Second Confession,

Also drawn up at Amsterdam, on the 7th of October, 1630, called: Confession of Faith, and the principal articles of the Christian doctrine.

[Not divided into separate articles, except the articles of belief in God, and the manner of life in the church.]

We believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth, that there is one only, eternal, incomprehensible, spiritual Being, which, in Scripture, is called God; to whom alone is ascribed omnipotence, mercy, righteousness, perfection, wisdom, all goodness, and omniscience, and who is called a fountain of life, and the source of all good, the Creator of all things, and the Preserver of the same; who in the Old Testament bears various appellations—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God Schadai, the God Jehovah, the God of Israel, I am that I am, the Alpha and Omega, etc.; but who in the New Testament is called by three distinct names—God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, whom we confess to differ thus far, namely: that the Father, as far as he is Father, is an other than the Son; and the Son, as far as he is Son, is an other than the Father, and the Holy Ghost, as far as he is a true Holy Ghost, is an other than the Father and the Son, and that they, although differing in name, are nevertheless in their divine nature and attributes, one only, undivided God, according to the testimony of the Apostle: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. Rom. 10:9; Deut. 6:4; Is. 45:5,21; Rom. 3:30; 1 Cor. 8:4; Eph. 4:6; Gen. 21:33; Ps. 90:2; Is. 49:28; Ps. 145:3; 4 Esdr. 8:21; Gen. 17:1; 2 Cor. 6:18; Ex. 34:6,7; Luke 6:36; Ps. 11:7; Col. 3; Lev. 19:2; Matt. 5:48; 1 Tim. 1:2; Ps. 103:8; Matt. 19:17; Ps. 139; James 1:17; Gen. 1:1; Job 38 and 39; Ex. 3:6; 6:6; 5:1; Rev. 1:8; 22:13; Matt. 28:19; John 14:16; 1 John 5:7.

That this Holy God, by his great power and incomprehensible wisdom, created, in six days, out of nothing, heaven and earth, together with all things visible and invisible; and on the sixth day prepared man a body of the dust of the earth, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and thus made him a living soul, or man; that he exalted this man above all creatures, endowed him with wisdom, understanding and reason, and made him Lord over all creatures; nay, above all this, created him in his divine image, in holiness and righteousness, for immortality, and placed him in the garden of Eden, where he might have been happy forever, yet requiring of him true obedience, saying: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” From this we see the free will of man. Gen. 1:6,9,14,24; Jer. 32:17; Acts 17:24; Gen. 1:26,28; 2:7; Sir. 17:5; Wis. 2:23; Gen. 2:8,9.

That man, through the subtlety of the serpent and the envy of the devil, was brought to disobey his Creator; whereby he, with all his posterity, fell into death and condemnation, and thus, from the most glorious, became the most miserable creature. Gen. 3:1; Wis. 2:24; 4 Esdr. 7:48; Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:21.

That the Lord God, seeing the fall of his most glorious creature, and that he could neither through himself nor through any other creature be redeemed therefrom, showed that he was a gracious and merciful God, yea, the supreme or only goodness, in that he sought to reconcile unto himself, out of pure grace and without any merit, man and all who had fallen in him. Ps. 49:8; Rev. 5:3; Ps. 33:5; Matt. 19:17; Rom. 5:12; 3:24; 2 Cor. 5:19.

But, as the justice of God required, that the sin committed should not go unpunished, and as no creature could satisfy the former, he not only frequently promised man to send his only beloved Son as a Savior, but prefigured it by various types. Gen. 3:15; 12:3,7; 16:18; 24:19; 7:14; 9:6; 11:10; 53; Jer. 23:5,6; 33:15; Dan. 7:13; 9:24; Micah 5:2; Hagg. 2:23; Matt. 3:1; Ex. 12:3; 25:17; Num. 21:9; Deut. 30:15; Sir. 15:14.

That the Lord, after as well as before the fall, left man his free will to accept, through faith in the promised Savior, the proffered grace of God, or to reject it, is evident not only from the sending out of his prophets, apostles, and disciples, but also from the kind invitation of his beloved Son; and this justly, in order that he, as a righteous judge, might have just cause, on the last day, to punish the despisers with the pains of hell, and reward the obedient lambs with the joys of heaven. Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Acts 17:31; Matt. 11:28; 22:9; 1 Tim. 1:15; Tit. 2:11; 2 Thess. 1:8; Acts 3:46; Rom. 2:5; Bar. 3:29; John 3:16,36; 1 Thess. 1:6; Heb. 6:10.