Recently, a statement
was published by several leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention entitled “A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation.” This statement has roused much response by those who hold to the
antithetical position to this document, namely the Calvinists in the Southern
Baptist Convention. Now, of course, I am not a leader in the SBC so my words do
not count for much. Neither am I in fellowship with an SBC church and,
therefore, have no dog in this fight. However, with my being only six months
removed from being a member of an SBC church, with the countless friends I have
who are Southern Baptists as well as Calvinists, and with the small-scale
battles against Calvinism within individual churches that have been driven by
the mindset expressed in this new statement as well as the controversies that
will undoubtedly emerge due to this document, I have decided to make a
statement concerning this predicament.
I
could proceed, with as much elegance and skill as I could muster, to lay to waste the statement, article by article, laying to waste the not only the logically
fallacious but also the biblically lacking assertions and denials presented by
these SBC leaders, but indeed many Reformed Southern Baptists, young and old,
seminary trained or not, could do this and will do this, probably with
more ease and prowess than I. I could dispel their notions of “traditional”
Southern Baptist doctrine concerning God’s salvation with a brief survey of
Southern Baptist history, highlighting the key Calvinistic figures who played a
part in the formation of the SBC, their schools, and their churches;
furthermore, I could show that various statements drafted around the time of
the SBC’s formation by SBC churches and seminaries are strikingly Calvinistic,
affirming all five points. Another chink at which I could stab would be the false equivocation between a majority view, tradition, and truth that is found in this statement. I could explain that their statements of faith to which
the drafters of this new document have alluded, the 1963 and 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, are
not only vague and weak confessions but are influenced greatly by the beliefs
of the theological moderates/liberals of the mid to late 20th
century who held pastorships in SBC churches and professorships in SBC colleges
and seminaries. I was a Southern Baptist for the first twenty-one years of my
life and an ardent student of theology, creeds, confessions, and church history
for the past five, and though that is not much time, I’m convinced that it
requires even less to show forth the pitiful nature of this statement from a
confessional, theological, historical, and biblical point of view. But, as I
have said, I have no dog in this fight. Calvinism is no issue in my
denominational context, that is, unless you reject it as unbiblical.
Though this statement will never
affect me, though I stand far off and shake my head at it, and though I may
even laugh at the theological dunghill that these “theologians” pass as “traditional”
Southern Baptist views on salvation, it pains me still. Their error hurts me
because it elevates sinful man upwardly, making him nothing less than a demigod,
and defames the glory of God in His sovereign salvation. It moves me and
provokes me to want to write long, in depth diatribes with a biting, harsh, and
accusing tone because of this maligning of the character of my God and exaltation
of sinful man. To quote Calvin: “A dog barks when his master is attacked. I
would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain
silent.” Yet it is not cowardice that stays my hand. This is an in-house
debate, and I live down the street.
To those of my Calvinist friends in
the SBC, you are in the thick of this mess. You are in the dock. It is you and
your beliefs that are the subject of this document. This statement should not
only discomfort you but enrage you. You should be showing your teeth and
howling, not because you are being attacked, but because your Master is being
attacked.
As
most of you with whom I am associated are in Mississippi, you should know that
the executive director of your state convention has signed this document. Several
pastors in the state have signed the document and more will undoubtedly join
them. It is the consensus of the majority of the Southern Baptists laymen in
the state, and all of them are seemingly building up in opposition against you
and your views. It is increasingly becoming more dangerous to hold to the views
of the Protestant Reformers concerning salvation, views that have been gleaned
through the careful reading of Scripture. Friends, it is time to ask yourself, “Is
this a hill on which I am ready to die? Will I stand firm to my Scriptural
convictions or will I compromise for some sort of ethereal, idealistic, and even
false sense of unity? Will I allow for the reputation of my God to be lessened
and the name of sinful man to be lauded? Will I bark when my Master is
attacked?”
To my Calvinist friends in the SBC
who desire to be teachers or pastors, do you see the danger you are in? I have
heard various stories of state conventions aiding churches in the ousting of
Reformed pastors by giving these churches anti-Calvinistic propaganda that
wrongly informs congregations about what you believe. Will you compromise when
pressed, or will you gladly and even joyously be run out of churches because
you proclaim the truth of God’s Word?
My heart goes out to you who already
have and who inevitably will have to give an account for your convictions
concerning the Doctrines of Grace. My prayer is that the Spirit of unity and truth
would come to those in error, but if it is not God’s will to do so, may He
grant boldness to you, brothers, to stand firm in your Scriptural convictions,
to not waiver in the face of adversity. May He give you minds of compassion but
minds keen and quick to defend the truths of His Word. Be diligent, brothers,
and zealous for the glory of God.
“For
from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever.
Amen.”
- Romans 11:36
