Westminster Confession of Faith

In 1643, the English Parliament called upon "learned, godly and judicious Divines" to meet at Westminster Abbey in order to provide advice on issues of worship, doctrine, government and discipline of the Church of England.

The purpose of the Westminster Assembly, in which 121 Puritan clergymen participated, was to provide official documents for the reformation of the Church of England.

In England, the House of Commons returned the document to the Assembly with the requirement to compile a list of proof texts from Scripture.

[7] It also stated that the Catholic mass is a form of idolatry, that the civil magistrates have divine authority to punish heresy, and rules out marriage with non-Christians.

The Holy Scriptures are said to possess infallible truth and divine authority, containing "all things necessary for [God's] own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life", so that no new revelations or human traditions can be added to it.

The confession states that "the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture" is "the supreme judge" of councils, ancient writers, doctrines, and private revelation.

According to the confession, the consequence of the fall and sin is that sinners are guilty before God, under divine wrath and the curse of the law, and, ultimately, subject to spiritual death.

Under the law, the covenant was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances instituted among the Jewish people.

These all anticipated Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, and were sufficient to give the elect of that time forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation.

The confession teaches that under the gospel, the covenant of grace is dispensed more fully through the preaching of the Bible and the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper.

He was crucified and buried, and the confession teaches that he was bodily resurrected and afterward ascended into heaven where he intercedes on behalf of the living.

The confession teaches that—by the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the word—God effectually calls the elect out of the state of sin and death toward faith in Jesus Christ and spiritual life.

While repentance (rejecting sin and committing to obey God's commandments) does not earn forgiveness (which is the result of divine grace), the confession states that no sinner "may expect pardon without it."

[22] Chapter 16 explains the role of good works (actions done in obedience to God's commandments) in the Christian life and their relationship to salvation.

[23] Chapter 17 presents the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, which holds that it is impossible for those effectually called to "fall away" from the state of grace or, in other words, lose their salvation.

The confession does not teach that assurance is instantaneous upon conversion; rather, it states that "a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties, before he be partaker of it".

While true believers are neither "justified, or condemned" by the law, it serves "as a rule of life informing them of the will of God, and their duty".

The confession warns that Christian liberty cannot be used to justify sinful behavior or to resist lawful secular and church authority.

The purpose of marriage is to provide for the mutual help of husband and wife, the birth of legitimate children, the growth of the church, and the prevention of "uncleanness."

[32] The confession teaches that local churches can be more or less pure depending on how faithfully they adhere to correct doctrine and worship.

The effectiveness of a sacrament depends upon the work of the Holy Spirit and the words of institution, which contains a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.

It states that the sacrament is to be observed in the church until the end of the world "for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of Himself in His death; the sealing all benefits thereof, unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto Him; and, to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Him, and with each other, as members of His mystical body.

[36] It also rejects the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, which states that after consecration by a priest the bread and wine miraculously become the body and blood of Christ.

Rather, the confession teaches that communicants receive the body and blood of Christ and all the benefits of his death spiritually by faith, while the bread and wine remain physically unchanged.

These officers hold the keys of the kingdom, giving them power to discipline church members through admonition, suspension from the Lord's Supper for a period of time, and excommunication, according to the severity of the offense.

The souls of the righteous are then made perfect in holiness and received into heaven where they "behold the face of God" and wait for the redemption of their bodies.

[39] Chapter 33 describes the Last Judgment in which the Father will give Christ authority to judge all apostate angels and every person that has lived on earth.

The Presbyterian Church of Australia holds to the Westminster Confession as its standard, subordinate to the Word of God, and read in the light of a declaratory statement.

When the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America was formed in 1789, it adopted the Westminster standards, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures.

The Confession was amended again in 1887, when the final sentence of chapter 24.4, which forbade the marrying of the close kindred of one's deceased spouse, was removed.