The Ohio Independent Baptist, March 1961

' ~.:.....:~---------------·-1_11_· _ l-ll<) 1 t1F1)1 1 I r· H1\r•11 __ .. r______________ l\_1._,1_ch.....:.'.......:...19:....:.6 1 BAPTIST By F1·ancie Miller, Medina, Ohio ( IASI 11011tlJ 111e p,, hli.rJ; ,.1(/ ti;,? fir.st h,11/ of tlJiJ fine article u r1Jtc11 " year t1?,0 by AfiJJ J\1illar tohcn r/; e u ,r.r .i 11111ior i 11 l,i.1;,_ J; sc:IJool. ' /1e is ,1 111c111ber of I he First BapttJt Gh11rch of /\if etli na. The Btblio. t.. rJp/;; at t!Jt.? lo re cove, s IJer , e,1,/i ng /or both the l l 1slory a11tl Belief J of Baptists, and rhott'J hou, r,111ch t ,r /111,f!. s/;e di,!. If 111ore 111e111bers 1, ·01,ld rea,I ,,p on Baptist history ar1ll tloctrine, u e u 011/,l have bet- ter B,rpt 1.rl ,. Editor) 1. l~ .. ,pt1st st,t11<l for tl1 Bibl . It 1~ tl1t.'1r 1 ..,,,. tl1eir reed, a11d tl1eir fi11~ll ,1t1tl1(1rit, i11 n.11 n1atter r l ,1 ti11g t<) f:1itl1 ,111cl practice . T}1 H ol)' cript11re ,1re cli, i11el}· i11 pir d a11d ~, l1.'ol11t 1, trt1 . tl1e Bihl alon r - , ..11...- tl1e tr11e ,\·a, , of al\·atio1 a11d • th ,, l1ole d11t, of 111a11 . • ~- Bapti t tand for regeneratio11 or ..t11e birth fro1n abo, ,e" a the b,1 1 of cl111rcl1 member hip (Titu 3:5 ) ... " i ,.ot b)· \\'Ork of righteous- 11e ,, ,,·hich ,,·e ha,,e done but accord– i11g to hi n1ercy· he a'\ 1 ed u , b the ,,·a bing of rege11eration and re- 11e,,·i11g of the Holy Ghost." 3. Bapti t tand for belie er's bapti m. the immer ion of the belie er i11 obedience to Christ' command, as a \'111 bol of the death to the old life • and the re t1rrection to the new. (Ro- n1ans 6: 4 ) . . . . "Therefore we are buried \\ 1 ith him by baptism into death· that like as Christ ,vas raised tip from the dead by the glory of the Father~ e\•en o ,ve al o sh ould ,,·alk in ne,"ne of life. " 4. Bapti ts tand for the separa– tion of Church and tate, and for the large t measure of civil and religiot1s libem·. ; 5. Bapti t tand for education, e,·angeli m. a11d ,vorld-\vide mission– a11· endea"·or ( ~Iatt. 28:19, 20 ) .... "'Go )'e therefore , a11d teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Fa– ther, and of the on, and of the Holy Cho t: teachi11g them to observe all thing "'·hat oe\.·er I ha\'e command– ed }'OU: and. lo. I am ,vith ) ' OU alvvay, e \·e11 t1nto the e11d of the \vorld. " ''' hat Baptis·ts Believe 1. Baptist belie,re in one God– the Father, the or1 , a11d Holy pirit– there persons. ) e t one God, \vhose 11ame 1 Jeho,?ah. 2. Bapti ts belie" e i11 the d eity and the human11:}· of J e 11s Christ, 'A 1 ho i 11011e other than God the on mani– fe t in the fle h , a11cl i11 \\'horn all the fulnes of the Goclhead d'-\'ells for– e \rer. 3. Baptists belie\ 1 e that Jesus Christ i ~ the one and onl\ 1 Head of the , .h11rch; that all belie,,ers are equally II THEIR BELIEF AND PRINCIPLE prie t t111to od ; that ordi11ation, , hil it recog11izes po ition, b es tow 110 po\v r ; that th local church i independ 11t a11d sovereign. 4. Baptist b elieve that all men ar inner 11eeding a a vi our: ( Isa. 53: 6 . . . "All vve like sheep have go11e a tray; \Ve ha e turned every one to his o"vn ,vay; and the Lord hath laid on Him the i11iquity of us all ;" (Rom. 3: 23 ) . . . "For all have inned, and come short of the glory of God;' ' that salvation is only and altoge ther through simple faith in J esu Christ: (Acts 16 :31 ) . . . ' 'Be– lieve on the Lord Jesu Christ, and thou shalt be aved, and thy house" -who died for our sins. (This faith i always accompanied by works n1eet for repentance.) They believe that without such faith there can b e no salvation here or h ereafter. 5. Baptists b elieve in unbroken, conscious existence after death, de– termined by life b efore death; ( John 11: 26 ) . . . . "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" in the personal , second coming of Christ to judge the world; in the resurrection of the body \vhich for those who die in the Lord shall b e like Christ's glorious body· in the eternal ,veal of the saved and the eternal woe of the los t . In conclusio11 ,ve believe that the Bible as originally \vritten ,vas verbal– ly inspired of God and h as truth , vithout any admixture of en-or as its matter; tha t there is one t1l.1e God; that the Holy Spirit is as truly per onal as the Father and the Son; that creatio11 ,va direct and 11ot by evolution; that there i a personal devil ,vho \\'a the first to fall from a holy e tate and "vl10 ha led ma11- kind a tray; tha t salvation mu t be by grace alo11e through faith in the atoning and justifyi11g death of Christ; tl1a t Chri t aro e bodily and i no\v seated a t the right h and of God, in– terceding for 11s; that the new birth is an instantaneou "''ork of the Holy Spirit and not the slo\v product of religiou education; that the local cht1rch is a congregation of immersed believer volt1nt·a1ily associated to arry out the commands of hrist . its only Head; that the truly born again are eternally kept by the Father and Son ; that there is an endless hell for the wicked, and even so there is an endless heavenly b liss for the saved; and that Christ must first re– turn before the Kingdom can be established. Baptists do not claim to be p erfect , but only try to preach a perfect Sav– ior and call all who hear us to faith and devotion to Him. We truly be– lieve there are some fundamental ew testament b elievers in other church denominations today, and we know that God's eternity in h eaven is not for Baptists alone but for all bom– again Christians. Bibliography Who are the Regitlar Baptists, by Ralph T. ordlund, Fostoria, Ohio Independent Baptist. Bratcher , 1. E ., S. L. Stealey, "Bap– tists ," "'V oru1 Book Encyclopedia, Chicago Field Enterprises , Inc., ol. 2 , c. 1957, pp. 649-650. Carroll , J. M. , The Trail of Blood. Lexington, Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, c. 1931. Dallimore, Rev. A. , 0 tt r Precious Bap– tist Heritage, Quebec, Union of Regular Baptist Churches , c. 1951. Strong, Philip B., What Baptists Stand For and Believe, Philadelphia, The American Baptist Publication So– ciety. Tarbet, Robert G. , A History of the Baptists, Chicago Judson Pres , c. 1950. \ Tiller T. J. Fidelity To Ottr Baptist Heritage, Edited by R. T. Ketcham, Chicago, General As ociation of Regular Baptist Churches, c. 1920. - -------