Baptist Church Doctrines And Beliefs

     Most Baptists teach that all you must do in order to be saved and have your sins forgiven is to "accept Jesus as your personal Saviour".  They say that baptism is not essential to salvation and not essential for the forgiveness of sins.  They claim that they are saved and their sins are forgiven before and without baptism.  But where in the Bible is any of this found?  It is not there.  

     But let's see what the Bible says?  Jesus says in Mark 16:16, "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned".  But just as 1+1=2, Jesus says belief + baptism = saved.  One needs help to misunderstand Jesus.  How much clearer could Jesus have said it?  Jesus placed both belief and baptism prior to being saved.  Jesus did notsay "He who believes and is not baptized shall be saved", but this is what the Baptists say.  People are given a simple choice: they can either believe and be baptized in order to be saved as Jesus says, or they can disbelieve Jesus and be condemned.  If one is not baptized in order to be saved, this shows that he does not really believe Jesus and because of this he will not be saved, but will be eternally condemned to Hell.  Baptism is not a work of merit of which man can boast, but one of humble submission and obedience to the command of God.  We cannot save ourselves, but we must surrender to God's requirement and let another baptize us for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38) so we can be saved (Mark 16:16).  In Mark 16:16 Jesus simply declares who shall be saved and who shall be lost.  The one who does not have enough faith in Jesus to be baptized to be saved, simply does not have enough faith to be saved.  

     Baptists reject what Jesus says one must do to be saved.  Those, who believe and obey the Baptist doctrine of "faith only", have blatantly declined the Saviour's offer of pardon.  Jesus says in John 12:48, "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him; the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day."  In Mark 16:16, Jesus did not say, "He that believes is saved and can be baptized later", but Satan says this.  Even Satan knows that "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved".  If Satan can keep people from obeying the Lord's command of being baptized to be saved, then Satan has won another soul to be with him in the eternal torments of Hell.  Satan has been very successful in fooling many people into believing and following his false doctrine of "faith only".

     In Acts 2:37-38 the question was asked, "'Men and brethern, what shall we do?'  Then Peter said to them, 'Repent and and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins'".  At the time these people asked the question, they had just become believers in Jesus Christ as the crucified and resurrected Son of God (Acts 2:22-35), but they were not yet forgiven of their sins.  This proves that people are not forgiven and not saved the very moment they believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.  Here God's word says that repentance and baptism must precede forgiveness of sins, but Baptists don't believe this.  According to the Bible, one's baptism must be for the purpose of remission of sins.  If one's baptism was not done for this purpose then one just joined the Baptist Church and got wet in doing so, but still has every sin he has ever committed and is still lost.  The process by which one becomes a Baptist is not the same process which God requires for one to become a Christian.

     After Peter told the people to "Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38), we continue to read "And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, 'Save yourselves from this perverse generation'.  Then they who gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added to them about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:40-41).  When the people on that day were told to "save yourselves", then three thousand people on that same day gladly obeyed God's command to be baptized for the remission of their sins.  They did not have to wait two or three weeks to be voted on.  The Bible knows nothing about people being voted on, but this is just another false doctrine of Satan.  When those people were baptized for the forgiveness of their sins to be saved, we continue to read "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).  The Lord only adds the saved to His one church, the church of Christ, and not to the Baptist Church.  

     In Acts 9:1-18, 22:6-16 when Ananias came to Saul of Tarsus, who later became the apostle Paul, he did not tell him that he was already "saved by grace when he trusted in Jesus".  Ananias did not tell Saul that his prayers had already saved him, even though Saul had been praying for the past three days.  Ananias did not tell Saul to recite the "sinner's prayer" to be saved.  Ananias told Saul, "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).  Saul's faith, repentance, prayer, and fasting did not bring about forgiveness of Saul's sins, but the Lord washed away Saul's sins when he obeyed the Lord's command and was baptized to wash away his sins.  One needs help to misunderstand what the Bible says about baptism.  Baptism is what God commands (Acts 10:48); and is not a work of merit of which man can boast, but one of humble submission in obedience to God.  God's word says, "He who says, 'I know Him', and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4).  Do you know Jesus or are you a liar?  You cannot afford to be wrong about your salvation.  

     The Baptists say one is saved by "faith only".  But what does the Bible say about "faith only"?  James 2:19-20 says, "You believe that there is one God.  You do well.  Even the devils also believe and tremble.  But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead".  One who believes in "faith only" is no different than the devils because they also believe and even tremble.  If one is following the dead faith of "faith only", the Bible refers to him as "O foolish man".  Why?  One is a fool because he will loose his eternal soul in following Satan's false doctrine of "faith only".  To enter the Baptist Church or any other denomination one has to reject God's plan of salvation as given in the Bible.  

     James 2:24, 26 continues to say, "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only…For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."  How much clearer could God's word have said it?  This is the only time that the term "faith only" is used in God's word and it says that we are not "justified" by "faith only".  The Bible knows nothing of "faith only" except to condemn it.  "Faith only" could not save then, nor can it save today.  We cannot earn our salvation, but we must have a working obedient faith if we expect to be saved by God's grace and go to Heaven.  According to the Bible, one who is following the Baptist Church's doctrine of "faith only" has a dead faith.  One cannot be saved by a "dead faith".  The purpose of Baptist "baptism" is to join the Baptist Church.  With Baptist "baptism", one is not "baptized into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13) which is the Lord's one church (Ephesians 1:21-22), but he is "baptized" into the Baptist Church, which is a counterfeit church.  A counterfeit is made to appear genuine when it is actually a fake.  Many Baptists react with bitterness and even hatred when the truth about their false doctrine is presented.

     Baptists contend that people can be saved and go to Heaven without baptism, but they also contend that people cannot enter their Baptist Church without baptism.  Since Baptist "baptism" is not done for the purpose of forgiveness of one’s sins and to be saved, then with Baptist "baptism", one’s sins are not forgiven and one is not saved.  One still has every sin he has ever committed and is still lost.  One has only joined one of Satan's many counterfeit denominational churches.  The Bible says, "There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end there of are the ways of death." (Proverbs 14:12).  How dare men change the requirements that God has given for one to be saved and replace it with their false doctrine of "faith only".  I have a number of good friends who are Baptists and I don't want to see any of them lost; but it breaks my heart to see them following their false Baptist doctrine that will cause them to be lost in the eternal fires of a real Hell.

     Baptists are going to be "among those who perish because they did not receive a love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they may all be condemned who did not believe the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).  As we have seen in the above scriptures, Baptists reject what the Bible says one must do to have his sins forgiven and to be saved.  And because Baptists have not received a love of the truth of what God says one must do to be saved, then God has sent them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie of "faith only" and for this reason they will be condemned to the eternal fires of Hell on Judgment Day.  It is a strange thing that Baptists claim to believe the Bible to be God's word, but at the same they take their man-made Baptist creeds over what the Bible says.  God's word takes second place to their Baptist creeds.  False Baptist doctrine has caused multiplied millions of people to go through life believing that they are saved when they are not.  This is very, very sad.

     Many Baptists say that after one is saved it is impossible for one to be eternally lost.  This is the false doctrine of "once saved, always saved".  They say that you cannot fall from God’s grace and be eternally lost.  It is true that Baptists cannot fall from God's grace.  Baptists have never been saved by God's grace, and Baptists cannot fall from where they have never been.  But in Galatians 5:4, the Bible says to some Christians in the church in Galatia, "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by the law; you have fallen from grace".  But the Bible plainly says that a Christian can fall from God's grace.  The Bible clearly contradicts Satan's false doctrine of "once saved, always saved".  Without God's grace we will be eternally lost in Hell.  Also 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."  Satan does not want us to take heed lest we fall.  Satan's false doctrine of "once saved, always saved" gives one a false sense of security.  There are 29 different kinds of Baptist Churches and none of them teach and practice what God requires in the Bible for one to be saved so he can go to Heaven.   

Where Will You Spend Eternity?

      Jesus warns us that, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord', shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." (Matthew 7:21).  Even though Baptists call Jesus, "Lord, Lord", but this will not get them into Heaven.  To go to Heaven we must do the will of the "Father in heaven".  The will of the Father in Heaven is found in our Bibles and not in the Baptist Church Manual.  A horrible surprise will greet Baptists on Judgment Day.  Baptists who thought they were saved will be pleading desperately with Jesus and saying, "Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name and done many wonders in Your name?" (Matthew 7:22).  Those who stay in their Baptist Church will hear the Lord say to them on Judgment Day, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness." (Matthew 7:23).  Jesus says a faith, though it confesses Him as Lord and is active in some areas, but does not lead the individual to obey God's will, makes him one who practices lawlessness.  Such a tragedy!!  Where are these people to go when they are told to depart from the Lord?  Into eternal torment.  Why were they told to depart?  The answer is found back in verse 21 and it is because they had not done "the will of My Father in heaven", but they have kept their false counterfeit Baptist doctrine.  Please don't be eternally lost in eternal torments of Hell by following false Baptist doctrine.

     Baptist doctrine can be traced to an ignorance of God’s word and ignoring what it says.  How could anyone conclude that scripture authorizes the abandonment of God's plan as found in the Bible?  Jesus warns us against allowing the authority of the traditions of men to determine doctrine.  He says, "Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition…And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:6, 9).  To continue to exist, the Baptist Church has to rely on their different creeds such as Baptist Church Manual, by J. M. Pendleton and the Hiscox Standard Baptist Manual to guide them in their false beliefs.  The various Baptist Churches could not exist without their creeds.  The Baptist Churches would cease to exist if they followed only the Bible and did what it said.  

     Baptist doctrine has come from men and is vain and useless.  Any doctrine that teaches anything more than, less than, or anything different from what God’s word teaches in the Bible is false doctrine.  Baptist doctrine offers deceptive satisfaction and is designed by Satan to cause people to be eternally lost in Hell.  Baptist doctrine leads people into an irrational spirit of assurance, that "I feel in my heart that I'm saved", thereby destroying their capacity to objectively examine their condition in the light of God's word as found in the Bible.  Any person who is interested in his soul’s salvation can not afford to believe and follow false Baptist doctrine.

     God’s word warns us to "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing" (Matthew 7:15), and "many false prophets have gone out in the world" (1 John 4:1).  There is so much false doctrine being taught today which many people blindly accept and follow.  On the Day of Judgment we are going to be judged only by what the Lord says in the Bible and not what men falsely teach.  Jesus says, "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him: the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day" (John 12:48).  So, if we or any other person cannot point to it in the word of God, then please do not believe it, because there is too much at stake — your SOUL !!  Baptists have a false hope.  They will  not realize that their hope is false until it is too late when they stand before the Lord on Judgment Day.

     The Bible warns us "that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men" (Ephesians 4:14).  Man cannot be pleasing to God and be saved by dreaming up his own plan as to how God is going to save him.  We must follow God’s plan and only God’s plan if we expect to be saved.  Christ is only "the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" (Hebrews 5:9).  The faith that saves is the faith that obeys.  If we follow any of the many plans men have devised we will be eternally lost.  Our salvation in Heaven is too great to lose, because if we don’t go to Heaven we will spend forever and ever in the eternal torments of a burning Hell fire that will never ever end (Mark 9:43-48).  We cannot afford to be wrong concerning our eternal salvation.  I beg you, please don't be lost.

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

     This is a very important question.  Many people would answer this question in many different ways.  Any way that differs from what the Bible says is false.  But what does God require in the Bible for one to be saved?  

     (1) We must believe in God and in Christ.  Jesus says in John 8:24, "For if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  To believe in Jesus is to accept and do all He says.  If one does not do what Jesus says, then he doesn't really believe in Jesus.

     (2) We must repent.  Jesus says "but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3).  It is either repent or perish.  Repentance is a change of heart and mind to turn away from sin.  It is making up our mind that henceforth we are going to serve God with all our might and do everything He says.  Without repentance we cannot receive forgiveness and be saved.  

     (3) We must also be willing to confess our belief in Christ before other people.  Jesus says, "Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32).

     (4) We must be baptized to be saved.  Jesus says, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16).  One needs help to misunderstand what Jesus says here.  It is not just any "he" that shall be saved, but Jesus says that it is the "he who believes and is baptized shall be saved".  The words "believes" and "baptized" are joined by a coordinating conjunction "and" which joins words of equal importance.  Jesus placed both belief and baptism before salvation.  But Satan has been successful in getting people to reject what Jesus says.  To reject what Jesus says is to reject the salvation He wants to give us.  Jesus asks you the question in Luke 6:46, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"  One who claims to believe in Jesus, but does not do what Jesus says, does not really believe in Jesus.  If you do not do what Jesus says then Jesus is not your Lord.  It is certainly false doctrine for a person to teach that a person does not have to obey Christ in order to be saved, but that one can pray "the sinner's prayer" and be saved.

     Also we read in Acts 2:38, "Then Peter said unto them, ‘Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins’."  Notice the Bible says that both repentance and baptism come before the remission of sins.  Here again the words "repent" and "be baptized" are joined by the coordinating conjunction "and" which joins words of equal importance.  The Baptist Church laughs at God’s word when God says repentance and baptism are both required for the remission of one’s sins so one can be saved and go to Heaven.  This is sad and will cause many good people to be eternally lost in Hell because they believed a lie of Satan.  This lie of Satan says that baptism is not necessary for forgiveness of sins and to be saved.  Satan says all you have to do to be saved is just "accept Jesus as your personal Saviour".  Satan says it is all right to be baptized later to join the Baptist Church, after you "think" you are saved because even Satan knows God saves one after one is baptized, not before.  Satan knows that being baptized to join the Baptist Church does one no good and that if one is not baptized for the forgiveness of sins to be saved, he still has every sin he ever committed and is still lost.  Satan has been very successful in all the denominations and particularly the Baptist Church in leading people down the broad way that leads to eternal torment, "for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it" (Matthew 7:13).

     Just as Satan has deceived many people down through the ages, he continues to deceive the vast majority of people today with his lies.  Anything that contradicts or is different from God’s word in the Bible is another lie of Satan.  God offers salvation to all people, but He conditions that salvation with obeying His requirements which He has set forth in His word, the Bible, and not what men falsely teach in their creeds.  Please give up being a Baptist and become just a Christian by being baptized for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16) so you can be saved (Mark 16:16) and when you are saved the Lord will add you to His church (Acts 2:47), the church of Christ (Romans 16:16).  If one is eternally lost in Hell, he will only have himself to blame.

The Lord’s One Church

     The fact that the Lord has only one church is unpopular with many people who want to belong to their Baptist Church.  Jesus says in Matthew 16:18, "I will build My church".  The word "church" is singular, meaning one and only one; and the word "My" is possessive, meaning it belongs to the Lord.  The Lord began His one church more than 1900 years ago on the day of Pentecost of Acts chapter 2.  Ephesians 1:22-23 says that God gave Christ "to be head over all things to the church, which is His body."  Here we see the church is the body of Christ.  In Ephesians 4:4-6 we read, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."  The Bible says the Lord has only one body or church even though there are more than 600 different false counterfeit bodies or churches in the world today.  Ephesians 5:23 says that Christ "is the Saviour of the body", which is His one body, His one church.  Christ is only going to save His one church, and not any of the many counterfeit churches.  

     Christ "loved the church and gave Himself for her" (Ephesians 5:25).  Jesus Christ did not die for or establish any of the 29 different kinds of Baptist Churches which men have begun during the past 500 years.  John Smyth is generally considered to be the founder of the Baptist Church in Holland in 1608.  Baptist Churches and the other denominations are all of human origin and have no scriptural authority to exist.  In trying to find the Baptist Church in the Bible is somewhat like a blind man, in a black cellar, looking for a black cat that is not there.  Satan convinces people to become a member of the Baptist Church for which Christ did not die.  This is very sad.  The creation of the Baptist Church and all of the other denominations is one of the cleverest things Satan ever did.  Those who teach and follow false Baptist doctrine is the case, as Jesus says, of the "blind leaders of the blind.  And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Matthew 15:13-14).  The ditch of eternal destruction assuredly awaits both these blind leaders and their followers. 

     How does one become a member of the Lord’s one true church?  Jesus says, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16).  One must believe and be baptized in order to be saved.  Once people are saved, the Bible says, "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).  The Lord adds only the saved to His church.  The baptism of the Bible puts one into the Lord's one body, His one church.  We read in 1 Corinthians 12:13, "For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body".  The Lord only has one spiritual body (Ephesians 4:4), which is His one church (Ephesians 1:22-23), which He is going to save (Ephesians 5:23).  With Baptist baptism one is baptized into the Baptist Church which is a false apostate body.  Since those in the Baptist Church do not believe the Lord’s requirement, that baptism is necessary for salvation and to become a member of the Lord's one church, they remain unsaved.  And since the Lord does not add unsaved people to His one church, the unsaved have to join the Baptist Church.

     The one church that Christ purchased with His own blood belongs to Him and the name it wears must honor Him.  We read in Romans 16:16, "The churches of Christ greet you".  This name, "churches of Christ, glorifies and honors Christ who died for it and built it.  Even by the name Baptist Church, they do not claim to be the Lord’s church.  Christ has only promised to save His one church (Ephesians 5:23).  The "Baptist Church" is found nowhere in the Bible because it is a counterfeit church.  Also people in the Baptist Church say they are "Baptists".  One cannot be a Baptist and a Christian at the same time.

     What is going to happen to all of the many different illegitimate counterfeit denominational churches that men have started?  Jesus says, "Every plant My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted" (Matthew 15:13).  Since Jesus did not build any denominational church, including the Baptist Church, they all stand under His condemnation.  Today, there are many people laboring in vain in their man made churches.  God’s word says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it" (Psalms 127:1).  It does one no good to belong to and worship in any of the 29 different kinds of Baptist Churches.  Jesus did not die for any of the man-made Baptist Churches.  The Baptist Church exists without divine authority and those who remain in it until death will be lost.  In a Baptist Church one is wasting his time and will lose his soul in eternity!!  Jesus says, "And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Mark 7:7).  Vain worship is useless.

     If people really want to go to Heaven, they must come out of their Baptist Churches and be baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38) so they can be saved (Mark 16:16).  They must be "baptized into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13), which is the Lord's one church (Ephesians 4:4), the church of Christ (Romans 16:16), and not the counterfeit Baptist Church.  Then the Lord will add the saved to His church (Acts 2:47), the church of Christ (Romans 16:16), where they can worship God "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).  Jesus promises "Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10).  Let’s make going to Heaven our number one priority in this life.

What Is Your Destination?

     Satan does not want anyone to be saved.  The Bible speaks of Satan as the one "who deceives the whole world" (Revelation 12:9).  Satan rejoices at all of the religious confusion and division that is going on in the world today.  Satan works ceaselessly to cause people to follow their false denominational doctrines instead of the Bible only.  Anything that is more than, less than, or different from what the Bible says is false doctrine which is designed by Satan to cause people to be eternally lost in the torments of Hell.  Satan has been very successful in fooling people today, just as he fooled Eve in the Garden of Eden with his lies.  

     Each person determines in this life as to where he will spend eternity.  Are you really concerned about the salvation of your soul?  Where will you go when this life on earth is over, eternal life in Heaven or eternal torment in Hell?  We must make sure because we will not be given another chance to make things right.  The Bible says to "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve" (Joshua 24:15).  Tomorrow may be too late.  Satan wants us to wait because he wants us to be eternally lost with him in Hell.  God’s word says, "Behold now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).  In this Bible study on "Baptist Church Doctrines And Beliefs", I have tried to point you to what the Bible says about false counterfeit Baptist doctrine which is going to cause many, many people to be eternally lost in Hell.  We are all headed to an eternity that has no end, and Jesus says that only few will go to Heaven and that the vast majority will be thrown into the everlasting fires of Hell (Matthew 7:13-14, Mark 9:43-48).  I don't want to see anyone eternally lost in Hell, so please don't be lost.  I deeply care for your soul. 

     If you would like to study more I would recommend a Bible study I have on the internet entitled: "Are You A Member Of The Lord's One True Church?" at www.netbiblestudy.net/church  After this I would recommend that you study "Are You Really Sure Of Your Eternal Salvation?" at www.netbiblestudy.net  and "Are You Worshipping God In Spirit And In Truth?" atwww.netbiblestudy.net/worship 

     Do you really want to go to Heaven?  If I can help you locate a congregation of the church of Christ where you can be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and be saved, then email me your city, state, and ZipCode to ronboat@netbiblestudy.net  and I will be glad to help locate one for you.  After you have obeyed the Lord in baptism you could continue to worship there.

 

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Are You A Member Of The Lord’s One True Church?

Copyright © 2005 Ron Boatwright