The Belgic Confession of Faith: Article 22
The Belgic Confession of Faith: Article 22
We now come to the benefits of faith, which are contained in the Articles 22 to 26. Articles 22 and 23 deal with the free justification of the sinner before God; Article 24 deals with sanctification; Article 25 with the ceremonial law; and Article 26 with Christ's intercession. These are all benefits because of Christ's satisfaction. So we now come to the fruits of His work; and it is necessary that we be partakers of that. We first come to Article 22 which deals with "Faith in Jesus Christ." We read:
We believe that, to attain the true knowledge of this great mystery (that is, the mystery which is explained in the previous article), the Holy Ghost kindleth in our hearts an upright faith, which embraces Jesus Christ with all His merits, appropriates Him, and seeks nothing more besides Him. For it must needs follow, either that all things which are requisite to our salvation are not in Jesus Christ, or if all things are in Him, that then those who possess Jesus Christ through faith, have complete salvation in Him. Therefore, for any to assert that Christ is not sufficient, but that something more is required besides Him, would be too gross a blasphemy; for hence it would follow that Christ was but half a Savior.
Therefore we justly say with Paul that we are justified by faith alone, or by faith without works. However, to speak more clearly, we do not mean that faith itself justifies us, for it is only an instrument with which we embrace Christ our Righteousness. But Jesus Christ, imputing to us all His merits and so many holy works which He has done for us and in our stead, is our Righteousness. And faith is an instrument that keeps us in communion with Him in all His benefits, which, when become ours, are more than sufficient to acquit us of our sins.
This is an article which deals with the heart of the church. Thus it is a very essential and a very precious article. "We believe that, to attain the true knowledge of this great mystery, the Holy Ghost kindleth in our hearts an upright faith." In this article we are dealing with upright faith. We all know that faith is a word which is read and heard everywhere. In faith there are distinctions, as was taught us already in our youth – historical, temporary, miraculous, and saving faith.
We know that historical faith is not the faith of which is here spoken. I believe that President Clinton is President of the United States. I may have knowledge of him, and that knowledge might be quite detailed. Whether I know much or little, however, it is a knowledge which does not indicate any particular love or any personal acquaintance with the person, but it is a knowledge which is only in my head. In like manner we can also know exactly what the Bible says, and we can believe that it is the truth. We can believe in the Lord Jesus as a historical reality, that He indeed came in the form of a servant, that He suffered, died on the cross of Golgotha, that He arose, ascended to heaven, and is sitting at the right hand of the Father, and all the other truths of which the Word of God speaks. That is historical faith. Paul said that King Agrippa believed the Scriptures, and yet he was not saved. Even the devils believe that the Scripture is true. They know very well that the Bible is the Word of God from the beginning to the end. They have their instruments who sow doubt in the hearts of people, and they use theologians in order to criticize the Word of God, but they themselves believe that it is the truth. They know it; they believe that there is a God, and they tremble (James 2:19). But this is not saving faith; it is a historical faith, without affection, without love, without feeling.
Temporary faith goes a little bit deeper. It affects even our emotions. It may make us cry in church. It even makes us joyful when we hear the message of salvation. It makes us feel very down when we hear about judgment. It affects our emotions so that we cry, we weep, or we rejoice, but it does not change our heart. An example is the seed sown on the stony ground (Matthew 13). It came up fast, quickly, but it did not have depth of earth. The roots did not go deep; they were just on the surface. This is surface religion. The difference in saving faith is that it is planted by the Holy Ghost. It is rooted in the heart and is known in the fruit. Saving faith loves the Lord and goes out toward Him, while temporary faith is concerned about self and seeks the Lord's benefits. As an example of temporary faith, we can also mention Demas, who returned to the world.
Miraculous faith believes that a miracle will happen by me or unto me. We recognize that from confession and catechism classes. It is a faith in which we believe, like the ten lepers, that we will be healed or that a wonder will happen to us. It is like the people on the last day who, standing before the closed gate of heaven, will say, "Open unto us, for have we not prophesied in Thy name; have we not cast out devils in Thy name?" And the Lord will say, "I never knew you." So that is not saving faith.
What we are dealing with here is true saving faith. True saving faith is a work of God. I would like to make that very clear. Saving faith is not just an act of mine. Generally, faith is spoken about today as if it were just our response to an invitation, to a calling, to something which comes to us with some power or persuasion.
Dr. Alexander Comrie says that there are two things when we speak about faith: the habitus, or the essence of faith, and the actus, or the exercises of faith. First of all, when we speak about faith, there is a planting. In the hour of regeneration the Lord plants in the heart of a sinner a heavenly planting; and that is the essence, the principle, the habitus of faith. At His time the Lord brings this essence into action; the Lord moves it by His power, for no one can exercise this principle, this planting, in his own strength. This second part is also the work of the Lord. The exercises come from God's power bringing this essence into operation – hungering, or thirsting, or being poor. Comrie speaks about poverty as being one of the appearances of faith.
There are many words which Comrie uses in order to describe all the actions, the acts of faith; but these do not flow from the sinner himself, responding without a new birth, without regeneration, without the quickening, without being made a new creature, without having received the habitus. No; they flow from the sinner having received that planting of the Lord. That makes all the difference. Our speaking or talking, or being zealous for God's kingdom, without this new principle, without a new heart, without this planting of the Lord, are not the works of saving faith at all. Therefore we should always maintain that faith is not merely man's answer to God's invitation.
Comrie said that the principle of faith is a planting of God. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). Both the principle and the actions of faith are His work. That faith justifies the sinner.
At two ministers' and office-bearers' conferences in Delft in 1618, just preceding the Synod of Dordt, it was stated about justification, about faith, "Justification must be complete." I must be justified, not just eighty percent, but I must be completely just before God, and that is possible only by a perfect satisfaction, which is the perfect righteousness of Christ. Now that is clear enough.
In their second thesis they said that faith is the only instrument, but it is also only an instrument; it is not the righteousness before God itself. It is an instrument. Our works, also those which come forth from the root of faith, good works, cannot be our righteousness before God, nor a part of it. And about faith they said, "This faith," which is an instrument, "cannot be without knowledge of the Person and merits of Christ, for no one can be saved but he who receives the benefits of Christ with a believing heart." Then they also said this about faith, "With true faith also belongs a certain, a sure confidence of the heart, which assures us that not only to others, but also to us, has been given forgiveness of sins, eternal righteousness, and salvation."
This reminds us quite a bit of what we read in Lord's Day 7. There we read what the essence of faith really is. When speaking about faith, Comrie has another expression, "Faith is the officer or the captain of all graces." As unbelief is the captain of all evil, all iniquity, so faith is the officer of all graces. Without faith we cannot please God; without faith we cannot be just before God.
Faith consists of three things: a) of knowledge; b) of assent; and c) of trust, or confidence. We see that the whole man is involved in it.
When we speak about knowledge, then we think of the mind, of the understanding, or, we could say, the intellectual aspect, although it is not an intellectual knowledge. Our understanding is then enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
Assent means that we lose our resistance, that we give up, that we come to an agreement, which we could call the emotional aspect.
Confidence, or trust, is that we rely upon it. It is sometimes called the volitional aspect. Those three things are necessary in order to have true faith, and are all wrought by God's Spirit.
When we have true faith, we do not have knowledge without any trust. Nor do we have mere assent without having any knowledge, so that we just believe what the priest or the pope says, or what a synod says, or what a certain group says. No, we believe because we know it ourselves. Assent is not just that we agree because we have to agree, but it is an agreement with the whole heart, it is something that we believe, and such a thing that we know. But it is also a trust, a certain confidence, so that I may rely upon it.
Here is an example. I once heard of a minister who visited the mission field. He had to cross a bridge over a deep ravine. It was a rather shaky bridge made of vines and branches, so it seemed quite dangerous to cross. But finally he picked up his things and went over it. Three things were necessary: First, he had to know there was a bridge over the ravine; it was the only one. There was no other way to cross. There is only One bridge to God over the ravine, over the gulf which we have made. What a wonder if that One has been revealed to me. But, secondly, he also must assent, agree indeed that it was the bridge that he needed. There was no other one. Thus a sinner must agree that he must cross that way, that he needs to be saved and restored by that only Savior, Jesus Christ, the Way to God. Finally, there must be a trust that the bridge would hold him; that it would not let him fall. There must be trust that I will not fall down into an eternal damnation half way, or maybe nearly at the end; that I may rely upon Him.
Those three elements are part of true saving faith. This knowledge, the intellectual element, should not be confused or mixed with a historical faith, as many do today. They say, or at least they think, that if you study enough or hear enough or read enough, you can come to that certain knowledge. But the Lord makes us to know Him experientially. This is a knowledge which is a knowledge by meeting each other, or by revelation. It is a knowledge of the heart.
It cannot be emphasized enough that the knowledge which the Lord works by faith is of a different character from natural knowledge. 1 Corinthians 13 speaks of this knowledge: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge…" But if it is only natural knowledge and I have no love, I am like a tinkling cymbal.
Professor Driessen was one of Comrie's professors. He was a very well-educated man, a great scholar, who had written large volumes about the passion of Christ. These were very sound and instructive, one would say. There was a time, however, when the Lord planted saving faith in him, and he began to know with saving knowledge, experiential knowledge. When that became his portion, he asked his students, "Brothers, please tell me, Who is He? Who is the Lord Jesus? How can I be reconciled with God?" He began to know God for himself; that is the beginning. Saving knowledge is wrought by the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit. When the principle of faith is planted with that new life, that new creature, then He enlightens the understanding, bends the will, gives new desires, and also enlightens the mind.
Then we read, this faith "the Holy Ghost kindleth in our hearts." Do you see who is the first One? It is the Holy Ghost! They do not speak about our faith and then of the Spirit beginning His work and coming into the heart. No, they first begin with God. Friends, I wish I could write this in your hearts. If God has not been the first One in your life, and if you have taken the first step, then you are still one step outside of life, even if you take one hundred steps. However, if God is the first One and He has stopped you, quickened, enlightened, planted faith in you, then even if there is but the smallest beginning and but little trust, a "Who can tell?"; and even though everything is still very dark; where there is that principle, that habitus, the Lord will bring it further, and the Lord will also bring it into action.
Those people are also dependent upon God in the actions of faith. It is just as with a baby. A baby has a hand, if all is well, but the baby needs to learn, needs to know how to use that hand. We, too; we cannot lift up our hand without God's strength. So it is also with the hand of faith. God's people learn to know that "without Me you can do nothing." So the Holy Spirit "kindles" in our heart that upright faith which embraces Jesus Christ.
That brings me to another point. To what is faith always related? To my feelings? No. To a vision, to a dream? No. We need a better object, and that is the Word of God. Faith always believes God's testimony. Then you understand that when God plants that faith, He also opens the Word. Then the minister seems to preach differently. He does not change, but you listen differently. And you begin to read the Bible differently and yet it is the same Bible. It all becomes new a new Book, new sermons. It is the Word which is opened, and that is the object. Then faith begins to work just as the little baby begins to move, to cry, and to hunger. It cannot talk as yet, but it moves; there is life. Faith is brought into action; and the actions go toward the Word, always to the Word of God. If there is something else, you let that go. It is the Word only! The Word tells us who God is and who we are; and we begin to believe that. You have always said you were a sinner and God is holy, just, and good. But it was just as with President Clinton; you know that he exists, but for the rest there is no special feeling of love, no relationship.
But now you begin to believe that God is great, holy, good, and just. His justice comes more and more to the foreground (Lord's Day 5), and it must be satisfied. In that way I begin to believe that God is holy and just; and that I am a sinner, and cannot come back to Him. I cannot stand before Him. I can never bring anything of my own righteousness unto Him, for I have no righteousness. Do I then begin to believe that I am saved? No, just the opposite, that I am lost, that I am Adam.
When I am bowing under the justice of God, that also becomes God's time to open my eyes for the way of salvation – the Ladder of Jacob. Then the Lord perhaps has first opened up only the promise to me in the gospel, but the Lord Jesus is still hidden.
Later on He also sheds light upon the Person. Then I begin to see Him who is the Word Incarnate.
Then that faith begins to hunger after Him. That faith is always directed to the Word, but it now goes out to the Word Incarnate. It goes out to Christ. It begins to long, to thirst for the Living Water. The Spirit then works further and empties the soul more and more. He binds the necessity, the need for Him, more and more upon the heart.
I begin to know that He is the only Mediator, that He is the only Bridge. I am wrought upon by the Spirit to assent that He can do it, that He may do it, that there is no other. By nature I say, "Help me! But not with the loss of my life. Save me! Oh, I cannot stand before the Lord!" But in the meantime I am upholding myself, negotiating between Him and me. "Have mercy, Lord. I cannot stand before Thee. Oh, give me Thy righteousness." Yet I am trying to add something of my own righteousness. That all has to be taken out of my own hand. I have to be emptied of that. That also is the teaching of the Spirit. But if I am now empty-handed and it looks absolutely impossible, and the Lord opens my eyes for the Savior, for this Ladder of Jacob, and I see His preciousness, then there comes a time that I say, "Yes, Lord, wash me; save me as Thou savest Thy people." Then I let all my own filthy rags go, and I learn to cling unto Him, saying, "Undertake for me, for Thou art the Surety." And that is the assent. Then I come to the agreement that He is the only Way of salvation.
I do not only see Him as the Bridge and I do not only say, "This is the only One," but now I also give up myself. That is trust, relying upon Him. I wish you knew what that was falling upon Him. Then you say, "If He slay me, I will yet hope upon Him. Here I am." You fall; and with that woman you touch the hem of His garment. That is precious. Now you will not be cast away. No, surely not. "He delights in showing mercy." Trust, but then in Him alone. It is Christ ONLY! That is what they say who embrace Christ. It is a step further to embrace Him as my own. But there is also a touching of the hem of His garment, "Jesus Christ and all His merits."
If faith is in action, then there is always some appropriation, there is always something saying deep inside, "Mine." If faith may be in exercise and I may see Him, there is always something which says, "My." But it is another step to say with true assurance, "My Lord and my God." There is a) refuge-taking, and b) an assured confidence. Also in that refuge-taking there is a certain trust. Then you know for sure that He is the only One who can bring it to pass.
The devil does not like this doctrine; he hates it. Therefore many of his instruments have opposed it, as did Pelagius and others, who said, "You have a free will; you have the power to believe. You must decide this for yourself." There are also Semi-Pelagians. Cassianus, the father of the Semi-Pelagians, who lived in the fifth century, was the one who taught that man was sick, and that the will was weak and needed to be strengthened by God's helping grace.
Later, Rome, who are also Semi-Pelagians, said that when you are baptized, you receive strengthening grace from the Lord, which makes your weak will healthy and enables you to believe. Also the Arminians, the Remonstrants, erred in regard to this doctrine. They said that salvation is made possible by God. The only thing required of you is to accept it. However, you cannot do it yourself; you need God's grace, but you have to be willing to receive that grace of God. If you say, "Yes, Lord, I want it," He will give it, and then you may believe. It sounds good, but it is not good, for then "I," that is, self, decides. That means, first man and then God.
God alone is the first and the last – the Alpha and the Omega. There is a people who are glad that He is the first and the last; otherwise they would never be saved. This was the discovery of the Reformation. By grace alone! By faith alone! By Christ alone! Is that also your only hope? Blessed are those who may trust in Him alone and glorify Him.
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