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What makes a Church IFB?


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Hi all, I am not trying to start any disagreement, but this is something that I have struggled with for a while. What really make a church IFB? It seems that there are a lot of churches that take very different posisitions on a lot of issues and still consider themselves IFB. Your thoughts are appreciated. 

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4 hours ago, mattbennett said:

Hi all, I am not trying to start any disagreement, but this is something that I have struggled with for a while. What really make a church IFB? It seems that there are a lot of churches that take very different posisitions on a lot of issues and still consider themselves IFB. Your thoughts are appreciated. 

I guess because the "I" stands for Independent.

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I guess since I spent so much time in Alaska I was out of the "mainstream" all those years, with the exception of missionaries and other pastors who came to hold special services for our church.

I said that simply because I have never heard the term "IFB". In the Alaska churches it was always "Independent Baptist"
The first I ever heard of IFB was when I joined this message board. I say all of this so that folks understand where I'm coming from and why.

I would define "Independent Baptist" as simply Independent from any control outside of the local church, to include any conventions, associations, fellowships, or control by any other church.

If I had to define IFB at this late hour of my Christian life I would have to define it this way:

1. The Independent part would be; Independent of any control outside of the local church an individual belongs to.

2. The "fundamental" part would be; a local church that holds strictly to the teaching and doctrines put forth by Jesus Christ, His Apostles and the first church that He instituted, as inspired by His Holy Spirit and found exclusively in His Word.

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29 minutes ago, Jim_Alaska said:

2. The "fundamental" part would be; a local church that holds strictly to ALL the teaching and doctrines put forth by Jesus Christ, His Apostles and the first church that He instituted, as inspired by His Holy Spirit and found exclusively in His Word.

Emphasis on ALL is mine.  Amen, Brother Jim!

Today's contemporary rock-n-roll churches are not of God but of the devil.  They do not strive to hold to ALL doctrine and teachings of Christ.  They pick and choose to justify their loves in this world.

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IFB churches formed around a hundred years ago by those who sought to remove themselves from the evangelical churches which were drifting. Originally "fundamental" pertained to the five fundamentals of the faith:

The virgin birth and deity of Jesus

The substitutionary death of Jesus

The resurrection of Jesus Christ

The verbal inspiration of the Scriptures

The second coming of Christ

Those are the pillars IFB churches were built upon. Being independent, IFB churches have always had their differences whether in slight matters or more important areas. Rather naturally, over the course of time and with the expansion of more and more IFB churches there grew to be more differences which has brought about various levels of division between IFBs.

For some time now there have been various "camps" within IFB circles and some of these fissures have grown.

Some above have mentioned CCM, doctrine and other factors and these are areas which not all IFB churches agree upon and this is causing more splits and such.

When looking at IFB churches a person really needs to check out the church, the pastor, their positions and such before a person can really know just exactly where they stand because simply having an IFB name doesn't give that answer.

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IFB, stands for Independent Fundamental Baptist.

 

Independent means the church is autonomous and independent, not being controlled by a denominational body or hierarchy or headquarters.

Fundamental means believing in the fundamental doctrines, like Deity of Christ, Inspiration of Scriptures, Salvation by Faith alone, Redemption through Christ's Blood, Second Coming of Christ.

Baptists refers to Baptist Doctrine, which would be Believers Baptism only as opposed to Infant Baptism, Baptism by immersion as opposed to sprinkling or pouring. Some would add the doctrines of Two ordinances, Baptism and Lord's Supper, Two Offices Pastor/Elder/Overseer/Bishop and Deacon, the Doctrine of the Priesthood of the Believer.

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IFB used to also stand for the premillennial return of Christ, the catching away of the Church, IE the rapture. Until the infiltration of the emerging rock n roll churches and the reformers.

In addition it used to stand for the prayerful power of the Spirit in witnessing until the infiltration of the emerging rock n roll churches and their easy, repent-less gospel and the calvinistic apostasy of the reformers.

Now they just say the second coming and they just say whosoever will 1-2-3 repeat after me.

Nowadays finding an IFB church that resembles anything in the Book of Acts is like finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

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2 hours ago, Jordan Kurecki said:

IFB, stands for Independent Fundamental Baptist.

 

Independent means the church is autonomous and independent, not being controlled by a denominational body or hierarchy or headquarters.

Fundamental means believing in the fundamental doctrines, like Deity of Christ, Inspiration of Scriptures, Salvation by Faith alone, Redemption through Christ's Blood, Second Coming of Christ.

Baptists refers to Baptist Doctrine, which would be Believers Baptism only as opposed to Infant Baptism, Baptism by immersion as opposed to sprinkling or pouring. Some would add the doctrines of Two ordinances, Baptism and Lord's Supper, Two Offices Pastor/Elder/Overseer/Bishop and Deacon, the Doctrine of the Priesthood of the Believer.

Could you guide us to Paul's Epistles where he informs us (the Body of Christ) that we are "Priests"?

BTW: I'm in an 85% Catholic country in Asia, and I can assure you that they pretty much agree with the IFB "beliefs" that have been noted in this post.  Their "foundational" scriptures are "the teachings of Jesus" found in the Four Gospels (most notably the "Sermon on the Mount").

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1 hour ago, beameup said:

Could you guide us to Paul's Epistles where he informs us (the Body of Christ) that we are "Priests"?

BTW: I'm in an 85% Catholic country in Asia, and I can assure you that they pretty much agree with the IFB "beliefs" that have been noted in this post.  Their "foundational" scriptures are "the teachings of Jesus" found in the Four Gospels (most notably the "Sermon on the Mount").

Problem is, the Jesus that the Catholics embrace and teach is one whose mother is a perpetual virgin and is the queen of heaven who allegedly hears and answers their prayers.

 

of course, their Jesus is not the Jesus that can save..

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22 minutes ago, Standing Firm In Christ said:

 

of course, their Jesus is not the Jesus that can save..

There are some true believers in the Catholic Church here in the Philippines.  Jesus is Jesus.  There are is an atrocious amount of false-teaching here in the P.I. (yes, even among some IFB churches).  Any deviation from the Pauline Gospel of Grace (through Faith, without Works) is false-teaching. Apostasy was already prevalent when the Holy Spirit inspired the "Gentile Apostle" Paul to write his Epistles...

Edited by beameup
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2 hours ago, beameup said:

There are some true believers in the Catholic Church here in the Philippines.  Jesus is Jesus.  There are is an atrocious amount of false-teaching here in the P.I. (yes, even among some IFB churches).  Any deviation from the Pauline Gospel of Grace (through Faith, without Works) is false-teaching. Apostasy was already prevalent when the Holy Spirit inspired the "Gentile Apostle" Paul to write his Epistles...

Saved in the Catholic church?  If they never come out of that den of iniquity and idolatry, I highly doubt the authenticity of their Salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:17 (KJV) 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you,

2 Corinthians 6:18 (KJV) 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

 

It appears that if one does not separate from idolatry and idolaters, one will not be received by the Father and will not be a son or daughter.

Edited by Standing Firm In Christ
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3 minutes ago, Standing Firm In Christ said:

Saved in the Catholic church?  If they never come out of that den of iniquity and idolatry, I highly doubt the authenticity of their Salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:17 (KJV) 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you,

2 Corinthians 6:18 (KJV) 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

 

It appears that if one does not separate from idolatry and idolaters, one will not be received by the Father and will not be a son or daughter.

The Filipino Culture's "foundation" is derived from Medieval Spanish-Catholicism.  The entire culture is virtually built around this.  Think of it as the dilemma that a Jew faces when he/she becomes a "Christian" (believer in Yeshua Messiah).  Often the "family" of a Jew will hold a "funeral" for that member, and will consider them as good as dead.  You have to actually LIVE in and deeply STUDY the Philippines to understand this.  

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10 hours ago, wretched said:

IFB used to also stand for the premillennial return of Christ, the catching away of the Church, IE the rapture. Until the infiltration of the emerging rock n roll churches and the reformers.

In addition it used to stand for the prayerful power of the Spirit in witnessing until the infiltration of the emerging rock n roll churches and their easy, repent-less gospel and the calvinistic apostasy of the reformers.

Now they just say the second coming and they just say whosoever will 1-2-3 repeat after me.

Nowadays finding an IFB church that resembles anything in the Book of Acts is like finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

So sad

The reformation was prophesied in Rev 10.  It was a mighty work of God that broke the power of the Catholic church.

Verse 2  The first thing we see is a little book.  About the time of the reformation printing presses were invented and books were much reduced in size, especially the Word Of God.  From that we notice that the reformers were responsible for translating the scripture into vernacular languages, Luther into German, Olivetan with the help of Calvin into French, various reformers, ending with King James into English, and others into Dutch, various Scandinavian languages etc.

Verses 3,4.  The next thing I notice is that the angel tells John acting for the church, to ignore the thunders from the seven hills of Rome, Papal Bulls etc. Remember that when he received the Papal Bull of excommunication, he was shocked as he thought the Pope was head of the church, and no doubt he went and prayed about i and studied the scripture futher.  Some month later, he burnt the Papal  Bull , declaring it to be the execrable bull of Antichrist.  he coiuld not have said that unless it was revealed to him from the scriptures. Along with that he burnt the canons and laws of the RCC.  At the same time he excommunicated the Pope. A complete fulfillment of those verses.

Verses 8-10 They had to inwardly digest the Word of God and this resulted in a revival of gospel preaching in

Verse 11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

The gospel was preached again "before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings."  From that time Luther rejected all the honours of the RCC and just claimed the title of Evangelist.

Chapter 11 verses 1-2, Again we see the excommunication of those who refused to come out of the RCC.
 

I repeat, the reformation was a mighty work of God. One might say the greatest revival of all time.  

 

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6 hours ago, beameup said:

The Filipino Culture's "foundation" is derived from Medieval Spanish-Catholicism.  The entire culture is virtually built around this.  Think of it as the dilemma that a Jew faces when he/she becomes a "Christian" (believer in Yeshua Messiah).  Often the "family" of a Jew will hold a "funeral" for that member, and will consider them as good as dead.  You have to actually LIVE in and deeply STUDY the Philippines to understand this.  

But the Jew comes out of that culture into the church.  I knew a Jew around here who became a Christian and his family held a funeral for him He became a member of the church.  After his demise I heard that later he and his parents were reconciled but he never told me that.  I was speaking to him once and he mentioned the dead sea scrolls.  He had some prints of them in the notes in the rear of his bible, and he translated one for me. It was more or less word for word with the KJV.

 

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