Article IV.
Of Predestination and the Eternal Providence of God.
The pure and true doctrine of our churches concerning this article:
- That Christ has died for all men, and as the Lamb of God has borne the sins of the whole world.
- That God created no one for condemnation, but will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. a He commands all to hear His Son Christ in the Gospel, and promises by it b the power and working of the Holy Ghost for conversion and salvation.
- That many men are condemned c by their own guilt, who are either unwilling to hear the Gospel of Christ, or again fall from grace, d by error against the foundation or by sins against conscience.
- That all sinners who repent are received into grace, and no one is excluded, even though his sins were as scarlet, since God's mercy is much greater than the sins of all the world, and God has compassion on all His works.
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