Why Oppose the Baptist Bride Heresy
There is the heresy that has been propagated by some Baptist groups namely some Independent Baptists and Anabaptists who were "extremely radical Baptists". I would admit some of the greatest theologians of the past were Baptists like Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards or the translator William Tyndale was a Baptist. Today I enjoy Baptist preachers like David W. Cloud, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, and John F. MacArthur. The problem has been the Baptist Bride theology which some of the greatest preachers against sin were actually guilty of that theology. Sad but true but some of the preachers who I've enjoyed hearing are sadly Baptist Bride theology. It would mean discrediting the fundamentalist Scripture alone Protestants like John Knox, D. James Kennedy, Harry Allen Ironside, Billy Sunday and Vernon McGee out of the Bride. I might be a Christian in a Baptist group but I really reject the whole Baptist Bride theology because it really fails to accept non-Baptist Christians.
Some Baptist Bride followers have seriously fallen into many divisions like sad to say, some Independent Baptists have become unscholarly and are frequently at each others' throats. Worse, some of the pastors have become as unprofessional as the Catholic Faith Defenders that they heckle and always debate as to their method of preaching doctrine and are divided also within themselves. Other controversies that have hit were the Lordship salvation controversy which has hit modern evangelism. Okay, not all those who claim to be opponents of Lordship salvation are Antinomonian in contrast to what some radicals think. The problem started with the easy believism vs. Lordship theology which has even caused a drift where some Baptist pastors have already wrongfully labeled certain fundamentalists like Paul Washer and David Cloud as works preachers by simply taking things out of context. With that in mind, I remembered how I have often wrongly accused some preachers of teaching works salvation and believing they were teaching conditional security when they weren't. It has even come to a point that there's the infamous "Repentance Blacklist" by Faithful Word Baptist Church which has even blacklisted Charles Spurgeon and Lester Roloff out of the list. Sad to say, some great preachers against sin and convicted people of their sins for revival were sadly Baptist Bride proponents.
The whole heresy began with the "Jesus is a Baptist" doctrine and that John the Baptist found the Baptist Church. So here's what makes the Baptist Bride heresy unsound which has bred more unsound doctrine that even Christians have. They might be right about salvation but MANY of their doctrines tend to divide the Family of Christ:
1.) The Bible does not say Christ belonged to a specific denomination. Remember that, the Bible just calls them "Christians".
That's what makes the "True Church Theory" which is adhered by so-called Christian groups like the Roman Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Iglesia ni Cristo, etc. wrong. Jesus was not a Baptist nor a Presbyterian. The name Baptist was only an afterthought, it was NOT given to the disciples by Christ Himself nor did John the Baptist call his disciples as Baptists. The disciples were first called Christians and not Baptists. In fact, some "Baptists" sad to say aren't saved, only carrying the name Baptist and are false converts. Sad to say, I'm even seeing apostasy in some Baptist unions with their pastors having unequal yokes with Roman Catholics and Pentecostals to name a few proving the doctrine wrong.
That's what makes the "True Church Theory" which is adhered by so-called Christian groups like the Roman Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Iglesia ni Cristo, etc. wrong. Jesus was not a Baptist nor a Presbyterian. The name Baptist was only an afterthought, it was NOT given to the disciples by Christ Himself nor did John the Baptist call his disciples as Baptists. The disciples were first called Christians and not Baptists. In fact, some "Baptists" sad to say aren't saved, only carrying the name Baptist and are false converts. Sad to say, I'm even seeing apostasy in some Baptist unions with their pastors having unequal yokes with Roman Catholics and Pentecostals to name a few proving the doctrine wrong.
2.) John the Baptist was not called "the Baptist" not because he was a baptist but because he baptized people.
Water baptism while not a requirement for salvation is the evidence of every born again Christian in salvation, it signifies the new birth in Christ. Being baptized in a Baptist church DOES NOT make anyone part of the Bride of Christ. One becomes a part of the Bride by accepting Jesus Christ. Also to assume that Jesus became a Baptist because he was baptized by John the Baptist is stupid. John the Baptist was called as such not because he was a founder of the said denomination but because he baptized people. Later, some Christians were called Baptists because they would declare infant baptism unscriptural and would later baptize former Roman Catholics who got converted - not because they came from the line of John the Baptist. Also, it's hypocritical to object to Peter as the first Pope if one believes that John the Baptist is the first Baptist pastor. Hmmm, didn't the office of first pastor go to Peter and not John the Baptist?
3.) While the Baptist groups have their doctrine based on the five truths namely Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Christ Alone and Glory to God Alone but it is not "exclusive" to the Baptists.
I do not really like the idea of being too focused on Protestantism and I don't even consider myself a Protestant. Note that some of the greatest advocates of Scriptural truth were Protestants. John Calvin brought revival to Geneva, Scotland. The great Protestant preacher Harry Allen Ironside's book "Except Ye Repent" has become a powerful impact in soulwinning and getting the Gospel right. The Reformation was responsible for the massive printing of Bibles to the public. The King James translation is a Protestant doing. Ian Paisley though I do not agree with some of his doctrines (like the Antichrist being a dynasty than a singular person that will appear in the future) however has upheld many great Bible truths. I'd like to sidenote that some problems with Protestantism were that some of these groups still cling to the doctrines of infant baptism and the perpetual virginity of Mary as opposed to what later Protestants did by rejecting the doctrine of their "founders". Baptists can trace their doctrine back to the Bible then again so can the Presbyterians and Evangelicals.
I do not really like the idea of being too focused on Protestantism and I don't even consider myself a Protestant. Note that some of the greatest advocates of Scriptural truth were Protestants. John Calvin brought revival to Geneva, Scotland. The great Protestant preacher Harry Allen Ironside's book "Except Ye Repent" has become a powerful impact in soulwinning and getting the Gospel right. The Reformation was responsible for the massive printing of Bibles to the public. The King James translation is a Protestant doing. Ian Paisley though I do not agree with some of his doctrines (like the Antichrist being a dynasty than a singular person that will appear in the future) however has upheld many great Bible truths. I'd like to sidenote that some problems with Protestantism were that some of these groups still cling to the doctrines of infant baptism and the perpetual virginity of Mary as opposed to what later Protestants did by rejecting the doctrine of their "founders". Baptists can trace their doctrine back to the Bible then again so can the Presbyterians and Evangelicals.
4.) Everything based on the Baptist Bride heresy is based on bad hermeneutical studies. If you ask me, some Baptist Bride churches are getting utterly RIDICULOUS with some Scriptural passages or two, even making statements that aren't sound or researched on.
For example, some Baptist Bride pastors are opposed to the Reproductive Health Bill which is good however they say that family planning is unbiblical and that we are commanded to have large families. Another is the rather infamous "Pisseth Against the Wall" sermon which I really find extremely stupid where the pastor took the phrase "pisseth against the wall" that it means men must pee standing up or face judgment when ALL six passages of the Bible there, actually declare judgment on those "pissing against the wall" which may suggest these men were abhorrent as people who peed in public places without respect. 1 Corinthians 12:13 is also clear that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the baptism that saves PLUS puts us into the Body of Christ. Water baptism DOES NOT put anybody into the Body of Christ. If you are saved, you are already part of the Church. I joined a local Baptist church not become a Church member but because I am already a Church member!
For example, some Baptist Bride pastors are opposed to the Reproductive Health Bill which is good however they say that family planning is unbiblical and that we are commanded to have large families. Another is the rather infamous "Pisseth Against the Wall" sermon which I really find extremely stupid where the pastor took the phrase "pisseth against the wall" that it means men must pee standing up or face judgment when ALL six passages of the Bible there, actually declare judgment on those "pissing against the wall" which may suggest these men were abhorrent as people who peed in public places without respect. 1 Corinthians 12:13 is also clear that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the baptism that saves PLUS puts us into the Body of Christ. Water baptism DOES NOT put anybody into the Body of Christ. If you are saved, you are already part of the Church. I joined a local Baptist church not become a Church member but because I am already a Church member!
5.) The Church is one and the Bride of Christ is already there, it is complete and the Church is one even if there is such a thing as organizational division in terms of independence that Baptists have no person like the Pope or a mission president to rule over them around the world, they are still one in Spirit.
Like it or not, the Church is one. The Baptist groups are members in the Body of Christ then again so are other fundamentalist Christians like the Presbyterians and Evangelicals. Talk about the dialogue between John F. Macarthur,Robert Charles Sproul and D. James Kennedy which renounced the Evangelicals and Catholics Together movement. While I reject Roman Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, INC, Charismatics, etc. no matter how much these claim to be Christians to be my brethren-in-Christ because of their heretical doctrine concerning salvation like saying man must do works to be saved and stay saved (which results to a lot of wrong practices and bizarre doctrines to the point Christ's deity is denied or downplayed) but any Christian group Baptist or not as long as they hold to the Bible truths are part of the universal church.
There are still Southern Baptists who are adhering to the Bible truth (but some of them have fallen into apostasy then again don't tell me that some Baptists haven't), Presbyterians who uphold the Bible truth, the Evangelicals are non-Baptist Christians. Their belief of being "independent" and "denominational" has caused them to condemn Baptists like me who fellowship with non-denominational Christians. Sadly there are Separatist Baptists (a name I came up myself) which can be hypocritical because while they actually still oppose anything without the "Baptist" label, may I mention they still actually read some books by PRESBYTERIAN preachers like Vernon McGee, Robert Charles Sproul and D. James Kennedy which I find hypocritical. The utter consequences were also this that one Baptist church I knew spent countless hours trying to pick a fight with another Baptist church whose pastor chooses to ignore his heckling. The view that the Church isn't one until the Rapture is utterly heretical because Christ is the Head of the Church and He is NOT the Head of a divided Body!
Like it or not, the Church is one. The Baptist groups are members in the Body of Christ then again so are other fundamentalist Christians like the Presbyterians and Evangelicals. Talk about the dialogue between John F. Macarthur,Robert Charles Sproul and D. James Kennedy which renounced the Evangelicals and Catholics Together movement. While I reject Roman Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, INC, Charismatics, etc. no matter how much these claim to be Christians to be my brethren-in-Christ because of their heretical doctrine concerning salvation like saying man must do works to be saved and stay saved (which results to a lot of wrong practices and bizarre doctrines to the point Christ's deity is denied or downplayed) but any Christian group Baptist or not as long as they hold to the Bible truths are part of the universal church.
There are still Southern Baptists who are adhering to the Bible truth (but some of them have fallen into apostasy then again don't tell me that some Baptists haven't), Presbyterians who uphold the Bible truth, the Evangelicals are non-Baptist Christians. Their belief of being "independent" and "denominational" has caused them to condemn Baptists like me who fellowship with non-denominational Christians. Sadly there are Separatist Baptists (a name I came up myself) which can be hypocritical because while they actually still oppose anything without the "Baptist" label, may I mention they still actually read some books by PRESBYTERIAN preachers like Vernon McGee, Robert Charles Sproul and D. James Kennedy which I find hypocritical. The utter consequences were also this that one Baptist church I knew spent countless hours trying to pick a fight with another Baptist church whose pastor chooses to ignore his heckling. The view that the Church isn't one until the Rapture is utterly heretical because Christ is the Head of the Church and He is NOT the Head of a divided Body!
While I am not a liberal Baptist who fellowships with ecumenical yokes or attends ecumenical rallies like the late Martin Luther King (a good agent of Paul VI), Billy Graham (who was openly in fellowship with the late John Paul II who even referred to him as a brother in Christ) or as of late Rick Warren who even encouraged his faithful to pray for the decision of whoever would succeed the retired Benedict XVI and later openly welcomed Francis I as Pope which I dub as the Roman Baptholic movement, however, it's time to really get rid of the foolish Baptist Bride heresy. I believe we should not fellowship with groups that claim to be Christian if their doctrine does not match up to the Bible like why would I fellowship with the Roman Catholics if they believe in salvation by works and salvation through Mary or any of those baptismal salvation groups? Nope. In fact, I have every reason to avoid certain Lutheran groups that have fallen into a certain degree of Mary worship or two, teach baptismal salvation... to which somebody even told me that Martin Luther never laid a single brick or preached the Bible alone but later his followers forged his name to write their own catechism. Why I am writing this is a call to the unity of true Christians while rejecting the false.