Delimiting Confessionalism

Dear Church Family,

Last week, I shared with you the first of three in a series of articles written by Carl Trueman regarding the importance and benefits of confessionalism, “I Confess (Part I).” In that first article, Trueman argued that confessions stabilize and regulate the public teaching of the church. The emphasis of that article was to say that disciplined confessionalism regulates and informs the preaching and teaching of her officers.

Confessions and Christian Liberty

In the second article in this series, “I Confess (Part II),” Trueman states that “a public confession makes it very clear what the church represents, what the people can expect from their elders and what obligations the elders have relative to the congregation.” That is to say, confessions protect the Christian liberty of the members of the church.

Two things can be further said about this protection of Christian liberty that is afforded by adherence to a confession. First, confessions protect the liberty of conscience of believers. As Trueman points out, this may seem counterintuitive; after all, delineating doctrine in a codified expression of beliefs may seem restricting. However, confessions actually prescribe and delimit church power. The Bible teaches that God is the only Lawgiver and Judge (James 4:12). Therefore, as a summary of the principal teachings of Scripture, what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man (WSC 3), confessions provide protections for believers from the tyranny of the whims of church leadership.

In this sense, confessions function in a similar manner to that of the regulative principle of worship (RPW). The RPW states that God is to be worshiped only in those ways which are prescribed in Holy Scripture (WCF 21.2). Though the RPW may seem overly restrictive to some, one of the benefits is that it protects the liberty of conscience of the worshiper from the imaginations and innovations of pastors and those who lead corporate worship. Likewise, confessions protect the liberty of conscience and Christian freedom of believers. As our Westminster Confession of Faith puts it, “God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in anything, contrary to His Word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship” (WCF 20.2).

Second, confessions provide openness and transparency. Trueman writes, “Congregations elect elders and therefore can and should expect their elders to be openly and consistently faithful to their ordination vows, the contents of which — the confessional documents — are public and available to all.” This is not to say that confessions infallibly promote transparency and protect from tyranny. The church and her officers are still human beings with common frailties and the remnants of corruption. Still, churches with confessions will have greater protections in this regard than churches without.

A Sad, but Helpful, Recent Example

A good example of the protection of Christian liberty and protection from the tyranny of false teaching may be found in a recent church discipline case in a fellow NAPARC (North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council) denomination. During our most recent adult Sunday school class in which we were talking about church discipline, I mentioned how a minister in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) was recently tried and deposed of his ordination credentials in that denomination. You can read the details here.

I raise this example for two reasons. For one thing, the rise and ubiquity of Kinism, antisemitism, and racism (and its oftentimes connection to Christian nationalism) is something which all Christians ought to be familiar with. Though I don’t spend much time on social media, these sinful beliefs and teachings are on the rise and, unfortunately, finding in-roads among individual Christians and churches.

The other reason that I raise this example, though, is because it is germane to this understanding of the role of confessions in delimiting ministerial authority and protecting the Christian liberty of the members of the church. If you read the “charge list” from this church discipline case, which is also hyperlinked in the World magazine article, you will see that each of the four counts (or charges) is grounded in one of the Ten Commandments as interpreted and applied by the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms.

Whether it be with regard to individual church members or officers in the church, this is the standard practice for all discipline cases in every court of Reformed and confessional churches. Thus, confessions help to remove subjectivity and promote objectivity when dealing with sin and false teaching in the church.

On the flip side and on a more positive note, as we have seen, confessions protect the Christian liberty and liberty of conscience of the members of the church. When the preaching and teaching office is held accountable to the confessional standards of the church, the members of the church benefit from the protection and transparency afforded by confessions.

The Lord be with you!

- Pastor Peter M. Dietsch