I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth
The remission of sins.
The Resurrection of the Flesh The Life Everlasting
Introduction The articles of our faith set forth nothing unto us but the knowledge of God. And as we are not able thoroughly to comprehend him, he being perfect and uncorrupt in nature: so is there particularly given us, sometimes one small taste and feeling of him, and sometimes another. And seeing in the divine nature, there be three persons (as we believe) of one essence; namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, the whole essence pertains to each one of them. But now this first article, which properly concerns the Father, propounds four things to be observed; first, that he, in whom we believe, is the true
God; secondly, that the same is the Father; thirdly, that he is omnipotent; and lastly, that he is the author and first original of all things created. Now go to: let us see particularly, what the proper meaning is of these words; I believe in God. Assuredly, we cannot otherwise explain this sentence than to say that he is to be acknowledged as God.
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth
So, if a man asks you, "What is God?" (rejecting all human subtlety and setting aside the unsearchable difficulties), you must boldly and absolutely answer without hesitation that God is the eternal good, from whom every other good comes. Hence, it is evident that anyone who esteems anything as much as or more than God cannot truly say,
"I believe in God." For if you acknowledge Him as the chief good, you will never prioritize anything above Him. Nor can someone truly believe this if they ever place their hope elsewhere, since hope is only for something good. Therefore, if God (as I have said) is the good from which every good thing flows, whoever expects good elsewhere does not truly believe in Him.
Moreover, those who attribute the good things they possess to their own righteousness, efforts, actions, and ultimately to themselves do not have the understanding and true appreciation of this first article of our faith. So, what can you say about those who have set for themselves certain goals of good things, out of the vanity of their own imagination, and out of the decrees of philosophers and worldly men, yes, even out of the instincts of brute beasts, in which they truly find solace, no matter what evil they bring? Surely, such people do not properly worship God but instead worship the fantasies and inventions of their own minds. Believe me, this matter is of the utmost importance for a person to have the true God as their GOD.
The prophet David declared those people blessed whose God is the true God.
Now it is evident what it means to believe in God; however, we have not yet explained why the Father is called by the name of Father.
That name is attributed to Him chiefly for two reasons. One is because He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the second person in divine nature. The other reason is that He chose to be our
Father. He is called Father because He distributes His inheritance to
us and shares His nature with us, as Paul to the Romans calls us "The heirs of God," and Peter says that we partake of the divine nature.
For these two reasons, parents usually give to their children. First, they try as much as they can to make them like themselves in nature and way of living. Then, when they have made them their heirs, they seek to enrich them with all their possessions. The resemblance that the regenerated have with God their Father lies in wisdom, justice, simplicity of mind, magnanimity, charity, and other heavenly and divine qualities of the mind. By these, they consider themselves to be made in the image of God, as they were created in the beginning.
And the inheritance they expect from such an excellent Father is eternal and supremely blessed life.
And how different is this generation from that in which we are born of flesh and bones? And what a great distinction is there between this eternal life inheritance and the free gifts among the living or those bequeathed through wills concerning fields, vineyards, houses, livestock, money, or anything else? Although we have these things from Him and through Him now, we are only speaking of that by which God is properly called the Father of those regenerated in Christ. If only people would embrace this with faith and a willing mind, they would not deviate so far from the nature and likeness of God our Father, nor would they display the traits of illegitimate children through their shameful actions and wicked deeds, as many do today.
This is the paternal image and form to which Christ called us when He said, "Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Yet He did not remain silent about that glorious and rich inheritance when
He told Peter, "Whoever leaves what is his for my name's sake, he will not only receive a hundredfold from me, but also eternal life."
Therefore, whoever expects such a great inheritance by faith, neither
becomes overly proud in prosperity nor excessively sorrowful in adversity, but always sets his mind on greater things. He never convinces himself that the labours and vexations of this life are not equivalent to the reward he anticipates.
The third point of our faith: the omnipotence of God.
But now let us come to the third point, wherein we believe Him to be omnipotent. Firstly, this signifies that He, by His own power alone, was able to bring forth (as will be discussed later) everything contained in both heaven and earth. Furthermore, when He will protect me from all evils and bestow every good thing upon me
(being His own handiwork), He can demonstrate this through various means. Being omnipotent, as we believe Him to be, He can easily remove all hindrances and obstacles. On this rests, as on a most solid foundation, all the honour and worthiness of our faith.
For whatever resistance the wisdom of man, the world, the flesh, our very senses, or the temptations of the devil may offer against the promises contained in the Holy Scriptures, it is defeated by this article. Hence, Paul says to the Romans that Abraham gave glory to God when he fully believed that He was able to perform what He promised, even though it might not be feasible by human reasoning and power.
Therefore, you must not heed what importunate men may object, nor the troubling thoughts that may enter your mind, opposing the things contained in the Holy Scriptures and divine promises. For to you is evident both the infinite power of God and His paternal will, in whom you profess to believe. You must also recall that neither miracles are performed nor prayers are answered unless full faith is given to this omnipotence of God and to the love with which He loves
us. For this reason, Christ said that "All things are possible to him who believes."
Maker of Heaven and Earth Now remains to expound the last part of this article, namely, "The maker of heaven and earth." By this saying is refuted the error that the schools of philosophers endeavour to persuade, that the world indeed was without beginning, and that it cannot by any possible means be made of nothing. Here all of us, endowed with faith, see much more perfectly than they have seen. It would be absurd to measure the works of God omnipotent with a certain measure of natural works. Furthermore, we also believe hereby that God is the perpetual preserver of the things which He has made. For unless He should govern all things by the same virtue with which He made them, without doubt, all things would be reduced to naught, which, to have their being, were at first brought forth by Him from nothing.
Whereupon it is also lawful to conclude another thing: that if all things are created by God, as we have before declared, and that He is truly a father unto thee, and so merciful a father, whatever is made by Him comes to your use.
To Adam, the parent of all mankind, all things in a manner became subject. But seeing he was ungrateful of mind, he, by his grievous offense, spoiled both himself and all of us of so precious and ample inheritance. This inheritance, Paul manifestly shows, with very great and most forceful arguments, to be restored to us again by Christ, teaching that the benefit of Christ is mightier and of more efficacy than the malice and wickedness of Adam. Therefore, he also writes to them that "All things happen well unto them which truly love God."
It is therefore our part rightly and justly to apply unto our use and commodity those things that are created, so that for the use of them,