Scottish Confession
The Scots Confession of Faith
Outline
- Chapter 1 - God
- Chapter 2 - The Creation of Man
- Chapter 3 - Original Sin
- Chapter 4 - The Revelation of the Promise
- Chapter 5 - The Continuance, Increase, and Preservation of the Kirk
- Chapter 6 - The Incarnation of Jesus Christ
- Chapter 7 - Why the Mediator Had to Be True God and True Man
- Chapter 8 - Election
- Chapter 9 - Christ's Death, Passion, and Burial
- Chapter 10 - The Resurrection
- Chapter 11 - The Ascension
- Chapter 12 - Faith in the Holy Ghost
- Chapter 13 - The Cause of Good Works
- Chapter 14 - The Works Which Are Counted Good Before God
- Chapter 15 - The Perfection of the Law and The Imperfection of Man
- Chapter 16 - The Kirk
- Chapter 17 - The Immortality of Souls
- Chapter 18 - The Notes by Which the True Kirk Shall Be Determined From The False, and Who Shall Be Judge of Doctrine
- Chapter 19 - The Authority of the Scriptures
- Chapter 20 - General Councils, Their Power, Authority, and the Cause of Their Summoning
- Chapter 21 - The Sacraments
- Chapter 22 - The Right Administration of the Sacraments
- Chapter 23 - To Whom Sacraments Appertain
- Chapter 24 - The Civil Magistrate
- Chapter 25 - The Gifts Freely Given to the Kirk
The full text is fairly extensive and is not currently included
in BELIEVE.
The Scots Confession of Faith (1560)
Advanced Information
This was the first confession of faith of the Reformed Church of Scotland.
It was drawn up in four days by six Scottish Reformers, Knox, Spottiswood,
Willock, Row, Douglas, and Winram, each of whom bore the Christian name
of John. Knox undoubtedly played the predominant role in this
preparation. The Scottish Parliament adopted the confession in 1560
with little opposition. Queen Mary, who still resided in France,
refused to ratify the decision, with the result that it did not become
the official confession until 1567, when Parliament reenacted it after
her deposition. The Scots Confession remained the official confession
of the Scottish Reformed Church until it adopted the Westminster
Confession of Faith in 1647.
The theology of the Scots Confession is Calvinistic and is in general
agreement with other creeds of the Reformed churches. In formulating
the confession, Knox and his colleagues took into account the thinking
and statements of a number of Reformers, e.g., Calvin's Institutes,
John a Lasco's Compendium, and Valerian Poullain's Liturgia Sacra. It
does not, however, merely restate what the Reformers on the continent
had said, but has some of its own special characteristics. Though the
Scots Confession lacks the systematic thoroughness of the larger
Westminster Confession, it is a fresh document that bears witness to
the living faith of the Scottish reformation.
The Scots Confession contains twenty-five articles of which twelve
treat the basic doctrines of the Christian faith: God and Trinity; the
creation and fall of humanity and the promises of redemption; the
incarnation; the passion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and
his return to judge the earth; atonement through the death of Christ;
and sanctification through the Holy Ghost. Though traces of Calvinist
emphases are noticeable in these articles, Reformed distinctives arise
elsewhere. Justification by faith is assumed; the doctrine of election
is affirmed; Christ's spiritual presence in the Lord's Supper is
emphasized, while transubstantiation and the view that the elements are
bare signs are condemned. The "Kirk" is defined as "catholic"; it
consists of the elect, and outside of it there is no salvation. The
marks of the true kirk on earth are the true preaching of the word and
the right administration of the sacraments and of discipline. Civil
magistrates are stated to be lieutenants of God, whose duty it is to
conserve and purge the church when necessary; but supreme authority is
ascribed to the word of God.
R Kyle
(Elwell Evangelical Dictionary)
Bibliography
G. D. Henderson, ed., The Scots Confession 1560; P.
Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, III, 479-85; J. H. S. Burleigh, A
Church History of Scotland; K. Barth, The knowledge of God and the
Service of God According to the Teaching of the Reformation.
The Scots Confession of Faith (1560)
Advanced Information - Full Text
Written by John Knox and five colleagues (1560 AD)
Chapter 1 - God
We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we
must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal,
infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet
distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. By whom we confess and
believe all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible to have been created, to be
retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by his inscrutable providence for such
end as his eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice have appointed, and to the manifestation
of his own glory.
Chapter 2 - The Creation of Man
We confess and acknowledge that our God has created man, ie., our first father, Adam,
after his own image and likeness, to whom he gave wisdom, lordship, justice, free will,
and self-consciousness, so that in the whole nature of man no imperfection could be found.
From this dignity and perfection man and woman both fell; the woman being deceived by the
serpent and man obeying the voice of the woman, both conspiring against the sovereign
majesty of God, who in clear words had previously threatened death if they presumed to eat
of the forbidden tree.
Chapter 3 - Original Sin
By this transgression, generally known as original sin, the image of God was utterly
defaced in man, and he and his children became by nature hostile to God, slaves to Satan,
and servants to sin. And thus everlasting death has had, and shall have, power and
dominion over all who have not been, are not, or shall not be born from above. This
rebirth is wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost creating in the hearts of God's chosen
ones an assured faith in the promise of God revealed to us in his Word; by this faith we
grasp Christ Jesus with the graces and blessings promised in him.
Chapter 4 - The Revelation of the Promise
We constantly believe that God, after the fearful and horrible departure of man from
his obedience, did seek Adam again, call upon him, rebuke and convict him of his sin, and
in the end made unto him a most joyful promise, that "the seed of the woman should
bruise the head of the serpent," that is, that he should destroy the works of the
devil. This promise was repeated and made clearer from time to time; it was embraced with
joy, and most constantly received by all the faithful from Adam to Noah, from Noah to
Abraham, from Abraham to David, and so onwards to the incarnation of Christ Jesus; all (we
mean the believing fathers under the law) did see the joyful day of Christ Jesus, and did
rejoice.
Chapter 5 - The Continuance, Increase, and Preservation of the Kirk
We most surely believe that God preserved, instructed, multiplied, honored, adorned,
and called from death to life his Kirk in all ages since Adam until the coming of Christ
Jesus in the flesh. For he called Abraham from his father's country, instructed him, and
multiplied his seed, he marvelously preserved him, and more marvelously delivered his seed
from the bondage and tyranny of Pharaoh; to them he gave his laws, constitutions, and
ceremonies; to them he gave the land of Canaan; after he had given them judges, and
afterwards Saul, he gave David to be king, to whom he gave promise that of the fruit of
his loins should one sit forever upon his royal throne. To this same people from time to
time he sent prophets, to recall them to the right way of their God, from which sometimes
they strayed by idolatry. And although, because of their stubborn contempt for
righteousness he was compelled to give them into the hands of their enemies, as had
previously been threatened by the mouth of Moses, so that the holy city was destroyed, the
temple burned with fire, and the whole land desolate for seventy years, yet in mercy he
restored them again to Jerusalem, where the city and the temple were rebuilt, and they
endured against all temptations and assaults of Satan till the Messiah came according to
the promise.
Chapter 6 - The Incarnation of Jesus Christ
When the fullness of time came God sent his Son, his eternal wisdom, the substance of
his own glory, into this world, who took the nature of humanity from the substance of a
woman, a virgin, by means of the Holy Ghost. And so was born the "just seed of
David," the "Angel of the great counsel of God," the very Messiah promised,
whom we confess and acknowledge to be Emmanuel, true God and true man, two perfect natures
united and joined in one person. So by our Confession, we condemn the damnable and
pestilent heresies of Arius, Marcion, Eutyches, Nestorius, and such others as did either
deny the eternity of his Godhead, or the truth of his humanity, or confounded them, or
else divided them.
Chapter 7 - Why the Mediator Had to Be True God and True Man
We acknowledge and confess that this wonderful union between the Godhead and the
humanity in Christ Jesus did arise from the eternal and immutable decree of God from which
all our salvation springs and depends.
Chapter 8 - Election
That same eternal God and Father, who by grace alone chose us in his Son Christ Jesus
before the foundation of the world was laid, appointed him to be our head, our brother,
our pastor, and the great bishop of our souls. But since the opposition between the
justice of God and our sins was such that no flesh by itself could or might have attained
unto God, it behooved the Son of God to descend unto us and take himself a body of our
body, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, and so become the Mediator between God and
man, giving power to as many as believe in him to be the sons of God; as he himself says,
"I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your God." By this
most holy brotherhood whatever we have lost in Adam is restored to us again. Therefore we
are not afraid to call God our Father, not so much because he has created us, which we
have in common with the reprobate, as because he has given unto us his only Son to be our
brother, and given us grace to acknowledge and embrace him as our only Mediator. Further,
it behooved the Messiah and Redeemer to be true God and true man, because he was able to
undergo the punishment of our transgressions and to present himself in the presence of his
Father's judgment, as in our stead, to suffer for our transgression and disobedience, and
by death to overcome him that was the author of death. But because the Godhead alone could
not suffer death, and neither could manhood overcome death, he joined both together in one
person, that the weakness of one should suffer and be subject to death--which we had
deserved--and the infinite and invincible power of the other, that is, of the Godhead,
should triumph, and purchase for us life, liberty, and perpetual victory. So we confess,
and most undoubtedly believe.
Chapter 9 - Christ's Death, Passion, and Burial
That our Lord Jesus offered himself a voluntary sacrifice unto his Father for us, that
he suffered contradiction of sinners, that he was wounded and plagued for our
transgressions, that he, the clean innocent Lamb of God, was condemned in the presence of
an earthly judge, that we should be absolved before the judgment seat of our God; that he
suffered not only the cruel death of the cross, which was accursed by the sentence of God;
but also that he suffered for a season the wrath of his Father which sinners had deserved.
But yet we avow that he remained the only, well beloved, and blessed Son of his Father
even in the midst of his anguish and torment which he suffered in body and soul to make
full atonement for the sins of his people. From this we confess and avow that there
remains no other sacrifice for sin; if any affirm so, we do not hesitate to say that they
are blasphemers against Christ's death and the everlasting atonement thereby purchased for
us.
Chapter 10 - The Resurrection
We undoubtedly believe, since it was impossible that the sorrows of death should retain
in bondage the Author of life, that our Lord Jesus crucified, dead, and buried, who
descended into hell, did rise again for our justification, and the destruction of him who
was the author of death and its bondage. We know that his resurrection was confirmed by
the testimony of his enemies, and by the resurrection of the dead, whose sepulchers did
open, and they did rise and appear to many within the city of Jerusalem. It was also
confirmed by the testimony of his angels, and by the senses and judgment of his apostles
and of others, who had conversation, and did eat and drink with him after his
resurrection.
Chapter 11 - The Ascension
We do not doubt but that the selfsame body which was born of the virgin, was crucified,
dead, and buried, and which did rise again, did ascend into the heavens, for the
accomplishment of all things, where in our name and for our comfort he has received all
power in heaven and earth, where he sits at the right hand of the Father, having received
his kingdom, the only advocate and mediator for us. Which glory, honor, and prerogative,
he alone amongst the brethren shall possess till all his enemies are made his footstool,
as we undoubtedly believe they shall be in the Last Judgment. We believe that the same
Lord Jesus shall visibly return for this Last Judgment as he was seen to ascend. And then,
we firmly believe, the time of refreshing and restitution of all things shall come, so
that those who from the beginning have suffered violence, injury, and wrong, for
righteousness' sake, shall inherit that blessed immortality promised them from the
beginning.
But, one the other hand, the stubborn, disobedient, cruel persecutors, filthy
persons, idolaters, and all sorts of the unbelieving, shall be cast into the dungeon of
utter darkness, where their worm shall not die, nor their fire be quenched. The
remembrance of that day, and of the Judgment to be executed in it, is not only a bridle by
which our carnal lusts are restrained but also such inestimable comfort that neither the
threatening of worldly princes, nor the fear of present danger or of temporal death, may
move us to renounce and forsake that blessed society which we, the members, have with our
Head and only Mediator, Christ Jesus: whom we confess and avow to be the promised Messiah,
the only Head of his Kirk, our just Lawgiver, our only High Priest, Advocate, and
Mediator. To which honors and offices, if man or angel presume to intrude themselves, we
utterly detest and abhor them, as blasphemous to our sovereign and supreme Governor,
Christ Jesus.
Chapter 12 - Faith in the Holy Ghost
Our faith and its assurance do not proceed from flesh and blood, that is to say, from
natural powers within us, but are the inspiration of the Holy Ghost; whom we confess to be
God, equal with the Father and with his Son, who sanctifies us, and brings us into all
truth by his own working, without whom we should remain forever enemies to God and
ignorant of his Son, Christ Jesus. For by nature we are so dead, blind, and perverse, that
neither can we feel when we are pricked, see the light when it shines, nor assent to the
will of God when it is revealed, unless the Spirit of the Lord Jesus quicken that which is
dead, remove the darkness from our minds, and bow our stubborn hearts to the obedience of
his blessed will. And so, as we confess that God the Father created us when we were not,
as his Son our Lord Jesus redeemed us when we were enemies to him, so also do we confess
that the Holy Ghost does sanctify and regenerate us, without respect to any merit
proceeding from us, be it before or after our regeneration. To put this even more plainly;
as we willingly disclaim any honor and glory from our own creation and redemption, so do
we willingly also for our regeneration and sanctification; for by ourselves we are not
capable of thinking one good thought, but he who has begun the work in us alone continues
us in it, to the praise and glory of his undeserved grace.
Chapter 13 - The Cause of Good Works
The cause of good works, we confess, is not our free will, but the Spirit of the Lord
Jesus, who dwells in our hearts by true faith, brings forth such works as God has prepared
for us to walk in. For we most boldly affirm that it is blasphemy to say that Christ
abides in the hearts of those in whom is no spirit of sanctification. Therefore we do not
hesitate to affirm that murderers, oppressors, cruel persecutors, adulterers, filthy
persons, idolaters, drunkards, thieves, and all workers of iniquity, have neither true
faith nor anything of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, so long as they obstinately continue
in wickedness. For as soon as the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, whom God's chosen children
receive by true faith, takes possession of the heart of any man, so soon does he
regenerate and renew him, so that he begins to hate what before he loved, and to love what
he hated before. Thence comes that continual battle which is between the flesh and Spirit
in God's children, while the flesh and the natural man, being corrupt, lust for things
pleasant and delightful to themselves, are envious in adversity and proud in prosperity,
and every moment prone and ready to offend the majesty of God. But the Spirit of God, who
bears witness to our spirit that we are the sons of God, makes us resist filthy pleasures
and groan in God's presence for deliverance from this bondage of corruption, and finally
to triumph over sin so that it does not reign in our mortal bodies. Other men do not share
this conflict since they do not have God's Spirit, but they readily follow and obey sin
and feel no regrets, since they act as the devil and their corrupt nature urge. But the
sons of God fight against sin; sob and mourn when they find themselves tempted to do evil;
and, if they fall, rise again with earnest and unfeigned repentance. They do these things,
not by their own power, but by the power of the Lord Jesus, apart from whom they can do
nothing.
Chapter 14 - The Works Which Are Counted Good Before God
We confess and acknowledge that God has given to man his holy law, in which not only
all such works as displease and offend his godly majesty are forbidden, but also those
which please him and which he has promised to reward are commanded. These works are of two
kinds. The one is done to the honor of God, the other to the profit of our neighbor, and
both have the revealed word of God as their assurance. To have one God, to worship and
honor him, to call upon him in all our troubles, to reverence his holy Name, to hear his
Word and to believe it, and to share in his holy sacraments, belong to the first kind. To
honor father, mother, princes, rulers, and superior powers; to love them, to support them,
to obey their orders if they are not contrary to the commands of God, to save the lives of
the innocent, to repress tyranny, to defend the oppressed, to keep our bodies clean and
holy, to live in soberness and temperance, to deal justly with all men in word and deed,
and, finally, to repress any desire to harm our neighbor, are the good works of the second
kind, and these are most pleasing and acceptable to God as he has commanded them himself.
Acts to the contrary are sins, which always displease him and provoke him to anger, such
as, not to call upon him alone when we have need, not to hear his Word with reverence, but
to condemn and despise it, to have or worship idols, to maintain and defend idolatry,
lightly to esteem the reverend name of God, to profane, abuse, or condemn the sacraments
of Christ Jesus, to disobey or resist any whom God has placed in authority, so long as
they do not exceed the bounds of their office, to murder, or to consent thereto, to bear
hatred, or to let innocent blood be shed if we can prevent it. In conclusion, we confess
and affirm that the breach of any other commandment of the first or second kind is sin, by
which God's anger and displeasure are kindled against the proud, unthankful world. So that
we affirm good works to be those alone which are done in faith and at the command of God
who, in his law, has set forth the things that please him. We affirm that evil works are
not only those expressly done against God's command, but also, in religious matters and
the worship of God, those things which have no other warrant than the invention and
opinion of man. From the beginning God has rejected such, as we learn from the words of
the prophet Isaiah and of our master, Christ Jesus, "In vain do they worship Me,
teaching the doctrines and commandments of men."
Chapter 15 - The Perfection of the Law and The Imperfection of Man
We confess and acknowledge that the law of God is most just, equal,
holy, and perfect, commanding those things which, when perfectly done, can give life and
bring man to eternal felicity; but our nature is so corrupt, weak, and imperfect, that we
are never able perfectly to fulfill the works of the law. Even after we are reborn, if we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth of God is not in us. It is
therefore essential for us to lay hold on Christ Jesus, in his righteousness and his
atonement, since he is the end and consummation of the Law and since it is by him that we
are set at liberty so that the curse of God may not fall upon us, even though we do not
fulfill the Law in all points. For as God the Father beholds us in the body of his Son
Christ Jesus, he accepts our imperfect obedience as if it were perfect, and covers our
works, which are defiled with many stains, with the righteousness of his Son. We do not
mean that we are so set at liberty that we owe no obedience to the Law--for we have
already acknowledged its place--but we affirm that no man on earth, with the sole exception
of Christ Jesus, has given, gives, or shall give in action that obedience to the Law which
the Law requires. When we have done all things we must fall down and unfeignedly confess
that we are unprofitable servants. Therefore, whoever boasts of the merits of his own
works or puts his trust in works of supererogation, boasts of what does not exist, and
puts his trust in damnable idolatry.
Chapter 16 - The Kirk
As we believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, so we firmly believe that from
the beginning there has been, now is, and to the end of the world shall be, one Kirk, that
is to say, one company and multitude of men chosen by God, who rightly worship and embrace
him by true faith in Jesus Christ, who is the only Head of the Kirk, even as it is the
body and spouse of Christ Jesus. This Kirk is catholic, that is, universal, because it
contains the chosen of all ages, of all realms, nations, and tongues, be they of the Jews
or be they of the Gentiles, who have communion and society with God the Father, and with
his Son, Christ Jesus, through the sanctification of his Holy Spirit. It is therefore
called the communion, not of profane persons, but of saints, who, as citizens of the
heavenly Jerusalem, have the fruit of inestimable benefits, one God, one Lord Jesus, one
faith, and one baptism. Out of this Kirk there is neither life nor eternal felicity.
Therefore we utterly abhor the blasphemy of those who hold that men who live according to
equity and justice shall be saved, no matter what religion they profess. For since there
is neither life nor salvation without Christ Jesus; so shall none have part therein but
those whom the Father has given unto his Son Christ Jesus, and those who in time come to
him, avow his doctrine, and believe in him. (We include the children with the believing
parents.) This Kirk is invisible, known only to God, who alone knows whom he has chosen,
and includes both the chosen who are departed, the Kirk triumphant, those who yet live and
fight against sin and Satan, and those who shall live hereafter.
Chapter 17 - The Immortality of Souls
The chosen departed are in peace, and rest from their labors; not that they sleep and
are lost in oblivion as some fanatics hold, for they are delivered from all fear and
torment, and all the temptations to which we and all God's chosen are subject in this
life, and because of which we are called the Kirk militant. On the other hand, the
reprobate and unfaithful departed have anguish, torment, and pain which cannot be
expressed. Neither the one nor the other is in such sleep that they feel no joy or
torment, as is testified by Christ's parable in St. Luke XVI, his words to the thief, and
the words of the souls crying under the altar, "O Lord, thou that art righteous and
just, how long shalt thou not revenge our blood upon those that dwell in the earth?"
Chapter 18 - The Notes by Which the True Kirk Shall Be Determined
From The False, and Who Shall Be Judge of Doctrine
Since Satan has labored from the beginning to adorn his pestilent synagogue with the
title of the Kirk of God, and has incited cruel murderers to persecute, trouble, and
molest the true Kirk and its members, as Cain did to Abel, Ishmael to Isaac, Esau to
Jacob, and the whole priesthood of the Jews to Christ Jesus himself and his apostles after
him. So it is essential that the true Kirk be distinguished from the filthy synagogues by
clear and perfect notes lest we, being deceived, receive and embrace, to our own
condemnation, the one for the other. The notes, signs, and assured tokens whereby the
spotless bride of Christ is known from the horrible harlot, the false Kirk, we state, are
neither antiquity, usurped title, lineal succession, appointed place, nor the numbers of
men approving an error. For Cain was before Abel and Seth in age and title; Jerusalem had
precedence above all other parts of the earth, for in it were priests lineally descended
from Aaron, and greater numbers followed the scribes, Pharisees, and priests, than
unfeignedly believed and followed Christ Jesus and his doctrine; and yet no man of
judgment, we suppose, will hold that any of the forenamed were the Kirk of God. The notes
of the true Kirk, therefore, we believe, confess, and avow to be: first, the true
preaching of the Word of God, in which God has revealed himself to us, as the writings of
the prophets and apostles declare; secondly, the right administration of the sacraments of
Christ Jesus, with which must be associated the Word and promise of God to seal and
confirm them in our hearts; and lastly, ecclesiastical discipline uprightly ministered, as
God's Word prescribes, whereby vice is repressed and virtue nourished. Then wherever these
notes are seen and continue for any time, be the number complete or not, there, beyond any
doubt, is the true Kirk of Christ, who, according to his promise, is in its midst. This is
not that universal Kirk of which we have spoken before, but particular Kirks, such as were
in Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, and other places where the ministry was planted by Paul and
which he himself called Kirks of God. Such Kirks, we the inhabitants of the realm of
Scotland confessing Christ Jesus, do claim to have in our cities, towns, and reformed
districts because of the doctrine taught in our Kirks, contained in the written Word of
God, that is, the Old and New Testaments, in those books which were originally reckoned as
canonical. We affirm that in these all things necessary to be believed for the salvation
of man are sufficiently expressed. The interpretation of Scripture, we confess, does not
belong to any private or public person, nor yet to any Kirk for pre-eminence or
precedence, personal or local, which it has above others, but pertains to the Spirit of
God by whom the Scriptures were written. When controversy arises about the right
understanding of any passage or sentence of Scripture, or for the reformation of any abuse
within the Kirk of God, we ought not so much to ask what men have said or done before us,
as what the Holy Ghost uniformly speaks within the body of the Scriptures and what Christ
Jesus himself did and commanded. For it is agreed by all that the Spirit of God, who is
the Spirit of unity, cannot contradict himself. So if the interpretation or opinion of any
theologian, Kirk, or council, is contrary to the plain Word of God written in any other
passage of the Scripture, it is most certain that this is not the true understanding and
meaning of the Holy Ghost, although councils, realms, and nations have approved and
received it. We dare not receive or admit any interpretation which is contrary to any
principal point of our faith, or to any other plain text of Scripture, or to the rule of
love.
Chapter 19 - The Authority of the Scriptures
As we believe and confess the Scriptures of God sufficient to instruct and make perfect
the man of God, so do we affirm and avow their authority to be from God, and not to depend
on men or angels. We affirm, therefore, that those who say the Scriptures have no other
authority save that which they have received from the Kirk are blasphemous against God and
injurious to the true Kirk, which always hears and obeys the voice of yer own Spouse and
Pastor, but takes not upon her to be mistress over the same.
Chapter 20 - General Councils, Their Power, Authority, and the
Cause of Their Summoning
As we do not rashly condemn what good men, assembled together in general councils
lawfully gathered, have set before us; so we do not receive uncritically whatever has been
declared to men under the name of the general councils, for it is plain that, being human,
some of them have manifestly erred, and that in matters of great weight and importance. So
far then as the council confirms its decrees by the plain Word of God, so far do we
reverence and embrace them. But if men, under the name of a council, pretend to forge for
us new articles of faith, or to make decisions contrary to the Word of God, then we must
utterly deny them as the doctrine of devils, drawing our souls from the voice of the one
God to follow the doctrines and teachings of men. The reason why the general councils met
was not to make any permanent law which God had not made before, nor yet to form new
articles for our belief, nor to give the Word of God authority; much less to make that to
be his Word, or even the true interpretation of it, which was not expressed previously by
his holy will in his Word; but the reason for councils, at least of those that deserve
that name, was partly to refute heresies, and to give public confession of their faith to
the generations following, which they did by the authority of God's written Word, and not
by any opinion or prerogative that they could not err by reason of their numbers. This, we
judge, was the primary reason for general councils. The second was that good policy and
order should be constitutes and observed in the Kirk where, as in the house of God, it
becomes all things to be done decently and in order. Not that we think any policy of order
of ceremonies can be appointed for all ages, times, and places; for as ceremonies which
men have devised are but temporal, so they may, and ought to be, changed, when they foster
superstition rather than edify the Kirk.
Chapter 21 - The Sacraments
As the fathers under the Law, besides the reality of the sacrifices, had two chief
sacraments, that is, circumcision and the passover, and those who rejected these were not
reckoned among God's people; so do we acknowledge and confess that now in the time of the
gospel we have two chief sacraments, which alone were instituted by the Lord Jesus and
commanded to be used by all who will be counted members of his body, that is, Baptism and
the Supper or Table of the Lord Jesus, also called the Communion of His Body and Blood.
These sacraments, both of the Old Testament and of the New, were instituted by God not
only to make a visible distinction between his people and those who were without the
Covenant, but also to exercise the faith of his children and, by participation of these
sacraments, to seal in their hearts the assurance of his promise, and of that most blessed
conjuction, union, and society, which the chosen have with their Head, Christ Jesus. And
so we utterly condemn the vanity of those who affirm the sacraments to be nothing else
than naked and bare signs. No, we assuredly believe that by Baptism we are engrafted into
Christ Jesus, to be made partakers of his righteousness, by which our sins are covered and
remitted, and also that in the Supper rightly used, Christ Jesus is so joined with us that
he becomes the very nourishment and food for our souls. Not that we imagine any
transubstantiation of bread into Christ's body, and of wine into his natural blood, as the
Romanists have perniciously taught and wrongly believed; but this union and conjunction
which we have with the body and blood of Christ Jesus in the right use of the sacraments
is wrought by means of the Holy Ghost, who by true faith carries us above all things that
are visible, carnal, and earthly, and makes us feed upon the body and blood of Christ
Jesus, once broken and shed for us but now in heaven, and appearing for us in the presence
of his Father. Notwithstanding the distance between his glorified body in heaven and
mortal men on earth, yet we must assuredly believe that the bread which we break is the
communion of Christ's body and the cup which we bless the communion of his blood. Thus we
confess and believe without doubt that the faithful, in the right use of the Lord's Table,
do so eat the body and drink the blood of the Lord Jesus that he remains in them and they
in him; they are so made flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone that as the eternal
Godhood has given to the flesh of Christ Jesus, which by nature was corruptible and
mortal, life and immortality, so the eating and drinking of the flesh and blood of Christ
Jesus does the like for us. We grant that this is neither given to us merely at the time
nor by the power and virtue of the sacrament alone, but we affirm that the faithful, in
the right use of the Lord's Table, have such union with Christ Jesus as the natural man
cannot apprehend. Further we affirm that although the faithful, hindered by negligence and
human weakness, do not profit as much as they ought in the actual moment of the Supper,
yet afterwards it shall bring forth fruit, being living seed sown in good ground; for the
Holy Spirit, who can never be separated from the right institution of the Lord Jesus, will
not deprive the faithful of the fruit of that mystical action. Yet all this, we say again,
comes of that true faith which apprehends Christ Jesus, who alone makes the sacrament
effective in us. Therefore, if anyone slanders us by saying that we affirm or believe the
sacraments to be symbols and nothing more, they are libelous and speak against the plain
facts. On the other hand we readily admit that we make a distinction between Christ Jesus
in his eternal substance and the elements of the sacramental signs. So we neither worship
the elements, in place of that which they signify, nor yet do we despise them or
undervalue them, but we use them with great reverence, examining ourselves diligently
before we participate, since we are assured by the mouth of the apostle that "whoever
shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the
body and blood of the Lord."
Chapter 22 - The Right Administration of the Sacraments
Two things are necessary for the right administration of the sacraments. The first is
that they should be ministered by lawful ministers, and we declare that these are men
appointed to preach the Word, unto whom God has given the power to preach the gospel, and
who are lawfully called by some Kirk. The second is that they should be ministered in the
elements and manner which God has appointed. Othewise they cease to be the sacraments of
Christ Jesus. This is why we abandon the teaching of the Roman Church and withdraw from
its sacraments; firstly, because their ministers are not true ministers of Christ Jesus
(indeed they even allow women, whom the Holy Ghost will not permit to preach in the
congregation to baptize) and, secondly, because they have so adulterated both the
sacraments with their own additions that no part of Christ's original act remains in its
original simplicity. The addition of oil, salt, spittle, and such like in baptism, are
merely human additions. To adore or venerate the sacrament, to carry it through streets
and towns in procession, or to reserve it in a special case, is not the proper use of
Christ's sacrament but an abuse of it. Christ Jesus said, "Take ye, eat ye," and
"Do this in remembrance of Me." By these words and commands he sanctified bread
and wine to be the sacrament of his holy body and blood, so that the one should be eaten
and that all should drink of the other, and not that they should be reserved for worship
or honored as God, as the Romanists do. Further, in withdrawing one part of the
sacrament--the blessed cup--from the people, they have committed sacrilege. Moreover, if
the sacraments are to be rightly used it is essential that the end and purpose of their
institution should be understood, not only by the minister but also by the recipients. For
if the recipient does not understand what is being done, the sacrament is not being
rightly used, as is seen in the case of the Old Testament sacrifices. Similarly, if the
teacher teaches false doctrine which is hateful to God, even though the sacraments are his
own ordinance, they are not rightly used, since wicked men have used them for another end
than what God had commanded. We affirm that this has been done to the sacraments in the
Roman Church, for there the whole action of the Lord Jesus is adulterated in form,
purpose, and meaning. What Christ Jesus did, and commanded to be done, is evident from the
Gospels and from St. Paul; what the priest does at the altar we do not need to tell. The
end and purpose of Christ's institution, for which it should be used, is set forth in the
words, "Do this in remembrance of Me," and "For as often as ye eat this
bread and drink this cup ye do show"--that is, extol, preach, magnify, and
praise--"the Lord's death, till He come." But let the words of the mass, and
their own doctors and teachings witness, what is the purpose and meaning of the mass; it
is that, as mediators between Christ and his Kirk, they should offer to God the Father, a
sacrifice in propitiation for the sins of the living and of the dead. This doctrine is
blasphemous to Christ Jesus and would deprive his unique sacrifice, once offered on the
cross for the cleansing of all who are to be sanctified, of its sufficiency; so we detest
and renounce it.
Chapter 23 - To Whom Sacraments Appertain
We hold that baptism applies as much to the children of the faithful as to those who
are of age and discretion, and so we condemn the error of the Anabaptists, who deny that
children should be baptized before they have faith and understanding. But we hold that the
Supper of the Lord is only for those who are of the household of faith and can try and
examine themselves both in their faith and their duty to their neighbors. Those who eat
and drink at that holy table without faith, or without peace and goodwill to their
brethren, eat unworthily. This is the reason why ministers in our Kirk make public and
individual examination of those who are to be admitted to the table of the Lord Jesus.
Chapter 24 - The Civil Magistrate
We confess and acknowledge that empires, kingdoms, dominions, and cities are appointed
and ordained by God; the powers and authorities in them, emperors in empires, kings in
their realms, dukes and princes in their dominions, and magistrates in cities, are
ordained by God's holy ordinance for the manifestation of his own glory and for the good
and well being of all men. We hold that any men who conspire to rebel or to overturn the
civl powers, as duly established, are not merely enemies to himanity but rebels against
God's will. Further, we confess and acknowledge that such persons as are set in authority
are to be loved, honored, feared, and held in the highest respect, because they are the
lieutenants of God, and in their councils God himself doth sit and judge. They are the
judges and princes to whom God has given the sword for the praise and defense of good men
and the punishment of all open evil doers. Moreover, we state the preservation and
purification of religion is particularly the duty of kings, princes, rulers, and
magistrates. They are not only appointed for civil government but also to maintain true
religion and to suppress all idolatry and superstition. This may be seen in David,
Jehosaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, and others highly commended for their zeal in that cause.
Therefore we confess and avow that those who resist the supreme powers, so long as they
are acting in their own spheres, are resisting God's ordinance and cannot be held
guiltless. We further state that so long as princes and rulers vigilantly fulfill their
office, anyone who denies them aid, counsel, or service, denies it to God, who by his
lieutenant craves it of them.
Chapter 25 - The Gifts Freely Given to the Kirk
Although the Word of God truly preached, the sacraments rightly ministered, and
discipline executed according to the Word of God, are certain and infallible signs of the
true Kirk, we do not mean that every individual person in that company is a chosen member
of Christ Jesus. We acknowledge and confess that many weeds and tares are sown among the
corn and grow in great abundance in its midst, and that the reprobate may be found in the
fellowship of the chosen and may take an outward part with them in the benefits of the
Word and sacraments. But since they only confess God for a time with their mouths but not
with their hearts, they lapse, and do not continue to the end. Therefore they do not share
the fruits of Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension. But such as unfeignedly believe
with the heart and boldly confess the Lord Jesus with their mouths shall certainly receive
his gifts. Firstly, in this life, they shall receive remission of sins and that be faith
in Christ's blood alone; for though sin shall remain and continually abide in our mortal
bodies, yet it shall not be counted against us, but be pardoned, and covered with Christ's
righteousness. Secondly, in the general judgment, there shall be given to every man and
woman resurrection of the flesh. The seas shall give up her dead, and the earth those who
are buried within her. Yea, the Eternal, our God, shall stretch out his hand on the dust,
and the dead shall arise incorruptible, and in the very substance of the selfsame flesh
which every man now bears, to receive according to their works, glory or punishment. Such
as now delight in vanity, cruelty, filthiness, superstition, or idolatry, shall be
condemned to the fire unquenchable, in which those who now serve the devil in all
abominations shall be tormented forever, both in body and in spirit. But such as continue
in well doing to the end, boldly confessing the Lord Jesus, shall receive glory, honor,
and immortality, we constantly believe, to reign forever in life everlasting with Christ
Jesus, to whose glorified body all his chosen shall be made like, when he shall appear
again in judgment and shall render up the Kingdom to God his Father, who then shall be and
ever shall remain, all in all things, God blessed forever. To whom, with the Son and the
Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, now and ever. Amen.
Arise, O Lord, and let thine enemies be confounded; let them flee from thy presence
that hate thy godly Name. Give thy servants strength to speak thy Word with boldness, and
let all nations cleave to the true knowledge of thee. Amen.
The individual articles presented here were generally first published
in the early 1980s. This subject presentation was first placed
on the Internet in December 1997.
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