The Purpose of Confessions

In order to understand the Christian Reformed Church's (CRC) Confessions, it is important to begin with the purpose of the them.

Why do we have them? What good are they?

1. Confessions provide unity and protect against disunity
Confessions give the church a common belief; they provide clear and concise statements of what the church believes, therefore those who know the confessions know what the church believes. This provides harmony among believers of a certain denomination and it protects against someone trying to teach or lead against the confessions in that denomination. When church members don't know what they believe; it is easy for disunity to happen.

2. Confessions are great for teaching the Christian faith
Confessions are great documents for teaching younger members of the church (and older members!) what the church believes. They speak about God, how to live and act in a Christian manner, how to relate to the government, how to pray, etc. These documents are great to train members of the church in what the church believes so then those who learn these documents may go out to share what they have learned into all the world. (I know missionaries who use the Heidelberg Catechism for evangelism....)

3. Confessions are derived by Scripture
Confessions are derived and rooted in Scripture; therefore, they are not in higher authority above Scripture. Scripture is the final authority; therefore the confessions are summaries of what Scripture says. However, when arguing a point from the confessions, it is best to be driven back to the Scripture. This also, is what makes the Confessions relate to all aspects of life. If they are derived from Scripture, and if Scripture is useful for all of life; shouldn't then the confessions be the same also?

4. The Confessions are embedded in a rich, deep history that we cannot ignore
The confessions were written long ago (more on the dates, etc. later) through difficult circumstances. There were many other confessions or documents similar to them written; however, these are the ones that we have today and these are the ones that the CRC recognizes as confessional status.

This is a short list of the purpose/importance of confessions. I may add more later.

To God be the glory.