The Second Galatian Confession of Faith
There has been a lot of ink spilled on the subject of confessions in the Baptist church in recent years, from a variety of different perspectives. There are those who appeal to the Second London Confession of 1689, others who look to the Fulton Confession of 1900, while still others point to a variety of other historic Baptist confessions such as the Midland Confession of 1655 or the Goat Yard Declaration of 1729. Taking in the vast landscape of confessions written among Baptists alongside discussions of their relative merits, it occurs to me that one confession is conspicuously absent: The Second Galatian Confession of Faith (SGC). This oversight is particularly alarming when one considers that the provisions of this confession are explicitly spelled-out in the book of Galatians by the apostle Paul under divine inspiration. A closer look at the SGC yields two indisputable observations that must govern our attitude regarding all creeds and confessions:
The Second Galatian Confession was the Creed of Some Old Baptist Churches
Paul's epistle is addressed to "the churches of Galatia." (Galatians 1:2) He makes it evident in his address that these were churches that were established on the gospel message of the apostle Paul - the message of salvation that is the result of "the grace of Christ." (Galatians 1:6) Before we get too far ahead of ourselves in examining the teaching of the SGC, we should pause for a moment to affirm one simple observation: The Galatian assemblies which affirmed the Second Galatian Confession were undeniably Old Baptist Churches. Stated another way, it is impossible to deny that these assemblies were established by Paul on the teaching of salvation by grace, or that he addresses them as true churches. Whatever Paul is saying to these churches regarding their profession is something said of a group of Old Baptist Churches by logical consequence.
The Second Galatian Confession is Wrong
In his epistle, Paul specifies numerous false beliefs affirmed in the Second Galatian Confession. These false beliefs are the unavoidable result of introducing works into the plan of salvation, which the bible insists is “not of works” (Ephesians 2:9) but is based entirely on grace (Romans 11:6). The list of false doctrines that the apostle Paul insists are logically corollary to this confession is staggering. Let's take a look:
THE SECOND GALATIAN CONFESSION OF FAITH
We do not believe that salvation is solely by the grace of Christ. (Galatians 1:6)
We believe in “another gospel” distinct from the gospel of God's grace. (Galatians 1:6-7)
This “gospel” is “of men” and not “of God.” (Galatians 1:11-12)
There is a mixture of law and grace required for eternal salvation. (Galatians 1:14, 2:21)
We believe in the frustration of grace through the insistence of law. (Galatians 2:21)
Our beliefs are based on “bewitching” not on the teachings of scripture. (Galatians 3:1)
While we begin eternal life in the Spirit, we are made complete by the flesh. (Galatians 3:1)
They which are of faith alone are not blessed with faithful Abraham in an eternally saving sense, but they must also keep the law to have this eternal blessing. (Galatians 3:9)
Christ has not redeemed us from the curse of the law by his own works, but rather through his work accompanied by our keeping of the law. (Galatians 3:13)
Our inheritance in the Lord is by law and not by promise through the covenant. (Galatians 3:18)
The law is involved in the giving of life. (Galatians 3:21)
Righteousness is come by the law. (Galatians 3:21)
The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to law-keeping for salvation, not to Christ. (Galatians 3:24)
The work of adoption is not accomplished via adherence to a monergistic covenant promise through Christ’s redemption, but via works of the law. (Galatians 4:5-7)
We desire and promote the return to legal bondage for salvation. (Galatians 4:9)
We regard those who object to our doctrinal statement as enemies. (Galatians 4:16)
Our desire is to be under the law for eternal salvation. (Galatians 4:21)
We prefer the bondage of Sinai (the law) to the freedom of Jerusalem (grace). (Galatians 4:25-26)
We embrace the bondwoman (the law) and cast out the freewoman (grace). (Galatians 4:30-31)
The bondwoman is our mother. The freewoman is not. (Galatians 4:30-31)
There is no salvation apart from the entanglement of the yoke of bondage under the law.(Galatians 5:1)
The liberty of Christ is anathema. (Galatians 5:1)
Circumcision is of eternal consequence in that it is a keeping of the law and is thus required for our eternal salvation. (Galatians 5:2)
Our Justification is by the law and not by grace alone. (Galatians 5:4)
We do not wait for the hope of righteousness by faith but rather acquire righteousness through deeds of the law. (Galatians 5:5)
Though our calling be of Christ, our persuasion with respect to doctrine is from another source all together. (Galatians 5:8)
The law is NOT fulfilled in loving thy neighbor as thyself, but in keeping all aspects of the law as defined by the Galatian council. (Galatians 5:14)
The new creation availeth nothing without a rigid adherence to the law. (Galatians 6:15)
From this remarkable list of false doctrines promoted as "gospel truth" in the churches of Galatia, we establish our second undeniable truth - the Second Galatian Confession of Faith is DEAD WRONG.
Old Baptist Confessions Do Not Establish Biblical Truth
When we establish that the SGC was the confession of a real Old Baptist Church and that it was also dead wrong, it follows that proving one's beliefs are in lock-step with some previous Old Baptist creed is NO PROOF WHATSOEVER that what one believes consistent with biblical truth. That unavoidable observation undermines the reliability of any extra-biblical creed as the basis for establishing doctrine, regardless of the legitimacy of its church pedigree. As a result, we should rely upon two fundamental precepts that arise directly from the bible:
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (II Timothy 3:16-17)
While appeals to prior confessions may be helpful in demonstrating what some Old Baptist church believed in a previous era, they do not establish the rightly divided truth of the word of God. Churches are institutions composed of sinners and they are beset by the imperfections of institutions so comprised. The bible teaches that even the earliest Old Baptist churches struggled with matters of doctrine and practice. As a result, we must affirm that truth is established through a proper understanding of the word of God alone, not through appeals to church history or written creeds. The plumb line of truth is the word of God for which there is no substitute.
FINALLY
The Second Galatian Confession is no matter of mere speculation. It is a matter of divine revelation given to us by the apostle Paul himself. It establishes that even Old Baptist churches can be in error and that they are capable of proselytizing others in their errors as a matter of creed. This realization should dampen the zeal of anyone who seeks to “establish the truth” by appealing to what some Old Baptist church previously affirmed. If that is a legitimate means of establishing truth, then one could establish that salvation is by works through an appeal to the Second Galatian Confession of Faith. We know by inspiration that this was the creed of some Old Baptist churches - and we know that it was dead wrong.
- Elder Daniel Samons