Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)

Chapter 6
THE FALL, SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT

6.1 God created Adam upright and perfect, and gave him a righteous law which secured life for him while he kept it, but threatened death if he broke it. Yet Adam did not live long in this position of honour. ¹ Satan used the subtlety of the serpent to subdue Eve, she seduced Adam, and Adam (without any compulsion) willfully transgressed the law of their creation and the command given to them by eating the forbidden fruit.² God was pleased to permit this act, according to his wise and holy counsel, as it was his purpose to direct it toward his own glory.³

(1) Ecc 7:29; Rom 5:12a,14-15; Gen 2:17; 4:25-5:3
(2) Gen 3:1-7; 2Co 11:3; 1Ti 2:14
(3) Rom 11:32-34; 2Sa 24:1; 1Ch 21:1; 1Ki 22:22-23; 2Sa 16:10; Act 2:23; 4:27-28

6.2 By this sin our first parents fell from their original righteousness and communion with God. We fell in them, for by it death came upon all;¹ all became dead in sin and totally defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.²

(1) Gen 3:22-24; Rom 5:12ff; 1Co 15:20-22; Psa 51:4-5; 58:3; Eph 2:1-3; Gen 8:21; Pro 22:15
(2) Gen 2:17; Eph 2:1; Tit 1:15; Gen 6:5; Jer 17:9; Rom 3:10-18; 1:21; Eph 4:17-19; Joh 5:40; Rom 8:7

6.3 By God’s appointment, they were the root, standing in the place of the whole human race. The guilt of this sin was imputed to, and their corrupted nature passed on to all their posterity by ordinary birth. Their descendants are therefore conceived in sin, and are by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death and all other miseries—spiritual, temporal, and eternal—unless the Lord Jesus sets them free.¹

(1) Gen 5:12ff, 1Co 15:20-22; Psa 51:4-5; 58:3; Eph 2:1-3; Gen 8:21; Pro 22:15; Job 14:4; 15:14

6.4 All actual transgressions proceed from this original corruption.¹ By it we are completely incapacitated and disabled, antagonistic to all good and entirely biased towards evil.²

(1) Mat 7:17-20; 12:33-35; 15:18-20
(2) Mat 7:17-18; 12:33-35; Luk 6:43-45; Joh 3:3,5; 6:37,39,40,44,45,65; Rom 3:10-12; 5:6; 7:18; 8:7-8; 1Co 2:14

6.5 During this life, this corruption of nature remains in those who are regenerated.¹ Although it is pardoned and put to death through Christ, yet both this corrupt nature and all its actions are truly and actually sin.²

(1) 1Jo 1:8-10; 1Ki 8:46; Psa 130:3; 143:2; Pro 20:9; Ecc 7:20; Rom 7:14-25; Jas 3:2
(2) Psa 51:4-5; Pro 22:15; Eph 2:3; Rom 7:5,7-8,17-18,25; 8:3-13; Gal 5:17-24; Gen 8:21; Pro 15:26; 21:4; Gen 8:21; Mat 5:27-28

Chapter 1: The Holy Scriptures
Chapter 2: God and the Holy Trinity
Chapter 3: God’s Decree
Chapter 4: Creation
Chapter 5: Divine Providence
Chapter 6: The Fall, Sin and its Punishment
Chapter 7: God’s Covenant
Chapter 8: Christ the Mediator
Chapter 9: Free Will
Chapter 10: Effectual Calling
Chapter 11: Justification
Chapter 12: Adoption
Chapter 13: Sanctification
Chapter 14: Saving Faith
Chapter 15: Repentance to Life and Salvation
Chapter 16: Good Works
Chapter 17: The Perseverance of Believers
Chapter 18: The Assurance of Grace and Salvation
Chapter 19: The Law of God
Chapter 20: The Gospel and its Gracious Extent
Chapter 21: Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience
Chapter 22: Worship and the Lord’s Day
Chapter 23: Lawful Oaths and Vows
Chapter 24: Civil Government
Chapter 25: Marriage
Chapter 26: The Church
Chapter 27: The Fellowship of Believers
Chapter 28: The Ordinances
Chapter 29: Baptism
Chapter 30: The Lord’s Supper
Chapter 31: The State of People after Death and the Resurrection of the Dead
Chapter 32: The Last Judgment
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