4. Reformed Baptist Distinctives: Confessional

The next distinction is confessional. Reformers hold to one of the historic confessions that came out of the

Reformation. In other words, the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, the

Westminster Confession of Faith, the Belgic and the Heidelberg Confession of Faith. Reformers hold to one or another one of those confessions.

So let's learn what a confession is. The Reformed Confessions represent the considered, prayerful, exegetical, redemptive, historical, theological, and practical judgments of the

Reformed churches on the most important issues facing the churches in the 16th and 17th century.

You gotta remember, the Reformation happened because there was an issue with the

Roman Catholic Church. They were putting forth doctrines and holding people to things that were not in the scriptures. In fact, they burdened

John Knox for printing the scriptures in the language of the people to stop the spread of the scriptures.

So Romanists usually tell you, the only reason you have a Bible in your hand is because we gave it to you.

And I say, no, you burned John Knox at the stake for trying to print Bibles. You didn't want it in our hands.

So this was a move back to the scriptures. The confessions are not systematic theologies in miniature.

They are conclusions and statements about what Christians ought to believe and how they ought to practice the faith.

So the creeds tell us what essential doctrines are, what you must believe. The confessions tell us what you ought to believe.

Within Christianity, there are differing opinions about some things in scriptures. That's why you have different confessions.

We hold to the 1689. So the confessions are what you ought to believe. The creeds are what you must believe.

They represent theology, piety, and practice of the Reformed churches across Europe and the

British Isles in the classical period of Reformed theology. Many of these documents have been adopted and modified by contemporary

Reformed churches as they continue to confess and practice the historic Reformed faith. We hold to something called semper reformanda.

Always be reforming. Always be moving back to the scriptures. If you see that the church is straying or certain people are moving away, you bring them back to the scriptures.