All Articles For Confession of Faith

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “Do you acknowledge the doctrine contained in the Old and New Testaments and in the Articles of the Christian faith and taught here in this Christian Church to be the true and complete doctrine of salvation?” This is the first question asked of those who make public confession of their faith. The Scriptures emphasize the importance of faith. InHebrews 11:6 we read, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. One of the most joyful occasions in the church is the public confession of faith of the young people. For the pastor and elders there is no more joyful occasion than when young people come to the consistory room to make confession of faith before the consistory, when that confession is approved, and when young men and young women stand up in the congregation publicly to acknowledge faith in Jesus Christ. This joy is shared by the parents of the young people, and by the whole congregation,...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. At the end of our last article, we were busy discussing the basis for public confession of faith. We saw that the responsibility to make public confession of faith is based, first of all, on the general calling of the believer to confess Christ’s Name in the world. Confession of our faith is something to which the Word of God everywhere calls us. It is simply an integral part of the Christian life. A second reason why Reformed churches have always insisted on a public confession of...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. Last time we began our discussion of the second question asked of those who make ‘public confession of faith: “Have you resolved by the grace of God to adhere to this doctrine; to reject all heresies repugnant thereto and to lead a new, godly life?” We considered the antithetical nature of confession of faith, that confession of faith is not only acknowledging positively the truth of God’s Word, but also “rejecting all heresies repugnant thereto.” We also considered the “new, godly life” to which those who make...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “Will you submit to church government, and in case you should become delinquent (which may God graciously forbid) to church discipline?” This third question asked of those who make public confession of faith is closely related to the previous two questions. In the first question we acknowledge the doctrine of the Old and New Testaments as taught in the confessions of the church. By means of Christian discipline, purity of doctrine is preserved in the church. In the second question we resolve by the grace of God...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. In the past several articles we have discussed public confession of faith. We have used as our guide the three questions that are asked of those who make confession of faith. We want to conclude this discussion by calling attention to certain responsibilities which a confessing member of God’s church has. Some of these we have already referred to in passing. An Unreproachable Life Perhaps the most important calling of a confessing member of the church is to live an unreproachable life in the midst of the...

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven.  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”  Matthew 10:32, 33