Theological term
Confessionalism
11 sermons · All terms
The Qualifications for Elders, Part 4
The qualifications for elders in 1 Timothy 3:2 include a single gift amid a catalog of virtues: the ability to teach. This sermon examines what that aptness to teach requires — a thorough knowledge of Scripture, sound theology, and historical doctrine — and then surveys the apostolic theology of preaching from Romans 10, 1 Corinthians 1, and 2 Timothy 4, demonstrating that faithful preaching is the ordained means by which Christ Himself speaks to His people and faith is produced. The sermon concludes by calling the church to pray for, examine, and install biblically qualified men who will convince, rebuke, and exhort with longsuffering, unashamed before God rather than men.
Ask FGBC 67: Are Piper and MacArthur Reformed Baptists?
What separates a confessional Reformed Baptist church from a Calvinistic Baptist church associated with figures like John Piper or John MacArthur? This conversation argues that Calvinism, properly understood, is not reducible to the five points of Dort but entails a whole confessional heritage — covenant theology (including the covenant of works), cessationism, the regulative principle of worship, and adherence to one of the great Protestant confessions. The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 is presented as the most mature expression of that heritage, providing a theological anchor that protects congregations from pastoral personality-driven ministry and binds them to the cumulative wisdom Christ has given his church through the ages.
Ask FGBC Batch 7: Anabaptists, Calvinism, Sincere Offer & More | Reformed Baptist Theology
This panel discussion brings together three Reformed Baptist pastors to address questions submitted to Free Grace Baptist Church on confessional identity, soteriology, covenant theology, and Lord's Day worship. The conversation distinguishes Particular Baptists from Anabaptists on historical-documentary grounds, examines the relationship between Calvinism and confessional Reformed Baptist identity, and evaluates the free and sincere offer of the gospel against what the panelists regard as the theological liabilities of well-meant-offer language. The discussion also treats the threefold division of the law, prosopological exegesis, and the scriptural rationale for two Lord's Day services, consistently grounding each answer in the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession and the exegetical tradition of the Particular Baptists.
CTF 2025 - Who Is The Conference For?
A brief panel discussion previewing a theology conference for pastors, elders, deacons, and laypeople in Reformed churches. The conversation addresses why doctrinal instruction — rooted in historical theology, systematic theology, and exegesis — is more foundational than purely practical programming. The core concern is that Christians in the modern church bypass the knowledge of God for immediate application, and the conference intends to remedy that by grounding practical Christian living in a right understanding of who God is.
Ask FGBC #14: How do we connect modern day Israel to Old & New Covenant Promises?
How should Christians understand the modern state of Israel, the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants, and the land promises in light of the New Testament? This Q&A exchange argues that the church is not a replacement for Israel but is the eschatological Israel of Old Testament prophecy — one people of God, Jew and Gentile together, united in Christ. Dispensationalism's two-peoples-of-God framework is evaluated and rejected on hermeneutical grounds, with Romans 11, the Davidic covenant, and the land promise examined in turn. The conversation broadens into the necessity of reading Scripture canonically and horizontally, the value of confessionalism, and the danger of allowing political rhetoric to distort biblical interpretation.
Ask FGBC - Podcast with Jim Butler, Dr James Renihan, Dr Richard Barcellos
This roundtable conversation between three pastors and theologians addresses a wide range of questions submitted by church members, covering biblical theology, covenant theology, baptism, eschatology, and Christian living. The discussion moves from how Christ fulfills Old Testament Israel, through the covenantal basis for believers' baptism, to the nature of the eternal state, the hermeneutics of applying Old Testament promises, the place of ethnic Israel in relation to the church, and the means of grace for raising covenant children. Throughout, the speakers return to a consistent Reformed hermeneutic: Christ is the true and greater fulfillment of all Old Testament promise, the church is the eschatological Israel of prophetic expectation, and the ordinary means of grace — Word, prayer, and faithful worship — remain God's appointed instruments for the conversion and nurture of his people.
CTF 2024 Session 7 - Q&A Panel Discussion
A conference Q&A panel addresses a wide range of confessional, theological, and pastoral questions arising from lectures on the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession and its relationship to broader Reformed orthodoxy. Topics range from the nature of creedal subscription and what it means to be Reformed, to the hermeneutics of typology, the mystery language of Ephesians 3, the humanity and knowledge of Christ, divine immutability and impassibility, and the differences between the Second London Confession and the Three Forms of Unity. The panel consistently grounds its answers in the churchly authority of confessions over individual interpretation, the centrality of the means of grace for generational faithfulness, and the necessity of theological humility before the accumulated witness of the church.
Introduction to the 1677/1789 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith — formally composed in 1677 and adopted by particular Baptist churches in 1689 — stands in deliberate continuity with the Westminster Confession and the Savoy Declaration, adapting their language to reflect distinctively Baptist convictions while maintaining solidarity with the broader Reformed tradition. This introductory session traces the Confession's historical origins, its relationship to the First London Confession of 1644–46, and the legal and ecclesiastical context in which particular Baptists operated under the Act of Toleration. Six reasons are then advanced for why a 21st-century church should subscribe to a 17th-century confession: to define, defend, discriminate, discipline, distinguish matters of Christian liberty, and develop an appreciation for the history of the church. The session closes by urging that confessionalism, rightly understood, is not proud biblicism but the humble reception of gifts Christ has given to his church across the ages.
The Gifts Given by the Ascended Christ, Part 3
Ephesians 4:13–16 specifies the duration, goal, and effect of the teaching gifts Christ gives to the church — the pastor-teachers who continue until the Lord returns. The goal of that ministry is threefold: the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, and the corporate maturity of the church measured against the fullness of Christ. A faithful preaching ministry functions as preventative maintenance, guarding the congregation against spiritual immaturity, doctrinal instability, and susceptibility to deceitful men. The sermon closes by calling the church to pray for the ascended Christ to raise up qualified men, and to receive their teaching as the God-ordained means of growth and stability.
Free Grace Baptist Church - February 14, 2016 AM
The Apostle Paul's charge to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1-2 envisions what this sermon calls 'the long crimson line' — a generational chain of gospel ministry stretching from God's eternal purpose, through the apostles, through faithful ministers, and forward to the next generation until Christ returns. The sermon traces a fivefold pattern: from heaven to Paul to Timothy to faithful men to others who will teach, arguing that this chain is entirely the work of God and not of human initiative. Every member of the church is called to participate — through prayer, identification of gifted men, personal encouragement, and financial support — so that faithful men will be raised up to preach the same pattern of sound words to coming generations.
The Identity and Confession of the Church
Paul's instructions to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:14–16 ground the order and conduct of the local church in two anchoring realities: the church's identity as the house of the living God, pillar and ground of the truth, and the church's confession of the mystery of godliness centered on the person and work of Christ. The sermon presses the regulative principle of worship against pragmatism and innovation, arguing that how the church prays, orders its gender distinctions, and qualifies its officers is not optional but divinely mandated. Verse 16's early creedal fragment — God manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, received up in glory — is shown to be the doctrinal center of gravity that holds the whole letter together and explains why ordered church life matters.