PROPAGANDA, AND MISINFORMATION, ABOUNDS ON THE INTERNET, REGARDING REGULAR OR PRIMITIVE BAPTIST BELIEFS. AN EXAMPLE OF THIS, IS THE GROSSLY MISLEADING INFORMATION FOUND ON WIKIPEDIA. IN THE PAST, NEWSPAPERS, RADIO, AND TELEVISION, IF THEY COMMENTED ON CHURCHES, GENERALLY WERE CAREFUL WHAT THEY SAID.
WHAT IS SAID ABOUT PRIMITIVE BAPTISTS IN THE HANDBOOK OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IS VERY GOOD, AND GIVES US CREDIT FOR BEING THE MOST ORTHODOX OF ALL BAPTISTS. ORTHODOX MEANS SCRIPTURAL. THE WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE DOES NOT ADDRESS THE QUESTION OF WHAT IS SCRIPTURAL - IT SIMPLY SIDES WITH WHAT IS POPULAR, AND MAKES NO EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS UNPOPULAR. REST ASSURED, THE TRUTH CAN INDEED BE UNPOPULAR.
WE GIVE THE FOLLOWING QUOTATION, SUPPOSEDLY COMPARING OUR BELIEFS WITH THOSE OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTISTS, WITH OUR BRIEF REPLY. WE HOPE THE WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE CAN BE EDITED AND CORRECTED, AS OUR REPLY HERE WILL NOT BE SEEN OR READ BY VERY MANY. AND WE ASK THIS QUESTION: WHY IS THE WRITER COMPARING OUR BELIEFS WITH THE SOUTHERN BAPTISTS, IN AN ARTICLE WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT WHAT WE BELIEVE, NOT HOW THE WRITER THINKS WE ARE WRONG.
"God's grace and salvation, according to the Southern Baptists, is offered freely to anyone who will accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior rather than being limited to a predestined elect. Southern Baptists are not as restrictive in their views on salvation. They teach that all true believers in Christ are accepted by God, sanctified through his spirit and saved through his grace."
THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST VIEW OF SALVATION APPEAR TO BE MUCH BROADER THAN THAT OF PRIMITIVE BAPTISTS, WHICH IS VERY FAR FROM BEING THE TRUTH.
FIRST, IF SALVATION IS "OFFERED" BY THE GOSPEL, THEN IT IS "SURE" TO NO ONE, AND ONLY WITHIN REACH OF THOSE WHERE THE TRUE GOSPEL IS PREACHED, WHICH IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN, A VERY SMALL PART OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION, AND AN EVEN SMALLER PART OF THAT POPULATION HAS EVER HEARD AND BELIEVED THE TRUE GOSPEL.
SECONDLY, TO SAY SALVATION IS "LIMITED" TO A "PREDESTINED ELECT," IMPLIES THAT THE ETERNAL GOD CANNOT PREDESTINATE TO HEAVEN AS MANY PEOPLE IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, AS MEN ARE ABLE TO REACH WITH THEIR GOSPEL OFFER. PREPOSTEROUS!!! MEN OBJECT TO GOD CHOOSING TO SAVE AN INNUMERABLE HOST, YET THEY ARE OKAY WITH LIMITING SALVATION TO WHERE THEY (MEN) CHOOSE TO GO WITH THEIR GOSPEL (THAT WOULD MEAN MEN MAKE THE CHOICE ON WHO HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE SAVED BY THEIR GOSPEL). THE "PREDESTINED ELECT" OF GOD INCLUDES ALL WHO EVER HAVE, OR EVER WILL, TRULY LOVE GOD, WHICH IS A FAR GREATER NUMBER THAN THOSE WHO WILL EVER HEAR AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. IN FACT, IT IS A NUMBER SO GREAT, NO MAN CAN NUMBER IT. AND INSTEAD OF IT BEING DEPENDENT UPON THE WILL OF MAN, IT IS MADE "SURE" BY THE WORK OF GOD, SO THAT EVERY ONE FOR WHOM A RESERVATION WAS MADE BY GOD BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN, WILL FINALLY OBTAIN THAT INHERITANCE, AND GOD WILL HAVE ALL THE PRAISE, NOT MAN. FURTHERMORE, THE GOSPEL IS NOT AN OFFER OF SALVATION, BUT RATHER A PROCLAMATION OF A FINISHED SALVATION. IF GOD "OFFERED" SALVATION, HE DID NOT SAVE AT ALL, AND IF MAN SAVED HIMSELF BY ACCEPTING AN OFFER, OR PERFORMING CONDITIONS OF SALVATION, MAN DESERVES THE PRAISE. OUR DOCTRINE IS TRUE - IT IS ALL OF GRACE, NOT WORKS OF SINFUL MAN. IF GOD DOES NOT IMPART THE NEW BIRTH TO MEN, THEN MEN MUST "BORN THEMSELVES," WHICH IS FOOLISHNESS. WHY DO MEN OBJECT TO GOD'S CHOICE, AND HIS PREDESTINATION OF HIS PEOPLE TO HEAVEN, AND DEVISE AND CHOOSE TO BELIEVE INSTEAD A PITIFUL PLAN THAT LEAVES OUT MULTITUDES OF GOD'S PEOPLE?
