We believe that in accordance with the Great Commission it is the privilege and responsibility of the Church to make known and available the blessing(s) of salvation to all men everywhere through the proclamation of the gospel: the good news that eternal redemption is not a wage to be earned by the work(s) of sinful man, but a gift of God to be received through faith in the divine person and all-sufficient work of his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ; that it is therefore the immediate duty and precious opportunity of all men everywhere to cordially, penitently, and obediently place their faith in Christ for salvation; and that nothing prevents the greatest sinner on earth from doing so except his own inherent depravity and a willful rejection of the gospel, which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation.

Fight the good fight of faith.
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called
and then confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

(1 Timothy 6:13)

For wise reasons, God likes his children to go public with their faith. When they do, they are agreeing with him by declaring what is true.  And that is good and pleasing in his sight.

John the Baptizer, pressed by the religious authorities of his day, did not deny the truth, but confessed it: He was not the Messiah, but only his herald and a voice crying in the wilderness, “Straighten out the way of the Lord!”

Our Lord himself, interrogated and adjured by Israel’s high priest, was asked, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?” In reply, he boldly confessed, “You have said it yourself. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power on high and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

And only hours later, being similarly interrogated by Pilate—the mouthpiece and arm of Rome itself—he confessed that, yes, I am indeed a king, though not of this realm, but of a kingdom inhabited by all who hear and obey the truth.

As for the apostle Paul, when standing trial in Rome, the Lord stood with him and strengthened him, so that through him the gospel might be fully proclaimed to the Gentiles—including, no doubt, many Roman officials in attendance at the judgment seat of Nero. A confession much like his Lord’s, and a good one indeed!

And then there is dear Timothy, who, like all Christians, heard the call of Christ, and then—in the presence of many witnesses (most likely attending his water baptism)—confessed the good confession . . . and then went on to serve the Lord just as well as he confessed him.

But good confessions change, and usually for the better.

At the beginning of our Christian life our confession will indeed be good, but also quite simple: “He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20); “I confess that Jesus is Lord, and I believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead,” (Romans 10:9); “I believe that Christ died for my sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

In time, however—through meditation upon  the Scriptures and the illuminating work of the Spirit—our initial confession becomes more complex, more mature. Indeed, as in the case of the saints cited above, it grows into a worldview: a map of all reality, enabling skilled Christian mariners to navigate their way across the surging sea of this life to safe harbor and peace in the next.

Therefore, as one who deeply values mature confessions of faith, I would like in the pages ahead to share my own. And as a near octogenarian, let me state at the outset that the affirmations contained in this confession have indeed ripened over the years, yet in essence remained unchanged for decades. As such, they have guided me in innumerable practical decisions, informed my preaching, teaching, and writing, equipped me for doctrinal controversy, and comforted and refreshed my soul time and again. Hoping they may do the same for you, I post them here.

I have sometimes wondered: In that Day, when we stand before the Lord of glory, might he ask, “Son, may I hear your good confession at its best—at its most mature? I know what you believed at the beginning, when I first called you. But now, after all those years of prayer, study, and service, tell me what you came to believe at the end.”

Well, to be honest, I doubt the Lord will query his kids in quite this manner. But just in case—and in case it might be a source of blessing to you—here is my good confession at its best. 

A Statement of Faith*

I. Of the Scriptures

We believe that the Holy Bible, comprised of the Old and New Testaments, was written by divinely inspired men, and is therefore a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, Christ for its center, salvation for its end, and truth—without any admixture of error—for its matter; that in conjunction with the gracious work of the Spirit of Truth and the gospel proclamation of the Church, it is God’s chosen instrument for the effectual calling, edification, exhortation, comfort, and preservation of his people; that it reveals the principles by which God would have us live, and by which also we shall be judged; and that, together with our Lord himself, it is—and until the end of the world will remain—the true center of Christian unity, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tested.

Psalm 19; Prov. 30:5-6; Is. 8:20; Mt. 7:24ff, 24:35; Luke 24:44-45; John 10:35, 12:48, 16:13; Acts 20:32; Rom. 10:14-15; 1 Cor. 1:10; 1 Tim. 6:3-4; 2 Tim. 1:13; 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21 / Mt. 25:14-23; Rev. 4:9-11

II. Of the One True God

We believe that there is one—and only one—true and living God; that he is an infinite, personal Spirit; a necessary being owing his existence to none, and the creative fountainhead of all that is; that in himself he is light, life, love, goodness, and joy; that he is immutable, omniscient, eternal, immense, and omnipotent; that in relation to his creation(s) he is holy, transcendent, immanent, loving, kind, faithful, righteous, and just; and that he is knowable by—yet also incomprehensible to—both men and angels. / We believe that God is intimately and intricately related to the universe, life, and man as their creator, sustainer, ruler, judge, and redeemer; and that before the founding of the world he foreordained—and now, by an all-controlling providence, continually brings to pass—all events in heaven and on earth, yet in such a way as to be neither the author of sin nor a violator of the will of free moral agents, whose decisions flow from themselves alone. / We believe that in the unity of the Godhead there exist three divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that the Father eternally begets the Son, and that the Father and the Son eternally breathe out the Holy Spirit, who is therefore said to proceed from them both; that these three share a common essence, and are therefore equal in every divine attribute and perfection; that, nevertheless, they forever dwell in a hierarchy of authority, such that the Father is over the Son, and the Father and the Son are over the Holy Spirit; and that each person executes distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of cosmic redemption, even as they labor together towards that end. / Finally, we believe that owing to the mutual knowledge and distinct relations ever holding between the three divine persons, the triune God eternally and immutably overflows with delight in who he is, what he knows, and what he does; that in the gospel he lovingly invites all men everywhere to share in this joyous knowledge and fellowship through simple faith in the divine person and all–sufficient work of Jesus Christ; and that this God is inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and therefore worthy of all possible honor, confidence, aspiration, adoration and love.

Dt. 6:4, Mark 12:29, 1 Thess. 1:9; Ex. 3:13-15, Acts 17:34; Ps. 90:2, Is. 40:28, Jn. 8:58, 1 Tim. 1:17; Mal. 3:16, James 1:17; Psalms 139:1-6, 147:5, Dan. 2:20f, Mt. 6:8, Rom. 11:33f; Ps. 139:6-7, Jer. 23:23, Acts 17:24; Ps. 62:11, Jer. 32:27, Mt. 19:26; Ex. 15:11, Is. 40:25, Jn. 17:11, 1 Pet. 1:15; Deut. 7:9f, John 3:16, 1 Jn. 4:7 / Gen. 1:1, Is. 45:12-18, Jn. 1:1f, 1 Cor. 8:6; Ps. 104:27-30, Acts 17:27; Is. 26:8-9, Rom. 2:5-6, 8:20-22; Is. 45:7, Rom. 8:28; Ex. 6:6-8, Mark 10:45, Jn. 3:16, Eph.1:7; Is. 46:10, Am. 3:6, Acts 4:27-28, Rom. 8:28, Eph. 1:11, James 1:13f, 1 John 1:5; Eph. 1:14, Rom. 11:36, Rev. 4-5 / Mt. 28:19, 1 Cor. 8:6f, 2 Cor. 13:14, John 6:38-40, 10:30, 14:11, 15:26; Acts 2:33; Eph. 1:1-14, Heb. 10:5-10; 1 Pet. 1:1-3; Rev. 6:6 / Ps. 135:6, Neh. 8:10, Zeph. 3:17, Mt. 3:17; Jn. 15:11, 17:13, 2 Cor. 1:24, Gal. 5:22, 1 Pet. 1:8, 1 Jn. 1:1-4

 III. Of the Creation of the Universe, Life, and Man

We believe that in the beginning God brought into being, not out of nothing, but out of his eternal purpose and plan, a good, fully formed, fully functioning, geocentric, time-space-matter universe, and that he did so in six literal (solar) days; that on the sixth day he created the man Adam out of the dust of the earth, and then his wife Eve from one of Adam’s ribs; and that both of them, in contradistinction to the angels and higher animals, were created in God’s own image and likeness, and granted—with a view to their joy and his own glory through their voluntary worship of him—life, knowledge, purpose, privilege, freedom, authority, and responsibility under the benevolent rule of their sovereign creator and Lord. / We believe that in a sublime foreshadowing of future relations between Christ and his Church, God ordained the institution of marriage, putting the man to sleep, opening his side, extracting a rib, fashioning the rib into a woman, and bringing the woman to the man in order to be joined to her as his wife, companion, helper, lover, and mother of his children; and that in doing so, as well as by later biblical precept and example, he set forth monogamous, life-long marriage as the norm for all his children, and the sole context in which sexual relations may lawfully be enjoyed. / We believe that the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, the ensuing (partial) curse laid upon all creation, the global flood that occurred in the days of Noah, and the confusion of language and the dispersion of all mankind at the tower of Babel were all true historical events, and—together with the primordial act of creation—responsible for the existence and condition of the universe, life, and man as we know them today. / Finally, we believe that holy Scripture, common sense, and sound history and science all join together in manifestly refuting every effort to relegate Genesis 1-11 to the category of myth, polemic, or poetry; and that every effort to accommodate biblical cosmogony to millions of years of cosmic evolution or progressive creation is therefore culpable, dangerous, and utterly in vain.

Gen. 1:31, Ex. 20:11, Eccl. 7:29, Rom. 8:20, 2 Pet. 3:5; Gen. 2:18ff, Mark 10:6, Rom. 5:12f, 1 Cor. 15:45f; Gen. 1:26ff, 2:17-17, 3:8, 5:2, Psalms 8:3f, 115:16 / Mt. 24:37f, 1 Pet. 3:19f; Luke 3:23-38, John 8:44, Eph. 5:30-31, 1 Tim. 2:13-14, Heb. 4:1-10, 11:1-7, 1 Jn. 3:12

IV. Of the Holy Angels, Satan, Evil Spirits, and the World-System

We believe that in the beginning God created a spiritual heaven embedded in, or situated above, the physical heavens; that it was (and now is) home to an innumerable host of personal, genderless, spirit-beings called angels; that the angels were graciously created to enjoy the contemplation of God through his self-manifestation(s) in heaven, worship him accordingly, and (at the proper time) serve as his ministers to the heirs of salvation on the earth below. / We believe that one of the angels—an extraordinarily intelligent, beautiful, and privileged cherub originally called Day Star—committed, in a manner undisclosed by Scripture, the primordial sin in the universe, with the result that ever since he has sought to exalt himself above his creator and usurp the worship rightfully belonging to him; that to this end he induced a large minority of the other angels to follow him in his rebellion; that to the same end he also purposed in his heart to target and entice the family of man; and that in doing all these things he became Satan (i.e., the adversary): the proud, cunning, powerful, hateful, deadly, and irredeemable enemy of God and all that God loves. / We believe that the man Adam, through his (act of) unbelief and disobedience in Eden, surrendered the family of man to the rule of Satan rather than that of God; that this sin marked the onset of the world-system, also called the domain of darkness; that the world-system, like Satan himself, is hostile to God and driven by self-exaltation, rebellion, and manifold forms of perverted human desire (lusts); and that the world-system—despite graciously granted seasons of redemptive advance—will continually trend from bad to worse until the consummation of all things at the return of Christ; but also that through the redemptive work of Christ and the gospel proclamation of the Church, God will surely fulfill his eternal purpose of transferring a chosen and believing people out of the domain of darkness and into the eternal kingdom of his beloved Son. / We believe that Satan is a formidable foe, ever seeking to deceive, tempt, persecute, divide, condemn, frighten, afflict, and—if it were possible—destroy the children of God; that the resulting spiritual conflict poses considerable danger to the saints, requiring on their part constant sobriety, watchfulness, and perseverance; but also that Christ himself has prayed for them, so that through their close attendance upon the means of grace, and through their constant pursuit of spiritual growth and fellowship with God, they will—despite manifold tests, temptations, and occasional failures—never again fall back into Satan’s evil domain, but, on the contrary, will actually mature in their most holy faith, to the praise of the glory of God’s wise plan and over-ruling grace. / Finally, we believe that towards the end of the present evil age Satan will appear to achieve his age-old ambition(s) by indwelling and empowering a personal antichrist, who, through lying wonders (i.e., deceptive miracles) and a counterfeit gospel, will induce the entire world-system to worship and follow him, even as he severely persecutes the true spiritual Church, whose members will most assuredly be preserved in the faith; and that shortly after his arrival on the scene, the antichrist—together with his followers and Satan himself—will be consigned to gehenna (hell) for eternal destruction at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the praise of the glory of his perfect justice and mighty power.

Col. 1:6, Heb. 8:9; Is. 6:1f, Heb. 1:14, Rev. 4:5f, 5:11ff / Is. 14:12-15, Ezek. 28:11-19; Jude 6, Luke 10:17, Rev. 12:1f / Gen. 3:1-6, Luke 4:6; Jn. 7:7, 8:23, 14:30, 15:19, 1 Jn. 2:16; Jn. 12:31, 16:11, Eph. 6:12; Gal. 1:4, Col. 1:13; Jn. 12:31, 16:13, 1 Jn. 4:4, 5:4-5 / 2 Cor. 10:4, Eph. 6:12, 1 Tim. 4:1f, Rev. 12:13ff; 1 Pet. 5:8, James 4:7, 1 Jn. 4:1-2; Luke 22:31f, John 17:11-12, 1 Pet. 1:5, 1 Jn. 5:18 / Gen. 3:15; Dan. 7:1f, Rom. 9:22-23; 2 Thess. 2:1ff, 1 Jn. 2:18, Rev. 13:6-9; 16:14; 20:7-10

V. Of the Fall of Man and Nature

We believe that the man Adam was created in a state of innocence, and also under a law, in a covenant, and on probation in the sight of his maker, such that by eating from the Tree of Life he would have received the indwelling Holy Spirit, come to know the Father through the Son, and lived and walked in perfect holiness under the headship of the Son down the corridor of human history to it appointed consummation in glory; whereas by eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil he would surely break God’s law, end his probation in failure, and die, both spiritually and physically; that in Eden Adam stood as the head and representative of the entire family of man; that through his voluntary transgression, which consisted of unbelief and disobedience, he fell from his state of innocence into a state of sin, and therefore also under divine wrath, condemnation, and the peril of eternal punishment; that Adam’s transgression was imputed (or credited) to all mankind, and his (now) sinful nature imparted to all mankind, so that henceforth all men, though loved by God and the recipients of his many good and gracious gifts, were/are nevertheless sinners from birth in standing, nature, attitude, thought, word, and deed; that despite their being victims of Adam’s sin, they are without excuse in the sight of God, the knowledge of whose existence, holiness, sovereignty, and law—granted through creation, conscience, and the gospel—they willfully suppress in unrighteousness; and that they, being altogether unable to rescue and restore themselves, altogether stand in need of a merciful and gracious redemption from God.  / We also believe that because of Adam’s transgression, the creation itself—in accordance with God’s wisdom, and by his own hand of judgment—was, in diverse ways, burdened and marred by a partial curse, resulting in the regime of calamity, conflict, violence, predation, decay, frustration, suffering, and death that we see around us in the world today; and that a world thus fallen is meant to stand as a palpable reminder of the character, consequences, and gravity of man’s sin, but also as a merciful inducement to turn from our sin and come home to our loving creator through the all-sufficient person and work of the redeemer he has sent.

Gen. 1:27, 31; 2:9, 16-17; 3:7-22; 6:12; Ps. 51:5; Matt. 3:7; Mark 7:21f; Jn. 3:18-21; 17:3; Rom. 1:18f; 3:9f; 5:12ff, 8:7, 20f; 1 Cor. 11:2f, 15:20f; Gal. 3:10-14; 5:15, 19-21; Eph. 2:1f;  Rev. 21:4; Rev. 22:1-3, 14, 19.

VI. Of Christ and the Way of Redemption

We believe that the redemption (i.e., the rescue and restoration) of sinners is, and must be, wholly by grace; that such redemption comes to us through the preeminent gift of God: the divine person and all-sufficient work of his uniquely begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; that in accordance with the Father’s eternal purpose and plan, his Son freely took upon himself our human nature; that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and therefore without the contamination of original sin; that like the first Adam in Eden, Christ stood before God as the Last: as the head and representative of his people, whose we are if we believe in him. / We believe that throughout his entire life Christ obeyed his Father’s will, passing every test set before him; that he victoriously completed the course of the first Adam, and so became the perfect man; that he victoriously completed the course of the Mosaic Law, and so became the perfect Israelite; and that by victoriously completing both of these courses, he acquired a perfect righteousness, later to be both imputed and imparted, through faith, to a new humanity, and to the eternal Israel of God. / We believe that by his substitutionary death on the Cross, Christ further fulfilled, in behalf of his believing people, the righteous requirement of God’s Law, by making full payment for all their sins: past, present, and future; and that in doing so he satisfied God’s justice, propitiated his wrath, and secured for his flock all the blessings of eternal life. / We believe that the Father bore witness to the truth of Christ’s teaching and the efficacy of his righteous life and substitutionary death by granting him to perform innumerable mighty miracles, fulfill numerous Old Testament messianic types and prophecies, and rise from the dead to eternal life; that the Father also raised up numerous eyewitnesses to these events, some of whom were moved by the Spirit to record their testimony in Holy Scripture for all posterity; and that in her proclamation and defense of the gospel, the Church is instructed to set forth all such evidences, so that all, like Adam in Eden, may take the gospel test and, by believing and obeying the message about Christ, be redeemed. / Finally, we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ now sits enthroned in heaven above as the God-appointed Prophet (Teacher), Priest, Sacrifice, and King of the world; that in (further) fulfillment of these offices he is presently administering from heaven the redemption that he accomplished on earth; and that by uniting in his wonderful person the tenderest sympathies, the fullness of his divine perfections, and the merits of his redemptive work in life and death, he is in every way qualified to be a suitable, compassionate, and all-sufficient redeemer to those who humbly call upon him for pardon, righteousness, and eternal life.

Eph. 1:6, 2:3, 2 Tim. 1:9f, Titus 2:11f; Jn. 3:16, 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 Cor. 1:30ff, 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 2:14, 10:5; Is. 7:14, Mt. 1:18-22, Jn. 8:46, 1 Pet. 1:19; Rom. 5:12f, 1 Cor. 11:1, Eph. 1:22, 4:15, 5:23, Col. 1:18, 2:19 / Mt. 3:15, 4:1-11, John 8:29, Gal. 4:4, 2 Cor. 5:21; Is 53:1f, Mt. 20:28, Jn. 1:29-36, 6:22-59, Rom. 3:21-26, 4:25, 1 Cor. 15:1-3, Heb. 1:3, 7:27, 9:12, 1 Pet. 3:18, 1 Jn. 2:3 / John 3:2, 5:31ff, John 20:31-31; Acts 1:3; Acts 2:14-38, Rom. 16:25ff, 2 Pet. 1:16f;   / Heb. 2:1-4; Acts 2:33, 5:31, 7:55f, Rom. 8:34, Heb. 8:1-2, 10:12, 12:2, Rom. 8:34, 9:24, Phil. 3:20-21, Col. 3:1, Mt. 11:28f, Acts 2:21, Rom. 10:12-13.

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