User:Kgarbely1/sandbox

The beliefs of Baptist churches are not completely consistent from one Baptist church to another. Baptists do not have a central governing authority, unlike most other denominations.

However, Baptists do hold some common beliefs among almost all Baptist churches. Baptists share so-called "orthodox" Christian beliefs with most other moderate or conservative Christian denominations. These would include beliefs about one God, the virgin birth, the sinless life, miracles, vicarious atoning death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Christ, the Trinity (the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, together with God the Father), the need for salvation (though the understanding of means for achieving it may differ at times), divine grace, the Church, the Kingdom of God, last things (Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge everyone in righteousness), evangelism and missions.

Overview
The following acrostic acronym, spelling BAPTIST, summarizes Baptists' distinguishing beliefs:

Biblical authority (Mat 24:35; 1Pet 1:23; 2Tim 3:16-17) Autonomy of the local church (Mat 18:15-17; 1Cor 6:1-3) Priesthood of all believers (1Pet 2:5-9; 1Tim 5) Two ordinances (believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper) (Acts 2:41-47; 1Cor 11:23-32) Individual soul liberty (Rom 14:5-12) Separation of Church and State (Mat 22:15-22) Two offices of the church (pastor and deacon) (1Tim 3:1-13; Tit 1-2)

Two ordinances
Baptists practice believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper (communion) as the two acts of faith-obedience to the example and commands given by Christ for Christians. They differ from the other ordinances of God in that they were specially instituted by Christ. Most Baptists call them "ordinances" (meaning "obedience to a command that Christ has given us") instead of "sacraments" (activities God uses to impart salvation or a means of grace to the participant). Therefore, historic Baptist theology considers that no saving grace is conveyed by either ordinance and that original sin is not washed away in baptism. Baptists have traditionally believed that they are symbols.