The Scots Confession of 1560
By Rev. Kenneth E. Chorle, pastor Union Presbyterian Church
The Scots Confession was composed upon request of Parliament by the Scottish Reformer, John Knox, and five associates within the space of four days in August, 1560.
First, the confession begins with an acknowledgment that not only does God exist, but that we are required to cleave to Him, serve Him and worship Him. God is not somewhere out in the distant but must be actively in our lives.
Next, the history of the church is traced from Adam to Christ in the confession. In the creation of Adam, God gave his own image and likeness. But it was from this “dignity” that man and woman both fell. The Fall is not blamed on a particular sex; rather, both man and woman are blamed.
Hope is offered to Adam and all his descendants by the promise of Genesis 3.15 that “the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent.” This promise is fulfilled in Jesus and is interpreted by the confession to mean that Jesus would “destroy the works of the devil.”
Third, comes a section on “Election”, which is distinctive Reformed Calvinistic teaching. Believers are saved by grace alone and not because of any works. The basis of salvation is not to be found within the choice, action, and works of the believer. Rather, it is found within the choice or selection of God.
Fourth, the role of the Holy Spirit is expounded upon in relationship to salvation. The confession again makes it clear that the faith we possess is a result of the work of the Holy Spirit and not the work of “natural powers within.” Without the Holy Spirit intervening we would “remain forever enemies to God and ignorant of His Son, Christ Jesus.”
Fifth, there is an emphasis on the church. The word Kirk is the Scottish word for church. The confession acknowledges that “from the beginning there has been ... one kirk.” This idea ties in with election. The church has existed at all times because God elected His people from the beginning.
Sixth, the section on the Scriptures was included to distinguish the source of authority in the kirk. Authority depended solely upon the revealed Word of God. Others sources such as the teaching of men (Church Tradition) were not included. The Word of God and the Word of God alone is the basis of all authority in the kirk.
Finally, the end of the confession is a specific prayer that applies to all generations. “Give Thy servants strength to speak thy Word with boldness. The Scots who first confessed this creed certainly spoke with boldness. Will we also speak the gospel message with boldness in our day and time?
Below is the full length version of the text of the Scots Confession.
THE SCOTS CONFESSION1
CHAPTER I
God
We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must
cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in
whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible,
omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct
in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. By whom we
confess and believe all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible,
to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and
guided by his inscrutable providence for such end as his eternal wisdom,
goodness, and justice have appointed, and to the manifestation of his own
glory.
CHAPTER II
The Creation of Man
We confess and acknowledge that our God has created man, i.e., our
first father, Adam, after his own image and likeness, to whom he gave
wisdom, lordship, justice, free will, and self-consciousness, so that in the
whole nature of man no imperfection could be found. From this dignity
and perfection man and woman both fell; the woman being deceived by
the serpent and man obeying the voice of the woman, both conspiring
against the sovereign majesty of God, who in clear words had previously
threatened death if they presumed to eat of the forbidden tree.
CHAPTER III
Original Sin
By this transgression, generally known as original sin, the image of
God was utterly defaced in man, and he and his children became by
1Reprinted from The Scots Confession: 1560. Edited with an Introduction by G. D. Henderson.
Rendered into modern English by James Bulloch. The Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh,
1960, pp. 58–80. Used by permission.
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nature hostile to God, slaves to Satan, and servants to sin. And thus everlasting
death has had, and shall have, power and dominion over all who
have not been, are not, or shall not be reborn from above. This rebirth is
wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost creating in the hearts of God’s
chosen ones an assured faith in the promise of God revealed to us in his
Word; by this faith we grasp Christ Jesus with the graces and blessings
promised in him.
CHAPTER IV
The Revelation of the Promise
We constantly believe that God, after the fearful and horrible departure
of man from his obedience, did seek Adam again, call upon him,
rebuke and convict him of his sin, and in the end made unto him a most
joyful promise, that “the seed of the woman should bruise the head of
the serpent,” that is, that he should destroy the works of the devil. This
promise was repeated and made clearer from time to time; it was embraced
with joy, and most constantly received by all the faithful from
Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to David, and
so onwards to the incarnation of Christ Jesus; all (we mean the believing
fathers under the law) did see the joyful day of Christ Jesus, and did
rejoice.
CHAPTER V
The Continuance, Increase, and
Preservation of the Kirk
We most surely believe that God preserved, instructed, multiplied,
honored, adorned, and called from death to life his Kirk in all ages since
Adam until the coming of Christ Jesus in the flesh. For he called Abraham
from his father’s country, instructed him, and multiplied his seed; he
marvelously preserved him, and more marvelously delivered his seed
from the bondage and tyranny of Pharaoh; to them he gave his laws, constitutions,
and ceremonies; to them he gave the land of
had given them judges, and afterwards Saul, he gave David to be king, to
whom he gave promise that of the fruit of his loins should one sit forever
upon his royal throne. To this same people from time to time he sent
prophets, to recall them to the right way of their God, from which sometimes
they strayed by idolatry. And although, because of their stubborn
contempt for righteousness he was compelled to give them into the hands
of their enemies, as had previously been threatened by the mouth of
Moses, so that the holy city was destroyed, the temple burned with fire,
and the whole land desolate for seventy years, yet in mercy he restored
them again to
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endured against all temptations and assaults of Satan till the Messiah
came according to the promise.
CHAPTER VI
The Incarnation of Christ Jesus
When the fullness of time came God sent his Son, his eternal wisdom,
the substance of his own glory, into this world, who took the nature
of humanity from the substance of a woman, a virgin, by means of
the Holy Ghost. And so was born the “just seed of David,” the “Angel
of the great counsel of God,” the very Messiah promised, whom we
confess and acknowledge to be Emmanuel, true God and true man, two
perfect natures united and joined in one person. So by our Confession
we condemn the damnable and pestilent heresies of Arius, Marcion,
Eutyches, Nestorius, and such others as did either deny the eternity of
his Godhead, or the truth of his humanity, or confounded them, or else
divided them.
CHAPTER VII
Why the Mediator Had to Be
True God and True Man
We acknowledge and confess that this wonderful union between the
Godhead and the humanity in Christ Jesus did arise from the eternal and
immutable decree of God from which all our salvation springs and
depends.
CHAPTER VIII
Election
That same eternal God and Father, who by grace alone chose us in his
Son Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world was laid, appointed
him to be our head, our brother, our pastor, and the great bishop of our
souls. But since the opposition between the justice of God and our sins
was such that no flesh by itself could or might have attained unto God, it
behooved the Son of God to descend unto us and take himself a body of
our body, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, and so become the Mediator
between God and man, giving power to as many as believe in him
to be the sons of God; as he himself says, “I ascend to my Father and to
your Father, to my God and to your God.” By this most holy brotherhood
whatever we have lost in Adam is restored to us again. Therefore we are
not afraid to call God our Father, not so much because he has created us,
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which we have in common with the reprobate, as because he has given
unto us his only Son to be our brother, and given us grace to acknowledge
and embrace him as our only Mediator. Further, it behooved the
Messiah and Redeemer to be true God and true man, because he was able
to undergo the punishment of our transgressions and to present himself
in the presence of his Father’s judgment, as in our stead, to suffer for our
transgression and disobedience, and by death to overcome him that was
the author of death. But because the Godhead alone could not suffer
death, and neither could manhood overcome death, he joined both together
in one person, that the weakness of one should suffer and be subject
to death—which we had deserved—and the infinite and invincible
power of the other, that is, of the Godhead, should triumph, and purchase
for us life, liberty, and perpetual victory. So we confess, and most undoubtedly
believe.
CHAPTER IX
Christ’s Death, Passion, and Burial
That our Lord Jesus offered himself a voluntary sacrifice unto his Father
for us, that he suffered contradiction of sinners, that he was wounded
and plagued for our transgressions, that he, the clean innocent Lamb of
God, was condemned in the presence of an earthly judge, that we should
be absolved before the judgment seat of our God; that he suffered not
only the cruel death of the cross, which was accursed by the sentence of
God; but also that he suffered for a season the wrath of his Father which
sinners had deserved. But yet we avow that he remained the only, well
beloved, and blessed Son of his Father even in the midst of his anguish
and torment which he suffered in body and soul to make full atonement
for the sins of his people. From this we confess and avow that there remains
no other sacrifice for sin; if any affirm so, we do not hesitate to say
that they are blasphemers against Christ’s death and the everlasting
atonement thereby purchased for us.
CHAPTER X
The Resurrection
We undoubtedly believe, since it was impossible that the sorrows of
death should retain in bondage the Author of life, that our Lord Jesus crucified,
dead, and buried, who descended into hell, did rise again for our
justification, and the destruction of him who was the author of death, and
brought life again to us who were subject to death and its bondage. We
know that his resurrection was confirmed by the testimony of his enemies,
and by the resurrection of the dead, whose sepulchers did open, and
they did rise and appear to many within the city of
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confirmed by the testimony of his angels, and by the senses and judgment
of his apostles and of others, who had conversation, and did eat and drink
with him after his resurrection.
CHAPTER XI
The Ascension
We do not doubt but that the selfsame body which was born of the
virgin, was crucified, dead, and buried, and which did rise again, did
ascend into the heavens, for the accomplishment of all things, where in
our name and for our comfort he has received all power in heaven and
earth, where he sits at the right hand of the Father, having received his
kingdom, the only advocate and mediator for us. Which glory, honor,
and prerogative, he alone amongst the brethren shall possess till all his
enemies are made his footstool, as we undoubtedly believe they shall
be in the Last Judgment. We believe that the same Lord Jesus shall visibly
return for this Last Judgment as he was seen to ascend. And then,
we firmly believe, the time of refreshing and restitution of all things
shall come, so that those who from the beginning have suffered violence,
injury, and wrong, for righteousness’ sake, shall inherit that
blessed immortality promised them from the beginning. But, on the
other hand, the stubborn, disobedient, cruel persecutors, filthy persons,
idolaters, and all sorts of the unbelieving, shall be cast into the dungeon
of utter darkness, where their worm shall not die, nor their fire be
quenched. The remembrance of that day, and of the Judgment to be executed
in it, is not only a bridle by which our carnal lusts are restrained
but also such inestimable comfort that neither the threatening of
worldly princes, nor the fear of present danger or of temporal death,
may move us to renounce and forsake that blessed society which we,
the members, have with our Head and only Mediator, Christ Jesus:
whom we confess and avow to be the promised Messiah, the only Head
of his Kirk, our just Lawgiver, our only High Priest, Advocate, and Mediator.
To which honors and offices, if man or angel presume to intrude
themselves, we utterly detest and abhor them, as blasphemous to our
sovereign and supreme Governor, Christ Jesus.
CHAPTER XII
Faith in the Holy Ghost
Our faith and its assurance do not proceed from flesh and blood, that
is to say, from natural powers within us, but are the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost; whom we confess to be God, equal with the Father and with
his Son, who sanctifies us, and brings us into all truth by his own working,
without whom we should remain forever enemies to God and
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ignorant of his Son, Christ Jesus. For by nature we are so dead, blind, and
perverse, that neither can we feel when we are pricked, see the light when
it shines, nor assent to the will of God when it is revealed, unless the Spirit
of the Lord Jesus quicken that which is dead, remove the darkness from
our minds, and bow our stubborn hearts to the obedience of his blessed
will. And so, as we confess that God the Father created us when we were
not, as his Son our Lord Jesus redeemed us when we were enemies to
him, so also do we confess that the Holy Ghost does sanctify and regenerate
us, without respect to any merit proceeding from us, be it before or
be it after our regeneration. To put this even more plainly; as we willingly
disclaim any honor and glory for our own creation and redemption, so do
we willingly also for our regeneration and sanctification; for by ourselves
we are not capable of thinking one good thought, but he who has begun
the work in us alone continues us in it, to the praise and glory of his undeserved
grace.
CHAPTER XIII
The Cause of Good Works
The cause of good works, we confess, is not our free will, but the Spirit
of the Lord Jesus, who dwells in our hearts by true faith, brings forth such
works as God has prepared for us to walk in. For we most boldly affirm
that it is blasphemy to say that Christ abides in the hearts of those in
whom is no spirit of sanctification. Therefore we do not hesitate to affirm
that murderers, oppressors, cruel persecutors, adulterers, filthy persons,
idolaters, drunkards, thieves, and all workers of iniquity, have neither true
faith nor anything of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, so long as they obstinately
continue in wickedness. For as soon as the Spirit of the Lord Jesus,
whom God’s chosen children receive by true faith, takes possession of
the heart of any man, so soon does he regenerate and renew him, so that
he begins to hate what before he loved, and to love what he hated before.
Thence comes that continual battle which is between the flesh and the
Spirit in God’s children, while the flesh and the natural man, being corrupt,
lust for things pleasant and delightful to themselves, are envious in
adversity and proud in prosperity, and every moment prone and ready to
offend the majesty of God. But the Spirit of God, who bears witness to
our spirit that we are the sons of God, makes us resist filthy pleasures and
groan in God’s presence for deliverance from this bondage of corruption,
and finally to triumph over sin so that it does not reign in our mortal bodies.
Other men do not share this conflict since they do not have God’s
Spirit, but they readily follow and obey sin and feel no regrets, since they
act as the devil and their corrupt nature urge. But the sons of God fight
against sin; sob and mourn when they find themselves tempted to do evil;
and, if they fall, rise again with earnest and unfeigned repentance. They
do these things, not by their own power, but by the power of the Lord
Jesus, apart from whom they can do nothing.
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CHAPTER XIV
The Works Which Are Counted Good Before God
We confess and acknowledge that God has given to man his holy law, in
which not only all such works as displease and offend his godly majesty
are forbidden, but also those which please him and which he has promised
to reward are commanded. These works are of two kinds. The one is done
to the honor of God, the other to the profit of our neighbor, and both have
the revealed will of God as their assurance. To have one God, to worship
and honor him, to call upon him in all our troubles, to reverence his holy
Name, to hear his Word and to believe it, and to share in his holy sacraments,
belong to the first kind. To honor father, mother, princes, rulers, and
superior powers; to love them, to support them, to obey their orders if they
are not contrary to the commands of God, to save the lives of the innocent,
to repress tyranny, to defend the oppressed, to keep our bodies clean and
holy, to live in soberness and temperance, to deal justly with all men in
word and deed, and, finally, to repress any desire to harm our neighbor, are
the good works of the second kind, and these are most pleasing and acceptable
to God as he has commanded them himself. Acts to the contrary
are sins, which always displease him and provoke him to anger, such as,
not to call upon him alone when we have need, not to hear his Word with
reverence, but to condemn and despise it, to have or worship idols, to maintain
and defend idolatry, lightly to esteem the reverend name of God, to profane,
abuse, or condemn the sacraments of Christ Jesus, to disobey or resist
any whom God has placed in authority, so long as they do not exceed
the bounds of their office, to murder, or to consent thereto, to bear hatred,
or to let innocent blood be shed if we can prevent it. In conclusion, we confess
and affirm that the breach of any other commandment of the first or
second kind is sin, by which God’s anger and displeasure are kindled
against the proud, unthankful world. So that we affirm good works to be
those alone which are done in faith and at the command of God who, in his
law, has set forth the things that please him. We affirm that evil works are
not only those expressly done against God’s command, but also, in religious
matters and the worship of God, those things which have no other
warrant than the invention and opinion of man. From the beginning God
has rejected such, as we learn from the words of the prophet Isaiah and of
our master, Christ Jesus, “In vain do they worship Me, teaching the doctrines
and commandments of men.”
CHAPTER XV
The Perfection of the Law and the
Imperfection of Man
We confess and acknowledge that the law of God is most just, equal,
holy, and perfect, commanding those things which, when perfectly done,
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can give life and bring man to eternal felicity; but our nature is so corrupt,
weak, and imperfect, that we are never able perfectly to fulfill the
works of the law. Even after we are reborn, if we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth of God is not in us. It is therefore essential
for us to lay hold on Christ Jesus, in his righteousness and his
atonement, since he is the end and consummation of the Law and since it
is by him that we are set at liberty so that the curse of God may not fall
upon us, even though we do not fulfill the Law in all points. For as God
the Father beholds us in the body of his Son Christ Jesus, he accepts our
imperfect obedience as if it were perfect, and covers our works, which
are defiled with many stains, with the righteousness of his Son. We do not
mean that we are so set at liberty that we owe no obedience to the Law—
for we have already acknowledged its place—but we affirm that no man
on earth, with the sole exception of Christ Jesus, has given, gives, or shall
give in action that obedience to the Law which the Law requires. When
we have done all things we must fall down and unfeignedly confess that
we are unprofitable servants. Therefore, whoever boasts of the merits of
his own works or puts his trust in works of supererogation, boasts of what
does not exist, and puts his trust in damnable idolatry.
CHAPTER XVI
The Kirk
As we believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, so we firmly
believe that from the beginning there has been, now is, and to the end of
the world shall be, one Kirk, that is to say, one company and multitude of
men chosen by God, who rightly worship and embrace him by true faith
in Christ Jesus, who is the only Head of the Kirk, even as it is the body
and spouse of Christ Jesus. This Kirk is catholic, that is, universal, because
it contains the chosen of all ages, of all realms, nations, and
tongues, be they of the Jews or be they of the Gentiles, who have communion
and society with God the Father, and with his Son, Christ Jesus,
through the sanctification of his Holy Spirit. It is therefore called the
communion, not of profane persons, but of saints, who, as citizens of the
heavenly
Lord Jesus, one faith, and one baptism. Out of this Kirk there is neither
life nor eternal felicity. Therefore we utterly abhor the blasphemy of those
who hold that men who live according to equity and justice shall be
saved, no matter what religion they profess. For since there is neither life
nor salvation without Christ Jesus; so shall none have part therein but
those whom the Father has given unto his Son Christ Jesus, and those who
in time come to him, avow his doctrine, and believe in him. (We include
the children with the believing parents.) This Kirk is invisible, known
only to God, who alone knows whom he has chosen, and includes both
the chosen who are departed, the Kirk triumphant, those who yet live and
fight against sin and Satan, and those who shall live hereafter.
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CHAPTER XVII
The Immortality of Souls
The chosen departed are in peace, and rest from their labors; not that
they sleep and are lost in oblivion as some fanatics hold, for they are delivered
from all fear and torment, and all the temptations to which we and
all God’s chosen are subject in this life, and because of which we are
called the Kirk Militant. On the other hand, the reprobate and unfaithful
departed have anguish, torment, and pain which cannot be expressed.
Neither the one nor the other is in such sleep that they feel no joy or torment,
as is testified by Christ’s parable in St. Luke XVI, his words to the
thief, and the words of the souls crying under the altar, “O Lord, thou that
art righteous and just, how long shalt thou not revenge our blood upon
those that dwell in the earth?”
CHAPTER XVIII
The Notes by Which the True Kirk Shall Be Determined
from the False, and Who Shall Be Judge of Doctrine
Since Satan has labored from the beginning to adorn his pestilent synagogue
with the title of the Kirk of God, and has incited cruel murderers to
persecute, trouble, and molest the true Kirk and its members, as Cain did
to Abel, Ishmael to Isaac, Esau to Jacob, and the whole priesthood of the
Jews to Christ Jesus himself and his apostles after him. So it is essential that
the true Kirk be distinguished from the filthy synagogues by clear and perfect
notes lest we, being deceived, receive and embrace, to our own condemnation,
the one for the other. The notes, signs, and assured tokens
whereby the spotless bride of Christ is known from the horrible harlot, the
false Kirk, we state, are neither antiquity, usurped title, lineal succession,
appointed place, nor the numbers of men approving an error. For Cain was
before Abel and Seth in age and title;
other parts of the earth, for in it were priests lineally descended from Aaron,
and greater numbers followed the scribes, pharisees, and priests, than unfeignedly
believed and followed Christ Jesus and his doctrine . . . and yet
no man of judgment, we suppose, will hold that any of the forenamed were
the Kirk of God. The notes of the true Kirk, therefore, we believe, confess,
and avow to be: first, the true preaching of the Word of God, in which God
has revealed himself to us, as the writings of the prophets and apostles declare;
secondly, the right administration of the sacraments of Christ Jesus,
with which must be associated the Word and promise of God to seal and
confirm them in our hearts; and lastly, ecclesiastical discipline uprightly
ministered, as God’s Word prescribes, whereby vice is repressed and virtue
nourished. Then wherever these notes are seen and continue for any time,
be the number complete or not, there, beyond any doubt, is the true Kirk of
Christ, who, according to his promise, is in its midst. This is not that
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universal Kirk of which we have spoken before, but particular Kirks, such
as were in
was planted by Paul and which he himself called Kirks of God. Such Kirks,
we the inhabitants of the realm of
claim to have in our cities, towns, and reformed districts because of the doctrine
taught in our Kirks, contained in the written Word of God, that is, the
Old and New Testaments, in those books which were originally reckoned
canonical. We affirm that in these all things necessary to be believed for the
salvation of man are sufficiently expressed. The interpretation of Scripture,
we confess, does not belong to any private or public person, nor yet to any
Kirk for pre-eminence or precedence, personal or local, which it has above
others, but pertains to the Spirit of God by whom the Scriptures were written.
When controversy arises about the right understanding of any passage
or sentence of Scripture, or for the reformation of any abuse within the Kirk
of God, we ought not so much to ask what men have said or done before
us, as what the Holy Ghost uniformly speaks within the body of the Scriptures
and what Christ Jesus himself did and commanded. For it is agreed
by all that the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of unity, cannot contradict
himself. So if the interpretation or opinion of any theologian, Kirk, or council,
is contrary to the plain Word of God written in any other passage of the
Scripture, it is most certain that this is not the true understanding and meaning
of the Holy Ghost, although councils, realms, and nations have approved
and received it. We dare not receive or admit any interpretation
which is contrary to any principal point of our faith, or to any other plain
text of Scripture, or to the rule of love.
CHAPTER XIX
The Authority of the Scriptures
As we believe and confess the Scriptures of God sufficient to instruct
and make perfect the man of God, so do we affirm and avow their authority
to be from God, and not to depend on men or angels. We affirm, therefore,
that those who say the Scriptures have no other authority save that
which they have received from the Kirk are blasphemous against God and
injurious to the true Kirk, which always hears and obeys the voice of her
own Spouse and Pastor, but takes not upon her to be mistress over the same.
CHAPTER XX
General Councils, Their Power, Authority,
and the Cause of Their Summoning
As we do not rashly condemn what good men, assembled together in general
councils lawfully gathered, have set before us; so we do not receive uncritically
whatever has been declared to men under the name of the general
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councils, for it is plain that, being human, some of them have manifestly
erred, and that in matters of great weight and importance. So far then as the
council confirms its decrees by the plain Word of God, so far do we reverence
and embrace them. But if men, under the name of a council, pretend
to forge for us new articles of faith, or to make decisions contrary to the
Word of God, then we must utterly deny them as the doctrine of devils,
drawing our souls from the voice of the one God to follow the doctrines
and teachings of men. The reason why the general councils met was not to
make any permanent law which God had not made before, nor yet to form
new articles for our belief, nor to give the Word of God authority; much
less to make that to be his Word, or even the true interpretation of it, which
was not expressed previously by his holy will in his Word; but the reason
for councils, at least of those that deserve that name, was partly to refute
heresies, and to give public confession of their faith to the generations following,
which they did by the authority of God’s written Word, and not by
any opinion or prerogative that they could not err by reason of their numbers.
This, we judge, was the primary reason for general councils. The second
was that good policy and order should be constituted and observed in
the Kirk where, as in the house of God, it becomes all things to be done decently
and in order. Not that we think any policy or order of ceremonies can
be appointed for all ages, times, and places; for as ceremonies which men
have devised are but temporal, so they may, and ought to be, changed, when
they foster superstition rather than edify the Kirk.
CHAPTER XXI
The Sacraments
As the fathers under the Law, besides the reality of the sacrifices, had
two chief sacraments, that is, circumcision and the passover, and those who
rejected these were not reckoned among God’s people; so do we acknowledge
and confess that now in the time of the gospel we have two chief
sacraments, which alone were instituted by the Lord Jesus and commanded
to be used by all who will be counted members of his body, that is, Baptism
and the Supper or Table of the Lord Jesus, also called the Communion
of His Body and Blood. These sacraments, both of the Old Testament and
of the New, were instituted by God not only to make a visible distinction
between his people and those who were without the Covenant, but also to
exercise the faith of his children and, by participation of these sacraments,
to seal in their hearts the assurance of his promise, and of that most blessed
conjunction, union, and society, which the chosen have with their Head,
Christ Jesus. And so we utterly condemn the vanity of those who affirm the
sacraments to be nothing else than naked and bare signs. No, we assuredly
believe that by Baptism we are engrafted into Christ Jesus, to be made partakers
of his righteousness, by which our sins are covered and remitted, and
also that in the Supper rightly used, Christ Jesus is so joined with us that he
becomes the very nourishment and food of our souls. Not that we imagine
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any transubstantiation of bread into Christ’s body, and of wine into his natural
blood, as the Romanists have perniciously taught and wrongly believed;
but this union and conjunction which we have with the body and
blood of Christ Jesus in the right use of the sacraments is wrought by means
of the Holy Ghost, who by true faith carries us above all things that are visible,
carnal, and earthly, and makes us feed upon the body and blood of
Christ Jesus, once broken and shed for us but now in heaven, and appearing
for us in the presence of his Father. Notwithstanding the distance between
his glorified body in heaven and mortal men on earth, yet we must
assuredly believe that the bread which we break is the communion of
Christ’s body and the cup which we bless the communion of his blood.
Thus we confess and believe without doubt that the faithful, in the right use
of the Lord’s Table, do so eat the body and drink the blood of the Lord Jesus
that he remains in them and they in him; they are so made flesh of his flesh
and bone of his bone that as the eternal Godhood has given to the flesh of
Christ Jesus, which by nature was corruptible and mortal, life and immortality,
so the eating and drinking of the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus does
the like for us. We grant that this is neither given to us merely at the time
nor by the power and virtue of the sacrament alone, but we affirm that the
faithful, in the right use of the Lord’s Table, have such union with Christ
Jesus as the natural man cannot apprehend. Further we affirm that although
the faithful, hindered by negligence and human weakness, do not profit as
much as they ought in the actual moment of the Supper, yet afterwards it
shall bring forth fruit, being living seed sown in good ground; for the Holy
Spirit, who can never be separated from the right institution of the Lord
Jesus, will not deprive the faithful of the fruit of that mystical action. Yet
all this, we say again, comes of that true faith which apprehends Christ
Jesus, who alone makes the sacrament effective in us. Therefore, if anyone
slanders us by saying that we affirm or believe the sacraments to be symbols
and nothing more, they are libelous and speak against the plain facts.
On the other hand we readily admit that we make a distinction between
Christ Jesus in his eternal substance and the elements of the sacramental
signs. So we neither worship the elements, in place of that which they signify,
nor yet do we despise them or undervalue them, but we use them with
great reverence, examining ourselves diligently before we participate,
since we are assured by the mouth of the apostle that “whosoever shall eat
this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the
body and blood of the Lord.”
CHAPTER XXII
The Right Administration of the Sacraments
Two things are necessary for the right administration of the sacraments.
The first is that they should be ministered by lawful ministers, and we declare
that these are men appointed to preach the Word, unto whom God has
given the power to preach the gospel, and who are lawfully called by some
22
3.22 THE BOOK OF CONFESSIONS
3.22
Kirk. The second is that they should be ministered in the elements and manner
which God has appointed. Otherwise they cease to be the sacraments
of Christ Jesus. This is why we abandon the teaching of the Roman Church
and withdraw from its sacraments; firstly, because their ministers are not
true ministers of Christ Jesus (indeed they even allow women, whom the
Holy Ghost will not permit to preach in the congregation to baptize) and,
secondly, because they have so adulterated both the sacraments with their
own additions that no part of Christ’s original act remains in its original
simplicity. The addition of oil, salt, spittle, and such like in baptism, are
merely human additions. To adore or venerate the sacrament, to carry it
through streets and towns in procession, or to reserve it in a special case, is
not the proper use of Christ’s sacrament but an abuse of it. Christ Jesus said,
“Take ye, eat ye,” and “Do this in remembrance of Me.” By these words
and commands he sanctified bread and wine to be the sacrament of his holy
body and blood, so that the one should be eaten and that all should drink of
the other, and not that they should be reserved for worship or honored as
God, as the Romanists do. Further, in withdrawing one part of the sacrament—
the blessed cup—from the people, they have committed sacrilege.
Moreover, if the sacraments are to be rightly used it is essential that the end
and purpose of their institution should be understood, not only by the minister
but by the recipients. For if the recipient does not understand what is
being done, the sacrament is not being rightly used, as is seen in the case
of the Old Testament sacrifices. Similarly, if the teacher teaches false doctrine
which is hateful to God, even though the sacraments are his own ordinance,
they are not rightly used, since wicked men have used them for
another end than what God commanded. We affirm this has been done to
the sacraments in the Roman Church, for there the whole action of the Lord
Jesus is adulterated in form, purpose, and meaning. What Christ Jesus did,
and commanded to be done, is evident from the Gospels and from
what the priest does at the altar we do not need to tell. The end and purpose
of Christ’s institution, for which it should be used, is set forth in the words,
“Do this in remembrance of Me,” and “For as often as ye eat this bread and
drink this cup ye do show”—that is, extol, preach, magnify, and praise—
“the Lord’s death, till He come.” But let the words of the mass, and their
own doctors and teachings witness, what is the purpose and meaning of the
mass; it is that, as mediators between Christ and his Kirk, they should offer
to God the Father, a sacrifice in propitiation for the sins of the living and
of the dead. This doctrine is blasphemous to Christ Jesus and would deprive
his unique sacrifice, once offered on the cross for the cleansing of all
who are to be sanctified, of its sufficiency; so we detest and renounce it.
CHAPTER XXIII
To Whom Sacraments Appertain
We hold that baptism applies as much to the children of the faithful as
to those who are of age and discretion, and so we condemn the error of
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THE SCOTS CONFESSION 3.23
3.23
24
the Anabaptists, who deny that children should be baptized before they
have faith and understanding. But we hold that the Supper of the Lord is
only for those who are of the household of faith and can try and examine
themselves both in their faith and their duty to their neighbors. Those who
eat and drink at that holy table without faith, or without peace and goodwill
to their brethren, eat unworthily. This is the reason why ministers in
our Kirk make public and individual examination of those who are to be
admitted to the table of the Lord Jesus.
CHAPTER XXIV
The Civil Magistrate
We confess and acknowledge that empires, kingdoms, dominions, and
cities are appointed and ordained by God; the powers and authorities in
them, emperors in empires, kings in their realms, dukes and princes in
their dominions, and magistrates in cities, are ordained by God’s holy
ordinance for the manifestation of his own glory and for the good and
well being of all men. We hold that any men who conspire to rebel or to
overturn the civil powers, as duly established, are not merely enemies to
humanity but rebels against God’s will. Further, we confess and acknowledge
that such persons as are set in authority are to be loved, honored,
feared, and held in the highest respect, because they are the lieutenants
of God, and in their councils God himself doth sit and judge.
They are the judges and princes to whom God has given the sword for
the praise and defense of good men and the punishment of all open evil
doers. Moreover, we state that the preservation and purification of religion
is particularly the duty of kings, princes, rulers, and magistrates.
They are not only appointed for civil government but also to maintain
true religion and to suppress all idolatry and superstition. This may be
seen in David, Jehosaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, and others highly commended
for their zeal in that cause.
Therefore we confess and avow that those who resist the supreme powers,
so long as they are acting in their own spheres, are resisting God’s
ordinance and cannot be held guiltless. We further state that so long as
princes and rulers vigilantly fulfill their office, anyone who denies them
aid, counsel, or service, denies it to God, who by his lieutenant craves it
of them.
CHAPTER XXV
The Gifts Freely Given to the Kirk
Although the Word of God truly preached, the sacraments rightly ministered,
and discipline executed according to the Word of God, are certain
and infallible signs of the true Kirk, we do not mean that every individual
3.24
3.25
THE BOOK OF CONFESSIONS 3.24–.25
person in that company is a chosen member of Christ Jesus. We acknowledge
and confess that many weeds and tares are sown among the corn and
grow in great abundance in its midst, and that the reprobate may be found
in the fellowship of the chosen and may take an outward part with them
in the benefits of the Word and sacraments. But since they only confess
God for a time with their mouths and not with their hearts, they lapse, and
do not continue to the end. Therefore they do not share the fruits of Christ’s
death, resurrection, and ascension. But such as unfeignedly believe with
the heart and boldly confess the Lord Jesus with their mouths shall certainly
receive his gifts. Firstly, in this life, they shall receive remission of
sins and that by faith in Christ’s blood alone; for though sin shall remain
and continually abide in our mortal bodies, yet it shall not be counted
against us, but be pardoned, and covered with Christ’s righteousness. Secondly,
in the general judgment, there shall be given to every man and
woman resurrection of the flesh. The seas shall give up her dead, and the
earth those who are buried within her. Yea, the Eternal, our God, shall
stretch out his hand on the dust, and the dead shall arise incorruptible, and
in the very substance of the selfsame flesh which every man now bears, to
receive according to their works, glory or punishment. Such as now delight
in vanity, cruelty, filthiness, superstition, or idolatry, shall be condemned
to the fire unquenchable, in which those who now serve the devil
in all abominations shall be tormented forever, both in body and in spirit.
But such as continue in well doing to the end, boldly confessing the Lord
Jesus, shall receive glory, honor, and immortality, we constantly believe,
to reign forever in life everlasting with Christ Jesus, to whose glorified
body all his chosen shall be made like, when he shall appear again in judgment
and shall render up the Kingdom to God his Father, who then shall
be and ever shall remain, all in all things, God blessed forever. To whom,
with the Son and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, now and ever.
Amen.
Arise, O Lord, and let thine enemies be confounded; let them flee from
thy presence that hate thy godly Name. Give thy servants strength to
speak thy Word with boldness, and let all nations cleave to the true
knowledge of thee. Amen.
