The Schleitheim
Confession of Faith
Swiss
Brethren, 1527
Concerning Seven Articles
May joy, peace and mercy from our Father through the atonement of
the blood of Christ Jesus, together with the gifts of the
Spirit--Who is sent from the Father to all believers for their
strength and comfort and for their perseverance in all tribulation
until the end, Amen--be to all those who love God, who are the
children of light, and who are scattered everywhere as it has been
ordained of God our Father, where they are with one mind assembled
together in one God and Father of us all: Grace and peace of heart
be with you all, Amen.
Beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord: First and supremely we
are always concerned for your consolation and the assurance of your
conscience so that you may not always remain foreigners to us and by
right almost completely excluded, but that you may turn again to the
true implanted members of Christ, who have been armed through
patience and knowledge of themselves, and have therefore again been
united with us in the strength of a godly Christian spirit and zeal
for God.
It is also apparent with what cunning the devil has turned us
aside, so that he might destroy and bring to an end the work of God
which in mercy and grace has been partly begun in us. But Christ,
the true Shepherd of our souls, Who has begun this in us, will
certainly direct the same and teach to His honor and our salvation,
Amen.
Dear brethren and sisters, we who have been assembled in the Lord
at Schleitheim on the Border, make known in points and articles to
all who love God that as concerns us we are of one mind to abide in
the Lord as God's obedient children, sons and daughters, we who have
been and shall be separated from the world in everything, completely
at peace. To God alone be praise and glory without the contradiction
of any brethren. In this we have perceived the oneness of the Spirit
of our Father and of our common Christ with us. For the Lord is the
Lord of peace and not of quarreling, as Paul points out. That you
may understand in what articles this has been formulated you should
observe and note.
A very great offense has been introduced by certain false
brethren among us, so that some have turned aside from the faith, in
the way they intend to practice and observe the freedom of the
Spirit and of Christ. But such have missed the truth and to their
condemnation are given over to the lasciviousness and
self-indulgence of the flesh. They think faith and love may do and
permit everything, and nothing will harm them nor condemn them,
since they are believers.
Observe, you who are God's members in Christ Jesus, that faith in
the Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ does not take such form. It
does not produce and result in such things as these false brethren
and sisters do and teach. Guard yourselves and be warned of such
people, for they do not serve our Father, but their father, the
devil.
But you are not that way. For they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. You understand me
well and the brethren whom we mean. Separate yourselves from them
for they are preverted. Petition the Lord that they may have the
knowledge which leads to repentance, and for us that we may have
constancy to persevere in the way which we have espoused, for the
honor of God and of Christ, His Son, Amen.
The articles which we discussed and on which we were of one mind
are these:
1. Baptism
2. The Ban
3. Breaking of Bread
4. Separation from the Abomination
5. Pastors in the Church
6. The Sword
7. The Oath.
First. Observe concerning baptism: Baptism shall be given
to all those who have learned repentance and amendment of life, and
who believe truly that their sins are taken away by Christ, and to
all those who walk in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and wish to
be buried with Him in death, so that they may be resurrected with
Him, and to all those who with this significance request it of us
and demand it for themselves. This excludes all infant baptism, the
highest and chief abomination of the pope. In this you have the
foundation and testimony of the apostles. Mt. 28, Mk. 16, Acts 2, 8,
16, 19. This we wish to hold simply, yet firmly and with assurance.
Second. We are agreed as follows on the ban: The ban shall
be employed with all those who have given themselves to the Lord, to
walk in His commandments, and with all those who are baptized into
the one body of Christ and who are called brethren or sisters, and
yet who slip sometimes and fall into error and sin, being
inadvertently overtaken. The same shall be admonished twice in
secret and the third time openly disciplined or banned according to
the command of Christ. Mt. 18. But this shall be done according to
the regulation of the Spirit (Mt. 5) before the breaking of bread,
so that we may break and eat one bread, with one mind and in one
love, and may drink of one cup.
Third. In the breaking of bread we are of one mind and are
agreed: All those who wish to break one bread in remembrance of
the broken body of Christ, and all who wish to drink of one drink as
a remembrance of the shed blood of Christ, shall be united
beforehand by baptism in one body of Christ which is the church of
God and whose Head is Christ. For as Paul points out we cannot at
the same time be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of
devils; we cannot at the same time drink the cup of the Lord and the
cup of the devil. That is, all those who have fellowship with the
dead works of darkness have no part in the light Therefore all who
follow the devil and the world have no part with those who are
called unto God out of the world. All who lie in evil have no part
in the good.
Therefore it is and must be: Whoever has not been called by one
God to one faith, to one baptism, to one Spirit, to one body, with
all the children of God's church, cannot be made one bread with
them, as indeed must be done if one is truly to break bread
according to the command of Christ.
Fourth. We are agreed on separation: A separation shall be
made from the evil and from the wickedness which the devil planted
in the world; in this manner, simply that we shall not have
fellowship with them and not run with them in the multitude of their
abominations. This is the way it is: Since all who do not walk in
the obedience of faith, and have not united themselves with God so
that they wish to do His will, are a great abomination before God,
it is not possible for anything to grow or issue from them except
abominable things. For truly all creatures are in but two classes,
good and bad, believing and unbelieving, darkness and light, the
world and those who out of the world, God's temple and idols, Christ
and Belial; and none can have part with the other.
To us then the command of the Lord is clear when He calls upon us
to be separate from the evil and thus He will be our God and we
shall be His sons and daughters.
He further admonishes us to withdraw from Babylon and the earthly
Egypt that we may not be partakers of the pain and suffering which
the Lord will bring upon them.
From this we should learn that everything which is not united
with our God and Christ cannot be other than an abomination which we
should shun and flee from. By this is meant all popish and
antipopish works and church services, meetings and church
attendance, drinking houses, civic affairs, the commitments made
in unbelief and other things of that kind, which are highly
regarded by the world and yet are carried on in outright
contradiction to the command of God, in accordance with all the
unrighteousness which is in the world. From all these things we
shall be separated and have no part with them for they are nothing
but an abomination, and they are the cause of our being hated before
our Christ Jesus, Who has set us free from the slavery of the flesh
and fitted us for the service of God through the Spirit Whom He has
given us.
Therefore there will also unquestionably fall from us the
unchristian, devilish weapons of force -- such as sword, armor and
the like, and all their use for friends or against one's enemies I
would like the records -- by virtue of the word of Christ, Resist
not evil.
Fifth. We are agreed as follows on pastors in the church of
God: The pastor in the church of God shall, as Paul has
prescribed, be one who out-and-out has a good report of those who
are outside the faith. This office shall be to read, to admonish and
teach, to warn, to discipline, to ban in the church, to lead out in
prayer for the advancement of all the brethren and sisters, to lift
up the bread when it is to be broken, and in all things to see to
the care of the body of Christ, in order that it may be built up and
developed, and the mouth of the slanderer be stopped.
This one moreover shall be supported of the church which has
chosen him, wherein he may be in need, so that he who serves the
Gospel may live of the Gospel as the Lord has ordained. But if a
pastor should do something requiring discipline, he shall not be
dealt with except two or three witnesses. And when they sin they
shall be disciplined before all in order that the others may fear.
But should it happen that through the cross this pastor should be
banished or led to the Lord another shall be ordained in his place
in the same hour so that God's little flock and people may not be
destroyed.
Sixth. We are agreed as follows concerning the sword: The
sword is ordained of God outside the perfection of Christ. It
punishes and puts to death the wicked, and guards and protects the
good. In the Law the sword was ordained for the punishment of the
wicked and for their death, and the same is ordained to be used by
the worldly magistrates.
In the perfection of Christ, however, only the ban is used for a
warning and for the excommunication of the one who has sinned,
without putting the flesh to death, -- simply the warning and the
command to sin no more.
Now it will be asked by many who do not recognize the will of
Christ for us, whether a Christian may or should employ the sword
against the wicked for the defense and protection of the good, or
for the sake of love.
Our reply is unanimously as follows: Christ teaches and commands
us to learn of Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart and so shall
we find rest to our souls. Also Christ says to the heathenish woman
who was taken in adultery, not that one should stone her according
to the law of His Father, but in mercy and forgiveness and warning,
to sin no more. Such we also ought to take completely according to
the rule of the ban.
Secondly, it will be asked concerning the sword, whether a
Christian shall pass sentence in worldly disputes and strife such as
unbelievers have with one another. This is our united answer: Christ
did not wish to decide or pass judgment between brother and brother
in the case of the inheritance, but refused to do so. Therefore we
should do likewise.
Thirdly, it will be asked concerning the sword, Shall one be a
magistrate if one should be chosen as such? The answer is as
follows: They wished to make Christ king, but He fled and did not
view it as the arrangement of His Father. Thus shall we do as He
did, and follow Him, and so shall we not walk in darkness. For He
Himself says, He who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. Also, He Himself forbids the
employment of the force of the sword saying, The worldly princes
lord it over them, etc., but not so shall it be with you. Further,
Paul says, Whom God did foreknow He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, etc. Also Peter says, Christ has
suffered and left us an example, that ye should follow His steps.
Finally it will be observed that it is not appropriate for a
Christian to serve as a magistrate because of these points: The
government magistracy is according to the flesh, but the Christians'
is according to the Spirit; their houses and dwelling remain in this
world, but the Christians' are in heaven; their citizenship is in
this world, but the Christians' citizenship is in heaven; the
weapons of their conflict and war are carnal and against the flesh
only, but the Christians' weapons are spiritual, against the
fortification of the devil. The worldlings are armed with steel and
iron, but the Christians are armed with the armor of God, with
truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God.
In brief, as is the mind of Christ toward us, so shall the mind of
the members of the body of Christ be through Him in all things, that
there may be no schism in the body through which it would be
destroyed. For every kingdom divided against itself will be
destroyed. Now since Christ is as it is written of Him, His members
must also be the same, that His body may remain complete and united
to its own advancement and upbuilding.
Seventh. We are agreed as follows concerning the oath: The
oath is a confirmation among those who are quarreling or making
promises. In the Law it is commanded to be performed in God's Name,
but only in truth, not falsely. Christ, who teaches the perfection
of the Law, prohibits all swearing to His, whether true or false, --
neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by Jerusalem, nor by our
head, -- and that for the reason which He shortly thereafter gives,
For you are not able to make one hair white or black. So you see it
is for this reason that all swearing is forbidden: we cannot fulfill
that which we promise when we swear, for we cannot change the very
least thing on us.
Now there are some who do not give credence to the simple command
of God, but object with this question: Well now, did not God swear
to Abraham by Himself when He promised him that He would be with him
and that He would be his God if he would keep His commandments, --
why then should I not also swear when I promise to someone? Answer:
Hear what the Scripture says: God, since He wished more
abundantly to show unto the heirs the immutability of His counsel,
inserted an oath, that by two immutable things we might have a
strong consolation. Observe the meaning of this Scripture: What God
forbids you to do, He has power to do, for everything is possible
for Him. God swore an oath to Abraham, says the Scripture, so that
He might show that His counsel is immutable. That is, no one can
withstand nor thwart His will; therefore He can keep His oath. But
we can do nothing, as is said above by Christ, to keep or perform:
therefore we shall not swear at all.
Then others further say as follows: It is not forbidden of God to
swear in the New Testament, when it is actually commanded in the
Old, but it is forbidden only to swear by heaven, earth, Jerusalem
and our head. Answer: Hear the Scripture, He who swears by heaven
swears by God's throne and by Him who sits on it. Observe: it is
forbidden to swear by heaven, which is only the throne of God: how
much more is it forbidden by God Himself! You fools and blind, which
is greater, the throne or Him that sits on it?
Further some say, Because evil is now in the world, and because
man needs God for the truth, so did the apostles Peter and Paul also
swear. Answer: Peter and Paul only testify of that which God
promised to Abraham with the oath. They themselves promise nothing,
as the example indicates clearly. Testifying and swearing are two
different things. For when a person swears he is in the first place
promising future things, as Christ was promised to Abraham Whom we a
long time afterwards received. But when a person bears testimony he
is testifying about the present, whether it is good or evil, as
Simeon spoke to Mary about Christ and testified, Behold this is set
for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which
shall be spoken against.
Christ also taught us along the same line when He said, Let your
communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatever is more than these
comes from evil. He says, Your speech or word shall be yea and nay.
When one does not wish to understand, he remains closed to the
meaning. Christ is simply Yea and Nay, and all those who seek Him
simply will understand His Word. Amen.
Dear brethren and sisters in the Lord: These are the articles of
certain brethren who had heretofore been in error and who had failed
to agree in the true understanding, so that many weaker consciences
were perplexed, causing the Name of God to be greatly slandered.
Therefore there has been a great need for us to become of one mind
in the Lord, which has come to pass. To God be praise and glory!
Now since you have so well understood the will of God which has
been made known by us, it will be necessary for you to achieve
perseveringly, without interruption, the known will of God. For you
know well what the servant who sinned knowingly heard as his
recompense.
Everything which you have unwittingly done and confessed as evil
doing is forgiven you through the believing prayer which is offered
by us in our meeting for all our shortcomings and guilt, through the
gracious forgiveness of God and through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Keep watch on all who do not walk according to the simplicity of
the divine truth which is stated in this letter from our
meeting, so that everyone among us will be governed by the rule of
the ban and henceforth the entry of false brethren and sisters among
us may be prevented.
Eliminate from you that which is evil and the Lord will be your
God and you will be His sons and daughters.
Dear brethren, keep in mind what Paul admonishes Timothy when he
says, The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all
men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that
He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a
people of His own, zealous of good works. Think on this and exercise
yourselves in it and the God of peace will be with you.
May the Name of God be hallowed eternally and highly praised,
Amen. May the Lord give you His peace, Amen.
The Seven Articles of Schleitheim
Canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland,
February 24, 1527
A Revival
in Schleitheim
by Glendon Fox
“I Wait Upon My God”:
The Contribution of Michael Sattler
by
Ched Spellman
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