’’To the faithful in Christ Jesus.”-Eph. 1: 1.

ONE among them, Wilkinson, has said that Baptists have really only one distinctive principle, and that is, ”Obedience to Christ.” In that obedience, however, they hold and teach principles, and practice and enjoin precepts which distinguish them from their fellow Christians. These things, they claim, were taught and practiced and enjoined by Christ and his inspired apostles. Therefore, they can not separate fidelity to him from loyalty to these principles.

It is sufficient in this discussion to merely state these principles in brief and yet comprehensive form. The Scriptures are the only, the sufficient, the permanent authority in faith and practice. Churches are voluntary associations of persons who give credible evidence that they believe in Christ and therefore have been born again by the Spirit of God. Baptism is the immersion in water in the name of the Trinity of those who personally believe in Christ. The Lord’s Supper is a commemorative and anticipative ordinance to be observed in church capacity until Christ come again by those who have been thus baptized and who walk in newness of life. The individual churches are independent in their internal affairs and are voluntarily cooperative in the dissemination of the gospel. The officers of a church are only two-bishops or elder and deacon.

Loyalty presupposes sovereignty. To be loyal is really to be legal, to live according to law. Jesus Christ is supreme. He is sovereign, unlimited. He speaks with authority because he has, as an author, given Christianity its complete form. He has power to make his will imperative. His words are not counsel, entreaty, persuasion simply; but law-the authoritative and infallible expression of personal will, sustained by appropriate sanctions and penalties.

To be loyal is to be submissive and faithful to one’s sovereign, true in allegiance, constant in devotion, unhesitating in obedience, incorruptible under temptation, trustworthy always and everywhere. Trustworthy! Every loyal subject is inspired and uplifted by the conviction that his sovereign has confidence in him and is depending upon him. In times of revolt and revolution he remains faithful in allegiance even unto death. He is bound to his master, not only by the bond of redemption, but also by the inward tie of mutual trust. He recognizes and submits to authority. He honestly seeks to know and earnestly endeavors to obey and make known the will of his Lord. He means to be loyal in Spirit and in life.

In order to loyalty, obedience, a sovereign must give to his subjects an authoritative expression of his will-accessible, intelligible, practicable. Jesus Christ, our sovereign Lord, has given such expression. Not in human reason, for this has only the high and important office of ascertaining the existence and meaning of revelation. Not in Christian consciousness, for this varies with the intelligence and spirituality of the Christian community. Not in ”the church,” for though Romanism claims inspiration and assumes superiority to the authority of the Bible, it has no promise of exemption from error, and has given too many evidences of its fallibility. Not in individual inspiration, for the Spirit of God is given now, not to make a new revelation, but to help interpret the old, given once for all, complete, without defect or redundance. But in Divine Revelation.

To us this Book is the authoritative expression of God’s will. It has been and now remains inspired. It is accessible-we have or can get it. In order to salvation and service, it is intelligible and practicable-we can understand its principles and obey its precepts. I am addressing myself to people who believe the Bible is the Word of God. With Baptists this Book is the only and the ab- solute authority in religion. It is a matter of no earthly interest to us, as modifying in any way our faith and practice, what ecclesiastical bodies, Romanists, or Protestants, may proclaim. The Word of God; what does it teach ? We will be loyal to it. Jesus claims for every one of his disciples the right, has conferred the privilege, and enjoins the duty of private study of his will, and personal voluntary obedience.

Loyalty includes allegiance in spirit and obedience in life. Allegiance! There is a tie which binds the spirit of the disciple to his master. Obedience! He submits to authority and is anxious to obey his sovereign. Not the spirit only, nor the deed alone. The spirit without doing would be only intention; doing without the spirit would be compulsion; but the spirit going out in doing God’s will is obedience. Our Lord has promised to the loyal soul, certainty of discernment of his divine mission and authority. ”If any man will (wills, is anxious, determined to) do his (God’s) will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God (and therefore true and authoritative), or whether I speak of myself (as a mere man and therefore without authority).”

A loyal soul recognizes the authority of his sovereign in all things upon which he undertakes to teach. Some things may be more important, but none are more authoritative than others. Everything is based upon the will of his sovereign, and is therefore equally authoritative and imperative. The loyal soul does not select commandments to keep, but is determined upon obedience in all things. The thing done may be little, nothing almost, but allegiance to Christ which prompts the doing is great. The editor of The Sunday School Times, who is not a Baptist, writes after this wise and truly:-”If one is not willing to obey God in all things, does he really obey him in anything? If he obeys only in those things which are convenient and pleasant, and refuses obedience in those things which are inconvenient and unpleasant, does he not make his own convenience and taste, rather than the authority of God, the law of his spirit?” If so, in his performances, he does not submit to God, but follows his own unsubdued will. He obeys himself and not his God. Loyalty to Christ requires that his disciples make known his will to the world and bring men to accept and obey it. Under most solemn circumstances he gave” the most important commission that ever was given to men or angels. ”Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations (cause men to know and bring them to accept my will), baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you (training them in universal obedience).” Nothing should hinder us from obeying these things ourselves and from pressing them upon the acceptance of others.

This it is to be loyal to Baptist principles-to submit to the authority of Jesus Christ, to be true and constant in allegiance to him, to seek to know and honestly strive to do his will in all things, to teach mankind to know his will, and train them to do it. Consider now some reasons for this loyalty.

Loyalty to these principles on the part of Baptists is essential to their maintenance and extension. They ought to be perpetuated solely because they are of divine obligation. Jesus Christ and his inspired apostles enjoined them upon the acceptance and observance of his disciples. The fidelity of our Baptist fathers to them has modified the faith and practice of the Christian world. Yet no body of Christians will stand for them unless Baptists do. If they fail in their fidelity then no people will remain loyal, and these fundamental principles will have no advocates. If Baptists are not loyal to them, who will be ?

Each one owes it to himself. Loyalty to these principles-personal voluntary trust in Christ as Savior and supreme devotion to him as Lord-made us Christians. It is essential and sufficient to continue us as such. The conviction of direct personal accountability to God alone, to be guided in one’s decisions by his perception of what is right, and not by what he sees to be expedient and profitable and popular, to refer all decisions to the standard of righteousness and to be controlled by it, gives strength and independence to character, dignity and worth to life. He who seeks to know Christ’s will and to incorporate it in his own spirit and conduct comes into alliance with eternal forces. ”He that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” Loyalty to him brings men under the sway of the highest possible motive. This distinct and dominant principle, like an anchor, holds one amid the storms and prevents drift. It is an uplifting and inspiring experience. Loyalty, not merely to the Christ of history who lived and taught and died among men, but to the present living Christ who has been exalted to a throne of universal and absolute dominion and reigns supreme in great majesty and power and glory; allegiance, a tie to a living and trusted sovereign-these give freshness to faith, ardor to love, inspiration to hope, and vigor to effort. Loyalty brings the soul under one governing principle which coordinates all its desires and plans and forces. It is the current which draws all streams into its channel. It gives clearness to vision, singleness of aim, directness of effort, symmetry of conduct, and unity of life.

We owe it to our independent individual churches. We hold and teach that these are organized and maintained in accordance with the teaching and example of Jesus Christ and his apostles. Loyalty to him has made us Christians and brought us together in associate capacity. This dominant principle is the cause of our continued existence. It is the tie which binds our churches together. They have no central government, or any other human device for preserving unity, and yet no denomination of Christians surpasses them in unity of faith and practice. This is an interesting and surprising phenomenon, How account for it? Loyalty to Christ’s authoritative will as revealed to us in the Bible is the explanation. Downright conformity to this Book is vital to our existence. To us Christianity is not a question of ceremonies, but one of personal voluntary obedience to Christ. Our churches are held together, not by an outward all-embracing bond, like a barrel hoop, but by an inward all pervasive principle, like a tongue and groove -loyalty to Jesus. The attractive and cohesive principle of our brotherhood is individual trust and love of a common Savior, and devotion to one sovereign Lord.

We owe it to our fellow Christians. They need to have emphasis placed and kept upon our distinguishing principles. They are not in our fold, but, being Christians, they belong to Christ’s flock. The principle of conformity to the New Testament exclusively separates us from them in church relations. This is our reason for continued separate existence. We stand for a great New Testament principle, peculiar and distinctive-personal voluntary obedience to Christ only and in all things. All Protestants hold to some so-called ”developed” form of Christianity, some not so much developed as others, but all having added something in faith or government or ordinances to the primitive simplicity. To us Christ’s revealed will is absolute and exclusive authority. Loyalty to him is our clear and persistent call. We crave and pray for unity among his disciples. We rejoice in and would emphasize the spiritual unity which already exists. The only way to substantial and abiding unity is through loyalty to Christ. Only let us know what the real meaning of the Bible is, we will be loyal to it. We could not do otherwise and remain Baptists.

The different bodies of Christ’s disciples influence one another. It is no rash statement to say that no body has so greatly modified the faith and practice of others as have the Baptists, and that along the line of their distinctive principles. Their chief distinguishing principle, that churches should be composed only of those who give evidence of personal trust in Christ and therefore of spiritual birth, has been practically accepted by nearly all Protestant bodies who call themselves evangelical. True, these still practice infant baptism, which is inconsistent with the principle; yet they require that those who have been baptized in irresponsible childhood shall make a profession of personal faith in Christ before they are received into full fellowship. It is practically settled that the act of baptism practiced and enjoined by Christ and his apostles was dipping. No scholar of international reputation would risk his fame in teaching otherwise. All church historians of recognized authority say that in apostolic times baptism was always administered by the dipping in water a believer in Christ. As to the qualifications for the regular observance of the Lord’s Supper, Baptists agree with other denominations, differing from some of them only as to the meaning of some of the generally accepted requirements. Toleration even was a byword and hissing, and religious liberty for all was an idea that apparently had never entered the mind of men until it was advocated, defended and exemplified by Baptists. But now in our country it is a fundamental law, and no one would dare overthrow or modify it. Even the independence of individual churches is winning its way. This principle is humanitarian and popular. Men love freedom. They wish to have some voice in controlling that which they support. In the last few years equal representation in church councils of laymen and clergymen has been demanded and granted. In the settlement of pastors, not only in Congregational, but also in Episcopal and Presbyterian bodies, the wishes of the congregation are ascertained and when possible complied with. Baptists now need to press intelligently, kindly and earnestly the principle of personal obedience to Christ’s ascertained and acknowledged will in all things, and to insist that to exalt the human above the divine will is disloyalty to God. They owe it to the Christian world to be true to their distinctive principles.

We owe it to the unbelieving world. Loyalty to Christ, obedience to his revealed will, is the supreme need of mankind. We want men to accept him. The best way to reach and impress them permanently is to be perfectly true to him ourselves. It seems to us that men would be more likely to accept Christianity when presented in its primitive simplicity, just as the apostles personally offered it unto them. When we meet an honest enquirer we do not lay beside God’s Word any decree, confession, or creed to decide beforehand what we must find in it. Brushing aside all these as authoritative we ask, not what do men say, but what does Christ himself say ? This freedom of investigation, this loyalty to the Great Head of the church is inviting, healthy and helpful. Christ’s ringing and pathetic invitation is: ”Come unto me and rest,” ”Learn of me,” not about me from men, but from me concerning myself and the Father. He is the supreme minister of truth. He speaks to men with all good faith and genuine sympathy.

The burning question of the world’s heart is, Who was Jesus Christ? Not so much now, What did he teach ? But Who was The Great Teacher? Not, what works did he do? But Who was The Great Worker? Conviction of the deity of Jesus Christ will inspire and uplift and consecrate men. Christian faith and hope rest on this solid ground. Nothing can give abiding rest and joyous expectation except personal, intelligent, earnest faith in ”the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This faith comes through supernatural revelation. Flesh and blood-human agency in any form-does not reveal it, but only the Heavenly Father. Intelligent, abiding and hearty allegiance to Christ is our claim and entreaty. We say to our fellow men that we have found the Christ, the Son of God, and are satisfied with him. ”O taste and see that the Lord is precious.” Such testimony is impressive. Such invitation is attractive.

We owe it also to the heathen world. Loyalty to Christ, single-hearted devotion to him, will make us faithful to our trust from him on behalf of mankind. It is his expressed will that disciples be made among all nations, that the gospel be preached to every creature. To this work he committed his apostles and all those who should believe on him through their word. This commission has never been withdrawn. The abiding presence of our Omnipotent Lord is written only on our irrevocable commission to preach the gospel of the kingdom in all the world, to every creature. We must be true to him who gave us this trust. We must be faithful to those on behalf of whom it has been accepted. We must convey that which we hold in trust unto those for whom it was provided and given. We are debtors in Christ’s stead unto all men. We must present payment and press acceptance, though men may not recognize the claim, and even refuse offered payment. We must be true to our ascended and reigning Lord.

Love for our fellow men, fidelity to their eternal interests, should make us eager and quick to meet our obligation. But there is a higher and stronger motive-loyalty to Jesus Christ. He has confidence in us. How thrilling the conviction! He has made us trustees of that kingdom for which he gave his life-blood. How solemn the obligation! Fidelity to this trust inspired and sustained Paul and Barnabas, Carey and Judson, Yates and Graves and countless other witnesses of Christ to the heathen, amid opposition and sore trials, deep corruption and abounding iniquity This motive is essential and sufficient. Invested with universal and absolute dominion, the Omnipotent Christ has promised to be the Omnipresent One. He says: ”Go and I will go with you.” O, we ought to be faithful to him, we can, we must be!

Above all, we owe it to Christ himself. Loyalty to him, personal voluntary obedience, will please and honor our Adorable Redeemer and Sovereign Lord. This is the supreme motive. Obedience is the highest possible function of the human soul. Jesus has brought us under obligation. He was and remains loyal to our eternal interests. In his obedient life and sacrificial death, he was loyal, ordered his course according to law, satisfied its demands in order that its righteousness ”might be fulfilled in us.” In his intercessory life he remains true and faithful and constant. He expects us to be loyal to him. He has called us by his grace into his kingdom. He has even counted some of us as faithful, putting us into the ministry. We have trusted in him for salvation. He has trusted in us for service. He has confidence in us. We must not, we will not, disappoint him. Blessed be his name, though imperfect and weak, we can be loyal, true, perfectly true to him. If we confess him on earth before men, he will confess us in heaven before his Father and the holy angels. If we are true to him here and now, true to his cause, he will say to us: ”Well done good and faithful servant.” We may not be wise and strong, we may not be successful; but every one of us can be ”good and faithful”-true and loyal.

Thou must be true thyself,
If thou the truth wouldst teach;
Thy soul must overflow, if thou
Another’s soul wouldst reach:
It needs the overflow of heart
To give the lips full speech.
Think truly, and thy thoughts
Shall the world’s famine feed;
Speak truly, and every word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed;
Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.

Baptist - Why and Why Not

Edited by J. M. Frost
The Sunday School Board of
The Southern Baptist Convention

1900