Missionary Baptists

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Missionary Baptists are a Protestant Christian denomination that is similar in beliefs and practices to regular Baptists but are nonetheless set apart by several distinctions. ^[1]

Contents 1 Doctrines 1.1 God 1.2 Jesus Christ 1.3 The Bible 1.4 Worship 1.5 Salvation 1.6 Church Ordinances 1.7 The Church 1.8 Speaking in tongues, divine healing, and other "gifts of the spirit" 2 References

[edit] Doctrines

[edit] God

Missionary Baptists believe that God is a Triune God. They believe He exists simultaneously as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,co-equally and co-eternally. He is believed to be Eternal, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and absolutely Holy. ^[2]

[edit] Jesus Christ

Missionary Baptists believe that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. They believe He was born of a virgin. They believe He laid down His life on the cross to atone for sin, rose from the dead on the third day, ascended into Heaven to the right hand of God the Father where He now exercises "all power" in Heaven and on Earth.^[3] Missionary Baptists believe in the premillennial, personal, bodily, literal, return of Jesus Christ. They believe this event will include the resurrection of the saved to eternal heaven, the rapture of those believers still alive at His return, the millennial reign of Christ on Earth, followed by the resurrection of the unsaved unto eternal punishment in the "Lake of Fire." Missionary Baptists are divided as to whether the rapture will be pre-tribulational, mid-tribulational, or post-tribulational.^[4]

[edit] The Bible

Missionary Baptists believe that the Bible is the literal, inerrant, infallible word of God. They believe that it is the only rule of faith and practice. The vast majority of Missionary Baptists use only the King James Version of the Bible since it is the only English translation(with the exception of the New King James Version) based on the textus receptus or the "Majority Text." Missionary Baptists generally reject modern translations do to the fact that they are based on manuscripts other than the textus receptus, such as the "sinaticus" and the "vaticanus" which they consider to be "tainted." (The New King James is also usually rejected because it contains footnotes that question the authority of certain Bible passages.) ^[5]

[edit] Worship

Missionary Baptists believe in non-liturgical free worship. They believe that worship should be "In Spirit and in Truth." In other words worship should be about God (as opposed to entertainment) and genuine (not vain tradition) Most Missionary Baptist Churches therefore sing strictly traditional Baptists hymns out of a hymnbook do to the belief that much of the modern contemporary Christian music is more geared to entertainment than to worship and that much of the modern music lacks the doctrinal richness of the old traditional songs. Missionary Baptists believe that worship should be respectful and solemn. Most Missionary Baptist Churches do not approve of clapping, raising hands, or any other activity considered "disruptive" or to be "drawing attention to ones self" or to be "giving praise to someone other than God" in Church.

[edit] Salvation

Missionary Baptists believe that Jesus Christ was "God the Son" and that His blood was sufficient to pay the price for all sin when He died on the cross at Calvary. They believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and now offers salvation(Eternal Life with God in Heaven)to all mankind as a free gift but that it must be accepted in order to be effective. Missionary Baptists believe that it is the responsibility of every individual to accept the gift. They believe that in order to accept this gift a person must first be drawn by the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin, creating in them a sense of Godly sorrow and repentance. Salvation is not possible unless the person is first drawn by the Holy Spirit and convicted of their sin. The convicted person then trusts in the atoning work accomplished by Jesus Christ on the cross and in His resurrection. They then go to Jesus Christ in prayer ask for His forgiveness and for Him to save them. At that moment the person is "Born Again" or "Saved." Missionary Baptists believe that only those who are able to understand the Gospel are accountable to respond to it. Those unable to understand do to youth or mental capacity are considered "safe." Missionary Baptists consider the salvation given by Jesus Christ to be eternal and irrevocable. "Once saved, Always saved." They reject Calvinism(the belief that God foreordained who would and would not be saved and therefore died only for the elect). Missionary Baptists believe that God "foreknew" who would be saved and who wouldn't be saved but that He still gave all men free will to accept or reject salvation. They believe Christ's blood was sufficient to atone for all sin though it is only effective for those who have been born again. While Missionary Baptists believe salvation is based upon the free will of man they object to the label of Arminian as Arminians believe salvation can be lost.^[6]

[edit] Church Ordinances

Missionary Baptists believe in two ordinances: Baptism and the Lord's supper. They believe only a local Baptist church has the authority to carry out the ordinances.

Baptism is the full immersion of a professed believer in water. It pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The ordinance is strictly memorial and is not required for salvation (though it is required for Church membership.) Baptisms that utilize sprinkling, pouring, splashing, or that are performed by non Baptists are not considered to be legitimate. Only believers who have made a profession that they have been born again my be baptised.

The Lord's Supper (also known as communion) is a memorial where the members of a local church gather together in an official capacity and solemnly partake of unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine. The unleavened bread represents Christ's sinless body and the fruit of the vine represents His blood which was shed to atone for sin. The vast majority of Missionary Baptists use grape juice as opposed to wine (do to the belief that drinking alcohol is a sin. They believe that the "wine" created by Jesus at the wedding in Cana and the "fruit of the vine" used by Jesus at the last supper was actually unfermented grape juice.) Missionary Baptists believe in "closed communion." (that the Lord's Supper is restricted to members of the local church only) Closed Communion is practiced as means of church discipline and because Christ and His Apostles separated themselves for the last supper. ^[7]

[edit] The Church

Missionary Baptists believe that a church is a local, visible, called out assembly of baptised believers, covenented together to carry out the "Great Commission."(The command by Jesus to go out and evangelize the world.) They reject totally the idea of a universal body of believers known as "The Church." Missionary Baptists believe that Jesus Christ called out the first Church during His Earthly ministry. After His ascension, this "Mother Church" spread out and started other churches which in turn started other churches and so on down through the ages. Missionary Baptists believe that their Churches are in a line of direct descent from the "Mother Church" which was originally started by Jesus. This is a belief also known as Landmarkism.^[8] Missionary Baptists believe in congregational church government. They believe that the local Church is sovereign and independent and that no other church or ecclesiastical body may exercise authority over it. They do believe in fellowshipping in associations for the purpose of such things as missions so long as all churches are equal and no central authority is placed over the Churches. The American Baptist Association and the Baptist Missionary Association are the two largest associations of Missionary Baptist Churches. Missionary Baptists believe in only two church offices, Pastors and Deacons. They believe that only men may occupy these positions. ^[9]

[edit] Speaking in tongues, divine healing, and other "gifts of the spirit"

Missionary Baptists believe that all spiritual gifts except "Faith, Hope, and Love" have ceased. They believe that "speaking in tongues" was a gift given to the early churches that allowed them to speak in other "human languages" for the purpose of communicating the gospel. They do not believe that it was some type of "angelic prayer language." Missionary Baptists believe that tongues, miraculous healing through a human medium, and other spiritual manifestation gifts were done away with when the Bible was completed.^[10]

[edit] References