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The Baptist Church |
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I must say at the beginning of this article that I have nothing personally
against people who call themselves "Baptist". Many are fine religious folk
and splendid neighbors. Baptists of yesteryear fought sin, such as drinking
and dancing, with bravery. Some still do! Today many Baptists are fighting
a noble battle against modernism and for the verbal, plenary inspiration of
the Bible. In these battles I stand foursquare with my Baptist friends.
But in spite of all these things the Baptist Church is an enemy of Jesus Christ and His brethren. Their many fine qualities will do them no good in the Day of Judgment. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; and in thy name cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity"(Matt.7:21-23). The New Testament does not mention the Lord's body as being called "Baptist". In fact, history records that the first Baptist Church was formed by a separatist(radical Puritan) minister, John Smyth, in 1609, in England. Baptists maintain that there is an unbroken line of succession of Baptist churches which stretches back to the first century A.D. But it exists only in their imagination not in history. Since the seventeenth century there have been many divisions within the Baptists. At present there are some thirty Baptist groups in the United States; ranging from the small Primitive Baptists to the large Southern Baptists. The later came into being in a division over slavery in 1845. The church we read about in the New Testament had its beginnings in Acts 2, about 30 A.D. Though its physical presence has waxed and waned throughout the last two thousand years it has always existed in the spiritual sense as the "body of Christ"(Col.1:18,24) and is constantly sprouting again whereever the "seed of the kingdom" (Lk.8:11) germinates in the hearts of men. The Baptist Church came into being approximately 1,579 years too late. I have no quibble with the Baptist teaching regarding the divinity of Jesus Christ, as far as it agrees with the Bible. But most Baptist teaching is tied in many ways to the heretical teachings of John Calvin or Calvinism. Calvinism can best be described by the acrostic T.U.L.I.P. or Total Hereditary Depravity, Unconditional Predestination, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. While Baptists do hold to Calvinism with varying degrees of propensity, it is at the core of their teaching. For example the doctrine of Total Hereditary Depravity would have all humanity born "sinners" because of Adam's fall in the Garden of Eden. In other words everyone is born with the "depravity" of their forefathers. This is why many people, not just Baptists, proclaim themselves "sinners" but also "saved" from their sins. The Bible does not refer to the saved as "sinners" but as forgiven "saints"(1 Cor.1:2). This doctrine would also have the infant which dies at birth damned to Hell. Baptists try to get around this dilemma by claiming that babies are not born sinners but with a propensity to sin. Fortunately this does not concur with the teachings of the Bible. We are not responsible for the sins of our ancestors. We are responsible only for our own sins (Ezek.18:19,20). Likewise little children are not depraved. Jesus once said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God"(Luke 18:16). The Calvinistic doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints says that God has "elected" to save certain individuals and these individuals cannot be lost. In other words the Christian cannot fall from grace or "once saved, always saved". But in multiple passages the Bible teaches that the Christian can fall from grace and be lost eternally. Notice how the Bible refutes this doctrine: "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor.10:12). "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Heb.3:12). [ Emphasis mine, RLR. ] But perhaps the most pernicious of Baptist doctrines is the idea of "faith-only" salvation. They believe that one is saved at the point of belief in Jesus as the Son of God. Millions have heard the plea to "pray the sinner's prayer" or "just accept Jesus in your heart as your personal Savior and you will be saved". There is not one example in the New Testament of anyone doing these things in order to be saved. We are not saved by "faith only" but by obedient faith. "He that beleiveth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him"(ASV, John 3:36). Faith requires the necessary catalyst of obedience to produce salvation. "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"(Luke 6:46). While the Baptist Church may have departed from God's Plan of Salvation, the Bible hasn't. This very day one can become a Christian like Matthew, Mark, Paul and Jude by the obeying the Lord How?
All through the New Testament we find people using the name "Christian" to describe their allegiance to the risen Lord (cf.Acts 11:26;26:28; 1 Pet.4:16). Nowhere to we read of a Christian referring to himself as a "Baptist". Where is their authority from the New Testament to call themselves by this name? They claim John the Baptist ("the Immerser") as the source. But his name described what he did: immerse people. Though a great prophet, John was not a Christian (Matt.11:11). He belonged "before the Cross" or under the Old Covenant or Law of Moses. Years after the ascension of Jesus into Heaven the Apostle Paul found some followers of John who had been baptized in John's Baptism. Paul had them baptized "in the name of the Lord Jesus"(Acts 19:1-5) or the baptism for remission of sins commanded by Christ (Mark 16:16; Matt.28:18-20). Was Paul a Baptist? How about Peter, James, Jude and Aquilla? By its very silence the inspired record votes a resounding "No!". There is no authority in the Bible for a Christian to call himself by any other religious appellation but the one given by the Lord (Matt.23:7-12; Col.3:17). The Baptist Church has developed an interesting system of church government. At the local level each congregation is independent. Usually the local "pastor" oversees a board of deacons which look after the affairs on the church. (The term pastor is not used in the Bible in reference to a preacher or teacher.) But this does not match the pattern of church government as given in the Bible. The early church was made up of independent congregations overseen by a plurality of "elders" (also called by the interchangeable terms of pastors, shepherds, bishops, overseers, and presbyters - Acts 14:23; 20:17-28). These men met the qualifications given by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament (1 Tim.3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9). Under them were the servants of the church, the "deacons"(Acts 6:1-6;1 Tim.3:8-13). All recognized Jesus as the "Chief Shepherd"(1 Pet.5:4) or head of the church (Col.1:18). Nowhere in the New Testament is any one man to run the affairs of the church. In fact, this practice was condemned (2 John 9-10). A pastor or elder oversaw the affairs of the local church along with his fellow pastors. The Baptist Church is sadly deficient in following the divine pattern of church government. While each congregation of the Baptist Church claims independence; they usually are members of a local association of Baptists as well as a state and national convention. Their representatives or "messengers" vote on all sorts of things, including how to spend their pooled monetary resources. All this is a marvel of human endeavor, but not according to the pattern of the New Testament. Again, there is no authority from the word of God for any of this. The church of the New Testament did not dilute its autonomy by submitting to outside control, whether from Jerusalem or Ephesus. In this short study we have seen that the Baptist Church has departed from the Bible in regards to origin, teachings, name and organization. It would be unrecognizable to the early Christian. It does not fit the pattern Jesus and the writers laid down for His church, the church of Christ. Sadly, we must conclude it is an enemy of Truth. "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me
scattereth abroad" (Matt.12:30).
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