So what do we mean by saying we are also a Confessional Church? It means that part of our biblical fidelity is that we hold to certain confessions of faith that describe our doctrinal convictions.
“To be a ‘confessional church’ is to be a church that believes and confesses the Word of God as summarized in the great creeds and confessions of the historic Church; it is to be a church firmly rooted in the Scriptures.”
(See below Sermon my larger unpack in a local church context)
For Gospel Community Church, this Confession is the London Baptist Confession of 1689.
The LBCF of 1689 was revision of the Savoy Declaration (1658) with modifications to reflect Baptist theology. The framers of the Savoy Declaration were formidable men of God. John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, William Bridge, Joseph Caryl and William Greenhill. There are a long line of Godly ministers who in more recent history who used the LBCF to be their confession of faith; among those is Charles Spurgeon. It is recorded that:
When Charles Spurgeon arrived at the New Park Street Chapel in 1854, he was glad to know that the church still held to the 1689 Confession of Faith. After all, Benjamin Keach, a former pastor, had played a leading role in its approval. However, he soon learned that the confession had fallen out of use. So, in 1855, Spurgeon worked with his publishers to reprint the Confession of Faith, and he began to implement it in the life of his church. The members all received a copy. New Christians were led through a study of the confession. The youth studied a catechism based on it. When laying the foundation to the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Spurgeon placed a copy of the 1689 Confession, along with a Bible, under the cornerstone (https://credomag.com)
“But our church has no creed but Christ!” No doubt, you too have heard this from many Christians or have said it yourself. This bumper–sticker type slogan has virtually become a part of what it means to be Christian in contemporary churches. Have you ever stopped to think about what this statement means, though? This slogan is actually one of the most ironic statements anyone can make. You see, when a person or even a church states that they have “no creed but Christ,” they are ironically, in fact, making a “creed.” To say, “I have no creed,” is itself a creed! What we as Christians need to understand is that this is not a biblical way of thinking or acting, but in fact, shows that Christians have been influenced by modern philosophy. When someone makes the statement, “I have no creed but Christ,” he is actually falling into the trap of popular modern philosophy, when it says, “There is no absolute truth;” for, the statement, “There is no absolute truth” is itself a statement of absolute truth!
Let us all agree that everyone, including Christians and churches, have some system of belief behind what they say. Whether they speak of believing a particular creed or confession of faith or none at all, they all have a theology and way of thinking. Anytime you explain simply to a friend what you believe, whether he is a believer or an unbeliever, you are confessing your creed; you are confessing your faith in a way that explains how you understand the Bible.
The Bible expects that we know its standards on all its main points and live according to them.
That there is a “standard of teaching” (Rom 6:15) to which we need to be committed, and a “pattern of sound words” (2Ti 1:13) that need to be handed down (2Ti 2:2).
How does our 1689 LBCF help us practically?
6 Reasons why we are serious about being a Confessional Church.
- Our Confession is the Basis for Our Fellowship (and our Church Membership)
The practical effect of these creeds and confessions is church unity. The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a divided collection of individual, lone–ranger Christians, or individual parts, but is a single, united body in which each individual member is united in their faith. Although we are many, we are one body in Christ (Rom 12:5). As members of a Reformed church, we all confess the same Faith in matters of essentials. Being confessional helps us to be (as Paul prays) “like–minded toward one another” and that we “may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:5–6 cf. Phil 1:27).
- Our Confession helps guide the teaching of the Church to keep it Biblical and orthodox
The New Testament teaches the necessity of having a unified theology because the people of God are always tempted to “turn aside to fables” (2 Tim 4:4) We are called to hold on to the “pattern of sound words” (2 Tim 1:13), the “form of doctrine . . . once for all delivered to the saints” (Rom 6:17; Jude 3), and the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Within the Church, the Lord has given the responsibility to pastors and elders to heed our Lord’s words to teach disciples “all things that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19–20).
- Our Confession helps protect the flock from error and heresy
Because the Church has always existed in the midst of perilous times, her members need protection from wolves by her shepherds. As Paul warns young pastor Timothy, in these “latter times” (1 Tim 4:1) false teachers will come. We must test the spirits by examining a doctrinal confession (1 John 4:1–3; 1 Tim 4). By believing and confessing a clear, systematic, and comprehensive system of truth, we are less likely to see our sheep drawn away. This also equips the elders to better warn and protect the sheep of Christ (Titus 1:9).
- Our Confession provides an objective public standard for Church discipline
confessions also provide an object standard by which the Church is to discipline those in error, whether doctrinal or ethical. If a member should stray from the truth, other members and the elders have a way of objectively identifying their error addressing it in love, seeking repentance from that member and restoring them back into fellowship (Rom 16:17).
- Our Confession provide a Standard to Evaluate Teaching
The pastor is a servant of Christ; he is not untouchable. How, then, does a member of a church identify error in a church? By comparing the official teaching of the church to what is taught. The confessions, then, keep a pastor from straying into his own ideas or novel doctrines (2 Tim 2:2).
- Our Confession is a witness to the truth to those outside of the Church
confessions serve us by defining the gospel of salvation for a fallen world as well as the eternal punishment to be suffered by those who reject it. Jesus called the church “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). Yet, we can only function as light if we continue in the truth. We live in an age in which many groups claiming to be churches darken and pervert the truths of the Bible (Matt. 5:14).
Finally: I want to be clear that we are a confessional church because to be so means that we are a biblical church—since God’s holy Word is the foundation of our beliefs and tests all that a Reformed Church believes and does.
Ps Wayne Harrison (Gospel Community Church)
Article amended from: https://www.monergism.com (Original author:Dr Daniel Hyde) Some alterations by W.Harrison for the context of GCC.