All Articles For Believing and Confessing

In this matter, which has always produced many conflicts in the Church, we teach that a threefold condition or state of man is to be considered. What Man Was Before the Fall. There is the state in which man was in the beginning before the fall, namely, upright and free, so that he could both continue in goodness and decline to evil. However, he declined to evil, and has involved himself and the whole human race in sin and death, as has been said already. The threefold condition of man is his condition before the Fall, his condition after the...

Lord’s Day 41 Question 108. What doth the seventh commandment teach us? Answer. That all uncleanness is accursed of God; and that therefore we must with all our hearts detest the same, and live chastely and temperately, whether in holy wedlock or in single life. Question 109. Doth God forbid in this commandment, only adultery and such like gross sins? Answer. Since both our body and soul are temples of the Holy Ghost, He commands us to preserve them pure and holy; therefore He forbids all unchaste actions, gestures, words, thoughts, desires, and whatever can entice men thereto. In a...

Previous article in this series: May 15, 2019, p. 375. The Sects We therefore condemn all who have taught con­trary to this, especially Pelagius and all Pelagians, together with the Jovinians who, with the Stoics, re­gard all sins as equal. In this whole matter we agree with St. Augustine who derived and defended his view from Holy Scriptures. Moreover, we condemn Florinus and Blastus, against whom Irenaeus wrote, and all who make God the author of sin. The last several paragraphs of chapter 8 of the Second Helvetic Confession, are concerned with various denials of the doctrine of the fall...

Previous article in this series: April 15, 2019, p. 330. Death By death we understand not only bodily death, which all of us must once suffer on account of sins, but also eternal punishment due to our sins and corruption. For the apostle says: “Who were dead in trespasses and sins…and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy…even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:1ff). Also: “Wherefore, as by one man sin en­tered into the world, and death by sin; and so death...

Previous article in this series: February 1, 2019, p. 208. The fall of man In the beginning, man was made according to the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness, good and upright. But when at the instigation of the serpent and by his own fault he abandoned goodness and righteousness, he became subject to sin, death, and various calamities. And what he became by the fall, that is, subject to sin, death, and various calamities, so are all those who have descended from him. The main subject of Second Helvetic Confession, Chapter 8, is the fall of man...

Previous article in this series: December 1, 2018, p. 112. Of man Now concerning man, Scripture says that in the beginning he was made good according to the im­age and likeness of God; that God placed him in Paradise and made all things subject to him (Gen., ch. 2). This is what David magnificently sets forth in Psalm 8. Moreover, God gave him a wife and blessed them. We also affirm that man consists of two different substances in one person: an immor­tal soul which, when separated from the body, nei­ther sleeps nor dies, and a mortal body which will...

Lord’s Day 40 Q. 105. What doth God require in the sixth commandment? A. That neither in thoughts, nor words, nor gestures, much less in deeds, I dishonor, hate, wound, or kill my neighbor, by myself or by another; but that I lay aside all desire of revenge; also, that I hurt not myself, nor willfully expose myself to any danger. Wherefore also the magistrate is armed with the sword, to prevent murder.   Q. 106. But this commandment seems only to speak of murder? A. In forbidding murder, God teaches us that He abhors the causes thereof, such as...

Previous article in this series: August 2018, p. 444. God created all things This good and almighty God created all things, both visible and invisible, by His co-eternal Word, and preserves them by His co-eternal Spirit, as David testified when he said: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth” (Ps. 33:6). And, as Scripture says, everything that God had made was very good, and was made for the profit and use of man. Now we assert that all things proceed from one beginning. The doctrine of creation...

Previous article in this series: May 15, 2018, p. 373. Means not to be despised Nevertheless, we do not spurn as useless the means by which divine providence works, but we teach that we are to adapt ourselves to them in so far as they are recommended to us in the Word of God. Wherefore we disapprove of the rash statements of those who say that if all things are managed by the providence of God, then our efforts and endeavors are in vain. It will be sufficient if we leave everything to the governance of divine providence, and we...

Lord’s Day 39 Question 104. What doth God require in the fifth commandment? Answer. That I show all honor, love, and fidelity to my father and mother and all in authority over me, and submit myself to their good instruction and correction with due obedience; and also patiently bear with their weaknesses and infirmities, since it pleases God to govern us by their hand. The law of the Ten Commandments is commonly divided into two groups: the first table (commandments 1–4) having to do with our love for God, and the second table (commandments 5–10) having to do with our...