What Does It Mean to be Baptist?

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was about eight or nine years old and my family just moved to a new town. It was Sunday, so we naturally began looking for a church. Being that my father was of the Calvinistic persuasion, he decided to visit a Presbyterian church. We had never been to any type of church but baptist. I refused to get out of the car claiming that, "I was baptist, not Presbyterian." I remember the day quite well. I was serious- as serious as an eight year old could be. But I really did not know why I was Baptist. I just knew that I did not want to be anything else.

If you are anything like me, you probaly stutter and stammer when someone approaches you with the question, "Oh, your baptist. What is that?" Do we point to the fact that we immerse beleivers? Do we point to the fact that we are locally autonomous (no structure of religious denominational hierarchy)? Do we point to the fact that we emphasis the priesthood of the believer (the involvmenet of all saints in ministry)? Well, all of those things flow from what it means to be baptist, but to suggest that any one of them completely defines what it means to be baptist is a serious mistake.

We ought to know why we are Baptist. We ought to be able to tell others what it means to be Baptist. Ultimately, we are Christ followers. Ultimately, the Gospel is all that matters. I know that. But somehow it still seems important that we are capable of telling people why we attend a Baptist church. If you disagree then do not read this post. It will not be the end of the world. But if you are interested, then allow me to indulge you with some historical markers of Baptist life.

My former professor at Southern- Dr. Tom Nettles- has written a fine work on the history of baptists. In the introduction to this work, Nettles gives three specific things that define what it means to be baptist historically speaking. Historically, baptists have always been orthodox, evangelical, and separatistic.

To Be Baptist Means to be Orthodox

If you are reading this blog and are not familiar with what orthodox means, please do not sign off. To be orthodox simply means that you stand in that great tradition of true Christians down through the ages who have held a Biblical position concerning the identity of Jesus Christ. In addition, to be orthodox also means to hold a Biblical position on the Trinity. Nettles puts it thus:

"All Christians must ask, 'Who is this Christ whom we worship, and what is his relationship to deity?' The first four ecumenical councils of the church sought to express an answer to this twofold question. The creed of Nicea affirmed that Jesus was of the same essence as God the Father and in his incarnation had taken upon himself the complete human nature. This creed also affirmed his separate personality from the Father. Councils at Constantinople and Ephesus protected these affirmations against various heretical divergences until a christological definition was given final form at the council at Chalcedon" (By His Grace and for His Glory: A Historical, Theological, and Practical Study of the Doctrines of Grace in Baptist Life, x-xi).

In other words, orthodoxy contains the belief that Jesus Christ is one person possessing two natures. He is fully God, and at the same time fully man. Yet, He is one person, not two. It is to further believe (to quote the First London Confession) that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are "of the one and same God..and therefore not divided, but distinguished one from another by their several properties". That is to say, the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. And the Father "is neither begotten nor proceeding" from either the Son or the Holy Spirit (to quote the Westminster Confession).

So orthodox simply means to understand that Christ is God, and became a real man while at the same time remaining God. It is also to understand that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit compose one God who is three in persons with distinguishing roles, yet one unified purpose of redemption. To stray from these teachings is to stray from Scripture. And to stray from Scripture is to be unorthodox. Baptists have always been orthodox.

To Be Baptist Means to be Evangelical

Nettles quotes Bruce Shelley's description of evangelical. Shelley describes "evangelical" as "a spirit, a concern for sinners, a way of life. Its master motif is the salvation of souls, its guiding image the redemptive Gospel of Jesus Christ. All other considerations are subordinate to this standard" (xvii).

In other words, evangelical describes someone who is consumed, focused, even obsessed with the Gospel. It describes someone who is so thankful for what they have experienced in Christ that they desire others to experience the grace of salvation that they have experienced. More specifically, to be evangelical means that one adopts, supports, and teaches the doctrine of justification by faith. To fail in holding to this doctrine is to fail to truly understand the Gospel. Evangelicalism, therefore unashamedly affirms that faith alone justifies. It emphasizes the forgiveness of sins and the imputed righteousness of Christ alone.

Nettles puts it this way:

"The evangelical message asserts the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the personal revelation of god, the completeness of his work in humiliation and exaltation for the redemption of sinners, the effectual working of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel, and the necessity of an uncoerced response to repentance and faith. The heart of evangelicalism throbs with the redeeming gospel of grace, expressed in missionary passion that outreaches in evangelism" (xvii).

I dealt with this very topic Sunday in Colossians 4:2-6- where the theme is Gospel centered ministry. I pointed out Christ's words to His disciples in John 15 when he predicts, "You will testify of me...because you have been with Me from the beginning". As evangelicals we testify of the Gospel of grace to others out of a very natural determination because we have been with Jesus and cannot help to have this evangelical passion.

For the record, the English word evangelical comes from a Greek word which refers to the publication of the Gospel. In short, to be evangelical is to proclaim the Biblical Gospel, which includes, by necessity, the doctrine of justification by faith.

Baptists, according to Nettles, have always been imbued with the spirit of evangelicalism. It is perhaps the main thing that characterizes them. In fact, Spurgeon, who is considered the giant of Baptist life was strongly Calvinistic. He broke away from the Baptist Union during the downgrade controversy of the 19th century over doctrinal laxity. It was Spurgeon who insisted evangelicalism was the key prerequisite of Christian fellowship:

"In our fellowship with Methodists of all grades we have fond them firmly adhering to those great evangelical doctrines for which we contend...We care far more for the central evangelical truths than we do for Calvinism as a system; but we believe that Calvinism has in it a conservative force which helps to hold men to the vital truth, and therefore we are sorry to see any quitting it who have once accepted it" (xix).

To Be Baptist Means to be Separate

Central to Baptist life down through history has been the affirmation that the church is made up only of regenerate (saved) believers. This is why Baptists immerse believers only. Baptism is really not the primary issue. Rather, salvation is. Baptism identifies someone as a child of God. And only truly saved children of God are part of the church. In other words, the church is not a mixed bag of believers and unbelievers. This is unique to Baptists.

In addition, to be separate means to understand a strict separation between church and state. The state is not to dabble with the church. And the church does not direct the state either.

Again, this last tenet brings us back to the Gospel centeredness of Baptists. In order to have a regenerate church membership the Gospel must be clearly delivered. Thus, Baptists are Gospel centered because they are separatistic in this sense.

Conclusion

Thus, Baptists could summarily be described as Gospel centered. This is seen in their orthodoxy, evangelicalism, and separatism. So next time someone asks you why you are Baptist, you can answer intelligently. I like acronyms. If it were not for acronyms I would have failed in school. An easy way to remember the Baptist identity is SOE- separate, orthodox, evangelical.