A church is a dedicated building used for religious activities, mainly for Christian worship service. There were no church buildings when the early Christians arrived. They usually gathered in their homes to worship. Nowadays, Christianity has taken a new dimension. The church is a place for worship and nothing else. It is a place we come in one mind and spirit to pray to God and for him to bless us in his name.
What is the difference between Baptist Church and Church of Christ?
The Baptist Church and the Church of Christ are both churches. However, there exist some differences in their religious beliefs. An example of such difference is that the Baptist church believes in the importance and significance of baptism in your spiritual work with God. The Church of Christ does not share in this belief as they do not believe in baptism. Continue reading to understand the difference between Baptist Church and Church of Christ.
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The Baptist Church
The Baptist Church and her worshippers are willing to renounce their theological roots in favor of a biblical truth discovered latter in time. A Baptist believes that no one should engage in baptism until they are old enough.
The initiation by baptism started long ago, but different origins set to define and know about baptism. One hundred million people identified as Baptist or who belonged to the Baptist Church, and their view about baptism is quite different from others. Most Baptists do not believe that baptism is a requirement of salvation but inner repentance and faith with public expression.
As a Baptist, you must have a free mind in professing your teaching, and their religion is linked wholly to God and themselves. A Baptist Christian always make a voluntary contribution towards helping, and this is one of their way of life.
As a Baptist, it entitles you to views that you might see unfit, but with time, you can begin to see changes, and it will have a significant effect on you. According to Bruce Gourley, who is the leader of the Baptist, he said they originated from the English separatist, and baptism has been booming since the day of John the Baptist.
They broke down into sub denominations, and these denominations are not entirely different from other Christian views. Some churches under baptism believe in fully immersing the whole body into the water while some others sprinkle.
Carefully looking into the Bible and what it says, we are buried in him through baptism into death. It is how Christ was raised from death by his glory. Some Baptist believed much in the Bible, while some do not think so significantly in it.
The Kinds Of Baptist
There are two kinds of Baptist Church. They are General Baptist and Particular Baptist.
General Baptist
Just like every Christian, the General Baptist believed in full atonement. They also found that Christ died for us, and so we should fully accept him and that anyone that believes in Christ will get saved. You obtain forgiveness for your sins, and you will live a great life.
John Smyth aided the Baptist church and made some adjustments to some things in the Bible, but all these happened years ago. Still, now the world has changed, while some Baptist believes in what he said earlier, some changed their minds.
However, they both have atonement in common. That is, for a person to repent fully, stating his or her sins and accepting God as their savior, having faith in what the Bible says, and making sure they portray it in their lives.
London was the last place where the Baptist Church, in general, poured out and till now is still high in the European sector, the United States, etc. They also believed that someone could fall from grace and lose their salvation.
To them, it is a true belief. It is because once you accept the teachings on the study of God and Christendom, then they receive Christ. If eventually, they fall off, they believe that they will lose their salvation, but for other Baptists and Christians, when ones lose their salvation, it can still be restored to you again. You can even drop it, pray to God, and get it back if you feel remorseful.
Particular Baptist
The Particular Baptists believed only in one thing atonement too. Still, for their penance, they said Christ died for only a specific group or the elect. The teachings of John Calvin influenced them, and they came into being a generation after the general Baptist.
Their belief is different, saying it is by faith all there believes are based. They emerged from the independent congregation out if the separatists who are guided by the church of England. They taught the believers baptism by immersion and insisted that a person who saved once is always protected. There are no two ways about it.
Many Christians see their beliefs as very tricky as they said that God loves his children, and he died for us all and so not for a particular group. They argued this with the reason that Christ died for those who are correct, but we all are sinners, and so Christ died for us to gain salvation fully.
The Church Of Christ
The Church of Christ practices the New Testament, and their views are mind-blowing because the New Testament has distinctive doctrines embedded in it. So, their whole teaching focuses on the sole rule of faith and practice in deciding matters of doctrine and ecclesiastical structure. All that they believe in is in the New Testament.
Church of Christ always has this autonomous and self-governing body that they think in which they feel is perfect. The Church of Christ practices what they know, and they are part of the first-century church. They do not use musical instruments, and hence they forbid the use of these musical devices in the church.
They avoid atonement because they say it as just speculative. Speculative, in that, it is just what someone says or wrote and wants everything to be in practice. Salvation is a gift from God provided that they attorn Christ as their Lord and personal savior.
There is also one thing they have in common with the Baptist, which has its basis on salvation; they believe that you can lose your salvation and cannot get it back. But some other Christians do not believe that because our salvation comes from the Lord, and so when we fall out of it and cry to God, he will answer and regain it back.
It is when you have good intentions in your heart because salvation is grace. With this, the Christ Church also views faith as a rational act done personally but with the view that the individual accepts the biblical truth of Christ.
Their beliefs are quite different because many do not see this as a pure Christian perspective. They believe that there is only one church, and that is the church Jesus started on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Everything they do is traced back to the church Jesus sided from the beginning. They have elders in their church. These elders see to the day to day activities of the church. Also, they monitor the feeding of the congregation. The Bible is their source, and the teachings are the doctrine they follow.
The Differences Between The Baptist Church And Church Of Christ
There are many differences between Baptist and church of Christ. They are as follows:
Baptist Church believes that water is essential for the salvation of one’s soul, whereas the Church of Christ does not have such a belief.
Baptist Church believes that baptism is a symbol of death and resurrection, while the Church of Christ does not understand such.
Baptist Church accepts the use of musical instruments while the Church of Christ does not allow the use of musical instruments.
Baptist Church sees faith as a personal commitment, while the Church of Christ does not know the gospel that way.
Baptist Church believes that the Bible teaches that salvation depends on membership in a particular church, whereas the Church of Christ does not have that belief.
With these, you can see how Baptist and Church of Christ or Christ Church practice their Christianity. Baptist Church is entirely baptism, and they see water as a sign of new creation, as quoted in the Bible, and also, the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience to them. They encourage missionary and evangelistic work under the teachings of Jesus.
The Church of Christ is just the opposite of the Baptist Church and is more practiced than the Baptist Church. Moreover, there is an archaist who does not believe in God and the teachings of any church. Having their mindset about things of the world and do not think so. The Baptists are strong supporters of religious doctrines.
Conclusion
We all belong to one particular line of the doctrine or teachings. The Baptist and the Church of Christ only has one thing in common, which is the belief that destruction of salvation is inevitable if not carefully handle. The Holy Spirit is the one that helps us get through things in life, and for this, faith stands out.
The Church of Christ is the collective reference to the people of God in the world. They are people who follow the New Testament teachings regarding the church. With this, you can identify the difference between Baptist Church and Church of Christ.
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