FAQs
Q: How should a Christian react to the 'cultural changes' in our society?
Culture and society change often. This process has increased over the past few years due to mass media and it's ongoing pressure to conform to political correctness. So, when the Christian church is faced with pressures to conform to new ideas or standards of conduct, or to tolerate that which is sinful, how should we respond?
There are three ways a Christian can respond to the new 'virtue' of toleration and conformity to culture.
1. We can stand with the Bible and if culture, ideas or values do not measure up to it, stand firm. That is the position of West River Road Baptist Church. This does not mean being old fashioned for its own sake, but it does mean being consistent with Scripture for the Lord's sake. Not radical legalism, but real godliness. This is fundamentalism.
2. We can ignore the Bible all together, and fit our church into the culture, ideas and values of our society. This is paganism.
3. Third, we can seek a middle ground of compromise. The Bible is clear on issues such as singular worship of the God of the Bible alone, sexual purity, limitation of marriage between a man and woman and creation instead of a process of blind chance and accidents. But society says things have changed, and we need to tolerate other views and seek a middle ground of understanding. So, some churches reinvent the Bible and God into a book and person who accepts everyone without change. In fact, they create a god that the Bible does not describe or recognize, and then hold him up for worship and love. This is idolatry.
So, when faced with the changes around us, we have a choice as Christians and churches. We can remain faithful to God and His Word, reject God and His Word, or change God and His Word into a form that we appreciate and then worship that god as our own. Obviously God, the One True God of Creation and the Universe is only pleased with one of these, and will cast out the pagan and the idolater.
Toleration is not a virtue if we tolerate that which is wicked!
Q: What does a Baptist believe?
B: The Bible is God's Holy Word and our sole authority for all faith and practice.
A: Autonomy of the Local Church
P: Priesthood of the believer. All believers are priests before God.
T: Two offices of Pastor and Deacons. No other offices exist in the local church.
I: Individual soul liberty.
S: Saved Church membership only. Only born again Christians are allowed to be members of the local church.
T: Two Ordinances in the local church, believers baptism by immersion, and the Lord's supper or communion.
S: Separation of Church and State.
Q: Why do we baptize by Immersion?
Acts 2:41-42 speaks of the normal growth patterns for a person who has been born again. They gladly receive the gospel, they are baptized and they are added to the church. Then they begin to grow in understanding of Bible doctrine, they begin to enjoy fellowship with other believers, they share in communion and for that matter, in meals together, and they become people of prayer.
In this passage, the New Testament pattern is given. Baptism is the first step after a person gladly receives the gospel. That is, baptism is a choice a person makes to identify with Jesus Christ because they have already become a born again believer.
Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all the peoples, baptizing THEM, and teaching them to observe all that He had commanded. (Matthew 28:18-20) The word baptize means to place into, or under, and never means sprinkle or pour. The pattern of the early church for many hundreds of years was to immerse new believers as a picture of what Jesus did on the cross, in the grave and through the resurrection. Romans 6 gives us a picture of baptism as being buried with Jesus and raised again.
In fact, the Bible never mentions sprinkling, pouring water on a believer, or in any way, baptizing infants. These things came about many years after the church was founded, and long after the Apostles were dead.
So, Bible preaching churches that take the Scriptures as their authority for faith and practice have consistently refused to allow traditions that have come into the Christian denominations to dictate how this ordinance is practiced. We go back to 'What does the Bible Say', and 'What did the Early Church practice', and find that baptism was 1)For those who had already received God's Word. 2) For those who chose to identify with Jesus Christ publicly and 3) an ordinance of obedience before one was added to the church.
Baptism is a beautiful picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and gives the new convert the opportunity to publicly show friends, family and the church that they willingly identify with Jesus Christ. Let us stick to the pattern that Jesus and the Apostles practiced and not loose the beauty of the simple picture.
Culture and society change often. This process has increased over the past few years due to mass media and it's ongoing pressure to conform to political correctness. So, when the Christian church is faced with pressures to conform to new ideas or standards of conduct, or to tolerate that which is sinful, how should we respond?
There are three ways a Christian can respond to the new 'virtue' of toleration and conformity to culture.
1. We can stand with the Bible and if culture, ideas or values do not measure up to it, stand firm. That is the position of West River Road Baptist Church. This does not mean being old fashioned for its own sake, but it does mean being consistent with Scripture for the Lord's sake. Not radical legalism, but real godliness. This is fundamentalism.
2. We can ignore the Bible all together, and fit our church into the culture, ideas and values of our society. This is paganism.
3. Third, we can seek a middle ground of compromise. The Bible is clear on issues such as singular worship of the God of the Bible alone, sexual purity, limitation of marriage between a man and woman and creation instead of a process of blind chance and accidents. But society says things have changed, and we need to tolerate other views and seek a middle ground of understanding. So, some churches reinvent the Bible and God into a book and person who accepts everyone without change. In fact, they create a god that the Bible does not describe or recognize, and then hold him up for worship and love. This is idolatry.
So, when faced with the changes around us, we have a choice as Christians and churches. We can remain faithful to God and His Word, reject God and His Word, or change God and His Word into a form that we appreciate and then worship that god as our own. Obviously God, the One True God of Creation and the Universe is only pleased with one of these, and will cast out the pagan and the idolater.
Toleration is not a virtue if we tolerate that which is wicked!
Q: What does a Baptist believe?
B: The Bible is God's Holy Word and our sole authority for all faith and practice.
A: Autonomy of the Local Church
P: Priesthood of the believer. All believers are priests before God.
T: Two offices of Pastor and Deacons. No other offices exist in the local church.
I: Individual soul liberty.
S: Saved Church membership only. Only born again Christians are allowed to be members of the local church.
T: Two Ordinances in the local church, believers baptism by immersion, and the Lord's supper or communion.
S: Separation of Church and State.
Q: Why do we baptize by Immersion?
Acts 2:41-42 speaks of the normal growth patterns for a person who has been born again. They gladly receive the gospel, they are baptized and they are added to the church. Then they begin to grow in understanding of Bible doctrine, they begin to enjoy fellowship with other believers, they share in communion and for that matter, in meals together, and they become people of prayer.
In this passage, the New Testament pattern is given. Baptism is the first step after a person gladly receives the gospel. That is, baptism is a choice a person makes to identify with Jesus Christ because they have already become a born again believer.
Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all the peoples, baptizing THEM, and teaching them to observe all that He had commanded. (Matthew 28:18-20) The word baptize means to place into, or under, and never means sprinkle or pour. The pattern of the early church for many hundreds of years was to immerse new believers as a picture of what Jesus did on the cross, in the grave and through the resurrection. Romans 6 gives us a picture of baptism as being buried with Jesus and raised again.
In fact, the Bible never mentions sprinkling, pouring water on a believer, or in any way, baptizing infants. These things came about many years after the church was founded, and long after the Apostles were dead.
So, Bible preaching churches that take the Scriptures as their authority for faith and practice have consistently refused to allow traditions that have come into the Christian denominations to dictate how this ordinance is practiced. We go back to 'What does the Bible Say', and 'What did the Early Church practice', and find that baptism was 1)For those who had already received God's Word. 2) For those who chose to identify with Jesus Christ publicly and 3) an ordinance of obedience before one was added to the church.
Baptism is a beautiful picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and gives the new convert the opportunity to publicly show friends, family and the church that they willingly identify with Jesus Christ. Let us stick to the pattern that Jesus and the Apostles practiced and not loose the beauty of the simple picture.