[2149] Mal. iii. 18; Prov. xii. 26; Isa. v. 20; Gen. xviii. 23; Jer. xv. 19; Acts x. 34, 35; Rom. vi. 16.
[2150] Rom. i. 17; vii. 6; 1 John ii. 29; iii. 7; Rom. vi. 18, 22; 1 Cor. xi. 32; Prov. xi. 31; 1 Pet. iv. 17, 18.
[2151] 1 John v. 19; Gal. iii. 10; John iii. 36; Isa. lvii. 21; Psa. x. 4; Isa. lv. 6, 7.
[2152] Prov. xiv. 32; Luke xvi. 25; John viii. 21-24; Prov. x. 24; Luke xii. 4, 5; ix. 23-26; John xii. 25, 26; Eccl. iii. 17; Matt. vii. 13, 14.
[2153] 1 Pet. iv. 7; 1 Cor. vii. 29-31; Heb. i. 10-12; Matt. xxiv. 35; 1 John ii. 17; Matt. xxviii. 20; xiii. 39, 40; 2 Pet. iii. 3-13.
[2154] Acts i. 11; Rev. i. 7; Heb. ix. 28; Acts iii. 21; 1 Thess. iv. 13-18; v. 1-11.
[2155] Acts xxiv. 15; 1 Cor. xv. 12-59; Luke xiv. 14; Dan. xii. 2; John v. 28, 29; vi. 40; xi. 25, 26; 2 Tim. i. 10; Acts x. 42.
[2156] Matt. xiii. 49; xiii. 37-43; xxiv. 30, 31; xxv. 31-33.
[2157] Matt. xxv. 35-41; Rev. xxii. 11; 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10; Mark ix. 43-48; 2 Pet. ii. 9; Jude 7; Phil. iii. 19; Rom. vi. 32; 2 Cor. v. 10, 11; John iv. 36; 2 Cor. iv. 18.
[2158] Rom. iii. 5, 6; 2 Thess. i. 6-12; Heb. vi. 1, 2; 1 Cor. iv. 5; Acts xvii. 31; Rom. ii. 2-16; Rev. xx. 11, 12; 1 John ii. 28; iv. 17.
CONFESSION OF THE FREE-WILL BAPTISTS. A.D. 1834, 1868.
[This Confession was adopted and issued by the General Conference of the Free-will Baptists of America in 1834, revised in 1848, and again in 1865 and 1868.
The text is taken from the Treatise on the Faith and Practice of the Free-will Baptists, written under the direction of the General Conference, Dover, N. H. Published by the Free-will Baptist Printing Establishment, 1871. The sections in which this Confession differs from the preceding Baptist Confessions have been put in italics, viz., Ch. III., 2 and 3, and Ch. l'III. and XIII.]
CHAPTER I.
The Holy Scriptures.
These are the Old and New Testaments; they were written by holy men, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and contain God's revealed will to man. They are a sufficient and infallible guide in religious faith and practice.
CHAPTER II.
Being and Attributes of God.
The Scriptures teach that there is only one true and living God, who is a Spirit, self-existent, eternal, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, independent, good, wise, holy, just, and merciful; the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the universe; the Redeemer, Saviour, Sanctifier, and Judge of men; and the only proper object of Divine worship.
The mode of his existence, however, is a subject far above the understanding of man--finite beings can not comprehend him. There is nothing in the universe that can justly represent him, for there is none like him. He is the fountain of all perfection and happiness. He is glorified by the whole inanimate creation, and is worthy to be loved and served by all intelligences.
CHAPTER III.
Divine Government and Providence.
1. God exercises a providential care and superintendence over all his creatures, and governs the world in wisdom and mercy, according to the testimony of his Word.
2. God has endowed man with power of free choice, and governs him by moral laws and motives; and this power of free choice is the exact measure of his responsibility.
3. All events are present with God from everlasting to everlasting; but his knowledge of them, does not in any sense cause them, nor does he decree all events which he knows will occur.
CHAPTER IV.
Creation, Primitive State of Man, and his Fall.
SECTION I.--CREATION.
1. Of the world. God created the world, and all things that it contains, for his own pleasure and glory, and the enjoyment of his creatures.
2. Of the angels. The angels were created by God to glorify him, and obey his commandments. Those who have kept their first estate he employs in ministering blessings to the heirs of salvation, and in executing his judgments upon the world.
3. Of man. God created man, consisting of a material body and a thinking, rational soul. He was made in the image of God to glorify his Maker.