Why Baptist?; Selected Texts

Introduction

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What makes a person a Baptist? Is it the overweight preacher in slacks that are too long that need to be rolled up over their loafers? Is it the fire and brimstone preacher? Is it a judgmental attitude? Is it the gossip? Is it the potlucks with fried chicken?

All these things are stereotypes of Baptists. And many of them may be true. But at the very heart of the matter, what makes a person Baptist? A more specific question that we could ask is, “Why is Colgate a Baptist church?”

The things that make us similar to other churches do not separate us. Fans from rival teams are not made at the other fans for their love of sports. They do not get angry at the other team for wearing nice jerseys. They don’t get mad at other teams for tailgating or cheering. The similarities are not the problem. The problem is where they disagree. They disagree on who is the right team.

This analogy will break down. I am not saying that Baptists are the only people that believe the right things. I am saying that there is a reason that I happily call myself a Baptist. And I want our people to know why we call ourselves this name. If it is biblical, we should not be ashamed to use it. If it is not, we should reject the title. We should not allow it to hinder us.

So, let me ask you again. Why is Colgate a Baptist church?

Organization

Credobaptism

Congregation

Church and State

Sermon in a sentence:

I am Baptist because I want to be biblical.

Credobaptism

The New Testament connects baptism, faith, and covenant together.

The Gospels

Mark 1:4–5 “4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”

John 4:1–3 “1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.”

Matthew 28:18–20 “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

Acts

Acts 2:41–47 “41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

The Epistles

1 Corinthians 1:10–15 “10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.”

Romans 6:1–4 “1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

1 Peter 3:21 “21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,”

To be properly baptized is to have faith and enter into the covenant community.

We need to be careful and hold fast to the fact that we are saved by faith alone, not a water baptism! At the same time, we need to recognize that we don’t want to have systems or things in the church that the Bible does not tell us to have.

So many times in life, people want to us exceptions as guardrails against rules. There are churches and pastors that abuse the members. They preach a wealth and health gospel that overemphasizes money and prosperity while downplaying the sorrows and persecutions in this life. We all know about the failures of churches and the leaders. Those are tragic. Those are hurtful. Those need to be called out and taken care of.

But, someone will use that example of a bad situation to justify their disobedience to Scripture. They will say that the reason they don’t go to church is because of what this pastor did. Or that church over there. Or the hypocrisy. All those things happen, but that does not allow them to forsake the assembly of the saints. That does not get them off the hook of being in a community where they can exercise their spiritual gifts with one another.

Congregational

The NT church has authority under the supreme authority of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 16 and 18, Jesus gives his church authority to loose and bind.

Matthew 28:18 “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

1 Cor 5 and 2 Cor 2 tell us that the local congregation had the authority to reject and accept members.

We looked at this last week, the church has a structure in the NT.

The church is elder led, deacon served, and congregational ruled.

We do not have a Pope or Bishops over the local congregation.

Acts 15 is an apostolic gathering.

Titus 1:5 “5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—”

Acts 20 - Paul tells the elders at Ephesus to guard their flock.

Revelation 2-3 provides us with Jesus’ words to seven churches. We don’t see a letter to a bishop, pope, our some denomination.

Because we are congregational, we need to be careful! We do not have any denomination or association over us that can tell us to do something. The Southern Baptist Convention cannot tell us who we need to hire. They can’t tell us how we need to spend our money. The association cannot tell us what ministries we can or cannot do. With all of that freedom comes often an unbiblical independence.

You remember when you got freedom as a teenager and you instantly abused that freedom. It could have been five minutes late from curfew or it could have been those party days. As Baptists, we often feel the weight of freedom and go off the deep end. We reject church history. We reject other denominations. We need to be careful with the freedom God has put into church structure. We have to work with our brothers, sisters, and fellow congregations. We don’t have to work under them!

Church and State

The Church and State are different entities with different spheres of sovereignty.

Israel was a theocracy.

The NT church is not a nation state but a dispersed community.

The church has the authority over sin and the state has the authority over crime.

Matthew 14 - John the Baptist is beheaded because the prophet tells Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have her (Herodias-his brother’s wife).”

Matthew 22:17–21 “17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.””

Romans 13:1–4 “1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”

We are so blessed to live in this time and country that we are not fully aware of all the work of those that have gone before us. During the first 3 centuries of the church, the church was persecuted and ostracized by Rome. It was in the fourth century, through a flawed but helpful man named Constantine, that the church began to become intermingled with the state. Even our Protestant Reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin struggled with untangling these entities. The Swiss Reformer Zwingli died in battle as he was fighting Catholic forces.

Saints, your country has been blessed by Baptists even more than you know. These truths were not created just by politicians. Our nation was founded on a worldview and the help of theologians.

Conclusion

Application

Repent and Believe in Jesus Christ.

Read the Baptist Faith and Message and the Abstract of Principles

use it in family devotion. use it as a part of your personal devotions.

Gavin Ortlund’s video and our wesbite with the link to the 2000 BFM