January 15, 2001
TOGETHER:
Is it worth the struggle to maintain Baptist identity?
___In the last year, I often have been asked, "Who are Baptists, really?" In all the discussion swirling around, many ask, "Is it worth the struggle to insist on a Baptist vision?"
___I am convinced that Baptists never have had a better time to speak to our culture. People need a sure and certain word. But they want to come to any decision freely, without compulsion or manipulation. At our best, that is exactly the Baptist way.
___We passionately believe in Jesus Christ, the revealed Son of God. We are convinced that the Bible is God's inspired truth. It tells us about Jesus and records the wisdom, commands and message from the mind and heart of God to the mind and heart of men and women.
CHARLES WADE
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board
___We also insist that God wants no coerced or manipulated faith. He gave to the human spirit personal accountability. He calls us lovingly and persistently to faith, but he does not override the freedom of the human will.
___Baptists are a Christian people. Everything we believe and everything that we are comes to us through Jesus Christ. Without him we could not know what we know about God. Jesus is God's answer to a bad reputation. Men can distort the essence of God into words of anger and power, even describing God as arbitrary and capricious in his dealings with men. But Jesus taught by word and deed that the absolutely powerful God is, at his deepest heart, love and grace. He expressed the fullness of the Father.
___Jesus was born of a virgin and lived a life of perfect obedience to God. He died a sacrificial death for all sinners. He rose from the grave. He sends his followers into the world, calling people to believe and be saved. He has promised to be with us everywhere we go until he comes again.
___Baptists are a biblical people. We are attached inextricably to God's written word, the Bible, which bears witness to the revelation of God in the people of Israel and in his son, Jesus Christ. The Bible participates in revelation as God inspired the writers to know the meaning of what they saw and experienced.
___We believe the Bible! It is true and trustworthy. When the Bible speaks of miracles, we believe. When the Bible tells us about the power and judgment of God, we believe. But we refuse to strip the Bible of its mystery and complexity. We do well to wrestle with God in Scripture. We do well to let the whole Bible interpret the Bible and to let the author of Scripture--Jesus Christ--be our key to understanding Scripture.
___Baptists are a Christian people and a biblical people. We build on these two basic truths and affirm that we are a church people, an ethical people, a mission people and a free people. Next week I will discuss these four characteristics that make up the Baptist vision.
___Bill Pinson, executive director emeritus of the BGCT Executive Board, has written a helpful booklet, "Who in the World Are Baptists, Anyway?" He describes the distinctively Baptist vision as "a heritage worth preserving for the generations to follow."
___This booklet is part of a Bible study series built around the subject "Beliefs Important to Baptists," available from the BGCT Bible study/discipleship office.
___For more information, call (800) 355-5285, or e-mail baptistway@bgct.org.
___We are loved.
__
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