THE
CHURCH
M.— Let us proceed.
S.—Next comes the fourth part, in which we confess that we believe in one Holy Catholic Church.
M.—What is the Church?
S.—The body and society of believers whom God hath predestined to eternal life.
M.—Is it necessary to believe this article also?
S.—Yes, verily, if we would not make the death of Christ without effect, and set at nought all that has hitherto been said. For the one effect resulting from all is, that there is a Church.
M.—You mean then that we only treated of the cause of salvation, and showed the foundation of it when we explained that by the merits and intercession of Christ, we are taken into favor by God, and that this grace is confirmed in us by virtue of the Spirit. Now, however, we are explaining the effect of all these things, that by facts our faith may be made more firm?
S.—It is so.
M.—In what sense do you call the Church holy?
S.—All whom God has chosen he justifies, and forms to holiness and innocence of life, (Rom. viii. 30, ) that his glory may be displayed in them. And this is what Paul means when he says that Christ sanctified the Church which he redeemed, that it might be a glorious Church, free from all blemish. (Eph. v. 25.)
M.—What is meant by the epithet Catholic or Universal?
S.—By it we are taught, that as all believers have one head, so they must all be united into one body, that the Church diffused over the whole world may be one-not more. (Eph. iv. 15; 1 Cor. xii. 12.)
M.—And what is the purport of what immediately follows concerning the communion of saints?
S.—That is put down to express more clearly the unity which exists among the members of the Church. It is at the same time intimated, that whatever benefits God bestows upon the Church, have a view to the common good of all; Seeing they all have communion with each other.
M.—But is this holiness which you attribute to the Church already perfect?
S.—Not yet, that is as long as she has her warfare in this world. For she always labors under infirmities, and will never be entirely purged of the remains of vice, until she adheres completely to Christ her head, by whom she is sanctified.
M.—Can this Church be known in any other way than when she is believed by faith?
S.—There is indeed also a visible Church of God, which he has described to us by certain signs and marks, but here we are properly speaking of the assemblage of those whom he has adopted to salvation by his secret election. This is neither at all times visible to the eye nor discernible by signs.
M.—What comes next?
S.—I believe in “the forgiveness of sins.”
M.—What meaning do you give to the word forgiveness?
S.—That God of his free goodness forgives and pardons the sins of believers that they may not be brought to judgment, and that the penalty may not be exacted from them.
M.—Hence it follows, that it is not at all by our own satisfaction we merit the pardon of sins, which we obtain from the Lord?
S.—That is true; for Christ alone gave the satisfaction by paying the penalty.
M.—Why do you subjoin forgiveness of sins to the Church?
S.—Because no man obtains it without being previously united to the people of God, maintaining unity with the body of Christ perseveringly to the end, and thereby attesting that he is a true member of the Church.
M.—In this way you conclude that out of the Church is nought but ruin and damnation?
S.—Certainly. Those who make a departure from the body of Christ, and rend its unity by faction, are cut off from all hope of salvation during the time they remain in this schism, be it however short.
M.—Repeat the remainder.
S.—I believe in “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”
M.—To what end is this article set down in the Confession of Faith?
S.—To remind us that our happiness is not situated on the earth. The utility and use of this knowledge is twofold. First, we are taught by it that we are to live in this world as foreigners, continually thinking of departure, and not allowing our hearts to be entangled by earthly thoughts. Secondly, however the fruit of the grace of Christ bestowed upon us may escape our notice, and be hidden from our eyes, we must not despond, but patiently wait for the day of revelation.
M.—In what order will this resurrection take place?
S.—Those who were formerly dead will recover their bodies, the same bodies as before, but endued with a new quality, that is, no longer liable to death or corruption. (1 Cor. xv. 53.) Those who survive God will miraculously raise up by a sudden change.
M.—But will this be common to the righteous and the wicked?
S.—There will be one resurrection of all, but the condition will be different: some will rise to salvation and blessedness, others to death and extreme misery.
M.—Why then is eternal life only here mentioned, and is there no mention of hell?
S.—Because nothing is introduced here that does not tend to the consolation of pious minds; accordingly, only the rewards are enumerated which the Lord hath prepared for his servants, and nothing is added as to the doom of the wicked, whom we know to be aliens from the kingdom of God.
M.—As we understand the foundation on which faith ought to rest, it will be easy to extract from it a true definition of faith.
S.—It will. It may be defined-a sure and steadfast knowledge of the paternal goodwill of God toward us, as he declares in the gospel that for the sake of Christ he will be our Father and Savior.
M.—Do we conceive faith of ourselves, or do we receive it from God?
S.—Scripture teaches that it is the special gift of God, and this experience confirms.
M.—What experience do you mean?
S.—Our mind is too rude to be able to comprehend the spiritual wisdom of God which is revealed to us by faith, and our hearts are too prone either to diffidence or to a perverse confidence in ourselves or creatures, to rest in God of their own accord. But the Holy Spirit by his illumination makes us capable of understanding those things which would otherwise far exceed our capacity, and forms us to a firm Persuasion, by sealing the promises of salvation on our hearts.
M.—What good accrues to us from this faith, when we have once obtained it?
S.—It justifies us before God, and this justification makes us the heirs of everlasting life.
M.—What! are not men justified by good works when they study to approve themselves to God, by living innocently and holily?
S.—Could any one be found so perfect, he might justly be deemed righteous, but as we are all sinners, guilty before God in many ways, we must seek elsewhere for a worthiness which may reconcile us to him.
M.—But are all the works of men so vile and valueless that they cannot merit favor with God?
S.—First, all the works which proceed from us, so as properly to be called our own, are vicious, and therefore they can do nothing but displease God, and be rejected by him.
M.—You say then that before we are born again and formed anew by the Spirit of God, we can do nothing but sin, just as a bad tree can only produce bad fruit? (Matt. vii. 18.)
S.—Altogether so. For whatever semblance works may have in the eyes of men, they are nevertheless evil, as long as the heart to which God chiefly looks is depraved.
M.—Hence you conclude, that we cannot by any merits anticipate God or call forth his beneficence; or rather that all the works which we try or engage in, subject us to his anger and condemnation?
S.—I understand so; and therefore mere mercy, without any respect to works, (Titus iii. 5, ) embraces and accepts us freely in Christ, by attributing his righteousness to us as if it were our own, and not imputing our sins to us.
M.—In what way, then, do you say that we are justified by faith?
S.—Because, while we embrace the promises of the gospel with sure heartfelt confidence, we in a manner obtain possession of the righteousness of which I speak.
M.—This then is your meaning-that as righteousness is offered to us by the gospel, so we receive it by faith?
S.—It is so.
M.—But after we have once been embraced by God, are not the works which we do under the direction of his Holy Spirit accepted by him?
S.—They please him, not however in virtue of their own worthiness, but as he liberally honors them with his favor.
M.—But seeing they proceed from the Holy Spirit, do they not merit favor?
S.—They are always mixed up with some defilement from the weakness of the flesh, and thereby vitiated.
M.—Whence then or how can it be that they please God?
S.—It is faith alone which procures favor for them, as we rest with assured confidence on this-that God wills not to try them by his strict rule, but covering their defects and impurities as buried in the purity of Christ, he regards them in the same light as if they were absolutely perfect.
M.—But can we infer from this that a Christian man is justified by works after he has been called by God, or that by the merit of works he makes himself loved by God, whose love is eternal life to us?
S.—By no means. We rather hold what is written-that no man can be justified in his sight, and we therefore pray, Enter not into judgment with us.” (Ps. cxliii. 2.)
M.—We are not therefore to think that the good works of believers are useless?
S.—Certainly not. For not in vain does God promise them reward both in this life and in the future. But this reward springs from the free love of God as its source; for he first embraces us as sons, and then burying the remembrance of the vices which proceed from us, he visits us with his favor.
M.—But can this righteousness be separated from good works, so that he who has it may be void of them?
S.—That cannot be. For when by faith we receive Christ as he is offered to us, he not only promises us deliverance from death and reconciliation with God, but also the gift of the Holy Spirit, by which we are regenerated to newness of life; these things must necessarily be conjoined so as not to divide Christ from himself.
M.—Hence it follows that faith is the root from which all good works spring, so far is it from taking us off from the study of them?
S.—So indeed it is; and hence the whole doctrine of the gospel is comprehended under the two branches, faith and repentance.
M.—What is repentance?
S.—Dissatisfaction with and a hatred of sin and a love of righteousness, proceeding from the fear of God, which things lead to self-denial and mortification of the flesh, so that we give ourselves up to the guidance of the Spirit of God, and frame all the actions of our life to the obedience of the Divine will.
M.—But this second branch was in the division which was set down at first when you showed the method of duly worshiping God.
S.—True; and it was at the same time added, that the true and legitimate rule for worshiping God is to obey his will.
M.—Why so?
S.—Because the only worship which he approves is not that which it may please us to devise, but that which he hath of his own authority prescribed.