Exposition Of the LBC 1689 Chapter 2 Paragraph 3

3. This divine and infinite Being consists of three real persons, the Father, the Word or Son, and the Holy Spirit.27 These three have the same substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence without this essence being divided.28 The Father is not derived from anyone, neither begotten nor proceeding. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father.29 The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.30 All three are infinite and without beginning and are therefore only one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being. Yet these three are distinguished by several distinctive characteristics and personal relations. This truth of the Trinity is the foundation of all of our fellowship with God and of our comforting dependence on him.

C subsistence, or individual instances of a given essence

27 1 John 5:7; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14.

28 Exodus 3:14; John 14:11; 1 Corinthians 8:6.

29 John 1:14,18.

30 John 15:26; Galatians 4:6.

Study Notes:

Introduction

Today we will review the third paragraph of the second chapter on the London Baptist Confession of Faith.

As we have been moving relatively fast thru the Confession, now might be an excellent opportunity to look back and assess where we started and where we are going.

First of all, why use this Confession and not another confession? It will be an extensive task to go thru the principal and better know confessions to establish their differences and why we believe this one is more accurate than another confession. However, just as we use a set of resources when we want to understand better understand the truth of scripture, resources such as other writings by the same author on a particular topic to understand better what He means, we also go to what the writers of this Confession wrote about the Confession to help us understand why they wrote what they wrote.

When the authors confessed completed their work and wanted to present their work to other congregations, they wrote a short they wrote a Preface to the Confession on 1677 titled “To the judicial and impartial reader.” After going thru a short introduction, they wrote:

“forasmuch as that Confession is not now commonly to be had, and also that many others have since embraced the same truth which is owned therein, it was judged necessary by us to join together in giving a testimony to the world of our firm adhering to those wholesome principles by the publication of this which is now in your hand. And forasmuch as our method and manner of expressing our sentiments in this doth vary

from the former (although the substance of this matter is the same), we shall freely impart to you the reason and occasion thereof.“

They even included a section of this preface to the Westminster Assembly expressing points of unity and differences.

So this Confession, as well as any other orthodox confession, unites us and sets us apart. In other, in the fundamental matters of faith unites us as we are united in the same faith, so as long as we adhere to the fundamentals of the faith, this Confession unit to the kingdom of God, but if we reject these basic principles it will separate us not only from the local church but from the kingdom of God.

As we go back to this Confession, where are we as we continue to navigate thru it?

Well, this Confession has been divided into four main sections:

1. First Things (Chapters 1 Thru 6)

2. God’s Covenants (Chapter 7 Thru 20)

3. Christian Liberty (Chapter 21 – 30)

4. Last Things (Chapter 31 – 33)

We can also observe how each section of the Confession is built by each chapter while those chapters are built by each paragraph.

While each paragraph supports the truth in that chapter, each argument is supported by each argument in each particular paragraph.

The Confession also makes assumptions; in other words, the Confession assumes the reader, in this case, chapter 2, agrees with chapter one. Also, when we get to chapter four ( On Creation), the Confession assumes the reader agrees with chapter 2 (On the Trinity)

We can also say that our understanding of a particular doctrine will affect our understanding of a different doctrine, as an orthodox view of the Trinity will help to understand the covenant of redemption better and how our view of the different covenants will affect our view of baptism, Church Membership, and Baptism.

BACK TO CHAPTER 2 OF THE CONFESSION

As we conclude this chapter, in order to understand better, we could outline this chapter like this:

· The Attributes of God (Paragraph one)

· The Relations Of God (Paragraph two)

· The Triunity Of God (Paragraph tree)

Since today we are in the Paragraph tree, in order to understand it better, we can outline this paragraph like this:

· Its Affirmation

o The unity of the three persons

o The distinctions between the tree persons

· Its explanation

· Its Relevance

This paragraph combines statements from the 1st London Baptist Confession, The Westminster Confession, and The Savoy declaration.

From a historical perspective, The Confession (LBC 1689) demonstrates their adherence to orthodox trinitarian teaching, as the authors of the Confession might have been setting themselves apart from the teachings of the General Baptist. They will be doing this by correcting their incorrect view of the Trinity since they emphasize general atonement, and by doing so, they had a unitarian view of God.

As much as the doctrine of the Trinity is rejected and attacked, as it has taken many years to be catechized (in other words, to define it correctly), we now have historical documents, like the Nicene Creed, that correctly articulate this doctrine.

There has always been a trinity; the only true God revealed to us in the scripture is immutable (James 1:17.) it will be illogical for God not to be a trinity. If we say that the Trinity did not exist at some point in time, the Trinity did not exist; then we are saying that God changed.