Ephesians 2

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Matthew 16:13-18
• Lesson
• Prayer of Dismissal

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Sermon Title: The Benefits of Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-18

I. Background and Context

A. Series overview: a short series on creeds, confessions, and catechisms

• Three weeks prior, the series introduced the history and idea of creedal documents
• Today's focus: the benefits of being confessional people

B. Peter's confession in Matthew 16:13-18 as the foundation

• The disciples' answers (John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah) reflect use of Old Testament Scripture to identify Jesus
• Peter's confession: "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God"
• Right confession matters; Jesus builds his church on it

C. Historical precedent for confessional documents

• Acts 15 shows the early church gathering to settle doctrinal questions and issuing a written statement
• Council of Nicaea (325 AD) as the first major creedal council
• Post-Reformation explosion of confessional documents due to renewed need for clear doctrine
  1. Westminster Standards (Presbyterian)
  2. London Baptist Confession (Baptist)
  3. Three Forms of Unity (Dutch Reformed)

D. What creeds and confessions are and are not

• They are NOT a replacement for Scripture; Scripture alone is God's inerrant, inspired Word
• They ARE written summaries of what Scripture teaches — a system of doctrine and practice
• They help interpreters see how any part of Scripture fits within the whole
• Carl Trueman: churches without written confessions are in greater danger of elevating tradition above Scripture unchecked, because unwritten positions cannot be tested

II. Benefit One — A Teaching Tool

A. Catechisms and confessions provide succinct, distilled doctrine that children and adults can learn and memorize

B. Catechesis — teaching by question and answer — is the historic method of the church

• Historically, pastors visited homes to question congregants on the catechism and identify doctrinal deficiencies

C. Personally formative for both children and adults

• Children can begin learning catechism answers from a very young age (e.g., "Who made you?" / "Are there more than one true God?")
• Adults benefit deeply from sustained engagement with the Westminster Standards

III. Benefit Two — A Safeguard Against Error

A. Godly humility acknowledges that every believer is liable to doctrinal error; we see in a mirror dimly (1 Corinthians 13:12)

B. Confessional documents have preserved essential doctrines under attack throughout history

• The doctrine of the Trinity has been defended and preserved through creedal history
• Without that history, most believers would be unable to articulate Trinitarian faith

C. R.C. Sproul: everyone is a theologian — even the atheist has a theology

• Because of this, accurate doctrine matters for every believer, not just professional theologians

D. Confessions protect against over-reliance on any single teacher or popular figure

• The cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) spans generations; good theology is greater than any one person
• Confessions protect us from the "prison of our own unassisted wisdom" and from unchecked teaching

IV. Benefit Three — Promotes Right Belief and Right Practice

A. Orthodoxy is for the end of orthopraxy — right belief leads to right living

B. James 2:18 — faith shown by works; even the demons believe and shudder; right belief must issue in right life

C. Titus 2:9-10 — bondservants are to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior by living well

• The goal of right confession is sanctification and godliness, not intellectual pride

D. B.B. Warfield's 1909 anecdote about the Shorter Catechism

• A general officer recognized a calm, confident stranger amid violent rioting
• The stranger tested him: "What is the chief end of man?" — met with the counter-sign from the Shorter Catechism
• Warfield's comment: "It is worthwhile to be a Shorter Catechism boy — they grow to be men of God"
• Right belief showed itself in a manner of living visible even to a stranger

V. Benefit Four — Promotes Clarity and Confidence in Witness

A. Confessional language gives believers accessible, scripturally grounded language for evangelism and discipleship conversations

B. Practical example: Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 3, on predestination

• Paragraph on God's eternal decree: "God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures..."
• Paragraph on election: God chose his people in Christ "out of his mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works"
• Final paragraph: "The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care...so shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God, and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel"
  1. The confession provides balance: predestination is true and must be handled carefully
  2. The ultimate goal is assurance of God's love and grace

C. Confessions help the believer get their bearings mid-conversation and draw together threads of Scripture coherently