The Historical Tracings of the Doctrines of Grace | Part 8

Key Scriptures

• 2 Timothy 1:13–14 – “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”
• 1 Corinthians 4:7 – “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”
• Romans 11:36 – “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
• Jude 3 – “Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

The Synod of Dort had drawn a clear line in the sand. The gospel of grace had been defined and defended. But history shows that every generation must rise to guard the same truth again.

The doctrines of grace were not buried in Dort—they were broadcast from it. The theology that began in the Scriptures, was sharpened by Augustine, clarified by the Reformers, and preserved by the Synod, would soon cross the English Channel and take deep root in a new generation of believers—the Puritans and the Particular Baptists.

The English Puritans – Grace Applied to Life
In seventeenth-century England, the Puritans emerged as heirs of the Reformation. They were not content with political reform or external religion—they longed for purity of doctrine and holiness of life.

Men like William Perkins, John Owen, Thomas Watson, Richard Baxter, and Stephen Charnock took the theology of Dort and made it pastoral. They applied the doctrines of grace to the conscience, the family, the pulpit, and the heart.

William Perkins (1558–1602), sometimes called the father of Puritanism, built his ministry around one central conviction: that salvation is entirely the work of God’s free grace. He wrote, “We must hold this ground, that God freely and of His mere mercy chooseth us in Christ unto salvation, without respect unto anything in us.”

For Perkins, the doctrine of election was not a cause for pride but a fountain of assurance. If salvation begins with God, then the believer can rest secure that it will end with God.

John Owen (1616–1683), one of the greatest theologians in English history, wrote The Death of Death in the Death of Christ—a masterpiece defending definite atonement. Owen argued that Christ’s death actually saved, not potentially saved. He said, “The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either all the sins of all men, or all the sins of some men.” And he concluded, “If Christ died for all men, why are not all men free from the punishment of sin?”

To Owen and the Puritans, the doctrines of grace were not abstract theology—they were the very heartbeat of Christian life. Grace humbled the sinner, exalted Christ, and transformed worship.

Thomas Watson, in A Body of Divinity, wrote, “Grace is not given to make a fair show in the flesh, but to make us new creatures.” The Puritans saw in these doctrines a call to holiness, gratitude, and endurance.

The Westminster Confession and the Reformed Tradition
In 1646, the same Reformed theology that had been solidified at Dort was summarized by the Westminster Assembly in the Westminster Confession of Faith. This confession became the doctrinal standard for Presbyterians and heavily influenced other Protestant denominations.

The Westminster Confession echoed Dort’s teaching point for point. It affirmed:

• God’s eternal decree of unconditional election
• The particular redemption of the elect by Christ
• The effectual calling of sinners by the Spirit
• The perseverance of those who are truly regenerated

It was, in every way, a continuation of the theology that the Reformers had proclaimed and Dort had defended.

But among those who embraced the Reformed faith in England were also a growing number of Baptists, who agreed fully with these doctrines yet differed on church polity and baptism. They, too, would write their own confession—one that stood shoulder to shoulder with Westminster and Dort in its doctrine of grace.

The 1689 London Baptist Confession – Grace in Covenant Form
In 1689, English Particular Baptists published The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith. It was largely based on the Westminster Confession, but it reflected the distinctives of a covenantal Baptist theology.

The opening chapters of the 1689 Confession express the same convictions that the Synod of Dort declared a century earlier.

• Chapter 3, “Of God’s Decree”: “By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated, or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the praise of His glorious grace.”
• Chapter 8, “Of Christ the Mediator”: Christ’s atonement is described as “effectual for all the elect,” perfectly securing their redemption.
• Chapter 10, “Of Effectual Calling”: “Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time effectually to call… not by offering grace only, but by His mighty power determining them to that which is good.”
• Chapter 17, “Of the Perseverance of the Saints”: “Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved… can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end.”

Every article echoes the same anthem: Salvation belongs to the Lord.

The 1689 Confession did for the Baptists what Dort had done for the Dutch churches—it established a theological anchor for generations to come.

The Doctrines of Grace in Practice
The Puritans and early Baptists lived out these doctrines with burning conviction. Their preaching was evangelistic because they believed that God had chosen a people who would surely come when the gospel was proclaimed. Their worship was reverent because they saw salvation as the work of a sovereign King.

They built their homes, churches, and nations on this theology. Grace became the grammar of their prayers and the foundation of their hope.

When persecution came, these truths sustained them. When death loomed, these truths comforted them. And when revival came, these truths humbled them.

They believed that theology should lead to doxology—that sound doctrine should produce sound worship. They sang the words of Psalm 115:1: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.”

The Enduring Legacy
The doctrines of grace did not end with the seventeenth century. They became the backbone of evangelical orthodoxy—the theology of men like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, and later, in our own day, teachers like Martyn Lloyd-Jones, R.C. Sproul, and John MacArthur.

Across every generation, these truths have remained the dividing line between a man-centered religion and a God-centered gospel. They remind the church that salvation is not a cooperative project between God and man, but a divine act of mercy upon helpless sinners.

And so, from Paul to Augustine, from Calvin to Dort, from Westminster to 1689, the confession of the church has remained the same: “Of him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.” (Romans 11:36)

The story of the doctrines of grace is the story of God’s faithfulness to His truth. The flame that burned in Augustine’s writings was rekindled in Luther’s study, clarified in Calvin’s pen, defended in Dort’s council, and confessed in the 1689 Baptists’ creed.

Every generation that holds fast to these doctrines stands in that same stream of grace—guarding the good deposit, proclaiming the same gospel, and rejoicing in the same mercy.