The Westminster Confession’s Shortest Chapter Reveals the Warmth of Its Theology

Of Adoption Moving from chapter to chapter, one of the noticeable things about the Westminster Confession of Faith is that some chapters are much longer than others. The length of a chapter, however, does not necessarily reveal its importance. Some doctrines require more explanation because they were heavily debated during the centuries and decades leading up to the writing of the Confession from 1643–1646. Chapter 12, on adoption, is the shortest chapter in the Westminster Confession of Faith. At just over one hundred words, it can easily be lost in the shadow of the extensive chapter on justification which directly precedes it. Yet its relative brevity should not be a judgment on its importance. Its importance is punctuated by the fact that the Westminster divines believed adoption deserved its very own chapter. When one thinks of salvation according to the Reformed theology of the Confession, justification is likely to jump first to mind; and it is right that, in order, justification appears before adoption. However, even as they are distinct chapters, there is an integral relationship between them. One cannot enjoy the privileges of sonship in adoption apart from being accepted...