The Five Points of Reformed Baptist

Do you wonder what are the distinctives of Reformed Baptists? Below is a brief outline of the Reformed Baptist distinctive convictions. Grab a PDF copy here.

REFORMED1

CALVINISTIC1

  • Total Depravity  –  The fall of Adam affected the totality of man’s person3. We can only put Amazing back into grace once we realize the extent, the depth, the severity and the misery of the fall ( Jeremiah 17:9Romans 1:18–253:9–237:181 John 1:8–10).
  • Unconditional Election  –  Election is not based on foreseen faith or works4. The logic of unconditional election is that if men are truly and totally depraved, then God’s work of salvation can only be accomplished and applied in us by His Divine initiative ( Romans 8:28–39Ephesians 1:3–142:82 Timothy 1:910).
  • Limited Atonement  –  Redemption was accomplished by Christ for the elect only5. This is the extent of the atonement (John 6:37–3917:6–12Romans 5:8–101 John 4:910Revelation 5:910).
  • Irresistible Grace  –  Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is efficacious for the elect. God is able to overcome man’s resistance that they may willingly come to Christ ( John 10:3411:38–46Galatians 1:15Revelation 22:17)
  • Perseverance of the Saints  –  God preserving work will, by grace, complete and secure what He began in regeneration of the elect. None of the elect will from grace (Luke 22:31-32, Phil. 1:6)

PURITAN

COVENANTAL

  • Christ-centered interpretation of the Bible  –  Jesus’ person, work, kingdom and the covenant in His blood is the theme of the Bible (Luke 24:27, Hebrews 9:15). This is the unity of the Bible, it has many parts yet One message (Isa. 42:11 Pet. 1:19–20Acts 3:22)
  • Law / Gospel distinction  –  Law8 commands, condemns, and points us to Christ. The Christ of the gospel alone saves9 (Galatians 3:12, Matthew 5:17–20, Gal. 3:19-24)
  • One way of salvation  –  Christ has saved all the elect throughout all the ages. If anyone are to be saved, it is only through looking forward to the promised Messiah (OT saints) or looking backward (NT saints) to the Messiah’s finished work on the cross (John 14:6Acts 4:11–121 Timothy 2:5)
  • Optimistic view of history  –  Jesus Christ is now seated upon His throne at the right hand of the Father, the KING of kings and LORD of lords ruling over all. He will soon come again in power and judgment (Ephesians 1:20–23, Ps. 89:19–37,  Daniel 7:13–14,).

BAPTIST

  • Biblical Church Practice  –  Ordinances for believers only10. Church discipline lovingly exercised (Matt. 28:19–201 Cor. 11:26).
  • Biblical Church Freedom  –  The state is not to intrude into matters of conscience (Romans 13).
  • Biblical Church Government  –  Elders and deacons. The local congregation chooses its leaders10. This is what we believe the biblical form of Church Government (1 Tim 3, Titus 1: 5-11)
  • Biblical Church Growth  –  Gospel proclamation to the world. Repentance and Faith demanded of all (Matt. 28:19–20, Mark 1:15).
  • Biblical Church Ministry  –  Priesthood of all believers12 (1 Peter 2:9).
  • Biblical Church Foundations Orthodox, Evangelical and Autonomous13 and we believe in the Local Church as the visible manifestation of the Invisible (Universal) Church of Christ ( Rom. 1:71 Cor. 1:2, Acts 2:41–42)

There you go! You may notice that there are some overlaps between the points, that is consistency. James White says that to be a Reformed Baptist is to be consistent (Why Am I a Reformed Baptist?). But why do we have these distinctives? Why is it important? Sam Storms is helpful in this statement,

“We have no desire to be different for being different sake. That’s not the purpose of these distinctives. We don’t want to just stand out in a crowd and take a position that is contrary to others...We really do believe that these distinctives make a difference in how we live and how we minister. … I’m not suggesting for a moment that in calling them ‘distinctives’ that other Christians don’t believe them. I hope and pray that most do. We’re not unique in our emphasis on these points, but we do emphasize them — that’s the point!

If you hold to the Reformed Baptist distinctives above, please comment below if I missed any of our significant distinctive.

SOLI DEO GLORIA!


Note: This post is a reblog with minor revisions from Reformed Baptist Fellowship. A Reformed Baptist is primarily not a denomination but a Theological Persuasion.

  1. Check here for the overview of Reformed and Calvinistic.
  2. This is an imputed (not infused or imparted) alien or forensic righteousness. Justification is perfect, a declaration from God’s throne that man is righteous by virtue of Christ’s perfect righteousness alone. It is a one-time event.
  3. We agree with Martin Luther that man‘s “will comes from the devil and from Adam.”
  4. A Calvinistic understanding of Salvation: We reject all man-centered understanding of salvation.
  5. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21 cf. John 10:11,14-18,24-29; Acts 20:28; Isa. 53
  6. As opposed to the “Normative principle” which states that what is not forbidden is allowed. Our worship service is built around the Scriptures read, preached and sang.
  7. We hold to the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith 1689. Additionally the Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian and Chalcedonian creeds express our understanding of orthodoxy.
  8. We recognize the “Three uses of the law.” First, the law serves as a guide to society in promoting civic righteousness (civic). Secondly, the law convicts sinners and drives them to Christ (pedagogical). Thirdly, the law directs Christians in holy living (normative).
  9. Law and Gospel are in both Old and New Testaments. The gospel is the promises of God to His elect.
  10. Infant baptism is alien to the practice of the New Testament. Likewise, immersion is the proper mode of baptism.
  11. “A particular church, gathered and completely organized according to the mind of Christ, consists of officers and members; and the officers appointed by Christ to be chosen and set apart by the church.”
  12. The local church is a spiritual family where relationships are to be open and honest. All matters are handled in charity and patience. Only through every-member participation can individuals grow in grace and love.
  13. Watch here for complete details of Baptist Distinctives by Bro. Ezekiel.

Published by Jeff Chavez

Sinner saved by grace

5 thoughts on “The Five Points of Reformed Baptist

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: