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The Belgic Confession in Q&A Format page 1 of 3

by Howard D. Vanderwell
Issue #58

The Only God
What do you believe about God?
 
We all believe in our hearts
and confess with our mouths
that there is a single
and simple spiritual being,
whom we call God.
 
What do you believe about the nature of this God?
 
God is eternal,
incomprehensible,
invisible,
unchangeable,
infinite,
almighty;
 
completely wise,
just,
and good,
and the overflowing source
of all good.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 1
 
The Means by Which We Know God
How do you come to know God?
 
First, by the creation, preservation, and government
of the universe,
since that universe is before our eyes
like a beautiful book
     in which all creatures,
     great and small,
     are as letters
     to make us ponder
     the invisible things of God:
          his eternal power
          and his divinity,
          as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20.
 
All these things are enough to convict men
and to leave them without excuse.
 
How else do you know God?
 
God also makes himself known to us more openly
by his holy and divine Word,
as much as we need in this life,
     for his glory
     and for the salvation of his own.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 2
 
The Written Word of God
What do you confess about the Word of God?
 
We confess that this Word of God
was not sent nor delivered by the will of men,
but that holy men of God spoke,
being moved by the Holy Spirit,
     as Peter says.
 
And do you believe we have that Word of God in writing?
 
Yes, our God—
     because of the special care he has
     for us and our salvation—
commanded his servants,
the prophets and apostles,
to commit this revealed Word to writing.
He himself wrote
with his own finger
the two tables of the law.
 
Do you receive it as the Word of God?
 
Yes, we call such writings
holy and divine Scriptures.
                         —Belgic Confession, articles 2, 3
 
The Authority of Scripture
Do you receive all the books of the Bible?
 
We include in the Holy Scripture the two volumes
of the Old and New Testaments.
They are canonical books
with which there can be no quarrel at all.
 
We receive all these books
and these only
as holy and canonical,
for the regulating, founding, and establishing
of our faith.
 
Do you believe what is contained in them?
 
We believe
without a doubt
all things contained in them—
     not so much because the church
     receives and approves them as such
     but above all because the Holy Spirit
     testifies in our hearts
     that they are from God,
     and also because they
     prove themselves
     to be from God.
 
Do you believe this Word of God has power?
 
Yes, for even the blind themselves are able to see
that the things predicted in them
do happen.
                         —Belgic Confession, articles 4, 5
 
The Sufficiency of Scripture (I)
Do you believe the Scriptures contain the will of God?
 
We believe
that this Holy Scripture contains
the will of God completely
and that everything one must believe
to be saved
is sufficiently taught in it.
 
Are we bound by its truth?
 
Since the entire manner of service
which God requires of us
is described in it at great length,
no one ought to teach other than
what the Holy Scriptures have
already taught us.
 
Is it sufficient for all we need to know?
 
Since it is forbidden
to add to or subtract from the Word of God,
this plainly demonstrates
that the teaching is perfect
and complete in all respects.
 
                         —Belgic Confession, article 7
 
The Sufficiency of Scripture (II)
How are the Holy Scriptures different from human writings?
 
We must not consider human writing—
     no matter how holy their authors may have been—
equal to the divine writing;
nor may we put custom,
nor the majority,
nor age,
nor the passage of time or persons,
nor councils, decrees or official decisions
above the truth of God,
     for truth is above everything else.
 
How are we to evaluate other writings?
 
We reject with all our hearts
everything that does not agree
with this infallible rule,
     as we are taught to do by the apostles
     when they say,
          "Test the spirits
          to see if they are of God."
                         —Belgic Confession, article 7
 
The Trinity (I)
Do you believe in one God?
 
In keeping with this truth and Word of God
we believe in one God,
who is one single essence,
in whom there are three persons,
really, truly, and eternally distinct
according to their incommunicable properties—
     namely,
          Father
          Son,
          and Holy Spirit.
 
Are these three still one God?
 
This distinction does not divide God into three,
     since Scripture teaches us
     that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
     each has his own subsistence
     distinguished by characteristics—
     yet in such a way
     that these three persons are
     only one God.
 
Are all three equal, then?
 
There is neither a first nor a last,
for all three are one
in truth and power,
in goodness and mercy.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 8
 
The Trinity (II)
What is the work of the Father?
 
The Father
     is the cause,
     origin,
     and source of all things,
          visible as well as invisible.
 
What is the work of the Son?
 
The Son
     is the Word,
     the Wisdom,
     and the image
          of the Father.
 
What is the work of the Holy Spirit?
 
The Holy Spirit
     is the eternal power
     and might,
          proceeding from the Father and the Son.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 8
 
The Trinity (III)
Why do you believe in the Trinity?
 
All these things we know
from the testimonies of the Holy Scripture
as well as from the effects of the persons,
especially from those we feel within ourselves.
 
Can we understand this doctrine?
 
This doctrine of the Holy Trinity
has always been maintained in the true church,
     from the time of the apostles until the present.
And although this doctrine surpasses human understanding,
we nevertheless believe it now,
     through the Word,
waiting to know and enjoy it fully
     in heaven.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 9
 
The Creation of All Things
What do you believe about the creation of all things?
 
We believe that the Father
created heaven and earth and all other creatures
from nothing,
when it seemed good to him,
by his Word—
     that is to say,
     by his Son.
 
He has given all creatures
their being, form, and appearance,
and their various functions
     for serving their Creator.
 
And what do you believe about the creation of angels?
 
He has also created the angels good,
that they might be his messengers
and serve his elect.
Some of them have fallen
     from the excellence in which God created them
     into eternal perdition;
and the others have persisted and remained
     in their original state,
     by the grace of God.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 12
 
The Doctrine of God's Providence (I)
What do you believe concerning the providence of God?
 
We believe that this good God,
     after he created all things,
did not abandon them to chance or fortune
but leads and governs them
     according to his holy will,
in such a way that nothing happens in this world
without his orderly arrangement.
 
But there is sin in our world!
 
Yet God is not the author of,
nor can he be charged with,
the sin that occurs.
For his power and goodness
are so great and incomprehensible
that he arranges and does his work very well and justly
even when the devils and wicked men act unjustly.
 
But doesn't it bother you that you do not understand it all?
 
We do not wish to inquire
     with undue curiosity
into what he does that surpasses human understanding
     and is beyond our ability to comprehend.
But in all humility and reverence
we adore the just judgments of God,
which are hidden from us,
     being content to be Christ's disciples,
     so as to learn only what he shows us in his Word,
          without going beyond those limits.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 13
 
The Doctrine of God's Providence (II)
What benefits do you receive from the teaching of God's providence?
 
This doctrine gives us unspeakable comfort
since it teaches us
that nothing can happen to us by chance
but only by the arrangement of our gracious
heavenly Father.
He watches over us with fatherly care,
keeping all creatures under his control,
so that not one of the hairs on our heads
(for they are all numbered)
nor even a little bird
can fall to the ground
without the will of our Father.
 
In this thought we rest,
knowing that he holds in check
the devils and all our enemies,
     who cannot hurt us
     without his permission and will.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 13
 
The Creation and Fall of Mankind
What do you believe about the creation of human beings?
 
We believe
that God created man from the dust of the earth
and made and formed him in his image and likeness—
     good, just, and holy;
     able by our own will to conform
     in all things
     to the will of God.
 
Have human beings remained in that holy condition?
 
No, when he was in honor
he did not understand it
and did not recognize his excellence.
But he subjected himself willingly to sin
and consequently to death and the curse,
     lending his ear to the word of the devil.
 
And what are the consequences of that fall?
 
He made himself guilty
and subject to physical and spiritual death,
     having become wicked,
     perverse,
     and corrupt in all his ways.
He lost all his excellent gifts
     which he had received from God,
and he retained none of them
except for small traces
     which are enough to make him
     inexcusable.
 
                         —Belgic Confession, article 14
 
The Doctrine of Original Sin
Where has the sinfulness of this world come from?
 
We believe
that by the disobedience of Adam
original sin has been spread
through the whole human race.
 
Are even our very heart and nature corrupted?
 
Original sin is a corruption of all nature—
an inherited depravity which even infects small infants
     in their mother's womb,
and the root which produces in man
     every sort of sin.
 
Is this condition so serious that it brings the judgment of God on us?
 
Sin is so vile and enormous in God's sight
that it is enough to condemn the human race,
and it is not abolished
     or wholly uprooted
     even by baptism,
          seeing that sin constantly boils forth
          as though from a contaminated spring.
 
Does that mean there is no hope for us?
 
This sin is not imputed to God's children
for their condemnation
but is forgiven
by his grace and mercy.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 15
 
The Doctrine of Election
What do we learn about God through his work of redemption?
 
We believe that—
     all Adam's descendants having fallen
     into perdition and ruin
     by the sin of the first man—
God showed himself to be as he is:
merciful and just.
 
How is God merciful?
 
God is merciful
in withdrawing and saving from this perdition those whom he,
     in his eternal and unchangeable counsel,
has elected and chosen in Jesus Christ our Lord
     by his pure goodness,
     without any consideration of their works.
 
And how is he just?
 
He is just
in leaving the others in their ruin and fall
into which they plunged themselves.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 16
 
The Recovery of Fallen Humankind
How has God shown us his mercy?
 
We believe that our gracious God,
by his marvelous wisdom and goodness,
     seeing that man had plunged himself in this manner
     into both physical and spiritual death
     and made himself completely miserable,
set out to find him,
though man,
     trembling all over,
was fleeing from him.
 
He comforted him,
promising to give us his Son,
     "born of a woman,"
to crush the head of the serpent,
and to make him blessed.
                         —Belgic Confession, article 17
 
The Incarnation of Christ
What do you believe about the Son of God?
 
The Son took the "form of a servant"
and was made in the "likeness of man,"
     truly assuming a real human nature,
     with all its weaknesses,
     except for sin;
     being conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary
     by the power of the Holy Spirit,
     without male participation.
 
How real was his human nature?
 
He not only assumed human nature
     as far as the body is concerned
but also a real human soul,
     in order that he might be a real human being.
For since the soul had been lost as well as the body
he had to assume them both
to save them both together.
 
Was he, then, both God and man?
 
The person of the Son has been inseparably united
and joined together
with human nature,
     in such a way that there are not two Sons of God,
     nor two persons,
     but two natures united in a single person,
     with each nature retaining its own distinct properties.
 
These are the reasons why we confess him
to be true God and true man—
     true God in order to conquer death
          by his power,
     and true man that he might die for us
     in the weakness of his flesh.
                         —Belgic Confession, articles 18, 19

Author

Howard D. Vanderwell

Howard Vanderwell is a resource development specialist for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship; he was previously the pastor of Hillcrest Christian Reformed Church, Hudsonville, Michigan.