Why Baptist?
The name Baptist is a form of verbal shorthand for us to convey certain truths. First of all we are stating the biblical truths concerning the subjects and the modes of baptism.
When we speak of the subjects of baptism, we refer to the truth that baptism is for believers only. We as Reformed Baptist have a great debt to our paedo-baptist brethren. Their writings have shaped us and guided us again and again. We count them as our dear brethren. However, the bible is not silent about the issue of baptism. The fact that baptism is for believers only is the clear and indisputable teaching of the Word of God. The subjects of baptism are not discovered in Genesis (though it is my contention that a correct understanding of the Abrahamic Covenant proves believers baptism and demolishes infant baptism), but in the Gospels and in the Epistles. I assert as clearly and as plainly as I know how that there is not one single shred of evidence in the pages of the Old or New Testament to support the notion that the infants of believers are to be baptized. Every single biblical command and every single biblical example as well as every doctrinal statement regarding the nature of baptism proves that it is for believers only.
By 'mode' we are referring to the fact that baptism is properly and biblically administered by immersion. The common Greek word for immersion or dipping is the word used in our NT. The argument that the word has been found on one or two occasions to mean to pour or to sprinkle is surely special pleading. There are perfectly good Greek words meaning 'to sprinkle' and 'to pour'. In fact there are numerous occasions in the Septuagint (The Greek translation of the OT) where the words for immerse and sprinkle are used in the same context but with their distinct and separate meaning intact (the instances of the priest dipping his finger in blood and sprinkling an object).
The name Baptist secondly is meant to convey that only those who are converted and baptized have a right to membership in Christ's church. This is often referred to as a regenerate membership. A careful reading of the NT epistles shows that the apostles assumed that the readers were 'saints', 'faithful brethren', and 'cleansed by Christ.' Sadly, most Baptist churches of our day are more concerned with having a 'decisioned membership' and a 'baptized membership' than a regenerate membership (Jer. 31:31ff). It is the duty of the pastors and people of true churches to ensure according to the best of their ability that no unconverted person makes their way into the membership of a church.
