On Baptist Belief
of being “sinners saved by grace” vs. “saints” and a call to the saintly life of holiness
It is interesting to read Baptist theologians. They never claim that we are saints. Saints is often referred to in terms of the church when the church is in eternity with Christ (on the other side of eternity, beyond time). It may refer to us as saints but more as a passing thought. For instance, Menno Simons who is a predecessor of the Baptists and an Anabaptist ancestor wrote The Community of the Faithful in which he gave the reformation position on infant baptism and the true nature of the church. He never points here to some doctrinal justification of sainthood. Instead he points to the fact that we are all sinners and have repented and been cleansed and sanctified. In an excerpt he says,
"To this we reply with the Word of the Lord. We also believe and confess that we are all born of unclean seed, that we through the first and earthly Adam became wholly depraved and children of death and of hell: with this understanding, however, that even as we fell and became sinners in Adam, so we also believe and confess that through Christ, the second and heavenly Adam, we are graciously helped to our feet again and justified. To this end He appeared upon earth that in and through Him we might have life. Through Him alone we boast to have obtained grace, favor, and the forgiveness of our sins with God our Father, and not by baptism, whether we are children or believers. For if pardon and the washing away of original sin took place by means of baptism and not actually by the blood of Christ, then the sweet smelling sacrifice (Eph 5:2) which is eternally valid would have been in vain and without power- unless there be two remedies for our sins. But ah, no, the Scriptures speak of but one means, Christ and His merits, death, and blood. Therefore he who seeks the remission of his sins through baptism despises the blood of the Lord and makes water his idol. Therefore let every one be careful lest he ascribe the honor and glory due to Christ to ceremonies performed and to creaturely elements.”
Here of course, Simons is referring to salvation through the blood of Christ and not through baptism. Baptism is a symbol for Baptist believing Christians. However, this article is on the Community of the Faithful and addresses not only baptism but also the true nature of the church. He goes on to say in the same writing,
“They verily are not the true congregation of Christ who merely boast of His name. But they are the true congregation of Christ who are truly converted, who are born from above of God, who are of a regenerate mind by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the hearing of the divine Word, and have become the children of God, have entered into obedience to Him, and live unblamely in His holy commandments, and according to His holy will all their days, or from the moment of their call.”
There is a deep theological problem with saying that “as Christians we are no longer sinners saved by grace but after being saved we are saints called to holiness”. Yes, we are called to holiness but we do not hold up sainthood because we do not promote a works based faith or give room for boasting in arrogance and pride of what we do. We are saints in that that has been imparted to us in a gracious manner and we do not deserve it but we are depraved inwardly and need to be filled daily with His Spirit. We continue being sinners in our very nature and daily must ask for forgiveness and call on God in prayer. This is not saintness-this is the inner life of the believer. To imply that we are saints and can reach a type of sainthood while on earth is a denial of the Baptist faith which professes our own humility to God and others as a sinner needing a Savior at all times-though “once saved, always saved”. We are made complete in Christ through walking in the Spirit of Christ, in the Light. There is never a point in the life in which we live in this earthly tent that we have achieved a state of perfection in which we are unable to sin. We choose not to sin but we must always be aware of when we are tempted and when we do sin so that we may remain holy vessels to God. If we don’t sin then it is on account of God’s work in us but that does not mean that we will not at a later time fall back into sin. Confessing sin and searching one’s own life is an ongoing thing. We are tempted daily and need to be sharpened daily by God’s Word so that we do not fall into sin. A Christian leader can never claim saintness on account that he be tempted and fall from living a satisfied life in Christ to a state of guilt and shame. Christ has washed away our sin and so we rejoice in Him. We still confess that we are sinners to the day we die no matter how many sermons we preach, no matter how many people come to the faith through the way we live our life, and no matter how God uses us in life. We do not profess to being saints because that is part of the character and nature of the church and the church is still looking in a broken mirror in part and will not see God in full until we step into eternity. God will impart that to his bride by His will in His time. We claim God’s promises but not a saintly character until God’s work is done on earth. Therefore, works is apart of the faith as an overflow of our love for God and obedience to Him but we remain a sinner identifying with the sufferings of Christ that lead to holiness and sanctification. In other books I have on the Baptist faith, none of them talk about the believer or the church being a saint within the doctrine of man. Every time you open up a Catholic book though it always begins to describe the church and the believers as saints and some through their works achieve a sainthood. Baptists who say that we are no longer sinners but that through salvation have attained sainthood have moved away from Baptist thought towards Catholic thought or even Mormonism and a theology of salvation by works rather than grace. In fact, translations in the past decade have inserted the word saint in many places when the word that was used prior was not saint. The translations have continued to evolve from KJV and alternatives and so that would take a while to discuss and one would have to study the Greek and Hebrew text rather than the English language and the ecumenical moves surrounding the writing of the texts. I should write another article to further clarify the modern day move within some translations such as today’s NIV as I have come to observe in my own research and personal life after realizing that a beloved verse sounds different and conveys a slightly different meaning on account that the word used is saint rather than whatever former word was used for meaning-but I will have to re-research that again and find old notes.
However, Baptist broke away from Catholicism and became an official group of believers in 1644. According to Baptists: History, Distinctives, Relationships published in 1996 through the Baptist General Convention of Texas,
“So far as we know, the name “Baptist” was first applied to these immersing Christians about 1644. The name was given by their opponents as a term of ridicule. However, in time the new nickname caught on and was commonly used after about 1750.”
According to the Hiscox Guide for Baptist Churches, under conditions of membership is a section on a regenerate heart. Goodwin says,
“Some suggest that the only requirements for church membership are a good moral character, a reputation of worthiness, or even, a good intention. Worthiness and good character are valuable qualities; God uses worthy and good men and women. But an apparent good moral character may have shallow roots: it may spring from a child’s desire to please parents, a desire to receive community approval, or a discipline that has trained one to do right and avoid wrong as reflexive behavior. But one who desires to be a part of the company of the faithful should be rooted in Christ-of Christ, for Christ, and with Christ. Christian character and moral worthiness within a church can flow from no other source.
The New Testament insists on this point. Both Jesus and his apostles were clear that Christ’s kingdom was not of this world and that those who belong to it were such as are born of the Spirit. The earliest Christians, those of Jewish origin and those of Gentile origins, were “called out” from the broader company of people.. They were not necessarily superior in moral understanding, nor were they always of unblemished past records. Indeed, it was often quite the contrary, as the personal history of no less than the apostle Paul demonstrates. But they were transformed. They were individuals who confessed faith in Christ and who could communicate by their confession how an encounter with Christ had changed them. When the church was empowered at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47), the church did not grow in size and strength by gathering in all who were dazzled by the day’s events or who were in human sympathy with a cause. Instead, it was the “saved” – the transformed- who brought vitality to the church. It was the same in Samaria and in Antioch, at Ephesus and Corinth and Philippi-everywhere the church grew.
For this reason the New Testament often referred to such persons as “saints”. Such references do not highlight the unusual goodness of particular persons but instead point to the whole company of those whose lives had been changed in response to Christ. For example, the church at Rome was addressed “to all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints” (Romans 1:7). In the same letter, Paul defined the nature of those who had been transformed. In their former condition they were “slaves of sin,” but now, they were “set free from sin and have become slaves of God” with the result that the return was to be “sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:20, 22). Even to the members of the cantankerous, conflicted, and confused church at Corinth he wrote: “To those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Peter who like Paul was living evidence of the power of regeneration, gave us that wonderful description and affirmation of the transformed life: “Be yourself built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood…You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2: 5,9).
Churches may be tempted to establish many standards for membership. But no standard should neglect to remember that the church is for God’s purposes, and that its members are to proclaim and effect those purposes, and to that end, God empowers and transforms the true members of his church by the grace of Christ. Those who are identified in the spiritual community of Christ-who make up the churches of Christ-are those who have experienced a call to come out of darkness into light, to abandon evil for good, and to give up allegiance to all but God’s purposes.”
As we see through Goodwin’s description also, saint is set in the context of salvation and transformation rather than works. Saint is more synonymous with "being saved" than it is with "doing good works or being of a good moral or high character". We should never quit using the terminology that we are sinners saved by the grace of God. That will be the true testimony that we hold in heaven when we give joyful testimony to the Lamb of God who washed away our sins. Our robes are washed a new in the blood of Christ and we have been called to live holy lives in Christ Jesus but we were called to live holy lives as a result that we were sinners and we are continually being called to live a holy life. We can not divorce ourselves from this fact and say “we once were sinners and now are not” but instead we should joyously confess “we are sinners in the very nature of our being and we are transformed inwardly while being sinners and we are saved by the grace and mercy of God”. One day we will be made perfect but in the meantime, never live as though it is ok for sin to increase, never discourage confession, and neither give a foothold to pride by boasting in our works which come out of knowing Christ Jesus or are otherwise from the flesh (sarx).
About the Author:
Stephanie Edmonson attained a Texas Baptist theological education through Howard Payne University and a theological education through George W. Truett Theological Seminary.
Comments