BROTHER Buckley of Alabama has sent us a printed copy of a document purporting to be a “Baptist Confession of Faith,” [it is the New Hampshire Confession of Faith written in 1833] desiring our opinion of the same. By whom this confession is made, we are not informed; but we sincerely hope it is not even an adopted child of any of our Old School Baptist brethren, either of Alabama or any other state.
Many parts of it are as inharmonious with the scriptures, with Christian experience, and with the general doctrinal views of Old School Baptists, as are the sentiments of the Mahometan Alcoran. It would require too great a space of our paper to copy the entire confession, but we will copy and remark upon such parts as we consider most objectionable. Let it not he supposed, however, that we approve of those articles on which we offer no comments; we consider the whole defective, with only a sufficient semblance of truth to decoy some well-meaning but poorly-taught Christians. Passing by the errors and defects of the first four articles, we will notice the fifth:
V. Of Justification.
That the great gospel blessing, which Christ of his fullness bestows on such as believe in him, is justification; that justification consists in the pardon of sin and the promise of eternal life, on principles of righteousness; that it is bestowed not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done, but solely through his own redemption and righteousness; that it brings us into a state of most blessed peace and favor with God, and secures every other blessing needful for time and eternity.
This article is altogether erroneous, and a perversion of the scriptural doctrine of justification. Neither pardon of sin nor promise of life ever did or possibly can justify a guilty sinner; nor do the scriptures anywhere teach any such doctrine. To illustrate the subject, suppose a criminal convicted of the crime of murder, and by the law sentenced to die, should receive from the executive power a pardon, and with it a promise of life and liberty; would that constitute him a just man, and wash him from the stain of blood? Certainly not. He is just as guilty as though he were hung. Whether executed according to law or pardoned and suffered to run at large, does not change his guilt; he is a murderer. Justification, in a gospel sense, removes, or rather takes away all guilt; and a justified soul is made as free from guilt as though he had never sinned. If pardon alone could justify us, the Savior’s blood was not required; it would then have been sufficient for God, against whom lie had sinned, to forgive the offender without reference to law or justice. But the testimony of the bible shows that the work of justification is that by which the guilty are made just.
Therefore the blood of Christ was demanded, for nothing short of his blood could take away sill; his blood cleanseth from all guilt. While pardon and justification both occupy prominent places in the gospel, they are altogether distinct in nature and effect; pardon is an acquittal from punishment, but justification delivers from guilt. To remove the guilt from his people, Christ actually bore their sins in his own body on the cross, and put away their sins by his own sacrifice, was delivered up for their offenses, and raised again for their justification.
Justification has to do with the law, and requires an atonement satisfactory to the utmost demands of the law; so that the law which held us in condemnation as sinners, requires that we should be set at liberty as just or as justified persons. Pardon proceeds from a satisfaction rendered to divine justice, in which we were personated and identified, in the identity of that body that bore our sins on the cross. In order to avoid the force of truth, the Arminians would so separate justification from the atonement, as to preach a general or universal atonement and a limited justification, and so connect justification and pardon as to represent both accessible to all mankind and certain to none. Justification is inseparably connected with and based upon the atonement, and the atonement is predicated upon the right vested in Christ as the near kinsman to redeem. The right to redeem captives belongs naturally only to those to whom such captives belonged before their captivity. The church of God belonged to Christ her Head before she had any being in Adam, and consequently, before she went into captivity; being in a state of captivity, a ransom price was required for her deliverance. That price could not be estimated in silver and gold; in nothing short of the precious blood of Christ. Why his blood? Because the right of property was in him before the property or church were captivated. Had rivers of her blood been shed, it could not have redeemed the church, as the right of redemption belonged alone to Christ. The execution of the sentence of the law against the guilty upon an innocent sufferer, could not exculpate the guilty nor satisfy any law founded in justice; but, by a pre-existing relationship, and indissoluble, eternal union between Christ, the Head, and the church, which, is his body, Christ’s one offering has forever put away sin, and those for whom his sacrifice was made are freely justified through his blood, and completely secured from condemnation; for “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again,” &c. We are brought experimentally into the knowledge and enjoyment of this justification by regeneration: but we pass to notice the next article.
VI. Of the Freeness of Salvation.
That the blessings of salvation are made free to all obedient faith: and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth, except his own voluntary refusal to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ; which refusal will subject him to an aggravated condemnation.
This article is false from beginning to end. In what part of the gospel are the blessings of salvation made free to those inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, who are now suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, or to that people against whom God has said, Reprobate silver shall men call them, for I have rejected them? Or that people against whom the Lord hath indignation forever? Or those which were before ordained to condemnation? Or to those who stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto they were appointed? Or to those who like natural brute beasts were made to be taken and destroyed?
The blessings of salvation embrace all the blessings of the new covenant, wherewith God has blessed his people with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, according as he hath chosen them in him before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without blame before him in love. – Eph. i. 4. Eternal and immutable love, stronger than sin or death; eternal, indissoluble union to Christ the Head of the church, eternal election, redemption, deliverance from guilt and wrath, regeneration, a new heart, a new spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness and faith, are among all the blessings of salvation, and how can they be free to those who are now in hell, or to those who die in their sins?
The sentiment involved in this declaration is, that the provisions of salvation are made alike for all mankind, and the benefits of them are made to depend upon the volition of the human will. But the words of God declare that it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth; and that all those unto whom power is given to become the sous of God, are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man; but of God. Deliverance from sin is one of the blessings of salvation, as we have shown, and if deliverance from sin is free to all sinners, may not devils avail themselves of it?
The doctrine is preposterous and false. The gospel makes salvation free for none; it is a proclamation of that full, free, and finished salvation which God has provided for his own elect, whom he has saved and called with a holy calling; not according to their works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given them in Christ Jesus before the world began. – 2 Tim. i. 9. And it is equally false, that it is the immediate duty of all to accept the blessings of salvation; for neither salvation in the abstract, nor any of its blessings were ever offered to any being, by any authority found in the divine testimony. God has never offered to save a sinner; therefore it cannot be the duty of any to accept what has never been offered to them. We read much of offers of salvation and mercy in the filthy creeds of Arminian workmongers, but not a word of it in the volume of divine inspiration. The doctrine is of men and devils, and altogether discordant with the revelation of grace and truth, embraced in the scriptures.
There is not a truly regenerated soul on earth whose experience does not prove the absurdity and falsehood of the doctrine. Souls that have experienced the new birth, have seen the time when they would have freely given ten thousand worlds, if they possessed them, for one gleam of hope that there was, or could lie any salvation for them; but as to offers and acceptances, these they knew were out of the question. And when they have received evidence of their interest in the salvation of God, they have discovered that it proceeded from the settled, eternal, and immutable purpose and decree of God, and not from any will or works of their own: but the article before us goes on to state in what way its Arminian author supposes that the blessings of salvation are to be accepted; namely, by a cordial and obedient faith. The faith of the gospel which accompanies salvation, follows, but does not precede regeneration; it is the fruit of the Spirit and the gift of God. Christ, and not the sinner, is the Author and Finisher of it. It is distinguished from the faith of wicked men and devils, as that faith which is the operation of God; and that which works by love and purifies the heart. The sinner in his natural state is without hope; faith is the substance of things hoped for; how then can the unregenerate put in requisition that faith which none but quickened souls ever possessed? Is not faith itself one of the blessings of salvation? Yet we are told that the blessings of salvation are free to be received by all men, by a cordial and obedient faith; that faith is a condition of faith! What consistency!
But the article goes on to state, that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth, except his own voluntary refusal to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ. His being dead in trespasses and sins; under the curse of the law; under condemnation and wrath; full of enmity to God; with a heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, with a throat like an open sepulcher, with a month that is full of cursing and bitterness, with feet swift to shed blood, with misery and destruction in all his ways, and having never known the way of peace, nor the fear of God, with a carnal mind, which is enmity against God, not subject to his law, and which neither indeed can be; yet this article can discover nothing but a voluntary refusal to submit to Jesus Christ, in the way of his enjoying the blessings of salvation! How different the language of eternal truth on this subject: “No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will raise him up again at the last day.” Again, The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, (and the blessings of salvation are among the things of the Spirit; for it is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing,) neither can we know them, because they are spiritually discerned. So this article of faith is not the faith of God’s elect, but is an article of the faith of devils; not however believed by devils, for they know better; but by devils invented, and by their seducing spirits palmed off upon Arminians. But there is yet another heresy embraced in this abominable article, viz: “which refusal will subject him to an aggravated condemnation.” What strange confusion! Condemnation aggravated beyond that of the greatest sinner on earth! But as the legs of the lame cannot be equal, we will pass on to notice what is implied in this sentiment, viz: that the condemnation of a guilty sinner, by the fiery law of God, may be aggravated or enhanced by his rejection of the gospel. Now if this be true, the gospel becomes to that soul not only the minister of condemnation, but of an aggravated condemnation, and that in direct contradiction of the express testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ, who declares that he came not to condemn the world, &c. It is not for the want of repentance, or faith, or an acceptance of the gospel, that sinners are condemned and damned, but for being sinners against God. But we will pass to the article –
VIII. Of God’s Purpose of Grace.
That election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which he regenerates sanctifies, and saves sinners; that being perfectly consistent with the free agency of man, it comprehends all the means in connection with the end; that it is a most glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, being infinitely wise, holy and unchangeable; that it utterly excludes boasting, and promotes humility, prayer, praise, trust in God, and active imitation of his free mercy; that it encourages the use of means in the highest degree; that it is ascertained by its effects in all who believe the gospel; is the foundation of Christian assurance; and that to ascertain it about ourselves, demands and deserves our utmost diligence.”
Election is truly the gracious purpose of God, according to which he regenerates, sanctifies, and saves sinners; but this truth of God this article turns into a lie, by subjoining to it the declaration that God’s purpose according to which he saves sinners is perfectly consistent with man’s free agency, whereas the testimony of the scriptures is the very reverse: “Who hath. saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” “Therefore it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth; but of God that sheweth mercy.” “Not of works, lest any man should boast; for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.”
The doctrine of man’s free agency is not found in the bible. If man as an agent is free, he cannot be a sinner; if free, he is under no restraint or obligation to God or man. To be a free agent, man cannot be an accountable being; for if he is an accountable being, and amenable to God for his conduct, he is not free; and if free, he has a right to do as he pleases. But it is not of man that walketh to direct his steps, and therefore the election of grace is not in harmony with the Arminian notion of free agency; but is set forth by an inspired apostle as the very opposite of what the workmongers call free agency: “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, hot of works, but of him that calleth, it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” – Rom. ix. 11 —16. After stating what the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, the apostle adds in verse 18, “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” Does this look much like free agency? But Paul anticipated how this truth would set upon an Arminian’s stomach in verse 19: “Thou wilt surely say unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?” &c.
Be it remembered that in these scriptures the apostle, by the infallible inspiration of the Holy Ghost, illustrates the sovereignty of God “according to election,” and not election according to man’s asserted free agency. There is no more harmony between the purpose of God in election and what is called man’s free agency, than there is between heaven and hell, or any other direct opposites. Another expression in this eighth article is, that the doctrine of God’s electing grace encourages the use of means in the highest degree! Now if what we have quoted from the mouth of God, that it is neither of the will nor works of men, that God will have mercy on whom he will, and that he hardeneth whom he will, &c., encourages the use of means in the highest degree, then is this item of the article well sustained.
But the term means, when used regarding procuring grace or salvation, belongs to the Arminian vocabulary – it is not in the bible, nor is it in harmony with any sentiment that is taught in the bible. There are no more means used in the quickening of a dead sinner, than there were in the creation of the world. The work of salvation is as immediately and exclusively the work of God, as is the work of raising the dead, receiving the righteous into heaven, and turning the wicked into hell.
Elder Gilbert Beebe Editorials Volume 2 Pages 411 – 419
Every confession of faith has its own historical context and yields a more accurate understanding when its words are seen in light of that context. This rather obvious truism, however, is particularly relevant to understanding the New Hampshire Confession of Faith. Given the normative status of the Second London Confession for Baptists from New England to the deep South, several rather intense doctrinal challenges to early 19th-century Baptists made a confessional response necessary for Calvinistic missionary Baptists.
One movement to which response was urgent came in the development of the Anti-mission Society Movement. The conversion of Adoniram Judson, Ann Judson, and Luther Rice to Baptist views in 1812, led to the formation of the General Missionary Convention among Baptists. By the mid-1820 a reaction was in progress against the Convention and other missionary societies over ecclesiological matters in the main. Some, however, began to raise doctrinal resistance, considering the effort to be tinged with Arminian assumptions. One Primitive Baptist historian remarked that the “Fullerite heresies” stirred great discord and turmoil, and in being the foundation of the modern missionary system produced “an innovation and a human appendage to the church of Christ, worldly in character and insulting in its nature to the King of Zion.” A response to the developing hyper-Calvinism of the Primitive movement was necessary.
In addition, on the other side of the doctrinal spectrum, Baptists saw the growing impact of Charles Finney on New England theology. Two points are important for us to consider as influences on the language of the New Hampshire confession. First is Finney’s particular construction of the voluntary nature of all human decisions. Since “God cannot save men without their concurrence,” God must induce human cooperation within the existing moral fabric of human nature. If God works by providence and his Spirit “to the utmost extent he wisely can, and all in vain, there remains nothing more which, as a moral governor, he can do to save him.” This view of God’s necessary cooperation with human will makes the idea of moral inability an absurdity. Commands always imply present ability. Natural ability cannot be distinguished from but must include moral ability. Every command implies the moral power to obey. Conversion, therefore depends on four confluent causes. The Spirit of God brings light and moral suasion; the truth embodies the motivational content that the Spirit uses to “induce the sinner to turn.” Third, the preacher is a secondary agent to present the truth, and, finally, the sinner himself does the actual turning, and changes his heart as his own act.
We think these writing explain significantly both this confession and the men admiring it.
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