A BRIEF AND
UNTECHNICAL STATEMENT OF THE REFORMED FAITH
I believe that my one aim in life and death should be to glorify God
and
enjoy him forever; and that God teaches me how to glorify him in his
holy
Word, that is, the Bible, which he had given by the infallible
inspiration
of this Holy Spirit in order that I may certainly know what I am to
believe
concerning him and what duty he requires of me.
I believe that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and incomparable in
all
that he is; one God but three persons, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy
Ghost, my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier; in whose power and
wisdom,
righteousness, goodness and truth I may safely put my trust.
I believe that the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, are
the
work of God hands; and that all that he has made he directs and governs
in
all their actions; so that they fulfill the end for which they were
created,
and I who trust in him shall not be put to shame but may rest securely
in
the protection of his almighty love.
I believe that God created man after his own image, in knowledge,
righteousness
and holiness, and entered into a covenant of life with him upon the
sole
condition of the obedience that was his due; so that it was by
willfully
sinning against God that man fell into the sin and misery in which I
have
been born.
I believe, that, being fallen in Adam, my first father, I am by nature
a
child of wrath, under the condemnation of God and corrupted in body and
soul,
prone to evil and liable to eternal death; from which dreadful state I
cannot
be delivered save through the unmerited grace of God my Savior.
I believe that God has not left the world to perish in its sin, but out
of
the great love wherewith he has loved it, has from all eternity
graciously
chosen unto himself a multitude which no man can number, to deliver
them
out of their sin and misery, and of them to build up again in the world
his
kingdom of righteousness; in which kingdom I may be assured I have my
part,
if I hold fast to Christ the Lord.
I believe that God has redeemed his people unto himself through Jesus
Christ
our Lord; who, though he was and ever continues to be the eternal Son
of
God, yet was born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem
them
that are under the law: I believe that he bore the penalty due to my
sins
in his own body on the tree, and fulfilled in his own person the
obedience
I owe to the righteousness of God, and now presents me to his Father as
his
purchased possession, to the praise of the glory of his grace forever;
wherefore
renouncing all merit of my own, I put all my trust only in the blood
and
righteousness of Jesus Christ my redeemer.
I believe that Jesus Christ my redeemer, who died for my offences was
raised
again for my justification, and ascended into the heavens, where he
sits
at the right hand of the Father Almighty, continually making
intercession
for his people, and governing the whole world as head over all things
for
his Church; so that I need fear no evil and may surely know that
nothing
can snatch me out of his hands and nothing can separate me from his
love.
I believe that the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ is
effectually
applied to all his people by the Holy Spirit, who works faith in me and
thereby
unites me to Christ, renews me in the whole man after the image of God,
and
enables me more and more to die unto sin and to live unto
righteousness;
until, this gracious work having been completed in me, I shall be
received
into glory; in which great hope abiding, I must ever strive to perfect
holiness
in the fear of God.
I believe that God requires of me, under the gospel, first of all, that
,
out of a true sense of my sin and misery and apprehension of his mercy
in
Christ, I should turn with grief and hatred away from sin and receive
and
rest upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation; that, so being united to
him,
I may receive pardon for my sins and be accepted as righteous in God's
sight
only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to me and received by
faith
alone; and thus and thus only do I believe I may be received into the
number
and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.
I believe that, having been pardoned and accepted for Christ's sake ,
it
is further required of me that I walk in the Spirit whom he has
purchased
for me, and by whom love is shed abroad in my heart; fulfilling the
obedience
I owe to Christ my King; faithfully performing all the duties laid upon
me
by the holy law of God my heavenly Father; and ever reflecting in my
life
and conduct, the perfect example that has been set me by Christ Jesus
my
Leader, who has died for me and granted to me his Holy Spirit just that
I
may do the good works which God has afore prepared that I should walk
in
them.
I believe that God has established his Church in the world and endowed
it
with the ministry of the Word and the holy ordinances of Baptism, the
Lord's
Supper and Prayer; in order that through these as means, the riches of
his
grace in the gospel may be made known to the world, and, by the
blessing
of Christ and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive
them,
the benefits of redemption may be communicated to his people; wherefore
also
it is required of me that I attend on these means of grace with
diligence,
preparation, and prayer, so that through them I may be instructed and
strengthened
in faith, and in holiness of life and in love; and that I use my best
endeavors
to carry this gospel and convey these means of grace to the whole world.
I believe that as Jesus Christ has once come in grace, so also is he to
come
a second time in glory, to judge the world in righteousness and assign
to
each his eternal award; and I believe that if I die in Christ, my soul
shall
be at death made perfect in holiness and go home to the Lord; and when
he
shall return to his majesty I shall be raised in glory and made
perfectly
blesses in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity: encouraged by
which
blessed hope it is required of me willingly to take my part in
suffering
hardship here as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, being assured that if
I
die with him I shall also live with him, if I endure, I shall also
reign
with him. And to Him, my Redeemer, with the Father, and the Holy
Spirit,
Three Persons, one God, be glory forever, world without end,
Amen, and Amen.
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