My Crowd
May 13, 2011 | 
Author 
MY CROWD (Friday Church News Notes, May 13 2011, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)
As for fellowship and association, I want a crowd today that is willing to raise the flag against compromise and apostasy high without hesitation — publicly, clearly, being willing to name the names of those who are leading in the compromise –without speaking out of both sides of the mouth, without facing two ways. I want a crowd that doesn’t just give lip service to the fact of growing compromise among IB churches but that warns plainly of such compromise and distances themselves from it in real, practical ways.
I want a crowd that not only preaches against Christian rock but also doesn’t hold hands with those who use it. I want a crowd that really hates the quick prayerism that has given multitudes of unconverted hell-bound sinners “assurance of salvation” and wants to distance themselves from those who practice it, not making excuses for it and not giving mere lip service to the importance of repentance.
I want a crowd that knows that Jack Hyles built a man-centered cult and not a New Testament church, a crowd that plainly, unhesitatingly, publicly exposes Jerry Falwell for the dangerous compromiser that he was instead of speaking sympathetically of him and only haltingly, vaguely mentioning his errors. I want a crowd that wouldn’t dream of sending staff members to Saddleback conferences or youth groups to Dollywood.
I want a crowd that understands that the very essence of New Evangelicalism is trimming one’s message down to the “essentials” for the sake of any sort of broader unity or fellowship, even for evangelism and world missions.
I want a crowd where a serious teaching-warning ministry like Way of Life is welcome and appreciated. Yes, I want a crowd that doesn’t take cheap shots at warning ministries. And I thank the Lord that there is still a “crowd” like this among IBaptists, though it is definitely in the minority.
Posted in 
20/20′s Hit Piece Against Bible-Believing Baptists
April 18, 2011 David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
The 20/20 report “Victim’s Forced Confession” pretends to be a fair and balanced report on abusive churches, but instead it was a hit piece against Bible-believing Baptists everywhere.
The report a mixture of truth, slander, hypocrisy, and hatred of God and His Word.
Let’s begin with the truth.
The report covers the Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult Survivors, a loose Facebook network of those who claim to have been abused by Independent Baptist churches. It focuses on a couple of particular cases of sexual abuse that were allegedly covered up by churches. These cases involved married men who were members of IB churches who had sexual relationships with underage girls.
I have no reason to disbelieve most of the allegations that are made in this context, because I have been warning for decades that some IB churches are cultish. A former IB church member is reported by 20/20 as saying, “The whole culture is you don’t question the pastor.” Another person says, “A man who is essentially unaccountable to anyone else you have a recipe for abuse.”
That is exactly right. I have written many reports about IB pastors such as Jack Hyles of First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana, and his predecessor Jack Schaap who require unquestioning loyalty and who treat all forms of “criticism” as an attack on their spiritual authority. Sadly, this problem extends to many IB churches. First Baptist is one of the largest IB churches and its school, Hyles-Anderson College, has trained many preachers since its inception in 1972.
As for the coverup of sexual abuse and immorality in general, there is no doubt that it has happened. Pastors have been “reinstated” at some other church after committing adultery and homosexuality. I think of Jack Hyles’ son, Dave, who after committing adultery with women at Hyles Anderson was recommended to a pastorate in Texas, where he committed adultery with multiple women. This type of thing brings great reproach upon the name of Christ, who requires high moral standards of pastors and deacons (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1). Every Christian is a mere sinner saved by grace, so it should not surprise us to learn that Christians sin, but God requires a lot of those who hold positions of spiritual authority. James said, “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation” (James 3:1).
Now let’s consider the slander.
20/20’s accusation that Independent Baptists as a movement are a cult and are guilty of the type of abuse documented in the report is slanderous. They should have done a lot more research. The IB movement is very large and diverse. While First Baptist of Hammond and Hyles-Anderson College has a lot of influence, it is only one part of the IB movement. I have documented this in the report “What Is Independent Baptist?” Independent Baptist is not a denomination; it is simply a name that describes churches that are Baptist in doctrine and that are independent in polity.
There are differences among Independent Baptists in such matters as music, dress standards, the Bible version-text issue, Calvinism, Baptist briderism, the practice of communion, alien immersion, repentance and evangelistic practices, pastoral authority, church growth practices, relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention and evangelicals, and other matters touching on ecclesiastical separation.
The bottom line is that Independent Baptists are truly independent. I don’t doubt that there are “good old boys” networks that operate in some IB circles, but there are also large numbers of IB churches that are outside of the influence of these “networks.” Independent Baptists are not yoked together in any organizational sense with other Independent Baptists who might hold a different doctrine or practice. Some of the larger IB schools, such as Hyles-Anderson, West Coast, and Crown, wield influence, but only in their own circles. None of them have a reach that extends to a majority of IB churches. Large numbers of IB preachers are trained either in their own churches or in the countless medium to smaller IB schools that are not under the influence of the larger institutions. IB preachers are a very independent-minded group of men. Large numbers of IB preachers refuse to bow down toward any man-made institution and refuse to kow-tow to the “big” boys.
To lump all IB churches together into one pot of cultic abuse is slanderous.
I have personally preached in hundreds of IB churches whose pastors do not demand “unquestioning loyalty,” whose pastors are humble men who know that they are under discipline just like anyone else in the church, whose deacons and teachers are godly, compassionate men and women and are nothing like those exposed in the 20/20 report.
20/20 interviewed and gave total credence to the criticisms of some people who were allegedly the subjects of abuse in IB churches, but they could have interviewed thousands of people who grew up in IB homes and churches and would testify that they were treated with Christian compassion and grace.
This brings us to the hypocrisy of the 20/20 report.
20/20 found some abuse and possibly some coverup of sexual abuse. We wonder why that should be so shocking in the wicked society in which we live.
20/20’s ABC television network is culpable in creating the climate of moral relativism and the tearing down of divine authority that has produced rampant immorality, including the abuse of women and children. If man is merely an evolved worm, why should he not act out his impulses? If there is no supreme law-giving God, what is the basis for absolute morality? What moral culpability does a termite have when it eats the pillar of a house so that it collapses and injures people? If the Bible is a myth-filled book and Jesus was merely a “good man” and there are no moral absolutes, why would it be wrong for a man to abuse a child? What about homosexuals and their rights? If a homosexual acts out his “love” for boys, who is to say that is wrong? In fact, there are organizations of homosexuals that don’t believe that it is wrong. Will ABC expose them? Will it interview the boys who are the objects of homosexual advances? Will it treat them as victims the same way that it has treated the girls who were allegedly abused by IB church members?
Will 20/20 create a report about sexual abuse and coverup within the homosexual community?
Will 20/20 create a report about sexual abuse and coverup within the Muslim community?
No, because they are hypocrites with an agenda to discredit the God of the Bible, and they are not even handed or balanced in their reporting when it comes to such things.
This brings us to the final point, which is 20/20’s hatred of God and His Word.
Much of the report was devoted to their outrage at the fact that some people still take the Bible seriously.
The sexual abuse was indiscriminately lumped together with the alleged mental abuse created by fundamentalist preaching.
20/20 would have its viewers think that it is abusive to take the Bible seriously and to interpret it “literally.”
20/20 would have its viewers think that it is abusive to believe what the Bible says about corporal punishment. While we reject the foolish statements that were quoted by 20/20, such as spanking two-week-old infants or laying 100 stripes upon children (I have no idea where they dug up that nonsense), we do not reject the Bible’s wise teaching on corporal punishment. It wasn’t that long ago that corporal punishment was used in public schools in America. When I was in junior high school in Florida, our principle had a fearful paddle made from the end of a water ski with holes drilled in it! Most people then didn’t consider that abusive. Corporal punishment can be exercised properly without moving into the realm of abuse, and the vast majority of IB churches believe in a wise, compassionate use of the rod and are opposed to any sort of abuse.
20/20 would have its viewers think that it is abusive to believe that the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church. But the Bible’s teaching on this has been believed by most Christians for 2,000 years, and it was believed by the Jews for thousands of years before Christ came. It is 20/20’s feministic views that are the new kids on the block of human society. The Bible exalts women. Nowhere does it teach them to follow their husbands blindly. Husbands are under divine authority just like women are. Husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church, which is a very high standard of love. Any husband that abuses his wife and who treats her with anything other than compassion and respect is disobeying the Bible. Women played a large role in Christ’s earthly life and in the early churches. It was women who were the first to visit the empty tomb and the first to believe in Christ’s resurrection. The church at Philippi started with a woman’s prayer meeting. Phebe was one of the apostle Paul’s helpers (Romans 16:1-2). Priscilla is always mentioned in the context of Aquila’s church planting efforts (Acts 18:26; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19).
20/20 would have its viewers think that it is abusive to preach that there is only one narrow way of salvation through the blood of Christ and that those who reject God’s way will not be saved. But to think that this is abusive is to assume that the Bible is not true, because the Bible plainly teaches this doctrine and if it is true then it could not possibly be abusive to preach it and to warn men and women to be saved in the right way before it is too late. And it could not possibly be abusive to think that those who are not saved in the Bible way are lost. 20/20 painted those who believe this as self-righteous, and doubtless some are, but most Baptists who believe that there is only one way of salvation aren’t self-righteous. They know that they are sinners just like everybody else and they know that they don’t deserve salvation and could not possibly earn salvation through their good works. In fact, they know that their “good works” are filthy rags in the sigh of a holy God (Isaiah 64:6).
20/20 would have its viewers think that it is abusive to preach the Bible’s commands to live in a way that is separated from the wickedness of this present world system. They mock churches that encourage women to dress modestly in a society that flaunts immodesty. They mock churches that seek to maintain music that is “spiritual” in quality and to avoid music that is “conformed” to the pop culture. But the Bible says that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11-12). God’s people are taught not to love the world (1 John 2:15-17), not to be conformed to the world (Romans 12:2), and are warned that to love the wicked world system is to commit spiritual adultery (James 4:4).
The 20/20 report “Victim’s Forced Confession” pretends to be a fair and balanced report on abusive churches, but instead it was a hit piece against Bible-believing Baptists everywhere.
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The Danger of “Adapting” CCM – Garlock’s Warning
THE DANGER OF “ADAPTING” CCM – GARLOCK’S WARNING (Friday Church News Notes, April 15, 2011, www.wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) -
Many independent Baptist churches that still have any sort of conviction against CCM are “adapting” it by using the words while toning down the rhythm. They are trying to take the “rock” out of Christian rock. They think they can tame the beast and turn Charismatic praise music into fundamentalist praise music. This results in the gradual acceptance of and increasing use of CCM, the gradual allowance for sensual rhythms, a continual pushing of the boundaries.
Many discerning men have issued warnings about this slippery slope, including Frank Garlock. “IF A CHURCH STARTS USING CCM IT WILL EVENTUALLY LOSE ALL OTHER STANDARDS. You need to draw a line concerning your music” (Garlock, Bob Jones University chapel, March 12, 2001).
Dr. Garlock has been instructing churches about the danger of using the world’s music for many decades. He has a doctorate from BJU and has taken every graduate course in music offered by the celebrated Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, sitting under Howard Hanson.
Garlock’s first book was The Big Beat in 1971, which warned about the danger of rock & roll at a time when I was living the rock & roll lifestyle to the hilt. In 1973, Dr. Garlock published the Symphony of Life seminar on video, and it had a wide and godly influence. That was the year that God in His great mercy saved me and changed my taste both in lifestyle and music. I turned 24 that year, and a few months later I published the first of my own books warning of the dangers of rock. It was titled “Mom and Dad Sleep While the Children Rock in Satan’s Cradle.”
Notice in the previous quote that Dr. Garlock is dogmatic, saying that if a church starts using CCM it will eventually lose all other standards, and he doesn’t allow for any exceptions. He doesn’t say that there is a way to “adapt” CCM to avoid this slide.
No Scientifically-Proven Evidence for Evolution
January 25, 2011 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article)
Charles Darwin did not offer any scientifically-proven evidence for his theory. The book On the Origin of Species did not prove that species arise from the process of natural selection. It only proved that species adapt through various processes. A century and a half has passed since Darwin published his thesis, and the scientific proof remains elusive. In fact, remove the evolutionary assumptions, and the “evidence” disappears.
Consider the following testimonies from Ph.D. scientists, most of whom once believed in evolution:
“Despite all the millions of pages of evolutionist publications–from journal articles to textbooks to popular magazine stories–which assume and imply that material processes are entirely adequate to accomplish macroevolutionary miracles, there is in reality no rational basis for such belief” (John Baumgardner, Ph.D. in geophysics and space physics from UCLA, In Six Days, p. 230).
“I reviewed many books on Darwinism and from them outlined the chief evidence for evolution, which included vestigial organs, homology, ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, beneficial mutations, evidence of poor design, the fossil record, atavisms, nascent organs, the argument from imperfect, natural selection, microevolution versus macroevolution, shared genetic errors, the backward retina, junk DNA, and other topics. … Slowly, but surely, I was able to eliminate all of the main arguments used to support evolutionism by researching secular literature only. At some point I crossed the line, realizing the case against evolutionism was overwhelming and conversely, so was the case in favor of the alternative, creationism” (Jerry Bergman, Ph.D. in human biology from columbia Pacific University and Ph.D. in measurement and evolution from Wayne State University, Persuaded by the Evidence, chapter 4).
“there is not one single instance whereby all the tests essential to the establishment of the scientific validity of evolution have been satisfied. There are hypotheses, grandiose models, suppositions, and inferences, all of which are formulated and reinforced within the collective and self-serving collaborations of the evolutionist gurus. However, none of this amounts to true scientific evidence for evolution. It was in the 1970s that, to my great surprise, bewilderment, and disgust, I became enlightened to this” (Edward Boudreaux, Ph.D. in chemistry from Tulane University, In Six Days, p. 205).
“Over a period of a couple of years, it became apparent to me that the theory of evolution has no legitimate factual evidence” (John Cimbala, Ph.D. in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology, In Six Days, p. 201).
“As I looked at the evidence–trying to be a dispassionate scientist–I could not find the evidence for the multitudes of intermediate forms which should exist if evolution was true” (Raymond Jones, Ph.D. in biology, “Standing Firm,” The Genesis Files, edited by Carl Wieland, p. 28).
“It is my conviction that if any professional biologist will take adequate time to examine carefully the assumptions upon which the macro-evolutionary doctrine rests, and the observational and laboratory evidence that bears on the problem of origins, he/she will conclude that there are substantial reasons for doubting the truth of this doctrine” (Dean Kenyon, Ph.D. in biophysics from Stanford University, “The Creationist View of Biological Origins,” NEX4 Journal, Spring 1984, p. 33).
“I have never seen any evidence for evolution. All that I see around me in nature points to a divine designer” (Angela Meyer, Ph.D. in horticultural science from the University of Sydney, In Six Days, p. 143).
“How secure is the idea that there is an uninterrupted creative sequence from the big bang through the formation of the solar system, the solidification of the earth, the spontaneous generation of life, and the evolution of plants, animals, and humans to end in the world around us today? Is this scheme impregnable? By no means. It has fatal gaps and inconsistencies” (Colin Mitchell, Ph.D. in desert terrain geography from Cambridge University).
“I no longer believed there was any validity to Darwinism, having become convinced of this as much by the evolutionist literature I had read as by the creationist books. The standards of evidence supporting evolution seemed trivial compared to the evidence on which engineers have to base their work” (Henry Morris, Ph.D. in hydraulics and hydrology from the University of Minnesota, Persuaded by the Evidence, p. 222).
““I have studied a lot of arguments from evolutionists; I have had seven formal debates with evolutionary professors at universities, and I have never read or heard any scientific fact that contradicts what the Bible says. There are evolutionist’s interpretations of the facts, but the facts themselves are not contrary to Scripture” (Terry Mortenson, Ph.D. in the History of Geology from Coventry University, interview with David Cloud at the Creation Museum, June 23, 2009).
“For three years, I used all the evolutionary arguments I knew so well [to debate chemistry professor Dr. Charles Signorino]. For three years, I lost every scientific argument. In dismay, I watched the myth of evolution evaporate under the light of scientific scrutiny, while the scientific case for Creation-Corruption-Catastrophe-Christ just got better and better. It’s no wonder that the ACLU (actually the anti-Christian lawyers union) fights by any means to censor any scientific challenge to evolution!” (Gary Parker, Ph.D. in biology/geology from Ball State University, Persuaded by the Evidence, p. 254).
““After all the research to date, we are still unable to explain the origin of galaxies as inhomogeneities in the universe from the perspective of evolution. We seem, in fact, to be further away from a satisfactory explanation of evolutionary galactic origins than we were when we started to study the subject, using modern physical theory. As in one field of science, so in all others, we are unable to explain the origin of the beautiful and complex realities of this world from an evolutionist approach” (John Rankin, Ph.D. in mathematical physics from the University of Adelaide, In Six Days, p. 122).
“Progressing in my studies, I slowly realized that evolution survives as a paradigm only as long as the evidence is picked and chosen and the great poll of data that is accumulating on life is ignored. As the depth and breadth of human knowledge increases, it washes over us a flood of evidence deep and wide, all pointing to the conclusion that life is the result of design” (Timothy Standish, Ph.D. in biology and public policy from George Mason University, In Six Days, p. 117).
“If the evolution or creationism discussion were decided by sensible appeals to reason, evolution would long ago have joined the great philosophical foolishnesses of the past, with issues such as how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or the flat-earth concept. … evolution is not adhered to on scientific grounds at all. Rather, it is clung to though flying in the face of reason, with an incredible, fanatical, and irrational religious fervor. It loudly claims scientific support when, in fact, it has none worthy of the name” (Ker Thomson, D.Sc. in geophysics from the Colorado School of Mines, former director of the U.S. Air Force Terrestrial Sciences Laboratory, In Six Days, p. 217).
“The principles and observations of true science do not contradict a literal interpretation of Genesis 1, but in fact offer support for the creation of all things in six days!” (Jeremy Walter, Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, Pennsylvania State University, In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation, edited by John Ashton, pp. 21, 22).
“I am firmly convinced that there is far more scientific evidence supporting a recent, six-day creation and global flood than there is an old earth and evolution” (Keith Wanser, Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from the University of California, Irvine, In Six Days, pp. 103, 104).
“I became convinced that people believe in evolution because they choose to do so. It has nothing at all to do with evidence. Evolution is not a fact, as so many bigots maintain. There is not a shred of evidence for the evolution of life on earth” (A.J. Monty White, Ph.D. in gas kinetics from the University College of Wales, In Six Days, pp. 257, 259, 260, 263).
In 1969 Dr. John Grebe, speaking to the Texas State School Board, offered a $1,000 reward to anyone who could “provide any first example of physically verifiable evidence (or even a basic mathematical model) sufficient to elevate the then hypothesis of macroevolution up to the status of scientific theory. The challenge was offered to the top evolutionary scientists of that day. Grebe was the director of nuclear and basic research at Dow Chemical, Midland, Michigan. One man who tried to collect was atheist David Bradbury. He had been a brash defender of evolution for 20 years since his university days. Not only was he not able to find the evidence to defend evolution. Bradbury eventually became a Bible-believing Christian and he re-offered Grebe’s challenge. On January 28, 2002, he wrote,
“This $1,000 challenge remains open (and uncollected). Until someone (teacher, board member or professor) can cite even a single example of empirically confirmable evidence that random shifts in gene frequency acted upon by natural selection can (or does) cumulatively collect to produce macro-evolutionary change, it would appear only reasonable to responsibly refrain from introducing such conjecture as proper scientific theory to students and to the public” (“Report on Comments on Proposed Modifications to Draft of Ohio Science Academic Content Standards,” http://www.arn.org/docs/ohio/ohioreport020402.htm, viewed April 5, 2010).
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WAY OF LIFE LITERATURE SHARING POLICY: Much of our material is available for free, such as the hundreds of articles at the Way of Life web site. Other items we sell to help fund our very expensive literature, video, and foreign church planting ministry. Way of Life’s content falls into two categories: sharable and non-sharable. Things that we encourage you to share include the audio sermons, video presentations, O Timothy magazine, and FBIS articles. You are free to make copies of these at your own expense and share them with friends and family. You are also welcome to use excerpts from the articles. All we ask is that you give proper credit. Things we do not want copied and distributed freely are items like the Fundamental Baptist Digital Library, print edition of our books, PDFs of the books, etc. These items have taken years to produce at enormous expense in time and money, and we need the income from the sale of these to help fund the ministry. We trust that your Christian honesty will preserve the integrity of this policy.
Christian “Cussing”
Christian Cussing
Author Unknown
The Third Commandment. Exodus 20:7 “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” What does it mean to take the Name of GOD in vain? Is it just swearing and cussing? Or is there something more to it than that, and if there is, what? Swearing and cussing are definitely involved here, but this commandment goes further than just that; it not only deals with our outward words but our inward thoughts [~Matthew 12:34].
Many of us, Christians…Prayer Warriors, would never give sanction to the idea of swearing ourselves when we, for instance hit our fingers instead of the nailhead when using a hammer; but how many would exclaim “Oh, G…., Oh G…!” Or “J…!” Or “J…. C…!” when something horrific happens? This, too, is taking GOD’s Name in vain. Or how many ‘Christians’ tell someone a ‘little’ lie? Or get angry at another because they did something wrong? Yet JESUS has told us to: “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. ~Luke 6:27,28].
Being a Christian is more than just wearing the name of CHRIST. 1 John 2: 6 says: “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.. When a person wears the name Christian but doesn’t act or speak like CHRIST, they are breaking the third commandment by taking GOD’s Name in vain as well. Another meaning for this verse includes what is called “slang cussing” [~Colossians 3:8], but unfortunately many professing Christians come in this bracket.
The following ‘words’ are euphemisms, or substitutions, that are less direct or expressive than the real words or terms, according to Webster’s New World dictionary:
*Gee…a slang term for JESUS’ name.
*Geez…a slang term for JESUS’ name.
*Golly…a slang term for GOD.
*Gosh…a slang term for GOD.
*Go-darn…a slang curse about GOD doing something nasty.
*Holy Toledo…a slang term about holiness.
*Darn…a slang term for damn, a curse word. This word, in effect is calling GOD to take ones own side and condemning another.
Whenever a ‘professing’ Christian uses “dag-nabit” or “gosh-darn” or even “dar-nation,” each of these is a slang swear word.
*Holy cow…this is making light of GOD’s character – holiness is an attribute of GOD.
To use any of these substitutions for our heavenly Father’s or JESUS’ Name and/or character is the same as using it outright [~Colossians 4:6]. Beware of also telling jokes that use the person of GOD as a character within the joke. While it may not directly attack or mock Him, it is using Him in a light manner [~Ephesians 5:4].
Additional notes by Angela Trenholm
The tongue is definitely an area we all need help on! I’m very thankful for whoever the author of this devotional is.
To answer some questions and comments, the “Oh my goodness” is really a slang on the “Oh my G…”, but also, the whole term is unscriptural. What is good about us? The Bible clearly says there is nothing good about us, so why proclaim our own goodness?
This verse comes to mind:
Proverbs 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
I know I have used this term in the past and try very hard not too.
The term “Good night” is one I’ve used quite a bit, but I have never used it with the intent of a cuss word or heard others do so. It might be different for others. To me it has always been an exclamation equivalent to saying or an expression of confusion on a particular event.
When teaching our children about cussing, I have tried to explain to them that it is not necessarily the word that makes it a cuss word, but rather the intent behind it. Perfect examples are the words “hell” or “damn”. Neither are cuss words in themselves. It is the improper use of each word that turns them into cuss words at that time.
The point? Any word can be a cuss word if it is substituted in the place where a cuss word would normally be used.
So, when teaching our girls I basically tell them that if your intent is not proper, don’t say anything. The old adage “If you haven’t got anything good to say, then don’t say anything” sums it up very well.
Angela Trenholm
| Christian Cussing? Cussing, Swearing, & Profanity; A Matter of Opinion? Timothy S. Morton |
“Words Mean Things“
“For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
[Matt. 12:37]
Needless to say, the Bible says a lot about words. It was with words God spoke creation into existence [Gen. 1:3], with words God revealed His will to man [Ex. 20:1], and with words Christ revealed the truths of eternal life making salvation available to mankind [John 6:63, John 6:68]. Words are the primary means of communication between men and to men. So much so that the Lord Jesus Christ is referred to as the “Word” [John 1:1]. He was God’s means of communicating to man. It is with words man can communicate back to God with prayer. However, man often uses words for a much less noble cause. The Bible refers to them as “vain words” [Eph. 5:6], “lying words” [Jer. 29:23], “corrupt words” [Dan. 2:9], “enticing words” [1Cor. 2:4], etc. But whether noble or vain, “words mean things.”
It does not take much imagination for one to believe that society in the 21st century is one of the vilest, vulgarest, and most profane in history. With the ease of communication today by radio, television, telephone, and Internet, vulgarity and profanity seems to multiply and abound. The mentality of most Americans and others is so warped and jaded that they believe they must be vulgar and profane to communicate the simplest idea.
Who among you that works in the world, shops in the world, or merely deals with people of the world does not hear obscene and profane words an a regular basis? One cannot go to a supposedly benign place such as mall, shopping center, or grocery store without being exposed to vulgarities from young “cursed children” [2Pet. 2:14] to crusty, vile seniors. If one ventures to a more worldly gathering such as a ballgame [especially high-school or college], most “music” concerts, or Nascar [or any other] race, then he exposes himself to such an onslaught of profane, obscene, vain, and vulgar words and behavior that a dozen Catholic “cardinals” with “holy water” couldn’t clean him up in a week. However, what should one expect from the world? Should we expect them to behave other than their nature requires them?
Christians, though, have a new nature that desires to speak “sound words” [2Tim. 1:13] “wholesome words” [1Tim. 6:3], comforting words [1Thes. 4:18]. Although this nature may also use words to “reprove, ” “rebuke, ” [2Tim. 4:2] or correct, it never uses truly profane or obscene words and never speaks about the Lord in vain. However, all believers some of the time and most believers most of the time do not allow their new nature to control them in their speech. They often get caught up in vain, meaningless talk and many, more than will admit, regularly cuss and swear.
Any type of cussing, swearing, “off-color” speech, or profanity brings harm to the cause of Christ. The world sometimes knows how a Christian is to behave more than some Christians. I don’t believe your author has ever encountered a lost worldling who thought it was proper for a Christian to cuss. As soon as a believer does and a lost person knows it, unless the believer sincerely and openly asks apologizes, he will not have a chance winning that lost person to Christ. The lost person will simply write the believer off as another hypocrite.
Over 20 years ago your author worked at a sawmill here in the hills, and as one can imagine some of the characters who worked there were pretty rough and “uncouth.” The “lifestyle” of some of them was vile and destructive and along with that there was little restraint in their “speech.” The day I started to work my boss was telling me about some of the people who worked there and mentioned one fellow they called “preacher.” I had only been saved for a year or so and relished at the thought of another believer working there. However, my boss continued, “…but he is not much of a preacher because he cusses all the time.” I soon learned that this “preacher, ” who had “Rev.” written on his hardhat, was a joke to the others. They mocked him as a hypocrite. Once the equipment he ran fouled while I was near and I heard first hand one of his cussing fits. If this fellow was a true believer [there is plenty of room for doubt] he was a disgrace to the cause of Christ. He had absolutely no respect from anyone.
This day and age society is so jaded and perverse that if a person doesn’t cuss or swear he is looked on as an oddity. But the plus side is he is often also respected. Your author has made it a point ever since he has been a Christian not to use any type of profanity or cussing, and the Lord has enabled him to do that for around 25 years. Not one person he has worked with can truthfully say they have heard him cuss. This is not to say the Devil has not on many occasions placed profane words in his thoughts, only that they have not come out of his mouth [Matt. 15:11].
You author has also found that once others realize he doesn’t join with them in their profanity, many of them restrain themselves in using it around him. Some even ask him, “Does my cussin’ offend you” and then promise to stop using it around him when he tells them he would rather not hear it. Where he works now he even overheard two fellow workers who didn’t know he was around “discussing” a broken piece of equipment that took considerable effort to repair, “This is enough to make Tim cuss” one said to the other. It wasn’t, and I didn’t, but I took it as a complement. Believer, what you say and don’t say more than anything else affect how others think of you and treat you.
What Are The Terms?
Before we go further lets look at some terms. What does it mean to “cuss, ” “swear, ” and be “profane.” The definitions below are from Websters 1828 dictionary except where noted. First look at “swear, “
SWEAR, v.i. pret. swore. [Eng. veer; L. assevero.] 1. To affirm or utter a solemn declaration, with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed.
4. To be profane; to practice profaneness.
An “oath” is much the same,
OATH, n. A solemn affirmation or declaration, made with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed. The appeal to God in an oath, implies that the person imprecates his vengeance and renounces his favor if the declaration is false, or if the declaration is a promise, the person invokes the vengeance of God if he should fail to fulfill it. A false oath is called perjury.
To be “profane” means,
PROFA’NE, a. [L. profanus; pro and fanum, a temple.] 1. Irreverent to any thing sacred; applied to persons. A man is profane when he takes the name of God in vain, or treats sacred things with abuse and irreverence.
2. Irreverent; proceeding from a contempt of sacred things, or implying it; as profane words or language; profane swearing.
“Curse” or the modern “cuss” means,
CURSE, v.t. pret. and pp. cursed or curst. 1. To utter a wish of evil against one; to imprecate evil upon; to call for mischief or injury to fall upon; to execrate. CURSE, n. 1. Malediction; the expression of a wish of evil to another.
2. Imprecation of evil.
And “vulgar” is defined as,
VULGAR , a. 1. Pertaining to the common unlettered people; as vulgar life.
2. Used or practiced by common people; as vulgar sports.
6. Mean; rustic; rude; low; unrefined; as vulgar ninds; vulgar manners.
Thus there are different types of “cussing.” One can be profane and take the name of the Lord in vain, he can swear or make a foolish oath in anger or sport, or he can use vulgar and base terms and expressions. Nevertheless, they all are works of the “old man” [Eph. 4:22].
Some ignorant believers often use expressions such as “My God, ” “God almighty, ” and even “Christ’s sakes” when speaking, but in nearly all cases this is taking the Lord’s name in vain. To profane God’s name or take it in vain it to merely use His name lightly or inappropriately. These people are not praying to God or using His name in an honorable way, but only using it as a “by-word.” They could just as easily say “My word” or “My soul” to express the same sentiment, but neither is this scriptural. One is not to swear by his word, soul, person or anything else [Matt. 5:36].
“Minced Oaths“
Although most Christians will refrain from using the obvious “cuss words, ” very many will lightly and carelessly use “minced oaths” from time to time. According to the Wikipedia Encyclopedia minced oaths are,
“corrupted forms of (usually religion-related) swear words that originally arose in English culture sometime before the Victorian Age, as part of the cultural impact of Puritanism after the Protestant Reformation.”
In other words these “oaths” are a veiled form of cussing, swearing, and profanity. During the Puritan era in England open cursing was largely shunned so, true to their nature, people invented other ways to “express themselves.” No wonder the Bible says of man,
“Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:” [Rom 3:13-14]
The dog will return to its vomit every time [2Pet. 2:22]
So some of you won’t remain ignorant concerning what you say, below is a list of some oaths that are of a religious nature adapted from the list found on Wikipedia. Although both “God” and “damn” are Bible words, the use of these words together is offensive and thus some of the letters are blanked out in the definitions.
- Begorrah = By God
- Bejabbers = By Jesus
- Bleeding heck = Bloody Hell
- Blimey = Blind me
- Blinking heck = Bloody Hell
- Bloody = By Our Lady
- By George = By God
- By golly = By God’s body
- By gosh = By God
- By gum = By God
- By Jove = By God
- Cheese n’ Rice = Jesus Christ
- Chrissakes = For Christ’s sake
- Christmas = Christ
- Cor blimey = God blind me
- Crikey = Christ
- Criminy = Christ
- Cripes = Christ
- Crivvens = Christ defend us
- Dad gum = God d–n
- Dagnammit = Damnation, God d–n it
- Dagnabbit = Damnation, God d–n it
- Dang = Damn
- Dangnabbit = Damnation, God d–n it
- Dangnation = Damnation
- Darn = Damn
- Darnation = Damnation
- Doggone = God d–n or Dog on it
- Drat = God rot it
- Egad = A God
- For crying out loud = For Christ’s sake
- Gadzooks = God’s hooks (referring to the nails in Jesus on the cross)
- Gat Dangit = God d–n it
- G.D. (pronounced “jee dee”) = God d–n
- Gee = Jesus or Jerusalem
- Gee whizz = Jesus
- Gee willikers = Jesus or Jerusalem
- Gorblimey = God blind me
- Good grief = Good God
- Goodness gracious = Good God
- Gosh = God
- Gosh darned = God d–ned
- Heck = Hell
- Jason Crisp = Jesus Christ
- Jebus = Jesus
- Jeepers Creepers = Jesus Christ
- Jeez = Jesus
- Jeezy Creezy = Jesus Christ
- Jehoshaphat = Jesus
- Jesus wept = Jesus Christ
- Jiminy Christmas = Jesus Christ
- Jiminy Cricket = Jesus Christ
- Judas Priest = Jesus Christ
- Jumping Jehoshaphat = Jumping Jesus
- My goodness = My God
- Sacré bleu = “sacred blue” = Sang de Dieu (“God’s blood”)
- Sam Hill = Hell
- Suffering succotash = Suffering Saviour
- Tarnation = Damnation
- Yumping Yiminy = Jumping Jesus
- Zounds or ‘Swounds = God’s wounds
“Shinola, ” “Shoot, ” “Shucks, ” “Sugar, ” etc., all refer to the modern and vulgar barnyard reference to dung. “Freaking, ” “Frickin, ” “Fudging, ” “Feck, ” “Fig, ” and other “F-words” obviously refer to the highly obscene and insulting “F-word” that is so commonly used by the ignorant, vulgar and profane. As often as it is used by some one would think it was the speaker’s middle name.
These words and similar can regularly be heard in Christian homes, work places, and even in churches. Some of you may claim you didn’t realize these seeming benign terms were “oaths.” Fair enough, but now you know [1Thes. 5:22].
Your author has been guilty of using some of them when he was younger, and even today catches himself using variations of them he heard as a child growing up in “Appalachia.” Just the other day he heard himself say “I declare” which is a form of “I swear” [Matt. 5:34-36; James 5:12]. He still uses old terms like “I reckon” for “I suppose” or “over yonder” for “over there, ” but “I declare, ” “I swan” or “I hope my die” are not acceptable. [Some of you are lost on these terms, but they are still common here in the hills.]
Bible Cuss Words?
If the reader has been reading his Bible long he has encountered what some call “Bible cuss words.” Some will ignorantly claim that cuss words can be found in the Bible and insist it as a justification for them to cuss, but this is just diabolical self-serving reasoning. Although there are places in the Bible where a person curses or berates another [1Sam. 17:43, 1Sam. 20:30], there are no cuss words in it per se. Even if there were that would not be a justification for anyone to use them as such.
The most notable word people mention is “piss” or “pisseth” found in eight places [2Kings 9:8, 2Kings 18:27, etc.], but this is not a cuss word. It is merely a word that describes a bodily function. That the world has taken it and others such as “hell, ” “damn, ” “dung, “ and a couple others and tried to make them into foul words is not the Bible’s fault. “Piss” and “pisseth against the wall” is the literal translation of the Hebrew. Most of the weakling new Bibles are afraid to translate these terms literally.
Cuss Words That Aren‘t
The warped and jaded society today fulfills the words of Isaiah 5:20 where the Lord says,
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! ”
A prime example of this Satan inspired reversal of truth is today it is “politically” and “socially acceptable” for the “hero” of a movie or television show to routinely cuss, swear, and even take the Lord’s name in vain, while it is never correct for a hero to use a “racial epithet, ” “ethnic slur, ” or “sexual orientation” remark. Only the “bad guy” can stoop to such a low level. The lesson is in today’s society it is acceptable to swear with vulgar oaths and blaspheme the God of heaven, but it is never acceptable to use any word towards “your fellow man, ” no matter how factual, that anyone may deem a “slur” or “demeaning.” This is not only true for celebrities but for politicians and business as well. A politician may be overheard saying “God d–n” or “Jesus Christ” during an election campaign and it will be laughed off, but if one slipped and said “nigger, ” “spic, “ or “dyke” in any context then he would be severely ostracized and likely cast aside.
This is not to say one should use offensive terms without cause [Christ regurarly offended many with the truth (Matt. 13:57, Matt. 15:12)], but this fact proves that society and human nature is just like the Bible says it is— “evil.” It loves the creature and ignores the creator [Rom. 1:25].
The Scriptures, however, are not as “sensitive” as many today. It reveals that the use of racial and ethnic remarks are sometimes warranted. The Lord referred to a woman who came to Him for help as a [Gentile] “dog” [Matt. 15:26] and referred to all Gentiles as such [Matt. 7:6]. Paul quoted a Cretian writer that said, “the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies” and assured Titus this was a true statement. Imagine a prominent person making such a blanket, ethnic statement today? He would be considered a prejudiced bigot. Paul was simply telling a truth he knew from experience. Certain ethnic and cultural groups do have prevailing characteristics. It is by no means wrong to state obvious facts.
Being born and raised in West Virginia has exposed your author to various ethnic slurs about those who live among the Appalachian Mountains. Unlike the highly tender ears of members of the NAACP and other groups, he is not offended or insulted by this type of remarks. The Pharisees regularly tried to insult Christ with remarks about his home town [John 7:52], birth, and mother [John 8:41]. They didn’t faze Him. Neither does it bother your author to be called a “hillbilly, ” “hick, ” “yokel, ” “white trash, ” “inbred, ” etc., who lives in the “armpit” [to put it nicely] of the country and speaks with an illiterate accent. When times get hard in this country, and they definitely will, these sophisticated “city-slickers” will be asking us undignified and unlearned hillbillies how to survive. As the Scriptures say, “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant” [1Cor. 14:38].
The Greatest “Hate Speech” Of All
There are three words that can be spoken that are the most hated and despised words as far as the world is concerned that can be uttered by any man. They diametrically oppose everything the world stands for and strives for. They are such great words of intolerance that highly trained “doctors” deem those who repeat them [and worst of all believe them] as mentally unstable and severe non-conformists in need of “therapy.” These three words, with their variations, if spoken publically will cause a person to die a violent death in many countries of the world. The same hated words will cause him to be imprisoned in others. Yet the Lord sends His people out to speak these words, in fact, to shout them from housetops. He sends them as sheep among wolves to proclaim the eternal truths encompassed in these words so others can join them in partaking in the precious promises belief in them provides.
What are these words you ask? What are the three words that the world and the Devil hates more than any other?
Jesus Christ Alone!
“Jesus Christ alone, ” “Jesus Christ only, ” “only by Christ, ” etc., they all declare that salvation is not in Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, Joseph Smith, Jim Jones, and all the other religious quacks this world has produced, but only in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through His shed blood on the cross. The world will tolerate Christ being “a way” to God because this allows there to be other ways, but it will never tolerate one who insists Christ is the ONLY way to God. To it this is bigoted, narrow-minded hate speech of the highest order.
Among the “religious” one will hear references to “God” regularly. They will say “God this” and “God that.”
They will “pray to God, ” invoke God’s blessing, thank “God” for various things, tell people the “need God” in their life, and on and on. The problem is one doesn’t know who or what they are talking about. Who is this god of the media, sports stars, and politicians? This generic god can be anything from nature, self, even Satan.
To Louis Farakan, Osama Bin Ladan, and the other billion or so Moslems, “God” is some “moon god” named “Allah.” To Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and the “Osmonds, ” “God” is some creature that used to be a man. To Shirley McClain, Dione Warwick, and other “new agers, ” “God” is some kind of pantheistic force that encompasses the whole universe. Again, when somebody speaks of “God, ” you don’t know what they are talking about. Anyone who assumes they are referring to the God of the Bible and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is gullible indeed.
Much the same can be said about the term “Christian.” The word “Christian” today usually has little to do with Christ or the Bible. To the majority of the people of the world when they hear the word they think of the pope and the Roman Catholic Church. They think that kook in Rome is the epitome of a “Christian.” Why anyone would think a clown who wears a Halloween costume year ’round, never led a person to Christ, and lives a life of abundance and ease is a Christian is beyond me, but most do.
Type the word “Christian” in a search engine [Google] and what comes up first? The “Christian Science Monitor.” As another has said, “Christian Science is neither Christian or science.” “Christian Science teaches that reality is an interpretation of Divine Mind, that Jesus was not the Christ, that His sacrifice did not clean from sin, that sickness and evil are illusions, and that the Bible can only be understood correctly through its teachings.” In other words they are a Christ and Bible denying cult.
Another group who uses the term Christian is the, “Southern Christian Leadership Conference” which is nothing more than a political [some say communist] organization designed to “achieve social, economic, and political justice.” It was founded by the “Reverend” Dr. Martain Luther King Jr. and the “Reverend” Jesse L. Jackson was a member. Jackson, the year after he was “ordained” a Baptist minister [1968], told Life magizine, that when he worked as a waiter in a Greenville, South Carolina restaurant, he would spit into the soups and salads of white customers. He said, “[Spitting into the food] gave me a psychological gratification.” He also said, “The Bible is nothing but a succession of civil rights struggles by the Jewish people, against their oppressors.” Clearly, the term “Christian” doesn’t mean much of anything today and neither does the term “Reverend.”
That Holy Name
There is only one name in the universe that gets the attention of heaven. There is only one name that sinners can believe on and get their sins redeemed, their is only one name that will compel every person who ever lived to bow the knee and confess this name as Lord [Phil. 2:10]. That name is, of course, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. When a person says this holy name, then one can take notice because this is the name of a specific person who lived and still lives. There is little doubt to who he is referring, but this name is rarely heard in the world except in vain. It is the hated name. Hated on earth, but loved in heaven.
Christian, if you feel you need to “cuss, ” a little now and then why don’t you use speech that this present evil world deems as cussing instead of words that bring a reproach to your Lord? The next time you feel the urge to “let one rip” go out and tell someone how Jesus Christ alone can save them from a Devil’s Hell. You will offend a lot of people, but you will make your Father in heaven delight and the angels rejoice. Choose this day whom you mouth will serve [Josh. 24:15].
When Separation is First Rejected
WHEN SEPARATION IS FIRST REJECTED (Friday Church News Notes, July 9, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)
The rejection of separation begins softly and quietly. It is something that is difficult to put one’s finger on, something not easy to identify. And those who are at the outset of rejecting separatism are offended when someone challenges them that this might be happening. The rejection of separation begins with a mere change in mood toward a more positive emphasis, a greater tolerance of error. It is a gradual loss of militant zeal in the defense of the faith. The first step in the rejection of separation can be identified not so much by what a preacher or a church or a Bible College does or says as by what it fails to do and neglects to say.
The following questions can help identify whether or not an institution is giving up on separation:
Does it ever host a conference on separation?
Does it invite strong separatist preachers to blow the trumpet against compromise in a plain way?
Does it publicly and clearly identify itself with separatists?
Does it recommend literature on separation to its members? Or is separation something that was once preached, talked about, and practiced but now, for the most part, is left out of the agenda?
Is the institution affiliating with those who use Contemporary Christian Music and contemporary Southern Gospel (which is no different in character from CCM) and perhaps moving toward adopting this music itself? If so, this is a loud warning, because CCM is not just music; it is a philosophy of Christianity that is diametrically opposed to separatism and CCM and a separatist stance cannot and will not live in harmony for long.
Evolution Losing Ground
EVOLUTION LOSING GROUND (Friday Church News Notes, June 25, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) -
“A 2005 poll by the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Social and Religious Research found that 60% of American medical doctors reject Darwinism, stating that they do not believe humans evolved through natural processes alone. Thirty-eight percent of the American medical doctors polled agreed with the statement that ‘humans evolved naturally with no supernatural involvement.’ The study also reported that 1/3 of all medical doctors favor the theory of intelligent design over evolution. … The prestigious science journal Science reported the following in 2006 concerning the United States: ‘The percentage of people in the country who accept the idea of evolution has declined from 45 in 1985 to 40 in 2005. Meanwhile the fraction of Americans unsure about evolution has soared from seven per cent in 1985 to 21 percent last year.’ In January 2006, the BBC reported concerning Britain: ‘Just under half of Britons accept the theory of evolution as the best description for the development of life, according to an opinion poll. Furthermore, more than 40% of those questioned believe that creationism or intelligent design (ID) should be taught in school science lessons’” (“Evolution,” Conservapedia).
Dr. John Grebe’s Challenge to Evolution
DR. JOHN GREBE’S CHALLENGE TO EVOLUTION
May 19, 2010 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
The following is excerpted from David Bradbury, “A Reluctant Convert from Evolutionism,” Persuaded by the Evidence (Master Books, 2008), edited by Doug Sharp and Jerry Bergman chapter 2:
In 1949, I graduated from the University of Michigan with a science degree and a firm belief that biological evolution was the proper scientific explanation for life as observed on earth today. … I was a firm believer in and outspoken defender of chance evolution for the next three decades. Even today I still well recall (now with some embarrassment) the warm glow of intellectual superiority I felt as I confidently assured less well-educated others about how ‘molecules to man’ evolution was well and scientifically established. …
Interestingly the circumstance prompting my first, admittedly belated, effort to examine this evidence came only upon a surprise encounter with what I perceived to be a totally reckless and unfounded challenge made before the Texas State Board of Education in November 1969. This was in the form of a $1,000 (more than $10,000 in today’s value) offer by a Mr. John Grebe to anyone (board member, scientist, college professor, or other) able to provide any first example of physically verifiable evidence (or even a basic mathematical model) sufficient to elevate the then hypothesis of macroevolution up to the status of scientific theory as then being proposed for inclusion in new textbooks under consideration.
Once I discovered that this challenge was still open, I seriously set out to collect this easy money. Sure, the dollars involved provided immediate incentive, but my greater desire at the time was to publicly embarrass this Mr. Grebe and put an end, once and for all, to such irresponsible attacks by so-called ‘creationists’ on what I then accepted as well-established scientific determinations.
I started by leafing through multiple textbooks to select representative claims. Then it was off to the science archives in local and university libraries (these were pre-Internet days) to locate and copy the original source data from the supporting experiments that would compel Mr. Grebe to part with his money and eat humble pie. At the time, I expected to quickly select from any number of verifiable confirmations that the progressive steps involved in macroevolution had indeed been checked and double-checked by responsible scientific experiments. However, to my disappointment and near disbelief, I could find no such objective confirming evidence anywhere then–nor after following years of continuing search is there any to be found, even today.
Indeed, this continuing absence only further confirmed that none of the claims purporting to qualify macroevolution as scientific are supported by the physical verification criteria required in the universally taught empirical (or Baconian) scientific method. … All I could find in general-use texts then, and still in most texts today, were unsupported claims, statements, and assertions reflecting the consensus acceptance (‘beliefs’) of the prevailing evolutionary community.
Even with this troubling realization, my school-instilled trust in science as the best, if not only, method to compellingly establish physical truths was so deeply embedded, I continued to wrestle with this problem for a number of additional years before finally conceding that perhaps Dr. Grebe’s $1,000 challenge was not in as much danger as I had initially presumed. This change was also further influenced by my learning that the man issuing this challenge was actually Dr. John J. Grebe, the excellently credentialed director of basic research for the Dow Chemical Company, and not the irresponsible know-nothing I initially presumed. Also, that his offer was directed toward the leading evolutionists of the day (Simpson, Dobzhansky, Ayala, Grant, etc.) then championing the elevation of evolution from its long-accepted status of hypothesis to far higher status of theory in the next generation of undergraduate science textbooks. …
Gradually, throughout the course of this now 50-year, sometimes wavering, and often sputtering venture, many unexpected good things have come my way. I started out as a happy, trusting, but scientifically misinformed atheist thinking I knew a lot more about evolution than I really did, whereas today, thanks to a loving Christian wife, much fascinating research (all without the range of those seeking to separate wheat from chaff), thoughtful advice from patient evolutionists and non-evolutionist advisors, and a resultant deeper understanding of the intricate processes involved in macroevolution, I’ve come full circle. Once the artificial ‘intellectual’ (scientific) barrier against religion posed by evolution was exposed, and serious consideration again given to spiritual matters, my return to Christianity has been personally most rewarding. For a while I was led to accept Richard Dawkins’s view that ‘Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist,’ but having once been blind, it makes the truth and light available to all mankind in Scripture all the more appreciated.
CONCLUSION
David Bradbury eventually became a Bible-believing Christian, and he re-offered Grebe’s challenge. On January 28, 2002, he wrote,
“This $1,000 challenge remains open (and uncollected). Until someone (teacher, board member or professor) can cite even a single example of empirically confirmable evidence that random shifts in gene frequency acted upon by natural selection can (or does) cumulatively collect to produce macro-evolutionary change, it would appear only reasonable to responsibly refrain from introducing such conjecture as proper scientific theory to students and to the public” (“Report on Comments on Proposed Modifications to Draft of Ohio Science Academic Content Standards,” http://www.arn.org/docs/ohio/ohioreport020402.htm, viewed April 5, 2010).
From Atheism to Christ: A Doctor’s Testimony
The following is by our friend Shem Dharampaul of Alberta, Canada, MD (University of Alberta), FRCPC (Fellow of the College of Physicians of Canada), and trained in Nuclear Medicine. He is published in the Journal of Parasitology, Journal of Rehabilitation, Clinical & Experimental Immunology, Virchow’s Archives, and the Journal of Medical Entomology.
____________________________
I want to share with you the account of a day that began as the worst day in my life and ended as the best day in my life. I will tell you first how I got to that day, and then I will tell you what happened on that day.
I was born in a small country in South America, although my grandparents were from somewhere in the Indian Subcontinent. I often attended a Lutheran Church with my mother when I was a child. My parents divorced when I was eleven years old, and my mother, two brothers, and I, immigrated to Canada when I was fourteen years old.
I did not go to Church for years after we moved to Canada. By the time I finished High School, I was questioning the existence of God. I went to University, and by the time I finished my four year degree in Science, I was very much a secular humanist/atheist. That’s a person who does not believe that there is a God and believes that humans are the ultimate and best product of evolution.
In University, I became more and more involved in a sinful way of life. During my four years of study in Science, I met a Christian in my class. I would ridicule her beliefs and try to show her the contradictions in her life and philosophy. She invited me to a meeting once where they showed a movie about Jesus, but I did not believe it then. At the end of our third year in the Science Program, this classmate went to another part of the country to study Medicine. I finished the fourth year in Science and enrolled in Medical School at the University that I was already attending.
At about this time, my brother became a Christian. I think he used to be worse than me at sinning, but he started to show a change in his life after he became a Christian. However, he would still do or say bad things sometimes, and then I would mock him. He also told me about Jesus, but I didn’t believe, and I hated my brother for telling me that I was a sinner on my way to Hell.
In Medical School, two things started to happen to me. First, I started hating myself for sinning, but I still kept on sinning. Then, I started to question my disbelief in God. I think that I was starting to realize that there was more to life than evolution. I was looking at what I learned in Medical School about how complex the human body was and thinking that this couldn’t happen by chance. Then I realized that if humans were the ultimate in evolution, and were the only ones that could fix all the problems in the world, then there was no hope. Why? Because I was a human and was such a terrible person that I couldn’t help myself, much less the world.
These thoughts became more and more consuming in my mind. I started having doubts about a lot of things. I would try talking to God, saying in my mind, that “if you’re there, then do something to let me know.” I would look at the sky in the night, and say, “OK God, I am looking right at that star, make it go super nova, then I will know that there is a God.”
Of course, nothing like that happened, but with time, I became more and more convinced that there was a God. I talked to many people in University of different religions, and was most impressed with Christians for their love for those that hated them. I felt that if there was a God, it must be the God of the Bible. However, I did not want to submit to God. I would say as if speaking to God, that “God, when I die, I don’t want to go to heaven, or hell. I just want to die and disappear into nothingness.”
At this time, I was in my second year of Medical School, and more steeped in sin than ever. I took a summer job setting up appointments for a savings plan representative. During that summer, things got worse, and I hated my sins so much, that I felt that I could live with them no longer. One day, I was alone in my bedroom, and no one else was at home. I could no longer bear the weight of my sins, and decided to take my life. I was about to, when I remembered one of the clients that I had met that week on the job seemed like a nice person. For some reason, I decided to phone her, and I did. She started telling me about how God had worked in her life to overcome some difficulties. While on that phone, for about five or ten minutes, I decided to bring my burdens to God. So, after I hung up the phone, I knelt down beside my bed and prayed to God. I said I now fully believe in Him and all that I had heard about how Jesus died for me. I remembered a verse in the Bible that my Christian friend from the Science Program wrote to me a while before, Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And when I finished praying, I was no longer crying, and I felt a peace in my my heart that I had never felt before. The burden of my sins had been lifted! My sins were forgiven. I was washed clean by the pure, sinless blood of Jesus Christ, by placing my faith and trust in Him. I went to the window and raised the blind and the sun came into my bedroom, and I heard a bird singing. And I said aloud, that from that time forth, I wanted to live for the things of God, and not the things of man, because all that man touched was spoilt.
Later that week, I faced many temptations to sin again, and the Lord my God and Savior delivered me from them. I also tried to find that client that I had phoned, but never saw her again. There was no one at the townhouse where I had met her. I tracked down the Christian classmate from the Science Program and phoned her to tell her that I had gotten saved. She replied that of all the people she ever knew, she thought that I would be the last to get saved! Well, she was wrong, because there have been countless others saved after me, a few whom I shared the gospel with. Indeed, God’s mercy is great, and He is still saving people from their sins today.
It is now fourteen years later. I am practicing Medicine. God has blessed me with a faithful Christian wife and two children. We serve God in our local Church. I want all who hear my testimony to know that I serve the living God who created heaven and earth and all that is in them. It is this same God, who took on the form of man as Jesus Christ so that He can experience life as a man in order to take on Himself the penalty of man’s sins, yet He Himself was without sin. And it is this same God, who in the form of Jesus Christ, died on the cross and shed His sinless blood to atone for the sins of this world. And all sinners can find salvation in Him, by repenting of their sins and placing their faith in Him to save them from their sins. Won’t you please do that today?
What Do Baptists Believe?
What Do Baptists Believe?
You may have heard the phrase, “Ignorance is bliss.” However as Christians we are to… be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. 1 Peter 3:15-17
If someone were to ask you, “What do Baptists believe,” would you be able to answer them? In this little booklet, we will look at a brief outline on what is called the “Baptist Distinctives.” For practical and expedient purposes, we will use the acrostic, BAPTIST, in order to more readily define and remember each distinctive.
B - Bible, The only rule for faith and practice.
A – Autonomy of each local church.
P – Priesthood of the believer.
T – Two ordinances for the local church.
I – Individual soul liberty and responsibility.
S – Separation, ethical, ecclesiastical, and political.
T – Two officers of the local church.
Baptist distinctives are major fundamental beliefs and principles that have distinguished Baptists apart from any other religious body down through the centuries–hence the term: “Baptist distinctives.” These distinctives are not a creed or confession of faith.
Baptists have no set written body of beliefs or principles, per se, that are accepted universally among all Baptists. “A true Baptist does not think of the name Baptist in any sectarian sense as having some merit in itself but rather equates it with New Testament truth, with a New Testament position.”1 Therefore, for all practical purposes, the term “Baptist distinctives” can be used interchangeably with “New Testament distinctives.”
“In every age since Jesus and the apostles, there have been companies of believers, churches, who have substantially held to the principles of the New Testament as now proclaimed by the Baptists.”2
It should be noted that the name Baptist came about in the 14th century with the persecution of the “Anabaptists” or “Re-baptizers.” This was a name given to them by proponents of the Roman Church. Since the Roman Church was predominant throughout Europe, infant Baptism was a common practice. Therefore when these New Testament believers began to immerse only those who had accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour, the “religious world” protested. The Roman Church could not understand why these people were being baptized again. Therefore they were given the name, “Anabaptists.”
Even though the name “Baptist” did not emerge until the 14th century, groups, which practiced the same basic New Testament principles, can be traced back to the time of Christ.
I. - THE ONLY RULE FOR FAITH AND PRACTICE
2 Timothy 3:16,17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
The Bible is a (the) Divine Revelation given of God to man, and is the complete and infallible guide and standard of authority in all matters of religion and morals; whatever it teaches is to be believed, and what ever it commands is to be obeyed; whatever it commands is to be accepted as both right and useful; whatever it condemns is to be avoided as both wrong and hurtful; but what it neither commands nor teaches is not to be imposed on the conscience as of religious obligation.3
This distinctive is placed first as the foundation because without it all the other distinctives would fall. Baptists do not use any other book, teaching or creed as their authority. We believe that God’s written Word is the only cornerstone by which those that are saved can firmly stand upon. It is a spiritual book that can only be understood by those with spiritual eyes, and the only way to obtain these spiritual eyes is through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:9-16 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Baptists believe that every area of life needs to be subject to the written Word of God. The Bible is the only source for authority and that which is not authorized in God’s Word is heresy. “Because the Bible has never been outgrown as the one standard, and cannot be creedified in brief; the Baptist holds the substitution of any authoritative creed as the first step in apostasy.” 4
Mark 7:7-9 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Let us be as the Bereans of old. . . “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11
Many people question which version is the best. To answer that thoroughly, much paper and time would be needed. So, let me leave you with my thoughts on the subject. This author believes that the King James Version is the best translation. Now there are a number of reasons for this belief.
1. It has proven the test of time.
2. It is widely use.
3. The Greek and Hebrew Manuscripts from which it was translated have proven to be the best. (‘Oldest’ is not always ‘best’)
5. The vast number of similar extant manuscripts.
4. God has said He would preserve His Word, so we need to ask the question, “Where is it preserved?”
Unfortunately, we do not have the originals with us today, but the author believes the “Textus Receptus” is closely identical the original. Now since we do not have the originals, this may sound like ‘circular reasoning’. But keep in mind that God said he would preserve His Word, Therefore we must accept it by faith. After a thorough studied of this subject with much interest, the author has concluded that the King James Version is the inerrant, infallible, preserved Word of God for English speaking people.
II. OF THE LOCAL CHURCH
This distinctive means that every local New Testament church has the privilege to be in total control of itself. In the autonomous form of church government, the system of authority rests in an independent, indigenous, self-propagating, self-supporting, and self-governing local church. This Baptist distinctive distinguishes itself from two other forms of church government, the Episcopalian, and Presbyterian.
The Episcopalian form of church government places it’s authority in a system of priests and bishops in an ascending scale. For example, in the Roman Church, the ultimate authority rests in the supreme pontiff, the pope.
The Presbyterian form of church government places it’s authority in a representative group called preaching and ruling elders.
In this way delegated authority finds its final authority in the highest group. For this process of delegated authority rises in an ascending order from the local church session to the presbytery to the state synod until it finally rests in the General Assembly which is natural. 5
The Autonomous form of church government is the only one of the three forms mentioned which is base upon Scriptural principles. The first scriptural principle is: the individual’s ability to know the will of God. This will be further explained in the Baptist distinctive, the priesthood of the believer.
The second scriptural principle that local church autonomy is based is; the responsibility of each local church, as a whole, to carry out God’s will based on the foundation that its members know God’s will. In Matthew 18:15-17 we read where instruction is given to the church as a whole.
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Also in these verses:
Acts 13:1-3 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
Acts 15:22-28 Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: 24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: 25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things…
Just as each New Testament church is not subject to other churches or religious groups, they also are not to be in subject to the state. In other words, the state should not impose any laws upon the church that would cause the church to violate Scriptural principles. Matthew 22:17-21 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
This distinctive is founded upon the Scriptural principles that God is no respecter of persons. Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
Ephesians 6:9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
Colossians 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
Unlike the Old Testament, where priestly functions were restricted to the tribe of Levi, the New Testament teaches that every believer is a priest before God. Therefore, each believer has the blessed privilege of going directly to God at any time, under any circumstance and bring his petition through Jesus Christ to God.
Since the Bible teaches that each believer-priest is equal with one another, there is no need for divisional terms, titles or garb. For example, the Scripture does not give a pastor (or father, to use a catholic term) the authority to forgive sin. Each believer can act upon the promise in I John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We make this confession to God.
In 1 Peter 2:5,9 we read, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. . . 9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light…
The term holy priesthood refers to New Testament believers. We are holy in the sense that our sins have been forgiven, Hebrews 10:1-2 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
In the Old Testament only the high priest dared to enter the presence of God, and then only once a year! As New Testament believers we have access to God’s presence at any time.
The term royal priesthood, also refers to New Testament believers. We are royal in the sense that we are called to be personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Romans 8:16-17 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Therefore, as a believer-priest, we have a tremendous responsibility placed upon us, and that is; each believer has the privilege to think as he will and that each man is totally responsible to God. The Bible teaches that no person, institution, organization or convention has the authority to tell a person what to believe.
Along with this complete total freedom comes the accountability of such a privilege. Remember, our responsibility is to God alone and no one else! A believer may put himself under the authority of something else (such as a church) but he is still responsible to God for the freedom given him by Christ.
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
2 Corinthians 5:10-21 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. 12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. 13 For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. 14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
IV. : BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
The Scriptures teach that the Lord prescribed immersion and the Lord’s Supper to be carried on as ordinances by the New Testament church.
As Bible believing Baptists find themselves in disagreement with other churches in relation to the topic of baptism, it would be helpful to summarize the New Testament position with the following four maxims:
1. Only believers are to be baptized. This excludes anyone who is an unbeliever (even babies, who neither believe nor disbelieve). Cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:14-16. Acts 8:36-37 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
2. Baptism is to be by immersion rather than by pouring or sprinkling. There are two main arguments for immersion. (1) The English word baptize has been transliteration of the Greek word baptizein. In order to render a proper translation we have to use the word immerse. (2) There are many passages that support the immersion translation. Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water:…
Acts 8:37-38 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
3. Baptism is not a step to salvation but it is a testimony that one has already received Christ Jesus as Savior. Baptism is a beautiful picture of salvation through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Romans 6:4-5 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. Once again, every believer who has been immersed has pictured the death (dying to self-righteousness and giving in to Christ’s righteousness), burial (going completely under the water), and the resurrection (coming up out of the water).
4. Believer’s baptism by immersion is a requisite to church membership. Throughout the book of Acts we find the order of salvation, baptism, and church membership. Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Cf. Matt. 16:25-33; Acts 8:37-28.
In practicing these four maxims, Baptists not only preserve purity in their local churches, but they honor the Lord Jesus Christ by respecting completely His Great Commission. Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…
The second ordinance given to the church is the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper (notice that it’s not a breakfast, or lunch). Just as baptism symbolizes spiritual birth in being raised to walk in newness of life, the Lord’s Supper symbolizes the nourishment and support of that new life by union with Christ in His death. 1 Corinthians 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
The Lord’s Supper is only to be taken by obedient Christians. That means any Christian who has been immersed, is a member of a New Testament church, and who has searched his own heart to make sure all known sin is confessed. 1 Corinthians 11:28-31 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
Matthew 5:23-24 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
It is clear to see that the Lord wants all that are saved to be obedient, If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love, John 15:10. Baptists believe that in order to be obedient, a saved person must be baptized by immersion, a member of a New Testament church and observe the Lord’s Supper.
Baptists do not believe in the Roman Catholic view of “transubstantiation” which claims that the Catholic priests “transform” the bread and cup into the literal body and blood of Christ.
Baptists do not believe in the Lutherans view of “consubstantiation” which claims the “real presence” of the Lord in a “special way.”
The Baptist position concerning the Lord’s Supper is that it is a memorial table that pictures the body and blood of Jesus and serves only as a reminder of His death, burial, and resurrection for us. 1 Corinthians 11:25-26 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
These ordinances are not “options” that can be ignored. If we want to be obedient to the Lord then we must be baptized by immersion, members of a New Testament church, and examining ourselves by partaking of the Lord’s Supper.
V. SOUL LIBERTY AND RESPONSIBILITY
This distinctive is based upon the belief that every man is accountable to the teachings of God’s Word in all religious matter; both in judgment and decision. Baptists believe that each man has the privilege to think as he will and that he is totally responsible to God.
This distinctive teaches that no person, institution, organization or convention has the authority to tell a person what to believe. But keep in mind that along with complete and total freedom comes the responsibility of such a privilege. That responsibility is to God and God alone. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men… Acts 5:29.
Someday as believers, we will answer to God for our actions, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad…2 Corinthians 5:10.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
God has also commanded that we not be a stumbling block to others. Our lifestyle does affect others.
1 Corinthians 8:9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
1 Corinthians 10:29-33 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience? 30 For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? 31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: 33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the [profit] of many, that they may be saved.
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
1 Peter 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
Yes, the believer has freedom in Christ, but what an awesome responsibility he has knowing that someday he will give an account to God as to how he used his soul liberty in regards to salvation, to the scriptures, to his daily life and in every area of life.
VI.
Under this distinctive we will look at three forms of separation:
1. Ethical separation.
2. Ecclesiastical separation.
3. Political separation.
Ethical or Personal Separation
The first realm of separation to which Baptists adhere is ethical or personal. Each individual believer is to be separated from the world, and unto Christ, 1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
2 Corinthians 6:14-17 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. . .
2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
We must also separated ourselves from compromise:
3 John 11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
Matthew 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
1 Timothy 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
1 Thessalonians 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
Even though these verses are self explanatory, unfortunately they are conveniently overlooked in fundamental Baptist circles today. As New Testament believers this separation puts restrictions on marriage, close friends, clothes, hair standards, places of attendance, dance, music, theater, TV, alcoholic beverages, etc.
Ecclesiastical Separation
The second realm of separation to which Baptists adhere is ecclesiastical. We are to separate from apostasy. Just as our Lord has His churches, Satan, the imitator, has his false churches.
2 Corinthians 6:14-17 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
2 John 10,11 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
As New Testament believers, we can only have close fellowship with those of like faith and practice. This does not mean that we are to be hateful exclusivists who look down on all who are disobedient to God’s Word. On the contrary, we are to love and show mercy to all mankind.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
Political Separation
The third realm of separation to which Baptists adhere is Political. As Baptists we believe in a separation of church and state. Baptists believe that Christ taught in Mark 12:17 that there should be separation between the church and the state. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.
Baptists believe that the state ought to stay out of the affairs of the church and vice versa, they not believe in a state church, state baptist, or state ordinances, when it comes to spiritual or religious matters. Even though we believe in the separation of the church and state, this should not construed as the elimination of God from the state as the A.C.L.U. is proposing. In order to avert the ruination of our nation, God must never leave the minds of the government.
As New Testament believers, we are to stay as far away from the world and its standards as possible. Likewise we to stay as close to Christ and His Word as possible. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, Philippians 2:5.
This Baptist distinctive can be scripturally supported after careful reading of the New Testament. Philippians 1:1 says, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons… In order to properly understand these two offices, let’s go to the Scripture.
1. THE PASTOR
The pastor’s qualifications are found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Also in Titus 1:5-13 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;. . .
Throughout the New Testament there are various titles for the pastor. They are:
1. Pastor or shepherd of the Flock; And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; Ephesians 4:11 (Greek word = poimein).
2. Bishop or overseer of the working force; Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Philippians 1:1 (Greek word = episcopus).
3. Elder or leader in a business session; And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. Acts 20:17 (Greek word = presbuteros).
4. Preacher – a self explanatory term; (Greek word = kerrusso; to be a herald, always with the suggestion of formality, gravity and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed). Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 1 Timothy 2:7
For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee…Titus 1:5
5. Teacher – an instructor of the Word of God; And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; Ephesians 4:11
6. Angel and Star – a messenger of the Lord; The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Revelation 1:20
These various New Testament titles reflect the diverse responsibilities of the “Pastor.” The pastor is to LEAD, FEED, GUARD AND GUIDE the local church for one day he will give and account God for his ministry, Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. Hebrews 13:17
2. DEACON
The qualifications for deacons are found in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
And also in Act 6:1-4 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
The function of a deacon is that of a servant or one who ministers. Deacons should not run the church nor should they dictate over the pastor. The Bible nowhere suggests that the deacon is to be a “watch-dog” over the Pastor to keep him in line. Therefore they are to serve the congregation under the leadership of the pastor.
Conclusion
Although many churches call themselves Baptist, if they do not believe these distinctives, they are not a New Testament Baptist church. These distinctives separate Baptist from the rest of religious affiliations. Baptist believe that these distinctives should be practiced by all believers, because these distinctives are contained in the Word of God which is the sole authority of faith and practice.
Footnotes
1 Dr. Richard C. Weeks, Baptist Polity Class Notes, Maranatha Baptist Bible College.
2 John T. Christian, A History of the Baptist. (Texarkana: Bogard Press, 1922), p. 21
3 Edward T. Hiscox, The new directory for Baptist Churches. (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1970), p. 11
4 Thomas Armitage, A History of the Baptists. (Watertown: Maranatha Baptist Press, reprint, 1976), p. 151.
5 William Kerr, Conservative Baptist Distinctives, (Portland, OR: Christianews Press, 1962), pp. 8-10
Other good books about Baptist history:
The Trail of Blood, by J.M. Carroll, printed by Bryan Station Baptist Church, 3175 Briar Hill Rd, Lexington, Kentucky 40516
Baptist Succession, A Hand-Book of Baptist History by D.B. Ray, reprinted by Church History Research & Archives, 220 Graystone Drive, Gallatin, Tennessee, 37066
A Concise History of Baptist by G.H. Orchard, Bogard Press, 4605 North State Line Ave., Texarkana, Texas 75503
I Will Build My Church: The Doctrine and History of Baptists by Thomas M. Strouse, Emmanuel Baptist Theological Press, 296 New Britain Ave, Newington, Connecticut 06111
To order What do Baptists Believe? booklets, write to:
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© Copyright 1993 by D. Curtis Martin
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This publication may be copied and used freely, but must not be sold in whole or in part. It is requested that if you make multiple copies of the material and distribute it that you contact the author as an encouragement to him.
2nd Printing & First Revision May 2001
3rd Printing June 2006
4th Printing May 2009