Baptist Church Expelled

The North Carolina Baptist State Convention recently expelled a member church, Myers Park Baptist Church of Charlotte. The church was kicked out for accepting homosexuals without trying to change them. The news report said the “convention president Allan Blume told the meeting that the Bible calls on believers to turn away from sin.”

Read the short article here.

Let’s think about this for a moment.

Baptists believe that faith alone saves. They also believe that once your are saved, you are always saved. Their doctrine is that if you believe Jesus is the Christ and accept him as your personal Savior you will go to heaven no matter what. This is contrary to the Bible, but it is what they believe (Jas. 2:24; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 2 Pet. 2:18-22; Gal. 5:1-4).

So, consistency in their doctrine says the homosexual who receives Jesus is going to heaven, but the church who receives this believer is unworthy of fellowship. Still, the members of that church will go to heaven because once they are saved, they are always saved.

The Myers Park Baptist Church is fit for heaven, but unfit for the Baptist State Convention. Does this mean the Convention has higher or stricter standards than God? Can God have fellowship with people who live contrary to His Word, but the good Baptists of the State Convention cannot? We suppose they are too holy for such an abomination, yet in their view God is not.

Further, if Allan Blume and the Convention truly believe “the Bible calls on believers to turn away from sin,” will they take action on other sins? Will the Convention expel churches that receive couples living in adultery or who are shacking up? Will churches that accept drunkards as members be disciplined as well? We suspect not.

This type of inconsistency and arbitrary action is the result of false doctrine. It is true the Bible calls on men to repent of sin, including homosexuality (Acts 3:19; 1 Cor. 6:9-11). This also applies to all other sins, including denominationalism (Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Cor. 3:1-4). The members of Myers Park Baptist Church need to repent, so do the members of the State Convention. They need to repent of coddling sinners and being such themselves—they need to repent of being Baptists and become Christians (Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:3, 4).

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1

Get Ready, Get Set, I Do...
By Charlie Brackett