Regenerate Church Membership

Baptists Distinctives

/ Tim A. / 2 Comments

The following is from the teaching of John A. Broadus concerning Baptists Distinctives.  Baptists have always been accused of being different, and these distinctives are what sets us apart from others.

It may be well to state briefly what I understand to be the leading distinctive views of the Baptist churches. The fact that certain of these are more or less shared by others will be remarked upon afterward.

(1) We hold that the Bible alone is a religious authority; and in regard to Christian institutions the direct authority is of course the New Testament.

 

(2) We hold that a Christian Church ought to consist only of persons making a credible profession of conversion, of faith in Christ. These may include children, even comparatively young children, for God be thanked that these do often give credible evidence of faith in Christ! But in the very nature of the case they cannot include infants. The notion that infants may be church-members because their parents are seems to us utterly alien to the genius of Christianity, not only unsupported by the New Testament, but in conflict with its essential principles; and we are not surprised to observe that our Christian brethren among whom that theory obtains are unable to carry it out consistently — unable to decide in what sense the so-called “children of the church” are really members of the church and subject to its discipline. The other notion, that infants may be church-members because so-called “sponsors” make professions and promises for them, seems to us a mere legal fiction, devised to give some basis for a practice which rose on quite other grounds. Maintaining that none should be received as church-members unless they give credible evidence of conversion, we also hold in theory that none should be retained in membership who do not lead a godly life; that if a man fails to show his faith by works, he should cease to make profession of faith. Some of our own people appear at times to forget that strict church discipline is a necessary part of the Baptist view as to church-membership.

From The Duty of Baptists To Teach Their Distinctive Views by John A. Broadus, and from the section Distinctive Views of Baptist Churches # 1 & 2

You may read this whole study at Baptists Distinctives.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Resolution On Regenerate Church Membership

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

It has been reported for several years that the SBC has over 16,000,000 million members, and we know that just over 6,000,000 are faithful attenders.  This may be because the majority of those whose names are on church rolls have never truly been born again, or have not been properly discipled.

The following is the resolution recently passed by majority vote of those present at the annual SBC meeting in Indianapolis, IN..  There is one thing for sure.  The Church of Jesus Christ is made up of only those who know Jesus and are known by Him.  I am one who is happy that this resolution has passed.  It is not the answer to the problem, but it is an encouragement.

Here is the resolution in its entirety from the BaptistPress blog:

Complete text of amended membership resolution
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 – 4:43:00 PM

Following is the amended version of the resolution passed this morning, “On Regenerate Church Membership and Church Member Restoration.” Messengers passed two amendments to the original resolution. (See previous post in this blog.) Additions are in bold here:

 

WHEREAS, The ideal of a regenerate church membership has long been and remains a cherished Baptist principle, with Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message describing the church as a “local congregation of baptized believers”; and

 

WHEREAS, A New Testament church is composed only of those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ, the local church’s only Lord, by grace through faith (John 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9), which church practices believers’ only baptism by immersion (Matthew 28:16-20), and the Lord’s supper (Matthew 26:26-30); and

 

WHEREAS, Local associations, state conventions, and the Southern Baptist Convention compile statistics reported by the churches to make decisions for the future; and

 

WHEREAS, the 2007 Southern Baptist Convention annual Church Profiles indicate that there are 16,266,920 members in Southern Baptist churches; and

 

WHEREAS, Those same profiles indicate that only 6,148,868 of those members attend a primary worship service of their church in a typical week; and

 

WHEREAS, The Scriptures admonish us to exercise church discipline as we seek to restore any professed brother or sister in Christ who has strayed from the truth and is in sin (Matthew 18:15-35; Galatians 6:1); and now, therefore, be it

 

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 10-11, 2008, urge churches to maintain a regenerate membership by acknowledging the necessity of spiritual regeneration and Christ’s lordship for all members; and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge our churches to maintain accurate membership rolls for the purpose of fostering ministry and accountability among all members of the congregation; and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention to repent of the failure among us to live up to our professed commitment to regenerate church membership and any failure to obey Jesus Christ in the practice of lovingly correcting wayward church members (Matthew 18:15-18); and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly encourage denominational servants to support and encourage churches that seek to recover and implement our Savior’s teachings on church discipline, even if such efforts result in the reduction in the number of members that are reported in those churches, and be it finally

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention and their pastors to implement a plan to minister to, counsel, and restore wayward church members based upon the commands and principles given in Scripture (Matthew 18:15-35; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20).

 

That which is in bold print are ammendments which were not part of the first presentation, and were passed by the body.

-Tim A. Blankenship