Bryce Avenue Presbyterian Church
Benjamin B. Warfield
I believe that my one aim in life and death should be to glorify God
and enjoy him forever; and that God teaches me how to glorify him in
his holy Word, that is, the Bible, which he had given by the infallible
inspiration of this Holy Spirit in order that I may certainly know what I
am to believe concerning him and what duty he requires of me.
I believe that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and incomparable in all that he is; one
God but three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, my Creator, my
Redeemer, and my Sanctifier; in whose power and wisdom, righteousness, goodness
and truth I may safely put my trust.
I believe that the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, are the work of God
hands; and that all that he has made he directs and governs in all their actions; so that
they fulfill the end for which they were created, and I who trust in him shall not be put
to shame but may rest securely in the protection of his almighty love.
I believe that God created man after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness and
holiness, and entered into a covenant of life with him upon the sole condition of the
obedience that was his due; so that it was by willfully sinning against God that man fell
into the sin and misery in which I have been born.
I believe, that, being fallen in Adam, my first father, I am by nature a child of wrath,
under the condemnation of God and corrupted in body and soul, prone to evil and
liable to eternal as loved it, has from all eternity graciously chosen unto himself a
multitude which no man can number, to deliver them out of their sin and misery, and
of them to build up again in the world his kingdom of righteousness; in which kingdom
I may be assured I have my part, if I hold fast to Christ the Lord.
I believe that God has redeemed his people unto himself through Jesus Christ our
Lord; who, though he was and ever continues to be the eternal Son of God, yet was
born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that are under the
law: I believe that he bore the penalty due to my sins in his own body on the tree, and
fulfilled in his own person the obedience I owe to the righteousness of God, and now
presents me to his Father as his purchased possession, to the praise of the glory of his
grace forever; wherefore renouncing all merit of my own, I put all my trust only in the
blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ my redeemer.
I believe that Jesus Christ my redeemer, who died for my offences was raised again for
my justification, and ascended into the heavens, where he sits at the right hand of the
Father Almighty, continually making intercession for his people, and governing the
whole world as head over all things for his Church; so that I need fear no evil and may
surely know that nothing can snatch me out of his hands and nothing can separate me
from his love.
I believe that the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ is effectually applied to
all his people by the Holy Spirit, who works faith in me and thereby unites me to
Christ, renews me in the whole man after the image of God, and enables me more and
more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness; until, this gracious work having
been completed in me, I shall be received into glory; in which great hope abiding, I
must ever strive to perfect holiness in the fear of God.
I believe that God requires of me, under the gospel, first of all, that , out of a true
sense of my sin and misery and apprehension of his mercy in Christ, I should turn with
grief and hatred away from sin and receive and rest upon Jesus Christ alone for
salvation; that, so being united to him, I may receive pardon for my sins and be
accepted as righteous in God's sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to
me and received by faith alone; and thus and thus only do I believe I may be received
into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.
I believe that, having been pardoned and accepted for Christ's sake , it is further
required of me that I walk in the Spirit whom he has purchased for me, and by whom
love is shed abroad in my heart; fulfilling the obedience I owe to Christ my King;
faithfully performing all the duties laid upon me by the holy law of God my heavenly
Father; and ever reflecting in my life and conduct, the perfect example that has been
set me by Christ Jesus my Leader, who has died for me and granted to me his Holy
Spirit just that I may do the good works which God has afore prepared that I should
walk in them.
I believe that God has established his Church in the world and endowed it with the
ministry of the Word and the holy ordinances of Baptism, the Lord's Supper and
Prayer; in order that through these as means, the riches of his grace in the gospel may
be made known to the world, and, by the blessing of Christ and the working of his
Spirit in them that by faith receive them, the benefits of redemption may be
communicated to his people; wherefore also it is required of me that I attend on these
means of grace with diligence, preparation, and prayer, so that through them I may be
instructed and strengthened in faith, and in holiness of life and in love; and that I use
my best endeavors to carry this gospel and convey these means of grace to the whole
world.
I believe that as Jesus Christ has once come in grace, so also is he to come a second
time in glory, to judge the world in righteousness and assign to each his eternal award;
an I believe that if I die in Christ, my soul shall be at death made perfect in holiness
and go home to the Lord; and when he shall return to his majesty I shall be raised in
glory and made perfectly blesses in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity:
encouraged by which blessed hope it is required of me willingly to take my part in
suffering hardship here as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, being assured that if I die
with him I shall also live with him, if I endure, I shall also reign with him. And to Him,
my Redeemer, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, Three Persons, one God, be glory
forever, world without end, Amen, and Amen.
A Brief Description of the Reformed Faith