What Is Confession Of Faith?
Question
What is Confession of Faith?
Answer
Confession of Faith and Baptism
The duty to make public confession before God and the congregation is rooted in the sacrament of Holy Baptism. This connection is implied in the great commission Christ gave His apostles and in them to the New Testament church. In this commission, Christ commands them to teach (=disciple) the nations by baptizing and teaching (=instructing) them (Mat. 28:19‑20). The nations or families of the earth had to be instructed to observe all that Christ has commanded so that by the applying ministry of the Holy Spirit, men and women would be led to confess the Triune God in whose Name they would be or had been baptized (cf. Rom. 10:9).
In the missionary setting, so frequently encountered in the book of Acts, instruction always preceded baptism, and baptism was not administered until faith in the Lord Jesus Christ had been confessed publicly (cf. Acts 8:37‑38; 16:14‑15). To this day, missionary ministers observe the order of instruction‑confession‑baptism since the heathen cannot be admitted into the visible church without an intelligent and credible confession. In the same book of Acts, however, we do not read of a single example where children of believing parents (parents who have made a credible confession) did not receive the sacrament of baptism until they had reached maturity.
The apostles acted in conformity to their Bible, the Old Testament, which teaches that proselyte adult males and their sons were circumcised (Exo. 12:26‑27). The apostles therefore administered the New Testament replacement of circumcision, namely baptism (cf. Gen. 17:7 & Acts 2:38‑39; Col. 2:11‑13), to entire households, including any children of parents who had made a credible confession of faith (Acts 16:15). They understood that by virtue of the organic nature of the covenant of grace and the organic relationship between believing parents and their children, children belong to the visible church by birth and must therefore receive the sacrament of incorporation, baptism, as a confirmation of this (cf. Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 74; Belgic Confession, Art. 34; Form for the Administration of Baptism, Questions to Parents #1).
Proper training of the baptized child will lead to an increasing awareness by this child that God has written His Triune Name upon his forehead and has set him apart from the world in order that He would confess His Name and walk in His ways. Parents are therefore obliged to instruct their children in the doctrines of Holy Scripture, and the church is obliged to do likewise (cf. Exo. 12:26‑27; Deu. 6:6‑7; Psa. 78:4‑8; Form for the Administration of Baptism, Questions to Parents #3). The church catechizes her baptized members in order to lead them to a clearer and more comprehensive knowledge of the doctrines of God’s Word and thus assist them, by grace, in making a personal and intelligent confession of faith in the Christ of this Word (2 Tim. 3:16).
When making confession of faith, the young people of the congregation, thus, assume full responsibility for the confession their parents made at their baptism. At this point, they do not become members of the congregation. Rather, having been baptized members of the church, they now become confessing members. From this moment on forward, they will personally be held accountable for the confession of their faith and the walk demanded by it—just as a young person in society becomes personally responsible for his citizenship at the age of 18.
Since, therefore, public confession of faith is rooted in baptism, making such a confession is not optional for baptized members of the congregation. Their baptism requires it. The receipt of the sacrament of baptism is a sovereign act of God in the lives of our children. It confirms that God has sovereignly set them apart from the world (1 Cor. 7:14; Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 74) and has personally placed them under the ministry of Word and sacrament so that, by His Spirit, they might come to a saving knowledge of the God in whose Name they are baptized.
This great privilege solemnly obligates the baptized child of the covenant, upon arriving at the age of maturity, to confess faith in this God, as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. While it is true that apart from regeneration, the baptized child will never believe in Christ with his heart, it nevertheless remains his obligation to make a public confession of faith.
The matter of publicly confessing God’s Triune Name is never optional for any human being—and certainly not for a young person who has been baptized in that Name. God requires a confession of faith from our children, and we are obliged to rear and instruct them with this nonnegotiable requirement continually held before them. They must sense and prayerfully wrestle with the fact that the God who requires this from them is the God who, in Jesus Christ, has received them into His arms at baptism, just as Christ took children into His arms in Mark 10:13‑16. God has sworn at their baptism that He has no pleasure in their death but that they would turn to Him and live (Ezek. 33:11) and has therefore bestowed so many gospel privileges upon them. Such understanding of their gospel and covenant privileges will lead them to view their duty to make a public confession of faith as a solemn matter, realizing not only that God demands such a confession but that such a confession be a heart confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Nature of Confession of Faith
What must the church ask her young people to confess? Must it be a confession of truth, i.e., an intellectual concurrence with the doctrine of Scripture? Or must it be a confession of faith? Is it historical faith we ask them to confess, or do we insist on saving faith?
In Scripture, faith has but one object: Jesus Christ. Thus, to confess faith means to confess faith in its only object, Jesus Christ. One could argue that to confess the truth is to confess Jesus Christ, as He is the Living Word (John 1:1,14,18; Rev. 19:13) and thus the embodiment of truth Himself (John 14:6). All of this is true, but reducing confession of faith to a confession of truth avoids the real issue, namely, that God requires from all who hear the gospel a confession of faith in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 17:30; John 3:36; 1 John 5:10).
Therefore, the only confession that will please God and that the church may be satisfied with is a heartfelt confession of faith in Jesus Christ with mouth and heart (Rom. 10:9‑10). To be satisfied with anything less reduces the significance of making confession of faith to a formality. Thus, it must be made clear to our young people that only when they confess Jesus Christ with the mouth and believe in Him with the heart shall they be saved (Rom. 10:9). In God’s sight, saving faith is the only acceptable response to all the gospel privileges God has granted them since the day of their birth. As our young people grow older, they must be catechized in such a way (confession of faith class being the culmination of that instruction) that they will prayerfully struggle with what 1 John 3:23 says, “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ.” It is the continual confrontation with this inescapable command that must bring them to their knees, seeking the sovereign grace they need to believe in Christ in truth.
The Criterion for Confession of Faith
How, then, does the church determine which young people should be permitted to make a public confession of faith? In answering this question, it is critical to understand that the church can only examine those desiring to make public confession of faith on the basis of objective standards. The subjective assessment of the heart, i.e., whether saving faith is present, is reserved for God. He alone “knoweth the secrets of the heart” (Psa. 44:21). The church neither possesses infallible, spiritual discernment nor has she been divinely sanctioned to attempt to render a definitive statement about the spiritual state of a man’s heart.
This is not to suggest that the church may not inquire about any experiential acquaintance with the truth. However, a positive response to such an inquiry can never be a foolproof method for asserting that the Holy Spirit has worked savingly in such a person’s heart. As impressive as the verbal confession and conversion account may be (cf. John 13:27‑30; Acts 8:13), the church cannot assess whether such a response is genuine. The only thing the church can do, while stressing the necessity of saving faith and its accompanying fruits and marks of grace, is to judge the life of the person who desires to make public confession of faith. If there is credible evidence that the life of this person corresponds with the confession of faith he intends to make, the church may proceed.
Therefore, rather than asking the applicant whether he knows Jesus to be his personal Savior, the church should say what Philip said to the eunuch in Acts 8:37: “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” The eunuch’s answer, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” was his “amen” to the witness of Scripture concerning Jesus Christ. We may infer from this that he believed that there is no other Name given under heaven among men whereby he could and must be saved (Acts 4:12). By confessing the Jesus Philip preached to him (Acts 8:35), he confessed that he believed the promise of the gospel to be true, namely, that whosoever believes in Jesus Christ shall receive the remission of sins and eternal life (cf. John 3:15‑16; Rom. 5:1). Philip did not require from the eunuch a confession of regeneration or an assured faith.
Upon considering the scriptural context of the eunuch’s confession and baptism, there is indeed evidence from the fruits of his life that he was a regenerate Gentile who, by the Spirit, had not only been drawn to the Scriptures but, by the instrumentality of Philip’s exposition of Isaiah 53, had also been drawn to the suffering Servant of the Lord. Nevertheless, Philip baptized the eunuch on the basis of a credible confession rather than on the presumption that the eunuch possessed true, saving faith. We must do the same when admitting young people to confessing membership.
When using such an approach, we must lovingly warn the casual and indifferent applicant, deferring him/her to a time of more maturity and/or greater interest. At the same time, we are not to discourage the earnest seeker after God and His salvation, though he may have little assurance that this salvation is personally his. It is the pastoral duty of the church to recognize and shepherd the lambs as well as the sheep; i.e., those who struggle, having weak faith and less assurance, as well as those who have a more established faith and greater assurance. Confession of faith must never be confused with a confession of assurance of faith.
Confession of Faith and its Implications for the Church
All this means that the church must make it her business to convey that making public confession of faith is a serious matter. She must do so as follows:
It must be stressed during catechetical training, but especially in the class preparing young people for confession of faith, that God requires a confession of faith with mind and heart in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Anything less would reduce public confession of faith to a formality.
It must be stressed to young people who have come of age but who have not yet made a public confession of faith that such a confession of faith is not optional. Their baptism requires it. It is because of God’s sovereignty that they are children of the kingdom (Mat. 8:12), and this sovereign act makes them responsible for loving and serving this sovereign God. Wilhelmus à Brakel even taught that those who refuse to do so should publicly renounce their baptism and then serve the world (The Christian’s Reasonable Service, vol. 2, pp. 520‑521).
The church must do her utmost to assure herself that the walk of the applicants is such that their confession will be a credible one; that is, a confession not contradicted by an ungodly walk. Failure to do so will again reduce public confession of faith to a formality and bring contempt upon an entire congregation (cf. Rev. 3:14‑15).
Once confession has been made, the church has the solemn duty to ascertain whether the confession and life of her confessing members continue to agree. She must, therefore, not hesitate to exercise discipline if the circumstances warrant this (cf. 2 Chron. 15:12‑13; Rev. 2:6). Those who have made a public confession of faith have made a vow before God and the congregation that they shall live godly lives and the church must hold them accountable to that. Discipline is the God-ordained means of maintaining the purity of the faith (Mat. 18:15‑18).
Confession of Faith and the Lord’s Supper
A credible confession of faith—not contradicted by an ungodly walk—opens the door to partaking of the Lord’s Supper which Christ instituted for the edification of believers. The connection between public confession of faith and partaking of the Lord’s Supper is as inseparable as the connection between baptism and public confession of faith. Thus, baptism, public confession of faith, and the Lord’s Supper form a golden chain of divine making. The church must open the door of the Lord’s table to all whose confession and walk are compatible without rendering any judgment about the internal state of that person.
Opening the door to the Lord’s table, however, does not mean that the church may make attendance of the Lord’s Supper compulsory, nor may she convey the idea that attendance is to be automatically assumed. Between public confession of faith and partaking of the Lord’s Supper stands the biblical requirement of self-examination. One of the reasons for having provided the applicant with thorough catechetical instruction is that he may have a sufficient knowledge of the Scriptures to assist him in examining himself properly.
Such self-examination must further be encouraged by the regular, faithful preaching of God’s Word, particularly during preparatory sermons. The confessing member must know that, in addition to having ecclesiastical qualifications, he must also have spiritual qualifications for partaking of the Lord’s Supper. In other words, in addition to a church right, he must also have a divine right.
Thus, on the one hand it must be continually stressed that partaking of the Lord’s Supper is the holy duty of all who publicly confess the name of Christ and that not to do so is a public denial of what we publicly confess. On the other hand, it must be equally stressed that partaking of the Lord’s Supper in the absence of the biblical marks of grace set forth in 1 Corinthians 11 and summarized in the Form for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper will cause one to eat and drink judgment to himself (1 Cor.11:29). It is this dual emphasis that must bring sinners into the gospel vice grip of duty and impossibility so that no unconverted and yet confessing member of the church should be able to remain comfortably unconverted. Great wisdom and divine guidance are needed to avoid pressuring people into going to the table on the one hand or hindering weak and feeble believers from attending on the other hand.
The faithful preaching of the Word of God, applied by the Holy Spirit, must do its own work. Never may church discipline be used to get confessing members to come to the table of the Lord. Such an approach has failed miserably in church history. One of two results will follow such an attempt: Either all confessing members will, as a matter of course, come to the table of the Lord to avoid church discipline, or the number of participants (confessing members) will be minimal for fear of church discipline. Only the discipline of the Word, both publicly and privately, must be used to bring believers to the table and keep unbelievers from the table.
In summary, public confession of faith should never be disconnected from the Lord’s table. To do so reduces public confession of faith to a formality, encourages a church membership that will consist largely of unconverted yet “confessing” members, and fosters the notion that one can be a reputable, unconverted church member.
Conclusions
Based on the preceding, it is recommended that the churches observe the following guidelines:
Baptized members who have come to the age of maturity must be publicly and privately exhorted to attend the Confession of Faith class in preparation for making a public confession of faith.
Mature baptized members who fail to heed these public exhortations must be lovingly exhorted by the church. If all efforts fail, and such baptized members have ceased to attend the worship services, the church must prayerfully consider how to bring such cases to a proper resolution. Not doing so would foster the notion that for mature baptized members, making public confession of faith is an option rather than an obligation.
Applicants for confessing membership must understand that the faith they will confess has but one object, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. However, while we may not assume that these applicants possess saving faith, it must nevertheless be impressed upon them that “without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6).
Jesus Christ being the sole object of faith, applicants may be asked the following questions:
Do you believe that there is no other Name given under heaven whereby you must be saved?
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is willing and able to save you?
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is freely offered to you in the gospel?
Do you believe that Christ being freely offered to you in the gospel is your warrant to come to Him “without money and without price”?
Do you believe that if you thus come to Him by faith, He will in no wise cast you out and save you to the uttermost?
These questions can be asked without pressuring applicants to confess whether they are assured of their salvation. Instead, we are asking applicants whether they believe the testimony of the gospel regarding the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ—and that they cannot be saved unless they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, the church cannot infallibly determine whether the applicants for confessing membership possess a Spirit-wrought faith in Christ.
Thus, the church must admit baptized members to confessing membership on the basis of an objective assessment of the applicant’s life. By objective, scriptural standards, the church must ascertain whether such a confession of faith is a credible one and, thus, not contradicted by an ungodly and offensive walk. The applicant’s conversion account may never be the basis for admission to confessing membership, nor may the assurance of faith be a criterion, “for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
The church, in order to maintain the purity of the faith, must exercise faithful discipline toward those whose confession is publicly contradicted by their walk.
The church must stress that it is the duty of confessing members, following proper self-examination, to attend the Lord’s Supper without compelling them to do so. Self-examination must always be maintained as a biblical necessity before one partakes of the Lord’s table. Thus, while striving to preserve the relationship between confession of faith and the Lord’s Supper, the church may never make the connection between the two an automatic one. In doing so, she will invariably foster presumptuous faith. And that we must seek to avoid at all costs.
