Independence Baptist Church has a great desire to make known the Word of God to all who want to hear. This is what God commanded us to do, and we want to use this web site as a part of our fulfilling the Great Commission given in Matthew 28:18-20. The Great Commission is given to the local churches that belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. The mission of these churches is: (1) to lead the lost to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and Savior, (2) then after salvation to instruct those saved people to be scripturally baptized and (3) to teach them to observe whatsoever God commands.
It is not our intention that this web site will take the place of your worshipping God and participating in one of the local Baptist churches in your area. There is nothing that will replace the assembling together of the people of God.
The first part of our mission is to reach the lost with the saving message of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Who is lost, and what is lost? This is a very important question because without a Biblical knowledge of what lost is, a person cannot be saved. Lost means “to be fully destroyed, to die, to perish.” People come into the world with the seed of sin and eternal destruction already in them. They don’t have to do anything to be lost and go to hell. People are born with the sin of Adam in them, as is stated in Romans 5:12, “For as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.” They are already lost. They are already condemned to eternity in hell, as declared in John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:17 emphasizes that Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. Hebrews 9:22 summarizes the salvation message by stating, “…without shedding of blood is no remission.” According to Luke 19:10, “For the son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost.” Jesus Christ came into the world to die for sinners. Therefore the condition of being lost doesn’t have to be permanent. Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross of Calvary so sinners, those that are lost, could have eternal life. Eternal life is by unmerited, unearned grace “…through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”
The second part of our mission is to give scriptural baptism to each believer who makes a public profession of salvation and requests baptism. Scriptural baptism is not just dunking a person in water. There is much more involved than that. Scriptural baptism involves four things.
(1) The scriptural subject is a person who is already saved. Baptism does not save, but is a picture of salvation. John 4:1 makes a clear distinction between salvation and baptism by stating, “When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John.” Notice that Jesus made, then baptized disciples. Salvation and baptism are two separate events. Another conclusive scripture is Acts 16:20 when the Philippian jailer asked, “…Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas answered “…believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved, and thy house.” The jailer was saved, and then baptized.
(2) The scriptural method is to completely immerse in water, reflecting the complete death to sin and being raised to newness of life. There are numerous scriptural examples of people being immersed in water, but there are no scriptural examples of anybody being baptized by sprinkling, pouring, or any other method. In Acts 8:38,39, both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and both Philip and the eunuch came up out of the water. Romans 6:4 declares “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death…”
(3) The scriptural administrator is the one who has the authority to baptize. When Jesus was baptized, he walked approximately 60 miles to receive baptism by John the Baptist. Why? Because John had authority as one sent from God. Today the authority for scriptural baptism rests in the kind of church established by Jesus Christ during his personal ministry. That kind of church continues to this present day, so scriptural baptism is still available.
(4) The scriptural purpose is for obedience to the Lord’s commands. Jesus was baptized, not to be saved, but to fulfill all righteousness. The result of His obedience is revealed in Matthew 3:17, when God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The third part of our mission is to teach every saved, baptized believer (church members) to obey whatsoever God commands. What are the commands of God? You will find them recorded in detail in the Bible. Love is the key to spiritual obedience.
There are many things every saved, scripturally baptized person should know. One of the most important things to know is that without love, everything is vain. I Corinthians 13:1-3 states, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”
Independence Baptist Church believes, teaches, and practices the doctrines of the sovereignty of God. That is, we believe the Bible doctrines of total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. We also believe whosoever will may come. We believe there is enough power in the blood of Christ to save anybody who comes. We know the only people who will come are those who are called, but our job is to preach the gospel to every creature, and let God call whom he will. We believe these doctrines do not contradict each other, but they are all necessary parts of God’s overall plan of redemption for fallen mankind. We are not followers of John Calvin; therefore do not like to be called Calvinists. We had rather be called Christians, if you think we are. We are not Presbyterian; we do not baptize babies, or persecute Christians, or other Baptists. We are not reformed Baptists, we are Baptists, who trace their roots back to the time of Jesus Christ when he started his kind of church during his own personal ministry.
There are those who declare that doctrines separate and divide, therefore doctrines are no good. This is a terrible error. There are many doctrines that need to be learned, then practiced. But all the doctrines in the world are nothing if they aren’t accompanied with love. Doctrines are of no value if they are learned to defeat another. Doctrines are good only when they are used to draw us closer to God and his eternal self. Nobody wants to be a “…as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” Nobody wants God to look upon them and say they are nothing. Everybody wants to be an overcomer, and to hear Christ say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Overcomers are those who learn, then practice the doctrines of the word of God.
On this web site, you will find many doctrines proclaimed. It is not our intent to offend, or to be offensive. It is our intent to stand for the precious word of God, and for the doctrines God gave us.
Your comments are welcome, both for and against. I have always enjoyed discussing the word of God. I don’t like to argue about the word of God, and will not argue. Finding the truth is more important that winning the argument. The Bible is a complete book, and the truth is contained within its pages. Every scripture agrees and compliments every other scripture. Error creeps in when a scripture is used to prove a point, but there is another scripture that contradicts that point. The Bible (KJV) does not contradict itself. It is the perfect word of God, without error, not just as originally written, but without error as preserved by the power of God.