Baptist beliefs: what the Baptist tradition teaches
Baptists confess that Scripture is "the supreme standard" for faith and life, that salvation comes through personal faith in Jesus Christ, and that the church is a local congregation of baptized believers under Christ's lordship. Believers are baptized by immersion as a public act of obedience, and churches govern themselves while cooperating freely with others.
Worship: Preaching-centered services with congregational singing, from traditional hymns to contemporary bands, with the Lord's Supper observed regularly.
Branches in the quiz: Southern Baptist Convention, Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession), Free Will Baptist (National Association).
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Southern Baptist Convention
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
These are each tradition's own church directories. We don't review individual congregations.
Read more
- The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 — Southern Baptist ConventionFree online
The statement most Southern Baptist churches use, with Scripture references for each article.
- Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689) — Particular Baptists of EnglandFree online
The classic confession of Reformed Baptists, written by English Baptists under persecution.
- All of Grace — Charles SpurgeonFree online
Spurgeon wrote this short, warm book for people wondering how to come to Christ.
Confessions and statements from Baptist churches
Figures and practice companions
Image credit John Bunyan
1628–1688 · Baptist (English Puritan)
Bedford tinker and preacher, jailed for twelve years for preaching without a licence, who wrote The Pilgrim's Progress.
Read: The Pilgrim's ProgressFree online
Image credit Charles Spurgeon
1834–1892 · Baptist (Reformed)
London pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, called the "Prince of Preachers", whose sermons were printed weekly for decades.
Read: All of GraceFree online
Image credit Billy Graham
1918–2018 · Baptist (Southern Baptist)
Southern Baptist evangelist who preached to live audiences in more than 185 countries and helped found the Lausanne Movement.
Read: Peace with GodWorth knowing: Tapes released in 2002 recorded him making antisemitic remarks to President Nixon in 1972; he apologized.
Practices associated with Baptist churches
Scripture memory
Pick one verse that speaks to where you are, such as Psalm 23:1 or John 15:5. Say it aloud each morning, write it out, and review it during the week. When it comes to mind on its own, start another. Learned words of Scripture stay with you when you most need them.
Memorizing verses has a long history, but the Navigators, founded by Dawson Trotman among U.S. Navy sailors in 1933, made it a core habit of evangelical discipleship.
Source: The Navigators, "Our History"“They spent many hours together praying, studying the Bible, and memorizing Scripture.”
About Scripture MemoryCompare Baptist teaching by topic
Baptist coverage: 26 of 31 questions. Review status and scoring
Southern Baptist Convention · 20 topics available
No official position scored: Which is closest to what you think about how often a church should share the Lord's Supper? Which is closest to what you think about gifts like prophecy, tongues and healing today? When Christians pray for the sick, which is closest to what you think? Which is closest to what you think happens to believers when they die, before the final resurrection? Which is closest to what you think about the saints in heaven? Which is closest to what you think about Mary, the mother of Jesus? Which kind of service feels most like worship to you? Which music helps you worship most? How much should the church year shape worship? In worship, what do you most hope for? Which is closest to what you think about Christians, war and oaths?
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession) · 21 topics available
No official position scored: Which is closest to what you think about creeds and confessions (written summaries of what a church believes)? Which is closest to what you think about who may be ordained as a pastor or priest? Which is closest to what you think about how often a church should share the Lord's Supper? Which is closest to what you think about being baptized (or filled) with the Holy Spirit? When Christians pray for the sick, which is closest to what you think? Which is closest to what you think about Christ's return and the thousand years in Revelation 20? Which is closest to what you think about Mary, the mother of Jesus? Which music helps you worship most? How much should the church year shape worship? In worship, what do you most hope for?
Free Will Baptist (National Association) · 21 topics available
No official position scored: Which is closest to what you think about creeds and confessions (written summaries of what a church believes)? Which is closest to what you think about who may be ordained as a pastor or priest? When Christians pray for the sick, which is closest to what you think? Which is closest to what you think about the saints in heaven? Which is closest to what you think about Mary, the mother of Jesus? Which kind of service feels most like worship to you? Which music helps you worship most? How much should the church year shape worship? In worship, what do you most hope for? Which is closest to what you think about Christians, war and oaths?
Read the positions and sources
Scripture and authority
When Christians disagree about what to believe, which is closest to what you think should settle it?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “The Bible alone has the final word. Creeds, councils and teachers are all tested by it.”
Makes room for: “The Bible comes first, read together with the church's historic creeds and with reason and experience.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. I“the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “The Bible alone has the final word. Creeds, councils and teachers are all tested by it.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 1.1“The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “The Bible alone has the final word. Creeds, councils and teachers are all tested by it.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. I“They are a sufficient and infallible rule and guide to salvation and all Christian worship and service.”
Which is closest to what you think about creeds and confessions (written summaries of what a church believes)?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “A short statement of faith keeps us united, and the Bible itself is what we really stand on.”
Makes room for: “We need no creed but the Bible. We speak where the Bible speaks and stay silent where it is silent.” or “A full confession of faith binds our pastors and teachers, because it faithfully sums up what Scripture teaches.” or “The historic creeds matter, and our confessions guide us, but they leave room to read some things differently.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Preamble“Confessions are only guides in interpretation, having no authority over the conscience.”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “A full confession of faith binds our pastors and teachers, because it faithfully sums up what Scripture teaches.”
Makes room for: “The historic creeds matter, and our confessions guide us, but they leave room to read some things differently.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “A short statement of faith keeps us united, and the Bible itself is what we really stand on.”
Makes room for: “A full confession of faith binds our pastors and teachers, because it faithfully sums up what Scripture teaches.” or “The historic creeds matter, and our confessions guide us, but they leave room to read some things differently.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to how you see the Bible's truthfulness?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “The Bible is without error in everything it affirms, including what it says about history and the world.”
Makes room for: “The Bible is fully trustworthy in everything it teaches about God, salvation and how to live.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. I“truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “The Bible is without error in everything it affirms, including what it says about history and the world.”
Some hold: “The Bible is fully trustworthy in everything it teaches about God, salvation and how to live.”
Source: 1689 London Baptist Confession, Ch. 1, para. 1“The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “The Bible is without error in everything it affirms, including what it says about history and the world.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. I“it is without error in all matters upon which it speaks, whether history, geography, matters relating to science or any other subject”
Salvation and grace
When God puts a sinner right with Himself, which is closest to what you think happens?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “God forgives us and counts us righteous for Christ's sake, crediting His righteousness to us. We receive this by faith alone.”
Makes room for: “God brings us into a right relationship with Him, and that new life means following Jesus every day with His people.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. IV.B“Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ.”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “God forgives us and counts us righteous for Christ's sake, crediting His righteousness to us. We receive this by faith alone.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 11.1“not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “God forgives us and counts us righteous for Christ's sake, crediting His righteousness to us. We receive this by faith alone.”
Makes room for: “God brings us into a right relationship with Him, and that new life means following Jesus every day with His people.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. XII.1“in consideration of the atonement of Christ, accepted by faith, the sinner is pardoned and absolved from the guilt of sin, and restored to the divine favor”
Which is closest to how you think God usually gives people His saving grace?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “When a person hears the gospel and personally trusts Christ. Baptism and the Lord's Supper then show it.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. IV“There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Through His Word preached and the sacraments, which the Holy Spirit uses to create and strengthen faith.”
Some hold: “When a person hears the gospel and personally trusts Christ. Baptism and the Lord's Supper then show it.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 14.1“by which also, and by the administration of baptism and the Lord's supper, prayer, and other means appointed of God, it is increased and strengthened”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “When a person hears the gospel and personally trusts Christ. Baptism and the Lord's Supper then show it.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. X“believing is an act of the creature, which is required as a condition of pardon”
Which is closest to what you think about whom Christ died to save?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Christ died for every person, so that anyone who turns to Him can be saved.”
Some hold: “Christ's death is enough for all people, and God intended it to surely save those He chose.” or “Christ died to save the people the Father gave Him, and His death surely saves every one of them.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. IV“offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Christ died to save the people the Father gave Him, and His death surely saves every one of them.”
Makes room for: “Christ's death is enough for all people, and God intended it to surely save those He chose.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 8.8“To all those for whom Christ has obtained eternal redemption, He does certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Christ died for every person, so that anyone who turns to Him can be saved.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. VI.1“Christ gave Himself a sacrifice for the sins of the world”
Which is closest to what you think about God's choosing and our choice?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “God's choosing and our free choice are both true in Scripture, and I don't think we need a system to fit them together.”
Some hold: “Before creation God chose His people, not for anything He saw in them, and His grace surely brings them to faith.” or “God's grace goes before everyone and frees us to respond. God chooses in Christ those He knows will believe.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. V“It is consistent with the free agency of man”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Before creation God chose His people, not for anything He saw in them, and His grace surely brings them to faith.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 3.5“without any other thing in the creature as a condition or cause moving Him thereunto”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “God's grace goes before everyone and frees us to respond. God chooses in Christ those He knows will believe.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. III.3“His knowledge of them does not in any sense cause them, nor does He decree all events which He knows will occur”
Which is closest to what you think: can a true believer fall away and be lost?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “No. Everyone God truly saves, He keeps, and they will go on in faith to the end.”
Makes room for: “No. Anyone who has truly believed once is secure, even if they later stop believing.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. V“will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “No. Everyone God truly saves, He keeps, and they will go on in faith to the end.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 17.1“can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Yes. A believer can turn away from Christ and be lost, but while we live His grace keeps calling us back.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Appendix to ch. XIII (1969)“a saved individual may, in freedom of will, cease to trust in Christ for salvation and once again be lost”
Which is closest to what you think about knowing where you stand with God?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Every true believer can be certain now of being saved in the end, because it rests on God's promise.”
Makes room for: “The Spirit gives an inner witness that I'm God's child, and I keep walking with Him so I don't drift away.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. V“yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Every true believer can be certain now of being saved in the end, because it rests on God's promise.”
Makes room for: “The Spirit gives an inner witness that I'm God's child, and I keep walking with Him so I don't drift away.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 18.1“may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “I trust God's mercy today and hope for heaven, as I keep holding to Christ to the end of my life.”
Some hold: “The Spirit gives an inner witness that I'm God's child, and I keep walking with Him so I don't drift away.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. XIII“There are strong grounds to hope that the truly regenerate will persevere unto the end, and be saved”
Which is closest to what you think about how God makes believers holy?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Holiness grows over a whole lifetime. Sin remains in us until we die, though it no longer rules us.”
Makes room for: “Holiness is following Jesus in daily obedience, with a church that encourages and corrects us.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. IV.C“Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life.”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Holiness grows over a whole lifetime. Sin remains in us until we die, though it no longer rules us.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 13.2“yet imperfect in this life; there abides still some remnants of corruption in every part”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Holiness grows over a whole lifetime. Sin remains in us until we die, though it no longer rules us.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. XII.2“Sanctification is the continuing of God's grace by which the Christian may constantly grow in grace”
The church
Which is closest to how you think the church should be led?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “By each local congregation under Christ, with leaders such as pastors, elders or clerks, free from outside control.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. VI“an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “By each local congregation under Christ, with leaders such as pastors, elders or clerks, free from outside control.”
Makes room for: “By elders, pastors and lay elders together, with local churches joined in regional and national assemblies.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 26.7“he has given all that power and authority, which is in any way needful for their carrying on that order in worship and discipline”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “By each local congregation under Christ, with leaders such as pastors, elders or clerks, free from outside control.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Practice, ch. I“The local church is an independent and self-governing body”
Which is closest to what you think about who may be ordained as a pastor or priest?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Only men may serve as pastors or elders, and women serve in many other vital ministries.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. VI (amended 2023)“the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Only men may serve as pastors or elders, and women serve in many other vital ministries.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Only men may serve as pastors or elders, and women serve in many other vital ministries.”
Makes room for: “Both men and women may be called by God and ordained as pastors.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Practice, ch. I“The church should not call a man who is not at least licensed to preach within the denomination.”
Which is closest to what you think about ordination in an unbroken line from the apostles?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Each congregation recognizes and calls its own leaders by their gifts. No outside line of ordination is needed.”
Makes room for: “What matters is that ministers hold to the apostles' teaching and are rightly called and ordained by the church.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. VI“Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes.”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Each congregation recognizes and calls its own leaders by their gifts. No outside line of ordination is needed.”
Makes room for: “What matters is that ministers hold to the apostles' teaching and are rightly called and ordained by the church.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 26.9“that he be chosen thereunto by the common suffrage of the church”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Each congregation recognizes and calls its own leaders by their gifts. No outside line of ordination is needed.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Practice, ch. II“The authority to ordain ministers has its source in the local church.”
Which is closest to what you think about Christians, war and oaths?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Christians may serve in the military for a just cause and may take an oath when the law asks for one.”
Some hold: “Christians should work for peace, and each believer may follow conscience about serving in the military.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Christians may serve in the military for a just cause and may take an oath when the law asks for one.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 24.2“they may lawfully now, under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary occasions”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Christians may serve in the military for a just cause and may take an oath when the law asks for one.”
Some hold: “Christians should work for peace, and each believer may follow conscience about serving in the military.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Which is closest to what you think about who should be baptized?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Only people old enough to understand the gospel and confess faith in Christ for themselves.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. VII“Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Only people old enough to understand the gospel and confess faith in Christ for themselves.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 29.2“Those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to, our Lord Jesus Christ, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance.”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Only people old enough to understand the gospel and confess faith in Christ for themselves.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. XVIII.1“This is the immersion of believers in water, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”
Which is closest to what you think happens in baptism?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “It's a public act of obedience that pictures what Christ has already done in the believer.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. VII“It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “It's a public act of obedience that pictures what Christ has already done in the believer.”
Some hold: “A sign and seal of God's promise. God uses it to mark us as His, though grace isn't tied to that moment.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 29.1“a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death and resurrection; of his being engrafted into him”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “It's a public act of obedience that pictures what Christ has already done in the believer.”
Some hold: “It's a believer's pledge before God and the church to follow Jesus, and a sign of being cleansed from sin.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. XVIII.1“in which are represented the burial and resurrection of Christ”
Which is closest to what you think about how baptism should be done?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “By immersion only, going fully under the water, as a picture of burial and rising with Christ.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. VII“Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “By immersion only, going fully under the water, as a picture of burial and rising with Christ.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 29.4“Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance.”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “By immersion only, going fully under the water, as a picture of burial and rising with Christ.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. XVIII.1“This is the immersion of believers in water”
When the church shares the bread and cup, which is closest to what you think?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “We remember Christ's death, proclaim it and look for His return, with the bread and cup as signs.”
Makes room for: “Christ is truly present by His Spirit, and believers feed on Him by faith, while the bread stays bread.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. VII“a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Christ is truly present by His Spirit, and believers feed on Him by faith, while the bread stays bread.”
Makes room for: “We remember Christ's death, proclaim it and look for His return, with the bread and cup as signs.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 30.7“the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally, but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “We remember Christ's death, proclaim it and look for His return, with the bread and cup as signs.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. XVIII.2“This is a commemoration of the death of Christ for our sins”
Which is closest to what you think about how often a church should share the Lord's Supper?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Regularly, perhaps monthly or quarterly. It's special, but it isn't part of every service.”
Makes room for: “Every Sunday, because the first Christians broke bread on the first day of each week.” or “A few times a year, with careful preparation and self-examination in the days before.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Every Sunday, because the first Christians broke bread on the first day of each week.” or “Regularly, perhaps monthly or quarterly. It's special, but it isn't part of every service.”
Makes room for: “A few times a year, with careful preparation and self-examination in the days before.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Regularly, perhaps monthly or quarterly. It's special, but it isn't part of every service.”
Some hold: “A few times a year, with careful preparation and self-examination in the days before.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026 ed.), Part IV, Church Government“Provision should be made for regular observance of the Lord’s Supper and washing of the saints’ feet by the congregation.”
Which is closest to what you think Christ gave His church to keep as lasting rites?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, kept in obedience as signs of the gospel.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. VI“observing the two ordinances of Christ”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, kept in obedience as signs of the gospel.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 28.1“Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Baptism, the Lord's Supper and washing one another's feet, as Jesus told His disciples to do.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. XVIII.3“Washing the Saints' Feet. This is a sacred ordinance”
The Holy Spirit’s gifts
Which is closest to what you think about gifts like prophecy, tongues and healing today?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “They can still happen, but the church should test them with care, and they aren't the focus of church life.”
Some hold: “The miraculous sign gifts were for the apostles' time and ended when Scripture was complete.”
Makes room for: “The Spirit gives gifts to every believer for building up the church, and I don't sort them into kinds.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “The miraculous sign gifts were for the apostles' time and ended when Scripture was complete.”
Makes room for: “They can still happen, but the church should test them with care, and they aren't the focus of church life.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 1.1“those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now completed”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “The miraculous sign gifts were for the apostles' time and ended when Scripture was complete.”
Some hold: “They can still happen, but the church should test them with care, and they aren't the focus of church life.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Appendix to ch. VII (1979)“Tongues were given as a special gift to the early church as only one sign which confirms the witness of the Gospel to unbelievers.”
Which is closest to what you think about being baptized (or filled) with the Holy Spirit?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Every believer receives the Spirit on coming to faith, and we can be filled again and again.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. II.C“At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ.”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Every believer receives the Spirit on coming to faith, and we can be filled again and again.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Every believer receives the Spirit on coming to faith, and we can be filled again and again.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Appendix to ch. VII (1979)“speaking in tongues as a visible sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an erroneous doctrine to be rejected”
When Christians pray for the sick, which is closest to what you think?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “God heals, sometimes by miracle and often through medicine. We pray, use both and trust His will.” or “God heals as He wills, usually through ordinary means. We pray, but we don't expect miracles as a pattern.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “God heals as He wills, usually through ordinary means. We pray, but we don't expect miracles as a pattern.”
Makes room for: “God heals, sometimes by miracle and often through medicine. We pray, use both and trust His will.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “God heals, sometimes by miracle and often through medicine. We pray, use both and trust His will.” or “God heals as He wills, usually through ordinary means. We pray, but we don't expect miracles as a pattern.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Mary and the saints
Which is closest to what you think about the saints in heaven?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “We thank God for the saints and follow their example, but we pray to God alone.” or “Every believer, living or dead, is a saint. We remember faithful Christians without special honor for some.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “We thank God for the saints and follow their example, but we pray to God alone.”
Makes room for: “Every believer, living or dead, is a saint. We remember faithful Christians without special honor for some.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 22.2“not to angels, saints, or any other creatures”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “We thank God for the saints and follow their example, but we pray to God alone.” or “Every believer, living or dead, is a saint. We remember faithful Christians without special honor for some.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think about Mary, the mother of Jesus?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “She was a godly woman God chose to bear Jesus, and an example of faith like other believers.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “She was a godly woman God chose to bear Jesus, and an example of faith like other believers.”
Makes room for: “She is blessed among women. We honor her as a model of faith, without the later dogmas of her Immaculate Conception and Assumption.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “She was a godly woman God chose to bear Jesus, and an example of faith like other believers.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Last things
Which is closest to what you think about Christ's return and the thousand years in Revelation 20?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Christ will return in glory to judge the living and the dead, and I don't think we need a timeline.”
Some hold: “Christ will take His church to Himself before a time of great trouble, then return to reign on earth for a thousand years.” or “After a time of great trouble, Christ will return and reign on earth for a thousand years before the final judgment.”
Makes room for: “The thousand years is the present age of Christ's reign. He will return once, to raise the dead and judge.”
Source: Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Art. X“God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end.”
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “The thousand years is the present age of Christ's reign. He will return once, to raise the dead and judge.” or “Christ will return in glory to judge the living and the dead, and I don't think we need a timeline.”
Some hold: “After a time of great trouble, Christ will return and reign on earth for a thousand years before the final judgment.”
Makes room for: “Christ will take His church to Himself before a time of great trouble, then return to reign on earth for a thousand years.” or “The gospel will spread through much of the world in a long age of peace before Christ returns.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Christ will return in glory to judge the living and the dead, and I don't think we need a timeline.”
Makes room for: “Christ will take His church to Himself before a time of great trouble, then return to reign on earth for a thousand years.” or “After a time of great trouble, Christ will return and reign on earth for a thousand years before the final judgment.” or “The thousand years is the present age of Christ's reign. He will return once, to raise the dead and judge.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. XX“will come again to close the Gospel dispensation, glorify His saints, and judge the world”
Which is closest to what you think happens to believers when they die, before the final resurrection?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “They go straight to be with Christ, fully forgiven, and wait for the resurrection of the body.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “They go straight to be with Christ, fully forgiven, and wait for the resurrection of the body.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 31.1“The souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise, where they are with Christ”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “They go straight to be with Christ, fully forgiven, and wait for the resurrection of the body.”
Source: Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (2026), Faith, ch. XIX“immediately after death enters into a conscious state of happiness or misery”
Worship
Which kind of service feels most like worship to you?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “A long time of singing, then preaching, with freedom for spontaneous prayer and response.”
Some hold: “A plain service of psalms or hymns, prayer and careful Bible preaching, ordered by what Scripture commands.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “A plain service of psalms or hymns, prayer and careful Bible preaching, ordered by what Scripture commands.”
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 22.1“he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “A long time of singing, then preaching, with freedom for spontaneous prayer and response.”
Makes room for: “A plain service of psalms or hymns, prayer and careful Bible preaching, ordered by what Scripture commands.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which music helps you worship most?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Hymns with organ or piano, and a choir.” or “A worship band leading contemporary songs.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Hymns with organ or piano, and a choir.”
Some hold: “Voices alone, singing hymns and psalms together in harmony.”
Makes room for: “A worship band leading contemporary songs.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Hymns with organ or piano, and a choir.”
Some hold: “A worship band leading contemporary songs.”
Makes room for: “Voices alone, singing hymns and psalms together in harmony.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
How much should the church year shape worship?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “A little. We mark Christmas and Easter and plan the rest around preaching series.”
Makes room for: “Some. We keep the main seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy Week and Easter.” or “Every Lord's Day is the feast, and we don't keep other holy days.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Every Lord's Day is the feast, and we don't keep other holy days.”
Some hold: “A little. We mark Christmas and Easter and plan the rest around preaching series.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Source: Second London Baptist Confession (1689), 22.7“is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath”
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “A little. We mark Christmas and Easter and plan the rest around preaching series.”
Makes room for: “Every Lord's Day is the feast, and we don't keep other holy days.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
In worship, what do you most hope for?
Southern Baptist Convention
Teaches: “Clear preaching of God's Word that teaches and convicts, with heartfelt singing.”
Some hold: “A close church family sharing life, singing together and caring for one another.”
Makes room for: “Freedom in the Spirit, with raised hands, prayer for one another, and gifts like prophecy.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Reformed Baptist (1689 Confession)
Teaches: “Clear preaching of God's Word that teaches and convicts, with heartfelt singing.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Free Will Baptist (National Association)
Teaches: “Clear preaching of God's Word that teaches and convicts, with heartfelt singing.”
Some hold: “A close church family sharing life, singing together and caring for one another.”
Makes room for: “Freedom in the Spirit, with raised hands, prayer for one another, and gifts like prophecy.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.