Who are Baptis1

Who are Baptist? This is a question that many of those who are or have been in the Baptist Church need to have answered. According to the scripture,  (1Peter 3:15) “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you”. I believe that the Baptist church needs to teach their members how to tell those that ask them what it means to be a Baptist and yet  I have found that many of the members of the Baptist Church could not give an answer. Thus, my second letter on this subject. I hope you will read this and my continued hope is that you will be able to give an answer for your faith.

The word Baptist had its beginnings with people that had a blazing spirit to move forward. In the seventeenth century in England, there were Episcopalians labeled the conservatives, Puritans labeled the liberals, Quakers labeled the Congregationalist and Baptists labeled the Radicals.

Baptists of that day were not just followers of the norm that spent time fitting into the crowd.  Rather, Baptists of the seventeenth-century were excited about God. They were willing to be forward thinkers; ones who thought outside the box and were willing to endure the controversy that it was going to cause them. They were put in jail and had to endure trials because so many wanted the Baptists to be silenced. These pioneers of the Baptist faith could see Gods hand moving them forward and were unwilling to let anything stand in their way.   

Looking back at these early Baptists, we can see that they did not give up. They did not throw in the towel on their fight for religious freedom and the right to have their own faith that would be separate from the government of that day. They were the first to say aloud “that people could not be born into or baptized into Christianity”. These Baptist understood that there was only on way to Heaven and that way is through Jesus Christ and Him alone.   

Today we are seeing a different kind of Baptist people. A people that are easily drained of energy and excitement and who are not sure what they believe about God or the church. This has caused the Baptist church to fall into a stall that must be stopped. I believe that this downward movement must be confronted and the step we need to take should be to teach the fundamentals of the Baptist faith. Those that have been saved need to be able to give the reason for their faith.

        By this I mean, what do Baptist believe about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, last days, salvation and the Word of God. These are just a few of the areas that would help Baptist people stand up for God in a lost and dying world.  

I hope you will never forget that God saved you and then He put you into the Body of Christ, “the Church”. He put you into a particular part of His church, which is the Baptist Church. Never be found unable to give the reasons why you are a Baptist.