The Canons of Dort
SECOND HEAD OF
DOCTRINE
The Death of
Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby
Article 1
God is not only
supremely merciful, but also supremely just. And his justice
requires (as he hath revealed himself in his Word), that our
sins committed against his infinite majesty should be punished,
not only with temporal, but with eternal punishment, both in
body and soul; which we cannot escape, unless satisfaction be
made to the justice of God.
Article 2
Since therefore we
are unable to make that satisfaction in our own persons, or to
deliver ourselves from the wrath of God, he hath been pleased in
his infinite mercy to give his only begotten Son, for our
surety, who was made sin, and became a curse for us and in our
stead, that he might make satisfaction to divine justice on our
behalf.
Article 3
The death of the
Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and
satisfaction for sin; and is of infinite worth and value,
abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world.
Article 4
This death derives
its infinite value and dignity from these considerations,
because the person who submitted to it was not only really man,
and perfectly holy, but also the only begotten Son of God, of
the same eternal and infinite essence with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, which qualifications were necessary to constitute
him a Saviour for us; and because it was attended with a sense of
the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin.
Article 5
Moreover, the
promise of the gospel is, that whosoever believes in Christ
crucified, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. This
promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought
to be declared and published to all nations, and to all persons
promiscuously and without distinction, to whom God out of his
good pleasure sends the gospel.
Article 6
And, whereas many
who are called by the gospel, do not repent, nor believe in
Christ, but perish in unbelief; this is not owing to any defect
or insufficiency in the sacrifice offered by Christ upon the
cross, but is wholly to be imputed to themselves.
Article 7
But as many as
truly believe, and are delivered and saved from sin and
destruction through the death of Christ, are indebted for this
benefit solely to the grace of God, given them in Christ from
everlasting, and not to any merit of their own.
Article 8
For this was the
sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the
Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most
precious death of his Son should extend to all the elect, for
bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby
to bring them infallibly to salvation: that is, it was the will
of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby he
confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of
every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those
only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation, and given to
him by the Father; that he should confer upon them faith, which
together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, he
purchased for them by his death; should purge them from all sin,
both original and actual, whether committed before or after
believing; and having faithfully preserved them even to the end,
should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to
the enjoyment of glory in his own presence forever.
Article 9
This purpose
proceeding from everlasting love towards the elect, has from the
beginning of the world to this day been powerfully accomplished,
and will henceforward still continue to be accomplished,
notwithstanding all the ineffectual opposition of the gates of
hell, so that the elect in due time may be gathered together
into one, and that there never may be wanting a church composed
of believers, the foundation of which is laid in the blood of
Christ, which may steadfastly love, and faithfully serve him as
their Saviour, who as a bridegroom for his bride, laid down his
life for them upon the cross, and which may celebrate his
praises here and through all eternity.
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Rejection of Errors
The true doctrine
having been explained, the Synod rejects the errors of those:
Paragraph 1
Who teach: That God
the Father has ordained his Son to the death of the cross
without a certain and definite decree to save any, so that the
necessity, profitableness and worth of what Christ merited by
his death might have existed, and might remain in all its parts
complete, perfect and intact, even if the merited redemption had
never in fact been applied to any person. For this doctrine
tends to the despising of the wisdom of the Father and of the
merits of Jesus Christ, and is contrary to Scripture. For thus
saith our Saviour: "I lay down my life for the sheep, and I know
them," John 10:15,27. And the prophet Isaiah saith concerning
the Saviour: "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the
pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand," Isaiah 53:10.
Finally, this contradicts the article of faith according to
which we believe the catholic Christian church.
Paragraph 2
Who teach: That it
was not the purpose of the death of Christ that he should
confirm the new covenant of grace through his blood, but only
that he should acquire for the Father the mere right to
establish with man such a covenant as he might please, whether
of grace or of works. For this is repugnant to Scripture which
teaches that Christ has become the Surety and Mediator of a
better, that is, the new covenant, and that a testament is of
force where death has occurred. Hebrews 7:22; 9:15,17.
Paragraph 3
Who teach: That
Christ by his satisfaction merited neither salvation itself for
anyone, nor faith, whereby this satisfaction of Christ unto
salvation is effectually appropriated; but that he merited for
the Father only the authority or the perfect will to deal again
with man, and to prescribe new conditions as he might desire,
obedience to which, however, depended on the free will of man,
so that it therefore might have come to pass that either none or
all should fulfill these conditions. For these adjudge too
contemptuously of the death of Christ, do in no wise acknowledge
the most important fruit or benefit thereby gained, and bring
again out of hell the Pelagian error.
Paragraph 4
Who teach: That the
new covenant of grace, which God the Father through the
mediation of the death of Christ, made with man, does not herein
consist that we by faith, in as much as it accepts the merits of
Christ, are justified before God and saved, but in the fact that
God having revoked the demand of perfect obedience of the law,
regards faith itself and the obedience of faith, although
imperfect, as the perfect obedience of the law, and does esteem
it worthy of the reward of eternal life through grace. For these
contradict the Scriptures: "Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath
set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,"
Romans 3:24,25. And these proclaim, as did the wicked Socinus, a
new and strange justification of man before God, against the
consensus of the whole church.
Paragraph 5
Who teach: That all
men have been accepted unto the state of reconciliation and unto
the grace of the covenant, so that no one is worthy of
condemnation on account of original sin, and that no one shall
be condemned because of it, but that all are free from the guilt
of original sin. For this opinion is repugnant to Scripture
which teaches that we are by nature children of wrath. Ephesians
2:3.
Paragraph 6
Who use the
difference between meriting and appropriating, to the end that
they may instill into the minds of the imprudent and
inexperienced this teaching that God, as far as he is concerned,
has been minded of applying to all equally the benefits gained
by the death of Christ; but that, while some obtain the pardon
of sin and eternal life, and others do not, this difference
depends on their own free will, which joins itself to the grace
that is offered without exception, and that it is not dependent
on the special gift of mercy, which powerfully works in them,
that they rather than others should appropriate unto themselves
this grace. For these, while they feign that they present this
distinction, in a sound sense, seek to instill into the people
the destructive poison of the Pelagian errors.
Paragraph 7
Who teach: That
Christ neither could die, needed to die, nor did die for those
whom God loved in the highest degree and elected to eternal
life, and did not die for these, since these do not need the
death of Christ. For they contradict the Apostle, who declares:
"Christ loved me, and gave himself for me," Galatians 2:20.
Likewise: "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth? It is
Christ Jesus that died," Romans 8:33,34, namely, for them; and
the Saviour who says: "I lay down my life for the sheep," John
10:15. And: "This is my commandment, that ye love one another,
even as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends," John 15:12,13.
