Reformed Baptist for Beginners

In 2017 my family set out to plant a new church in Dallas, TX. Surprisingly, not many people asked, “what kind of church are you going to plant?” I guess that’s to be expected. Those that know us know that we have been attending, serving, and ministering in  a non-denomination, Charismatic church. So when people we know find out that our church is Baptist, they seem a bit surprised. When they find out we are Baptist and Reformed, they seem a bit confused...some even a little terrified. That is because many are familiar with Baptist, but not too many people are familiar with the word ‘Reformed.’ So, I thought it would be a good idea to write up something explaining what it means to be a Reformed Baptist, for those with limited knowledge of  theology and church history. I'll try to keep it short.

Some people get nervous when a church uses a title to describe it. For example, people are fine with a church by the name of ‘Vertical Church’ but they would probably shy away from a ‘Vertical Methodist Church, or a ‘Vertical Pentecostal Church.’ However, all churches have a set doctrine, or some set beliefs. It might be Baptist, Presbyterian, or Pentecostal. Many churches just choose not to put their title in their name. Even non-denomination churches have a set of beliefs, they just choose not to affiliate with a denomination. Many non-denomination churches have Baptist beliefs, some Assembly of God, some Church of Christ, and so forth. We don’t use the title in our church name, we just call it ‘Ecclesia’ not ‘Ecclesia Reformed Baptist Church.’ 

So, let me attempt to explain what a Reformed Baptist is. Let’s take the word 'Baptist’ first.

What is a Baptist? First, let’s clear up some of those nasty rumors. No, Baptist don’t believe that the Holy Spirit is dead, dancing is evil, and you should only read the King James Bible. Now, just like other denominations, Baptist come in all shapes and sizes. So yes, there may be a few fringe Baptist that are known for weird things, but hey, who doesn’t have a few people in their family they aren’t too proud of?  

Simply put, a Baptist is someone who holds to ‘believers baptism’. That means that we believe water baptism is for believers, those who have made public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Baptist hold to essential Christian beliefs – the Trinity, the Divinity of Christ, the bodily Resurrection, salvation by faith alone, and the second coming of Christ. You know, many of the same things most Christian churches teach. Baptist churches are also autonomous, which means that each church is independently governed by its own church body.

What distinguishes Baptist from many others? Well, there are a few secondary things, like not baptizing babies, but mainly it is the fact that we choose to affiliate with other ‘like-minded’ churches. By uniting like this we can do more together. Our church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention. In doing so, we participate in missions, church planting, training, and other relief efforts across the world. These are things a small church plant like ours would never be able to do on our own.  By no means is this meant to be a complete definition, but that is a short explanation of what it means to be a Baptist.

Now, for that other, somewhat scary, unfamiliar word.

What does it mean to be Reformed? Simply put, to be Reformed means to hold to Reformed Theology. Theology just means ‘the study of God.’ Reformed Theology comes out of the Protestant Reformation in the 16^th century. The Protestant Reformation was the time in church history when people arose to protest the practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Don’t let the word theology confuse you. Again, every church has a theology, it may be Pentecostal theology, Church of God in Christ Theology, Methodist theology and so forth. Reformed Theology may seem odd because it isn’t heard much today, but over 100 years ago it would have been more familiar than the others.

Does that mean Reformed Theology comes from the 16^th century and not from the Bible? Absolutely not, the dictionary definition for the word reform means to ‘make changes’ or to ‘improve.’ This is what the Reformers in the 16^th century set out to do. To change the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church to where they resembled the clear teachings of the Bible. This is why they were called ‘Protestants,’ because they protested Rome’s practices and teachings. Even today, Christians are usually identified as either Catholic or Protestant.

What does Reformed Theology Teach? I like to say Reformed Theology is ‘Big God Theology,’ this means that every doctrine is understood in the light of a big God. That means every doctrine begins and ends with God and everything is seen through His view and His purposes. When you start with a doctrine of a big God, it has a profound way of viewing every other doctrine in scripture.

The Reformers in the 16^th century revived some Biblical tenants of Christianity, they are known as the ‘Five Solas of the Reformation.  The word ’Sola’ is a Latin term that means ‘only’ or ‘alone’. The Five Solas of The Reformation are the foundation of Reformed Theology. They are as follows - Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), Sola Gratia (Grace Alone), Sola Fide (Faith Alone), Sola Christus (Christ Alone), and Sola Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone).

That doesn’t sound any different than what other Christians believe, what makes Reformed Theology distinct? That's right, our essential beliefs are the same as many others. But as I said, once you hold firmly to Big God theology it effects other doctrine's of scripture. This means that our view of some doctrines may be different than others. I will name and briefly explain a few of these distinctions. Some of these words may be unfamiliar and confusing, but stay with me as I try to briefly explain them. 

Calvinism – This is probably one of the clearest distinctions of Reformed theology. We hold to a Calvinistic view of salvation. It is called Calvinism because a preacher by the name of John Calvin was one of the first to articulate it after the Protestant Reformation. Before him Augustine taught it, before him the apostle Paul, and before him Jesus Christ. The teaching was not invented by John Calvin, it is merely the view of salvation he saw clearly taught in scripture.

Calvinism teaches that it is God, not man, that chooses in salvation. Man's free will is only free to act on what it desires. Dead in sin, it does not desire to seek God (Rom 3:11). If man is dead in sin, and has no desire to seek God, then God must act and awaken those he elected before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 1:4). That does not mean we don’t evangelize and preach the gospel to everyone. We don’t know who God has elected so we obey Christ’s command to go into all nations and make disciples. (Matthew 28:19)

Covenant Theology – Reformed Theology is also Covenant Theology. It means we believe God deals with men in covenants, mainly 2 distinct covenants. There is the ‘covenant of works’ (broken by Adam in the Garden) and the ‘covenant of grace’ (promised to Adam in the garden and fulfilled in Jesus Christ). This means that God has one plan for His people. There is not a separate plan for Israel and a separate plan for the church. The church and Israel have always been one people, they are God’s chosen people.

Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW) – This means we worship God only in ways that are regulated by Him in scripture. If you are familiar with scripture you know that God has provided many ways to worship Him in song, dance, instruments, joyful noise and so forth.  Anything outside of that, such as drama and other forms of entertainment, are not to be used in worship. That doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy various arts and entertainment, we just believe there is a time and place for everything. In other words, there won't be any Minions or Spider Man's on stage during our worship service. 

Confessional – Almost every church holds to a confession, some call it a Statement of Faith or Core Beliefs. While many churches create their own, Reformed churches typically hold to one from church history. The Westminster Confession, Belgic Confession or London Baptist Confession to name a few. Most Reformed Baptist hold to the 1644 or 1689 London Baptist Confession. Ecclesia holds to the New Hampshire Baptist Confession (1833), which is an abridged and revised version of the 1689 London Baptist Confession.

Ecclesiology – Reformed Churches also hold to a high ecclesiology. Ecclesiology just means the study of the church. If we are going to hold to a high view of God, then we must hold to a high view of His church. This means that we take things like church membership, church governance, and the sacraments (baptism and communion) very seriously.

Cessationism - Cessationist believe that the spiritual sign gifts in the New Testament have ceased to be given to individuals. The sign gifts are typically identified as the gift of tongues, gift of healing, and gift of prophecy. This doesn't mean we don't believe in miracles or healing, we pray constantly for them. Nor do we believe God can't do these things (believing in a big God, we trust He can do anything). We just believe that the need for these gifts have ceased with the completion of scripture. It is scripture that now equips and completes us for every good work (1 Timothy 3:16-17). Those signs gifts were given in the 1st century to affirm God's word when scripture was yet to be completed (2 Corinthians 12:12)

Doctrine of Man - One last distinction I should mention is our view of man. The Reformed tradition believes that there is no good in man apart from Christ. Without Christ man's heart is deceitful and wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). And although we are immediately justified (made right) at our conversion, we are still in a process of sanctification (becoming more like Christ). This means we don't preach sermons that tell people to chase their dreams, follow their heart, or pursue their destiny. Since we are still in a fallen state, it is too hard to trust in those things. Instead we teach people to trust in God's written word.

We also teach that Christians still go through suffering and hardships (just like the Apostles did). One day our tears will be wiped away, but that day hasn't come yet. This means we don't preach what many call the 'prosperity gospel'. The belief that God promises that you will be rich, successful and prosperous as long as you are a Christian. Yes, many Christians will enjoy prosperity, but it is God's sovereign choice who He exalts and who He makes low (1 Samuel 2:17). 

I could go on, but I have already made this post longer than I intended to. I hope this information gives you a clearer picture of what it means to be a Reformed Baptist. If there is something I confused you on and you still have questions, please ask me Chris.ecclesiaatx@gmail.com. This was not meant to be an exhaustive study and there is certainly more I can say. But I think there is enough here for you to get an idea what our church believes, what it’s is like, and that we really aren’t too weird after all. Until next time, SDG!