![]() Baptist theology expects individuals to believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord before they formally and publicly profess it.īaptist theology expects individuals to believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord before they formally and publicly profess it. What this simply means is that, as a Baptist, I don’t want anyone-a magistrate, a dog catcher, an accountant, or a teacher-to formally and publicly acknowledge Christ’s Lordship until they actually bow the knee in repentant faith. Each of us in leadership at G3 Ministries have regularly gone on public record over many years supporting American patriotism, protected borders, and voting for morality and against debauchery in this country. This does not mean Baptists can’t affirm the God-ordained value of nations that seek the interests of their people and protect their borders. Come visit Pray’s Mill Baptist Church, where Josh Buice’s father-in-law is the chaplain of the local jail, and men from our church regularly preach the gospel there where our church supports and often joins our faithful member Bobby McCreery in his ministry of preaching at abortion mills and college campuses where Josh Buice led the way in Georgia to support a bill abolishing abortion. This does not mean Baptists can’t have a robust public theology, standing for abolition of abortion, the biblical definition of marriage, and the self-evident truth of only two genders. We ignore ethnic differences because Christ is forming one new “holy nation” (1 Pet 2:9) united by faith in Christ, not united ultimately by ethnic pedigree. We preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation without distinction. I’m pretty sure Baptists have sent more missionaries around the world than just about anyone. This does not mean Baptists don’t believe in making disciples of all nations. I will boldly stand with Doug Wilson or any other person who believes the gospel, and proclaim to kings and princes, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled!” And I will pray that they will repent. God wants all people to repent, and magistrates are people, too. This does not mean Baptists can’t admonish magistrates that God requires them to acknowledge him as Lord. If you had a legal team seeking to challenge Obergefell made up of a Roman Catholic, a dispensational Baptist, and an elder in a PCA church, you’d call that a legal team. This does not mean Baptists could not find doctrinal consensus with other Christians or unbelievers for the purpose of supporting and defending justice and freedom in a shared nation. This is why I continue to insist that Baptist theology isn’t compatible with the project. The Christian Nationalism/Mere Christendom project fits within the former framework, but not the latter. ![]() I’ll summarize the key theological difference again: paedobaptists want children of believing parents to formally and publicly acknowledge Christ’s Lordship before they personally and internally acknowledge his Lordship credobaptists do not believe anyone should formally and publicly acknowledge Christ’s Lordship until after they believe it. The Cart Before the HorseĪs I have been stressing since the initial tweet that sparked the recent debate, the bottom line comes down to which comes first: (a) public and formal acknowledgment of Christ’s Lordship or (b) internal acknowledgement of Christ’s Lordship. ![]() If you haven’t read my review or Wilson’s response, I’d encourage you to do so first. ![]() And if the present kerfuffle over Christian Nationalism needs anything right now, it’s more clarity.Īnd so, for the sake of clarity, I’d like to just briefly respond to three points Doug made in his recent response to my review of his book. I’m thankful for some continued discussion related to Doug Wilson’s new book, Mere Christendom, not because we will succeed in changing each other’s minds-our disagreements on a number of fundamental theological presuppositions are simply too deep, but because these kinds of discussions do allow for more clarity. I think there are a few parallels there to this whole Christian Nationalism / Mere Christendom debate. There’s a line in Wodehouse’s Joy in the Morning in which Bertie says to Jeeves, “It was one of those cases where you approve the broad, general principle of an idea but can’t help being in a bit of a twitter at the prospect of putting it into practical effect.” ![]()
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