DOCSLIB.ORG

Saved to the Uttermost Rev

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Saved to the Uttermost Rev Saved to the Uttermost Rev. Greg Pulham Minister’s Conference, Wesley Acres September 26, 2013 Prayer for Heart Purity This morning, I would like you to join me in praying this prayer that was of great significance to John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, as we shall see. It is also a prayer that has been prayed by followers of Jesus for at least 1200 years ... Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are opened, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your holy name, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Introduction – all the good news A couple of years ago, Peter, one of the men in our church, a professor at the University in Brantford, invited leaders from about 18 different churches in the city to discuss the organizing of a major event on the university campus. Some of you will have heard of Veritas Forum events – but if not, all you need to know is that it is an on campus forum aimed at university students – the event is designed to bring the most difficult issues and questions of our day in contact with the Truth of Jesus. These forums were having exciting results around North American university campuses and also in Europe. Well, about a dozen pastors show up and almost before Peter has finished describing what a glorious format this is to engage the best and brightest of university minds with the Christian faith, a pastor from a more conservative Baptist congregation puts up his hand and asks: “Will there be a gospel presentation?” It was more than a little deflating. I knew what he meant –would there be an invitation, an altar call? While we were endeavoring to hold to an expanded scope of the meaning of salvation to include God’s amazing promise of abundant life, life that is truly life, more and better life than we could dream or imagine; he was trying to narrow the stakes to a confrontation with sin and repentance. God’s grace doesn’t end simply by changing our standing with God. The Bible speaks everywhere of how God, in Christ, effects a change in us – that we can walk in newness of life. Paul makes this clear when we read past chapter 5 in Romans. This expansive, optimistic understanding of salvation was everywhere emphasized by John Wesley, as we have seen already these past few days: All must be saved 1 All may be saved All may know they are saved All may be saved to the uttermost I want to explore in the next few minutes, the last of these four convictions. Romans 6 In chapter 5, Paul was concerned to describe what the Christ event does for us – justification – a new relationship and new standing with God. As part of that, Paul had written in 5:20 – “where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” As we turn the page from chapter 5 to chapter 6, we are on the edge of our seats wondering where this astonishing triumph of grace over sin in our lives will lead. But what we find is a question, or possibly an objection to Paul’s teaching – I don’t know if it was from someone legitimately trying to understand Paul’s teaching or from someone that was trying to exploit it: 1 ... Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? The query, then, is to this effect: "Are we not able, or even obliged, by the logic of justification, to continue on in sin, now that we are Christians, in order to give divine grace as much opportunity as possible to display itself? The more we sin, the more will God's grace be required to meet the situation, and this will in turn contribute the more to his glory." Clearly, the questioner has failed to grasp that God can do more with our sin that simply forgive us the guilt of it. God doesn’t forgive just for the sake of forgiving. God doesn’t forgive just to demonstrate how loving he is. Isn’t that what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace”? Rather, God sends his Son to reconcile the world to him for the purpose of glorifying his name through our lives. He reconciles us to him as a first movement in his plan to make his dream come true ‐ to make all things new. When I look at this question, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”, I think of something I read many years ago: "The Lord does not love us for our good parts and pass over the rest. He died for the bad parts and will not rest until they are put right. We must stop thinking of God as infinitely indulgent. We must begin to grapple with the scary and exhilarating truth that he is infinitely holy, and that he wants the same for us." (Frederica Mathewes‐Green) Whereas in chapter 5, Paul describes what the Christ event does for us – that is, justification – a new relationship and new standing with God; in chapter 6 Paul turns to the transformation that occurs in us – that is, sanctification. 2 The power of God's work in Jesus Christ does not just change our relationship with God. If we stop at chapter 5 or think that is all Paul says, we miss the amazing results of the work God does through faith in our lives. Yes, our relationship with God is changed by what God promises to do for us in Jesus Christ. But we ourselves are also changed – profoundly. Starting Point – 6:11 In our time this morning, we can only begin to probe the depth of Paul’s thinking in chapter 6 and following. Let me try to get us into his thinking by focusing on v.6:11. 11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. This verse is a way into what Paul is communicating here and on into chapters 7 and 8. And here, I think, is the starting point, a foundation upon which our thinking about the nature and extent of this change in us can be built. COUNTING Paul declares that we must `count’ – alternate translations include “reckon” (KJV) and “consider yourselves” (NLT). The word is most commonly used in bookkeeping, and thus the image I think we are to draw is to “calculate” or to “take accounts.” When this counting or account‐taking is done, the results might be exactly as expected, or they may be totally unexpected (and shockingly so.) But if done with due diligence, the accounting will disclose the true state of affairs. Think for a moment about the Sunday offering (for those who gather on Sundays). Until you add up the money in the offering plates, you won’t have an accurate ‘count’ of the amount of the morning’ offerings. The counting makes you aware of the reality of the offering amount (good or bad). Paul is telling those who have embraced his teaching in chapter 5 and put their trust in Jesus to take the count of what it is they have because of that new relationship / standing. He certainly doesn’t want them to guess or underestimate what has happened to them. He wants them to be aware of their true spiritual condition. He wants them to embrace the truth of who they are so they can be who they are. And what is that? What is it that they need to take account of? That they are new people – dead to sin and alive to Christ. Paul has been at pains to describe this very identity in the preceding verses. DEAD TO SIN In saying, "we died to sin" (v. 2), Paul is not suggesting that temptation will no longer lurk. Nor is he suggesting the impossibility of committing sins – wrongful acts. What he is suggesting, I believe is the 3 impossibility of continuing in a life dominated by sinfulness – our inner twistedness or disposition toward sin. His explanation follows: 3 ... don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. We could quickly get into quite a quagmire if we try to use Paul’s use of baptism here as some kind of sacramental instructions. I’ll leave that to you and to another time. Let us instead simply think of what Paul is saying in more relational – even spiritual – terms. The metaphor of baptism is used elsewhere in scripture in a relational sense. For example, we are told that the Israelites were baptized “into Moses” by reason of the crossing of the Red Sea. Obviously, the meaning of baptized there had nothing to do with them all getting wet. What was meant was they recognized and trusted and depended upon Moses’ leadership. They came into a special relationship – really a spiritual relationship – with him. Paul is saying that believers too are joined to Christ in a spiritual union – a union in death, burial, and resurrection. Paul is saying that however and whenever they may have been baptized, there resulted or was represented a spiritual union with Chris, a union that resulted in a new life. The nature of this spiritual union – dying and being buried – is such that it requires an abandonment of everything associated with the former self and a willingness to allow God to transform a person into something new – as in resurrection.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Becoming Lutheran: Exploring the Journey of American Evangelicals Into Confessional Lutheran Thought
    Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project Concordia Seminary Scholarship 9-23-2013 Becoming Lutheran: Exploring the Journey of American Evangelicals into Confessional Lutheran Thought Matthew Richard Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin Part of the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Richard, Matthew, "Becoming Lutheran: Exploring the Journey of American Evangelicals into Confessional Lutheran Thought" (2013). Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project. 138. https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin/138 This Major Applied Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia Seminary Scholarship at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CONCORDIA SEMINARY SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI BECOMING LUTHERAN: EXPLORING THE JOURNEY OF AMERICAN EVANGELICALS INTO CONFESSIONAL LUTHERAN THOUGHT A MAJOR APPLIED PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY STUDIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY REV. MATTHEW R. RICHARD SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI BECOMING LUTHERAN: EXPLORING THE JOURNEY OF AMERICAN EVANGELICALS INTO CONFESSIONAL LUTHERAN THOUGHT REV. MATTHEW R. RICHARD SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 Concordia Seminary Saint Louis, Missouri Advisor DR. ROBERT
    [Show full text]
  • The Altar Call Method of Evangelism
    THE REFORMED FAITH AND THE ALTAR CALL METHOD OF EVANGELISM The purpose of this tract can be briefly stated: it is to examine the altar-call method in the light of the Biblical system of truth. We say ʻBiblical system of truthʼ be cause it is our conviction that his is what Calvinism really is. “If anyone should ask me what I mean by a Calvinist,” wrote Charles H. Spurgeon over a century ago, “I should reply, ʻHe is one who says, Salvation is of the Lord.ʼ I cannot find in Scripture any other doctrine than this. This is the essence of the Bible. ʻHe only is my rock and my salvation.ʼ Tell me anything contrary to this truth, and it will be heresy; tell me a heresy, and I shall find its essence here— that it was departed from this great, this fundamental, this rock-like truth: ʻGod is my rock and my salvation.ʼ” Anyone who understands the true genius of Calvinism will therefore realize that there is nothing against which it “sets its face with more firmness than every form and degree of auto-soterism.” The simple assertion that man—sinful and fallen man—can do at least some thing to save him self, or to help save himself, or at least prepare himself to be saved, is utterly anathema to the Calvinist. And here in lies the reason for a careful evaluation of the modern altar-call method of evangelism. For, as Spurgeon again has ex pressed it, “ʻ…since we are nothing with out the Holy Spirit, we must avoid in our work any thing which is not of Him.
    [Show full text]
  • “Altar-Call Evangelism”
    “Altar-Call Evangelism” Pastor Kurt M. Smith Altar-Call Evangelism: Is it biblical? “What mean these dispatches from the battle-field? ‘Last night, fourteen souls were under conviction, fifteen were justified, and eight received full sanctification.’ I am weary of this public bragging, this counting of unhatched chickens, this exhibition of doubtful spoils. Lay aside such numberings of the people, such idle pretense of certifying in half a minute that which will need the testing of a lifetime.” This lamentation combined with sage counsel was given over a hundred years ago by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). It was communicated in a public lecture to his ministerial students and then published in his classic book, The Soul Winner. Spurgeon’s grief was over a style of evangelism that was all the rage in his day because of how quickly so-called results could be counted, secured and then reported publicly as a mighty “gospel” success. We know this kind of evangelism today as “altar-call” evangelism. During Spurgeon’s generation this type of evangelism was very novel, but in our day (a hundred plus years later) – it’s the norm. “But not only is it an accepted practice for churches in the 21st century, it is revered as the only sure and sacred means of acquiring conversions to Christ. Or, as one church-goer put it to me several years ago: “Without the altar-call no one will be saved.” In fact, along this same line of thinking, there is even a local pastor I know, who recently said: “Without the altar-call no church will grow in the South Georgia.” For me personally, over the past fourteen years, I have greatly questioned the legitimacy and even integrity of altar-call evangelism.
    [Show full text]
  • The Future of Southern Baptists As Evangelicals
    The Future of Southern Baptists as Evangelicals by Steve W. Lemke Provost, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for the Maintaining Baptist Distinctives Conference Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary April 2005 Introduction What is the future of Southern Baptists as evangelical Christians? In order to address adequately my assigned topic, I must attempt to answer two questions. First, do Southern Baptists have a future? And second, what future do Southern Baptists have as evangelicals? However, because Southern Baptists have been increasingly engaged in the evangelical world, these two questions are bound inextricably together. I believe that the major issues that will help shape the future of the Southern Baptist Convention arise in large measure from our interface with other evangelical Christian groups over the past few decades. In this presentation, I’ll be suggesting six issues that I believe will play a large role in the future shape of the Southern Baptist Convention. After I describe why I think these issues are so important to the future of Southern Baptist life, I’ll make a prediction or warning about how I’m guessing Southern Baptists will address these issues in the next couple of decades unless something changes dramatically. Let me begin with a few caveats. First, my purpose: I offer this talk as neither a sermon nor as a typical research paper, but my purpose is primarily to spur discussion and dialogue as we seek to address these issues together. Perhaps these ruminations will spark or provoke a helpful dialogue afterward. Second, the spirit with I which present this paper: I am writing from an unapologetically Southern Baptist perspective.
    [Show full text]
  • Neither Calvinists Nor Arminians but Baptists
    Neither Calvinists nor Arminians but Baptists The Center for Theological Research September 2010 White Paper 36 Published by the Center for Theological Research at www.BaptistTheology.org © 2010 BaptistTheology.org Permissions: The purpose of this material is to serve the churches. Please feel free to distribute as widely as possible. We ask that you maintain the integrity of the document and the author’s wording by not making any alterations. For special requests please contact the editorial board for the White Papers for approval at [email protected]. Malcolm B. Yarnell III, Director The Center for Theological Research Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Fort Worth, Texas Neither Calvinists nor Arminians but Baptists Are You Calvinists or Arminians? There is a question that many professional theologians, pastors and students, as well as theologically-minded Christians in the local churches, are being asked these days: Are you Calvinists or Arminians? More specifically, in our case, are the authors who have contributed to Whosoever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism to be identified with Calvinists or Arminians? Because that book is specifically intended to address the type of Calvinism that measures theology according to the five heads of doctrine promulgated in the canons of the Synod of Dort, the idea may arise that the authors themselves are, therefore, Arminian. This idea has been clearly promoted by Roger E. Olson, an articulate advocate of Arminianism, author of a significant text on Arminian theology, a self-proclaimed “classical Arminian,” and a recent reviewer of Whosoever Will. In an academic book review at www.BaptistTheology.org and on his personal blog, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Errors of the Invitation System ______By Darryl M
    Errors of the Invitation System _____________________________________________________________________________ by Darryl M. Erkel Should We Lead People to Repeat A "Sinner’s Prayer"? "The hallmark of an authentic evangelicalism is not the uncritical repetition of old traditions, but the willingness to submit every tradition, however ancient, to fresh Biblical scrutiny and, if necessary, reform" (John Stott) I. Introduction Evangelicals are often quick to criticize the Roman Catholic Church of error because it perpetuates teachings and traditions which run counter to the Word of God (and rightfully so). In doing this, however, we have failed to realize that our churches have, likewise, inherited traditions which contradict Scripture. One of the more popular traditions that evangelicals are fond of is the modern invitation system. It is the practice of calling people forward at the end of a church meeting or Gospel rally to accept Jesus ("altar call") through a presubscribed prayer ("sinner’s prayer"). After repeating the prayer given by the evangelist or Christian worker, the person is usually assured that they are now born- again. They are told that God has accepted them and, when any doubt of their salvation arises, to resist the Devil by claiming the promises of Scripture and to remember their public pledge. This is, essentially, how it is practiced in many churches, although there might be slight modifications depending upon the evangelist who employs it. Its widespread popularity is evidenced in that every prominent evangelist of the 19th and 20th centuries has used it, including such well-known men as D.L. Moody (1837-1899), Billy Sunday (1862-1935), Luis Palau (1934 --), and Billy Graham (1918 --).
    [Show full text]
  • A Trinitarian Revisioning of the Wesleyan Doctrine of Christian Perfection
    Aldersgate Papers, Vol.2 September 2001 A TRINITARIAN REVISIONING OF THE WESLEYAN DOCTRINE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION by Glen O'Brien I bind unto myself the name, The strong name of the Trinity By invocation of the same, The Three in One and One in Three - St. Patrick's Breastplate The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit alike give sanctification, and life, and light, and comfort, and all similar graces. And let no one attribute the power of sanctification in an especial sense to the Spirit [alone]... - St. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Holy Trinity Come, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, One God in Persons Three! Bring back the heavenly blessing, lost By all mankind, and me. - Charles Wesley, Hymns on the Trinity Aldersgate Papers, Vol. 2 Introduction It is the purpose of this paper to suggest a revision of the Wesleyan doctrine of sanctification along trinitarian lines. Recent Wesleyan thought has tended to polarize toward one or other of two positions - placing a stress either on the Christological or on the Pneumatological aspects of sanctifying grace. In part this has been a historical question. Attempts have been made to establish the position of John Wesley in regard to the use of "pentecostal" and "pneumatological" language in reference to entire sanctification.1 But it has also involved the very real task of keeping the doctrine alive among the Wesleyan people, saving it from the fate of becoming a mere historical curiosity. An attempt may be made to demonstrate the basic compatibility of these competing historical views when applied to the task of constructive theology, though this is not the task I wish to attempt here.
    [Show full text]
  • 26 FT 2005 Layton with Slide
    PARKWAY COMMUNITY CHURCH ALTAR CALLS by Tom Leary fter attending Parkway Community Church for the first time, one may ask “Why was there no Altar Call? Why was there no ‘invitation’ after the preacher Afinished the sermon?” After all, most believers grew up in and/or came to salvation in a church that had an “altar call” every Sunday. The “invitation” is today a central part of a majority of Protestant church services across the nation. In fact, in the churches that employ such a technique, …walking the aisle in response to the ‘altar call’ (is) so closely identified with conversion that coming to Christ and coming to the front (are) treated as one and the same thing. Behind the practice (lies) the fallacy that saving faith is of the same nature as a physical decision, and that if only sinners will answer the evangelist’s invitation then grace will secure their rebirth.1 Anyone that has attended a Billy Graham Crusade has seen people being called to the front for salvation after Dr. Graham has concluded his message. Not only that, but experience has shown that when serving as a “counselor” at a Graham Crusade, the counselors are instructed to begin moving down toward the stage as soon as the invitation is given. The stated purpose: to encourage the unsaved to begin moving down in response to the call to come down, in response to the plea: “Don’t let distance keep you from Christ. Your friends will wait for you. Christ went to the Cross because he loved you.
    [Show full text]
  • Calvinism a Review
    Calvinism A Review Dr. David L. Allen The Center for Theological Research November 2008 White Paper 25 Published by the Center for Theological Research at www.BaptistTheology.org © 2008 David L. Allen Permissions: The purpose of this material is to serve the churches. Please feel free to distribute as widely as possible. We ask that you maintain the integrity of the document and the author’s wording by not making any alterations. For special requests please contact the editorial board for the White Papers for approval at [email protected]. Malcolm B. Yarnell III, Director The Center for Theological Research Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Fort Worth, Texas Calvinism: A Review A White Paper from the CTR Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialogue. By Ray Clendenen and Brad Waggoner, eds. Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2008. 303 pages. Softcover, $19.99. It was an idea whose time had come: in the fall of 2007, a bi-partisan conference aptly named “Building Bridges” brought together ten scholars, including one college president, eight professors and one pastor, to present papers on the subject of Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention. These ten were paired in groups of two to address the following five subjects from a Calvinistic and non-Calvinistic perspective: the Historical Record, General Evaluation (of Calvinism in the SBC), the Atonement, Theological Stereotypes, and Election and Calling. The papers have now been collected and made available in Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialogue. The editors have included three additional chapters which provide helpful perspective to the subject. The volume is introduced by LifeWay’s research division director Ed Stetzer’s presentation and analysis of data from two recent surveys on the influence of Calvinism among pastors and staff members in SBC churches.
    [Show full text]
  • Methodist Theology the Key Emphasis of Wesley's Theology Relates to How
    Methodist Theology The key emphasis of Wesley's theology relates to how Divine grace operates within the individual. Wesley defined the Way of Salvation as the operation of grace in at least three parts: Prevenient Grace, Justifying Grace, and Sanctifying Grace. Prevenient grace, or the grace that "goes before" us, is given to all people generally but particularly to those chosen of God. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48) It is that power which enables us to love and motivates us to seek a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This grace is the present work of God to turn us from our sin-corrupted human will to the loving will of the Father. In this work, God desires that we might sense both our sinfulness before God and God’s offer of salvation. Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. (Romans 7:7b) Prevenient grace allows those tainted by sin to nevertheless make a truly free choice to accept or reject God's salvation in Christ. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) Justifying Grace or Accepting Grace is that grace, offered by God to all people, that we receive by faith and trust in Christ, through which God pardons the believer of sin.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright © 2014 William Edgar Allen All Rights Reserved. the Southern
    Copyright © 2014 William Edgar Allen All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation, or instruction. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAITH FORMATION EXPERIENCES AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY __________________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________________ by William Edgar Allen May 2014 APPROVAL SHEET THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAITH FORMATION EXPERIENCES AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY William Edgar Allen Read and Approved by: __________________________________________ Brian C. Richardson (Chair) __________________________________________ Hal K. Pettegrew __________________________________________ Timothy K. Beougher Date ______________________________ To Cheryl My wife, helpmate, and friend TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . vii LIST OF TABLES . viii LIST OF FIGURES . xi PREFACE . xii Chapter 1. RESEARCH CONCERN . 1 Introduction to the Research Problem . 2 Theoretical Foundation . 6 Purpose Statement . 7 Research Questions . 7 Research Delimitations . 8 Terminology . 9 Procedural Overview . 11 Research Assumptions . 13 2. PRECEDENT LITERATURE . 14 Biblical-Theological Foundations of Anthropology . 15 Social Science Theories . 21 Human Freedom and Divine Sovereignty . 28 Election—Biblical and Literature Support . 32 Conversion . 34 Sanctification—Biblical and Literature Support . 39 iv Chapter Page History of Development and Use of the Altar Call . 41 Arguments in Favor of the Altar Call . 47 Arguments against the Altar Call . 52 Scriptural Considerations on Calls for a Decision . 56 Prior Studies Related to Altar Call Efficacy . 67 Relevance of Spiritual Maturity Scales . 70 Research Purpose .
    [Show full text]
  • Southern Baptists & Calvinism
    Section 1 Southern Baptists & Calvinism “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 9 What is a Baptist? Nine Marks that separate Baptists from Presbyterians Dr. Steve W. Lemke Provost & Professor of Philosophy New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Introduction Baptists and Presbyterians are both products of the Protestant Reformation. They do not share precisely the same heritage, however, since Presbyterians arose from the Magisterial Reformation and Baptists arose from the Radical Reformation. Baptists arose in a separatist tradition, and suffered horrible persecution at the hands of Calvinist authorities. The primary reason that Baptists migrated to America, and that Roger Williams migrated from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to Rhode Island, was to avoid persecution (primarily from the hands of Calvinist authorities). Baptists who suffered bitter persecution and even laid down their lives at the hands of Presbyterians would be stunned that anyone could even ask the question of whether there is any significant difference between Baptists and Presbyterians. At the same time, most early Baptists did affirm some key Calvinistic beliefs, particularly in the area of soteriology. Not all Baptists affirmed these beliefs (especially General Baptists and Free Will Baptists), but Particular Baptists and Hard Shell Baptists did affirm many points of a Calvinistic soteriology. So although the Baptist and Presbyterian traditions arose out from separate and independent roots, they became intertwined to some degree through the years. Baptists reflect a diversity of positions with regard to Calvinism. Throughout its history, the Southern Baptist Convention has swung periodically toward and away from Calvinism.
    [Show full text]