Belgic Confession

We all believe with the heart and confess with the mouth that there is one only simple and spiritual Being, which we call God; and that He is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good, and the overflowing fountain of all good. (Deut. 6:4; John 4:24; 1 Tim. 1:17)

We know Him by two means: first, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe; second, more clearly and fully, by His holy and divine Word, that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to His glory and our salvation. (Rom. 1:19–20; Ps. 19:1–4; 2 Tim. 3:16–17)

We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of man, but that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, as the apostle Peter saith. And that afterwards God, from a special care which He has for us and our salvation, commanded His servants the Prophets and Apostles to commit His revealed word to writing. (2 Pet. 1:21; Rev. 1:11)

We believe that the Holy Scriptures are contained in two books, namely, the Old and New Testament, which are canonical, against which nothing can be alleged. These are also called holy and divine Scriptures. The books of the Old Testament: the five books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, two books of Samuel, two books of Kings, two books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, the Psalms, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, the four great prophets, and the twelve minor prophets. The books of the New Testament: the four evangelists, the Acts of the Apostles, the fourteen epistles of Paul, the seven epistles of the other apostles, and the Revelation of John. (2 Tim. 3:16)

We receive all these books, and these only, as holy and canonical, for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith; believing without any doubt all things contained in them, not so much because the Church receives and approves them as such, but more especially because the Holy Ghost witnesseth in our hearts that they are from God, whereof they carry the evidence in themselves. (1 Thess. 2:13; 1 John 5:9)

We distinguish those sacred books from the apocryphal, viz., the third and fourth books of Esdras, the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Jesus Sirach, Baruch, the Appendix to the book of Esther, the Song of the Three Children, the History of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasseh, and the two books of Maccabees. All of which the Church may read and take instruction from, so far as they agree with the canonical books; but they are far from having such power and efficacy that we may confirm from their testimony any point of faith or of the Christian religion.

We believe that those Holy Scriptures fully contain the will of God, and that whatsoever man ought to believe unto salvation is sufficiently taught therein. For since the whole manner of worship which God requires of us is written in them at large, it is unlawful for any one, though an Apostle, to teach otherwise than we are now taught in the Holy Scriptures. (2 Tim. 3:16–17; Gal. 1:8–9; Deut. 12:32)

According to this truth and this Word of God, we believe in one only God, who is one single essence, in which are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties; namely, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Father is the cause, origin, and beginning of all things visible and invisible; the Son is the word, wisdom, and image of the Father; the Holy Ghost is the eternal power and might, proceeding from the Father and the Son. (Matt. 28:19; 1 John 5:7; John 14:26)

All this we know as well from the testimonies of Holy Writ as from their operations, and chiefly by those we feel in ourselves. The testimonies of the Holy Scriptures that teach us to believe in this Holy Trinity are written in many places of the Old Testament. And in the New Testament the three Persons are more clearly revealed; at the baptism of Jesus Christ, the voice of the Father was heard from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son; the Son was seen in the water; the Holy Ghost appeared in the shape of a dove. (Gen. 1:2–3; Isa. 48:16; Matt. 3:16–17)

We believe that Jesus Christ according to His divine nature is the only begotten Son of God, begotten from eternity, not made, nor created (for then He would be a creature), but co-essential and co-eternal with the Father, the very image of His person and the brightness of His glory, equal unto Him in all things. (John 1:1–2; Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:15)

We believe and confess also that the Holy Ghost from eternity proceeds from the Father and the Son; and therefore neither is made, created, nor begotten, but only proceedeth from both; who in order is the third person of the Holy Trinity; of one and the same essence, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son; and therefore is the true and eternal God, as the Holy Scriptures teach us. (John 15:26; Acts 5:3–4)

We believe that the Father by the Word, that is, by His Son, hath created of nothing the heaven, the earth, and all creatures, when it seemed good unto Him, giving unto every creature its being, shape, form, and several offices to serve its Creator. That He doth also still uphold and govern them by His eternal providence and infinite power for the service of mankind, to the end that man may serve his God. (Gen. 1:1; John 1:3; Col. 1:16–17)

We believe that the same good God, after He had created all things, did not forsake them or give them up to fortune or chance, but that He rules and governs them according to His holy will, so that nothing happens in this world without His appointment; nevertheless, God neither is the Author of nor can be charged with the sins which are committed. For His power and goodness are so great and incomprehensible that He orders and executes His work in the most excellent and just manner even then when devils and wicked men act unjustly. (Matt. 10:29–30; Prov. 16:33; Acts 2:23)

We believe that God created man out of the dust of the earth, and made and formed him after His own image and likeness, good, righteous, and holy, capable in all things to will agreeably to the will of God. But being in honor, man understood it not, neither knew his excellency, but willfully subjected himself to sin and consequently to death and the curse, giving ear to the deceiving words of the devil. (Gen. 1:26–27; Gen. 3:1–6; Rom. 5:12)

We believe that through the disobedience of Adam original sin is extended to all mankind; which is a corruption of the whole nature and a hereditary disease, wherewith infants themselves are infected even in their mother's womb, and which produceth in man all sorts of sin, it being in him as a root thereof, and therefore is so vile and abominable in the sight of God that it is sufficient to condemn all mankind. (Rom. 5:12–19; Ps. 51:5; Eph. 2:3)

We believe that all the posterity of Adam being thus fallen into perdition and ruin by the sin of our first parents, God then did manifest Himself such as He is; that is to say, merciful and just: merciful, since He delivers and preserves from this perdition all whom He in His eternal and unchangeable counsel of mere goodness hath elected in Christ Jesus our Lord, without any respect to their works; just, in leaving others in the fall and perdition wherein they have involved themselves. (Eph. 1:4–5; Rom. 9:11–13; 2 Tim. 1:9)

We believe that our most gracious God, in His admirable wisdom and goodness, seeing that man had thus thrown himself into physical and spiritual death and made himself wholly miserable, was pleased to seek and comfort him when he trembling fled from His presence, promising him that He would give His Son (who would be made of a woman) to bruise the head of the serpent and to make him blessed. (Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:4)

We confess therefore that God did fulfil the promise which He had made to the fathers by the mouth of His holy prophets when He sent into the world, at the time appointed by Him, His own only-begotten and eternal Son, who took upon Him the form of a servant and became like unto man, really assuming the true human nature with all its infirmities, sin excepted, being conceived in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Ghost. (Luke 1:35; Gal. 4:4; Heb. 4:15)

We believe that by this conception the person of the Son is inseparably united and connected with the human nature; so that there are not two Sons of God, nor two persons, but two natures united in one single person; yet each nature retains its own distinct properties. As then the divine nature hath always remained uncreated, without beginning of days or end of life, filling heaven and earth; so also hath the human nature not lost its properties but remained a creature, having beginning of days, being a finite nature, and retaining all the properties of a real body. (John 1:14; Phil. 2:6–7; Col. 2:9)

We believe that God, who is perfectly merciful and just, sent His Son to assume that nature in which the disobedience was committed, to make satisfaction in the same, and to bear the punishment of sin by His most bitter passion and death. So God made manifest His justice against His Son when He laid our iniquities upon Him, and poured out His goodness and mercy on us, who were guilty and worthy of damnation. (Rom. 3:25–26; Isa. 53:6; 2 Cor. 5:21)

We believe that Jesus Christ is ordained with an oath to be an everlasting High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek; and that He hath presented Himself in our behalf before the Father, to appease His wrath by His full satisfaction, by offering Himself on the tree of the cross, and pouring out His precious blood to purge away our sins; as the prophets had foretold. (Heb. 7:21; Heb. 10:10–14; 1 John 2:2)

We believe that, to attain the true knowledge of this great mystery, the Holy Ghost kindleth in our hearts an upright faith, which embraces Jesus Christ with all His merits, appropriates Him, and seeks nothing more besides Him. For it must needs follow, either that all things which are requisite to our salvation are not in Jesus Christ, or if all things are in Him, that then those who possess Jesus Christ through faith have complete salvation in Him. (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 3:28; Col. 2:10)

We believe that our salvation consists in the remission of our sins for Jesus Christ's sake, and that therein our righteousness before God is implied; as David and Paul teach us, declaring this to be the happiness of man that God imputes righteousness to him apart from works. And the same Apostle saith that we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 4:6–8; Rom. 3:24; Rom. 5:1)

We believe that this true faith, being wrought in man by the hearing of the Word of God and the operation of the Holy Ghost, doth regenerate and make him a new man, causing him to live a new life, and freeing him from the bondage of sin. Therefore it is so far from being true that this justifying faith makes men remiss in a pious and holy life, that on the contrary without it they would never do anything out of love to God, but only out of self-love or fear of damnation. (Titus 2:11–12; James 2:17; Eph. 2:10)

We believe that the ceremonies and figures of the law ceased at the coming of Christ, and that all the shadows are accomplished; so that the use of them must be abolished amongst Christians; yet the truth and substance of them remain with us in Jesus Christ, in whom they have their completion. In the meantime we still use the testimonies taken out of the law and the prophets to confirm us in the doctrine of the gospel. (Heb. 10:1; Col. 2:17)

We believe that we have no access unto God but alone through the only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous; who therefore became man, having united in one person the divine and human natures, so that we men might have access to the divine Majesty, which access would otherwise be barred against us. But this Mediator, whom the Father hath appointed between Him and us, ought in no wise to affright us by His majesty. (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1)

We believe and profess one catholic or universal Church, which is a holy congregation of true Christian believers, all expecting their salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by His blood, sanctified and sealed by the Holy Ghost. This Church hath been from the beginning of the world, and will be to the end thereof; which is evident from the fact that Christ is an eternal King, which without subjects He cannot be. (Eph. 1:22–23; Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:47)

We believe, since this holy congregation is an assembly of those who are saved and outside of it there is no salvation, that no person of whatsoever state or condition he may be ought to withdraw from it, content to be by himself; but that all men are in duty bound to join and unite themselves with it; maintaining the unity of the Church; submitting themselves to the doctrine and discipline thereof; bowing their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ. (Heb. 10:25; Acts 2:42)

The marks by which the true Church is known are these: if the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein; if it maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in punishing of sin. In short, if all things are managed according to the pure Word of God, all things contrary thereto rejected, and Jesus Christ acknowledged as the only Head of the Church. (Eph. 2:20; Col. 1:18)

As for the false church, it ascribes more power and authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God, and will not submit itself to the yoke of Christ. Neither does it administer the sacraments as appointed by Christ in His Word, but adds to and takes from them as it thinks proper; it relyeth more upon men than upon Christ.

We believe that this true Church must be governed by that spiritual policy which our Lord has taught us in His Word; namely, that there must be ministers or pastors to preach the Word of God and to administer the sacraments; also elders and deacons, who, together with the pastors, form the council of the Church. (1 Tim. 3:1–13; Acts 20:28)

We believe that the ministers of God's Word, and the elders and deacons, ought to be chosen to their respective offices by a lawful election of the Church, with calling upon the name of the Lord, and in that order which the Word of God directs. Every one must take heed not to intrude himself by improper means, but is bound to wait till it shall please God to call him; that he may have testimony of his calling and be certain and assured that it is from the Lord. (Acts 1:23–26; Titus 1:5)

In the meantime we believe, though it is useful and beneficial that those who are rulers of the Church institute and establish certain ordinances among themselves for maintaining the body of the Church, yet they ought studiously to take care that they do not depart from those things which Christ, our only Master, hath instituted. And therefore we reject all human inventions, and all laws which man would introduce into the worship of God, thereby to bind and compel the conscience in any manner whatsoever. (Matt. 15:9; Col. 2:22)

We believe that our gracious God, taking account of our weakness and infirmities, hath ordained the sacraments for us, thereby to seal unto us His promises, and to be pledges of the good will and grace of God toward us, and also to nourish and strengthen our faith; which He hath joined to the Word of the gospel, the better to present to our senses both that which He signifies to us by His Word and that which He works inwardly in our hearts. (Rom. 4:11; Gen. 17:11)

We believe and confess that Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law, hath made an end, by the shedding of His blood, of all other sheddings of blood which men could or would make as a propitiation or satisfaction for sin; and that He, having abolished circumcision, which was done with blood, hath instituted the sacrament of baptism instead thereof; by which we are received into the Church of God and separated from all other people and strange religions. (Rom. 10:4; Col. 2:11–12; Matt. 28:19)

We believe and confess that our Savior Jesus Christ did ordain and institute the sacrament of the Holy Supper to nourish and support those whom He hath already regenerated and incorporated into His family, which is His Church. Now those who are regenerated have in them a twofold life: the one corporeal and temporal, which they have from the first birth, and is common to all men; the other spiritual and heavenly, which is given them in their second birth, which is effected by the Word of the gospel. (1 Cor. 11:23–26; John 6:51–56)

But as the bodily life is nourished by earthly and common bread, so is the spiritual and heavenly life nourished by the bread which is from above, which is Christ Himself. This feeding is done spiritually — not by the joining of Christ's body to the bread or wine, but by the Spirit through faith.

We believe that our gracious God, because of the depravity of mankind, hath appointed kings, princes, and magistrates, willing that the world should be governed by certain laws and policies; to the end that the dissoluteness of men might be restrained and all things carried on among them with good order and decency. For this purpose He hath invested the magistracy with the sword for the punishment of transgressors and for the protection of the good. (Rom. 13:1–4; 1 Pet. 2:13–14)

Finally, we believe, according to the Word of God, when the time appointed by the Lord (which is unknown to all creatures) is come and the number of the elect complete, that our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, corporally and visibly, as He ascended, with great glory and majesty to declare Himself Judge of the living and the dead, burning this old world with fire and flame for the purpose of purging it. (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16–17; Matt. 25:31–46)

Then the personal examination of men will take place before this great Judge — those who have done good to the resurrection of life, those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. The consideration of this judgment is justly terrible and dreadful to the wicked and ungodly, but most desirable and comfortable to the righteous and the elect; because then their full deliverance will be perfected, and there they shall receive the fruits of their labor and trouble which they have borne. (John 5:28–29; Rev. 21:4)