Belgic Confession Article 24

[baron]

Article 24 — Man’s Sanctification and Good Works.

We believe that this true faith, being wrought in man by the hearing of the Word of God and the operation of the Holy Ghost, doth regenerate and make him a new man, causing him to live a new life, and freeing him from the bondage of sin. Therefore it is so far from being true that this justifying faith makes men remiss in a pious and holy life, that, on the contrary, without it they would never do anything out of love to God, but only out of self-love or fear of damnation. Therefore it is impossible that this holy faith can be unfruitful in man; for we do not speak of a vain faith, but of such a faith which is called in Scripture a faith that worketh by love, which excites man to the practice of those works which God has commanded in His Word.

These works, as they proceed from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable in the sight of God, forasmuch as they are all sanctified by His grace; howbeit they are of no account towards our justification. For it is by faith in Christ that we are justified, even before we do good works; otherwise they could not be good works, any more than the fruit of a tree can be good before the tree itself is good.

Therefore we do good works, but not to merit by them (for what can we merit?), nay, we are beholden to God for the good works we do, and not He to us, since it is He that worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Let us therefore attend to what is written: When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do. In the meantime, we do not deny that God rewards our good works, but it is through His grace that He crowns His gifts.

Moreover, though we do good works, we do not found our salvation upon them; for we do no work but what is polluted by our flesh, and also punishable; and although we could perform such works, still the remembrance of one sin is sufficient to make God reject them. Thus, then, we would always be in doubt, tossed to and fro without any certainty, and our poor consciences continually vexed, if they relied not on the merits of the suffering and death of our Savior.

Question:

Not sure if I'm understanding this. The underlined sentence, is this teaching that true faith regenerates man? Or that regeneration proceedes from faith. Also if it does why then?

I was taught that regeneration precedes faith.

So am I reading this correctly or am I missing something.

Thanks.

 

[bouletheou]

I think the Confession might be using "regeneration" in the sense of "sanctification."

Calvin's discussions of sanctification, if I remember correctly, come under that heading in the Institutes.

 

[dannyhyde]

Ditto the previous post. The Belgic is using "regeneration" in its holistic sense of the sum total of our being set apart by God. THe narrower use comes into sharper focus in the 17th century during the Remonstrant debate.

See Amazon.com: With Heart and Mouth: An Exposition of the Belgic Confession (9780979367755): Daniel R. Hyde: Books

 

[baron]

bouletheou and dannyhyde: Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I think the Confession might be using "regeneration" in the sense of "sanctification."

Calvin's discussions of sanctification, if I remember correctly, come under that heading in the Institutes.

I found that Calvin defines regeneration in the Institutes:

I interpret repentance as regeneration, whose sole end is to restore in us the image of God . . . we are restored by this regeneration through the benefit of Christ into the righteousness of God . . . And indeed this restoration does not take place in one moment or one day or one year; but through continual and sometimes even slow advances God wipes out in his elect the corruptions of the flesh, cleanses them of guilt, consecrates them to himsef as temples, renewing all their minds to true purity that they may practice repentance throughout their lives and know that this warfare will only end at death" (3.3.9).

For Calvin, regeneration is the beginning of sanctification. Regeneration is not prior to faith; it is by faith: “Now both repentance and forgiveness of sins--that is, newness of life and free reconciliation--are conferred on us by Christ, and both are attained by us through faith” (3.3.1; cf. Belgic Confession 24 and Col. 2:12: “raised with Him through faith . . . “).

I found the above statments in an article by Rich Lusk titled: Do I Believe In Baptismal Regeneration. I will read his article later since its 69 pages long and I'm not interested in that subject at this time.

 

[py3ak]

I found the above statments in an article by Rich Lusk titled: Do I Believe In Baptismal Regeneration. I will read his article later since its 69 pages long and I'm not interested in that subject at this time.

There's no need to waste your time reading Rich Lusk - he's one of the more volatile FV proponents. A.N.S. Lane would be a more reliable source on Calvin.

 

[Wes White]

Polanus

See my article on this topic here. I use the 16th century theologian Amandus Polanus to explain Art. 24.