What is the 1689 LBCF?
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith (also known as the Second London Baptist Confession) is a foundational document for Reformed Baptists. It was drafted to show that Particular Baptists agreed with the orthodox Protestant theology of their day while clearly defining their unique views on the church and baptism.
Ch 1: The Holy Scriptures
The Bible is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. This chapter establishes the canon, affirms the "Regulative Principle" (Scripture as the final authority), and asserts that while nature reveals God’s existence, the Word is necessary for salvation.
Ch 2: God and the Holy Trinity
God is a single, infinite, and eternal spirit. He is self-existent and immutable. This chapter defines the orthodox view of the Trinity: one essence in three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), co-equal and co-eternal.
Ch 3: God’s Decree
God has, from eternity, freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass. This includes the predestination of some to life and the preterition of others, all for the manifestation of His glory, without God being the author of sin or violating the will of the creature.
Ch 4: Creation
The world was created by God out of nothing in the space of six days. All things were made "very good," with humanity created in God’s image, possessing law written in their hearts and the power to obey it, yet under a possibility of transgressing.
Ch 5: Divine Providence
God upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and actions. His providence reaches even to the fall of man and all other sins, which He permits and bounds for His own holy ends, though the sinfulness proceeds from the creature and not from God.
Ch 6: The Fall of Man, Sin, and the Punishment Thereof
Through the temptation of Satan, Adam and Eve sinned. This original sin resulted in "total depravity"—the corruption of the whole nature and a state of spiritual death—which is imputed to all their posterity.
Ch 7: God’s Covenant
The distance between God and the creature is so great that man could never attain life except by a voluntary condescension on God’s part. This chapter outlines the Covenant of Grace, whereby God offers life and salvation by Jesus Christ to sinners.
Ch 8: Christ the Mediator
Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. He is the Prophet, Priest, and King. This chapter details His two natures (fully God and fully man in one person), His active and passive obedience, His physical resurrection, and His current intercession.
Ch 9: Free Will
Man’s will is not forced, but its disposition changes through history: in innocence, it was free to do good; in sin, it is disabled from spiritual good; in grace, it is partially renewed; and in glory, it is perfectly and immutably free to do good alone.
Ch 10: Effectual Calling
Those whom God has predestined, He calls out of sin by His Word and Spirit. He enlightens their minds and renews their wills, so that they come to Christ most freely, being made willing by His grace.
Ch 11: Justification
God freely justifies those whom He effectually calls, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins and accounting them as righteous for Christ’s sake alone. Faith is the sole instrument of justification.
Ch 12: Adoption
All those who are justified are taken into the family of God, receiving the liberties and privileges of the children of God, including access to the throne of grace and the inheritance of the promises.
Ch 13: Sanctification
Through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed. Believers are strengthened in all saving graces to the practice of true holiness, though this remains imperfect in this life.
Ch 14: Saving Faith
Saving faith is the work of the Spirit in the heart, whereby a Christian believes to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word and rests upon Christ alone for justification and eternal life.
Ch 15: Repentance Unto Life and Salvation
Repentance is a "gospel grace" where a sinner, seeing the filthiness of his sin and the mercy of God in Christ, turns from sin with grief and hatred toward God, purposing to walk in the way of His commandments.
Ch 16: Good Works
Good works are only such as God has commanded in His Word. They are the fruits of a true and lively faith. While they cannot merit pardon or eternal life, they are necessary as evidences of gratitude and for the glory of God.
Ch 17: The Perseverance of the Saints
Those whom God has accepted in the Beloved can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved.
Ch 18: The Assurance of Grace and Salvation
While hypocrites may deceive themselves with false hopes, true believers may certainly be assured that they are in the state of grace. This assurance is not a bare conjecture but is founded on the divine truth of the promises.
Ch 19: The Law of God
God gave Adam a law of universal obedience. This chapter distinguishes between the Moral Law (perpetual), the Ceremonial Law (abrogated), and the Judicial Law (expired with the state of Israel). The Moral Law remains a rule of life for believers.
Ch 20: The Gospel, and the Extent of the Grace Thereof
The covenant of works being broken, the revelation of the Gospel is necessary for salvation. This revelation is granted to nations and persons solely according to the sovereign will and good pleasure of God.
Ch 21: Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience
The liberty Christ has purchased for believers includes freedom from the guilt of sin, the rigors of the law, and this present evil world. God alone is Lord of the conscience, and to obey human doctrines that contradict the Word is to betray true liberty.
Ch 22: Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day
The acceptable way of worshipping God is instituted by Himself and limited by His revealed will. This chapter affirms the "Regulative Principle of Worship" and the sanctity of the Lord's Day (the Christian Sabbath).
*We allow for varied views on this subject, therefore we do not strictly subscribe to it.
*We allow for varied views on this subject, therefore we do not strictly subscribe to it.
Ch 23: Lawful Oaths and Vows
A lawful oath is a part of religious worship wherein the person swearing calls God to witness. Vows are to be made to God alone and performed with scrupulous conscientiousness.
Ch 24: The Civil Government
Civil government is an ordinance of God for His own glory and the public good. Christians may lawfully accept and execute the office of a magistrate and are bound to pray for and obey those in authority.
Ch 25: Marriage
Marriage is between one man and one woman, ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife, the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and the preventing of uncleanness.
Ch 26: The Church
The catholic (universal) church consists of the whole number of the elect. The Confession emphasizes the local church as a body of baptized believers given authority by Christ to administer worship, officers (Pastors/Elders and Deacons), and discipline.
*We would hold that Roman Catholic teaching and the Pope himself are in alignment with the spirit of the antichrist, while not holding that Pope himself is the ultimate antichrist.
*We would hold that Roman Catholic teaching and the Pope himself are in alignment with the spirit of the antichrist, while not holding that Pope himself is the ultimate antichrist.
Ch 27: The Communion of Saints
All saints united to Jesus Christ have fellowship in His graces, sufferings, and glory. They are bound to maintain a holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God and in performing mutual services for their benefit.
Ch 28: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
These are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution, appointed by the Lord Jesus, the only Lawgiver, to be continued in His church to the end of the world.
Ch 29: Baptism
Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, signs of the believer's fellowship with Christ in His death and resurrection. It is to be administered only to those who "actually profess repentance towards God," and immersion is the necessary mode.
Ch 30: The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper was instituted for the perpetual remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice. It is a spiritual feast; the elements remain bread and wine, rejecting transubstantiation, yet believers "spiritually receive and feed upon Christ crucified."
Ch 31: The State of Man after Death and of the Resurrection
After death, the bodies return to dust, but the souls return to God. The souls of the righteous are received into paradise; the wicked are cast into hell. At the last day, the dead shall be raised with their selfsame bodies.
Ch 31: The Last Judgment
God has appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ. The end of this day is for the manifestation of the glory of God's mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect, and of His justice in the eternal damnation of the reprobate.