In Belgic Confession article 29, the Reformed Churches identify three marks of the true church and seven marks of the true Christian. The second mark of the true church says: “It makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them.” Regarding baptism, we confess: For that reason weContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste and Johannes Potgieter The key question to be explored in this article is whether the Reformed Churches in South Africa (RCSA) possess within her tradition the resources to perpetuate her predominating legacy of singing Scripture only. Did her 2012 General Synod decision to revise Article 69 ofContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste The Three Forms of Unity – the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of the Synod of Dort – represent a summary of what the Word of God teaches. They dedicate a significant amount of space to the official ministry of the Word in theContinue Reading
Eugene Osterhaven called this “the most difficult and disputed” article in the confession. The desire to revise this article has existed in the Reformed churches in both the Netherlands and in the USA since the late 19th century, and revision has come in fits and starts. Further, there is noContinue Reading
What are we praying in the 6th petition of the Lord’s Prayer when we ask: “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13)? To find out, click here and listen. In Belgic Confession Article 29 we confess that it is the duty of every ChristianContinue Reading
Want to learn how to pray in a way that pleases God? Jesus teaches his disciples in Matthew 6 in the middle of his sermon on the mount. Listen to the sermons on Christ’s words here. What does it mean to be a part of the one apostolic church ofContinue Reading
In Belgic Confession Article 27, we confess certain foundational truths about the nature of Christ’s church: things like its universality, its unity and its holiness. Vital to our understanding of the church and its attributes is that they find their ultimate source in the workings of the Triune God. ItContinue Reading
To learn more, listen to this sermon on Belgic Confession article 27. If you are curious to learn more about the Reformed confessions and why RCSS is a confessional church, you click can here and here.Continue Reading
[The following is a sermon of Rev. Coen Vrey, the minister of Bellville Reformed Church, which was read during a recent church service.] For those of you who are new to the Reformed tradition, we believe that along with the Heidelberg Catechism the Belgic Confession provides for us a faithfulContinue Reading
It is commonly accepted that if we claim something to be true about someone or something, we must be able to prove it. The bigger the claim, the more evidence required and the stricter the process of verification. For instance, an immigrations officer is not just going to just acceptContinue Reading