A Baptist Without Lineage, Doctrine, & Practice is NO BAPTIST AT ALL!

From the Original Baptist Observer, January 2018 Issue

The Scriptures state in Luke 6:43-44, “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.”

We have churches of the Lord that have lineage, doctrine, and practice that are watering down the doctrines of the Lord for the sake of fellowship. The Scriptures say in I John 1:6-7, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” If a church or group of churches compromise the doctrines of Christ, are they walking in light or darkness? What does the Bible say in I Corinthians 5:6, “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” A little compromise of Christ’s doctrine “once delivered to the saints”, (Jude 3) doesn’t bring fellowship. Walking in the light of God’s Word brings fellowship, first and most importantly, with God and then with our brethren in sister churches.

True churches of the Lord that have the lineage, must remain faithful in doctrine and practice to remain the Lord’s. Revelation chapters 2 and 3 are clear about compromising on the doctrines of Christ to each local, body of Christ. If a church compromises truth, the Lord warned the churches in Asia that if they didn’t repent, He would remove the Holy Spirit from His office work in the church as Comforter. A body without a spirit is dead, and so is one of the Lord’s churches when the Holy Spirit is removed. We may not know when God chooses to remove the Spirit because of error, but we can know when we should not be participating in their error. II John is very clear that if we continue with those that abide “not in the doctrine of Christ”, we become a partaker of their evil deeds. This is a warning to the Lord’s churches that we should not have fellowship with those that compromise the doctrines of Christ or those that are of the house of the devil. (II Corinthians 6:14-18)

Many of the Lord’s churches today are being drawn away with false doctrine. Churches have been fooled into thinking that twice married preachers being ordained is somehow less important than teaching works for salvation. Although baptism fulfils “righteousness” after someone is saved, (Matthew 3:15-17) it is a picture of the burial and resurrection part of the Gospel. If it is perverted, the Gospel is perverted also. However, the Scriptures are very clear by Old Testament example, Leviticus 21:7, 14, the priests were not to marry a woman that was divorced because he was to be “holy unto his God”. Likewise, in the New Testament, our rule of faith and practice with the Psalm books, a bishop was to be a husband of “one” wife. (I Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9) So if the Scriptures teach a pastor is not to be twice married, but a church uses a twice married man as a bishop, and for baptism, or other works of a pastor, is it Scriptural? NO!

These are not our doctrines, or even the churches’ doctrines. They are Christ’s doctrines. (Matthew 28:20; Ephesians 2:20; Acts 2:41-47; I Timothy 4:6) Going against this doctrine of Christ fills up the Lord’s churches with unscriptural baptism and puts the church in danger of losing her candlestick, as well as the individual who is baptized cannot have bridal relationship with an unscriptural administrator.

Let’s consider another false doctrine that has crept into the Lord’s churches. Many of the Lord’s churches have began to practice using wine (fermented) in the Lord’s supper, or, fellowshipping with churches that do use wine (fermented) in the Lord’s supper. Can a church of the Lord go into error after she is organized? Yes, and God gives a space for repentance as with the churches in Revelation. But let’s consider a church that has been organized with using fermented wine for the Lord’s supper. Will God recognize this known error in the organizing of a church? No! Go back to the Scripture in Luke. A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Either the Scriptures teach using “fruit of the vine”, juice, for the Lord’s supper, or it teaches to use fermented wine. God is not doubleminded. His truths are clear and there is no variableness in God. (James 1:8, 17)

The Scriptures throughout the Old Testament in example for us, and the New Testament as our rule of faith and practice are consistent that God’s people should not drink alcoholic beverages. He was clear in His instructions to His New Testament church when He was on the earth, as well as in the epistles to the sister churches that were established later. He always used the term “fruit of the vine”, or that which the vine produces. The vine never produces alcohol. (Leviticus 10:9; Proverbs 20:1; Proverbs 31:4; Isaiah 28:7; Matthew 26:26-29; I Corinthians 11:23-26; I Corinthians 11:23-26; Revelation 1:4-6) Therefore, for one of the Lord’s churches to fellowship with a church that uses fermented wine, or one that has no origin because it was corrupt by being organized with doctrinal error, brings us to see that they are not walking in the light, but in darkness.

The last two issues of this paper have clearly shown historical and Biblical truths showing that the Southern Baptist Convention was and is unscriptural in its origin. Again, Luke 6:43-44, “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.” Therefore, if the Southern Baptist Convention was unscriptural in its origin, and it was, then it cannot bring forth anything that is Scriptural. Thus, those that have come out of or been produced by the Southern Baptist Convention and its churches, are corrupt also.

Now, we are lead to the great question that is perplexing many of the Lord’s churches today. Are Bible Baptists and Fundamentalist Baptists Scriptural? If you look into their origin, you will find that they came out of the Convention in the 1950’s. According to the Scriptures, “…a corrupt tree” cannot “bring forth good fruit.” These churches are disguising themselves and the Lord’s churches are blindly going along for the sake of “getting along”. They may sound good, but where did they come from?

The Lord’s churches that have compromised and not repented are now going off into greater and greater error. I have seen the Lord’s New Testament churches with lineage, doctrine, and practice, be moved to such compromise as upholding, promoting, and celebrating nondenominational colleges!

I have seen some of these compromising churches bringing in Protestant singing groups into their worship services.

I have seen some of these compromising churches promote Protestant literature and conferences in their worship services.

Some of these compromising churches have even sent their pastors, teachers, or other officers to be taught by these Protestants, so called Baptists.

Others are calling pastors from these unscriptural churches which means they have accepted alien immersion, and by allowing the pastor to administer baptism, are now filling their churches up with unscriptural baptism.

In Matthew 16:18-19, the Bible says, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” This is a reminder to the Lord’s New Testament churches that Jesus in no way is relinquishing His ownership of the authority when He gives command to His church to carry out the work in the kingdom. The Lord’s churches are not free to do as they please or even as they think they should do. The Lord has given clear cut instructions in His Word on how we are to carry out His work here on the earth.

Remember again, Matthew 28:20 says, “…whatsoever I have commanded you…” This is not our work, or even the local church’s work, it is the work of Christ that He accomplishes through His local churches. He will not accomplish His work in multiple different ways because He does not change. (Hebrews 13:8) He is a God of order. (I Corinthians 14:33)

In II Corinthians 2:17 the Bible says, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” If one of the Lord’s churches with lineage, doctrine, and practice, begins to compromise the doctrines of Christ they are “corrupting” the Word of God. Jesus purchased His church with His blood, Acts 20:28. The Lord’s churches do not belong to us, each local body belongs to Christ. He is the Head. (Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18) He is to have the pre-eminence.

To see the Lord’s churches compromising and going into error by fellowshipping with unscriptural churches shows us that Jesus is coming soon. (II Thessalonians 2:3; I Timothy 4:1-2) I Thessalonians 2:4 says that “…we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel…” If we pervert the doctrines of Christ, we are betraying the trust that the Lord gave to us to be faithful to His truth!