Word of God being foundational
The importance of Scripture being the supreme authority is paramount in my belief. In the Baptist churches I’ve attended, everything goes through Scripture. That’s our foundation. We are taught to learn the Bible and to search the Scriptures to know if what is being preached is the truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
The Bible teaches the Word was God-breathed through the writers and was inspired by God. I’m so thankful God has given us the INCORRUPTABLE Word. No man can change or destroy it. God states in Psalms 12:6–7:The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. Jesus backs this up in Matthew, Mark, and Luke:
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
God’s Word is eternal. Infallible. Inerrant. It has to be this way—if it were up to men and their egotistical, pride-driven motivations, the Book would have been torn into shreds a long time ago. Sixteen hundred years, and we still have the complete Scriptures intact and preserved.
Not even Satan himself can destroy it, but he can try and beguile you and distort the truth. In fact, that’s the first thing he does when he hits the scene in Genesis 3:1:
And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Here, he is trying to insert doubt into Eve’s mind—as if to say, Did God really say that? Are you sure? Then he progresses on to imply that God is lying and that she wouldn’t die if she ate, and even better, she would become a god.
Satan hates the Word. He hates truth. He can’t manipulate the truth, so he tricks people into believing the Bible isn’t what God really said and, even worse, that God is lying. If we look out into the world today, we can see that this old trick still works in today’s culture—especially in America. Most want to be their own gods, leaning on their own understanding and not having to listen to anyone, including Almighty God.
I believe for English-speaking people the King James Version is the one to read. There are many other translations, and in my opinion, that’s not an accident or “just how it turned out.” I believe Satan wants to confuse us and distort God’s Word. Some translations completely leave out crucial verses and change words in such a way that leads people astray. Some religions deny Christ’s divinity and created their own Bible to back them up with changed verses. Others own copyrights to print more and more updated versions to make money. Sorry, but God’s words are final and preserved. They don’t need updating or changing. We must not be deceived. The KJV is tried and tested, standing true for over 400 years.
Relationship with Christ
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
We believe salvation comes from belief in Christ—Him dying for humanity’s sins, rising from the dead under His own power—and this propitiation reconciles you to God. Once an unbeliever gets saved, they enter into a relationship with God. This, to me, is the best thing that can happen to a person. Once you’re able to fellowship with God, everything changes.
Praying to the Father, conducting yourself as Christ, and being led by the Spirit will completely transform your life in ways you can’t imagine.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Once we are converted, our relationship becomes one of repentance and sanctification through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It’s the most meaningful progressive journey you can find on earth. Understanding who God is and the perfect, sinless nature of Jesus shines a spotlight on our filthy, broken selves. The more we compare our limited selves to God, the more we stand in awe and marvel at God’s work and capabilities.
Jesus’s perfection and life, penned in the Gospels, put us in a dim light morally. We can never equal His stature as a sinless man (while also being God), but God calls us to try, and He will push us along in purifying ourselves to become holy.
Christians don’t have any less suffering than non-believers, but we have a peace that only we can have through the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
When we don’t understand why suffering has come upon us, we can retreat under the “wings” of God’s peace and protection.
Psalms 17:8
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.
I felt like my life was going to end after the doctors told me I needed surgery and wouldn’t be able to return to the career I had so dramatically invested in over the last decade. But I was able to pray for peace and trust in the LORD, and I was comforted. I knew God had a plan and was allowing this to happen for reasons outside my understanding. I had peace. I trusted Him to provide for me.
After I recovered, a job fell into my lap that paid me much more than I was making before the surgery. God had it all worked out, and I knew I could live in confidence and peace.
John 14:16
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.
The scope of a relationship with Christ is far more than what I’m putting in this blog post, but I really wanted to touch on the peace aspect of it. A good Baptist church will bring you closer to God and deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ. We should continually strive to seek God and that relationship.
Believer’s Baptism
Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 8:26–38
And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
This story in Acts gives us a great example of baptism. This man didn’t believe in Jesus but was seeking and wanted understanding. He needed a man of God to preach the Gospel to him. The eunuch was reading Isaiah 53:7 but didn’t understand who the prophet was prophesying about. Isaiah 53 is a prophecy specifically about Jesus being the sacrifice for mankind’s sin and His crucifixion.
Once the eunuch was given the Gospel, he had the opportunity to believe on the name of Jesus and was saved only after he confessed that he believed Jesus Christ was the Son of God. Then he was able to be baptized.
Baptism is a step of obedience, picturing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t wash away your sins, and baptism doesn’t provide salvation. It’s a public display of faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
When I was baptized in front of my family and friends, I was showing them I believed in Jesus and was making a confession to God in front of them that the old man was dead and buried and a new creature had emerged. I was dead in Christ and made new, and I wanted to show the world that.
Lastly, we believe in full immersion—not sprinkling of water. The burial is us being fully submerged in water, and coming up shows the resurrection. There are different churches that believe in sprinkling babies and other traditions, but you can’t find biblical passages to back those practices up.
Man's walk with Jesus Christ 
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