Why We Are Called
Legacy Reformed Baptist
LEGACY Reformed Baptist Church
As Christians, we do not stand on our own, isolated from what has come before. Nor does what we do in the brief vapor that is our time on this earth affect only us.
We have the firm foundation of Scripture, a holy and perfect standard breathed out by God. The Bible alone is sufficient for all doctrine and practice. However, we are not left to our own wisdom or the wisdom of our peers to interpret that perfect Word of God. We have thousands of years of church history where faithful believers have left us both a legacy of faithfulness to emulate, as well as a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to be passed down. We would be foolish indeed to ignore such a blessing.
As we stand on what has come before, we also realize that we have the honor, privilege, and duty to build for those who will follow us. We stand on a great legacy, even as we continue to labor and build to leave a legacy. We proclaim Christ’s supremacy in all things, as we teach each new generation to obey all that our Lord has commanded. We build, we influence, we take dominion. The legacy ultimately is not ours; it is the legacy of God’s faithfulness to His people. All glory to God!
Legacy REFORMED Baptist Church
What does it mean that we are reformed? There is a lot packed into that simple word, such as, we adhere to the regulative principle of worship, we are biblically structured with a plurality of elders and deacons, we hold to the five solas of the reformation, we stress meaningful membership, and we place a premium on rich exegetical biblical preaching. For the sake of brevity, we will focus on three things: We are Calvinistic. We are Covenantal. We are Confessional.
Calvinistic: We believe that God is sovereign in all things. God, in His three persons, accomplishes everything that is necessary for our salvation. This is commonly spoken of as the five points of Calvinism, or is referred to by the acronym TULIP. God is the one who Justifies. God is the one who Sanctifies. God is the one who Glorifies. All glory to God!
Covenantal: We believe that God has always had one plan of redemption, decreed before the founding of the earth, that He has progressively revealed through the covenants He has made with man. After man broke the covenant of works God made with Adam in the garden, God made a covenant of Grace that He progressively revealed throughout the Old Testament and which found its fulfillment in the New Covenant in Christ. Sinners have always been saved by faith; either by looking ahead in faith for what God had promised He was going to do, or by looking back in faith on what Christ has done. There is and has always been only one unified people of God; established through the patriarchs, and into which all who believe are grafted by faith.
Confessional: Scripture is sufficient for all godliness. Even so, we see the wisdom and benefit of learning from those that have come before, especially from those works that have stood the test of time. We hold to the 1689 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith. We recognize that true biblical unity is only possible by common confession. We unite around what we believe and teach. The tried and tested creeds and confessions of the church serve as a fence to hold us in the bounds of safe orthodoxy around which we are able to unify.
Legacy Reformed BAPTIST Church
As Reformed Baptists, we have much in common with some Presbyterian and other Reformed denominations. What marks us as distinct among other Reformed churches, is our understanding of how to consistently apply the sign of the new covenant in relation to the sign of the old covenant, as well as how we see the Bible directing us to govern our church.
We practice believers’ baptism, also known as credo baptism. We believe that just as circumcision was the physical sign that accompanied entrance into the Old Covenant people of God, by birth, so now is baptism a physical sign that accompanies entrance into the New Covenant people of God, by faith in Christ. The Old Covenant was concerned with the circumcision of the flesh, and the New Covenant is concerned with the circumcision of the heart. Baptism and church membership follow a credible profession of faith, not having simply been born into a Christian home.
We believe in the autonomy of the local church, as well as a form of congregational church governance. While we may partner with other like-minded churches, or even join a network or association of churches, each church is independent and answerable to Scripture and to God. There is no hierarchy or organized structure of leadership or authority outside of the local church. We have an Elder Ruled with Congregational Consent form of government, which means that God has placed certain responsibility for leadership upon the elders of the church, and the congregation possess authority in all other areas, as well as in providing accountability for the elders.
Legacy Reformed Baptist CHURCH
We are a local expression of the church universal. That is, we are a local body of believers, united by common profession and confession, that has covenanted together for mutual edification, support, encouragement, accountability, and for the evangelism of the lost. We exist to edify the saints and to equip them for the work of ministry in every area of life. All glory to God!