{"id":15,"date":"2012-04-17T21:34:46","date_gmt":"2012-04-17T21:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/thoughts\/?p=15"},"modified":"2012-04-17T21:34:46","modified_gmt":"2012-04-17T21:34:46","slug":"why-the-most-important-baptist-distinctive-is-%e2%80%9cthe-believers%e2%80%99-church%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/thoughts\/?p=15","title":{"rendered":"Why the most important Baptist Distinctive is \u201cThe Believers\u2019 Church\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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 <\/span>For four days in 2008 I took part in a
\nconference at the Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg on
\n\u201cCongregationalism, Denominationalism and the Believers’ Church\u201d. This brought
\ntogether mostly academics but also pastors from the Baptist, Mennonite and
\nother Brethren traditions from Canada and the Northern USA. I then spent ten
\ndays experiencing the life of First Baptist Church, Penticton. Throughout I
\nenjoyed fellowship with my old friend Rev Callum Jones, formerly Minister of
\nNorth Bushey Free Church but now Senior Pastor there, who is approaching
\ncompletion of his PhD studies on Baptist Identity in the Baptist Union of Western
\nCanada, together with his wife Catherine who is also a graduate of London Bible
\nCollege. As well as discussing his PhD thesis, we enjoyed many fruitful
\ndiscussions. Like me, Callum was a member and sent into ministry from Bushey
\nBaptist Church under Tony Mason and Peter Hicks. Having been converted in our
\nteens from non-Christian backgrounds, we are both Baptists by conviction rather
\nthan upbringing. The whole time there reminded me most helpfully that my
\ntheological understanding is not merely broadly \u201cevangelical\u201d but specifically
\nBaptist. And there are at least three beliefs at the core of Baptist identity
\nwhich I want to defend and affirm: the central authority of Scripture, what it
\nmeans to be a Christian, and what it means to be the true church, \u201cthe
\nBelievers’ Church\u201d.<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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The supreme authority for faith and practice in the
\nChristian life is the Bible, God’s inspired Word as received by the Churches
\nand correctly interpreted. Christians are \u201cthe people of the Book\u201d. Whatever
\nthe relativising Post-Modern Post-Christendom world around may say, we Baptists
\nare committed to the authority, reliability and sufficiency of Scripture. And
\non two matters, Scripture is very clear.<\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Firstly, every person either is a Christian or they are not.
\nA Christian is somebody who has been born again to a living hope, they have
\npassed from death to life and from darkness into light. They are in Christ and
\nthere has been a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come. Either a
\nperson is a Christian or they are not. 
\n<\/span>Just as either they are in England or they are not in England, but they
\ncannot be in some strange place in between. They are either alive or dead. They
\ncannot be \u201con the way to being alive.\u201d Either they are saved or they are not
\nsaved. Either Christ is in them and their destiny is to spend eternity with
\nChrist in glory, or it is not.  <\/span><\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Secondly, the Bible makes clear that the true church is the
\ngathered community of all true believers, those who are \u201ccalled out\u201d of the
\nworld to be the Body of Christ which is made up of all who are truly saved. The
\nchurch is the Living Temple, the Family of God and the Household of faith. The
\ntrue church is the fellowship of true Christians. It is \u201cthe Believers\u2019
\nChurch.\u201d  <\/span><\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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In this life, we may not be able to tell who actually is
\nsaved and who is not, who is a true believer and who is not. The Parable of the
\nWheat and the Weeds tells us that we will not know for certain who is saved
\nuntil the final judgment. The Parable of the Sower tells us that some who
\ninitially seem to be strong Christians actually will prove not to be so.
\nNevertheless, the true Church is defined and delimited by the company of true
\nbelievers. <\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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In Anglican churches, decision-making authority rests with
\nthe hierarchy and locally with the Parochial Church Council. Generalising, in Brethren,
\nPentecostal and consequently many of the New Church streams, control rests with
\nElders or equivalents. In contrast to all these others, each Baptist Church is
\nare governed by the Church Meeting, which itself makes a judgment about the person
\nfaith of the members. So the whole fellowship of believers shares in the responsibility
\nof directing the church. Our supreme Baptist distinctive is \u201cthe Believer\u2019s Church.\u201d
\n <\/span> <\/span> <\/span><\/o:p><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 For four days in 2008 I took part in a conference at the Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg on \u201cCongregationalism, Denominationalism and the Believers’ Church\u201d.…<\/span><\/p>\n

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