Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)

Chapter 7
GOD’S COVENANT WITH THE HUMAN RACE

7.1 The distance between God and the creature is so great, that (although reasonable creatures owe obedience to him as their Creator) they could never have attained the reward of life except by an act of voluntary condescension on God’s part. This he has been pleased to express by way of a covenant.¹

(1) Job 35:7-8; Psa 113:5-6; Isa 40:13-16; Luk 17:5-10; Act 17:24-25

7.2 Moreover, as Adam had brought himself and his posterity under the curse of the law by his fall, it pleased the Lord to make a covenant of grace.¹ In this covenant he freely offers to sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring from them faith in him that they may be saved,² and promising to give his Holy Spirit to all who are elected to eternal life, to make them willing and able to believe.³

(1) Gen 3:15; Psa 110:4 with Heb 7:18-22 and 10:12-18; Eph 2:12 with Rom 4:13-17 and Gal 3:18-22; Heb 9:15
(2) Joh 3:16; Rom 10:6,9; Gal 3:11
(3) Eze 36:26-27; Joh 6:44-45

7.3 This covenant is revealed through the Gospel; first of all to Adam in the promise of salvation by the seed of the woman, and afterwards step by step until the full revelation of it was completed in the New Testament.¹ This salvation rests on that eternal covenant transaction between the Father and the Son which concerns the redemption of the elect.² It is by the grace of this covenant alone that all the descendants of fallen Adam who have ever been saved have obtained life and blessed immortality. Human beings are now utterly incapable of gaining acceptance with God on those terms by which Adam stood in his state of innocency.³

(1) Gen 3:15; Rom 16:25-27; Eph 3:5; Tit 1:2; Heb 1:1-2
(2) Psa 110:4; Eph 1:3-11; 2Ti 1:9
(3) Joh 8:56; Rom 4:1-25; Gal 3:18-22; Heb 11:6,13,39-40

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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