What is a Reformed Baptist?

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The Protestant Reformation in the 16th century led by Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin was wide-ranging, but the basic principles on which was based were:

Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) 

The Scriptures alone are our authority. The Roman Catholic Church in medieval times had elevated church tradition to be co-equal with the Bible. Though the reformers believed that church tradition (especially in creeds and confessions) could be helpful, this could only be the case if they were Biblically accurate. Church tradition, no matter how widely held, must be rejected if not Biblical.

Solus Christus (Christ Alone)

Christ Alone is our Redeemer (Prophet, Priest, and King) and He is in fact the central focus of the Scripture and of our faith. He alone is the mediator between God and man – no human priest, no saint, and not the Virgin Mary. We come to God through Christ alone. Further, Christ alone is Head over the church – no one shares headship with Christ.

Sola Fide (Faith Alone)

Faith Alone apart from works or merit unites us to Christ and is the only vehicle through which we receive all saving benefits in Christ. Our justification is an act of God in which we are forgiven of our sin and accounted righteous by God based on the obedience of Christ imputed to us. It is by union with Christ by faith that we receive all that God has provided for our growth in holiness in the work of sanctification. 

Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)

All of God’s dealings with us are in Grace Alone. God’s grace is His kindness and favor acting toward us without regard to any merit or works on our part. God’s salvation of sinners is all of grace and at no point is premised on our works. God chose who He would save by grace alone. Christ died to redeem these out of pure grace. God regenerates sinners by grace alone. God, in grace, gives them repentance and faith. God’s grace perseveres, causing them to persevere in increasing holiness. God’s grace will bring all of these into eternal glory. All of grace.

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)

The Glory of God is the purpose for which we were created, and God’s purpose in all that He does. God is high and lifted up and must have the pre-eminence in all things. All Christian doctrine and practice is correctly understood when seen to reveal the glory of God. The essence of man’s fall into sin (and all false doctrine) is a desire by man to diminish God’s glory and seize some amount of glory, however small, for self. 

We affirm the Five Solas, and all of these are stated in and woven into the fabric of the 1689 Confession.

As the Reformation progressed through the 1500’s through 1619, the Reformed faith took more shape and became distinguished from Lutheranism owing to certain differences that emerged early between Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin. The controversy surrounding the teachings of Jacobus Arminius (Arminianism) further defined the Reformed faith in the Synod of Dort. Several distinctives of the Reformed faith could be noted, these can be highlighted as among the most significant:

The Regulative Principle of Worship

The Reformed faith believes that the Bible teaches that our worship must be prescribed by God in the Scriptures, so that we only do in worship what God has commanded. (This contrasts with the Normative Principle held by Luther that we are at liberty to include in worship whatever God does not forbid.)

The Lord’s Supper

The Reformed faith rejects the notion that Christ’s physical body is present in the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Zwingli, Calvin, and the next generation of reformers continued to debate certain points, but ultimately agreed that the elements of the Lord’s Table are symbolic, and that when taken with faith in Christ, there is a spiritual feeding on Christ, and so grace is conveyed to the Christian through faith in the observance.

The Law of God

The Reformed faith teaches that the Moral Law of God is summarized in the Ten Commandments, and that all ten commandments continue as the standard of our obedience to God. Further, the Reformed Faith holds that there are three uses of the law, all of which remain:

· First, The moral law of God reveals sin in us and convicts us.  The law gives God’s standard of righteousness and tells us that any violation of or lack of conformity to that standard is sin. 

· Second, The moral law of God restrains sin. Whether through preaching the Bible; national, societal, and cultural laws and norms; or the internal promptings of conscience, the law of God is acting to restrain sin where it might otherwise have been committed.

· Third, The moral law is written on the heart of every believer by the Spirit of God in regeneration. The believer, though not under the law as legal principle, yet desires to live pleasing to God. The law in this third use is a gift of God’s grace used by the Spirit of God to guide and train the Christian in the ways of righteousness. Their obedience to the law is the obedience of a child who loves his father and wants to please him.

The Doctrines of Grace (“Five Points of Calvinism”)

In the early 1600’s, the followers of Jacobus Arminius published his teachings in a document known as the Remonstrance. His teachings were a controversial departure from the consensus of the Reformed churches. The Reformed churches rejected Arminianism in two separate responses (the Counter Remonstrance and the Synod of Dort). Their responses were later summarized under five points, and though Calvin died long before this point, these became known as the Five Points of Calvinism: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Particular Redemption, Effectual Calling, and the Perseverance of the Saints in Holiness.

We affirm that these distinctives of the Reformed faith are faithful to the Bible. All of these are stated in much greater detail in the 1689 Confession of Faith which we affirm.

The Puritan movement spanned roughly 150 years from the late 1500’s through the early 1700’s. Initially, the Puritans were those who worked for thorough reformation of the Church of England. Over time, Puritanism came to encompass all those in the Reformed faith in England and the American colonies. Puritanism gave birth to the Westminster Standards in 1646 including the Westminster Confession of Faith. 

The Puritans built on the work of the reformers, and the Reformed faith in particular, to flesh out the Biblical doctrines recovered in the century before. The Puritans were committed to reforming every area of doctrine, church practice, home life, and personal conduct. With remarkable breadth and depth, the Puritans developed a thoroughly Biblical theology for the whole of life. 

We highlight two topics in our confession of faith in which the Puritans continued to recover Biblical truth:

Covenant Theology

Covenant Theology recognizes the unity and continuity of the entirety of Scripture as God made known in greater and greater detail the work of Jesus Christ in the Gospel for the salvation of sinners. In the Old Testament, this occurred in various covenants that God made that prepared the way for Christ through types and shadows that pictured Christ and His redeemed people. All of these were temporary until Christ came and accomplished all that had been promised – what the Bible calls the New Covenant. The New Covenant is substantially realized at present, waiting only the coming of Jesus Christ and the new heavens and new earth for the completion of all that has been promised in the eternal dwelling of the people of God.

While holding firmly to the continuity of all of Scripture as God progressively revealed the Work of Christ the Redeemer, Covenant Theology also insists that all that belonged to the types and shadows that preceded the coming of Christ has been made obsolete in the coming of Christ. This is not a change in God’s purpose, but simply the shadow giving way to the reality that casts the shadow.

However, Covenant Theology also holds that the Ten Commandments (the Moral Law of God) does not belong to these types and shadows made obsolete. The same Moral Law of God, written on the heart of man at creation was given by God in Ten Commandments and continues to be that law in which the Christian serves God in love and gratitude.

Various theological innovations emerged in the last 150 years as alternatives to Covenant Theology as taught by the Puritans. The first of these was dispensationalism which is now held in many different forms and versions that continue to shift and change. Other innovations include New Covenant Theology, Progressive Covenant Theology, Theonomy, Christian Reconstructionism, Federal Vision, New Perspectives on Paul, etc.

Providence Reformed Baptist Church believes that the Covenant Theology taught by the Puritans (as stated in our confession of faith) is in accord with what the Bible teaches. We do not find these recently proposed theological alternatives to be a further recovery of Biblical truth.

The Lord’s Day

One of the most valuable contributions made by the Puritans was the additional detail and definition that they recovered of a Biblical doctrine of the Lord’s Day Sabbath. The Fourth Commandment (“Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy ..”) is not a temporary Jewish type and shadow set aside by Christ. God provided one day in seven set aside in holy rest at the creation of man, and that weekly sabbath rest has always been and will remain for all time as the delight and privilege of those who worship God, until we enter the eternal rest.

At Christ’s direction, the Lord’s Day sabbath reserves the first day of the week for the enjoyment of God in worship. We set aside the labor and recreations and all that would interfere with the delights of having a day for God. It is true that every day is lived for God, but this day, we are free from those duties of the other days of the week, to focus time and thought on the things of God.

Providence Reformed Baptist Church affirms the Biblical doctrine of the Lord’s Day Sabbath so excellently stated in our confession.

Puritanism and the Westminster Assembly were not exclusively composed of those who remained with the Church of England, or those who held to Presbyterian church government. Very early, many who held to Puritan theology separated from the Church of England to establish fully Biblical churches. Both in the American colonies and in England, increasing numbers of the Puritans became persuaded that national churches and church government structures outside of the local church were un-Biblical. The result was what became known as Congregational churches.

The Independent (Congregationalist) Puritans in New England produced the Cambridge Platform that stated their view of how individual churches should be governed independently and how they should interact collectively. The Independents in England, drawing from the Cambridge Platform, made a revision of the Westminster Confession of Faith that further refined and improved various statements and incorporated Congregational church government without the presence of a national church. This revision was published as the Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order in 1658. We highlight two contributions of the Savoy Declaration:

The Headship of Christ Over Independent Congregations

Each congregation, independently, is directly under the Headship of Christ, and granted by Him all that is necessary to function as a church. Christ has not appointed bishops and or assemblies outside of the local church to carry out the functions of the church or to exercise authority over local congregations. Each local congregation selects its own officers (pastors/elders/teachers and deacons). Those officers are members of that local congregation with all the accountability and governances that would apply to any member of that congregation. Any actions of censure or discipline of any member or officer of the church are matters that the local church handles.

This independence of local congregations does not imply lack of association between churches. Fellowship between churches is not only encouraged but necessary. Further, a given local church can look to other churches in disputes that, due to their subject matter or circumstances, would benefit from outside assistance.

Civil Magistrate Denied Authority Over Churches in Religious Affairs

Just as the Congregationalists believed that Christ has not given authority over individual churches to any church structure of bishops or presbyteries, so they also believed that the civil government has no authority over the churches in matters essentially religious. Since Constantine in the Fourth Century, the merging of church and state, with the leaders of civil government having authority over church affairs had been a prevalent practice. The Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches, and the Church of England all gave to the civil government authority in the churches, even in settling doctrinal disputes. The state church of Scotland was the Presbyterian Church with a role for the civil magistrate in preserving purity of doctrine and worship in the churches. The Congregationalists took a very important step toward what we know of as the separation of church and state. 

Providence Reformed Baptist Church affirms these points of church order and church-state relations as Biblical and believe that our confession is correct in adopting these positions. 

The issues of who should be baptized and how baptism is to be administered were certainly not new to the 1600’s. Calvin acknowledged that the earliest practice of the church was baptism by immersion, a practice that the Eastern Orthodox Churches continue to this day. The Anabaptists believed that only believer’s (not infants) were to be baptized. Even Zwingli at one point held that infants should not be baptized. However, the connection with the Anabaptists on this subject was an issue for Baptists then and now because many Anabaptists held to troublesome errors in both doctrine and practice. This was especially true for Baptists who were reformed in theology. These Reformed Baptists (called Particular Baptists in contrast with General Baptists who were Arminian) were persecuted by others in the Reformed Faith in part because of the tendency to (inaccurately) associate them with Anabaptists. This despite the almost total agreement with the Reformed.

The Particular Baptists in London issued The First London Baptist Confession of Faith in 1644, and its full title is telling: “A Confession of Faith of seven Congregations or Churches of Christ in London, which are commonly (but unjustly) called Anabaptists.” These churches wanted to set the record straight and to demonstrate that they in fact agreed with their Reformed brethren in almost all points. The publication of the Westminster Confession in 1646 and the Savoy Declaration in 1658 provided these Calvinistic Baptists another opportunity to vindicate themselves and with deliberate intent, they took these confessions of faith of all the Reformed Churches in England and America and with minimal modifications, issued the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith which has also become known as the 1689 Confession (though it was first published in 1677.) This confession of faith remains to this day as the most thorough statement of faith and practice for Reformed Baptists. We highlight these four points:

Believers Baptism by Immersion 

As to the question of who is to be baptized, the Reformed Baptists answered, “Those who do actually profess repentance toward God, faith in, and obedience, to our Lord Jesus, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance.” (2LBCF 29:2) As to the question of how baptism is to be administered the Reformed Baptists answered: “Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance.” (2LBCF 29:4) It is important to note that on both points, Reformed Baptists were simply affirming Sola Scriptura. The word chosen by the Holy Spirit (baptizo) does not mean baptize (which is only a transliteration of the word) but to dip or immerse. Further, there is no passage in the Bible where any can show that any person was baptized who did not first profess faith in Christ (infant or otherwise).

Church Membership for Believers Only 

All who baptize infants also affirm that these who have not claimed faith in Christ, become members of the local church (at least as “non-communicant” members). The Reformed Baptists stated that the members of the church must be those who are: “professing the faith of the Gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ.” (2LBCF 20:2). 

Covenant Theology Fully Consistent with Baptist Distinctives 

The Reformed Baptists affirmed Covenant Theology in their confession of faith. Believers Baptism and church membership for believers only are doctrines consistent with all that Covenant Theology teaches concerning the distinctive nature of the New Covenant and the passing of the types and shadows of the Old Covenant. 

Indeed, the Reformed Baptists could simply have quoted the Savoy Declaration to show that their views were consistent with what these paedo-baptists themselves had stated: “The Members of these Churches are Saints by Calling, visibly manifesting and evidencing (in and by their profession and walking) their Obedience unto that Call of Christ, who being further known to each other by their confession of the Faith wrought in them by the power of God, declared by themselves, or otherwise manifested, do willingly consent to walk together according to the appointment of Christ, giving up themselves to the Lord and to one another by the Will of God, in professed subjection to the Ordinances of the Gospel.” The Reformed Baptists were affirming what their paedo-baptist brethren said about the nature and composition of the church under the New Covenant but removing the inconsistency of an inclusion of those into the New Covenant community who have made no profession and show no evidence of a saving attachment to Christ in faith.

Civil Magistrate (True Separation of Church and State)

While the Congregationalists made a significant step in terms of church-state relations by clearly forbidding to the civil government any authority over the churches in religious matters (for example, in settling doctrinal disputes) they continued to affirm that the government has a responsibility to encourage, support and promote true churches. As is well known (for example, in the plight of Quakers in the New England colonies) Congregationalists in the American colonies even permitted persecution by civil government against those that the churches deemed heretical.

In their Confession, the Reformed Baptists removed any reference to civil government having power or authority from Christ in religious matters, whether to determine or to support any particular position with regard to religious doctrine or practice. The Reformed Baptists, who had long suffered the denial of their Liberty of Conscience, were now arguing that others must not suffer the same wrong. In time, most of their brethren in the Reformed faith would come to see their Biblical wisdom and the importance of religious liberty.

Providence Reformed Baptist Church affirms these points put forward by the Reformed Baptists as Biblical.