1689 London Baptist Confession
1. The light of nature shews that there is a God, who hath lordship and
sovereignty over all; is just, good and doth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared,
loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart and all the soul,
and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted
by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped
according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any
visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.
( Jeremiah
10:7; Mark
12:33; Deuteronomy
12:32; Exodus
20:4-6 )
2. Religious worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to him
alone; not to angels, saints, or any other creatures; and since the fall, not without a
mediator, nor in the mediation of any other but Christ alone.
( Matthew
4:9, 10; John
6:23; Matthew
28:19; Romans
1:25; Colossians
2:18; Revelation
19:10; John
14:6; 1
Timothy 2:5 )
3. Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one part of natural worship, is by God required of all
men. But that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of
the Spirit, according to his will; with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency,
faith, love, and perseverance; and when with others, in a known tongue.
( Psalms
95:1-7; Psalms
65:2; John
14:13, 14; Romans
8:26; 1
John 5:14; 1
Corinthians 14:16, 17 )
4. Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall
live hereafter; but not for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be known that they have
sinned the sin unto death.
( 1
Timothy 2:1, 2; 2
Samuel 7:29; 2
Samuel 12:21-23; 1
John 5:16 )
5. The reading of the Scriptures, preaching, and hearing the Word of God, teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our
hearts to the Lord; as also the administration of baptism, and the Lord's supper, are all
parts of religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience to him, with
understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear; moreover, solemn humiliation, with
fastings, and thanksgivings, upon special occasions, ought to be used in an holy and
religious manner.
( 1
Timothy 4:13; 2
Timothy 4:2; Luke
8:18; Colossians
3:16; Ephesians
5:19; Matthew
28:19, 20; 1
Corinthians 11:26; Esther
4:16; Joel
2:12; Exodus
15:1-19, Psalms
107 )
6. Neither prayer nor any other part of religious worship, is now under the gospel, tied
unto, or made more acceptable by any place in which it is performed, or towards which it
is directed; but God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in private
families daily, and in secret each one by himself; so more solemnly in the public
assemblies, which are not carelessly nor wilfully to be neglected or forsaken, when God by
his word or providence calleth thereunto.
( John
4:21; Malachi
1:11; 1
Timothy 2:8; Acts
10:2; Matthew
6:11; Psalms
55:17; Matthew
6:6; Hebrews
10:25; Acts
2:42 )
7. As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God's appointment,
be set apart for the worship of God, so by his Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual
commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven
for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the
resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ
was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day: and is to be
continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last
day of the week being abolished.
( Exodus
20:8; 1
Corinthians 16:1, 2; Acts
20:7; Revelation
1:10 )
8. The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their
hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all
day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and
recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of
his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.
( Isaiah
58:13; Nehemiah
13:15-22; Matthew
12:1-13 )
For further study:
"Baptist Roots in America: The Historical Background of Reformed Baptists in America", Samuel E. Waldron, Simpson Publishing Co. (1991)
"A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith", Samuel E. Waldron, Evangelical Press, 1989
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