1. The Holy Scriptures comprise all the books of the Old and the New Testament which are received as canonical, and which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and practice, and are these:

2. The authority of the Holy Scriptures depends not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but upon God alone. [2. Tim. 3, 16. 35 1. John 5, 9 1. Thess. 2, 13.]

3. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory in creation, providence, and man's salvation is either expressly stated in the Scriptures, or by necessary consequence may be deduced therefrom; unto which nothing at any time is to be added by man, or from the traditions of men; nevertheless, we acknowledge the 5 inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the word. [1. John 2,

20. 27.

John 16, 13. 14. Gal. 1, 8. 1. Cor. 2, 10-12. John 6, 45.]

4. The best rule of interpretation of the Scriptures is the comparison of scripture with scripture. [1. Cor. 2, 2. 13.]

THE HOLY TRINITY.

5. There is but one living and true God, a self-existent Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. [Deut. 6, 4. 1. Cor. 8, 4. 6. 1. Thess. 1,9. John 4, 24. Ex. 3, 14.

Mal. 3, 6.]

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1. Tim. 1, 17. Ps. 145, 3. Gon. 17, 1. Rom. 16, 27. 15

6. God has all life, glory, goodness, and blessedness in himself; not standing in need of any creatures which he has made, nor deriving any essential glory from them; and has most sovereign dominion to do whatsoever he may please. [John 5, 26. Acts 7, 2. 1. Tim. 6, 15. Rom. 9, 15. Acts 17, 24. 25. Job 22, 2. 3.

over them Ps. 119, 68. 20 Rom. 11, 36.

7. In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. [2. Cor. 13, 14. Matt. 3, 16. 17. 28, 19.]

DECREES OF GOD.

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8. God, for the manifestation of his glory and goodness, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordained or determined what he himself would do, what he would require his intelligent creatures to do, and what should be the awards, respecti- 30 vely, of the obedient and the disobedient. [Ps. 135, 6. Isa. 46, 9-11. Ex. 20, 3-17. Matt. 22, 38. 39. Ecc. 12, 13. 2. Cor. 5, 10. Rev. 22, 12. Matt. 16, 27.]

9. Though all Divine decrees may not be revealed to men, yet it is certain that God has decreed nothing contrary to his revealed will or 35 written word. [Deut. 29, 29. Acts 1, 7. Matt. 24, 36. Acts 20, 27. Rom. 2, 12. 16. Rev. 20, 12.]

CREATION.

10. It pleased God, for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, to create the world and therein, whether visible or invisible; and all very good.

Isa. 44, 24. Rom. 1, 20. Col. 1, 16. Heb. 11, 3. Gen. 1, 31.

all things 40 [Gen. 1, 1. Ex. 20, 11.]

11. After God had made all other creatures, he created man in his own image; male and female created he them, enduing them with intelligence, sensibility, and will; they having the law of God written in 45

their hearts, and power to fulfill it, being upright and free from all bias to evil. [Gen. 2, 7. 1, 26. Rom. 2, 14. 15. Ecc. 7, 29.]

PROVIDENCE.

12. God the Creator upholds and governs all creatures and things 5 by his most wise and holy providence. [Heb. 1, 3. Matt. 10, 29-31. Rom. 9, 17.]

13. God, in his providence, ordinarily works through the instrumentality of laws or means, yet is free to work with and above them, at his pleasure. Isa. 4, 10. 11. Acts 27, 24. 31. Hosea 1, 7.

10 Rom. 4, 19. 20.

[Matt. 5, 45.

2. Kings 6, 6.]

14. God never leaves nor forsakes his people; yet when they fall into sin he chastises them in various ways, and makes even their own sin the occasion of discovering unto them their weakness and their need of greater watchfulness and dependence upon him for supporting grace. 15 [Ps. 37, 28. 2. Cor. 12, 7-9. Rom. 8, 2-4. Ps. 119, 71. 75. Heb. 13, 5-11.]

15. God's providence over the wicked is not designed to lead them to destruction, but to a knowledge of his goodness, and of his sovereign. power over them and thus to become a means of their repentance and reformation, or to be a warning to others; and if the wicked make it 20 an occasion of hardening their hearts, it is because of their perversity, and not from necessity. [James 1, 13. Matt. 9, 13. Luke 24, 47. Rom. 2, 4. Prov. 1, 24. 25. John 5, 40. Ex. 8, 15. 32. Acts 12, 23.]

16. While the providence of God, in general, embraces all creatures, it does, in a special manner, extend to his Church. [Matt. 16, 18. Rom. 8,

25 28-31.

Acts 5, 11. 18, 21.]

FALL OF MAN.

17. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtlety and temptation. of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit; whereupon, God was pleased, for his own glory and the good of mankind, to reveal the Covenant 30 of Grace in Christ, by which a gracious probation was established for all men. [Gen. 3, 13. 2. Cor. 11, 3. Rom. 5, 12. Gen. 3, 15. Isa. 9, 6.

Matt. 4, 16. John 3, 16. 17.

Rom. 5, 2. 8. 14 1).]

18. By this sin they fell from their original uprightness, lost their communion with God, and so became dead in sin and defiled in all the 35 faculties of their moral being. They being the root of all mankind, sin entered into the world through their act, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men. [Gen. 3, 7. 8. Ecc. 7, 29. Rom. 3, 23. Eph. 2, 1. Gen. 6, 5. Jer. 17, 9.]

19. From this original corruption also proceeds actual transgression. 40 [Rom. 5, 12. 15-19. Job. 25, 4. Ps. 51, 5. Job 14, 4. John 3, 6. Eph. 2, 3.] 20. The remains of this corrupt nature are felt by those who are regenerated, nor will they altogether cease to operate and disturb during the present life. [Rom. 7, 14. 17. 18. 23. Prov. 20, 9. Ecc. 7, 20. Rom. 7,

45

5. 7. 25.]

1) So in der Vorlage; was aber mit Rom. 14 gemeint, ist unerfindlich.

21. Sin, being a transgression of the law of God, brings guilt upon the transgressor, and subjects him to the wrath of God and to endless torment, unless pardoned through the mediation of Christ. [1. John 3, 4. Rom. 3, 19. Gal. 3, 18. Rom. 6, 23.]

GOD'S COVENANT WITH MAN.

22. The first covenant made with man was a Covenant of Works, wherein life was promised to Adam upon condition of perfect and personal obedience. [Job 9, 32. 33. Gal. 3, 12. Gen. 2, 16. 17.]

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23. Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make the second, commonly called 10 the Covenant of Grace, wherein he freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved. This covenant is frequently set forth in the Scriptures by the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ, the testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all things belonging to it, therein 15 bequeathed. [Gal. 3, 21. Rom. 8, 3. Isa. 42, 6. Mark 16, 15. 16. John 3, 16. Heb. 9, 15-17. 7, 22. Luke 22, 20.]

24. Under the Old Testament dispensation the Covenant of Grace was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the Jews all foresignifying Christ to come which were sufficient, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, to instruct them savingly in the knowledge of God, and build them up in the faith of the Messiah. [2. Cor. 3, 6–9.

Heb. 8, 9. 10. Rom. 4, 11. Col. 2, 11. 17. 1. Cor. 5, 7.]

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25. Under the New Testament dispensation, wherein Christ, the 25 substance, is set forth, the ordinances in which the Covenant of Grace is dispensed are the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which are administered with more simplicity, yet in them it is held forth in more fullness and spiritual efficacy to all nations, Jews and Gentiles. [1. Cor. 10, 1-4. 30 Heb. 11, 13. Gal. 3, 7-9. 14. 1. Cor. 11, 23-25.]

26. As children were included with their parents in the Covenant of Grace under the Old Testament dispensation, so are they included in it under the New, and should, as under the Old, receive the appropriate sign and seal thereof. [Gen. 17, 7. 11. 13. Acts 2, 39. Rom. 9, 8. Acts 16, 35 15. 33. 1. Cor. 1, 16.]

CHRIST THE MEDIATOR.

27. Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, was verily appointed before the foundation of the world to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King, the heir of all things, the pro- 40 pitiation for the sins of all mankind, the Head of his Church, the Judge of the world, and the Saviour of all true believers. [1. Pet. 1, 19. 20.

1. Tim. 2,5. John 3, 16. Acts 3, 22. Heb. 5, 6. Ps. 2, 5. Luke 1, 33. Heb. 1, 2. 1. John 2, 2. 4, 10. Eph. 2, 20-22. Matt. 21, 42. 2. Tim. 4, 1.8,

1. Pet. 4, 5. Acts 10, 42. Rom. 14, 10. Luke 2, 11. John 4, 42. Acts 5, 31. 1. Tim. 4, 10.]

28. The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon himself man's nature, yet without 5 sin, being very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man. [John 1, 1. 14. 1. John 5, 20. Phil. 2, 6. Gal. 4,4. Heb. 2, 17. 4, 15. Rom. 1, 3. 4. 1. Tim. 2, 5.]

29. Jesus Christ, in his human nature, thus united to the Divine, was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure, having 10 in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, in whom it pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, to the end that, being holy, harmless, undefiled, and full of grace and truth, he might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a Mediator and Surety. [Ps. 45, 7. John 3, 34. Col. 2, 3. 1, 19. Heb. 7, 22. 26. Acts 10, 38.]

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30. That he might discharge the office of Mediator, Jesus Christ was made under the law, which he perfectly fulfilled, was crucified, died, and was buried, and remained under the power of death for a time, yet saw no corruption. On the third day he arose from the dead, and afterward ascended to heaven, where he sits on the right hand of God, making 20 intercession for transgressors. [Gal. 4, 4. Matt. 5, 17. 27, 35. 50. Acts 2, 31. 13, 30. 37. 1. Cor. 15, 4. Mark 16, 19. Rom. 8, 34. Heb. 7, 25. Rom. 14, 9. 10.] 31. Jesus Christ, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he, through the Eternal Spirit, once offered unto God, became the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, so God can be just in 25 justifying all who believe in Jesus. [Heb. 9, 14. Rom. 3, 25. 26. 5, 6. 8. 10. 11. 2. Cor. 5, 14. 15. Heb. 2,9. 1. John 2, 2.]

32. Although the work of redemption was not actually wrought by Christ until after his incarnation, yet the benefits thereof were communicated unto the believer, in all ages, successively, from the beginning of 30 the world, by the Holy Spirit, and through such instrumentalities as God was pleased to employ. [Gal. 4, 4. 5. Gen. 15, 6. Rom. 4, 3. 5. 6. 7. Neh. 9, 20. Ps. 143, 10. 51, 11. 12. Heb. 1, 1. Num. 12, 6.]

33. Jesus Christ tasted death for every man, and now makes intercession for transgressors, by virtue of which the Holy Spirit is given 35 to convince of sin and enable man to believe and obey, governing the hearts of believers by his word and Spirit, overcoming all their enemies, by his almighty power and wisdom, in such manner and ways as are most consonant to his wonderful and unsearchable dispensation. [Heb. 2, 9. 1. John 2, 1. Rom. 8, 34. John 14, 16. 18. 16, 8-11. 17, 6. 8—11.

40 28. 33-39.]

Rom. 8,

FREE WILL.

34. God, in creating man in his own likeness, endued him with intelligence, sensibility, and will, which form the basis of moral character, and render man capable of moral government. [Gen. 1, 26. 27. Eph. 4, 24. 45 Rev. 22, 17. John 5, 40.]

35. The freedom of the will is a fact of human consciousness, and is the sole ground of human accountability. Man, in his state of innocence, was both free and able to keep the Divine law, also to violate it.