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Two new articles every two weeks. Bible Question? E-mail us. THIS ISSUE: "The Baptist Church is Not in the Bible" (see below) and "The Purpose of Baptism" The Baptist Church is not in the Bibleby Tom Rainwater The subject of this article will likely capture the attention of many of my Baptist friends. I do not want to give the impression that I think Baptists are bad people. There are good moral people in Baptist churches who are sincere in their beliefs. Also, I don't want to imply that everything taught by the Baptist church is wrong. Most Baptists believe that Jesus is the resurrected Son of God who died for our sins. However, when one carefully examines God's Word, the Baptist Church is nowhere to be found. Also, many of its beliefs are contrary to plain Scripture. Therefore, in light of such error, I have an obligation to warn my Baptist friends of the danger to their souls in following something that is contrary to Christ's will. (2Jn.9). Have you ever noticed that the Bible doesn't mention the Baptist
Church? No group exists by that name anywhere in the New Testament.
We can find descriptive names like "church of God' (Ac.20:28;
1Cor.1:2; 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; 2Cor.1:1; Gal.1:13; 1Tim.3:5),
"churches of Christ" (Rm.16:16), "household of
God" (1Tim.3:15; 1Pt.4:17), and "church of the firstborn"
(Heb.12:23), that identify the same group of saved people. But
we do not find a Baptist Church anywhere by name. If it was in
the Bible, wouldn't we see it? You have to wonder why people
call themselves "Baptists" today when such a group
did not exist by name in the New Testament. We can see that people were added by the Lord to His church in Ac.2:47. What did they do in order to be added to the saved? Many of the people believed the preaching of the apostle Peter concerning the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ and "gladly received his word." What had Peter told them to do? "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins..." (Ac.2:38). Did they obey? "Those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added..." (Ac.2:41.) Notice that the people believed, repented, and were baptized before they were "added" by the Lord to the group of saved in His church. But you don't hear that kind of preaching in any Baptist church today. Many Baptists say we are saved by praying to Jesus as our
Lord and personal Savior -- and that is all. But, in the same
breath, they will deny that we're saved through any act of obedience
of our own. It's quite a puzzling doctrine, because: (1) Why
would they think that their faith was not an act of obedience?
Faith is a work of obedience to God (Jn.6:29; 1Thess.1:3;
2Thess.1:11). (2) Why would they think that acts of obedience
to Jesus are not necessary for salvation? It sounds like rebellious
talk to me. Heb.5:8-9 says that Jesus "became the author
of eternal salvation to all who obey Him." (See also
2Thess.1:7-9.) Clearly, the Baptist position on salvation is
not in harmony with plain Scripture. Baptist friend, my appeal to you is to open your Bible and study these passages for yourself. Don't just take the word of any preacher. Take the words of Jesus Christ and His apostles directly from pages of God's Word. No one is saved by doing what they think might save them, but by doing exactly what Jesus said will save them. May the Lord help you in your search for the truth.
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