[MORAL INABILITY.]

9. While sinners have all the faculties necessary to a perfect moral agency and a just accountability, such is their love of sin and opposition to God and his law, that, independently of the renewing influence or almighty energy of the Holy Spirit, they never will comply with the

commands of God.

[INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.]

10. The intercession of Christ for the elect is previous, as well as subsequent, to their regeneration, as appears from the following Scripture, viz.: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given. me, for they are thine. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word" (John xvii. 9, 20).

[SAVING FAITH.]

11. Saving faith is an intelligent and cordial assent to the testimony of God concerning his Son, implying reliance on Christ alone for pardon and eternal life; and in all cases it is an effect of the special operations of the Holy Spirit.

[REGENERATION.]

12. Regeneration is a radical change of heart, produced by the special operations of the Holy Spirit,' determining the sinner to that which is good,' and is in all cases instantaneous.

[SALVATION BY GRACE.]

13. While repentance for sin and faith in Christ are indispensable to salvation, all who are saved are indebted, from first to last, to the grace and Spirit of God. And the reason that God does not save all is not that he wants the power to do it, but that in his wisdom he does not see fit to exert that power further than he actually does.

[LIBERTY OF THE WILL.]

14. While the liberty of the will is not impaired, nor the established connection betwixt means and end broken, by any action of God on the mind, he can influence it according to his pleasure, and does effectually determine it to good in all cases of true conversion.

[JUSTIFICATION.]

15. All believers are justified, not on the ground of personal merit, but solely on the ground of the obedience and death, or, in other words, the righteousness of Christ. And while that righteousness does not become theirs, in the sense of a literal transfer of personal qualities and merit, yet from respect to it God can and does treat them as if they were righteous.

[FREEDOM IN FAITH AND UNBELIEF.]

16. While all such as reject the Gospel of Christ do it, not by coercion, but freely, and all who embrace it do it not by coercion, but freely, the reason why some differ from others is that God has made them to differ.

CONFESSION OF THE EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH OF GENEVA, 1848. 785

XIV. Nous croyons qu'il y aura XIV. We believe that there will une résurrection des injustes comme be a resurrection of the unjust des justes; que Dieu a arrêté un as well as of the just; that God jour où il jugera le monde univer- has decided upon a day in which sel par l'homme qu'il a destiné he shall judge the whole world à celà; et que les méchants iront by the man chosen for that puraux peines éternelles, pendant que pose; that the unjust will go to les justes jouiront de la vie éter- everlasting punishment, while the nelle. just will rejoice in life everlasting.

XV. Nous croyons que les ég- XV. We believe that individual lises particulières, établies en di-churches, established in different vers lieux et plus ou moins mélan- places, composed more or less of gées de régénérés et d'inconvertis, converted and unconverted perdoivent se faire connaître au sons, must make themselves known monde par la profession de leur to the world by the confession of espérance, les actes de leur culte, their hope, the acts of their woret le travail de leur charité. Mais ship, and the works of their charity. nous croyons aussi que, au-dessus But we also believe that, above all de toutes ces églises particulières these individual churches which qui ont été, qui sont et qui seront, have been, are, and will be, there il existe devant Dieu une sainte Eglise universelle, composée de tous les régénérés, et formant un seul corps invisible dont Jésus-Christ est la tête et dont les membres ne seront entièrement manifestés qu'au dernier jour.

exists before God a holy universal Church, composed of all the redeemed ones, forming one invisible body of which Jesus Christ is the head, and whose members will be entirely known only at the last day.

XVI. We believe that the Saviour has instituted Baptism and the Lord's Supper as symbols and pledges of the salvation which he

XVI. Nous croyons que le Seigneur a institué le baptême et la Cène comme symboles et gages du salut qu'il nous a acquis: le baptême, qui est le signe de la purifica- has acquired for us: Baptism, tion par le sang et par l'Esprit de which is the sign of the purificaJésus: la Cène, dans laquelle nous tion by the blood and spirit of recevons par la foi sa chair et son Jesus Christ; the Eucharist, in

Dieu en trois personnes, créateur | God in three persons, the Creator et conservateur de tout ce qui existe. and Preserver of all things.

IV. Nous croyons que le preIV. We believe that the first mier homme, Adam, fut créé à l'i- man, Adam, was created, after the mage de Dieu, dans une justice et image of God, perfectly just and une sainteté véritables; mais que, holy; but that, tempted by Satan, séduit par Satan, il tomba, et que he fell, and that, from that time, dès lors la nature humaine fut en- human nature has been entirely tièrement corrompue; en sorte que corrupt; so that all men are born tous les hommes naissent pécheurs, sinners, unable to do good before incapables de faire le bien selon God, inclined to evil, bringing Dieu, assujettis au mal, attirant condemnation and death on themsur eux, par un juste jugement, la selves by a just judgment. condamnation et la mort.

V. Nous croyons que la Parole, qui était de toute éternité avec Dieu et qui était Dieu, à été faite chair, et que, second Adam, né pur d'une vierge par la puissance du Très-Haut, Jésus, seul entre les hommes, a pu rendre à Dieu une parfaite obéissance.

V. We believe that the Word, which was of all eternity with God, and which was God, was made flesh, and that, alone among men, Jesus, a second Adam, born from a virgin by the power of the Most High, has been able to obey God in a perfect way.

VI. Nous croyons que Jésus, le VI. We believe that Jesus, the Christ, Dieu et homme en une Christ, God and man in one, only seule personne, unique Médiateur Mediator between God and men, entre Dieu et les hommes, est mort died in our place as an expiatory à notre place en victime expiatoire, victim, that he rose from the dead, qu'il est ressuscité, et que, élevé and that, having ascended into dans la gloire, il comparaît main-glory, he intercedes for us before tenant pour nous devant Dieu, en God, at the same time dwelling même temps qu'il demeure avec with us by the Holy Ghost. nous par son Esprit.

VII. We believe that no man

VII. Nous croyons que nul homme ne peut entrer dans le roy- can enter into the kingdom of aume de Dieu s'il n'a subi dans heaven unless he has felt in his son âme, par la vertu du Saint-soul, through the virtue of the Holy

Adamo, é per Adamo, è divenuta | Adam has become corrupt and corrotta e peccatrice; e tutti in sinful; and we are all born in Adamo nasciamo con l'inclinazi- Adam with the inclination to do one al mal fare, e l' incapacità di evil, and the inability of doing fare il bene da Dio comandato; well what God has commanded; epperciò, naturalmente, siamo tutti therefore, naturally, we are all sinpeccatori e sotto condannazione. ners under condemnation.

III. Iddio non vuole la morte del peccatore, ma che venga alla conoscenza della Verità e sia salvato.

III. God does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he should come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.

IV. La salvezza viene dall' amore IV. Salvation comes from the eterno e gratuita del Padre;-E eternal and gratuitous love of the acquistata pel sacrificio espiatorio, Father; it is obtained through the per la risurrezione e per la inter- expiatory sacrifice, resurrection, cessione del Figlio, che ci giustifi- and intercession of the Son; it is ca;- Vien comunicata dallo Spi- communicated by the Holy Spirit, rito Santo, il quale, rigenerando il who regenerates the sinner, unites peccatore, lo unisce a Cristo per la fede, viene ad abitare in lui, produce la pace nel suo cuore, dandogli la sicurezza dell' intera remissione dei suoi peccati, lo rende libero, lo guida e lo consola per mezzo della Parola ch' Egli stesso ha data, lo suggella e lo custodisce, ing and guarding him until the per il giorno della gloriosa appa- day of the glorious appearing rizione del Signor nostro e Salva- of our Lord and Saviour Jesus tore Gesù Cristo. Christ.

him to Christ by faith, comes and dwells in him, produces peace in his heart, giving him the assurance of the entire remission of his sins, making him free, guiding and consoling him by means of the Word which he himself has given, seal

V. Il Cristiano, riscattato a gran V. The Christian, redeemed with prezzo, deve glorificare Iddio nel a great price, ought to glorify corpo, nell' anima e nello Spirito, God in his body, soul, and spirit, che a Dio stesso appartengono, which belong to God, walking in camminando nella santificazione, holiness, without which no man senza la quale niuno può vedere il can see the Lord. In order to Signore. A ciò fare, egli trova this, he finds strength in com