Baptist Theology and Distinctive Doctrines — Unit 8: Salvation II: General and Particular Baptists, the Calvinism Debate within Baptist Life

Key Verse

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain how the General and Particular Baptist streams differed, and name the groups that carry those streams today.

2. State the Reformed (Particular Baptist) understanding of election, atonement and the call of God, with its main texts.

3. State the General or Free Will Baptist understanding of the same questions, with its main texts.

4. Describe the middle position of many Southern Baptists, and the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) as a broad statement.

5. Explain what all Baptists hold in common and how a pastor can teach this subject with fairness and peace.

The Voice of This Unit

This unit is written from inside the Baptist tradition, for Baptist students. It is conservative and evangelical. On the question of this unit, conservative Baptists who love the Bible equally have reached different conclusions for nearly four hundred years. The course therefore does not choose one side here. It presents each view as its own holders would, in its strongest form, and it asks you to read the texts for yourself. The next unit deals with a related question, the security of the believer, and there the course states which view it follows.

Scripture says, "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). You may find that you already hold one of these views. Try first to understand the other view as its holders do.

Two Streams, One Denomination

Course 1 (Units 3 and 4) tells the history, so we only recall the outline. The earliest English Baptists, the General Baptists, grew out of the work of John Smyth and Thomas Helwys. They taught that Christ died for all people ("general" atonement) and that every person may respond. The Particular Baptists appeared in London in the 1630s and 1640s. They taught that Christ died effectively for particular people, the elect ("particular" redemption). The Particular Baptists published their first confession in 1644 and issued the Second London Confession in 1689. It is Reformed in its doctrine of salvation, and it is based on the earlier Westminster and Savoy confessions with Baptist changes on the church and baptism.

These two streams are not exactly the same as the groups of today. The groups most often placed on the General side are the Free Will Baptists. In America, Free Will Baptists arose in the 1700s in the South and in New England, where Benjamin Randall formed a church in 1780. The Particular stream is carried most clearly by Reformed Baptists and by many Baptist churches that hold the 1689 Confession. Between them stand large numbers of Southern Baptists and others, who are sometimes called Traditional Baptists. They affirm the free offer of the gospel and the security of the believer, but many do not hold every point of Reformed teaching on election and the atonement.

The Background: Calvin, Arminius and Dort

A pastor should know the names behind the labels. John Calvin of Geneva (1509-1564) taught the sovereignty of God in salvation. Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609), a Dutch pastor and professor, questioned some Calvinist teaching. After his death his followers, called the Remonstrants, put their views in five articles in 1610. The Synod of Dort (1618-1619) answered them, and its answers are the origin of the "five points of Calvinism." People often remember them as TULIP. Many Baptists use these labels, so it is useful to know them, although not every Baptist uses them in the same sense.

The Reformed or Particular Baptist View

Reformed Baptists and others who follow the 1689 Confession teach the following. Each point is stated as they would state it.

Total depravity. Sin has affected every part of a person, so that the sinner, left alone, is unable and unwilling to come to God. Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him" (John 6:44). Paul says the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14) and that unbelievers were "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1).

Unconditional election. Before the world began, God chose a people to be saved, not because of any good He foresaw in them, but by His own grace. They cite Ephesians 1:4-5, Romans 8:29-30, Romans 9:10-24 and Acts 13:48. Election is "unconditional" because the cause lies in God and not in the sinner's choice.

Particular redemption (also called limited atonement). Christ died with the purpose of saving His people, and His death actually secures what it was meant to do. They cite John 10:11, Ephesians 5:25 and Matthew 1:21. The offer is to all, and the death is sufficient for all, but its saving design is for the elect.

Effectual calling (also called irresistible grace). The Spirit's inward call to the elect does not fail. God changes the heart, and the sinner willingly believes. They hold that regeneration comes before faith and makes faith possible (John 3:3-8; Acts 16:14).

Perseverance of the saints. Those whom God has saved will be kept to the end. The next unit examines this point.

Their reasoning is that salvation is entirely God's work, so that all the glory belongs to Him (Ephesians 2:8-9). They hold that this gives believers deep confidence and humility, and that it gave the Particular Baptists courage in persecution and mission. Andrew Fuller, William Carey and Charles Spurgeon, the London preacher, are well-known examples of Baptists with Calvinist convictions who were also zealous evangelists.

The General or Free Will Baptist View

Free Will Baptists and others who hold the General view teach the following, in their own words and from their own texts.

God's love and the death of Christ are for all. Christ is the propitiation for our sins and also for the whole world (1 John 2:2). He tasted death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9). God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, and Christ gave Himself a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:3-6). The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). They also cite John 3:16, the key verse of this unit.

Election is based on God's foreknowledge. Believers are elect "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (1 Peter 1:2), and those He foreknew He also predestined (Romans 8:29). God knows ahead of time who will believe, and He chooses believers in Christ. Election is therefore conditional on faith, and yet salvation is still by grace, because the faith itself is a response to grace that God provides.

Grace enables, but can be resisted. The Holy Spirit works in every person, convicting the world of sin (John 16:8), and Titus 2:11 says that the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. This grace gives each person the ability to respond. It is called enabling or prevenient grace. Stephen said that the leaders always resisted the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51), and Jesus grieved over Jerusalem, saying that He wanted to gather her children but they were not willing (Matthew 23:37).

Human responsibility is real. Scripture calls on everyone to choose (Joshua 24:15; Revelation 3:20). If God decided in advance that some could not believe, the commands to repent would make no sense. They hold that this view makes God's love plain, and takes every sinner's guilt seriously.

On the security of the believer, Free Will Baptists hold a different view from most other Baptists, and this is the subject of Unit 9.

The Middle Ground: Many Southern Baptists

Many Baptists do not fit either side neatly. The Southern Baptist Convention (1845) has included Calvinist leaders from its beginning, for example the founding of Southern Seminary in 1859 under a doctrinal statement with Calvinist language. It has also included many pastors who stress human choice. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), Article V, speaks of election as God's gracious purpose by which He regenerates, justifies and sanctifies sinners, and says that it is consistent with the free agency of man. It does not settle every detail, and both Calvinists and non-Calvinists have signed it in good conscience. In 2012 a group of Southern Baptist pastors and leaders issued a statement of "Traditional Baptist" beliefs on salvation, in which they affirmed the free offer, the real choice of the sinner, and the security of the believer, while declining some Calvinist teaching. Within the Convention the discussion has been vigorous, but the Convention has not made one position a test of cooperation.

Some Baptists, including Andrew Fuller, are described by historians as "moderate" Calvinists. They keep the Calvinist doctrine of election but speak freely of the death of Christ as sufficient for all. Students should know that there are more than two positions.

Objections Each Side Raises, and Answers

Objection by General Baptists: Calvinism makes God partial, makes the preaching of the gospel unreal, and makes God the author of sin.

They say that if Christ did not die for all, the offer to all is not sincere.

Reformed answer. The gospel is offered sincerely to all, as Fuller taught, because the command to believe is addressed to all and every sinner who comes will be received (John 6:37). God ordains what comes to pass, but not as the author of sin. Joseph's brothers meant evil, and God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20). Peter says that Jesus was delivered by God's plan, and the men who killed Him were guilty (Acts 2:23). Scripture teaches both God's rule and man's responsibility, and we do not have to reduce one to fit the other.

Objection by Reformed Baptists: the Free Will view makes salvation depend finally on man, and so leaves room for boasting.

They say that if the sinner's choice decides the matter, the sinner has something to boast about.

General answer. Faith is not a work. To accept a gift is not to earn it (Romans 4:4-5). The ability to believe comes from God's enabling grace, and the saved person gives all the glory to God. The beggar who takes bread does not boast about his hand. Texts that command all to repent and believe assume that people can do so, and God's judgment of unbelievers would be unjust if they could not.

Objection by non-Baptists: Baptist disagreement shows that the denomination has no firm doctrine.

Critics say that a church tradition without one required creed cannot teach consistently.

Baptist answer. Baptists have always put the Bible above any confession, and we do not impose a creed on the conscience. Confessions are helpful but not final. We have held together on the great truths: the Trinity, the deity of Christ, His atoning death and resurrection, salvation by grace through faith, and the authority of Scripture. The disagreement of this unit has existed in Baptist life since the beginning, and the churches have continued to evangelize and send missionaries together. Disagreement within a shared faith is not the same as having no doctrine.

A question historians debate. Historians disagree on how Calvinist Baptists in America were in the 1800s. Some hold that Calvinism was dominant; others find more variety even then. It is better to speak carefully than to claim that "Baptists have always been Calvinists" or "Baptists have never been Calvinists." Both statements are too simple.

What All Baptists Hold Together

All the groups in this unit agree that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, that all people are sinners and cannot save themselves, that Christ died as a substitute for sinners and rose bodily, that salvation is by grace through faith, that the gospel must be preached to everyone, that those who trust Christ will be saved, and that believers will be judged and glorified. The disagreement concerns how God's sovereign purpose and the sinner's response fit together. That mystery is deep. Paul himself ends his long argument in Romans 9 to 11 with praise: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" (Romans 11:33).

Guidance for the Pastor

First, teach the Bible text by text and do not force a system on it. Read the passages on election and the passages on the world-wide offer, and let each speak.

Second, be fair. Do not call Free Will Baptists "legalists," and do not call Reformed Baptists "anti-missions." Both labels are false.

Third, do not make this question a test of fellowship. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for forming parties around leaders (1 Corinthians 1:12-13). Keep the gospel at the center.

Fourth, if you hold a view, state it humbly and give your reasons. Your church has a right to hear you, and also to hear others.

Pastoral Application

A pastor in a Baptist church of mixed background finds that a young man who has just read a book on Reformed theology is telling other members that people who do not believe in "the doctrines of grace" are not truly saved. Some older members, who were taught that Christ died for everyone, are angry. A Bible study has become tense.

First, the pastor meets the young man in private. He thanks him for his zeal for Scripture and asks what he means.

Second, he reminds him that both groups believe salvation is by grace through faith, and that many godly Baptist missionaries held each view.

Third, he gathers the Bible study and teaches Ephesians 1, John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:1-6 and Romans 9 to 11 together. He asks each to state the other side's view fairly.

Fourth, he sets a simple rule for the church: we teach what we believe, we do not condemn brothers who differ, and we focus on evangelism.

Summary

Baptist life has two streams on salvation. The General Baptist stream, carried today by Free Will Baptists, teaches that Christ died for all, that election rests on God's foreknowledge of faith, and that grace enables but can be resisted. The Particular Baptist stream, carried by Reformed Baptists and those holding the 1689 Confession, teaches that sin leaves the sinner unable, that God freely chose His people, that Christ died to save them, and that the Spirit effectually calls them. Many Southern Baptists stand between, and the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) is broad enough for both. Each side raises serious objections, and each answers them from Scripture. All hold to grace, to the atonement, and to the free offer. A wise pastor teaches the texts, treats each view fairly, and keeps the gospel at the center.

Further Reading

• The Second London Confession (1689), a primary source for the Particular Baptist view.

• The New Hampshire Confession (1833).

• The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), Articles IV and V.

• The Free Will Baptist Treatise, for the Free Will Baptist view.

• John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857).

• Andrew Fuller, The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation (1785).

• Garrett, Baptist Theology (2009).

• Chute, Finn and Haykin, The Baptist Story (2015), and McBeth, The Baptist Heritage (1987), for the history.

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