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Welcome to Kingdom Bound Church at 74 Kelly Road Extension in Middlebury, Connecticut. We gather for worship at ten A.M. on Sundays. And what I want to talk about in this segment is what is the 1689 London Baptist Confession and also talk about what it is not. Because the 1689 London Baptist Confession is the premier confession that Reformed Baptists subscribe to. So let's talk about a document that makes some modern Christians a little bit nervous. So let me help help you out here. It's the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. You've probably heard the slogan, no creed but the Bible. Now, it sounds spiritual, it sounds pure, but it is not realistic. And it is not how the church has ever actually functioned. Today, in this episode, we're going to look at what the 1689 confession really is, what it is not, and why it remains one of the most thoroughly biblical summaries of faith ever, ever written. Now, first, here's what the 1689 is not. It is not a second Bible. It does not even claim equal authority with scripture. It does not add new doctrines that the apostles never taught. It does not subtract from the word of God. The confession itself says in its opening chapter that the Holy Scriptures is, quote unquote, the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. That is pure sola scriptura. The framers were not trying to improve on the Bible, they were trying to summarize what the Bible clearly teaches so that churches could stand together in truth, defend, contend for the faith. Now, here's what the 1689 is, then in a carefully, you know, scripture-saturated statement of what Reformed Baptists in the 17th century believed the Bible taught on the major doctrines of the faith. Now, it was drafted in uh I think 1677 while Baptists were still under heavy pressure and publicly issued in 1689 after the act of toleration. It has 32 chapters covering everything from the doctrine of God and scripture to the church, the covenants, baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the last things. Large portions of it follow the Westminster Confession and the Savoy Declaration, almost word for word, except where Baptists deliberately differed, especially on baptism and the nature of the church. That is not plagiarism. That is a theological agreement where agreement existed. The confession is deeply biblical. Open almost any chapter and you will find it packed with references. Chapter 1, for example, on Holy Scripture leans hard on 2 Timothy 3, 15 through 17, in 2 Peter 1, 19 through 21, in Psalm 19. Chapter 3 on God's decree echoes Romans 9 and Ephesians 1 and Acts 15, verse 18. Chapter 8 on Christ the mediator is soaked in Hebrews, John 1 and Isaiah 53. Chapter 14 on saving faith walks through the same truths that Paul lays out in Romans chapters 3 through 5 and Ephesians 2. Chapter 29 on baptism rests on the New Testament pattern of disciples being baptized upon profession of faith. The confession does not float above the text, it is constantly pointing you back into the text. This is why the no creed that no creed but the Bible slogan collapsed under real life. Everyone who reads the Bible interprets it. The moment you say the Bible teaches the Trinity, or the Bible teaches justification by faith alone, or the Bible teaches that baptism is for believers, you have just used the creed. You have summarized what you believe scripture means. The only question is whether your summary is careful, tested, and accountable to the wider church, or whether it is private, shifting, and vulnerable to every new wind of teaching. Now Jude 3 tells us to contend for the faith, once for all, deliver to the saints. Paul tells elders they must be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. That's from Titus chapter 1, verse 9. Confession help the church do exactly that. 1689 does not replace scripture, it serves scripture. It is a map, not the territory. A good map does not add roads that do not exist, and it does not erase the ones that do. It helps travelers see the lay of the land clearly so they do not get lost. In the same way, the confession helps believers in churches read the Bible with greater clarity and unity and protection against error. It is a tool for discipleship, for examining pastors, for guarding the church, and for teaching the next generation. So when someone says, you know, no creed but the Bible, you smile, you be kind, and you ask them what do they believe about the Trinity? The person of Christ, justification in the church. The moment that you answer, the moment that they answer, you're already using a creed. The 1689 simply does it in public, with precision and with an open Bible in hand. That is not a threat to scripture, uh, that is actually loyalty to scripture, God's very words. Um, I could say so much more about the history of it, but I'm running out of time here. But I just wanted to give a quick little primer, a conversation starter about what the 1689 London Baptist Confession is and what it is not. Have a great day, folks, and look forward to being with you next time.