The gospel and the extent of its grace — The 1689 Baptist Confession

Question 1

Where did the gospel come from, in relation to the covenant of works?

Accepted Answer

It was given after that covenant was broken and made unable to give life. God put forward the promise of Christ in its place.

The Baptists wrote this chapter themselves - the Westminster Confession has no counterpart to it - and the placing is the argument. The gospel is not a supplement to the arrangement Adam was under. It replaces it, because that one can no longer do anything for anybody.

Confession 20

Question 2

What is the gospel?

Accepted Answer

The promise of Christ and of salvation by him - given after the covenant of works was broken, as the means of calling the elect and of producing faith and repentance in them.

It is defined as a promise rather than as advice or a programme, and its content is a person. The confession also makes it the means rather than the announcement of a means: the promise is the instrument God uses to bring about the very faith it asks for.

Confession 20.1

Question 3

When was the gospel first given?

Accepted Answer

In the promise of the woman's offspring, immediately after the covenant of works was broken - and it was effective for converting and saving sinners from then on.

The claim is not merely that the gospel was hinted at early. It is that in substance it was there, and was already doing its work, thousands of years before it was fully explained.

I'll make you and the woman enemies, and your offspring and hers will be enemies too. Her descendant will crush your head, and you'll strike his heel.
Genesis 3:15

Confession 20.1

Question 4

Can anyone discover the gospel from creation or conscience?

Accepted Answer

No - not even in a general or obscure way. It is revealed only by the word of God.

This is the sharp edge of the earlier, gentler claim about what creation reveals. Nature tells you about God's power and your accountability; it does not tell you about Christ at all. That is why the confession treats preaching as necessary rather than helpful.

But how can people call on someone they haven't believed in? And how can they believe in someone they've never heard about? And how can they hear unless someone tells them?
Romans 10:14

Confession 20.2

Question 5

Why do some peoples and periods hear the gospel and others do not?

Accepted Answer

The confession answers only that it is the sovereign will and good pleasure of God, and specifically not a reward for anyone making good use of their natural abilities.

It declines to explain further, which is itself the point. What it does rule out is the idea that the gospel arrives where people have somehow deserved it.

He hasn't done this for any other nation; they don't know his ways. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 147:20

Confession 20.3

Question 6

Is the gospel enough on its own to convert someone?

Accepted Answer

It is entirely sufficient as the outward means, and it still requires an effectual, insuperable work of the Holy Spirit on the whole soul for anyone dead in sin to be born again. Both words are chosen. Sufficient: nothing needs adding to the message. Insuperable: when the Spirit does that work it is not resisted successfully. Without it, no other means will convert anyone.