Many friends have recently brought up the contentious debate of what they are in regards to title, doctrine, and practice. Let me tell you this, I am a Baptist by Conviction, a Christian by pursuasion, but Saved by the grace of God.
First, when I was at the ripe young age of 5 years old, I was convicted of my sin, truly for the first time. The weight of the realization and guilt of my sin against a Holy God was so intense that I could do nothing else but to call upon the name of the Lord. Yes, at age 5 I was fully aware of my need of a Savior. As fully as I understood my offense toward God, and of who and what Christ was and what he came to do, I placed my hope and trust in him alone. I know by the testimony of the Word of God, I was born of God by grace through faith. It is nothing that I have done or did not do. It was all of the working of the Holy Spirit of God through the witness of the Word of God and of the faithfulness of other believers who had an influence in and on my life.
As a believer, I began to read the Word of God and develop a prayer life with the Lord. As I matured in the faith, it began to be very clear that my parents, my pastor, my sunday school teachers, friends, and those around me at church not only believed God but patterned their life after Christ's example. I came to realize just how important it was and is to not only walk with the Lord but also to yield to the continuing work of the Holy Spirit as he fashions me to the fullness of Christ-likeness. I was persuaded by my upbringing to be "Christian."
As I read the scriptures I began to notice the application of what I read was more distinct than that of others. I say this with no condescension intended. I began to study other denominations. Although there was things that I agreed with in other denominations, there was so much that I did not agree with. I began to compare what "my" church had for doctrine. Some of what i grew up believing was not found or even hinted at according to Scripture. Those things I renounced. However, I found that the more I studied God's Word, the more I realized the order in which a Baptist Church operates. I did not become Baptist by upbringing. My mother would often say "i am not a Baptist. I am a Bible believer." My Father now attends a Methodist Church (when he does go to church due to his work schedule.) When I say I am a Baptist, it is not because of how I was raised. It isn't because of where I went to college. It isn't by any other reason but because of my own developed Conviction that the distinctions which associate a believer as a "baptist" are found exclusively in the Word of God.
