LBCF 1689 Reflections (part 58)

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. This will be my personal reflections on this beloved written codification of the Christian Faith which is according to a Baptist flavor.

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Chapter 5, Of Divine Providence, paragraph 1: “God the good Creator of all things, in his infinite power and wisdom doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence…”

I sadly doubt that 1 in 100 believers today would even dare to make such a profession of faith without pulling teeth. How is it that the church claims to love, but not really trust, its Savior? I have always been struck by Proverbs 16:33 which says: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” A lot, for all intents and purposes, is like a dye. Many were content, not to let chance, but God, determine a decision by completely removing themselves from it through the seemingly random casting of a dye (a lot). The Bible says that the outcome of the lot isn’t random; it’s of God. Even as the church came into the fullness of revelation in the days of the Apostles they were still casting lots. In Acts 1:26 the Apostles cast lots to see who would replace Judas Iscariot. They didn’t say, “well it’s 50/50 who gets picked, boys.” One prayed among them to God: “…show which of these two You have chosen…” and they cast lots to see what “God” wanted. God wanted Matthias. Now, it’s safe to say I think that we don’t cast lots any longer because we’ve been given the apostolic revelation whereby to be more sure of God’s will, but it’s fascinating the level of providential control the Bible writers give to God and how little of that carries today.

“from the greatest even to the least” the confession reads God governs it all. Folks, that’s snake bites, sparrow deaths, penguin migrations, great white sharks, raven-delivered meals, donkey talk, Hillary Clinton, and you. You are governed by God. All of us literally live and move and have our being by God’s sustaining power. We may not always know the “why” but we can seek our answers in God knowing that he alone has them.

Has God proven the surety of his providence in your life? My guess is that so few of us are close enough to God to ever even be able to tell. We’re too busy with work, sports, movies, sleep, hobbies and motocross to care.

Abraham Kuyper – “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”

Perhaps the wisest mere human who ever lived said: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.²⁵ Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. ²⁶ And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, ²⁷ so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸ for in Him we live and move and have our being…” -Saul (Paul) of Tarsus.

Providence is not God, but we cannot understand God well without a well understanding of his providence!