|
What Is a "Baptist" Anyway?
People often choose a church based on the appearance of the building,
the friendliness of the people, or the programs that are offered.
As important as these qualities are, other qualities surpass them
all . . .
First and foremost, the church you choose should hold to the fundamentals
of the Christian faith: the inspiration and authority of the Bible and Jesus' virgin
birth, eternal deity, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, and literal return.
Bible-teaching churches of all varieties hold these
primary beliefs as essential truths.
But beyond these fundamentals, there are specific teachings that
set one church apart from the others.
Baptists are distinguished from other Christian groups by specific
Biblical distinctives. The name "Baptist" identifies people
who hold those distinctives.
These Baptist distinctives relate to questions of vital interest
today. For example, does absolute truth exist, or are all belief systems relative?
Who controls the program, property, finances, staffing, and doctrinal position of
a local church? How does being a representative of God on earth affect the
believer's marriage, work, or relationship to government and society? Does
God dispense His grace through religious rituals? Should a free society "legislate
righteousness"? Is it right to "judge" anything about another person?
Is there a Biblical model for church leadership? What is the proper relationship
between church and state?
Why Is It Important to Know
the Baptist Distinctives?
They are Biblical! They are part of God's truth as revealed
in His
Word.
The knowledge of these facts provides practical benefits relevant
to today.
Such knowledge enables one to select a church that is faithful
to these Biblical truths. It demonstrates the meaning, worth, and significance of the name
"Baptist."
General titles that lack identification, such as "Christian" or
"Christ" and churches labeled "community" or "nondenominational," leave much room for ambiguities
and misunderstandings. The name "Baptist" is understood through its distinctives.
Baptists should be confident that when their name is heard, no ambiguities
are left in defining what they stand for. Certain Biblical distinctives have
distinguished their doctrinal position.
It helps members maintain the Baptist position of their church,
preventing digression into unscriptural positions.
Each member of a Baptist church needs to know what a Biblical Baptist
individual and a Biblical Baptist church does and then do these things faithfully.
How Did These
Distinctives Originate?
Baptists arrived at these distinctives through careful study of
the Bible. That is why these teachings are more precisely called the Biblical distinctives
of Baptists rather than Baptist distinctives.
These teachings emerged as Baptist distinctives because individual
Baptist churches have consistently and independently held to them, not because some
group of Baptist leaders composed the list and then imposed the distinctives on
local churches.
Church groups other than Baptists have held some of the Baptist distinctives,
and one may even find churches that hold all of the distinctives but do not call
themselves Baptist. Such groups are "baptistic," but for some reason they
choose not to be identified as Baptists. On the other hand, some churches naming
themselves "Baptist" are not truly Baptist because they no longer hold the historic
Baptist beliefs or even the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
Baptists are people of the Book above all else. And Baptists enjoy a priceless
heritage of generations who have exalted God's Son our Savior and have
proclaimed God's inspired Word.
What Are the Eight
Baptist Distinctives?
These teachings may be remembered by associating them with the letters
that form the word "BAPTISTS."
-
Biblical Authority
The Bible is the final authority in all
matters of belief and practice because the Bible is inspired by God and bears the
absolute authority of God himself. Whatever the Bible affirms, Baptists accept
as true. No human opinion or decree of any church group can override the Bible.
Even creeds and confessions of faith, which attempt to articulate the theology of
Scripture, do not carry Scripture's inherent authority.
-
Autonomy of the Local
Church
The local church is an independent body
accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church. All human authority
for governing the local church resides within the church itself. Thus the
local church is autonomous, or self-governing. No religious hierarchy outside
the local church may dictate a church's beliefs or practices. Autonomy does
not mean isolation. A Baptist church may fellowship with other like-minded
churches around mutual interests and in an associational tie, but a Baptist church
cannot be a "member" of any other body.
-
Priesthood of the
Believer
"Priest" is defined as "one authorized
to perform the sacred rites of religion, especially as a mediatory agent between
humans and God." Every believer today is a priest of God and may enter into
His presence in prayer directly through our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ.
No other mediator is needed between God and people. As priests, we can study
God's Word, pray for others, and offer spiritual worship to God. We all have
equal access to God − whether we are a preacher or not.
-
Two Ordinances
The local church should practice two ordinances:
-
Baptism of believers by immersion
in water identifying the individual with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
-
The Lord's Supper, or communion,
commemorating His death for our sins.
-
Individual Soul Liberty
Every individual, whether a believer or
an unbeliever, has the liberty to choose what he believes is right in the religious
realm. No one should be forced to assent to any belief against his will.
Baptists have always opposed religious persecution. However, this liberty
does not exempt one from responsibility to the word of God or from accountability
to God himself.
-
Saved, Baptized Church
Membership
Local church membership is restricted to
individuals who give a believable testimony of personal faith in Christ and have
publicly identified themselves with Him in believer's baptism. When the members
of a local church are believers, a oneness in Christ exists and the members can
endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.
-
Two Offices
The Bible mandates only two offices in
the church: pastor and deacon. The four terms "pastor", "elder", "bishop",
and "overseer" all refer to the same office. The two offices of pastor and
deacon exists within the local church and not as a hierarchy outside or over the
local church.
-
Separation of Church
and State
God established both the church and the
civil government and He gave each its own distinct area of operation. The
government's purposes are outlined in Romans 13:1-7:
The church's purposes are outlined in Matthew
28:19-20:
Neither should control each other nor should
there be an alliance between the two. Christians in a free society can properly
influence government toward righteous, which is not the same as a denomination or
group of churches controlling the government.
What sets one church apart
from all the others? We have seen that it is the church's distinctive beliefs that
set it apart from all others and that Baptists in general hold to some convictions
that make them different from all other groups. Regular Baptist churches will continue
to hold to the Baptist distinctives because these distinctives are historically
Biblical. They are relevant to the issues facing contemporary society and the church.
So when "shopping" for a church, look for the name "Baptist" and then take a closer
look to make sure that church is upholding the Biblical Baptist distinctives.
|