Mainstream Baptists is a network of Baptists in fourteen U.S. states that have organized to uphold historic Baptist principles, particularly separation of church and state, and to oppose Fundamentalism and Theocratic Calvinism within the Southern Baptist Convention. As such, it is not a denomination, but rather an organization that provides resources, support, and interagency communication. Organizations/agencies considered to share Mainstream Baptists and cooperate with and support the network are listed below under External links.
Historic Baptist beliefs of Mainstream Baptists
Lordship of Christ
The heart of Baptist beliefs is the Lordship of Christ. Christ is Lord over the individual believer, he is Lord over the church, and he is Lord over the universe and all that is in it. Jesus Christ is the final authority in our individual lives, in our homes, in our churches, and in all our relationships with society and the world. Our ultimate loyalty and allegiance is to God's Person, rather than to books, creeds, confessions, traditions, programs or procedures.
Salvation by Grace Through Faith
"For by grace have you been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast". Baptists believe that God's love and grace is the only basis for any person's relationship with God. The individual can do nothing to earn or deserve God's love and forgiveness. Faith is not an effort or labor. Faith is receiving God's love with an open heart and finding it transformed by God's grace.
Believer's Baptism
Baptists baptize persons only after they make a personal confession of their faith in Christ. Baptists do not believe that a loving God condemns anyone for a sin they did not commit. Baptists do not view baptism as a remedy for original sin. Baptists do not baptize infants. Baptists practice baptism by totally immersing persons in water, rather than by sprinkling, pouring, or anointing persons with water. Baptism by immersion preserves the dramatic imagery of the meaning of baptism as a symbolic death, burial and resurrection. The symbolism of baptism pictures: the death, burial and resurrection of Christ who died for our sins and the believer's own death to sin, burial of a sinful nature, and resurrection to a new life in Christ.
Priesthood of All Believers and Liberty of Conscience
Baptists believe that all members are equal under God in the fellowship of the church. Jesus is the one mediator between God and humanity. Every human being has direct access to God through Christ. Every Christian is her or his own priest in that he or she is authorized to go directly to God for forgiveness of sins and to search the scriptures with confidence of being guided by the same Spirit that inspired those who wrote the Bible. Every Christian is a priest to others in that he or she is a member of a royal priesthood and responsible to Christ for ministering to others.
Religious Liberty and the Separation of Church and State
"Religious Liberty is the nursing mother of all liberty. Without it all other forms of liberty must soon wither and die. The Baptists grasped this conception of liberty in its full-orbed glory, from the very beginning. Their contention has been, is now, and must ever be, that it is the God-given and indefeasible right of every human being, to worship God or not, according to the dictates of his conscience; and, as long as he does not infringe on the rights of others, he is to be held accountable to God alone, for all his religious beliefs and practices." —George W. Truett