What is a Reformed Baptist? Pt. 2

Last time, we listed some misunderstandings about what a Reformed Baptist (RB) is not.  Today, I want to continue our series by beginning with defining who we are as RBs.  

The famous preacher, Charles H. Spurgeon, remarked how RBs were more often those who had a high view of the Bible.  I believe this to be ultimately true.  Historically, we have listed our belief as “Sola Scriptura” or translated “Scripture Alone”.  Yet, that is the bare minimum phrase of what we believe.  Our belief in Scripture is extremely high.  Here is a summary of our belief in Scripture.

1. 1. We believe in the innerancy of Scripture.  The Bible is reliable and does not contain error.  While the Bible records errors of men, the Bible is without error.  Many refer to theChicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy as a good statement of our belief in this area, though the London Baptist Confession handles this issue very well.
   
   

2. 2.We believe in the sufficiency of Scripture.  The Bible does not need to be added to in order to accomplish it’s good work.  All we need for Godliness and conduct is sufficiently placed in the Bible and could be understood reasonably by all.  Therefore, many Christians hold to what we call the “Regulative Principles of the Church”, what we do in church life and especially worship must “come from the Bible”, not something we add to the Bible.  Because the Bible is sufficient, we do not need extra revelation or other books to add to the Bible.  As well, man’s ideas are inferior to the Bible.  While wisdom is definitely sought from great men who wrote about the Bible, ultimately, though, the Bible is our sufficient source
   
   

3. 3.We believe in the perspicuity of Scripture.  The word “perspicuity” means “clear”.  While not everything is clear, all that we need to live a life pleasing to God and to know about salvation is clear (II Timothy 3:16-17).  
   
   

4. 4.Finally, we believe in something called the analogy of faith.  Essentially, this means that we do not believe that the Bible contradicts itself but that Scripture should interpret Scripture.   
   

When we talk about Sola Scripture, we do mean that the Scripture alone is useful for salvation and all of life.  Our high view of the Bible means we take passages serious, not trying to dismiss them because they disagree with some of our ideas.