Our Faith

What Is a Confession of
Faith?

It putting in our own words what we understand God to be saying in His Word. Some people say they have no creed but the Bible. But they still have their own interpretation of what the Bible teaches. They just haven’t written down their beliefs in a systematic form. They do have a creed, just not a publicly available one. If we restricted ourselves to using only the words of Scripture, this would be an inadequate way of stating the truth. We still need explain what we understand a verse to be saying from the rest of Scripture. This is what a confession does, it's purpose is to simply state what Scripture already teaches.

Why study the Westminster Confession?

It is biblical.

As you work through Our Faith you will hopefully be able to see for yourself how tightly the Westminster Confession connects to what Scripture actually says. It is not a complete statement of what the Bible teaches—it does not spell out everything the Bible says. But it is an accurate statement of biblical doctrine. The Westminster Confession closely follows Scripture in where it puts the emphasis. The major themes of Scripture are the major themes of the Westminster Confession: who God is and what God does; the fall of man into sin and its consequences; how Christ rescues sinners from their sin; and how saved sinners are to live their lives towards God and in their church community.

It is detailed.

The fact that the Westminster Confession is so detailed makes it a better basis for unity among Christians than a minimalist confession. Minimalist confessions disguise disunity because they simply avoid talking about areas of disagreement. When God reveals something in Scripture, then Christians do not have the option of ignoring it or acting as though it doesn’t matter. A detailed confession helps people to see what the Bible really does teach, and it helps to close down the vague generalities which would otherwise be loopholes for error.

It is accessible.

The Westminster Confession covers very profound truths and uses very precise theological terminology. Yet it is not meant to go over the heads of ordinary people. It is accessible to people with no special theological training or particular interest in technical controversies. It serves the church well as both an outward-facing document—explaining to outsiders what the church believes, and an inward-facing document—articulating for ordinary believers the truths about the God we worship and His way of salvation. Our Faith aims to provide help for anyone approaching it for the first time in this way. We hope it will draw you into a deeper and more detailed understanding of the core truths of Scripture using the Confession.

It unites.

Each individual believer who embraces the Westminster Confession today joins a community of believers all over the world spanning hundreds of years. The confession of faith also gives you something to share with your friends and your own children. It gives an objective content to your testimony when you share your testimony, and it gives a definite shape to your claim to be Bible-believing when you share Scripture itself. You can be confident that you are not simply transmitting some eccentric personal quirks when you pass on to the next generation of believers the contents of the Westminster Confession.

It structures our knowledge and devotion.

The Westminster Confession offers a precise articulation of the key doctrines of Scripture in a systematic manner so that you can be clear and orderly about the truth in your own mind. With a clear understanding in place, then you can respond with the appropriate worship. Our devotions can only be enhanced as we grow in an accurate knowledge of what God is like and what God has done. Our best devotional responses of praise and adoration spring out of our best grasp of the identity of our Saviour and the nature of the salvation He provides.