Canons of Dort

1.1 As all men have sinned in Adam, lie under the curse, and are deserving of eternal death, God would have … 1.2 But in this the love of God was manifested, that He sent His only begotten Son into the world, that … 1.3 And that men may be brought to believe, God mercifully sends the messengers of these most joyful tidings to whom … 1.4 The wrath of God abideth upon those who believe not this gospel. But such as receive it, and embrace Jesus … 1.5 The cause or guilt of this unbelief, as well as of all other sins, is no wise in God, but … 1.6 That some receive the gift of faith from God and others do not receive it proceeds from God's eternal decree, … 1.7 Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation of the world, He hath out of mere grace, … 1.8 There are not various decrees of election, but one and the same decree respecting all those who shall be saved, … 1.9 This election was not founded upon foreseen faith, and the obedience of faith, holiness, or any other good quality or … 1.10 The good pleasure of God is the sole cause of this gracious election, which doth not consist herein, that out … 1.11 And as God Himself is most wise, unchangeable, omniscient and omnipotent, so the election made by Him can neither be … 1.12 The elect in due time, though in various degrees and in different measures, attain the assurance of this their eternal … 1.13 The sense and certainty of this election afford to the children of God additional matter for daily humiliation before Him, … 1.14 As the doctrine of divine election by the most wise counsel of God was declared by the prophets, by Christ … 1.15 What peculiarly tends to illustrate and recommend to us the eternal and unmerited grace of election, is the express testimony … 1.16 Those who do not yet experience a lively faith in Christ, an assured confidence of soul, peace of conscience, an … 1.17 Since we are to judge of the will of God from His Word which testifies that the children of believers … 1.18 To those who murmur at the free grace of election and just severity of reprobation, we answer with the apostle: … 1.19 That the will of God to save those who would believe and would persevere in faith and in the obedience … 1.20 That there are various kinds of election of God unto eternal life: the one general and indefinite, the other particular … 1.21 That the good pleasure and purpose of God, of which Scripture makes mention in the doctrine of election, does not … 1.22 That in the election unto faith this condition is beforehand demanded, namely, that man should use the light of nature … 1.23 That the incomplete and non-decisive election of particular persons to salvation occurred because of a foreseen faith, conversion, holiness, godliness, … 1.24 That not every election unto salvation is unchangeable, but that some of the elect, any decree of God notwithstanding, can … 1.25 That there is in this life no fruit and no consciousness of the unchangeable election to glory, nor any certainty, … 1.26 That God, simply by virtue of His righteous will, did not decide either to leave anyone in the fall of … 1.27 That the reason why God sends the gospel to one people rather than to another is not merely and solely …

2.1 God is not only supremely merciful, but also supremely just. And His justice requires (as He hath revealed Himself in … 2.2 Since therefore we are unable to make that satisfaction in our own persons or to deliver ourselves from the wrath … 2.3 The death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin, and is … 2.4 This death derives its infinite value and dignity from these considerations because the person who submitted to it was not … 2.5 Moreover, the promise of the gospel is, that whosoever believeth in Christ crucified, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. … 2.6 And whereas many who are called by the gospel do not repent nor believe in Christ, but perish in unbelief, … 2.7 But as many as truly believe, and are delivered and saved from sin and destruction through the death of Christ, … 2.8 For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and … 2.9 This purpose proceeding from everlasting love towards the elect has from the beginning of the world to this day been … 2.10 That God the Father has ordained His Son to the death of the cross without a certain and definite decree … 2.11 That it was not the purpose of the death of Christ that He should confirm the new covenant of grace … 2.12 That Christ by His satisfaction merited neither salvation itself for anyone, nor faith, whereby this satisfaction of Christ unto salvation … 2.13 That the new covenant of grace, which God the Father, through the mediation of the death of Christ, made with … 2.14 That all men have been accepted unto the state of reconciliation and unto the grace of the covenant, so that … 2.15 The use of the difference between meriting and appropriating, to the end that they may instill into the minds of … 2.16 That Christ neither could die, needed to die, nor did die for those whom God loved in the highest degree …

3.1 Man was originally formed after the image of God. His understanding was adorned with a true and saving knowledge of … 3.2 Man after the fall begat children in his own likeness. A corrupt stock produced a corrupt offspring. Hence all the … 3.3 Therefore all men are conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, incapable of saving good, prone to evil, … 3.4 There remain, however, in man since the fall, the glimmerings of natural light, whereby he retains some knowledge of God, … 3.5 In the same light are we to consider the law of the decalogue, delivered by God to His peculiar people … 3.6 What therefore neither the light of nature, nor the law could do, that God performs by the operation of the … 3.7 This mystery of His will God discovered to but a small number under the Old Testament; under the New (the … 3.8 As many as are called by the gospel are unfeignedly called. For God hath most earnestly and truly declared in … 3.9 It is not the fault of the gospel nor of Christ, offered therein, nor of God, who calls men by … 3.10 But that others who are called by the gospel obey the call and are converted is not to be ascribed … 3.11 But when God accomplishes His good pleasure in the elect or works in them true conversion, He not only causes … 3.12 And this is the regeneration so highly celebrated in Scripture and denominated a new creation: a resurrection from the dead, … 3.13 The manner of this operation cannot be fully comprehended by believers in this life. Notwithstanding which, they rest satisfied with … 3.14 Faith is therefore to be considered as the gift of God, not on account of its being offered by God … 3.15 God is under no obligation to confer this grace upon any; for how can He be indebted to man, who … 3.16 But as man by the fall did not cease to be a creature endowed with understanding and will, nor did … 3.17 As the almighty operation of God, whereby He prolongs and supports this our natural life, does not exclude, but requires … 3.18 That it cannot properly be said that original sin in itself suffices to condemn the whole human race or to … 3.19 That the spiritual gifts or the good qualities and virtues, such as goodness, holiness, righteousness, could not belong to the … 3.20 That in spiritual death the spiritual gifts are not separate from the will of man, since the will in itself … 3.21 That the unregenerate man is not really nor utterly dead in sin, nor destitute of all powers unto spiritual good, … 3.22 That the corrupt and natural man can so well use the common grace (by which they understand the light of … 3.23 That in the true conversion of man no new qualities, powers or gifts can be infused by God into the … 3.24 That the grace whereby we are converted to God is only a gentle advising, or (as others explain it), that … 3.25 That God in the regeneration of man does not use such powers of His omnipotence as potently and infallibly bend … 3.26 That grace and free will are partial causes, which together work the beginning of conversion, and that grace, in order …

4.1 Whom God calls, according to his purpose, to the communion of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and regenerates by … 4.2 Hence spring daily sins of infirmity, and hence spots adhere to the best works of the saints; which furnish them … 4.3 By reason of these remains of indwelling sin, and the temptations of sin and of the world, those who are … 4.4 Although the weakness of the flesh cannot prevail against the power of God, who confirms and preserves true believers in … 4.5 By such enormous sins, however, they very highly offend God, incur a deadly guilt, grieve the Holy Spirit, interrupt the … 4.6 But God, who is rich in mercy, according to his unchangeable purpose of election, does not wholly withdraw the Holy … 4.7 For in the first place, in these falls he preserves them in the incorruptible seed of regeneration from perishing, or … 4.8 Thus, it is not in consequence of their own merits, or strength, but of God's free mercy, that they do … 4.9 Of this preservation of the elect to salvation, and of their perseverance in the faith, true believers for themselves may … 4.10 This assurance, however, is not produced by any peculiar revelation contrary to, or independent of the Word of God; but … 4.11 The Scripture moreover testifies, that believers in this life have to struggle with various carnal doubts, and that under grievous … 4.12 This certainty of perseverance, however, is so far from exciting in believers a spirit of pride, or of rendering them … 4.13 Neither does renewed confidence or persevering produce licentiousness, or a disregard to piety in those who are recovering from backsliding; … 4.14 And as it hath pleased God, by the preaching of the gospel, to begin this work of grace in us, … 4.15 The carnal mind is unable to comprehend this doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, and the certainty thereof; which … 4.16 Who teach: That the perseverance of the true believers is not a fruit of election, or a gift of God, … 4.17 Who teach: That God does indeed provide the believer with sufficient powers to persevere, and is ever ready to preserve … 4.18 Who teach: That the true believers and regenerate not only can fall from justifying faith and likewise from grace and … 4.19 Who teach: That true believers and regenerate can sin the sin unto death or against the Holy Spirit. Since the … 4.20 Who teach: That without a special revelation we can have no certainty of future perseverance in this life. For by … 4.21 Who teach: That the doctrine of the certainty of perseverance and of salvation from its own character and nature is … 4.22 Who teach: That the faith of those, who believe for a time, does not differ from justifying and saving faith … 4.23 Who teach: That it is not absurd that one having lost his first regeneration, is again and even often born … 4.24 Who teach: That Christ has in no place prayed that believers should infallibly continue in faith. For they contradict Christ …