The London Baptist Confession of Faith | Exposition of Chapter 20 – Herald of Grace

Steven E. Hofmaier

Chapter 20: Of the Gospel, and of the extent of the Grace thereof

Introduction

How has it come to pass that we have been forgiven of our sins and granted pardon and acceptance with God? Through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who paid for our sins in his atoning sacrifice on the cross, is the clear answer of the heart of the Christian, and of this confession. But how did we come to learn of Christ? Because someone brought us the gospel! “How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? ” (Romans 10:14-15a) We ought to thank God greatly that we have been privileged to hear the gospel, by whatever means it has come to us. This is the topic of this chapter of the confession of faith.

Confessional Position

The theology of the Confession concerning evangelism and world missions is contained for the most part in Chapter 20, Of the Gospel, and of the extent of the Grace thereof. This chapter contains four paragraphs which may be outlined as follows:

I. The initial revelation of the gospel
II. The necessity of the gospel for salvation
III. The sovereign dissemination of the gospel (or, God’s determination of the extent of its spread)
IV. The sufficiency of the gospel unto salvation.

We will look at these briefly one by one.

I. The initial revelation of the gospel

¶ 1: The Covenant of Works being broken by Sin, and made unprofitable unto Life; God was pleased to give forth the promise of Christ, the Seed of the Woman, as the means of calling the Elect, and begetting in them Faith and Repentance; in this Promise, the Gospel, as to the substance of it, was revealed, and therein Effectual, for the Conversion and Salvation of Sinners.

The first thing to be noticed in our confession is that the gospel is given in the context or setting of sin. Adam’s fall is referred to in the opening sentence, using the terminology of the covenant of works. The point is that after the fall, man can not please God by works; he cannot attain life by any means of his own making. He is lost in sin, and if he is to be restored to communion with God the initiative must come from God alone. The natural man, whose mind is set on the flesh, cannot please God. (Rom 8:6-8) The effects of sin on the human race must not be minimized. No man can come to Christ of his own. In all evangelism, no matter the exalted moral condition or seeming enlightenment of the people to whom we go, we must recognize that they cannot attain life without the gospel. They are dead in trespasses and sins. This theme is repeated over and over again in this chapter.

The next thing to be observed in this first paragraph is the initial promise of the gospel. The first announcement of the good news to sinful men comes immediately after Adam and Eve fell. It is given in the midst of the curse on the serpent, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15 ) The woman’s seed, which refers to the elect people of God, is to be rescued from an unholy alliance with the devil and brought back to friendship and fellowship with God. Whereas Adam and Eve have now sided with Satan against God, that bond will be broken and replaced with enmity. The enmity with God, by inference, will be taken away, and replaced with peace. In other words, reconciliation will take place between God and sinners. How will this take place? By means of the (singular) seed of the woman, who will bruise or crush Satan’s head, thus gaining victory over the enemy. This will cost him, however, as the serpent is said to bruise him on his heel. Who is this champion who will conquer the serpent? It is Jesus, born of a woman, “offspring of the virgin’s womb.”

Then, too, the purpose of the first gospel revelation is declared. The gospel is revealed from the first as the means of calling the elect. It is only by the means of this revelation that sinners will be saved. It is to call men to repentance and faith, not mere acknowledgment that there was a Seed of the Woman who would crush Satan’s head, but trust in that one that he alone would be able to deliver from bondage to sin and Satan. And if he is to deliver from the serpent, then the works of the serpent must be repented of, namely, sin and disobedience. The gospel is clearly stated as the means of calling the elect. They are not called apart from means. The necessity of the gospel unto salvation is emphasized from the very entrance of sin into the world.

Furthermore, the sufficiency of the first gospel revelation is emphasized. Although this first promise of the gospel does not contain all the fullness of detail which is seen in its fulfillment, it is still sufficient to bring salvation to all who believe it. There is much more to be revealed about the Son of the Woman who was also to be the Son of God, as well as of his atoning work. However, the confession makes clear that there was enough herein revealed for those who sinned from Adam’s time onward to lay hold of, to believe, and to be saved from their sins. It is fruitless to speculate about how clearly they may have understood this, or what conception they had of the work of Messiah. But one thing is clear, that they could see that salvation would only come from God, through the work of one sent by him, by his grace, and that they must put their trust in him alone. The only way for sinners to be saved, from Adam to Moses to David to the coming of Jesus until now, is by the gospel of Jesus, the seed of the woman who crushed the serpent’s head.

Taken as a whole, this first paragraph is emphasizing that from the very beginning of the entrance of sin into the world, there is only one way of salvation. It repeats the emphasis of Chapter 7, Paragraph three, which states, “This Covenant is revealed in the Gospel; first of all to Adam in the promise of Salvation by the seed of the woman, and afterwards by farther steps, until the full discovery thereof was completed in the new Testament; and it is founded in that Eternal Covenant transaction, that was between the Father and the Son, about the Redemption of the Elect; and it is alone by the Grace of this Covenant, that all of the posterity of fallen Adam, that ever were saved, did obtain life and a blessed immortality; Man being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God upon those terms, on which Adam stood in his state of innocency.” Contrary to what some may misunderstand about the relation of the Old Testament to the New, the only way any sinner has ever been saved, from Adam until now, is through faith in God’s messiah, “born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4 5 )

II. The necessity of the gospel for salvation

¶ 2: This Promise of Christ, and Salvation by him, is revealed only by the Word of God; neither do the Works of Creation, or Providence, with the light of Nature, make discovery of Christ, or of Grace by him; so much as in a general, or obscure way; much less that men destitute of the Revelation of him by the Promise, or Gospel; should be enabled thereby, to attain saving Faith, or Repentance.

The necessity of the revelation of the gospel for salvation is stated in no uncertain terms in the opening words of this paragraph. The only way to know Christ, and obtain his promised salvation, is through the revelation contained in Scripture. The word only is an emphatic addition, which serves to repeat the doctrine of Sola Scriptura – by Scripture alone. “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21 ) Men will not be saved unless they come in some contact with the gospel revealed in Scripture. Against all views of the sufficiency of the light of nature, or man’s own ability to discover truth, this paragraph declares that men need the word of God, the gospel, to be saved.

What then is the implication of this necessity? If men are only saved by coming in contact with the word of God revealed in Scripture, by some means or other, then the implication is that without the word of the gospel, no one is saved, not even one. Whether men have more or less light by nature or common grace; whether they have a view of God that approximates the Christian view, this matters not at all. We ask again the question of Romans 10:15: “How shall they believe on him whom they have not heard?” The fact is that the nations sit in darkness. The burden is on those who have the light to bring it to those who don’t have it.

Against all the proclamations of philosophers, “enlightened heathen,”and misguided Christians who think that the sincere man of whatever religion will find his way to God, the Scriptures make it clear that all men universally are under the condemnation of the law. The light of nature and the general revelation found in creation declares the power and majesty of God. This is enough to make men accountable to judgement, but it is not enough to bring them to salvation. All men are justly condemned for being disobedient to the light of nature; for worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator. But they will not be saved without the revelation of the gospel.

What about Cornelius, whose story is told in Acts 10? He is called “a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household.” (Acts 10:2) Peter even concluded when he went to Cornelius’ house, “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him.” (Acts 10:34 35) The question is, how is that man to be reconciled to God? He needs to hear the gospel, which is why the angel directed Cornelius to send for Peter, “saying, ‘Send to Joppa, and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; 14 and he shall speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’” (Acts 11:13 14). If Cornelius was to be saved just by fearing the God he knew something about, and doing what was right, why was it necessary to hear from Peter? And in fact, the angel told him that it was only through the words Peter was going to speak that he would be saved. The point is that when God determines to save, in his sovereign prerogative, he does so by sending the gospel to those he has chosen.

III. The sovereign dissemination of the gospel (or, God’s determination of the extent of its spread)

¶3: The Revelation of the Gospel unto Sinners, made in divers times, and by sundry parts; with the addition of Promises, and Precepts for the Obedience required therein, as to the Nations, and Persons, to whom it is granted, is merely of the Sovereign Will and good Pleasure of God; not being annexed by virtue of any Promise, to the due improvement of mens natural abilities, by virtue of Common light received, without it; which none ever did make, or can so do: And therefore in all Ages the preaching of the Gospel hath been granted unto persons and Nations, as to the extent, or straightening of it, in great variety, according to the Counsel of the Will of God.

This paragraph opens with a declaration that the spread of the gospel in history has been according to God’s sovereign direction. The confession acknowledges that God is sovereign over the spread of his own gospel in the actual outworking of his decrees in history. In Old Testament times, the word was revealed in various portions and ways, mainly to the Jewish nation. This alludes to the statement of Hebrews 1:1 2 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” Formerly, God spoke almost exclusively to the Hebrew fathers. The Gentiles that came to a saving relationship with the living God were exceptions and not the general rule. The salvation of Nineveh under the reluctant ministry of Jonah comes to mind, as well as Naaman the Syrian in the time of Elisha.. However, even during the times of the New Testament, not all nations have benefitted equally from the light of the gospel. The confession acknowledges that in this, as in all matters, God has been sovereign. We may not see the reasons why one nation is blessed abundantly with gospel preaching, and another seems to be passed by, but the fact remains for all to see.

One implication of this truth is that those who do not receive the gospel cannot be saved. Many in our day are unwilling to believe in the exclusivity of the way of salvation. They would like to allow room for sincere Hindus, animists, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. to be saved by being faithful to the light they have. They would like to think that all the other religions of the world are different paths to the same goal, but in fact they are damnable delusions. There is no promise given to the nations that would allow us to believe that men can be saved unless God sends the gospel to them. In fact, the Scripture is clear that “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) The confession gets somewhat repetitive with this emphasis, but it was evidently needed then, and we candidly admit that it is still needed now. As a matter of fact, no one has ever improved his “natural abilities, by virtue of common light” and no one can do so because of the reality of the effects of the fall on man’s mind and will. None does good, and none by nature seeks for God. (Romans 3:10ff)

Notice also the result of God’s sovereign direction of the spread of the gospel. Because God has sovereignly directed the spread of the gospel, not all nations as a matter of fact have the same degree of gospel light. To trace this out in church history, we note that Europe was early on blessed with the truth, but this happy condition soon gave way to the deadness of the Dark Ages and the development of Roman Catholicism. Though the gospel spread into the Middle East, Asia and Northern Africa, the Muslim onslaught brought great darkness to many of those lands. After the Reformation, northern Europe was illuminated brightly with the truth, especially in Great Britain. During the colonial period, Europeans spread the gospel to new lands. Sadly, this was accompanied by much that was not good, when greedy men oppressed the indigenous peoples, and unwise missionaries were more concerned to replicate the errors of their denominations! But many lands for various reasons humanly speaking had their first contact with the saving knowledge of Christ as a result of missionaries following the colonial businessmen. In the case of North America it was because of Christians fleeing religious persecution to the “New World.” As a result the Gospel came to many parts of the world that had never before heard the joyful sound. The point again is that there is “great variety” of clarity of gospel light in various parts of the world, and we acknowledge that God is sovereign even over this.

IV. The sufficiency of the gospel unto salvation.

¶4: Although the Gospel be the only outward means of revealing Christ, and saving Grace; and is, as such, abundantly sufficient thereunto; yet that men who are dead in Trespasses, may be born again, Quickened or Regenerated; there is moreover necessary, an effectual, insuperable work of the Holy Spirit, upon the whole Soul, for the producing in them a new spiritual Life; without which no other means will effect their Conversion unto God.

In this final paragraph, The sufficiency of the gospel unto salvation is clearly stated. Although there is only one gospel, that is enough. This gospel is abundantly sufficient unto salvation. We should be confident in the sufficiency of the gospel preached. “It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16) Because of Paul’s confidence in this gospel, he tells us, “Thus, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel!” (Romans 1:15 16) He had every confidence that if he proclaimed it clearly then it would do the work for which God had purposed to send it.

We need this same confidence. In this generation men have invented all sorts of gimmicks to attract men to church, or win them to their party. Entertainment with gospel bands, puppet shows and movies has replaced in many places plain heart-to-heart declaration of the truth. But the apostle Paul had great confidence that this gospel, directly declared, was powerful to save.

However, the paragraph closes with a balancing truth. The sufficiency of the gospel unto salvation is carefully qualified. In addition to the word (and not divorced from it) there needs to be an effectual, powerful work of the Holy Spirit on the whole soul of the hearer to produce new life, and open their heart to receive the gospel. The word apart from the Spirit’s powerful work will not save. Men are dead in their sins, and cannot hear. They need, like Lydia, to have their hearts opened by God to heed and receive the things spoken by God’s messengers. (Acts 16:14) This destroys all carnal confidence in the ability of the preacher or evangelist to convert. Unless the Spirit moves, no good will be done to the souls of men. This should drive us to our knees in all gospel endeavor.

Our confession of faith is wonderfully balanced here to avoid the extremes of Arminianism on the one hand and hyper-Calvinism on the other. Arminians such as Charles Finney believe and teach that by creating the proper conditions for the preaching of the word, and properly declaring it, the results of conversion are assured. Proper use of the proper means brings certain results, they say. Thus “revival meetings” are programmed to manipulate men to a psychologically dictated decision. But we can guarantee no genuine results, because “the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) Man-produced conversions may result, but that they are not the real thing is seen by the appalling statistics of “backsliding” of those who went forward in mass crusades. In reality, they are not backsliding, but going back to the mud or vomit from which they came. (2 Peter 2:22)

But on the other hand, the confession also guards against hyper-Calvinism. There are those who teach that men are saved by “sovereign Spirit regeneration,” that is, that the Spirit regenerates and gives life apart from the hearing of the word of the gospel. This makes gospel preaching unnecessary, and some would even add, wrong. However, the Scriptures declare that the word is necessary to the new birth. “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. . . . And this is the word which was preached to you.” (1 Peter 1:23-25) The gospel preached is the means by which they are declared to have been born again! Consider also James 1:18, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures.” It is by the word of truth that we were brought forth, that is, born again. It is sovereign, yes, but it is by means. The instrumentality of the gospel is seen in other passages such as Acts 14:21, 1 Corinthians 4:15, Ephesians 1:13, and James 1:21.

An Additional Concern

There is one matter that should be considered in addition to the material presented in the confession of faith. Although the London Baptist Confession has ably stated the necessity of the gospel for the salvation of sinful man, and the sovereignty of God exercised in its dissemination, it has not placed emphasis on the mandate given to the church to bring that gospel to the world. The church must not hide behind the sovereignty of God as an excuse for laziness in failing to fulfill the commission of our Lord Jesus to “make disciples of all the nations.” Though in retrospect we acknowledge that it was God who sovereignly decreed that India should not receive the gospel until the very end of the 18th century, this should not excuse the fact that the church failed in its mission to bring glad tidings to every land. That there is no explicit declaration in the confession as a whole, nor in this chapter in particular, that the church is obligated to bring the gospel to the world, is an unfortunate omission. In order to redress this omission, we must consider what the Scripture teaches on this vital matter.

Is there a mandate for the work of missions and evangelism? What gives us the warrant for going to other lands to “proselytize”? This is the challenge hurled at missionaries in this era. What right do we have to go to convert the heathen? Even the term “heathen” seems to have a condescending and imperialistic ring in our day. Without a clear divine mandate for missions, lacking a biblical imperative, we would be lost in the subjectivism of this generation. But the Bible does give us a mandate, and that from Genesis to Revelation. God who created all deserves the worship of all. The Psalms speak of the nations praising Jehovah. The prophets speak of Messiah being a light to the nations. But the clearest warrant for missions is found in the “Great Commission” passage of Matthew 28:16-20. This is a well known “missionary” passage, and rightly so, for it contains many key concepts with regard to the great work of missions.
“But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”

There are first of all several prerequisites given before the commission. There is a prerequisite condition – the command is given to obedient disciples. There is a prerequisite attitude – worship. Before they were witnesses, the disciples were worshipers. They saw him and worshiped him. There is also a prerequisite authority – that is Christ’s. He tells us to make disciples, and we are bound to obey. Modern objections notwithstanding, we have his authority to “proselytize” people of every nation, tribe and tongue.

Then, there is the essence of the command – to make disciples. The only verb in the imperative mood, that is, the only direct command, in the whole passage is: “Make disciples of all the nations!” We shall look at the meaning of this in more detail when we come to the mission, but note here that the essence of the command, given in the imperative, based on the supreme authority of the risen, reigning King Jesus, is to make disciples.

Furthermore, we have the scope of the command – all the nations. Jesus has not sent the message of his salvation to Jews only, but rather this gospel is for the whole world, and for every nation in the world. Although this seems overwhelming, we must not be daunted by the size of the task, for all authority is given to Jesus over all things in heaven and on earth. There are no bounds to his kingdom, and no earthly authority can effectually shut out the banner of King Jesus.

The command comes with some accompanying activities – baptizing and teaching. These are two coordinate participles speaking of activity subordinate to and contingent upon the main verb. As such, they relate to us what should be done with those who are made disciples. First, they should be baptized, that is, initiated into the church of Christ by this ordinance of immersion into water signifying death to sin, cleansing from sin, and new life in Jesus. This activity at the outset of discipleship intimates that the work of missions involves church planting, for baptism is the initiatory rite into the church. If the new disciples are to be baptized, it signifies that they are to be brought into new churches, if converted where none existed before.

Then, the disciples should also be taught. The new converts are not left to their own imagination as to who God is, nor as to what he would have us to do. The whole counsel of God is given to them, both doctrine and application, faith and life, belief and practice. This again alludes to the necessity of church-planting in the fulfillment of the commission, for teaching falls within the province and responsibility of the church.

The commission also delineates the duration of this command – to the end of the age. Although some say that this command no longer applies to us, that it is already fulfilled, the truth of the matter is that we have not yet brought the word of Christ to the whole world! There are vast areas without a Christian witness. There are inhabited islands in the Philippines without an evangelical church of whatever kind. Not to mention provinces in China, areas of Muslim countries, and certain lands previously under communism. To this day, many of the nations sit in darkness. The work is not done.

Others say that this was only for the apostles, the twelve. But Jesus indicates by his promise that his command is relevant unto the end of the age. The life of the apostles certainly did not extend until the end of the age. Therefore, we must continue to labor to make disciples by proclaiming Christ until he comes.

Finally, in this passage note the accompanying promise – “Lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Here is a precious promise especially applicable to those involved in the work of missions, church planting and evangelism. There are times of discouragement when little fruit appears, or when opposition is intense, or when loneliness is poignantly painful. There are tragedies such as the loss of a wife or child, which could perhaps have been avoided in the better medical facilities of the home country. Besides these burdens, there are times when the tempter makes you feel his power. At times like these the promised presence of the Saviour is especially precious.

Conclusion

The 1689 Confession of Faith ably states the necessity and sufficiency of the gospel for the salvation of the elect. It declares God’s sovereign direction of the spread of the gospel in history. These truths are good and necessary for us to know. In addition however, it is vital for us to consider our responsibility to declare God’s glory unto the nations. With confidence in the authority of Christ, and assured of the presence of Christ, let us boldly make him known, trusting that the Spirit will work by and through the word, to effectually call all whom he has chosen to be his by grace.