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THIRD AND FOURTH HEADS OF DOCTRINE
THE CORRUPTION OF MAN, HIS
CONVERSION TO GOD, AND THE
MANNER IN WHICH IT OCCURS
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ARTICLE 1
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THE EFFECT OF THE FALL
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Gen 1:26,27
Gen 3:1 to 7
Eph 4:17 to 19
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In the beginning man was
created in the image of God. He was adorned in his mind
with true and wholesome knowledge of his Creator and of all
spiritual things; his will and heart were upright, all his
affections pure, and therefore man was completely holy. But
rebelling against God through the instigation of the devil
and through his own free will, he deprived himself of these
excellent gifts, and instead brought upon himself
blindness, horrible darkness, futility, and perverseness of
judgment in his mind; wickedness, rebelliousness, and
stubbornness in his will and heart; and impurity in all his
affections. |
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ARTICLE 2
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THE SPREAD OF CORRUPTION
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Job 14:4
Ps 51:7
Rom 5:12
Heb 4:15
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Since after the fall man
became corrupt, he as a corrupt father brought forth
corrupt children. Thus the corruption has spread from Adam
to all his descendants, with the exception of Christ alone,
not by imitation, as the Pelagians of old maintained, but
by the propagation of a perverted nature, according to the
righteous judgment of God. |
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ARTICLE 3
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MAN'S TOTAL INABILITY
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Eph 2:1,3
Jn 8:34
Rom 6:16,17
Jn 3:3 to 6
Tit 3:5
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Therefore all men are
conceived in sin and are born as children of wrath,
incapable of any saving good, inclined to evil, dead in
sins, and slaves of sin. And without the grace of the
regenerating Holy Spirit they neither will nor can return
to God, reform their depraved nature, or prepare themselves
for its reformation. |
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ARTICLE 4
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THE INADEQUACY OF THE LIGHT OF NATURE
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Rom to 1:19,20
Acts 2:14,15
Rom 1:18,20
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To be sure, there is left in
man after the fall, some light of nature, whereby he
retains some notions about God, about natural things, and
about the difference between what is honourable and
shameful, and shows some regard for virtue and outward
order. But so far is he from arriving at the saving
knowledge of God and true conversion through this light of
nature that he does not even use it properly in natural and
civil matters. Rather, whatever this light may be, man
wholly pollutes it in various ways and suppresses it by his
wickedness. In doing so, he renders himself without excuse
before God. |
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ARTICLE 5
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THE INADEQUACY OF THE LAW
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Rom 3:19,20
Rom 7:10,13
Rom 8:3
2 Cor 3:6,7
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What holds for the light of
nature also applies to the Ten Commandments, given by God
through Moses particularly to the Jews. For though it
reveals the greatness of sin, and more and more convicts
man of his guilt, yet it neither points out a remedy nor
gives him power to rise out of this misery. Rather,
weakened by the flesh, it leaves the transgressor under the
curse. Man cannot, therefore, through the law obtain saving
grace. |
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ARTICLE 6
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THE NEED FOR THE GOSPEL
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2 Cor 5:18,19
1 Cor 1:21
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What, therefore, neither the
light of nature nor the law can do, God performs by the
power of the Holy Spirit through the word or ministry of
reconciliation, which is the gospel of the Messiah, by
which it has pleased God to save men who believe, both
under the old and under the new dispensation. |
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ARTICLE 7
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WHY THE GOSPEL IS SENT TO SOME AND NOT TO OTHERS
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Eph 1:9
Eph 2:14
Col 3:11
Rom 2:11
Mt 11:26
Rom 11:22,23
Rev 16:7
Deut 29:29
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Under the old dispensation
God revealed this mystery of His will to few. Under the new
dispensation, however, He took the distinction between the
peoples away and revealed it to a larger number. The cause
of this very distribution of the gospel is not to be
ascribed to the worthiness of one people above another, nor
to the better use of the light of nature, but to the
sovereign good pleasure and undeserved love of God.
Therefore we to whom so great a grace is granted, beyond
and contrary to all we deserve, ought to acknowledge it
with a humble and grateful heart. But as regards to others
whom this grace is not given, we ought with the apostle to
adore the severity and righteousness of the judgments of
God but by no means inquisitively to pry into them. |
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ARTICLE 8
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THE EARNEST CALL BY THE GOSPEL
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Is 55:1
Mt 22:4
Rev 22:17
Jn 6:37
Mt 11:28,29
Phil 1:29
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But as many as are called by
the gospel are earnestly called, for God earnestly and most
sincerely reveals in His Word what is pleasing to Him,
namely, that those who are called should come to Him. He
also earnestly promises rest for their souls and eternal
life to all who come to Him and believe. |
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ARTICLE 9
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WHY SOME WHO ARE CALLED DO NOT COME
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Mt 11:20 to 24
22:1 to 8
Mt 23:3
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It is not the fault of the
gospel, nor of the Christ offered by the gospel, nor of
God, who calls through the gospel and who even confers
various gifts upon them, that many who are called through
the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not
converted. The fault lies in themselves. Some of them do
not care and do not accept the word of life. Others do
indeed receive it, but they do not accept it into their
hearts, and therefore, after the joy of a temporary faith
has vanished, they turn away. Still others choke the seed
of the word by the thorns of the cares and the pleasures of
this world, and bring forth no fruit. This our Saviour
teaches in the parable of the seed, Mt 13. |
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ARTICLE 10
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WHY OTHERS WHO ARE CALLED DO COME
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Rom 9:16
Col 1:13
Gal 1:4
1 Pet 2:9
1 Cor 1:31
2 Cor 10:17
Eph 2:8,9
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Others who are called by the
ministry of the gospel do come and are converted. This is
not to be ascribed to man. He does not distinguish himself
by his free will above others who are furnished with equal
or sufficient grace for faith or conversion (as the proud
heresy of Pelagius maintains). It is to be ascribed to God.
He has chosen His own in Christ from eternity and calls
them effectually within time. He gives them faith and
repentance; He delivers them from the power of darkness and
transfers them to the kingdom of His Son. All this He does
that they may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called
them out of darkness into His marvellous light, and may
boast not of themselves but of the Lord, according to the
testimony of the apostles in various places. |
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ARTICLE 11
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HOW GOD BRINGS ABOUT CONVERSION
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Heb 6:4,5
1 Cor 2:10 to 14
Heb 4:12
Acts 16:14
Deut 30:6
Ez 11:19
Ez 36:26
Mt 7:18
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God carries out His good
pleasure in the elect and works in them true conversion in
the following manner. He takes care that the gospel is
preached to them, and powerfully enlightens their minds by
the Holy Spirit, so that they may rightly understand and
discern the things of the Spirit of God. By the efficacious
working of the same regenerating Spirit He also penetrates
into the innermost recesses of man. He opens the closed and
softens the hard heart, circumcises that which was
uncircumcised, and instils new qualities into the will. He
makes the will, which was dead, alive; which was bad, good;
which was unwilling, willing; and which was stubborn,
obedient. He moves and strengthens it so that, like a good
tree, it may be able to produce the fruit of good
works. |
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ARTICLE 12
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REGENERATION IS THE WORK OF GOD ALONE
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Jn 3:3
2 Cor to 4:6
2 Cor 5:17
Eph 5:14
Jn 5:25
Rom 4:17
Phil 2:13
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This conversion is the
regeneration, the new creation, the raising from the dead,
the making alive, so highly spoken of in the Scriptures,
which God works in us without us. But this regeneration is
by no means brought about only by outward teaching, by
moral persuasion, or by such a mode of operation that,
after God has done His part, it remains in the power of man
to be regenerated or not regenerated, converted or not
converted. It is, however, clearly a supernatural, most
powerful, and at the same time most delightful, marvellous,
mysterious, and inexpressible work. According to Scripture,
inspired by the Author of this work, regeneration is not
inferior in power to creation or the raising of the dead.
Hence all those in whose hearts God works in this amazing
way are certainly, unfailingly, and effectually regenerated
and do actually believe. And then the will so renewed is
not only acted upon and moved by God but, acted upon by
God, the will itself also acts. Therefore man himself is
rightly said to believe and repent through the grace he has
received. |
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ARTICLE 13
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REGENERATION IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE
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Jn 3:8
Rom 10:9
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In this life believers cannot
fully understand the way in which God does this work.
Meanwhile, however, it is enough for them to know and
experience that by this grace of God they believe with the
heart and love their Saviour. |
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ARTICLE 14
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HOW FAITH IS A GIFT OF GOD
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Eph 2:8
Phil 2:13
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Faith is therefore a gift of
God, not because it is merely offered by God to the free
will of man, but because it is actually conferred on man,
instilled and infused into him. Nor is it a gift in the
sense that God confers only the power to believe and then
awaits from man's free will the consent to believe or the
act of believing. It is, however, a gift in the sense that
He who works both to will and to work, and indeed all
things in all, brings about in man both the will to believe
and the act of believing. |
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ARTICLE 15
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THE PROPER ATTITUDE WITH RESPECT TO GOD'S UNDESERVED
GRACE
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Rom 11:35
Amos 6:1
Jer 7:4
Rom 14:10
Rom 4:17
1 Cor 4:7
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This grace God owes to no
one. For what could He owe to man? Who has given Him first
that he might be repaid? What could God owe to one who has
nothing of his own but sin and falsehood? He, therefore,
who receives this grace owes and renders eternal thanks to
God alone. He who does not receive this grace, however,
either does not care at all for these spiritual things and
is pleased with what he has, or in false security vainly
boasts that he has what he does not have. Further, about
those who outwardly profess their faith and amend their
lives we are to judge and speak in the most favourable way,
according to the example of the apostles, for the inner
recesses of the heart are unknown to us. As for those who
have not yet been called, we should pray for them to God,
who calls into existence the things that do not exist. But
we must by no means act haughtily, as if we had
distinguished ourselves from them. |
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ARTICLE 16
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MAN'S WILL NOT TAKEN AWAY BUT MADE ALIVE
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Rom 8:2
Eph 2:1
Ps 51:12
Phil 2:13
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Man through his fall did not
cease to be man, endowed with intellect and will; and sin,
which has pervaded the whole human race, did not deprive
man of his human nature, but brought upon him depravity and
spiritual death. So also this divine grace of regeneration
does not act upon men as if they were blocks and stones and
does not take away the will and its properties, or
violently coerce it, but makes the will spiritually alive,
heals it, corrects it, pleasantly and at the same time
powerfully bends it. As a result, where formerly the
rebellion and resistance of the flesh fully dominated, now
a prompt and sincere obedience of the Spirit begins to
prevail, in which the true, spiritual renewal and freedom
of our will consists. And if the wonderful Maker of all
good did not deal with us in this way, man would have no
hope of rising from his fall through this free will, by
which he, when he was still standing, plunged himself into
ruin. |
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ARTICLE 17
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THE USE OF MEANS
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Is 55:10,11
1 Cor 1:21
Jas 1:18
1 Pet 1:23,25
1 Pet 2:2
Acts 2:42
2 Cor 5:11 to 21
2 Tim 4:2
Rom 10:14 to 17
Jude 24,25
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The almighty working of God
whereby He brings forth and sustains this our natural life
does not exclude but requires the use of means, by which He
according to His infinite wisdom and goodness has willed to
exercise His power. So also the aforementioned supernatural
working of God whereby He regenerates us, in no way
excludes or cancels the use of the gospel, which the most
wise God has ordained to be the seed of regeneration and
the food of the soul. For this reason the apostles and the
teachers who succeeded them, reverently instructed the
people concerning this grace of God, to His glory and to
the abasement of all pride. In the meantime, however, they
did not neglect to keep them, by the holy admonitions of
the gospel, under the administration of the Word, the
sacraments, and discipline. So today those who give or
receive instruction in the church should not dare to tempt
God by separating what He in His good pleasure has willed
to be closely joined together. For grace is conferred
through admonitions, and the more readily we do our duty,
the more this favour of God, who works in us, usually
manifests itself in its lustre, and so His work best
proceeds. To God alone, both for the means and for their
saving fruit and efficacy, all glory is due throughout
eternity. Amen. |
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REJECTION OF ERRORS
Having explained the true doctrine of the corruption of
man and his conversion to God, Synod rejects the
following errors:
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1. Error:
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Properly speaking, it cannot
be said that original sin as such is sufficient to condemn
the whole human race or to deserve temporal and eternal
punishment.
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Refutation:
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This contradicts the words of
the apostle when he declares: Sin came into the world
through one man and death through sin, and so death spread
to all men because all men sinned, Rom 5:12. And in
verse 16: The judgment following one trespass brought
condemnation. Also Rom 6:23: The wages of sin is
death. |
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2. Error:
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The spiritual gifts or the
good qualities and virtues, such as goodness, holiness,
righteousness, cannot have belonged to the will of man when
he was first created, and therefore cannot have been
separated from his will when he fell.
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Refutation:
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This error is contrary to the
description of the image of God which the apostle gives in
Eph 4:24, when he connects it with righteousness and
holiness, which undoubtedly belong to the will. |
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3. Error:
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In spiritual death the
spiritual gifts are not separate from the will of man,
since the will as such has never been corrupted but only
hampered by the darkness of the mind and the unruliness of
the passions. If these hindrances have been removed, the
will can exert its full innate power. The will is of itself
able to will and to choose, or else not to will and not to
choose, all manner of good which may be presented to
it.
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Refutation:
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This is an innovation and an
error, and tends to extol the powers of the free will,
contrary to what the prophet Jeremiah states in chapter
17:9, The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately corrupt. And the apostle Paul writes:
Among these (the sons of disobedience) we all
once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the
desires of body and mind, Eph 2:3. |
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4. Error:
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The unregenerate man is not
really or totally dead in sins, or deprived of all powers
unto spiritual good. He can yet hunger and thirst after
righteousness and life, and offer the sacrifice of a
contrite and broken spirit which is pleasing to God.
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Refutation:
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These things are in conflict
with the clear testimonies of Scripture: You were dead
through your trespasses and sins, Eph 2:1, 5.
And every imagination of the thoughts of man's
heart is only evil continually, Gen 6:5 and 8:21.
Moreover, only the regenerate and those who are called
blessed hunger and thirst after deliverance from misery and
after life, and offer to God the sacrifice of a broken
spirit, Ps 51:19 and Mt 5:6. |
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5. Error:
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The corrupt and natural man
can so well use the common grace (which for the Arminians
is the light of nature), or the gifts still left him after
the fall, that he can gradually gain by their good use a
greater, that is, the evangelical or saving grace, and
salvation itself. In this way God on His part shows Himself
ready to reveal Christ to all men, since He administers to
all sufficiently and efficaciously the means necessary for
the knowledge of Christ, for faith and repentance.
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Refutation:
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Not only the experience of
all ages but also Scripture testifies that this is untrue.
He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and
ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other
nation, they do not know His ordinances, Ps 147:19, 20.
In past generations He allowed all the nations to walk
in their own ways, Acts 14:16. And Paul and his
companions were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak
the word in Asia. And when they had come opposite Mysia,
they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus
did not allow them, Acts 16:6, 7. |
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6. Error:
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In the true conversion of man
no new qualities, powers, or gifts can be infused by God
into the will. Therefore faith, through which we are first
converted and because of which we are called believers, is
not a quality or gift infused by God but only an act of
man. It cannot be called a gift except with respect to the
power to attain to this faith.
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Refutation:
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This teaching contradicts the
Holy Scriptures, which declare that God infuses new
qualities of faith, of obedience, and of the consciousness
of His love into our hearts: I will put My law within
them, and I will write it upon their hearts, Jer 31:33.
And: I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams
on the dry ground, Is 44:3. And: God's love has been
poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been
given to us, Rom 5:5. This also conflicts with the
constant practice of the church, which prays by the mouth
of the prophet: Bring me back that I may be
restored, Jer 31:18. |
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7. Error:
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The grace whereby we are
converted to God is only a gentle advising. This manner of
working which consists in advising is the most noble manner
in the conversion of man and is most in harmony with man's
nature. There is no reason why this advising grace alone
should not be sufficient to make the natural man spiritual.
Indeed, God does not bring about the consent of the will
except through this moral persuasion. The power of the
divine working surpasses the working of Satan, in that God
promises eternal while Satan promises only temporal
goods.
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Refutation:
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This is entirely Pelagian and
contrary to the whole Scripture, which teaches beyond this
moral persuasion yet another, far more powerful and divine
manner of the working of the Holy Spirit in the conversion
of man: A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I
will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the
heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, Ezek
36:26. |
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8. Error:
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In regenerating man God does
not use the powers of His omnipotence so as to forcefully
and unfailingly bend man's will to faith and conversion.
Even if all the works of grace have been accomplished which
God employs to convert man and even if God intends his
regeneration and wills to regenerate him, man may yet so
resist God and the Holy Spirit, and indeed often does so
resist, that he entirely prevents his regeneration. It
therefore remains in man's power to be regenerated or
not.
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Refutation:
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This is nothing less than the
denial of all the efficacy of God's grace in our
conversion, and the subjecting of the working of Almighty
God to the will of man. It is contrary to the apostles, who
teach that we believe according to the working of His
great might, Eph 1:19, pray that our God may fulfil
every good resolve and work of faith by His power, 2
Thess 1:11, and declare that His divine power has
granted to us all things that pertain to life and
godliness, 2 Pet 1:3. |
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9. Error:
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Grace and free will are
partial causes which together work the beginning of
conversion. In the order of these causes grace does not
precede the working of the will. God does not effectually
help the will of man to come to conversion until the will
of man moves itself and determines to do this.
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Refutation:
|
The early church long ago
condemned this doctrine of the Pelagians according to the
words of the apostle: So it depends not upon man's will
or exertion, but upon God's mercy, Rom 9:16. Also:
For who sees anything different in you? What have you
that you did not receive? 1 Cor 4:7. And: God is at
work in you both to will and to work for His good
pleasure, Phil 2:13. |
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