Theological term
First Cause
4 sermons · All terms
Sunday School Confession Study - Oct 15, 2023
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, chapter 5, 'Of Divine Providence,' paragraphs 2–7 sets the agenda for this study. After reviewing paragraph 1's foundational statement that God upholds, directs, and governs all creatures by his most wise and holy Providence, the study works through the confession's treatment of second causes, the ordinary use of means, the relation of Providence to sin (both in its general scope and in the specific cases of believers and unbelievers), and the special providential care God exercises over his church. The central concern throughout is theodicy properly grounded: that God's absolute sovereignty over first and second causes does not make him the author or approver of sin, while also refusing the weak refuge of 'bare permission.' The study closes with the encouragement that whatever befalls the elect is by God's appointment for his glory and their good, and that Providence's ultimate telos is the perfecting of the church as the bride of the Lamb.
2LCF Chapter 5 - Of Divine Providence
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, on Divine Providence, teaches that God upholds, directs, disposes, and governs all creatures and all their actions from the greatest to the least — not by blind fate or fortune, but according to his infinite power and wisdom, his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his will. The chapter unfolds in seven paragraphs, moving from the general definition of providence (paragraph 1) through its relation to second causes, ordinary means, miracles, the fall, remaining sin in believers, the hardening of unbelievers, and finally the special care God exercises over his church. God's sovereignty does not make him the author of sin nor does it remove human responsibility; first causality establishes rather than annuls second causality. The doctrine is a source of deep comfort: whatever befalls the elect is by God's appointment for his glory and their good.
2LCF Chapter 5 - Of Divine Providence
Divine providence — God's upholding, directing, disposing, and governing of all creatures and things — is the subject of 2nd London Baptist Confession chapter 5, here expounded in a single-session overview. The chapter is read in full, then traced through its seven paragraphs: the definition and scope of providence, the relationship of God's sovereign first cause to secondary causes, the place of sin within providence (both for believers and unbelievers), and the special providential care God exercises toward his church. The session presses toward pastoral comfort: because the God of chapter 2 — infinitely wise, holy, and good — is the God of chapter 5, whatever befalls the elect is by divine appointment for God's glory and their good.
2LCF Chapter 3 - Of God's Decree
The eternal decree of God — whereby He freely and unchangeably foreordains whatsoever comes to pass — is the subject of 2LCF Chapter 3. This study works through all seven paragraphs of the chapter, examining the definition, agency, character, and freedom of God's decree, before turning to the decree's specific application to predestination and reprobation. The doctrine is grounded in the divine perfections established in Chapter 2: God's simplicity, absoluteness, and independence. Hearers are called to hold this high mystery with prudence and care, drawing from it not vain curiosity but praise, humility, and abundant consolation.