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Baptism required for church membership


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1 minute ago, SureWord said:

So I need references?

I think a profession of faith in the blood of Christ should suffice.

Anything else is Baptist Briderism.

I disagree. I've seen other denominations baptism being accepted into Baptist churches, and vice versa, but only after investigation into the doctrinal closeness to what Baptists preach and believe. I've also gone from one church to another by just a statement of faith because the former church didn't like losing another family to another local church. Nothing nefarious about the practice.

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5 minutes ago, MikeWatson1 said:

 

Yeah... People should do a letter of transfer from one to another

True. Most do. But some are just being hard to get along with when they refuse to do so.

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49 minutes ago, SureWord said:

So I need references?

I think a profession of faith in the blood of Christ should suffice.

Anything else is Baptist Briderism.

A profession oi faith is and has been acceptable in Baptist churches if a letter of good standing is not available from your previous church. So-called Briderism has nothing to do with it.

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1 hour ago, SureWord said:

So I need references?

I think a profession of faith in the blood of Christ should suffice.

Anything else is Baptist Briderism.

First of all, I realize that you are responding to BrotherTony and not to me, so I hope you will forgive my intrusion. I personally belive that there are other saved people that are not members of Baptist churches. I have met some Church of God folks in the prison ministry whose profession in Christ seemed genuine. They had the same concern for souls that I have, etc. I have met Free Will Baptists that also profess to trust Christ for salvation, yet both believe that someone could lose their salvation under certain conditions. Could some of these be saved? I don't see why not. Can they visit my church? Yes. Could they join my church while believing that they can lose their salvation? No.

My original purpose in espousing believers' baptism as a prerequisite to local church membership is a question of purity of doctrine not as a condition of salvation. My thought process goes something like this; baptism ensures a regenerate membership, the Lord's supper (self examination) ensures a godly membership, and church discipline (external examination) removes the leaven from the membership. Since we are dealing with real people in an imperfect world, all of the above named biblical practices can be abused by individuals or churches or certain church leaders.

I already gave my reasons and thinking on baptism, so I will not reiterate here. I hope that I am not opening up a whole new can of worms! ? 

Self examination.

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
1 Corinthians 11:27-32 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
 

External examination.

1 Corinthians 5:7-13 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

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