I’m happy to be a Christian.
In Luke 10:20, when Jesus’s disciples were excited about their power over demons, He told them to rejoice about something else instead. He said, “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
I’m really happy to be a Christian. I’m happy to be among the numbered saints in heaven regardless of denominational affiliation.
However, I’m also really happy to be a Baptist.
I’ve been a Baptist all my life.
But I haven’t always been a conscientious Baptist. At first, it was a reality I was born into — meaning my family was Baptist so I went to a Baptist church before I ever knew what that was or really had a choice in the matter. So, in a sense, I’ve always been a Baptist, but it wasn’t until later that I actually appreciated being a Baptist.
And why am I happy to be a Baptist?
The primary reason is this: Because the Baptist distinctives are biblical ones.
Or to use a phrase that I learned in Baptist Sunday School, “Because the Bible says so.” In fact, before I ever knew what a Baptist was, I was taught, “If the Bible teaches it, we must believe and obey it.” And that’s why I’m a Baptist — because I believe the Bible teaches the Baptist distinctives.
Baptists are people of the book. Of course, Baptists have a long history of tradition.
And yes, Baptists have our share of movements. Baptists have big names, too (Bunyan and Spurgeon are usually headliners).
The Bible Is a Baptist Book
But none of those are the reason one should be a Baptist. The reason to be a Baptist is not because of the tradition of saints but because of the text of Scripture. Baptists are people of the book. Or to put it a bit provocatively: The Bible is a Baptist book.
Now, I realize that all Christian denominations make this claim, that they are the truly biblical stream of Christianity. Differences between denominations exist because of different interpretations of Scripture, and I respect a non-Baptist, even if I disagree with him, so long as he is aiming to argue from Scripture. Since Baptists are people of the book foremost, we appreciate those who build and defend their beliefs from Scripture primarily.
And that’s what I want to do in this article. While I recognize other Christians from other streams will argue from Scripture as well, I want to demonstrate that the Baptist distinctives are, in fact, biblical doctrines. There are many Baptist distinctives I could explore, but for the purpose of this article, I’ll consider only three: credobaptism, church membership, and congregationalism.
Mark 1: Credobaptism
Credobaptism is the understanding of baptism that holds that only professing believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should be baptized (credo = Latin for “I believe”). This is in contrast to paedobaptism, which is the practice of baptizing infants (paedo = referring to an infant/child).
Baptists maintain that only those of faith should participate in this ordinance of Jesus, and Baptists maintain that position because Scripture is clear on that expectation.
In Matthew 28:19, Jesus places faith before baptism when giving His great commission. In Acts 2:41, new believers first believe and then are baptized. In Acts 8, the Ethiopian eunuch first believes and then is baptized. This is the order the Bible prescribes: faith first, then baptism.
This is the overwhelming evidence of the New Testament. Every Christian baptism in the New Testament is experienced by a professing believer. There are no Christian baptisms in the New Testament given to anyone except professing believers.
And at this point, it should also be noted as significant that Baptists also believe that baptism should be through the mode of immersion.
Romans 6:4 says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead … we too might walk in newness of life.”
The very image that the apostle Paul uses is an immersive image. The believer wasn’t sprinkled into Christ; he wasn’t poured into Christ; he was immersed fully into Him! It’s an image of complete renewal. The old man is gone. The old self is dead. The old way was drowned. The former man was engrossed in the death of Christ — and what emerged was representative of new life in the Spirit.
The very image of immersion is meant to display the radical rebirth that has taken place in the new believer. This is a fundamental mark of Baptists: We baptize those who believe.
Mark 2: Church Membership
Many churches practice some sort of membership, a way of knowing who is part of the church. But the distinctive practice of membership within a Baptist church is that of regenerate church membership, meaning the members of the church are only those who have experienced the regenerating work of the Spirit.
In other words, Baptists only admit into membership those individuals who have experienced genuine conversion. The Holy Spirit has caused them to be born again, they have responded in repentance and faith, they publicize the reality of that work through baptism, and now they walk as followers of Christ. This is regenerate church membership.
Acts 2 demonstrates the reality of individuals believing the gospel, being baptized, and becoming part of the church. “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41).
Second Corinthians 5:17 describes the new believer in this way, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”
Titus 3:5 describes the Christian as one who has been saved “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”
Scripture is clear: For one to be considered as part of God’s church, he must be joined to Christ. And only those joined with Christ are considered part of the church.
If Christ is the head of the church, only those individuals who are members of His body are recognized as church members (Col. 1:18). Infant baptism has no place within the church — because to baptize the infant is to eventually confuse the individual about his or her status within the church.
Only disciples who give credible professions of faith should be admitted into church membership by baptism, which means unbelievers should not be baptized until they give a credible profession of faith. Likewise, infants should not be baptized until they give a credible profession of faith.
Regenerate church membership makes clear: All who profess faith in Christ as Savior and Lord are part of His people — but only those who possess faith.
Mark 3: Congregationalism
Congregationalism is the distinct governance of a Baptist church. Congregationalism often gets a bad rap, and in many cases it should. Misunderstandings abound surrounding congregationalism and the poor execution of it. When I refer to congregationalism, I’m not referring to a church membership voting on a new copier for the church; rather, I’m referring to realities much more significant.
Congregationalism is the governance of a Baptist church which recognizes that God gives final governing authority to church members. Another reason for regenerate church membership is this: God has given church members a measure of heavenly authority. Surely, we should be careful with who is exercising such authority.
In Matthew 16 and 18, Jesus speaks to His disciples about possessing what He calls “the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” And in Matthew 18, when Jesus gives direction to His disciples about how to handle unrepentant sin among believers, the final realm of jurisdiction on earth He identifies is the church (Matt. 18:17).
Now, there’s much to be said about what Jesus means here, but the bottom line is this: When it comes to handling sin within the church — matters that are highly sensitive, soberingly serious, and eternally significant — the power of the keys of the kingdom belong to the church.
Jesus has saved His people through the gospel, and then He gives authority to His people to preserve and promote the true gospel. The elders lead in this work, deacons serve in this work, and individual members live out this work — but it is the gathered church together that has this heavenly authority from Jesus for this work.
This is the expectation in 1 Corinthians 5 when the church must remove a wayward brother. It’s the expectation in Galatians 1 when the church must guard the true gospel. Such authority is ultimately given, not to the elders, but to church members.
Congregationalism is not about petty church votes but about power of the keys of heaven — to preserve and promote the gospel of Jesus.
The Book Is the Thing
So, yes, I’m happy to be a Christian, and I’m happy to be a Baptist.
And Baptists hold to our distinctives — not primarily because of the tradition, the prominent figures, or the popularity of them, but because the distinctives are biblical.
And Baptists have always been people of the Book.
— Donald Thomas has served as lead pastor at Abner Creek Baptist Church, Greer, since 2019. He is a graduate of North Greenville University and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married with five children.