This course is based on the text, 'The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith,' with notes by Kevin Matthews. Please feel free to print these notes to allow you to study the text online/offline. This lesson may be used in other study situations if you like (eg. Groups, Bible Studies, etc).
Is there a God? Can God be known? How can we learn anything about God? Undoubtedly we have all asked ourselves these questions at some time in our lives. What are the answers to these questions? Well, by the time we complete this study we will be able to answer these questions and more.
Scripture certainly affirms that there is a God (Gen 1:1). Yet apart from God revealing Himself to man, God and His ways cannot be known by man. We can only know God in so far as God actively makes Himself known to us. This process of God revealing Himself to man is called ‘revelation.’ It is God’s self-disclosure to man. Theology usually speaks of two areas of revelation, general and special revelation.
2.1 General and Special Revelation
‘General revelation’ is revelation communicated or revealed through our moral and religious feelings, and through the visible creation of God. It is general because it is given to all humanity and is found in all that God has made. This knowledge of God can be acquired by human reason through the consideration of creation and our consciences (Ps 19:1,2; 104:24; Rom 1:19,20; 2:14,15). Man can learn about God by thinking upon what he observes and senses in creation, moving from observation to reasonable conclusions about God. Such revelation is also known as ‘natural theology.’
QUESTION: What sort of things can be learnt from a consideration of creation?
Though general revelation can convey much knowledge of God’s nature, power and divinity, it is now obscured by sin. There is nothing wrong with the revelation, for it still does what it should. However we are now unable to take advantage of this revelation because of our sinfulness. What this actually means for fallen man is that right knowledge of God cannot be gained through mere human reasoning alone, for we are now anti-God by nature and refuse to acknowledge the truth about God (Rom 1:18-23). But there is still enough knowledge of God in general revelation to leave us (man) without excuse for not acknowledging Him (Rom 1:20).
QUESTION: Explain why more than general revelation is necessary for salvation?
Now something more is needed if we are to know anything about God, especially if we are to gain a saving knowledge of God, for we are blinded by sin and unable to understand spiritual truth (1 Cor 2:14), and general revelation does not reveal the way of salvation to man anyhow. If we are to be saved from our fallen position, we need to be told how that salvation may be achieved, otherwise we (man) will just continue to flounder around in the spiritual dark.
That something more that is needed is called ‘special revelation.’ This revelation is communicated in a supernatural manner, such as when God speaks directly to man or through a divinely appointed messenger. God reveals Himself and the way of salvation to man directly, so that he cannot escape such knowledge. It is revelation that cannot be developed or understood through nature or by unaided human reason. Special revelation comes to man through various means, such as ‘Theophanies (visible manifestations of God)’ (Gen 16:13; 31:11; Ex 3:2; 23:20-33; 33:9; 1 Kings 19:12; Ps 18:10-16; 78:14), direct communications (Num 12:6; 27:21; Deut 5:4; Is 6; Jn 14:26; 1 Cor 2:12,13; 1 Thess 2:13; 1 Pet 1:11) and miracles (1 Tim 3:16; Rev 21:5).
The purpose of special revelation is to bring certain people (the elect) to a saving knowledge of God. It brings more understanding to man than just basic truths about God. Special revelation is a disclosure of God to man concerning Himself, His ways, and the way to salvation. For a man to be saved he needs special revelation. To be of lasting benefit to man records of special revelation needed to be committed to writing and this is the purpose of the Bible.
Such special revelation in recorded form came to man through His prophets and the apostles. It came through the agency of man, under inspiration of the Spirit of God (Mk 7:13; 2 Tim 3:16,17; Heb 1:1,2; 2 Pet 3:16), though remaining the words of men, containing their own thoughts, styles, and so on (1 Chron 29:29; Lk 1:1-4; 2 Pet 1:19). It was then preserved through the ages by God, translated, distributed, and has now come down to us in its various translated copies.
‘What was spoken and written by inspiration, came with as high authority as if it had proceeded from God without the use of human instrumentality.’
J L Dagg
2.2 The 1689 Confession of Faith on Scripture
The first article of the Confession of Faith deals with what it calls ‘The Holy Scripture.’ It acknowledges that these are those writings which are totally separate from all other writings known in the world, for they are the product of both God and men (2 Tim 3:16,17; 2 Pet 1:20,21). These writings are the special revelation of God in written form.
1. The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience (a). Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable, yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation (b). Therefore it pleased the Lord at different times, and in various manners to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His church (c); and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God’s revealing His will unto His people being now ceased (d).
a. 2 Tim 3:15-17; Is 8:20; Lk 16:29,31; Eph 2:20.
b. Rom 1:19-21; 2:14,15; Ps 19:1-3.
c. Heb 1:1.
d. Pr 22:19-21; Rom 15:4; 2 Pet 1:19,20.2. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testament, which are these:
Of the Old Testament,
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
Of the New Testament,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, The Acts of the Apostles, Paul's Epistle to the Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of James, The first and second Epistles of Peter, The first, second and third Epistles of John, the Epistle of Jude, the Revelation. All of which are given by the inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life (a).
a. 2 Tim 3:16.
3. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of (f) divine inspiration, are no part of the canon or rule of the Scriptures, and therefore are of no authority to the church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings (a).
a. Lk 24:27,44; Rom 3:2.
2.3 The Necessity of Scripture
Today, as was the case in 1689, there are no other writings or means whereby we can come to a ‘saving knowledge’ of God, except through these Holy Scriptures. In times past it was possible to gain such saving knowledge from other sources of special revelation, namely angels, prophets, apostles and even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Heb 1:1,2; Gal 1:11,12). But this is no longer the case, as they are no longer bodily present among us. Hence the Bible has now become our only source of saving knowledge. Special revelation has now ceased in the sense of there being any ‘new’ revelation given to man.
QUESTIONS: Why is it necessary for us to have the Scriptures in our own language? Explain.
It is impossible for men to be saved without the Scriptures, for they must come into contact with them in order to be saved (2 Tim 3:15; Lk 6:27-31), ‘for those former ways of God’s revealing His will are now ceased.’ If we are to know the way of salvation we need God to tell us what it is, and with the ending of new revelations, we need accurate records of past revelations in order to know how we may be saved.
2.4 The Insufficiency of General Revelation
It is certainly true that there is much to learn through God’s general revelation, in both creation and providence, and this enough ‘to leave men inexcusable’ before God (Rom 1:20; Ps 19:1,2). However these sources of knowledge are not sufficient to give any person a saving knowledge of God, for these tell us nothing of what is necessary for salvation.
QUESTION: Why is general revelation not enough to bring a person to salvation?
2.5 The Preservation and Publication of Special Revelation
Since men need special revelation for salvation, and since there are no longer any other instruments of special revelation, it is obviously necessary that special revelation from the past be preserved in order for men to be saved. It is here therefore that the Bible becomes necessary for salvation (Jn 5:39,40).
In order to preserve the epitome of special revelation from the various means of corruption, such as human weakness and sinfulness, Satan, and the world, it pleased the Lord ‘to commit the same wholly unto writing.’ Consider here, 2 Peter 1:15ff.
In so doing, the record of special revelation has been accurately preserved and able to be faithfully published throughout the world (Rom 1:8-15; Gal 4:20; 6:11; 1 Tim 3:14,15; Rev 1:9,19; 2:1). Men therefore have available to them, ‘the only sufficient, certain and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience’ (Rom 15:4).
QUESTION: Why does an unbeliever need to be in contact with the Bible in order to be saved?
2.6 The Identity of Holy Scripture
The Confession of Faith very clearly identifies those writings that are Holy Scripture. It lists as Holy Scripture the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. Outside of these books there are none other that are to be recognized as Holy Scripture.
These 66 books are recognized as being ‘given by the inspiration of God (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20,21).’ What this means is that even though they were written in their original language by human authors, what was written was none-the-less God’s Word, for it was He who gave them the words to write (Gal 1:11,12; 2 Pet 1:20,21; 3:1,2,15,16).
‘By inspiration, we do not mean that God used the individual writers as automata, or that He dictated to them what they should say, but we mean that His Holy Spirit so guided and controlled the writers that what they wrote was true, and was the particular truth God wanted to be given in writing to His people. God allowed the writers to use their own intellects, their own language and their own style, but when they wrote, His Holy Spirit supernaturally kept their writing free from error, and rendered it the exact truth which God wanted conveyed to His people down through the ages.’
F. Hamilton
Quoted by L. Boettner
The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination
QUESTION: What implications does ‘inspiration’ have for the modern reader and preacher of God’s Word?
2.7 The Apocrypha
The word ‘apocrypha’ comes from the Greek, and its meaning is ‘that which is hidden.’ Today the word is associated with the collection of books which appear between the Old and New Testaments in the Vulgate and New English Bibles. These are books that were rejected by both the Jews and the early church as being ‘no part of the Canon or rule of Scripture.’
The ‘Canon’, simply means the standard or rule. When a book is determined as outside the ‘Canon of Scripture’, what is meant is that it doesn’t reach the criteria for inclusion in the Holy Scriptures. The Canon of Scripture takes into account the following:
QUESTIONS: What place does the writings of men, outside of the Holy Scriptures, hold for us? Are they of any continuing value? Explain.
NOTE: If you wish to email me regarding your answers to this first lesson, please copy and paste them into an email (Attachments will not be opened). I will then get back to you as soon as I can (expect a delay due to various committments).
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