A Tale of Two Baptists (Part 2)

In Part 1, we saw how a man reared in the teachings and traditions of the Baptist Church forsook all of that training because he (essentially) grew weary of telling homosexuals that they were wrong. He felt better by telling them their behavior was acceptable to God, which was based on his feelings rather than what the Bible or the Baptists teach. Truly, he "who trusts in his own heart is a fool" (Pr. 28:26).

This article also notices a man who left the Baptist Church—but for entirely different reasons than the other man. The person discussed previously, Danny, did not leave for a Scriptural reason—quite the opposite. Never once in the six pages of that article was a single Scriptures cited. This week, we want to look at Tom's reasons for leaving the Baptist Church and notice that they all involved Scriptural reasons. We have rearranged the order Tom put them in, but they are all his reasons.

Grace Alone

He says the Baptists affirmed that he was saved by "grace alone." However, in reading the Bible, he noticed about 20 other things that are necessary for salvation. He did not name them, but some of them include having a love of the truth (2 Thess. 2:10; John 8:31-32) and repentance. Without repenting of sins, no one can enter the kingdom of heaven (Luke 13:3). God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30-31).

If salvation were by grace alone, then no response from man would be necessary—not even faith. Two options exist at this point. The first is that God saves everyone, which is universalism. In other words, if salvation is entirely by God's grace, then man's response is irrelevant. Second, will even one person be lost? Then God must have deliberately withheld His grace from that soul, which means that God acts arbitrarily toward human beings. Neither of these is right. The truth is that salvation is available to all through God's grace, but He expects an appropriate response from us.

Faith Alone

Usually, one and one are two, but in Baptist theology man is saved by grace alone and also by faith alone. Most of us would add grace and faith together to get two, but for them it somehow remains one.

Tom says that the Baptists taught him he was saved by "faith only"; however the Bible says in James 2:24 that justification comes NOT by "faith only." Someone protests, "That's justification—not salvation." The Bible teaches that both occur at the same time. Paul told the Corinthians they were washed, sanctified, and justified (1 Cor. 6:11). They were washed from their sins, made holy (sanctified), and justified—no longer guilty of sin. All these occur when a person obeys the gospel by being baptized for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38).

Baptism

The Baptist Church, Tom writes, told him that baptism could not save him, but the Bible teaches the opposite. He cites from the King James Version 1 Peter 3:21: "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us…." He comments: "There it is in black and white." The Baptist Church contradicts what the Bible clearly teaches.

Of course, Tom could have cited a dozen Scriptures that relate baptism to the forgiveness of sins, such as Acts 2:38, 22:16, et al. Entire sermons, series of sermons, and even books examine this subject, but one passage is all that is necessary to make the point. On the other hand, where is one verse that says, "Baptism does not save us"? Tom makes the following challenge:

I know there are some Baptists reading this who are disagreeing, calling baptism a "waterdog salvation." Let's ask you to read 1 Peter 3, beginning in the 18th verse through the end of the chapter; see what you think. Again, that's 1 Peter 3:18-22. See for yourself what those five verses say.

The Sinner's Prayer

"Now this is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak," affirms Tom. Listen carefully to his words here:

The Baptist church assured me I was saved when I wasn't—told me to repeat a so-called "SINNER'S PRAYER" and sent me off in the "WRONG DIRECTION" away from the cleansing blood of Jesus. His blood was shed in His death, and we contact that blood when we are baptized into His death. Romans 6:3 says: "Know ye not, that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"

So many refer to the "sinner's prayer" that one would think it was somewhere in the New Testament, but it is not, which is the reason that no Scripture reference is ever cited. The way it is so highly touted, one would think that on the Day of Pentecost Peter told the multitude, "Repeat after me the 'sinner's prayer.'" The Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:35-39) was not told that. Those at the house of Cornelius repeated no such words.

The Philippian jailer and his household could have avoided baptism in the middle of the night if saying a few words would save someone (Acts 16:31-34). Ananias did not inform Saul of Tarsus that he needed to say a so-called "sinner's prayer," either. He told him, "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16). Sins are not washed away by mere words; they are washed away by the blood of Christ (Rev. 1:5). His blood lies not in words—but in baptism.

When Jesus died on the cross, a fountain was opened "for sin and for uncleanness" (Zech. 13:1). When a soldier pierced the side of Jesus with a spear, that fountain was opened—blood and water came forth (John 19:34). This blood was shed in His death, and we contact it when we are baptized into His death.

Joining the Church

The Baptists told Tom that if he wanted to be a member of the church, he would need to be voted in. He writes:

They stood me in front of the congregation and said a few things about my sinful past; but that was all over and done with and I had been saved already (before baptism), and if there were no objections, I could "join the Baptist church."

However, Tom realized that the Bible does not say anything about "joining" the church. Instead, he read Acts 2:41, which states that the three thousand who were baptized on Pentecost were added (to the body of Christ). The apostles did not vote on who could be members and who could not. Acts 2:47 says: "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."

By voting that people can be church members, the Baptists make it clear that they are in charge of church membership rather than the Lord. Jesus, however, is the Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18). When people repent of their sins and are baptized, He adds them to His body, the church. Some might argue that it is the Father Who does the actual adding rather than Jesus. If that is so, it does not alter the point: God still does the adding—not men. God gave no authorization for men to make that decision.

Once Saved, Always Saved

Once again, Tom was given inaccurate information, which he eventually recognized.

The Baptist Church told me "once saved, always saved," and they got really mad when I asked them, in innocence, to show me in the Bible where it says that. I was really excited about the guarantee of heaven and wanted to read it for myself, and also show it to others. What a letdown when I found out it isn't so.

It is surprising that they did not give him some verses taken out of context, but he did come across some pertinent passages which allowed him to see the truth. In Galatians 5:4, Paul said that those going back to the Law of Moses after becoming Christians had "fallen from grace." Some claim that they never were Christians if they fell away, but no one can fall from a ladder unless he is first up on it. Likewise, people cannot fall from grace unless they were first in a state of grace. Paul said he had to watch himself lest he should be a castaway (1 Cor. 9:27). Jesus told the Ephesians they had fallen and needed to repent (Rev. 2:5).

The Lord's Supper

Baptists do not observe the Lord's Supper every week; generally, they do so once a month. Tom points out that in the New Testament the example of brethren was to remember the Lord's death on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). Tom concluded (correctly) that since each week has a first day, the church should remember the Lord's death each first day of the week.

Tithing

Ironically, Baptists do not observe the Lord's death each Sunday, but they do observe tithing each week. (Is this a statement as to which is the most important?) The Baptists told him he must tithe (give ten%) of his income, but he learned that the New Testament did not give a percentage. Tom decided to give generously, as he had purposed in his heart (2 Cor. 9:6-7)—but not according to a percentage that is not mentioned.

Assessment

Certainly, Tom could have covered many more subjects and shown more differences between what the Baptists believe and what the Bible teaches, but these are sufficient to make the point that they differ from God's Revelation. These things are not written to disparage the many dedicated and devout Baptists who are following the teaching of their leaders. As it pertains to salvation, however, people need to be taught the truth—not manmade doctrine. Jesus disparaged the traditions of men (Matt. 15:1-9). Tom wrote a paragraph expressing his attitude toward the situation.

Hundreds and thousands and hundreds of thousands think everything is okay—when it is not. They think their sins have been forgiven when they haven't been. They will not read and study their Bibles—and will not change, having deluded themselves into believing a lie (2 Thess. 2:11).

How does this happen? Most young people are taught to respect religious leaders; hence, they are often willing to take their word as truth—especially concerning salvation. The fact is, however, that all people (yes, and that includes us) should require a Bible verse or passage which can confirm any doctrine. As this article demonstrates, no one should believe "faith only" when so many other things are required. Neither should they believe that baptism is not essential to salvation when so many verses demonstrate that it is.

2 Thessalonians 2:10 explains what the problem is. Many do not have a love of the truth. Those who have it search the Scriptures daily to see whether the things they are being taught are so (Acts 17:11). This is the only safe way to practice New Testament Christianity.

In these two articles, then, we have seen two Baptists leave their church. One (Danny) did so without any Scriptural basis whatsoever; the other (Tom) did so based on what the Scriptures teach. May more do so.