New Members Class - Session 6 - Confession Part 2 and Place in History

Introduction

Today we are going to continue surveying our Church Confession of faith. A confession of faith is a statement of belief. It represents the shared theology around which a local Church is unified. General agreement with a Church’s confession is important for those considering joining a Church because it represents the beliefs that unify that body but also what will be taught by the leaders of the Church. The confession of faith is an expression of what we believe is taught in Scripture, it in no way is more authoritative than Scripture, rather it is subject to the Word of God, but it is authoritative for our local Church. Meaning if someone joins the Church and teaches doctrine contrary to the confession (and thereby Scripture) that individual may be subject to Church discipline. It is a rule of faith for our congregation.

We will spend our time today looking at the back half of the confession, spending a great deal of time dissecting the 22nd article on Reformed theology. After this we will spend some time placing our Church within the context of Church history and talk about terms like Evangelical, Protestant, and Reformed to help you better understand how we fit into the story God is telling in history through His Church. Let’s begin by looking at article 15.

15. HARMONY OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS

We believe that God established but one covenant for fallen humanity revealed in the

progressive work of the Old Covenant until its final fulfillment in the person of the Lord Jesus

Christ; that the Old Covenant pointed forward to the New Covenant through shadows and

types in the physical Jewish nation, the cultic ceremonies of the Temple, and the Laws

governing that nation, but which the prophets indicated would only find reality in the coming

of the Christ; that in Jesus Christ the Law and the Prophets were fully fulfilled resulting in the

Old becoming obsolete as the types and shadows passed, and the reality in Christ and His

Kingdom took form; that the Old Covenant must be read and believed in light of the New

Covenant; and that salvation and truth of the Old Covenant and New Covenant were one and

the same, differing only in perspective as the Old pointed forward to and the New looks back

upon the finished work of Christ. (Matthew 5:17-18; Romans 3:31; Romans 7:4-6; 8:1-4;

Galatians 4:1-7; Hebrews 8:5-7, 13; 12:18-24)

16. THE CHURCH

We believe in the universal Church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all

regenerated persons are members; in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in

Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, forming the visible representation of

the Family of God, and associated for worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and

witness; that God has laid upon the members of the local Church the primary task of giving

the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world; and that the Officers of the Church must meet the

qualifications and duties defined in the Scriptures. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 2:38, 42-47;

20:18-32; Ephesians 1:20-23; 2:19-22; 5:19-21; Colossians 1:18-20; 1 Timothy 3; Titus 1;

Hebrews 10:23-25)

17. CHRISTIAN CONDUCT

We believe that all Christians should live for the glory of God and the well-being of all

humans according to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission; that their conduct

should be blameless before the world; that they should be a faithful steward of their

possessions; and that they should seek to realize for themselves and others the full stature of

maturity in Christ. (Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20, John 14:15, 23-24; Romans 12:1-10; I

Corinthians 4:2; 10:31; II Corinthians 9:6-9; Ephesians 4:13-16; Colossians 1:9-10; Hebrews

12:1-2; I John 2:3-6)

18. THE ORDINANCES

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances (sometimes called

sacraments) to the local church: baptism and the Lord's Supper; that Christian baptism is the

immersion of the believer in water into the name of the triune God as a confession of true

faith and the recognition of the cleansing from sin and the inclusion in Christ’s Kingdom

Family; that the Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death

through the use of the fruit of the grape vine representing the removal of the wrath of God and

the partaking of bread in the representation that in Christ we have become one Body through

his sacrifice. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until

the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 3:13ff; 28:18-20; Luke 12:14-20; Acts 2:37-38;

2:46-47; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:14-22; 11:23-26; Ephesians 4:4-6; Colossians 2:11-

12; 1 Peter 3:21)

19. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

We believe that every human being has direct relations with God and is responsible to God

alone in all matters of faith, while being exhorted to true faith through His Church; that each

local church is independent and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical,

organizational, or political authority; that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as

having different functions, each fulfilling its divinely appointed duties; that the government,

being divinely appointed by God for the good and order of society, ought to be prayed for,

honored, and obeyed except when in opposition to the will of our Lord as prescribed in the

Word of God; and that the Church, as the Pillar and Foundation of Truth, must act as salt and

light in this world for the glory of God. (Matthew 5:13-16; Acts 4:18-20; Romans 13; 14:7-9,

12; I Timothy 2:1-5; 3:15; Revelation 11:15)

20. CHURCH COOPERATION

We believe that local churches can best promote the cause of Jesus Christ by cooperating with

other congregations that uphold the inerrancy of the Bible and hold to the fundamental and

historical teachings of the Church. In many cases, this cooperation is best achieved in a

denominational organization. Such an organization, whether associational, regional, or local

exists and functions by the will of the churches. Cooperation in an association is voluntary

and may be terminated at any time. (Psalm 133; John 17:20-21; Acts 15:36, 41; 16:5; Romans

14; Galatians 1:1-3, 10; Revelation 1:4, 10, 11)

21. THE LAST THINGS

We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the establishment of

His eternal kingdom; in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal blessing

of the righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked; in a radical difference between the

righteous and the wicked and that only those, who through personal faith have received

justification unto righteousness, will receive eternal life, while those who remain impenitent

and unbelieving will certainly be eternally separated from God in Hell and will remain there

through all eternity because they will remain impenitent and unwilling to acknowledge the

rightful Lordship of the Eternal and all-glorious God. (Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John

14:3; Acts 1:11; Philippians 3:20; I Thessalonians 4:15; II Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; I

Corinthians 4:5; I Corinthians 15; II Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15)

22. REFORMED THEOLOGY

We believe that the teaching of Reformed theology and Baptist polity best articulate the

positions of the Holy Scriptures.

The Reformed Tradition Reformed and Reformed Theology

Now let’s spend our remaining time elaborating on article 22. Our Church is a Reformed Baptist Church, meaning we hold to what is called Reformed Theology which comes from the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. In the 16th century the Protestant Reformers namely Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church by clinging to Scripture as the ultimate authority for the Church and going back to what was taught and believed in the early Church by the Apostles and Church fathers. They wanted to retrieve the good theology that the Roman Catholic Church had turned away from because of corruption. As a Church we are in that vein and find our origin and history in the greater Reformed Tradition.

MBC holds to both Reformed theology and Baptist polity (which we have covered extensively in the first two sessions of this class), because we believe those best represent what Scripture teaches and what the earliest Church taught and believed.

Now often times the term Reformed Theology is associated with what is called Calvinism, which is accurate. However, I want to offer an important distinction. You can be a Calvinist but not reformed, but you cannot be reformed and not hold to Calvinism. Reformed theology is more than just Calvinism. So, MBC is not just a Calvinistic or particular Baptist Church, we are a reformed Baptist Church. Meaning yes, we hold to Calvinism but also a reformed understanding of the Covenants, of the Law and Gospel distinction, a reformed understanding of the continuity of Scripture, of Israel and the Church, and a more reformed understanding the end times.

Now what is Calvinism or Reformed Soteriology? Calvinism is a summary term for a biblical understanding of the Gospel.

Listen to how the great Reformed Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon described it, “I have my own ideas, and those I always state boldly. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism. Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith without works; not unless we preach the sovereignty of God in his dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor, I think, can we preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the peculiar redemption which Christ made for his elect and chosen people; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation, after having believed. Such a gospel I abhor. The gospel of the Bible is not such a gospel as that. We preach Christ and him crucified in a different fashion, and to all gainsayers we reply, ‘We have not so learned Christ.’”

Those of the reformed tradition have often summarized the reformed or biblical way of understanding the Gospel with five points.

1.     Total Depravity (sometimes called total inability) – Every human being has been twisted by sin so much so that our bodies, minds, will, affections, and souls have been tainted and marred by sin to the point that we are unable to choose God, respond to God’s grace, or come to God on our own. That is, apart from Christ we are dead in sin and enslaved to it (Romans 1:18-32, 3:9-18, 6:5-7, Eph 2:1-3, John 6:44, 65).

2.     Unconditional Election – That before the foundation of the world God according to the counsel of His predestined some to be saved (Eph 1:3-11 Rom 8:26-30). God has elected or chosen who will be saved not on the basis of foreknowledge or merit but unconditionally according to His mercy (Romans 9:6-25).

3.     Limited Atonement – That Christ’s death atones for only the elect, that is, it is only efficient for those who were predestined in eternity past (John 10:11, 14-15, 17:9, Eph 5:25, Matt 22:14, 1:21, 20:28, Acts 20:28, Revelation 5:9).

4.     Irresistible Grace (sometimes called effectual calling) – That the elect will come to saving faith, and that apart from the Spirit’s drawing no one can come (John 3:1-8, 6:37, 44, 65). Irresistible grace does not mean that the sinner isn’t resistant to God’s call but that he cannot ultimately resists God’s gracious calling. She might fight for a while but God will eventually woo and change her heart.

5.     Perseverance of the Saints – That those who God predestines He justifies, and those He justifies He preserves to the end, God completes the work He began in us (Romans 8:28-30, Philippians 1:6).

Additionally, we also believe that regeneration precedes faith. That is, as Jesus says before you can see or enter the Kingdom of God you must be regenerated or born again. Faith comes from hearing, faith and repentance are gifts from God, and so salvation is entirely a work of God beginning to end. (Eph 2:8-9, 2 Timothy 2:25-26, John 3:1-8, Romans 10:15).

Protestant

Not only are we in the Reformed and Baptist traditions but we also, because of our Reformed heritage, are part of the Protestant tradition. Protestantism broadly captures those reformed traditions that came out of the protestant reformation. Protestantism refers to those who protested the Roman Catholic Church. Now again, it is important to understand that the Protestant Church or movement is not some type of new Church that came into existence in the 16th century. The reformers were not seeking to make anew Church but to renew the one that they had. They wanted reform. To fix errors and false teachings that had popped up in the Roman Catholic Church that distorted the Gospel. One of the pinpoint issues of the Protestant Reformation was the selling of indulgences which Martin Luther protested by nailing his 95 Theses on the Wittenburg Church door on October 31st, 1517.

The reformers pushed back on the idea that you can pay to shorten a loved one’s time in purgatory through the selling and buying of indulgences. Additionally, the reformers taught that we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone and that it was not through works in conjunction with faith that we are saved. Instead works are the result of saving faith, they are a sign and seal of the credibility of one’s faith. The protestant Reformers also taught that the ultimate authority for the Christian and doctrine is not the Church but the Bible because the Bible is God’s Word.

What Protestant’s believe is often summed up with five Latin statements called the five Solas.

·      Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) – That Scripture alone is the ultimate/governing/norming authority for believers, doctrine, and the Church at large. This does not mean we reject other authorities like Confessions, local Church authority, Creeds, or Catechisms (Nuda Scriptura/Solo Scriptura) rather we see these authorities as subject to Scripture and use them as long as they are in agreement with what the Bible teaches. Scripture is the Norma Normans (the norm that norms or the rule that rules) and tradition (Creeds, Confessions, etc) are the Norma Normata (the normed norm or the ruled rule: a rule ruled by another rule–Scripture). Critics of Protestantism often accuse protestants of rejecting all other kinds of authorities and only using the Bible for theology (Solo Scriptura) however this is a misunderstanding. Additionally, some Protestants will embrace Solo Scriptura giving into what is often called Biblicism (idolatry of the Bible that rejects other lesser authorities) and wave the banner of “me, my Bible, and I” in the air. This however is not what Sola Scriptura means. Sola Scriptura simply recognizes that Scripture is the ultimate authority for faith and practice.

·      Solus Christus (Christ Alone) – That Christ is the only all sufficient savior. That He is as the Apostle Paul says the “one mediator between God and man.” Christ alone saves, redeems, and atones for our sins. There is no other name by which we can be saved.

·      Sola Fide (Faith Alone) – That we are saved through faith alone. The Apostle Paul says this in Romans 4:4–5 “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,” (ESV). We are not saved through works but by grace through faith, it is God’s gift (Eph 2:8-9).

·      Sola Gratia (Grace Alone) – That our salvation is made possible only by the grace of God. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. If it was not for the gracious and merciful purpose of God no one would be saved. Salvation is a gift that is not earned but that is freely given.

·      Soli Deo Gloria (Glory of God Alone) – That everything, salvation and all that exists, exits for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31, Col 3:16-17, Eph 1:3-14, Rom 11:36).

These are the five beliefs that define Protestantism and that make Protestantism different from the alternatives: Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

Evangelicalism

Another term you have probably heard is the term evangelical. This term more often than not is unhelpful because it has been used by many different groups throughout Church history. For that reason, what it means is muddy. However, if we follow the history of it back to the Reformation as it was used by the Reformers it simply means a emphasis on the Gospel and evangelism, or Gospel centrality and missions. In that sense we are evangelical. But again, it has been used by neo-evangelists in the 20th century, those guilty of revivalism in the second great awakening and more positively by the Puritans and the men who led the first great awakening. We are evangelicals in the sense that we prioritize missions and evangelism and seek to keep the Gospel centric in our Church.

Conclusion

In conclusion, that is a little bit more about our theology and where we fit in the scope of Church history.