has an Vnion with Him as being the Head of it so I believe there is a Common Vnion among the Members both those that are glorified in Heaven and those that in some degree are sanctified on Earth And this is called the Communion of Saints and is the first Priviledge of the Christian Church And by vertue of this all true Christians communicate in all Offices of Piety and Charity in doing good to one anothers Bodies and Souls And this they do upon the account that they have in common One God one Christ one Spirit one Lord one Faith one Baptism one Hope ARTICLE X. The Forgiveness of Sins As the Communion of Saints genuinely ariseth from the Nature of the Vniversal Church so Pardon of Sins follows from both For none shall have their Sins forgiven but those who live and die in the Communion of the Church For unless I abide in this Ark I shall certainly perish Now Sin as I have been instructed is of two sorts the one Original which is the sin of my Nature the other Actual which is the sin of my Conversation The former I brought with me into the World the latter I commit while I live therein And both these sorts of sin deserve Eternal Death and can only be pardon'd by the Merits of Christ For sin being a Transgression of the Law of God it can only be forgiven by him whose Law it transgresseth For Remission of sins is the second Priviledge of the Church which is preached to all in the Name of Christ and sealed in Baptism wherein I believe my Original Sin is presently pardon'd and that my Actual Sins committed after Baptism shall be pardon'd if I truly repent me of the same Now this my Belief of the Forgiveness of Sins supposes that I believe That God graciously and freely without any Desert on Man's part gave his Son to die for the World and That for the sake of his meritorious Death he remits the Fault absolves from the Guilt and acquits from Punishment all truly penitent and believing Sinners And I do further believe That he imputes to them the Obedience of his own Son and his Righteousness and by means thereof accounts them just in his sight I believe That all who are justified and thus acquitted have Holiness in some degree according to the Condition of this Life Which Holiness tho' it cannot altogether discharge them from sin yet it doth not suffer it to reign over them So that a justified Person is not under its Dominion nor yields himself a Vassal to it but resists its Commands and makes it die daily And for the greater security of the Forgiveness of sins God hath committed to his Ministers an indispensible Power and Charge to preach Faith and Repentance as the Condition of this Forgiveness He hath likewise appointed them to pray and intercede and also to baptize for the Forgiveness of sins and to administer the Lord's Supper in memory of that Blood which was shed for the Remission of Sins And indeed all that God hath left in the Hand and Power of his Ministers especially tends to make Men capable of receiving what they believe namely the Remission of sins ARTICLE XI The Resurrection of the Body It was the Hope of the Fathers under the Old Testament as well as it is of Christians under the New That there shall be a Resurrection both of the Just and Unjust And if it were otherwise Christians of all Men would be most miserable and all that I have learn'd and you have taught me concerning Christianity would be in vain But I firmly and truly believe That my Mortal Body shall be raised from the Corruption of the Grave by Vertue of the Resurrection of Christ And this my Belief is founded upon the Power and good Pleasure of God who both can and will raise from the dead the very same Body that died ARTICLE XII The Life everlasting The Enjoyment of Everlasting Life is the last Christian Privilege and that which crowns the rest And I have learned to understand by this Life the Enjoyment of all true Happiness in Soul and Body For I believe that the Faculties of the Souls of just Persons shall be perfectly enlightned and sanctified and that their Bodies shall live after the manner of Spirits and be exceedingly glorified And opposite to this Life everlasting I believe there is an everlasting Death which is the Portion of the Wicked And that as Life everlasting consists in the Fruition so I believe everlasting Death consists in the Loss of God's Presence and all other Comforts and is the enduring of the sting of Conscience and Torments of Hell for ever But as my believing all the Articles of the Christian Faith as they are summ'd up in that which is called the Apostles Creed supposes that I am to learn not only the Words but likewise the Sense of the Creed so it also implies that I should live like them that do believe for otherwise my consenting to the Truth of the Articles will stand me in no stead And therefore not medling with remote and learned Inferences I will draw such from each Article as are near and familiar short and edifying As for Example From my believing that God created me I infer I am bound to be obedient and subject to him By my believing that Christ redeemed me I think it my Duty to yield up my self to him as his Purchase and to be wholly disposed by him and employed only in his Service My believing Christ's Conception by the Holy Ghost and his Birth of the Virgin should make me diligent to fit my Heart for the Holy Ghost to overshadow and for Christ to be born in it My belief of Christ's Crucifixion should teach me to crucifie the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts and to destroy the Body of sin My belief of his Death and Burial should make me content to die for the sake of Truth being assured that if I suffer for Christ I shall also reign with him It should also keep me from being disheartned by Death seeing that Christ by dying hath taken away the Stinâ— of Death which is Sin and maâ— it an Entrance into Life My bâ—lieving the Resurrection of Chrisâ— should make me actually rise froâ— Sin to a New Life and utterlâ— to forsake my Sins as Christ diâ— the Grave to which after â— was once risen from it he returned no more My believinâ— Christ's Ascension and sitting â— the Right-hand of God shoulâ— teach me to set my Affections oâ— things above and not on thing on the Earth The believing Judgment to come should makâ— me careful so to walk as that may not be condemned in iâ— My believing the Holy Catholick Church and Communion oâ— Saints should render me mightâ— circumspect to preserve Charity which is the Bond of Peace and to avoid all things destructive oâ— Catholick Unity The Remission of sins which I believe should make me highly to esteem all those Ways and Means which
ought to be able to recite the Words of the Creed to have a competent Knowledge of their meaning and of the influence each Article ought to have upon my Coversation I will therefore first rehearse the Words thereof and then give you such an Account of their Sense and Influence as I have been taught by you I Believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried He descended into Hell The third day he rose again from the dead He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty From thence he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the Forgiveness of Sins the Resurrection of the Body and the Life everlasting Amen Having thus rehearsed the worâ— of the Creed my next Task is â— give a short plain Declaration â— what I believe in every Article ARTICLE I. I believe in God the Father Aâ—mighty Maker of Heaven anâ— Earth In this Article I have beeâ— taught to believe that there is God and that he is an Eternaâ— Spirit whose Being is of himself and not from any other and thaâ— from him all things have their Being And I further believe Thaâ— this God is but One because he is the Infinite Independent and Omnipotent Cause which can be but One. I believe also That this God is the Eternal Father of Christ and that for his sake he is also my Heavenly Father and that being Almighty he can do for me whatsoever he will I likewise believe That in Six days this God created all things of Nothing by his Word for his Glory and that he still preserveth all things by the same Word of his Power ARTICLE II. And in Iesus Christ his only Son our Lord. In this Second Article of the Creed I have been taught to believe in Jesus Christ and that he is the only Son of God and of the same Divine Essence with him That he is called Jesus because he is the only Saviour of Mankind and that he is called Christ or Messiah which signifies Anointed because he was anointed to the Three Offices of a Prophet Priest and King which Three under the Law were in an especial manner Anointed And I believe That all these Three met in Christ and that as a Prophet he doth instruct his Church outwardly by his Word and inwardly by his Spirit And I believe That as a Priest he made satisfaction unto God for the Sins of Mankind when he once offered up himself upon the Cross and that by the Sacrifice of himself he reconciled God and Man And further I believe That as a Priest he continually makes Intercession for me and all true Christians at the right Hand of his Father in Heaven and doth bless me in turning me from my Iniquities In like manner I believe That Jesus was not only Christ that is Anointed to be a Prophet and a Priest in the sense now declared but that he was also Anointed to be a King And that as such he doth govern and preserve his Church he erects and sets up his Throne in the Hearts of Believers He gives them Grace to subdue every rebellious Lust and habit of Sin that it reign not in them He conquers Satan and restrains his Power He overcomes Death and having received all Authority in Heaven and Earth he rules over all Men and all Creatures and that of his Kingdom there shall be no end So that to him belongs absolute Dominion over all and Obedience is due to him from all ARTICLE III. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary In this Article I profess to believe That when Christ was made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh he was made in all things like to my self excepting Sin For that could affect neither his Humane Soul nor Body because in both he was most Holy as being conceived only by the Operation of the Holy Ghost and born of a spotless Virgin For Christ that he might be our Kinsman and capable to redeem us by paying our Debts in the same Humane Nature in which they were contracted it was necessasary he should be the Seed of the Woman And that he might plainly appear to be that Seed of the Woman which was promised it was likewise necessary he should be born of a Virgin who was of the Lineage and House of David All which I believe from God's Word was accomplished in the Blessed Mother of Christ ARTICLE IV. Suffered under Pontius Pilate c. This is an Article that you have often told me I ought well to understand for it respects Christ's Death upon which the whole Hinge of my Salvation turns I find the History of it to be clearly and fully set forth by the Evangelists and as to the knowledge of it St. Paul valued it so highly that he desired to know nothing else but Jesus Christ crucified Now by my believing of the Crucifixion I confess that according to the Prophecies Christ suffered in his Humane Nature both in Soul and Body his Divine Nature being uncapable of suffering And that this hapned at the time when Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governour of Judaea who being addicted to Cruelty and sinful compliance condemned Christ to be crucified And as Moses lifted up the Serpent on the Pole in the Wilderness so was Christ lifted up on the Cross and by a painful ignominious and accursed Death did expiate my sin and redeemed me from all vain Conversation and from the Curse of the Law and gave me an Entrance into Heaven All which unspeakable Benefits are justly to be ascribed to the Blood of Christ because it was of infinite value as being the Blood of that Person who was God as well as Man And as I believe Christ voluntarily laid down his Life and that his Soul was really separated from his Body so I likewise believe that as a dead Man he was buried after the manner of the Jewish Nation namely that he was bound in Grave-clothes with Spices and laid the Grave with an heavy Stone rolled to the mouth of the Sepulcher All which were certain Tokens of his Death as being the usual known Rites of a Jewish Funeral I also believe That Christ being dead his Soul and Body remain'd in a separate condition under the Power of Death and that his Soul was reunited to the Body before it did putrifie in the Grave But as to the various Opinions about his Descent into Hell I think them either too high or too unprofitable for my research And as you have taught me so I believe that Christ's Birth Death and Burial or being under the Dominion of Death were the Three Degrees of his Humiliation answerable to which were the Three Degrees of his
Exaltation namely Resurrection Ascension and Glorification in Heaven ARTICLE V. The third day he rose again from the dead Tho' being a Christian I need no Proof of Christ's rising from the Dead yet to confirm my belief of so eminent an Article God has given me the Testimony of Angels of the Men that guarded the Sepulcher the many Apparitions of Christ after he was risen the Effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles the Miracles done by them in his Name So that I have just ground to believe and profess That the Body of Christ saw no Corruption as did the Bodies of the Patriarchs And because it was impossible he should be holden of the Power of Death I do believe that he did really rise again and that the very same Body and Soul of our Saviour which were separated by Death were by his own Divine Power reunited in his Resurrection And as to the time when he arose I have been taught and do believe That it was the Third day after his Death which hapned to be the First day of the Week Which Day we celebrate in memory of his Resurrection and which has immemorially been called The Lord's Day ARTICLE VI. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth c. I believe That Christ ascended by the same Power he rose And that this was no other Power than that of his own Divinity by which as an High-Priest of good things to come he once ascended visibly and locally into the Heaven of Heavens as the High-Priest once every Year entred into the Holy of Holies And the End of his Ascension was I believe to prepare a place for Believers and to receive them to it that where he is they might be also After Christ's Ascension into Heaven he took his Place at the Right-Hand of God Not that I think God who is a most absolute Spirit hath either Right or Left Hand but that this is spoken after the manner of Men who place those whom they will most honour upon their Right-hand And from Christ's being thus placed in Heaven I collect That he there took up his Abode in a State of Majesty and Power to shew that he was above all Creatures in Heaven and Earth and that he is exalted to be the King of Saints and Judge of Sinners the Prince of our Salvation and High-Priest of our Profession and that in him there was an Union of the Regal Power and Priestly Office when he sat down at the Right-hand of the Father Almighty So that by the former he is perfectly able to subdue all his Enemies and by the latter he doth ever intercede for and eternally save those that are his ARTICLE VII From thence he shall come to judge c. As I believe that Christ redeemed me by his death and passion and that by his Ascension he is become my Advocate and Intercessor with God so I believe that he shall come the second time from Heaven with great Glory to judge the World For besides the particular Judgment that passeth upon every Man immediately upon his Death when the departed Soul is set at God's Tribunal and examined of all its Thoughts Words and Actions I say besides this particular Judgment I believe their shall be a general Judgment when all shall be judged as well the Quick that shall be alive at that day as the Dead who shall then be raised up And that this last Judgment Christ himself as a Supream Judge shall pass the final Sentence and that the Saints as Assessors shall pass their Sentence of Approbation I believe too That I and all Men shall be judged of all things done in the Body whether Good or Evil And that upon the pronouncing of the Sentence the truly penitent shall pass to an Estate of Eternal Happiness and finally the Impenitent to an Estate of Eternal Misery ARTICLE VIII I believe in the Holy Ghost Having briefly declared what my Faith is in God the Father and God the Son I am next to declare what I believe concerning God the Holy Ghost And first I believe That without Faith in the Holy Ghost I cannot believe in God the Father nor in his Son as my Lord. For no Man can call God Father but by the Holy Ghost nor can any Man say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost Whom I believe to be the Third Person in the Divine Being and therefore True God And that as he proceedeth from the Father and the Son which I believe he doth he is a Person distinct from both The Spirit in whom I believe is called Holy because in himself he is without all Pollution and sin and because he is the Author of all Holiness in me and all who truly believe in him So that all my Holiness is but a Ray or Effusion of the Holy Ghost which doth furnish my Heart with spiritual and saving Graces by the Work of Sanctification ARTICLE IX I believe the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints After this plain Account given by me of the Articles which concern the Blessed Trinity I will now give the like Account of those that follow which respect such only as truly believe in and obey and Worship the Trinity in Unity and who are here called the Church Which I plainly take to signifie all those whom Christ hath called out of the World to be his peculiar People Over whom he hath a Sovereign Authority in regard of which they willingly and chearfully pay him Homage and obey his Law and Ordinances For by Church I have been taught to understand the Corporation and General Family of all true Believers which Family truly deserves to be called Holy in respect of its Head which is Christ who is Holy in himself and whose Holiness is imputed to all sincere Believers And who through the Grace given to them do labour study and endeavour to be Holy And the Church in this familiar acception I believe is Universal as well as Holy and that there are in all the Quarters of the World those who by Baptism are admitted into it and so made Members of Christ's Mystical Body who are guided by his Spirit nourished by the Word and Sacrament and who are obedient to the Rule and Government of the Bishops and Pastors lawfully called to their Offices And of this Society of Believers which constitute the Church some are in a state of War continually fighting against their own and Christ's Enemies but yet in daily expectation of Triumph and a Crown And these are called the Church Militant which is on Earth And some are in a state of Peace for having fought the good Fight of Faith and finished their Warfare they are entred into their Master's Joy And these make the Church Triumphant which is crowned in Heaven Now these I hold are not two divers Churches but the same Church under a different State and Condition For I believe the Church to be essentially but one And as Christ's Mystical Body the Church