Why Study Baptist History – Part 9 (To Correct Error)

‎Dan Nelson‎ to Baptist Church History July 16, 2020· 

Why Study Baptist History – Part 9 (To Correct Error)

We help people stay clear of error by illustrating what we believe in Baptist History. Today there is a dearth among Baptists concerning a teaching of doctrinal truth and confronting error. It is easier to share what be believe than it is to wake up to the doctrines that pull us away from the truth.

Many cults prey on the gullibility of people in churches who have never been taught what the Bible says and the bedrock truths it espouses. Our nature doesn’t lead us to illustrate error. We would just rather get along with people, join in with the new trends, not be divisive and continue down the slippery slope to doctrinal peril. Let me remind you that Paul said he was set forth for the defense and confirmation of the gospel Phil. 1:7. We confirm it by asserting our beliefs and we defend it by shining the light of God’s truth on error.

In a Doctor of Ministry seminar, I brought a paper on why the Bible does not teach Woman pastors. A missionary friend who had served in England was in the seminar. He agreed with my conclusions but said I would have laughed out and Baptist Ministerial gathering there. He said most churches had affirmed women pastors and believed in theistic evolution. How did these churches, schools and a nation get from Charles Spurgeon and the early English Baptists who were imprisoned and harassed for the faith they boldly proclaimed? They did not try to correct error, they gradually accepted it. It takes bravery to stand up against an avalanche but as I see it, that is what we are called to do. An alcoholic recovery place had a statement: “Any old dead fish can float downstream; it takes a live one to go upstream against the tide.” That may be what it takes today but it is needful more than any time because all of seemingly “good things” out there that trap us and cause us to lose our identity.

There are several ways we can correct the error that is knocking on the door of most of our churches. Studying Baptist History will provide a background for correcting these areas:

(1) “Be careful with your use of terms.” Don’t refer to all Christians as the church. Don’t say that Baptist are just another Protestant group and illustrate why they are not. I even make the distinction between commun ion and the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is not a sacrament, neither it is the only time you are communion with God. This Catholic term has been used to give highlight to grievous error of transubstantiation. I always referred to the table as the Lord’s Supper table. There are many other ways I commune with the Lord.

(2) “Study Baptist History to Illustrate Baptist Doctrine.” Talk about the stand of the Anabaptists and groups before the Reformation have taken. It is why infant baptism is not just a “cute thing” but a deception that leads people to trust in their parent’s faith instead of theirs. Talk about the persecution experienced by the people imprisoned for believer’s baptism, a church free from governmental harassment and a church made of believer’s who are baptized who are gathered and not invisible. There are many stories in Baptist History people need to learn. They will remain in ignorance unless you tell them. Most are not prone to pick up a Baptist History book on a whelm.

(3) “Have distinctives and standards for membership we preach and teach.” Help people understand that Baptists are on a different track. We do not have any practices carried over from Catholicism that are still in use. Our beliefs are unique and patterned after the model of the New Testament church. How can anyone say we a New Testament church if we don’t baptize believers the way Jesus commanded and the church to do it with His authority.

(4) “Confront error head on and expose It”

Leaving a 35-year pastorate I wanted my last few sermons to be teachable and something not easily forgotten. I took modern contemporary church arguments and examined them and opposed them from Scripture. I preached evidence against statements like: We are just one big invisible church with other believers, I want to be in a church that doesn’t teach doctrine, I want to be in a church that makes me feel good, I don’t want to be in a church that has membership, the mistakes of sponsorship Salvation, Isn’t one baptism as good as the other, why we don’t we have elders who run the church. In the meantime I preached on the New Testament church, Religious Liberty, Mandate to teach doctrine, soul competency, the priesthood of believers, the necessity of church membership, believer’s baptism by immersion by a proper authority and as a prerequisite to membership and the Lord’s Supper, and the importance of biblical authority.

As much as it is difficult for some preachers; we must identify the enemies that are disguised today that can tear up our church and cause us to lose our identity. We don’t just set back and wait for error to take place. We confront it and build up a firewall against. We are to always be ready to give and answer for the hope that lies within in us. It is not a matter of preference. It’s a matter of duty and obedience to our Lord. Let’s take down the errors that will eventually destroy our identities and churches. We owe it to our people and our Lord.