Reflections on the Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689
23 Aug 14 began a perhaps unbroken, orderly, and personal journey through my favorite written confession of faith. These are my personal reflections on this beloved historic Particular Baptist confession of the Christian Faith.
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Chapter 31. Of the State of Man after Death and of the Resurrection of the Dead. Paragraph 2: “At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive, shall not sleep, but be changed; and all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies, and none other; although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever.”
Many confessions progress in a linear fashion from the start of things to the finish of things. Here we are nearing the end of our eight-year journey through this one and we find ourselves looking at such things as this. Eschatology is the study of end times things. It’s not just future things but given what the Bible says about the “last days” we’ve been in since Christ’s first coming (Hebrews 1:2) it’s also a study of this afternoon as well.
The confession espouses no eschatological system specifically. Other specific points of the confession still to come will lay out more of what is affirmed. I am what’s called an Amillennialist with some closeted Postmillenialist tendencies. I say, if today was the day appointed for Jesus’ second coming there would be seen worldwide his changing of a people and the start of the perfect judgments. A judgment for his elect where there would be no threat of hell, and a judgment for his non-elect where there would be no hope of heaven.
There will be a glorification of all. Souls and those bodies re-united. In ways appointed by God since before the physical we see was created all souls will be raised up again. Those cremated, lost at sea, dead and unidentified on a million battlefields, the murdered in abortion, Abel’s body will be raised up, all of us, all will be thus glorified. The physical as we will know it will be made immutably so, fit for shame or glory. Again, there’s slightly more to come on some of this in the rest of the confession.
One point to take away from today is that there will be a generation who experiences that second coming. If you asked me to guess, I’d guess God was returning in 2088. No, I’m not making a prediction! I pick it only for fun. I pick it because that’s approximately when God made his covenant toward Abram known to him. It’s the start of the Hebrew Faith. It’s a nice round number of history then on the AD side of Jesus’ first coming (being around 5 BC) for God to wrap it all up in Christ. Again, I’m not falsely predicting. A generation, whenever it happens, has been appointed, and will see amazing things. When Christ Resurrected himself there was seen a mysterious first wave of this. “The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” Matthew 27:52-53. Like Enoch’s private taking (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5) this is something we’re told of, but not given much detail on. Whatever it was they saw on that still somewhat veiled day, they saw in part what will be seen in full at Christ’s second coming in bold relief. “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him…” Matthew 25:31-32a.
Be ready. There may not be a 7th of April 2023! Repent and put your trust in Christ now if you haven’t. If you have, continue to prepare your home for inspection.
Come, Lord Jesus!
