ARTICLE XIV.

Of the Sonship of Believers.

Believers in Christ are born of God, through the regenerating power of his Spirit, and are partakers of the Divine nature; for if that which is born of the flesh is flesh,' so 'that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.'

And all who are thus born of God are sons of God, and joint heirs with Christ; and therefore, without distinction of name, brethren with Christ and with one another.

ARTICLE XV.

Of Good Works.

Good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, are pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out, necessarily, of a true and lively faith; insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit. They who truly believe will seek to do the will of God, and they who do not thus seek are not to be accounted true believers.

ARTICLE XVI.

Of Works of Supererogation.

Voluntary works, besides, over, and above God's commandments, which they call works of supererogation, can not be taught without arrogancy and impiety. For by them men do declare that they do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to do, but that they do more for his sake than of bounden, duty is required. Whereas Christ saith plainly: 'When ye have done all that are commanded to you,' say, We are unprofitable servants.'

ARTICLE XVII.

Salvation only in Christ.

Holy Scripture doth set out unto us the name of Jesus Christ only, whereby men must be saved. His was a finished work and completely sufficient. Without any merit or deserving on our part he has secured

'[The Eng. Vers. reads: all those things which are commanded you' (Luke xvii. 10).—Ed.]

to believers in him pardon, acceptance, sonship, sanctification, redemption, and eternal glory. Those who believe in him are in him complete. They are even now justified and have a present salvation; though they may not at all times have the sense of its possession.

ARTICLE XVIII.

Of Election, Predestination, and Free Will.

While the Scriptures distinctly set forth the election, predestination, and calling of the people of God unto eternal life, as Christ saith: 'All that the Father giveth me shall come to me;' they no less positively affirm man's free agency and responsibility, and that salvation is freely offered to all through Christ.

This Church, accordingly, simply affirms these doctrines as the Word of God sets them forth, and submits them to the individual judgment of its members, as taught by the Holy Spirit; strictly charging them that God commandeth all men every where to repent, and that we can be saved only by faith in Jesus Christ.

ARTICLE XIX.

Of Sin after Conversion.

The grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after conversion: that is to say, after, by the quickening into life by the Holy Ghost, they have turned to God by faith in Christ, and have been brought into that change of mind which is repentance unto life. For after we have received the Holy Ghost we may, through unbelief, carelessness, and worldliness, fall into sin, and by the grace of God we may arise again, and amend our lives; but every such fall is a grievous dishonor to our Lord, and a sore injury to ourselves.

ARTICLE XX.

Of Christ alone, without Sin.

Christ, in the truth of our nature, was made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted, from which he was clearly void, both in his flesh, and in his spirit. He came to be the Lamb without spot, who, by sacrifice of himself, made once forever, should take away the sin of the world; and sin (as St. John saith) was not in him. But all we the rest, although born again in Christ, yet offend in many things; and

if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not

in us.

ARTICLE XXI.

Of the Church.

The souls dispersed in all the world, who adhere to Christ by faith, who are partakers of the Holy Ghost, and worship the Father in spirit and in truth, are the body of Christ, the house of God, the flock of the Good Shepherd-the holy, universal Christian Church.

A visible Church of Christ is a congregation of believers in which the pure Word of God is preached and Baptism and the Lord's Supper are duly ministered according to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same. And those things are to be considered requisite which the Lord himself did, he himself commanded, and his apostles confirmed.

As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch,' and Rome have erred, so also others have erred and may err, not only in their living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith.

ARTICLE XXII.

Of the Authority of a Church.

A Church hath power to decree ceremonies and to establish forms of worship and laws for the government and discipline of its members, and to declare its own faith; yet it is not lawful for any Church to ordain or decide any thing that is contrary to God's Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture that it be repugnant to another. And as the Church ought not to decree any thing against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of salvation. The Nicene Creed, as set forth in the Prayer-Book of this Church, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' Creed, ought to be received and believed; for they may be proved by Holy Scripture.

1

1 [As in the Anglican and the Protestant Episcopal Articles, so here Constantinople-the great rival of Rome and chief representative of the Eastern Church-is omitted, no doubt undesignedly; but some Anglo-Catholics, zealous for intercommunion with the Greek Church, derive comfort from the omission.]

ARTICLE XXIII.

Of the Authority of General Councils.

General Councils (forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and Word of God) may err, and sometimes have erred, not only in worldly matters, but also in things pertaining to God. Wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation are not binding, as such, on a Christian man's conscience unless it may be proved that they be taken out of Holy Scripture. No law or authority can override individual responsibility, and therefore the right of private judgment. For the individual Christian, as Christ distinctly affirms, is to be judged by the Word. The only rule of faith is God's Word written.

ARTICLE XXIV.

Of Ministering in the Congregation.

Those who take upon themselves the office of public preaching, or ministering the ordinances in the congregation, should be lawfully called thereunto, and sent to execute the same. And those we ought to judge lawfully called and sent which be moved to this work by the Holy Ghost, and are duly accredited by the Lord's people.

That doctrine of Apostolic Succession,' by which it is taught that the ministry of the Christian Church must be derived through a series of uninterrupted ordinations, whether by tactual succession or otherwise, and that without the same there can be no valid ministry, no Christian Church, and no due ministration of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, is wholly rejected as unscriptural and productive of great mischief.

This Church values its historic ministry, but recognizes and honors as equally valid the ministry of other Churches, even as God the Holy Ghost has accompanied their work with demonstration and power.

ARTICLE XXV.

Of the Sacraments.

By the word Sacrament this Church is to be understood as meaning only a symbol or sign divinely appointed.

Our Lord Jesus Christ hath knit together his people in a visible

company by sacraments, most few in number, most easy to be kept, most excellent in signification, viz., Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Those five so-called Sacraments-that is to say, Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction-are not to be counted for Sacraments of the gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the Apostles, partly are states of life allowed by the Scriptures; but yet have not like nature of Sacraments with Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.

And in such only as worthily receive Baptism and the Lord's Supper are they of spiritual benefit, and yet not that of the work wrought (ex opere operato), as some men speak. Which word, as it is strange and unknown to Holy Scripture, so it gendereth no godly, but a very superstitious sense. In such as receive them rightly, faith is confirmed and grace increased by virtue of prayer to God. But they that receive them unworthily purchase to themselves judgment, as St. Paul saith; while it is equally true that none, however conscious of unworthiness, are debarred from receiving them, if they are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

ARTICLE XXVI.

Of Baptism.

Baptism represents the death of believers with Christ, and their rising with him to newness of life. It is a sign of profession, whereby they publicly declare their faith in him. It is intended as a sign of regeneration or new birth. They that are baptized are grafted into the visible Church: the promises of the forgiveness of sin and of adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost are visibly set forth. The baptism of young children is retained in this Church, as agreeable to ancient usage and not contrary to Holy Writ.

ARTICLE XXVII.

Of the Lord's Supper.

The Supper of the Lord is a memorial of our Redemption by Christ's death, for thereby we do show forth the Lord's death till he come.

It

is also a symbol of the soul's feeding upon Christ. And it is a sign of the communion that we should have with one another.

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