Preface

Section

Preface

: Footnotes and Supportive Scripture

The following creeds and confession are not intended to define our boundaries of fellowship. Our basis for fellowship is a biblical confession of the true gospel and the lordship of Jesus Christ along with the absence of a willfully disobedient lifestyle.

Some Christians will certainly differ with us on various points in these creeds and confession. Our hope is that all true Christians who believe the true gospel will fellowship together with us even though we may have different convictions on some biblical issues that do not deal with salvation.

However, these creeds and confession do represent our doctrinal understanding of the word of God and all teaching, preaching and counseling – and by God’s grace so too with everything else in our lives – will reflect this understanding.

The creeds and confession to which we subscribe have a rich history in the Christian church. The Apostles’ Creed has been in use perhaps for as long as 1,800 years, the Nicene Creed for over 1,600 years, and the London Baptist Confession for over 300 years. Although the London Baptist Confession has been in existence only since 1689, the essence of the theology it espouses can be traced back to the French Reformer, John Calvin (1509-1564), and back even farther to Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354-430). When it comes to our understanding of the Christian faith, we find ourselves in good company.

However, these giants of the Christian faith, who worked diligently to preserve for us these statements of faith, did not agree on every point. Within the tradition of what has come to be known as Reformed Theology, differences in various details have been present ever since the time of the Reformation.

Our own exceptions to the creeds and confession contained in the following pages are set forth in the footnotes. Two things should be kept in mind as you read them. First, appeal is made to other confessions of the Reformed tradition.This we do in order to show that even though we may not agree in every part, we have not stepped outside the bounds ofReformed orthodoxy. Some of the other confessions provide theological explanations that are sufficiently general to allow for charitable latitude in matters of doctrinal specificity. Second, our appeal to other Reformed confessions is also meant to inform the reader of the agreement in fundamentals of the faith within Reformed theology. Perfect agreement is a present-age impossibility, but sufficient and essential agreement is possible.

In addition, we believe that although tradition is important, it is not the Reformed tradition that ultimately determines our faith and practice. Sola Scriptura, the Scriptures alone, was a call of the Protestant Reformation. As a result, we ought always to bring our creeds and confessions under the close scrutiny of the word of God that we might be more certain that we are being faithful to retain the standard of sound words that we have received from the Lord (2Tim 1:13).No man or group of men can claim perfect or absolute comprehensive knowledge of any subject, let alone the subject of divinity. Nevertheless, it is our firm belief that we can know and understand the truth of God accurately and truly. And so, throughout our confessional and creedal materials you will find Scripture references which form their foundation. In some cases the texts cited do not speak explicitly to the subject(s) in view, but they do provide scriptural examples of the truths that are being asserted.

With this in mind, it is our prayer that as you study our confessional materials that you would not only be more informed as to the theological perspective of Redeemer Bible Church, but also that you would be edified and nourished by the richness of the biblical doctrine contained in them.

Soli Deo gloria.

Redeemer Bible Church

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