1.
Who
are the
Primitive Baptists?
2.
Where
did they originate?
3.
What
are their beliefs?
4.
What
are their practices?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRIMITIVE BAPTISTS:
· Primitive
Baptists desire to worship God in spirit and in truth and to live
moral and disciplined lives as taught in the King James Holy Bible.
· Primitive
Baptist doctrine and practice rises from the belief that God is
Sovereign,
· that
He chose a particular people before the foundation of the World
(Election),
· that
Adam and all his posterity fell in sin
(Depravity),
· He
sent His Son (Jesus Christ) to sacrificially die for all that He chose
(Intercession)
and that His
sacrifice was perfect in that He will lose none,
· that
salvation is totally by
Grace
and not by any meritorious works by men,
· that
all the Elect will be Effectually Called
(Born
Again)
by the Holy
Spirit sometime between conception and death,
· and
that He did
Predestinate
His
Elect to be in Heaven with Him at the end of time.
· The
love of God with its joy and peace has comforted and encouraged these
humble believers for two thousand years. Worship services are noted
for their simplicity and sincerity, and consist of a-cappella
singing, praying, preaching, and fellowship.
Families are seated together during the worship services and Bible
Studies.
1. Who are the
Primitive Baptist?
· Local
Baptist Churches,
bound together by doctrine and practice with only Jesus Christ as a higher
authority.
· Doctrine
and practice
is drawn exclusively from the Holy Bible.
· Named
Baptist
for the Biblical method of entering the Church.
· Named
Primitive
(old and original), to emphasize our pursuit of the original (apostolic)
doctrines and practices.
2. Where did
the Primitive Baptist originate?
· Early
in Christian history there were groups of faithful, humble,
sincere believers who
derived their
Church perpetuity exclusively from Jesus Christ, the Apostles,
and their doctrines and practices. Primitive Baptist ancestors never
subscribed to the evolving doctrines and practices of other groups that have
developed over the last 2000 years. Primitive Baptists are not
Protestants! While there are many common points of doctrine, true
Baptist perpetuity existed aside from the reformation and protestant
movements.
· Love
of God, simplicity, humility, and strict adherence to Biblical truth
has always been prominent identifying characteristics.
· The
practice of sincere humility has resulted in
little historic
recognition
of these humble believers,
yet in spite of dreadful periods of persecution, Christ has graciously
preserved this ancient doctrine and practice.
· Much
of what we know of our humble, early ancestry is from what others wrote
about them. For example, it was critically written that they would not
accept baptisms from other orders. They were then labeled
Anabaptists,
a label assigned to various groups at that time, most of these groups were
not associated with our ancestors. We believe that baptism is associated
with particular beliefs; thus, those who are baptized, must be baptized by
ministers holding the same beliefs and practices as the Church to which they
are becoming a member; therefore, the Primitive Baptists of today, as our
ancestors did, rebaptize those coming to us from other orders.
· These
gentle folk were once found throughout North Africa, Europe and West Asia.
Most of our early Church ancestors on this continent came from Great
Britain.
· Over
the centuries our ancestors have been
identified by many
names, such as: Montanists, Novatians, Donatists, Henricians, Arnoldists, Waldenses,
Albigenses, and Lollards. It seems that these names were assigned by
critical historians.
· From
the 1520s till the 1830s:
Baptists.
During the early 1800s some used such names as Old Baptist, Old School
Baptist, and later,
Primitive Baptists.
3. What are the Primitive Baptist
beliefs?
· God
is in all respects,
Sovereign.
(Deu 4:39)
· The
King
James Translation
of the Bible is the true Word of God in the English language. The Old
Testament foreshadowed Christ and His Church. The New Testament prescribes
the doctrines and practices for the Church. (II Tim 3:16)
· The
Church has
continuously
existed
from the Apostolic period
to the present. Perpetuity is through baptisms, ordinations, and Church
establishment by ordained ministers who continue in the doctrines
and practices of Jesus Christ and His Apostles. (Mat 16:18; Titus 1:5)
· The
Church
is readily
identifiable
by comparing doctrine and practice to that of the Bible.
(Rom 14:17; I Cor 4:20)
· God
did, before He made the world,
elect an
innumerable people
to be graciously blessed with eternal life with Him in Heaven. (Eph 1:4)
· God
did set the
eternal destiny
of the elect based solely upon His own sovereign will. None of the elect
will be lost! (John 6:39)
· God,
in view of man's sin,
purified the elect
by the sacrifice of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and Beloved;
thus, making them fit subjects for Eternal Heaven. Man in his depraved
state could not and cannot make himself fit for heaven. (I Pet 2:24)
· All
the Elect will be
born again
by the Holy Spirit
sometime between conception and death. (Joh 6:37)
· Only
those who
confess that Jesus
is the Christ and request baptism
are baptized. Baptism is not a requisite for eternal life, but the answer
of a good conscience. (Acts 8:37)
· In
this life our Lord
blesses us in our
obedience
to Him and
chastises us for
our disobedience
to Him. (Isa 1:19-20)
4. What are Primitive Baptist practices?
· The
New Testament
provides commandments and patterns for
conduct
in the Christian Church.
Old Testament practices were associated with the Levitical Law service and
thus not provided for in the New Testament Church. We hold that: Christ
Himself, through His Apostles, has ordered Church practices. Church
practices are focused upon Christ, not man, and are carried out in
simplicity and humility. Church practices include:
· Preaching
and Teaching
by men
called of God. (Acts 28:31)
· Prayer,
congregational
singing.
The New Testament does not provide for instruments in the Christian Church.
The voice is our personal instrument for glory to God. (I Cor 14:15)
· Communion
and "washing of the saints feet"
with those of our faith and practice. (Joh 13:14)
· Baptism
by immersion of those
who request it and professing that Jesus Christ is the Son Of God. We
believe that we should accept baptism only from Churches and ministers who
hold the same faith and practice as we do. We believe that our members
should not hold joint membership with other religious orders and
organizations, who hold religious beliefs and practices that are contrary to
our understanding of Biblical teachings. (Acts 8:38)
· Ordination
of Minister and Deacons by Church Ministers. (I Tim 4:14)
· Care
of the Church’s needy
is a joy and testimony of our love for Christ. (I John 3:17)
· Moral
obedience
to God’s Word is insisted upon. (Eph 5:3)
· Meeting
for
worship
and
Church
fellowship
regularly. (Heb 10:25)
· Children
of all ages attend worship services with their parents;
families are
not separated during the worship services. (Luk 18:16)
· The
ministry is
called
to service and qualified by God. While secular education is a blessing and
is beneficial to learning; divine calling, personal study, and
instruction by the Pastor-teacher is the Biblical pattern for
ministerial training. (II Tim 2:15)
· Each
minister, in the
true evangelical
spirit,
individually follows the leadership of the Spirit
to go wherever and to whomever the Spirit directs him to preach and teach
the Gospel. Ministers are not directed nor assigned to a field of labor by
the Church or board action. (Joh 14:26)
· The
function of the Gospel Message
is to bring life and immortality to light, not to bring spiritual
life. (II Tim 1:10)
· A
Church prayerfully
seeks and calls a
pastor.
The minister prayerfully seeks the will of God and accepts or rejects the
call based upon the Lord’s leadership. Ministers are not directed or
assigned by any other authority. (Luk 10:2)
· Ministerial
Support
is provided by freely given offerings by those whom God has
prospered. If necessary, the ministry holds secular occupation. (I Cor 9:9)
· Intermediate
Authority
is not
provided for.
While we
enjoy fellowship with Churches of like faith and practice, our Churches and
ministers are individually and immediately under the Lord's authority and
are guided by the Spirit. (Eph 5:23)
· While
the
Church is in this
world, it is not of the world.
Church members are not to be reclusive, but to function in the world as a
light upon a hill being “ready always to give an answer to every man that
asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you”. (Joh 18:36)
It is certain that
over the many tempestuous generations,
the Old Church has
wavered some, but not faltered.
Faithful saints of old have always borne their burdens and have looked to
the Lord for, and received, grace to remain on the "narrow" way,
which leads to life. May God bless us to take our place among our humble,
gentle, and faithful ancestry who have lived by faith and sought for truth.
______________________________________________________________________________________
If you are
interested in our simple doctrine and practice, please come visit us or
contact:
Pastor:
Elder J.C. Stanaland
Church Phone: 850-872-2146
Home Phone:
850-773-9942
Cell: 850-624-7124
E-mail:
jcstanaland1951@yahoo.com
Click here for a map to St. Andrew Primitive Baptist
Church
DIRECTIONS:
The Church is located in the St. Andrews Community of Panama City,
Florida. From the North, take
US-231 or Hwy-77 South to 23rd Street, turn right (West) onto 23rd
Street and continue to Michigan Avenue, turn left (South) onto Michigan
Avenue, Church is a short distance on the left (East). From the West, take
US-98 to Michigan Avenue, turn left (North) onto Michigan Avenue, Church is
a short distance on the right (East).
![[Under Construction]](images/undercon.gif)
