The Dutch Confession of Faith is a considerable piece of text, written by Guido de Brés in 1561. This confession of faith contains approximately the core of the faith of the Orthodox Protestants. Below is a summary of this statement of faith. Article 1 – The Only God
God is the only one, a most abundant source of all good.
Article 2 – How We Know God
We know God by:
- The creation, maintenance and government of the world
- His divine Word
Article 3 – The Word of God
We confess that the Word was written by men, moved by the Holy Spirit.
Article 4 – The canonical books
We distinguish two parts in the HS: The Old and New Testament.
Article 5 – The Authority of Sacred Scripture
We believe, without doubt, these books as sacred and canonical, to direct our faith upon them. We do this mainly because the Holy Spirit works this in our hearts. The proof of that lies in the books themselves.
Article 6 – The distinction between canonical and apocryphal books
The church may read and learn from the apocrypha as long as it is consistent with canonical books. We cannot confirm any point on faith on this alone
Article 7 – The Perfection of the Sacred Scriptures
We believe that the Scriptures fully contain God’s will and are sufficient for a believer to be saved. Also, one should not equate notebooks with HS.
Article 8 – The Holy Trinity
We believe in one God, who is entirely one being, in which there are three Persons, namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father is the cause of the beginning of all things visible and invisible. The Son is the Word, the wisdom, and the image of invisible things. The Holy Spirit is the eternal power and might that proceeds from the Father and from the Son. The HS teaches us that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit each have their own independence, distinguished by their properties, yet such that these three Persons are only one God.
Article 9 – The Testimony of Scripture to this Doctrine
The testimony of the Holy Scriptures that teaches us to believe this Holy Trinity is found in many places in the Old Testament. Moreover, Christ also gave the formula for baptism: baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Although this doctrine is far beyond human understanding, we believe it on the basis of the HS, and expect to find its full knowledge and fruit in heaven. Furthermore, we must also pay attention to the work that each of these Persons performs for us. We accept the three ecumenical creeds as true.
Article 10 – The Deity of Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus, according to his divine nature, is the only begotten nature, the only Son of God, begotten from eternity.
Article 11 – The Deity of the Holy Spirit
We believe and confess that the Holy Spirit proceeds from eternity from Father and Son. He assumes both.
Article 12 – The Creation of the World; the Angels
We believe that God created and maintains the world in His image, that they may serve man, that man may serve his God. He also created the angels good, the devils and evil spirits are so corrupt that they are enemies of God and of all good.
Article 13 – God’s Providence
We believe that God, having created everything, guides and governs them according to His holy will in such a way that nothing happens in this world without His disposition. God is not the author of the sin that is committed, nor is he to blame for it. This teaching comforts us and humbles us.
Article 14 – The Creation of Man; his fall and his corruption
God has created us God, righteous and holy, in His image. But man, by obeying the devil, sinned and was thereby subjected to death and curse.
Article 15 – Original sin
Through Adam’s disobedience, sin spread throughout the human race. Even by baptism it is not completely destroyed or eradicated. By knowing this we must realize that we are corrupt and we must groan with the desire to be saved.
Article 16 – Eternal election by God
We believe that God has proven himself to be merciful and just. Merciful because he pulls people out of perdition and delivers them. Just, because He leaves others in the fall and destruction into which they have plunged themselves.
Article 17 – The Promise of the Redeemer
God has comforted man with the promise of the coming of His Son, by crushing the serpent’s head and making man eternally happy.
Article 18 – The Incarnation of God’s Son
We believe that God also gave His Son, as promised. We also believe that He became not only God, but also man.
Article 19 – The two natures of Christ
We believe that there are not two sons of God, but that Jesus is truly God and man. God, by conquering death, man that he might die for us because of the weakness of his flesh.
Article 20 – God’s justice and mercy in Christ
We believe that God sent His Son to bear our sins. Thus God has proven his justice and mercy.
Article 21 – The satisfaction of Christ
Jesus has put himself in our place to satisfy his wrath through complete satisfaction. We find all our comfort in his wounds and need not seek or devise any other means to reconcile ourselves to God.
Article 22 – Justification by faith in Christ
We believe that the Holy Spirit works in our hearts where faith ignites that we seek nothing outside of Him. We say, together with Paul, that we are justified by faith alone, or by faith without works.
Article 23 – Our righteousness before God in Christ
We give all the glory to God, humbling ourselves and confessing what kind of man we are, without in the least boasting of ourselves or our merits.
Article 24 – Sanctification
We believe that true faith brings man to new life and frees him from the bondage of sin. Without this faith, this faith, they will do nothing out of love for God, but all out of love for themselves or out of fear of being judged.
Though we do good works, we do not base our salvation on them.
Article 25 – Christ the Fulfillment of the Law
The shadowy worship and customs have been abolished by Christ, but we still make use of the testimonies of the Law and the Prophets.
Article 26 – Christ our only Advocate
We have no access to God except through the only Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ. He became man to bridge the gap between God and man.
Article 27 – The Catholic or General Church
We believe that there is one Catholic or universal church. She is a holy assembly of true believers, who expect all their salvation from Jesus Christ. This church has been there from the beginning of the world and will always be there, not tied to any fixed place or persons.
Article 28 – The Call to Join the Church
We believe that no one should keep aloof outside this church, in it those who are saved always gather, outside of it there is no salvation.
Article 29 – The Characteristics of the True Church, Its Members, and the False Church
We believe that we must accurately discern from God’s Word what the true church is.
Characteristics of the true church are:
- Pure preaching of the gospel
- Pure administration of the sacraments
- That church discipline is practiced to punish sins
Article 30 – The Government of the Church
This true church must be governed spiritually. There must be ministers who form the council of the church, thus maintaining the true religion and ensuring that the true doctrine is preached, that the transgressors are spiritually punished and restrained and that the poor and those in difficulty are helped.
Article 31 – The offices in the church
We believe that public officials should be elected by lawful election.
Everyone must wait the time until God calls him.
Article 32 – Order and discipline in the church
Discipline is only necessary to maintain unity and obedience in God. If necessary, with exclusion.
Article 33 – The Sacraments
We believe that God has instituted sacraments for us. He wants to nourish and maintain our faith in this way. He tries to make this clearer through our senses.
Article 34 – Holy Baptism
Through the shedding of Jesus’ blood, we believe that we no longer need to be circumcised. Jesus commanded us to baptize people, as a sign of washing away impurity, just as the blood of Jesus does for us. God gives us his invisible gifts of grace, he washes our souls. Baptism must not be repeated, for we cannot be born twice.
Article 35 – The Holy Communion
We believe that God has given it ha to nourish and sustain the already born again. These people have two kinds of life within them: physical and temporal, and spiritual and heavenly. The latter is given to them in their second birth, only God’s chosen ones possess this life. God represents this through bread, as nourishment for the earthly physical person, as surely as we eat that bread, we receive the true body and blood of Christ in our soul.
Article 36 – The task of the government
God also gives us a government to care for and monitor public order and to promote the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Everyone is obliged to submit to the government.
Article 37 – The Final Judgment
Finally, we believe that when God’s appointed time has come and the number of the elect has been filled, Jesus will return. He will reveal himself as Judge of the living and the dead.