Category: Baptist Faith & Message 2000
Amendment to Article VI of the BF&M 2000: The Church
Following is the last in a series of columns on The Baptist Faith & Message 2000.
Messengers to the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans voted to amend Article VI of The Baptist Faith & Message to clarify the role of pastor.
Messengers approved a motion by Jared Cornutt, pastor of North Shelby Baptist Church of Birmingham, Ala., to amend Article VI: The Church to add the words “elder/overseer” alongside “pastor.”
The amended portion of Article VI originally read:
“In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
The text now reads (italics added for emphasis):
“In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its two scriptural offices are that of pastor/elder/overseer and deacon. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
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Article XVIII of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000: The family
Following is another in a series of columns on The Baptist Faith & Message 2000.
Marriage, family, and gender are gifts from God. They are established for the good of all people, who are created in the image of God.
Article XVIII of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 reads:
“God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
“Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
“The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
“Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.”
Southern Baptists added Article XVIII to The Baptist Faith & Message in 1998, thus making it part of the 1963 confession and carrying it forward into the 2000 edition. Witnessing the erosion of our culture’s view of marriage and family, Southern Baptists boldly reaffirmed God’s unchanging standards as revealed in Scripture and embraced by Christians throughout the centuries.
Today, the prevailing secular view is that marriage is an archaic, man-made institution in need of revision, while family is an evolutionary unit that may be restructured to meet changing societal needs.
The Bible says otherwise. Marriage and family are gifts from God. They are established and fixed for the good of all people, who are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27).
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Following is another in a series of columns on the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.
Practically speaking, religious liberty means equality before the law for Christians and non-Christians alike. It means the freedom to worship God, or not to worship God.
Article XVII of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 reads:
“God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.”
Religious liberty is the God-given right of all people to worship according to their consciences. As Herschel Hobbs notes, “Religious liberty is the mother of all true freedom. It is rooted in the very nature of both God and man created in God’s likeness. It implies the competency of the soul in religion, and denies to any person, civil government, or religious system the right to come between God and man.”
Practically speaking, religious liberty means equality before the law for Christians and non-Christians alike. It means the freedom to worship God, or not to worship God. If our creator does not compel us to acknowledge him in this life, no human being should force another to adopt any belief system, no matter how true or widely held.
At the same time, the Bible is clear that our beliefs have consequences – in this life and in the life to come. One day, all people will stand before God and give an account of our lives – not just what we believed, but how we acted on those beliefs (see Dan. 12:2; Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:6-7; Heb. 9:27; Rev. 20:11-15; 22:12).
That means religious liberty is neither a license to live recklessly, with no regard for others, nor is it merely toleration of those who believe differently. Religious liberty does not stand on political platforms or hang from legal pillars. While civil authorities may proclaim religious tolerance, only God may grant religious freedom.
George W. Truett, the longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, and president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1927-1929, preached a message from the steps of the U.S. Capitol in 1920. In part, he proclaimed, “Our contention is not for mere toleration, but for absolute liberty. There is a wide difference between toleration and liberty…. Toleration is a matter of expediency, while liberty is a matter of principle. Toleration is a gift from man, while liberty is a gift from God…. God wants free worshipers and no other kind.”
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Article XVI of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000: Peace and war
Following is another in a series of columns on The Baptist Faith & Message 2000.
The reconciliation of people to God must precede reconciliation of people to one another. We cannot truly live at peace with our neighbors until “the God of peace” resides in our hearts (Rom. 15:33).
Article XVI of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 reads:
“It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness. In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ they should do all in their power to put an end to war.
“The true remedy for the war spirit is the gospel of our Lord. The supreme need of the world is the acceptance of His teachings in all the affairs of men and nations, and the practical application of His law of love. Christian people throughout the world should pray for the reign of the Prince of Peace.”
God’s word commands Christians to love peace and to make peace. Jesus tells his listeners in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9). And the apostle Paul instructs his Roman readers, “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Rom. 12:18).
Even so, followers of Jesus understand that conflicts of every kind have punctuated human history since the Fall. Adam and Eve’s firstborn son, Cain, strikes his brother in a murderous rage, and the human race quickly descends into a spiral of personal, societal, and global conflict that continues today.
According to the New York Times, over the last 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for only 268 years, or just eight percent of recorded history. At least 108 million people were killed in the wars of the twentieth century. And estimates of the total loss of life in wars throughout history range from 150 million to one billion.
Add to this the war-induced spread of disease, displacement of people groups, reduced birthrates, and financial impact – World War II alone cost each American $20,388 – and it’s clear that sinful and fallen people are our own worst enemies.
The Prince of Peace himself said that “wars and rumors of wars” would characterize the present age (Matt. 24:6). Jesus offers no hope of lasting peace until he reigns supremely in our hearts and returns one day to establish his kingdom in fullness. Even then, his glorious appearing is one of warfare against the wicked, who violently oppose his righteous rule (Rev. 19:11-21).
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Article XV of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000: The Christian and the social order
Following is another in a series of columns on The Baptist Faith & Message 2000.
The Bible instructs Christians to value our neighbors, society, and nation. This means taking an active role in the laws, customs, and moral fabric of our society.
Article XV of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 reads:
“All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.”
Human beings cannot be made right with God through political processes, social programs, or religious affiliations. Only the transforming grace of Jesus Christ, the power of the gospel message, and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit are able to breathe new life into the spiritually dead and make them adopted children of God the Father.
Even so, the Bible instructs Christians to value our neighbors, society, and nation. As the apostle Paul writes, “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Rom. 12:18). This means taking an active role in the laws, customs, and moral fabric of our society.
As followers of Jesus, we begin by confessing that we are redeemed sinners who have not yet been fully conformed to the image of Christ. Put more plainly, we are far from perfect. Further, we live in a sinful and fallen world that groans beneath the weight of sin and waits eagerly for the return of Jesus to set things right (see Rom. 8:18-23).
Jesus prayed, not that we would be removed from this world, but that the Father would protect us from the evil one, sanctify us in truth, and send us into the world to be salt and light (John 17:15-19; cf. Matt. 5:13-16). While we lack the power to create new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Pet. 3:13), we are given the privilege of bearing testimony of the one who, one day, makes all things new (Rev. 21:5).
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