Why Have a Confession of Faith? #1

Why have a confession of faith?

You might be asking the question, well, what do you mean by a confession of faith? Well, we want to address some of those foundational issues here today. Hello and welcome back to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I'm Bill Wright. You know, we all have different reasons for choosing the church we attend. And today, as he continues teaching God's people God's Word, Don will show you that there are several non-negotiables when it comes to making that very important decision for yourself and your family. And Don, selecting the right church really should be about more than just a popular pastor, a great worship team, and coffee and donuts in the lobby after service.

Isn't that right? Well, Bill, I certainly hope that is right because our church does not have a popular pastor. We don't have a worship team and we don't have coffee and donuts in the lobby. There are several must haves, my friend, that I would want you to know about looking for a church. A church needs to be a place where doctrine is at the center of what the church stands for. The teaching of Scripture and teaching it in a theological way that leads people into a knowledge of God, a knowledge of Christ, and a full understanding that leads to an assurance of salvation. It starts with what a church teaches.

All of those other accessories don't matter if the pulpit isn't strong. And so that's what we're going to look at as we start this series, The Confession of Truth. Look for the things that distinguish a biblical church and what you're about to hear. I'm glad you're with us today on The Truth Pulpit.

Thanks, Don. And friend, let's begin today's lesson right now on The Truth Pulpit. In Colossians chapter 3, verse 16, it says, Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. You see this emphasis on the word of God dwelling in the hearts of believers, dwelling amongst the people of God in a local church and being that which drives everything that they do. All of the singing, all of the admonishment, all of the glory given to God flow from a context of teaching what the Bible means.

Now, hold that thought in your mind for just a moment. And I suppose that there are many, many reasons why people choose a church to attend. There are many reasons for that, and this list that I'm about to give you is not at all intended to be exhaustive, just illustrative. People choose church for the sake of geography. This church is close to my home, and so I want to attend there. I don't want to drive 30 minutes to be at a church.

I want a church in my neighborhood. And so people choose something based on the proximity of the church to where they live. Okay, some people choose church for social reasons. They like the people that attend there. Maybe their friends attend there.

They have friends, and they find their social environment, their social contacts, their social circles within a church. Okay, some people choose a church based on music. They're musically inclined, or they're younger and they like the music, and then this place rocks!

And so they choose based on the music that they find at the place. Probably more than we would care to admit, many people choose church simply for emotional reasons. I like how I feel when I go there. This place makes me feel good about myself. It makes me feel good about life and all of the aspects of things, and it's just an emotional response that they haven't really thought about so much. We know, of course, that a lot of people choose a church based on the programs that's offered there.

They like having a lot of activities for their family, for their children, and so because a church has a lot of programs, they go to a church for that reason. And you could probably multiply examples. I'll give you one more. I've given you five.

I'll give you six. Based on the online biographies that many, if not most, pastors post about themselves, it would appear that they think that people attend their church because they're a fan of the New York Mets. They like to barbecue in the foolish aspects of what their personal interests are. That was meant to be funny.

You didn't take it as funny, but that's okay. There's an element of truth to what I just said. You go to the online biographies of most pastors and they'll be saying things like that.

I'm a fan of the Cincinnati Reds or I'm a fan of classical music or whatever, as if that had anything to do with the purpose of the church. Goodness. It bothers me. I hope my online biography doesn't have any of that stuff in there now that I've said that.

I'm quite sure that it doesn't. In the midst of all of that, my friends, which we can all understand and relate to, it's easy to forget something really basic and important. It's this, that doctrine matters. What a church teaches has far more profound consequences than all of those other things put together multiplied by 5,000. What a church teaches is far more important than all of those other secondary things that tend to be the consumer-based decision upon which many people make their decision to attend a local body. As we'll see later in this message, as we've said many times, a church exists to teach the truth of the Word of God.

That is why the church exists. And it is in the context of truth, it is in the context of biblical doctrine that we worship God. It is in the context of truth and biblical doctrine that we grow spiritually. It is in the context of truth that evangelism takes place. Exaltation, edification, evangelism, what we call the threefold purpose of the church, all of these things are being advanced in the context of the doctrine that is taught on a consistent basis over time by a local church. It is in doctrine, it is in truth that we proclaim that Jesus Christ died for sinners like you.

That he was buried, that he rose again on the third day, and he ascended into heaven from where he reigns with power. And as the exalted Lord, he calls you out of your sin, out of the world to come to him in faith. And he makes a claim that you would sacrifice, that you would forfeit, that you would leave behind your love and your slavery to sin in order to be a devoted lover and disciple and slave of Jesus Christ. You're either a slave of sin or you're a slave of Christ.

There's no in-between. That's it. Well, beloved, it's truth, it's doctrine, it's biblical teaching that communicates those things and gives us the context to proclaim that message. It is truth that enables us, that is the foundation upon which we call sinners everywhere to repent and believe in Christ for their eternal life, for the forgiveness of their sins. And so truth matters. There's a reason why nine years ago almost we decided to name this place Truth Community Church. We wanted to send a message by the very name that we were about truth preeminently. And, you know, God will be the final judge as to whether we have succeeded in that or not when it's all said and done. So truth matters.

Truth matters. And that background helps us understand the answer to the question, which is the title of today's message, Why Have a Confession of Faith? Why have a confession of faith? And for some of you I understand because it wasn't that long ago that I was in a similar position, you might be asking the question, well, what do you mean by confession of faith even?

What is a confession of faith, let alone why do you have one? Well, we want to address some of those foundational issues here today. As we're thinking about the purpose of the local church here, we want to understand the context of doctrine and why it is and how it is that we build on biblical truth.

And so that's what I want to do here. And I would just say this by way of partial exhortation and encouragement to you. This message is far, far more important than it might seem to you to be on first glance. You know, we more immediately relate to messages that talk to us about practical matters of daily life or worship or things like this. But a message like this, the things that we're going to talk about today are the foundation upon which everything else is built. If you can understand the things that are found in this message and next, you will have a great understanding of what is the engine that drives our church and what should be the engine that drives any legitimate church that names the name of Jesus Christ.

Whatever particular confession they may happen to use. Let's step back and just by way of a little bit of introduction. I know some of you are really new to our church. We welcome you.

We're so glad that you're with us. And it's in part for your sake that I have a message like this at a time like this so that you can get introduced and understand what it is that we stand for and what it is that we do. This is a remarkable church. What I mean is every week new people are coming, either visiting or wanting to make this their church home. Our audience is very dynamic, changing from week to week. And so I'm always trying to do things that embrace everyone and keeps everybody moving in the same direction that no one would get left behind. We care about every individual that walks through these doors. We want you to understand the truth of Christ, the truth of the gospel. We want you to know Christ and be saved by him.

We want you to understand what it is we do. We want to be very transparent about our teaching. We think that we owe a duty and we have a responsibility before God and before men to be very transparent in what it is that we teach. The Truth Community Church uses a document that is known as the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 as its statement of faith.

That's a mouthful. It's actually the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, to be very technically precise. And this message today explains why we need a confession of faith. Next we'll talk about 1689, but this is talking about a more fundamental issue of why a church needs a confession of faith and why it is right and proper for a church to have a confession that it uses. You know, going back many, many years ago, I was taught that confessions were bad things. I was taught that confessions meant that people didn't really respect the authority of the Bible and they liked the confession instead. I was told that if a church had a confession, they would teach the confession and not Scripture. I've come to see that that's not true, and I needed to unlearn some things in the process of ministry.

But this message explains why we need a confession of faith. Now, I'm grateful for the fact that we have a number of men in our church that are showing aspirations to grow spiritually. And, you know, deep in their hearts they're probably saying, you know what, I'd like to have a role in church leadership somewhere down the road if the Lord would open that up to me.

You have that desire for truth and to minister to the people of God. Well, let me give you two books, if that's you, let me give you two books that have helped me and that are worthy of your time if you desire a future in church leadership, even if it's simply in a lay capacity as a deacon or an elder. The first one is a book from 2012 by a man named Carl Truman called The Creedle Imperative. The Creedle Imperative.

What a great, important book that has been in my own thinking. And secondly, there is a book that's available, I checked on Amazon, from 1824 by the second full-time professor at Princeton Seminary named Samuel Miller with this title, The Utility and Importance of Creeds and Confessions. The Utility and Importance of Creeds and Confessions. Now look, I realize that I'm about to lose everybody with what I'm saying here, but I just want you to know there's a foundation to the things that I'm saying.

Now we're going to pivot. Why have a confession of faith and what is a confession of faith? A confession of faith, here's a definition for you as we start to get the wheels moving, get out of the mud here of my preliminaries. A confession of faith is a written summary of the doctrines that its authors believe that the Bible teaches. A confession of faith is a summary of what its authors believe the Bible teaches. It's a summary of the doctrine that a church believes. You could say, and I quote from a work by the church historian Philip Schaff, a confession particularly addresses those beliefs that the framers believe are necessary for salvation, or at least the well-being of the Christian church. All right, so let's pause here because I really want to keep you with me here. A confession of faith is simply a summary of biblical doctrine that its writers and the church that holds it says this is what we understand the Bible to teach.

Simple enough, right? A confession of faith expresses what that church believes the nature of salvation is. And what is necessary for the health of the Christian church. And so that's a very important thing for you to know as you go to a church. What does this church teach me about what is necessary to be saved?

There is no more important question for you to know what shall I do to be saved in the language of the Philippian jailer. Well, a confession of faith is a church's transparent acknowledgement of what the answer to that most important question is, among other things. Who is God? Here's what we believe. It's set forth in the confession. Who is Christ?

Here it is. And so on. Now, why then do we have a confession of faith? It doesn't matter. We're not talking specifically about 1689. Why do we have a confession of faith? Let's put it this way. Why should a church have a confession of faith?

Well, I'm going to answer that question with three points here. First of all, it relates to the purpose of the church. The purpose of the church. We come into the auditorium. We gather together.

We sing together. But there should always be in our minds, there should always be this fundamental understanding that is operating in the background of our mind. What is the reason that we do this?

What is the purpose of the local church? Well, that's what I want to spend a moment thinking through with you and pointing you to some scripture. Think about it this way, beloved. God is an invisible spirit. We cannot see God. We can't see His essence. We see some of His handiwork in creation, but it only gives us an idea of His power and His existence.

It doesn't tell us the details of who He is. And general revelation does not reveal to us how we can know this God and what He will do with us when we fall into His hands in judgment. God has answered those questions for us in verbal form, in written form that is recorded for us in the 66 books of the Bible. God has made Himself known in a written way, in a written revelation that we find in the Bible. Now, that has something to do with a confession and what a church does with God's truth and how a church expresses itself. Because God saw fit, watch this, because God saw fit to reveal Himself in a written way, it is proper and necessary for a church to use a written form, a verbal form, to express its teaching. God spoke in writing, then it's obviously incumbent upon those who say they speak for Him to do something to express their teaching in writing, so that I can read the Bible, I can go to a church and read their confession, and I can compare what they say that they teach with the words of Scripture, and there is a fixed reference point by which these things are defined.

This is far more important than it might seem at first glance. A local church exists to proclaim and to defend the truth, both aspects of it. You can write down these verses that I'm just going to read for you.

They're familiar verses overall. In Matthew 28, verse 20, part of the Great Commission is that Christ told His disciples, you teach the nations to observe all that I commanded you. Embedded in, central to, the Great Commission is a command to take what the revelation of God and teach it to the nations, teach it on an individual basis to those who are lost, teach it to His people, feed His lambs. We must teach in order to obey that commandment. Well, okay, what is it that we teach?

What do we say? What is the truth that we proclaim? It's summarized in the confession of faith that a church holds. In Paul's letter to Timothy, 1 Timothy 3.15, he said that the church of the living God is the pillar and support of the truth. The church exists to support the revealed system of truth that God has made known in His Word. That's why a church exists, is to support the truth, to proclaim it, to defend it, as we'll see in a moment. In Jude 3, the last book before Revelation, the 65th book of the Bible, it says, I felt the necessity to write to you, appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all handed down to the saints. And so we see in these passages and many, many others that teaching is at the heart of what God, of what Christ, of what His apostles have told us to do.

You see, my friends, what does that mean for us? We don't have the liberty to just make up a church and make it whatever we want it to be. If a church is a true church, it needs to be doing what Christ told it to do.

And what Christ told it to do was to teach the Scriptures. And so teaching is central to the purpose and the life of any genuine church. And for those who hear this message later, I want to just tell you what I think, is that when a church has a very, very short statement of faith that can be summarized in a paragraph or two or three, or if you have a really hard time even finding what their doctrine is that they teach, that's a sign to keep looking for a different church. Because a church that is devoted to truth has something to say about it and wants to put that front and center to what it does.

It's an easy mark for discernment in terms of simply what a church says its beliefs are and how easy and accessible they are. That's part of the purpose of the church. Now how does that relate to a confession of faith?

Well, I'll answer my own question. A confession of faith, my friends, helps us fulfill that biblical responsibility. In a positive sense, it establishes a doctrinal standard for the teaching of the church. And so a church that has a confession of faith has said, this is what we teach. Well, if someone comes along, and this has happened in the past in the life of our body, and wants to teach something different, we can simply point to the confession and say, that's not what we teach, my friend. You can't teach that here, because that's not what we teach. We've already committed to what we understand scripture to teach.

And it makes the whole process objective. You're saying A? Our confession says A is not what we teach? It's already settled.

This isn't personal. This is just the way it is. There's a standard for the teaching of the church. In a negative sense, a confession of faith helps us discern false teaching and test the spirits to see whether they are from God. You see, a confession of faith, a good one, gives you definitions of what terms like justification and sanctification mean. And when someone says this is what it means to be justified, you can see if it's consistent with the teaching of the church or not.

And so a confession of faith is related to the purpose of the church, because it helps the church in its teaching function to its people. That's Don Green bringing our time to a close for today here on The Truth Pulpit. But if you'd like to listen again, or you'd like to share this message with a friend or family member, simply go to thetruthpulpit.com. That's thetruthpulpit.com. Well, Don will continue in our series called The Confession of Truth next time, with Part 2 of the lesson he began today. Meanwhile, I'm Bill Wright. And join us next time as Don Green continues teaching God's people God's Word on The Truth Pulpit.