In 1890, the Presbyterian Synod of England adopted the XXIV. Articles of the Faith,
prepared by a committee, appointed 1885. In 1892, it further adopted an Appendix
of six chapters, dealing with church polity and membership, worship on the
Lord's Day, civil government, and church discipline. In a letter to the editor,
1900, Dr. J. Oswald Dykes, who had a leading part in the preparation of the
Articles, said that 'in drawing up the Articles, the aim has been to retain the
essentials of the Reformed or Calvinistic divinity, but at the same time, to
alter the point of view by placing, not the decree of election but the love of
God in His Gospel in the centre, and by reverting to the Trinitarian
arrangement of the older creeds.' By action of the Synod, 1892, the question is
put to office-bearers, 'whether they sincerely own and believe the body of
Christian doctrine set forth in the Westminster Confession and the other
subordinate standards of the Church, and now more briefly expressed in the XXIV
Articles, approved by the Synod, 1890.' The Articles were adopted by the
Presbyterian Church of South Africa, 1897.
THE
ARTICLES OF THE FAITH.
Of God. We
believe in, and adore, one living and true God, Who is spirit, personal,
infinite, and eternal, present in every place, the almighty Author and sovereign
Lord of all; most blessed, most holy, and most free; perfect in wisdom, justice,
truth and love; to us most merciful and gracious: unto Whom only we must cleave,
Whom only we must worship and obey. To Him be glory for ever. Amen.
Of the Trinity.
We acknowledge, with the ancient Church, the mystery of the Holy Trinity as
revealed in Scripture, and believe that in the unity of the ever blessed Godhead
there are three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of one
substance, equal in power and glory.
Of Creation. We
believe that Almighty God, for His own glory and loving ends, was pleased in the
beginning to create the heavens and the earth, by the Son, the Eternal Word;
and, through progressive stages, to fashion and order this world, giving life to every creature; and to make man in His own image, that he might glorify and
enjoy God, occupying and subduing the earth and having dominion over the
creatures, to the praise of his Maker's name.
Of Providence. We believe that God the Creator upholds all things by the word of
His power, preserving and providing for all His creatures, according to the laws
of their being; and that He, through the presence and energy of His Spirit in
nature and history, disposes and governs all events for His own high design: yet is He not
in any wise the author or approver of sin, neither are the freedom and
responsibility of man taken away, nor have any bounds been set to the sovereign
liberty of Him Who worketh when and where and how He pleaseth.
Of the Fall. We
believe and confess that our first father, Adam, the representative head as well
as common ancestor of mankind, transgressed the commandment of God through
temptation of the devil, by which transgression he fell from his original state
of innocence and communion with God; and so all mankind, being in him, have come
under just condemnation, are subject to the penalty of death, and inherit a
sinful nature, estranged from God, from which proceed all actual transgressions:
and we acknowledge that out of this condition no man is able to deliver himself.
Of Saving Grace. We believe and proclaim that God, Who is rich in mercy as well
as of perfect justice, was moved by His great love to man to hold forth from the first a
promise of redemption, which from age to age He confirmed and unfolded, and
that, in the fulness of the time, He accomplished His gracious purpose by
sending His Son to be the Saviour of the world: wherefore our salvation out of
sin and misery is ever to be ascribed to free and sovereign grace.
Of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We believe in and confess, with the ancient Church, the Lord Jesus
Christ, Who, being the eternal Son of God, became man by taking to Himself a true body and soul, yet without sin, being
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary; so that
He is both God and Man, two whole perfect and distinct natures, the divine and
the human, being inseparably joined together in one person, that He might be the
Mediator between God and man, by Whom alone we must be saved.
Of the Work
of
Christ. We believe that the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, being anointed with
the Holy Spirit to proclaim and
set up the Kingdom of God among men, did by His perfect life on earth, through
words and deeds of grace, and by His death upon the cross, declare the Father,
Whose image He is; and did fully satisfy divine justice, and obtain for us
forgiveness of sins, reconciliation to God, and the gift of eternal life,
through His obedience on our behalf to the law and will of His Father, even unto
death, wherein, bearing our sins, He offered Himself up a sacrifice without spot
to God.
Of the Exaltation of Christ. We believe that Jesus Christ, being for our
offences crucified, dead, and buried, saw no corruption, but was raised again on
the third day, in Whose risen life we live anew, and have the pledge of a
blessed resurrection; that in the same body in which He rose He ascended into
heaven, where, as our High Priest, He maketh continual intercession for us; and
that He sitteth at the right hand of God, Head of the Church, clothed with
authority and power as Lord over all.
Of the Gospel. We hold fast and proclaim
that God, Who willeth that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of
the truth, has, by His Son our Saviour, given commission to the Church to preach
unto all nations the Gospel of His grace, wherein He freely offers to all men
forgiveness and eternal life, calling on them to turn from sin, and to receive
and rest by faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
Of the Holy Spirit. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life,
Who worketh freely as He will, without Whose quickening grace
there is no salvation, and Whom the Father never withholds from any who ask for
Him; and we give thanks that He has in every age moved on the hearts of men;
that He spake by the prophets; that through our
exalted Saviour He was sent forth in power to convict the world of sin, to
enlighten the minds of men in the knowledge of Christ, and to persuade and
enable them to obey the call of the Gospel; and that He abides with the Church,
dwelling in every believer as the Spirit of truth, of holiness, and of comfort.
Of Election and
Regeneration. We humbly own and believe that God the Father, before the
foundation of the world, was pleased of His sovereign grace to choose unto
Himself in Christ a people,
whom He gave to the Son, and to whom the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual life by a
secret and wonderful operation of His power, using as His ordinary means, where
years of understanding have been reached, the truths of His Word in ways
agreeable to the nature of man; so that, being born from above, they are the
children of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Of Justification by
Faith. We believe that every one, who through the grace of the Holy Spirit
repents and believes the Gospel, confessing
and forsaking his sins, and humbly relying upon Christ alone for salvation, is
freely pardoned and accepted as righteous in the sight of God, solely on the
ground of Christ's perfect obedience and atoning sacrifice.
Of Sonship in Christ.
We believe that
those who receive Christ by faith are united to Him, so that they are partakers
in His life, and receive of His fulness; and that they are adopted into the
family of God, are made heirs with Christ, and have His Spirit abiding in them,
the witness to their sonship, and the earnest of their inheritance.
Of the Law and New Obedience. We believe and acknowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ has laid
His people by His grace under new obligation to keep the perfect Law of God, and
has by precept and example enlarged our knowledge of that Law, and illustrated
the spirit of filial love in which the divine will is to be obeyed; and we bless
God that the obedience of Christians, though in this Life always imperfect, yet
being the fruit of their union to Christ, is accepted for His sake and
well-pleasing to God.
Of Sanctification and
Perseverance. We believe that the Holy Spirit dwelling to all Christ's people
purifies their hearts, enabling them to do freely and cheerfully that which
the will of God
requires, so that in measure as they surrender themselves to the Spirit of
Christ, and follow the guidance of His Word, they receive strength for daily
service, and grow in holiness after the image of their Lord; or if, departing
from God through unwatchfulness and neglect of prayer, any of them lapse into
spiritual languor, or fall into grievous sins, yet by the mercy of God Who
abideth faithful they are not cast off, but are chastened for their backsliding,
and through repentance restored to His favour, so that they perish not.
Of the Church. We
acknowledge one holy catholic Church, the innumerable company of saints of every
age and nation, who, being united by the Holy Spirit to Christ their Head, are
one body in Him, and have communion with their Lord and with one another: further, we
receive it as the will of Christ that His Church on earth should exist as a
visible and sacred brotherhood, consisting of those who profess faith in Jesus
Christ and obedience to Him, together with their children, and organized for the
confession of His name, the public worship of God, the upbuilding of the saints,
and the proclamation of the Gospel; and we acknowledge, as a part, more or less
pure, of this universal brotherhood, every particular Church throughout the
world which professes this faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to Him, as Divine
Lord and Saviour.
Of Church Order and
Fellowship. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the sole Head of His Church, has appointed
its worship, teaching, discipline and government to be administered according to
His will revealed in Holy Scripture, by officers chosen for their fitness, and
duly set apart to their office; and although the visible Church, even in its
purest branch, may contain unworthy members, and is liable to err, yet believers
ought not lightly to separate themselves from its communion, but are to live in
fellowship with their brethren: which fellowship is to be extended, as God gives
opportunity, to all who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.
Of Holy
Scripture. We
believe that God, Who manifests Himself in creation and providence, and
especially in the spirit of man, has been pleased to reveal His mind and will for our salvation at successive
periods and in various ways; and that this Revelation has been, so far as
needful, committed to writing by men inspired of the Holy Spirit, in the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which are therefore to be devoutly
studied by all as God's written Word or message to mankind: and we reverently
acknowledge the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures to be the Supreme Judge
in questions of faith and duty.
Of the Sacraments.
We acknowledge Baptism and the Lord's Supper, the two Sacraments instituted by
Christ, to be of perpetual obligation, as signs and seals of the new covenant,
ratified in His precious blood; through the observance of which His Church is to
confess her Lord and to be visibly distinguished from the rest of the world:
Baptism with water into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost being the sacrament of admission into the visible Church, in which are set
forth our union to Christ and regeneration by the Spirit, the remission of our
sins, and our engagement to be the Lord's; and the Lord's Supper, the sacrament
of communion with Christ and with His people, in which bread and wine are given
and received in thankful remembrance of Him and of His sacrifice on the cross,
and in which they who in faith receive the same do, after a spiritual manner,
partake of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, to their comfort,
nourishment, and growth in grace.
Of the Second Advent.
We assuredly believe that on a day known only to God, the Lord Jesus Christ will suddenly
come again from heaven with power and great glory; and we look for this second
appearing of our Saviour as the blessed hope of His Church, for which we ought
always to wait in sober watchfulness and diligence, that we may be found ready
at His coming.
Of the Resurrection.
We believe that the souls of the righteous enter at death upon a state of rest
and felicity at home with the Lord; that there shall be a resurrection of the
dead, both of the just and of the unjust, through the power of the Son of God;
and that the bodies of all who are fallen asleep in Christ, as well as of the
faithful who are alive at His coming, shall be fashioned anew and conformed to
the body of His glory.
Of the Last
Judgement. We believe that God will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus
Christ, before Whom all men must appear, Who shall separate the righteous from
the wicked, make manifest the secrets of the heart, and render to every man according to the
deeds which he hath done in the body, whether good or evil, when the wicked
shall go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.
Of the Life
Everlasting. Finally, we believe in and desire the life everlasting
in which the redeemed shall receive their inheritance of glory in the kingdom of
their Father, and be made fully blessed in the presence and service of God, Whom
they shall see and enjoy for ever and ever. Amen.
