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by Elder Michael Gowens
Today after more than three decades
of trying to preach the gospel, I want everyone to
know that I deem it a privilege to be identified
with the Primitive Baptists. Sadly, I haven’t always
been able to say that. Like a teenager with an
“identity crisis”, there was once a time that my
attitude toward the people with whom I had been
identified from
childhood was dangerously negative and critical.
Driven largely by personal ambition and an excessive
concern with what people thought of me, I flirted
with the notion of greener pastures. The departure
of a few close friends in the ministry in the late
80’s and early 90’s, however, was a “wake-up call”
to me. I discovered three important facts: (1) That
every group has its share of negatives; (2) That the
positives of the Primitive Baptists far exceed the
negatives; (3) That the positives of the Primitive
Baptists, on an aggregate level, cannot be found
among any other group.
Allow me to enumerate some of the positives. The
following characteristics are (in my estimation) the
non-negotiables—the key emphases that distinguish,
when taken as a whole, the Old Baptists from other
schools of thought. These are the reasons I am a
Primitive Baptist today.
First, I share the Primitive Baptist’s strong
commitment to Biblical simplicity. Unlike most
professing Christians, the Old Baptists believe that
simplicity is preferable to complexity. We want to
minimize distractions—whether in terms of physical
decoration and adornment, or in terms of liturgical
formality and extracurricular programs—from the
central theme of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I
prefer the simple worship-structure of
congregational singing, public prayer, and Biblical
preaching observed by the typical Old Baptist
church. I don’t want to have to sort through a
complex maze of religious activity in order to find
one morsel of bread for my hungry soul. I like the
solid theology and rich experience expressed in the
old hymns and sung acapella by an entire
congregation in four-part-harmony better than the
low-cal, feel-good, musical performances, bands, and
praise-choruses that are becoming increasingly more
commonplace in many Christian circles today. I had
rather hear a Spirit-filled, extemporaneous sermon
that explains the Bible, proclaims the good news
with enthusiasm and passion, stirs my mind on the
most sublime and noble themes, and confronts and
challenges me to greater godliness, even though the
preacher tends to end his sentences with a
preposition or leave a participle dangling, instead
of a refined and polished twenty-minute, four-point,
pre-packaged lesson that is mechanical and
Spiritless. I get that kind of simplicity among the
Old Baptists, and I readily confess that it suits my
case.
Second, I am a Primitive Baptist because I agree
with the way they interpret Scripture. No one makes
sense of the whole Bible like the Primitive
Baptists. No other group interprets Scripture with
greater consistency than these people who understand
the discipline of “rightly dividing the word of
truth.” The habit of distinguishing between sonship
and discipleship—between unconditional and gospel
salvation—between relationship and
fellowship—between union with Christ and communion
with Him—between regeneration and conversion—between
eternity and time—between judicial and parental
judgment—between the objective fact and the
subjective experience—between reality and the
perception of that reality—is the hallmark that
separates Primitive Baptists from virtually every
other school of Biblical interpretation. The
doctrine embraced by sound Primitive Baptists makes
room for both the “shalls” of Isaiah 1:18 and the
“if’s” of Isaiah 1:19, affirming that eternal life
is certain and guaranteed by God, while insisting
that the life of Christian discipleship is
conditioned largely on our obedience and
faithfulness. Old Baptists are virtually alone in
their ability to reconcile apparently contradictory
texts like Ephesians 2:8 (a text that teaches that
salvation is not of ourselves) and Acts 2:40 (a text
that exhorts us to save ourselves from this untoward
generation), because they understand that the first
verse has eternal ramifications and the second does
not. I’ve never heard any preacher make sense of the
Bible better than the average Primitive Baptist who
understands the need to rightly divide the word of
truth. I’ve never heard anyone but an Old Baptist
explain how it could be that Christ died for “many”
(Rom. 8:29; Heb. 9:28) who will ultimately live with
Him in heaven, but that only “few” are traveling the
narrow path of Christian discipleship (Mt. 7:13-14).
I am convinced that the Primitives are correct to
make this distinction between eternal and temporal
salvation and this is one of the main reasons that I
am happy to be a Primitive Baptist today. Take away
this hallmark of Old Baptist doctrine, and the
Primitives are no different theologically than any
other group.
Third, I believe that the Old Baptist’s interest in
cultivating true, apostolic, New Testament churches
is legitimate. Many in the current Christian climate
of ecumenism reject the idea of church identity. But
throughout history, there have always been those who
sought to pursue a pure church, free from
institutionalism. Historians term people with these
convictions “the Free Church Movement”, a category
that includes such relatively obscure groups as the
Donatists, Novatians, Waldenses, Lollards, and more.
Each of these groups maintained an identity
exclusive of Catholicism. Each practiced believer’s
baptism and valued Holy Scripture as the sole rule
of faith and life. Though each had its flaws and
blemishes, they shared one important thing in
common—a commitment to apostolic purity in the face
of ecclesiastical authoritarianism. They are often
dismissed as heretics because only the works of
those who wrote against them have survived. But each
of these groups sought to tailor church worship,
polity, faith and life to the Biblical and apostolic
pattern, and to keep the church free of magisterial
entanglements. They believed that God would continue
to bless His true church and they sought to be
identified as such a church by conforming themselves
to the Biblical pattern. The Primitive Baptists
share this commitment to purity—in doctrine,
practice, and the ethical conduct of their
members—with a view to pleasing the Lord. In a day
when many (if not most) denominations are “measuring
themselves” by each other, competing with each other
for popularity, and governing church life by popular
fads and preferences, the Old Baptist concern to
please God, to have authentic and true churches, and
to be thoroughly Biblical is refreshing to me.
That’s an important reason that I am a Primitive
Baptist today.
Further reasons could be cited, but I trust these
will suffice. Perhaps I could find one or two of
these features among another group of people, but
I’ve never yet found anyone besides the Old Baptists
where all three of these critical components are
present. I know the Old Baptists are not perfect;
but then, neither am I. The faults of those of us
known as Primitive Baptists notwithstanding, I am
more committed today than ever before to be nothing
more than a simple, old-time, Bible-believing,
salvation-by-grace-preaching, Primitive Baptist,
even if others think I’m weird or ignorant or
out-of-touch with the modern world. I concur with
Primitive Baptist convictions regarding believer’s
baptism, close communion, age-integrated worship,
and the need to maintain church discipline. I am
satisfied with the arguments against musical
instruments in the worship service, Sunday Schools,
mission boards, secret societies, and parachurch
auxiliaries. I agree with their views of
congregational church government and the role of
women in the church I am convinced that the Old
Baptists are correct regarding the utility (or
purpose) of the gospel and the conviction that God
does not employ human means or instrumentality in
regeneration. I now know that this is where I fit.
No longer do I struggle with an identity crisis.
These are my people. They sing my song; they
understand my story; they speak my language. I
cannot speak for anyone else, but these are the
reasons I am a Primitive Baptist.
The Old Baptists have been good to me since I united
with them 37 years ago this month. I pray that Lord
would prevent me from ever doing anything to harm
them. I want to spend my days serving the Lord among
them and seeking to promote their spiritual welfare.
By Elder Michael L. Gowens