I. Of the Scriptures.
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men
divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction, that it
has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without mixture of
error, for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge
us; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center
of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creds,
and opinions should be tried.
14. The revelation of God to men was
completed in Jesus Christ. The history, the prophecies 2nd the
sacrificial types recorded in the Scriptures before he was born looked forward
to him. In his person as Son of God and Saviour of men all religious teaching
culminated. All that was written concerning his ministry and the ministry of
the men who in the generation following him made his teachings known to the
world, looked back to him. As the revelation of God culminated in him, when
these records has been written other writings were not needed. The message was
complete, and the Bible stood forth as “a perfect treasure of heavenly
instruction . . . . . . the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds
and opinions should be tried,” to this day the one “true center of Christian
union.” (O. C. S. Wallace, What
Baptists Believe: The New Hampshire Confession—An Exposition [Nashville:
Sunday School Board Southern Baptist Convention, 1913], 18)
II. Of the True God.
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and
true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is JEHOVAH, the Maker and
Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and
worthy of all possible honor confidence, and love; that in the unity of the
Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; equal
in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in
the great work of redemption.
12. God is revealed to men as the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that there are three
Gods: there is only one God. Nor does it mean that the one God is three persons
in the complete sense: strictly speaking, there is only One Person. When we
speak of the Godhead as including three persons, it is because our language is
incapable of expressing the idea more clearly. It means that this One Person,
whom we worship as the true and living God, is manifested in three characters,
each of these being personal in nature, neither encroaching on the other,
neither antagonistic to the other or morally capable of being so, an yet each
being distinct and individual.
Such is the greatness of the Personality of God that it
cannot be manifested to our human consciousness except in a Trinity. We cannot
comprehend by an intellectual process the full meaning of the conception “one
in three persons, blessed Trinity.” On the other hand we know God immeasurably
better as Father, Son and Holy Spirit than we could know Him if we conceived of
Him simply as God. IN this as in many other things, in the commonplace of life
as well as in its deeper things, we believe even where we cannot fully
understand. (O. C. S. Wallace, What Baptists Believe: The New Hampshire
Confession—An Exposition [Nashville: Sunday School Board Southern Baptist
Convention, 1913], 27-28; note also the use of singular personal pronouns for
the Godhead)
VIII. Of Repentance
and Faith.
We believe that Repentance and Faith are sacred duties,
and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of
God; whereby, being deeply convinced of our guilt, danger, and helplessness,
and of the way of salvation by Christ, we turn to God with unfeigned
contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy; at the same time heartily
receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest, and King, and relying
on him alone as the only and all-sufficient Saviour.
10. When the soul responds to these four
influences, there will be a three-fold manifestation—“Contrition, confession,
and supplication.” There will be contrition. The sense of sin
will be actual. It will be more than a flippant admission of moral failure; the
feeling of sorrow on account of sin will be real. IT will be more acute because
of the new view of Jesus Christ. When we find that we have sinned against him
who is not only consummate goodness and love, but one whose goodness and love
have sought us by the way of his self-sacrifice, contrition follows.
There will be confession. Contrition is not complete
until it moves to confession. Refusal to confess our sins is proof that we have
not honestly and completely repented of our sins. It is proof that we wish to
evade the consequences of our sins, and not the direct consequence only but
even those consequences which Christ, who would save us from the great
penalties, sees to be needful to our moral amendment. It is when the Spirit of
God has had his way in the soul that contrition is followed by confession.
There will be supplication. The language of repentance
and faith is not simply contrition and confession, but also supplication. The
soul does more than tell the story of its sin and sorrow. It supplicates the
divine mercy. This is because there is faith. Faith asks for mercy, knowing
that there is mercy in Jesus Christ. Faith asks for infinite blessing, having
heard from the gospel that there is infinite blessing waiting for those who
come to God by him. Forgiveness, grace to help in time of need,--these, with
all that they include of richest grace, are properly sought in fervent
supplication by him who has been regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit. (O.
C. S. Wallace, What Baptists Believe: The New Hampshire Confession—An
Exposition [Nashville: Sunday School Board Southern Baptist Convention,
1913], 89-90)
XI. Of the
Perseverance of Saints.
We believe that such only are real believers as endure
unto the end; that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark
which distinguishes them from superficial professors; that a special Providence
watches over their welfare; and that they are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation.
. . . a man may be self-deceived. He may have refused the
complete surrender of his heart which the gospel demanded, believing that he
could obtain eternal life at smaller cost. He may have persuaded himself that
he has indeed obtained life. In that hope he may have entered into the
discharge of the duties of the Christian life, and long have met no test which
he did not appear to sustain with fair credit. Self-deceived he has been lulled
into a false security. The awakening comes with some unexpected costs, some
temptation for which he was not prepared. Then it is revealed that the life of
the past was an outer conformity and not the result of an inner change. As long
as life lasts there is the possibility of such failure. If it comes even at the
last of life, it is as sure proof as if it had come earlier that the soul has
not passed from death unto life. (O. C. S. Wallace, What Baptists Believe:
The New Hampshire Confession—An Exposition [Nashville: Sunday School Board
Southern Baptist Convention, 1913], 121-22)
