Why call ourselves a Baptist Reformed Church?

Baptist Reformed Church is a fellowship of born-again followers of the Lord Jesus Christ who have been baptised and show their faith by Biblical Christian living. So, why call ourselves a Baptist Reformed Church?

  • Church - The people who worship the true God gathered in a particular location.
The building in the picture is not the church. The church is the people. Baptist Reformed Church is the people who meet in that building.
Nor are the large institutions with their administrative structures truly the church. The Bible uses the word 'church' in two ways:
  1. to describe the universal church made up of all believers everywhere from all of time, and
  2. to mean the local church made up of believers who meet in a particular locality.
The large multi-layered organisations don't appear to be consistent with the Bible.
We are also convinced that the people of the church have to be committed to living in a way that is faithful to the Bible.

  • Reformed - We hold to the principles reiterated in the protestant reformation - solely by Christ, solely by scripture, solely by grace, solely by faith and solely for God's glory. The whole of God's Word is to be preached and practised. 
We look back to the protestant reformation as a time of re-establishing the fundamental truths taught in the Bible.
By identifying ourselves as Reformed we identify with those who believe and teach that:
  1. the Bible and only the Bible as the final authority for what we are to believe, preach and practice
  2. God is sovereign, He is Lord and reigns over the whole of history and the whole universe
  3. God is the irresistible initiator of salvation (spelt out more in the five points of Calvinism)
  4. every aspect of our lives is to be faithful to the Bible

  • Baptist - Only born-again believers who have been baptised can be members of a local church.
There are six key elements that distinguish us as Baptists. We are convinced that the Bible teaches that:
  1. The Bible is the supreme authority
  2. The church should only be made up of peole who have been born again.
  3. Only persons who are old enough to understand and give a credible account of their own repentance and faith should be baptised and join the church.
  4. Baptism should be by immersion. Neither sprinkling nor pouring adequately fulfill the Biblical instructions.
  5. Christ is the only ruler over the church and over the individual.
  6. All believers can approach God directly and they can all declare God's word (they don't need a human priest).
                                                                      Adapted from Erroll Hulse, An introduction to the Baptists , Cary, 1973.