Baptists aim to be thoroughly biblical in their beliefs. They are orthodox and conservative in their theology, and differ little from mainstream evangelicals of all denominations.

The following is a statement of core doctrines, expressed in the straightforward evangelical sense, with some supporting biblical references:

God:  

One God in three persons, the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-equal, co-eternal, sovereign and active in creation, providence and redemption.  Gen. 1:1; Matt. 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 1:35; John 10:30, 38; 17:1-3; Acts 17:28; Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 12:4-6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 2:18, 3:14-17, 4:4-6; 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 Jn. 4:13-14.

The Lord Jesus Christ:

The work of the Holy Spirit in:

The local church as a company of baptised believers gathered under the headship of Christ for worship, fellowship, instruction and evangelism; the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper; the offices of elder and deacon; the gifts of evangelist and pastor-teacher; the priesthood of all believers and their unity in the body of Christ; the separation of church and state.

The responsibility of all believers to obey and serve the Lord and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives; the duty of each church to exercise godly discipline in a loving and caring fashion Rom.12:3,10-21; 1 Cor. 5; 11:30; Phil. 4:8; Titus 2:12; 3:1-2; Heb. 3:13; 2 Pet. 1:5-8; 3 :11; 1 John 4:7-8.

Baptists believe in the separation of church and state and defend freedom of religion as no one becomes a Christian by compulsion. They believe that organized institutional religion smothers personal spiritual growth. However, they believe in the legislative authority of legitimate civil government, and that the laws of the land must be obeyed unless they contradict biblical teaching. Liberty of personal conscience with regard to non-essentials of faith and practice is to be guarded, but must be practised responsibly. Rom. 12:18; 13:1-7; 14:1-21; 1 Cor. 8; 10:23-26; 1 Pet. 2:13-18; Jas. 4:12.

Baptists believe in the autonomy of the local church and its freedom to run its own affairs. This includes things such as the appointment of a pastor and other elders and deacons, as well as building programmes and evangelistic outreach. Churches have no authoritative structure beyond the local eldership. Each church effectively determines its own destiny via a combination of local leadership and congregational democracy. Suspicion of centralized authority stems from historical persecution, the belief in liberty of conscience, and fear of institutional stagnation. However, most prefer cooperation to strict independency, and local churches are usually in association with other like-minded churches. The Association facilitates mutual fellowship, support and guidance among the member churches, and administers resources directed towards church-planting and foreign mission efforts.

Baptists believe that the scripture “There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5) rules out the need for any other intermediary between the individual and God. They believe in the ‘priesthood of all believers’ (cf. 1 Pet. 2:5) under the authority of the ‘Great High Priest’ - the Lord Jesus Himself. Thus, believers can enter the presence of God by faith in the assurance that the Lord Jesus has ensured them a welcome. In fact, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the individual believer, each acts as a ‘living stone’ collectively making up the ‘House of God’ (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19; Eph. 2:18-22; 1 Tim 3:15; Heb. 4:14-16; 8:1-3; 9:24; 10;19-22; 1 Pet 2:4-5).

This principle is also applied to the Baptist concept of the church. Whilst they support full-time pastors, missionaries and other workers, Baptists believe that every believer is gifted by God, is to be equally valued, and has something to contribute to the local fellowship or church at large. Thus pastors are viewed as ministering or teaching elders holding joint authority/responsibility with other local elders. Deacons are also appointed and recognized as those willing and able to serve in a practical way in the administration of the local church.

Service: Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:11-27; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9.

Support: Matt.10:10,40-41;13:57; Acts 20:34;1 Tim.5:18;3 John:5-8.

True worship and service implies a commitment to obey the Word of God (John 4:23-24; 7:17; 13:17; Rom. 12:1-2). This includes being evangelistic as well as evangelical. God calls his servants to relate his unchanging Gospel to an ever-changing world.

Baptists are so named due to their practice of only baptizing those who have made a personal profession of faith in Jesus Christ. They maintain that believer’s baptism more clearly expresses the New Testament teaching than any alternative practice. It is administered in the name of the Trinity and is normally by immersion.

In the early years of the Christian church most Christians were baptized by immersion on professing faith in Jesus Christ. Some early church documents (such as ‘The Didache’, late 1^st C.) show that water was later allowed to be poured if it was scarce. Over time many Christians began baptizing their children as well. But some Christians were unhappy about baptizing children as infants; they continued to believe baptism was only for people who consciously chose to become Christians. Baptism was viewed as public witness to their faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, and as symbolic of their ‘death’ to sin and ‘resurrection’ to newness of life, in identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus for them.

Whilst Baptists teach baptism and urge fellow Christians to follow the Lord’s command as a public witness to the faith, it is only performed at the request of the individual. However, although welcoming other Christians to break bread, most Baptist churches will only admit to membership those who have been baptised.

      (ii) WHAT is the Meaning of Baptism?

              Baptism is a public identification:

e.g. John the Baptist performed a baptism of repentance on those who wished to be identified as having obeyed his command to repent (Mark 1:4; Acts 13:24). The Lord Jesus was baptized (Mark 1:9) to show that He approved of John’s ministry, identified with His fellow Jews who were being baptized (i.e. identified with sinners), and belonged to God’s Kingdom (cf. Matt. 3:15). The baptism performed by John was a forerunner of Christian baptism (Acts 19:3-5) as was the crossing of the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:1-2).

Christian believers are urged to be baptized to:

(Acts 22:16;1 Pet. 3:21)

N.B. Baptism does not save (John 1:12-13).

iii) HOW should Baptism be Administered?

New Testament baptism was normally by immersion in the

name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (cf. Matt. 28:19).

The Greek word ‘baptizo’, which occurs some eighty times in the New Testament, usually means ‘to dip’. When the Bible was translated into English, the Greek word was not translated for fear of theological controversy.

Immersion is implied in the direct accounts of baptism. For example:

“being baptised by him in the Jordan river” (Mark 1:5, 9);

“coming up out of the water” (Mark 1:10; cf. Matt. 3:16);

“because there was much water there” (John 3:23);

“they went down into the water” (Acts 8:38-39).

The language used implies that the person was applied to the water rather than water being applied to the person. Immersion is also suggested in the symbolism of Romans 6 where it speaks of being “buried with him through baptism into death” and being “raised” to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). This occurs again in Col. 2:12: “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith”.

Most Western baptistic churches have a special tank at the front of the church in which baptisms are normally performed in heated water. This is a traditional convenience due to our climate, and the usual distance from a suitable river, lake, or sea; but where suitable natural places exist, believers, who so wish, can be baptised.

 Whilst Baptists defend immersion as the biblical mode of baptism they understand that circumstances may require gracious discretion. For instance, elderly, ill or disabled Christians may not be able to be baptised by immersion (cf. Rom. 2:29; 2 Cor. 3:6).

‘The Lord’s Supper’ (cf. 1 Cor. 11:20) is the most common title used by Baptists to refer to the ordinance which the Lord Jesus instituted prior to his crucifixion. It is also sometimes referred to as ‘The Breaking of Bread’ (cf. Acts 2:42; 20:7). Baptists believe that the bread and wine are symbolic of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus, broken and shed on the Cross. They take bread and wine (‘the cup’ Matt. 26:27) together (usually each Sunday, cf. Acts 20:7) to:

 fulfil the command of the Lord Jesus to do it in remembrance of Him and His death for them (Luke 22:19-20;1 Cor. 11:24-25);

The ordinance is a privilege that includes a responsibility to look back to the Cross and forward to the Lord’s Coming again. It should not be participated in lightly as just routine (1 Cor. 11:27-31).

Baptists believe that baptism should precede admission to the Lord’s table. However, they do recognise there is diversity of tradition on this matter. They welcome visitors who love the Lord Jesus and who are in fellowship with evangelical churches elsewhere, whatever their denominational affiliation. In this way they seek to express the unity of all true believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.