The Belgic Confession

Article 33

The Sacraments
We believe that our good God,
mindful of our crudeness and weakness,
has ordained sacraments for us
      to seal his promises in us,
      to pledge his good will and grace toward us,
      and also to nourish and sustain our faith.

He has added these to the Word of the gospel
to represent better to our external senses
both what he enables us to understand by his Word
and what he does inwardly in our hearts,
      confirming in us
      the salvation he imparts to us.

For they are visible signs and seals
of something internal and invisible,
      by means of which God works in us
      through the power of the Holy Spirit.
So they are not empty and hollow signs
to fool and deceive us,
      for their truth is Jesus Christ,
      without whom they would be nothing.

Moreover,
we are satisfied with the number of sacraments
that Christ our Master has ordained for us.
There are only two:
      the sacrament of baptism
      and the Holy Supper of Jesus Christ.

Article 34

The Sacrament of Baptism
We believe and confess that Jesus Christ,
in whom the law is fulfilled,
has by his shed blood
put an end to every other shedding of blood,
      which anyone might do or wish to do
      in order to atone or satisfy for sins.

Having abolished circumcision,
which was done with blood,
he established in its place
the sacrament of baptism.
      By it we are received into God's church
           and set apart from all other people and alien religions,
      that we may be dedicated entirely to him,
           bearing his mark and sign.
      It also witnesses to us
      that he will be our God forever,
           since he is our gracious Father.

Therefore he has commanded
that all those who belong to him
be baptized with pure water
      in the name of the Father,
      and the Son,
      and the Holy Spirit.^76

In this way he signifies to us
that just as water washes away the dirt of the body
when it is poured on us
and also is seen on the body of the baptized
when it is sprinkled on him,
so too the blood of Christ does the same thing internally,
in the soul,
by the Holy Spirit.
      It washes and cleanses it from its sins
      and transforms us from being the children of wrath
      into the children of God.

This does not happen by the physical water
but by the sprinkling of the precious blood of the Son of God,
who is our Red Sea,
through which we must pass
      to escape the tyranny of Pharoah,
           who is the devil,
      and to enter the spiritual land
           of Canaan.

So ministers,
as far as their work is concerned,
give us the sacrament and what is visible,
but our Lord gives what the sacrament signifies—
namely the invisible gifts and graces;
      washing, purifying, and cleansing our souls
           of all filth and unrighteousness;
      renewing our hearts and filling them
           with all comfort;
      giving us true assurance
           of his fatherly goodness;
      clothing us with the "new man" and stripping off the "old,"
           with all its works.

For this reason we believe that
anyone who aspires to reach eternal life
ought to be baptized only once
without ever repeating it—
for we cannot be born twice.
Yet this baptism is profitable
not only when the water is on us
and when we receive it
but throughout our
entire lives.

For that reason we detest the error of the Anabaptists
      who are not content with a single baptism
           once received
      and also condemn the baptism
           of the children of believers.
      We believe our children ought to be baptized
      and sealed with the sign of the covenant,
           as little children were circumcised in Israel
           on the basis of the same promises
           made to our children.

And truly,
Christ has shed his blood no less
for washing the little children of believers
than he did for adults.

Therefore they ought to receive the sign and sacrament
of what Christ has done for them,
      just as the Lord commanded in the law that
      by offering a lamb for them
      the sacrament of the suffering and death of Christ
      would be granted them
      shortly after their birth.
      This was the sacrament of Jesus Christ.

Furthermore,
baptism does for our children
what circumcision did for the Jewish people.
That is why Paul calls baptism
the "circumcision of Christ."^77

^76 Matt. 28:19
^77 Col. 2:11

Article 35

The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
We believe and confess
that our Savior Jesus Christ
has ordained and instituted the sacrament of the Holy Supper
to nourish and sustain those
who are already born again and ingrafted
into his family:
his church.

Now those who are born again have two lives in them.
The one is physical and temporal—
      they have it from the moment of their first birth,
      and it is common to all.
The other is spiritual and heavenly,
      and is given them in their second birth;
      it comes through the Word of the gospel
      in the communion of the body of Christ;
      and this life is common to God's elect only.

Thus, to support the physical and earthly life
God has prescribed for us
an appropriate earthly and material bread,
which is as common to all
as life itself also is.
But to maintain the spiritual and heavenly life
that belongs to believers
he has sent a living bread
that came down from heaven:
namely Jesus Christ,
      who nourishes and maintains
      the spiritual life of believers
      when eaten—
      that is, when appropriated
      and received spiritually
      by faith.

To represent to us
this spiritual and heavenly bread
Christ has instituted
an earthly and visible bread as the sacrament of his body
and wine as the sacrament of his blood.
He did this to testify to us that
just as truly as we take and hold the sacraments in our hands
and eat and drink it in our mouths,
      by which our life is then sustained,
so truly we receive into our souls,
      for our spiritual life,
the true body and true blood of Christ,
      our only Savior.
We receive these by faith,
      which is the hand and mouth of our souls.

Now it is certain
that Jesus Christ did not prescribe
his sacraments for us in vain,
since he works in us all he represents
by these holy signs,
      although the manner in which he does it
      goes beyond our understanding
      and is uncomprehensible to us,
           just as the operation of God's Spirit
           is hidden and incomprehensible.

Yet we do not go wrong when we say
that what is eaten is Christ's own natural body
and what is drunk is his own blood—
but the manner in which we eat it
is not by the mouth but by the Spirit,
through faith.

In that way Jesus Christ remains always seated
at the right hand of God the Father
in heaven—
but he never refrains on that account
to communicate himself to us
through faith.

This banquet is a spiritual table
at which Christ communicates himself to us
with all his benefits.
At that table he makes us enjoy himself
as much as the merits of his suffering and death,
as he nourishes, strengthens, and comforts
our poor, desolate souls
      by the eating of his flesh,
and relieves and renews them
      by the drinking of his blood.

Moreover,
though the sacraments and thing signified are joined together,
not all receive both of them.
The wicked person certainly takes the sacrament,
to his condemnation,
but does not receive the truth of the sacrament,
      just as Judas and Simon the Sorcerer both indeed
      received the sacrament,
      but not Christ,
      who was signified by it.
      He is communicated only to believers.

Finally,
with humility and reverence
we receive the holy sacrament
in the gathering of God's people,
      as we engage together,
      with thanksgiving,
      in a holy remembrance
      of the death of Christ our Savior,
      and as we thus confess
      our faith and Christian religion.
Therefore no one should come to this table
without examining himself carefully,
      lest "by eating this bread
      and drinking this cup
      he eat and drink to his own judgment."^78

In short,
by the use of this holy sacrament
we are moved to a fervent love
of God and our neighbors.

Therefore we reject
as desecrations of the sacraments
all the muddled ideas and damnable inventions
that men have added and mixed in with them.
And we say that we should be content with the procedure
that Christ and the apostles have taught us
and speak of these things
as they have spoken of them.

^78 1 Cor. 11:27

Article 36

The Civil Government
We believe that
because of the depravity of the human race
our good God has ordained kings, princes, and civil officers.
He wants the world to be governed by laws and policies
so that human lawlessness may be restrained
and that everything may be conducted in good order
among human beings.

For that purpose he has placed the sword
in the hands of the government,
to punish evil people
and protect the good.

And being called in this manner
to contribute to the advancement of a society
that is pleasing to God,
the civil rulers have the task,
      subject to God's law,
of removing every obstacle
      to the preaching of the gospel
      and to every aspect of divine worship.

They should do this
while completely refraining from every tendency
      toward exercising absolute authority,
and while functioning in the sphere entrusted to them,
      with the means belonging to them.

They should do it in order that
      the Word of God may have free course;
      the kingdom of Jesus Christ may make progress;
      and every anti-Christian power may be resisted.*

__________
*The Synod of 1958, in line with 1910 and 1938, substituted the above
statement for the following (which it judged unbiblical):
And the government's task is not limited
to caring for and watching over the public domain
but extends also to upholding the sacred ministry,
      with a view to removing and destroying
           all idolatry and false worship of the Antichrist;
      to promoting the kingdom of Jesus Christ;
      and to furthering the preaching of the gospel everywhere;
      to the end that God may be honored and served by everyone,
      as he requires in his Word.
__________

Moreover everyone,
regardless of status, condition, or rank,
must be subject to the government,
and pay taxes,
and hold its representatives in honor and respect,
and obey them in all things that are not in conflict
      with God's Word,
praying for them
      that the Lord may be willing to lead them
           in all their ways
      and that we may live a peaceful and quiet life
           in all piety and decency.*
__________
*The Synod of 1985 directed that the following paragraph be taken from the
body of the text and be placed in a footnote:
And on this matter we denounce the Anabaptists, other anarchists,
and in general all those who want
to reject the authorities and civil officers
and to subvert justice
      by introducing common ownership of goods
      and corrupting the moral order
           that God has established among human beings.
__________

Article 37

The Last Judgment
Finally we believe,
according to God's Word,
that when the time appointed by the Lord is come
(which is unknown to all creatures)
and the number of the elect is complete,
our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven,
      bodily and visibly,
as he ascended,
      with great glory and majesty,
to declare himself the judge
      of the living and the dead.
He will burn this old world,
      in fire and flame,
      in order to cleanse it.

Then all human creatures will appear in person
before the great judge—
      men, women, and children,
      who have lived from the beginning until the end
      of the world.

They will be summoned there
by the voice of the archangel
and by the sound of the divine trumpet.^79

For all those who died before that time
will be raised from the earth,
      their spirits being joined and united
      with their own bodies
      in which they lived.
And as for those who are still alive,
they will not die like the others
but will be changed "in the twinkling of an eye"
from "corruptible to incorruptible."^80

Then "the books" (that is, the consciences) will be opened,
and the dead will be judged
      according to the things they did in the world,^81
      whether good or evil.
Indeed, all people will give account
of all the idle words they have spoken,^82
      which the world regards
      as only playing games.
And then the secrets and hypocrisies of men
will be publicly uncovered
in the sight of all.

Therefore,
with good reason
the thought of this judgment
is horrible and dreadful
to wicked and evil people.
But it is very pleasant
and a great comfort
to the righteous and elect,
      since their total redemption
      will then be accomplished.
They will then receive the fruits of their labor
      and of the trouble they have suffered;
their innocence will be openly recognized by all;
and they will see the terrible vengeance
      that God will bring on the evil ones
      who tyrannized, oppressed, and tormented them
           in this world.

The evil ones will be convicted
      by the witness of their own consciences,
and shall be made immortal—
      but only to be tormented
      in the everlasting fire
           prepared for the devil and his angels.^83

In contrast,
the faithful and elect will be crowned
      with glory and honor.
The Son of God will "confess their names"^84
      before God his Father and the holy and elect angels;
all tears will be "wiped from their eyes";^85
and their cause—
      at present condemned as heretical and evil
      by many judges and civil officers—
will be acknowledged as the "cause of the Son of God."

And as a gracious reward
the Lord will make them possess a glory
such as the heart of man
could never imagine.

So we look forward to that great day with longing
in order to enjoy fully
the promises of God in Christ Jesus,
our Lord.

^79 1 Thess. 4:16
^80 1 Cor. 15:51-53
^81 Rev. 20:12
^82 Matt. 12:36
^83 Matt. 25:14
^84 Matt. 10:32
^85 Rev. 7:17