The Doctrine of First Motions
The Westminster Confession of Faith, Savoy Declaration, and Second London Baptist Confession of Faith each mention the concept of “motions” pertaining to sin. The Second London Baptist Confession adds the adjective “first,” stating, “The corruption of nature, during this life, does remain in those that are regenerated, and although it be through Christ pardoned and mortified, yet both itself, and the first motions thereof, are truly and properly sin” (6.5, Of the Fall of Man, Sin, and the Punishment Thereof). The doctrine of first motions teaches that the initial impulses, arisings, and appearances of sin within a believer’s heart are in themselves sinful, even if not wholly voluntary.[1] Although such a truth weighs heavily on those whose hearts are tender toward sinning, a biblical understanding and application of the doctrine of first motions is a formidable ally in the war to mortify sin (Rom. 8:13).
Refuting Rome
It was necessary for the Reformers and Puritans to confess the truth that even the first motions of sin “are truly and properly sin” in part because of the Roman Catholic teaching of concupiscence, which they define in their catechism as “an inclination to evil.” According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death and such frailties inherent in life as weakness of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, “the tinder for sin”; since concupiscence is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ (1264).
Such a teaching displays the necessity for the 17th century Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists to explicitly state the truth about the sinful nature of Roman “concupiscence.”
Clarifying the Concept of Concupiscence
The King James Version of the Bible uses the term concupiscence three times in Romans 7:8, Colossians 3:5, and 1 Thessalonians 4:5 as follows:
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead (Rom. 7:8).
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Col. 3:5).
Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God (1 Thess. 4:5).
The term “concupiscence” in the Greek is epithymia and its semantic range includes desire, especially sexual desire, yearning, craving, passion, impulses, coveting, and lust. Modern translations use the terms desire, lust, and coveting in place of the Old English term “concupiscence” in the three Pauline verses above. So, while the Roman Catholic Church uses the term as more of a blanket statement describing a general inclination to evil, the biblical use of the term helps explain that an “inclination to evil” is evident by the presence of lust and covetous desires within one’s heart. The question then becomes, is it sinful for lust and covetous desires to dwell within the heart of a believer?
The Reformed and Confessional Perspective
In his polemical commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith, 17th century Scottish theologian David Dickson asks, “Well then, do not the Papists, Socinians, and Arminians err, who maintain, that concupiscence, or lust, and the first motions thereof, which have not gotten the consent of the will are not properly sin?”[2] His answer? “Yes.” Dickson offers the following confutation to the Papists:
[Concupiscence is] forbidden by the moral and natural law in the tenth command[ment] (Ex. 20:17; Deut. 5:21; Rom. 7:7).
Because Paul speaking of himself, while unregenerate, calleth concupiscence and lust, of which the controversy is oftentimes, sin and evil (Rom. 7:5-6).
Because it is a great part of the old man, which he must lay down, and must be mortified (Col. 3:5-7; Eph. 4:22).[3]
Notice in the quote above how Dickson, a paedobaptist minister within the Church of Scotland, quotes the Baptists of England by using the adjective “first” from the Second London Baptist Confession 6.5, when he says “and the first motions thereof” (emphasis added). Here is an example of Reformed and Confessional Solidarity among Protestant brothers, resulting in doctrinal accuracy in the fight for the Church’s purity.
Where the Battle Begins
Speaking of the Church’s purity . . . In his exposition of paragraph 6.5 of the Second London Baptist Confession, Dr. James Renihan writes, “When temptation first appears, the Christian must seek to mortify it.”[4] Renihan’s sage wisdom urges believers to kill sin internally before it becomes sin externally. But how do we definitively know that the presence of lust on the inside of man is sin even though he does not act on such desires externally? In Matthew 5, Jesus taught, saying, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (vv. 27-28). Here, Jesus teaches that committing adultery in the heart is possible without ever committing adultery with one’s body. Matthew 5:28 alone shows the foolishness of the Roman Catholic view of concupiscence. Christ’s words in this passage also affirm Renihan’s counsel to put sin to death upon its first motions. What Jesus, Dickson, Renihan, and the Confessions teach the modern believer is that you cannot wait to fight sin until you are already sinning in your body. The war over your holiness begins internally, where sin attempts to take a foothold.
Proper Identification Leads to Biblical Action
Imagine that while eating dinner with your spouse and young children one evening, an armed serial burglar walks into your home. Would you wait to remove him until he started stealing or stabbing? Would you tell yourself, “It’s okay if he is here inside our home because he is not actually causing any harm. I’ll wait to oppose him until he does.” Giving residence to sin upon its first motions is like harboring a criminal that means to kill you. The first motions of sin are harmful because they are consuming your thoughts and stirring your affections, each of which ought to be upon Christ and holy matters, not lust and its objects.
Benefits and Blessings
What is the benefit of embracing Christ’s perspective of the doctrine of first motions? If you classify the first motions of sin as actual sin, you will place yourself in the proper posture for battling against that which is trying to kill you, namely indwelling sin. Such a posture produces righteous obedience, mortifies sin, and pleases God, begetting His blessing through bringing Him glory. Praise be to the God who gives transforming grace and forgiving grace at the very first motion of sin.
[1] For more on the nature of desirous voluntarily and involuntary sin, see Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 1992), 1:591-593. Available in PDF format for free online.
[2] David Dickson, Truth’s Victory Over Error (Kilmarnock, 1687), 56.
[3] Dickson, Truth’s Victory Over Error, 56.
[4] James Renihan, To the Judicious and Impartial Reader: An Exposition of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, (Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2022), 185.
[5] John Owen, Indwelling Sin in Believers, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2010), 169.