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Historic Faith · Reformed Confessions
Creeds & Confessions
The great Reformed confessions are not Scripture, but they are faithful summaries of what Scripture teaches. For centuries, the church has confessed these truths — and they still speak today.
"Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith."
— Hebrews 13:7 (ESV)
Why Confessions Matter
Confessions and catechisms serve the church by summarizing what the Bible teaches on every major doctrine. They guard against error, train new believers, and connect us to the cloud of witnesses who have confessed these same truths across centuries. Reading confessions is not a replacement for reading Scripture — it is one of the ways the church has faithfully handled the word of truth.
The Canons of Dort
1618–1619 · Synod of Dort, Netherlands
The Canons of Dort are the official Reformed response to the five articles of the Remonstrants (Arminians). They define the five points of Calvinism with precision and biblical depth. Each "head of doctrine" includes both positive teaching and a rejection of Arminian errors.
First Head · Article 7 — Unconditional Election
"Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation of the world, He has, out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of His own will, chosen from the whole human race, which had fallen through their own fault from their primitive state of rectitude into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ."
This is the definitive confessional statement on unconditional election — chosen not because of foreseen faith, but according to God's sovereign good pleasure alone.
Third/Fourth Head · Article 11 — Effectual Calling
"But when God accomplishes His good pleasure in the elect, or works in them true conversion, He not only causes the gospel to be externally preached to them, and powerfully illumines their minds by His Holy Spirit... but by the efficacy of the same regenerating Spirit He pervades the inmost recesses of man; He opens the closed and softens the hardened heart, and circumcises that which was uncircumcised; infuses new qualities into the will, which, though heretofore dead, He quickens."
God does not merely offer grace — He effectually works it, opening hearts and quickening dead wills.
Fifth Head · Article 8 — Perseverance
"Thus it is not in consequence of their own merits or strength, but of God's free mercy, that they neither totally fall from faith and grace nor continue and perish finally in their backslidings; which, with respect to themselves, is not only possible, but would undoubtedly happen; but with respect to God, it is utterly impossible."
Believers persevere not by their own power but by God's — and for God to lose one of His own is "utterly impossible."
Read the full Canons of Dort →
The Westminster Confession of Faith
1646 · Westminster Assembly, London
The most comprehensive and influential of all Reformed confessions. The Westminster Confession covers the full range of Christian doctrine with extraordinary precision. Together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, it forms the doctrinal standard of Presbyterian churches worldwide.
Chapter III · Section 3 — Predestination
"By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained to everlasting death."
Chapter III · Section 5 — Election
"Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, has chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him thereunto."
Note the comprehensive denial: "without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them." Election is unconditional.
Chapter X · Section 1 — Effectual Calling
"All those whom God has predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, determining them to that which is good."
The effectual call is described as God's almighty power "determining them" — not merely inviting them.
Westminster Shorter Catechism · Q.1
"Q. What is the chief end of man? A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever."
The most famous question and answer in all of Reformed catechesis. Everything begins and ends with the glory of God.
Read the full Westminster Confession →
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith
1689 · London, England
The Baptist equivalent of the Westminster Confession — sharing the same Reformed soteriology while differing on baptism and church polity. This confession demonstrates that the doctrines of grace are not exclusively Presbyterian but belong to the whole Reformed tradition, including Baptists.
Chapter 3 · Paragraph 5 — Election
"Those of mankind that are predestinated to life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without any other thing in the creature as a condition or cause moving him thereunto."
Nearly identical to Westminster III.5 — demonstrating Baptist-Reformed unity on the doctrines of grace.
Chapter 10 · Paragraph 1 — Effectual Calling
"Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good."
Read the full 1689 Baptist Confession →
The Belgic Confession
1561 · Guido de Bres, Netherlands
Written by Guido de Bres as a defense of the Reformed faith, this confession cost him his life — he was martyred in 1567. It is one of the Three Forms of Unity used by Dutch Reformed churches and stands as a powerful testimony to the sovereignty of God in salvation.
Article 16 — Eternal Election
"We believe that, all the posterity of Adam being thus fallen into perdition and ruin by the sin of our first parents, God then did manifest Himself such as He is; that is to say, merciful and just: merciful, since He delivers and preserves from this perdition all whom He in His eternal and unchangeable counsel of mere goodness has elected in Christ Jesus our Lord, without any respect to their works."
Written by a man who would die for these truths. "Without any respect to their works" — election is unconditional.
Read the full Belgic Confession →
The Heidelberg Catechism
1563 · Zacharias Ursinus & Caspar Olevianus, Heidelberg
The warmest and most personal of the Reformed confessions. Structured around the themes of guilt, grace, and gratitude, the Heidelberg Catechism is a devotional masterpiece — teaching sound doctrine while touching the heart.
Lord's Day 1 · Question 1
"Q. What is your only comfort in life and death? A. That I am not my own, but belong — body and soul, in life and in death — to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation."
This single answer contains total depravity (we need to be set free), definite atonement (He has fully paid), and the sovereignty of God (not a hair falls without His will). The most beautiful confessional statement in the Reformed tradition.
Lord's Day 21 · Question 54
"Q. What do you believe concerning the holy catholic church? A. That the Son of God, from the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and preserves for Himself, by His Spirit and Word, out of the whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life."
The church is not self-assembled — Christ "gathers" and "preserves" it. The church is "chosen to everlasting life."
Read the full Heidelberg Catechism →
Ecumenical Creeds
325–451 AD
The ancient ecumenical creeds (Apostles', Nicene, Athanasian) predate the Reformed tradition but form its foundation. Reformed theology is not an innovation — it stands on the shoulders of the early church's confession of the Trinity, the incarnation, and the sufficiency of Christ.
The Nicene Creed (325/381 AD)
"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God... who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven."
The Nicene Creed affirms the sovereign authority of the Father and the particular purpose of Christ's coming — "for us" and "for our salvation."
"Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints."
— Jude 3 (ESV)
