Creeds & Confessions

A Topical Outline of the Westminster Confession

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Ligon Duncan, one of my former professors at Reformed Theological Seminary, now president of RTS, has developed A Topical Outline of the Westminster Confession of Faith. I have found this to be a helpful tool for surveying the doctrines of the Christian Faith.

1. Holy Scripture
1.1 The necessity of Scripture
1.2 The contents of Scripture (positively stated): canon
1.3 The contents of Scripture (negatively stated): “apocrypha”
1.4 The authority of Scripture
1.5 The authenticity of Scripture
1.6 The sufficiency of Scripture
1.7 The clarity of Scripture
1.8 The immediate inspiration, preservation and translation of Scripture
1.9 The interpretation of Scripture
1.10 The supreme authority of Scripture in all theological controversy

2. God and the Trinity
2.1 God himself
The one, living, true, infinite, perfect God
The spirituality, invisibility, incorporeality, and impassibility of God [and simplicity*]
The immutability, immensity, eternality, incomprehensibility, and omnipotence of God
The unchangeable and righteous purpose of God
The love, grace, mercy, patience, goodness, faithfulness, and forgiveness of God
The generous reward of God
The just and terrible judgment of God
2.2 God in and of himself
The inherent blessedness of God
The all-sufficiency and glory of God
The self-existence (aseity) of God
The sovereignty of God
The omniscience of God
The holiness of God
The worthiness of God
2.3 God the Trinity
The Trinity defined: God is one essence in three persons, consubstantial, co-omnipotent, co-eternal
The personal property of the Father: neither begotten nor proceeding
The personal property of the Son: eternally begotten
The personal property of the Spirit: eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son (filioque)

3. God’s Eternal Decree (comprehensive, eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, sovereign purpose and plan)
3.1 The scope of the decree defined in relation to sin, choice, and contingency
3.2 The relation of the decree to God’s absolute, exhaustive foreknowledge
3.3 The inclusiveness of the decree (both predestination to life & foreordination to death)
3.4 The absolute unchangeability of the decree as to predestination and foreordination
3.5 The noncontigency of predestination to life, not conditioned or caused by the creature
3.6 The comprehensiveness of the decree, entailing the ends, means and subjects of redemption
3.7 The proximate cause and end of the decree of preterition
3.8 The special pastoral care and prudence required in the handling of this doctrine

Continue reading →

Creeds & Confessions of the Christian Faith

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment
Source: Christ is the Cure

The wisdom of Solomon instructs us, in Proverbs 22.28:

Do not move the ancient landmark
    that your fathers have set.

The thinking behind this applies not only to property boundaries, but also to principles and and doctrines of Faith. We forfeit a wealth of wisdom if we ignore the insights of those who have gone before us.

Thus is the value of Creeds and Confessions of the Christian Faith.

Creeds help Christians make sense of the Bible by highlighting what is important and summarizing its essential message. In an age of individualism and skeletal creeds, or bare-bone statements of belief, the rich tradition of corporate confessions of faith also provide a vital link to the church of ages past and the saints of all ages.

Monergism

A Confession is a formal statement of doctrinal belief ordinarily intended for public avowal by individuals, groups, denominations, and congregations,; confessions are similar to creeds, although usually more extensive. They are especially associated with the churches of the Protestant Reformation. 

adapted from Britannica

Perhaps the most common objection to Creeds and Confessions is that they may become rival to the Scriptures. But the reality is that Creeds and Confessions are simply useful tools for summarizing and systematically teaching what the Scriptures say. Creeds and Confessions are always subordinate to the Bible; and they are only useful when they accurately reflect what the Bible says. As 19th Century Scottish minister William M. Heatherington notes:

“A confession of faith is not the very voice of Divine Truth, but the echo of that Truth from souls that have heard its utterance, felt its power, and are answering to its call.”

For this reason i am thankful to be part of what is called a “Confessional” tradition. I am the beneficiary of many who have come before me. It is also the reason I found the chart above to be helpful. the chart lists the various Confessions, from multiple traditions, which can be mined for their golden nuggets of wisdom.

For more reading on the subject of Creeds and Confessions, check out:

I Pledge My Life to Jesus & the Gospel

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

Stanied Glass Pathway

I pledge my life to Jesus and the Gospel. I want Jesus not to be just part of my life or something that makes me feel good, but to be the very center – controlling everything. I want only the knowledge of the love of God. I want to know Christ.

I want no desire, idol, or sinful way of dealing with hurt to control any part of my life no matter how small. I put away from myself the love of money, power, comfort, and success. I count everything rubbish.

I bind myself to Christ as bond-servant for life. I want no master other than Christ. I purpose to own nothing. I surrender to Jesus my family, my friends, my ministry, my ideas, my possessions, and my future.

I commit myself to submission to others and a willingness to learn from all kinds of Christians. I commit myself to speak only your words, not my own. I commit myself to speak the truth in love to others.

I want to love people. I want to lay down my life for others, especially those closest to me, as God gives us grace. I want to love people by telling them about Jesus.

I understand that this will mean suffering in my life, that I will join in the sufferings of Christ. But that I always want to be dying, so that I can always be living in Christ.

~ Paul Miller

Here We Stand: An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment
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After the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage yesterday, a diverse coalition of Evangelical leaders, gathered by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, drafted and released the following statement.  Had I been asked – and if I am asked – I would gladly add my name.  ~ WDG

***

As evangelical Christians, we dissent from the court’s ruling that redefines marriage.

The state did not create the family, and should not try to recreate the family in its own image. We will not capitulate on marriage because biblical authority requires that we cannot. The outcome of the Supreme Court’s ruling to redefine marriage represents what seems like the result of a half-century of witnessing marriage’s decline through divorce, cohabitation, and a worldview of almost limitless sexual freedom. The Supreme Court’s actions pose incalculable risks to an already volatile social fabric by alienating those whose beliefs about marriage are motivated by deep biblical convictions and concern for the common good.

The Bible clearly teaches the enduring truth that marriage consists of one man and one woman.

From Genesis to Revelation, the authority of Scripture witnesses to the nature of biblical marriage as uniquely bound to the complementarity of man and woman. This truth is not negotiable. The Lord Jesus himself said that marriage is from the beginning (Matt. 19:4-6), so no human institution has the authority to redefine marriage any more than a human institution has the authority to redefine the gospel, which marriage mysteriously reflects (Eph. 5:32). The Supreme Court’s ruling to redefine marriage demonstrates mistaken judgment by disregarding what history and countless civilizations have passed on to us, but it also represents an aftermath that evangelicals themselves, sadly, are not guiltless in contributing to. Too often, professing evangelicals have failed to model the ideals we so dearly cherish and believe are central to gospel proclamation.

Evangelical churches must be faithful to the biblical witness on marriage regardless of the cultural shift.

Evangelical churches in America now find themselves in a new moral landscape that calls us to minister in a context growing more hostile to a biblical sexual ethic. This is not new in the history of the church. From its earliest beginnings, whether on the margins of society or in a place of influence, the church is defined by the gospel. We insist that the gospel brings good news to all people, regardless of whether the culture considers the news good or not.

The gospel must inform our approach to public witness.

As evangelicals animated by the good news that God offers reconciliation through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, we commit to:

  • Respect and pray for our governing authorities even as we work through the democratic process to rebuild a culture of marriage (Romans 13.1-7);
  • teach the truth about biblical marriage in a way that brings healing to a sexually broken culture;
  • affirm the biblical mandate that all persons, including LGBT persons, are created in the image of God and deserve dignity and respect;
  • love our neighbors regardless of whatever disagreements arise as a result of conflicting beliefs about marriage;
  • live respectfully and civilly alongside those who may disagree with us for the sake of the common good;
  • cultivate a common culture of religious liberty that allows the freedom to live and believe differently to prosper.

The redefinition of marriage should not entail the erosion of religious liberty.

In the coming years, evangelical institutions could be pressed to sacrifice their sacred beliefs about marriage and sexuality in order to accommodate whatever demands the culture and law require. We do not have the option to meet those demands without violating our consciences and surrendering the gospel. We will not allow the government to coerce or infringe upon the rights of institutions to live by the sacred belief that only men and women can enter into marriage.

The gospel of Jesus Christ determines the shape and tone of our ministry.

Christian theology considers its teachings about marriage both timeless and unchanging, and therefore we must stand firm in this belief. Outrage and panic are not the responses of those confident in the promises of a reigning Christ Jesus. While we believe the Supreme Court has erred in its ruling, we pledge to stand steadfastly, faithfully witnessing to the biblical teaching that marriage is the chief cornerstone of society, designed to unite men, women, and children. We promise to proclaim and live this truth at all costs, with convictions that are communicated with kindness and love.

***

To read the original post, and to find the names of the signatories, click: Here We Stand