The 1530 Augsburg Confession

• Preface to the Emperor Charles V.
• Article I: Of God.
• Article II: Of Original Sin.
• Article III: Of the Son of God.
• Article IV: Of Justification.
• Article V: Of the Ministry.
• Article VI: Of New Obedience.
• Article VII: Of the Church.
• Article VIII: What the Church Is.
• Article IX: Of Baptism.
• Article X: Of the Lord's Supper.
• Article XI: Of Confession.
• Article XII: Of Repentance.
• Article XIII: Of the Use of the Sacraments.
• Article XIV: Of Ecclesiastical Order.
• Article XV: Of Ecclesiastical Usages.
• Article XVI: Of Civil Affairs.
• Article XVII: Of Christ's Return to Judgment.
• Article XVIII: Of Free Will.
• Article XIX: Of the Cause of Sin.
• Article XX: Of Good Works.
• Article XXI: Of the Worship of the Saints.
• Article XXII: Of Both Kinds in the Sacrament.
• Article XXIII: Of the Marriage of Priests.
• Article XXIV: Of the Mass.
• Article XXV: Of Confession.
• Article XXVI: Of the Distinction of Meats.
• Article XXVII: Of Monastic Vows.
• Article XXVIII: Of Ecclesiastical Power.
• Conclusion.

Article XVI: Of Civil Affairs.

Of Civil Affairs they teach that lawful civil ordinances are good works of God, and that it is right for Christians to bear civil office, to sit as judges, to judge matters by the Imperial and other existing laws, to award just punishments, to engage in just wars, to serve as soldiers, to make legal contracts, to hold property, to make oath when required by the magistrates, to marry a wife, to be given in marriage.

They condemn the Anabaptists who forbid these civil offices to Christians.

They condemn also those who do not place evangelical perfection in the fear of God and in faith, but in forsaking civil offices, for the Gospel teaches an eternal righteousness of the heart. Meanwhile, it does not destroy the State or the family, but very much requires that they be preserved as ordinances of God, and that charity be practiced in such ordinances. Therefore, Christians are necessarily bound to obey their own magistrates and laws save only when commanded to sin; for then they ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5, 29.