General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches is a national and an international network of independent churches. This network of independent churches share the same common practices which include fellowship, witness, convictions and ministry. They consider themselves true Scriptural fundamental in their faith and the Bible is the authority in the lives of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. They believe in the saved of the church membership, public immersion, and the priesthood of the believer. They consider themselves a cooperative fellowship and not a fellowship that forces people to do things against their will. They believe they have a common task and they have a willingness to work together at this common task. Each local church is the sole judge as to the measure of their common task. Each church is free to say how much they are willing to help in any common task.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches has a congregational government. They have offices held in their churches that include the pastors and deacons. Each of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches is self-governed and they believe in the separation of church and state. The churches are the central theme of the organization.
History
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches came to be formed from twenty two Baptist churches of the American Baptist Convention who left that convention in May 1932. The protest was against the modernist tendencies and teachings in the American Baptist Convention and the denial of the historic Baptist principle of the independence and self-governing of the local congregation, the inequality of representation in the assemblies of the convention, the control of missionary work by convention assessment and budget, and the whole convention principle in general. Anyone who came into the American Baptist Convention was required to withdraw all fellowship and cooperation from any convention or group which permitted modernism within its church. They did not permit dual membership or dual fellowship.
Belief
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe in the authority and competence of the Holy Bible. They believe it consists of the books of the Old and the New Testaments as they were originally written. They believe the Holy Bible was verbally inspired and was written by men controlled by the Holy Spirit. They believe the Holy Bible is infallible, inerrant in all matters which it speaks, and is the true center of the Christian unity. They believe it is the standard in which all human beings should conduct their lives. They believe the Holy Bible is their creed for life.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe there is only one living and true God, an infinite Spirit, the Maker and supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth. They believe He is glorious in holiness. They believe in the unity of the God head in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They believe they are equal in every divine perfection and work together in doing great work of redemption.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit a miraculous manner and that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. They believe this can never happen again. They believe Jesus was the Son of God, and God, as well as the Son.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe salvation of sinners is divinely initiated through grace because of the offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. They believe Jesus was appointed by the Father. They believe Jesus voluntarily took human nature, and was without sin. They believe Jesus honored the divine law by His personal obedience to the Father, and this qualifies Jesus to be the Savior. They believe it was by the shedding of His blood in His death He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin. They believe the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the place of the sinner. They believe it was Christ the Lord who bears the sins in His own body on the tree. They believe Jesus Christ, having been raised from the dead, is now enthroned in Heaven.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe that faith in Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. They believe repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God that is prompted by the Holy Spirit and it is an integral part of saving faith.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ and His ascension into Heaven. They believe Jesus Christ is now sitting at the right hand of the Father and is the High Priest that intercedes for all believers.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe in order to be saved, sinners must be born again. They believe the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus. They believe this re-birth is instantaneous, rather than a process. They believe a new birth is one dead in trespasses and in sins that is made partakers of the divine nature and then receives eternal life. They believe new birth is a free gift from God, which the new creation is brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with Divine Truth. They believe the new birth appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith and the newness of life.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe justification is the judicial act of God. They believe God declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Jesus solely through faith in the Redeemer’s shed blood.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe sanctification is the divine setting a part of the believers on God accomplished in an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, is established for the believer in a place of holiness at the moment the believer trusts the Savior. They believe it is a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to their lives. They believe the final accomplishment of sanctification will happen at the return of Jesus. The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believes all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe the Holy Spirit is a Divine person equal with God the Father, and God the Son and of the same nature and that He was involved in the creation. They believe the Holy Spirit has relation to the unbelieving world and that He restrains the evil one until the purpose of God is fulfilled. They believe the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment and bears witness to the truth of the gospel in both preaching and in testimony. They believe the Holy Spirit is the Agent in the new birth, the Holy Spirit seals, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer. The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believes the gifts of the Holy Spirit have fulfilled their purpose and are not applicable to the work of the Holy Spirit today.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believes in the Biblical account of the creation and of the physical universe, angels, and man. They believe the Biblical account of creation is the act of God without evolutionary process. They believe man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life. They believe men are descended from Adam and Eve who was the first parents of the entire human race.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe man was created in the image and the likeness of God in innocence. They believe man was created under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression Adam fell from his sinless state and sinned. They believe all men are partakers of the fall of Adam and are condemned without defense or excuse.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe in the reality and the personality of satan, the devil. They believe he was created by God as an angel. They believe because of his pride and rebellion, satan, the devil, became the enemy of God and became the unholy god of this age. They believe satan, the devil is the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believes that every local church is an organized congregation of immersed believers. They believe they are partnered together by the covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel. They observe the ordinances of Jesus Christ. They believe their officers should be pastors, and deacons, and that their qualification and duties can be found in the Scriptures. They believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men. They believe every local church has the right to self-government without concentrating on the interference of any organization, group or member. They believe Christ through the Holy Spirit is the head of the church.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe Christian baptism is accomplished by the single immersion of a believer in water. They believe it is the identification with the crucified, buried and risen Savior that causes them to die to sin and arise to a new life. They believe baptism should be performed in the local churches as a privilege of church membership.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of the death of Jesus Christ until He comes and is a time of self-examination. They believe full immersion Baptism should come first and then the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper and only the fully immersed believers should partake in the Lord’s Supper.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe in the sovereign selection of Israel as the eternal covenant people of God. They believe Israel is isolated from God because of their disobedience and their rejection of Christ. They believe Israel will be gathered in the Holy Land after the completion of the Church. They believe Israel will be saved as a nation at the Second Advent of Christ.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ that could happen at any moment and that the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies and never taste death. They believe that all shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the seven years of the Tribulation. They believe the Tribulation will follow the Rapture of the Church. They believe the climax of prophesy will be when Jesus Christ comes in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and establish the millennial kingdom.
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “General Association of Regular Baptist Churches:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2006.<https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2709,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006, January) “General Association of Regular Baptist Churches:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2709,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006) “General Association of Regular Baptist Churches:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2709, (accessed).
