Thesis #7 - The Baptist Faith & Message Is Not The Inspired Word Of God

The Baptist Faith and Message is a very good attempt to proclaim positions Southern Baptists take based on truth we find in scripture (and unlike published confessions of many other denominations, the Baptist Faith and Message heavily references scripture). To equate this document with the inerrant word of God, however, is dangerous. Creeds, confessions and doctrinal statements like the Baptist Faith and Message are indeed fallible, and need to be evaluated in light of scripture. Proverbs 30:6 declares, “Don’t add to His words, or He will rebuke you, and you will be proved to be a liar.” (HCSB)

Thesis #3 - The Baptist Faith and Message Covers Calvinists and Non-Calvinists

The Baptist Faith and Message of 2000 is inclusive of both Calvinists and Almost-Arminians (Anybody have a better label?). The rhetoric between Calvanists and non-Calvinists has reportedly cooled, at least among the leaders of our national convention. That fight, however, continues in vitriolic fashion in some associations and local churches. Some people go so far as to label members of the opposite persuasion as “heretics” and “non-Baptists.” Not so. A 1999 article in the Baptist Press recorded comments by Paige Patterson’s (a non-Calvinist) about Calvinism:

“Patterson appealed to his audience to hear each other carefully and avoid fighting over the distinctions. Pressed by another listener as to whether those who hold to Calvinism, often called "the doctrines of grace," are to be accepted as part of the convention, Patterson reiterated that the Baptist Faith and Message is the SBC's agreed-upon, adopted statement of faith.
"There's plenty of room under the umbrella for anyone who is anything from a one- to five-point Calvinist," Patterson said, stipulating that any Southern Baptist would have to agree upon the perseverance of the saints to keep from being an Arminian.

Indeed, any constraint within the BF&M on the Arminian-to-Calvinist spectrum falls on the Arminian side. Article V states “All true believers endure to the end,” and references scriptures such as John 5:24 and 10:28. The Baptist Press article continued:

"There's room for a two- or three-pointer like me, provided he can explain what is meant by two and three. There's room for four- and five-pointers whom I believe lack scriptural justification for that, but I'm certainly not in favor of running them out."
Patterson described Southern Baptists as a people who believe the Bible to be the Word of God as their final authority, that salvation is by grace through faith alone and that adult-like faith witnessed by believer's baptism provides a testimony to a watching world. "If we believe those things all fall within the purview of the Baptist faith, then there's plenty of room for all of us in these various emphases that we bring. I think they're all very helpful."

Each side in the Calvinist /Non-Calvinist debate needs to acknowledge there are some difficult passages to deal with. Peter referred to some of these passages, saying, “He [Paul] speaks about these things in all his letters, in which there are some matters that are hard to understand.” (2 Peter 3:16a HCSB) We will not allow anyone to twist and distort the plain truth of the Gospel—that only by the grace of God, the regeneration and washing of the Holy Spirit, through Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice may any of us gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven. At the same time, we also must not allow anyone to label as heretics those who deal differently with difficult passages.

Thesis #2 - "Baptist Tradition" Is Broadly Diverse

The Baptist Faith and Message is (still) a wide umbrella. It broadly encompasses many “traditions,” including those about which a local congregation might declare “we’ve never done that before!” When changes are proposed to a local congregation, resistant individuals all too often invoke the BF&M, mistakenly assuming that only their Baptist experience is supported by this great SBC statement of faith. We must realize that the BF&M declares only the baseline of beliefs common to the collective of churches within the Southern Baptist Convention. This confession of faith declares Baptist distinctives, such as baptism of regenerate believers by immersion, and thus has a narrowing, confining effect upon the range of beliefs that its institutions (and some would say its member churches) may express. The degree of theological constraint induced by the BF&M, however, is not so restrictive as to produce cookie-cutter churches. Each church is autonomous, and out of that freedom arises diversity. Even while celebrating the resurgence of Bible-centeredness in SBC churches, the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force acknowledged theological diversity within the convention. In part of their 2009 Pre-Progress Report, Ronnie Floyd, et. al. called upon SBC churches to commit to a “healthy confessional center.” Yet, describing that bible-centered confession, they wrote, “Like the best of confessions, the BF&M 2000 speaks most clearly to those doctrines wherein we enjoy greatest agreement and speaks more generally concerning areas where some differing opinions exist.” In other words, while we are all striving towards biblical excellence, we do have differing interpretations in areas that are not quite as essential to the gospel—nevertheless, we agree to cooperate.
The Baptist Faith and Message allows for diversity in several theological areas including a range of views regarding eschatology, charismatic gifts, and ecclesiology. Plainly, we can’t all be right when some of our views are mutually exclusive. Grace, however, permits us to accept some degree of diversity. Thankfully, these divisions will end some day soon: “for now we know in part, and we prophecy in part. But when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.” (1 Corinthians 13:9-10 HCSB)

Our SBC diversity becomes more apparent when we look at how we “do church.” In the same progress report, the GCR Task Force said, “There are essential and non-negotiable components of biblical ministry like proclamation, evangelism, service to others, prayer, and corporate worship. At the same time, we are convinced there is no specific style or method ordained by our God through which we must engage in these biblical ministries.” Perhaps SBC churches once appeared as uniform in worship style as McDonald’s franchise menus are, but that is no longer true today. In fact, our denominational leadership is pushing for diversity in strategy, methodology and style.

The openness of the Baptist Faith and Message permits local congregations to dig deeper into Scripture in order to align themselves more thoroughly with biblical doctrines and practices. Not all of us are going to be on the same page because we are experiencing sanctification and the transforming renewal of our minds in different areas at different rates.

So next time someone proposes a change for your church, please don't say "That's not Baptist." Search the scriptures and see if the change will push your congregation towards a Bible-centered excellence.