Biblical leaders engage in "confessional alignment" by bringing their hearts into alignment with God's holiness. By acknowledging and confessing sins, leaders receive divine forgiveness and grace as well as greater peace. Leaders create relationships with God and others where it safe to admit wrongdoings and experience His cleansing power. By divine grace, leaders develop closer relationship with God while experiencing more fully His peace and other fruits of repentance. Confession of sins results in:
- Forgiveness: God forgives sins and releases the penitent from guilt
- Peace: The penitent finds comfort in God's love
- Grace: God reveals Himself through means of grace, including the confession of sins
- If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom. 10:9)
- By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God (1 John 4:2).
- [Praise] God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing… because of the surpassing grace God has given you. - (2 Corinthians 9:13-14)
- [Live] peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness…. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 2:2, 6:12)
Leaders with a confessional understanding of Christ bring our Lord's teachings about grace and peace into the spheres of authority described in Scripture. The 3 main spheres are summarized at www.covenant.net/3Institutions, but Scripture also includes many teachings about business and educational institutions as well as authority structures that encourage arts and proclamation (media/press). These spheres are depicted on the above diagram.
Classic confessions of faith teach much about grace and peace. Confessions include www.covenant.net/WCF and www.covenant.net/39Articles. These confessions organize Scripture to define patterns of behavior for leaders while also describing leadership organizations such as churches, governments, and families.
The confessions describe the covenant of grace and covenant of peace. The covenant of grace is rooted in means of grace, including word, prayer, and sacraments. See, e.g., www.covenant.net/MeansMarks.
The covenant of peace guides leaders who maintain peace and purity though a commitment to praying Scripture, Biblical peacemaking, and supporting pastors preaching the Word. The confessions also encourage Christ, the church, counseling, and confessional leadership, as explained at www.covenant.net/Peace4Cs.
NOTES:
Classic confessions of faith explain grace (e.g. means of grace and covenant of grace) as well as the covenants that maintain peace and purity. To envision how a focus on grace and peace can help extend God's Kingdom, see the following essay about the Lord's prayer by T.M. Moore:* www.covenant.net/ SpheresKingdomManifesto/.
- At https://www.covenant.net/confessions/, see how Confessions have evolved from the time of the Nicene Creed (325-381 AD), 9 Marks (AD 100-500), 39 Articles (1571 AD), and Westminster Standards (1641 AD). Later confessions have doctrines supported with increasing numbers of parallel proof texts.
- At https://www.covenant.net/confessionalleadership/, see a diagram at the bottom showing how confessional teachings apply in God's spheres of authority (e.g., mediating institutions).
- At https://www.covenant.net/MediatingInstitutions/, see a Biblical summary of family governments, ecclesiastical governments, and civil government.
- At https://heidelblog.net/2021/11/what-does-it-mean-to-be-confessional-e-g-in-the-pca/, see a good summary of the connection between Reformed and Confessional teachings.
- At http://covenant.net/Book/PietismVsConfessionalism, see how D.G. Hart recognizes pietism and confessionalism as the key divide for explaining the history of Protestantism in America. Hart’s book recaps debates between pietists and confessionalists in multiple denominations across decades of U.S. history.
- At https://www.covenant.net/SpheresGracePeace, see the following summary of the 3 institutions, 5 rooms, and 7 spheres mentioned in the above paragraphs.
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Church |
Family |
Gov/Justice |
Business |
Schools |
Proclamation |
Arts |
Grace (Means) |
Peace (4Cs) |
Peace (4Gs) |
| 3 Primary Institutions in Scripture | |||||||||
| 5 Main Authority Structures in Scripture | |||||||||
| 7 Spheres "Mountains" of Culture Influence in Scripture | |||||||||
| 4 Means of Grace to Maintain Peace & Purity in the above Spheres: Word, Prayer, Baptism, Communion | |||||||||
| 4 Cs of Biblical Peacemaking: Personal Relationships with Christ, the Church, Counselors, and Confessional Leaders | |||||||||
| 4 Gs of Biblical Peacemaking as We: Glorify God, Get the Logs Out of Our Eyes, Gently Restore, and Go and Be Reconciled | |||||||||
* Chuck Colson wrote that T.M. is, "one of the brightest men I've ever known [and he] has profoundly affected my spiritual walk. [He] will help you see and apply the Scriptures in ways you've never imagined."