Kanonskoga prava Dordt

Formalno pod nazivom

Odluke sinode Dordt na pet Main Points of nauk spora u Nizozemskoj

Prva glavna točka nauka

Božanstvena izbora i odbacivanje
Presuda u vezi božanske predodređenost
Koji Sinode izjavljuje da se u dogovoru s Božjom riječi
Prihvaćeno i do sada u Reformirana Crkava,
Navedena u nekoliko članaka

Članak 1: Bog ima pravo da sudi svim ljudima

Budući da su svi ljudi sagriješili u Adamu i imati dođite pod kaznu od prokletstva i vječne smrti, Bog bi učinio nitko ne jedan nepravde ako je njegova će napustiti cijeli ljudski rod u grijehu i pod prokletstvo, i da osuđujem ih na računu njihovih grijeha. Kao apostol kaže: Cijeli svijet je odgovoran za osudu, Bog (Rom. 3:19), Sve sam sagriješio te su uskraćeni za slavu Božju (Rom. 3:23), a plaća je grijeha smrt ( Rim. 6:23) .*

-* Sve citata iz Pisma su prijevodi na latinski originalni rukopis .-

Članak 2: očitovanje Božje ljubavi

A ovo je kako Bog pokazao svoju ljubav: on je poslao svoga jedinorođenoga Sina rođena u svijetu, tako da tko god u njega vjeruje ne propadne, nego bi trebala imati život vječni.

Članak 3: propovijedanje Evanđelja

Kako da ljudi svibanj se dovede u vjeri, Bog milostivo šalje proclaimers ovog vrlo radosna poruka za narod on želi i na vrijeme on želi. Po ovom ministarstvu ljudi su pozvani na obraćenje i vjeru u Krista raspetoga. Jer, kako će oni povjeruju u onoga koga nisu čuli? A kako će čuti bez netko propovijedanje? A kako će propovijedati, osim ako su poslane? (Rom. 10:14-15).

Članak 4: Odgovor dvostruko na Evanđelje

Gnjev Božji ostaje na onima koji ne vjeruju ovo evanđelje. Ali oni koji prihvaćaju ga i zagrliti Isusa Spasitelja s istinitim i žive vjere su dostavljene po njemu od gnjeva Božjega i od uništenja, i primiti dar vječnog života.

Članak 5: izvora nevjere i vjere

Uzrok za to kriviti ili nevjeri, kao i za sve druge grijehe, nije uopće u Boga, ali u čovjeku. Vjera u Isusa Krista, međutim, i spasenje po njemu je besplatan dar od Boga. Kao što Biblija kaže, to je milošću ste spašeni, po vjeri, i to ne od sebe, to je dar od Boga (Eph. 2:8). Slično: To je slobodno dano na vama je da vjerujete u Krista (Phil. 1:29).

Članak 6: Bog je Vječna Odluka

Činjenica da su neki primiti od Boga dar vjere unutar vremena, a da drugi ne, proizlazi iz njegove odluke vjekovnoj. Za sva njegova djela se zna da Bog od vječnosti (Dj 15:18; Ef. 1:11). U skladu s tom odlukom je ljubazno softens srca, međutim tvrdi, i njegovi izabranici i inclines ih da vjeruju, ali po njegovu prosudba upravo on ostavlja u svojoj bezbožnosti i okorjelosti srca onih koji nisu izabrani. I u ovom posebno je otkriti nam njegovu akt-neshvatljiv, i kao milosrdni kao što je samo-za razlikovanje između ljudi jednako izgubljeni. To je poznato odluci izbora i odbacivanje objavi u Božjoj Riječi. Ova odluka opakih, pokvaren, i nestabilna izvrnuti u svoju propast, ali se nudi i sveti božji tješiti duša s onu stranu riječi.

Članak 7: izborno

Izborna [ili odabirom] Bog je nepromjenljiv svrhu kojim je učinio sljedeće:

Prije nego što je temelj svijeta, po strmim milost, prema dobrohotnosti izvodi slobodni svoje volje, on je izabrao za spasenje u Kristu jedan određen broj pojedinih ljudi iz cijelog ljudskog roda, koje su pale po vlastitim greška od svoje izvorne nevinost u grijeh i propast. Oni su izabrali bolje ni ne zaslužuje više od drugih, ali stavi ih na zajednički bijeda. Činio je to u Kristu, koga je također imenovan od vječnosti bude Posrednik, glavu sve one izabrao, a temelj njihova spasenja. I tako je odlučio dati izabranici do Krista da se spasim, i na poziv i privući ih učinkovito u Kristovo zajedništvo kroz njegove Riječi i Duha. Drugim riječima, on je odlučio da im odobri istinite vjere u Krista, kako bi opravdali ih, da ih posvećujem, i konačno, nakon snažno očuvanja ih u zajedništvo Sina njegova, da ih slave.

Bog nije sve to kako bi se pokazati njegovo milosrđe, da je slave i bogatstvu njegove milosti slavno.

Kao što Biblija kaže, Bog izabrao nas u Kristu, prije postanka svijeta, tako da budemo sveti i mane pred njim s ljubavlju, a on nas predodredi koga je usvojio kao svoju djecu po Isusu Kristu, u sebi, prema dobro zadovoljstvo svoje volje, na hvalu Slave njegove milosti, po kojoj je slobodno nas je ugodan za sebe u svojoj dragi (Eph. 1:4-6). I drugdje, oni kojima je predodređen, on se zove, i one koje je pozvao, on je opravdano, i onih koje opravda, on je također proslavio (Rom. 8:30).

Članak 8: jedan Odluke Izbornog

Ova izborna nije mnogo vrsta, to je jedan te isti izbora za sve one koji su se spremaju u Stari i Novi zavjet. Jer Sveto pismo izjavljuje da postoji jedan dobar zadovoljstvo, svrha i plan Božjoj volji, po kojoj je on izabrao nas je od vječnosti i da milost i slavu, i na spasenje i put spasenja, koja je pripremljena unaprijed za nas da hodaju rezervirati

Članak 9: Izborna ne temelji se na predviđene VJERE

Taj isti izbora održalo, a ne na temelju predviđenih vjeri, u poslušnosti vjere, svetosti, ili bilo koje druge dobre kvalitete i raspolaganja, kao da su na temelju pretpostavke uzrok ili stanje u osoba odabrali da se, nego u svrhu vjere, u poslušnosti vjere, svetosti, i tako dalje. U skladu s tim, izborni je izvor svakog od koristi spasenja. Vjere, svetosti, a druga spremanja darove, a na posljednja vječni život sama, tok iz izbora kao svoje plodove i efekte. Kao što kaže apostol, On je izabrao nas (ne zato što smo bili, ali) pa da budemo sveti i mane pred njim u ljubavi (Eph. 1:4).

Članak 10: Izborna temelju Božje dobrohotnosti izvodi

Ali uzrok ove nezaslužen izbora je isključivo u dobre zadovoljstvo Božje. To ne uključuju njegov odabir određene ljudske kvalitete ili akcije između svih onih mogućih kao uvjet spasenja, nego uključuje njegovo usvajanje određene pojedine osobe iz zajedničke mase grešnicima kao svoj posjed. Kao što Biblija kaže: Kad djeca su se još nije rodio, i učinio ništa bilo dobro ili loše ... i ona (Rebecca) je rekao: "U starije će služiti mlađemu." Kao što je pisano: "Jakova sam zavolio, a Ezav Sam mrzio "(Rom. 9:11-13). Također, svi koji su bili imenovani za vječni život vjerovao (Dj 13:48).

Članak 11: Izborna nepromjenjiv

Kao što sam Bog je mudar, nepromjenjiv, sve-znajući i bob, tako da su izbori po njemu ne mogu biti obustavljeni ni promijenila, poništena, ili poništen, niti njegovi izabranici mogu biti otisnuti se, ni njihov broj smanjen.

Članak 12: Na Osiguranje Izborni

Osiguranje taj njihov vječni i nepromjenjiv izbora za spasenje je dano na izabrao u pravo vrijeme, iako po različitim pozornicama i na različite mjere. Takva osiguranja ne dolazi od znatiželjnika u potrazi skrivene i dubine Božje, nego noticing unutar sebe, sa duhovnom radošću i svetom zadovoljstvo, na nedvojben plodovi izbora ukazao na Božju riječ kao što je istinska vjera u Krista, jedan djetinji strah od Boga, a božji žalosti za svoje grijehe, a glad i žeđ za pravednošću, i tako dalje.

Članak 13: plod To osiguranja

U njihovoj svijesti i siguran za ove izbore Božja djeca svakodnevno pronaći veći razlog za sebe ponizi pred Bogom, da obožavaju na nedokučiv dubine svoga milosrđa, da pročisti sebe, i vatrene ljubavi za dati u zamjenu za njega koji je prvi ljubio tako silno ih . To je daleko od rekavši da je ovaj izbora u svezi s nastavom, a refleksija na njoj, čine labav Bog djece u promatranje njegove zapovijedi ili carnally self-sigurni. Bog je ne samo presudom ovo obično dogoditi da oni koji obično uzeti zdravo za gotovo milosti izbora ili sudjelovati u stanju mirovanja i bakarni razgovarati o tome, ali su se opire da hodite po putovima odabranog.

Članak 14: Nastava izbornog Ispravno

Kao, Bog je mudar planom, ovaj božanski nauk u vezi izbora je proglašena preko proroka, Krist i apostoli, u Stari i Novi zavjet puta, a potom je bio posvetila tome da u pisanju Svetog pisma, tako i danas u Božju crkvu, za koji je posebno namijenjen, ovaj nauk mora biti navedena-s duhom nahođenju, na pobožno i sveto način, u odgovarajućem vremenu i mjestu, bez znatiželjnika u potrazi putovima od Visoko. To se mora činiti na slavu Božju najviše sveto ime, a za živo udobnosti svoga naroda.

Članak 15: odbacivanje

Nadalje, Sveto pismo većina osobito naglašava ovo vječni i nezaslužen milost našeg izbora i donosi ga više jasno za nas, u koji ga dodatno svjedoči da nisu svi ljudi su izabrali, ali da neki nisu bili izabrani ili su prolazeći u Bog je vječni izbore te da je, u vezi kojega je Bog, na temelju njegove potpuno besplatno, većina pravedan, besprijekoran, i nepromjenjiv dobar užitak, napravio slijedeće odluke: da ih ostavi u zajedničkog nesreća u kojima, prema njihovim vlastitih mana, oni su umočen sebe, ne da im odobri spremanja vjeru i milost obraćenja, ali konačno da sudi i kazni ih vječno (što je ostao u svoje putove i samo pod njegovim presudom), ne samo zbog svoje nevjere, ali i za sve njihove grijehe drugih, kako bi se prikaz njegove pravednosti. I ovo je odlukom odbacivanje, koji uopće ne čine Bog je autor grijeh (a pogrdne misao!), Nego njegov strašan, besprijekoran, samo suca i osvetnika.

Članak 16: Odgovori na nastavu i odbacivanje

Oni koji ne još aktivno iskustvo unutar sebe živi vjeru u Krista ili uvjereni povjerenja u srcu, mir savjesti, a ljubomora za dijete poslušnost, a glorying u Bogu kroz Krista, ali koji ipak koriste sredstva kojim je Bog obećao na rad tih stvari u nas-takvih ljudi ne treba da bude uznemirujte na spomen odbacivanje, ni računati među sebe osuđivati, radije oni treba da i dalje vrijedno u korištenju sredstava, na želju fervently vrijeme više obilne milosti , I čekajte da se u poštovanje i poniznost. S druge strane, onima koji ozbiljno žele da se obrate k Bogu, da bude ugodan za njega sama, i da se oslobodimo tijela smrt, ali još nisu u mogućnosti napraviti takav napredak uz put pobožnosti i vjeri kako bi kao na primjer ljudi treba puno manje da stanu u strahu od nastavnih vezi odbacivanje, jer naš je Bog milostiv je obećao da će onjušiti ne izdati tinjajući fitilj i da se neće razviti bruised trska. Međutim, one koji su zaboravili Boga i njihova Spasitelja Isusa Krista, i sami su napuštene u potpunosti brine za svijet i užitaka, od mesa-takvih ljudi ima svaki razlog da stojim u strahu od ove nastava, dok se ne ozbiljno okrenuti k Bogu.

Članak 17: spasenje od vjernika Djeca

Budući da mi moramo dati svoj sud o Božjoj volji iz njegove Riječi, što svjedoči da su djeca vjernika su svetinja, a ne po naravi, ali na osnovu milostiv je Savez u kojem su zajedno sa svojim roditeljima su uključeni, pobožno roditelji ne treba sumnjati izbora i spasenje svoje djece koje Bog poziva iz ovoga života u rano djetinjstvo.

Članak 18: pravilan odnos prema izbornim i odbacivanje

Za one koji se žaliti o ovom milosnom od nezaslužen izbora i o ozbiljnosti, a samo odbacivanje, mi odgovorite s riječima apostola, Tko si ti, čovječe, da razgovaraju natrag k Bogu? (Rom. 9:20), i riječi, Spasitelja našega, Have I nema pravo na ono što želim učiniti s mojom? (Matt. 20:15). Mi, medjutim, sa pun poštovanja klanjanja ove tajne stvari, vikati s apostolom: Oh, na dubinama od bogatstva i od mudrosti i spoznanja Božjega! Kako neistraživog su njegove zakone i njegove putove izvan praćenje iz! Jer tko spozna misao Gospodnju? Ili tko je njegov savjetnik? Ili tko je prvi dao Bog, Bog koji bi trebao vratiti ga? Jer od njega i po njemu i za njega su sve stvari. Njemu slava zauvijek! Amen (Rom. 11:33-36).

Imajući navedena pravoslavnim nastava u vezi izbora i odbacivanje, Sinode odbija pogrešaka od onih

Tko će učiti da je od Boga da spasi one koji vjeruju i da ustraju u vjeri i u poslušnosti vjere je cijelu i cijele odluke o izborima za spasenje, te da ništa drugo u vezi s ovom odlukom je tek u Božjoj Riječi.

Jer oni zavode jednostavno i otvoreno osporavati Sveto pismo u svoje svjedočanstvo da Bog ne želi spasiti samo one koji će vjerovati, ali da je također od vječnosti odabran određene osobe na koga posebno, nego drugima, on bi u vrijeme dodijeliti vjeru u Krista i ustrajnost. Kao što Biblija kaže, ja sam objavi svoje ime na one koje ste mi dali (Ivan 17:6). Isto tako, svi koji su bili imenovani za vječni život vjerovao (Dj 13:48), i on nas sebi izabra prije postanka svijeta, tako da budemo sveti ... (Eph. 1:4).

Tko učiti da Bog je izbora za vječni život mnogih vrsta: jedan opći i neodređeno, a druga posebno i jasan, a drugi pak ili nepotpune, opozive, nonperemptory (ili kondicional), inače kompletna, neopoziva, a konačan (ili apsolutni). Isto tako, koji naučavaju da je jedan izbora za vjeru i spasenje na drugom, tako da tu može biti izbori koji opravdavaju vjeru odvojeno od izbora za konačan spas.

Za to je izum ljudskog mozga, smišljen osim Pismima, koja je nastava u vezi izbora i razbija ovaj zlatni lanac spasenja: Oni koje je predodređen, on se zove, i one koje je pozvao, on je i opravda; i one koje opravda, on je također proslavio (Rom. 8:30).

Tko učiti da Bog je dobar zadovoljstvo i svrhu, navodi se u pismu koje svoje izborne nastave, ne uključuju Božje odabirom određene pojedine ljude nego drugima, ali uključuje Božjem izboru, iz svih mogućih uvjeta (uključujući djela od zakona) ili iz cijelog poretka stvari, i istinski nedostojan čin vjere, kao i imperfekt poslušnosti vjere, da je uvjet spasenja, a to uključuje njegovo milostivo žele ovaj grofa kao savršenu poslušnost i gledati na to kao na plaću dostojan života vječnoga.

Na ovim opasan pogreška je zadovoljstvo dobrom Bogu i zasluga Krista su pljačkali svoju učinkovitost i odmamiše daleko su ljudi, po neprofitan upite, od istine o nezaslužen opravdanje i iz jednostavnosti Pisma. Također daje ležati na ove riječi apostola: Bog pozvao nas sa svetim zovete, a ne na osnovu radi, ali na osnovu njegove vlastite svrhe i milosti koja nam je dano u Kristu Isusu prije početka vremena ( 2 Tim. 1:9).

Tko učiti da u izborima za vjeru preduvjet je uslovom da čovjek bi trebao koristiti pravom svjetlu prirode, biti čestit, skroman, ponizan, i zbrinjavati na vječni život, kao da izbora ovisio do određene mjere o tim faktorima.

Za ovaj smacks od Pelagius, i to jasno dovodi u pitanje riječima apostola: živjeli smo u jednom trenutku u strasti naše tijelo, slijedeći će naše tijelo i misli, a bili smo po naravi djeca srdžbe, kao i svi drugi. Ali Bog, bogat milosrđem, iz velike ljubavi kojom nas je on ljubio, čak i kada smo bili mrtvi u prijestupa, napravi nam živi s Kristom, po čiji milošću ste spašeni. I Bog uskrisio nam se s njim i nas sjedi s njim u nebo u Kristu Isusu, da bi u narednom vijeku možemo pokazati nadmašuje bogatstvo milosti svoje, prema njegovoj dobrohotnosti prema nama u Kristu Isusu. Za to je milošću ste spašeni, po vjeri (i to ne od sebe, to je dar od Boga) ne radi, tako da nitko ne može pohvaliti (Eph. 2:3-9).

Tko učiti da je nepotpun i nonperemptory izbora određenih osoba za spas dogodila na temelju prijedloga predviđeno vjeru, pokajanje, svetost i pobožnost, koji je upravo počeo nastavak ili za neko vrijeme, ali da popunite i konačan izborni dogodila na temelju jedan predviđene ustrajnost do kraja u vjeri, obraćenje, svetosti i pobožnosti. I da ovo je milostiv i evanđeoskog vrijednost, na računu za koji je izabran onaj koji je više zaslužio nego onaj koji nije izabran. I zato da je vjera, u poslušnosti vjere, svetosti, pobožnosti, i upornost nisu voća ili posljedice nepromjenjiv izbora za slavu, ali neophodni uslovi i uzrocima, koji su preduvjet u onih koji su izabrali da se u potpunu izbora, i koje su predviđene kao ostvareni u njima.

To traje brojilo za cijelu Sveto pismo, koje po impresses na naše uši i srca ove riječi među ostalim: Izborna ne po djelima, nego onoga koji poziva (Rom. 9:11-12); Svi koji su bili imenovani za vječni život vjerovao (Dj 13:48); On je izabrao nas u sebi tako da budemo sveti (Eph. 1:4); Niste izabrati mene, ali ja izabrao vas (Ivan 15:16); Ako milošću, a ne radi (Rom. 11:6); U ovom je ljubav: ne da smo mi ljubili Boga, nego on je ljubio nas i poslao Sina svoga (1 Ivan 4:10).

Tko učiti da ne svakih izbora za spasenje je nepromjenjiv, ali da su neki od izabranih može propasti i raditi u stvari propadne vječno, bez odluke Boga da ga spriječi.

Po ovom bruto pogrešku čine oni Bog promjenljiv, uništiti udobnosti i pobožno se tiče postojanosti njihova izbora, te osporavati Svetog pisma, koji naučavaju da biraju se ne može vodio pogrešnim putem (Matt. 24:24), da Krist ne izgubiti one dane mu od Oca (Ivan 6:39), i to one koje Bog predodredi, zove, i opravdano, on također glorifies (Rom. 8:30).

Tko na učiti da ovaj život nema ploda, nema svijesti, a ne osiguranje je jednomu nepromjenjiv izbora za slavu, osim kao nesto nepostojan na uvjetna i kontingenta.

Jer ne samo da je to nemoguće govorimo da je neizvjesna osiguranja, ali ove stvari govoriti i protiv iskustvo svetih, koji je s apostolom raduje iz svijesti o njihovim izborima i pjeva se hvali za ovaj dar od Boga, koji je, kao što je Krist zahtjevao, radujte se sa svojim učenicima da su njihova imena zapisana na nebesima (Luka 10:20), i konačno koji drľite se protiv plameni strelice od đavolje kušnje u svijesti o njihovim izborima, uz pitanje tko će donijeti bilo koji naboj protiv onih koje je Bog izabrao? (Rom. 8:33).

Tko učiti da to nije na osnovu njegove samo će sama da Bog odlučio ostaviti bilo kome u jesen Adam i na zajedničke države grijeha i osude ili proći svatko u imparting po milosti je potrebno za vjeru i obraćenje.

Za ove riječi postojani: On je milost na koga on želi, a on hardens koga želi (Rom. 9:18). I: Da li je dano znati tajne kraljevstva nebeskoga, a njima nije dano (Matt. 13:11). Slično: dajem ti slavu, Oče, Gospodaru neba i zemlje, koje su skrivene od tih stvari mudrih i razumijevanja, i objavi ih na dječice, Da, Oče, jer da je Vaše zadovoljstvo (Matt. 11: 25-26).

Tko učiti da je razlog za Božje slanje evanđelje na jedan narod, nego da se drugi nije samo i isključivo Božje dobrohotnosti izvodi, nego da jedna osoba je bolje i worthier od ostalih kojima je evanđelje ne komunikacije.

Za Mojsija proturjecilo ovo kad adrese Izraelcima, kako slijedi: Evo, da Jehova, Bog tvoj, pripada nebo i najviše nebo, zemlju i sve što je u njemu. Ali Jehova je bio sklon u njegovoj naklonost da ljubite svoje preci sama, i izabrao je poslije njih njihovo potomstvo, ti iznad svih naroda, kao u ovaj dan (Deut. 10:14-15). A i Krist: "Jao vama, Korazin! Jao vama, Betsaido! jer ako one čudesa učinio u koju je bio učinio u Tira i Sidona, oni bi se pokajao davno u kostrijeti i pepelu (Matt. 11:21).

Članak 1: Koji je kazna Božja pravda zahtijeva

Bog je milosrdan ne samo krajnosti, ali upravo krajnosti. Njegova pravda zahtijeva (kao što je očitovati se u Word) da imamo grijehe počinjene protiv svoga beskrajnog veličanstva biti kažnjeni s obje vremenski i vječne kazne, od duše, kao i tijelo. Ne možemo pobjeći te kazne, osim ako je zadovoljstvo s obzirom na Božje pravde.

Članak 2: Zadovoljstvo mjesto koje je Krist

Budući, međutim, mi ne može dati ili dostaviti ovo zadovoljstvo od sebe gnjev Božji, Bog u svom milosrđu bezgraničan nam je dao kao jamstvo rodih samo njegova Sina, koji je napravljen kako bi se grijeh i prokletstvo za nas, u našem mjestu , Na križu, kako bi se mogli dati satisfakciju za nas.

Članak 3: beskrajnog vrijednosti Kristove smrti

Ova smrt Božji Sin je jedini žrtvuje i potpuno dovršeno i zadovoljstva za grijehe, ona je beskrajna vrijednost i vrijedi više nego dovoljan da se iskupiti se za grijehe cijelog svijeta.

Članak 4: Razlozi za to neizmjernosti Vrijednost

Ova smrt je takva velika vrijednost i vrijedi za razlog da osoba koja je pretrpjela je kako je potrebno da bude naš Spasitelj-ne samo da pravi i savršeno svet čovjek, ali i samo rodih Sin Božji, vječni je isti i beskonačni Sustina s Ocem i Duhom Svetim. Drugi razlog je da ovaj smrti bio u pratnji iskustvo Božjeg gnjeva i prokletstvo, koje nas naši grijesi su u potpunosti zasluženo.

Članak 5: Djelokrug naviještati Evanđelje za sve

Štoviše, on je obećanje evanđelje da tko vjeruje u Krista raspetoga neka ne propadne, nego ima vječni život. Ova obećanja, zajedno s komandom kako bi se kajao i vjerujte, trebalo bi biti proglašen saopsstila i bez diferencijacija ili diskriminacije, na sve narode i ljude, kojima Bog u svojoj dobrohotnosti izvodi šalje evanđelja.

Članak 6: nevjere Man's odgovornosti

Međutim, da mnogi koji su pozvani po evanđelju ne obrati ili vjeruju u Krista, ali propadaju u nevjeri nije jer je žrtva ponuđena Krist na križu je manjkav ili nedovoljan, ali zato oni su greška.

Članak 7: Vjera Božje Poklon

A svi koji iskreno vjeruju, a nisu dostavljene i spasio od Kristove smrti iz svoje grijehe i od uništenja primili ovu milost isključivo od Božje milosti koja mu duguje-da nitko ne-obzirom da ih u Kristu od vječnosti.

Članak 8: U Spremanje učinkovitost Kristove smrti

Za to je bio potpuno besplatan plan i jako svidjelo i namjera od Boga Oca da enlivening i spremanje učinkovitost Sina njegova smrt je skupo bi trebalo raditi iz sebe u svoj svojoj izabranici, s ciljem da odobri opravdavaju vjeru da ih samo i time ih bez vode ne spasenja. Drugim riječima, ona je Božjeg da će Krist krvlju križa (od kojih je potvrdio novi Savez), trebali bi učinkovito otkupi od svakoga naroda, plemena, naroda, jezika i sve one i samo one koji su bili izabrani od vječnosti na spasenje i dao mu je Otac, da bi im odobri vjeru (koja je, kao što je Duh Sveti u drugim spremite poklone, on je stekla za njih po njegovoj smrti), da bi ih očistili od njegove krvi od svih njihovih grijeha , Oba izvorna i stvarna, da li prije ili poslije počinjene njihov dolazak u vjeri, da bi se vjerno ih sačuvati do samog kraja, i da bi konačno predstaviti ih na sebe, a slavna osoba, bez ljage i nabora.

Članak 9: ispunjenja Božjeg plana

Ovaj plan, koji proizlaze iz Božje vječne ljubavi za njegovi izabranici, od početka svijeta do danas vrijeme je snažno provodi i također će se provoditi u budućnosti, na vratima pakla uzaludno tražeći da se protiv to. Kao rezultat toga, izabrali su skupi u jedno, sve u svoje vrijeme, i uvijek postoji crkva vjernika temelji na Kristovu krv, crkve koji steadfastly ljubi, uporno worships, i ovdje iu vječnosti-sve pohvale njemu kao Spasitelj koji joj položio život svoj za nju na križ, kao na zaručnika njegove nevjeste.

Tko naučavaju da je Bog Otac imenovao svoga Sina do smrti na križu bez fiksne i jasan plan za spremanje nikoga po imenu, tako da nuľna, korisnosti, što vrijedi i Kristove smrti dobio bi mogle imati stajao netaknut i sveukupno savršeno, potpune i cjelini, čak i ako otkupljenje koje je dobio nikada nije bila u stvarnoj činjenici primijeniti na bilo kojeg pojedinca.

Za ovu tvrdnju je napad na mudrost od Boga Oca i da je zasluga Isusa Krista, i to je do suprotnosti pismu. Za Spasitelj govori kako slijedi: ja život svoj polažem za ovce, i znam ih (Ivan 10:15, 27). A prorok Izaija govori u vezi Spasitelja: Kad će se prinos za grijeh, on će vidjeti njegovo potomstvo, produžit će on svoje dane i volje Jehova će uspijevati u njegovoj ruci (Isa. 53:10). Konačno, to potkopava članak na vjerovanje u ispovijediti ono što mi vjerujemo u vezi Crkve.

Tko učiti da je svrha Kristova smrt nije bio da se utvrdi stvarna činjenica u novi Savez milosti po njegovu krv, ali samo kako bi stekli za Oca sam pravo na upis još jednom na Savez s ljudima, da li milosti ili radova.

Za ove sukobe s Pismo, koje uči da Krist je postao garancija i Posredniku bolje-to je novi-saveza (Heb. 7:22, 9:15), i da će je na snazi samo kada netko ima umro (Heb. 9:17).

Tko učiti da Krist, koju je zadovoljstvo što je dao, nije sigurno zaslužiti za sebe i nikome spasenje po vjeri koji ovo zadovoljstvo Krist je učinkovito primijeniti za spasenje, ali samo stečena za Oca ovlasti ili plenarnim će se odnositi na novi način s ljudima i nametati takve nove uvjete kako je izabrao, i da se udovolji ovim uvjetima ovisi o slobodnom izboru čovjeka, stoga, da je moguće da je bilo sve ili ništa bi se ispunili ih.

Jer oni su preniske mišljenje o smrti Krista, ne na sve priznati najprije voće ili naknada koje se rađa, i poziv na povratak iz pakla je pučinski pogreške.

Tko podučiti da ono što je uključen u novi Savez milosti Boga Oca koji je s ljudima kroz interventni Kristove smrti nije da smo pred Bogom opravdani i spašeni po vjeri, u onoj mjeri u kojoj se prihvaća Kristovu zasluga, ali umjesto da Bog, budući da je povukao njegov zahtjev za savršenu poslušnost prema zakonu, broji sama vjera, i imperfekt poslušnosti vjere, kao savršenu poslušnost prema zakonu, i milostivo pogleda na ovaj kao i zaslužio je nagradu za život vječni.

Jer proturječiti Pismo: Oni su opravdano slobodno po njegovom milošću po dospjeću da dođu po Isusu Kristu, komu Bog predstavlja kao žrtva pomirenja, po vjeri u njegovoj krvi (Rom. 3:24-25). A uz bezbožnika Socinus, oni uvode novi i stranih opravdanja čovjeka pred Bogom, protiv konsenzus cijele Crkve.

Tko učiti da su svi ljudi su primili u stanje pomirenja i milosti u Savez, tako da nitko ne računa na originalnih grijeh odgovoran je za osudu, ili će biti osuđeni, ali da sve su slobodni od krivnje za ovaj grijeh.

Za ovo mišljenje sukobi s kojima Sveto pismo tvrdi da smo po naravi djeca srdžbe.

Tko koristiti razlikovanju dobivanje i primjenu kako bi se usaditi u neoprezan i neiskusne smatra da Bog, koliko je on u pitanju, želio dati jednako na sve osobe koje su prednosti dobio od Kristove smrti, ali da su razlike po kojima su neki drugi, a ne dolaze na udio u otpuštenje grijeha i vječni život ovisi o vlastitim slobodan izbor (koji se odnosi sama na milost ponudio indiscriminately), ali ne ovise o jedinstvenim darom milosti koja učinkovito funkcionira u njima, tako da oni, nego drugima, primijeniti da milost da sami.

Jer, dok se pretvara da je izlozeno ovom razlika u prihvatljivom smislu, oni pokušati dati narod je smrtonosni otrov Pelagianism.

Tko učiti da Krist nije mogao umrijeti, niti je morao umrijeti, niti umrijeti za one kojima je Bog tako ljubio nježno i izabrao za vječni život, jer takve osobe ne moraju smrti Kristove.

Jer proturječiti apostola, koji kaže: Krist me ljubio i sebe predao za mene (Gal. 2:20), i tako: Tko će iznijeti bilo koje onima optućbe protiv koga je Bog odabrao? To je Bog koji opravdava. Tko je tko osuđuje? To je Krist koji je umro, da je, za njih (Rom. 8:33-34). Oni također proturječiti Spasitelja, koji tvrdi: ja život svoj polažem za ovce (Ivan 10:15) i moj je ovu naredbu: ljubite jedni druge kao što sam ja ljubio vas. Veće ljubavi nema jednog od toga, da je jedan položiti svoj život za svoje prijatelje (Ivan 15:12-13).

Članak 1: utjecaj pada na ljudska priroda

Čovjek je izvorno stvoren na sliku Božju i da je namješten u svoje srce s istinitim i zdrav poznavanje njegova Stvoritelja i duhovnih stvari, u njegovoj će srce i pravednost, i sve njegove emocije s čistoće, štoviše, cijeli čovjek je svet. Međutim, rebelling protiv Boga na đavolje podstrekivanje i svoju slobodnu volju, on je sam lišen tih dugovanja darove. Umjesto, na svoje mjesto on doveo na sam sljepoća, strašna tama, beskorisnost, i izvrtanje pravde u svoje srce; tvrdoglavost, prkos i okorjelosti u svom srcu i volji; i konačno blud u svim njegovim emocije.

Članak 2: širenju korupcije

Čovjek izveo djecu iz iste prirode kao što se nakon pada. To će reći, on se ošteti izveo pokvariti djecu. The corruption spread, by God’s just judgment, from Adam to all his descendants– except for Christ alone–not by way of imitation (as in former times the Pelagians would have it) but by way of the propagation of his perverted nature.

Article 3: Total Inability

Therefore, all people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath, unfit for any saving good, inclined to evil, dead in their sins, and slaves to sin; without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit they are neither willing nor able to return to God, to reform their distorted nature, or even to dispose themselves to such reform.

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.

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.

Article 9: Human Responsibility for Rejecting the Gospel

The fact that many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not brought to conversion must not be blamed on the gospel, nor on Christ, who is offered through the gospel, nor on God, who calls them through the gospel and even bestows various gifts on them, but on the people themselves who are called. Some in self-assurance do not even entertain the Word of life; others do entertain it but do not take it to heart, and for that reason, after the fleeting joy of a temporary faith, they relapse; others choke the seed of the Word with the thorns of life’s cares and with the pleasures of the world and bring forth no fruits. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13).

Article 10: Conversion as the Work of God

The fact that others who are called through the ministry of the gospel do come and are brought to conversion must not be credited to man, as though one distinguishes himself by free choice from others who are furnished with equal or sufficient grace for faith and conversion (as the proud heresy of Pelagius maintains). No, it must be credited to God: just as from eternity he chose his own in Christ, so within time he effectively calls them, grants them faith and repentance, and, having rescued them from the dominion of darkness, brings them into the kingdom of his Son, in order that they may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called them out of darkness into this marvelous light, and may boast not in themselves, but in the Lord, as apostolic words frequently testify in Scripture.

Article 11: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Conversion

Moreover, when God carries out this good pleasure in his chosen ones, or works true conversion in them, he not only sees to it that the gospel is proclaimed to them outwardly, and enlightens their minds powerfully by the Holy Spirit so that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God, but, by the effective operation of the same regenerating Spirit, he also penetrates into the inmost being of man, opens the closed heart, softens the hard heart, and circumcises the heart that is uncircumcised. He infuses new qualities into the will, making the dead will alive, the evil one good, the unwilling one willing, and the stubborn one compliant; he activates and strengthens the will so that, like a good tree, it may be enabled to produce the fruits of good deeds.

Article 12: Regeneration a Supernatural Work

And this is the regeneration, the new creation, the raising from the dead, and the making alive so clearly proclaimed in the Scriptures, which God works in us without our help. But this certainly does not happen only by outward teaching, by moral persuasion, or by such a way of working that, after God has done his work, it remains in man’s power whether or not to be reborn or converted. Rather, it is an entirely supernatural work, one that is at the same time most powerful and most pleasing, a marvelous, hidden, and inexpressible work, which is not lesser than or inferior in power to that of creation or of raising the dead, as Scripture (inspired by the author of this work) teaches. As a result, all those in whose hearts God works in this marvelous way are certainly, unfailingly, and effectively reborn and do actually believe. And then the will, now renewed, is not only activated and motivated by God but in being activated by God is also itself active. For this reason, man himself, by that grace which he has received, is also rightly said to believe and to repent.

Article 13: The Incomprehensible Way of Regeneration

In this life believers cannot fully understand the way this work occurs; meanwhile, they rest content with knowing and experiencing that by this grace of God they do believe with the heart and love their Savior.

Article 14: The Way God Gives Faith

In this way, therefore, faith is a gift of God, not in the sense that it is offered by God for man to choose, but that it is in actual fact bestowed on man, breathed and infused into him. Nor is it a gift in the sense that God bestows only the potential to believe, but then awaits assent–the act of believing–from man’s choice; rather, it is a gift in the sense that he who works both willing and acting and, indeed, works all things in all people produces in man both the will to believe and the belief itself.

Article 15: Responses to God’s Grace

God does not owe this grace to anyone. For what could God owe to one who has nothing to give that can be paid back? Indeed, what could God owe to one who has nothing of his own to give but sin and falsehood? Therefore the person who receives this grace owes and gives eternal thanks to God alone; the person who does not receive it either does not care at all about these spiritual things and is satisfied with himself in his condition, or else in self-assurance foolishly boasts about having something which he lacks. Furthermore, following the example of the apostles, we are to think and to speak in the most favorable way about those who outwardly profess their faith and better their lives, for the inner chambers of the heart are unknown to us. But for others who have not yet been called, we are to pray to the God who calls things that do not exist as though they did. In no way, however, are we to pride ourselves as better than they, as though we had distinguished ourselves from them.

Article 16: Regeneration’s Effect

However, just as by the fall man did not cease to be man, endowed with intellect and will, and just as sin, which has spread through the whole human race, did not abolish the nature of the human race but distorted and spiritually killed it, so also this divine grace of regeneration does not act in people as if they were blocks and stones; nor does it abolish the will and its properties or coerce a reluctant will by force, but spiritually revives, heals, reforms, and–in a manner at once pleasing and powerful–bends it back. As a result, a ready and sincere obedience of the Spirit now begins to prevail where before the rebellion and resistance of the flesh were completely dominant. It is in this that the true and spiritual restoration and freedom of our will consists. Thus, if the marvelous Maker of every good thing were not dealing with us, man would have no hope of getting up from his fall by his free choice, by which he plunged himself into ruin when still standing upright.

Article 17: God’s Use of Means in Regeneration

Just as the almighty work of God by which he brings forth and sustains our natural life does not rule out but requires the use of means, by which God, according to his infinite wisdom and goodness, has wished to exercise his power, so also the aforementioned supernatural work of God by which he regenerates us in no way rules out or cancels the use of the gospel, which God in his great wisdom has appointed to be the seed of regeneration and the food of the soul. For this reason, the apostles and the teachers who followed them taught the people in a godly manner about this grace of God, to give him the glory and to humble all pride, and yet did not neglect meanwhile to keep the people, by means of the holy admonitions of the gospel, under the administration of the Word, the sacraments, and discipline. So even today it is out of the question that the teachers or those taught in the church should presume to test God by separating what he in his good pleasure has wished to be closely joined together. For grace is bestowed through admonitions, and the more readily we perform our duty, the more lustrous the benefit of God working in us usually is and the better his work advances. To him alone, both for the means and for their saving fruit and effectiveness, all glory is owed forever. Amen.

Who teach that, properly speaking, it cannot be said that original sin in itself is enough to condemn the whole human race or to warrant temporal and eternal punishments.

For they contradict the apostle when he says: Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death passed on to all men because all sinned (Rom. 5:12); also: The guilt followed one sin and brought condemnation (Rom. 5:16); likewise: The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).

Who teach that the spiritual gifts or the good dispositions and virtues such as goodness, holiness, and righteousness could not have resided in man’s will when he was first created, and therefore could not have been separated from the will at the fall.

For this conflicts with the apostle’s description of the image of God in Ephesians 4:24, where he portrays the image in terms of righteousness and holiness, which definitely reside in the will.

Who teach that in spiritual death the spiritual gifts have not been separated from man’s will, since the will in itself has never been corrupted but only hindered by the darkness of the mind and the unruliness of the emotions, and since the will is able to exercise its innate free capacity once these hindrances are removed, which is to say, it is able of itself to will or choose whatever good is set before it–or else not to will or choose it.

This is a novel idea and an error and has the effect of elevating the power of free choice, contrary to the words of Jeremiah the prophet: The heart itself is deceitful above all things and wicked (Jer. 17:9); and of the words of the apostle: All of us also lived among them (the sons of disobedience) at one time in the passions of our flesh, following the will of our flesh and thoughts (Eph. 2:3).

Who teach that unregenerate man is not strictly or totally dead in his sins or deprived of all capacity for spiritual good but is able to hunger and thirst for righteousness or life and to offer the sacrifice of a broken and contrite spirit which is pleasing to God.

For these views are opposed to the plain testimonies of Scripture: You were dead in your transgressions and sins (Eph. 2:1, 5); The imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart is only evil all the time (Gen. 6:5; 8:21). Besides, to hunger and thirst for deliverance from misery and for life, and to offer God the sacrifice of a broken spirit is characteristic only of the regenerate and of those called blessed (Ps. 51:17; Matt. 5:6).

Who teach that corrupt and natural man can make such good use of common grace(by which they mean the light of nature)or of the gifts remaining after the fall that he is able thereby gradually to obtain a greater grace– evangelical or saving grace–as well as salvation itself; and that in this way God, for his part, shows himself ready to reveal Christ to all people, since he provides to all, to a sufficient extent and in an effective manner, the means necessary for the revealing of Christ, for faith, and for repentance.

For Scripture, not to mention the experience of all ages, testifies that this is false: He makes known his words to Jacob, his statutes and his laws to Israel; he has done this for no other nation, and they do not know his laws (Ps. 147:19-20); In the past God let all nations go their own way (Acts 14:16); They (Paul and his companions) were kept by the Holy Spirit from speaking God’s word in Asia; and When they had come to Mysia, they tried to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit would not allow them to (Acts 16:6-7).

Who teach that in the true conversion of man new qualities, dispositions, or gifts cannot be infused or poured into his will by God, and indeed that the faith [or believing] by which we first come to conversion and from which we receive the name “believers” is not a quality or gift infused by God, but only an act of man, and that it cannot be called a gift except in respect to the power of attaining faith.

For these views contradict the Holy Scriptures, which testify that God does infuse or pour into our hearts the new qualities of faith, obedience, and the experiencing of his love: I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts (Jer. 31:33); I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring (Isa. 44:3); The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Rom. 5:5). They also conflict with the continuous practice of the Church, which prays with the prophet: Convert me, Lord, and I shall be converted (Jer. 31:18).

Who teach that the grace by which we are converted to God is nothing but a gentle persuasion, or(as others explain it) that the way of God’s acting in man’s conversion that is most noble and suited to human nature is that which happens by persuasion, and that nothing prevents this grace of moral suasion even by itself from making natural men spiritual; indeed, that God does not produce the assent of the will except in this manner of moral suasion, and that the effectiveness of God’s work by which it surpasses the work of Satan consists in the fact that God promises eternal benefits while Satan promises temporal ones.

For this teaching is entirely Pelagian and contrary to the whole of Scripture, which recognizes besides this persuasion also another, far more effective and divine way in which the Holy Spirit acts in man’s conversion. As Ezekiel 36:26 puts it: I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; and I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh….

Who teach that God in regenerating man does not bring to bear that power of his omnipotence whereby he may powerfully and unfailingly bend man’s will to faith and conversion, but that even when God has accomplished all the works of grace which he uses for man’s conversion, man nevertheless can, and in actual fact often does, so resist God and the Spirit in their intent and will to regenerate him, that man completely thwarts his own rebirth; and, indeed, that it remains in his own power whether or not to be reborn.

For this does away with all effective functioning of God’s grace in our conversion and subjects the activity of Almighty God to the will of man; it is contrary to the apostles, who teach that we believe by virtue of the effective working of God’s mighty strength (Eph. 1:19), and that God fulfills the undeserved good will of his kindness and the work of faith in us with power (2 Thess. 1:11), and likewise that his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3).

Who teach that grace and free choice are concurrent partial causes which cooperate to initiate conversion, and that grace does not precede–in the order of causality–the effective influence of the will;that is to say,that God does not effectively help man’s will to come to conversion before man’s will itself motivates and determines itself.

For the early church already condemned this doctrine long ago in the Pelagians, on the basis of the words of the apostle: It does not depend on man’s willing or running but on God’s mercy (Rom. 9:16); also: Who makes you different from anyone else? and What do you have that you did not receive? (1 Cor. 4:7); likewise: It is God who works in you to will and act according to his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).

Article 1: The Regenerate Not Entirely Free from Sin

Those people whom God according to his purpose calls into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord and regenerates by the Holy Spirit, he also sets free from the reign and slavery of sin, though in this life not entirely from the flesh and from the body of sin.

Article 2: The Believer’s Reaction to Sins of Weakness

Hence daily sins of weakness arise, and blemishes cling to even the best works of God’s people, giving them continual cause to humble themselves before God, to flee for refuge to Christ crucified, to put the flesh to death more and more by the Spirit of supplication and by holy exercises of godliness, and to strain toward the goal of perfection, until they are freed from this body of death and reign with the Lamb of God in heaven.

Article 3: God’s Preservation of the Converted

Because of these remnants of sin dwelling in them and also because of the temptations of the world and Satan, those who have been converted could not remain standing in this grace if left to their own resources. But God is faithful, mercifully strengthening them in the grace once conferred on them and powerfully preserving them in it to the end.

Article 4: The Danger of True Believers’ Falling into Serious Sins

Although that power of God strengthening and preserving true believers in grace is more than a match for the flesh, yet those converted are not always so activated and motivated by God that in certain specific actions they cannot by their own fault depart from the leading of grace, be led astray by the desires of the flesh, and give in to them. For this reason they must constantly watch and pray that they may not be led into temptations. When they fail to do this, not onlycan they be carried away by the flesh, the world, and Satan into sins, even serious and outrageous ones, but also by God’s just permission they sometimesare so carried away–witness the sad cases, described in Scripture, of David, Peter, and other saints falling into sins.

Article 5: The Effects of Such Serious Sins

By such monstrous sins, however, they greatly offend God, deserve the sentence of death, grieve the Holy Spirit, suspend the exercise of faith, severely wound the conscience, and sometimes lose the awareness of grace for a time–until, after they have returned to the way by genuine repentance, God’s fatherly face again shines upon them.

Article 6: God’s Saving Intervention

For God, who is rich in mercy, according to his unchangeable purpose of election does not take his Holy Spirit from his own completely, even when they fall grievously. Neither does he let them fall down so far that they forfeit the grace of adoption and the state of justification, or commit the sin which leads to death (the sin against the Holy Spirit), and plunge themselves, entirely forsaken by him, into eternal ruin.

Article 7: Renewal to Repentance

For, in the first place, God preserves in those saints when they fall his imperishable seed from which they have been born again, lest it perish or be dislodged. Secondly, by his Word and Spirit he certainly and effectively renews them to repentance so that they have a heartfelt and godly sorrow for the sins they have committed; seek and obtain, through faith and with a contrite heart, forgiveness in the blood of the Mediator; experience again the grace of a reconciled God; through faith adore his mercies; and from then on more eagerly work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.

Article 8: The Certainty of This Preservation

So it is not by their own merits or strength but by God’s undeserved mercy that they neither forfeit faith and grace totally nor remain in their downfalls to the end and are lost. With respect to themselves this not only easily could happen, but also undoubtedly would happen; but with respect to God it cannot possibly happen, since his plan cannot be changed, his promise cannot fail, the calling according to his purpose cannot be revoked, the merit of Christ as well as his interceding and preserving cannot be nullified, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit can neither be invalidated nor wiped out.

Article 9: The Assurance of This Preservation

Concerning this preservation of those chosen to salvation and concerning the perseverance of true believers in faith, believers themselves can and do become assured in accordance with the measure of their faith, by which they firmly believe that they are and always will remain true and living members of the church, and that they have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Article 10: The Ground of This Assurance

Accordingly, this assurance does not derive from some private revelation beyond or outside the Word, but from faith in the promises of God which he has very plentifully revealed in his Word for our comfort, from the testimony of the Holy Spirit testifying with our spirit that we are God’s children and heirs (Rom. 8:16-17), and finally from a serious and holy pursuit of a clear conscience and of good works. And if God’s chosen ones in this world did not have this well-founded comfort that the victory will be theirs and this reliable guarantee of eternal glory, they would be of all people most miserable.

Article 11: Doubts Concerning This Assurance

Meanwhile, Scripture testifies that believers have to contend in this life with various doubts of the flesh and that under severe temptation they do not always experience this full assurance of faith and certainty of perseverance. But God, the Father of all comfort, does not let them be tempted beyond what they can bear, but with the temptation he also provides a way out (1 Cor. 10:13), and by the Holy Spirit revives in them the assurance of their perseverance.

Article 12: This Assurance as an Incentive to Godliness

This assurance of perseverance, however, so far from making true believers proud and carnally self-assured, is rather the true root of humility, of childlike respect, of genuine godliness, of endurance in every conflict, of fervent prayers, of steadfastness in crossbearing and in confessing the truth, and of well-founded joy in God. Reflecting on this benefit provides an incentive to a serious and continual practice of thanksgiving and good works, as is evident from the testimonies of Scripture and the examples of the saints.

Article 13: Assurance No Inducement to Carelessness

Neither does the renewed confidence of perseverance produce immorality or lack of concern for godliness in those put back on their feet after a fall, but it produces a much greater concern to observe carefully the ways of the Lord which he prepared in advance. They observe these ways in order that by walking in them they may maintain the assurance of their perseverance, lest, by their abuse of his fatherly goodness, the face of the gracious God (for the godly, looking upon his face is sweeter than life, but its withdrawal is more bitter than death) turn away from them again, with the result that they fall into greater anguish of spirit.

Article 14: God’s Use of Means in Perseverance

And, just as it has pleased God to begin this work of grace in us by the proclamation of the gospel, so he preserves, continues, and completes his work by the hearing and reading of the gospel, by meditation on it, by its exhortations, threats, and promises, and also by the use of the sacraments.

Article 15: Contrasting Reactions to the Teaching of Perseverance

This teaching about the perseverance of true believers and saints, and about their assurance of it–a teaching which God has very richly revealed in his Word for the glory of his name and for the comfort of the godly and which he impresses on the hearts of believers–is something which the flesh does not understand, Satan hates, the world ridicules, the ignorant and the hypocrites abuse, and the spirits of error attack. The bride of Christ, on the other hand, has always loved this teaching very tenderly and defended it steadfastly as a priceless treasure; and God, against whom no plan can avail and no strength can prevail, will ensure that she will continue to do this. To this God alone, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever. Amen.

Having set forth the orthodox teaching, the Synod rejects the errors of those

Who teach that the perseverance of true believers is not an effect of election or a gift of God produced by Christ’s death, but a condition of the new covenant which man, beforewhat they callhis “peremptory” election and justification, must fulfill by his free will.

For Holy Scripture testifies that perseverance follows from election and is granted to the chosen by virtue of Christ’s death, resurrection, and intercession: The chosen obtained it; the others were hardened (Rom. 11:7); likewise, He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not, along with him, grant us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ Jesus who died–more than that, who was raised–who also sits at the right hand of God, and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (Rom. 8:32-35).

Who teach that God does provide the believer with sufficient strength to persevere and is ready to preserve this strength in him if he performs his duty, but that even with all those things in place which are necessary to persevere in faith and which God is pleased to use to preserve faith, it still always depends on the choice of man’s will whether or not he perseveres.

For this view is obviously Pelagian; and though it intends to make men free it makes them sacrilegious. It is against the enduring consensus of evangelical teaching which takes from man all cause for boasting and ascribes the praise for this benefit only to God’s grace. It is also against the testimony of the apostle: It is God who keeps us strong to the end, so that we will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:8).

Who teach that those who truly believe and have been born again not only can forfeit justifying faith as well as grace and salvation totally and to the end, but also in actual fact do often forfeit them and are lost forever.

For this opinion nullifies the very grace of justification and regeneration as well as the continual preservation by Christ, contrary to the plain words of the apostle Paul: If Christ died for us while we were still sinners, we will therefore much more be saved from God’s wrath through him, since we have now been justified by his blood (Rom. 5:8-9); and contrary to the apostle John: No one who is born of God is intent on sin, because God’s seed remains in him, nor can he sin, because he has been born of God (1 John 3:9); also contrary to the words of Jesus Christ: I give eternal life to my sheep, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand (John 10: 28-29).

Who teach that those who truly believe and have been born again can commit the sin that leads to death (the sin against the Holy Spirit).

For the same apostle John, after making mention of those who commit the sin that leads to death and forbidding prayer for them (1 John 5: 16-17), immediately adds: We know that anyone born of God does not commit sin (that is, that kind of sin), but the one who was born of God keeps himself safe, and the evil one does not touch him (v. 18).

Who teach that apart from a special revelation no one can have the assurance of future perseverance in this life.

For by this teaching the well-founded consolation of true believers in this life is taken away and the doubting of the Romanists is reintroduced into the church. Holy Scripture, however, in many places derives the assurance not from a special and extraordinary revelation but from the marks peculiar to God’s children and from God’s completely reliable promises. So especially the apostle Paul: Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:39); and John: They who obey his commands remain in him and he in them. And this is how we know that he remains in us: by the Spirit he gave us (1 John 3:24).

Who teach that the teaching of the assurance of perseverance and of salvation is by its very nature and character an opiate of the flesh and is harmful to godliness, good morals, prayer, and other holy exercises, but that, on the contrary, to have doubt about this is praiseworthy.

For these people show that they do not know the effective operation of God’s grace and the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and they contradict the apostle John, who asserts the opposite in plain words: Dear friends, now we are children of God, but what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he is made known, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure (1 John 3:2-3). Moreover, they are refuted by the examples of the saints in both the Old and the New Testament, who though assured of their perseverance and salvation yet were constant in prayer and other exercises of godliness.

Who teach that the faith of those who believe only temporarily does not differ from justifying and saving faith except in duration alone.

For Christ himself in Matthew 13:20ff. and Luke 8:13ff. clearly defines these further differences between temporary and true believers: he says that the former receive the seed on rocky ground, and the latter receive it in good ground, or a good heart; the former have no root, and the latter are firmly rooted; the former have no fruit, and the latter produce fruit in varying measure, with steadfastness, or perseverance.

Who teach that it is not absurd that a person, after losing his former regeneration, should once again, indeed quite often, be reborn.

For by this teaching they deny the imperishable nature of God’s seed by which we are born again, contrary to the testimony of the apostle Peter: Born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable (1 Pet. 1:23).

Who teach that Christ nowhere prayed for an unfailing perseverance of believers in faith.

For they contradict Christ himself when he says: I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith may not fail (Luke 22:32); and John the gospel writer when he testifies in John 17 that it was not only for the apostles, but also for all those who were to believe by their message that Christ prayed: Holy Father, preserve them in your name (v. 11); and My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you preserve them from the evil one (v. 15).

And so this is the clear, simple, and straightforward explanation of the orthodox teaching on the five articles in dispute in the Netherlands, as well as the rejection of the errors by which the Dutch churches have for some time been disturbed. This explanation and rejection the Synod declares to be derived from God’s Word and in agreement with the confessions of the Reformed churches. Hence it clearly appears that those of whom one could hardly expect it have shown no truth, equity, and charity at all in wishing to make the public believe:

–that the teaching of the Reformed churches on predestination and on the points associated with it by its very nature and tendency draws the minds of people away from all godliness and religion, is an opiate of the flesh and the devil, and is a stronghold of Satan where he lies in wait for all people, wounds most of them, and fatally pierces many of them with the arrows of both despair and self-assurance;

–that this teaching makes God the author of sin, unjust, a tyrant, and a hypocrite; and is nothing but a refurbished Stoicism, Manicheism, Libertinism, and Mohammedanism;

–that this teaching makes people carnally self-assured, since it persuades them that nothing endangers the salvation of the chosen, no matter how they live, so that they may commit the most outrageous crimes with self-assurance; and that on the other hand nothing is of use to the reprobate for salvation even if they have truly performed all the works of the saints;

–that this teaching means that God predestined and created, by the bare and unqualified choice of his will, without the least regard or consideration of any sin, the greatest part of the world to eternal condemnation; that in the same manner in which election is the source and cause of faith and good works, reprobation is the cause of unbelief and ungodliness; that many infant children of believers are snatched in their innocence from their mothers’ breasts and cruelly cast into hell so that neither the blood of Christ nor their baptism nor the prayers of the church at their baptism can be of any use to them; and very many other slanderous accusations of this kind which the Reformed churches not only disavow but even denounce with their whole heart.

Therefore this Synod of Dordt in the name of the Lord pleads with all who devoutly call on the name of our Savior Jesus Christ to form their judgment about the faith of the Reformed churches, not on the basis of false accusations gathered from here or there, or even on the basis of the personal statements of a number of ancient and modern authorities–statements which are also often either quoted out of context or misquoted and twisted to convey a different meaning–but on the basis of the churches’ own official confessions and of the present explanation of the orthodox teaching which has been endorsed by the unanimous consent of the members of the whole Synod, one and all.

Moreover, the Synod earnestly warns the false accusers themselves to consider how heavy a judgment of God awaits those who give false testimony against so many churches and their confessions, trouble the consciences of the weak, and seek to prejudice the minds of many against the fellowship of true believers.

Finally, this Synod urges all fellow ministers in the gospel of Christ to deal with this teaching in a godly and reverent manner, in the academic institutions as well as in the churches; to do so, both in their speaking and writing, with a view to the glory of God’s name, holiness of life, and the comfort of anxious souls; to think and also speak with Scripture according to the analogy of faith; and, finally, to refrain from all those ways of speaking which go beyond the bounds set for us by the genuine sense of the Holy Scriptures and which could give impertinent sophists a just occasion to scoff at the teaching of the Reformed churches or even to bring false accusations against it.

May God’s Son Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of God and gives gifts to men, sanctify us in the truth, lead to the truth those who err, silence the mouths of those who lay false accusations against sound teaching, and equip faithful ministers of his Word with a spirit of wisdom and discretion, that all they say may be to the glory of God and the building up of their hearers. Amen

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The Decision of the Synod of Dordt on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands is popularly known as the Canons of Dordt. It consists of statements of doctrine adopted by the great Synod of Dordt which met in the city of Dordrecht in 1618-19. Although this was a national synod of the Reformed churches of the Netherlands, it had an international character, since it was composed not only of Dutch delegates but also of twenty-six delegates from eight foreign countries.

The Synod of Dordt was held in order to settle a serious controversy in the Dutch churches initiated by the rise of Arminianism. Jacob Arminius, a theological professor at Leiden University, questioned the teaching of Calvin and his followers on a number of important points. After Arminius’s death, his own followers presented their views on five of these points in the Remonstrance of 1610. In this document or in later more explicit writings, the Arminians taught election based on foreseen faith, universal atonement, partial depravity, resistible grace, and the possibility of a lapse from grace. In the Canons the Synod of Dordt rejected these views and set forth the Reformed doctrine on these points, namely, unconditional election, limited atonement, total depravity, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of saints.

The Canons have a special character because of their original purpose as a judicial decision on the doctrinal points in dispute during the Arminian controversy. The original preface called them a "judgment, in which both the true view, agreeing with God’s Word, concerning the aforesaid five points of doctrine is explained, and the false view, disagreeing with God’s Word, is rejected." The Canons also have a limited character in that they do not cover the whole range of doctrine, but focus on the five points of doctrine in dispute.

Each of the main points consists of a positive and a negative part, the former being an exposition of the Reformed doctrine on the subject, the latter a repudiation of the corresponding errors. Each of the errors being rejected is shown in bold type. Although in form there are only four points, we speak properly of five points, because the Canons were structured to correspond to the five articles of the 1610 Remonstrance. Main Points 3 and 4 were combined into one, always designated as Main Point III/IV.

This translation of the Canons, based on the only extant Latin manuscript among those signed at the Synod of Dordt, was adopted by the 1986 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church. The biblical quotations are translations from the original Latin and so do not always correspond to current versions. Though not in the original text, subheadings have been added to the positive articles and to the conclusion in order to facilitate study of the Canons.