What are the things that make you a Baptist?

I would like to know...
what are the four or five or so things that make you distinctively Baptist in your heart?
Thanks.

I was born a Baptist and will die a Baptist. I would be methodist if I had been born and raised as one. If I had been born in Iraq, I would have been Muslim and so would you.

I was born a pagan in a non-Christian family and I will die a born-again child of God by adoption.

I guess, Post-it, it all depends on whether you want the truth or not. I wanted the truth. I found God. The God of the Bible.

Funny thing is there are those born into other religions who have wanted the same thing and found the same One...

Maybe you are stuck; others aren't.

I guess what makes me a Baptist, is baptism by immersion for believers only.

According to Tom Nettles, Professor of Church History at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, the words that distinguish a Baptist are:

Orthodox--belief in the Trinity, the Deity of Jesus Christ, the Personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit.

Evangelical--belief in the Reformation doctrines of Salvation by Grace Alone and Justification by Faith Alone.

Separatist--belief that the local church is the highest ecclesiastical authority on earth.

Baptist--holding to the baptist distinctive of baptism as a witness of salvation (not the cause), administered to conscious believers only.

Biblical--taking all authority for faith and practice from the Bible.

And, for the assertion that we are what we are born, that is curious. I was not born into a Baptist family, nor were many of the Baptists I know. Lots are born into purely pagan families.

Dear Major B and all,
Thank you for all your replies.
Do you all believe in "Once Saved Always Saved"?
In my zone of the world here, that concept meets with much opposition.

The very day (many years ago) that I asked the Lord into my heart at a Baptist church, was the very day that I was no longer allowed to attend church while at home. That very day I began to feel very rejected and was viewed as having lost all intelligence.
But the Lord was very gracious to me, and today I believe that it is not my doctrinal knowledge that saves me or anything else that I can do, but God alone saves.
What I do in this life demonstrates how much I believe in Him.
When I read Charles Stanley, I find myself realizing that when we believe that God truly saved us, no matter how stupid or neglectful we can be at times, it really boils down to "trusting" God that HE will bring us to the prize of eternal life, and life with HIM.
I believe HE is looking for a certain kind of people to fill His Kingdom. And I guess that always come down to those who fear and believe in Him. Surely, the concept of once saved always saved in the right light always comes down to a "trust" of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If your heart was/ is pure and you truly are saved, that is for good! It is a done deal! We are sealed, praise GOD!
As far as what makes me Baptist, I grew up in a Baptist home with a little Catholosism, never could understand that teaching, still don't, so I guess where you get rooted is most of the time where you stay. On the other hand for the past 4 years I have been a member of a Non-Denominanational Christian Church and that is where I plan to stay, but I must say the Baptist comes out of me on many issues, and people know I grew up Baptist without asking. LOL
Love in Christ, Angie

Here is a breif summary about why I am a Baptist -
WHAT DO BAPTISTS BELIEVE?

Biblical authority - (2 Peter 1:21) The Bible is the absolute authority in ALL matters of faith, practice, history, science, etc. No council or ruling of man can supersede it. 2 Timothy 3:16,17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Galatians 1:11,12; 1 Corinthians 14:37

Autonomy of the local church - (Matt 18:17) Each local church is independent from any outside authority. We are accountable only to our Lord. Acts 6:1-7; 13:1-3; 14:26-27; 15:1-35; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5;12,13; 2 Corinthians 2:6,7; Revelation 2,3

Priesthood of the believer - (1 Peter 2:9) Every believer may go directly to the Lord without any human mediator. Jesus Christ is the only mediator. Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5-9

Two ordinances - (Acts 2:41; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25) Only two ordinances are taught in scripture: baptism and the Lord's Table (communion). These are symbolic and without saving grace. Acts 2:38-41; 8:12,26-40; 9:17,18; 10:44-48; Romans 6:3-7; Matthew 3:5,6, 13-17; John 3:23; Matthew 26-28; Mark 14-16; Luke 22-24; John 19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

Individual soul liberty - (Romans 14:5,12) God gives to every man his own free will. Therefore, no unbeliever can be forced into salvation and no believer can be forced to accept any doctrinal statement or confession of faith. John 4:1-29; Acts 15:35-41; Revelation 3:20

Saved church membership - (Acts 2:47) Local church membership is only open to those who have been saved and baptised. Church membership is not related to salvation. Acts 2:41-47; 1 Corinthians 1:1-16; 1 Thessalonians 1; 1 Timothy 5:3-16; Hebrews 10:25

Two offices - (Acts 20:28; 1 Timothy 3:13) God gave only two offices to the church: Pastor/Elder/Bishop and Deacon. There is no Biblical basis for any hierarchy of office. Acts 20:17-28; Titus 1:5-7; 1 Peter 5:1-4; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Acts 6:1-7; Romans 15:25; 16:1

Separation of church and state - (Matthew 22:21) The church and the state are two separate, distinct entities. Neither one can, or should, control the other. Matthew 22:15-22; John 18:28-40; Acts 5:17-29

Notice what the first letters of the titles spell - cute, huh

By the way, I am not going to argue these point by point - the question was, "What things make YOU a Baptist?"

Coming out of both Judaism and Catholicism, I was born again and dug deeply into the Word of God. The church that was closest to belief and practice of the NT was just 5 blocks away!

Our Irish friend did a good job listing the distinctives.

Born a baby, grew up and confirmed in an Anglican Church, received a call to ministry in a Plymouth Brethren Gospel Hall and entered the Baptist minister cos they had full time paid ministers. I grew into Baptist theology. I am quite at home in most churches that preach the Lord Jesus, believe the Bible and practice separation.

Cheers,

Jim

I was born a Baptist and will die a Baptist. I would be methodist if I had been born and raised as one. If I had been born in Iraq, I would have been Muslim and so would you.

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I do not believe this is so. I was born and raised Catholic and was Catholic for 31 years of my life. But I now am an Idependent, Fundamental Baptist. God knew before he even made this earth who would be saved and who would not. So if you were born into Muslim and if God had His plan for you to be saved, no matter what you do you would not remain Muslim.
He knows who would reject Him and who would accept him. So I can not agree with the fact that you stay with what you were born into. Because I did not.

Now on to the question, what makes me Baptist at heart?
Well the IFB's I found to be the only ones who use the unchanged english version of the Word of God. A baptist text book is the Bible. And since for 31 years I was asleep and ignorant to the Bible, I was one day awakened. And I continue to be woken up. Wether good or bad, agree or not, I like to be awake!
This is why I feelI am baptist at heart. Baptist is my wake up pill.

Originally posted by Elk:

In my zone of the world here, that concept meets with much opposition.

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You're not from Missouri, are you? One thing that makes me a Baptist is the fact that I believe in believer's baptism by immersion as the first step of obedience to Christ after salvation. This is perhaps not a distinctive, however.

Jason

Originally posted by Refreshed:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Elk:

In my zone of the world here, that concept meets with much opposition.

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You're not from Missouri, are you? One thing that makes me a Baptist is the fact that I believe in believer's baptism by immersion as the first step of obedience to Christ after salvation. This is perhaps not a distinctive, however.

Jason </font>[/QUOTE]Thanks for the clarification in my list of distinctives - here is the point amended -

Two ordinances - (Acts 2:41; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25) Only two ordinances are taught in scripture: baptism of believers by immersion and the Lord's Table (communion). These are symbolic and without saving grace. Acts 2:38-41; 8:12,26-40; 9:17,18; 10:44-48; Romans 6:3-7; Matthew 3:5,6, 13-17; John 3:23; Matthew 26-28; Mark 14-16; Luke 22-24; John 19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

I apprecaite your mentioning this - my list was an abbreviated one from a much more detailed listing - thanks again!

Roger