These are the tradition's own historic confessions, as its members would recognise them. Every tradition varies internally.
TEACHING AND SCRIPTUREWhat Baptists restored — and where they stopped
Baptists returned believer’s baptism to the Church. That matches Acts. The page then shows where the tradition stopped short of apostolic life in the Spirit.
PART ONE
What Baptists restored
01Baptism of believers, not of infants
BAPTISTS RESTOREDBaptists reject infant baptism: they baptize only those who have personally believed and confessed Christ.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSActs 2:38, 41First repentance, then baptism; those who received the word were baptised.Acts 8:12Those who believed Philip were baptised.Acts 8:36–38The eunuch hears the gospel, confesses faith and is baptised at once.Acts 16:31–33The jailer hears: “believe in the Lord Jesus”; then he and his household are baptised that same night.
Restored truthIn Acts baptism follows the repentance and faith of the one baptised. The Reformed point to household baptisms, but no passage speaks plainly of baptising infants.
Baptists are right to reject infant baptism: the apostolic church baptised those who believed.
PART TWO
What was not yet restored
01Baptism in the Holy Spirit reduced to conversion
WHERE IT STOPPEDA separate experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit after believing is usually rejected.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSThose who had already believed could after conversion separately receive the Holy Spirit and be filled with Him.
Acts 1:4–8Christ tells the disciples to wait for baptism in the Holy Spirit and promises power when the Spirit comes upon them.Acts 8:14–17The Samaritans had already believed and been baptised, and only then received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.Acts 19:1–6The disciples in Ephesus, after believing, receive the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues and prophesy.
Gospel truthIn Acts conversion and baptism in the Holy Spirit are not always the same event. People could believe, be baptised in water, and then separately receive the Spirit.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a synonym for conversion; it is Christ’s promise to the Church.
02Other tongues effectively rejected
WHERE IT STOPPEDOther tongues are usually treated as a gift of the past, or are not permitted in church practice.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSActs 2:4The believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.Acts 10:44–46The Spirit falls on Cornelius’ household; they speak in tongues and magnify God.Acts 19:6After the Holy Spirit comes upon them, the believers speak in tongues.1 Corinthians 14:39Paul writes plainly: “do not forbid speaking in tongues.”
Gospel truthOther tongues in the New Testament are not an exception for the apostles, nor a sign of one age only. They belong to the life of the Church, and Paul forbids forbidding them.
The Church has no right to declare past what an apostle commanded not to forbid.
03Prophecy ceased to be a living ministry
WHERE IT STOPPEDProphecy as a living gift is practically absent or rejected.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSProphecy was an ordinary gift for the edification of the Church.
Acts 2:17–18“I will pour out My Spirit… and they shall prophesy.”Acts 11:27–28Prophets come from Jerusalem; Agabus predicts a famine, and the church acts on that word.Acts 13:1In the church at Antioch there are prophets and teachers.Acts 21:9–11Philip’s daughters prophesy; Agabus speaks to Paul a word from the Spirit.1 Corinthians 14:1“Earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.”1 Thessalonians 5:20–21Paul did not say to reject prophecies, but: “do not despise prophecies; test all things.”
Gospel truthThe New Testament does not command prophecy to be abolished, but to be tested. The gift remains; discernment is required.
Prophecy is an ordinary gift of the apostolic Church; its absence today cannot be presented as the norm of Scripture.
04Gifts of healing and miracles removed from the Church’s ordinary life
WHERE IT STOPPEDPrayer for healing may remain, but the gifts of healing and miracles as standing gifts of the Spirit are usually not received.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSThe Holy Spirit gave gifts of healing and working of miracles.
1 Corinthians 12:9–10Among the Spirit’s gifts are named gifts of healing and workings of miracles.Acts 3:6–8The lame man rises in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.Acts 5:12–16Through the apostles many signs and wonders are done; the sick are brought, and they are healed.Acts 19:11–12God works extraordinary miracles through Paul.
Gospel truthPrayer for healing is good. But the New Testament speaks not only of asking, but of gifts of the Spirit given to the Church.
Healings and miracles in Acts are not a rare exception, but part of the ordinary life of the apostolic Church.
05The fivefold ministry reduced
WHERE IT STOPPEDApostles and prophets as living ministries are practically excluded, and church structure is reduced mainly to the pastor, elders and deacons.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSEphesians 4:11–13Christ gave the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers — until we all attain to the unity of the faith and to the fullness of Christ.
Gospel truthPastors, elders and deacons are biblical ministries. But Paul also names apostles and prophets among Christ’s gifts to the Church, and in this text does not confine them to the first generation alone.
Christ gave the Church five ministries, not the pastoral office alone; to shorten that list is to narrow what He Himself established.
06The Lord’s Supper reduced mainly to a symbol
WHERE IT STOPPEDThe bread and the cup are treated mainly as a symbol and a memorial, whereas apostolic teaching speaks of holy participation in the body and blood of Christ.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Corinthians 10:16“The cup of blessing… is a participation in the blood of Christ,” and “the bread… is a participation in the body of Christ.”1 Corinthians 11:27–30The Supper cannot be treated as ordinary food: unworthy participation makes a person “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.”
Gospel truthThe Supper is a remembrance — that is true. But Paul says more than a sign: it is participation in the body and blood of Christ, and the way it is received has spiritual consequences.
The bread and the cup are not merely a symbol of a past event, but a holy participation in Christ.
08Laying on of hands reduced mainly to an ordination ceremony
WHERE IT STOPPEDThe laying on of hands is usually kept as a church form of ordination, but its real spiritual action is greatly weakened in theology and practice.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSThrough the laying on of hands there took place the receiving of the Holy Spirit, commissioning for ministry, and the working of a spiritual gift.
Acts 8:17Through the laying on of hands they received the Holy Spirit.Acts 13:2–3After fasting and prayer they lay hands on Barnabas and Saul and send them to the work to which the Spirit has called them.1 Timothy 4:14The gift in Timothy is bound up with prophecy and the laying on of hands of the elders.2 Timothy 1:6Paul reminds him to fan into flame the gift of God which is in Timothy through the laying on of his hands.
Gospel truthOrdination is one side of the laying on of hands, but not the whole. In Acts and the letters the Spirit is given and a gift works through it.
The laying on of hands in the apostolic Church is not an empty form of appointment, but an act through which God gives the Spirit and a gift.
09Church life became mainly verbal, not word and power
WHERE IT STOPPEDThe main emphasis has shifted to correct preaching, knowledge of Scripture and doctrine, while the supernatural action of the Spirit has ceased to be a normal part of church life.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Corinthians 2:4“My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”1 Corinthians 4:20“The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”
Gospel truthFaithful preaching and knowledge of Scripture are necessary. The apostolic church did not choose between the Word and power: the preaching came in demonstration of the Spirit.
A church of the Word without the power of the Spirit is no longer the church Paul describes.
The apostolic church was at once:
a church of the Word and of the Spirit; of teaching and of power; of pastors and of prophets; of preaching and of miracles; of water baptism and of baptism in the Holy Spirit; of the Supper and of real participation; of faith and of living spiritual gifts.
The problem of Baptist practice is not that it rejects the Bible.
The problem is that a large part of what was plainly present in the life of the apostolic Church has either been moved into the past, or reduced to a symbol, or excluded from ordinary church practice.
COMPARED WITH ACTS
How it differs from the apostolic church
01The gold roller is stopped
Baptist teaching and baptism are close to Acts, but in most congregations the gifts of the Spirit are not expected. In Acts the Spirit not only regenerates but gives tongues, prophecy and healing, and through them the Church bears witness.
Acts 2:4 · 4:29–31 · 19:6A meeting built around the pulpit
Usually the pastor and the choir lead and the congregation listens. In the apostolic church each person brought something: a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, an interpretation.
1 Corinthians 14:26 · Acts 2:46When they baptise and how often they break bread
Baptism is often delayed by months of probation, and the Supper is held once a month. In Acts people are baptised the day they believe, and bread is broken on the first day of the week.
Acts 2:41–42 · 8:36–38 · 16:33 · 20:7