Q:  What is the “Reformed Baptist” position?

A:  “Reformed Baptist” is merely a term of convenience and not a denomination or even an organized group among Baptists.  “Reformed” refers to a recognition of the sovereignty of God in all things including salvation, a view which is often associated with the Reformation because it was during that time that those doctrines were so thoroughly explained Scripturally by men such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and later the English Puritans, all of whom sought to rescue the biblical doctrine of salvation from the human additions of the established state churches of their day.  The fruit of their labor is found in many of the great Creeds and Confessions of Christendom including the London Baptist Confession of Faith (L.B.C.F.) of 1689, to which we ascribe.  On the other hand, we are Baptists in regard to church polity and practice.  We do not embrace “Covenant Theology”; we believe in the baptism of believers only; and we reject organized denominations and the idea of a state church because we believe the local church is merely an assembly of believers for mutual edification in Christ’s name, not a political force or an institution for reforming the world.  We also hold to a generally futuristic interpretation of Biblical prophecy, and not a preterist one as would be found more commonly in Reformed circles (See question on the end times below).  We believe the “Reformed Baptist” position is most representative of Scriptural truth as well as of historic Baptists, and we are in good company with John Bunyan, Charles H. Spurgeon, A.W. Pink, and others whom God has greatly used.

 

Q:  What is the London Baptist Confession of Faith (LB.C.F.) of 1689, and why do you use it?  Aren’t “confessions” ritualistic and liturgical, and aren’t they merely the writings of men?  (See question 1 above) 

A:  Nearly ALL churches feel the need for a doctrinal statement of some kind.  The London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, based to a large extent on the Westminster Confession of 1646 (called by one Baptist historian “the greatest of all evangelical creeds”), became the doctrinal statement for Baptists in England, for Baptists in America in the form of the Philadelphia Baptist Confession of 1742, and for Charles H. Spurgeon who authored a revision of it again in 1855.  These Confessions were written by men who pored over their Bibles – Bibles made even more precious by the blood of the recent martyrs who had died for man’s freedom to possess them – and formulated deep, biblical statements of faith which stood the test of time among God’s people for hundreds of years.  Naturally, our ultimate authority comes from Scripture alone; but in an age of shallow churches and shallow professing Christians, we believe it is wise to go back to this great creed which served the Church so well and for so long.  Spurgeon introduced his 1855 revision of the L.B.C.F. with the following words:  "This little volume is not issued as an authoritative rule, or code of faith, whereby you are to be fettered, but as an assistance to you in controversy, a confirmation in faith, and a means of edification in righteousness. Here the younger members of our church will have a body of divinity in small compass, and by means of the Scriptural proofs, will be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in them. Be not ashamed of your faith; remember it is the ancient gospel of martyrs, confessors, reformers and saints. Above all, it is the truth of God, against which the gates of Hell cannot prevail. Let your lives adorn your faith, let your