21. 3 The leading reformers — Luther, Melanchthon, and Calvin — retained all the dogmas regarding the trinity of persons in the Divine, original sin, the assigning of Christ’s merit to us, and our being justified by faith, in the same past and present form they had had among Roman Catholics. The reformers separated goodwill or good works from that faith, however, and declared that our good works contribute nothing to our salvation, for the purpose of clearly differentiating themselves from Roman Catholics with regard to the essentials of the church, which are faith and goodwill.

38. I would like to add to this a few sentences from the Belgic Confession, which was officially adopted at the Synod of Dort:

I believe in one God, who is one single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties — namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the cause, origin, and source of all things, visible as well as invisible. The Son is the Word, the wisdom, and the image of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the eternal power and might, proceeding from the Father and the Son. But it must be said that this teaching far surpasses human understanding; we are waiting to know it fully in heaven. (Belgic Confession [8, 9])