Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]IX. Of Original or Birth-Sin.
Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk
X. Of Free-Will.
The condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith; and calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]XI. Of the Justification of Man.
We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.
XII. Of Good Works.
Albeit that Good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.
XIII. Of Works before Justification.
Works done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ; neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School-authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.
XIV. Of Works of Supererogation.
Voluntary Works besides, over and above, God's Commandments, which they call Works of Supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety: for by them men do declare, that they do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to do, but that they do more for his sake, than of bounden duty is required: whereas Christ saith plainly When ye have done all that are commanded to you, say, We are unprofitable servants.
XV. Of Christ alone without Sin.
Christ in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things, sin only except, from which he was clearly void, both in his flesh, and in his spirit. He came to be the Lamb without spot, who, by sacrifice of himself once made, should take away the sins of the world; and sin (as Saint John saith) was not in him. But all we the rest, although baptized and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things; and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
XVI. Of Sin after Baptism.
Not every deadly sin willingly committed after Baptism is sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after Baptism. After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and by the grace of God we may arise again, and amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned, which say, they can no more sin as long as they live here, or deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent.
XVII. Of Predestination and Election.
Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, be called according to God's purpose by his Spirit working in due season: they through Grace obey the calling: they be justified freely: they be made sons of God by adoption: they be made like the image of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As the godly consideration of Predestination, and our Election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things, as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through Christ as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God: So, for curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God's Predestination, is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the Devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into wretchlessness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Furthermore, we must receive God's promises in such wise, as they be generally set forth to us in Holy Scripture: and, in our doings, that Will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the Word of God.
A decreasing number of church groups associate "denomination" with division.
Since I'm Orthodox, we are "pre-denominational", but I'd like to chime in as well...
We administer baptism through immersion, 3 times the person is immerse in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Infants and/or adult/teen Catechumens (who have never been scripturally baptized) are baptized and then receive Chrismation.
Christian Baptism is the mystery of starting anew, of dying to an old way of life and being born again into a new way of life, in Christ. In the Orthodox Church, baptism is "for the remission of sins" (cf. the Nicene Creed) and for entrance into the Church; the person being baptized is cleansed of all sins and is united to Christ; through the waters of baptism he or she is mysteriously crucified and buried with Christ, and is raised with him to newness of life, having "put on" Christ (that is, having been clothed in Christ). The cleansing of sins includes the washing away of the ancestral sin.
Our Communion is closed and is open only to baptized Orthodox who have properly prepared themselves to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.
We don't follow the teachings of Calvin.
OSAS is not an early church teaching by the Fathers of the Church, so no, we don't adhere to a OSAS theology. We approach salvation freely and we are called to work out our own salvation in both fear and trembling. Some pick up their cross and bear it to the end and finish the race; some drop out, only to never return, while some return and finish. While some never enter the race to begin with.
Again, we are "pre-denominational"...the Orthodox Church as a whole in communion with Constantinople is bound together by her Liturgy and her Creed.
If I may brother, can request a better phrase to 'once saved always saved' or at least one that might be better understood by those 'not baptists'. Though the phrase is in fact a true one, it is misunderstood by many due to it's abuse to make allowance for sin, and for it's misrepresentation by those who really have very little understanding of it.
I use "once saved always changed' since it implies the same meaning and is in many instances agreed upon more by others than the phrase 'once saved always saved'.
Just a thought
This totally misses the point of the op. If you want to start a thread on why we had one unified church in Acts, and managed to split into thousands of groups in 2000 years, then we can start one. I merely want to get first hand posts about how different groups worship. This is not a I am right and you are wrong thread.
Then you are not really a Baptist...:laugh::laugh:
I have already stated 'why' as seen below from my post.
Of course, but let us make statements in such a way that not only conveys the truth but also corrects the misunderstandings that have become associated with it.
I have been using it for over 10 years now, speaking, teaching and preaching and even in my conversations with the some the most argumentative religious people, not one has ever made such a correlation to it. In fact it is the best one liner I have found that clears up a lot or maybe I should say 'clears away' such arguments and lets me tell them more about the life of Christ is different from the world and other religious people.
I'd rather not say but drive I-24 quite a bit and have noticed your and Tom Butler's church near Husband Road. It must be a pretty good church with a couple of level headed guys like you as members.
I understand. Actually Tom is much more level headed than me. I can be a loose cannon at times. Yes, it is a good church. You are welcome anytime you are driving by. Church starts at 10:45 Sunday morning and 6 Sunday night. Thanks for your kind words.