Baptists: What Makes a Baptist a Baptist?
…For example, Baptists hold that salvation is by grace through faith alone and not grace/faith plus baptism, or sacrament, or church membership. Baptists insist that a church ought to determine who its pastor will be rather than having a pastor assigned by a person or a group outside of the local congregation. Does the Baptist denomination matter? Yes, most definitely! The Baptist denomination has made and continues to make a difference in the world. For example, we are free to worship in our country due in large measure to the sacrificial and unselfish efforts of persons who were part of the Baptist denomination. Baptists have championed religious freedom for all to worship according to the dictate of conscience without interference of government or religious organizations. They have done this in spite of persecution. Baptists continue to work for religious freedom for all persons throughout the world. “As Baptist principles are peculiar to Baptists, every Baptist church, with all its appointments, from preacher to Sunday-school teacher, ought to stand, in the community where it holds forth the word, for something different from any other congregation.” J. B. Gambrell (b. 1841- d.1921) Baptist pastor, university president, editor, seminary professor, denominational leader/statesman …