Letters    

 BAPTIST DISTINCTIVES

Dear R. A. M.                                                                                                      July 25, 1992

       Your inquiry about our identifying marks "Calvinistic, Separated, Baptist" could engage volumes. "Baptist"—by this term we do not refer to any denomination but to a system of belief that holds to what the Bible says is so. Baptists have historically held—

I.       Baptists believe in the Authority of Scripture. The Bible is the inspired Word of God consisting of the Old and New Testaments.

A. The Bible is sufficient in matters of faith and practice. Rome instituted tradition, Papal decrees and Papal infallibility because to Roman Catholicism, the Bible is insufficient to serve as our guide.

B. Salvation is a supernatural act of God that produces a new, spiritual life, and thus makes a repenting sinner a true child of God. Very early, Rome began to confuse the new birth, i.e. conversion, with the observance of rituals, or religious acts. Rome took the position that salvation was accomplished by baptism.

II.      Baptists believe in a Regenerate Church Membership, i.e. church membership is made up of people who know they have been saved, or, born again. Rome baptized infants believing the act of baptizing actually saves a person.

A. Baptists believe the Scriptures teach that a person must repent before he is to be baptized (Acts 2:38). Preaching preceded the baptism of Cornelius in Acts 10, and the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8.

B. Baptism is a prerequisite for church membership as well as for the participation at the Lord's Table.

III.      Baptists believe the Bible teaches the Autonomy of the local Church. Christ is the Head of the Church (I Cor. 12:13-27; Eph. 4:15,16). Each assembly is accountable to the Lord directly, not to a synod, a council, or to denominational headquarters.

IV.      Baptists believe the New Testament establishes the Universal Priesthood of Believers. All believers have access to the presence of the Lord. We need no priest to intercede for us (I Pet. 2:5,9).

A. Christ is our High Priest.

B. We have no altars now: Christ is our altar. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is sufficient for our salvation.

V.       Baptists believe the Bible teaches the Separation of Church and State, and that each has its separate function.

A. The state is not to meddle with the business of the Church; neither is the Church to meddle with the business of the state.

B. "Civil governments, rulers and magistrates are to be respected, and in all temporal matters not contrary to conscience and the Word of God, to be obeyed; but they have no jurisdiction in spiritual concern, and have no right of dictation, or control over, or of interference with, matters of religion; but are bound to protect all good citizens in the peaceable enjoyment of their religious rights and privileges." —Kenneth Good

   "Separated"—We believe that since the word "church" means "called out ones," that all true Christians are delivered from this present evil world to live lives separate from this world. If we have indeed been saved, we should "set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:2). If we live as we always have, and our lives are no different than the children of this world, it is foolish to pretend we have been saved, or "delivered" from this world.

     "Calvinistic"—Baptists have historically been called "General Baptists," or "Particular Baptists." General Baptists have followed the religious humanism of Jacob Harmensen, otherwise known as "Arminius." Particular Baptists have followed the doctrinal position of Calvin with only slight differences in the realm of ecclesiology, which includes, baptism. ...

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