Support efforts for religious freedom throughout the world. Many people still do not live where there is religious liberty. Persecution by religious and governmental authorities continues to exist. Uphold the friendly separation of church and state. A corollary of religious freedom is the friendly separation of religious organizations and government authorities in matters of faith and religious practices. Baptists have championed this concept, working sacrificially to make it part of the Constitution of the United States, and need to continue to do so for the sake of all persons. Act responsibly with religious freedom. Exercise freedom by careful study of the Bible, by being a supportive member of a church, by sharing the gospel with others, and by living in accord with the teachings of Jesus. Use freedom for the benefit of others. Paul wrote to the Galatian Christians, “Ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). We ought to use our freedom, not selfishly, but to minister to the needs of people throughout the world. Conclusion At great peril and huge sacrifice Baptists helped to provide religious freedom for multitudes in this generation. Now it is up to the Baptists of today to help preserve this precious heritage for the generations to follow. For further information, see cbhh.dbu.edu ISBN 978-1-934741-19-1 “It is impossible to define Baptists apart from their devotion to the principle of complete religious freedom.” William R. Estep Why Baptists? The basic material in this leaflet originally appeared in a series of articles in theBaptist Standard in 2005. Wanting to share information about Baptist distinctives, Noble Hurley, shortly before his death in 2004, established the Jane and Noble Hurley Baptist Identity Fund to provide for publishing the series. He asked William M. Pinson, Jr. and Doris A. Tinker to prepare the articles. The financial assistance of The Prichard Family Foundation and Vester T. Hughes, Jr. enabled this series of nineteen leaflets to be produced based on the articles. Skyler G. Tinker designed and formatted the leaflets for publication. Each leaflet is for both individual and group study. The topics in this series: (1) Baptists: Who? Where? What? Why? (2) What Makes a Baptist a Baptist? (3) The Lordship of Christ; (4) The Bible as Authority for Faith and Practice; (5) Soul Competency; (6) Salvation Only by Grace Through Faith; (7) The Priesthood of All Believers; (8) Believer’s Baptism; (9) A Regenerate Church Membership; (10) Congregational Church Governance; (11) Church Autonomy; (12) Baptist Church Life: Organization, Worship, Officers, Ordinances; (13) Voluntary Cooperation; (14) Evangelism; (15) Missions; (16) Ministry; (17) Christian Education; (18) The Application of the Gospel; (19) Religious Freedom. © Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
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