Wednesday, November 11, 2009 09:06:21 PM We are unashamed to declare ourselves a Bible believing, Fundamental Baptist Church. We believe the Bible is the sole rule of faith and practice. This belief has lead us to further define ourselves as Fundamentalists and Baptists. We are in fellowship with the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches and the Minnesota Association of Regular Baptist Churches.

What does it mean to be a Fundamentalist?

There is much misunderstanding and misuse of the term fundamentalist these days. As it applies to Christian theology it first came into use during the Niagra Falls Bible Conferences, held yearly from 1883 to 1897 (with the exception of 1884). The term is formally defined by the 12 volume work published in 1910 entitled The Fundamentals A Testimony to the Truth. The purpose of this work was to combat the inroads of theological liberalism (known as modernism at that time). It was a declaration of the fundamental beliefs that define a person as a Christian. Without adherence to these fundamental beliefs one does not have the right to call himself a Christian. The fundamentals of Christianity set forth in this work are:

Divine inspiration of scripture: Scripture was given to us by God and therefore possesses the property of inspiration. The term inspiration as used in scripture could be literally translated “God breathed”. Technically speaking, the property of inspiration only applies to the original autographs, but in practice we believe that the manuscripts in the original languages and the translations which we possess today (with one or two notable exceptions) can be properly called the Word of God. This belief logically means we also believe in:
- the inerrancy of scripture,
- a normal grammatical, historical approach to the interpretation of scripture,
- a literal 7 day creation and a worldwide flood as recorded in the first 11 chapters of Genesis,
- and literal miracles as recorded in scripture.
Incarnation of Jesus Christ: He is God become man. This means we believe:
- in the deity of Christ,
- in the humanity of Christ,
- in the virgin birth of Christ,
- and that He lived a perfect, sinless life here on earth.
Substitutionary atonement: Jesus Christ, the Son of God died for our sins according to the scriptures. We believe that salvation is bestowed by God’s grace on undeserving sinners who receive it by faith in Jesus Christ alone. And this is all made possible by Christ’s death on our behalf. He who had no sin of His own took our sin on Himself and paid the penalty for it. Consequently we, who have no righteousness of our own, are given the righteousness of Christ when we believe.
Bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ: Christ literally died, was buried and rose from the dead on the third day. The resurrection of Christ is proof that God has accepted His sacrifice for our sin. Our salvation is complete and sure.
Imminent return of Christ: Christ will return bodily to earth to establish a literal earthly kingdom. This return could happen at any moment. There is no prophetic event which must precede Christ’s return. Nor is there any way to predict when He will come. It may be today, or it may be tomorrow, or it may not be for years, decades or even centuries to come.

What does it mean to be a Baptist?

Baptist distinctives are summarized in this clever little acrostic on the word “Baptists”.

Biblical Authority. The Bible is our sole authority in all matters of faith and practice. It is God’s word. It is the truth and it is authoritative and accurate on all subjects it addresses. It is the first duty of believers to know it and obey it.

Autonomy of the Local Church. The local church is an independent body of believers responsible only to the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not believe in denominational hierarchies dictating policy to local churches. We do believe in voluntary association with other churches of like faith and practice.

Priesthood of the Believer. We are called a kingdom of priests in Rev. 1:6. The duties of a priest are twofold; to represent God to men, and to represent men to God. Therefore we must be ambassadors for God to men, seeking the salvation of the lost and we must intercede for the lost, praying for their salvation.

Two Ordinances. We believe that Christ instituted 2 ordinances (not to be confused with sacraments); Believer’s Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (or communion). Baptism is public witness to the believer’s identification with Christ. Communion is a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice for our sin. Ordinances differ from sacraments in that a sacrament is a means of obtaining God’s favor while an ordinance is only embued with symbolic meaning. For Baptists, there is only one sacrament, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Individual Soul Liberty. Each individual is responsible only to God for what he believes. No church or any other human organization has the right to dictate what we believe. This does not mean we are free to believe anything at all, but rather by rightly dividing the Word of Truth and with the Holy Spirit’s illumination we come to understand and believe the truth. This is between the individual and God. Bible teachers are a gift from God, but in the end we will each answer to God for ourselves.

Saved, Baptized Church Membership. There are 2 prerequisites for church membership; salvation and baptism by immersion. The pattern we see in the book of Acts is that first a person believed, then he was baptized and finally he was added to the number.

Two Offices. The New Testament defines 2 offices of the local church; Pastor, and Deacon. The people who hold these offices are chosen by the local church. The pastor is the leader of the local church, especially in matters of doctrine and faith. The deacons assist the pastor with administrative and more “secular” matters to free the pastor’s time for Bible study and prayer.

Separation of Church and State. The church is not a part of the state. For a state to collect taxes from its citizens to support a church that they do not believe in would be tyranny over their consciences. Nor is the state answerable to any church. We believe this is the essence of Christ’s command to “Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s and unto God the things that are God’s”.

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For more information on what we believe and how Blaine Baptist Church operates here is a link to our Constitution with Confession of Faith and Covenant of Fellowship.