BEING BAPTIST

D I S T I N C T I V E S T H AT M AT T E R

REGULAR BAPTIST PRESS

 The Doctrinal Basis of Our Curriculum
A more detailed statement with references is available upon request.

• The verbal, plenary inspira- • The security of the believer

tion of the Scriptures • The church
• Only one true God
• The ordinances of the local
• The Trinity of the Godhead church: baptism by immersion
• The Holy Spirit and His and the Lord’s Supper
ministry • Biblical separation—
• The personality of Satan ecclesiastical and personal
• The Genesis account of • Obedience to civil
creation government
• Original sin and the fall • The place of Israel
of man • The pretribulation rapture
• The virgin birth of Christ of the church
• Salvation through faith in the • The premillennial return
shed blood of Christ of Christ
• The bodily resurrection and • The millennial reign of Christ
priesthood of Christ
• Eternal glory in Heaven for the
• Grace and the new birth righteous
• Justification by faith • Eternal torment in Hell for the
• Sanctification of the believer wicked

Alex Bauman, Writer and Editor

Being Baptist: Distinctives That Matter

Adult Bible Study Student Book
Vol. 63 • No. 3
© 2014 • Regular Baptist Press
www.regularbaptistpress.org • 1-800-727-4440
Printed in U.S.A.
All rights reserved
RBP0124 • ISBN: 978-1-60776-081-1
 Contents

Lesson 1 Baptist Distinctives Matter 7

Lesson 2 Handling Scriptural Evidence 17
Lesson 3 The Authority of the New Testament 27
Lesson 4 Believer Baptism 35
Lesson 5 Pure Church Membership 45
Lesson 6 Church Discipline 55
Lesson 7 The Lord’s Table 65
Lesson 8 Priesthood of the Believer 75
Lesson 9 Individual Soul Liberty 83
Lesson 10 Congregational Government 93
Lesson 11 Pastors Lead 101
Lesson 12 Deacons Serve 111
Lesson 13 Separation of Church and State 119
 Preface

What makes a Baptist distinct? Do those distinctions really mat-

ter? Does calling oneself a Baptist mean anything today?
Questions like these are answered in this study about Being Baptist.
It will help you understand that the Baptist distinctions really do matter
because they reflect a careful handling of the Scriptures. The distinc-
tives are a by-product of Biblical interpretation. They are a result of a
high view of Scripture and a belief that the Scriptures are sufficient for
faith and practice.
The first three lessons are of particular importance. They set the
table for the rest of the study. They present the rules for interpreting
Scriptures that are employed throughout the study. And they make the
case for using the New Testament as the guide for the church’s faith and
practice.
Studying this course should result in being a Baptist by conviction
rather than by convenience. You should understand that “Baptist” is
more than a name with a bunch of stereotypes attached to it. It is name
you should wear as a badge, realizing the important Biblical truths it
represents.
To get the most out this course, consider purchasing Dr. Kevin
Bauder’s book called Baptist Distinctives and New Testament Church
Order. The commentary in this study follows Bauder’s book closely.
However, there are important sections of Bauder’s book that are not
included in this course because of space restraints. You will greatly
benefit from having Bauder’s expanded treatment of the Baptist distinc-
tives. Bauder’s book is available from RegularBaptistPress.org.
 Baptist Distinctives

1
Matter

L E S S O N
Scripture Focus
Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; John 1:1; Acts 20:27;
2 Tim. 2:2; 3:16, 17; 2 Pet. 1:20

Theme
The Baptist distinctives as a whole separate Baptists from all other
groups.

Memory Verse
“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses,
the same commit thou to faithful men,
who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

Baptists could have named themselves the Potluckians for all the pot-
lucks they seem to have. Or maybe the Studinarians to reflect the amount
of time and effort they put into studying the Bible. But Baptists didn’t get to
name themselves; their opponents beat them to it. Baptists should be glad
for their name. Their opponents could have picked the name “dunkers”.
“Faith Dunker Church” or “Grace Dunker Church” aren’t appealing.
1. What might you name Baptists?

2. Give some reasons for the new name.

This study will explore what Being Baptist is all about. You will find
that common Baptist beliefs are important to know and embrace. The
distinctives that set Baptists apart are Distinctives That Matter.

7
 L E A R N I N G T H E D I ST I N C T I V ES

Denominational Labels
Denominational labels are going out of style. That is unfortunate.
Those labels are a kind of shorthand. They stand for sets of ideas. When
people say, “I am a Lutheran,” or “I am a Presbyterian,” they are not just
identifying themselves with an organization or a social group. They are
identifying themselves with a combination of convictions. Each of the ma-
jor denominational labels stands for a set of ideas. At one time, Christians
thought these ideas were so important that they deserved labels. They used
the labels to distinguish one set of convictions from another. They wore
their labels as the badge that identified their distinctive beliefs.
3. Do you consider your denominational label as a badge? Explain.

Baptists’ opponents gave them their name as shorthand for the doctrines
and practices that distinguished Baptists from other Christians. Because Bap-
tists were strongly committed to these ideas, they embraced the label. They
were pleased to accept a name that stood for important teachings.
4. Are you pleased, displeased, or indifferent when it comes to the
Baptist label?

Most people who wear the name “Baptist” no longer know the ideas
it stands for. If asked to name the characteristic teachings of their group,
most merely observe that their churches perform baptisms by immersing
rather than sprinkling or pouring. Increasingly, church members display
an astonishing lack of knowledge about just what Baptists believe.
5. What do you think the name Baptist stands for?

8  LIVING IN THE REAL • BIBLICAL REALITIES FOR LIFE

 Sadly, ignorance of the meaning behind the Baptist name is too often
shared by Baptist leaders. It is not difficult to find lists of Baptist distinc-
tives, but such lists are often marred by one of two faults. The first fault is
that many of the lists were compiled by writers who really did not know
what Baptists believe. Consequently, their lists either omit important
teachings, or they add teachings upon which Baptists have never agreed.
Sometimes they do both.
The second and more serious fault is that some lists have been com-
piled by people with theological axes to grind. Some groups would like
to claim to be the only true Baptists. They attempt to bolster their claim
by trying to define all other Baptists out of existence. Their lists are little
more than propaganda tools.
6. Describe your desire to know what Baptists believe.

A need existed for a short book that would explain Baptist thought
and practice to ordinary church members and, perhaps, to those who are
training for ministry. Kevin Bauder’s book Baptist Distinctives and New
Testament Church Order undertook this task. This course is based on
Bauder’s book. His book answers the question, What is a Baptist? for peo-
ple who are not theological experts. It does not, however, try to defend all
of the distinctive Baptist beliefs in detail, though it does usually indicate
where the main proofs lie. The book is now the definitive volume on Bap-
tist distinctives, and it no doubt will be for years to come.
This course has the same goal as Bauder’s book with an added goal
of challenging learners to conduct themselves according to their Baptist
beliefs. The lessons will help learners understand how to live as Baptists,
hence the course name Being Baptist.
Both this course and Bauder’s book explain the ideas and practices
that set Baptists apart from other Christians. They address this explanation
primarily to those who have either grown up in or entered Baptist circles
without understanding the beliefs that shape the Baptist mind and heart.
Secondarily, they offer an explanation to non-Baptists who are curious
about Baptist beliefs. However, neither one is a defense to answer all the
arguments of those who disagree. And neither of them treats exhaustively

LESSON 1 • Baptist Distinctives Matter 9

 every aspect of Baptist theology. Both resources are overviews, not for the
theological professional, but for the thoughtful inquirer.
Baptists are defined by their characteristic beliefs. Taken together, these
beliefs are called the Baptist distinctives. Before we actually begin to explore
these distinctive teachings, we need to understand how they function.

The Baptist Distinctives Set Baptists Apart

The distinctives are what set Baptists apart from other Christians.
Therefore, no belief that is held universally by Christians can qualify as
a Baptist distinctive. Some teachings set all Christians apart from other
religious people. These “Christian distinctives” are known as essentials,
or fundamentals. All true Christians affirm the fundamentals. Because
Baptists are Christians, they also believe the fundamentals. A person who
denies one of the fundamentals cannot be a Baptist because that person
is not a Christian (though too often such persons dishonestly continue
to call themselves Christians and even Baptists). By the same token,
Methodists and Presbyterians affirm the fundamentals, for they, too, are
Christians. A person who denies a fundamental doctrine cannot rightly
be called a Methodist or a Presbyterian. The fundamentals are the com-
mon property of all true Christians, whether Baptist, Lutheran, Calvinist,
or Wesleyan. Therefore, a fundamental doctrine is not really a Baptist
distinctive, even though all genuine Baptists believe it.
7. What fundamentals of the Christian faith can you name?

The fundamentals of the faith include the inspiration, infallibility,

and inerrancy of the Scriptures (Ps. 12:6, 7; Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17;
2 Pet. 1:20); the deity and virgin birth of Christ (John 1:1; Heb. 1:8, 9; Isa.
7:14; Matt. 1:23); the sufficiency of Christ’s substitutionary atonement
(Acts 20:28; Rom. 3:25; 5:9; Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:12–14); the literal, bodily res-
urrection of Christ (Luke 24:36–46; 1 Cor. 15:1–4, 15:14, 15); and the literal,
bodily second coming of Christ (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17; Rev. 22:12).
8. Read John 1:1. Why is the deity of Christ a fundamental of the
faith?

10 LIVING IN THE REAL • BIBLICAL REALITIES FOR LIFE

 9. Read Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23. Why is the Virgin Birth a funda-
mental belief for Christians?

10. Read 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20. Why is the infallibility and
inspiration of Scripture a fundamental of the faith?

The trend is for people who deny the fundamentals to call themselves
Christians or even Baptists. But remember that those labels still have
meaning. Those who abuse those labels cannot actually change what it
means to be Baptist, any more than a person could call his cat a dog and
thereby change what it means to be a dog.
11. Should Baptists abandon the Baptist label because some groups
abuse the label? Explain.

The Distinctives Work as a Bundle

While the Baptist distinctives set Baptists apart, we must not say that
only Baptists hold any of the Baptist distinctives. Baptists are character-
ized by several beliefs. Not one of those beliefs is absolutely unique to
Baptists.
No matter which Baptist distinctive you choose, you can find other
Christians who acknowledge it. No single distinctive by itself is sufficient
to distinguish Baptists from all other groups of Christians.
What makes Baptists different is that they alone hold the combina-
tion of beliefs that are known as the Baptist distinctives. Each individual
belief is held by some other group, but no other group holds the whole
bundle. Baptists are distinguished, not by the individual teachings, but
by the combination of teachings that make up the Baptist distinctives.
While each of the Baptist distinctives is held by some other Christians,

LESSON 1 • Baptist Distinctives Matter 11

 no Baptist distinctive is held by all other Christians. Therefore, each one of
the distinctives sets Baptists apart from some other Christian group. When
all of the distinctives are added together, the combination ends up setting
Baptists apart from all other Christians.

Descriptions of the Distinctives

This study puts six distinctives in the Baptist distinctives bundle. Seeing
the six parts of the bundle side by side before examining each one in-depth
will help you gain more from this study as you progress through it.
Biblical authority is often listed as a Baptist distinctive. But the true
distinctive is more specific. Baptists consistently affirm the absolute
authority of the New Testament in all matters of church faith and or-
der. Baptists insist that the only divinely inspired textbook on the church
is the New Testament. When Baptists speak about the church, they often
specify that it is the “New Testament Church” that they have in mind.
12. How is this distinctive evident in your church?

Believer baptism is the obvious Baptist distinctive. It’s hard to miss

a person soaking wet in a baptismal! Sometimes believer baptism is the
only distinctive a Baptist knows.
How does the Baptist approach to water baptism differ from the per-
spectives of the other denominations? Baptists generally argue that their
approach is defined by three emphases. They insist that valid, Scriptural
baptism requires, first, proper subjects; second, a proper meaning; and,
third, a proper mode.
Baptists emphasize pure church membership. The three central
themes of pure church membership are regenerate, or spiritually reborn,
membership, baptized membership, and church discipline. True Baptist
churches will not accept the unregenerate and those not properly baptized
into their membership. Baptists also hold members accountable to a holy
standard, and they practice church discipline to keep the membership pure.
13. What pressures on a church might tempt it to compromise their
belief in a pure church membership?

12 LIVING IN THE REAL • BIBLICAL REALITIES FOR LIFE

 Baptists believe that every believer has received tremendous privileg-
es and, consequently, bears tremendous individual Christian respon-
sibilities. We also believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, through the work of
the Holy Spirit, has made each believer competent to fulfill these respon-
sibilities in company with other believers. Baptists typically discuss these
privileges, responsibilities, and competencies under two headings: the
priesthood of the believer and the soul liberty of the believer.
Baptists understand the priesthood of the believer to mean that
Christians require no separate priesthood other than that of the Lord Je-
sus Christ. Because Christ is the only mediator between humans and God,
each believer has the privilege and duty of direct access to God.
14. How important to you is your direct access to God through prayer?

Soul liberty is the responsibility that all believers share to understand

and obey God’s requirements for themselves. This duty cannot be dele-
gated or assigned to another believer. Each individual believer is person-
ally responsible for understanding and obeying God.
Baptists believe that churches ought to be governed congregationally.
They believe that the final authority under Christ for making the church’s
decisions is invested in the congregation as a whole. Baptists believe that
congregational government does the most justice to the pattern and teaching
of the New Testament.
15. How have you seen congregational government worked out in
your church?

Lastly, Baptists have been identified by their belief in separation of

church and state. Baptists believe that the coercive power of the state must
not be used to enforce matters that should be left to the conscience before
God. And Baptists believe that Christianity should not appeal to the state
for support or advantage. The state’s role then is to ensure that people have
liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.

LESSON 1 • Baptist Distinctives Matter 13

 16. In what ways might the separation of church and state be threat-
ened in years to come?

Personal Convictions
Being Baptist is not something we should take lightly. We should be
Baptist by conviction rather than by convenience. We should know what
being a Baptist means and recognize the connection between our beliefs
and our approach to Scripture. We come to Baptist convictions through
a consistent, Biblical hermeneutic (principle and method of interpreta-
tion). Neither preference nor opinion is the source of our Baptist distinc-
tives. They come neither by traditions nor consensus. They come from
God’s Word as we study it as God intended.
17. Read Acts 20:27. What was Paul’s conviction when it came to
sharing God’s truth?

We should learn the Baptist distinctives well and commit to passing

them on to future generations. We should commit to raising Baptist chil-
dren because we recognize the importance of a consistent approach to all
Scripture.
18. Read 2 Timothy 2:2. What pattern did Paul command Timothy
to follow?

B E I N G BA P T I ST

19. How did you come to be a Baptist?

14 LIVING IN THE REAL • BIBLICAL REALITIES FOR LIFE

20. What did you learn about the Baptist distinctives from this over-
view lesson?

21. Why is it important to teach the Baptist distinctives to the next

generation? Add to the following list:

22. So they will choose to be part of a Baptist church when they are
on their own.

23. So they won’t end up in a church that compromises Biblical truth.

24. How might your church effectively teach the distinctives on an

ongoing basis?

LESSON 1 • Baptist Distinctives Matter 15