a term, not so commonly used today, for the acceptance by the church of a member who was immersed after confession of faith by other than a Baptist church.
during the Reformation any of
several groups who insisted on "rebaptizing"
believers on the basis of "believer's baptism"
only. They are spiritual forebears, but not
organizationally linked with the later Baptists. Their descendants today are Mennonites.
the first level of cooperation among Baptist churches in relatively small geographical regions (such as a county in areas with large Baptist population).
the practice of some Baptist
churches of having a special service of dedicating
parents and new babies to the Lord. It does not equal
infant baptism, but it does pledge the parents to
"raise their children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord"
to experience salvation in
Christ when one is "turned to Jesus" by the
convicting power of the Holy Spirit using the Word of God
and the testimony/preaching of Christians.
to experience the beginning
of the Christian life in the New Birth, accompanied by a
sense of the forgiveness of sin, the love of Christ, and
"love for the brethren."
every human being is endowed
by the Creator with the inalienable right and capacity to
deal directly with God in all matters of religious faith and practice.
a statement of beliefs and
practices drawn up by a church or association of churches
for the purpose of identifying the doctrinal stance of of that particular
group of Baptists at that stated time.
the plan adopted in 1925 by
the Southern Baptist Convention (and entered into later
by state conventions) by which all of the missions,
educational and benevolent programs are supported through
a unified budget. The Cooperative Program does not
include the Sunday School Board, which supports itself
and provides field services through its publishing business.
those who hold to the
"general" view of the Atonement of Christ,
i.e., that Christ's offer of salvation is available to
all mankind, and its acceptance is a matter of the free
will of each individual. (This is not to be confused with
the Free Will Baptists, who also teach that a saved
person can be lost through grievous, unrepented sin.)
the development after
"being saved": the continuing work of God's
salvation that enables the believer's new life in union
with Christ to develop through the grace of God. This
grace operates through prayer, Bible study, ministering
to others, "witnessing," worship and mutual
support by other Christians. This progress in Christian
maturity is a matter of individual desire and community support by the
church.
those followers (not
necessarily Baptist) of the Reformer, John Calvin, who
took his teachings to the logical conclusions of
predestination, that is, that every person in the world
is "chosen" by God in advance either for salvation or damnation.
to present oneself for
membership in a local congregation on one's statement
that he/sue has been at one time a baptized member of a
Baptist church, whose records are no longer available to "a church letter."
a movement begun in the nineteenth century among Baptists that among
other tenets holds that Baptists constitute the only true Church and
that there exists a baptismal succession all the way back to the New
Testament churches.
a letter of commendation to
churches of like faith and order" commending a new
candidate for the ministry. This is preliminary to
ordination, which must be called for by some particular local church.
usually at the close of a
preaching service during the singing of a hymn of
invitation to present oneself to the minister before the
congregation proclaiming one's repentance and faith and
(usually) requesting baptism and full membership in the
local congregation. Sometimes the terms are used when the
confession is made privately or in a group apart from a from a service
in the church.
these are members elected by
a local church to "sit" at the Association or
Convention annual meeting. Since the local church retains
its full autonomy, "messengers" are
not"delegates" to rem resent the will of the
congregation, nor can they bind the latter by any vote of teh annual
meeting.
one who believes that at the
second coming of Christ a thousand year period of peace
under the rule of Christ will take place on earth (This
is the "premillennial" view. Others hold that
the millennium is either a symbol for the whole era
between the first and second comings of
Christ—"amillennialism"—or that
Christ will come at the end of the thousand year
—"postmillennialism").
"join the church by
letter": to change affiliation with a local
congregation upon a (standard) letter of recommendation
from former congregation that the member is in "good
standing," i.e., not subject to discipline or expulsion.
term used of baptism and the
Lord's Supper rather than "sacrament." These
are the only two religious rites Baptists hold that Jesus
"ordered" to be practiced in perpetuity by the by the Church.
those who hold to the
"particular" view of the atonement of Christ,
i.e., that only those will be saved who are predestined
by God unto salvation. This is usually associated with
"irresistible grace" and thus denies the role
of the human will in salvation. Southern Baptists,
generally known as "modified Calvinists,"
believe that God "elects" people unto salvation
by taking the initiative toward them, but that such
election is not irresistible. Since it must be a matter
of response by the human will, Southern Baptists believe
in evangelism and missions (as over against
"primitive Baptist Churches").
the way in which a church or
denomination structures its organization and carries out
its practice. Historically the three most common polities
are: hierarchical (Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican),
presbyterial (Presbyterian churches), and congregational (Baptist, United
Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ).
the group of pastors and
deacons who are invited by a local congregation to
examine a candidate for ordination and make
recommendation to the church concerning the wisdom of of ordaining such
a person.
the new birth engendered by
the Holy Spirit whenever a sinner repents of sin toward
God and commits himself/herself in faith to Jesus as
Savior and Lord.
the assurance given by the
Word of God and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit
(Rom. 8 16) that salvation is fully guaranteed by the
gift of God and cannot be lost short of actual of actual renunciation
of Jesus as Savior and Lord.
English believers following
the Reformation who became dissatisfied with the
doctrines and practices of the established Church
(Anglican). They included the Puritans, Baptists, and other congregational
groups.