YOU MAY BE AN INDEPENDENT BAPTIST AND NOT KNOW IT

YOU MAY BE AN INDEPENDENT BAPTIST
AND NOT KNOW IT

Created: November 22, 2004
T.M.

Being an Independent Baptist is not belonging to a denomination, as some assume. To have a thorough, yet concise understanding of this subject, let's go to the Bible.

"He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt. 16:15-18)

First, Jesus clearly states that God has revealed that unto Peter [when he says "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God"]. It was not Peter who invented it, it was God who revealed it to him. That's why Jesus proceeds to say "I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church", Jesus was saying that Peter was a little rock [Petros, gr = a piece of rock]. We know that Jesus didn't meant that He was going to build His church upon Peter, but upon "this rock". That rock was that awesome confession Peter made. Christ was going to build His church upon that confession that He was Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Jesus Christ goes on and tells us that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. If the Christian church was some kind of building or institution, that would make Jesus Christ a liar. We can see here that the true Church of Jesus Christ is not a building nor an institution, but a group of believers that find their source of faith and practice in the New Testament alone.

Now, let's go on to the Reformation. When a group of people (called the Protestants) separated themselves of the Roman Catholic Church, they still practiced some things that were unbiblical (like infant baptism). Now, there were a group of believers, that followed the New Testament (as there has always been !!), and they found that the Protestants believed almost the same things as them (justification by faith, Scripture alone, Jesus is the only way to God, etc..), but the only difference was that the New Testament people didn't practice infant baptism. Most believers (not Protestants) were former Catholics that considered their Catholic baptism as void, so they re-baptized. The Protestants felt uneasy with their practices, and they called those believers "Ana-Baptists" ("ana" means again).

The Ana-Baptists (later called Baptists) were the only group of people that have never symbolized with Rome, unlike the Protestants. We can see now that any person that wilfully trusts Christ as His Savior and wishes to follow the New Testament alone and wishes to establish a New Testament Church is establishing a Baptist Church.

WHY 'INDEPENDENT BAPTISTS'?

Nonetheless, after the 1930's Modernism Movement, some heretical churches started to call themselves "Baptists". These churches were highly ecumenical, compromising with false cults, and with worldly music. Most of these churches are led by Headquarters located in certain parts of the U.S. Nonetheless, since Jesus is faithful, there will be faithful believers who stand for the truth. A group of Baptists that separated themselves from nominal Baptists were called "Independent Baptists" because they established independent (that is, not governed by a Headquarter) churches.

WHAT ARE THE DISTINCTIVES OF A BIBLE-BASED BAPTIST CHURCH?

1). Jesus Christ is the head of the Church and should receive primary allegiance from the Christian Church.
2). The Holy Scriptures are authoritative in all matters of faith and Christian practice.
3). The Church is a fellowship of persons who have received by faith the new life of the Spirit and given witness to this faith in believer's baptism.
4). All believers have equal access to God through the one mediator, Jesus Christ, and are responsible to offer themselves in grateful service to Christ and their neighbors.
5). God has granted the liberty of conscience to everyone, and the Church therefore should be free from the control of the state.

DOES YOUR CHURCH BELIEVE THESE FIVE POINTS?

If you or your church believes these doctrinal points, Congratulations. You're an Independent, Fundamental brother (or sister) in Christ, even though you wouldn't like to bear that name.