Why Confess?

The Start of a series on a study of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith

We will give the historical context of it first, starting all the way back to the first creed

But first, I want to have an introduction lesson on why we should confess.

What is a confession?

A confession is a document detailing what a group of people believe to be true about God as detailed in the Scriptures

Anglicans: 39 Articles

Presbyterians: The Westminster Confession of Faith

Congregationalists: Savoy Declaration

Baptists: 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith

With the onslaught of liberalism in the 1800s and 1900s these denominations went liberal

This left many evangelical pastors in the 1900s with a bad taste in their mouth about denominations

And it is common, even today, for a well-meaning evangelical pastor to declare authoritatively behind the pulpit:

NO CREED BUT THE BIBLE!

Why does NO CREED BUT THE BIBLE have a nice ring to it?

Sola Scriptura! As opposed to the tradition of Rome

We don’t want anything trying to compete with the authority of Scripture!

But neither does the historic confessions: 1689, Chap 1, paragraph 1 on the Holy Scriptures: The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible standard of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.

What’s wrong with NO CREED BUT THE BIBLE!

Everyone has a confession or creed that they interpret the Bible

The question is not whether you have one, but rather, is yours written down and organized

Or is it disorganized, in your own head, and subject to change based off of what you had for breakfast?

Christian 1:

Hi, my name is Christian 1…I hate confessions but I love Jesus and the Bible.

Christian 2:

Hello Christian 1, my name is Christian 2. I also hate confessions but love Jesus and the Bible. Let’s be friends and be united in Christ forever.

Christian 1:

Okay, sounds good to me.

Narrator:

And thus began a great brotherhood between Christian 1 and Christian 2 that was destined to last forever until five minutes into their conversation when Christian 1 said...

Christian 1:

I think women should be able to be pastors.

Christian 2

Woah, Christian 1, I thought you said no confession but the Bible? The Bible clearly states in 1 Timothy 2:12 “I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, rather is is to remain quiet.”

Christian 1:

That was clearly only for the people of that time since women were not well educated back then. Look at Deborah in the book of Judges. She was a prophetess and a judge over Israel. Aquila took Apollos aside and taught him the way more accurately. Therefore, it is clear that women can be pastors.

Christian 2:

Wow, who would have thought that you would be so bad at interpreting the Bible correctly. Good thing I am sure this is the only thing that we could possibly disagree about what the Bible teaches.

Christian 1:

Yeah, I am sure you are right. Just as long as you see Scripture clearly does not teach that Jesus was truly God and perfect. After all, he did tell the rich ruler, “why do you call me good