“Having the knowledge of the Father through the Son”

“And that the Father for His own love, not for love for us, not for our works, merits, and righteousness (which are only abominations), saves us, makes us alive, accepting us as His sons and heirs, joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17), in whom are made members all those who have true faith in Him, and consequently are unified and incorporated into the body of Jesus (1 Cor. 12:27). By the divine virtue, which dwells in the Head, all contrary power is destroyed. By the perfect and immortal life, our death is abolished. By the infinite holiness, justice, purity, and innocence which are in Him, all our evil, iniquity, and filth are annihilated. And by this great power, we are restored to a state more noble than what was ever before the sin of Adam in Paradise; not that which is terrestrial, but celestial: not to a life corporeal, corruptible, and that can be lost, but spiritual, without corruption, and which can never be lost. Whoever knows and understands this by a true and living faith, truly he has eternal life, and no more fixes himself on the creatures, nor other vain things, having the knowledge of the Father through the Son: in whom he knows and understands the great goodness of God, and His infinite mercy” (William Farel’s “Summary” (1529) in 16th & 17th Century Reformed Confessions, Vol. 1, 57).