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What
is a Reformed Baptist?
Adapted
from a sermon by
Pastor
Jim Savastio
The
Reformed
Baptist
Church
Louisville,
KY
What
is a Reformed Baptist… The
Term ‘Reformed Baptist’ best
refers to those persons who adhere to the Second London Baptist
Confession of Faith of 1689, in faith and practice as well as in
theory, Romans 12:1-2. The name ‘Reformed’ refers to the distinctive historical
and theological roots of these Baptists. There is a body of
theological beliefs commonly referred to as the ‘Reformed
faith’. Such great biblical truths as ‘sola fide’
[justification by faith alone], ‘sola gratia’ [salvation by
God’s grace alone], ‘solus Christus’ [salvation through Christ
alone], ‘sola scriptura’ [the Bible alone is the basis for faith
and practice], and ‘soli Deo gloria’ [the fact that God alone is
to receive glory in the salvation of sinners] are all noted
hallmarks of the Protestant and Reformed faith. Yet, the Reformed
faith is perhaps best known for its understanding that God is
sovereign in the matter of man’s salvation. This is to say that
God has, before the foundation of the world, chosen or elected
certain sinners for salvation. He has done so sovereignly and
according to His own good pleasure.
Ephesians 1. Additionally, the Reformed faith
teaches that, in time, Christ came and accomplished His work of
salvation by dying for the sins of those elected by God the Father.
Furthermore, the Reformed faith teaches that the Holy Spirit,
working in harmony with the decree of the Father, and the death of
the Son, effectually applies this work of redemption to each of the
elect in their personal conversions. As a result of this
emphasis on the sovereignty of God in salvation, the Reformed faith
also promulgates the ‘Five Doctrines of Grace’: these doctrinal
truths set forth: The Total depravity of man, The unconditional
nature of God’s election, The limited or particular nature of
Christ’s atonement, The irresistibility of the effectual call, and
The perseverance and preservation of the saints. It should also be
noted that Baptist were in existence, and identified by various
names throughout the ages since the time of Christ, but were not
Protestant or protesting against
Rome
, as did Luther and others. True Baptist with their faith and
practice have always carried forth their identity as true believers
in the written Word of God, since Christ established His church upon
this earth. Amen!
What is a Reformed Baptist… Foundational Truths. The
Reformed faith touches on far more than these foundational truths
regarding God’s glory in salvation. It is also concerned with
God’s glory in the church, in society, in the family, and in the
holiness of each believer’s life. The Reformed faith has a high
and God-centered view of worship, regulated by the Word of God
alone. The Reformed faith embraces a high view of God’s law, and
of His church. In short, the Reformed faith is no less than a
comprehensive world and life view, as well as a distinctive body of
doctrine. Out of this theological understanding came a great stream
of confessions and creeds: the Synod of Dort, The Savoy Declaration,
The Westminster Confession of Faith, and The Heidelberg Catechism.
Similarly our Reformed tradition produced some of the great names of
Church history such as: John
Calvin, John Knox, John Bunyan, John Newton, the famous Bible
commentator such as: Matthew Henry, the great American theologian
Jonathan Edwards, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, Charles H
Spurgeon, A. W. Pink, the great evangelist George Whitefield, and a
host of others all held tenaciously to the Reformed faith. We must
underscore that Reformed Baptists do not hold these truths because
of blind allegiance to historic creeds. Nor, do Reformed Baptists
hold them merely because great men of church history stood in this
tradition. Why then do Reformed Baptists hold these truths? It is
because Jesus and all the apostles clearly taught and followed these
authoritative and scriptural principals of doctrine. Our confession
of faith is embraced by Reformed Baptist churches, and it takes its
place among, and is deeply rooted in, these historic Reformed
documents. In most places the 1689 London Baptist Confession of
Faith is an exact word for word copy of the
Westminster
and the Savoy Declaration. Consequently, the term
‘Reformed’ Baptist is not a misnomer. Reformed Baptists
stand firmly on the solid ground of the Reformation heritage from
its ancient past unto this present day.
Amen!
What
is a Reformed Baptist…
What
are Baptist? The
name ‘Baptist’ summarizes the biblical truths concerning both
the subjects and the mode of baptism. To speak of the ‘subjects’
of baptism, we refer to the truth that baptism is for disciples
only, that have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Reformed
Baptists owe a great debt to the Reformed Paedo Baptists because
their writings have shaped, challenged, warmed, and guided them
again and again. Yet, the Bible is not silent about the issue of
baptism. The fact that baptism is for disciples only is the clear
and indisputable teaching of the Word of God. Roman 6:4. The subjects of
baptism are not to be discovered in Genesis, but in the Gospels and
in the Epistles of the New Testament. Baptism is an ordinance of the
New Covenant which must be understood in the light of New Covenant
revelation. There is not one single shred of evidence in the pages
of the Old or New Testament to support the notion that the infants
of believers are to be baptized. Every biblical command to baptize,
and every biblical example of baptism, as well as every doctrinal
statement regarding the symbolic nature of baptism, proves that it
is for regenerated disciples only. The Bible is equally clear
concerning the mode of baptism. The term ‘mode’ refers to the
fact that baptism is properly and biblically administered by
immersion in water. The common Greek word for ‘immersion or
dipping’ is the word used in the New Testament. The argument that
the word has an occasional historic example meaning ‘to pour’ or
‘to sprinkle’ is surely a special pleading. There are perfectly
good Greek words which mean ‘to sprinkle’ and ‘to pour.’
Yet, the New Testament only employs the word for ‘immersion’.
The name Baptist is also meant to convey that only those who are
converted and baptized have a right to membership into Christ’s
church. This is often referred to as a ‘regenerate church
membership’. A careful reading of the New Testament epistles shows
that the Apostles assumed that all the members of Christ’s
churches were cleansed by Christ’s blood, and were called
‘saints,’ and ‘faithful brethren.’ Sadly today, many Baptist
churches are more concerned with having a ‘decisional
membership’ and/or a ‘baptized membership’ rather than a
‘regenerate membership’. It is the duty of all pastors and
congregations of true churches to ensure, according to the best of
their ability, that no unconverted person makes his or her way into
the membership of their church. Amen!
What is a Reformed Baptist… Sufficiency and Authority of the Word of God.
Reformed Baptists are distinguished by their
conviction regarding the sufficiency and authority of the Word of
God. While all true Christians believe in the inspiration and
infallibility of the Word of God, all do not believe in the
sufficiency of the Bible. All true Christians believe that the Bible
was ‘breathed out’ by God, and that it is infallible and without
error in all of its parts Please
take heed to what is to follow: To deny what has been stated above
is to call God a liar, and hence, to lose your soul. But while all
true Christians believe this, all do not seek to regulate the life
of the church in every area by the Word of God. There is a common
belief, whether it is clearly stated or not, that the Bible is not a
sufficient guide to tell us ‘how to manage the church and her
life.’ This condition is behind much of what we see in the modern
church growth movement, and it is founded largely upon a belief that
the Bible is silent regarding the nature and purpose of the church.
It is for this cause that many feel the freedom to ‘reinvent the
church.’ For some reason, many alleged believers seem to argue
that God has no principles in His Word concerning the corporate life
of His people! Ah! What
error many alleged church leader presume, that they have the
authority or the ability to revise, change and/or delete the
portions of God’s Word, that does not fit into their vain
imaginations to worship, or not worship God as He has commanded of
all His people. In these days, the clarion cry of all
Christ-appointed Shepherds of His sheep needs to be that of the
prophet Isaiah: “To the law and to the testimony! If they speak
not according to this word it is because there is no light in
them.” Amen!
What
is a Reformed Baptist… Bible
Convictions Reformed Baptists have a conviction that the Bible
and the
Bible alone defines what a church is. A Church is
a called out assembly of regenerated persons, for the purpose of
worshipping God, and reverencing His Word in faith and practice. The
Bible and the scriptures alone define the offices of the church. The
Bible speaks of their number. There are two church offices which are
elders and deacons. The Bible clearly defines their qualifications,
their function and their responsibilities. The Bible is a sufficient
guide regarding what worship is and how it is to be given, as well
as who can be a church-member, and what is required of those
members. The Bible is also sufficient to instruct us about what the
church ought to do, how to cooperate with other churches, how to
send out missionaries, how to train men for the ministry and a host
of other matters related to God’s will for His people. Reformed
Baptists are distinguished by an unshakable conviction that the
church exists for the glory of God. Because the church exists for
the glory of God, the worship of God and the Word of God are all
essential elements, central to its life. The church is God’s house
and not man’s. It is the place where the triune God meets with His
people in a special way. However, this place of worship does not
mean that it is to be a: dull, grim, unfeeling, insensitive place.
The place where God dwells is the most glorious place on earth to
the saint, and it is an oasis to the thirsty soul of a sinner and
saint alike, seeking the grace of God. However, the place of God’s
dwelling is also solemn and holy. “How awesome is this place, it
is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven,” was
Jacob’s exclamation in Genesis 28. It is this conviction that
explains the reverence and seriousness of the Reformed Baptist
worship of God. Amen!
What is a Reformed
Baptist… The Local Church
. Reformed Baptists are
distinguished by their conviction that the local church is central
to the purposes of God on the earth. During this present age, the
church has become many types of Para-church organizations, that are
not recognized by the dictates of scripture. It is the time that
many independently-minded Christians float from place to place
without ever committing themselves to the true
church
of
God
. This attitude is not only spiritually dangerous, but it is
thoroughly contrary to the revealed mind of God. While many have
rightly diagnosed the failure of the church to do its mission, the
answer is not to abandon the church, but rather to seek its
reformation and its biblical restoration. The church alone is the
special dwelling place of God upon the earth. The great commission
of the church is fulfilled as preachers of the gospel are sent out
by local churches to plant new churches by means of conversion,
baptism, and discipleship. Many well-meaning organizations are
seeking to take upon themselves the task that the living God
entrusted only to His church. To whom has God entrusted the
missionary mandate? To whom did God give instructions for the
discipleship, encouragement and shaping of believers? To whom did
God entrust the equipping of the saints and the training of men to
lead the next generation? Our all-sufficient Bible answers all these
questions, that it is the responsibilities of the local church, and
we are not free to ignore it in light of the status quo. Reformed
Baptists are distinguished by their conviction that preaching is
foundational to the life of the church. How is God most often
pleased to save sinners? How is God most often pleased to exhort,
challenge, and build up His saints? How is our Lord Jesus Christ
most powerfully displayed to the mind and heart of His people? It is
through the preaching of the Word of God! Therefore, Reformed
Baptists reject the trends of the day toward shallow teaching,
cancelled preaching services, the giving of the services of worship
over to: testimonies, movies, drama, dance, singing or other
amusements. Many emails, with flowery messages and cute images, are
sent to misdirect our attention. There is too much sentimentality
given to things that are and should remain Holy. The Word of God is
to be central in the worship of God. Paul warned of the day that
would come when professed churchmen would no longer tolerate sound
doctrine. He stated that according to their own desires they would
heap up for themselves teachers who would tickle their itching ears.
The apostolic command thundered forth to Timothy, that in the midst
of such mindless drivel he should ‘Preach the Word!’ Therefore
Reformed Baptist take on the challenges set before us in Holy
Scripture. Amen!
What is a Reformed Baptist… Salvation Changes The
Life.
Reformed Baptists are
distinguished by the conviction that salvation radically alters the
life of the converted person. It is tragic that such a thing needs
to be mentioned. During this age, we see the day of
‘decisionism’. The idea is that ‘a person prays a certain
formula prayer,’ and is therefore declared to be ‘saved’. It
matters not whether one breaks with sin or pursues holiness in their
lives. “A person can live like hell and go to heaven!” What a
bargain! Many popular Bible teachers claim this as a great defense
of the grace of God. However, this is a “turning of the grace of
God into licentiousness” as it is so clearly stated in scripture.
When Paul describes the conversion of the Ephesians he uses the
greatest antonyms in the human language: “you were darkness, but
now you are light in the Lord.” And in 2 Corinthians 6:14 Paul
asks the rhetorical question: “What fellowship has light with
darkness?” John answers, “And
this is the condemnation, that light
is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil”. “Then spake Jesus again unto
them, saying, I am the light
of the world: he that
followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light
of life”. Yes Jesus is
that Light that came into the world, and He is a great Savior. He
does not leave His people in their lifeless condition. Jesus came to
save His people from their sins, not continuing in them. If anyone
is in Christ he is a new creature. Jesus came to make a people
zealous for good works. It is an unbiblical notion that a man can
embrace Christ as Savior and reject His Lordship. There is a Carnal
Christian heresy that many persons can be saved by the grace of God,
by receiving Jesus as their Savior, but they are not required to
receive Jesus as their Lord until and unless they are willing to do
so. There is no teaching in the Word of God, that identifies a
person who lives in a continual state of sinful activities, and is
yet saved and living in the fear of God. The word of God nowhere
teaches that Christ can be divided, however 1 John clearly reveals
there are only two types of persons; the saved and the lost!. If a
person has Christ living in them at all, that person has received a
whole Christ, as their Prophet, Priest, and King, over their whole
life. Amen!
What is a Reformed Baptist… The Law Of God.
Reformed
Baptists have a conviction that the Law of God, as clearly expressed
in the Ten Commandments, is God’s Moral and Holy Law. And it is
regulative in the life of each New Covenant believer. Paul says in 1
Corinthians 7:19 that, “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision
is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.”
The present age is an antinomian [lawless age of Christianity],
which makes no demands on its ‘alleged converts,’ but God’s
way of holiness has not changed. The law written on the heart in
creation [Romans 2:14, 15] is the same law codified in the Ten
Commandments on
Mt.
Sinai, and the same law written on the hearts of those who enter
into the New Covenant [Jeremiah 31:33 and 2 Corinthians 3:3]. The
Apostle John wrote “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not
keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
Jesus told His disciples that the way in which they would
demonstrate that they truly loved Him was by obeying His
commandments. Jesus said in Matthew 7 that many professing
Christians will find themselves cast out on the last day because
they were “practicers of lawlessness” who did not do the
Father’s will. Among the laws of God none is so hated as the
thought that God requires believers to give of their time to worship
Him, and to turn from worldly pursuits. In recent years many have
leveled an unrelenting attack upon the Fourth Commandment, ‘To
Keep the Sabbath Holy’. The Presbyterian Pastor and Bible
Commentator Albert Barnes once wrote, “There is a state of things
in this land that is tending to obliterate the Sabbath altogether.
The Sabbath has more enemies in this land than all the other
institutions of religion put together. At the same time it is more
difficult to meet the enemy here than anywhere else: for we come
into conflict not with argument, but with interest and pleasure and
the love of indulgence and of gain.” John Bunyan wrote, “A man
shall show his heart and life, what they are, more by one Lord’s
Day than by all the days of the week besides. To delight ourselves
in God’s service upon His Holy Day gives a better proof of a
sanctified nature than to grudge at the coming of such days.
“Modern man is so addicted to his pleasures, his games and his
entertainment that the thought that he must give them up for
twenty-four hours to worship and to delight in God is seen as
legalistic bondage. It is a particular grief to see those who
profess to love Jesus Christ, and shrink from turning away from
their own pleasures. To God’s people, who love His law and
meditate upon it to the delight of their blood-bought souls, such a
commandment is not bondage, but a precious gift. Amen!
What is a Reformed Baptist… Conclusion.
Reformed
Baptists are distinguished by a conviction regarding male leadership
in the church. This age has witnessed the feminization of
Christianity. God created two sexes and gave to each a different
distinctive role. While the sexes are equal in: Creation, the Fall
and Redemption, God has nonetheless sovereignly ordained that
leadership of the church, leadership in the home, and in state
affairs is to be male. Those whose minds have been unduly influenced
by this generation find Reformed Baptist worship, leadership and
family structure to be out-of-touch with society’s standards. When
the Bible speaks of husbands and fathers leading the home it is not
culturally acceptable by many. When the Bible speaks of men leading
in prayer, teaching, preaching and serving as elders and deacons,
Christians must bow with submissive and dutiful hearts. Culture must
not carry the day in the
church
of
Jesus Christ
! Reformed Baptists are distinguished by a conviction regarding the
serious nature of church membership. Reformed Baptists take
seriously the admonition of Hebrews 10:24-25 to “stir up love and
good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.”
Reformed Baptists take seriously the duties and responsibilities of
church membership. In other words, membership actually means
something in Reformed Baptist churches. There ought not to be a
great disparity of attendance for any scheduled worship services.
The same membership is expected to be at all the services of the
church. It is impossible for one to share in the life of the church
in the manner which God intended and yet be willingly absent from
its public gatherings. Few churches would make such a demand, but
biblical churchmanship presupposes such a commitment to God, their
pastors and to their brothers and sisters. The exhortations and
admonishments from scripture clearly tell all who will heed: "Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of
some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see
the day approaching." Hebrews 10:25
"And
to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His
power. When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be
admired in all them that believe." 2
Thessalonians 1: 7-10. Amen!
We
thanks
Pastor
Jim Savastio
The
Reformed
Baptist
Church
Louisville
,
KY.
for
this enlightening expositional teaching on
What
is a Reformed Baptist?
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