Introduction

Not long ago, I wrote the first part of this mini-series. In it, I defined what both a confession of faith and catechism is: A confession is a statement of what a group believes the Bible teaches on various topics in a succinct, orderly, and comprehensive manner. A catechism is a series of questions and answers written for teaching and memorization. I also gave reasons why one might use these to cultivate disciples corporately and personally: 1) they were written for discipleship, 2) they work for discipleship, and 3) they are sound. Below I will give some of the benefits I’ve experienced and observed using confessions and catechisms for discipleship.

1. Depth

Any of the confessions of faith or catechisms written in the seventeenth century have a level of depth to them that a Christian won’t get from an ordinary Sunday School class or small group. Let me give you two examples: one from the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith (2LBCF) and another from the Baptist Catechism (BC). 

First, consider what the 2LBCF says in chapter 19, which covers the subject of God’s Law. It starts with Adam, who “God gave… a law of universal obedience written in his heart and a particular precept of not eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God required both the law written on man’s heart and the particular precept to be obeyed perfectly by Adam and his descendants. The failure to obey resulted in death. The reward for obedience was life. The confession goes further in the next paragraph to explain how the same law, the law written on Adam’s heart, “continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall.” It was then given at Mount Sinai in the ten commandments. Not only was the moral law given at Sinai, but also positive laws: ceremonial and judicial in nature. These positive laws were limited to the people of Israel under that covenant. The ceremonial laws, in particular, pointed to Christ and were abrogated then. The judicial laws also passed away with that nation, and “their general equity only being of moral use.” The chapter later explains that the moral law is binding upon all, including believers. Paragraph six is the longest and shows how the law applies to the believer. This theological application is rich and of great benefit for discipleship. Consider what it says:

Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned, yet it is of great use to them as well as to others, in that as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their natures, hearts, and lives, so as examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against, sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ and the perfection of his obedience; it is likewise of use to the regenerate to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to shew what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse and unallayed rigour thereof. The promises of it likewise shew them God’s approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof, though not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works; so as man’s doing good and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law and not under grace.

Paragraph 7 shows us how the explication of the law in the preceding paragraph is perfectly complementary and consistent with the grace of God in the gospel.

Second, the catechism on the same subject the law spans from question 44 through 89. It systematically goes through each of the ten commandments, defining and applying them. Take a look at its treatment of the first commandment:

50. Which is the first commandment?
The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3).

51. What is required in the first commandment?
The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God and our God (1 Chronicles 28:9; Deuteronomy 26:17), and to worship and glorify Him accordingly (Matthew 4:10; Psalm 29:2).

52. What is forbidden in the first commandment?
The first commandment forbiddeth the denying (Psalm 14: 1), or not worshipping and glorifying the true God (Romans 1:21), as God and our God (Psalm 81:10, 11), and the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto Him alone (Romans 1:25, 26).

53. What are we especially taught by these words before Me, in the first commandment?
These words before Me, in the first commandment teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of and is much displeased with the sin of having any other god (Exodus 8:5, to the end).”

Taking a person through the chapter on the Law of God in 2LBCF and corresponding BC questions will give them a deeper understanding of God’s law and how it applies to their lives.

2. Breadth

Not only do confessions and catechisms provide depth for discipleship, but they also provide breadth. The 2LBCF contains 32 chapters, including topics like Scripture, the Church, free will, the ordinances, the final judgment, and much more. The BC has 114 questions and covers much of the same material but in short, memorable questions and answers. It also gives greater depth on the ten commandments, as mentioned above, and the Lord’s Prayer.

3. Humility

In addition to the depth and breadth needed for discipleship, confessions and catechisms foster humility. They require a person to reckon with the fact that Christianity didn’t begin when they came to Christ. They force them to listen to people who lived in a time different than our own, yet wrestled with the same Holy Scriptures and God who inspired them. Moreover, some of the concepts it covers are challenging to the intellect and convicting to the soul. Most importantly, the fact that many confessions and catechisms, including the 2LBCF and BC, cite copious Scripture references drives the readers to humbly see if the statements within them are true. In fact, the framers of the 2LBCF encouraged people to compare all that is within it to the Holy Scriptures:

We have also taken care to affix text of Scripture, in the margin for the confirmation of each article in our confession; in which we have studiously endeavored to select such as are most clear and pertinent, fo the proof of what is asserted by us: and our earnest desire is, that all into whose hands this may come, would follow that (never enough commended) example of noble Bereans, who searched the Scriptures daily, that they might find out whether the things preached to them were so or not.¹

4. Unity

Lastly, confessions of faith and catechisms foster unity among those who subscribe and use them for discipleship. They provide a common vocabulary. They give us those principles which are most essential to Christian belief, as well as the distinctives of our respective Christian traditions. In my case, that is the baptist tradition of the particular variety. I have seen this first hand at the church I pastor. The church doesn’t subscribe to the 2LBCF (for now), but using it as a discipleship tool is opening the door for that possibility. The men I have been taking through it find it helpful, challenging, enlightening, and biblical. It has fostered deep conversations, which in turn have brought us closer together. In this way, among others, the 2LBCF as a discipleship tool fosters unity.

Conclusion

Confessions and catechisms are excellent tools that you should utilize at your church in personal and corporate discipleship. I gave some reasons this is true in part 1 of this series. In this article, I have laid out some of the benefits I have observed and experienced using them. They provide depth and breadth for study. They foster humility in and unity among those who study them. These benefits and the reasons given in my first article give ample reason to try them.