What I Have Learned About the Biblical New Testament Local Church

(Part One)

I have been Baptist 'all of my life'. My mother was Methodist and my father was Baptist. Dad told me one time that when we lived in Byram, Mississippi (from Summer 1966 to Summer 1967), sometimes they took us to a Baptist church and other times took us to a Methodist church. Dad also said another time that he didn't continue attending church because he felt hypocritical by going to church while not being able to get along with Mom at home. [Mom (1933-1994) and Dad (1931-2007) both were born again Christians and in his later years, Dad became devout in prayer and an avid Bible reader.] I don't remember going to church until 1973. On February 15, 1973, we moved from Pearl, Mississippi to 3518 Lee Drive in Jackson. We lived there only one and a half months. One evening we were visited by some people from Candlestick Baptist Church. Four of us (6) brothers started going to church. I don’t remember much about the other three but I entered the church scene full force and attended as much as possible. I went on Sundays and Wednesdays. I went on visitation nights going door to door telling people how to get saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ. I attended all other functions in between whenever I could. To the best of my memory, I went to church there for about a year. After that many years passed before I would again have much thought about God or the Bible.

After I became a son of God (May 1981), I returned to Texas and went to church with my brother and his family. We went to a Baptist church. Other than visiting a church with a ‘friend’ occasionally, whenever I attended church from 1981 to 1988, I went to a Baptist church. I don’t remember when I first began to learn important Bible doctrines. I knew when I received Jesus Christ as my Saviour that I was saved by faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and not saved by works in any way at all. And even in times of broken fellowship with the Lord, I never doubted my salvation, thus indicating my knowledge of the Biblical doctrine of eternal security. And I had always believed that the Bible is God’s inerrant word and the final authority for a Christian. Perhaps I learned some of these doctrines in my forgotten youth. I don’t know. In the fall of 1988, when I repented and rededicated my life to Jesus Christ, I went to several churches, looking for a good one. I went to Baptist Churches. Until somewhere around 1988 or 1990, I’m not sure I even knew why I picked Baptist churches to attend instead of some other denomination. But in the fall/winter of 1988-1989, I began to learn more and more about the Bible and its doctrines. I recall hearing or reading some preacher saying that a Baptist church is the closest to the Biblical New Testament local church that there is.

What is a Baptist?

James Melton’s List of Baptist Distinctives (from his tape “Why I Am A Baptist”):

1. Water Baptism for Believers Only by Immersion only
2. Salvation by Grace through Faith Only in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ
3. Eternal Security of the Believer
4. Autonomy of the Local Church
5. Spiritual Priesthood of all Believers
6. Regenerate Church Membership
7. Absolute and Final Authority of the Bible
8. Separation of Church and State

[James Melton is pastor of Bible Baptist Church, Martin, Tennessee.]

Other Baptists or Baptist Groups may give differing lists of so-called Baptist Distinctives. For example, Donald K. Anderson’s list in “The Biblical Distinctives Of Baptists” [© 1984 by Regular Baptist Press, Schaumburg, Illinois] is the following:

Biblical Authority (Matching Melton’s no. 7)

Autonomy of the Local Church

Priesthood of All Believers

Two Ordinances – Baptism and Communion

Individual Soul Liberty

Saved, Baptized Church Membership (Matching Melton’s no. 6)

Two Offices – Pastor and Deacon

Separation of Church and State

James Melton said (Bible Baptist Bulletin, Winter 2008, page 1), “I trust you know what a Baptist church is: a church that believes in salvation by grace by faith, baptism by immersion for regenerated believers only,” etc.

My question is “Can you really know what a Baptist church is?”

The following is a list of Baptist sub-denominations, a list of subdivisions of Baptists, with their various Baptist associations, conferences, conventions, fellowships, groups, and unions in the United States. [From the online Wikipedia encyclopedia -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Baptist_sub-denominations.]

• Alliance of Baptists [8]
• American Baptist Association
• American Baptist Churches [9]
• Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America
• Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists [10]
• Baptist Bible Fellowship International
• Baptist Bible Translators [11]
• Baptist Churches Planting Ministry [12]
• Baptist Foundation of Arizona
• Baptist Fundamental Ministries for Jewish Evangelism [13]
• Baptist General Conference
• Baptist Missionary Association of America [14]
• Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America
• Black Primitive Baptists
• Central Baptist Association
• Christian Unity Baptist Association
• Conservative Baptist Association of America
• Continental Baptist Churches
• Cooperative Baptist Fellowship [15]
• Evangelical Free Baptist Church
• Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship
• Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association
• Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of America
• General Association of Baptists
• General Association of General Baptists
• General Association of Regular Baptist Churches [16]
• General Conference of the Evangelical Baptist Church, Inc.
• General Six-Principle Baptists
• Independent Baptist Church of America
• Independent Baptist Fellowship International
• Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America
• Institutional Missionary Baptist Conference of America
• Interstate & Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptist Association
• Landmark Baptists
• Liberty Baptist Fellowship
• Macedonia Baptist World Missions [17]
• Mainstream Baptist Network [18]
• National Association of Free Will Baptists
• National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.
• National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. [19]
• National Baptist Evangelical Life and Soul Saving Assembly of the U.S.A.
• National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
• National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A.
• New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches
• North American Baptist Conference
• Old Regular Baptist
• Old Time Missionary Baptist
• Original Free Will Baptist Convention
• Primitive Baptist
• Progressive National Baptist Convention
• Reformed Baptist
• Regular Baptist
• Roger Williams Fellowship [20]
• Separate Baptist
• Separate Baptists in Christ
• Seventh Day Baptist General Conference [21]
• Southern Baptist Convention [22]
• Southwide Baptist Fellowship
• Sovereign Grace Baptists
• Transforming MinistriesCalifornia American Baptist Split
• Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists
• United American Free Will Baptist Church
• United American Free Will Baptist Conference
• United Baptists
• Unregistered Baptist Fellowship
• Westboro Baptist Church
• World Baptist Fellowship
• Worldwide Baptist New Testament Missions [23]

The foregoing list gives over sixty groups or ‘sub-denominations’. I really doubt that all of these Baptist sub-denominations are in agreement on either of the previous lists of Baptist ‘distinctives’. I have heard that there are about 139 different Baptist groups. Even if there are only 25 to 30 groups that would be enough to suspect that they don’t all believe the same things concerning major Bible doctrines. Another question comes up. If all Baptist groups do agree on the earlier listed Baptist distinctives, would that be enough to distinguish what a Baptist church is?

I quote again from the online Wikipedia encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist).

“Because of the importance of the priesthood of every believer, the centrality of the freedom of conscience and thought in Baptist theology, and due to the congregational style of church governance, doctrine varies greatly between one Baptist church and another (and among individual Baptists) especially on the following issues:

• Calvinism/Arminianism
• Doctrine of separation
• Eschatology
• Hermeneutical method
• Homosexuality
• Ordination of women as pastor or deacon
• The translation of Scripture (See King-James-Only Movement)
• The extent to which missionary boards should be used to support missionaries
• The extent to which non-members may participate in communion services
• The nature of Law and Gospel”

Many people believe that the Calvinisn/Arminianism issue is as simply as whether or not one believes in the eternal security of the believer. Supposedly Calvinists believe in eternal security and Arminianists believe that after a person is saved, he could at some later point be not saved; in other words, you can lose your salvation. However, it isn’t that simple. Calvinists do not really believe in the true Biblical doctrine of eternal security. They believe in the perseverance of the saints not the preservation of the saints. [For a good understanding of Calvinism and its heretical nature, read The Other Side of Calvinism by Laurence Vance.]

This is the subject of one of Melton’s distinctives: Eternal Security. However, if some Baptists believe the Biblical doctrine of eternal security (which some do) and at the same time, other Baptists don’t believe in eternal security (which some don’t), then the doctrine of eternal security is no longer a Baptist distinctive.

Secondly, the above various issues that divide Baptists are certainly important issues that should draw dividing lines between separate and distinct groups. It has become difficult to agree with James Melton on his claim that you can know what a Baptist church is.

Furthermore, I will take you through his list and show you problems with calling most of them distinctives.

The first in his list is: Water Baptism for Believers Only by Immersion only.

Brother Melton’s belief here is that water baptism is not a requirement for salvation, but instead is a ritual to be attended to after a person has already been saved; hence he is called a believer. In addition, the mode of water baptism should identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; hence it must be by immersion. Now, any real Bible believer believes exactly this way and agrees with brother Melton on this doctrine.

The problem is that while most Baptists don’t believe that water baptism is a requirement for salvation, they still put so great an emphasis on it that you have to wonder if they really think it is necessary for salvation or not. One Baptist church that I used to attend in Texas believed that no Christian could grow in the Lord without getting water baptism. Honestly, that is too ridiculous to even comment on. I eventually got the impression from pulpit comments I heard at that same church that anyone who had not been water baptized was not worthy to take up space on their pew. There are also Baptists, who believe that if your water baptism wasn’t administered by a ‘qualified’ Baptist preacher,

then, it doesn’t count for anything and you need to be rebaptised by a ‘qualified’ baptizer. I may have news for some of you. Your water baptism doesn’t count for much anyway. I knew of one pastor in Texas who would only fill his baptistery a few times per year (maybe about 4). Anyway, the point is that with so much undue emphasis on water baptism, why should it be considered to be one of the denominational distinctives?

Next in his list: Salvation by Grace through Faith Only in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ.

Brother Melton believes that salvation is by faith only without works on the part of the believer. Again, a Bible believer will agree. You become a son of God by receiving Jesus Christ. You receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour by believing on his name (John 1:12). For further information on salvation by faith without works, see my work on the following webpage address: http://www.ourchurch.com/view/?pageID=156396. While salvation by faith only and eternal security are both true Bible doctrines, neither of them qualifies as Baptist distinctives. As I already stated concerning eternal security, both of these doctrines are debatable between some Baptist groups. And since the separate Baptist groups don’t agree on them how do they qualify as a Baptist distinctive? They don’t. Another problem with these two doctrines being distinctive is again the undue emphasis put on them. You see, these two doctrines are clearly true for the church, the body of Christ. They are not clearly true for any other group or any other time. In the Old Testament, before the death of Jesus Christ, no saint had the permanent indwelling of the holy Spirit, the spiritual birth, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”, the spiritual baptism in the body of Christ, or eternal security. Most Baptists do what most any other group does; that is, they find one way of salvation in the Bible and try to make all the rest of the Bible line up with a truth that really only applies to one time period. Salvation in the church age is unlike salvation in any other period of time at all. And other groups find salvation by works in the Bible or find salvation without eternal security and they do likewise; they try to make all the rest of the Bible line up with what they found to be true somewhere, but they don’t even know the right place to apply what they learned. That is why we have people teaching that salvation by works and without eternal security applies today. Each group puts an undue amount of emphasis on a truth that they have learned from the Bible. And they “changed the truth of God into a lie” (Romans 1:25) in order to prove that their favorite doctrine of salvation applies throughout all time. This comes from a failure to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). [Brother Melton is guilty of this himself. If I understand correctly, he doesn’t believe in dispensational salvation. He believes that salvation always was by faith only. Again, for a better understanding of dispensational salvation, see my work on the following webpage - http://www.ourchurch.com/view/?pageID=156185.]

The fourth doctrine in his list: Autonomy of the Local Church.

This is another true Bible doctrine that is not shared by all of the Baptists groups. Namely, the Southern Baptist Convention Churches are not independent or autonomous. There may be others.

The sixth doctrine in Brother Melton’s list is: Regenerate Church Membership.

By this, it is meant that no person should be accepted as a member of the local church who has not been born again and received Jesus Christ as his Saviour. This may be true and this may sound like a good Baptist distinctive. It, however, is also faulty. The normal procedure is that anyone is allowed to attend meetings in a local church. Then, if someone wants to join the church, they will be accepted as a member if they have already been saved and baptized or if they are willing to be saved and baptized. At the same time lost people are still allowed to attend the church services. There are several problems.

One is that with this type of acceptance, people become ‘members’ of the church and then many of them end up not doing the things that are duly expected of a member of a local church. But they are still considered to be a member since they were accepted into the fellowship. Actually, ‘joining’ a local church is unscriptural and unnecessary.

I mentioned “the fellowship”. This brings up the next problem. What is the fellowship according to the Bible?

“God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:9)

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14)

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord” (2 Corinthians 6:17)

The fellowship of the assembly of believers is supposed to be the fellowship of Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the fellowship that we are called unto. When a local church has a mixt multitude consisting of believers and unbelievers, there is an unequal yoke. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? We Christians are to come out from among them, and be separate. We should not accept unbelievers into our fellowship of believers, the fellowship of Jesus Christ our Lord. We are to come out from among them. Therefore, they are not to come in among us. So while unbelievers may not be called ‘members’ of the church, they are allowed to be members of the congregation and members of the fellowship of which they (Biblically) should not be a partaker of. Really for a church to claim to have a regenerate church membership and still allow unbelievers into their fellowship is hypocritical and dishonest. It is spiritually an unhealthy association. “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

Number seven on Melton’s list is: Absolute and Final Authority of the Bible.

Besides the fact that saying your final authority is the Bible doesn’t make it so and even believing that the King James Bible is the pure, preserved word of God doesn’t mean that you actually believe what the Book says is true, there is also the fact that most Baptist churches don’t believe that the King James Bible is God’s word. All Baptist churches may claim that the Bible is their final authority, but many of them promote, use, teach, and preach from modern corrupt, perverted versions. So, another of these doctrines does not qualify as a Baptist distinctive.

The last in Melton’s list is: Separation of Church and State.

Brother Melton says about his church, “This congregation is organized as a church exclusively for charitable, religious, and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.” [Bible Baptist Church Constitution (1995), page 2.]

Here again is an example of hypocrisy. While he claims separation from the State, he still has to make sure that his organization qualifies under the Internal Revenue Code. That doesn’t look like separation to me. That looks like another unequal yoke.

Some of the problems of the common modern local churches should be apparent from what I have said thus far. There is much more to say. It is clear that if there ever were any Baptist distinctives, the Baptist name doesn’t mean what it used to.

“Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” (1 Peter 4:16)