27. Lord’s Day

Q. 72. Is then the external baptism with water the washing away of sin itself?
A. Not at all: [a] for the blood of Jesus Christ only, and the Holy Ghost cleanse us from all sin. [b]

Q. 73. Why then does the Holy Ghost call baptism “the washing of regeneration,” and “the washing away of sins”?
A. God speaks thus not without great cause, to-wit, not only thereby to teach us, that as the filth of the body is purged away by water, so our sins are removed by the blood and Spirit of Jesus Christ; [a] but especially that by this divine pledge and sign he may assure us, that we are spiritually cleansed from our sins as really, as we are externally washed with water. [b]

Q. 74. Are infants also to be baptized?
A. Yes: for since they, as well as the adult, are included in the covenant and church of God; [a] and since redemption from sin [b] by the blood of Christ, and the Holy Ghost, the author of faith, is promised to them no less than to the adult; [c] they must therefore by baptism, as a sign of the covenant, be also admitted into the christian church; and be distinguished from the children of unbelievers [d] as was done in the old covenant or testament by circumcision, [e] instead of which baptism is instituted [f] in the new covenant.

Chapter 17: Of the Perseverance of the Saints

1: They, whom God has 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.^[333]

2: 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;^[334] upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ,^[335] the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them,^[336] and the nature of the covenant of grace:^[337] from all which arises also the certainty and infallibility thereof.^[338]

3: Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins;^[339] and, for a time, continue therein:^[340] whereby they incur God’s displeasure,^[341] and grieve His Holy Spirit,^[342] come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts,^[343] have their hearts hardened,^[344] and their consciences wounded;^[345] hurt and scandalize others,^[346] and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.^[347]

The Third and Fourth Heads of Doctrine: Human Corruption, Conversion to God, and the Way It Occurs

Article 6: The Saving Power of the Gospel

What, therefore, neither the light of nature nor the law can do, God accomplishes by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the Word or the ministry of reconciliation. This is the gospel about the Messiah, through which it has pleased God to save believers, in both the Old and the New Testament.

Article 7: God’s Freedom in Revealing the Gospel

In the Old Testament, God revealed this secret of his will to a small number; in the New Testament (now without any distinction between peoples) he discloses it to a large number. The reason for this difference must not be ascribed to the greater worth of one nation over another, or to a better use of the light of nature, but to the free good pleasure and undeserved love of God. Therefore, those who receive so much grace, beyond and in spite of all they deserve, ought to acknowledge it with humble and thankful hearts; on the other hand, with the apostle they ought to adore (but certainly not inquisitively search into) the severity and justice of God’s judgments on the others, who do not receive this grace.

Article 8: The Serious Call of the Gospel

Nevertheless, all who are called through the gospel are called seriously. For seriously and most genuinely God makes known in his Word what is pleasing to him: that those who are called should come to him. Seriously he also promises rest for their souls and eternal life to all who come to him and believe.

Q. 111. Which is the third commandment?
A. The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.^[560]

Q. 112. What is required in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment requires, That the name of God, his titles, attributes,^[561] ordinances,^[562] the Word,^[563] sacraments,^[564] prayer,^[565] oaths,^[566] vows,^[567] lots,^[568] his works,^[569] and whatsoever else there is whereby he makes himself known, be holily and reverently used in thought,^[570] meditation,^[571] word,^[572] and writing;^[573] by an holy profession,^[574] and answerable conversation,^[575] to the glory of God,^[576] and the good of ourselves,^[577] and others.^[578].

Q. 113. What are the sins forbidden in the third commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the third commandment are, the not using of God’s name as is required;^[579] and the abuse of it in an ignorant,^[580] vain,^[581] irreverent, profane,^[582] superstitious^[583] or wicked mentioning or otherwise using his titles, attributes,^[584] ordinances,^[585] or works,^[586] by blasphemy,^[587] perjury;^[588] all sinful cursings,^[589] oaths,^[590] vows,^[591] and lots;^[592] violating of our oaths and vows, if lawful;^[593] and fulfilling them, if of things unlawful;^[594] murmuring and quarrelling at,^[595] curious prying into,^[596] and misapplying of God’s decrees^[597] and providences;^[598] misinterpreting,^[599] misapplying,^[600] or any way perverting the Word, or any part of it;^[601] to profane jests,^[602] curious or unprofitable questions, vain janglings, or the maintaining of false doctrines;^[603] abusing it, the creatures, or anything contained under the name of God, to charms,^[604] or sinful lusts and practices;^[605] the maligning,^[606] scorning,^[607] reviling,^[608] or any wise opposing of God’s truth, grace, and ways;^[609] making profession of religion in hypocrisy, or for sinister ends;^[610] being ashamed of it,^[611] or a shame to it, by unconformable,^[612] unwise,^[613] unfruitful,^[614] and offensive walking,^[615] or backsliding from it.^[616].

Q. 114. What reasons are annexed to the third commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the third commandment, in these words, The Lord thy God, and, For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain,^[617] are, because he is the Lord and our God, therefore his name is not to be profaned, or any way abused by us;^[618] especially because he will be so far from acquitting and sparing the transgressors of this commandment, as that he will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment;^[619] albeit many such escape the censures and punishments of men.^[620]

Article 37: The Last Judgment

Finally we believe, according to God’s Word, that when the time appointed by the Lord is come (which is unknown to all creatures) and the number of the elect is complete, our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, bodily and visibly, as he ascended, with great glory and majesty, to declare himself the judge of the living and the dead. He will burn this old world, in fire and flame, in order to cleanse it. Then all human creatures will appear in person before the great judge– men, women, and children, who have lived from the beginning until the end of the world. They will be summoned there by the voice of the archangel and by the sound of the divine trumpet.[79] For all those who died before that time will be raised from the earth, their spirits being joined and united with their own bodies in which they lived. And as for those who are still alive, they will not die like the others but will be changed “in the twinkling of an eye” from “corruptible to incorruptible.”[80] Then “the books” (that is, the consciences) will be opened, and the dead will be judged according to the things they did in the world,[81] whether good or evil. Indeed, all people will give account of all the idle words they have spoken,[82] which the world regards as only playing games. And then the secrets and hypocrisies of men will be publicly uncovered in the sight of all. Therefore, with good reason the thought of this judgment is horrible and dreadful to wicked and evil people. But it is very pleasant and a great comfort to the righteous and elect, since their total redemption will then be accomplished. They will then receive the fruits of their labor and of the trouble they have suffered; their innocence will be openly recognized by all; and they will see the terrible vengeance that God will bring on the evil ones who tyrannized, oppressed, and tormented them in this world. The evil ones will be convicted by the witness of their own consciences, and shall be made immortal– but only to be tormented in the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.[83] In contrast, the faithful and elect will be crowned with glory and honor. The Son of God will “confess their names”[84] before God his Father and the holy and elect angels; all tears will be “wiped from their eyes”;[85] and their cause– at present condemned as heretical and evil by many judges and civil officers– will be acknowledged as the “cause of the Son of God.” And as a gracious reward the Lord will make them possess a glory such as the heart of man could never imagine. So we look forward to that great day with longing in order to enjoy fully the promises of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness,^[105] and do immediately pass into glory;^[106] and their bodies, being still united in Christ,^[107] do rest in their graves, till the resurrection.^[108]

Q. 38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A. At the resurrection, believers, being raised up in glory,^[109] shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment,^[110] and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God^[111] to all eternity.^[112]

Q. 82. What is the second commandment?
A. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any things that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Q. 83. What does the second commandment teach us?
A. To worship God in a proper manner, and to avoid idolatry.

26. Lord’s Day

Q. 69. How art thou admonished and assured by holy baptism, that the one sacrifice of Christ upon the cross is of real advantage to thee?
A. Thus: That Christ appointed this external washing with water, [a] adding thereto this promise, [b] that I am as certainly washed by his blood and Spirit from all the pollution of my soul, that is, from all my sins, [c] as I am washed externally with water, by which the filthiness of the body is commonly washed away.

Q. 70. What is it to be washed with the blood and Spirit of Christ?
A. It is to receive of God the remission of sins, freely, for the sake of Christ’s blood, which he shed for us by his sacrifice upon the cross; [a] and also to be renewed by the Holy Ghost, and sanctified to be members of Christ, that so we may more and more die unto sin, and lead holy and unblamable lives. [b]

Q. 71. Where has Christ promised us, that he will as certainly wash us by his blood and Spirit, as we are washed with the water of baptism?
A. In the institution of baptism, which is thus expressed: “Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”, Matt.28:19. And “he that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned.”, Mark 16:16. This promise is also repeated, where the scripture calls baptism “the washing of regenerations” and the washing away of sins. Tit.3:5, Acts 22:16. [a]

Chapter 16: Of Good Works

5: We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin, or eternal life at the hand of God, by 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,^[320]but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants:^[321] and because, as they are good, they proceed from His Spirit,^[322] 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.^[323]

6: Notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in Him;^[324] not as though they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreproveable in God’s sight;^[325] but that He, looking upon them in His Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections.^[326]

7: Works done by unregenerate men, although for the matter of them they may be things which God commands; and of good use both to themselves and others:^[327] yet, because they proceed not from an heart purified by faith;^[328] nor are done in a right manner, according to the Word;^[329] nor to a right end, the glory of God,^[330] they are therefore sinful and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God:^[331] and yet, their neglect of them is more sinful and displeasing unto God.^[332]

The Third and Fourth Heads of Doctrine: Human Corruption, Conversion to God, and the Way It Occurs

Article 4: The Inadequacy of the Light of Nature

There is, to be sure, a certain light of nature remaining in man after the fall, by virtue of which he retains some notions about God, natural things, and the difference between what is moral and immoral, and demonstrates a certain eagerness for virtue and for good outward behavior. But this light of nature is far from enabling man to come to a saving knowledge of God and conversion to him — so far, in fact, that man does not use it rightly even in matters of nature and society. Instead, in various ways he completely distorts this light, whatever its precise character, and suppresses it in unrighteousness. In doing so he renders himself without excuse before God.

Article 5: The Inadequacy of the Law

In this respect, what is true of the light of nature is true also of the Ten Commandments given by God through Moses specifically to the Jews. For man cannot obtain saving grace through the Decalogue, because, although it does expose the magnitude of his sin and increasingly convict him of his guilt, yet it does not offer a remedy or enable him to escape from his misery, and, indeed, weakened as it is by the flesh, leaves the offender under the curse.

Q. 107. Which is the second commandment?
A. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.^[517]

Q. 108. What are the duties required in the second commandment?
A. The duties required in the second commandment are, the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath instituted in his Word;^[518] particularly prayer and thanksgiving in the name of Christ;^[519] the reading, preaching, and hearing of the Word;^[520] the administration and receiving of the sacraments;^[521] church government and discipline;^[522] the ministry and maintainance thereof;^[523] religious fasting;^[524] swearing by the name of God;^[525] and vowing unto him;^[526] as also the disapproving, detesting, opposing all false worship;^[527] and, according to each one’s place and calling, removing it, and all monuments of idolatry.^[528]

Q. 109. What are the sins forbidden in the second commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising,^[529] counselling,^[530] commanding,^[531] using,^[532] and anywise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself;^[533] tolerating a false religion; the making any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature whatsoever;^[534] all worshipping of it,^[535] or God in it or by it;^[536] the making of any representation of feigned deities,^[537] and all worship of them, or service belonging to them,^[538] all superstitious devices,^[539] corrupting the worship of God,^[540] adding to it, or taking from it,^[541] whether invented and taken up of ourselves,^[542] or received by tradition from others,^[543] though under the title of antiquity,^[544] custom,^[545] devotion,^[546] good intent, or any other pretence whatsoever;^[547] simony;^[548] sacrilege;^[549] all neglect,^[550] contempt,^[551] hindering,^[552] and opposing the worship and ordinances which God hath appointed.^[553].

Q. 110. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to enforce it?
A. The reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to enforce it, contained in these words, For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments;^[554] are, besides God’s sovereignty over us, and propriety in us,^[555] his fervent zeal for his own worship,^[556] and his revengeful indignation against all false worship, as being a spiritual whoredom;^[557] accounting the breakers of this commandment such as hate him, and threatening to punish them unto divers generations;^[558] and esteeming the observers of it such as love him and keep his commandments, and promising mercy to them unto many generations.^[559].

Article 36: The Civil Government

We believe that because of the depravity of the human race our good God has ordained kings, princes, and civil officers. He wants the world to be governed by laws and policies so that human lawlessness may be restrained and that everything may be conducted in good order among human beings. For that purpose he has placed the sword in the hands of the government, to punish evil people and protect the good. And being called in this manner to contribute to the advancement of a society that is pleasing to God, the civil rulers have the task, subject to God’s law, of removing every obstacle to the preaching of the gospel and to every aspect of divine worship. They should do this while completely refraining from every tendency toward exercising absolute authority, and while functioning in the sphere entrusted to them, with the means belonging to them. And the government’s task is not limited to caring for and watching over the public domain but extends also to upholding the sacred ministry, with a view to removing and destroying all idolatry and false worship of the Antichrist; to promoting the kingdom of Jesus Christ; and to furthering the preaching of the gospel everywhere; to the end that God may be honored and served by everyone, as he requires in his Word. Moreover everyone, regardless of status, condition, or rank, must be subject to the government, and pay taxes, and hold its representatives in honor and respect, and obey them in all things that are not in conflict with God’s Word, praying for them that the Lord may be willing to lead them in all their ways and that we may live a peaceful and quiet life in all piety and decency. And on this matter we denounce the Anabaptists, other anarchists, and in general all those who want to reject the authorities and civil officers and to subvert justice by introducing common ownership of goods and corrupting the moral order that God has established among human beings.

Q. 36. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
A. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love,^[100] peace of conscience,^[101] joy in the Holy Ghost,^[102] increase of grace,^[103] and perseverance therein to the end.^[104]

Q. 80. What is the first commandment?
A. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Q. 81. What does the first commandment teach us?
A. To worship God alone.