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This means that we do not accept any authority except
the New Testament Scriptures. Christ is head of the
Church, and it is His bride. We believe the Word of
God, the Bible is complete and it solely, "...is
given of by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the man of God
many be perfect, thoroughly furnished (equipped) unto
all good works." (II Timothy 3:16-17)
We reject that God is giving supposed "new"
revelations, believing that God forbids any adding to
or taking away of the canon of Scriptures. (Rev.
22:18-19) We do not accept any authority over the
New Testament Church, but Christ Himself, including
any hierarchy to include popes, or councils of
churches.
Baptist reject the baptism of infants flatly! The
church is made up of Baptized believers only. (Acts
2:41-42) An infant is not capable of believing, and
is protected by the Grace of God until the age of
accountability. Further, only those who have made
a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and trusted in
Him as their Savior is a member of the body of
Christ, and thus can be a member of the body of
Christ on earth, the local New Testament
church.
Jesus said to ""render unto Caesar the things that
are Caesar's and unto God the things that are
God's." Further the Scripture says "what
fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? And what communion that light
with darkness?" No power on earth is higher than
God's Word, and the church should not be in any way
yoked with the state, or controlled by it. We
support the rightly appointed authority of government
over us and pray for them that we live our lives in
peace.
The Scripture teaches that every believer can without
the aid of priests or churchmen go, "boldly unto the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find
grace in the time of need". (Hebrews 4:16) The
Scripture states further in Hebrews 10:19, "Having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus." The believer does
not needed a priest or a church to intercede on their
behalf to God. The believer can boldly, by the
fact of being washed in the blood of Christ,
instantly be in contact with God by simple prayer,
and further can bring his petitions or requests for
forgiveness of sins directly to God himself. (I John
1:19) No church has the authority to forgive sins
or grant intercession to God.
Simply stated the Scriptures gives no higher
authority than the local congregation of born again,
baptized believers. We believe that the local church
is to be governed by the Word of God, and the local
church does not need, or does the Scripture teach
that the local body rests under the authority of any
earthy group. It is a group unto itself, under the
authority of God, and solely responsible unto Him for
its conduct, direction and affairs. Jesus in Rev.
2:6,15, that he "hated" the doctrine of the
Nicolaitanes. The group of heretics in the early
church along with other doctrinal errors promoted a
clerical hierarchy in the church.
A church which cannot answer yes to all of these
questions can not historically call itself a Baptist
church. These are the distinctives which separate
Baptists from Protestants, or any organized church or
"Christian" cult.
A person can rightly take pride in truthfully bearing
the name Baptist. Many men have suffered greatly and
given their fortunes and their lives to hold the name
in truth. It stands for devotion and an
uncompromising obedience to God and his commandments.
It holds high the saving Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, as revealed in the New Testament and an
unwavering commitment to carrying out the Great
Commission, that is, to teach everywhere the truth of
God's Word.
The validity of a church as being a true Biblical New
Testament church does not rest in it ability to show
an unbroken line of succession from the time of
Christ. In fact, no church on earth can make that
claim. Even the Roman Catholic Church which boasts
of his unbroken history cannot prove an unbroken line
of churches earlier than the Third Century, and what
Catholicism teaches today in no way resembles what
the early New Testament church believed.
We must agree with John Smyth, that the true New
Testament church is founded on its belief and
practice of the Scriptures, and not on any outward
succession of a visible or invisible organization. In
this sense, any church which founds itself strictly
on the New Testament teachings, is a true and
Biblical church, even if it existed in time, only
yesterday. It is not the name or the organization
that makes a Biblical church, but its practice of the
faith as revealed in the New Testament.
As stated earlier, if a Bible were to be dropped from
a plane over a remote area, and the natives were to
take the Scriptures and believe them, then they would
be saved and made a part of the Body of Christ. If
they then took the New Testament as their guide, and
organized a local congregation of believers it would
be a church fully acceptable to God and as valid as
church as even the early church of Bible times!
It is the Word of God, the Bible, that constitutes
what is a real and true church! The Bible and only
the Bible reveals to men how to have their sins
forgiven and have eternal life and heaven. That is
what truly saved believers have always believed,
because that is what the New Testament which is God's
very Word to man says.
The Baptist bases his authority solely on the Bible
itself. They do not accept that authority was given
to any particular man, group or church on earth to be
the means of the salvation of men. God has not
entrusted that authority to impart salvation to any
man or church. God alone has that authority and He in
the person of the Holy Spirit brings conviction and
salvation to those who in simple faith believe.
A church that is a truly Biblical one, patterns its
self after the example in the New Testament. It is
one made up of baptized believers organized in a
local congregation for fellowship, teaching and
evangelism. All systems of hierarchy established
by man over the authority of the local church has
lead to doctrinal errors and corruption without
exception
THE INDEPENDENT BAPTIST DOCTRINE.
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