The Baptist Confession of Faith
Of The Holy Scriptures
Chapter 1 Paragraph 1
28 December 2025
This afternoon we come to look at the first chapter and the first paragraph of the London Baptist Confession of Faith. And the structure will be that we're going to take some minutes to work our way through that. And then there will be time for discussion with the questions that are on the back of the sheets that you've been given. But before we look at this, we're going to begin in prayer. So, let's pray together. Heavenly Father, as we come before you in prayer, how we thank you for the power, the weight, the glory of what is revealed in the Holy Scriptures, of what it reveals of who you are, the living God in whom we trust and worship because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ask that He would be exalted in what we study in the discussions that we have. Lord, may this be profitable to our souls. May you build us up as the church body in our knowledge, our understanding, our submission to the doctrine of the Scriptures that are before us. And we ask these things in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.
So, the focus of Chapter 1, which is quite a lengthy chapter with several paragraphs, is on the Holy Scriptures. We're going to be focusing this afternoon on Paragraph 1. So let me begin by reading that paragraph and then we'll take just a few minutes to work through what this paragraph is saying and what it means. So, paragraph one states:
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 a 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.
Now in 2 Timothy chapter 3:16-17 it states, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work”. Now one thing that's interesting as we begin this study in the confession itself is where it starts. Because maybe some might have thought that we would begin with the doctrine of God. Because after all, even in the Scriptures it begins with, “In the beginning, God…” (Gen 1:1). And what we actually find in this paragraph, which is dealing with the subject of the Holy Scriptures, is that it does begin with God because we are dealing with a paragraph which informs us how we can truly know God. And that is through the Holy Scriptures. So, the emphasis beginning with the authority of the Word of God is very much for us to understand that it is the foundation of life because of who and what it reveals. Because this book that we have, which is the Holy Scriptures, breathed out by God as it says in 2 Timothy 3, is in competition with no other source or document, including our confession for knowing truth. And so, the confession itself serves to shine light on knowing and standing upon this book, which is the Word of God. So that is the purpose of the confession, to shine the light on, to magnify what we have here in the Bible. And that's why the confession begins with a chapter on the Holy Scriptures and this first paragraph dealing with how we can know God in the Holy Scriptures.
Now, the challenge with this paragraph is trying to keep things succinct because there are so many things stated in what we just read. So, there's four very brief points that we'll deal with in the few minutes we have and then we'll unpack more in the discussion time. We're going to consider the inerrancy of Scripture, the limitation of general revelation, the Scriptures as special revelation, and then just briefly the guide and rule for Christian living in an evil world. So, these are the themes, the points that we're going to be dealing with.
The inerrancy of Scripture
So first we deal with the subject of the inerrancy of Scripture. And that's taken from this first sentence which states: “The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience”. So, let's just go through these words that are describing the Scriptures.
First, we have that it says that it is sufficient. The scriptures are sufficient, which means it will do. It is enough. It's absolute. Often we want to know, well is this enough? Do I need to do more? Well, in the case of the Scriptures, it is enough. There is no more that is needed. And one crucial reason given in the next point in the sentence is that they are certain. So, we see the Scriptures are sufficient and they are certain. They have been determined and fixed by Almighty God. This before us is His truth. It is His Word. And so, nothing can be added, nothing can be taken away, nothing can be changed. And a crucial reason for this is because the Scriptures are infallible. It says they are sufficient, certain and infallible. And that means without error. So, this is even a stronger statement than the last two. They are without error. They cannot be questioned for their validity. The Scriptures speak literally to every area of our lives. To every area of truth and life and everything that we know. Because our saving knowledge, our faith, our obedience, everything is impacted because and by the Holy Scriptures. No error, no falsehood. Because there is no error, no falsehood in God and this is His Word.
So, if people say, oh well hang on there's translation issues and well I agree with some bits but not others. No. This is God's Word. And a high view of Scripture is absolutely essential now, as it was in the time of the Reformation when the Scriptures had come under such attack. And this opening chapter, and particularly here in this paragraph, is clarifying and emphasizing the unique status of God's Word. Although there are many ways that God reveals Himself, what we have here in this book is unique. There is no status and nothing that can be compared because it is, as it says here, sufficient, certain and infallible for the saving knowledge, the faith and the obedience. So, in order to have faith, you need this certain rule which is the Bible. In order to obey God, we need to know how to live for Him and the wisdom comes from His Word. Everything is all encompassing in the Holy Scriptures. And so, we declare that the Scriptures are inerrant, which means they are sufficient, they are certain, and they are infallible.
The limitation of general revelation
Now the next point, just more briefly, we have then the limitation of general revelation because the paragraph goes on to state: “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”. So, this is highlighting something called general revelation. So, this light of nature displaying who God is, is what we see in the world around, in the creation. It magnifies, it highlights the beauty of who God is. And so, this is described as general revelation. But the paragraph serves to establish that there's a limitation to general revelation. When we look out at the creation that is before us and we see the hand of creation, it doesn't reveal the fullness of the triune God who we worship. And so other religions, like the religion of Islam for example, could argue from general revelation that this reveals the truth of the God that they claim to worship. So, there is very much a perceiving of a creator. But what we do know very clearly is that the creation and what it displays leaves man without excuse. Romans 1:20 states “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made, so they are without excuse”.
So, as we look out at this world, nobody is with an excuse to say, oh well I couldn't have been able to tell that there was a God from what I see before my eyes. No, this world and everything in it reveals that there is a creator. That is God's general revelation. And yet, there is a limitation to that.
Special revelation
And this is where we come to the next point in the paragraph, which is that the Scriptures are God's special revelation. So, we have general revelation, what God reveals in His creation that's all around, but there's also special revelation. Because the paragraph goes on, yet they are not sufficient, namely the light of nature, the works of creation and providence, it say: “yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation”.
So, we need special revelation. And that is what God reveals of Himself in the Scriptures through the coming of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:23-25 “Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God, for All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever”.
What we have to understand and what needs to be revealed to all men in this world is that there is a need of salvation and that need of salvation is found in God's Word. And without it, we cannot be saved. We are in a state of condemnation. And as you read and study the Scriptures, they not only reveal who God is, they reveal who we are. And they reveal that we are separated from God. And we need a Saviour. And the Scriptures reveal who that Saviour is. The second person of the triune God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has come to live a sinless life and to lay down that life as a sacrifice for sinners. And for all who repent and believe in Him, there is salvation. In no other name but the name of Jesus Christ.
This is God's special revelation, which is revealed to the hearts of those who are convicted and come in faith in Jesus Christ. And this is what this paragraph is emphasizing. How marked a contrast there is between what we have of truth here compared to error, of light compared to darkness. Literally the difference between heaven and hell. And that's why we can praise God for His special revelation.
The guide and rule for Christian living
And the final section, it begins in this paragraph going on to say: “Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diversified manners to reveal Himself, and to declare (that) His will unto his church”. So, God reveals himself, two special revelations are made clear here. We've got general revelation, which is available to all. And then it mentions this special revelation. which is available at sundry times and in diversified manners. So, in these former days, we know that God spoke through many prophets to His chosen people in the Old Testament. And in these last days, He now speaks through His Son, Jesus Christ. And God's will is that through the church, as it mentions here, which exists because of the church, this is then proclaimed and revealed. So, we have the mention of the significance of the church in this paragraph. And this is what is now put together in the Word of God, which is God's special revelation.
And so we have these closing declarations in the paragraph, which state: “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 is the Bible), which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now completed”.
So, a few key things to state here. Scripture, therefore, is the supreme judge. It is the absolute authority to know the truth of preserving and propagating of the truth as it says there the Scriptures are the means by which we know truth they are the absolute authority. We also see that it guides the church in how to live for God. So, if we want to know how am I supposed to live as a Christian? How do we live as a church? We need the scriptures. They guard the church also from error and fleshly corruptions. We need the authority of the Scriptures. And also, the Scriptures protect us from the evil one. They also reveal God's will, how we are to live, and how we are to function.
And all of these are points that are flashed out as we work our way through the confession of faith. In Hebrews 4:12-13, it says: “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account”.
The scriptures blow apart worldly wisdom. They cut through joint and marrow. It is the message of eternal hope that can produce that conviction of sin and faith in Jesus Christ and a life that is stirred to live for God. And this is why the church fundamentally needs the Holy Scriptures. Now that order is important. This is where at the time of the confession being written, the Roman Catholic Church got this order heretically wrong because they think that the church is the authority over the scripture. But no, what we see as we begin with the confession of faith is that the authority of the church derives from the Holy Scriptures. And this, brothers and sisters, is why the Reformers coined the phrase Sola Scriptura, scripture alone. Let's pray.
Father, we pray that the time we spend studying the importance of the Holy Scriptures by studying the Holy Scriptures would be by your special revelation to the hearts of your people, that you would stir our affections, deepen the desire that we have to glorify and exalt your holy and wondrous name. For we ask all of these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
STUDY QUESTIONS
Unpack further what it means for the Scriptures to be the sufficient, certain, and infallible rule?
Discuss ways the goodness wisdom, and power of God are manifested.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of "General Revelation" in evangelism.
Why is "Special Revelation" essential?
Are the Scriptures authoritative in your life? Discuss where the challenges can be in this application. Consider circumstances, emotion, Scriptural ignorance.
In what ways and how can you learn and know more of God's Word?