The 1689 1.1 – The Necessity of Scripture
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The 1689 Second London Baptist Confession: Of the Holy Scriptures _________________________________________________
Letter from the Pastor 10/29/2025
Introduction
The first chapter of the Second London Confession pertains to the Holy Scriptures. In all, the confession contains ten separate paragraphs which help us understand the nature, scope, transmission and interpretation of the Scriptures. Let’s begin by reading paragraph one.
The 1689 Second London Confession of Faith
The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diversified manners to reveal Himself, and to declare (that) His will unto His church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God’s revealing His will unto His people being now completed.
Why Begin with Scripture?
If you were drafting a confession of faith, which doctrine would you begin with? You may begin with God, known as theology proper. God is the ground of all things and therefore, it might make sense for your confession to start there. You may even consider other doctrines such as the doctrine of Christ, or salvation by faith. Those are all crucial doctrines of the Christian faith, but the framers of the Second London Confession chose to begin with the doctrine of Scripture. Why?
The Confession argues that if we are going to have any knowledge of God sufficient to redeem us, then it must come from God’s own special revelation of himself. In other words, the first paragraph of the Confession argues for the necessity of Scripture.
Scripture is necessary because creation alone cannot give us, “that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation.” (LCF 1.1) While creation declares God’s existence and our conscience accuses us of guilt, neither of these two witnesses make us wise unto salvation. Creation can tell us that God exists, but it cannot tell us his name, nor does it have the power to change our hearts.
In other words, the witness of creation only gives us enough knowledge to condemn us, not to redeem us from our sin.
“Therefore,” says the Confession, “it pleased the Lord at sundry (various) times and in diverse manners to reveal himself.” (LCF 1.1) We can recall the many ways God specially and specifically reveal himself and his redemptive plans to his people. God spoke to Noah, (Gen. 6:13), he spoke again from a burning bush to Moses (Ex. 3), he wrote the Ten Commandments with his own finger (Ex. 31:18), and he spoke many times through the Prophets and his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. All of this, says the Confession, was preserved in the writings of Holy Scripture to accomplish several purposes:
First, the Scriptures preserve God’s special revelation. From generation to generation, the church continues to read the same message from the same Bible. Second, because God’s special revelation has been written down, it can and ought to be copied, translated, and spread to the ends of the earth. Third, the written Word of God gives the church a sure and comforting establishment. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)
The Confession ends by arguing that the Scriptures are the full and final special revelation from God. In other words, Christians need not look for burning bushes or listen for voices in the night. Everything we need to know God, ourselves, and our Savior; everything we need to live our lives to honor the Lord is contained in the written Scriptures. Too many Christians look to Christian movies, TV shows, and even good Christian books for that which only the Scriptures can provide: the actual revelation of God.
Christian, it is crucial that you understand what I am about to say: the Scriptures are not primarily a record of how God revealed himself in the past. They are, first and foremost, divine revelation from God to you right now. 2 Timothy 3:16, a passage I will reference more than once in the coming weeks, says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” In other words, the writings themselves are divinely inspired revelation from God to you. Read them as such.
You ought to plan to read through the entire Bible once every year or two. I typically use a plan that has me read through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice each year. That pace may be too quick for you, but whatever your pace, you need to read the Scriptures daily and systematically rather than occasionally and haphazardly. If you’d like to hear more options about reading the Bible consistently, reach out to me.
The Infallibility of Scripture
Paragraph one begins by saying the “Holy Scripture is the only… infallible rule of all saving knowledge.” This is the first time the word “infallible” has occurred in a Baptist statement of faith. What does it mean? You may have heard the word inerrant used to describe the fact that the Scriptures contain no errors. The word infallible is an even stronger word than inerrant. To be infallible means the Scriptures cannot err. It’s impossible for the Scriptures to err. Why is that? Because they are the breathed-out Word of God who does not, indeed he cannot, lie. If you would like more information on the doctrine of infallibility and inerrancy, I would encourage you to search for the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. It’s a wonderful overview of what we mean when we say the Scriptures are inerrant and infallible.
Conclusion
In our worship services we often sing these lyrics:
How firm a foundation,
ye saints of the Lord
Is laid for your faith
in his excellent Word
What more can he say
than to you he hath said.
To you, who for refuge,
to Jesus have fled?[1]
My final exhortation to you is this: get a physical copy of the Bible. Digital Bibles are convenient, but they can also distract with apps and notifications. Read your physical Bible every day and fill it with handwritten notes. Then patiently watch as that Bible becomes bedrock beneath your feet.
In Christ,
Pastor Jonathan
[1] How Firm a Foundation, by Robert Keen