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How Will CTF Promote Unity Among Reformed Churches?

Jim Butler · 2024-02-26 · 557 words · 3 min

Confessing the Faith - 2024

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Summary

Qa

The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith stands in deliberate continuity with the Westminster Confession and the broader Reformed tradition, and a Confession of Faith Conference can therefore serve as a means of genuine visible unity among Reformed and Presbyterian churches.

This conference Q&A exchange addresses how a Confession of Faith Conference can foster unity among Reformed and Presbyterian churches by drawing attention to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith as a historic confessional document standing in deliberate continuity with the Westminster Confession, the Savoy Declaration, and the Three Forms of Unity. The speakers note that the 1689 Confession was written not to introduce novelty but to demonstrate solidarity with broader Reformed orthodoxy, as its own preface states: 'we have no itch to clog religion with new words.' The discussion concludes that the Reformed churches share an overwhelming doctrinal heritage, and that remaining differences — including baptism — should not prevent mutual recognition and brotherly regard among confessional Christians.

Key quotes

We have so much that binds us, so much that is common to us, a few differences along the way, but we should all be dead by the time we get to those in our confession.
They said in the preface, we have no itch to clog religion with new words.
We all look at these reformers from 300, 400 years ago, and they didn't all agree with each other either.

Applications

  1. Seek out and read the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith as a window into confessional Reformed Baptist theology and its continuity with broader Reformed orthodoxy.
  2. Treat brothers in other Reformed denominations as good men even where secondary differences remain, and do not allow those differences to fracture the unity Christ prayed for in John 17.
  3. Attend cross-denominational confessional gatherings as a means of discovering the deep shared heritage among Reformed and Presbyterian churches.

Questions this sermon answers

How does the 1689 London Baptist Confession relate to the Westminster Confession?

The 1689 Confession was written in deliberate solidarity with the Westminster Confession and the Savoy Declaration, sharing the vast majority of Reformed doctrine with only a few differences, most notably regarding baptism and ecclesiology.

Why should non-Baptist Reformed Christians attend a Confessional Baptist conference?

Because the 1689 Confession represents historic Reformed orthodoxy and covers the same doctrinal ground as Westminster, the Savoy Declaration, and the Three Forms of Unity, meaning Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed Christians will find far more agreement than difference.

What does the preface to the 1689 Confession say about its relationship to other Reformed confessions?

The preface states that the authors had 'no itch to clog religion with new words,' indicating they sought to show agreement with the wider Reformed tradition rather than introduce novelty.

Should doctrinal differences between Reformed denominations prevent fellowship?

The speakers argue that differences over secondary matters such as baptism should not prevent mutual regard, since even the Reformers of 300 to 400 years ago disagreed with one another while remaining orthodox Christians.

Promoting Unity Among Reformed Churches

Next question, so how will the Confession of Faith Conference promote unity among Reformed churches? Because there's many denominations and flavors. You have the Dutch Reformed, Presbyterian, Baptists. Well, I'd like to think that our brethren outside of Confessional Reformed Baptists at least have an idea of who we are.

As I've been in this town for some years, though, I'm not always convinced that's the case. So, perhaps this is going to be a foray into that. You know,

The 1689 Confession in Historical Context

our confession is not, you know, it wasn't written in the 1980s, it was written in 1677. So, it's there, it's accessible, it's online. So, my encouragement would be for our Reformed brethren outside of the Baptist, you know, confessional Baptist, hey, we're on the page, we're on the map. It's historic Christian orthodoxy, very similar to the Westminster Confession, Savoy Declaration.

So, I'm hoping that brethren from those denominations will come and they probably won't be surprised in terms of the content or the subject matter. It jives very much you know, down the line with the three forms of unity and that sort of a thing. So,

Unity Christ Prayed For

I think it should facilitate that unity that Christ prayed for in John 17, that the people of God be unified. We have so much that binds us, so much that is common to us, a few differences along the way, but we should all be dead by the time we get to those in our confession. So, baptism is way down the line in terms of our confession of faith. Exactly, yeah.

Yeah, there's a very rich shared heritage there, 99%, right? Yes, yeah. And yeah, he's in the same book, if you look at our bookshelf here, right? Oh, yeah, we got the same stuff, yeah.

Same thing. So, yeah, but just personally, I didn't really discover the confession until, I guess, eight, nine years ago when I started to search and got convinced on baptism. And I just read it, I'm like, okay, this is like solidly reformed. There's so much in common with Westminster and the Belgic and the Heidelberg, so.

Yeah, so hopefully other peoples have that experience also. And if I could add,

Solidarity with Westminster and Savoy

historically, when they wrote the confession, it was to highlight solidarity with the Presbyterians and the Westminster, and also the Congregationalists with the Savoy Declaration. So, yeah, there's lots there. And even though we talked earlier about the differences, or a few differences, between Chapter 1 and London Baptist and Westminster, it's pretty much, pretty much historic Reformed orthodoxy. Yeah,

No New Words, Shared Heritage

they said in the preface, we have no itch to clog religion with new words. They didn't want to be, you know, the new kid on the block showing their muscles. No, they wanted to be consistent and show their agreement where they could, differences along the way, but not a ton, as you said. You know, we have a great amount of agreement on most of the doctrine.

Differences Among Good Men

The things that do separate us, you know, good men disagree. And if we can't accept that and live in light of that and nevertheless treat each other as good men, then we've missed it somehow. Yeah, we all look at these reformers from 300, 400 years ago, and they didn't all agree with each other either. They sure didn't.

Scripture References

Study notes

Confessions & catechisms

  • 1689 LBCF 1
  • Belgic Confession 1
  • Heidelberg Catechism 1
  • Westminster Confession 1

Theological terms

  • 1689 London Baptist Confession×4
  • Reformed Orthodoxy×2
  • Savoy Declaration×2
  • Three Forms of Unity
  • Westminster Confession×3