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Chapter 19 Of the Law of God 1. God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience, promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it, and endued him with power and ability to keep it.a2. This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in ten commandments, and written in two tables:b the first four commandments containing our duty towards God; and the...

Chapter 18 Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation 1. Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God, and estate of salvationa (which hope of theirs shall perishb): yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace,c and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.d2. This...

Chapter 17 Of the Perseverance of the Saints 1. They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.a2. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father;b upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ,c the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed...

Chapter 16 Of Good Works 1. Good works are only such as God hath commanded in his holy Word,a and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men, out of blind zeal, or upon any pretense of good intention.b2. These good works, done in obedience to God’s commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith:c and by them believers manifest their thankfulness,d strengthen their assurance,e edify their brethren,f adorn the profession of the gospel,g stop the mouths of the adversaries,h and glorify God,i whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto,k that,...

Chapter 15 Of Repentance unto Life 1. Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace,a the doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ.b2. By it, a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature, and righteous law of God; and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God,c...

Chapter 14 Of Saving Faith 1. The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls,a is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts,b and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word,c by which also, and by the administration of the sacraments, and prayer, it is increased and strengthened.d2. By this faith, a Christian believeth to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word, for the authority of God himself speaking therein;e and acteth differently upon that which each particular passage thereof containeth; yielding obedience to the commands,f...

Chapter 13 Of Sanctification 1. They, who are once effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection,a by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them:b the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed,c and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified;d and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces,e to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.f2. This sanctification is throughout, in the...

Chapter 12 Of Adoption 1. All those that are justified, God vouchsafeth, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption,a by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God,b have his name put upon them,c receive the Spirit of adoption,d have access to the throne of grace with boldness,e are enabled to cry, Abba, Father,f are pitied,g protected, h provided for,i and chastened by him, as by a father:k yet never cast off,l but sealed to the day of redemption;m and inherit...

Chapter 11 Of Justification 1. Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth:a not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them,b they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness, by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the...

Chapter 10 Of Effectual Calling 1. All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call,a by his Word and Spirit,b out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ;a enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God,d taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh;e renewing their wills, and, by his almighty power, determining them to that which is good,f and effectually drawing them...

Chapter 9 Of Free Will 1. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that it is neither forced, nor, by any absolute necessity of nature, determined to good, or evil.a2. Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom, and power to will and to do that which was good and well pleasing to God;b but yet, mutably, so that he might fall from it.c3. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation:d so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that...

Chapter 8 Of Christ the Mediator 1. It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man,a the Prophet,b Priest,c and King,d the Head and Savior of his church,e the Heir of all things,f and Judge of the world:g unto whom he did from all eternity give a people, to be his seed,h and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.i2. The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance...

Chapter 7 Of God’s Covenant with Man 1. The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which he hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.a2. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works,b wherein life was promised to Adam; and in him to his posterity,c upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.d3. Man, by his fall, having made himself...

Chapter 6 Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof 1. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtilty and temptation of Satan, sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit.a This their sin, God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to his own glory.b2. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God,c and so became dead in sin,d and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body.e3. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this...

Chapter 5 Of Providence 1. God the great Creator of all things doth uphold,a direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things,b from the greatest even to the least,c by his most wise and holy providence,d according to his infallible foreknowledge,e and the free and immutable counsel of his own will,f to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.g2. Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the First Cause, all things come to pass immutably, and infallibly;h yet, by the same providence, he ordereth them to fall out, according to...

Chapter 4 Of Creation 1. It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,a for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness,b in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days; and all very good.c 2. After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female,d with reasonable and immortal souls,e endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after his own image;f having the law of God written in their hearts,g and power to fulfill it:h...

Chapter 3 Of God’s Eternal Decree 1. God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass:a yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin,b nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.c 2. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions,d yet hath he not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to...

Preface In 1643, during a period of civil war, the English "Long Parliament" (under the control of Presbyterian Puritans) convened an Assembly of Divines (mostly Puritan ministers, including a few influential Scottish commissioners) at Westminster Abbey in London. Their task was to advise Parliament on how to bring the Church of England into greater conformity with the Church of Scotland and the Continental Reformed churches. The Westminster Assembly produced documents on doctrine, church government, and worship that have largely defined Presbyterianism down to this day. These documents included a Confession of Faith (1646), a Larger Catechism (1647), and a Shorter...

Chapter 1 Of the Holy Scripture 1. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable;a yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation.b Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church;c and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the...

May 11 In 1189 Emperor Frederik I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders left Regensburg in southern Germany for the Holy Land. In 1421, Jews were expelled from Styria in Austria. In 1610, Italian Matteo Ricci, a renowned Christian missionary in China, died. In 1676, beggars were told that they needed permission from priests to beg in Montreal and Quebec City. In 1816, the American Bible Society was founded in New York. In 1921, Tel Aviv was declared the first all-Jewish municipality. In 1949, Israel was admitted to the United Nations as the world body's 59th member. In 1960, Israeli security forces...