“The Profession of Truth”: The Purpose of Creeds in the 1677 Baptist Confession, Part II

In 1677, Particular Baptist churches in England and Wales came together to approve a new confession. Amid all the pressing needs and challenges of their day, Baptists found unity and strength for their mission in their creed. A second edition would be published in 1688, and today, this confession is widely known as the Second London Confession or the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. Since its publication, churches throughout the world have used or drawn from it as their confessional statement. Based on the Westminster Confession, these 32 articles provide an eloquent summary of historically Christian, Protestant, and Baptist convictions.While the Particular Baptists prized their unity with the other English Reformed churches, they did not hesitate to speak out against groups they believed held to false teaching or error. Share on X

One aspect that is sometimes overlooked is the preface to the 1677 Confession. Written “to the judicious and impartial reader,” this preface outlines the motives and purpose behind this confession. For those unsure about the reason for a statement of faith, here are the two more reasons these Baptist crafted a new confession in 1677.

To read a more thorough introduction to the document as well as a third reason for the confession’s existence, be sure to check out part one of this article.

Distinction

Though these Baptists were eager to show their unity with their Presbyterian and Congregationalist brethren, they were also not ashamed to clarify their distinctives.

In those things wherein we differ from others, we have expressed ourselves with all candour and plainness… yet we hope we have also observed those rules of modesty and humility as will render our freedom in this respect inoffensive, even to those whose sentiments are different from ours.

Note their two priorities in expressing their distinctives. First, they sought to be honest, declaring their views plainly and clearly. They were not ashamed of their position and therefore, did not need to hide their convictions. But second, they also sought to express their view with modesty and humility. Their goal was not to bind other people’s consciences or to dominate other’s opinions. Instead, they sought the freedom to have a place at the table alongside those with different sentiments.

Of course, the unique contribution that these Baptists brought was their view of baptism. Speaking of the proper subjects of baptism, they confessed, “Those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience, to our Lord Jesus, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance.” And on the mode of baptism, they confessed, “Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance.”

Of course, much more could have been said by these Baptists regarding their convictions on baptism. Nonetheless, their goal was to speak straightforwardly and humbly about their beliefs. Perhaps the brevity reflects their understanding of the relative importance of this belief compared to the rest of the creed. For all the persecution that they endured, these two brief statements in Article XXIX make up the Baptist contribution to the Reformed tradition.

While the Particular Baptists prized their unity with the other English Reformed churches, they did not hesitate to speak out against groups they believed held to false teaching or error. Whether it was the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church (Article XXVI:4), or the separatism of the Anabaptists (Articles XXIII and XXIV), or the spiritualism of the Quakers (Articles XXVIII-XXX), the Confession of Faith distinguished Baptists from wrong associations and clarified their theological convictions.

A confession of faith shapes the discipleship of a church, humbling them before God, teaching them to love and submit to each other, strengthening them in the fight against sin, and promoting their ministry in the world. Share on X Beneath all these distinctions was not any kind of tribalism but a submission to the authority of Scripture. In providing their Confession publicly with Scripture proofs after each article, these Baptists longed “that all into whose hands this may come would follow that (never enough commended) example of the noble Bereans, who search the scriptures daily that they might find out whether the things preached to them were so or not.” Baptists could be honest and humble about their distinctives because they were convinced about them from Scripture. 

In expressing our distinctives, the 1677 Confession provides a helpful model for churches today. Among fellow evangelical churches, what are the distinctives that we should express in “plainness” and “modesty”? Amid the contemporary theological challenges of our day, how can churches take a stand against error and false teaching? And for all of our church’s distinctives, can we defend them from Scripture with a clear conscience?

Discipleship

The preface concludes with the ultimate aim of a confession of faith. It was not merely to have a pristine theological document gathering dust in the corner. Instead, these Baptists understood that their mission was now to live out their faith.

The only care and contention of all upon whom the name of our blessed Redeemer is called, might for the future be, to walk humbly with their God, and in the exercise of all Love and Meekness towards each other, to perfect holyness in the fear of the Lord, each one endeavouring to have his conversation such as becomes the Gospel; and also, suitable to his place and capacity, vigorously to promote in others the practice of true Religion and undefiled in the sight of God and our Father.

A confession of faith, when properly used, shapes the discipleship of a church, humbling them before God, teaching them to love and submit to each other, strengthening them in the fight against sin, and promoting their ministry in the world. Such discipleship only happens as church members guard against a mere “resting in, and trusting to, a form of Godliness.” It is not enough merely to have an orthodox confession. Instead, by the grace of God, a church should be transformed by the “power… and inward experience of the efficacy of those truths that are professed by them.” In a church’s statement of faith are the truths needed to revive a church to godliness and fruitfulness.

A confession is to be used not only from the pulpit and in the church but also at the dinner table and in the home. Share on X And so, the preface ends with a surprising conclusion. Here, the authors lament the “one spring and cause of the decay of Religion in our day” (can you guess what it might be?), namely “the neglect of the worship of God in Families” (!). Here, these pastors charge parents and guardians to teach, catechize, and instruct their children “that their tender years might be seasoned with the knowledge of the truth of God as revealed in the Scriptures.” Why end with such a charge? Because a confession is to be used not only from the pulpit and in the church but also at the dinner table and in the home. It is a tool to help Christians live out Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

So, pastors, church leaders, even as you labor to formulate and teach and revise your church’s statement of faith, remember that the end goal is not just an orthodox, well-crafted confession. It is discipling your people to believe and live out the confession, allowing the power of the truth of God’s Word to transform their lives. Creeds do not contradict the church’s mission. Instead, they strengthen Christians with the truths of the gospel and empower them to make a difference in the world.

Conclusion

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. Rather than treating it like a dusty piece of furniture, Spurgeon unashamedly waved his church’s statement of faith like a banner. And the truths of that creed empowered his congregation to take the gospel into all the world.

The church unfurls her ensign to the breeze that all may know whose she is and whom she serves. This is of the utmost importance at this present, when crafty men are endeavoring to palm off their inventions. Every Christian church should know what it believes, and publicly avow what it maintains. It is our duty to make a clear and distinct declaration of our principles, that our members may know to what intent they have come together, and that the world also may know what we mean. (MTP 17:194)