What is a Reformed Baptist?
“What denomination are you?”
I respond knowing the two likely follow-ups, “I am a Reformed Baptist.”
The first follow up is usually a question.
“What is a Reformed Baptist?” The inquirer may not know that this question is more loaded than they presume it to be.
The other follow-up is usually a statement.
“Oh, so that means you are a Calvinist(i) and a Baptist.” Well . . . yes, but that is only part of it.
So then, what do I mean when I say that I’m a Reformed Baptist? I will attempt to answer the question by highlighting some Reformed Baptist Distinctives. This article is not meant to be exhaustive; however, there will be supplemental resources suggested at the end of this article for those who wish to delve further.
Confessional
Reformed Baptist use historically reformed confessions.(ii) Most Reformed Baptist predominately use the Second London Baptist Confession (otherwise known as the 1689 Baptist confession); however, there are other confessions that Reformed Baptist use such as the First London Baptist Confession and the New Hampshire Confession. It is within these confessions that Reformed Baptist show unity amongst other denominations and to show distinctives. The rest of this article will highlight some of those Reformed Baptist Distinctives.
Calvinist
As stated in the introduction, being a Calvinist is in part of what it means to be a Reformed Baptist. Calvinists believe that God, through his free will, saves man through the blood of Jesus Christ. Man does not choose God off their own volition since they are radically depraved in their sin. Yet, because God’s saving power is so effective, man being dead in the trespasses of their sin can be regenerated into an eternal relationship with the Father as adopted sons. The man who is now alive in Christ will continually be sanctified by God until they die and are then glorified.(iii)
Covenantal
Reformed Baptist believe in Covenant Theology. Ligon Duncan clearly defined Covenant “[as a way of interpreting how] the Bible itself structures the progress of Redemptive history through the succession of covenant.”(iv) In other words, Covenant Theologians believe that the bible should be interpreted through God’s covenantal relationship with his creatures as the story of the bible unfolds.(v)
Believers Baptism Done by Immersion
Reformed Baptist believe in Believers Baptism, otherwise known as Credobaptism.
Credobaptism is the belief that Baptism should only be administered to those who have a credible profession of faith. Reformed Baptist would deny baptism administered to the infants of believing parents.(vi)
Reformed Baptist also believe that “Immersion . . . is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance” (2LBC 29.4). This does not mean that Reformed Baptist believe that any other mode of baptism is false. A mode is how one would administer the act of baptism. Some other modes of baptism, besides immersion, are sprinkling and pouring. As Sam Waldron identified in his commentary of the 1689 Baptist Confession,
The confession does not assert that someone baptized by another mode is not baptized. Immersion is necessary only to the ‘due’ administration. This may mean its (sic) ‘proper, fitting, or suitable’ administration. The Confession does not take up all possible irregularities . . . The Confession does indicate that the mode of baptism is not irrelevant.It asserts that immersion is at the heart of the symbolism involved.”(vii)
Elder Led Congregational Church Government
Reformed Baptist also believe in Elder Led Congregational church government. Phil Newton pointed out that, “Strict congregationalism is pure democracy.” Newton continued, “pure congregationalism is unwieldy, with too many opinions stymieing action without appropriate leadership.” In other words, pure congregationalism is chaotic and in need of qualified leadership. Reformed Baptist believe that those qualified for leadership are to be called Elders in the church. Elders are men set apart by God with the responsibility to lead, teach, preach, admonish, correct, rebuke, and administer the ordinances (that being the lords supper and baptism). (2LBC 26: 8-10).
Another point must be made about this form of church government. Unlike other denominations, Reformed Baptist believe that there are only two biblical offices. There is the elder, which is sometimes also called the bishop or overseer, and the deacon.
Conclusion
Admittedly, this does not cover every distinction of what it means to be a Reformed Baptist. However, I hope that this has been a good starting point for answering the question, “What is a Reformed Baptist?” Finally, my desire in this article was to be forward with Reformed Baptist distinctives. Yet it is important to seek unity in the church wherever possible. Let us cling fast to what the Baptist forbearers said in the forward of the Second London Baptist Confession:
In those things wherein we differ from others [those being of other denominations] we have expressed ourselves with all candor and plainness, that none might entertain jealousy of aught secretly lodged in our breasts that we would not the world should be acquainted with; yet we hope we have also observed those rules of modesty and humility as will render our freedom in this respect inoffensive, even to those whose sentiments are different from ours.
Additional Resources for Further Study:
Introduction to Reformed Baptist Covenant Theology:
The Mystery of Christ, His Covenant, and His Kingdom, Samuel Renihan
Commentaries on 1689 Confession:
A New Exposition of the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, Ed. Rob Ventura
To the Judicious and Impartial Reader: Baptist Symbolics Volume 2 by James Renihan
Note: Samuel Waldron’s commentary is in the end notes.
Defending Credobaptism:
A Case for Credobaptism by Allen S. Nelson IV (This is an online article).
Endnotes:
i For a quick summary on Calvinism, check out: Berry Cooper, “Five Points of Calvinism,” https://ligonier.org/podcasts/simply-put/five-points-of-calvinism.
ii Confessionalism is not unique to Reformed Baptist alone. Many denominations within the Reformed Tradition use Confessions. The Solas Council has a list highlighting some of the predominantly used reformed confessions. See: https://solascouncil.org/reformation.
iii Michael M. Dewalt has a list of the 1689’s use of the Calvinistic Soteriology. See: “Calvinism and the London Baptist Confession of 1689” https://gospelcenteredmusings.com/2012/08/07/calvinism-and-the-london-baptistconfession-of-1689/
iv Ligon Duncan, “Forward”, in Covenant Theology: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Perspectives” ed. Guy Prentiss Waters, J. Nicholas Reid, and John R. Muether (Wheaton: Crossway, 2020), 24.
v Other non-Reformed Baptist views amongst Baptist are Progressive Covenantalism and Dispensationalism. Space limits discussion about the distinctives and critiques on these positions. Richard Belcher Jr., a Presbyterian, surveys both of these views and briefly critiques them in The Fulfillment of the Promises of God: An Explanation of Covenant Theology (Mentor, 2020).
vi Keach’s Catechism, otherwise known as the Baptist Catechism, asked the following question with an answer, “Q. 102. Are the infants of such as are professing believers to be baptized? A. The infants of such as are professing believers are not to be baptized; because there is neither command nor example in the Holy Scriptures, or certain consequence from them, to baptize such.”
vii Samuel E Waldron, A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith”. 5th ed. (Welwyn Garden City: EP Books, 2016), 420. Boldness added.
viii Phil Newton, “Church Polity: A Biblical Approach” Founders Journal (Spring 2011): 29.
ix Ibid.