Part 85
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” 2 Cor. 13:14.
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.” 1 John 5:7; Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29; 1 Cor. 8:6; Gal. 3:20.
ARTICLE VI.
_Of the creation of all things visible and invisible, and of the creation of man_ we confess: That the only, almighty, and wonderworking God, who is the origin of all good, and for whose sake all things are created, and have their being, created, among other invisible things, also a multitude of many thousand angels, whom he has put as ministering and immortal spirits in his worshipful glory, to minister unto their Creator, and to offer him praise, honor, and thanks; and who are sent forth by God, as messengers, to minister in manifold ways for men who shall be heirs of salvation; and with which angels of God, Christ Jesus shall appear in the clouds of heaven, to hold judgment over all men. And he shall glorify all that believe and please God, and make them like the glorious, immortal angels, and crown them with all holy angels in everlasting glory.
But as some of these angels became unfaithful and apostate to God, their Creator, they were, through their own voluntary sin or pride, rejected by the holy and righteous God, who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and were cast down from the glorious estate of heaven to hell, bound with chains of darkness and reserved until the great day of judgment, to be sentenced with all unbelievers to eternal damnation.
These impure spirits or devils are called: the prince of darkness and spirit of wickedness, who rules in the air and works in the children of disobedience; with whom all unbelievers, who are governed and seduced by Satan, are in fellowship. And as all believers are in the society or brotherhood of the holy angels, and shall enjoy eternal salvation with them; so, on the other hand, shall all unbelievers have to endure everlasting damnation with all impure or apostate angels, with whom unbelievers are in fellowship.
Likewise, God Almighty, in the beginning, from nothing, in a most wonderful manner, and above all human reason and comprehension, created heaven, the earth, and the sea, with all their glorious adornment, he, the Blessed, only saying: “Let heaven and earth be made; and his word was a perfect work.” He also adorned the heavens with many glorious lights; two great lights, one to rule and illume the day, and the other to rule the night; together with many glorious stars, which he ordained to the honor of their Creator, and the service of men.
Thus also, the Lord Almighty endowed the earth with many glorious fountains and running rivers, and adorned it with manifold trees and animals, and with all that lives and moves thereon. And he created the sea with great whales and various kinds of fish, for the wants of man, together with all that lives and moves therein. And he established the earth out of the water and in the water, by his almighty and everlasting word. They shall be preserved until the last great day of judgment.
After God, the Lord, in five days had most wisely and excellently created heaven, and earth, and the sea, together with all visible things, he, on the sixth day, formed man from the earth, and breathed into him the breath of life; and from his rib made Eve, a woman, and gave her to him as a helpmeet. Moreover, he loved them above all other creatures, and clothed them like himself with divine virtues, which are righteousness and true holiness; endowing them with wisdom, speech, and reason, that they might know, fear, and love their Creator, and serve him in voluntary obedience. He placed them as lords over all creatures, endowing them with immortality, that they might be and live before him, and rule and reign over all creatures which God the Lord created.
Concerning this wonderful creation, read: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Rev. 4:11.
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and in him.” Col. 1:16; Ps. 33:6.
Regarding the angels, read: “He maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Heb. 1:7,14; Ps. 104:4.
Concerning the apostasy of the angels, read: “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them unto chains and darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Luke 10:18; Is. 14:8; Rev. 12:4.
Regarding the creation of the visible things, read: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Gen. 1:1; John 1:3; Ps. 33:6.
God said: “Let heaven and earth be made; and thy word was a perfect work.” 2 Esdr. 6:38.
“For thine almighty hand, that made the world of matter without form.” Wis. 11:17.
“I beseech thee, my son, look upon the heaven, and the earth, and all that is therein, and consider that God made them of things that were not; and so was mankind made likewise.” 2 Mac. 7:28.
“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Heb. 11:3; Acts 17:24; Ps. 146:6; 148:5.
Concerning the creation of man, read: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Gen. 1:26.
“And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Gen. 2:7; Acts 17:25; 1 Cor. 15:45.
How man was created, read: “This only have I found, that God hath made man upright.” Eccl. 7:29; Gen. 1:26; 5:1.
“For God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of his own eternity.” Wis. 2:23; Syr. 17:1.
“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Eph. 4:24.
“And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Gen. 1:31; Deut. 32:4.
ARTICLE VII.
_Of the fall and punishment of man_ we confess: The first man, Adam, and Eve, having been thus gloriously created after the likeness of their Creator, unto eternal life, did not continue long in this estate; but as they were created with a free will, to choose what they would, so that they could fear, serve and obey their Creator, or, disobey and forsake him; and as their Creator had given them a command, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that they should eat thereof, they should surely die; they, notwithstanding this, in their vain desire to be equal to their Creator in wisdom and knowledge, were led and drawn away from God, and deceived by Satan; and thus they disobediently and voluntarily transgressed the command of their Creator. The woman, last created, was first deceived, and turned her ears away from God to Satan, and, also seducing her husband, they, through this sin, fell under the wrath and disfavor of God, and, with all their posterity, became subject that very day, to temporal and eternal death, and were thus divested of the divine virtue, which is righteousness, and true holiness, and became sinful and mortal.
On this account, God the holy and righteous Judge, in whose sight wickedness can not endure, but who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, or to look on iniquity; and who threatens from heaven with his wrath and disfavor all disobedience and ingratitude of men; was so incensed by the sin thus committed by Adam and Eve, that thereby they not only fell into eternal condemnation, together with all their posterity, but God the Lord moreover imposed upon Adam and Eve divers temporal, bodily punishments, which also continually extend themselves into all their generations. Who are so corrupted in Adam, that they are all from their youth, by nature, inclined to sin and evil, and are therefore deprived of the beautiful pleasure-garden, or paradise, but must eat their bread, all their life, in sorrow and in the sweat of their face, from the uncultivated earth, which because of this first sin was so cursed and marred, that it brings forth of itself weeds, thorns, and thistles; and cover the shame of their bodies made naked by sin. The woman, as the chief transgressor, has to subject her will and power to the man, and was constrained to bring forth her children in pain and anguish. This punishment continues upon all men, until they finally return to the dust and ashes whence they came.
Concerning how Adam, together with the whole human race, through sin, fell into temporal and eternal death, and, in consequence of this, became sinful, read: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men.” “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned,” etc. “And not as it was by one that sinned ... for the judgment was by one to condemnation,” etc. “For if by one man’s offense death reigned,” etc. “Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation,” etc. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners,” etc. Rom. 5:12,14–19.
“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:21,22.
“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Ps. 51:5.
“Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?” Job 14:4.
“Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die.” Syr. 25:24; Tit. 2:14; Wis. 2:24.
The prophet Esdra says: “The first Adam bearing a wicked heart, transgressed, and was overcome; and so be all they that are born of him.” “And he transgressed, and thou immediately, thou appointedst death in him and in his generations.” 2 Esdr. 3:21,7.
“O thou Adam, what hast thou done! for though it was thou that sinned, thou art not fallen alone, but we all that come of thee.” 2 Esdr. 7:48. Read also: John 3:6; Rom. 8:5; Eph. 2:3; Syr. 17:16; Gen. 6:5.
Read further, how God announced unto Adam his punishment on account of sin, which punishment God extends unto all his posterity: “Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field: in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen. 3:17–19,23,24. Concerning the punishment of the woman, read: Gen. 3:16; 1 Cor. 14:34; 1 Tim. 2:12.
ARTICLE VIII.
_Of the restoration or justification of man._ We confess that Adam and Eve having thus fallen under the wrath and disfavor of God, and into death and eternal condemnation, together with all their posterity, so that no remedy or deliverance was to be found in heaven or earth, among any created beings, who could help, and redeem them, and reconcile them to God, the Creator of all things, who is the Almighty God (against whose majesty they had sinned, and who alone could heal them), who is rich and abounding in all grace and mercy, had compassion upon Adam and his posterity, and, hence, promised them his only begotten Son as a comforting Redeemer and Savior, whom he would put as enmity between Satan and the woman and their seed, to the comfort and help of fallen mankind, in order thus to bruise the head of Satan, and to deprive him of his power; and, in this manner, to deliver Adam and his posterity from the prison of sin, the power of the devil, and eternal perdition, and to reconcile them to God.
And even as God the Lord, through this promise, clothed Adam and his seed internally, according to the soul, with his grace and mercy, he, in token of this, also covered the outward shame and nakedness of the body, making coats of skins, and clothing them therewith.
And even as Adam, through this his first, one sin, brought, not only himself, but with him also his whole posterity, without exception of persons, and without their own actual evil works, into eternal death and condemnation; so also, God Almighty, through this promise of the only Savior Christ Jesus, redeemed, delivered, and justified from condemnation, and placed into the state of grace and reconciliation, all men, without exception of persons, without any of their good works, only from pure grace and mercy. Seeing that Adam’s race was not born of him when he stood under disfavor and condemnation before God; but as all men proceed from Adam as being in a state of grace, peace, and reconciliation with God, he could bring forth none but such as stand with him in the same reconciliation.
Thus none of Adam’s race are created or born to condemnation, but all are born and brought forth into the world in the same state of grace and reconciliation with God. Hence, we hold it to militate not only against the holy Scriptures, but also utterly against the nature of God, which is just, righteous, holy, and merciful, that God should punish with eternal death and damnation, simply on account of Adam’s sin, so great a number of Adam’s race, who die in their infancy in a state of innocence, before they have followed Adam in sin; seeing the good God, through Christ and for Christ’s sake, so graciously forgave Adam, (who had himself committed the sin) and placed him in a state of grace.
But men having attained the knowledge of good and evil, and, through the lust of the flesh, and their own desire, having been drawn away from the path of virtue and innocence, so that they follow Adam in sin, hence it comes that they separate themselves from their Creator, and, consequently, do not perish, nor are condemned on account of Adam’s transgression, but because of their own unbelief and evil works.
But the righteous God, who does indeed forgive sin, yet ofttimes does not suffer it to go entirely unpunished, permitted the temporal, bodily punishment to remain upon Adam and Eve, and their posterity, by which they ought to learn to know, fear, and serve their Creator, and to shun sin; such as this, that from their infancy they are by nature inclined to sin and evil, against which they have a continual warfare, are barred out from the beautiful paradise, must cover their nakedness; the women must subject their power and will to their husbands, and must bring forth their children in pain and anguish; and all must eat all the days of their life, with sorrow, of the corrupted earth, until they return to dust of the earth, whence they have come.
But all believers receive in this life the restoration or justification of Christ only through faith, in hope, and afterwards in the resurrection of the dead they shall receive it truly and actually, and shall enjoy it forever.
Concerning these glorious and comforting promises of salvation, read: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed, and her seed; it shall bruise thy head.” Gen. 3:15; Eph. 2:14,15.
As to how this promise was renewed in the seed and race of Adam, read: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.” Deut. 18:15; Acts 7:37. To Abraham: Gen. 12:3; 22:18; Acts 10:43.
Concerning the fact that this promise of justification does not extend only to a particular class of persons, but to all men without distinction, read: “Therefore as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Rom. 5:18,19.
“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:21,22.
“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9,29.
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2.
“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” Col. 1:19,20.
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” Tit. 2:11. Read also: Rom. 3:24; 11:32; 1 Tim. 4:10; 2 Cor. 5:19; 1 John 4:10; Isa. 53:6; 1 Pet. 2:24.
As to how the kingdom of heaven is promised by Christ to infants, without respect of persons, read: “Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 19:13,14; 18:3; Mark 10:13; Luke 18:15.
Concerning how God the righteous Judge will not punish infants for the sin of their parents, or of Adam; but to requite each with righteousness, according to his own works, read: “For so much then as thou art righteous thyself, thou orderest all things righteously: thinking it not agreeable with thy power to condemn him that hath not deserved to be punished.” Wis. 12:15.
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him.” Ezek. 18:20,4. “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” Deut. 24:16; Jer. 31:29.
“Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness.” Acts 17:31; Ps. 7:11; 2 Tim. 4:8.
“But he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark 16:16. “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil.” Rom. 2:9.
ARTICLE IX.
_Of the free will or power of man before and after the fall; and of the saving grace of God._ Of this we confess: That God Almighty in the beginning created the man Adam and his wife in his image and likeness, endowing them, above all creatures, with virtues, knowledge, speech, reason, and a free will or power; so that they could know, love, fear, and obediently serve their Creator; or could voluntarily and disobediently forsake their God; as appeared in the first transgression, when Adam and his wife, through the subtlety of the devil, who appeared in the form of a deceitful serpent, departed from the commandment of God; hence they did not sin through the foreordination or the will of God; but as they had been created with a free will, and to do as they would, they sinned through their own voluntary desire, and transgressed the command of God contrary to his will.
The man Adam and his wife having thus through their own sin fallen under the wrath and disfavor of God, whereby they became sinful and mortal, were again received into favor by God their Creator; so that they were not utterly divested of their former wisdom, speech, and knowledge, above all other creatures, nor of their previous free will or power, as may be seen from their voluntarily accepting God’s gracious promises unto life, and obeying the voice of the Lord; and as also clearly appears from the fact that God the Lord very strictly appointed an angel with a flaming sword to keep the tree of life from Adam; lest through his free will or power he should eat of the tree of life and live forever; which would have been in Adam’s power. And this free will or power has been transmitted to all their descendants, who proceed from them as branches from their stem; so that even as men are endowed of God with knowledge, reason and voluntary power, by which they can perform manifold works, and seek and desire from God the health of their diseased and infirm bodies, and are not without action, as the irrational creatures, blocks and stones, so likewise, man, through the grace of God, and the moving of the Spirit, by which men live, and are moved, may open the door of the heart to the salutary grace of God--which through the Gospel is offered to all men, and through which death and life is set before man--and seek the health of his wounded soul; or he may voluntarily resist, reject and neglect this offered grace and moving of the Spirit. Thus also, as men have eyes and ears, to see and to hear, yet not of themselves, but only from God the Giver, so they also, through the grace of God, have a free will or power to do the good and to leave the evil.
But men, considered in themselves, seeing they are without the grace of God, are of themselves incapable of thinking anything that is good, much less are they able to do it. But it is almighty God, who through his Spirit of grace works in man both to will and to do, moves, draws, and chooses them, and accepts them as his children, so that men are only recipients of God’s saving grace. Hence all Christians are in duty bound, to ascribe the beginning, middle and end of their faith, with all the good fruits thereof, not to themselves, but only to the unmerited grace of God in Christ Jesus.
We confess moreover: That this saving grace of God is not limited to a few particular men, but even as the Almighty God lets his sun rise and shine on the evil and on the good, so he has extended his grace to all of Adam’s race; as it is also evident, that God, in his goodness, did not leave himself without witness among the heathen, doing them good, and so moving their hearts, that their thoughts and consciences accused and excused them, so that they could do by nature, without the hearing of the law of Moses, the things contained in the law. This appears in still greater clearness in the coming of Christ, that Almighty God has proclaimed the saving grace through the Gospel to the whole world, for a witness unto all nations, by which all excuse is taken from men, and as an evidence, that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should repent and be saved. According to the import of the holy and everlasting Gospel, a righteous, eternal, and irrevocable judgment shall be pronounced, in the last day, through Christ Jesus, the blessed, over all nations. Hence all men who now in this time of grace believe and accept the Gospel, attain unto life; but all who do not believe the Gospel, but voluntarily reject it, will receive death as their portion.
On the other hand, we reject the belief of those who say that Almighty God has indeed caused the word of reconciliation to be preached to all, or many, but does nevertheless withhold his grace from many of them, so that the greater part of mankind cannot accept the word of reconciliation and be saved, but will, through the purpose or eternal counsel and will of God, inevitably have to perish forever, and be damned.
On this subject, read various Scripture passages ascribing a will to man. And the holy Spirit does not speak in vain in the Scriptures: “He himself made man from the beginning, and left him in the hand of his counsel; if thou wilt, to keep the commandments, and to perform acceptable faithfulness. He hath set fire and water before thee; stretch forth thy hand unto whether thou wilt. Before man is life and death; and whether him liketh shall be given him.” Syr. 15:14–17; Deut. 11:26; 30:15; 2 Esdr. 7:59.
God the Lord said to Cain: “If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door: and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Gen. 4:7.