Baptism and Tongues

This is a response to a dissent in a local Protestant church. The issues are primarily:

• Is speaking in tongues a spiritual gift for the present?
• What is Southern Baptist stance on baptism?

First I'd like to mention that we (Christians) should not divide over secondary issues. As you stated clearly ..."Jesus Christ is Lord and none can come to salvation without Him." This is what we must focus on, Paul said (paraphrase) "I've become all things to all men that I might save some".

Personally, I would be baptized anywhere and quit practicing tongues (if I did) if it meant I could stay in the field and bring souls to the one I love. I'm of the opinion the key is: Do we love Christ? If we love Him, we focus on the main thing.

With that said, right before your email came in, someone else passed me this gist of the policies:

• basically that speaking of the tongues was an old gift, and should not be supported by today's missionaries
• per the Baptist Faith and Message guide, that baptism is not a sign of regeneration, but a sign of obedience, and those missionaries not using it in that way should not be in the field.

Here's my answers for all of them:

I don't believe that speaking in tongues is normative today; although as you stated, God can do all things with anyone He chooses." I fall on the side that all things should be weighed against scripture. Therefore, if someone is speaking in tongues, not only must it be interpreted but the interpretation must be in agreement with all of scripture. If someone speaks in tongues long enough, you and I will be able to tell if they are genuine as God's Word will expose the wicked. This is why we should desire to know the scripture from cover-to-cover.

If the policy is that baptism is a sign of obedience and not a pre-requisite for salvation, then I agree. Again, "Jesus Christ is Lord and none can come to salvation without Him" and Him plus nothing. Baptism is a command to publicly acknowledge and identify ourselves with Christ. He secured our salvation by His death, and resurrection.

If the policy is that all missionaries should be baptized in a Southern Baptist church, I do have an issue with that. Again, it's believers baptism; after salvation the command is be baptized. Baptism is a definite requirement but does not save anyone. It shouldn't matter where the person is baptized. I think the problem may be that some Baptist churches require baptism in their church to become a member. Is membership the culprit here? This is something I have a problem with; I know the local church must be organized, but again, we can't lose focus.

I attend a Baptist church but I belong to The Church, which consists of everyone who has trusted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Again, I wouldn't let being baptized, membership or any secondary issues stop me from evangelizing in the world; I'd be baptized everyday if it would save one soul. It's not the ritual that counts, it's the condition of the heart during the ritual.

Have you ever listened to J.V. McGee? He goes through the Bible in five years. Eventually, he covers all of these subjects. Here's the web info:

www.ttb.org
MP3 free download of 5 year program
MP3 CD, for a price, of 5 year program

consider Christ.

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