Grace Blog
1689 London Baptist Confession on Community
As we begin our transition to community groups in a couple of weeks, I thought it would be profitable to highlight certain portions of the 1689 London Baptist Confession that speaks to our necessarily involvement regarding one another as a privileged new covenant community. The emphasis in the statements below are mine.
Under the heading of “The Church,” article six states:
The members of these churches are saints by reason of the divine call, and in a visible manner they demonstrate and declare, both by their confession of Christ and their manner of life, that they obey Christ’s call. They willingly consent to hold fellowship together according to Christ’s instructions, giving themselves to the Lord and to one another as God wills, and yielding full assent to the requirements of the gospel. (Acts 2:41-42; 5:13-14; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 9:13)
Following the statements on the church, the 1689 addresses the communion of fellowship of the saints, beginning with this article:
All saints are united to Jesus Christ their head by His Spirit and by faith. But this does not mean that they become one person with Him. Yet they have fellowship in His graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory. Also, as they are united to one another in love, they enjoy fellowship in the gifts and graces one of another, and are under obligation to render such services, public and private, as promote their mutual well-being, in both spiritual and temporal matters. (John 1:16; Rom. 1:12; 6:5-6; 1 Cor. 3:21-23; 12:7; Gal. 6:10; Eph. 4:15-16; Phil. 3:10; 1 Thess. 5:11, 14; 1 John 1:3; 3:17-18)
As you can see, our Baptist forefathers addressed very clearly the responsibilities we all share together as a members of a covenant community who are “under obligation” and “willingly consent” to servicing the body of Christ by giving ourselves to one another. Genuine fellowship, we confess, then is “a requirement of the gospel” as we visibly demonstrate in word and in deed the love of Christ shed abroad in our hearts by His Spirit.
May God grant us grace to love one another deeply and serve one another sincerely as we grow up together as “spiritual houses” who offer spiritual sacrifices to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5).
Labels: 1689 London Baptist Confession, Gospel Community | posted by TimBrister at 11:21 am | Categories: Community, Confession |
