The Belgic Confession

Article 17

The Recovery of Fallen Man
We believe that our good God,
      by his marvelous wisdom and goodness,
      seeing that man had plunged himself in this manner
      into both physical and spiritual death
      and made himself completely miserable,
set out to find him,
though man,
      trembling all over,
was fleeing from him.

And he comforted him,
promising to give him his Son,
      "born of a woman,"^31
to crush the head of the serpent,^32
and to make him blessed.

^31 Gal. 4:4
^32 Gen. 3:15

Article 18

The Incarnation
So then we confess
that God fulfilled the promise
      which he had made to the early fathers
      by the mouth of his holy prophets
when he sent his only and eternal Son
into the world
at the time set by him.

The Son took the "form of a servant"
and was made in the "likeness of man,"^33
      truly assuming a real human nature,
      with all its weaknesses,
      except for sin;
      being conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary
      by the power of the Holy Spirit,
      without male participation.

And he not only assumed human nature
      as far as the body is concerned
but also a real human soul,
      in order that he might be a real human being.
For since the soul had been lost as well as the body
he had to assume them both
to save them both together.

Therefore we confess,
      against the heresy of the Anabaptists
      who deny that Christ assumed human flesh from his mother,
that he "shared the very flesh and blood of children";^34
that he is "fruit of the loins of David" according to the flesh;^35
"born of the seed of David" according to the flesh;^36
"fruit of the womb of the virgin Mary";^37
"born of a woman";^38
"the seed of David";^39
"a shoot from the root of Jesse";^40
"the offspring of Judah,"^41
      having descended from the Jews according to the flesh;
"from the seed of Abraham"—
      for he "assumed Abraham's seed"
      and was "made like his brothers
           except for sin."^42

In this way he is truly our Immanuel—
      that is: "God with us."^43

^33 Phil. 2:7
^34 Heb. 2:14
^35 Acts 2:30
^36 Rom. 1:3
^37 Luke 1:42
^38 Gal. 4:4
^39 2 Tim. 2:8
^40 Rom. 15:12
^41 Heb. 7:14
^42 Heb. 2:17; 4:15
^43 Matt. 1:23

Article 19

The Two Natures of Christ
We believe that by being thus conceived
the person of the Son has been inseparably united
and joined together
with human nature,
      in such a way that there are not two Sons of God,
      nor two persons,
      but two natures united in a single person,
      with each nature retaining its own distinct properties.

Thus his divine nature has always remained uncreated,
      without beginning of days or end of life,^44
      filling heaven and earth.

His human nature has not lost its properties
but continues to have those of a creature—
      it has a beginning of days;
      it is of a finite nature
      and retains all that belongs to a real body.
      And even though he,
      by his resurrection,
      gave it immortality,
      that nonetheless did not change
      the reality of his human nature;
      for our salvation and resurrection
      depend also on the reality of his body.

But these two natures
are so united together in one person
that they are not even separated by his death.

So then,
what he committed to his Father when he died
was a real human spirit which left his body.
But meanwhile his divine nature remained
united with his human nature
      even when he was lying in the grave;
and his deity never ceased to be in him,
      just as it was in him when he was a little child,
      though for a while it did not show itself as such.

These are the reasons why we confess him
to be true God and true man—
      true God in order to conquer death
           by his power,
      and true man that he might die for us
           in the weakness of his flesh.

^44 Heb. 7:3

Article 20

The Justice and Mercy of God in Christ
We believe that God—
      who is perfectly merciful
      and also very just—
sent his Son to assume the nature
in which the disobedience had been committed,
      in order to bear in it the punishment of sin
      by his most bitter passion and death.

So God made known his justice toward his Son,
      who was charged with our sin,
and he poured out his goodness and mercy on us,
      who are guilty and worthy of damnation,
giving to us his Son to die,
      by a most perfect love,
and raising him to life
      for our justification,
           in order that by him
           we might have immortality
           and eternal life.

Article 21

The Atonement
We believe
that Jesus Christ is a high priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek—
      made such by an oath—
and that he presented himself
in our name
before his Father,
to appease his wrath
with full satisfaction
      by offering himself
           on the tree of the cross
      and pouring out his precious blood
           for the cleansing of our sins,
           as the prophets had predicted.

For it is written
that "the chastisement of our peace"
was placed on the Son of God
and that "we are healed by his wounds."
He was "led to death as a lamb";
he was "numbered among sinners"^45
and condemned as a criminal by Pontius Pilate,
      though Pilate had declared
      that he was innocent.

So he paid back
what he had not stolen,^46
and he suffered—
      the "just for the unjust,"^47
      in both his body and his soul—
in such a way that
when he senses the horrible punishment
required by our sins
his sweat became like "big drops of blood
falling on the ground."^48
He cried, "My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?"^49

And he endured all this
for the forgiveness of our sins.

Therefore we rightly say with Paul that
we "know nothing but Jesus and him crucified";^50
we consider all things as "dung
for the excellence of the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ."^51
We find all comforts in his wounds
and have no need to seek or invent any other means
to reconcile ourselves with God
than this one and only sacrifice,
once made,
which renders believers perfect
forever.

This is also why
the angel of God called him Jesus—
that is, "Savior"—
      because he would save his people
      from their sins.^52

^45 Isa. 53:4-12
^46 Ps. 69:4
^47 1 Pet. 3:18
^48 Luke 22:44
^49 Matt. 27:46
^50 1 Cor. 2:2
^51 Phil. 3:8
^52 Matt. 1:21

Article 22

The Righteousness of Faith
We believe that
for us to acquire the true knowledge of this great mystery
the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith
that embraces Jesus Christ,
      with all his merits,
and makes him its own,
and no longer looks for anything
      apart from him.

For it must necessarily follow
that either all that is required for our salvation
is not in Christ or,
if all is in him,
then he who has Christ by faith
has his salvation entirely.
Therefore,
to say that Christ is not enough
but that something else is needed as well
is a most enormous blasphemy against God—
      for it then would follow
      that Jesus Christ is only half a Savior.
And therefore we justly say with Paul
that we are justified "by faith alone"
or by faith "apart from works."^53

However,
we do not mean,
properly speaking,
that it is faith itself that justifies us—
      for faith is only the instrument
      by which we embrace Christ,
      our righteousness.

But Jesus Christ is our righteousness
      in making available to us all his merits
      and all the holy works he has done
      for us and in our place.
And faith is the instrument
      that keeps us in communion with him
      and with all his benefits.

When those benefits are made ours
they are more than enough to absolve us
of our sins.

^53 Rom. 3:28

Article 23

The Justification of Sinners
We believe
that our blessedness lies in the forgiveness of our sins
because of Jesus Christ,
and that in it our righteousness before God is contained,
      as David and Paul teach us
      when they declare that man blessed
      to whom God grants righteousness
      apart from works.^54

And the same apostle says
that we are justified "freely" or "by grace"
through redemption in Jesus Christ.^55
And therefore we cling to this foundation,
which is firm forever,
      giving all glory to God,
      humbling ourselves,
      and recognizing ourselves as we are;
      not claiming a thing for ourselves or our merits
      and leaning and resting on the sole obedience of Christ crucified,
      which is ours when we believe in him.

That is enough to cover all our sins
and to make us confident,
freeing the conscience from the fear, dread, and terror
      of God's approach,
without doing what our first father, Adam, did,
      who trembled as he tried to cover himself
           with fig leaves.

In fact,
if we had to appear before God relying—
      no matter how little—
on ourselves or some other creature,
then, alas, we would be swallowed up.

Therefore everyone must say with David:
"Lord, do not enter into judgment with your servants,
      for before you no living person shall be justified."^56

^54 Ps. 32:1; Rom. 4:6
^55 Rom. 3:24
^56 Ps. 143:2

Article 24

The Sanctification of Sinners
We believe that this true faith,
      produced in man by the hearing of God's Word
      and by the work of the Holy Spirit,
regenerates him and makes him a "new man,"^57
      causing him to live the "new life"^58
      and freeing him from the slavery of sin.

Therefore,
far from making people cold
toward living in a pious and holy way,
this justifying faith,
quite to the contrary,
so works within them that
      apart from it
they will never do a thing out of love for God
but only out of love for themselves
and fear of being condemned.

So then, it is impossible
for this holy faith to be unfruitful in a human being,
seeing that we do not speak of an empty faith
but of what Scripture calls
"faith working through love,"^59
      which leads a man to do by himself
      the works that God has commanded
           in his Word.

These works,
      proceeding from the good root of faith,
are good and acceptable to God,
      since they are all sanctified by his grace.
Yet they do not count toward our justification—
      for by faith in Christ we are justified,
even before we do good works.
           Otherwise they could not be good,
           any more than the fruit of a tree could be good
           if the tree is not good in the first place.

So then, we do good works,
but nor for merit—
      for what would we merit?
Rather, we are indebted to God for the good works we do,
      and not he to us,
since it is he who "works in us both to will and do
      according to his good pleasure"60—
thus keeping in mind what is written:
      "When you have done all that is commanded you,
      then you shall say, 'We are unworthy servants;
      we have done what it was our duty to do.' "^61

Yet we do not wish to deny
that God rewards good works—
but it is by his grace
that he crowns his gifts.

Moreover,
although we do good works
we do not base our salvation on them;
      for we cannot do any work
      that is not defiled by our flesh
      and also worthy of punishment.
And even if we could point to one,
      memory of a single sin is enough
      for God to reject that work.

So we would always be in doubt,
      tossed back and forth
      without any certainty,
and our poor consciences would be tormented constantly
      if they did not rest on the merit
of the suffering and death of our Savior.

^57 2 Cor. 5:17
^58 Rom. 6:4
^59 Gal. 5:6
^60 Phil. 2:13
^61 Luke 17:10