly can- not lie beyond the control of the infinite intelligence who created the soul itself, and has determined all the conditions under which its character has been formed and its activities exercised. 3d. That God ordinarily effects his purposes through means — that is, through the agency of second causes sub- ject to his control — is also evident — (1.) From the fact that he originally gave them tlicir being and properties, and adjusted their relations in the execution of these very purposes. The same design is pursued in creation and in providence. The instru- ments furnished and the methods of procedure inaugu- rated in creation must, therefore, be consistently pursued in the subsequent dispensations of providence. (2.) Universal experience and observation teach us 138 CONFESSION OF FAITH. the same fact. In ordinary providence and in the ad- ministration of a supernatural economy of grace, in the sphere of material nature and in the moral government of intelligent and responsible agents, in the government of the finished world as we find it and in all the history of the formation of the earth and the worlds in the past, God universally accomplishes his purposes through the agency of second causes, adjusted, combined, suji- ported and rendered efficient by his omnipresent Spirit for this very end. (3.) A system involving an established order of na- ture, and proceeding in wise adaptation of means to ends, is necessary as a means of communication between the Creator and the intelligent creation, and to accom- plish the intellectual and moral education of the latter. Thus only can the divine attributes of wisdom, right- eousness or goodness be exercised or manifested, and thus only can angel or man understand the character, anticipate the will or intelligently and voluntarily co- operate with the plan of God. 4th. That God possesses the power of effecting his ends immediately, without the intervention of second causes, is self-evident, and that he at times at his sov- ereign pleasure exercises this power, is a matter of clear and satisfactory evidence. (1.) Since God created all second causes and endowed them with their properties and continues to upliold then) in being, that they might be the instruments of his will, all their efficiency is derived from him, and he must be able to do directly without them what he does with them, and limit, modify or supersede them a^ hia pleasure. PROVIDKNCE. 139 (2.) The power f God does indeed work in all the ordinary processes of natnre, and his will is expressed in what is called natural law. But it does not follow that his whole power is exhausted in those processes, nor his wlu)le will expressed in those laws. God re- mains infinitely greater than his works, in the execution of his eternal immutable purposes using the system of second causes as his constant instrument after its kind, and meanwhile manifesting his transcendent preroga- tives and powers by the free exercises of his energies and utterances of his will. (3.) Occasional direct exercises of God's power in con- nection with a general system of meaiis and laws appears to be necessary not only " in the beginning" to create second causes and inaugurate their agency, but also sub- sequently in order to make to the subjects of his moral government the revelation of his free personality, and of his immediate interest in their affairs. At any rate such occasional direct action and revelation is certainly necessary for the education of such beings as man is in his present estate. It has been objected that miracles, or direct acts of divine power, interfering with the natural action of second causes, is inconsistent with the infinite perfections of God, since it is claimed that they indicate either a vacillation of purpose upon his part, or some insufficiency in his creation to effect completely the ends he originally intended it to accomplish. It must be remembered, however, that the eternal and immutable plan of God comprehended the miracle from the beginning as well as the ordinary course of nature. A miracle, although effected by divine power without means, is itself a means to an end and part of a plan, 140 CONFESSION OF FAITH. All natural law has its birth in the divine reason, and is an cx{)ression of will to effect a purpose.* In this highest, all-comprehensive sense of the word, miracles also are according to law — they are fixed in their occur- rence by God's eternal plan, and they serve definite ends as his means of communicating with and educating; finite spirits. They are in no proper sense a violation of the order of nature, but only the occasional and eter- nally pre-calculated interpolation of a new power, the immediate energy of the divine will. The order of nature is only an instrument of the divine will, and an instrument used subserviently to that higher moral gov- ei-nment in the interests of which miracles are wrought. Thus the order of nature and miracles, instead of being in conflict, are the intimately correlated elements of one comprehensive system. Section IV. — The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom and intinite goodness of Grod, so far manifest themselves in his provi- dence, that it extendeth itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men," and that not by a bare permission,'" but such as hath joined with it a most wise and powerful bounding,'* and otherwise ordering and governing of them, in a manifold dispensation, to his own holy ends;" yet so as the sinfulness thereof proceedeth only from the creature, and not from Grod ; who being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.'* 1* Rom. xi. 32-34; 2 Sam. xxiv. 1 ; 1 Chron. sxi. 1 ; 1 Kings sxii. 22, 23 ; 1 Chron. x. 4, 13, 14 ; 2 Sam. xvi. 10 ; Acts ii. 23; iv. 27, 28.— '5 Act? xiv. 16.— 16 Ps. ]xxvi. 10; 2 Kings xix. 28.—" Gen. i. 20; Isa. x. 6, 7, 12.— 18 James i, 1:^, 14, 17; 1 John ii. 16; Ps. 1. 21. This Section makes no attempt to explain the nature of those providential acitions of God which are con- * "Reign of Law," hy Duke of Argylt, chapter ii. PROVIDENCE. in perned in the origin of sin in the nioml un. verse, and in the control of the sinful actions of his creatures in the execution of his purposes. It simply states the import- ant facti with respect to the relation of his providence to the sins of his creatures which are revealed in Scrip- ture. These points are: 1st. God not only permits sin- ful acts, but he directs and controls them to the deter- mination of his own purposes. 2d. Yet the sinfulness of these actions is only from the sinnino; ag-ent, and God in no case is either the author or approver of sin. 1st. Sinful actions, like all others, are declared in Scripture to occur only by God's permission, and according to his purpose, so that what men wickedly do God is said to ordain. Gen. xlv. 4, 5; Ex. vii. 13; xiv. 17 ; Acts ii. 23 ; iii. 18 ; iv. 27, 28. And he con- stantly restrains and controls men in their sins. Ps. Ixxvi. 10; 2 Kings xix. 28; Isa. x. 15; and overrules their sins for good. Acts iii. 13 ; Gen. 1. 20. 2d. The providence of God, instead of causing sin or approving it, is constantly concerned in forbidding it by positive law, in discouraging it by threaten! ngs and a(;tual punishments, in restraining it and in overruling it against its own nature to good. Sfction V. — The most wise, vigliteoas and gracious God, doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them tlio hidden strength of coiTuption and deceitfulncss of their hearts, that they may be humbled ;'* and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.™ 142 CONFESSION OF FAITH. Section VI. — As for those wicked and ungodly men whom Grod, as a righteous judge, for former sins doth blind and harden, ■■'^ from them lie not only witliholdeth his grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their understandings and wrought upon in their hearts,-^ but sometimes also withdraweth the gifts which they had,-^ and exposeth them to such objects as their corruption makes occasion of sin,^* and withal, gives them over to their own lusts, the temi)tations of the world and the }M-)wer of Satan ;°* whereby it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those means which God useth for the softening of others. ^^ Section VII. — As the providence of Grod doth, in general, reach to all creatures ; so after a most special manner, it takcth care of his Church and disposeth all things to the good thereof" 19 2 Chion. xxxii. 25, 26, 31 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 1.— 20 2 Cor. xii. 7-9 ; Ps. Ixxiii. ; Ixxvii. 1, 10, 12; Mark xiv. 66, to end; John xxi. 15, 17.— 21 Rom. i. 24, 26, 28 ; xi. 7, 8.-22 pgut. xxix. 4'.— 23 Matt. xiii. 12; xxv. 29.-2* Deut. ii. 30 ; 2 Kings viii. 12, 13.— 25 Ps. Ixxxi. It, 12 ; 2 Thess. ii. 10-12.— 26 Ex. vii. 3; viii. 15, 32; 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16; Isa. viii. 14; 1 Pet. ii. 7,8; Isa. vi 9, 10 ; Acts xxviii. 26, 27.-2' Amos ix. S, 9 ; Rom. viii. 28. We have seen that the providential government of God, as the execution through time of liis eternal and immutable purpose, forms one connected system, and comprehends all created things and all their actions. In perfect consistency with this, these Sections proceed to teach — 1st. That the general providence of God, embracing and dealing with every creature according to its nature, consequently, although one system, embraces several subordinate systems intimately related as parts of one \\h()Ie, yet also distinct in their respective methods of administration and in the immediate ends designed. The principal of these are the providence of God over the material universe ; the general moral government of God over the intelligent universe; the moral govern- PROVIDENCE. 143 nient of God over the human family in geueral in this world ; and the special gracious dispensation of God's {)rovidence toward his Church. 2d. These Sections teach also that there is a relation of subordination subsisting between these several sys- tems of providence as means to ends in the wider system which comprehends them all. Thus the provi- dential government of the material universe is subord- inate as a means to an end to the moral government which God exercises over his intelligent creatures, for whose residence, instruction and development the physi- cal universe was created. Thus also the providential government of God over mankind in general is sub- ordinate as a means to an end to his gracious providence toward his Church, whereby he gathers it out of every people and nation, and makes all things work together for good to those who are called according to his pur- pose (Rom. viii. 28), and of course for the highest development and glory of the whole body. The history of redemption through all its dispensations, Patriarchal, Abrahamic, Mosaic and Christian, is the key to the ]ihilosophy of human history in general. The race is preserved, continents and islands are settled with inhabi- tants, nations are elevated to empire, philosophy and the practical arts, civilization and liberty are advanced, \,/iat the Ciiurcli, the I^amb's bride, may be perfected in all her members and adorned for her Husband. 3d. The moral government of God over all men, and especially his government of his Church, includes also, besides an external [)rovidence ordering the outward circumstances of individuals, an internal spiritual provi- dence, consisting of the influences of his Spirit upon 144 CONFESSION OF FAITH. their hearts. As '' common grace," this spiritual in- fluence extends to all men without exception, though in various degrees of power, restraining the corruption of their nature, and impressing their hearts and consciences with the truths revealed in the light of nature or of revelation, and it is either exercised or judicially with- held by God at his sovereign pleasure. As "efficacious" and "saving grace," this spiritual influence extends only to the elect, is exerted upon them at such times and in such degrees as God has determined from the beginning. 4th. Hence in the way of discipline for their own good, to mortify their sins and to strengthen their graces, God does often wisely and graciously, though never finally, for a season and to a degree, withdraw his spiritual influences from his own children, and "leave them to the manifold temptations and corruptions of their own hearts." 5th. Hence also God often, as a just punishment of their sins, judicially withdraws the restraints of his Sj)irit, and consequently whatever superficial gifts his presence may have conferred, from ungodly men, and tiius leaves them to the influence of temptations, the unrestrained control of their lusts and the power of Satan. And hence it comes to pass that the truths of the gospel and the ordinances of the Church, which are a savour of life unto them to whom they are graciously blessed, become a savour of death and of increased con- demnation unto them who for their sins have been left to themselves. PROVIDENCE. 14ft QUESTIONS. 1. How does God execute his decrees? 2. What is the Jirst proposition taught in the first Section? 3. What is the second there taught? 4. AVhat is the third ? 5. What is the fourth? 6. Whatisthc}?/?Af 7. What is the rationaHstic view as to the relation which God sustains to the world? 8. What is the pantheistic view of the same ? 9. What dangei'ous statements have been made by some Chris- tian theologians? 10 State the objections to the view they represent. 11. What several points are involved in the true view of this matter? 12. State the evidence that God continues to uphold all his creatures in being. 13. State the proof that God exerts a providential control over his creatures and their actions. 14. Prove from Scripture that the providential control of God reaches to the physical creation in general, and to each event in particular, and to the brute creation. 15. Do the same as to the general affairs of men and the cir- cumstances of individuals. 16. Do the same as to the free actions of men, and their sinful and good actions. 17. Prove that the providential government of God is the ex- ecution of his eternal purpose. IS. Prove that the chief end of God in providence is the mani- festation of his own glorj'. 19. What is the first proposition taught in the second and third Sections? 20. What is the second proposition there taught? 21. What is the third? 22. Whatisthe/ow^/t.? 23. Prove that the providential control of all things by God is tlways certainly efficacious. 10 146 COXFESSIOX OF FAITH. 24. Prove from tlie relation that providence sustains to creation that the manner in which God controls any creature must be con- eistent with its nature. 25. The same from universal experience and observation. 26. What general evidence of such control do we see ? 27. Is it possible that the free actions of the human will can he controlled without destrojdng their freedom? 28. State the evidence for believing that Grod usually effects his purposes through the use of means. 29. Can you assign a reason why God should adopt such a system ? 30. Prove that God can effect his ends when he pleases with- out the use of means, by the direct power of his will. 31. Why should we expect God at times to act in that manner? 32. On what two grounds has it been insisted that it is deroga- tory to tlu! divine perfections to attribute miracles to God? 33. In what sense do miracles occur according to law? 34. Show the fallacy of the above objections. 35. Is it possible to explain fully the manner in which God controls the sinfnl actions of men ? 36. What points do the Scriptures make certain as to the re- lation of God to the sins of men? 37. Prove from Scripture that he does control according to his purpose all sinful actions. 38. Prove that he restrains them and overrules them for good. 39. Show that divine providence cannot be charged with either causing or approving sin. 40. What is the first truth taught in the fifth, sixth and seventh Sections? 41. What is the second truth there taught? 42. Whatisthe^AiVc?.? 43. Whatis the/o?<> James i. 14, 15; Eph. ii. 2, 3; Matt. xv. 19. These Sections teach us what were the consequences of the first sin to the descendants of its authors. In doing so our standards affirm — l.st. That Adam was both the natural and federal head of all mankind. Conf Faith, ch. vii., § 2, and L. Cat., Qs. 22, 25, and S. Cat., Qs. 16, 18. 2d. That consequently the guilt or liability to the penal consequences of that sin was imputed, charged to the account of, and at their birth actually inflicted upon all men. 3d. That consequenMy the moral corruj)ti()n which 154 CONFESSION OF FAITH. results from the penal withdrawing of God's Holy Spirit, in the case of our first parents, is necessarily conveyed to all those of their descendants who are produced through ordinary generation. 4th. This innate hereditary depravity of soul is total, for by it we are utterly indisposed, disabled and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to evil. 5th. From this innate moral depravity proceed all subsequent actual transgressions. 1st. Adam was both the natural and federal head of all mankind, Christ of course excepted. The nature and provisions of that covenant which God made with Adam will be considered in its ap- propriate place, Chapter viii., § 2. The point which demands our attention here is, that, in making that cov- enant with Adam, God constituted him and treated with him as the moral representative of all his natural de- scendants. This is very explicitly taught in our stand- ards. Conf. Faith, ch. viii., § 2: "The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience." L. Cat., Q. 22 : " The covenant being made with Adam as a public person, not for himself only, but for all his poster- ity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary gen- eration sinned in him and fell with him. in his first trans- gression. ' S. Cat., Q. 16 : "The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation sinned in him and fell with him in his first transf/ression." As we have seen, it is God's general method of deal- ing: with new-crer.ted moral ay-en ts to create them hulv, FALL OF MAN, SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 155 yet capable of falling, and then to put them on trial for a time, making their confirmed and permanent moral character and destiny to depend upon their own action. In the case of the angels, who were severally created independent individuals, they appear to have stood tlieir trial severally, each in his own person. Some fell, and some were confirmed in holiness and blessedness. But in the case of a race to be propagated in a series, each individual to come into existence an unintelligent infant, thence to develop gradually into moral agency, like that of mankind, it is :>bvious that one of three plans must be adopted : (a.) The whole race must be confirmed in holiness and hapj)iness without any probation. (6.) Each individual must stand his own probation while groping his way from infancy into childhood, (c.) Or the whole race must have their trial in their natural head and root, Adam. We are not in a condition to judge of the propriety of the first of these plans, but we can easily see that the third is incomparably more rational, righteous and merciful than the second. As a matter of fact, God did make our character and destiny to depend upon the conduct of Adam in his j)robation. This was right — -(a.) Because, as sovereign Creator and infinitely wise, righteous and merciful Guar- dian of the interests of all his creatures, it seemed right in his eyes. (A.) Because it whs more to our ailvantagc than any other plaji that can be imagined. Adam was most advantageously constituted and circumstanced in order that he should stand the trial safely. Incalculable benefits as well as risks were suspended upon his action. If he had maintained his integrity for a limited period, all his race would have been born into an indefeasible 166 CONFESSION OF FAITH, inheritance of glory, (c.) Because the covenant head- ship of Adam is part of a glorious constitution which culminates in the covenant headship of Christ. That Adam was, as our standards say, " a public person," and that the covenant was niade with him "not only for himself, but for all his posterity," is proved from the facts — (1.) That he was called by a generic name, Adam — the Man. (2.) That everything that God commanded, promised or threatened him related to his descendants as much as to himself personally. Thus, "obedience," "a cursed earth," " the reign of death," 2)ainful child-bearing," and the subsequent promise of redemption through the seed of the woman, were spoken with reference to us as much as with reference to our first parents. (3.) As a matter of fact, the very penalty denounced and executed upon Adam has been executed upon all of his descendants, from birth upward. All are born spiritually dead, " by nature children of wrath." Also, from the fact that — 2d. The guilt of that sin is imputed to all his de- scendants, and the penalty executed upon them at their birth. By the word "guilt" is meant, not the personal dis- position which prom])ted the act, nor tiie* personal morai pollution which resulted from it, but simply the just liability to the punishment which that sin deserved. By the term " imjuite" is meant to lay to the charge or credit of any one as a ground of judicial jrunishment or justification. This is the sense in which the ])hrase "to im[)ute sin or righteousness" is used in the Bible. FALL OF MAN, SIX AND ITS PUMISHMENT. 157 " David describeth the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works, ... to whom the JiOrd will not impute sin. Faith was im- puted to Abraham for righteousness." Rom. iv. 3-9. " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, niit imputing their trespasses unto them." 2 Cor. v. 19. Our standards expressly affirm that the " guilt," or just liability to the penalty, of Adam's apostatizing act is by God " imputed" or judicially laid to the charge of each of his natural descendants. Conf. Faith, ch. vi., §3: "This sin was imputed . . . to all their posterity." In L. Cat., Q. 25, and S. Cat., Q. 17, "the sinfulness of that estate into which the fall brought mankind" is declared to include each of the following elements: "(a) the guilt of Adam^ s first sin, (6) the want of original righteousness, (c) the corruption of the whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together Avith all actual transgressions which proceed from it." The reason which our standards give for this judicial charg- ing the punishableness of Adam's first sin to all his posterity is, that they really " sinned in him in his first transgression," L. Cat., Q,. 22; S. Cat., Q. 16; since he acted as "a public person," and the covenant was made with him " not for himself alone, but for all his poster- ity." L. Cat., Q. 22; S. Cat., Q. IG. That is, Adam, by a divine constitution, so represented and acted for all his posterity that they are liiirly responsible ibr his action, and are worthy of punishment on account of it. Since their destiny, as well as his ow n, was suspended upon Adam's action, since they were justly to have part iu his reward if he was faithful, so they justly have part in his punishment for his unfaithfulnese?. 158 • CONFESSION OF FAITH. The Articles of the Synod of Dort affirm that moral depravity is ip^cted upon all the descendants of Adam at birth "63/ the just judgment of God^ Ch. iii., § 2. This is also explicitly taught in Scripture. Paul teaches in Rom. V. 12-21, (fl) that the law of death, spiritual and ' physical, under which we are born, is a consequent of Adam's public disobedience; and (6) that it is a "judg- ment," a "condemnation" — th^t is, a penal consequent of Adam's sin. " Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came ujjon all men to condemnation." (c.) That the pun- ishment of Adam's sin comes upon us upon the same prin- ciple upon which the righteousness of Christ is charged to the account of those who believe on him : " There- fore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." But the righteousness of Christ is imputed with- out works," Rom. iv. 6, before, and as the necessary condition of, good dispositions or actions upon our part. So the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed to his posterity without pers(nial works of their own, before, and as the cause of, ilieir loss of original righteousness and acqui- sition of original sin. The only sin of Adam which the Confession says was "imputed" to his descendants, and the sin of his which they assert we "sinned in him," was his first sin or apostatizing act. The manifest reason of this is that he represented us, and we are responsible for him only in his trial for character and destiny. Hi? first sin, by incurring the penalty, necessarily and in- stantly closed his probation and ours, and he immedi- ately became a private -person. The penalty denounced upon Adam and those whom FALL OF MAN, SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 159 he represented in his trial was the judicial withdravv- ment of the life-giving influences of the Holy Ghost, and the inevitably consequent moral and physical death. Hence every new-created soul comes into existence judi- cially excluded from the life-giving influences of the Holy Spirit, and hence morally and spiritually dead. Other actual sins and miseries in time occur as the nat- ural consequence of this birth-punishment. But the Scriptures and our own consciousness also affirm that these actual transgressions are our own personal sins, and that all the temporal and eternal punishments we suffer are on account of them. 3d. It hence follows, that if the guilt of Adam's _ apostasy is charged to ail his natural descendants, and the Holy Spirit consequently judicially withdrawn from them at their birth, the same moral corruption which ensued from the same cause in the case of our first parents must, from their birth, follow in their de- scendants also. Of this "corrupted nature" this Sec- tion proceeds to say : 4th. That " by it we are utterly indisposed, disabled and made opposite to all good and inclined to all evil ;" and, 5th. From this original corruption of nature proceed all actual transgressions. It is here taught (1) that all men sin from the com- mencement of moral agency. (2.) That back of this their nature is morally cor- rupt, indisposed to all good and inclined to all evil. (3.) That this moral corruption is so radical and in- veterate that men are by nature " disabled" with respect to right moral action. i()0 CONFESSION OF FAITH. (4.) That this condition is innate from birth and bj nature. This representation agrees (1) with universal ex- perience. All the children of men, of all ages, nations and circumstances, and however educated, invariably sin as soon as they become capable of moral action. A universal fact must have a cause universally present. This can only he found in the common depravity of our natures. (2.) With all the teachings of Scripture, (a.) It de- clares that all men are sinners. Rom. i, ii, and iii. 1-19. (6.) That sinful actions proceed from sinful hearts or dis- positions. Matt. XV. 19; Luke vi. 43-45. (c.) That the disposition which prompts to sinful action is "sin," a moral corruption. Rom. vi. 12, 14, 17 ; vii. 5—17; Gal. V. 17, 24; Eph. iv. 18, 19. {d.) That this corruption involves moral and spiritual blindness of mind, as well as hardness of heart and vile affections. 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15 ; Eph. iv. 18. (e.) That this moral corruption and prevailing tendency to sin is in our nature from birth. Ps. Ii. 6; Eph. ii. 3; John iii. 6. (/.) That men in their natural state are " dead" in trespasses and sins. Eph. ii. 1 ; John iii. 14. And (g) that consequently the)'' can be restored by no " change of purpose" nor "moral reformation" upon their part, but only by an act of almighty power called ''a new birth," "a new creation," "a begetting," "a quickening from the dead." Eph. iv. 24; ii. 5, 10; John iii. 3 ; 1 John v. 18. What the Confession teaches of man's sinful inabil- ity to do right, in consequence of the depravity of his nature, will be considered under its appropriate head, in Chapter ix. FALL OF MAN, SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 161 Section V. — This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that are rc.icenerated," and although it be through Christ pardoned and mortified, j'et both itself, and all the motiona thereof, are truly and properly sin." Section VI. — Every sin, both original and natural, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary there- unto," doth in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner," whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God,'* and curse of the law,'* and so made subject to death," with all miseries spiritual," temporal," and eternal.* " 1 John i. 8, 10; Rom. vii. 14, 17, 18, 23; James iii. 2; Piov. xx. 9; Eccles. vii. 20.— 12 Rom. vii. 5, 7, 8, 25 ; Gal. v. 17.—'* 1 John iii. 4.— " Rom. ii. 15 ; iii. 9, 19.— »& Eph. ii. .■?.- 16 Gal. iii. 10.—" Rom. vi. 23.— »8 Eph. iv. 18.— 19 Rom. viii. 20 ; Lam. iii. 39.— «> Matt. xxv. 41 ; 2 The.ss. i. 9. Those Sections speak of the corruption that remains in the regenerated, and of the gnilt or just liability to punishment whicli attaches to all sin, and of the punish- ments God inflicts upon them. I. Of the first, it is taught — 1st. Original sin, or innate moral corruption, remains in the regenerate as long as they live. 2d. That it is pardoned through the merits of Clirist. 3d. That it is gradually brougiit into sidViection, and mortified by the work of the Holy Sj)irit in sanotifica- tion. 4th. That nevertheless all that remains of it, and all the feelings and actions to which it prompts, are truly of the nature of sin. All of these ])oints will be more appropriately treated undei- the heads of Justification, Conf Faith, ch. xi,, and of San(!tification, Conf. Faith, ch. xiii. ] I. Of the second, it is tauglit — 1st. That "original sin" — that is, the native corrupt 11 162 CONFESSION OF FAITH. tendencies and affections of tliesoul — is as truly a viola^ tion of God's law as actual trangression. 2d. That sins of both classes are of their own nature guilt ; that is, deserving of punishment. 3d. That consequently the sinner (the person guilty of either or of both) is, unless grace intervene, made sub- ject to "death," including spiritual, temporal and eter- nal miseries. 1st. Original as well as actual sin is a violation of God's law. The Catechisms (L. Cat., Q. 24 ; S. Cat., Q. 14) define sin to be "any want of conformity unto, or transgres- sion of, the law of God." This corresponds exactly with what the Ajiostle teaches (1 John iii. 4): " Sin is dvofua" — any discrep- ancy of the creature or his acts with God's law. This i& evident — (1.) Because from its very essence the moral law demands absolute perfection of character and dispo- sition as well as action. Whatever is right is essentiall}' obligatory; whatever is wrong is essentially worthy ol condemnation. God requires us to be holy as well as to act rightly. God proclaims himself as " he which searcheth the reins and the heart." Rev. ii. 23. (2.) The native corrupt tendencies which constitute original sin are called sin in Scripture. Sin and its lusts are said to reign in our mortal bodies; sin is said to have dominion ; the unregenerate are called the servants of sin. Rom. vi. 12-17; vii. 5-17; Gal. v. 17, 24; Eph. iv. 18, 19. (3.) God condemns men for their corrupt natural dispositions, for their hardness of heart, spiritual blindness of mind. Mark xvi. 14; Eph. ii. 3. (4.) In all genuine conviction of sin, the great burden of pollution FALL OF MAN, SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 1G3 and guilt is felt to consist not in what we have done, but in what we are — our permanent moral condition rather than our actual transgressions. The great cry is to be forgiven and delivered from " the wicked heart of unbelief," " deadness to divine things, alienation from God as a permanent habit of soul." " O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom. vii. 24; Ps. li. 5, 6. 2d. It hence necessarily follows that original sin, as well as actual transgressions, deserves the curse of the law. Everything which is condemned by the law is under its curse. This is evident (1) from what we learned of the justice of God in Chapter ii., §§ 1 and 2. (2.) From the fict that it is the universal judgment of men that sin is intrinsically ill-desert — all that ought not to be is worthy of condemnation. (3.) From the fact that the Holy Ghost, in convincing men of sin, always likewise convinceth them of a judgment. John xvi. 8. (4.) Men are hy nature children of wrath. Eph. ii. 3. (5.) Even infants are redeemed by Christ. And in their case, as in all others, he redeemed them from the curse of the laio, being made a curse for them. Gal. iii. 13. 3d. Consequently, the sinner guilty of original and of actual transgressions is, unless grace intervene, made subject to death, including temporal, spiritual and eter- nal miseries. The temporal miseries inflicted upon men in the just displeasure of God for their sin are summarily set forth in the Larger Catechism. Q, 28, as " the curse of God upon the creatures for our sakes, and all other evils that befal us in our bodies, names, estates, relations and employments; toge'-her with death itself" This of 164 CONFESSION OF FAITH. course applies only to the still unbelieving, unjustified sinner. For all the tribulations which are suffered by the justified believer in this life are chastisements designed for his benefit, and expressive of his heavenly Father's love — not penal evils expressive of his wrath and unsatisfied justice. The spiritual miseries which sin brings upon the unforgiven in this life are set forth " as blindness of mind, a reprobate sense, strong delusions, hardness of heart, horror of conscience and vile affections." Rom. i. 28; ii. 5; 2 Thess. ii. 11; Larger Catechism, Q. 28. The eternal miseries which are consequent upon un- forgiven sin are set forth as " everlasting separation from the comfortable presence of God, and most griev- ous torments in soul and body, without intermission, in hell-fire for ever." Larger Catechism, Q. 29. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the first proposition taught in the first Section ? 2. What is the second proposition there taught ? 3. What is the third? 4. What is the fourth ? 5. What is the fifth f 6. What appears to be God's general plan of dealing with all new-created moral agents ? 7. With what two orders of beings has he so dealt? 8. What was made the "test" in the case of man? and why was it admirably fitted for that purpose ? 9. What appears to have been the nature of the sin committed by our first parents ? 10. What is the first element of mystery involved in the "origin of sin?" 11. Why is it difficult to conceive bow a holy being can begin ,0 sin? FALL, OF MAN, SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT. 165 12. In what respects did Adam's state as a moral agent dift'er from ours? 13. Why cannot a sinful agent originate a holy volition? 14. Is sin in its origin a positive disposition or a defiect? 15. What appear to have been the motives influencing our first parents? 16. To whose action is the true origin of sin to be referred ? 17. What is the second element of mystery in the origin of sin? 18. Prove that Adam's sin was permissively embraced in the divine decrees. 19. Prove that God did neither cause nor approve it. 20. Prove that Grod purposed to order it for his own glory. 21. What is the first proposition taught in the second Section ? 22. What is the second proposition there taught? 23. What is the third? 24. What is the fourth ? 25. Upon what does the human soul depend for spiritual life? 26. Show that the life-sustaining influences of the Holy Spirit were immediately withdrawn in punishment of sin. 27. What was the immediate consequent of that withdrawal .'' 28. To what extent was the moral and spiritual character of our first parents affected ? 29. What is the first proposition taught in the third and fourth Sections? 30. What is the second proposition there taught? 31. What is the third? 32. What is the fourth ? 33. What is the fifth ? 34.. In what Sections and in what words do our Standards ex- plicitly teach that in the covenant of works Adam represented all his descendants ? 35. What three plans were possible with regard to the moral probation of the individual members of the human family. 36. Show why the plan of giving us our probation in Adam's was both wise and benevolent. 166 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 37 F ove the fact that Adaui was our federal representa- tive. 38 V liat is the precise sense in which our Standards use the term "guilt?" 39. In what sense do they u,se the term " to impute?" 40. In what Sections and in what words do our Standards affirm that the guilt of Adam's first sin is charged to the account of his children? 41. What reason dc they assign for this imputation of his sin to us ? 42. Prove from the Scriptures that Adam's sin is so imputed. 43. Why is Adam'' s Jlrst sin alone imputed? 44. How is that sin punished in us? 45. What is the necessary effect of that punishment? 46. What do these Sections teach as to the moral state of man by nature? 47. What are the several points involved in their teaching. 48. Prove that the doctrine here taught agrees with the univer- sal experience of men. 49. State and prove the several points taught in Scripture aa to the nature, extent and time of commencement of human depravity. 50. What subjects are treated of in the fifth and sixth Sec- tions ? 51. What is taught as to the continuance and character of cori'uption in the regenerate ? 52. Prove that the innate and permanent tendency of the soul to sin is as truly a violation of God's law as actual transgression 53. Prove that this "tendency to sin" and actual transgression are alike worthy of punishment. 54. What temporal miseries are inflicted because of sin ? 55. What relation do temporal afflictions sustain to the justified believer ? 56. What spiritual miseries are inflicted because of sin? 57. \A'hat eternal miseries are inflicted on the same account ? CHAPTER VII. OF god's covenant with man. Section I. — The distance between God and the creature is ao great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary con- descension on God's part, which he hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.^ Section II. — The first covenant made with man was a cove- nant of works,'* wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity,' upon condition of perfect and personal obe- dience.* 1 Isa. xl. 13-17; Job is. 32, 33; 1 Sam. ii. 26; Ps. c.\iii. 5, 0; o. 2, 3 ; Job xxii. 2, 3; xxxv. 7, 8; Luke xvii. 10; Acts xvii. 24, 25. — ' Gal. iii 12.— 3 Rom. X. 5; v. 12-20.—* Geu. ii. 17; Gal. iii. 10. These Sections teach the following propositions : 1st. The duty which an intelligent creature owes its Creator is essential and inalienable from its being. 2d. The enjoyment of the Creator's fulness and love by the creature, however, is a matter of free and sove- reign grace, depending solely on the will of the Creator. 3d. In the case of men and angels, God has been pleased to promise this transcendent benefit upon certain conditions, which conditional promise is called a cove- nant. 4th. In the first covenant that concerned mankind, 167 168 C02fFESSI0N OF FAITH. God dealt with Adam as the representative cf all liia descendants. 5th. The promise of this covenant was life; the con- dition of it perfect and personal obedience. 1st. The duty which an intelligent creature owes to its Creator is inalienable, and springs necessarily (1) from the absolute imperative obligation which is of the essence of all that is morally right — which exercises authority over the will, but does not receive authority from it ; and (2) from the relation of dependence and obligation involved in the very fact of being created To be a created, intelligent, moral agent is to be under all the obligation of obeying the will and of living for the glory of the absolute Owner and Governor. 2d. That, on the other hand, the enjoyment of the Creator's fulness and love by the creature is a matter of sovereign grace, depending alone upon the will of the Creator, is also self-evident. The very act of creation brings the creature under obligation to the Creator, but it cannot bring the Creator into obligation to the crea- ture. Creation itself, being a signal act of grace, cannot endow the beneficiary with a claim for more grace. If God, for instance, has created a man with an eye, it may be eminently consistent with the divine attributes, and a ground of fair anticipation, that at some time he who has given eyes will also give light; but, surely, the creation of the first can lay the foundation of no riglit upon the part of man for the gift of the second. And, of course, far less can the fact that in creation God endowed men with a religious nature lay the foundation of any right on their part for the infinitely more pre- cious gift of the personal communications of his own god's Covenant with man. 169 ineffable love and grace. God cannot be bound to take all creatures naturally capable of it into the intimacies of his own society. If he does so, it is a matter of infinite condescension and soverei<>;n will. 3d. In the case of men and angels, God has been pleased to promise ^his transcendent benefit upon cer- tain conditions, which conditional promise is called a covenant. There can be no doubt that this amazin"- gift of God's personal love and life-giving society had been offered to angels, and at the beginning was offered to the first human })air, upon conditions. Some object that the conditional promise made to Adam in the gar- den is not explicitly called a covenant, and that it does not possess all the essential elements of a covenant, since it was a constitution sovereignly ordained by the Creator without consulting the will of the creature. It is a sufficient answer to these objections (1) that although Adam's will was not consulted, yet his will was unques- tionably (lordially consenting to this divine constitution and all the terms thereof, and hence the transaction did embrace all the elements of a covenant. (2.) That sev- eral instances of analogous transactions between God and men are expressly styled covenants in the Bible. If God's transactions with Noah (Gen. ix. 11, 12) and with Abraham (Gen. xvii. 1-21) were covenants, then was his transaction with Adam in the garden a cove- nant. The analysis of a covenant always gives the following elements : (a.) Its parties. (6.) Its promise, (c.) Its conditions, [d.) Its penalty. As to its parties, our standards teach — 4th. In tiie first covenant that concerned mankind, 170 CONFESSION OF FAITH. God dealt with Adam as the representative of all hisj descendants. The parties, therefore, are God and Adam. the latter representing the hnman race. That Adam did so act as the representative of his descendants, in Buch a sense that they were eqnally interested with him self in all the merit or demerit, the reward or the penalty, attaching to his action during the period of probation, has already been proved to be the doctrine both of our standards and of Scripture (Chapter vi., §§ 3, 4). As to the further nature of this covenant, our standards teach — 5th. The promise of it was life, the condition of it perfect obedience, and the penalty of it death. L. Cat., Q. 20; S. Cat., Q. 12. This covenant is variously styled, from one or other of these several elements. Thus, it is called the " cov- enant of works," because perfect obedience was its con- dition, and to distinguish it from the covenant of grace, which rests our salvation on a different basis altogether. It is also called the " covenant of life," because life was promised on condition of the obedience. It is also called a " legal covenant," because it demanded the lite- ral fulfilment of the claims of the moral law as the condition of God's favour. This covenant was also in its essence a covenant of grace, in that it graciously promised life in the society of God as the freely-granted reward of an obedience already unconditionally due. Nevertiieless it was a covenant of works and of law with respect to its demands and conditions. (1.) That the promise of the covenant was life is proved — (a.) From the nature of the penalty, which is recorded in terms. If disobedience was linked to death, god's covenant with man. 171 obedience must have been linked to life, {b.) It is taught expressly in many })assages of Scripture. Paul says, Rom. X. 5 : '^ Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that he which doeth these things shall live by them." Matt. xix. 16, 17; Gal. iii. 12; Lev xviii. 5 ; Neh. ix. 29. That the life promised was not mere continuance of existence is plain — (a.) From the fact that the death threatened was not the mere extinction of existence. Adam experienced that death the very day he ate the forbidden fruit. The death threatened was exclusion from the communion of God. The life promised, there- fore, must consist iu the divine fellowship and the ex- cellence and ha])piness thence resulting, (b.) From the fact that mere existence was not in jeopardy. It is the character, not the fact, of continued existence which God suspended upon obedience, (c.) Because the terms life and death are used in the Scriptures constantly to define two opposite spiritual conditions, which depend upon the relation of the soul to God. John v. 24 ; vi. 47; Rom. vi. 13; xi. 15; Eph. ii. 1-3; v. 14; Rev. iii. 1. (2.) That the condition of the covenant was perfect obedience is plain from the fact {a) that the divine law can demand no less. It is of the essence of all that is right that it is obligatory. James says, that " whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet oftend in one jxiint, is guilty of all." James ii. 10; Gal. iii. 10; Dcut. xxvii. 26. (b.) That the command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and c\il, relating to a thing indifferent in itself, was plainly designed to be a naked test of obedience, absolute and without limit. 172 CONFESSION OF FAITH. (3.) That the penalty of this covenant was death is distinctly stated, ''In the day thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die." Gen. ii. 17. This denoted a most lam- entable state of existence, physical and moral, and not the cessation of existence or the dissolution of the union between soul and body, because (a) it took effect in our first parents hundreds of ^^ears before the dissolution oi' that union. (6.) Because the Scriptures constantly de- scribe the moral and sj)iritual condition into which their descendants are born, and from which they are delivered by Christ, as a state of death. Rev. iii. 1 ; Eph. ii. 1—5; V. 14 ; John v. 24. This death is a condition of increasing sin and mis- ery, resulting from excision from the only source of life. It involves the entire person, soul and body, and con- tinues as long as the cause continues. Section III. — Man, by his fall, having made himself incapa- ble of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second,^ commonly called the covenant of grace, whereby he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they might be saved ;® and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe.' Section IV. — This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in the Scripture, liy the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ the testator, and to the everlasting inherit- ance, with all things belonging to it, therein bequeathed.* 6 Gill. iii. 21 ; Rom. viii. 3 ; iii. 20, 21 ; Gen. iii. xv.; Isa. xlii. 6.-6 Mark jcvi. 15, 16 ; John iii. 16 ; Rom. x. 6, 9 : Gal. iii. 11.— T Ezck. xxxvi. 26, 27; Jonn vi. 44, 45.-8 Hpi,. jx. 16-17; vii. 22; Luke xxii. 20; 1 Cor. xi. 25. Since Adam forfeited for himself and his entire race the original j^romisc of life upon the condition of per- fect obedience, and incurred the penalty of death at* god's covenan'i .vith man. 173 tached i,o disobedience, it folli)\vs that, if the old con- stitution is left witliont supplement tr modiiication, man is lost. If mankind is to be saved, there must be a new and gracious intervention on the part of God. And if God intervenes to save men, it must be upon a definite plan, and upon certain definitely })roclaimed and accurately fulfilled conditions. That is, a new covenant must be introduced, rendering life available to those who are to be saved on conditions different from those offered in the preceding constitution. The question, then, relates to what is revealed in the Scriptures as to the parties to whom the promise is made, and the con- ditions upon which it is suspended. The Arminian view is, that Adam having lost the ])roinise and incurred the penalty of the covenant which demanded perfect obedience, Christ's death hav- ing made it consistent with the claims of absolute jus- tice, God for Christ's sake introduces a new covenant, styled the covenant of grace, offering to all men indi- vidually the eternal life forfeited by Adam on the low- ered and graciously possible conditions of faith and evangelical obedience. According to (his view, the new covenant is just as mu{;h a covenant of works as the old one was; the only difference is that the works demanded are far less difficult, and we are graciously aided in our endeavours to accomplish them. According to thi^ view, also, faith and evangelical obedience secure eternal life in the new covenant in the same way that j)erlect obedience did in the old covenant. This view is j)lainly inconsistent witli the nature of the gospel. The method of .-alvation presented in the gospel is no compromise of jninciple, no lowering of 1 74 CONFESSION OF FAl "'H. terms. Christ fulfils the old legal covenant absolutely, and then, on the foundation of what he has done, we exercise faith or trust, and through that trust we are made sharers in his righteousness and beneficiaries of his grace. Faith is not a work Mdiich Christ condescends in the gospel to accept instead of perfect obedience as the ground of salvation — it is only the hand whereby we clasp the person and work of our Redeemer, which is the true ground of salvation. The Calvinistic view, therefore, is, that God having determined to save the elect out of the mass of the race fallen in Adam, appointed his Son to become incarnate in our nature, and as the Christ or God-man Mediator, he appointed him to be the second Adam and representa- tive head of redeemed humanity, and as such entered into a covenant with him and with his seed in him. In this covenant the Mediator assumes in behalf of his elect seed the broken conditions of the old cove- nant of works precisely as Adam left them. Adam had failed to obey, and therefore forfeited life; he had sinned, and therefore incurred the endless penalty of death. Christ therefore suffered the penalty and extin- guished in behalf of all whom he represented the claims of the old covenant, and at the same time he rendered a ]>erfect vicarious obedience, which was the very condi- tion upon which eternal life had been originally offered. All this Christ does as a principal party with God to the covenant, in acting as the representative of his own people. Subsequently, in the administration and gracious aj)- plication of this covenant, Christ the Mediator offerts the blessings secured by it to all men on the conditinn god's covenant with man. 176 Df faith ; tluit is, he bids all men to lay hold of these blessings by the instrumentality of faith, and he promises thai if they do so they shall certaiidy enjoy them ; and he, a« the mediatorial surety of his people, ensures for them that their faith and obedience shall not fail. For the sake of simplicity, some Calvinistic theolo- gians have set forth the divine method of human re- demption as embraced in two covenants. The fr.sf, styled the covenant of redemption, formed in eternity between the Father and Christ as principal, providing for the salvation of the elect; the second, styled the covenant of grace, wherein life is offered to all men on the condition of faith, and secured to the elect through the agency of Him who as "surety of the new covenant" ensures the fulfilment of the condition in their case. Our Standards say nothing of two covenants. They do not mention the covenant of redemption as distinct from the covenant of grace. But evidently the several passages which treat of this subject (Conf. Faith, ch. vii., § 3; L. Cat., Q. 31 ; S. Cat., Q. 20) assume that there is but one covenant contracted by Christ in behalf of the elect with God in eternity, and administered by him to the elect in the offers and ordinances of the gospel and in the gracious influences of his Spirit. The Larger Catechism in the place referred to teaches how the cove- nant of grace was contracted with Christ /or his peo})le. The Confession of Faith in these Sections teaches how that same covenant is adm'mistei'ed by Chii>t to his people. The doctrine of our Standards and of Scripture inav be stated in the following propositions : 1st. At the basis of human redemption there is an 176 CONFESSION OF FAITH. eternal covenant or personal counsel between the Fatlier, representing the entire Godhead, and the Son, who is to assume in the fulness of time a human element into his pe."Son, and to represent all his elect as their Mediator and Surety. The Scriptures make it very plain that the Father and Son had a definite understanding [a) as to who were to be saved, (6) as to what Christ must do in order to save them, (o) as to hoio their personal salva- tion was to be accomplished, and (d) as to all the bless- ings and advantages involved in their salvation, (e) as to certain official rewards which were to accrue to the Mediator in consequence of his obedience. (1.) The Scriptures expressly declare that the Father has promised the Mediator the salvation of his seed on condition of tiie travail of his soul. Isa. liii. 10, 11, 42 ; vi. 7 ; Ps. Ixxxix. 3, 4. (2.) Christ makes constant reference to a ])revious commission he had received of his Father (John x. 18; Luke xxii. 29), and claims a reward conditioned upon the fulfilment of that commission. John xvii. 4, 5. (3.) Christ as Mediator constantly asserts that his people and his expected glory are given him as a reward by his Father. 2d. The promise of this covenant was — (1.) All need- ful preparation of Christ for his work. Heb. x. 5 ; Isa. xVn. 1-7. (2.) Support in his work. Luke xxii. 43. (3.) A glorious reward (a) in his own thcanthropic person as Mediator. John v. 22; Ps. ex. 1. (6.) In committing to his hand the universal administration of all the precious graces and blessings of the cov^enant. Matt. xiii. 18; John i. 12; vii. 39; xvii. 2; Acts ii. 33. (c.) In the salvation of the elect, including all general and special god's covenant with man. 177 provisions of grace, such as regeneration, justification, sanctification, perseverance and glory. Tit. ill. 5, 6; Jer. xxxi. 33; xxxii. 40; Isa. xxxv. 10; liii. 10, 11. 3d. The condition of this covenant was (1, that he should be born of a woman, made under the law. Gal. iv. 4, 5. (2.) That he should assume and discharge in behalf of his elect, all the broken conditions and incurred liabilities of the covenant of works (Matt. v. 17, 18), {a} rendering that perfect obedience which is the condi- tion of the promise of the old covenant (Ps. xl. 8; Isa. xlii. 21 ; John viii. 29 ; ix. 4, 5; Matt. xix. 17), and (6) suffering the penalty of death incurred by the breaking of the old covenant. Isa. liii. ; 2 Cor. v. 21 ; Gal. iii. 13 ; Eph. v. 2. 4th. Christ as mediatorial Kino-, administers to his people the benefits of his covenant, and by his provi- dence, his word and his Spirit he causes them to become severally recipients of these blessings according to his will. These benefits he offers to all men in the gospel. He promises to grant them on the condition they are received. In the case of his own people he works faith in them, and as their surety engages for them and makes good all that is suspended upon or conveyed through their agency. In the whole sj)here of our experience every Christian duty is a Christian grace, for we can fulfil the conditions of repentance and faith only as it is given to us by our surety. All Cliristian graces al-^o in- volve Christian duties. So that Christ at once purchases salvation for us, and applies salvation to us ; lommands us to do, and works in us to obey; offers us grace and eternal life on conditions, and gives us the conditions and the grace and the eternal life. What he gives ua 12 178 CONFESSION OF FAITH. he expects us to exercise. What he demands of us he at once gives us. Viewed on God's side, faith and re- pentance are the gifts of the Son. Viewed on our side. they are duties and gracious experiences, the first symp- toms of salvation begun — instruments wherewith further grace may be attained. Viewed in connection with the covenant of grace, they are elements of the promise of the Father to the Son, conditioned upon his mediatorial work. Viewed in i^elation to salvation, they are indices of its commencement and conditions sine qua non of its completion. The present administration of this covenant by Christ in one aspect evidently bears a near analogy to a testa- ment or will executed only consequent upon the death of the testator. And so in one passage our translators were correct in so translating the word ocadijxrj. Heb IX. 16, 17. But since Christ is an ever-living and con- stantly-acting Mediator, the same yesterday, to-day and for ever, this word, which expresses his present adminis- tration, should in every other instance have been trans- lated dispensation, instead of testament. 2 Cor. iii, 6, 14; Gal. iii. 15; Heb. vii. 22; xii. 24; xiii. 20. Section V. — This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the gospel :® under the hiw it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, tlie paschal lamb, and other tj^pes and ordinances delivered to tha people of the Jews, all fore-signifying Christ to come,'" which were for that time sufficient and efficacious, through the opera- tion of the Sjiirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised JMessiah," by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation ; and is called the Old Testament." Section VT. — Under the gospel, w]i,en Christ, the substance," was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispenfied god's covenant with man. 17'd are, the preaching of the word, and the administration of th( sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper ;" which, though fewer in number, and administered with more simplicity and lest outward glory, yet in them it is held ihvth in more fulness, evi- dence and spiritual efficacy,^^ to all nations, both Jews and Gen- tiles ;'® and is called the New Testament." There are not, there- fore, two covenants of grace differing in substance, but one and the same under various dispensations.^* 9 2 Cor. iii. 6-9.— ><> Heb. vii'i., ix., x ; Koin. iv. 1 1 ; Col. ii. 11, 12 ; 1 Cor. V. 7.-11 1 Cor. X. 1-4 ; Heb. xi. 13 ; John viii. 56.-12 (jal. iii. 7-9, 14. — 1» Col. ii. 17.-1* Matt, xxviii. 19, 20; 1 Cor. xi. 23-25.— i^ Heb. xii. 22- 27; Jer. xxxi. 3.3, 34.— 16 Matt, xxviii. 19; Eph. ii. 15-19.—" Luke xxii. 2(1.— 18 Gal. iii. 14,16; Acts xv. 11; Rom. iii. 21-23,30; Ps. xxxii. 1; Rom. iv. 3,6, IG, 17, 23, 24; Heb. xiii. 8. These Sections teach — 1st. That the covenant of grace has from the begin- ning remained in all essential respects the same, in spite of all outward changes in the mode of its administra- tion. 2d. That under the old dispensation, this covenant was administered chiefly by types and symbolical ordin- ances, signifying beforehand a Christ to come, and this administration was almost exclusively confined to the Jewish nation. 3d. That the new dispensation of this covenant is characterized by its superior simplicity, clearness, fulness, certainty, spiritual power and range of aj)plication. 1st. The covenant administered in both dispensations is in all es.sential respects the same. (1.) Christ was the Saviour of men before his advent, and he saved them on the same ])rinciples then as now. He was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," Rom. iii. 25 ; "A propitiation for the sins that are past," Heb ix. 15. He was promised to Adam and to Abra- 180 CONFESSION OF FAITH. ham as the Saviour of the world. Gen. iii. 15; xvii. 7 ; xxii. 18. He was symbolically exhibited and typically prophesied by all the ceremonial and especially oy the sacrificial system of the temple. Col. ii. 17 ; Heb. x. 1—10. He was especially witnessed to as the Saviour from sin by all the prophets. Acts x. 43. (2.) Faith was the condition of salvation under the old dispensa- tion in the same sense it is now. Heb. ii. 4 ; Ps. ii. 12. The Old Testament believers are set up for an example to those who are called to exercise faith under the New Testament. Rom. iv. ; Heb. xi. (3.) The same gracious promises of spiritual grace and eternal blessedness were administered then as now. Compare Gen. xvii. 7 with Matt. xxii. 32, and Gen. xxii. 18 with Gal. iii. 16. See, also, Isa. xliii. 25 ; Ps. xvi. 51 ; Ixxiii. 24-26 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 27 ; Job xix. 25-27 ; Dan. xii. 2, 3. 2d. Under the old dispensation the covenant of grace was administered with constantly increasing fulness and clearness (a) from Adam to Abraham, in the promise to the woman, Gen. iii. 15; the institution of bloody sac- rifices, and the constant visible appearance and audible converse of Jehovah with his people. (6.) From Abra- ham to Moses the more definite promise given to Abra- ham (Gen. xvii. 7 ; xxii. 18), in the Church separated from the world, embraced in a s{)ecial covenant, and sealed with the sacrament of circumcision, (c.) From Moses to Christ, the simple primitive rite of sacrifice developed into the elaborate ceremonial and significant symbolism of the temple service, the covenant enriched with new promises, the Church separated from the world by new barriers and sealed with the additional sacra- ment of the Passover. god's covenant with man. 181 3d. The present dispensation of the covenant is supe- rior to the former one — (a.) Because, while it was for- merly administered by Moses, a servant, it is now administered visibly and immediately by Christ, a son in his own house. Heb. iii. 5, 6. (6.) The truth was then partly hid, partly revealed, in the types and sym- bols. Now it is revealed in clear history and didactic teaching, (c.) That revelation has been vastly increased, as well as rendered more clear, by the incarnation of Christ and the mission of the Holy Ghost, {d.) That dispensation was so encumbered with ceremonies as to be comparatively carnal. The present dispensation is spiritual, [e.) That was confined to one people. The present dispensation, disembarrassed from all national organizations, embraces the whole earth. (/.) That method of administration was preparatory. The pres- ent is final, as far as the present order of the world is concerned. It will give way only to tiiat eternal ad- ministration of the covenant which shall be executed by the Lamb in the new heavens and the new earth, when there shall " be gathered together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth," Eph. i. 10. More than this is not yet made known. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the Jilst proposition taught in the first and second Sections? 2. What is the second proposition there taught? 3. What is the third? 4. What is the fourth? 5. What is the fifth? 182 CONFESSION OF F^vlIH. 6. Prove tliat tlie duty which an intelligent ci'oature owes tfl its Creator Is essential and inalienable. 7. Prove that the enjoyment of the Creator by the creature is not a natural right, but a gracious privilege. 8. What arrangement did God in the beginning make with men in this respect? 9. Prove that this arrangement is properly called a covenant. 10. What are the several elements of a covenant? 11. Who were the parties of the original covenant? 12. How is this covenant variouslj' styled? 13. Prove that the promise of the covenant was life. 14. What was involved in the life promised? 15. Prove the last answer. 16. What was the condition of the covenant? and prove it. 17. What was its penalty? and prove it. 18. If God purposes to save fallen men, what is certain to characterize his method of doing so ? 19. What is the Arminian view as to the conditions upon which salvation is oifered to fallen men ? 20. State the fatal objections to that view. 21. What is the Calvinistic view of the condition of human salvation ? 22. What distinction do some Calvinists make between the "covenant of redemption " and the "covenant of grace?" 23. In what Section and in what words is the doctrine of our standards upon this point stated? 24. What is the jioint chiefly set forth by the Larger Catechism, Q. 31, and what point is chiefly set forth by the Conf Faith, ch. vii., §3, andS. Cat., Q. 20? 25. On what points is it evident that the Father and Son had a definite understanding? 26. Prove from Sciipture that there was such a covenant be- tween the Father and the Son. 27. Show from Scripture what was the promise of that cove- nant. 28. Show from Scripture what were its conditions. 29. What relatioji doe^ the covenant of grace sustain to the covenant of works ? GOD 3 COVENANT WITH MAN. 1 83 30. By whom is the covenant of grace administered? 31. How does Christ administer its blessings to liis people? 32. Where and why is his present administration likened to a testament? 33. What is the first proposition taught in the fifth and sixth Sections? 34. What is the second proposition there taught? 35. What is the third f 36. Prove that the covenant of grace is essentially the same under all changes of administration. 37. -How was it administered under the Old Testament dis- pensation ? 3S. In what respects does the new differ from and excel the old dispensation? CHAPTER YIII. OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. Section I. — It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, toiihoos. and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man;' the Prophet,^ Priest' nand King;* the Head and Saviour of his Church;^ the Heir of all things;* and Judge of the world:'' unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his seed,* and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified and glorified.* 1 Isa. xlii.; 1 Pet. i. 19, 20; John iii. Ifi; 1 Tim. ii. 5.— 2 Acts iii. 22.— » Heb. V. 5, 6.—* Ps. ii. 6; Luke i. 33.— ^Eph. v. 23.-6 Hgb. i. 2.—' Acts xvii. 31.— 8 .John xvii. 6; Ps. xxii. 30; Isa. liii. 10.— » 1 Tim. ii. 6; Isa. Iv. 4, .5; 1 Cor. i. 30. We have already learned — 1st. That God has from eternity sovereignly chosen a definite nnmber out of the fallen human race to be saved by means of the redemptive work of Christ. Conf. Faith, eh, iii., §§ 3-6. 2d. That God has from eternity formed a covenant of grace witii his Son, in which the Father gave the Son a j)eople to be his sccmI, and promised their salva- tion as his reward, and in which the Son engaged to perform and suffer all that was necessary to that end. Conf. Faith, ch. vii., §§ 3, 4. While reaffirming these truths, this Section teaches, in addition — 1st, That the covenanted Head of the redeemed 184 CHRIST THE MEDlATOIi. 185 Church is not the divine Word, absohitely considered, but the incarnate God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has received a divine appointment to be Mediator be- tween God and man. 2d. That the mediatorial office, in the exercise of which Christ accomplishes our redemption, embi-aces three distinct functions, viz. : those of a Prophet, of a Priest and of a King. 3d. That, as Mediator, Christ is Head and Saviour of his Church, Heir of all things and Judge of the world. A mediator is one who intervenes between contesting parties for the sake of making reconciliation. The term is sometimes applied to independent and disinterested parties called in to arbitrate a difficulty ; sometimes to a dependent messenger or agent of one of the parties to the contest employed to carry overtures to the other party. In this sense Moses was a mediator between God and the people of Israel. Deut. v. 5; Gal. iii. 19. Sometimes it is applied to an intercessor employed by the weaker party to influence the stronger. Tiie Scriptures apply the term, in a higher sense than any of these, to Christ. They teach that he intervenes between God and man, not merely to sue for peace and to persuade to it, but, armed with plenipotentiary power, efficiently to make peace and to do all that is necessary to that end. The things necessary in order to this great end llill into two classes — (a) those that respect God, and (6) those that respect men. As it respects God, it is absolutely necessary, in order to reconciliation, that the Mediator should pro})itiate 186 CONFESSION OF FAITH. the jii.st displeasure of God by expiating the guilt of sin, and that he should supplicate in our beiialf, and that he should actually introduce our persons and ser- vices to the acceptance of the Father. As it respects men, it is absolutely necessary that the Mediator should reveal to them the truth concerning God and their relations to him, and tiie conditions of acceptable service ; that he should persuade and enable them to receive and obey the truth so revealed; and that he should so direct and sustain them and so control all the outward influences to which they are subjected that their deliverance from sin and from the powers of an evil world shall be perfected. Hence the mediatorial office involves all the three great functions of prophet, priest and king, and Christ discharo;ed them all, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation. These are not three distinct offices meetino; accidentallv in one office, but three functions inhering essentially in the one office of mediator. And they each so belong to the very essence of the office that the quality peculiar to each gives character to eveiy mediatorial action. When he teaches, he is always a priestly and kingly prophet. When he offers sacrifice or intercession for sin, he is always a prophetical and royal priest. (1.) Christ is a prophet. A prophet is a spokesman ; one sent from God to man to make known the divine will. In this sense Moses and all inspired men were prophets. But Christ was the personal "Word of God" in(;artiate, he who had eternally been "in the bosom of God" and " known the Father," and consequently as mediatorial prophet is that original fountain of revela- CHRIST THE MEJ)IAT01{. 187 bion of which all other prophets are the stieams. Pie i.s the Propiiet of all prophets, the Teacher of all teachers. "He executeth the office of a prophet in his reveal- ing to the Church in all ages, by his Spirit and word, in divers ways of administration, the whole will of God, ill all things concerning their edification and salvation." L. Cat., Q. 43. That this representation is true is proved from the fact that the Scrii)tures {a) explicitlv call him a prophet. C()m[)are Deut. xviii. 15, 18 and Acts iii. 22 ; vii. 37 ; Heb. i. 2. (6.) Teach that he exe- cuted the functions of a prophet before his incarnation. Isa. ix. 6 ; Mai. iii. 1 ; Job xxxiii. 23; 1 Pet. i. 11. (c.) Teach that he executes the office of a prophet since his incarnation. Matt. xi. 27; John iii. 2; vi. 68; Rev. vii. 17 ; xxi. 23. (2.) Christ is a priest. A priest is (a) one taken from among men, (b) to appear in the presence of God and to treat in behalf of men, and (c) in order thereto to make propitiation and intercession. It is declared to be essen- tial to the priest (a) that he be a man chosen to represent men before God. Aaron always bore before the Lord for a memorial a breastplate with the names of all the tribes of Israel engraved upon it. Ex. xxviii. 9, 12, 21, 29. (6.) He must be chosen of God as his special elec- tion and property. Num. xvi. 5 ; Heb. v. 4. (c.) He must be holy and consecrated to the Lord. Lev. xxi. 6- 8; Ex. xxxix. 30, 31 ; Ps. cvi. 16. (d.) They have a right both to draw near to Jehovah and to bring near — i. e., to offer sacrifices and intercessions. Lev. xvi. 3-15. [e.) He must have an acceptable sacrifice to offer. Heb. viii. 3. Christ is in this sense a true priest, and he executeth this office " in his ouce offering himsell" a 1S8 CONFESSION OF FAITH. sacrifice without spot to God, to be a reconciliation for the sins of his people, and in making continual inter- cession for them." L. Cat., Q. 44. That this is true is proved from the fact that the Scriptures declare (a) that Christ possessed all the characteristic niarkb and qualifications of a priest. He liecame a man f )r this purpose. Heb. ii. 16; iv. 15. He was chosen of God, as was Aaron. Heb. v. 5, 6. He was perfectly holy, and had right of immediate approach to the Father. (6.) He is declared to be a pi'iest in the Old Testament. The entire order of priests and the ceremonial of sacri- fice was typical of him. Zech. vi. 13; Isa. liii. 10; Dan. ix. 24, 25. (c.) The gospel history declares that he actually discharged all the functions of a priest. He has made propitiation by a sacrificial bearing of the penalty due to sin. Eph. v. 2; Heb. ix. 26; 1 John i. 2. He has made intercession and he ever lives to inter- cede. Rom. viii. 34 ; Heb. vii, 25. The work of Christ was the substance of which the entire ceremonial of the temple was the shadow. Col. ii. 17. His priesthood is said not to have been of the order of Aaron, because, although Aaron and his priest- hood were types of Christ, and existed simply for the purpose of showing forth his work, yet they were in- adequate to represent him fully and in all relations. They were inadequate chiefly (a) with respect to the incomparable dignity and excellence of his person, (b.) The infinite vahie of iiis sacrifice. Heb. x. 1. (c.) The manner of their consecration. Heb. vii. 20—22. (d.) They were constantly su<;ceeding each other as dying men. Heb. vii. 23, 24. (e.) He was a minister of a greater and more perfect tabernacle. Heb. ix. 11, 24. CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 189 (/.) They were made priests — he was a royal and pro- phetical priest. Zech. vi. 13; Rom. viii, 34; Heb. viii. 1, 2. His priesthood is said to have been of the order of Alolchisedee, because (a) like him he w^as a royal priest. (6.) Like him, he had no predecessors or suc- cessors in office. He was the only one of his line, (c.) Jiecause he was an eternal priest; "Thou art a priest for ever of the order of Melchisedec." He.^. .... ^7. . (3.) Christ is sovereign Head over all things to his Church. Eph. i. 22; iv. 15; Col. i. 18; ii. 19. He executeth the office of a king (a) in calling out of the world a people to himself, and giving them offices, laws and discipline, by which he visibly governs them; (b) in bestowing saving grace upon his elect, rewarding their obedience and correcting them for their sins, pre- serving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings; (c) restraining and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory and their good ; and also (d) in taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God and obey not the gospel. This lordship differs from that which belongs essen- tially to the Godhead : (a.) Because it is given to him by the Father as the reward of his obedience and suffer- ing. Phil. ii. 6-11. (6.) The object and design of this mediatorial kingship has special reference to the up- building and glory of the redeemed Church, (c.) The dignity and authority belong not to his deity abstractly, but t(> his entire person as God-man. This power and lordship Christ already possesses, and it extends over all creatures in all worlds. Matt, xxviii. 18; Eph. i. 17-23; Phil. ii. 9-11 ; Jer. xxiii. 5; Isa. ix. 6; Ps. ii. 190 CONFESSION OF FAITH. G ; Acts ii. 29-33. And of this kingdom there shall be no end. Dan. ii. 44 ; Isa. ix. 7. Thus Christ has been shown, as Mediator, to be — 5th. Head and Saviour of his Church, and Heir of all things, tliat is, sovereign ruler and disposer of all things throughout all worlds. Eph. i. 10. That element of Christ's dominion which shall be exercised in his judg- ino; men and angels at the end will be considered under Chapter xxxiii. Section II. — The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did, when the fulness of time was come, taka upon him man's nature,'" with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin ;" being conceive*^ by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance.'* So that two whole, perfect and dis- tinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition or confusion.'^ Which person is very God and very man, j^et one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man. " 10 John i. 1, 14 ; 1 John v. 20 ; Phil. ii. 6 ; Gal, iv. 4.— " Heb. ii. 14, 16, 17 ; iv. 15.— '2 Luke i. 27, 31, ,35; Gal. iv. 4.— 13 Luke i. 35; Col. ii. 9; Rom. ix. 5; 1 Pet. iii. 18; 1 Tim. iii. 16.—" Rom, i. 3, 4 ; 1 Tim. ii. 5, The subject of this Section is the constitution of the Person of the Mediator as the God-man. Having proved before (Chapter ii.,§ 3) that Jesus Christ is the one God, and that he is the second Person of the ador- able Trinity, of one substance and equal with the Father, this Section proceeds to assert: 1 St. Jesus of Nazareth was a true man, possessing all the essential properties of humanity, cMuceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 191 2d. That he was absolutely without sin. 3d. That he was no less very God, the eternal Son of the Father. 4th. That nevertheless this God and this man is one single person. 5th. That this personality is the eternal Person of the divine Son, who in time took a human soul and body into personal union with himself. 6th. That although one person, the divine and human nature in Christ are not mixed or confounded in one, but remain two pure and distinct natures, divine and human, constituting one person for ever. The most ancient and universally accepted statement of the Church doctrine as to the Person of Christ is that which was formed by the fourth General Council, consisting of " six hundred and thirty holy and blessed fathers," who were convened in Chalcedon, A.D. 451: " We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ ; the same perfect in Godhead, and also perfect in manhood ; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body ; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the manhood ; in all things like unto us without sin ; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter (lays, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, according to the manhood ; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchange- ably, indivisibly, inseparably, the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather 192 CONFESSION OF FAITH. the property of each nature being preserved and con- curring- in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the propliets have from the beginning de- clared concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ him- self has taught us, and the creed of the holy Fathers has delivered to us." For the statements on this subject of the Athanasian Creed, see Chapter I. of the Intro- duction. 1st. Jesus of Nazareth was a true man, possessing all the essential properties of humanity, conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance. This includes two constituent propositions: (1.) Jesus Christ was a true and proper man, j)ossessing all the essential properties of humanity. He is constantly and characteristically called the Jllan Christ Jesus and the Son of Man. Matt. viii. 20; Tim. ii. 5. He had a true body, for he ate, drank, slept ami increased in stature. Luke ii. 52. Through his whole life he was in all public and private association recog- nized as a true man. He died in agony on the cross, was buried, rose again and proved his identity by phy- sical signs. Luke xxiv. 36-44. He had a reasonable soul, for he increased in wisdom, loved, sympathized, wept and shrank from suffering as a man. John xi. 33— 35; Matt. xxvi. 36-46. (2.) The human nature of Jesus is not an independent creation merely, like ours, but it was generated out of the common life of our race, of the very substance of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Ghost. The angels do not constitute a race produced by generation, but only a collection of indi- CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 193 viduals. This distinction is emphasized when it is declared of Christ, " He took not on him the nature of angels, but h; took on him the seecZ of Abraham." Heb. ii. 16. He is the seed of Eve. Gen. iii. 15; the seed of David. Rom. i. 3. He was made of a woman (Gal. iv. 4), conceived b}^ her in her womb. Luke i. 31 ; ii. 5-7. 2d. That Jesus, although tempted in all points like as we are, was yet absolutel}^ without sin, is expressly declared in Scripture. Heb. iv. 15. Peter testifies of him that he did no sin, neither was guile found in Gal. v. 17; Rom. vii. 15, 18, 19, 21, 23.—" Eph. iv. 13; Heb. xii. 23; 1 John iii. 2; Jude 24. These Sections briefly state and contrast the various conditions whicih cluiracterize the free agency of man in his four different estates of innocency, hereditary sin, grace and glory. In all these estates man is unchange- ably a free, responsible agent, and in all cases choosiMg or refusing as, upon Ihe whole, he prefers to do. 4 FREE WILL. 223 man's volition is as his desires are in the given case. His desires in any given case are as they are determined to be by the general and permanent tastes, tendencies and habitudes of his character. He is responsible for his desires, because they are determined by the nature and permanent characteristics of his own soul. He is responsible for these, because they are the tendencies and qualities of his oion nature. If these are immoral, he and his actions are immoral. If these are holy, he and his actions are holy. When we say that man is a free agent, we mean (1) that he has the power of originating action ; that he is self-moved, and does not only move as he is moved upon from without. (2.) That he always wills that which, upon the whole view of the case presented by his under- standing at the time, he desires to will. (3.) That man is furnished with a reason to distinguish between the true and the false, and a conscience to distinguish be- tween the right and the wrong, in order that his desires and consequent volitions may be both rational and righteous ; and yet his desires are not necessarily either rational or righteous, but they are formed under the light of reason and conscience, either conformable or contrary to them, according to the permanent habitual disposition or moral character of the soul itself. 1st. Adam in his estate of innocency was a free agent created with holy affections and moral tendencies, yet with a chai'acter as yet unconfirmed, capable of obedience, yet liable to be seduced by external temptation, and by the inordinate excitement of the propensions of his animal nature, such as in their proper degree and due subordina- tion are innocent. Of this state of a holy yet fallible 224 CONFESSION OF FAITH. nature we have no experience, and consequently very imperfect comprehension. 2d. As to man's present estate, our Standards teach (1) that man is still a free agent, and able to will as upon the whole he desires to will. (2.) That he has likewise ability to discharge many of the natural obligations which spring out of his relations to his fellow-men. (3.) That his soul by reason of the fall being morally cor- rupted and spiritually dead, his understanding being spiritually blind and his affections perverted, he is "utterly indisposed, disabled and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to evil" (Conf. Faith, ch. vi., § 4, and ch. xvi., § 3 ; L. Cat. Q. 25) ; and hence he " hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation," so that he " is uot able of his own strength to convert himself," or even '' to prepare himself thereunto." Conf. Faith, ch. ix., § 3. The same view is taught in all the Protestant Confes- sions, Lutheran and Reformed. Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, Art. 10: "The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasing and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preveilting us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have a good will." Articles of Synod of Dort, chap, iii. Art. 3 : " All men are conceived in sin, and born children of wrath, indisposed to all saving good, prepense to evil, dead in sins and the slaves of sin, and without the grace of the FREE WILL. 225 regenerating Holy Spirit tlicy are neither willing nor able to retain to God, to correct their depraved natuie, or to dispose Hiemselves to the correction of itJ' Form, of Concord, p. 570, llase's Collection (Lutheran): "Therefore we believe that as it is impossible for a dead body to revive itself, or to coiunuuiicate animal life to itself, in the same degree is it inij)ossible for a man, spiritually dead by reason of sin, to i-ec Rom, viii. 30; iii. 24.-2 Rom. iv. 5-8; 2 Cor. v. 19, 21 ; Rom. iii. 22, 24, 25, 27, 28; Tit. iii. 5, 7; Eph. i. 7 ; Jer. xxiii. 6; 1 Cor. i. 30, 31; Rom, V. 17_19._s Acts X. 44; Gal. ii. 16; Phil. iii. 9; Acts .xiii. 3S, 39 ; Eph. ii. 7, 8.—* John i. 12; Rom. iii. 2S ; v. 1.— 5 James ii. 17, 22, 26; Gal. v. 6. These Section.s teach the followina: propositions: 1st. All those and only those whom God has cfibctu- ally called he also freely just i lies. 2d. This justification is a purely judicial act of God as Judge, whereby he pardons all the sins of a believer, and accounts, accepts and treats hTTH'£Bprp^i:son righteous in the eye of the divine^lavY.. ■ " ' '''"'. '/^\ \ ^ .^. cJ 246 • CONFESSION OF FAITH. 3d. That this justifying act proceeds upon the im- putation or crediting to the believer by God of tiie righteousness of his great Kepresentative and Surety, Jesus Christ. 4th. Tliat the essential and sole condition upon which this righteousness of Christ is imputed to the believer is, (hat he exercises faith in or on Christ as his righteous- ness. 5th. That this faith is itself a gracious gift of God. 6th. That no other grace, neither love nor hope nor obedience, sustains the same relation to justification that faith does as its essential condition or instrument; yet this faith is never alone in the justified person, but is always, when genuine, accompanied with all other Chris- tian graces, all of which have their root in faith. 1st. That God justifies all those and only those whom he has effectually called or regenerated by his grace is proved — (1.) From the express declarations of Scu-ipture : " Whom he did predestinate, them he also called : and whom he called, them he also justified." (2.) From the fact that effectual calling and justification are both necessary in order to salvation, and are both essential steps in the execution by God of his own immutable and infallibly efficacious decree of election. (3.) From the fact that only those who truly believe are justified, and only those who are regenerate can truly believe. 2d. As to its nature, this justification is a purely judicial act of God as Judge, whereby he ])ardons all the sins of a believer, and accounts, accejits and treats him as a person righteous in the eye of the divine law. This includes two subordinate propositions : (1.) Justification is a judicial act of God, whereby ho JUSTIFICATION. 247 dcijlares us to be coiiibniied to the dcaiaiid.s of the law as the condition ol' our life ; it is not an act of gracious power, making us holy or conformed to the law as a standard of moral character. The Romanists use tlie term justification in a v;igue and general sense, as in- \ eluding at once the foru;iveness of sins and the infusion of grace, Socinians, and those who teach the moral-in- fluence theory of the atonement, regard justification as meaning the same as sanctifieation ; that is, the making a man personally holy. The true sense of justification stated above is, wljen taken in its connection with faith, the grand central principle of the Reformation, brought out and triumphantly vindicated by Luther. That it^ is true is proved (a) from the universal meaning of the English word to justifi/, and of the equivalent Greek word used in the New Testament. They both arc alike always used to express an act declaring a man to he square with the demands of law, never to expi'css an act making him holy. Gal. ii, 16 ; iii. 11. (6.) In Scripture, justification is always set forth as the opposite of condemnation. The opposite of '' to sanctify" is "to pollute," but the opposite of "to justify" is "to condemn." Rom. viii. 30-34; John iii. 18. (c.) The true sense of the phrase " to justify" is clearly proved by the terms used in Scripture as equivalent to it. For example: "To impute righteousness without Works;" "To forgive iniquities;" "To cover sins." Rom. iv. 6-8. "Not to impute transgression unto them." 2 Cor. v. 19. "Not to bring into condemna- tion." John V. 24. (cZ.) In many passages it would produce the most obvious nonsense to substitute sanctifieation (the making 248 CONFESSION OF FAITH. holy) fur juiitification (the declaring legally just); as, for instance : " For by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be sanctified;" or, " Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are scmctlfied by the law ; ye are fallen from grace." Gal. ii. 16; v. 4. (e.) Justification and sanctificutiou are set forth in Scripture as distinct graces, inseparable, alike necessary, yet distinct in their nature, grounds and ends. 1 Cor. vi. 11. (2.) Justification is not mere pardon ; it includes pardon of sin, and in addition the declaration that all the claims of law are satisfied with respect to the person justified, and that consequently ho has a right to all the immunities and rewards which in the covenant of life are suspended upon perfect conformity to tiie demands of law. Pardon (a) relaxes the claims of law, or waives their exaction in a given case. (6.) It is an act of a sovereign in the exercise of pure prerogative, (o.) It is free, resting upon considerations of mercy or of public policy, (d) It simply remits the pen^dty of sin ; it secures neither honours nor rewards. On the other hand, justification [a) is the act of a judge, not a sovereign. (6.) It rests purely npon the state of the law and of the facts, and is impossible whore there is not a perfect righteousness, (c.) It pro- nounces the law not relaxed, but fnlfillod in its strictest sense, {d.) It declares the jjcrson justified to be justly entitled to all the honours and advantages susj)ended upon perfect conformity to all the demands of law. The truth of this proposition is proved (a) from the uniform and obvious meaning of the words "to justify." JUSTIFICATION. 2-19 No one ever confomuls tlio justification of a person with his pardon. (6.) As we saw under Chapter viii., § 5, " The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, . . . hath fully satisfied the Justice of the Father, and purchased not only reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven for all those whom the Father hath given unto him." Justification, therefore, rests upon this " full satisfaction of divine justice." It is a judicial declaration that the law is satisfied — not a sovereign waiving of the penalty. (c.) The Scriptures declare that our justification pro- ceeds upon the ground of a perfect righteousness. Christ " is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Rom. x. 3-6 ; 1 Cor. i. 30. The essence of pardon is that a man is forgiven without righteousness. The essence of justification is that a man is pronounced to be possessed of righteousness, which satisfies the law. We are " made the righteous- ness of God in him." 2 Cor. v. 21. Justification is j)ara])hrased as "not imputing sin;" as ''imputing righteousness without works." Kom. iv. 6-8. ((7.) The effects of justification are much more than those of pardon. The justified have " peace with God," "assurance of salvation," Rom. v. 1-10; "inheritance among them that are sanctified," Acts xxvi. 18. 3d. Justification proceeds upon the imputation or crediting to the believer by God of the righteousness of his great Rejjvesentative and Surety, Jesus Christ. L. Cat., Q. 70 : " Justification is an ac-t of God's free grace unto sinners, wherein he pardoneth all their sin, accept- eth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight; not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but 250 CONFESSION OF FAITH. only for the perfect obedience and full sallsfaelion ol Cliriiit, by God imputed to them, and received by faith alone." Compare also L. Cat., Q. 77, and S. Cat., Q. 33. Arminians hold that for Christ's sake the demands of the law are graciously lowered, and faith an.d evangelical obedience accepted in the place of perfect obedience as the ground of justification. Our Standards and all the Reformed and Lutheran Confessions teach that the true ground of justification is the pci'fect righteousnes-s (active and passive) of Christ, imputed to the believer and received by faith alone. S. Cat., Q. 33. This is (1.) Because the Scriptures insist everywhere that we are not justified by works. This is affirmed of works in general — of all kinds of works, natural or gracious, without distinction, Rom. iv. 4; xi. G. (2.) Because the Scrij)tures declare that good works, of whatever kind, instead of being tXxa g round of justi- fication, are possible only as its consequences: " For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace;" "But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held ; that we should serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the letter." Rom. vi. 14; vii. 6. (3.) Because the Scriptures declare that the obedience ^ and suffering — i. e., perfect righteousness or fulfilment of the law — by Christ, our Representative, is the true ground of justification: "Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came ujion all men unto justification of life. For as by one JUSTIFICATION. '251 man's dlsobeJieiice iniiLy were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteons." lloni. V. 18, 19 ; X. 4 ; 1 Cor. i. 30 ; 2 Cor. v. 21 ; Phil. iii. 9. (4.) Because the Scriptures affirm that this righteous- ness is imputed to the believer in the act of justifica- tion. The phrase to impute sin or righteousness in its scriptural usage signifies simply to set to one's account, to lay to one's charge or credit as the ground of judicial process. Our sins arc said to have been laid upon Christ (Isa. liii. 6, 12; Gal. iii. 13; Heb. ix. 28 ; 1 Pet. ii. 24), because their guilt was so charged to his account that they were justly punished in him. In like manner Christ's righteousness is imputed or its rewardableness is so credited to the believer that all the covenanted hon- ours and rewards of a perfect righteousness henceforth rightly belong to him. Rom. iv. 4-8; 2 Cor, v. 19-21. For the usage of the Hebrew and Greek equivalents of *' imputation," see Gen. xxxi. 15; Lev. vii. 18; Num. xviii. 27-30; Mark xv. 28; Luke xxii. 37 ; Rom. ii. 26; iv. 3-9; 2 Cor. v. 19. This doctrine of our Standards is that of the whole Protestant body of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches. Calvin says in his Institutes, B. 3, chap, xi., § 2: "A man will be justified by fiiith when, excluded from the righteousness of works, he by faith lays hold of the righteousness of Christ, and, clothed in it, ap])ears in the sight of God, not as a sinner, but as righteous." The Heidelberg Cat., Q. 60: "How art thou justi- fied in the sight of God ? Only by a true faith in Jesus Christ ; so that, though my conscience accuse me that 1 have grossly transgressed all the commandments of God, and kept none of them, and am still inclined 252 CONFESSION OF FAITH. to all evil, notwithstanding, God, without any merit of mine, but only of mere grace, grants and imputes to me, the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holincst of Christ." .... Lutheran Form, of Concord: "That righteousness which before God is of mcie grace imputed to faith, or to the believer, is the obedience, suffering and resurrec- tion of Christ, by which he for our sakes satisfied the law and expiated our sins On which account his obedience .... is imputed to us ; so that God, on account of that whole obedience, .... remits our sins, reputes us as good and just, and gives us eternal salvation," 4th. That the essential and sole condition upon which this gracious imputation of the righteousness of Christ to the believer proceeds is that he exercise faith in or on Christ as his righteousness or groimd of acceptance and justification. Faith is here (,'allcd the "condition" of justification, because it is an essential requisite, and necessary instrument whereby the soul, always treated as a free agent, apj)ropriates the righteousness of Christ, Avhii.h is the legal ground of justification. That faith in or on Christ, and no other grace, is always represented in Scripture as tlie necessary instru- ment or means of justification, is proved. Gal. ii. IG; Kom. iv. 9 ; Acts xvi. ol. That faith is the instrument whereby the soul appre- hends the true ground of justification in the righteous- ness of Ciirist, and is not itself, as Arminians pretend, that^ground, is proved — ? j- (1.) Because, as above shown, the vicarious obedience and sufierini; of Christ is that ground. JUSTIFICATION-. 253 (2.) Because faith is "a work," and Paul asserts timt justification on the ground of works is impossible. - (3.) Because faith in or on Christ evidently rests upon that which is without itself, and from its very nature is incapable of laying the foundation for a legal justification. (4.) Because the Scriptures constantly affirm that we are justified " through" or by means of faith, but never on account of or for the sake of faith. Kom.5 Luke xxii. 32; John x. 28; Hcb. X. 14.— '6 Ps. Ixxxix. 31-3.3; Ii. 7-12; xxxii. 5; Matt. xxvi. 75; 1 Cor. xi. 30, 32 ; Luke i. 20. This Section teaches that justification changes radi- cally and permanently the relation which the subject of it sustains both to God and to the demands of the divine law, viewed as a condition of favour. Before justifica- tion, God is an angry Judge, holding the sentence of the JUSTIFICATION. 257 condemning law for a season in suspense. After justifi- cation, the law instead of condemning acquits, and de- mands that the subject be regarded and treated like a son, as i provided in the eternal covenant, and God, as a loving Father, proceeds to execute all the kind offices which belong to the ne\y relation. This requires, of course, discipline and correction, as well as instruction and consolation. All suifering is either mere calamity, when viewed aside from all intentional relation to human character; or penalty, when designed to satisfy justice for sin ; or chastisement, when designed to correct and improve the offender. Irrespective of the economy of redemption, all suffering is to the reprobate instalments of the eter- nal penalty. After justification, all suffering, of what- ever kind, is fatherly chastisement, designed to correct their faults and improve their graces. And as they came, in the first instance, to God in the exercise of re- pentance and faith in Christ, so must they always con- tinue to return to him after every partial wandering and loss of his sensible favour in the exercise of the same repentance and faith ; and thus only can they hope to have his pardon sensibly renewed to them. Examine the proof-texts appended above to the text of this Sec- tion of the Confession. Section VI. — The justification of believers under the Old restaniont was, in all these respects, one and the same with the justification of believers under the New Testament." " 3al. iii. 9, 13, U; Rom. iv. 22-24; Flel). xiii. 8. The truth taught in this Section has already beeu fully proved above, under Chapter vii., §§ 4, 5 and 6 ; and Chapter viii., § 6. 17 258 CONFESSION OF FAITH. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the first proposition taught in the first and second Sections? 2. What is the second proposition there taught? 3. What is the third ? 4. What is thti fourth? 5. What is the ^/(J/t? 6. What is the sixth ? 7. How can j'ou prove that God justifies all those and only those whom he has regenerated? 8. What is the^r*'^ proposition laid down as to the nature of justification? 9. What is the Romanist view as to this matter? 10. What is the view of those who hold the moral-influence theory of the atonement? 11. When and by whom was this truth first clearly defined and vindicated ? 12. State the proof that justification is a judicial act of God declaring a person legally righteous, and not an act of gracious power making him morally pure, 13. What is the second proposition laid down as to the nature of justification? 1*1. State the nature, grounds and effect of mere pardon. 15. State in contrast the nature, grounds and effect of justifi- cation. 16. Prove that justification is not mere pardon. 17. Upon what ground does justification proceed? 18. What is the Arniiniau view as to the nature and ground of justification? 19. State in contrast the true view. 20. State the proofs that the righteousness of Christ, iiviputed and received by faith alone, is the true ground of justification. 21. What is the scriptural usage of the phrase, '' to impute sin or righteousness ?" 22. What does Calvin teach is the ground of justification? 23. What is taught on thi;^ bead in the Iloidolbort: Catecl ism "^ JUSTIFICATION. 259 2i. What is taught in the Lutheran Form, of Concord? 25. What relation does faith sustain to justification ? 26. Prove that only faith, and faith alone, is tlie instrument of justification. 27. What special act of faith is the sole means of justification? 28. Prove that faith is not the ground of justification. 29. Prove that this faith is the gift of God. nO. If it is faith only that is the means of justification, is true faith ever alone in the experience of the person justified ? 31. How can the doctrine taught by James in the second chapter of his Epistle be reconciled with that taught by Paul on this subject ? 32. What does Luther say on the subject? 33. What is the j?/-.s^ truth taught in the third Section? and where has it been previously considered ? 34. What is the second great principle here maintained in con- nection with the former? 35. Prove that the literal satisfaction of divine justice by Christ enhances instead of detracts from the free grace of the gospel. 36. What is taught in the fourth Section? 37. What have some Arminians objected to our doctrine at this point? 38. Show that the fact that Christ paid our penal debts before we were born does not effect our justification before we actually believe. 39. What is taught in the fifth Section? 40. What change does justification effect in the relations of the person justified? 41. Lito what three classes can all sufferings jf any kind be distributed ? 42. Of what kind is all the suffering of the reprobate? 43. Of what kind is all the suffering of the justified ? 44. What is taught in the sixth Section, and where ras it been previously considered ? CHAPTER XII. OF ADOPTION. All fhoso that are justified, Grod vouchsafeth, in and for his only Son, Jems Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adop- tion:^ by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God j'' have his name put upon them,* i-eceive the spirit of adoption ;* have access to the throne of grace with boldness f are enabled to cry, Abba, Father f are pitied,' protected,^ provided for,® and chastened by hira as by a father ;^" yet never cast off," but sealed to the day of redemption,'^ and inherit the promises,'* as heirs of everlasting salvation.'* 1 Eph. i. 5 ; Gal. iv. 4, 5.— "■' Rom. viii. 17; John i. 12.— 3 Jer. xiv. 9; 2 Cor. vi. 18; Rev. iii. 12.— * Rom. viii. 15.— * Eph. iii. 12; Rom. v. 2.— ' Gal. iv. 6.—1 Ps. ciii. 13.— 8 Prov. xiv. 26.-9 jjatt. vi. 30, 32 ; I Pet. v. r.—io Heb. xii. 6.— n Lara. iii. 31.— i' Eph. iv. 30.—" Heb. vi. 12.—" 1 Pet. ..3, 4; Heb. i. 14. The instant a believer is united to Christ in the e.\- «rcise of faith, there is accomplished in him .simulla- neously and inseparably two things: (1.) A total change of relation to God, and to the law as a covenant of life; and (2) a change of his inward spiritual nature. The change of relation is represented by justification — • the change of nature bv reo;eneration. Regeneration is an act of God, originating, by a new creation, a new spiritual life in the neart of the subject. Tiie first and nstant act of that now creatui'', consequent upon his 260 ADOPTION. 261 regeneration, is Faith, or a believing, trusting embrace of the person and work of Clirist. Upon the exercise of faith by the regenerated soul, justification is the instant act of God, on the ground of that perfect right- eousness which the sinner's faith has apprehended, de- claring him to be free from all condemnation, and to have a leiral riy-ht to the relations and benefits secured by the covenant which Christ has fulfilled in his be- half. Sanctification is the progressive gi'owth to- ward the perfect maturity of that new life which was implanted in regeneration. Adoption presents the new creature in his new relations — his new relations entered upon with a congenial heart, and his new life develop- ing in a congenial home, and surrounded with those relations which foster its growth and crown it with blessedness. Justification effects only a change of re- lations. Regeneration and sanctification effect only inherent moral and spiritual states of soul. Adoption includes both. As set forth in Scripture, it embraces in one complex view the newly-regenerated creature in the new relations into which he is introduced by justifica- tion. This divine sonship, into which the believer is intro- duced by adoption, includes the following principal elements and advantages : 1st. Derivation of spiritual nature from God : " That ye might be partakers of the divine nature." 2 Pet. i. 4; John i. 13; James i. 18 ; 1 John v. 18. 2d. The being born in the image of God, the bearing his likeness: "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him." Col. iii. 10; Rom. viii. 29; 2 Cor. iii. 18. 2G2 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 3d. The bearing his name. 1 John iii. 1 ; E-ev. ii. 17 ; iii. 12. 4th. The being made the objects of his peculiar love : " That the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me." John xvii. 23 ; Rom. V. 5-8. 5th. The indwelling of the Spirit of his Son (Gal. iv. 6), who forms in us a filial spirit, or a spirit becoming the children of God; obedient (1 Pet. i. 14; 2 John 6), free from sense of guilt, legal bondage and. fear of death (Rom. viii. 15-21 ; Gal. v. 1 ; Heb. ii. 15), and elevated with a holy boldness and royal dignity (Heb. x. 19, 22 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9 ; iv. 14). 6th. Present protection, consolation and abundant supplies. Ps. cxxv. 2; Isa. Ixvi. 13; Luke xii. 27-32; John xiv. 18 ; 1 Cor. iii. 21-23 ; 2 Cor. i. 4. 7th. Present fatherly chastisements for our good, in- cluding both spiritual and temporal afflictions. Ps. Ii. 11, 12 ; Heb. xii. 5-11. 8th. The certain inheritance of the riches of our Father's glory as heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. viii. 17; James ii. 5; 1 Pet. i. 4; iii. 7), including the exaltation of our bodies in fellowship with the Lord. Rom. viii. 23; Phil. iii. 21. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the subject of this Chapter? 2. What two changes take effect instantly upon the act of :'aith? 3. What is roseneration ? 4. What is faith and its relation to regeneration? ADOPTION. 263 5. What is justification and its relation to faith ? 6. What is adoption and its relation to regeneration and justi- fication ? 7. What are the principal elements embraced in this divine Bonship ? 8. What are tlie principal advantages which attend it ? CHAPTEK XIII. OF 8ANCTIFICATION. Section I. — They who are effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified really and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection/ hy his Word and Spirit dwelling in them i'' the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed,' and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mor- tified,* and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces,^ to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.* Section II. — This sanctification is throughout in the whole man,' yet imperfect in this life : there abide still some remnants of corruption in every part:* whence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable war ; the flesii lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.* Section III. — In which war, although the remaining corrup- tion for a time may much prevail,*® yet, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the re- generate part doth overcome:" and so the saints grow iu grace," perfecting holiness in the fear of God.'' 1 1 Cor. vi. 11; Acts .\x. 32; Phil. iii. 10; Rom. vi. 5, 6.— » John xvii. 17; Eph. V. 26; 2 Thes.s. ii. 1.3.— *Jlom. vi. 6, 14.— < Gal. v. 24; Rnm. viii, l-._o Col. i. 11; Eph. iii. 16-19.-6 2 Cor. vii. 1 ; ileb. .\ii. 14.— ^ 1 Thesa. /. 2:3.-8 1 John i. 10; Rom. vii. 18, 2:i; Phil. iii. 12.— 9 Gal. v. 17; 1 Pet ii. n.— 10 Rom. vii. 2:^.—" Rom. vi. 14; 1 John v. 4 : Eph. iv. 15, 16.-- »2 Pet. iii. 18; 2 Cor. iii. IS.—" 2 Cor. vii. 1. This Chapter teaches the following propositions : 1st. All of those iu whom God has by regeneration 264 SANCTIFICATION. 266 created a new spiritual nature continue under his gra- cious influence, his Word and Spirit dwelling in them, and thus have the grace implanted in them developed more and more. 2d. This work of sanctification involves both the gradual destruction of the old body of sin and the quickening and strengthening of all the graces of the new man, and the inward purification of the heart and mind, as well as all those holy actions whiph proceed from them. 3d. Tins work of sanctification involves the entire man — intellect, affections and will, soul and body. 4th. It is never perfect in this life, but in every case, as in that of Paul, there remains more or less of the old "law in our members," warring agjiinst the law of our mind. 5th. That nevertheless, from a constant supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the gra- cious element in the believer's nature prevails, and he gradually advances in holiness until he is made perfect at death. 1st. God, having implanted in regeneration a new spiritual nature in the subject of his grace, always con- tinues to foster and develop that principle by the in- dwelling of his Word and Spirit until it attains full perfection. The word "to sanctify" is used in two different senses in Scripture: (1.) To consecrate, or set a])art from a common to a sacred use. John x. 36 ; Matt, xxiii. 17. (2.) To render morally pure or holy. 1 Cor. vi. 11 ; Heb. xiii. 12. In tlie latter sense of the word, regeneration is the commencement of sanctification, and £G6 CONFESSION OF FAITH. sanctification is the completion of the work ccramenced in regeneration. As recreneration is an act of God's free grace, so sanctification is a gracious work of God, and eminently of the Holy Spirit. It is attributed to God absolutely (1 Thess. v. 23): to the Son (Eph. v. 25, 26), and pre-eminently to the Holy Spirit, whose especial office in the economy of redemption it is to apply the grace secured through the mediation of the Son. The means of sanctification are of two distinct orders, (a) inward and (6) outward. The inward means of sanctification is Faith. Faith is the instrument of our justification, and hence of our deliverance from condemnation and communion with God, the organ of our union with Christ and fellowship with his Spirit. Faith, moreover, is that act of the re- generated soul whereby it embraces and experiences the power of the truth, and whereby the inward experi- ences of the heart and the outward actions of the life are brought into obedience to the truth. The outward means of sanctification are — (1.) The truth as revealed in the inspired Scriptures: "Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth." John xvii. 17, 19. "As new-born babes desir,e the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." 1 Pet. i. 22 ; ii. 2. The truth, as the outward means of sanctification, stands in correlation to faith, the in- ward means of it. Conf. Faith, chap, xiv., § 2 : This faith "acteth differently upon that which every passage thereof •-'ontaineth ; yielding obedience to the commands, trem- bling at the threatenings and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to conic." By SANCTIFICATION. 267 this means tlie trutR nourishes and exercises the princi- ples of grace implanted in the soul. (2.) The sacraments. Matt. iii. 11 ; 1 Cor. xii. 13; 1 Pet. iii. 21. (3.) Prayer is a means of sanctification, (a) as the act in which the soul engages in communion with God, and (6) since God has promised to answer believing prayer with the donation of spiritual gifts. John xiv. 13, 14. (4.) The gracious discipline of God's providence. John XV. 2; Jlom. v. 3, 4 ; Heb. xii. 5-11. It must be remembered that while the subject is pas- sive with respect to that divine act of grace w-hereby he is regenerated, after he is regenerated he co-operates with the Holy Ghost in the work of sanctification. The Holy Ghost gives the grace and prompts and directs in its exercise, and the soul exercises it. Thus, while sancti-| jfication is a grace, it is also a duty. And the soul is both bound and encouraged to use with diligence, in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, all the means for its spiritual renovation, and to form those habits of resist- ing evil and of right action in which sanctification so largely consists. The fruits of sanctification are good works. An action to be good must have its origin in a holy principle in the heart, and must be conformed to the law of God. Although not the ground of our acceptance, good works are absolutely essential to sal- vation as the necessary consequences of a gracious state of soul and perpetual requirements of the divine law. Gal. V. 22; Eph. ii. 10; John xiv. 21. 2d. This work of sanctification involves the destruc- tion of the old body of sin, as well as the develop- ment of the grace implanted in regeneration ; it is 2G8 CONFESSION or FAITH. also first inward and spiritual, and then outward and practical. That the whole body of death is not immediately destroyed in the instant of regeneration is plainly taught in the sixth and seventh chapters of Romans, in the recorded experience of many biblical characters, and in the universal experience of Christians in modern times. It hence necessarily follows that the tendencies graciously implanted and sustained must come in conflict with the tendencies to evil which remain. They can co-exist only in a state of active antagonism, and as the one gains in prevalence the other must lose. " They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts." Gal. v. 24. "Mortify, therefore, your mem- bers which are upon the earth." Col. iii. 5. That this work begins in the state of the heart and governs the life by previously governing the heart, is evident (a) from the known fact of human nature that the moral character of all actions is derived from the inward moral dispositions and affections which prompt to them. (6.) The same is asserted in the Scriptures. Luke vi. 45. As the character of the fruit is determined by the character of the tree which produces it, so the moral character of actions depends upon the heart from which they proceed. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt. (c.) Truly good works can be produced only by a heart in living union with Christ: "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." John xv. 4. 3d. This work of sanctification involves the entire man— -intellect, affections and will, soul and body. This SANCTIFICATION. 269 is proved (1) from the necessity of the case. Our nat- ural sinful condition involves blindness of mind, as well as hardness or perverseness of heart. (2.) From the fact that we are sanctified by means of the truth. (3.) It is explicitly asserted in Scripture that sanctification in- volves spiritual illumination: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give unto you the spirit of wis- dom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know," etc. Eph. i. 17, 18; Col. iii. 10; 2 Cor. iv. 6; 1 Thess. v. 23. As our bodies are integral parts of our persons, their instincts and appetites act immediately upon the pas- sions of our souls, and hence they must be brought subject to the control of the sanctified will, and all the members of the body, as organs of the soul, made in- struments of righteousness unto God. Rom. vi. 13; 1 Thess. iv. 4. 4th. This work of sanctification is never perfected in this life. Different parties of Perfectionists maintain that per- fection is possible in this life in different senses. Pelagians maintain (1) that the law of God respects only the voluntary exercises and actions, and not the states of the soul. (2.) That obligation is always limited bv ability — that the law of God can demand no more than its subject is fully able to render. Hence from the very limits of moral obligation it follows that every man is always perfectly able to do all that is required of him. Hence he can be perfect whenever he pleases. Arminian and Papist Perfectionists hold (1) that men can do nothing morally right without divine grace, anr" 270 CONFESSION (.,!■' FAITH. (2) that even with this grace no man is able perfectly to keep the original Adamic law of absolute perfection. They maintain, however, that God for Christ's merits' sake has graciously lowered the demands of the law in the case of believers from absolute perfection to faith and evangelical obedience. They hold that it is the privilege and duty of all men in this life to attain to a state of perfect love and sincere obedience to the gospel law, which they o-ill gracious or Christian perfection. The Papists make a distinction between voluntary transgressions of known law, and concupiscence or the involuntary first movements of the remains of corrup- tion within the regenerate. The latter they deny to be properly of the nature of sin. John Wesley teaches the same. Methodist Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 294-312. But that concupiscence, or the first movement and ten- dencies of evil desire in the hearts of regenerated men, is of the nature of sin is distinctly affirmed in our Stand- ards. Confession of Faith, chap, vii., § 5. That this is true is proved — (1.) All men judge that the moral state of the soul which determines, or tends to determine, evil action is itself essentially evil, and indeed the true source of the evil in the action. (2.) All genuine Christian experience involves the same practical judgment. The main element in all genuine conviction of sin is, not simply that the thoughts, words and feelings are wrong, but that, lying far below all exercises or volitions, the nature is ujorally corrupt. It is liis deadness to divine things, blindness, hardness, aversion to God, which he is helpless to change, that chiefly oppresses the truly C(jnvicted man Avith a sense 8ANCTIPICATI0N. 271 of sin. And in some degree the same conviction re- mains until death. (3.) It is of the essence of the moral law that it de- mands all that ought to be. Every even the leapt de- ficiency from the whole measure of moral excellence that ought to be is of the nature of sin. Therefore nothing short of absolute conformity to the Adamic law of absolute holiness is of the nature of sinless perfection, or ought to be called by that name. (4.) All the prayers and hymns and devotional litera- ture of the Wesleyan, and other evangelical churches which profess a sort of perfectionism, acknowledge sin in the believer. Dr. Peck (Christian Doct. of Perfection) admits that the workings of concupiscence, or remain- ing spontaneous tendency to evil in the heart of the perfect Christian, are an occasion for self-abhorrence and confession, that they need forgiveness, and the constant application of the atoning blood of Christ. We agree with this, and maintain therefore that these remains of corruption in all Christians are of the nature of sin, and that consequently the Christians in whom they remain are not perfect. (5.) Paul expressly calls concupiscence, sin : " I had not known sin, but by the law, for I had not known concupiscence, except the law had said, Thou shalt not •experience concupiscence." Rom. vii. 7. The sin that dwelt in Paul wrought in him against his will, aiuI wrought in him all manner of concupiscence. Rom. vii. 14-25. And yet this evil tendency, this law in his mem- bers warring against the law of his spirit, is expressly called " sin ;" and in other passages called " old man," •'body of sin." Col. ii. 11; iii. 9. 272 CONFESS. 3N OF FAITH. (6.) The biographies and recorded testimonies of all the Scripture saints make it impossible to attribute sin- less perfection to any one of them. Paul disclaims it. Rom. vii. 14-25; Phil. iii. 12-14. John disclaims it in his own behalf and that of all Christians. 1 John i. 8. The word " perfect" is applied to some men in Scrip- ture eitlier to mark comparative excellence, or to assert genuine sincerity in profession and service. But tlie inspired biographies of the men themselves, such as of David, Acts xiii. 22; Noah, Gen. vi. 9, and Job, Job i. 1, prove very clearly that the perfection intended was not a sinless one. (7.) Perfectionism is in conflict with the universal experience and observation of God's jicople. The per- sonal profession of it is generally judged to be just ground for serious suspicions as to the claimant's mental soundness or moral sincerity. 5th. Nevertheless, from a constant supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the gracious ele- ment in the believer's nature, upon the whole, prevails, and he gradually advances in holiness until he is ren- dered perfect at death. This precious truth follows necessarily from the fact, already shown, that sanctifica- tion is a work of God's free jrrace in execution of his eternal purposes of salvation. Wherefore we aie "con- fident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in us will perform it to the day of Jesus Christ," Phil. i. 6 ; the certainty of which will be fur- '^her discussed under Chapter xvii. 8ANCTIFICATION. 273 QUESTIONS. 1. What is the Jirst proposition taught in this Chapter? 2. What is the second proposition here tauglit? h What is the third ? 4. What is the fourth f 5. What is the fifth? 0. In what different senses is the term "to sanctify" used in ISeripture ? , 7. What is the relation of the work of sanctification to that of regeneration ? 8. Who is the Author of sanctification? 9. What is the inward means of sanctification? 10. Wliat are the outward means of sanctification? 11. In what sense is sanctification a duty as well as a grace? 12. What are the fruits of sanctification ? 13. Show that the work of sanctification involves the gradual "mortification" of the "old man," as well as the development of the graces imjilanted in regeneration. 14. Show that the work of sanctification involves a change in the permanent inward state of the soul, as the only adequate source from which holy actions can proceed. 15. Prove that this work of sanctification involves all the fic- ulties of the soul. 16. In what sense are the bodies of believers said to be sanc- tified? 17. What is the Pelagian doctrine as to the nature and ground of tliat peif'ection which is attainable in this life? 18. What is the Arminian and Papist view of 'he same subject? I'j. What is the Arminian and Papist view as to the moral character of concupiscence ? 20. What is meant by concupiscence? 21. What is the doctrine of our standards on the subject? 22. State the proofs of the truth of our view derived from the common judgments of men and from religious experience. 23. State the proof derived from a consideration of the essentia] nature of virti e and the moral law. IS 274 COXFESSIOX OF FAITH. ■ 24. Tlie same from the devotional literature and admissions of evangelical Armenians. 25. The same fi'om the declarations of Scripture and from th« biographies of scriptural characters. 20. In what sense is the epithet "perfect" applied to men in the Scriptures? 27. To what is Perfectionism opposed ? 28. What is the certain issue of this warfare between the " law in the members" and the "law of the mind?" 29. What is the ground of this certainty as to the result ? CHAPTER XIV. OF SAVING FAITH. Section I. — The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls,^ is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts,' and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the word ;' by which also, and by the adminis- tration of the sacraments and prayer, it is increased and strength- ened.* 1 Heb. X. 39.-2 9 Cor. iv. 13 ; Eph. i. 17-19; ii. 8.— s Rom. x. 14, 17.— * 1 Pet. ii. 2; Acts xx. 32; Rom. iv. 11; Luke xvii. 5; Rom. i. 16, 17. Faith, in the most general sense of the word, is the assent of the mind to the truth of that of which we have not an immediate cognition; knowledge is the percep- tion of the truth of that of which we have an immediate, cognition. Yet faith demands and rests upon evidence just as absolutely as does knowledge. It does not diifer; from reason as rational diiFers from irrational, nor from knowledge as the conviction of that which is proved differs from the presumption of that which is unproved. Faith, like knowledge itself, demands evidence,and differs in accordance with the evidence in different cases from the barest probability up to the most assured certainty. We have direct knowledge that the book we have in our hands fills a certain portion of space; we have faith that space still stretches illimitable beyond the most distant telescopic star. The one is knowledge and the 275 270 CONFESSION OF FAITH. Other faith, but the faith is jusi as certain as tlie know- ledge. We know the existence and attributes of the city '"' in which we dwell; we believe the existence and attri- butes of ancient Athens or modern Yeddo from the testi- mony of men. We know the properties of hunan nature; we believe the properties of the several persons of the Trinity on the testimony of God. In each case the faith is just as rational and as certain as the know- ledge. Faith in many thousands of its forms is spon- taneously exercised by all men. The commonest pro- cesses of thought and of human action, individual or associated, would be impossible without it. WheuU^ grounded on legitimate evidence, it leads to absolute' assurance. It has its root in the reason, to which it always, when legitimate, conforms. But it reaches be- yond reason, and elevates the mind to the contemplation of the highest and most ennobling truths. Religious faith, in the most general sense of that word, is the assent of the mind to the general truths of religion, such as the being and attributes of God, and the religious obligations of men, such as is common to all religions, true or false. This religious faith has its ground in our common religious nature, while on the other hand that saving faith which is the subject of this Chapter of the Confession is that spiritual discern- v vient of the excellence add beauty of dicine truth, and that cordial embrace and acceptance of it, which are tvrought in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Of this saving faith it is affirmed in this Section — 1st. That it is wrought in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. 2d. That it is ordinarily wrought by the means of SAVING FAITH. 277 the word of God. or through the instrumentality of divine truth. 3d. That it is strengthened by the use of the sacra- ments and prayer. 1st. That faith is the work of the Holy Ghost has been proved already under the head of Elfectual Calling. In addition it may be argued — (1.) Saving faith must be a moral act, and must have its ground ii| the spirit- ua' congeniality of the believer with the truth. Unbe- lief is always denounced as a sin, and not as the consequence of intellectual weakness. The Scriptures unconditionally demand instant faith alike of the igno- rant and of the intelligent. (2.) By nature, men are spiritually blind, incapable of discerning spiritual things. 2 Cor. iii. 14 ; iv. 4. That form of spiritual apprehen- sion which is an essential element in saving faith must be wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit. (3.) Men believe because they are taught of God (John vi. 44, 45), as they are enlightened to discern the things of the Spirit. Acts xiii. 48; 2 Cor. iv. 6; Eph. i. 17, 18. , Faith is the gift of God. Eph. ii. 8. 2d. That faith is ordinarily wrought by the Sj)irit through the ministry of tlie Word is plain (1) from the direct assertion of Scripture: "How shall they be- lieve in Him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher. ... So then faith '^ Cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom. X. 12, 17. (2.) The preaching of the gospel is the ordinary way in which its truth is most effectually brought to bear upon the hearts and consciences of men. Faith is the act of the regenerated soul, and as we have seen (Chapter x., §§ 1,2 and 4) the Spirit uses t]\e re- 278 CONFESSION OF FAITH. veuled truth of God as his instrument in regewriition and sanctification, and sane adult men never come tc. the experience of the benefits of Christ's salvation who are destitute of some knowledge of his person and work. 3d. We have seen above, under Chapter" xiii., that sanctification is a progressive work of the Holy Spirit, and that the inward means whereby it is advanced is faith, and the outward means are the truth, prayer, the sacraments and the gracious discipline of divine provi- dence. Whatever tends to promote sanctification must j)roraote the strength of faith, which is its main root. Therefore, faith must be nourished by the truth, prayer, the sacraments and every means of grace. Section II. — By this foith, a Christian believeth to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word, for the authority of God him- self speaking therein,^ and acteth differently upon that which each particular passage thereof containeth ; yielding obedience to the commands,® trembling at the threatenings,'' and embracing the promises of God for this life and for that which is to come.' But the principal acts of saving faith are, accepting, receiving and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification and eter- nal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.' & John iv. 42 ; 1 Tbess. ii. 13 ; 1 John v. 10 ; Acts xxiv. 14.— « Rom. xvi. 26.-7 isa. l.xvi. 2.-8 Heb. xi. 13; 1 Tim. iv. 8.— 9 John i. 12; Acts xvi. 31; Gfil. ii. 20; Acts xv. 11. This Section teaches — 1st. That saving faith rests ujwn the truth of the l€Stimony of God speaking in his word. 2H. That it respects as its object all the contents of (Jod's word, without exception. 3d. That the complex state of mind to which the epithet faith is ai)plicd in Scriptu'^ varies with the SAVING FAITH. 2T9 nature of the particular passage of God's word ^^■hich is its object. 4tli. That the specific act of saving faith wliich unites us to Christ, and is the sole condition or instrument of justification, involves two essential elements : (a.) As- sent to what the Scriptures reveal to us concerning the person, offices and work of Christ; and (6) trust or implicit reliance upon Christ, and upon Christ alone, for all that is involved in a complete salvation. 1st. Saving faith rests upon the truth of the testi- mony of God speaking in his word. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, having been given by inspiration, are in the strictest and most direct sense God's word to us. They are absolutely divine, both as to their infallible trutli and su[)reme authority. Christ when on earth rested his claims to recognition as Mes- siah upon the testimony borne to him by the Father. John V. 31-37. "He that hath received the testimony (of Christ) hath set to his seal that God is true." John iii. 33. " He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son." 1 John v. 10. " This is the witness of God which lie has testified of his Son." 1 John v. 9. The gospel which Paul preached to the Corinthians he calls " the testimony of God." 1 Cor. ii. 1. God corroborated the truths of the apostle's preaching, "bearing them wit- ness both with signs and wonders," etc. Heb. ii. 4. The Holy Ghost bears direct witness to the soul of the be- liever. Rom. viii. 16 ; Heb. x. 15. 2d. Saving fiiith receives as true all the contents of God's word, without exception. After we have settled the preliminary questions as to what books belong to the Z^O CONFESSION OF FAITH. inspired canon of Scripture, and as to wliat is the orig- inal text of those books, then the whole must be received as equally the word of God, and must in all its parts be accepted with equal faith. The same illuminntion of the understanding and renewal of the affections which lays the foundation for the soul's acting faith in any one portion of God's testimony, lays the same foundation for its acting faith in every other portion. The whole word of God, therefore, as far as known to be individ- ual, to the exclusion of all traditions, doctrines of men or pretended private revelations, is the object of saving faith. 3d. The complex state of mind to which the ej)ithet faith is applied in Scripture varies with the nature of every particular passage of God's word which i^ its object. The common quality which is the reason of the ap})lication of the same term to all these various states of mind is cordial, realizing assent to the truth pre- sented. But the state of mind which fully realizes the truth of a threatening must, in some respects, be differ- ent from that which realizes the truth of a promise. The realization of the truth of God's glory as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ cannot be an experience in all respects the same with the believing recognition of a duty or of the truth of a fact of history. It was debated largely between the Romanists and tlie\ Reformers whelhcr saving faith included trust or not. The true answer is, that trust is an integi-al nnd insep- arable element of every act of saving faith in which crust is appropriate to the nature of the object believed, ft is })lain that many of the propositions of Scripture ttre not the proper objects of trust. In all such cases SAVING FAITH. 281 faitli iiiclutlcs recognition, assent, acquiescence, snbmis* oion, as the case may be. But in all cases in which the '' nature of the trutli believed renders the exercise of trust legitimate, and especially in that specific act of saving faith called justifying faith, which unites to Christ and is the root and organ of the whole spiritual life, trust is certainly an element of the very essence of that state of mind called in Scripture iaith. This will' be proved under the next head. 4th. That specific act of saving faith which unites to Christ, and is the sole condition and instrument of jus- tification, involves two essential elements. (1.) Assent to whatever the Scriptures reveal to us as to the person, offices and work of Christ, (a.) The V^ Scriptures expressly say that we are justified by that faith of wdiich Christ is the object. Rom. iii. 22, 25; Gal. ii. 16 ; Phil. iii. 9. (6.) Rejection of Christ in '^ Scripture is declared to be the ground of reprobation. John iii. 18, 19; viii. 24. Assent includes an intellec- ^ tual recognition and a cordial embrace of the object at the .same time. .It is an act of the wOiole man — intel- lect, affection and will — embracing the truth. This esi)ecial act of faith in Christ, which secures salvation, is constantly paraphrased by such phrases as " coming , to Christ," John vi. 35 ; "looking to him," I'^a. xlv. 22; ' '' receiving him," John i. 12 ; " flving to him for refuge," Heb. vi. 18; all of which manifestly involve an active assent to and cordial embrace, as well as an intellcitiial recognition of the truth. (2.) The second element included in that act of faith tiiat saves the soul is tru.'^t, or implicit reliance upon Christ, and upon Christ alone, fur all that is involved 282 CONFESSION OF FAITH. in a complete salvation, (a.) The single condition of salvation demanded in the Scriptures is that we should "believe m" or "o?i" Christ Jesus. And salvation is promised absolutely and certainly if this command is obeyed. John vii. 38 ; Acts ix. 42 ; xvi. 31 ; Gal. ii. 16. To believe in or on a person implies trust -as well as credence. (6.) We are constantly said to be saved "by faith m" or "on Christ." Acts xxvi. 18; Gal. iii. 26; 2 Tim. iii. 15; Heb. xi. 1. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for." Trust rests upon the foundation upon which expectation is based. Hope reaches for- ward to the object upon which desire and expectation meet. Hope, therefore, rests upon trust, and trust gives birth to hope, and faith must include trust in order to give reality or substance to the things hoped for. (c.) The same is proved by what are said to be the effects or fruits of faith. By faith the Christian is said to be " persuaded of the promises ;" " to obtain them ;" "to embrace them;" "to subdue kingdoms;" "to work righteousness ;" " to stop the mouths of lions." Heb. xi. All this plainly presupposes that faith is not a bare intellectual conviction of the truth of truths revealed in the Scriptures, but that it includes a hearty embrace of and a confident reliance upon Christ, his meritorious work and his gracious promises. Section 111. — This faitli is different in degrees, weak or etrong ;^° may be often and manj' ways assailed and weakened, bui gets the victory:" growing up in many to the attainment of a full assurance tln-ough Christ,'''' wlio is both the author and finisher of our faith." JO Heb. V. 1.3, 14; Rom. iv. 19, 20; Matt. vi. .30; viii. 10.—" Luke s.xii n, .32; Eph. vi. 10; 1 John v. 4, 5.— >2 Hfb. vi. 11, 12; x. 22; Col. ii. 2.- » Heb. xii. 2. SAVING FAITH. 283 In this Section it is affirmed — 1st. That this faith, although always as to essence the same, is often different in degrees in different persons, and in the same person at different times. 2d. That it is exposed to many enemies, and may be often and in many ways assailed and weakened, but that, through divine grace, it always in the end gains the victory. 3d. That in many it grows up to the measure of a full assurance tiirougli Christ. As all the points made in this Section are taken up again and discussed at length in Chapter xviii., on "Assurance of Grace and Salvation," we will defer what we have to say upon the subject until we come to that place. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the most general sense of the word "feith?" 2. What is knowledge, and how does it differ from faith ? .3. Prove that fliith is not irrational, and that it rests upon appropriate evidence. 4. Show tliat faitli is exercised by all men, and that its exercise is necessary to human thought and to social life. 5. What is religious faith? 6. What is ''saving faith." and how does it differ from the former ? 7. State the first truth assi^rted of saving faith in this Section 8. State the second truth asserted. 9. State the third. 10. Prove tliat saving faith is tlic work of the Holy Spirit n. Prove that it is ordinarily wrouglit by the Spirit through the ministry of tlie Word. 12. Prove that it continues to increase and is strengthened by the use of the sacraments and prayer. 284 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 13. What is the first truth taught of saving faitli in the third Section ? 14. What is the second truth taught? 15. What is the third? 16. What is the fourth? 17. Prove that saving faith rests upon the truth of the testi- mony which God bears in his word. 18. Prove that saving faith receives all the contents of God's word, without exception. 19. Prove that the complex state of mind to which the tei'ui "faith" is ai^plied in the Scriptures varies in some of its elements with the nature of the particular passage of God's word which is its object. 20. Is truth an integral element of saving faith ? 21. What is the object of that special act of saving faith which is the sole instrument of justification and hence the sole condition of salvation ? 22. What is the first element that special faith always in- cludes ? 23. What is the second element it always contains? 24. Prove that it essentially involves assent. 25. Prove that it essentially involves trust. 26. What relation do faith, hope and trust mutually sustain to one another ? 27. What is the first truth taught of saving faith in the third Section ? 28. What is the second taught? 29. What is the thud taught? CHAPTER XV. OF REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. , Section I. — Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace,* the doctrine whereof is to be preached b}' every minister of the gos- pel, as well as that of faith in Christ. '^ Section TI. — By it a sinner, out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God, and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God,' purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all the ways of his commandments.* * Zcch. xii. 10; Acts xi. 18. — ^ Luke xxiv, 47; Mark i. 15; Acts xx. 21. — ' Ezek. xviii. 30, 31; xxxvi. 31; Isa. xxx. 22; Ps. li. 4; Jer. xxxi. 18, 19; Joel ii. 12, 13; Amos v. 15; Ps. cxix. 128; 2 Cor. vii. 11.—* Ps. cxix. 6, 59, 1 06 ; Luke i. 6 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 25. These Sections teach the following truths : 1st. That as to the grounds of it, true evangelical rej)entance rests upon (a) a true sense of the guilt, pollu- tion and power of his own sinfulness, and of his own einful deeds ; and (6) a true apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ. 2d. That as to the essence of it repentance consists (a) in true hatred of sin and sorrow for his own sin ; (h) in an actual turning from them all unto God; (c) in a sin- cere purpose and practical endeavour to walk with God in the way of his commandments. S3& 286 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 3d. That as thus defined this true repentance is an evangelical grace, like faith freely given to us by God for Christ's sake, as well as a duty obligatory upon us. 4th. It should therefore be diligently proclaimed from the pulpit by every minister of the gospel. 1st. The grounds of repentance are (1) a true sense of sin. That spiritual illumination and renewal of, the affections which "are effected in regeneration brings the believer to see and appreciate the holiness of God as revealed alike in the law and in the gospel (Rom. iii. 20; Job xlii. 5, 6); and in that light to see and feel the exceeding sinfulness of all sin, and the utter sinfulness of his own nature and conduct. This sense of sin cor- responds precisely to the actual facts of the case, and the man apprehends himself to be just as God has always seen him to be. It includes (a) consciousness of guilt — i. e., exposure to merited punishment, as opposed to the justice of God. Ps. li. 4, 9. (6.) Consciousness of pollution, as opposed to the holiness of God. Ps. li. 5, 7, 10. And (c) consciousness of helplessness. Ps. li. 11; cix. 21, 22. The grounds of repentance are (2) a bright apprehen- sion of the mercy of God in Christ. This is necessary in order to true repentance: («.) Because the awakened conscience echoes God's law, and can be appeased by no loss a propitiation than that demanded by divine jus- tice itself; and until this is realized in a believing appli- cation to the merits of Christ, eitiier indifference M'ill stupefy or remorse will torment the soul. (6.) Because out of Christ, God is a consuming fire, and an inextin- guishable dread of his wrath repels the soul. Deut. iv REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. 287 24 ; Ileb. xii. 29. (c.) A sense of the amazing good- u ' ness of God to us in the gift of his Son, and of our ungrateful requital of it, is the most powerful means of bringing the soul to genuine repentance for sin as com- mitted against God. Ps. li. 4. (d) This is proved by the examples of repentance recorded in Scripture. Ps. li. 1; cxxx. 4, and by the universal experience of Chris- tians in modern times. , 2d. As to its essence true repentance consists (1) in a sincere hatred of sin (Ps. cxix. 128, 136), and sorrow for our own sin. Sin is seen to be exceeding sinful in the light of the divine holiness, the law of God, and especially of the cross of Christ. The more we see of God in the face of Christ, the more we abhor ourselves and repent in dust and ashes. Job xlii. 5 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 31. Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of. 2 Cor. vii. 10. " By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. iii. 20), and hence " the law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ." Gal. iii. 24. The essence of repentance consists (2) in our actual turning from all sin unto God. This is that practical turning or " conversion" from sin unto God which is the instant and necessary consequence of regeneration. It is a voluntary forsaking of sin as evil and hateful, with sincere sorrow, humiliation and confession, and a turning unto God as our reconciled Father in the exer- cise of implicit faith in the merits and assisting grace of Christ. This is marked by the meaning of the Greek word used by the Holy Spirit to express the idea of repentance, namely, "a change of mind," includingl v/ evidently a change of thought, feeling and purpose, \ c/ 288 CONFESSION OF FAITH. corresponding to our new character as the children of Goih If this be sincere, it will of course lead to the (3) element of practical repentance, namely, a sincere purpose of, and a persevering endeavour affer, new obedi- ence. Acts xxvi. 20. By these marks it may be seen that repentance unto lite can only be exercised by a soul after and in conse- quence of its regeneration by the Holy Spirit. God regenerates, and we, in the exercise of the new gracious ability thus given, repent. Repentance and conversion, therefore, are terms applying OKenToThe same gracious experience. The scriptural usage of the two words differs in two respects : (1.) Conversion is the more \^ general term, including all the various experiences in- /\ volved in our commencing the divine life. It especially emphasizes that experience as a turning unto God. Re- pentance is more specific, giving prominence to the work of t'he law upon the conscience, and especially empha- sizing the experiences attending the new birth as a turning from sin. (2.) Conversion is generally used to designate only the first actings of the new nature at the commencement of a religious life, or the first steps of a return to God after a notable backsliding (Luke xxii. 32); while repentance is a daily experience of the Christian as long as the strugsfle with sin continues in his heart and life. Ps. xix. 12, 13; I^uke ix. 32; Gal. vi. 14 ; V. 24. There is a false repentance experienced before regen- eration, and by those never regenerated, which arises simply from the common operations of the truth and Spirit upon the natural conscience, exciting simply a sense of guilt and pollution, leading neither to the REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. 289 hatred of sin, nor to the apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, nor to the practical turning from sin unto God. The genuineness of true repentance is | proved (a) by its being conformed perfectly to the re- \ quirements and teachings of Scripture, and (6) by its fruits. If genuine, it infallibly springs from regenera- tion and leads to eternal life. 3d. As thus defined, ro^Mintance is, like faith, an evangelical grace, given to us for Christ's sake, as well as a duty obligatory upon us. What is here said of re- pentance is equally true of every characteristic expe- rience of the subject of regeneration and sanctification. Christ is the Vine ; we are the branches. But we are also free, accountable agents. Every Christian du^ is, therefore, a grace, " for without him we can do nothing." And equally every Christian grace is a duty ; because the grace is given to us to exercise, and it finds its true result and expression only in the duty. That it is thus a gift of God is evident— (1.) From its nature. It involves true conviction of sin ; a holy hatred of sin ; faith in the Lord Jesus and his work, which faith is God's gift. Gal. v. 22; Eph. ii. 8. (2.) It is directly affirmed in Scripture. Zech. xii. 10; Acta V. 31; xi. 18; 2 Tim. ii. 25. 4th. That it should be diligently preached by every minister of the gospel is (1) self-evident from the es- sential nature of the duty. (2.) Because such preaching was included in the commission Christ gave to the apos- tles. Luke xxiv. 47, 48, (3.) Because of the example of the apostles. Acts xx. 21. Section III.— Although repentance be not to be rested in, as *ny satisfaction for sin or any cause of the pardon thereof,^ which 19 290 CONFESSION OF FAITH. is the act of God's free grace in Christ,® j-et is it of sucli ueces^ity to all sinners that none may expect pardon without it.' Section IV. — As there is no sin so small but it deserves dam- nation,® so there is no sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent.® Section V. — Men ought not to content themselves with a gen- eral repentance, but it is every man's duty to endeavour to repent of his particular sins particularly.'" 6 Ezek. xxxvi. 31, 32; xvi. ei-G?,.—^ Hos. xiv. 2, i; Eom. iii. 24; Eph. i. 7.—'' Luke xiii. 3, 5; Acts xvii. 30, 31.— 8 Rom. vi. 23; v. 12; Matt. xii. ,36.— » Isa. Iv. 7; Rom. viii. 1; Isa. i. 16, 18.— '" Ps. six. 13; Luke xix. 8 j 1 Tim. i. 13, 15. These Sections teach the following propositions : 1st. That repentance is not to be rested in, as any satisfaction for sin or any cause of the j^ardon thereof. 2d. That, nevertheless, it is of such necessity that it is inseparable from pardon, so that none who are non- repentant are pardoned. 3d. That wliile the least sin deserves condemnation, the same grace of Christ which bringeth repentance avails to extinguish the guilt of the greatest sin. 4th. That, as men ouglit to repent of their sinful di.s- position by nature and the general sinfulness of their lives, so they ought also to repent of every particular sin known to them. 1st. Repentance is not to be rested in as any satisfac- tion for sin or any cause of the pardon thereof. This directly contradicts the opinion of Socinians, the advo- cates of the moral-influence theory of the atonement, and E-atioiialists generally, to the effect that the repentance of the sinner is the only satisfaction the law requires, and hence the only condition God demands, as prere quisite to lull pardon and restoration to divine favour. REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. 291 It also contradicts the KodhsIi doctrine of* penance. / They distinguish penance — (1.) As a virtup which is internal, including sorrow for sin and a tu -ling from sin unto God. (2.) As a sacrament, which it. the exter- nal expression of the internal state. This sacrament consists (a) of contrition — i. e., sorrow and detestation of past sins, with a purpose of sinning no more; (6) con- fession or self-accusation to a priest having jurisdiction and the power of the keys ; (c) satisfaction or some pain- ful work, imposed by the priest and performed by the penitent, to satisfy divine justice for sins committed; and ((/) absolution, pronounced by the priest judicially and not merely declaratively. They hold that the ele- ment of satisfaction included in this sacrament makes a real satisfaction for sin, and is an efficient cause of par- don, absolutely essential — the only means whereby the pardon of sins committed after baptism can be secured,* That repentance is no cause whatever of the pardon of sin is proved by all that the Scriptures teach us («) as to the justice of God, which inexorably demands the punishment of every sin; (6) as to the necessity for the satisfaction rendered to the law and justice of God by the obedience and suffering of Christ; (c) as to the fact that he has rendered a full satisfaction in behalf of all for whom he died; (d) as to the impossibility of any man's securing justification by works of any kind ; and {e) as to the foot that the believer is justified solely on the ground of the righteousness of Christ im})Uted to him and received by faith alone. All these points have already been discussed under their appropriate heads; and they are more than sufficient to [)r()ve (1) that par- * Cat. Rom., Tart, ii., tliai.. v., Qr-. 12 and 13. 292 CONFESSION OF FAITH. don is secured entirely on a different basis ; (2) that the external penance of the Romanist is an impertinent attempt to supplement the perfect satisfaction of Christ; and (3) that internal repentance, when genuine, is itself a gracious gift of God, without merit in itself, and of value only because it springs from the application of Christ's grace to the soul and leads to the application by the soul to Christ's grace. ,^ 2d. Nevertheless, repentance is of such necessity to all * sinners that none may expect pardon without it. This is evident — (1) Because the giving of pardon to a non- repentant sinner would be in effect to sanction his sin, to confirm him in his sinful state, and to encourage others therein. Although Scripture and the moral sense of men teach that repentance is no adequate satis- faction for sin nor an equivalent for the penalty, they just as clearly teach that it would be inconsistent in every sense with good morals to pardon a person cher- ishing an unrepentant spirit. (2.) Repentance is the ^ natural and instant sequence of the grace of regenera- tion. It also embraces an element of faith in Christ, and that faith is, as we have seen, the instrument of justification. He that repents believes. He that does not repent does not believe. He that does not believe is not justified. Regeneration and justification are never separated. (3.) The design of Christ's work is to save his people from their sins. Pie frees them from the guilt of their sins by pardon, and he brings them clear from the power of their sins through repentance. "Him hath God exalted, .... to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins." Acts v. 31. (4.) Repentance, like faith, is a duty as well as a grace, and ministers are com- REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. 293 mauded to preach it as essential to forgiveness. Luke xxiv. 47; Acts xx. 21. 3d. That the least sin deserves punishment is obvi- ous. The moral law is moral in every element, and it is of the essence of that which is moral that it is oblio-a- tory, and that its violation is deserving of reprobation. Hence " whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all." James ii. 10. That there is no sin so great that it can bring condemnation upon those that truly repent is also evident, because true repentance, as we have seen, is the fruit of regene- ration, and no man is regenerated who is not also justi- fied. Besides, true repentance includes faith, and faith j^ nnites to Christ and secures the imjuitation of his right- eousness, and the righteousness of Christ of course can- cels all possible sin. Rom. viii. 1 ; v. 20. 4th. That men ought to repent not only in general of the corruption of their hearts and sinfulness of their lives, but also of every particular sinful action of which they are conscious and that when possible they should redress the wrong done by their actions, is a dictate alike of natural conscience and Scripture. I^uke xix. 8; 1 John i. 9. No man has any right to presume that he hates sin in general unless he practically hates every sin in particular; and no man has any right to presume that he is sorry i'or and ready to renounce his own sins in general unless he is conscious of practically renouncing and grieving for each particular sin into which he falls. Section VI. — As eveiy man is bound to make private conliBS- sion of his sins to God, praying for the pardon thereof;" upon which, and the forsaking of them, he shall find mercy ;" so he that scandalize th his brother, or the Church of Christ, ought to 294 CONFESSION OF FAITH. be willing, by a private or public confession and sorrow for his pin, to declare his repentance to those that are offended ;" who are thereupon to be reconciled to him, and in love to receive him." 11 Pa. li. 4, 5, 7, 0, 14; xxxii. 5, 6.— 12 Prov. xxviii. 13; 1 John i. 9.— ^3 James v. 16; Luke xvii. 3, 4; Josh. vii. 19; Ps. li.— " 2 Cor. ii. 8. This Section teaches — 1st. That every man should make private confession of all his sins to God, and that God will certainly par- don hira when his sorrow and his rennnciation of his sins are sincere. This is all included in what has already been said as to the nature and effects of genuine repentance; and it is expressly declared in Scri23ture: " If we confess our sins, he (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unright- eousness." 1 John i. 9. 2d. That when a Christian has personally injured a brother, or scandalized by his unchristian conduct the Church of Christ, he ought to be willing, by a public or a private confession, as the case may be, to declare his repentance to those that are offended, is also a dictate alike of natural reason and Scripture. If we have done wrong, we stand in the position of one maintaining a wrong until, by an expressed repentance and, where pos- sible, redress of the wrong, we place ourselves on the side of the riglit. The wrolig-doer is plainly in debt to the man he has injured to make every possible restitu- tion to his feelings and interests, and the same princi])le holds true in relation to the general interests of the Christian community. The duty is expressly com- manded in Scripture. Matt, v, 23, 24; James v. 16; Matt, xviii. 15-18. REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. 295 3d. That it is the duty of the brethren or of the Church, when offended, to forgive the offending party and restore him fully to favour upon his repentance, is also a dictate of natural conscience and of Scripture. All honourable men feel themselves bound to act upon this principle. The Christian is, in addition, brought under obligations to forgive others by his own infinite obligations to his Lord, who not only forgave us upon repentance, but died to redeem us while we were unre- pentant. As to public scandals, the Church is bound to forgive them when the Lord has done so. As genuine repentance is the gift of Christ, its evident exercise is a certain indication that the person exercising it is for- given by Christ and a Christian brother. Luke xvii. 3, 4; 2 Cor. ii. 7, 8; Matt. vi. 7. The Romish Church teaches that, as an element of penance and evidence of true repentance, the Christian must confess all his sins without reserve, in all their details and qualifying circumstances, to a priest having jurisdiction ; and that if any mortal sin is unconfessed it is not forgiven ; and if the omission is wilful, it is sacrilege, and greater guilt is incurred.* And they maintain that the priest absolves judicially, not merely declaratively, from all the penal consequences of the sins confessed, by the authority of Jesus Christ. This is an obvious perversion of the scriptural com- mand to confess. They bid us simply to confess our faults one to another. There is not a word said about confession to a priest in the Bible. The believer, on the >3ontrary, has immediate access to Christ, and to God through Christ (1 Tim. ii. 5; John xiv. 6; v. 40; Matt. * Cut. E '111., Part ii., ch. v., Qs. 33, 34, 42. 296 CONFESSION OF FAITH. xi. 28), and is commanded to confess his sins imme- diately to God. 1 John i. 9. No priestly function is ever ascribed to the Christian ministry in the New Testament. The power of absolute forgiveness of sin belongs to God alone (Matt. ix. 2-6), is incommunicable in its very nature, and has never been granted to any class of men as a matter of fact. The authority to bind or loose which Christ con:5mitted to his Church was understood by the apostles, as is evident from their practice, as simply conveying the power of declaring the conditions on which God pardons sin, and, in ac- cordance with that declaration, of admitting or of ex- cluding men from sealing ordinances. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the first truth taught in the first and second Sec- tions ? 2. What is the second taught? 3. What is the third f 4. ^Y'hat is the fourth? 5. What does a true sense of sin include? 6. Show how it leads to repentance. 7. Show that an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ is necessary to lead to true repentance. 8. What three elements enter into genuine repentance? 9. Show that it includes a true hatred of sin and sorrow for .)ur own sin. 10. Show that it includes an actual turning from all sin unto God. 11. Show that it includes a sincere purpose of, and a persever- ing endeavour after, new obedience. 12. What distinction is maintained in the usage of the worda "conversion" and "repentance" in Scripture? REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. 297 13. "Wliat is a false repentance, and how may a genuine repent- ance be discriminated from it? 14. What is meant when it is affirmed that every Christian duty is a Christian grace ? 15. Prove tliat repentance is an evangeUcal grace. 16. Why should it be diligently preached? 17. What two propositions are taught in Section iii. ? 18. What is taught in Section iv. ? 19. What in Section v. ? 20. What is the Socinian or Rationalistic doctrine as to the relation of repentance to pardon ? 21. What is the Romish doctrine of penance? 22. Of what three elements do they teach that external pen- ance consists ? 23. Prove that rei,entance is no cause whatever of the pardon of sin. 24. Prove that none are ever pardoned without repentance. 25. Prove that the least sin deserves condemnation. 26. Pi'ove that no sin will secure condemnation in the ease of the truly penitent. 27. Prove that men ought to repent of their particular sinful actions, as well as of their sinfulness in general. 28. What is the firat point affirmed in the sixth Section? 29. What is the second point affirmed there? 30. What is the tliird point affirmed there? 31. What does the Romish Church teach as to confession of sins? 32. What does she teach as to absolution from sin ? 33. Prove that she is wrong as to her doctrine of confession. 34. Prove that she is wrong as to priestly absolution. CHAPTER XVI. OP GOOD WORKS. Section I. — Good works are only such as God hath com- manded in his holy word/ and not such as, witliout the warrant thereof, are devised by men, out of blind zeal, or upon any pre- tence of good intention.* Section II. — ^Thcse good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith ;' and by them believers manifest their thankfulness,* strengthen their assurance,^ edify their brethren,® adorn the pro- fession of the gospel,^ stop the mouths of the adversaries,* and glorify God,* whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto /" that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end, eternal life." 1 Mic. vi. 8; Rom. xii. 2; Heb. xiii, 21.— « Matt. xv. 9; Isa. xxix. 13; 1 Pet. i. 18; Rom. x. 2; John xvi. 2; 1 Sam. xv. 21-23.— ' James ii. 18, 22.—* Ps. cxvi. 12, 13 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9.-6 1 John ii. 3, 5 ; 2 Pet. i. 5-10.-6 2 Cor. ix. 2; Matt. v. 16.-7 Tit. ii. 5, 9-12; 1 Tim. vi. 1.-8 1 Pet. ii. 15.— » 1 Pet. ii. 12; Phil. i. 11; John xv. 8.-10 Eph. ii. 10.—" Rom. vi. 22. These Sections teach the following propositions : 1st. In order that any human action should be truly a good work, it must have the following essential cha- racteristics: (1.) It must be something directly or im- plicitly commanded by God. (2.) It must spring from an inward principle of faitli and love in the heait. Works not commanded by God, but invented and o'ratuitously performed by men, are utterly destitute 293 GOOD WORKS. 299 of moral character, and, if oifered in the place of the obedience required, they are offensive, 2d. The effects and uses of good works in the Chris- tian life are manifold, and are such as — (1.) They ex- press the gratitude, manifest the grace of God in the believer, and so adorn the profession of the gospel. (2.) They glorify God. (3.) They develop grace by exercise, and so strengthen the believer's assurance. ,(4.) They edify the brethren. (5.) They stop the mouths of adversaries. (6.) They are necessary to the attainment of eternal life. 1st. In order that a work may be good, it must be an act performed in conformity to God's revealed will. The law of absolute moral perfection to which we are held in subjection is not the law of our own reasons or consciences, but it is an all-perfect rule of righteousness, having its ground in the eternal nature of God, and its expression and obliging authority to us in the divine will. Not self-development, not the realization of an ideal end, but obedience to a personal authority without and above us, is precisely what reason, conscience and Scripture require. The good man is the obedieM man. The sinner in every transgression of virtue is conscious that he is guilty of disobedience to the supreme Law- giver. David says in his repentance, "Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." Ps. li. 4. God has given in the inspired Scrip- tures a perfect rule of faith and practice. Every prin- ciple, every motive and every end of right action, accord- ing to the will of God, may there be easily learned by the devout inquirer. God says to his Church : " What thing soever I command you, observe to do itj thou SOO CONFESSION OF FAITH. slialt not add tliereunto nor diminish from it. Dent, xii. 32 ; Rev. xxii. 18, 19. And God very energetically declares hia abhorrence of uncoraraanded servic 3, of " voluntary humility" and "will-worship." Isa. i. 11, 12; Col. ii. 16, 23. 2(1. In order that a work may be truly good, it must spring from a principle of faith and love in the heart. All men recognize that the moral character of ar act always is determined by the moral character of the pi'n- ciple or affection which prompts to it. Unregenc"ato men perform many actions, good so far as their exte- al relations to their fellow-men are concerned. But lo /e to God is the foundation-principle upon which all moral duties rest, just as our relation to God is the funda- mental relation upon which all our other relations rest. If a man is alienated from God, if he is not in the present exercise of trust in him and love for him, any action he can perform will lack the essential element which makes it a true obedience. Good works accord- ing to the Scriptures are the fruits of sanctification, having their root in regeneration. " For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them." Eph. ii. 10. James says that faith is shown by works, which of course implies that the kind of works of which he speaks spring only from a believing heart. James ii. 18, 22. 3d. The effects and uses of good works in the Chris- tian life are manifold, and are such as — (1.) They ex- press the gratitude and manifest the grace of God in the believer, and so adorn the profession of the gospel. Faith works by love. Gal. v. 6. Christ says that we GOOD WORKS. 301 nre to express our love for hira by keeping his cora- iiiandnients. Jolin xiv. 15, 23. As they are the fruits of thW Spirit, they render manifest the excellent work- ing of the Spirit. 1 Tim. ii. 10; Tit. ii. 10. (2.) They glori''- God. Since God is their author (Eph. ii. 10), they manifest the excellency of his grace, and excite all who behold them to appreciate and proclaim his glory. Mate. V. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 12. (3.) As they spving from grace, so the performance of them exercises grace in ge:/:ral, and each grace severally according to the nature of ^he work performed. Thus by the universal law of habit grace grows by its exercise. And the assurance as to our own gracious state naturally increases with the strength and evidence of those graces unto which the ])romise of salvation is attached. (4.) They edify the brethren. Good works edify others, both as confirma- tory evidence of the truth of Christianity and the power of divine grace, and by the force of example inducing men to practice the same. 1 Thcss. i. 7; 1 Tim. iv. 12; 1 Pet. V. 3. (5.) For the same reasons good works disprove the cavils and render nugatory the opposition of wicked men. 1 Pet. ii. 15. (6.) They are necessary to the attainment of salvation, not in any sense as a prerequisite to justification, nor as in any stage of the believer's i)rogress meriting the divine favour, but as essential elements of that salvation, the consubstantial fruits and means of sanctification and glorification. A saved soul is a holy soul, and a holy soul is one whose faculties are all engaged in works of loving obedi- ence. Grace in the heart cannot exist without good works as its consequent. Good work- cannot exist without the increase of the graces which are exercised 302 CONFESSION OF FAITH. in them. Heaven could not exist except as a society of holy souls mutually obeying the law of love in all the good works that law requires, Eph. v. 25-27 ; 1 Thess. iv. 6, 7; Rev. xxi. 27. Section III. — Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ." And that they may be enabled thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is required an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit to work in them to will and to do of his good pleasure :^^ yet are they not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon a special motion of the Spirit ; but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them." ^■i John XV. 4-6 : Ezek. xxxvi. 2fi, 27.—" Phil. ii. 13 ; iv. 13 ; 2 Cor. iii. 5._u Phil. ii. 12; Heb. vi. 11, 12; 2 Pet. i. 3, 5, 10, 11; Isa. Ixiv. 7; 2 Tim. i. 6; Acts xxvi. 6, 7; Jude 20, 21. As we have seen under Chapter x., in regeneration the Holy Spirit implants a permanent holy principle or habit in the soul which ever continues the germ or seed from which all gracious affections and holy exercises do proceed. In respect to the implantation of this per- manent holy principle by the Holy Spirit the soul is passive. But the instant this new moral disposition or tendency is implanted in the soul, as a matter of course the moral character of its exercises is changed, and the soul becomes active in good works, as before it had been in evil ones. But, as we also saw under Chapter xiii., sanctification is a work of God's free grace, wherein li'^ continues graciously to sustain, nourish and guide the exercise of the permanent habit of grace whiirh he had Implanted in regeneration. The regenerated man depends upon (he continues' indwelling, the prompting GOOD WORKS. 303 and tlie sustaining and the enabling jiower of the Holy Spirit in every act of obedience in the exercise of grace; nevertheless as the acts of obedience to the performance of which the Spirit prompts and enables him are his own acts, it follows that he, while seeking the guidance and support of grace, must actively co-operate with it, acting like every free agent under the influence of mo- tives and a sense of personal responsibility. Hence this Section asserts — 1st. That the ability of the Christian to do good works is not at all from himself, but wholly from the S])irit of Christ. 2d. That in order thereto, in addition to the grace implanted in regeneration, there is needed a continual influence of the Holy Ghost upon all the faculties of the renewed soul, whereby the Christian is enabled to will and to do of his good pleasure. 3d. That this doctrine of the absolute dependence of the soul is not to be perverted into an occasion to indo- lence, or to abate in any degree our sense of personal obligation. God's Avill is exhibited to ns objectively in the written word. The obligation to voluntary obedi- ence binds our consciences. The Holy Spirit does not work independently of the Word, but through .the Word, nor does he work irrespectively of our constitutional faculties of reason, conscience and free will, but through them. It hence follows that we can never honour the Holy Spirit by waiting for his special motions, but that we always yield to and co-work with him wiien we, while seeking his guidance and assistance, use all means of grace and all our own best energies in being and doing all that the law of God requires. It is never the 304 CONFESSION OF FAITH. waiters for grace, but always the active seekers for grace And doers of his word, whom God approves. Luke xi. 9-13; James i. 22, 23. Section IV. — They who in their obedience attain to the great- est height which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate, and to do njore than God requires, as that they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do.^* Section V. — We cannot, by our best works, merit pardon of sin, or eternal life, at the hand of God, bj' reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come, and the infinite distance that is between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit, nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins ;" but when we have done all we can, we have done but our dutj', and are unprofitable servants ;'' and because, as they are good, they proceed from his Spirit;^* and, as they are wrought by us, they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection, that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment.^® Section VI. — Yet, notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works also ai'e accepted in him ;'"' not as though they were in this life wholly unblam- able and unreprovable in God's sight ;^' but that he, looking upon them in his Sod, is pleased to accept and reward that which ia sincere, although acccT-panied with many weaknesses and imper- fections." »5 Luke xvii. in,- Nch. xiii. 22; Job ix. 2, 3; Gal. v. 17.— 1« Bom. iii. 20; iv. 2, 4, 6; Eph. ii. 8, 9; Tit. iii. 5-7; Rom. viii. 18; Ps. xvi. 2; Job xxii. 2, 3; xxxv. 7, 8.—" Luke xvii. 10.— 18 GaL v. 22, 23.— '9 Isa. Lxiv. 6; Gal. v. 17; Rom. vii. 15, 18; Ps. cxliii. 2; cxxx. 3.—™ Eph. i. 6; 1 Pet. ii. 5 ; Ex. xxviii. 38 ; Gen. iv. 4 ; Heb. xi. 4.-21 job ix. 20 ; Ps. cxliii. 2.-22 Heb. xiii. 20, 21 ; 2 Cor. viii. 12; Heb. vi. 10; Matt. xxv. 21, 23. These Sections teach — 1st. That works of supererogation are so far from being possible, even for the most eminent saint, that in tliis life it is not possible for the most thoroughly sanc- tilied one fully to discliarge all hi.s positive oblip-ntioTia. GOOD WORKS. 306 2d. That, for several reasons assigned, the best works of believers, so far from meriting either the pardon of sin or eternal life at the hands of God, cannot even endure the scrutiny of his holy judgment. 3d. That, nevertheless, the works of sincere believers are, like their persons, in spite of their imperfections, accepted because of their union with Christ Jesus, and rewarded for his sake. 1st. The phrase ** supererogation" means "more than is demanded." Works of supererogation aj'c in their own nature impossible under the moral law of God. In man's present state even the most eminent saint is inca- pable of fully discharging all his obligations — much more, of course, of surpassing them. The Romish Church teaches the ordinaiy Arminian theory of perfec- tionism. In addition to this error, it teaches (a) that good works subsequent to baptism merit increase of grace and eternal felicity ;* and (6) it distinguishes between the commands and counsels of Christ. The former are binding upon all classes of the people, and their observance necessary in order to salvation. The latter, consisting of advice, not of commands — such as celibacy, voluntary poverty, obedience to monastic rule, etc. — are binding only on those who voluntarily assume them, seeking a higher degree of perfection and a more exalted reward. AVe have already, under Chapter xiii., seen that a state of sinless perfection is never attained by Christians in this life, and it of course follows that much less is it possible for any to do more than is commanded. That works of supererogation are always and essen- * Council of Trent, Sess. vi ch. xvi., Canon 24 32. 20 306 CONFESSION OF FAIIH. tially impossible to all creatures in all worlds is also evident — (1.) From the very nature of the moral law. That which is right under any relation is intrinsically obligatory upon the moral agent standing in that rela- tion. If it be moral it is obligatory. If it be not obligatory, it is not moral. If it is not moral, it is, cf course, of no moral value or mei'it. If it is obligatory, it is not supererogatory. When men do what it is their duty to do they are to claim nothing for it. Luke xvii. 10. (2.) The doing of that which God has not made it men's duty to do — all manner of will-worship and commandments of men — God declares is an abomination to him. Col. ii. 18-22; 1 Tim. iv. 3; Matt. xv. 9. (3.) Christ has given no "counsels," as distinct from his commands. His absolute and universal command to love God with the whole soul, and our neighbour as ourselves, covers the whole ground of possible ability or opportunity on earth or in heaven. Matt. xxii. 37-40. (4.) Increase of grace and eternal felicity, and all else which the believer needs or is capable of, are secured for him by the purchase of Christ's blood, and either given freely now without price, or reserved for him in that eternal inheritance which he is to receive as a joint heir with Christ. (5.) The working of the Romish system of celibacy, voluntary poverty and monastic vows, has produced such fruits that prove the principle on which they rest radically immoral and false. 2d. The best works of believers, instead of meriting pardon of sin and eternal life, cannot endure the scrutiny of his holy judgment. The reasons for this assertion are — (1.) As above shown, from the nature of the moral law. What is not obligatory is not moral, and what is GOOD WORKS. 307 not moral can have no moral desert. (2.) The best Moiks possible for man are infinitely unworthy to be compared in value with God's favour, and the rewards "vvhich men who trust to works seek to obtain through them. (3.) God's infinite su|)eriority to us, his absolute proprietorship in us as our Maker, and sovereignty over us as our moral Governor, necessarily exclude the pos- sibility of our actions deserving any reward at his hand. No action of ours can profit God or lay him under obli- gation to us. All that is possible to us is already a debt we owe him as our Creator and Preserver. When we have done our utmost we are only unprofitable servants. Much less, then, can any possible obedience at one moment atone for any disobedience in another moment. (4.) As already proved under Chapter xiii., on Sanctiti- cation, our works, which could merit nothing even if perfect, are in this'' life, because of remaining imperfec- tions, most imperfect. They therefore, the best of them, need to be atoned for by the blood, and presented through the mediation, of Christ, before they can find acceptance with the Father. 3d. Nevertheless, the good works of sincere believers are, like their persons, in spite of their imperfections, iccepted, because of their union with Christ Jesus, and rewarded for his sake. All our approaches to God are made through Christ. It is only tJwough him that we have access to the Father by the Spirit. Eph. ii. 18. " Whatever we do, in word or deed," we are com- manded to ''do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." Col. iii. 17. As to the relation of good works to rewards, it may be observed — (1.) The word merit, in the strict sense 308 CONFESSION «)F FAITH. of llie term, means that common quality of all actions or services to \vhich a reward is due in strict justice on account of their intrinsic value or worthiness. It is evident that, in this strict sense, no work of any crea- ture can in itself merit any i^eward from God, because («) all the ficulties he possesses were originally granted and are continuously sustained by God, so that he is already so far in debt to God that he can never bring God in debt to him. (6.) Nothing the creature can do can be a just equivalent for the incomparable favour of God and its consequences. There is another sense of the word, however, in which it may be affirmed that if Adam had in his original probation yielded the obedience required, he would have "merited" the reward conditioned upon it, not because of the intrinsic value of that obedience, but because of the terms of the covenant which Gt^d had graciously condescended to form with him. By nature, the crea- ture owed the Creator obedience, while the Creator owed the creature nothing. But hy covenant the Cre- ator voluntarily bound himself to owe the creature eternal life, upon the condition of perfect obedience. It is evident that in this life the works of God's people can have no merit in either of the senses above noticed. They can have no merit intrinsically, because they are all imperfect, and therefore themselves wor- thy of punishment rather than of reward. They can have no merit by covenant concession on God's part, because we are not now standing in God's sight in the covenant of works, but of grace, and the righteous- ness of Christ, received by faith alone, constitutes the sole meritorious ground upon which our salva- GOOD WORKS. 309 tion, in all of its stages, rests. See Chapter xi., on Justification. lu the dispensation of the gospel, the gracious work of the believer and the gracious reward he receives from God are branches from the same gracious root. Tlie same covenant of grace provides at once for the infusion of grace in the heart, tlie exercise of grace in the life and the reward of the grace so exercised. It is all of grace — a grace called a reward added to a grace called a work. The one grace is set opposite to the other grace as a reward, for these reasons : (a.) To act upon us as a suitable stimulus to duty. God promises to reward the Christian just as a father promises to reward his child for doing what is its duty, and what is for its own ben- efit alone. (6.) Because a certain gracious proportion has been established between the grace given in the reward and the grace given in the holy exercises of the heart and life, but both are alike given for Christ's saJce. This proportion has been established — the more grace of obedience, the more grace of reward ; the more grace on earth, the more glory in heaven — because God so wills it, and because the grace given and exercised in obedience prepares the soul for the reception of the fur- ther grace given in the reward. Matt. xvi. 27 ; 1 Cor. iii. 8; 2 Cor. iv. 17. Section VII. — Works done bj' unrcgeneratc men, although, for tlie matter of them, they maj' be things which God com- mands, and of good use both to themselves and others,''^ j'et, be- cause the}' proceed not from a heart purified by faith," nor are done in a right manner, according to the Word,'^ nor to a right end, the glory of God,''® they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God or make a man meet to receive grace from God." y 310 CONFESSION OF FAITH. And 3'et their neglect of them is more sinful acd displeasing unto 9od.^ •'■^ 2 Kings X. 30, 31 ; 1 Kings xxi. 27, 29 ; Phil. i. 15, 16, IS.— «* Gen. iv. 6 ; Heb. xi. 4, 6.— 2' 1 Cor. xiii. 3 ; Isa. i. 12.— 26 Matt. vi. 2, 5, 16.—" Hag. ii. 14; Tit. i. 15; Amos v. 21,22; Hos. i. 4; Rom. ix. 16; Tit. iii. 5.— 2« Ps. xiv. 4: xxxvi. 3; Job xxi. 14, 15; Matt. xxv. 41-43, 45; xxiii. 23. This Section teaches — 1st. That unregenei'ate men may perform many ac- tions which, for the matter of them, are such as God commands, and are of good use both to themselves and others. The truth of this is verified in the experience and observation of all men, and we believe it is not called in question by any party. 2d. Nevertheless, they are at best, all of them, not only imperfect works' morally considered, but ungodly works religiously considered. They are, therefore, not in tiie scriptural sense good works, nor can they satisfy the requirements of God, nor merit grace, nor make the soul fit for the reception of grace. The distinction is plain between an action in itself consiilered, and considered in its motives and object. A truly good work is one which springs from a principle of divine love, and has the glory of God as its object and the revealed will of God as its rule. None of the actions of an un regenerate man are of this character. There is also an obvious distinction between an act viewed in itself abstractly, and the same action viewed in relation to the person performing it and his personal relations. A rebel against sovereign authority may do rviny amiable things and many acts of real virtue as far as his relations to his fellow-rebels are concerned. It is nevertheless true that a rebel during the whole j)eriod of his rebellion is in every moment of time and every GOOD WORKS. 311 action of his life a rebel with reference to that su- preme authority which through all he continues to defy. In this sense the ploughing of the wicked is said to be sin. Prov. xxi. 4. And thus as long as men stay away from Christ, and refuse to submit to the righteous- ness of God, all their use of the means of grace and all Iheir natural virtues are sins in God's sight. 3d. Nevertheless God is more displeased with their neglecting to do these commanded duties at all than he is with their doing them sinfully as sinners. These works done by unregenerate men are comrtianded by God, and hence are their bounden duties. Their sin lies not in the doing them, but in their personal attitude of rebellion and in the absence of the proper motives and objects. If they neglect to do them, the neglect would be added to the other grounds of condemnation, which would remain all the same. These ougiit they to do, but not to leave the weightier matters of the law undone. The amiable acts of a rebel must involve ele- ments of rebellion, and yet he would be more to be con- demned without them than with them. QUESTIONS. 1. What are taught in tlie first and second Soc-tions to be tlie essential characteristics of ever}' truly good work ? 2. What is there taught us as to the effects and uses of good works? 3. State the proof derived froiu the nature of the moral law itself, that every work in order to be truly good must be wrought in obedience to the revealed will of God. 4. Show ttat all virtue is obedience, and all sin disobedience. 312 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 5. Prove that God abhors all "will-worship" and uncom nianded service. G. Prove that a work in order to be truly good must spring from a principle of faith and love in the heart. 7. Show that good works express gratitude, manifest grace and adorn the Christian profession. 8. Prove that they glorify God. 9. Prove that they tend to increase the grace from which they spring, and to strengthen the assurance of hope on the part of those who perform them. 10. Show that they edify the brethren. 11. Show that they stop the mouths of adversaries. 12. Show that they are necessary to the attainment of salva- tion, and on what grounds. 13. What is the Jirst pi'oposition taught in Section iii. ? 14. What is the second proposition there taught? 1 5. Prove that, besides the grace granted in regeneration, the believer needs, in order to good works, the constant prompting, sustaining and enabling influences of the Holy Ghost. 16. What is the third proposition there taught? 17. Show that the Christian is not to wait for special influ- ences of the Spirit to prompt him to duty, but in reliance on the constant assistance of the Spirit, and in obedience to God's will revealed in his word, to use with diligence the grace he already has, looking for and expecting more as the necessity occurs. 18. What is the^?-s/ proposition taught in the fourth, fifth and sixth Sections? 10. What is the second proposition there taught? 20. What is the third taught? 21. What are works of "supererogation?" 22. What is tlie Romish doctrine as to the merit of good works, and of works of supererogation ? 23. Prove from the nature of the moral law, from the word of God and from the practical effects of the Romish system that their doctrine as to works of supererogation is immoral. 24. Prove that the best works of Christians are incapable of gust'iining the severity of God's just judgment. GOOD WORKS. 313 25. On what grounds are the good works of believers accepted by God ? 26. What is the strict sense of the word " merit?" 27 Show that in that sense no works of any creature can pos- sibly merit anything at the hands of the Creator. 28. What is the secondary sense in which the word is used? 29. Show that the term in neither of those senses can be ap- plied justly to the works of Christians in this life. 30. What, then, is the relation which the Scriptures teach sub- sist between good works and rewards? 31. Why are any of God's purely gracious gifts called rewards? 32. What is the first proposition taught in the seventh Sec- tion ? * 33. Prove that the best works of the unregenerate are not only imperfect morally, but religiously ungodly. 34. Prove that nevertheless they commit greater sin in neglect- ing than in performing these duties. 35. What is the first and absolutely binding duty of every rebel against God and his Christ? CHAPTER XVII. OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. Section I. —They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace ; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. ^ Section II. — This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father ;* upon the efiicacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ f the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them ;* and the nature of the covenant of grace f from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof* Section III. — Nevertheless they may through the tempta- tions of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in thoni, and the neglect of the means of their pre- servation, fall into grievous sins;^ and for a time continue there- in :* whereby they incur God's displeasure,^ and grieve his Holy Spirit ■,^° come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts;" have their hearts hardened,*^ and their con- sciences wounded ;^^ hurt and scandalize others,'* and bring tem- poral judgments upon themselves.'* 1 Phil. i. 6; 2 Pet. i. 10; John x. 28, 29; 1 John iii. 9; 1 Pet. i. 5, 9.—* 2 Tim. ii. 18, 19; Jer. x.x.xi. .S.— » Heb. .x. 10, 14; xiii. 20, 21; ix. 12-15; Rom. viii. .33-39; John xvii. 11, 21 ; Luke x.\ii. 32; Ilcb. vii. 25.—* John xiv. ICi, 17; 1 John ii. 27 ; iii. 9.— ^ Jcv. xxxii. 40.—" John x. 28; 2 Theas. iii. 3; 1 John ii. 19.— ' Matt. xxvi. 70, 72, 74.-8 pg, li. 14._9 jga. Ixiy. 5, 7, 9; 2 Sam. xi. 27.— '» Eph. W. 30.—" Ps. 11. 8, 10, 12: Rev. ii. 4; Cant. V. 2-4, f).— " Isa. Ixiii. 17 ; Mark vi. 52, xvi. l4.-^s Ps. xxxii. 3, 4 ; Ii. b. — " 2 Sam. xii. 14.-15 1 i. Ixxxix. 31, 32; 1 Cor. xi. 32. 314 PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. 315 This Cliapter teaelies the following propositions : 1st. The true believer, having been once regenerated aiul justified by God, can never afterward totally nor linally fall away froui grace, but shall certainly per- severe therein to the end. 2d. That the principle of this certain perseverance is not in any degree in the free will of the saints, but alto- gether (1) in the inherent ininuitability of the eternal decree of election ; (2) in the ])rovisions of the eternal covenant of grace; (3) in the merits and intercession of Christ; and (4) in the constant indwelling and pre- serving power of the Holy Ghost. 3d. The true believer may nevertheless fall into grievous sins, and for a time continue therein, the occa- sions of which falls are — (1) the temptations of the world; (2) tlie seductions of Satan; (3) the remaining corruptions of their own nature; (4) the neglect of the means of grace. The effects of which falls are — (1) God is displeased and the Holy Ghost grieved ; (2) they are themselves to a degree deprived of their graces and com- forts, their hearts being hardened and their consciences wounded, and their persons visited with temporal judg- ments; (3) their conduct is a stumbling-block to all who see them, and an occasion of sorrow to their fellow- Christians. It is obvious that adherents of the Arminian and Calvinistic systems must take opposite sides on this question. The Arminian, as we have seen, holds — (1.) That God elects persons to eternal life only on condition of their voluntary reception of grace and perseverance therein till death, as foreseen by him. (2.) That Christ died to render the salvation of all men iudirtJ-tcntly 316 CONFESSION OF FAITH. possible, and not as the substitute of certain persons definitely to discharge all their legal obligations, and to secure for theiu all the rewards of the covenant. (3.) That all men have the same gracious influence of the Holy Ghost operating upon them, and that the reason why one believes and is regenerated, and that another con- tinues reprobate, is that the former voluntarily co-oper- ates with grace and that the other resists it. Thus in the personal application of redemption the Arminian makes everything to depend upon the free will of the creature. Since, then, neither the decree of God, nor the atonement of Christ, nor the grace of the Holy Ghost determines the certain salvation of any individual — since the application and effect of the atonement and of the renewing and sanctifying influences of the Spirit depend, in their view, upon the free will of every man in his own case — it necessarily follows that the persever- ance of any man in the grace once received must also depend entirely upon his own will. And since the human will is essentially fallible and capable of change, and in this life exposed to seduction, it follows of course that the believer is at all times liable to total apostasy, and, dying in that state, to final perdition. Hence the Romish Church, whose doctrine is purely Arminian, declares in her authoritative Standards : " If any one maintain that a man once justified cannot lose grace, and, therefore, that he who falls and sins never "vas truly justified, let him be accursed." * The Protestant Arminians also hold that it is not nly possible, but also a frequent fact, that persons truly ••^generate, by neglecting grace and grieving the Holy * Council of Trent, Sess. vi., Canon 23. PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. 317 Spirit with sin, fivll away totally, and at length finally, from grace into eternal reprobation.* The Calvinistic doctrine, as stated in this Chapter of our Confession, is that God has revealed his gracious ])urpose to cause every true believer to persevere in his liiith and obedience till death ; that he will never he allowed to fall away totally from grace, and therefore he never can fall away finally. It is obvious, from this statement, that this doctrine is not open to the objections which are often brought against it. (1.) It is absurd to say that it is inconsistent with man's free will. As God does not make a man come to Christ, so he does not constrain him to continue in Christ irrespective of his will. God graciously causes a man to persevere in willing. That is the whole truth. It is a precious truth, clearly revealed, which the Ar- minian Christian can no more aiford to give up than the Calvinist, that God can and does control the free wills of his people without limiting their liberty, making them " willing in the day of his power," and " w^orlcing in them both to loill and to do of his good pleasure. ' Ps. ex. 3 ; Phil. ii. 13. The Arminians themselves believe that tlie saints will be rendered secure from falling from grace when they go to heaven, and yet that they will be none the less perfectly free as to their wills. If the tw^o are consistent conditions in heaven, they can be none the less so on earth. (2.) This doctrine is not liable to the charge of fostering a spirit of carnal security, on the ground that if w^e are once in grace we cannot lose grace or be lost, do what we please. Let it be observed (a) that tlie true doctrine is not that salvation is certain * Confession of tlie Kcnionstrants, xi. 7. 318 confessio:n of faith. if we have once bcliev^ed, but that perseverance in holi- ness is certain if we have truly believed. (6.) The cer- tainty, nay, the probability, of an individual's salvation is known to him only through the fact of his persever- ance in holiness. A tendency to relax watchful offort 'to grow in grace, because true Christians will not be allowed to fall away totally, is a direct evidence that we are not in a gracious state, and hence that the threaten- ing3 of the law and the invitations of the gospel, and not the perseverance of the saints, is the special truth applicable to our case, (c.) This doctrine teaches not that persistent effort on our part is not necessary in order to secure persevei^ance in grace to the end, but that in this effort we are certain of success, ''for it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. ii. 13. 1st. The fact of this certain perseverance i? distinctly asserted in Scripture. Believers are said to be ^' kept by the poioer of God through faith unto salvation." 1 Pet. i. 5. Paul was confident " that he who h^d begun a good work in them (Phi]i])pians) will perform it (finish completely) until the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. i. 6. Jesus said, " I will give unto them (my slieep) eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." John x. 28 ; Rom. xi. 29. 2d. The ground of this certain })erseverance is not at all in the free will of the saints, but altogether (1) in the inherent immutability of the eternal decree of elec- tion. We saw under Chapter iii. that God's decree of election {a) respects individuals, [b) chooses them to sal- vation and all the means thereof, (c) is not conditioned on the use he foresees they will make of grace, but is PERSEVERANCE OF THE SaINTS. 319 fbunded on " the counsel of his own will," (c/) is immu- table and certainly efficacious. Hence those elected to sal- ^•ation through grace must persevere in grace unto salva- tion. (2.) The ground of the certainty of the perseverance of saints is also laid in the provisions of the eternal cove- nant of grace. We saw under Chapter vii. that the Scrij)- tures teach that there was a covenant or personal counsel from eternity between the Father and the Son, as the Surety of the elect, determining explicitly (a) who were to be saved, (6) what Christ was to do and suffer in order to save them, (c) as to how and when the redemption of Christ was to be personally applied to them, (d) as to all the advantages embraced in their salvation, etc. Hence it follows necessarily that those embraced in this covenant cannot fail of the benefits provided for them. " My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." John x. 29. (3.) This certainty is grounded in the merits and intercession of Christ. We saw under Chapter viii. that the Scriptures teach that Christ, by his vicarious obedience and suffering as their federal representative, wrought out a perfect righteousness in the stead of his people, which people were all individ- ually and certainly designated in the eternal covenant in ])ursuance of which he acted, and that he makes effec- tual intercession in heaven for all those, and for those only, for whom he hath purchased redemption. Since, therefore, neither Christ's redemption nor his interces- sion can fail of the ends for which it is designed, it is evidently impossible that those for whom he was sub- stituted, and for whom he acquired a perfect righteous- ness, and for whom he offers an effectual intercession, 320 CONFESSION OF FAITTI. can fail of salvation. (4.) The certainty of the perse- verance of the saints in grace is secured by the constant indwelling of the Holy Ghost. He acts upon the soul in perfect accordance with the laws of its constitution as a rational and moral agent, and yet so as to secure the ultimate victory of the new spiritual principles and tendencies implanted in regeneration. John xiv. 16, 17; 1 John iii. 9. 3d. The contents of the third proposition taught in this Chapter should be examined carefully in connection with the proof-texts annexed to the several clauses. They need not be further illustrated by us, since all therein contained is a matter of plain meaning and of universal experience. Observe the cases of David (2 Sam. xi. 2-4; Ps. li.) and Peter (Luke xxii. 61, 62). The perseverance of believers in grace is wrought by the Holy Ghost, not irrespective of, but through, the free will of the man himself. Therefore it is a duty as well as a grace. The grace of it should be preached for the encouragement of the diligent. The duty, and ab- solute necessity of it to salvation, should be preached to quicken the slothful and to increase the sense of obli- gation felt by all. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the first proposition taught in this Chapter? 2. What is the difference between falling totally and finally? 3. Wliy must Arniinians and Calvinists take opposite sides on this question ? 4. What IS the Arniinians' doctrine as to election? 5. What is their doctrine as to the design of Christ's death? 5. What is th ir doctrine as to the relation of the free will of PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAIN're. 321 the sinner to the gracious influences of the Holy Ghost in rcgen' eration ? 7. Show that their position on all these points renders the con elusion inevitable that the true believer may totally and therefore may finally fall from grace. 8. State the doctrine of the Romish Church on this point. 9. Do the same of the Protestant Arminians. 10. State the Calvinistic doctrine of this subject. 11. Show that doctrine does not involve any denial of the free- dom of the human will. 12. Show that this doctrine is not open to the charge of foster- ing among those who think themselves believers a spi^-it of carnal security. 13. Show that the Scriptures explicitly teach the fact that true believers will not be allowed totally and finally to fall from grnce. 14. Show that the ground of this certainty does not consist at all in the free will of the believer. 15. Show that it necessarily follows from what the Scriptures teach as to the decree of election. 16. The same from what they teach as to the eternal covenant of grace. 17. The same from what they teach as to the design of Clirist's death, and the relation which his merits and intercession sustain to individuals. 18. The same from what they teach as to the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. 19. What is the third proposition taught in this Chapter? 20. What are the principal sources and occasions of falling to which a true believer is liable ? 21 . What are the principal eflfects to which they give rise ? 21 CHAPTER XVIII. OF ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION. Section I. — Although hypocrites, and other unregenerate men, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal pre- sumptions of being in the favour of God and estate of salva- tion;' which hope of theirs shall perish;* yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavour- ing to walk in all good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace,' and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God ; which hope shall never make them ashamed.* Section II. — This certainly is not a bare conjectural and pro- bable persuasion, gi-ounded upon a fallible ho])e f but an infaUible assurance of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation,' the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made,' the testimony of the Spirit of adop- tion witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God ;' which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.' 1 Job viii. 13, 14; Mic. iii. 11 ; Deut. xxix, 19; John viii. 41.—" Matt, vii. 22, 23.-3 1 Jolin ii. 3; iii. 14, 18, 19, 21, 24; v. 13.—* Rom. v. 2, 5.— s Heb. vi. 11, 19.— «lleb, vi. 17, 18.— ' 2 Pet. 1, 4, 5, 10, 11; 1 John ii. 3, iii. 14; 2 Cor. i. 12.— 8 Rom. viii. 15, 16.-9 Epj,. ;. i^^ 14. jy, 39 ; 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. These Sections teach the following propositions: 1st. There is a false assurance of salvation winch unregenerate men sometimes indulge, in which they are deceived and which shall be finally disappointed. 322 ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION. 323 2(1. There is, on the other hand, a true assurance, anjounting to ?.n inflillible certainty, which sincere be- lievers may entertain as to their own j>ersonal salvation, wliich shall not be confounded. 3d. This infallible assurance of faith rests — (1.) Upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation. (2.) Upon the inward evidence of those graces unto which those promises are made. (3.) The testinn)ny of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God. 1st. That unregenerate men, beguiled by the natural desire for happiness, flattered by self-love, and betrayed by a spirit of self-righteousness and self-confidence, should frequently indulge an unfounded assurance of their own gracious condition, is rendered antecedently probable from what we know of human nature, and rendered certain as a fact from common observation and from the declarations of Scripture. Mic. iii. 11 ; Job viii. 13, 14. True assurance, however, may be distinguished from that which is false by the following tests: (1.) True assurance begets unfeigned humility; false assurance begets spiritual pride. 1 Cor. xv. 10 ; Gal. vi. 14. (2.) The true leads to increased diligence in the practice of holiness; the false leads to sloth and self-indulgence. Ps. li. 12, 13, 19. (3.) The true leads to candid self- examination and to a desire to be searched and corrected by God ; the false leads to a disposition to be satisfied with a])pearance and to avoid accurate investigation. Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24. (4.) The true leads to constant aspirations after more intimate fellowship with God 1 John iii. 2, 3. 324 CONFESSION OP FAITH. 2d. That true believers may in this life attain to a certainty with regard to their own personal relations tc Christ, and that this certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable j)ersnasion founded on a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith, is proved from the fact (1) that it is directly affirmed in Scripture: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our s})irit that we are the children of God." Rom. viii. 16. " Hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." 1 John ii. 3. " We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." 1 John iii. 14. (2.) The attainment of it is commanded as a duty in Scripture. We are exhorted " to show the same dili- gence to the full assurance of hope unto the end" (Heb. vi. 11), and to " give diligence to make our calling and election sure, for if we do these things we shall never fall." 2 Pet. i. 10. (3.) There are examples of its attainment by ancient believers recorded in Scripture. Thus Paul: " I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able," etc. " I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid np for me a crown of righteousness," etc. 2 Tim. i. 12; iv. 7, 8; and John : 1 John ii. 3 ; xiv. 14. (4.) There have been unquestionable instances in modern times in which sincere Christians have enjoyed a full assurance of their personal salvation, and in which their entire lives have vindicated the genuineness of their faith. The Pro- testant Reformers as a class were eminent examples of the possession of this assurance. God had qualified them for their great work with an extraordinary mea- sure of this grace. Their controversy with the Roman- ists also led them to lay great stress upon the duty of ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION. 325 this attainment, even going so far as to identify assu- rance and faith, juaiving it essential to salvation. The Homanists held that faith is mei'e intellectual assent to the truth, not involving trust, and that hence faith has nothing to do with the judgment any one makes of his own personal salvation, and hence that no one could attain to any certainty upon that point in this life with- out an extraordinary revehition.* The Reformers, on the other hand, went so fiir as to teach that the special object of justifying faith is the favour of God toward us for Christ's sake. Therefore to believe is to be assured of our own personal salvation. Thus Luther, Melancthon and Calvin taught. This is the doctrine taught in the Augsburg Confession and Heidelberg Catechism. It is not, however, taught in any other of the Reformed Con- fessions, and, as will be seen below, is not the doctrine of our Standards. 3d. This infiillible assurance of faith rests (1) upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation. Although it is one thing to be assured that the promise is true, and another thing to be assured of our own i)ersonal interest in it, yet assurance of the truth of the promise tends, in connection with a sense of our personal reliance upon it, directly to strengthen our assured hope that it will be fulfilled in our case also. Therefore God confirmed his promise by an oath, " That by two immutable things (his promise and his oath), in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fl'jd for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us in the gospel." lleb. vi. 18. Thus faith includes trust. Trust rests upon the divine truth of the promises, and * Council of Trent, Sess. vi., cli. ix. S2G CONFESSION OF FAITH. in turn supports hope. And the fuhiess of hope is assu ra'ice. This assurance rests (2) upon the inward evi- dence of those graces unto which tlic promises are made. Thns the Scriptures promise that whosoever believes shall have everlasting life. The believer whose faith is vigorous and intelligent has a distinct evidence in his own consciousness that he for one does believe. Hence the conclusion is obvious that he shall have everlasting life. The same promise is given to all who love God, to all who love the brethren, to all who keep his com- mandments, to the pure in heart, to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, etc. Hence when these graces are possessed in such a degree, strength and purity that we are conscious of their genuineness, then the conclusion is immediate and irresistible that we are in union with Christ and have a right to appropriate the promises to ourselves. This assurance rests (3) upon the testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God. This language is taken from Rom. viii. 16. The sense in which this witnessing of the Holy Spirit to our spirits is to be understood has been much debated among theologians. Some have maintained that the passage teaches that the Holy Spirit in some mysterious way directly reveals to our spirits the fact that we are the children of God, as one man immediately conveys information to another man. The objections to this view are, that Christians are not and cannot be conscious of any sucli injection of information from without into the mind, and that, as far as such testimony alone is concerned, we would be un- able to distinguish cei'tainly the testimony of the Spirit ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION. 327 from the conclusions of our own reasons or the sug-ges- tions of our own hearts. An expectation of such direct communications would he likely to generate enthusiasm and presumption. Some have maintained, on the oppo- site extreme, that the Spirit witnesses with our spirits only indirectly through the evidence aiforded by the graces he has formed within us. The true view appears to be that the witness of the Spirit to our spirits that we are the children of God comprehends a number of particulars, all of which are combined by the Spirit to this end: (1.) The Spirit is the Author of the promises of Scripture, and of the marks of character indicating the persons to which the promises belong. (2.) The Spirit is the Author of the graces of the saints, corre- sponding to the marks of character which are associated with these promises in the Scripture. (3.) The Spirit gives to the true believer, especially to the Christian eminent for diligence and faithfulness, the grace of spiritual illumination, that he may possess a keen insight into his own character, that he may judge truly of the genuineness of his own giaces, that he may rightly inter- pret the promises and the characters to which they are limited in the Scriptures; so that, comparing the out- ward standard with the inward experience, he may draw correct and unquestionable conclusions. (4.) The Holy Spirit is the direct Author of faith in all its degrees, as also of love and hope. Full assurance, therefore, which is the fulness of hope resting on the fulness of faith, is a state of mind which it is the office of the Holy Ghost to induce in our minds in connection with the evidence of our gracious character above stated. In whatever way he works in us to will and to do of his own good 328 CONFESSION OP FAITH. pleasure, or sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts (Rom. V. 5), or begets us again to a lively hope, hi that way he gives origin to the grace of full assurance — not as a blind and fortuitous feelinix, but as a leo:itimate and undoubting conclusion from appropriate evidence. (5.) The presence of the Holy Spirit is the first instal- ment of the benefits of Christ's redemption, granted to those for whom they were purchased, and therefore the pledge and earnest of the completion of that redemption in due time. Thus Paul says of the Ephesians, " In whom also (Christ), after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Ploly Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritani;e, until the redemption of the purchased possession." Eph. i. 13, 14; iv. 30; 1 John ii. 20, 27 ; 2 Cor. i. 22 ; v. 5.* Section TIL — This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties, before he be partaker of it:*" j'et, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto.** And, there- fore, it is the duty of every one to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure;'* that thereby his heart maybe enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedi- ence," the proper fruits of this assurance : so far is it from in- clining men to looseness." Section IV. — True believers may have the assurance of their salvation in divers ways shaken, diminished and intermitted ; as, by negligence in preserving of it; by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the conscience and grieveth the Spirit ; by some sudden or vehement temptation; by God's withdrawing the "ight of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear him to * See Chalmer.s' Lee. on Rom., vol. ill., pp. 64-68. 'assurance of grace and salvation. 32J) walk in darkness, and to have no light ;^* yet arc they never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of h(;art and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assur- ance may in due time be revived,*® and by the which, in the mean- time, they are supported from utter desjiair." 10 1 John V. 13,- Isa. 1. 10; Mark ix. 24; Ps. Ixxxviii.; Ixxvii. 1-12.—" 1 Cor. ii. 12; 1 John iv. 13; Heb. vi. 11, 12 ; Eph. iii. 17-19.— 12 2 Pet. i. 10.— 13 Rom. V. 1, 2, 5; xiv. 17; xv. 13; Eph. i. 3, 4; Ps. iv. 6, 7; cxix. 32.—" 1 John ii. 1, 2; Rom. vi. 1, 2; Tit. ii. 11, 12, 14; 2 Cor. vii. 1; Rom. viii. 1, 12; 1 John iii. 2, 3; Ps. cxxx. 4; 1 John i. 6, 7.— i^ Cant. v. 2, 3, 6; Ps. Ii. 8, 12, 14; Eph. iv. 30, 31; Ps. Ixxvii. 1-10; Matt. xxvi. 69-72; Ps. xxxi. 22; Ixxxviii.; Isa. 1. 10. — i^ 1 John iii. 9; Luke ^xii. 32; Job xiii. 15; Ps. Ixxiii. 15; Ii. 8, 12; Isa. 1. 10.— 17 Mic. vii. 7-9; Jer. xxxii. 40; Isa. liv. 7-10; Ps. xxii. 1; Ixxxviii. These Sections teach — 1st. That this infallible assurance is not of the essence of faith — that on the contrary a man may be a true be- liever and yet destitute of this assurance. 2d. That being, nevertheless, as taught in tlie preced- ing Sections, attainable in this life in the use of ordinary means, without extraordinary revelation, it is conse- quently the duty of every one to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure, because this assur- ance, instead of inclining men to negligence, tends ])roperIy to increase («) spiritual peace and joy, (b) love and thankfulness to God, and (c) strength and cheerful- ness in the works of obedience. 3d. True believers after having attained this assur- ance may have it shaken, diminished and intermitted, the cause or occasions of which are such as — [a) negli- gence in preserving this grace in full exercise; (6) falling into some special sin , (c) some sudden and vehement temptations; {d) God's temporary withdrawing of the light of his countenance. .'530 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 4th. Nevertheless, since, as was shown under lapter xvii., no true believer is ever permitted totally) o fall away from grace, he is never left entirely with- ^t any token of God's favour, and, the root of faith rem uing, this assurance may in due time be revived. 1st. That this infallible assurance is not of the essence of saving faith is affirmed over and over again i our Standards, and is true. Assurance, in one degree or an- other of it, is of the essence of faith, because jus' in proportion to the strength of our faith is our assur- of the truth of that which we believe. But since faith exists in very various degrees of strength, since its exercises are sometimes intermitted, it foil /s that the assurance which accompanies true faith is not always a full assurance.* Besides this, the phrase " full or infallible assurance," in this Chapter, does not relate to the certainty of our faith or trust as to the truth of the object upon which the faith rests — that is, the divine promise of salvation in Christ — but to the certainty of our hope or belief as to our own personal relation to Christ and eternal sal- vation. Hence it follows that while assurance, in some degree of it, does belong to the essence of all real faith in the sufficiency of Christ and the truth of the prom- ises, it is not in any degree essential to a genuine faith that the believer should be persuaded of the truth of his own experience and the safety of his estate. Theolo- gians consequently have distinguished between the as- surance of faith (Heb. x. 22) — that is, a strong faith as to the truth of Christ — and the assurance of hope (Heb. vi. 11) — that is, a certain persuasion that we are tru^ bft- ♦ Conf. Faith, ch. xiv. § 3; L. Cat., Q. 81. ASSURANCE OP GRACE AND SALVATION. 331 lieverajT nd therefore safe. This latter is also called the asslu'diice of sense, because it rests upon the inward sense Kii'<3 soul has of the reality of its own spiritual ex- perieur>2S. The first is of the essence of faith, and ter- minat'^" directly upon Christ and liis promise, and hence is called the direct act of faith. Tiie latter is not of the essena; of faith, but its fruit, and is called the reflcv act of faith, because it is drawn as an inference from the exp "^ience of the graces of the Spirit which the soul 'TOS when it reflects upon its own consciousness, says that whosoever believes is saved — TFiat is the 0. /t of direct faith, I believe — That is the matter of co> a'ious experience. Therefore I am saved — That is the matter of inference and the essence of full assur- ance.* That this full assurance of our own gracious state is not of the essence of saving faith is proved — (1.) From the form in which the offer of salvation in Christ, which is the object of saving faith, is set forth in the Scrip- tures. " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;" "Whosoever will, let him come;" " Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." The matter revealed, and therefore the truth accepted by faith, is not that God is reconciled to me in Christ, but that Christ is presented to me as the foundation of truth, and will save me if I do truly trust. It is evi- dent that trust itself is something dilferent from the certainty that we do trust, and that our trust is of the right kind. (2.) All the promises of the Bible are made to classes — to believers, to saints, etc. — and not to * Dr. William Cunningliam's Keformers and Theology of the Ref- ormation, Essay iii. 332 CONFESSION OF FAITH. individuals. (3.) Paul appeared to doubt as tc the genuineness of his faith long after he was a true be- liever. (4.) As we saw above, the Bible contains many exhortations addressed to believers to go on to the grace of full assurance, as something beyond their present at- tainments. Heb. vi. 11 ; 2 Pet. i. 10. (5.) The expe- rience of the great body of God's people in modern times proves the same thing. 2d. Since this infallible assurance is not of the essence of faith, but its fruit, and one of the highest attain- ments of the divine life, and since it may be attained in this life in the use of ordinary means, without extraor- dinary revelation, it follows necessarily that its attain- ment is a duty as well as a grace, that all that leads to it should be diligently sought, and that all that prevents it should be carefully avoided. Genuine assurance can- not lead to looseness and indifference in the cultivation of grace and the performance of religious duties, since its very existence depends (a) upon the evidence afforded by diligence in those duties, and by the strength of those graces, that we are true believers, and (6) upon the ap- proving witness of the Holy Spirit. As we have seen above, under Sections i. and ii., a false and presumptuous assurance is to be discriminated from a genuine assur- ance by certain clear, practical marks. On the contrary, genuine assurance naturally leads to a legitimate and abiding peace and joy, and to love and thankfulness to God, and these, from the very laws of our being, to greater buoyancy, strength and chterfulness in the prac- tice of obedience in every department of duty. It hence follows that every princij)le of self-interest and every obligation resting upon us as Christians conspire to ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION. ooo induce us to use all diligence in seeking the full attain- ment and the abiding enjoyment of this grace. 3d. Since this assurance rests upon the consciousness of gracious experiences and tlie witness of the Holy Ghost, and, as we have seen under Chapters xiii. and xvii., that true Christians may temporarily, though never totally, fall from the exercise of grace, and since these exercises in this life are never perfect and unmixed with carnal elements, it necessarily follows that the as- surance which rests upon them must be subject to be shaken, diminished and intermitted in divers ways. (a.) Since it is a duty as well as a grace, it must be im- perilled by any want of diligence in preserving it in full exercise. (6.) Since it rests upon the consciousness of gracious exercises, it must be marred, if not intermitted, by any notable fall into sin which grieves the Holy Spirit and wounds the conscience, thus clouding the sense of for- giveness and diminishing the evidence of grace, (c.) The same may evidently be effected by some vehement temp- tation, [d.) The same effect may be produced by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance, in the way of fatherly discipline, for the jiurpose of trying our faith and convincing us of our entire dependence and of the all-sufficiency of his gracious help. 4th. Since the true believer may fall into sin, but may never fall totally from grace, it is self-evident, as taught in these Sections, that he may lose tiie exercise of full assurance, but that he cannot lose the principle from which it springs; and that hence, through the blessing of God upon the diligent use of the appropriate means, it may be strengthened Avhen weakened, and re- covered when lost. 334 CONFESSION OF FAITH.. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the first proposition taught in Sections i. and ii. ? 2. What is the second proposition there taught? 3. What is the third? 4. What reason have we for believing tliat a spurious assurance is possible to the unregenerated ? 5. By what tests may spurious be distinguished from genuine assurance ? 6. What is the degree of assurance attainable ? 7. How can you prove that such an infallible assurance may be attained? 8. What was the experience and what the position of the Pro- testant Reformers on this point? 9. What position was maintained by their Romish antagonists? 10. What is the ^rsf-mentioned ground upon which this as- surance rests ? 11. Show how it results from the divine truth of the promises of salvation. 12. What is the second ground mentioned? 13. Show how it springs fcom the inward evidence of grace. 14. What is the third ground mentioned? 15. What different opinions have been entertained as to the nature of the witness borne by the Holy Spirit to our spirits? 16. State all the ways in which the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits. 17. What is the first proposition taught in Sections iii. and iv. ? 18. What is the second there taught? 19. What is the third? 20. What is the /ow?Y/t .^ 21. In what sense does some degree of assurance belong to the very essence of faith ? 22. To what subject does the assurance spoken of in this Chapter relate? 23. Explain the distinction between the assurance of faith and the assurance of hope. 24. Why is the latter called also the assurance of sense? ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION. 335 25. Wliy is it called also the rejiex act of faith ? 26. Prove that this full assurance of our own gracious state is not of the essence of saving faith. 27. Show that the attainment of this assurance is a duty a.«) well as a grace. 28. Show that genuine assurance cannot lead to spiritual sloth- fulness or neglect of duty. 29. Show, on the contrary, why its exercise must lead to joy, gratitude and diligence. 30. State the various ways whereby this assurance may be diminished or lost. 31. Show why it can never be lost beyond recovery. CHAPTER XIX. OF THE LAW OF GOD. Skction 1. — God gave to Adain a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him, and all his posterity, to personal, entire, exact and perpetual obedience ; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it ; and endued him with power and ability to keep it.* Section II. — This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness ; and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai in ten commandments, and written in two tables;' the first four commandments containing our duty toward God, and the other six our duty to man.' »Gen. i. 26, 27; ii. 17: Rom. ii. 14, 15; x. 5; v. 12, 19; Gal. iii. 10, 12; Rccles. vii. 29 ; Job xxviii. 28.-2 James i. 25 ; ii. 8, 10-12 ; Rom. siii. 8, 9 ; Deut. V. 32; x. 4; Ex. xxxiv. 1.— « Matt. xxii. 37-40. These Sections teach the following propcsitions : 1st. That God, as the supreme moral Governor of the universe, introduced the human race into existence as an order of moral creatures, under inalienable and ])erpetual subjection to an all-perfect moral law, Avhich in all the elements thereof binds man's conscience and requires perfect obedience. 2(1. That God, as the Guardian of the human race, entered into a special covenant with Adam, as the nat- ur:d head of th(> race, constituting him also the federal head of all mankind, and requiring from him, during a period of probation, j)orfe(t ol)edience to the law above 336 THE LAW OV GOD. 337 named, promising to him and to his descendants in him confirmation in lioliness and eternal felicity as the reward of obedience, and threatening both his wratii and curse as the punishment of disobedience. 3d. This hw after the fiill, and the introduction of the dispensation of salvation through the Messiah, while it ceased to offer salvation on the ground of obedience, nevertheless continued to be the revealed expression of God's will, binding all human consciences as the rule of life. 4th. That this moral law has for our instruction been summarily comprehended, as to its general principles, in their application to the main relations men sustain to God and to each other, in the Ten Commandments, " which were delivered by the voice of God upon Mount Sinai, and written by him on two tables of stone; and are recorded in the twentieth chapter of Exodus. The first four Commandments containing our duty to God, and the other six our duty to man." L. Cat., Q. 98. 1st. God introduced man at his creation as a moral agent under inalienable and perpetual subjection to an all-perfect moral law, which binds his conscience and requires perfect obedience. This follows self-evidently and necessarily from the very nature of God as a moral Governor, and from the nature of man as a moral agent. Of this law we remark — (1) that it has its ground in the all-perfect and unchangeable moral nature of God. When we affirm that God is holy, we do not mean that he makes right to be right by simply willing it, but that he wills it because it is right. There must there- fore be some absolute standard of righteousness. This absolute standard of righteousness is the divine nature. 22 338 CONFESSIOX OF FAITH. The infallible judge of righteousness is the divine intel- ligence. The all-perfect executor and rule of righteous- ness among the creatures is the divine will. The form of our duties springs from our various relations to God and to man. But the invariable principle upon which all duty is grounded, and Avhich gives it its binding moral obligation, is rooted in the changeless nature of God, of which his will is the outward expression. All the divine laws belong to one or other of four classes. They are either — (a.) Such as are grounded directly in the perfections of the divine nature, and are hence absolutely immutable and irrepealable even by God himself These are such as the duty of love and obedience to God, and of love and truth in our relations to our fellow-creatures. (6.) Such as have their immediate ground in the per- manent nature and relations of men, as, for instance, the laws which protect the rights of property and regulate the relation of the sexes. These continue unchanged as long as the present constitution of nature continues, and are of universal binding obligation, alike because of their natural propriety as because of the will of God by which they are enforced; although God, who is the Author of nature, may in special instances waive the application of the law at his pleasure, as he did in the case of po- lygamy among the ancient Jews. (c.) Such as have their immediate ground in the chano-iuir relations of individuals and communities. Of this class is the great mass of the civil and judicial laws of the ancient Jews, which express the will of God for them in their peculiar circumstances, and which of course are intended to be binding only so long aa THE LAW OF GOD. 339 tlie special conditions to wliich they are appropriate exist. (cZ.) Such as depend altogether for their binding obli- ^tion upon the positive coniniaiid of God, wliich are neither universal nor perpetual, but bind tho^e ptr^-ons only to whom God has addressed them, and only so long as the positive enactment endures. This d&ss includes all rites and ceremonies, etc. (2.) We remark in the second place that this moral law, at least in its essential principles, and as far as was necessary for the guidance of men in a state of innoccncy, was revealed in the very constitution of man's nature; and although it has been greatly obscured by sin, it remains sufficiently clear to render even the heathen without excuse. This is certain [a) because it is asserted and argued by Paul (Rom. i. 10, 20; ii. 14, 15), (6) from the fact that all heathen do possess and act upon such an innate sense of right and of moral account- ability, although they may in various degrees be ignorant of specific moral duties. This moral law written upon the heart was part of Adam's original endowment when lie was created, as we saw under Chapter iv., § 2. (3.) We remark that the revelation of this moral law of God made in the human constitution, however suffi- cient it may have been for the guidance of n)an before he fell in the natural relations hn sustained to his Creator, is under his present circumstanccb altogether insufficient, as we saw under Chapter i., § 1. Hence God has been pleased to make a more full and explicit revelation of his law to man in the inspired Scriptures taken as a whole, which is the only and the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice, as we saw under Chajiter i. 340 CONFESSION OF FAITH. (4.} We remark in the fourth place that the Scripliires behig the only and a complete rule of faith and practice, whatever is revealed therein as the will of God is part of the moral law for Christian men, and whatever is not- revealed therein as his will, either dii-ectly or by necessary implication, is no part of our moral obligation at all. See Chapter xvi., §§ 1 and 2. 2d. That God introduced Adam, as the head and representative of the whole human family, at his crea- tion, into a covenant relation to the law, making perfect obedience to it for a probationary period the condition of his character and destiny for ever, we have already discussed. Chapter vii., §§ 1 and 2. After the fall of Adam, both he and all his race became incapable of satisfying that covenant themselves, and it pleased God to send forth his Son, made under the law, being born of a woman, to fulfil as the second Adam all the re- quirements of the legal covenant in behalf of his elect, and to secure for them all its benefits, as we saw under Chapter viii. 3d. While the law in its relation of a covenant of worlis has been fulfilled by our Surety, so that they wlio are under grace are no more under the law in that capacity (Rom. vi. 14), nevertheless the law as a rule of action and standard of character is immutable, unre- laxable and inalienable in its personal relations. Christ fulfilled the law for us vicariously as the condition of salvation, and on that basis we are justified. But no one can be vicariously conformed to the law for us as a rule of conduct or of moral character. Therefore while Christ fulfilled the law for us, the Holy Spirit fulfils the law in us, by sanctifying us into couiplete conformity THE LAW OF GOD. 341 to it. And in obedience to this law tlie believer brings forth those good works which are the fruits though not the ground of our salvation. 4th. That this moral law has been summarily com- prehended in the two tables of the law, called the Ten Commandments, is a fact not disputed. By this it is not meant that every duty which God now<. requires of Christian men may be directly derived from the deca- logue, but that the general principles of the infinite law of moral perfection, as adjusted to the general relations sustained by men to God and to one another, may be found there. This is certain, because — (1.) The two tables of the law were placed under the mercy-seat, which was God's throne, and were called the testimonies of God against the sins of the people; and over them, upon the "covering" or mercy-seat, the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sin-offering. Ex. xxx. 6 ; xxxi. 18 ; Lev. xvi. 14, 15. They therefore rep re- sented that all-perfect law of righteousness which is the foundation of God's throne, and which is the testimony of God against human sin, and which is })ropitiated by the atoning sacrifice of Christ. (2.) The Ten Commandments teach love to God and to man, and on these, the Saviour said, hang all the law and the prophets. ^latt. xxii. 37-40. (3.) Christ said, that if a man keep this law he shall live. Luke x. 25-28. (4.) Every specific duty taught in any portion of the Scriptures may more or less directly be referred to one or other of the general precepts taught in the Decalogue. These commandments were originally written by the finger of God himself on two tables of stone. The first 342 CONFESSION OF FAITH. four relate to the duties man owes to God, and the re- maining six reUite to the duties we owe to our fellow- men. The Romish Church assigns only three com- niandments to the first table and seven to the second. She unites the First and Second Commandments together, in order to make it appear that only the worship of false gods and images of them are forbidden, while the images of the true God and of saints are not excluded from the instruments of worship; and in order to keep up the number, she divides the Tenth into two — making the first clause the Ninth Commandment, and the re- maining clauses the Tenth. The great rule for interpreting the Decalogue is to keep constantly in mind that it is the law of God and not the law of man — that it respects and requires the conformity of the governing affections and dispositions of the heart as well as the outward actions. Every commandment involves a general moral principle, appli- cable to a wide variety of particular conditions, respect- ing the motives and ends of action, as well as action itself. The rules of interpretation laid down in the L. Cat., Q. 99, are in substance as follows : . (1.) The law is perfect, requiring perfect obedience, and condemnino; the least shortcoming; as sin. (2.) It is spiritual, i-especting thoughts, feelings, motives and inward states of hearts, as well as actions. (3.) That every command implies a corresponding prohibition, and every prohibition a corresponding com- mand; and every promise a corresponding threatening, and every threatening a corresponding promise. (4.) That under one sin or duty all of the same kind are forbidden or commanded, together with all that THE LAW OF GOD. 343 directly or indirectly, are the causes or occasions of them. (5.) That we are not only bound to fulfil the law ouiselves, but also to helj) others to do so as far as v/e can. Section 111. — Besides this law, comnionly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a Churpli under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances: partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings and benefits ;* and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties.* All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated under the New Testament.' Section IV. — To them, also, as a body politic, he gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the state of that peo- ple, not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require.' Section V. — The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof;® s.nd that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in resi.ect of the authority of God, the Creator, who gave it.' Neither doth Christ in the gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.'" ♦ Ileb. ix. ; X. 1 ; Gal. iv. 1-3 : Col. ii. 17.— » 1 Cor. v. 7 ; 2 Cor. vi. 17 ; Judo 2.3.-6 Col. ii. 14, 16, 17; Dan. ix. 27; Eph. ii. 15, 16.—' Ex. xxi. ; xxii. 1-29 ; Gen. xlix. 10; 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14; Matt. v. 17, 38, 39; 1 Ccr. ix. 8_10.— 8 Rom. xiii. 8-10; Eph. vi. 2; 1 John ii. 3, 4, 7, 8.-9 James ii. 10, ll._io Matt. V. 17-19 ; James ii. 8; Rom. iii. 31. These Sections teach — 1st. That besides the moral law summarily expressed in the Decalogue, God gave the Jews a ceremonial law, wherein, by means of types and .symbols, (a) Christ and his work were set forth, and (6) certain moral truths in- culcated. 2d. That he also gave to them as a body politic a system of judicial laws. 344 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 3d. That both the ceremonial and judicial la^v^ of the Jews have ceased to have any binding force under the Christian economy. 4th. That on the other hand the moral law continues of unabated authority, not only because its elements are intrinsically binding, but because, also, of the authority of God, who still continues to enforce it. And Christ, instead of lessening, has greatly increased the obligation to fulfil it. We have already stated, under the preceding Sections of this Chapter, the principles which distinguish the different classes of divine commands. Those commands which have their ground or reason either in the essential principles of the divine nature or in the permanent constitution of things, of course have not been abrogated by the introduction of the Christian dis- pensation. On the contrary, it was precisely the law of perfect moral rectitude that Christ vicariously ful- iillcd as our representative, and thus became the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Rom. X. 4. Christ also redeemed his people from iniquity, that they might be zealous of good works (Tit. ii. 4); and we have seen under Chapter xviii. that those only are irood works which are done in obedience to the law. By redemption, also, Christ has brought his people under new and higher obligations to obedience; he fur- nishes new motives, and in the graces of regeneration and sanctification he communicates to the soul new powers and encouragements for the same. Some of these original laws, founded on the constitution of things, God was ])leased under the Mosaic dispensation to relax to a degree, as in the case of marriage and divorce; but THE LAW OV GOD. 345 iu eveiy case the original law, instead of being abro- gated, has been restored to its pristine breadth and au- thority by Christ and his apostles. The Sermon on the Mount, recorded in the fiftii, sixth anh. v. 2 ; Heb. ix. 26, 28 ; xiii. 11, 12. That the coining of Christ has suptv.ssded and for ever done away with the ceremonial law \s also evi- dent from the very fact just stated — tluii' ihese \vere types of him, that they were the shadows vf wlii^h lie THE LAW OF GOD. 347 was the substance. Their whole purpose and design were evidently discharged as soon as his real work of satisfaction was accomplished; and therefore it i-s not only a truth taught in Scripture (Heb. x. 1-14; Col. ii. 14-17; Eph. ii. 15, 16), but an undeniable historical fact, that the priestly work of Christ immediately and definitely superseded the work of the Levitical priest. The instant of Christ's death, the veil separating the throne of God from the approach of men " was rent in twain from top to bottom" (Matt, xxvii. 50, 51), thus throwing the way open to all, and dispensing with priests and their ceremonial for ever. That the judicial laws of the Jews have ceased to have binding obligation upon us follows plainly, from the fact that the peculiar relations of the people to God as theocratic King, and to one another as fellow-mem- bers of an Old Testament Church State, to which tliese laws were adjusted, now no longer exist. Section VI. — Although true believers be not under the law a3 a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned," yet is it of great use to them, as well as to others : in that, as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and tlieir duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly;'''' discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature, hearts and lives;" so as, examining themselves thereby, they may come to further convic- tion of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin ;" together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection of his obedience." It is likewise of use to the regenerate, to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin ;'* and the tln-eat- enings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law." The promises of it, in like manner, show them God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance 348 CONFESSION OF FAITH. tbereof,^^ although not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works ;^® so as a man's doing good, and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law, and not under grace.'* Section VII. — Neither are the forementioned uses of the law contrary to the grace of the gospel, but do sweetly comply with it:^^ the Spirit of Christ subduing and enabling the will of man to do that freely and cheerfully which the will of God revealed in the law requireth to be done.'*^ ii Rom. vi. 14; Gal. ii. 16; iii. 13 ; iv. 4, 5; Acts xiii. 39 ; Rom. viii. 1. — " Rom. vii. 12, 22, 25; Ps. cxix. 4-6; 1 Cor. vii. 19; Gal. v. 14, 16, 18- 23.— 1* Rom. vii. 7 ; iii. 20.—" James i. 23-25 ; Rom. vii. 9, 14, 24.— i* Gal. iii. 24; Rom. vii. 24, 25; viii. 3, 4.— 16 James ii. 11 ; Ps. cxix. 101, 104, 123.—" Ezra ix. 13, 14; Ps. Ixxxix. 30-34.— is Lev. xxvi. 1-14; 2 Cor. vi. 16; Eph. vi. 2, 3; Ps. xxxvii. 11; Matt. v. 5; Ps. xix. 11.— 19 Gal. ii. 16; Luke xvii. 10.— ^ Rom. vi. 12, 14; 1 Pet. iii. 8-12; Ps. xxxiv. 12-16; Heb. xii. 28, 29.-21 Gal. iii. 21.-22 Ezek. xxxvi. 27; Heb. viii. 10; Jer. xxxi. 33. In these Sections it is affirmed — 1st. That since the fall no man is able to attain to righteousness and eternal life through obedience to the law. This is beyond question, because all men have sinned ; because men's natures are depraved ; because the law demands perfect and perpetual obedience; and because, "If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Gal. ii. 21. 2d. That those who have embraced the Gospel of Christ are no longer under the law as a covenant of life, but grace. 3d. That nevertheless, under the gospel dispensation and in perfect harmony with its principles, tlie law is of manifold uses for all classes of men, and especially in the following respects : (1 .) To all men generally the law is a revelation of THE LAW OF GOD. 349 the character and will of God, a standard of moral excellence and a rule for the regulation of action. (2.) To unregenerate men, considered in relation to the gospel, the law is of use to convince them of the holiness and justice of God, of their own guilt and pol- lution, of their utter inability to fulfil its requii^eraents, and so to act as a, schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. Rom. vii. 7-13 ; Gal. iii. 24. (3.) With respect to incorrigible sinners, the law is of use to restrain the outbursts of their evil passions, to render their disobedience without excuse, to vindicate the justice of God in their condemnation, and to render their cases a warning to others. 1 Tim. i. 9; Rom, i. 20; ii. 15 ; John iii. 18, 36. (4.) In respect to regenerate men, the law continues to be indispensable as the instrument of the Holy Ghost in the work of their sanctification. It remains to them an inflexible standard of righteousness, to which their nature and their actions ought to correspond. It shows them the extent of their obligations to Christ, and how far short, as yet, they are from having apprehended that whereunto they were apprehended in Christ Jesus. It thus tends to set up in the regenerate the habit of con- viction of sin and of repentance and faith. Its threaten- ings and its promises present motives deterring from sin and assuring of grace, and thus leading the soul onward to that blissful attainment when the sovereignly im- posed law of God will become the spontaneous law of our spirits, and hence that royal law of liberty of which James speaks. James i. 25; ii. 8, 12. See L. Cat., Qs, 94-97. 350 CONFESSION OF FAITH. QUESTIONS. 1. What is ihejirst proposition taught in tlie first two Sections? 2. What is the second pronosition there taught? 3. What is the third taught? 4. What is the /o?. Why is it certain that at his creation God phiced man under an inaHenable and perpetual obhgation to obey the moral law? 6. What is the ultimate ground and rule of all law? 7. What relation in this regard does the divine will sustain to the divine nature ? 8. Into how many classes may all divine laws be distributed? 9. State the characteristics of ihejirst class. 10. Do the same of the second class. 11. Do the same of the third class. 12. Do the same of the /o?(r//t class. 13. How was this moral law at first revealed? 14. State proof of your answer. 15. Is this law as thus revealed sufficient for man's needs since the fall? 16. Where is the only complete revelation of the will of God made to man ? 17. What practical conclusions follow from the fact that the Scriptures are the only rule of faith and practice, and complete as such ? 18. Into what special relation to the law was man introduced at his creation ? 19. What was the issue of that arrangement? 20. Who has taken Adam's forfeited place in that covenant? 21. Have the elect been delivered from the claims which the law makes upon us in every relation, and if not, in what respect does the law remain binding? 22. What is meant when it is asserted that the whole moral law is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments? 23. Prove that such is the fact. 2i. In what way and for what purpose has the Church of Rome tampered with the Decalogue? THE LAW OF GOD. 351 25. What is tlie great principle we are to bear in mind in inter- preting the Decalogue? 26. What is the Jirst rule laid down in the L. Cat., Q. 99? 27. What is the second rule there laid down ? What the third, fourth and fifth? 28. What is the first proposition taught in the third, fourth and fifth Sections? 29. What is the second proposition there taught? 30. What is the third ? 31. What is the fourth? 32. What laws were not abrogated by the introduction of the Christian dispensation ? 33. Prove that the moral law was not abrogated. 34. By what principles are we to determine what laws are of permanent and what are of temporary obligation ? 35. In what different aspects may the Mosaic institute be viewed? 36. How can you prove that the ceremonial system introduced by Moses was typical of Christ and his work ? 37. State the difference between a sj'mbol and a type. 38. Show that the ceremonial system was superseded by Christ. 39. Show that the judicial laws of the Jews are no longer binding. 40. What is thefirst proposition taught in the sixth and seventh Sections? 41. What is the second proposition there taught? 42. What is the third? 43. What are the uses of the law to men in general under the Gospel dispensation? 44. What are its uses to unregenerate men in view of the offers of grflce in the gospel? 45. What are its uses with respect to incorrigible sinners ? 46. What are its uses to the regenerate ? CHAPTER XX. OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY AND LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. Section I. — The liberty which Christ hath purchased foi beUevers under the gospel, consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law ;^ and in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin,* from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victor}' of the grave, and ever- lasting damnation ;' as also in their free access to God,^ and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a child- like love and willing mind.^ All which were common also to behevers under the law;^ but under the New Testament, the liberty of Christians is further enlarged in their freedom from the j'oke of the ceremonial law, to which the Jewish Church was subjected,' and in greater boldness of access to the throne of grace,* and in fuller communications of the free Spirit of God than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of® 1 Tit. ii. 14; I Thcss. i. 10; Gal. iii. 13.— ^ Gal. i. 4; Col. i. 13; Acts xxvi. 18; Eoui. vi. 14; ^ Rom viii. 28; Ps. cxix. 71; 1 Cor. xv. 54-57; Roiu. viii. 1.—* Rom. v. 1, 2.-6 Rom. viii. 14, 15; 1 John iv. 18.— « Gal. iii. 9, 14.— T Gal. iv. 1-3, 6, 7; v. 1; Acts xv. 10, 11.— 8 Heb. iv. 14, 16 : x. 19-22.— 9 JoLin vii. 38, 39 ; 2 Cor. iii. 13, 17, 18. The subject of tliis Chapter is that liberty wherewith Christ malie^ his people free, which is very different liom that freedom of the will which we discussed under Chapter ix. We there saw that freedom of the will is an inalienable constitutional faculty of the human soul, whereby it always exercises its volitions as upon the whole it pleases in any given case. This liberty of wiU 352 CHRISTIAN LIBERTY — LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. 353 is essential to free agency, and is possessed by all free agents, good or bad, or they could not be held account- able. Christian liberty on the other hand implies two things; (a) such an inward spiritual condition of soul that a man has full power through grace to desire and will as he ought to do in conformity to the law of God ; and [b) such relations to God that the person is deliv- ered from the constraining motives of fear, and brought under the ennobling impulses of love and hope, and such relations to Satan and evil men that he is delivered from their coercive influences, and such providential circumstances that he has knowledge of his privileges and gracious aid in availing himself of them. This liberty involves the change of nature effected in regen- eration and perfected in sanctification, and the change of relation involved in justification. It is a main element in the grace of adoption, and a privilege of all the chil- dren of God. Rom. viii. 24. It was purchased for as by Christ, and is therefore attributed to him (Gal. v. 1); it is applied and effectually wroiight in us by the Holy Ghost, and therefore attributed to him, 2 Cor. iii. 17. This Section sets forth this precious and most com- prehensive Christian grace in two orders — -fird, as it is common to all believers at all times, and, seaoud, an it is enjoyed })re-eminently in certain respects by believers under the new dispensation in contrast to believers under the old. 1st. As this Christian liberty is common to all be- lievers in all ages, it consists mainly in the following particulars : (1.) They are delivered from the guilt of sin and the curse of the moral law. This is done, as we saw under 354 CONFESSION OF FAITH. Chapter xi,, when the believer is justified, liis guilt in strict rigour of justice cancelled, and all the demands of the law satisfied by crediting to his account the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. The guilt of his sin hav- ing thus been actually extinguished, and the demands of the law having been perfectly satisfied, they can no longer hold him in bondage. " It is GoD that justifi- ETH: who is he that condemneth ?" Rom viii, 33, 34. (2.) They are delivered also from the bondage of sin as an inherent principle of their nature. This deliver- ance is commenced in regeneration, and is carried on and perfected in sanctification, as we saw under Chapters X. and xiii. A law still remains in their members warring a^-ainst the law of their mind, and bringing them into captivity to the law of sin which is in their members (Rom. vii. 23); nevertheless the indwelling Holy Spirit works with tliem to will and to do of his g6od pleasure, and thus secures them, u})on the wlK)k', the victory. See Chapter xvii. (3.) They thus have peace with God, This includes the two precious benefits of God's reconciliation t" us through the propitiation of our High Priest, and our reconciliation to him through the work of the Holy Ghost. Tlius we are delivered from that fear wliich hath torment and gendereth to bondage, and have tSat filial, submissive, confiding love shed abroad in our hearts which casteth out all fear. 1 John iv. lb. The Holy Ghost himself is the earnest of our inheritance, and TT^Itnesseth with our spirits that Ave are the childnMi of God. Rom. viii. IG. Tims having a High Priest over the house of God, we have great confidence in entering into the very holiest through the new and living wa^ CHRISTIAN LIBERTY — LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. 355 opened by Christ, where God makes the clearest revela- tions and fullest communications of his grace to his beloved. (4.) They are delivered from the bondage of Satan and the dominating influence of this present evil world. The power of the " world" and the " devil" depends upon the " flesh," or the corrupt state of the tnan's own heart. Christ " was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb. iv. 15. The act of justifica- tion has consecrated the believer to God. The work of sanctificatiou breaks the power of temptation, God in every case either graciously enabling us to resist and come off conqueror, or providentially opening a way of escape for us. 1 Cor. x. 13. Tims Satan, too, is subject to his power; he helps us to resist Satan and put him to flight, and the excess of his malignant power he prevents and restrains. (5.) They are delivered from the evil of afflictions and the sting of death. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but Christ has delivered them from the curse of the law, being made a curse foi them. In justification the believer's relation to the lau is permanently changed. It is no more the basis of his salvation. And death, and all the sorrows incident to this life, which are the consequences of sin, which to the reprobate are parts of the penalty of sin inflicted ia pursuance of law, to the true believers are elements of God's chastening grace, designed for their 'mprovement. Heb. xii. 6-11. By the death of Christ believers are delivered from the fear of death. Heb. ii. 14, 15. (6.) They are also delivered from the victory of the grave and everlasting damnation. The first effect of 356 CONFESSION OF FAITH. his redemption which the true believer sensibly experi- onces is the forgiveness of his sins. If his sins are for- given, the penal consequences of them must be reraoved. " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Rom. viii. 1. There can therefore be nothing to fear beyond death, which is the gate of heaven. Even our mortal bodies are members of Christ and temples of that Holy Ghost who will quicken them and transform them into the likeness of our glorious Redeemer. 1 Cor. vi. 15-19; Rom. viii. 11 ; Phil. iii. 21. 2d. In certain respects, believers under the Gospel enjoy this Christian liberty in a higher degree than it was enjoyed by believers under tlie Old Testament. (1.) The New Testament believer is delivei'ed from the obligation of tlie ceremonial law. This law was to the Old Testament believer the revelation of the Gospel of the Son of God, and therefore an inestimable bless- ing ; but it was comparatively so obscured with material symbols and ceremonies, and enforced obedience so largely by coercive measures, that the Apostle called the whole system " the elements of the world," under which the Jews were in bondage (Gal. iv. 3) ; "a yoke of bondage" (Gal. v. 1), and " carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation." Heb. ix. 10. And in contrast therewith he exhorts the Christian Galatians to "stand fast in that liberty wherewith Christ has made us free." Gal. v. 1. We enjoy the clear light shed from the person and work of our adorable Re- deemer in person. We have the direct instead of the retiected ray — immediate access to the Father instead of a constrained approach through the medium of priesta and an outward sanctuary. CHlilSTIAN LIBERTY — LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. 357 (2.) Ill connectiou with this, believers under the present dispensation have great boldness in approach- ing God and fuller communications of his Spirit. The greater boldness now enjoyed evidently results from the clearer and fuller revelation now enjoyed of the method and completeness of redemption and the greater fulness in the communications of the Holy Ghost. This divine Person, as we know, inspired the Old Testament prophets and sanctified the Old Testament saints; nevertheless the new dispensation is pre-eminently characterized by the clearness with which the truth with respect to the office of the Holy Ghost is revealed and the fulness with which his influence is dispensed. Christ promised the gift of the Holy Ghost in this pre-eminent measure of it after his ascension. John xv. 26. Previously it was said, "The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." John vii. 39. After his ascension on the great day of Pentecost, Peter said that in fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy (Isa. xliv. 3 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 27), and the promise of Christ, "he being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." Acts ii. 17, 33. Section II. — God alone is Lord of the conscience,^" and hath Isft it free from tlie doctrines and commanduients of men which are in anything contrary to his word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship." So that to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commandments out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of con- science ;" and the re(iuiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience and rea- son also." Section III. — They who, upon pretence of Christian liberty. S58 CONFESSION OF FAITH. do practice any sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty ; which is, that, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.^* Section IV. — And because the powers which God hath or- dained, and the liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another ; they who, upon pretence of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God.^° And for their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such prac- tices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to the known prin- ciples of Christianity, whether concerning faith, worship or con- versation ; or to the power of godliness ; or such erroneous opinions or practices, as either in their own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace and order which Christ hath established in the Church ; they may lawfully be called to account, and proceeded against by the censures of the Church.^® 1" James iv. 12 ; Rom. xiv. 4.—" Acts iv. 19 ; r. 29 ; 1 Cor. vii. 23 ; Matt, xxiii. 8-10; 2 Cor. i. 24 ; Matt. xv. 9.—^'^ Col. ii. 20, 22, 23; Gal. i. 10 ; ii. 4, 5; V. 1. — 1' Rom. x. 17; Rom. xiv. 23; Isa. viii. 20: Acts xvii. 11; John iv. 22; Hos. v. 11; Rev. xiii. 12, 16, 17; Jer. viii. 9.— i* Gal. v. 13; 1 Pet. ii. 16 ; 2 Pet. ii. 19 ; John viii. 34; Luke i. 74, 75. — 15 jyiatt. xii. 25 ; 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14, 16; Rom. xiii. 1-8; Heb. xiii. 17.— 16 Rom. i. 32; 1 Cor. V. 1, 5, 11, 13; 2 John 10, 11 ; 2 Thess. iii. 14 ; 1 Tim. vi. .3-5 ; Tit. i. 10, 11, 13; iii. 10 ; Matt, xviii. 15-17 ; 1 Tim. i. 19, 20 ; Rev. ii. 2, 14, 15, 20 ; iii. 9. These Sections teach the following propositions : 1st. God alone is Lord of the human conscience, which is responsible only to his authority. 2d. God has authoritatively addressed the Human conscience only in his law, the only perfect revelation of which in this world is the inspired Scriptures. Hence God himself has set the human conscience free from all obligation to believe or obey any such doctrines or com- CHRISTIAN LIBERTY— LIBERTY OF CONSCIEKCE. 359 mandments of men as are either contrary to or aside from tlie teachings of that AVord. 3d. Hence to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commandments as a matter of conscience, is tw be guilty of ttie sin of betraying the liberty of conscience and its loyalty to its only Lord ; and to require such an obe- dience of others is to be guilty of the sin of usurping the prerogative of God and attempting to destroy the most precious liberties of men. 4th. This Christian liberty is not, however, absolute. It has its distinct end and limits. Its end is that every person, without hindrance of his fellow-men, should have opportunity to serve God according to his will. The limits of this liberty are of two kinds : (a.) The authority of God, the Lord of conscience. (6.) The equal liberties and rights of our fellow-men, with whom we dwell in organized societies. 5th. Since God has established both the Church and the State, obedience to the legitimate authorities of either, acting within their rightful sphere, is an essential part of obedience to God. 6th. The Church has the right from God of exercis- ing its discipline upon any who maintain or practice opinions or actions plainly contrary to the light of nature, the doctrines of the Scripture or the peace and welfare of the Christian community. 1st. That, in the highest and only absolute sense, God alone is Lord of the human conscience, has never been denied. The real question raised by Romanists, and those in general who have claimed the authority of binding and loosing the consciences of their fellow-men, relates to the standard which God has "iven us of hi* 360 CONFESSION OF FAITH. will, and the means he has chosen to enforce it. Th* Romanists maintain that the true standard and orffan ot the will of God in the world is the infallible inspired Church, or body of bishops ordained regularly in a dii'ect line from the aj^ostles and in communion with the See of Rome. They hold that this Church has power to define doctrines and enact laws in God's name, binding the consciences of men ; and that it possesses, in the power of the keys, the right, in execution of these laws, to absolve or condemn in God's name, to bind or loose the subject and open or shut the kingdom of heaven, and to impose ecclesiastical penalties.* By far the larger part of what the Church of Rome actually en- forces in the way of faith and practice is derived from ecclesiastical tradition and evidently perverted interpre- tations of Scripture. The Erastian State churches of Germany and Eng- land have often attempted to enforce outward uniformity in profession and worship, in spite of the conscientious scruples of multitudes of their best citizens, on the plea that the right and responsibility of regulating the eccle- siastical as well as the civil interests of the nation devolve upon the civil magistrate. In opposition to all this, Protestants insist — 2d. That God has given only one, and that a perfect, rule of faith and practice in spiritual matters in the inspired Scriptures, and that he has hence set free tlie human conscience from all obligation to believe or obey any such doctrines or commandments of men as are con- trary to or aside from the teachings of that Word. * Catechism of the Council of Trent, i. 10, 18 ; Beilarmine Eccle. Mil., ch. xiv. ; Cateohisiu of ihe Council of Trent, i. 11, 4. CHRISTIAN LIBERTY — LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. 3G1 We have already proved, under Chapter i., §§ 6, 7, 9, 10, that Scripture is at once a complete and perspicuous rule of faith and practice, and supreme judge of all controversies. It hence follows self-evidently (a) that nothing contrary to Scripture can be true, (6) that noth- iny; in addition to what is revealed or commanded in Scripture can be binding upon the conscience, and (c) that, sioce the Scriptures are perspicuous, every believer is personally responsible for interpreting Scripture and judging of all human doctrines and commandments by Scripture for himself. This is further proved — (1.) Because the Scriptures are addressed immediately either to all men promiscuously, or else to the whole body of believers as such. Deut. vi. 4-9; Luke i. 3; Rom. i. 7 ; 1 Cor. i. 2 ; Gal. i. 2, etc. (2.) All Christians promiscuously are commanded to search the Scriptures (Acts xvii. 11 ; 2 Tim. iii. 1^')-17 ; John v. 39), and to give a reason for their fiiith (1 Pet. iii. 15), and to resist the authority even of legitimate church rulers when it is opposed to that of the Lord of conscience. Acts iv. 19, 20. (3.) The "Church" which Christ promises to guide into all truth and to preserve from fatal error is not a hierarchy or a body of officers, but the body of the "called" or "elect" — the body of believers as sucl;. 1 John ii. 20, 27 ; 1 Tim. iii. 15 ; Matt. xvi. 18 ; Eph. V. 27; 1 Pet. ii. 5; Col. i. 18, 24. (4.) Those who claim, as the successors of the apostles, to exercise this authority, are utterly destitute of all the "signs of an apostle." 2 Cor. xii. 12 ; 1 Cor. ix. 1 ; Gal. i. 1, 12; Acts i. 21, 22. While ])ravision was made for the regular perpetuation of the offices of deacon and 362 CONFESSION OF FAITH. presbyter (1 Tim. iii. 1-13), there was no direction given for the perpetuation of the apostolute. They are utterly without credentials. The question as to the right of the civil magistrate to impose religious articles of faith or rules of worship will recur again under Chapter xxiii., § 3. It hence follows — 3d. That it is a great sin, involving at the same time sacrilege, and treason to the human race, for any man or set of men to arrogate the prerogative of God and to attempt to bind the consciences of their fellow-men by any obligation not certainly imposed by God and re- vealed in his woi'd. At the same time it is a sin of disloyalty to God, and a violation of our own nature as moral and rational beings, to yield to any such imposi- tion, and to accept as a matter truly binding the con- science anything not authoritatively taught and imposed in the Scriptures. 4th. It is of the highest importance, on the other hand, clearly to understand that Christian liberty is not an absolute liberty to do as we choose, but a regulated liberty to obey God without hindrance from man. It is a freedom from usurped authority, in order that we may be the more perfectly subject to the only legitimate authority. It is hence absurd, as well as wicked, for a man to make his Christian liberty to obey only God a ])lea to disobey God, as he does whenever he violates any of the principles of natural right or of revealed truth which express at once the unchangeable nature and the all-perfect will of God. There can be no liberty which sets a man independent of that will ; and this is always the will of God concerning us, even our sanctifi- eation. 1 Thess. iv. 3. CHRISTIAN LIBERTY — LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. 363 Christian liberty is also further limited by the mutual duties we owe one another. The eating of meat offered to idols is in itself a thing indifferent, because not either commanded or forbidden. The Christian, therefore, is at liberty either to eat or not to eat. But Paul com- mands the Corinthians to "take htcl lest by any means this liberty of theirs becomes a stumbling-block to them that are weak." 1 Cor. viii. 9. To allow this would be a sin. The Christian, therefore, may be at liberty to eat or not to eat, but he is not at all at liberty so to use his liberty that his fellow-man is injured thereby. The lib- erty ceases to be liberty and becomes licentiousness when it transcends the law of God or infringes upon tlie rights of our fellows. 5th and 6th. Since both the Church and the State are divine institutions, it follows necessarily that the author- ity of tlie officers of each, when acting legitimately Avithin their respective spheres, represents the authority of God and binds the Christian to obedience for conscience' sake. It follows also that both the civil magistrate and the ecclesiastical courts must have the right of enforcing obedience by a mode of discipline appropriate to both spheres of authority. These matters, however, come up appropriately under Chapters xxiii., xxv. and xxx. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the subject of this Chapter? 2. How does it differ from that of Chapter ix. ? 3. What is implied in Christian liberty? 4. In what two aspects is this liberty set forth in this Chapter? 5. What several particulars are embraced in that libf d'ty which is common to all believers? 364 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 6. How have Christians freedom from the guilt of sin and the curse of the moral law? 7. How have they liberty from the hondage of sin ? 8. In what sense have they peace with Grod ? 9. How have they liberty from the dominion of Satan and the world ? 10. How have they freedom from the evil of afflictions and the sting of death ? 11. How are they delivered from the victory of the grave and the second death? 12. In what respects do behevers under the gospel enjoy this liberty more freely than did believers under the law? 13. How is the believer under the present dispensation deliv- ered from the obligation to observe the ceremonial law, and why is that an advantage? 14. Why have believers now greater boldness in approaching God and fuller communications of his Spirit? 15. What is the first proposition taught in the second, third and fourth Sections? 16. What is the second proposition there taught? 17. What is the third there taught? 18. What is the /owr^/i- there taught? 19. What is the fifth there taught? 20. What is the sixth there taught? 21. Has it ever been denied by theists that in the absolute sense God is the only Lord of the conscience? 22. What is the Romish position on this subject? 23. What that of the Erastian State churches of Europe? 24. What, on the contrary, is the common Protestant doctrine as to the true standard of God's will in all questions of conscience? 25. In what part of this book is this question discussed? 26. If the Scriptures are a complete and perspicuous rule of faith and practice, what follows? 27. Show that the Scriptures are addressed directly to all men, or to Christians as such. 28. Show that all believers are couinianded to search the Scrip- tures and to judge of the truth of every doctrine by that standard. 29. Show that the Church which Christ has promised to lead CHRISTIAN LIBERTY — LIBERTY OF CON .SCIENCE. 365 to the knowledge of the truth is not the priesthood, but the entire company of the faithful. 30. Show that the Romish hierarchy have no support for their claims. 31. Where will the questions concerning the authority of the civil magistrate in matters of conscience be discussed? 32. What is the natur^ of their sin who attempt to impose their authority upon the consciences of others? 33. What is the nature of their sin who give up their con- sciences to the control of others? 34. What is the^?-s^ limit to Christian liberty? 35. What is the second limit to Christian liberty? 36. Show that it must be limited in both these ways. 37. Where will the questions relating to the authority of the civil magistrate and of the ecclesiastical courts be discussed? CHAPTER XXI. OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP AND THE SABBATH-DAY. Section L— The light of nature showeth that there is a God, ysho hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is good, and doeth good unto all ; and is, therefore, to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might.' But the acceptable way of worshipping the true Grod is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped accord- ing to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.'* Section II. — Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost ; and to him alone :* not to angels, saints, or any other creature:* and, since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone.^ 1 Rom. i. 20; Acts xvii. 24; Ps. cxis. 6S ; Jcr. x. 7; Ps. xxxi. 23; xvii. 3; Rom. x. 12; Ps. Ixii. 8; Josh. xxiv. 14; Mark xii. 3.3.— » Deut. xii. 32; Matt. XV. 9; Acts xvii. 25; Matt. iv. 9, 10; Deut. xv. 1-20; Ex. xx. 4-6; Col. ii. 23.-3 Matt. iv. 10 ; John v. 23; 2 Cor. xiii. 14.— « Col. ii. 18; Rev. xix. 10; Rom. i. 25.-5 John xiv. 6; 1 Tim. ii. 5 ; Eph. ii. 18; Col. iii. 17. These Sections teach — 1st. That the obligation to render supreme Avorship and devoted service to God is a dictate of nature as well as a doctrine of revehition. 2d. That God in his word lias prescribed for us how we ma} worship him acceptably, and that it is an offenoG 366 RELIGIOUS WORSHIP, AND THE SABBATH-DAY. 06 7 to hi in and a sin in us either to neglect to worship and serve him in the way prescribed, or to attempt to serve him in any way not prescribed. 3d. That the only proper objects of worship are the Fatiier, Son and Holy Ghost, and that since the full these are to be approached only through a Mediator, and through the mediation of none other than Christ alone. 4th. That religious worship is upon no pretence to be rendered to angels or to saints or to any other creature. 1st. That it is a dictate of natural reason and con- science that a Being of infinite and absolute perfection, the Creator, Possessor and sovereign Lord, the Preserver and bountiful Benefactor of all creatures, and the abso- lute moral Governor of all moral agents, should be adored, praised, thanked, supplicated, obeyed and served, is self-evident, and is witnessed to by the common con- sent of all nations of all ages. The reasons for this are — (a.) His absolute perfection in himself (6.) His in- finite superiority to us. (c.) His relation to us as Crea- tor, Preserver and moral Governor, (d.) Our absolute dependence upon him for every good, and our obliga- tions for his infinite goodness to us. [e.) His commands requiring this at our hands. (/.) The impulse of ouj nature as religious beings and morally responsible agents, (g.) The fact that our faculties find their high- est exercise, and our whole being its highest develop- ment and blessedness in this worship and service. 2d. We have already seen, under Chapter i., that God has given us in the Ploly Scriptures an infallible, au- thoritative, complete and perspicuous rule of faith and practice. That " the whole counsel of God, concerning all 56 S CONFESSION OF FAITH. tilings necessary for his own glorv and mau's salvation, tairh and lite, is either express; ly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture." It heuce necessarily follows that since Grod has prescribed the mode in which we are accept- ably to worship and serve him, ir must be an offence to hira and a sin in us for us either to neglect his way, or »n preference to practice our own. It may well have been that in the natural state of man and in his moral relations to Gixi in which he stt>od before the fall, his natural reason, conscience and religious instinct might have sufficed to direct liini in his worship and service. But since man's moral nature is depraved, and his re- ligious instincts perverted, and his relations to God reversetl by sin, it is self-evident that an explicit, posi- tive revelation is necessary not only to tell men that God will admit his worship at all, but also to prescribe the principles upon which, and the methods in which, that worship and service may be rendered. As before shown from Sc-ripture, not only all teaching for doctrine the commandments of men, but all manner of will-icorship, of selt^hosen acts and torms of worship, are an abomina- tion to God. At the same time, of course, there are, as the Confession admits, Chapter i., § 6, some circumstances concerning the worship of Grod and the government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rides of the irordL These relate obviously to the application of the principles and " general rules ' laid down in Scripture for our guidance in worship and ecclesiastical govern- ment to the varvinc times and cirenmstances of the EELIGIOUS WOR.SHIP, AXD THE SABBATH-DAY. 369 ca=e in hand. But we have in no case any right, open the ground of taste, fashion or expediency, to go beyond the clear warrant of Scripture. 3d. That the divine worship is to be addressed equally to Father, Son and Holy Ghost follows necessarily from what we have proved under Chapter ii., § 3 — ^that Fa- ther, Son and Holy Ghost being distinct persons, arc yet each equally, in the same absolute sense, the one supreme God, That God can now be acceptably ap- proached only through a Mediator is proved by what we have already prove Ocn. ii. 24; Matt. xix. C, 7; Prov. ii. 17.— 2 Gen. ii. 18.— » Mai. ii. 15. « 1 Cor. vii. 2, 9.-6 Hcb. xiii. 4; I Tim. iv. 3; 1 Cor. vii. 3fi-38 : Gen. xxiv. 67, 68.-6 1 Cor. vii. 30.— ^ Gen. .xxxiv. U; Ex. xxxiv. 16; Deut. vii. 3 4 ; 1 Kings xi. 4; Nch. iii. 25-27; Mai. ii. II, 12; 2 Cor. vi. 14. It is taught in these Sections — 1st. Tliat niairiage was ordained of God, and is there- fore a divine institution, involving a religious as well as a civil contract. 2d. Tiie ends designed to be promoted by marriage are specified. 3d. It is affirmed that the law of marriage allows it to be contracted only between one man and one woman, 40'J 410 CONFESSION OP FAITH. ami that a man can have but one wife and a woman but one husband at the same time. 4th. The pre-eminent sanctity of a life of celibacy is denied, and the lawfulness of marriage for all classes of men is affirmed. 5th. It is taught that persons of different religions should not intermarry — that true believers should not be unequally yoked with the ungodly. 1st. Marriage was ordained of God, and is therefore a divine institution. This is so — (1) because God created man male and female, and so constituted them, physic- ally and morally, that they are mutually adapted to each other and are mutually helpful to each other, under the law of marriage, and not otherwise ; and (2) because the law of marriage, the conditions of its contract, continu- ance and dissolution, are laid down in the word of God. Hence it follows that marriao;e is a religious as well as a civil contract. No State has any right to change the law of marriage, or the conditions upon which it may be lawfully constituted or dissolved, as these have been ordained by God. Neither has any man or woman a right to contract any relation different in any respeot, as to its character or duration, from that which God has ordained as marriage. Hence marriage is a human con- tract under the limits and sanctions of a divine consti- tution, and the parties contracting pledge their vows of truth and constancy to God as well as to each other and to society. But it is also a civil contract, because every State is bound to protect the foundations upon which social order reposes, and every marriage involves many ob- vious civil obligation? and leads to nia:iy civil conse- MARRIAGE AND DIVORCi;. 4 1 1 quonces, touching property, the custody of chiklreii, etc. The State must tlierefore define tlie nature and civil effects of marriage and prescribe conditions upon which and modes in wliich it shall be publicly acknowledged and ratified or dissolved. It is of the highest import- ance that (he haws of the State do not contravene the laws of God upon this subject, but be made in all respects to conform to them. In all cases of such con- flict, Christians and Christian ministers mus^ obey God rather than men. In Great Britain the civil authorities have transgressed the authority of God in tiiis matter, chiefly by declaring marriages, really })inding in God's sight, to be null and void ab initio, because of some trivial illegality as to the time in which or the persons by whom it was solemnized. In this country the sin is chiefly committed in the matter of allowing the mar- riage-bond to be dissolved for many causes not recog- nized as valid in the word of God. The law of the land is to be obeyed for conscience' sake whenever it does not contravene the higher law of God. \\'hen it plainly does so, then Christian men and church sessions are to act themselves and to treat others just as if the ungodly human enactment had no existence, and then take the consequences. 2d. The main ends designed to l)e promoted by mar- riage are stated to be — (1.) The mutual help of husband and wife. (2.) The increase of mankind wit) a legiti- mate issue. (3.) The increase of the Church ^f Christ with a holy seed. (4.) The prevention of uucleanness. 3d. The law of God makes marriage a contract for life between one man and one woman. The proof of this is as follows : 412 CONFESSION OF FAITH. (1.) God instituted marriage at fii'rft between one man and one woman. (2.) He has providentially preserved in all ages and among all nations an equal number of births of each se;s;. (3.) Experience shows that both physically, economi- cally and morally, polygamy defeats all the ends for which marriage was designed, and is inconsistent with numan nature and the relations of the sexes, while monogamy jn'oves in the highest degree adapted to effect those ends. (4.) This original law of God and of nature is of course dispensable in special cases and under peculiar conditions by the lawgiver, and whenever, and to what- soever extent it is thus dispensed it ceases to be binding, and its non-observance ceases to be sin. Thus Moses as God's agent allowed a dispensation of this law of monogamy which hatl been long disregarded among the ancestors of the Israelites, "but in the beginning it was not so." (5.) Ciirist expressly withdraws this dispeusation, and restores the law of marriage to its origuial basis. " Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shaU marry another, committeth adul- tery ; and whosoever marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." Matt. xix. 9. It is obvious that it is not the putting away a wife improj)crly, but it is the marrying another before she is dead, that is the act of adultery. And on the woman's side the adultery can- not consist in being put away, but in marrying another man while her husband lives. Hence for a man to have two wives, or a woman two husbands, living at tiie MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 413 snmo time, divorced or not, is adultery, witli tl'.e sole exceptions noted below. (6.) Our Confession teaches tliat marriage is lawful for all sorts of people who have intelligence sufficient to consent. The Romish Church allows that marriage is lawful for the great mass of men as a concession to the weakness of the flesh, but maintain that a life of celibacy is both more meritorious and more conducive to spiritual elevation. Hence they say a life of celibacy is recommended by Christ (Matt. xix. 10-12) as one of his evangelical counsels, by the observance of which supererogatory merit may be attained, and hence the Romish Church imposes it as a universal and imperative obligation upon their clergy. This all Protestants deny for the following reasons: (1.) God created man, male and female, and consti- tuted the relation of the sexes, and ordained marriage in Paradise when man was innocent. Marriage, there- fore, must be purely good, and a means of good in itself, except when abused by man. (2.) The relation is honored in being selected as the highest earthly type of the grandest heavenly fact — namely, the mystical union of the eternal Word with his Bride the Church. Eph. v. 23-33. (3.) Reason and experience unite in showing that the relation is the best conceivable condition for the bring- ing out and educating the noblest moral instincts and faculties of human nature. The best and noblest men oi' the Old AVorld and the New have been formed in the family. (4.) The vast experiment of celibacy on the part of the priesthood and of the monastic houses of the Roman 414 CONFESSION OF FAITir. Chiircli proves our position by sliowing tlie impoverish' ing and degrading tendency of the opposite system. The true meaning of wliat is taught by our Saviour (Matt. xix. 10-12), and by Paul (1 Cor. vii. 1-40), is that the unmarried are exposed to less worldly (.-are than "the married; thei'efore, that in times of persecution and public danger, and with reference to some special kind of service to which God providentially calls a man, it may be both his interest and his duty not to marry. It appears evident that even in the present age some kinds of missionary service both at home and abroad might be more efficiently accomplished for the glory of God and the good of men if our younger ministers would consent to regard marriage as less than absolutely esseu- tial, and in this respect also to "seek jirsl the kingdom of God and -his righteousness." 4th. The principle that professors of the true should not intermarry with professors of a false religion, and that true believers should not intermarry with the un- godly, touches not that which is essential to the validity of marriage, but that which belongs to its perfection, and brings in question not the reality of the marriage M'hen formed, but the propriety of forming it. Paul teaches that if one of the parties of a previous marriage becomes a Christian, the other remaining a heathen, the Christian brother or sister remains bound by the mar- riage-tie as before, unless the heathen party voluntarily abandon them, and so dissolve the relation, when the Christian is no longer bound. 1 Cor. vii. 12, 13. On the same principle, the marriages at present so common between the converted and unconverted are unquestion- ably valid, and to be respected as such. MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 415 It nevertheless remains ti"uc tliat true Christians owe it ]>oth to Christ and to their own souls not to conti-act such alliances. For how can one who })ossesses the mind and the spirit of Christ, whose afiections are as a practical fact set upon things above, whose motives, aims and inspirations are heavenly, become one flesh and heart, dwell in the most intimate of all possible communion, with a soul dead in trespasses and sins (see 2 Cor, vi. 14, 18)? If such a union is formed, it must f(^llow either that the sacred ordinance of marriage is desecrated by a union of bodies where there is no union of hearts, or in the intimate fellowship of soul with soul the believer will be greatly depressed in his inward spiritual life and greatly hindered in his attempts to serve his Master in the world. 1 Cor. vii. 39. Section IV. — Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity forbidden in the Word ;* nor can such incestuous marriages ever be made lawful by any law of man or consent of parties, so as those persons may live together as man and wife.' The man may not marry any of his wife's kindred nearer in blood than lie may of his own/** nor the woman of her husband's kindred nearer in blood than of her own. Section V. — Adultery or fornication committed after a con- tract, being detected before marriage, giveth just occasion to tlie innocent party to dissolve that contract." In the case of adul- tery after marriage, it is lawful for the innocent party to sue out a divorce, ^'^ and after the divorce to marry another, as if the of- fending party were dead.^* Section VI. — Although the corruption of man be such as ia apt to study arguments undul}' to put asunder those whom God hath joined together in marriage, yet nothing but adultery or Buch wilful desertion as can in no way be remedied by the Church or civil magistrate is cause sufficient of dissolving the bond of marriage ;" wherein a public and orderly course of i)rocccding ia 416 CONFESSION OF FAITH. to be observed, and the persons concerned in it not left to theii own wills and discretion in their own case.^^ 8 Lev. xviii. ; 1 Cor. v. 1; Amos ii. 7. — ^ Mark vi. 18; Lev. xviii. 24—28. —10 I.cv, XX. 19-21.—" Matt. i. 18-20.— i* Matt. v. 31, 32.—" Matt. xix. 8: R-iD. vii. 2, 3.—" Matt. xix. 8, 9; 1 Cor. vii. 15; Matt. xix. 6.— i^ Deut. xxf.T. 1-4. These Sections teach the divine law of marriage as to incest and as to divorce. 1st. Incest consists of sexual intercourse between parties forbidden by the divine law to marry, because of their relationship. Marriage between these parties is impossible; and no matter what may be the provisions of human laws or the decisions of human courts, such pretended marriages are void ab initio — invalid in es- sence as well as improper and injurious. Since the degrees of relationship within which marriage is ex- cluded differ in nearness, so the crime of incest differs, according to these varying degrees, from the highest to the least measure of criminality. The obligation to avoid intermarriage between^ near blood-relations is a dictate of nature as well as of the word of God. The only law on this subject in the Scriptures is the Levitical law recorded in Lev. xx. 10-21, If this law is still binding, it carries with it the principle that it is incest for a man to cohabit with any one of his deceased wife's relations nearer in blood than it is lawful for him to do of his own. If this law is not binding new, there is no other law of God remaining on the subject of incest except the law of nature. The Greek and Roman Catholic churches agreed in holding that this law is still binding, since the reason of the law rests upon permanent relationships, and not MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 417 apon any special circumstances peculiar to society among the Jews. All branches of the Protestant Church — Episcopal, Lutheran and Presbyterian — have main- tained the same principle in their Confessions of Faith or canons of discij)Iine. It is asserted in these Sections of our Confession. But a great diversity of sentiment and practice prevails in different j)arts of our Ciiurch on this subject, and for the most ])art the enforcement of this rule has been left to the discretion of *the major- ity of each local church court. Several efforts have been made, in 1826 and 1827 and 1843, 1845 and 1847,* to have this Section of this Chapter changed, but with- out effect. 2d. The divine law as to DIVORCE is, that marriage is a contract for life between one man and one woman, and that it is, ipso fcwto, dissolved only by death (Rom. vii. 2, 3), and that the only causes upon which any civil authority can dissolve the union of those whom God has joined together are (a) adultery, (6) wilful, causeless and incurable desertion. (1.) The only causes upon which it is lawful to gi'ant a divorce are — {a) adultery; this is explicitly allowed by Christ (Matt. v. 31,32; xix. 9); and (6) wilful, causeless and incurable desertion. This is allowed by Paul to the Christian husband or wife deserted by their heathen ])artner. 1 Cor. vii. 15. The reason in the case is also self-evident, since such desertion, being total and incurable, makes the marriage an em])ty name, void of all reality, and, being causeless, leaves the deserting party without remaining rights to be defended. (2.) Such oiiuses, however, do not, ipso facto, dissolve * See Baird's Digest, pp. 163-168. 118 CONFESSION OF FAITH. the marriage bond, but only give the right to the in- nocent party, if they so elect, to demand that it shall be dissolved by competent authority. And if tliey do de- mand the dissolution, they are not left to their own dis- cretion in the case, but they must seek for the vindication of their rights at the hands of the public authorities and according to the law of the land. (3.) The civil law, however, has no authority to grant divorces upon any other grounds than those above defined as allowed by the law of God. Whenever they do so, as is constantly done in fact, the civil authorities put themselves into direct conflict with the law of God in the case. Hence all Christians and church courts are bound in such cases to disregard the judgment of the civil authority, and to regard and treat such unlawful divorces as null and void. And if the parties to a mar- riage unrighteously dissolved marry again, they are to be regarded and treated by those who fear God as living in those new marriages in the sin of adultery. Matt. xix. 8, 9; Actsiv. 19; v. 29. QUESTIONS. 1. What is tlie first proposition tauglit in the first three Sections of tliis Chapter? 2. What is the second proposition there taught? 3. What is the third tliere taught? 4. What is thiifoarfh there taught? 6, What is the fifth there taught? 6. Prove that marriage is a divine institulinn. 7. What is involved in saying that it is a religious as well as a civil contract, and what consequences follow therefrom? 8. What is involved in saying that it is also a civil contract, and what consequences follow tiicrefioui? MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 419 9. Which should control the other — the divine law or the hu- man law of marriage? and in cases of conflict which should takp precedence ? 10. In what respects have the civil laws of marriage in Eng- land for the most part erred? 11. In what respect have they chiefly erred in this country? 12. What are the main ends designed to be promoted by mar- riage? 13. Prove that polygamy is not lawful according to the orig- inal law of marriage. 14. How could it have been right in patriarchs to practice polygamy ? 15. Show that Christ explicitly withdrew the permission. 16. On what ground do the Romanists maintain the superior sanctity of a life of celibacy, and enjoin it upon all their priests? 17. Upon what grounds do all Protestants maintain an oppo- site opinion? 18. What is the true meaning of the teachings of Christ (IMatt. six. 10-12) and of Paul (1 Cor. vii. 1-40) ? 19. What practical bearing have these teachings upon the duties of Christians in these days? 20. Does difference of religion invalidate the marriage bond ? 21. Prove that true believers ought not to be unequally yoked with the ungodly. 22. What is the subject of the fourth Section ? 23. What is incest? 24. Show that marriage within the forbidden relationship ia impossible. 25. Where is the biblical law of incest to be found ? 26. What does that law teach as to the prohibited degrees of affinity as well as relationship ? 27. W^hat has been historically the judgment of the Cliristian Church as to the continued obligation of the Levitical law ? 28. What is the prevailing opinion and practice of our Church in recent times? 29. What event alone, ipso facto, dissolves a marriage? 30. What causes alone justify the dissolution of a marriage by human tribunals? 420 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 31. Prove that no other causes justify divorce. 32. How must a divorce upon these justifiable grounds be ob- tained ? 33. How ought Christian and church courts to act in cases in which the civil authorities have granted divorces, and pei'mitted new marriages not allowed by the laAV of God ? 34. Prove the truth of your answer. CHAPTER XXV. OF THE CHURCH. Section I. — The catholic or universal Church, which is in- visible, consists of the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be, gathered into one, under Christ the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.» Section II. — The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Grospel (not confined to one nation, as be- fore, under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that professrthe true religion,* together with their children ;' and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ,^ the house and family of Grod,^ out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.* Section IIL —Unto this catholic visible Church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles and ordinances of God. for the gather- ing and perfecting of the saints in this life to the end of the world ; and doth by his own presence and Spirit, according to his pro- mise, make them effectual thereunto.' 1 Eph. i. 10, 22, 23 ; v. 23, 27, 32 ; Col. i. 18.— 2 I Cor. i. 2 ; xii. 12, 13 ; Ps. ii. 8 ; Rev. vii. 9 ; Rom. xv. 9-12.— 3 1 Cor. vii. 14 ; Acts ii. 39 ,: Ezek. xvi. 20, 21; Rom. xi. 16; Gen. iii. 15 ; xvii. 7.—* Matt. xiii. 47 ; Isa. ix. 7.-5 Eph. ii. 19; iii. 15.-6 Acts ii. 47.—' 1 Cor. xii. 28; Eph. iv. 11-13; Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 ; Isa. lix. 21. The word catholic means universal, and therefore is the proper title of the true Church of Christ, viewed as one body, composed of many members, existing in dif- ferent places and at different times, and is consequently very improperly applied to that corrupt and schismati- cal body, the Cliureh of Rome. 421 422 CONFESSION OF FAITH. The word in the New Testament corresponding to the English word church is ecclesia (ixxlr^aca); this is de- rived from the word calein {xah7v), to call, to call out, and thus constitute a separate body, which word is used to express the effectual call of tlie Holy Spirit, whereby he brings dead souls to life in the work of regeneration. Rom. viii. 28-30; 1 Pet. ii. 9; v. 10. The word church, therefore, is a collective terra including the whole body of the " called " {x?.7]toc) or the " elect " {ixhxzoc) or of " believers." Rev. xvii. 14 ; 1 Cor. i. 2, 24. To this Church, or collective body of the "effectually called," all the promises of the Gospel are addressed. It is said to be the "pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. iii. 15) ; the body and fulness of Christ (Eph. i. 22, 23) ; the Bride, the Lamb's wife (Rev. xxi. 2, 9) ; and it is affirmed that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matt. xvi. 18. As every part of this entire body possesses the com- mon nature of the whole, the common term Church is naturally applied sometimes to the entire body of all nations and ages conceived of as a unit (Col. i. 18); and sometimes to the church of a particular province or city, as " the Church of the Thessalonians " or " the Church of Ephesus" (2 Thess. i. 1 ; Rev. ii. 1) ; or in the plural for the several individual churches of a province, as " the churches in Asia" or "the churches of Macedonia" oi of " Galatia" (1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2 ; 2 Cor. viii. 1 ; Rev. i. 4) : and sometimes the word is applied to designate somo Christian family, as "the Church in the house of Pris- cilla and Aquila." Rom. xvi. 5; Col. iv. 15; Philem. 2. Our Confession teaches in these Sections — 1st. That there is such a collective body, comprising THE CHURCH. 423 all tlie elect of God of all nations and generations, called the Church invisible. The fact that tliere is such a body must be believed by every person who believes that all men, of every age and nation since Adam, wlio received Christ and experienced the power of his re- demption, are to be saved, and that all who reject liini will be lost. That this entire body in its ideal com- pleteness, not one true member wanting, not one false member marring its symmetry, has been constantly j)res- ent to the mind of God from eternity, must be believed by all persons who acknowledge either or both the divine foreknowledge and foreordi nation. This body, thus seen in its absolute fulness and per- fection by God from eternity, will be at last revealed to the universe in all its completeness and glory, so that it will transcend all the other works of God in its visible excellences. And it is seen in part by us now in the successive ages as it is gathered in, because every mem- ber of it is a man or woman living and acting in the world, and the spiritual life whereby they are constituted members of the Church makes itself manifest by its fruits. This Church is called invisible, however, because («) the portions of it at any time or place visible ^re im- measurably small in comparison with the body as a whole in its full comj)lement of saints of all nations and generations, and (6) because even in the sections of this body visible to us its outlines are very uncertain. Mai y who appear as parts of it do not really belong to it, and many may really belong to it whose union with it is not manifest. The lines are not to human eye drawn with any degree of accuracy between the Church and the world. In the mean time, the true Church, not yet per- 424 CONFESSION OF FAITH. fectly developed and manifested, lurks in the phenom- enal Church, as the grain of the growing corn lurks ir the ear, and in this sense it is invisible. For that which constitutes the essence of this Church is not the visible profession or fruitfulness, but that invisible indwelling divine life, from which the profession and the fruitful- ness proceed. 2d. These Sections teach that there is also a catholic or universal visible Church, consisting of those of every nation who profess the true religion, together with their children. This proposition involves — (1.) The truth that the true Church, consisting of persons, a part of whom are always living, and, with more or less faithful- ness, bringing forth visible fruits of holiness on the earth, of course is itself always in part, and with greater or less clearness, visible. The universal visible Church is therefore not a different Church from that which has just been described as invisible. It is the same body as its successive generations pass in their order and are imperfectly discriminated from the rest of mankind by the eye of man. (2.) The truth that God has com- manded his people to organize themselves into distinct visible ec«;lesiastical communities, with constitutions, ' laws and officei's, badges, ordinancses and discipline, for the great purpose of giving visibility to his kingdom, of making known the gospel of that kingdom, and of gathering in all its eleil)lo.* And particular churches, which 428 CONFESSION OF FAITH. are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as ihe doctrine of the gospel is taught and embraced, ordinaroes ad ministered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them.* Section V. — The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error ;'" and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but sj'nagogues of Satan." Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth, to wor- ship God according to his will.*^ Section VI. — There is no other head of the Church but the Ivord Jesus Christ :" nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be the head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.'* 8 Rom. xi. 3, 4 ; Rev. xii. 6, 14.— 9 Rer. ii., iii ; 1 Cor. v. 6, 7.—^ 1 Cor. xiii. 12; Rev. ii., iii; Matt. xiii. 24-.30, 47.— " Rev. xviii. 2; Rom. xi. 18-22.— 12 Matt. xvi. 18; Ps. Ixxii. 17; cii. 28; Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.— 13 Col. i. 18; Eph. i. 22.—" Matt, xxiii. 8-10; 2 Tliess. ii. 3, 4, 8, 9; Rev. xiii. 6. All tlmt is taught in these Sections necessarily follows from what we liave above ascertained as to the nature of the visible Church : 1st. Since the catholic or universal visible Church consists of all the professors of the true religion in the world, and of all the particular ecclesiastical organiza- tions which continue loyal to the Head, and maintain doctrines essentially sound, it must necessarily follow that the Church as a whole is in any age more or less visible, and any particular constituent church more or less pure in proportion — (a) to the })urity of the doc- trine they profess and the worship they maintain ; (6) tc their zeal and spiritual character and energy; and (c) to the purity of their membership maintained by disci- pline. In proportion as these are all advanced in per- fection, and prevail generally throughout the whole THE CHURCH. 429 body, in the same degree will the cntin? Church appear more visibly discriminated from the world and mani- fest in her entire outline. In the same measure also will every individual ecclesiastical organization be pure — that is, free from heterogeneous elements — and conse- crated to the accomplishment of the ends for which it is designed. 2d. It follows, also, from the very nature of the vis- ible Church and its condition in this world, that its i:)urity is a matter of degree, varying at different times and in different sections. The teaching of Scripture as to the nature of the kingdom under the present dispen- sation (Matt, xiii.), the nature of man yet imperfectly sanctified, and the universal experience of the churches, lead us to the conclusion that the very purest churches are yet veiy imperfect, and will continue so to the end, and that some will become so corrupt as to lose their character as true churches of Christ altogether. This was the case with the ancient Church under the reign of Ahab, when the children of Israel had apostatized from the service of the true God to such an extent that Elijah thought he was the only one left faithful. Even in that state of affairs the Lord declared, " Yet have I left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal." 1 Kings xix. 18. Even more entire deterioration has happened to the ancient churches founded by the apostles in the East and by their successors in Northern Africa. The churches which acknowledge the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome have abandoned the faith and obscured the glory of their Lord in one direction, while many professedly Protestant churches — as the English and American Socinians and the Ger 130 CONFESSION OF FAITH. limn Rationalists — have made an eqnal apostasy in an* other. The Church of Rome maintains that the promise of Christ secures the infallible orthodoxy and purity of the visible organization, in subjection to apostolically-or- dained bishops, to the end of the world. But the Church whose infallible orthodoxy and purity is guar- anteed by the divine promise is no outward visible organization or succession of bishops or priests; it is the particular Church of no nation or generation, but it is the true invisible bady of the elect or of true believ- ers of all nations and ages. That it is so is proved — (1.) From the fact that for eighteen hundred years the promise has been fulfilled in the sense we have defined, but has never been fulfilled in the sense the Romish Church demands. They have themselves led the defec- tion from the faith and practice of the apostolic Church. And among Romanists and Protestants alike, visible ecclesiastical organizations are continually changing their character and relations to the truth. (2.) The Kpistles are addressed to " the Church," and the salu- tations explain that phrase by the equivalents " the called," "the saints," etc. See the salutations of First and Second Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians, First and Second Peter, and Jude. The same attributes are ascribed to the members of the true Church in the body of the Epistles. 1 Cor. i. 30; iii. 16; vi. 11 ; Eph. ii. 3-8, 19-22; Col. i. 21; ii. 10; 1 Pet. ii. 9. (3.) The attributes ascribed to the true Church j)r()ve it to be spiritual, and, in the sense explained, invisible, and not an outward organized succession. Eph. v. 27 ; 1 Pet. ii. 5; John X. 27; Col, i. 18,24. THE CHURCH. 431 3(1. It follows, nevertheless, from the relation which the visible Church sustains to the invisible Church, that ?ince, according to divine promise, the latter can never entirely fail from the earth (Matt. xvi. 18), so likewise, however the former may be obscured by heresies or lessened by defection, it can never be entirely wanting. AVherever the true Church is, it will be more or less visible ; not in proportion, however, to the size or ])retension of the organization with which it may be associated, but in proportion to the purity of its faith and the spiritual activity and fruitfulness of its mem- bership. 4th. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the only absolute and supreme Head of the Church is self-evident, is abundantly asserted in Scripture (Col. i. 18, and Eph. i. 20-23), and has never been denied by any Christians. Many have, however, maintained that, as the visible Church on eartli has a government and laws, and since tliese must be administered by a visible authority, so the Church must liave an earthly visible head, acting u[)on authority delegated by Christ and as his represent- ative. The Church of Rome claims this for the pope. "So has Christ — the Head and Spouse — placed over his Church, which he governs by his most inward Spirit, a man to be the vicar and minister of his power; for as a \ isible church requires a visible head, our Saviour ap- pointed Peter head and pastor of all the faithful."* The Erastian State churches of Germany and Great Britain have acknowledged their respective sovcreisjns as supreme heads of the Church as well as of the State. Henry VI IT. war> recognized as "supreme head cf the * Cat. Uum., Part i., cli. x., Q. 11. 432 CONFESSION OF FAITH. Church of England;" and it was enacted "that the king, his heirs, etc., shall be taken, accepted and re- puted the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England, called Anglicana Ecclesia; and shall have and enjoy, annexed and united to the imperial crown of this realm, as well the style and title thereof, as all honours, dignities, immunities, profits and commodities to the c^aid dignity of supreme head of the said Church belong- ing and appertaining."* This supremacy of the reign- ing sovereign over the Church is even made an article of faith, being incorporated into the Tliirty-seventh Article of the Church of England : " The queen's maj- esty has the chief power in this realm of England, and other her dominions; unto whom the chief govern- ment of all estates of this realm, whether they be ecclesi- astical or civil, in all causes, doth appertain." In both these cases, and in all cases of like claims to ecclesiastical supremacy, it is a mere question of fact and evidence. If, as a matter of fact, Christ delegated his authority cither to the poi)c or to national sovereigns, and made them, as his vicars, visible heads of his Church, then we onght to obey them, and our disobedience is treason to Christ. On the contrary, if they have no such authority, and are unable to prove their claims by unquestionable credentials, then their assumption of such power is a blasphemous intrusicm upon divine preroga- tives and treason to (he human race. It is obvious that neither party can show any plausible foundation for their clainis, and that upon the slightest interrogation they fall of their own weight. In the ab'sence of any duly-accredited visible head of *TV.^ 2(3 Homy VIII., cai-. i. THE CHURCH. 433 ^>he Church, we are forced back to direct dependence for hiw and its administration, as well as for redeiDption, upon the great invisible Head. He presides over and governs his Clmrch (1) through his inspired word, whicli is, as we have seen, an infallible, complete and per- spicuous rule of faith and practice. (2.) Through the apostolical institutions transmitted to us, as the min- istry, the sacraments, the ordinances, etc. Eph. iv. 11. And (3) through his own spiritual presence, which extends to all his members, and endures to the end of the world. Matt, xviii. 20; xxviii. 20. The word Antichrist 0(.'curs in the New Testament in 1 John ii. 18, 22; iv. 3; 2 John 7. The coming of the "man of sin," the '*son of perdition," is predicted in 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4. Interpreters have differed as to whether these phrases were intended to designate a personal opponent of the Lord, or principles and sys- tems antagonistic to him and his cause. The authors of our Confession can hardly have intended to declare that each individual pope of the long succession is the per- sonal Antichrist, and they probably meant that the papal system is in spirit, form and effect wholly anti- christian, and that it marked a defection from apos- tolical Christianity foreseen and foretold in Scripture. All of which was true in their day, and is true in ours. We have need, however, to remember that as the forms of evil change, and tiie complications of the kingdom of Christ with that of Satan vary with the progress of events, ''even now are there many Antichrists." 1 John ii. 18. 28 434 CONFESSION OF FAITH. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the true sense and right applicadtjn of the word " catholic?"' 2. What is the etymology and usage of the word translated "church" in the New Testament? 3. Prove tliat it is the invisible spiritual Church to which the promises of the Gospel are addressed. 4. In what uiore general and more particular senses are the words "church" and "churches" used? 5. What does our Confession teach as to the universal invisible Church? 6. Why is this Church called "invisible?" 7. When will it be seen in its completeness and unveiled glory? 8. What relation does the universal visible Chui-ch sustain to the invisible Church ? 9. How does the fact of organization affect the visibility of the Church ? 10. How can you prove that all the various ecclesiastical organizations extant constitute but one Church ? 11. Who are members of the visible Church? 12. Why does the mere fact of profession of the true religion constitute a person a member of the visible Church ? 13. What constitutes a credible profession? 14. By what figures is the visible Church — its nature and growth — set forth in Scripture ? 15. Who besides professors of the true religion are members of the visible Church ? 10. With what gifts has God specially endowed the visible Church ? 17. To effect what ends were these gifts given ? IS. What is meant by the assertion that outside of the bounds of the visible Church there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. 19. What are the conditions of salvation set down in Ucm. x. 9, 10? 20. ITow arc men to confess Christ? THE CHurvCii. 435 21. In what sense is it necessai-y for salvation for men to con- fess Christ by communion with the visible Church ? 22. What is the first proposition taught in tlie fourth, fifth and sixth Sections? 23. How does the truth of this proposition result from what has been taught above as to the nature and relations of the visible Church? 24. How can it be shown that the purity of the visible Church varies in difi'erent ages and sections? 25. State some historical instances of ecclesiastiqal deterior- ation. 26. On what ground does the Church of Rome maintain that she is incapable of doctrinal or moral deterioration? 27. How can you show that these promises of Scripture are not addressed to any visible organization or succession, but to the great company of God's elect of all ages and nations? 28. How may the perpetual continuance of the visible Church in some form on the earth be argued? 29. Who acknowledge the Lord Jesus as the supreme Head of the Church? 30. What does the Romish Church teach as to the headship of the pope? 31. What is the doctrine of the Church of England as to the headship of the sovereign ? 32. Upon what grounds are all such claims to be decided? 33. What is the nature of svich claims if they fail to be proved ? 34. Upon which party — the claimants, or those denying their claims — does the burden of proof lie? 35. In the absence of a visible head, how does Christ act as the true Head of the whole Church ? 36. In what passages of Scripture is the doctrine of Anti- christ taught? 37. What ia meant by the declaration that the pope is Anti- christ? CHAPTER XXVI. OF COMMUNION OF SAINTS. Section I. — All saints that are united to Jesus Christ, their L3ad, by his Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory.^ And being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other's gifts and graces ;** and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.^ Section II. — Saints, by profession, are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification ;* as also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities. Which com- munion, as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.' Section III. — This communion which the saints have with Christ, doth not make them in any wise partakers of the sub- stance of his Godhead, or to be equal with Christ in any respect : either of which to affirm is impious and blasphemous.® Nor doth their communion one with another, as saints, take away or in- fringe the title or property which each man hath in his goods and possessions.' 11 John i. 3; Eph. iii. 16-19 ; John i. 16; Eph. ii. 5, 6; Phil. iii. 10; Rom, vi. 5, 6; 2 Tim. ii. 12.— « Eph. iv. 15, 16; 1 Cor. xii. 7; iii. 21-23; Col.ii.l9.— Sl Thess. V. ll,14:Roui.i. 11,12, 14; 1 John iii. 16-18; Gal. vi. 10.— ♦Ilcb. X. 24, 25; Acts ii, 42,46; Isa. ii. 3; 1 Cor. xi. 20.— 5 Acts ii. 44, 45; 1 John iii. 17; 2 Cor. viii., ix.; Acts xi. 29, .'^O.— «Col. i. 18, 19; 1 Cor. Tiii. 6; Isa. xlii. 8; 1 Tim. vi. 15; 16; Ps. xlv,7; Heb. i. 8, 9.— » Ex. xx. 15; Eph. iv "8; Acts v. 4, 436 COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 437 Communion is a mutual interchange of offices between parties which flows from a common principle in which they are united. The nature and degree of the com- munion will depend upon the nature and intimacy of the union from which it proceeds. This Chapter teaches — 1st. Of the union of Christ and his people. 2d. The fellowship between him and them resulting therefrom. 3d. The union between the true people of Christ growing out of their union with him. 4th. The communion of saints growing out of their union with each other. 5th. The mutual duties of all who profess to be saints with regard to all their fellow-professors. 1st. All saints are united to the Lord Jesus. We need to know what is the foundation and what is the nature of this union, and hoio it is established. (1.) As to the foundation of the union subsisting be- tween the true believer and the Lord Jesus, the Scrip- tures teach that it rests in the eternal purpose of the triune God, expressed in the decree of election (" We were chosen in him before the foundation of the world," Eph. i. 4), and the eternal covenant of grace formed between the Father and his word as the mediatorial Head of his people, treating with the Head for the members, and with the members in the Head, and providing for their salva- tion in him. John xvii. 2, 6. (2.) As to the nature of this union of the believer with Christ, the Scriptures teach — (a.) That it is federal and representative, whereby Christ acts in all things as our federal Head, in our stead and for our benefit. Hence, 438 CONFESSION OF FAITH. our legal status is determined by his, and his rights, honours, relations, all are made ours in copartnership with him. (6.) That it is a vital and spiritual union. Its actuating source and bond is the Spirit of the Head, who dwells and works in the members. 1 Cor. vi. 17 ; xii. 13; 1 John iii. 24; iv. 13. Hence our spiritual life is derived from him and sustained and determined by his life, which we share. Gal. ii. 20. (c.) It is a union between our entire persons and Christ, and there- fore one involving our bodies through our souls. 1 Cor. vi. 15, 19. (3.) As to the manner in which this union is estab- lished, the Scriptures teach that the elect, having been in the divine idea comprehended under the headship of Christ from eternity, are in time actually united to him (a) by the powerful operation of his Spirit, whereby they "are quickened together with Christ," which Spirit evermore dwells in them as the organ of Christ's {)res- ence with them, the infinite medium through which the fulness of his love and life, and all the benefits purchased by his blood, pass over freely from the Head to the members. (6.) By the actings of faitii u[)on their part, whereby they grasp Christ and appropriate him and his grace to themselves, and whereby they ever continue to live in him and to draw their resources from him. Eph. iii. 17. This union is illustrated in Scripture by the relation subsisting between a foundation and its superstructure (1 Pet. ii. 4-6); a tree and its branches (John xv. 5); the members of the body and the head (Eph. iv. 15, 16); a husband and wife (Eph. v. 31, 32); Adam and his descendants. Rom. v. 12-19. COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 4o9 1'liis union has been called by theologians a "mysti- cal" union, because it never could have been known unless revealed by the Lord himself, and l)ecause it is so incomparably intimate and excellent that it transcends all other unions of which we have experience. Never- theless, it is not mysterious in the sense of involving any confusion between Christ's personality and ours, nor does it make us in any wise partakers of his God- head or to be equal with him in any respect. It is a union between persons, in which each retains his separate identity, and in which the believer, although immeasur- ably exalted and blessed, nevertheless is entirely sub- ordinated to and continued dependent upon his Lord. 2d. On the basis of this union a most intimate fel- lowship or interchange of mutual offices ever continues to be sustained between believers and Christ. (L) They have fellowship with Christ (a) in all the covenant merits of his active and passive obedience. Forensically they are " complete in him." His Father, his iidieritance, his throne, his crown, are theirs, a. their mediatorial Head he acts as prophet, priest and king. In union with him they are also prophets, priests and kings, 1 John ii. 27 ; 1 Pet. ii. 5; Rev. iii. 21 ; v. 10. (6.) They have fellowship with Christ also in the transforming, assimilating power of his life. " Of his fulness have we all received, and grace for grace." Thus they have the "spirit" and "the mind" of Christ, and bear his "likeness" or "image.'' Rom. viii. 9; Phil, ii. 5; 1 John iii, 2, This includes the bodies also, making them temples of the Holy Ghost, and in the resurrection our glorified bodies are to be like his, 1 Cor. XV. 43, 49. (^,) They have fellowship with Christ 440 CONFESSION OI FAITH. in all their experiences, inwara and outward, in their joys and victories, in their labours, sufferings, tempta- tions :ind death. Rom. viii. 37; 2 Cor. xii. 9; Gal. vi. 17; Phil. iii. 10; Heb. xii. 3; 1 Pet. iv. 13. (2.) Christ has fellowship with them. They belong to him as the purchase of his blood. They are devoted to his service. They are co-workers together with him iu building up his kingdom. They bear fruit to his praise and shine as stars in his throne. Their hearts, their lives, their possessions, are all consecrated to him, and are held by them in trust for him. Prov. xix. 17; Rom. xiv. 8 ; 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. 3d. Since all true believers are thus intimately united to Christ as the common Head of the w hole body, and the Source of a common life, it follows that they must be intimately united together. If they have but one Head and are all members of one body, they must have one common life, and be all members one of another. The Romish and Ritualistic view is that individuals are united to the Church through the sacraments and through the Church to Christ. The true view is that the individual is united to Christ he Head by the Holy Ghost and by faith, and by being united to Christ he is, ipso facto, united to all Ciirist's members, the Church. The holy catholic Church is the product of the Holy Gliost. Wherever the Spirit is, there the Church is. The })resen(!e of the Spirit is known by his fruits, which are " love, joy, ])eace," etc. Gal. v. 22, 23. All be- lievers receiving the same Spirit are by him baptized into "one body," and thus they all become, " though many members," but "one body," "the body of Christ" and " meuibers in particular." 1 Cor. xii. 13-27. COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 441 4tli. Hence truo believers, all being united in one liv- ing body, sustain many intimate relations, and discharge many important offices for one another, which are sum- marily expressed by the general phrase "the communion of the saints." (1.) They have a common Head, and common duties with respect to him, a common profession, a common system of faith to maintain, a common gospel to preach, a common worship and service to maintain. (2.) They have a common life, and one Holy Ghost dwelling in and binding together in one the whole body. Hence they are involved in the ties of sympathy and identity of interest. One cannot prosper without all prospering with him — one cannot suffer without all suf- fering with him. (3.) As they constitute one body in the eyes of the world, they have a common reputation, and are all severally and collectively honoured or dishonoured with each other. Hence all schisms in the body, injurious controversies, malignant misrepresentations of Christian by Christian, are self-defaming as well as wicked. (4.) The body of saints is like the natural body in this also, that, although one body, each several member is an organ of the Holy Ghost for a s})ecial iunction, and has his own individual difference of qualification, and consequently of duty. Hence, in the economy of the body, each member is to contribute his special func- tion and his sj)ecial grace or beauty, and has in his turn fellowshi}) in the gifts and complementary graces of all the rest. Eph. iv. 11-16; 1 Cor. xii. 4-21. This shall be perfectly realized in heaven. John x. 16 ; xvii. 22. 5th. Since this is the union of all true believers with 4J2 CONFESSION OF FAI'l H. the Lord and with each other, and since, consequeutly, a "comninnion of saints" so intimate necessarily flour- ishes among true believers in proportion to their intelli- gence and their advancement in grace, it follows that all branches of the visible Church, and all the individ- ual members thereof, should do all within their power to act upon the principles of the "communion of saints" in their intercourse with all who profess the true re- ligion. If the Church is one, the churches are one. If all saints are one, and are embraced in this holy "communion,'' then all who profess to be saints should regard and treat all their fellow-professors on the pre- sumption that they are saints and " heirs together with them of the grace of life." Think of it ! In spite of all controversies and jealousies, one in the eternal elect- ing love of God ! — one in the purchase of Christ's sacri- ficial blood ! — one in the beautifying indwelling of the Holy Ghost! — one in the eternal inheritance of glory ! Surely, we should be also one in all the charities, sym- pathies and helpful offices possible in these short and evil days of earthly pilgrimage. These mutual duties are, of course, some of tliera public — as between differ- ent evangelical churches — and many of tiiem private and personal. Many of them relate to the souls, and many also to the bodies of the saints. The i-ule is the law of love in the heart, and the princij)los and exam- ples of saints recorded in Scripture applied to the spe- cial circumstances of every individual case. But while these mutual relations and offices of the saints sanctifyj they are not designed to supersede the fundamental prin- ciples of human society, as the rights of proi)erty am! the family tie. CX)MMUNION OF SAINTS. 443 QUESTIONS. 1. What is communion, and what does it presuppose? 2. What is t^hejirst subject taught in these Sections r 3. What is the second subject here taught? 4. What is the third f 5. What is the fourth? 6. What is the //;Af 7. What is the foundation of the union of the believer and Christ? 8. What three points are here taught as to the nature of that union? 9. What do you mean by saying that it is federal? 10. AVhat by saying that it is vital and spiritual? 11. What by saying that it involves the entire person? 12. How is this union accomplished? 13. What is the office of the Holy Spirit in respect to it ? 14. What is the office of faith in respect to it? 15. By what similitudes is this union illustrated? 16. Why has this union been called " mystical?" 17. In what sense is it not niy.sterious, and what is not involved in it? 18. What is the great practical consequence of our union with Christ? 19. In what respects does the believer have fellow.ship with Christ? 20. In what respects does Christ have fellowship witli the be- liever? 21. What follows if all believers are united tO the one Christ? 22. What is the Romish and Ritualistic and what the true view as to the way in which the individual members are united to Christ and to the world ? 23. How can the presence of the Holy Spirit be determined ? 24. What is the great practical consequent which flows from the union of all saints in "one body?" 25. State the principal particulars •which are involved in the "communion of saints." 444 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 26. What practical duties hence belong to every branch of thu visible Church with reference to every other branch ? 27. What practical duties hence belong to ' every professor of tlie true religion with reference to all his fellow-professors? 28. What is the rule for our guidance in such matters? 29. To what consequences dofts ih\s doctrine not lead ? CHAPTER XXVII. OF THE SACRAMENTS. Section I. — Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the cove- nant of grace, ^ immediately instituted by God,^ to represent Christ and his benefits, and to confirm our interest in him ;' as also to put a visible difi"erence between those that belong unto the Church and the rest of the world,* and solemnly to engage them to the service of Grod in Christ, according to his word.^ Section II. — There is in every sacrament a spiritual relation or sacramental union, between the sign and the thing signified ; whence it comes to pass that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other.* Larger Catechism, Q. 163. — What are the parts of a sacra- ment?— The parts of a sacrament are two : the one, an outward and sensible sign used according to Christ's own appointment; the other, an inward and spiritual grace thereby signified.^ 1 Rom. iv. 11; Gen. xvii. 7, 10.— 2 Matt, xsviii. 19; 1 Cor. xi. 23.— 8 1 Cor. X. 16 ; xi. 25, 26 ; Gal. iii. 27.—* Rom. xv. 8 ; Ex. xii. 48 ; Gen. xxxiv. 14. — 5 Rom. vi. 3, 4; 1 Cor. x. 16, 21. — 6 Gen. xvii. 10 ; Matt. xxvi. 27. 28 ; Tit. iii. 5.—' Matt. iii. 11 ; 1 Pet. iii. 21. The Avord sacrament does not occur in the Scriptures. In its classical usage it designated anything which binds or brings under obligations, as a sum of money given in pledge, or an oath, and especially the oath of mili- tary allegiance. In its ecclesiastical usage, the word while retaining its general sense of something binding as sacred, was at an early period used as the Latin equivalent of the 445 4-lG COXFKSSIOX OF FAITH. Greek word mysterion (/^Ufrr'-j^'^'rov), that which is unknowti until revealed, and hence any symbol, type or rite having a latent spiritual meaning. Hence the word naturally came to be applied in a general and vague sense to the Christian ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, 'and with them also to many other religious doctrines and ordinances. It is plainly, therefore, impossible to determine the nature or the number of the sacraments from either the etymology or the usage of the word sacrament. We want a thorough definition of the thing, not of the name. This we can get only by taking baptism and the Lord's Supper, which all men acknowledge to be genuine sac- raments, and, by a strict examination of their origin, nature and uses, determine [a] the true character of the class of ordinances to which they belong, and {h) whether any other ordinances belong to the same class or not. In this way the definition of a sacrament given in our Standards was formed. This definition involves the following points : 1st. A sacrament is an ordinance immediately insti- tuted by Christ. L. Cat., Q. 162, and S. Cat., Q. 92. 2d. A sacrament always consists of two elements — (a) an outward sensible sign, and (Z>) an inward spiritual grace thereby signified. 3d. The sign in every sacrament is sacramentally united to the grace which it signifies; and out of this I'.nion the scriptural usage has arisen of ascribing to the sign whatever is true of that which the sign signifies. 4th. The sacraments were designed to ^'represent, seal and apply the benefits of Christ and the new covenant to believers." S. Cat., Q. 02. THE SACRAMENTS. 447 5tli. They were designed to be pledges of our fidelity to Christ, binding us to his service, and at the same time badges of our profession, visibly marking the body of professors and distinguishing them from the world. 1st. The first Section of this Chapter says that a sac- rament is an ordinance " immediately instituted by God to represent Christ," etc. This is true if thb word sac- rament is used in its general sense to include also the Old Testament sacraments of circumcision and the pass- over. But it is an important distinction of the New Testament sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Sup- per that they were both immediately instituted by Christ himself. Therefore, both the Larger (Q. 162) and Shorter (Q. 92) Catechisms have it, '' A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ in his Church." This should be remembered, because it serves to exclude most of the pretended sacraments of the Church of Koine from any right to a- place in this olass of Christian or- dinances. 2d. Every sacrament consists of two elements — (a) an outward sensible sign, and (6) an inward spiritual grace thereby signified. In bnptism the outward sensible sign is {a) water, and (6) the water applied in the name of the Triune God to the person of the subject baptized. The inward spiritual grace thereby signified is (a) pri- marily spiritual purification by the immediate personal j)»wer of the Holy Ghost in the soul, and {b) hence, secondarily, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, hence the union of the baptized with Christ, hence regenera- tion, justification, sanctification, perseverance to the end, glorification, etc. — i. e., all the benefits of the new cove- nant. In the Lord's Supper, the outward sensible signs 148 coxFESsroN of faith. are — (a) bread and wine, and (6) the consecration and the bread broken, and the wine poured out, distributed to, and received and eaten and drunk by, the communicants. The inward spiritual grace thereby signified is [a) pri- mal ily Christ crucified (his flesli torn and blood shed) for us, and giving himself to us to be spiritually re- ceived and assimilated as the princii)le of a new life, and (6) hence, secondarily, union with Christ, the in- dwelling of the S])irit, regeneration, justification, sancti- cation, etc, — i. e., all the benefits secured by the sacrificial death of Christ. 3d. " There is in every sacrament a spiritual relation or sacramental union between the sign and the thino; signified." This sacramental union between the sign and the grace which it signifies, the Romish and Lutheran churches understand to be, at least in the case of the Lord's Supper, a literal identity. Thus when Christ took the bread and said, "This is my body," they insist that it means that the bread is his body. All other Christians understand the ])hrase to mean, " This bread represents sacramental ly my body." This sacramental union, therefore, between the sign and the thing signified is (a) symbolical and representa- tive— the one symbolizes and so represents the other ; and (6) instrumental because by divine appointment, through the right use of the sign, the grace signified is really conveyed. Tiie grounds of this sacramental union are — (a.) The natural fitness of the sign to symbolize the grace signi- fied, as washing with water to symbolize spiritual puri- fication by the Ploly Ghost. (6.) The authoritative ai>pointment of Christ that these signs rightly used THE SACRAMENTS. 449 tjhall truly represent and convey tlio grace tliey signify (c.) The spiritnal faith of the believing recipient, a gift of the Spirit of Christ, whereby in tiie })roper use of the sign, he is enabled to discern "the Lord's body." 1 Cor. xi. 29. Out of this spiritual relation, or sacramental union between the sign and the grace signified, whidi we have thus explained by a natural and legitimate use of lan- guage, the one is put for the other, and whatever is true of tiie grace signified is asserted of tiie sign which signi- fies it. Tiius, to eat the bread and drink the wine in the Lord's Supper is to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ; that is, to participate in the sacrificial virtue of his death. And whatever is true of baptism with the Holy Ghost is attributed to baptism with water, Ananias said to Paul, "Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins." Acts xxii. 16. "Christ gave himself for the Church, that he raiglit sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word." Eph. V. 26. " Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." Acts ii. 38. Hence Romanists and Ritualists have inferred that the sign is inseparal)le from the grace signified, and that these spiritual effects are due to the outward ordinance. Hence the doctrine of bap- tismal regeneration. But it must be observed that tne Scriptures do not assert these spiritual attributes of water baptism in itself considered, but of water baptism as the sign or emblem of baptism by the Holy Ghost. These spiritual attributes belong only to baptism by the Spirit, and they accompany the sign only when the sign is accompanied by that which it signifies. It does not 29 450 CONFESSION OF FAITH. follow, lijwever, that the sign is inseparable from the grace. The grace is sovereign ; and experiencic teaches us that it is often absent from the sign, and that the sign is least frequently honoured by the presence of the grace when it is itself most implicitly relied upon. 4th, The sacraments were designed (1) to represent the benefits of Christ and the new covenant. They are as signs or pictures of the truths they represent, and hence present those truths to the eyes and other senses of the recipients in a manner analogous to that in M'hicli they are presented to the ears in the preaching of the Word. This follows from what has just been shown as to their being outward, sensible signs, signifying inward and spiritual graces. (2.) They were designed to be "seals" of the benefits of the new covenant. The gospel is pre- sented under the form of a covenant. Salvation and all the benefits of Christ's redemption are offered upon the condition of faith. In the sacrament God sensibly and authoritatively pledges himself to invest us Avith this grace if we believe and obey. In receiving the sacra- ment we actively assume all the obligations implied in the gospel, and bind ourselves to fulfil them. Circum- cision, Paul says, " is the seal of the righteousness of faith," Rom. iv. 11 ; and baptism is declared to be the circumcision of Christ. Col. ii. 11, 12. We are said to be actually buried with Christ in baptism; /. e., united to him in his death. Jesus says, " This cup is the new covenant in my blood ;" that is, This cup represents my blood, by which the new covenant was ratified ; and therefore it is a visible confirmation of the covenant, since it is a visible representative of the blood. If a nian was circumcised, he was a debtor to do the whole THE SACRAMENTS. 451 law. Gal. V. 3. As many as are baptiiced uiitu Chri.st liave put on Christ. Gal. iii. 27. (3.) The sacraments were designed to "a])ply"— i. e., at'tually to convey — to believers the benefits of the new covenant. If they are ''seals" of the covenant, they must of course, as a legal form of investiture, actually convey the grace represented to those to whom it belongs. Til us a deed conveys an estate, or the key handed over in the presence of witnesses the possession of a house from the owner to the renter. Our Confession is ex- plicit and emphatic on this subject. The old English word "exhibit," there used, does not mean to shoiv forth; but in the sense of the Latin exhibere, from which it is derived, to administer, to apply. Compare the follow- ing: "A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the ben- efits of the new covenant are represented, sealed and applied to believers." L. Cat., Q. 92. "A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ in his Church, to signify, seal and exhibit unto those that are within the covenant of grace the benefits of his mediation." L. Cat., Q. 162. "The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments, rightly used, is not conferred by any power in them." Conf. Faith, chap, xxvii., § 3. " The efficacy of baptism is not tied to the moment of time wherein it is administered ; yet notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance, the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost," etc. Conf. Faith, chap, xxviii., § 6. This the Confession carefully guards in the third Section of this Chapter, showing that the sacraments have no inherent power or vutue at all, but that the right use of the sacranient is 452 CONFESSION OF FAITH. by divine appointment tlie occasion upon which thfe, Holy Ghost conveys the grace to those to whom it be- longs. So that this grace-conferring virtue depends upon two things: (a.) The sovereign will and power of the Holy Spirit. (6.) The lively faith of the recipient. The sacrament is a mere instrument ; but it is an in- STPvUMENT OF DIVINE APPOINTMENT. 5th. The sacraments being seals of the covenant of grace — at once pledges of God's faithfulness to us and of our obligation to him — they of course (a) mark us as the divine property, and bind us to the performance of our duty, (6) and hence are badges of our profession, and, putting a visible difference between those who belong to the Church and the rest of the world, give visibility to the Church, and separate its members from the world. Section III. — The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments, rightly used, is not conferred by any power in them : \ieither doth the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth administer it,' but upon the work of the Spirit,* and the word of institution; which contains, to- gether with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.' ' Rom. ii. 28, 29; 1 Pet. iii. 21.— » Matt. iii. II ; 1 Cor. .\ii. l.'i.— » MaU. x.wi. 27, 28; .xxviii. 10, 20. Having asserted that the sacraments actually confer the grace which they represent to worthy recipients, our Confession in this Section proceeds to guard this im- portant truth from abuse, by carefully showing u})on what this grace-conveying efficacy of the sacraments docs not, and upon what it does, depend. 1st. This grace is not contained in the sacraments themselves, nor "is it conferred by any power in them." THE SACRAMENTS. 453 According to the Romish and Ritualistic view, the grace signijBed is contained in the sacrament itself, as qualities inhere in substances, and it is together with the outward sign presented as a real objective sense to every recipient, Avhether believer or unbeliever. They hold also that the sacrament confers this grace upon every recipient who does not positively resist, as an opus operatum — by the sole force of the sacramental action, as hot iron burns.* This whole view is explicitly rejected as false by our Confession. And the whole efficacy of the sacrament is said to depend not upon any part of it separately, nor upon the whole together, but upon the sovereign power of the Holy Ghost, who is always present and uses the sacrament as his instrument and medium. 2d. The efficacy of the sacraments does not depend upon either the personal piety or the '• intention" of the person who administers them. The Romanists admit that the efficacy of the sacra- ments does not depend upon the personal piety of the administrator, but they insist that it depends (a) upon the fact that the administrator is canonically authorized; {h) upon the fact that the administrator exercises at the moment of administration the secret " intention" of doing thereby what the Church intends in the definition of the sacrament.f The priest may outwardly pro- nounce every word and perform every action prescribed in the ritual, and the recipient may fulfil every condi- tion required of him, and yet if the priest fails in the secret intention of conferring the grace through the * Cone. Trident., Sess. vii., Cans. 6 and 8. t Ibid., Sess. vii.. Can. 11. Dens, vol. v. p. 127. 454 CONFESSION OF FAITH. sacrament tlien and there, the recipient goes away destitute of the grace lie supposes himself to have re- ceived, and which the priest has ostensibly professed to confer. 3d. But the efficacy of the sacraments depends — (a.) Upon their divine appointment as means and channels of grace. They were not devised by man as suitable in themselves to produce a moral impression. But they were appointed by God, and we are commanded to u.~e them as means of grace, and hence God virtually pro- mises to meet every soul who uses them rightly in the sacrament. Christ seals his gracious covenant by them, and hence in their use invests with the grace of that covenant every soul to which it belongs. (6.) The effi- cacy of the sacrament resides in the sovereign and ever- present personal agency of the Holy Ghost, who uses the sacraments as his instruments and media of operation. The Spirit is the executive of God. He takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto us. Through him even the humanity of Jesus is virtually omni- present, and all the benefits secured by his sacrifice are revealed and applied. Section IV. — There be only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the gospel ; that is to say, bapti?:m and the supper of the Lord ; neither of which may be dispens&l by any but a minister of the Word, lawfully ordained.^" 10 Matt, xxviii. 19 ; 1 Cor. xi. 20, 2.3; iv. 1; Heb. t. 4. As we have seen, the word sacrament was used very Indefinitely in the early Church to include any religious rite which had a latent spiritual meaning. A pre- eminence was always awarded to Baptism and the Lord's THE SACRAMENTS. 455 Slipper as forming a class by themselves^ but the num- ber of ordinances to which the term sacrament was applied varied at different times and in different places from two to twelve. At last the number seven was suggested during the twelfth century, and determined authoritatively by the Council of Florence, 1439, and by the Council of Trent, 15G2. These ai^ baptisni, confirmation, the Lord's Supper, penance, extreme unc- tion, orders, marriage. In order to prove that " tliere be only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lt>rd in the gospel — that is to say, baptism and the supper of the liord" — Ave have only to show that the other five so- called sacraments claimed by the Romanists do not belong to the same class of ordinances with Baptism and the Lord's Supper. And we do this by applying the definition of a sacrament above given. Thus — - Penance, confirmation and eytreme unction are not divine institutions in any sense. Marriage was instituted not by Christ, but by God, and orders were instituted by Christ, but neither of these ordinances (a) consists of an outward visible sign signifying an inward spiritual grace, nor (6) does either of them " represent, seal or confer Christ and the ben- efits of the new covenant." Our Confession also adds that no one has a right to administer the sacraments save a lawfully-ordained minister. This is not said in the interest of any priestly theory of the ministry, as if there were any grace or grace-conferring virtue transmitted by ordina- tion in succession from the apostles to the person or- dained. But since the Church is an organized society under laws executed by regularly-appointed officers, it 456 CONPi!:s.siUxN of hahh. is evident tlmt ordinances, Avhicii are budges of elinrci membership, the gates of the fold, the instruments of discipline and seals of the covenant formed by the great Head of tlie Church with his living members, can prop- erly be administered only by the highest legal officers of the Church, those who are commissioned as ambassa- dors for Clirist to treat in his name with men. 1 Cor. iv. 1 ; 2 Cor. V. 20. Section V. — The sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard of the spiritual things tliereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the same with those of the New." »J 1 Cor. X. 1-4, We saw, under Chapter vii., §§ 5 and 6, that the old and new dispensations were only two diiferent modes iii which the one changeless covenant of grace was admin- istered and its blessings dispensed. The sacramental seals of the covenant must, therefore, be essentially the same then and now. The difference is — (a) that they were more prospective and typical then, and that they are more commemorative now. They signified a grace to be revealed then ; they, signify a grace already re- vealed now. (6.) They were, as to form, more gross and carnal then, and more spiritual now. Thus baptism has taken the place of circumcision as the rite of initiation. They both signify spiritual re- sreneration. Deut. x. 16 : xxx. 6. Circumcision was Jewish baptism, and bnptism is Christian circumcision, Gahiii. 27, 29; Col. ii. 10-12. Thus the Lord's Supper grew out of the Passover. He took the old bread and the old cup and gave them a new consecration and a new meaning. Matt. xxvi. THE SACRAMENTS. 457 26-29. " Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." 1 Cor. V. 7. QUESTIONS. 1. What was the classical usage of the word sacrament? 2. What was the early ecclesiastical usage of the word ? 3. Ou what principles, therefore, are we to form bur definition of a sacrament? 4. What is the Jirst point involved in the definition of a sacra- ment given in our Standards? 5. What is the second point involved therein ? 6. What is the third jjoint involved ? 7. What is the fourth point involved? 8. What is the fifth point involved ? 9. What does our Confession teach as to the person by whom our New Testament sacraments were immediately ordained ? 10. Of what two parts does every sacrament consist? 11. In the case of baptism, what is the outward visible sign? 12. In the case of baptism, what is the inward spiritual grace signified ? 13. In the case of the Lord's Supper what is the sensible sign? 14. In that case what is the inward spiritual grace signified? 15. Wliat^do the Romish and Lutheran churches regard as the nature of the " sacramental union" subsisting between the sign and the grace signified ? 16. What, according to the true doctrine, is involved in the sacramental union or relation between the sign and the grace sig- nified ? 17. What are the true grounds upon which that relation rests? 18. What manner of speaking of the sign or visible part of tlie sacraments has grown out of this relation which the sign .sustains to the grace signified ? 19. Quote instances of this manner of speaking in the Scrip- tures in the case of each of the sacraments. 20. What f;ilse inferences do Romanists and Ritualists deduce from this manner of speaking? 458 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 21. What, on the contrary, is the true explanation of iht usage ? 22. What is the design of the sacraments ? 23. How do they " represent" the benefits of Christ and the new covenant? 24. What is meant by saying they are " seals" of the covenant of grace ? 25. Prove that they are so. 26. In what sense do our Standards use the word "exhibit" in this connection? 27. Prove that our Standards teach that the sacraments do really convey the grace they signify. 28. In what sense do they afl&rm this, and upon what do they teach this grace-conveying efficacy depends ? 29. How do the sacraments become badges of our pro- fession? 30. What is the object of the third Section of this Chapter? 31. What is the Romish doctrine as to the manner in which the sacraments "contain" and "confer" grace? 32. What does this Section teach in opposition to this? 33. What do the Romanists teach are the conditions on the part of the administrator upon which the efficacy of the sacra- ments depends ? 34. How dees the efficacy of the sacrament depend u])on its divine appointment? 35. How does it depend upon the sovereign will and power of the Holy Ghost? 36. What was taught in the early Church as to the number of the sacraments? 37. When was the number seven authoritatively established? 38. What are the seven sacraments acknowledged by the Ro- manists? 39. How can it be proved that baptism and the Lord's Supper form a class by themselves ? 40. Show that the definition of a sacrament will not apply to the rest. 41. Why can the sacraments be administered only by a lawfully- ordained minister ? THE SACRAMENTS. 459 42. What were the sacramental seals of the covenant of grace under the old dispensation ? 43. Which corresponds to baptism and which to the Lord's Supper? 44. In what respects do they dififer ? And show that they aro virtually the san a CHAPTER XXVUi. OF BAPTISM. Section I. — Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ/ not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church,"^ but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, ^ of his ingrafting into Christ,* of regeneration,^ of remission of sins,^ and of his giving up unto Grod, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life :'' which sacrament is by Christ's own appointment to be continued in his Church until the end of the world. ^ Section II. — The outward element to be used in this sacra- ment is water, wherewith the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a min- ister of the gospel, lawfully called thereunto.® Section III. — Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary ; but baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the person.'" Sjialler Catechism, Q. 94. — Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's. L. Cat., Q. 165. 1 Matt, xxviii. 19 ; Mark .\vi. 16.— » 1 Cor. xii. 13 ; Gal. iii. 27, 28.— » Rom. iv. 11 ; Col. ii. 11, 12.—* Gal. iii. 27; Rom. vi. 5.-6 Tit. iii, 6.—* Acts ii. 38; xxii. 16; Mark i. 4.—' Rom. vi. 3, 4.-8 Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.-9 Acts viii. 36, 38; x. 47; Matt, xxiii. 19.-10 Acts ii. 41; xvi. 33; Mark vii. 4; Heb. X. 10-21. In thefe Sections we are taught the following propo- eitions : 460 BAPTISM. 461 1st. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, instituted immediately by Clirist, and by his authority to continue in the Church until the end of the world. 2d. As to the action which constitutes baptism, it is a washing of the subject with water (the maimer of the washing not being essential), in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a lawfully- ordained minister. 3d. It is done with the design and effect of signifying and sealing our ingrafting into Christj our partaking of the benefits of his covenant, and our engagement to be his. 1st. Christian baptism is an ordinance immediately instituted by Christ himself, and designed to be observed in the Church until the end of the world. Washing the body with water to represent spiritual purification and consecration was a natural symbol which prevailed among all ancient Eastern nations, as the Persians, Brahmins, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and pre- eminently among the Jews. Paul summarily describes the ancient ceremonial as consisting " in meats and drinks and divers baptisms." Heb. ix. 10. John, the forerunner of Jesus, came baptizing also. But this was not Christian baptism. Because (a) John was the last Old Testament pro})het, and not a New Testament apostle. Luke i. 17. (6.) He did not baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, (c.) His baptism was unto repentance, not into the faith of Christ, {d.) He did not by baptism in- troduce men into the fellowship of the Christian Church, as the apostles did at Pentecost. Acts ii. 41, 47. (e.) Those baptized by John were baptized over again liy ♦62 CONFESSION OF FAITH. the apostles when they were adniitted to the Christian Church. Acts xviii. 24; xix. 7. For analogous rea- sons we believe that the baptism performed by his disciples previous to the crucifixion of the Lord (John iii. 22; iv. 1, 2) was not the permanent Christian sac- rame'it of baptism, binding its subjects to the faith and obedience of the Trinity, and initiating them into the Christian Church, but that, on the contrary, like the baptism of John, it was a purifying rite, binding to re- pentance and preparing the way for the coming king- dom. It is certain that we have the true warrant of the Christian sacrament of baptism from the lips of the great Head of the Church in person, in Matt, xxviii. 18— 20: " All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the woild. Amen." Some, as the Quakers, have not undcrstt)od that this command imposes the obligation of the perpetual ob- servance of this ordinance. That the observance is to endure until the second coming of Christ, is ])lain — («.) From the universal maxim that every law continues binding until it is abrogated, or until the reason for it has ceased. But this command has never been recalled, and the reason tor its observance remains precisely what it was when the command was given, [b.) The plain terms of th^ command reaches (1) to all nations, and (2) until the end ol' this woild [auoi). (c.) The example BAPTISM. 463 of tl.e apostles. Acts ii. 38 ; xvi. 33. (d.) The coii- 8t;int practice of all branches of the Christian Church from the beginning to the present time. 2d. As to the action which constitutes it, baptism is a washing with water (the manner of washing being in- different) in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a lawfully-ordained minister. The reason that baptism should be administered only by a lawfully-ordained minister has been considered under the last Chapter. The Confession teaches that the command to ba])tize is a command to wash with water in the name of the Trinity. It is often, but eri'oneously supposed that the controversy between our Baptist brethren and the rest of the Christian Church with respect to baptism is a question of mode; they affirming that the only right mode is to immerse — we affirming that the best mode is to sprinkle. This is a great mistake. The real Bap- tist position, as stated by Dr. Alexander Carson (p. 55), is that the command to baptize is a simple and single command to immerse, in order to symbolize the death, burial and resurrection of the believer with Christ. The true position maintained by other Christians is, that baptism is a simple and single command to wash with water, in order to symbolize the purification wrought by the Holy Ghost. Hence the mode of washing has nothing to do with it. It is necessarily perfectly in- different, so that it be decent. According to our view, the essential matter is the water, and the application of the water in the name of the Trinity. According to their view, the essential matter is the burial, total im- mersion^ in water or sand as the case may be. The 464 CONFESSION OF FAITH. evidence of the truth of the view entertained by the vast majority of Christ's Church is as follows: (1.) The word Banrc^co (baptizo) in its classical usage means, to dip, to moisten, to wet, to purify, to wash. Dr. Carson admits that he has all the lexicons against him. (2.) In the Septuagint, Banrco and Danzc^co occur five times. Thus, Dan. iv. 33, Nebuchadnezzar is said to have been wet {baptized) with the dew of heaven. Ecclesias- ticus xxxiv. 25: " He that baptizeth himself after the touching of a dead body," but this purification was per- formed by spi'inkling. Num. xix. 9, 13, 20. See also 2 Kings v. 14, and Judith xii. 7. (3.) In the New Testament, BarcriCco is used inter- changeably with viTTTco, which only means to wash. Compare Mark vii. 3, 4; Luke xi. 38; Matt. xv. 2-20; and observe (a) that to baptize is there used interchange- ably with to wash. (6.) The washing was to effect purification, for the unbaptized hands are called the un- washed and unclean hands, (c.) The common mode of washing hands in those countries is to pour water upon them. The rich have servants to pour the water on their hands. The poor pour the water on their own hands. (4.) When John's disciples disj)uted about ba{)tism, it is expressly said to have been a dispute about piirijiea- tion. Jolin iii. 22; iv. 3. (5.) The same idea is uniformly exjircssed by the word bapfisin or baptisms in the New Tcstainvnl. In Mark vii. 2-8 we read of the baptisms of cups, pots, l)razen vessels and tables (couches upon which several persons reclined at table). These things eould not bo, BAPTISM. 465 dHQ were not, immersed. The whole object of the ser- vice was not burial, but puii'ficatlon. In Heb. ix. 10, Paul says that the first tabernacle "stood only in meats and drinks and diverse baptisms;" and below, in verses 13, 19, 21, he specifies some of these diverse baptisms: " For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifietli td' the puri- fying of the flesh," and "Moses sprinkled both the book and all the people, and the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry." (6.) Baptism with water is emblematical of baptism by the Holy Ghost, the object of which is spiritual puri- fication. Luke iii. 16; Matt. iii. 11; Mark i. 8; John i. 20, 33; Acts i. 5; xi. 16. Spiritual baj)tism is called "the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Titus iii. 5. Baptism with water symbolizes baptism by the Holy Ghost. But baptism by the Holy Ghost unites us to Christ, and makes us one with him in his death, in his resurrection, in his new life unto God, his righteousness, his inheritance, etc., etc. Spiritual baptism carries all these consequences, and water bap- tism represents spiritual baptism; therefore we are said to be baptized into Christ, into his death, into one body, to be buried with him, to rise with him, so as to walk with him in newness of life; to put on Christ (as a gar- ment), to be })lanted together with him (as a tree), etc, None of these have anything to do with the mode of baptism, because it is simply absurd to suppose that ihe same action can at the same time syml)olize things so different as burial, putting on clothes and i)lanting trees. The real order is, washing with wat(U' represents washing of the Spirit. Washing of the Spirit unites to 4G6 COXFESSTOX OF FAITIT. Clirist — union with Christ involves all the I'onscqucnfes above meptioned. (7.) Baptism of the Holy Ghost, of which water bap- tism is the emblem, is never set forth in Scripture as an " immersion," but always as a "pom'ing'' and "s2)rlnk- lingy Acts ii. 1-4, 32, 33; x. 44-48; xi. 15, 16. Of the gift of the Holy Ghost it is said he ''came from heaven," was "poured out," "shed forth," -'fell on them." "I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed." Isa. Hi. 15: "So shall he sprinkle many nations." Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27 : "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean," etc. Joel ii. 28, 29 : " I will pour out niy Spirit upon all flesh." (8.) The universally prevalent manner of effecting the rite of purification among the Jews, from the analogy oi which Christian baptism was taken, was by sprinkling, and not by immersion. The hands and feet of the priests were to be washed at the brazen laver, from which water jDoured out through spouts or cocks. Ex. XXX. 18, 21 ; 2 Chron. iv. 6 ; 1 Kings vii. 27-39. See also Lev. viii. 30 ; xiv. 7, 51 ; Ex. xxiv. 5-8 ; Num. viii. 6, 7 ; Heb. ix. 12-22. (9.) In 1 Cor. X. 1, 2, the Israelites are said to have been "baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." Compare Ex. xiv 19-31. But the Egyptians who were immersed were not baptized ; and the Israelites who were baptized were not immersed. Dr. Carson (p. 418) says Moses got "a dry dipT In 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21, it is said that baj)tisra was the antitype of the salvatit)n ol' the eight souls in the ark. Yet tiie very gist of their salva- tion consisted in their not being immersed. (10.) jVmong all the recorded instances of baptism per- BAPTISM. 4G7 formed by John the Baptist and tlie apostles, thtre is not one in which immersion is asserted, while there ai'e many in which it was highly improbable — (a.) Because the apostles baptizing and the early converts bapti/ed were all Jews, accustomed to purify by pouring and sprinkling. (6.) Because of the vast multitudes bap- tized at one time, and the known scarcity of Vater in Jerusalem and generally in the situations spoken of. The eunuch was baptized on the roadside in a des(M-t country. Three thousand were baptized in one day in the dry city of Jerusalem, which depends upon rain- water stored in tanks and cisterns. The vast multitudes swarming to John. The jailor baptized in prison at midnight. Paul was ba])tized by Ananias right at his bedside. Ananias said, " standing up he be baptized" and "standing up he was baptized.'" Acts ix. 18; xxii. 16. (c.) The earliest pictorial representations of baptism, dat- ing from the second or third century, all indicate that the manner of applying the water to the body of the bap- tized was by pouring, [d.) It is done in the same way universally by Eastern Christians at the present time. That it is essential that this baptismal washing should be done in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is plain (1) from the explicit command to that effect expressed in the words of institution. (2.) From the fact that baptism, as a seal of the covenant of grace, and as the divinely-a])pointed rite of initiation into the Christian Church, introduces the baptized into covenant with, and the })nblic profession of, the true God, who is none other than the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. 3d. The design of baptism is (1) to signify, seal and 4C8 CONFESSION OF FAITH. confer to those to whom they belong the benefits ol Christ's redemption. Thus {a) it signifies or symbolizes the "washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost," whereby we are united to Christ and made par- ticipants in all his redemptive grace. (6.) Christ herein seals the truth of his covenant, and thereby conveys to all tlie beneficiaries of that covenant the grace intended for tliem. (2.) The design of baptism is, that it be a visible sign of our covenant to be the Lord's and devoted to his ser- vice, and hence it is a public profession of our faith and badge of our allegiance, and hence of our formal initia- tion into the Christian Church, and a symbol of our union with our fellow-Christians. 1 C(n\ xii. 13. Section IV. — Not only those that do actuallj'^ profess faith in and obedience unto Christ," but also the infants of one or both believing parents, are to be baptized." " Mark xvi. 15, 16; Acts viii. 37, 38.— 12 Gen. xvii. 7, 9j Gal. iii. 9, 14; Col. ii. 11, 12; Acts ii. 38, 39; Rom. iv. 11, 12; 1 Cor. vii. 14; Matt, xxviii. 19; Mark x. 13-16; Luke xviii. 15. As to the subjects of baptism, our Standards teach — 1st. As to adnlts, "Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible Church, and so strangers from the covenant of promise, till they profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him." L. Cat., Q. 166, and S. Cat. Q. 95. This is of course self-evident, since the intelligent and honest reception of baptism itself obviously involves precisely this profession of faith in Christ and obedience to him. And in order to secure this, the usage of the Presbyterian Chnrch requires that the pastors and church session should inform the api)licant thiit only a person BAPTISM. 409 wlio has experienced the grace of regeneration, iviid wlio has consequently truly repented of sin and exercised faith in Christ, can honestly do what all necessarily profess to do when they are baptized. And to this end the pastor and session must require of the applicant the evidence (a) of a competent knowledge of the funda- mental truths of Christianity, and of the nature and binding obligation of baptism ; (6) of the fact that he makes a consistent profession of a personal experimental faith and promise of obedience to the Lord, and of due subjection to the constituted authorities of the Church ; (c) of the fact that his outward walk and conversation do not belie his profession. After this, the entire re- sponsibility of the step must lie upon the person making it. The church officers have no authority to sit in judg- ment upon the genuineness of his Christian character, because God has given to no class of men the ability to judge aright of such mattoi's. Some churclies, as, for instance, our Covenanting Presbyterian brethren, de- mand, as a condition of adult baptism — or, what is the same thing, admission to the Church — in addition to the profession of faith in the fundamental truths of the gospel, adherence to certain "testimonies" embodying non-fundanicntal denominational peculiarities. This we believe to be entirely unauthorized. The Church is Christ's fold, designed for all his sheep. Baptism and tlie Lord's Supper are the common rights of all the Lord's j)eople. If any man holds the fundamentals of the gos- pel and professes allegiance to our common Lord, and acts consistently therewith, we have no rio;ht to exclude him from his Father's house. It is just as presump- tuous to make terms of communion which Christ has 470 CONFESSION OF FAITH. not made as it would be to make terms of salvation which he does not require. 2d. As to infants, our Standards teach that an infant, one or both of whose parents is a believer (Conf. Faith, chap, xxviii., § 4) — i. e., one or both of whose parents profess faith in Christ and obedience to him (L. Cat., Q. 166) — is to be baptized. A bare outline of the abun- dant scriptural evidence of this truth may be stated as follows : (1.) In constituting human nature and ordaining the propagation of infant children from parents, God has in all respects made the standing of the child while an infant to depend upon that of the parent. The sin of the parent carries away the infant from God; so the faith of the parent brings the infant near to God. (2.) Every covenant God has ever formed with man- kind has included the child with the parent — e. g., the covenants formed with Adam, Noah (Gen. viii. 0-17), Abraham (Gen. xii. 2, 3 ; xvii. 7), with Israel through Moses (Ex. XX. 5), and again (Dent. xxix. 10-13); and in the opening sermon of the New Testament dispensa- tion men are exhorted to re])ent and believe, because the " promise (covenant) is to you and to your children,^' etc. Acts ii. 38, 39. (3.) The Old Testament Church is the same as the New Testament Christian Church, (a.) Paul says (Gal. iii. 8) that the covenant made with Abraham (Gen. xvii. 7) is the '^ gospel;" and in the whole Epistle to the Hebrews he shows that the Old Testament ritual was a setting forth of the person and work of Christ. See above, under Chapter vii. [h.) Faith was the con- dition oi' salvation then as well as now. Abraham BAPTISM. 471 believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteous- ness (Rom. iv. 3), so tliat he was the great tyi)ical be- liever, "the father of all them that believe" (Horn. iv. 11), and all who believe in Christ ''are Abraham's seed and heirs aceording to the promise." Gal. iii. 29. See also the eleventh ehapter of Hebrews. All the Israel- ites, even those only ''according to the flesh, "< processed to believe. And all " true" Israelites did believe. " He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that cir- cumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew that is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter." Kom. ii. 28, 29. (c.) Circumcision, precisely in the same sense and to the same extent as baptism, represented a spirit- ual grace and bound to a spiritual profession. This is taught in the Old Testament, as witness Deut. xiv. 16 ; XXX. 6. It was the seal of the Abrahamic covenant, which Paul says is the gospel. It was the seal of the righteousness of faith. Rom. ii. 28, 29; iv. 11. True circumcision unites to Christ and secures all the beneflts of his redemption. Col. ii. 10, 11. And baptism has now taken the precise place of circumcision : " For as many of you as have been baptized unto Christ have put on Christ, and if ye be Christ's, then ye are Abraham's seed and heirs, according to the promise." Gal. iii. 27, 29. {d.) This Church is identically the same with the New Testament Church. It has the same foundation, the same condition of membership, faith and obedi- ence, sacraments of the same spiritual significancy and binding force. The ancient prophecies declare that the same old Church is to be enlarged, not changed. Isa. xlix. 13-23; Ix. 1-14. The ancient covenant which 472 CONFESSION OF FAITH. was the fundamental charter of the Church included "many nations" (Gen. xvii. 4: Rom. iv. 17, 18; Gal. iii. 8), which was never fulfilled until after the ex])an- sion of the Church in the JMew Testament dispensation. And Paul says that the Jewish Ciiurch, instead of being abrogated, lemains the same tiirough all change — the Jewish branches being cut off, the Gentile branches being grafted in, and hereafter the Jews are to be re- stored, not to a new Church, but "into their own olive tree." Rom. xi. 18-24. See also Eph, ii. 11-22. (4.) Infants were members of the Church under the Old Testament from the beginning, being circumcised upon the faith of their parents. Now as tiie Church is the same Church ; as the conditions of niembership were the same then as now; as circumcision signified and bound to precisely what baptism does ; and since baptism has taken precisely the place of circumcision, it follows that the cliurch membership of the (;hildren of professors should be recognized now as it was then, and that they should be baptized. The only ground upon which this conclusion could be obviated would bo that Christ in the gospel explicitly turns them out of their ancient birth-right in the Ciiurch. (5.) On the contrary, Christ and his apostles uniformly, without exce})tion, speak of and treat children on the assumption that they remain in the same church rela- tion they have always occupied. Christ, speaking lo Jewish a})ostles, who had all their lives never heard of any other than the old Piedwbaptist Church, into which they had been themselves born and ciicumcised (and their infant circumcision was the only baptism they ever received), never once warns them that he had BAPTISM. 473 changed this relation. On the contr.iry, he says, " Of such is the kingdom of heaven" (i. c, new dispensation oi" the old Chureh). Matt, xix, 14; Luke xviii. 16. He commissioned Peter to feed the lambs as well as the sheep of the Hock (John xxi. 15-17), and all the apos- tles to disciple ^' all nations," by first baptizing and then teaching them. Matt, xxviii. 18, 19. If ohly one of the parents is a Christian, the children are said to be "holy," or "saints," which is a common designation of church members in the New Testament. 1 Cor. vii. 14. lu the old Jewish Church every proselyte from the heathen brought his children into the Church with him. So the Jewish apostles write the brief history of their missionary labors precisely as all modern psedobaptist missionaries write theirs, and as no Baptist missionary ever wrote from the first rise of their denomination. There are oidy eleven cases of baptism recorded in the Acts and the Epistles. In the case of two of these, Paul and the Ethiopian eunuch, there were no children to be baptized. Five of the cases were large crowds. After Stephanas was baptized with the crowd among " the many Corinthians," Paul baptized his househoIcL Also were the households of Lydia, of the jailer, of Crispus, and probably of Cornelius, baptized. ThuS in everi/ case in which the household existed it was bap- tized. The faith of the head of the household is men- tioned, but not that of the household itself, excej)t in one case, and that as a general fact. The apostles also address children as mem])ers of the Church. Compare Eph. i. 1 with Eph. vi. 1-3, and Col. i. 1, 2 witli Col. iii. 20. (6.) This has been the belief and |)ractice of a vast majority of God's people from the first. The early 474 CONFESSION OF FAITH. Church, ill unbroken continuity from the days of the apostles, testify to their custom on this subject. The Greelv and Koman, and all branches of the Lutheran and Reformed churches, agree in this fundamental point. The Baptist denomination, which opposes the whole Christian world in this matter, is a very modern party, dating from the Anabaptists of Germany, A. D. 1G37. Our Standards teach that precisely the same require- jaents are made the condition on the part of the parent of having his child baptized that are made the condi- tion of approach to the Lord's table. S. Cat., Q. 95 : " Infants of such as are members of the visible Church are to be baptized." This is explained, L. Cat., Q. 166 : infants " of parents, one or both of them profess- ing faith in Christ;" and Conf. Faith, ch. xxviii., § 4 : " infants of one or both believing parents." In the Directory for Worship, ch. vii., the minister is to re- quire of the parents, among other things, " that they pray with and for (the child) ; that they set an example of })iety and godliness before it, and endeavour by all means of God's appointment to bring uj) their child in tiie imrture and admonition of the Lord." The Gen- eral Assembly in 1794, in answer to an overture on the subject, declared that the above passage in the Direc- tory is to be understood as bringing the parent under an express engagement to do as there required by the minister.* Some have suj)posed, since the church-membership of the child follows from tiiat of the parent, thai every ]ierson who was himself introduced into the Church by baptism iu infancy has an indefeasible rigli * I>aird's Digest, p. SI. BAPTISM. 475 to have his children baptized, whether he proitsses per- sonal faith in Christ or not. But this is manifestly absurd — (a.) Because all members of the Church have not a right to all privileges of church-membersliip. Thus baptized members have no riglit to come to tiie communion until they make a profession of personal faith. Until they do this they are like citizens under age, with their rights held in suspension, as a just pun- ishment for their refusal to believe. These suspended rights are those of communing and having their chil- dren baptized. (6.) A person destitute of personal faith can only commit perjury and sacrilege by making the solemn professions and taking the obligations in- volved in the baptismal covenant. It is a sin for them to do it, and a sin for the minister to help them to do it. Section V. — Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this or4inance,'' j'et grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it as that no person can be regenerated or saved without it/* or that all that are baptized are undoubtedly regen- erated.^* Section VI. — The efficacy of baptism is nut tied to that mo- ment of time wherein it is administered ■,^^ yet notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance, the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth unto, according to the counsel of Grod's own will, in his appointed time." Section VII. — The sacrament of baptism is but once to be administered to any person.^* 13 Luke vii. 30; E.x. iv. 24-26.—" Roin. iv. 11; Acts x. 2, 4, 22, 31, .5, 47.— 15 Acts viii. 13, 23.— 16 John iii. 5, 8.— 17 Qal. iii. 27; Tit. iii 5; Eph. V. 25, 26; Acts ii. 38, 41.— 18 Tit. iii. 5. These Sections teach — 476 CONFESSION OF FAIx^H. 1st. That grace and salvation arc not so inseparahl)" united to baptism that only the baptized are saved, or tliat all the baptized are saved. 2d. That, nevertheless, it is a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, for that its observance is com- manded, and, in the right use of it, the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost to such (whether of age or infants) as the grace belongeth unto. 3d. That the efficacy of baptism, even in cases in which the grace signified is really conveyed, is not tied down to the moment of time wherein the sacrament is administered, but is conveyed to the recipient according to the counsel of God's own will, in his ai)pointed time. 4th. The sacrament of^ baptism is to be administered but once to any person. The ground taken here is intermediate between two opposite extremes — (1.) The extreme held by Papists and Ritualists of baptismal regeneration, (a.) This is not taught in Scripture. The language relied upon to l)rove it (John iii, 5 ; Acts ii. 38) is easily explained, on the princi[)lc that, in virtue of the sacramental union between the sign and tlie grace signified, what is true of the one is metaphorically predicated of the other. There is nothing said of the efficacy of baptism which is not likewise said of the efficacy of the truth. James i. 18; John xvii. 19; Pet. i. 23. But the mere hearing of the truth saves no one. (6.) Baptism cannot be the only or ordinary means of regeneration, because faith and re- pentance are the fruits of regeneration, but the prc- requisites of baptism. Acts ii. 38 ; viii. 37 ; xi. 47. 'c.) Universal experience in Romanist and Ritualistic BAPTTSTVf. 477 eoraiminities prove that the baptized are not generally regenerated. Our Saviour says, " By their fruits ye shall know them." Matt. vii. 20. (2.) Our Standards oppose the other extreme, that baptism is a, mere sign of grace and badge of Christian profession. Their doctrine is — (a.) That baptism does not only signify* but really and truly seal and convey, grace to those to whom it belongs according to covenant — that is, to the elect. (6.) But that this actual conveyance of the grace sealed is not tied to the moment in which the sacrament is administered, but is made according to the precise provisions as to time and circumstance predetermined in the eternal covenant of grace. So property may be sealed and conveyed in a deed to a minor, but the minor may not actually enter into the fruition of it until such time and upon such conditions as are predeter- mined in his father's will. (c.) The efficacy of the sacrament is not due to any spiritual or magical quality communicated to the water. {d.) But this efficacy does result (1) from the moral power of the truth which the rite symbolizes. (2.) Fri)in the fact that it is a seal of the covenant of grace, and a legal form of investing those persons embraced in the covenant with the graces promised therein. (3.) From the personal presence and sovereignly gracious opera- tion of the Holy Spirit, who uses the sacrament as his instrument and medium. {e.) That through these channels the grace signified is really conveyed to the persons to whom, according to the divine counsel, it truly belongs, yet this grace and the influences of the Holy Ghost are not so tied to the 478 CONFESSION {»F FAITH. 6acram?nt that they are never, or even infrequently, con- veyed in any other way. The very grace conveyed by the pacrament must be jjossessed by the adult as a pre- requisite to baptism, and is often subsequently experi- enced through other channels. * (/.) Hence the necessity for being baptized arises (1) from the divine command. Obedience is of course ne- cessary where there is knowledge. (2.) It is the proper and only eflScient method of making a profession of faith and allegiance to Christ. (3.) It is eminently helpful as a means of grace. That baptism is never to be administered more than once to any person appears (1) from the symbolical significance of the rite. It signifies spiritual regener- tion — the inauguration of the divine life. Of course it can have but one commencement. (2.) It is the rite of initiation into the Christian Church, and as there is no provision made for getting out of the Church when once in, so there is no provision made for coming in more than once. (3.) The apostles baptized each in- dividual but once. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the Jirst proposition taught in the first three Sections of this Chapter? 2. What is the second proposition there taught? 3. What is the third proposition there taught? 4. What was the origin of ceremonial washing, and the extent to which its observance was diffused ? 5. State the evidence that the baptism of John was not Chris- tian baptism ? 6. Give your reason for believing that the baptisms performed BAPTISM. 479 by tlie disciples of Clirist. previous to his resurrection, were not the same with the permanent Chri>tian sacrament of that name. 7. Where do we find the true act of institution and wan-ant for this sacrament? 8. State the proof that it is designed to be perpetually observed until the second coming of our Lord. 9. What is the precise action indicated in the cpmmand to baptize ? 10. Why may only lawfully-ordained ministers baptize? 11. What is the true statement of the Baptist position with respect to the act intended in the command to baptize? 12. What is the precise statement of our view of the subject ? 13. What is essential according to their view, and what accord- ing to our view ? 14. What is the classical usage of the word haptizo f 15. How often does it occur in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, and in what sense ? 16. In what sense is haptizo used in the New Testament? 17. In what sense was the term baptism used by the disciples of John ? 18. In what sense is the term " baptism'' or " baptisms ' used generally in the New Testament ? 19. Of what is water baptism emblematical? 20. What consequences does baptism by the Holy Ghost carry with it? 21. Why are we said to be " buried with Christ in baptism," etc., etc. ? 22. In what terms is baptism by the Holy Ghost expressed in Scripture? as an immersion or as "a pouring" and "a sprink- ling?" 23. What was the generally prevalent mode of effecting the rite of purification among the Jews? 24. What light do 1 Cor. x. 12, and 1 Pet. iii. 20, throw upon this subject? 25. Is it ever said that John the Baptist or the apostles of Christ baptized by immersion? 26. Taking all the recorded circumstances of the several bap- 480 CONFESSION OF FAITH. tisnis into account, on wliich side and to what degree is the bal- ance of pvohabiUtv? 27. Why is it essential that the rite should be performed in tho name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost ? 28. What was the Jii-st design of baptism? 29. What is the second design of baptism? 30. What do oui- Standards teach are the prerequisites for bap- tism on the part of adults ? 31. What are the pastor and church session competent to require and to judge ? 32. Upon whom ultimately must the responsibility rest? 33. What do some churches require of applicants for baptism, in addition to a credible profession of Christianity? 34. How can you show that such requirements are unwarrant- able? 35. What do our Standards teach as to the rights of infants to baptism ? 36. State the argument derived from the constitution of human nature and the ordinary providence of God. 37. Do the same from the fact that all God's covenants with mankind include the children with the parents. 38. Prove that the gospel Church existed under the Old Tes- tament. 39. Prove that faith was the condition of salvation then as now. 40. Prove that circumcision had the same spiritual meaning that baptism now has. 41. Prove that baptism has taken the precise place of circum- cision. 42. Prove tliat the Church under the new is identically tho same with the Church under the old dispensation. 43. Prove that infants were recognized as members of the an- cient Church from its ver}' beginning, and show how infant bap- tism follows as a necessary consequent. 44. Show that Christ and his apostles always spoke of and treated children on the assumption of their church membership. 45. Show from the record that the apostles ahcays baptized the households of believers wherever they existed. BAPTISM. 481 iCi. '\Miat has been the faith and practice of the Cliristian Chinch, and what is the force of that argument? 47. Whose children, according to our Standards, arc to be bap- tize 1 ? 48. What does the Directory of Worship require of parents bringing their children forward for baptism, and what conclusion follows? 49. What is the position and what the rights of those adults v?ho, having been baptized in infancy, have never professed per- sonal faith in Christ? 50. Why ought such parties to be denied the privilege of hav- ing their children baptized? 51. What is the^first proposition taught in the fifth, sixth and seventh Sections? 52. What is the second proposition there taught? 53. What is the third proposition ? 54. What is the /owr^/if 55. Between what two extremes is the doctrine as to the effi- cacy of the sacraments held by our Church? 56. What is the Romish and Ritualistic doctrine on the point? 57. Show that the doctrine of baptismal regeneration cannot be true. 58. State the different points involved in the doctrine of our Standai-ds as to the efficacy of the sacraments. 59. From what sources does this efficacy result? 60. Show that baptism presupposes as well as conveys grace, and draw the necessary inference. 61. On what ground and to what extent is baptism necessary? 62. Show that it is to be administered to the same person but once. 81 CHAPTER XXIX. OP THE lord's supper. Section I. — Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he "was be- trayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be observed in his Church unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembi-ance of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further en- gagement in and to all duties which they owe uilto him, and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him and with each other, as members of his mystical body.^ • 1 Cor. xi. 23-26; x. 16, 17, 21 ; xii. 13. This Section teaches us — (a.) Of the time in which, and the person by whom, the Lord's Supper was insti- tuted. (6.) Of its perpetual obligation. (c.) Of its design and effect. Lst. Of the fact that it was instituted by our Lord in I»ei'son on the night in wliieh lie was betrayed there can be no doubt. The fact is explicitly declared by three of the evangelists (Matt. xxvi. 26, 29; Mark xiv. 22-25; Luke xxii. 19, 20) and by Paul (1 Cor. xi. 23, 25), and it remains to this day a monument of the truth of the gospel history with which it is associated. 2d. That it was designed to be observed perpetually to the end of the world is evident — (L) From the words of the institution, "Do this in remembrance of me;" and again, " This do ye as oft as ye drink it, in remem- 482 THE lord's SUPPEK. 483 bi'ance of me." (2.) The apostolic example. Acts ii. 42. (3.) The frequent references to this (irdinance which occur in the apostolic writings, and which all imply that it is of perpetual obligation. (4.) The uni- form and universal practice of the Christian Church in all its branches from the beginning. 3d. As to the design of the Lord's Supper," the teach- ing of our Standards may be exhibited under the follow- ing heads : (1.) The Lord's Supper is a commemoration of the death of Christ. This is evident — (a.) From the fact that the bread is an emblem of his body broken, and the wine of his blood shed upon the cross for us. Matt. xxvi. 28; Luke xxii. 19. (6.) From the fact that the act of eating the bread and of drinking the wine is declared both by Christ and by Paul, to be done "in remem- brance" of Christ, and "to show forth his death till he come." (2.) It is a seal of the gospel covenant wherein all the benefits of the new covenant are signified, sealed and applied to believers. Conf. Faith, chap, xxix., § 1 ; L. Cat., Q. 162; S. Cat., Q. 92. Christ says, " This cup is the New Testament (covenant) of my blood, which is shed for you " (Luke xxii. 20) ; i. e., my blood is the seal of the covenant of grace, and this cup is the symbol of my blood, and as such is offered to you. In its use Christ ratifies his promise to save us on the condition of faith, and to endow us with all the benefits of his re-l demption. We, in taking this pledge, solemnly bind ourselves to entire self-consecration and to all that is involved in the requirements of the gospel of Christ, not as we understand them, but as he intends them. It is a 484 CONFESSION OF FAITH. universal principle that all oaths bind in the sense in winch they are understood by the persons who impose them. (3.) Hence it is a badge of Christian profession — a mark of allegiance of a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. (4.) It was designed to signify and effect our com- munion with Christ, in his person, in his offices and in their precious fruits. Paul says (1 Cor. x, 10), "The cup which we drink, is it not tlie communion (xoivojiia) of the blood of Christ? and the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the blood of Clii'isf?" L. Cat., Q. 170: " So that they that worthily communicate in tlie sacrament of tlie I^ord's Supper, do therein feed upon the body and blood of Christ, not after a corporal or carnal, but in a spiritual manner; yet truly and i-eally, while by faith they receive and apply unto themselves Christ crucified and all the benefits of his death. The bread represents the flesh and the wine represents his blood. We receive the symbol with the mouth cor- porally, we receive the flesh and blood symbolized by faith, yet really. " Whoso cateth and drinkcth my blood hath eternal life, . . . for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." (5.) It was designed to show forth and to effect t)ie mutual communion of believers with each other as members of one body and of one blood. 1 Cor. x. 17: "■ For we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread." Union with a common Head necessarily implies communion with etch >ther in that Head. THE lord's supper. 485 Section II. — In this sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor anj^ real sacrifice made at all for remission of sins of the quick or dead -^ but only a commemoration of that one offer- ing up of himself by himself, upon the cross, once for all, and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same ;' so that the popish sacrifice of the mass, as they call it, is most abominably injurious to Christ's one only sacrifice, the alone pro- pitiation for all the sins of the elect.* < Section III. — The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, ap- pointed his ministers to declare his word of institution to the people, to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to a holy use ; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and (they communi- cating also themselves) to give both to the communicants f but to none who are not then present in the congregation.® Section IY. — Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest, or any other alone ;' as likewise the denial of the cup to the people f worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use ; are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution of Christ.^ Section V. — The outward elements in this sacrament, duly set ajiart to the uses ordained by Christ, have such a relation to him crucified, as that truly, yet sacramentally only, they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit: the body and blood of Christ;^" albeit, in substance and nature, they still reiuain trul}' and only bread and wine, as they were before." Section VI. — That doctrine which maintains a ciiange of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood (commonly called transubstantiation), by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason ; overthroweth the nature of the sacrament; and hath been, and is, the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries." ' Heb. is. 22, 25, 26, 28.— » 1 Cor. .xi. 24-26 ; Matt. x.wi. 26, 27.—* Heb. vii. 23, 24, 27 ; x. 11, 12, 14, 18.— * Matt. xxvi. 26-28; Mark xiv. 22-24; Lute xxii. 19, 20; 1 Cor. xi. 23-26.— « Acts xx. 7; 1 Cor. xi. 20.- ' 1 Cor. 4S6 coNFissrox of faith. X. i'.— * Mark xiv. 2:^ : 1 Cor. xi. 2c-2'?.— 9 Mart. sv. 9.— ^^ Mitt, sj ri. 26 2S.— u 1 Cor. xi. 26-25 : Matt. xxri. 29.—" Acts iii. 21 : 1 Cor. x:. 24-26 Luke xxiv. 6, 39. The form in which the statements made in these Sec- tioii.s are put is rather negative than positive — rather de- signed to opp4)se certain Eomish and Ritualistic errors than to make a simple statement of the true doctrine of the sacrament. The errors which are here opposed are — (1.) The doctrine of transubstantiation, or the change of the entire substance of the bread and wine into the bles taught in this Sec- tion as thus generally stated, they differ very much as to the human agents with whom Christ has deposited this power, and whom he uses as his instruments in administering it. There are four radically different theories on this subject: " 1st. The popish theory, which assumes that Christ, the apostles and believers constituted the Church while our Saviour was on earth, and this organization was designed to be perpetual. After the ascension of our Lord, Peter became his vicar, and took his place as the visible head of the Church. This primacy of Peter, as the universal bishop, is continued in his successors, the bishops of Rome; and the apostleship is perpetuated in the order of prelates. As in the primitive Church no one could be an apostle who was not subject to Christ, so now no one can be a prelate who is not subject to the pope. And as then no one could be a Christian who was not subject to Christ and the apostles, so now no one can be a Christian who is not subject to the poj)e and tlie prelates. Tliis is the Romish theory of the Church. A vicar of Christ, a j)erpetual (college of apos- Jes, and the people subject to their infallible control. "2d. The prelatical theory assumes the perpetuity ctf CHURCH CENSURES. 499 the apostleship as the governing power in the Church, which, therefore consists of those who profess the true religion and are subject to apostle-bishops. This is tiie Ancrlican or Hiffh-Church form of this theory. In its Low-Church form, the prelatical theory simply teaches that there was originally a threefold order in the minis- try, and that there should be now. But ii does not affirm that mode of organization to be essential. "3d. The Independent or Congregational theory in- cludes two principles : first, that the governing and ex- ecutive power in the Church is in the brotherhood; and secondly, that the church organization is complete in each worshipping assembly, which is independent of every other. "4th. The fourth theory is the Presbyterian. . . . This includes the following affirmative statement: (1.) The people have a right to a substantive part in the governmentof the Church. (2.) Presbyters who labour in word and doctrine are the highest permanent officers of the Church, and all belong to the same order. (3.) The outward and visible Church is, or should be, one, in the sense that a smaller part is subject to a larger, and a larger to the whole. It is not holding one oi' these j)rinciples that makes a man a Presbyterian, but his holding them all."* Christ has in fact vested all ecclesiastical power in the Church as a whole, none of its members being excluded ; yet not in the Church as a mob, but as an organized body consisting of members, their representatives ruling elders, and ministers or bishops. Elders or bishops * " What is Presby terianism ?" Rev. C. Hodge, D.D. : Pres. F.oard of Puh. 600 CONFESSION OP FAITH. wore ordained by the apostles, have always continued in the Church, and were designed to be perpetuated as the highest class of officers in the Church, 1 Tim, iii. 1 ; Eph. iv. 11, 12. All Church power vests, then, jointly in the lay and clerical element, in the ministers together with the people. " Ruling elders are pi'operly the representatives OF THE PEOPLE, choscu by them for the purpose of ex- ercising government and discipline in conjunction with pastors or ministers."* " The powers, therefore, exercised by our ruling elders are powers which belong to the lay members of the Church." "They are chosen by them to act in their name in the government of the Church. A representative is one chosen by others to do in their name what they are entitled to do in their own persons; or rather to e^^ercise the powers which radically inhere in those for whom they act. The members of a State Legislature or of Congress, for example, can exercise only those powers which are inherent in the people."t Section II. — To these officers the kej's of the kingdom of heaven are conmiitted ; by virtue wliereof they have power respectively to retain and remit sins, to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, botli by the Woi-d and censures ; and to open it unto penitent sinners by the ministry of the gospel and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.* Section III. — Church censures are necessary for the reclaim- ing and gaining of offending brethren : for deterring of others from the like offences; for purging out of that leaven which might infect the whole lump ; for vindicating the honour of Christ and the holy profession of the gospel, and for preventing die wrath of God, which might justly fall upon the Church if • "Form of Government," chnp. iii., § 2; chap. v. t " What is Pre.sbyteriuiiisin ?" Rev. C, Hodge, D.D, CHURCH CEXSURES. 601 they should suffer his covenant and the seals thereof ti he pro- faned by iiotoi'ious and obstinate oflFcnders.' Section IV. — For the better attaining of these ends, the offi- cers of the Church are to proceed by admonition, suspension from the sacrament of the Lord's Supper for a season, and by excom- munication from the Church, according to the nature of the crime and demerit of the person.* ' Matt. xvi. 19 ; xviii. 17, 18 ; John xx. 21-23 ; 2 Cor. ii^ 6-8.-3 i Cor. v; 1 Tim. v. 20; Matt. vii. 6; 1 Tim. i. 20; 1 Cor. xi. 27; Jude 23.— * 1 Thess. V. 12; 2 Thess. iii. 6, 14, 15; 1 Cor. v. 4, 5, 13; Matt, xviii. 17; Tit. iii. 10. These Sections teacli — 1st. As to the nature and extent of the power con- ferred upon the Church of admitting and excluding from the fold, and of disciplining its members. 2d. As to the ends of this discipline. 3d. As to the methods through which it should be administered. All Church power must be exercised in an orderly manner through the officers spoken of above, freely chosen for this purpose by the brethren ; and it re- lates— " 1. To matters of doctrine. She has a right to set forth a public declaration of the truths which she believes, and which arc to be acknowledged by all who enter her communion. That is, she has a right to frame creeds or confessions of faith, as her testimony for the truth and her protest against error. And as slie has been commissioned to toach all nations, she has the right of selecting teachers, of judging of their fitness, of ordaining and sending them forth into the field, and of recalling and deposing them when unfaithful. 2. The Church has pow^r to set down rules for the ordering of public worship '^. She has power to make rules for 602 CONFESSION OF FAITH. lier own government; such as every Church has in its book of discipline, constitution or canons, etc. 4. She has power to receive into fellowship, and to exclude the unworthy from her own communion." * This last power is commonly styled " the power of the keys ;" i. e. of opening and closing the doors of the Churc/i, of admitting or excluding from sealing ordi- nances. Matt. xvi. 19. In view of two unquestionable facts — [a) to forgive sin is an incommunicable attribute of God and Christ; (6) God has given to no class of men the faculty of absolutely discriminating the good from the bad — it follows that the Church power of open- ing and shutting, of binding and loosing, spoken of in Matt. xvi. 19 and in the second Section of this Chapter, is purely ministerial and declarative. Church censures declare simply what is, to the best of their knowledge, in the opinion of the church officers pronouncing them, the niind and will of Christ in the case. And they have direct binding effect only in so far as the relations of the person censured to the visible Church is concerned They can have effect upon the relations of the censured to God and to Christ only in so far as they represent the will of Christ in the case, and because they do. The ends of Church discipline arc declared to be — (a.) The purity of the Church, and hence the glory and approbation of God. (6.) The recovery of the erring brother himself, (c.) The force of example to deter others from like sin. [d.) The exhibition of righteous- ness and fidelity to principle presented to the world vithout. The better to attain all these ends, for which the dls- * " VVIiut i.s Prosbvteriaiiisiu?" Kev. C. Hodge, D. D. CHURCH CENSURES. 503 ciplint- is intended, the ehurcli officers should — (1.) Pro- ceed in ii rej^iihir order to administer discipline, using, according to their character, first all means of" moral re- clamation before they proceed to absolute exclusion. The proper method of procedure, under all circum- stances, is plainly stated iu the "Book of Discipline," which forms j)art of the Confession of Fajth of our Church. The successive stages of discipline there un- folded are — («) private admonition, (6) public admoni- tion, (c) suspension, (cZ) excommunication. (2.) The discipline should be wisely and justly pro- portioned " to the nature of the crime and demerit of the person." QUESTIONS. 1. What is the first point involved in the Erastian doctrine as to the relation of the Church to the State? 2. What is the second point involved? 3. What is the third? 4. What is t\\Q first point in opposition to this heresy taught in the first Section of this Chapter? 5. What is the second point here taught? 6. What is the source of all Church power? 7. Wliat, then, is the nature of all Church power as exercised by human agents? 8. What has been the ground of tlie jealousy with which the independent self-government of the Church has always been re- garded in Europe? D. How has this jealousy been shown to be groundless? 10. Why, and u})on what conditions, is there no danger of interference between the two orders of government? 1 1. What diflFerence of oi)inion has prevailed as to tlie huuian agents witli uliom Christ has vested this power? 12. State the main elements of the Popish theory. 604 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 13. State the main elements of the Prelatical theory. 14. Do the same with regard to the Congregational or Inde pendent theory. 15. Do the same with regard to the Presbyterian theory. 16 What are the two orders of church officers to whom the government of the Church is committed ? 17. What are elders or bishops ? 18. What is the character of the office of the ruling elders? 19. Whom do they represent, and what parties exei'cise their inherent powers through them? 20. What are the three subjects set forth in the second, third and fourth Sections ? 21. How must all Church power be exercised? 22. What is the Jirst principal province of Church power? 23. What is the second province? 24. What is the third ? 25. What is the fourth? 26. What is the power of discipline called ? 27. What do you mean by saying that it is simply ministerial and declarative? 28. Prove that it is so. 29. State what are the several ends which Church discipline is designed to effect. 3(>. What is the first thing that must be observed in the duo adnnnistration of discipline? 31. Where are the rules regulating discipline in the Presbyte- rian Oliurch laid down? 32. What is the second thing that must be observed? CHAPTER XXXI. OF SYNODS AND COUNCILS. Section I. — For the better government and further edification of the Church, tliere ought to be such assembUes as are coui- nionly called synods or councils ;' and it belongeth to the over- seers and other rulers of the particular churches, by virtue of their office and the power which Christ hath given them for edi- fication, and not for destruction, to appoint such assemblies,* and to convene together in them as often as they shall judge it expe- dient for the good of the Church.' 1 Acts XV. 2, 4, 6.-2 Acts xv.— s Acts xv. 22, 23, 25. Ab we have seen in the last Chapter, all Church power is vested by Christ in the Church as a wliole, not as a Hiob, but as an organized body. As organized, the Church consists of presbyters or bishops and the people, and tilt people as represented by lay or ruling elders. This necessarily gives origin to the session or })arochial presbytery, consisting of the bishop or pastor and the ruling elders or representatives of the people. In this body the entire ecclesiastical power of the whole con- gregation is vested. It admits candidates to sealing ordinances, exercises pastoral care and discipline over the members and provides for the instruction of the flock and regulates public worship. In the Episcopal Church this governing power vests with the rector. In the Congregational churclu'S it i.« 605 506 CONFESSION OF FAITH. exercised immediately by the whole body of the biothei- liood in person. In the Presbyterian Churcli it vests with pastor and people — the people, however, acting only through their permanent representatives, the ruling elders. But tlie third great principle of Presbyterian ism, as stated in tlie preceding Chapter, is tliat the whole Church of Christ on earth " is one in such a sense that a smaller part is subject to a larger, and a larger to the M'hole. It has one Lord, one faith, one baptism. The principles of government laid down in the Scriptures bind the whole Church. The terms of admission and the legitimate grounds of exclusion are everywhere the same. The same qualifications are everywhere to be demanded for admission to the sacred office, and the same grounds for deposition. Every man who is prop- erly received as a member of a particular church becomes A member of the Church universal; every one rightfully excluded from a parti(nilar church is excluded from the whole Church ; every one rightfully ordained to the ministry in one church is a minister of the universal Church, and when rightfully deposed in one he ceases to be a minister in any. Hence, while every particular church has a right to manage its own affiiirs and admin- ister its own disci})line, it cannot be independent and irresponsible in the exercise of that right. As its mem- bers are the members of the Church universal, and those whom it excommunicates are, according to the scriptural theory, delivered unto Satan and cut off from the com- munion of the saints, the acts of a particular church become the acts of the whole Church, and therefore the whole lias a right to see that they are performed accord- SYNODS AND COUNCILS. 507 ing to tlie law of Christ. Hence, on the one hand, the right of appeal, and on the other the right of review and control."* The principle contained in the above statement was certainly acted upon in the a})ostolic age, and it has been practically recognized and acted upon with more or less fidelity in all branches of the Christian Church ever since. "A controversy having arisen in the Church at An- tioch, concerning the Mosaic law, instead of settling it among themselves as an independent body, they referred the case to the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, and there it was authoritatively decided (not by the apostles alone, but ' by the apostles and elders and the whole Church,' Acts XV. 22) — not for that church (Antioch) only, but for all others. Paul, therefore, in his next missionary journey, as 'he passed through the cities, delivered to tlicm,' it is said, ' the decrees for to keep, which were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jeru- salem.' Acts xvi, 4."t Hence, in carrying these principles into effect, the con- stitution of the Presbyterian Church (see Book I. of Government), provides for the erection and operation of a regularly-graduated series of ecclesiastical councils. (1.) Every particular congregation is governed, as we have seen, by a session or parochial presbytery, consist- ing of i^s pastor and the ruling elders as the representa- tives of the people. The whole govermental power of that i)articular church vests in that session, and all trials for tiie discipline of any of its members must originate there. Its decisions are final with respect to * " Wliat is Presbyterian ism?" Dr. C. Hodge. f ll)iil. 608 CONFESSION OF FAITH. the matters subject to its jurisdiction, except wl.en, after liaving been regularly carried up by appeal, they have been reversed by a superior court. (2.) There is the classical Presbytery, uhich consists of all the pastors or bishops and the churches in a city or neighbourhood who can conveniently meet together and unite in the exercise of ecclesiastical government. The churches appear in the Presbytery by representa- tives from the sessions of particular churches, so regu- lated that the number of lay representatives shall exactly equal the number of pastors; and these representatives of the people in all respects exercise equal power with the pastors. All the powers of these bodies vest in them as bodies, and not in the members severally. AVhatever they are competent to decide or to execute, can be done only by the members jointly while in ses- sion, and not at all by them sej)arately or even jointly in any other capacity. Ordained ministers are not members of particular churches, but belong in the first i'nstance tg the Presbytery. The Presbytery, therefore, in the first instance, examines and decides upon the qualifications of candidates, licenses and ordains them, and in the case of the discipline of a minister the pro- cess originates in the Presbytery to which alone the pastor is directly responsible. A licentiate is in no sense or degree a minister. He is purely a layman — i. e., a private member of a particular church — taken under care of Presbytery experimentally, and as a part of his trials or tests tempoi-arily allowed to preach be- fore the peo])le, that they may pass their final judgment ui)on his qualifications and acceptability as a candidate fur the ministry. SYNODS AND COUNCILS. 509 (3.) Synods are only large Presbyteries, consisting of all the Presbyteries in full of a province. (4.) The General Assembly of the whole Church, which, like all the other bodies, consists of an equal number of pastors and of the representatives of the peo- ple, of necessity is composed of the representatives of the constituent Presbyteries, instead of the Prtsbyteries themselves in full. In virtue of the principle of appeal, any question rriginating in a chur(;h session, or any other subordinate court, may be carried up in succession through all the series to the General Assembly, whose decisions when once made are final. In virtue of the principle of review and control, each (thurch court of every grade above a church ses- sion has the right and is under obligation to review " the records of the proceedings of the judicatory next below," and of course to judge of those proceedings, and secure their correction when wrong. And each court, including the church session, is an executive as M^ell as a judicial body, and therefore has an inherent right of supervision and of governmental control over the entire field subject to their jurisdiction. Hence a superior judicatory, in default of the proper action of the inferior judicatory to which the case more immediately belongs, may inaugui-ate investigation and apply discipline im- mediately in the case of any person within its legiti- mate bounds. Section II. — It belonsretli to synods and councils ministerially to determine controversies of faith and cases of conscience ; to set down rules and directions for the better ordering of the public worship of God and government of his Church ; to receive com- 510 CONFESSION OF FAITH. plaints in cases of maladministrntion, and autlioritativelj' to de torniine the same ; which decrees and determinations, if conso- nant to the word of God, are to be received with reverence and submission not only for their agreement with the Word, but al:>o for the power whereby they are made, as being an ordinance of God, appointed thereunto in his word.* Section III. — All synods or councils since the apostles' times, whether general or particular, may err, and many have erred ; therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith or practice, but to be used as a help in both.* Section IV. — Synods and councils are to handle nothing but that which is ecclesiastical ; and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of hum- ble petition in cases extraordinary; or by way of advice for satis- faction of conscience, if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate.* * Acts XV. 15, 19, 24, 27-31; xvi. 4; Matt, xviii. 17-20.— 6 Acts xvii. 11; 1 Cor. ii. 6 ; 2 Cor. i. 24; Eph. ii. 20.— 6 Luke xli. 13, 14; John xviii. 36. 'These Sections state — (1.) The diiferent subjects which come before these church courts for decision. (2.) The grounds u])on which, and the conditions under which, their decisions are to be regarded as requiring submission, and the extent to which that submission is to be carried. 1st. Negatively. Synods and councils have no right whatever to intermeddle with any affair which concerns the commonwealtli, and tliey have no right to presume to give advice to, or to attempt to, influence tlie officers of the civil government in their action as civil officers, except (a) in extraordinary cases, M^hcre the interests of the Ciuirch are immediately concei'ned, by the way of humble petition, or {b) by way of advice for satis- faction of conscience, if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate. 2d. Negatively. The powers of synods and councils SYNODS AND COUNCILS. 511 are purely nnnisteriul and declarative; i. e., relate sini])ly to the declaration and execution of the will of Christ. They are therefore wholly judicial and executive, and in no instance legislative. 3d. Positively. It belongs to synods and councils («) at proper times to form creeds and confessions of faith, and to adopt a constitution for the government of the Church. (6,) To determine parti(!ular controversies of faith and cases of conscience, (c.) To prescribe regula- tions for the public worship of God, and for the govern- ment of the Church, (d.) To take up and issue all cases of discipline, and, in the case of the superior courts, to receive appeals and complaints in all cases of maladmin- istration in the case of individual officers or subordinate courts, and authoritatively to determine the same. 4th. Positively. While ecclesiastical courts have no right to handle or advise upon matters which belong to the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate, they, on the other hand, evidently possess an inalienable right of teaching church members their duty with respect to the civil j^owers, and of enforcing the performance of it as a re- ligious obligation. " The powers that be are ordained of God. . . . Wherefore ye must need be subject not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake." Rom. xiii. 1-7. That is, obedience to the civil authorities is a re- ligious duty, and may be taught and enforced by Church courts upon clunvh members. 5th. Negatively. All synods and councils since the apostles' times, whether general or particular, may err, and many have erred ; therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith or practice; but to be used as a help in both. Tint is, these synods and councils, consisting of 512 CONFESSION OF FAITH. uninspired men, have no power to bind the conscience, and their authority cannot exclude the right, nor excuse the obligation, of private judgment. If their judgments are unwise, but not directly opposed to the will of God, the private member should submit for peace' sake. If their decisions are opposed plainly to the word of God, the private member sliould disregard them and take the penalty. 6th. Positively. But in every case in which the de- crees of these ecclesiastical courts are consonant to the word of God, they are to be received by all subject to the jurisdiction of said court, not only because of the fact that they do agreee with the word of God, but also because of the proper authority of the court itself as a court of Jesus Christ, appointed by him, and therefore ministerially representing him in all of its legitimate actions. QUESTIONS. 1. In whom has Christ vested all Church power? 2. Through whose agency do the people exercise the powers inherent in them ? 3. To wliat body does this necessarily give rise? 4 In whom does the governing power in each congregation vest according to the Episcopal system? 5. In whom does tliis power vest according to the Congrega- tional system? 6. In what body does it vest according to the Presbyterian system ? 7. What is the third fiindamciital principle of Presbyterianism, according to the statement made under the last Chapter? 8. In what sense ought the unit}- of the Church to be ex' pressed in its outward organization? SYNODS AiXD OOUNCILS. 613 9. Why should each smaller part of the Church be subject to a larger, and each larger part he subject to the whole? 10. Prove that this principle wa.s acted on in the apostolic age. 1 1. Pz'ove that it is, with greater or less consistcncj', acted upon ill all churches. 12. What is the lowest church court according to the Presby- terian system y > 13. Of what members does the church session consist, and what are its functions? 14. Of what members does a classical Presbytery consist, and what are its functions? 15. In what sense are all the powers of the members of these church courts joint, and not several? 16. To which body does a minister immediately belong, and to which is he immediately responsible? 17. Which body, therefore, judges of and decides upon the qualifications of ministers and admits them to or deposes them from office? 18. Wliat is the precise standing of licentiates? 19. Under the jurisdiction of what body do licentiates immedi- ately stand as professing Christians? 20. Who compose a provincial Synod, and what are its func- tions? 21. Who compose the General Assembly, and what are its functions? 22. To what extent may the right of appeal be carried in the Presbyterian Church at present? 23. What is the principle of " review and control," and liow is it practically carried out by the church courts? 24. What subjects are defined in the second, third and fourth Sections of this Chapter? 25. What rights are denied synods and councils with respect to matters belonging to the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate?' 26. What exceptions to that prohibition are made? 27. What relations do all church courts sustain to Christ, and to what special functions must their governmental agency bo confined ? 3:i 514 CONFESSION OF FAITH. 28. State the several classes of matters which may be legiti- mately considered and determined by church courts. 29. Prove that it is the duty of church courts to instruct those under their jurisdiction with respect to the duties which Chris- tians owe to the civil magistrate, and to enforce by proper eccle- siastical means due compliance. 30. What do our standards teach with regard to the liability of church courts to err? 31. What practical consequent follows necessarily from that fact? 32. What is the true sphere of private judgment in the case ? 33. What should the Christian do in case the decision of the council be unwise, but not positively opposed to the revealed will of Christ? 34. What is he to do in case the decision is directly opposed to the word of Christ? 35. Upon what grounds does every Christian owe submission to and compliance with those decisions of the courts of God'a house which are consonant to his word ? CHAPTER XXXII. or THE STATE OF MEN AFTER DEATH, AND OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. Section I. — The bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption,' but their souls (which neither die nor sleep), having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them.* The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies ;' and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, re- served to the judgment of the great day.* Besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies the Scripture ac- knowledgeth none. • Gen. iii. 19; Acts xiii. 36. — 'Luke xxiii. 43; Eceles. xii. 7. — 'Hob. xii. 23; 2 Cor. v- 1, 6, 8; Phil. i. 23; Acta iii. 21; Eph. iv. 10.—* Luke xvi. 23, 24; Acts i. 25; Jude 6, 7 ; 1 Pet. iii. 19. Tuis Section teaches — 1st. That man consists of two distinct elements, a Boul and a body, and that death consists in their tempo- rary separation. 2d. That while the body is resolved into its constitu- ent chemical elements, the soul of the believer is (a) immediately made perfect in holiness, (6) during all the intermediate state from death until the resurrection, continues conscious, active and happy, and (o) is in the 615 516 CONFESSION OF FAITH. presence of Christ, who, after his ascension, has sat clown at the riglit hand of God. 3d. That the souls of the wicked also continue, dur- ing this internicdiate state, conscious and active, but in a state of penal torment, reserved to the judgment oi' the great day. 4th. These conditions, though not final, are irreversi- ble— i. e., none of those with Christ will be ever lost, and none of those in torment will be ever saved. 5th. The Scriptures afford no ground whatever for the Romish doctrine that there are other places or con- ditions occupied by deceased men than the two above mentioned. 1st. The duality of human nature, as consisting of two separable elements — a soul and a body — iiaving dis- tinct and independent attributes and subsistence, is taken for granted and constantly implied in the lan- guage of Scripture. Thus God made the body out of the dust of the earth and breathed into it the breath of life, and so man became a living soul. Gen. ii, 7. Christ bids us not to " fear them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." Matt. x. 28. And death is defined in Eccles. xii. 7, a dissolution of the personal union of these two elements ; for " then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.'' In like manner Paul (2 Cor. v. 8 ; Phil. i. 22-24) defines it as a departing, a being with Christ, a ceasing to abide in the flesh, a being absent from the body on the part of the conscious per- sonal soul. 2d. We know that when the soul leaves it the body is resolved into its original chemical elements, which «TATE OF MEN AFTER DEATH — RESURRECTION. 517 are gradually incorporated with the shifting currents of matter on the surface of the earth. The Scriptures teach us, however, that, in S])ite of this flux of their material constituents, the real identity of our bodies is preserved, and that, as members of Christ, all that is essential to them will be ultimately preserved and brought to a glorious resurrection. As to the condition and location of the souls of men during the interval which elapses between the death of each individual and the general and simultaneous resur- rection of the bodies of all, what the Scriptures teach us may be summed up under the following heads : (1.) The souls of both believers and the reprobate continue after death conscious and active, although they remain until the resurrection separate from their bodies. (2.) The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, (3.) The souls of believers, thus perfected, are imme- diately introduced into the presence of Christ and con- tinue to enjoy bright revelations of God and the society of the holy angels. (4.) The souls of the reprobate are at once introduced /' into the place provided for the devil and his angels, and J continue in unutterable misery. (5.) This state of both classes admits of no exchange or transfer, but their present condition is the commence- ment of an inevitable progression in opposite directions. Nevertheless, it is intermediate in the sense (a) that tlM persons of men (continue incomplete while their souls and bodies are separate. (6.) That neither the redemp- tion of the saved nor the perdition of the lost has yet reached its final stage, (c.) That possibly, in the case 518 CONFESSION OF FAITH. of the last, and very probably in the ca&e of the re deemed, the localities in which they are at present art not the same as those in which they are to dwell per- manently after the final award. (6.) As to the location of the place in which the souls of the reprobate suffer, the Scriptures give us no clue. In Jude, verse 7, it is said, " The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." In Matt. xxv. 41, the Judge at the last day says to those "■ on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- pared for the devil and his angels." The rich man (Luke xvi. 23) lifted up his eyes in hell, being in tor- ment, while his brethren were still alive on earth. But where these places are situated, and whether the locality of torment now is identical with the locality of torment after the judgment, no man can tell, because God has not revealed it. Of course, the terms ''up" or "down," " under " or " above," applied to such a subject, must be simply metaphorical, and cannot indicate absolute direction when addressed promiscuously to the inhabit- ants of a revolving and rotating sphere. (7.) As to the location of the place where the re- deemed are now gathered, absolutely nothing is revealed, except that it is wherever the glorified humanity of Christ is. They are with him, and behold his glory. 2 Cor. V. 1—8. See, also, all the scenes opened in the Apocalypse. And Christ at his ascension, sat down at " the right hand of God," " the right hand of the Maj- esty on high." Mark xvi. 19 ; Rom. viii. 34 ; Heb. i. 3; X. 12, etc. This must be a locality, because, the human- STATE OF MEN AFTER DEATH — RESURRECTION. 519 ity of Christ being finite, his presence marks a definite place ; yet the phrase " right hand of God " evidently marks rather the condition of honour and power to which Christ is raised as mediatorial King. As to the location of the place in which Christ and his glorified si30use will hold their central home throughout eternity, a strong probability is raised that it will be our present earth, first burned with fire and then gloriously replen- ished. See Rom. viii. 19-23; 2 Pet. iii. 5-13; Rev. xxi. 1. The proof of the main propositions above stated — viz. : that the intermediate state of souls is one of conscious activity, the redeemed being perfectly holy and happy with Christ, and the reprobate being with the devil and his angels in torment, and that these conditions are for ever irreversible — can be better presented collectively than distributively. It is as follows : The reappear- ance of Samuel in a conscious state, in the use of all his faculties, at the call of Saul and the witch of Endor (1 Sam. xxviii. 7-20) ; the appearance of Moses and Elias at the transfiguration of Christ on the mount (Matt. xvii. 3) ; Christ's address to the thief on the cross — " To-day thou shalt be with me in paradise" (Luke xxiii. 43) ; the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke xvi. 23, 24) : Lazarus is conscious and active in Abraham's bosom; the rich man is in con- scious torment in hell (Hades), while his brethren are still living in the flesh. Of dying Stephen it is de- clared (Acts vii. 55-59) that, being full of the Holy Ghost, he saw the heavens opened, and Jesus Christ Kitting at the right hand of God, and so seeing he cried, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! and so died." 520 CONB^ESSION OF FAITH. In 2 Cor. V. 1-8, Paul declares that to be at home ill the body is to be absent from the Lord ; and to be absent from the body is to the believer to be present with the Lord; and hence he says (in Phil. i. 21-24) that for him to die is gain, and that he was in "a strait betw ixt two ; having a desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better; nevertheless to abide in the Ilesh is more needful for you." In 1 Thess. v. 10, Paul declares that the sleep of death is "a living together with Christ." In Eph. iii. 15, the Ciiurch is declared to be one whole family, of which at present part is in hciaven and part on earth. In Heb. vi. 12-20, it is declared that after Abraham (and other ancient saints) had patiently endured, " he obtained the promises ;" which promises, we know, were in their true meaning spiritual and heavenly. In Acts i. 25, Judas is said to have gone to his own place. In Jude 6, 7, the lost angels are said to be reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the last day, suffering the veno^eance of eternal fire. In Heb. vii. 23, the spirits of the just are represented as made per- fect and happy with tlie angels in heaven. In Rev. vi. 9-11, the souls of the martyrs are re})resented as under the altar in heaven, ])r