The church confesses that at the last day the Lord Jesus will return to earth, “corporally and visibly,” coming back in the same way He ascended. The church also has been told about the signs that will precede His coming.

In its treatment of the place of government, the confession includes kings, princes and magistrates - thus including both the legislative and executive elements of government. Courts and judges are included, as well as all kinds of legal authorities: that is, civic, regional, provincial, and federal authorities. All levels of government have their origin in God.

Our Saviour instituted the Lord's Supper as a sacrament in the Church in order to strengthen our faith, and seal and confirm God's promises to His people. The signs or tokens are bread and wine, which we may both see with our eyes and taste with our mouths. In them, Christ's death is portrayed to us, and the blessings that flow from it are communicated to us through faith. As surely as we see and participate in the actions around the table, so surely we may know that Christ gives His blessings to us.

Holy baptism was instituted in the church by Christ to signify and seal God's promises. The word baptize means to immerse, and also signifies washing, cleansing and purifying. The sign used is water, and the act of baptism is meant to signify the washing away of sins, or the cleansing from sin. In the Old Testament, cleansing occurred by both water and blood, and both sprinkling and immersion signified purification.

The word sacrament is not found in the Bible, but arose in the course of the early history of the church. It comes from the Latin sacramentum, which signified an oath or pledge which a soldier took at enlisting, and was also used to denote the flag, ensign or badge of battle. The term shows affinity to the ideas of initiation and warfare.

According to Lord’s Day 31, the kingdom of heaven is opened and shut by the keys of the kingdom, namely the preaching of the Word and church discipline. The proclamation of the gospel has a disciplinary element in itself - general discipline. Besides the message of salvation, the LORD has also instituted measures for the specific discipline of members who stray from God's Word - particular discipline.

According to the Reformed conception of the church, the attributes of the church are always present and belong to its essence. On the other hand, the marks of the church, which ought always to be present, depend upon the state of the church at any given time. The Church is always in either a state of deformation or reformation; however, continued reformation must always be its goal. The Church must be continually reformed. The marks of the Church tell us how we can find the true Church, and what it must look like.

The confession concerning the church (see Article 9 of the Apostles' Creed) is part of our faith. In this confession we must be bound by the teachings of Scripture.

In the final head of doctrine, the two-fold line unfurled in the previous sections of the Canons is now spread out to its maximum fullness. The lines are drawn to their Scriptural conclusions: perseverance in faith for the believers, and an ever greater hardening for those who persist in unbelief.

The third and fourth heads of the Canons of Dort are taken together, since in the Remonstrance of 1610, the two sections (III and IV) really dealt with the same topic. Further, the two matters confessed, though distinct, are also directly complementary. Articles 1-5 form the third head of doctrine, and maintain the teaching concerning the total depravity of man. All lie under the curse of God's wrath. Articles 6-17 constitute the fourth point of doctrine, that is, the insuperability of God's work of grace.

The Canons of Dort may be seen as incorporating a simple theme of the gospel, upon which one builds in ever widening concentric circles. The theme is the sovereign grace of God and His free election without regard to persons. The sovereign decision of God is enhanced and exalted in His equally free decision to pass by other persons, leaving them in the ruin in which they plunged themselves, and ultimately pronouncing condemnation upon them, due to their own hardness of heart and willful disobedience. The second head of doctrine elaborates on this theme.

The Canons of Dort do not begin with election, but move towards it. They begin with the confession of the deep malaise in which man finds himself after the fall into sin. The accent in the first article falls on our communal guilt before God. Since all men have sinned in our first parents, we all deserve eternal death.

The Canons of Dort were drafted and adopted at the great Synod of Dort (1618-1619). Delegates from several foreign countries contributed to the debates on, and final rendition of, the Canons. The Synod stated that the decision regarding the position of the Remonstrants was a faithful reflection of the Word of God. Hence, they intended this document to have creedal status.

If we understand the law properly, we are inevitably led to the LORD’s requirement of true prayer. The law requires sincere communion with the LORD. Because of sin, we know how often we fail in keeping the law. Therefore, we may and must approach the throne of grace to ask for God's help. With the fulfilment of the sacrifices in Christ's work of the cross, we may pray with boldness and confidence, because Christ sits at God's right hand and intercedes for us.

The First Commandment is the most important commandment, dealing with our acknowledgment of the one true God. The LORD has revealed Himself as the one only God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 96:4-5). There are no other gods beside Him (Isaiah 45:5-6. Therefore He does not permit His people to make any other gods, either in place of Him or alongside Him. The universe and all that is in it belongs to Him, and is subject to Him

The substance of the Ten Commandments was already given to Adam in paradise, and formed for him the demands of the covenant in which he was placed. Worship and thank-offering were also present in paradise; the sacrifice or offering for transgression appears after the fall. The essential demand of the law has always been faith, trust and obedience. The Lord confirms His gifts and promises in the way of faith.

Sanctification means to make holy, and refers to the daily process of renewal in the Holy Spirit by which the lives of God's children are more and more directed to His service. Holy means that we are separated from the world, consecrated to God. Thus, we deal here with the power of renewal in the Christian life that makes us separate and different from the world.

What is the the ground of our justification? It is that, because of His complete obedience, Christ merits and receives a full reward: the salvation and sanctification of all His children. His obedience is both active and passive: both fulfilling the just requirements of the law and taking upon Himself the penalty and punishment of the law. In this two-fold way He makes complete intercession for us, giving us access to God. Thus we say that we are justified solely by Christ's blood. 

One’s state refers to one’s legal position, or one’s status before the law. Although Christ was always innocent and pure in His condition, He remained in the state of imputed guilt throughout most of His life on earth. Although He was a King, He became a servant. This article distinguishes stages in the humiliation of Christ.

The covenant of favour has two parties: God and man. The covenant of grace also has two parties: God and fallen man.  The parties are reconciled through the work of Christ, the Messiah. 

The covenant has two parties: God and man. The LORD is faithful to His covenant, and must therefore execute His punishment upon man’s sin (Genesis 2:17). but the LORD, who is full of mercy, grace and kindness, opens and reveals a way of redemption for man in the covenant, as we also confess in Article 17 of the Belgic Confession.

Man was created to live in fellowship with the LORD. Of His own accord, in His favour and kindness, God placed man in the relationship of fellowship called the covenant. 

Creation involves calling into existence those things which do not exist. The LORD created the heavens and the earth out of nothing (ex nihilo). The motivation, cause and initial moment of creation can only be found in the eternal will and good pleasure of God. In His counsel and will, He created all worlds (see the Nicene Creed), including the heavens above and the deepest seas. All things were created by the power of His Word, (Hebrews 1:1-2). 

The one Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, carries out one decree or counsel, which governs all things in heaven and on earth throughout eternity. The Scriptures reveal that all things happen according to the will of God, and nothing occurs without His foreknowledge. All the Persons agree and act in harmony in executing the divine will. 

The whole of our confession is a confession concerning our covenant God as He has revealed Himself in His Word. In revealing Himself to us in His Word, the LORD God accommodates Himself to our limited created capacities as human beings. He speaks to us in a human way; yet, all He says about Himself is completely true and reliable. 

We confess that the Bible is authoritative, sufficient, necessary, and clear. How do we know all this?

To reveal means "to uncover," "to make known." Therefore, we confess publicly what has been revealed and made known to us. Essentially, we confess that the LORD has revealed or “uncovered” Himself to us. He makes known His thoughts, counsels and plans (Psalm 92:5, 139:17). His revelation is not a loose collection of thoughts, but a unified whole, a multi-coloured unfolding tapestry expressing one plan of salvation.

A short article with some lessons on confessions and creeds...