Articles revised. ing and acceptable to God,h without the grace of God by Christ, both preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working so effectually in us, as that it determineth our will to that which is good, and also working with us when we have that will unto good.k Articles of the Church of England. acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will. ARTICLE XI. Of the Justification of Man before God. We are justified, that is, we are accounted righteous before God, and have remission of sins, not for, nor by our own works or deservings, but freely by his grace, only for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake, his whole obedience and satisfaction being by God imputed unto us,p and Christ with his righteousness, being apprehended and rested on by faith only. The doctrine of justification by faith only, is a wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort; notwithstanding God doth not forgive them that are impenitent, and go on still in their trespasses." ARTICLE XII. Of Good Works. Good works, which are the fruits of faith,t and follow after justification," cannot put away our h Rom. viii. 8. Heb. xi. 6. i Ezek. xi. 19, 20. xxxvi. 26, 27. Jer. xxxi. 32, 33, with Heb. x. 11. Phil. ii. 12, 13. John vi. 45. Eph. i. 19, 20. 1 Cor. iv. 7. k Heb. xiii. 21. Phil. viii. 1. 6. Heb. xii. 22. 1 Pet. v. 10. 1 Thes. v. 23, 24. 1 Kings viii. 57, 58. 1 Rom. iv. 5-7. Psal. xxxii. 1, 2. m Rom. iii. 20. Phil. iii. 9. n Rom. iii. 24. Tit. iii. 7. ARTICLE XI. Of the Justification of Man. We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the homily of justification. ARTICLE XII. Of Good Works. Albeit, that good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away o Rom. iii. 24, 25. v. 1. 2 Cor. v. 18, 19. p Rom. v. 9. 17-19. iii. 25, 26. iv. 6. 24. 2 Cor. v. 21. q Rom. iii. 22. 25, 26. 28. Gal ii. 16. Isa. xxviii. 16, with Rom. ix. 33, and 1 Pet. ii. 6. Phil. iii. 9. r 2 Tim. i. 13. Rom. v. 1, 2. 8. 11. xv. 13. 1 Pet. i. 8. 7. s Psal. lxviii. 20, 21. Luke xiii. 3. 5. t Gal. v. 6. James ii. u Tit. ii. 14. iii. 7, 8. Exod. xxxiv. 6, 17, 18, 22. Eph. ii. 8, 9. 18. Voluntary works, besides over and above God's commandments, which they call works of supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety; for by them men do declare, that they do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to do; but that they do more for his w Rom. iii. 20, 21. iv. 4-9. Dan. ix. 18, 19. x Neh. xiii. 22. Psal. cxliii. 2. Job ix. 14, 15. 19, 20. Exod. xxviii. 38. Rev. viii. 3, 4. y 1 Peter ii. 5. Heb. xiii. 16. 20, 21. Col. i. 10. Phil. iv. 18. z James ii. 16. 1 John i. 4. a James ii. 18, 19. John xv. 4, 5. 1 John ii. 3, 5. Matt. xii. 33. b Tit. i. 15, 16. Matt. vii. 18. Rom. ARTICLE xiti. Of Works before Justification. Works done before the grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the school authors say) deserve grace of congruity; yea, rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin. ARTICLE XIV. Of Works of Supererogation. Articles revised. sake than of bounden duty is required; whereas Christ saith plainly, “When you have done all those things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duty to do."h ARTICLE XV. Of Christ alone without Sin. Christ in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted, from which he was clearly void both in his flesh and in his Spirit; he came to be the Lamb without spot, who by sacrifice of himselfm once made, should take away the sins of the world; and sin (as St. John saith) was not in him. But all we the rest, although baptized and regencrate, yet offend in many things; and "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."q Articles of the Church of England. sake than of bounden duty is required; whereas Christ saith plainly, "When ye have done all that are commanded to you, say, We be unprofitable servants." ARTICLE XV. Of Christ alone without Sin. Christ in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things, (sin only except,) from which he was clearly void, both in his flesh and in his Spirit. He came to be a Lamb without spot, who by sacrifice of himself once made, should take away the sins of the world; and sin (as St. John saith) was not in him. But all we the rest (although baptized, and born again in Christ) yet offend in many things; and "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Charles Herle, prolocutor. Henry Roborough, scriba. Adoniram Byfield, scriba. N. B. The Assembly proceeded no farther in the revisal. CHAPTER VIII. Confession of Faith Composed. WHEN the subject of articles of religion was again resumed, it was resolved, in compliance with the earnest wishes of the Scottish commissioners, to pre h Luke xvii. 10, with ver. 7--9. i Isa. liii. 3-5. Heb. ii. 17, with v. 15. k Luke i. 35, with Acts iii. 14. John xiv. 30. 2 Cor. v. 21. Heb. vii. 26. 11 Pet. i. 19. m Eph. v. 2. n Heb. ix. 26, 28. x. 10. 12. o John i. 29. p 1 John iii. 5. q James iii. 2. 1 John i. 8. 10. pare new formularies of doctrine, which might be common to both nations, by which means the uniformity in religion between England and Scotland would be secured, according to the provisions of the solemn league and covenant. Many of the points necessary to be included in a Confession of Faith had already been discussed, in the revision of the first fifteen articles of the church of England; and the most remarkable circumstance attending this venerable assembly was, that having been brought together from every part of the kingdom, and generally unknown to each other before, they should have been so entirely harmonious in their views of the system of evangelical doctrine. It does not appear, that in the whole body there was one who dissented from any of those doctrines which are usually denominated Calvinistic; although they are more properly called THE DOCTRINES OF THE REFORMATION; for they were common to all those eminent and holy men, who were the means of rescuing the truth from the darkness and perversion, which had overwhelmed it, during the long period of papal superstition. There was not one Arminian or Antinomian in this Assembly; much less one Unitarian or Pelagian. The only matters of discussion respecting doctrines, were concerning the best method of expressing the truth. The committee, to take charge of this important concern, was not appointed until the 9th of May, 1645. They were, Dr. Gouge, Dr. Hayle, Mr. Herle, Mr. Gataker, Mr. Vines, Dr. Tuckney, and Dr. Reynolds. The first thing done by this able committee, was, to settle the "titles" of the several chapters, into which the work was to be divided, which were thirty-two in number, and the very same which we now find in the Confession of the Westminster Assembly. For the sake of greater expedition in preparing the work, these chapters were distributed among several sub-committees, into which the general committee divided themselves. These sub-committees sat two days in every week, and when they had completed the work assigned to them, respectively, they reported to the whole committee, by whom every thing was revised; and when they had agreed on the form of the articles, the same were reported to the Assembly, where every thing, after being publicly read, was considered, and, if need be, discussed, until all, or a majority were satisfied. This was done paragraph by paragraph. It cannot, therefore, with truth be said, that the Confession of Faith was drawn up by any one man, for the several parts were prepared by different committees; and it is a matter of no importance, for in such cases, the draughtsman of an instrument may not be the person who gives it its impress and shape. He may be little more than the amanuensis, to word the ideas, verbally expressed, by minds of a higher grade. In consequence of the protracted debates respecting the form of government and directory of public worship, the Confession was not finished until the 26th of November, 1646, when Mr. Herle, the prolocutor, returned thanks, in the name of the Assembly, to the several committees who had had this work in charge. The work seems to have engaged the attention of the Assembly, from time to time, for more than a year, and to have occupied a very small portion of their time; every thing having been prepared and well digested by the committee, before it was presented to the Assembly. In "Baillie's Letters," there is scarcely a mention of any dispute on the several parts of the Confession. In one place, and this seems to be the only one,he says, in writing to his friends in Scotland, " In the Assembly, we are going on with the Confession of Faith.' We had long and tough debates about the decrees of election; yet, thanks to God, all is gone right, according to our mind.” And Neal, who is more full than any other writer, respecting the proceedings of the Assembly, says little or nothing respecting disputes about the articles of religion. Dr. Lightfoot's journal closes before the Confession was |