Second London Baptist Confession on Original sin & the human will
Will in bondage; needs sovereign grace to be freed
Man by his fall into a state of sin hath wholly lost all ability of Will, to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in Sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself; or to prepare himself thereunto.
THE POSITION
Chapter 6 has Adam's guilt imputed and corrupt nature conveyed to all his posterity, leaving them 'utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good' (6.4). Chapter 9 then answers the will question directly: natural liberty of choice survives the fall, but all ability of will toward saving good is wholly lost, and the sinner can neither convert himself nor prepare himself for it. Freedom to will the spiritually good is restored only when God converts him (9.4).
7 because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
17 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
The confessional standard of the Particular Baptists, first printed 1677 and adopted by the London General Assembly of 1689. It takes over the Westminster Confession chapter by chapter and rewrites it at four points that matter: the covenant (ch. 7), the gospel and the extent of its grace (ch. 20, which Westminster has no counterpart to), the church (ch. 26), and baptism (ch. 29). This entry rests on the 1677/1689 printing with its own Scripture proofs, read against the Westminster text clause by clause.
Cite this page
"Second London Baptist Confession on Original sin & the human will", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/lbc1689/original-sin (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/lbc1689/original-sin).