1. I believe that my one aim in life and death should be to
glorify God and enjoy him forever; and that God teaches
me how to glorify him in his holy Word, that is, the Bible, which
he had given by the infallible inspiration of this Holy Spirit
in order that I may certainly know what I am to believe concerning
him and what duty he requires of me.
2. I believe that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and incomparable
in all that he is; one God but three persons, the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost, my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier;
in whose power and wisdom, righteousness, goodness and truth I
may safely put my trust.
3. I believe that the heavens and the earth, and all that in
them is, are the work of God's hands; and that all that he has
made he directs and governs in all their actions; so that they
fulfill the end for which they were created, and I who trust in
him shall not be put to shame but may rest securely in the protection
of his almighty love.
4. I believe that God created man after his own image, in knowledge,
righteousness and holiness, and entered into a covenant of life
with him upon the sole condition of the obedience that was his
due: so that it was by willfully sinning against God that man
fell into the sin and misery in which I have been born.
5. I believe, that, being fallen in Adam, my first father, I
am by nature a child of wrath, under the condemnation of God and
corrupted in body and soul, prone to evil and liable to eternal
death; from which dreadful state I cannot be delivered save through
the unmerited grace of God my Savior.
6. I believe that God has not left the world to perish in its
sin, but out of the great love wherewith he has loved it, has
from all eternity graciously chosen unto himself a multitude which
no man can number, to deliver them out of their sin and misery,
and of them to build up again in the world his kingdom of righteousness:
in which kingdom I may be assured I have my part, if I hold fast
to Christ the Lord.
7. I believe that God has redeemed his people unto himself through
Jesus Christ our Lord; who, though he was and ever continues to
be the eternal Son of God, yet was born of a woman, born under
the law, that he might redeem them that are under the law: I believe
that he bore the penalty due to my sins in his own body on the
tree, and fulfilled in his own person the obedience I owe to the
righteousness of God, and now presents me to his Father as his
purchased possession, to the praise of the glory of his grace
forever: wherefore renouncing all merit of my own, I put all my
trust only in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ my redeemer.
8. I believe that Jesus Christ my redeemer, who died for my offences
was raised again for my justification, and ascended into the heavens,
where he sits at the right hand of the Father Almighty, continually
making intercession for his people, and governing the whole world
as head over all things for his Church: so that I need fear no
evil and may surely know that nothing can snatch me out of his
hands and nothing can separate me from his love.
9. I believe that the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ
is effectually applied to all his people by the Holy Spirit, who
works faith in me and thereby unites me to Christ, renews me in
the whole man after the image of God, and enables me more and
more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness; until, this
gracious work having been completed in me, I shall be received
into glory: in which great hope abiding, I must ever strive to
perfect holiness in the fear of God.
10. I believe that God requires of me, under the gospel, first
of all, that, out of a true sense of my sin and misery and apprehension
of his mercy in Christ, I should turn with grief and hatred away
from sin and receive and rest upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation;
that, so being united to him, I may receive pardon for my sins
and be accepted as righteous in God's sight only for the righteousness
of Christ imputed to me and received by faith alone; and thus
and thus only do I believe I may be received into the number and
have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.
11. I believe that, having been pardoned and accepted for Christ's
sake, it is further required of me that I walk in the Spirit whom
he has purchased for me, and by whom love is shed abroad in my
heart; fulfilling the obedience I owe to Christ my King; faithfully
performing all the duties laid upon me by the holy law of God
my heavenly Father; and ever reflecting in my life and conduct,
the perfect example that has been set me by Christ Jesus my Leader,
who has died for me and granted to me his Holy Spirit just that
I may do the good works which God has afore prepared that I should
walk in them.
12. I believe that God has established his Church in the world
and endowed it with the ministry of the Word and the holy ordinances
of Baptism, the Lord's Supper and Prayer; in order that through
these as means, the riches of his grace in the gospel may be made
known to the world, and, by the blessing of Christ and the working
of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them, the benefits
of redemption may be communicated to his people: wherefore also
it is required of me that I attend on these means of grace with
diligence, preparation, and prayer, so that through them I may
be instructed and strengthened in faith, and in holiness of life
and in love; and that I use my best endeavors to carry this gospel
and convey these means of grace to the whole world.
13. I believe that as Jesus Christ has once come in grace, so
also is he to come a second time in glory, to judge the world
in righteousness and assign to each his eternal award: and I believe
that if I die in Christ, my soul shall be at death made perfect
in holiness and go home to the Lord; and when he shall return
to his majesty I shall be raised in glory and made perfectly blessed
in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity: encouraged by which
blessed hope it is required of me willingly to take my part in
suffering hardship here as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, being
assured that if I die with him I shall also live with him, if
I endure, I shall also reign with him.
And to Him, my Redeemer,
with the Father,
and the Holy Spirit,
Three Persons, one God,
be glory forever, world without end,
Amen, and Amen.
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