False Doctrines In The Southern Baptist Denomination

Baptizing the Baptist

Growing up in South Carolina, it comes without any surprise that my military professor is a Southern Baptist, a Protestant Denomination that is heavily seen in the southern part of the United States of America. This man, who will refer to as Sgt., has tremendously influenced my walk with God. In fact, Sgt. was the man who introduced me to God, urged me to abstain from sexual relations before marriage, and to seek God. Thus it becomes extremely painful to admit that Sgt. is following a false doctrine despite having a bachelor degree in Theology and even being a pastor in a local Baptist church. Though Sgt.’s “Christian” life far surpasses most of the Christians’ lives that I know in criterias of love, discipline, and faith, his doctrine does not agree with what the Scriptures say. But in order to help them understand that they follow a false doctrine, it is vital to study the history of the Baptist denomination and their core beliefs. Only after we have understood these areas can we help them understand the truth behind the Scriptures as it pertains to salvation. 

A Brief History of their Roots 

Southern Baptist surprisingly did not originate in the United States. Its origins date back to the sixteenth century Reformation movement in England. One of the most famous promoters of this movement was John Smyth. He himself believed in adult baptism and in fact re-baptized himself and other people in 1609. Smyth’s changes to the current “doctrine” gave birth to the first Baptist church in England. In only a couple of decades, this church has multiplied into 50 churches. 

Like many others, a Baptist named Roger Williams immigrated to America to flee from religious persecution. With this immigration also came the introduction of the Baptist movement into the American colonies. And by 1638, he established the first Baptist Church in America located in Providence, Rhode Island. As a result of the Great Awakening in the mid 1700s, the Baptist movement has radically increased. By 1755, a man named Shubael Stearns took his baptist beliefs to North Carolina, later expanding to about 42 churches. However, these churches were seen as a separate Baptist church to the other Baptist churches since most of the churches resided in the northern states. 

By the late 18th century to early 19th century the Baptist movement was increasing so much that missionary societies were sent out to spread their Christian lifestyle and ideology. It is from these missionary societies that the Southern Baptist denomination would eventually be born. By the 1830s tensions primarily concerning slavery began arising and growing more intensely. The Baptists in the northern states claimed that God views every race equally, and that He does not see one race superior to another. On the other hand, those in the southern states believed that God purposely made races to be separate. Tensions continued to arise and by 1845, Baptists in the southern states met and established the Southern Baptist Convention in May, thus separating themselves from the other Baptist churches. 

Today, Baptists are the second largest “Christian” denomination after Catholics; there are 43 million Baptists all throughout the world with about 40% of them being Southern Baptists. This number equates to about 16 million people. Though Baptists reside in England, Central America, and South America, Southern Baptists mostly reside in the Southern portion of the United States. In 2013 they had approximately 46,000 churches in the United States and 4,137 missionaries in 130 nations.

Core Beliefs 

1. Doctrinal Authority 

The Southern Baptist Convention believes that the Bible is the ultimate authority in our lives. They believe that it is without flaw, with God its author by divinely inspiring men to write the Scriptures. Further, they also believe the Bible to be the ultimate standard that Christians ought to follow. Evangelism and Missions Southern Baptists believe that evangelism and missions are vital to a Christian life. They believe that it is the duty and privilege of Christians to win the lost. Equality Southern Baptists believe that all people are created equally. Further, men and women are created by God equally, but with different roles. They believe that it is a husband’s role to lead the family and to love the wife as Jesus loves the church, while the wife must respectfully submit to her husband by being his helper. Pastorship is a role reserved for men. 

2. Perseverance of the Saints 

Southern Baptists believe that once someone is saved, they can never lose their salvation. They believe that there is an inward pull that will not allow a real Christian from falling away completely. 

3. Church Organization 

The Southern Baptist Convention churches are all autonomous. Each local church chooses their own pastor and staff. Since the churches are very autonomous, each congregation varies heavily. Baptism The Southern Baptists believe that adult baptism, rather than infant baptism, is true baptism. They believe in full-immersion of the body underwater. They do not see baptism as a requisite for salvation, rather they see it as a symbolic act of what Christ has done in his death, burial, and resurrection for his followers. 

4. Salvation 

Southern Baptists believe that salvation is received by confessing Jesus as the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins. They believe that once someone has accepted Jesus into their hearts, they will receive salvation. 

How to Refute their False Beliefs 

1. Perseverance of the Saints 

According to Southern Baptists, people who has truly received salvation can never lose it. They believe that someone who has truly become a Christian cannot lose their salvation. In their defense, they might say that Romans 8:35-39 says that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Yes, nothing can separate us from God’s love for us, but this does not denote the same for our love for God. If one were to examine ​The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant​ in Matthew 18:21-35, one will see that someone who has received mercy can lose that mercy. When the servant’s debt to the king was forgiven (verses 23-27), and yet this very servant who has received mercy did not give the same mercy to someone who owed him (verses 28-30) he lost the king’s mercy and was tortured severely. As the Scriptures plainly demonstrate, one who has received mercy can definitely lose it. Furthermore, Revelations 2:4-5 talk about the Ephesians who have lost their love for Christ, and so John urges them to repent and remember their love for Christ that they used to have or else they will lose their lampstand. And we know that without the lampstand, there can only be darkness, that is to not be the people of God or not be saved (1 Peter 2:9-10). 

2. Church Organization 

Southern Baptists believe that each church is supposed to be autonomous. They believe that since the first century church consisted of autonomous congregations, the 21st century church must also be autonomous. In response, one ought to look to 1 Corinthians 12:12-14. Firstly, we see that Paul tells the Corinthians that believers ought to be one in Christ as a body is one. How can an individual body part, a pinky toe for example, live on its own? It can’t! Similarly, God’s one true church, though consisted of many parts, has to be one as a body is one. This belief of one church, meaning that all its congregations are unified in what they teach, is seen in the Epistles. In 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, we see that Paul instructs the Corinthians to do the same as the Galatians in the dealings of the ​collections for the Lord’s people​, thus being unified in the way they do things. Moreover, in Titus 1:5 and 1 Corinthians 4:14-17, not only do we see that the same doctrine is taught in every congregation, we also see that an overseer is appointed in every congregation to lead the people and unify them, and each overseer was under an even higher overseer. 

3. Baptism 

According to Southern Baptists, baptism is a symbolic act of obedience to God. It is the symbol of one’s faith in a crucified, buried, and resurrected Jesus. Often times Baptists would use Romans 6:1-4 to justify their claim that baptism is a mere symbol. Interestingly, if one simply looked at just two verses after that, it becomes evident that it is not a symbol. Firstly, nowhere in Romans 6:1-4 does it mention that baptism ​symbolizes​ anything. Rather, the Scriptures say that baptism is the ​participation​ of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (verses 3-4). Further, in verse 5 it mentions being ​united​ with Jesus in death and resurrection during baptism. Yet according to Southern Baptists one dies to their sinful nature and is raised into a new life before baptism. How can someone be ​united with ​Jesus​ in a resurrection​ if they have they have not been united with him in his death? 

4. Salvation 

Southern Baptists believe that one must profess their faith in God to be saved. In the religious world, this is also known as “praying Jesus into your hearts”. When one someone studies the Bible, they will find that this idea of praying or accepting Jesus is nowhere to be Robielos 4 found. They might refer to Revelations 3:20 and say that one must open the doors of their hearts to accept Jesus. However, when the Scripture is correctly studied, we see that the letter recorded in Revelation 3:14-22 is for the church in Laodicea. Thus, when the verses talk about Jesus knocking on the door and whoever opens the door will get the ​right to sit with ​Jesus ​on ​his throne​ it does not refer to salvation, but rather restoration. These verses refer to the lukewarmness of the Laodicean church and how they can be restored. 

Another infamous way that Southern Baptists justify their false doctrine is saying that in Romans 10:9, the Bible says that declaring “Jesus is Lord” verbally saves you. They fail to realize that this is only a part, and not the whole of salvation. In Acts 22, Paul himself was ordered by Ananias to ​Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name​. In this verse, we see the participial phrase ​calling​ on his name​. This shows that one is to call on the name of Jesus during baptism. 

Lastly, and yet the most known scripture used to justify this false doctrine is Ephesians 2:8. Southern Baptists say that we are saved by grace through our faith, and since baptism is a work it cannot save us since verse nine says we are not saved by works. Yes, we are saved by grace through our faith; there is no amount of work that can amount to us earning salvation. It cannot be earned, thus it must be freely given. So does baptism save you? No. But when is the point in time that someone is saved? During baptism! Isaiah 59:1-2 says that our sins separate us from God. Thus the point in time that these sins are forgiven is the time when one is forgiven. Acts 2:38 says that baptism is the point at which someone has their sins forgiven. Therefore, we see that one is not saved prior to baptism. But how does this make sense if baptism is still an action and the Bible says that we are not saved by works? Since we are saved through our faith, let’s look at faith. Hebrews 11 shows that each one mentioned to be faithful accompanied their faith with an action (Abel ​brought​ a better offering, Noah ​built​ the ark, Abraham ​ obeyed ​and offered​ his son as a sacrifice, etc) and James 2:17 says that faith without action is dead. When the scriptures are taken as a whole, we see that although baptism does not save anyone, it is important to be baptized since this is how our faith is alive and it is the point at which we are forgiven. 

Conclusion 

The Southern Baptist denomination is only one of many denominations that miss the mark when it comes to doctrine. After researching about their history and their core beliefs, I have a better understanding of how I can Biblically show Sgt. that he has a false conception of salvation. I am more confident to speak to this man of high stature in this field of study. After speaking to him once about false doctrine and which church is right, he simply dismissed the question by saying that each local church in the entire world are like companies in a battalion. He said that although each one has their own way of doing things, they are still part of one collective unit. He also mentioned that God does not care about doctrine as long as we understand the idea that Jesus is from God and he atoned for our sins by his death on the cross. At the time, I was not able to respond at all. I simply submitted to whatever he said. However, with this new found insight in the Southern Baptist’s history and their core conviction, I am more equipped to challenge his beliefs and show Sgt. the truth. Though engulfed with timidity, I am excited to speak to Sgt. about this new found knowledge so that just as he helped me come to God, I may also help him know the truth and be with God. 

Works Cited

• 'Adherents.com Home Page.' ​Southern Baptist Convention Statistics​. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.
• 'Romans 8 Commentary - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.' ​Bible Study Tools​. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.
• 'Southern Baptist Convention.' ​Basic Beliefs​. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.
• 'Southern Baptist Convention.' ​Wikipedia​. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.
• 'What Do Southern Baptists Believe and Teach?' ​About.com Religion & Spirituality​. N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.