Westminster Confession of Faith
1788 version of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
Translation: David Snoke, City Reformed Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
December 2018
Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 30: Of Church Censures
1. The Lord Jesus, as King and Head of his Church, has appointed a government of it, in the hand of church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate.
2. The keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed to these officers; by virtue of which they have the power
- to declare sins retained or remitted;
- to shut the kingdom against the unrepentant, both by the Word and by censures;
- and to open the kingdom to repentant sinners, by the ministry of the Gospel and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.
3. Church censures are necessary for
- reclaiming and gaining back offending members,
- for deterring others from similar offences,
- for purging out that yeast which might infect the whole lump,
- for vindicating the honor of Christ and the holy profession of the Gospel,
- and for preventing the wrath of God, which might justly fall on the Church if they allow his covenant and the seals of it to be profaned by notorious and obstinate offenders.
4. For the better attaining of these purposes, the officers of the Church are to proceed by admonition, suspension from the sacrament of the Lord’s supper for a season, and by excommunication from the Church, according to the nature of the crime and character of the person.