What is a Free Will Baptist?
You'll notice that our name is specified by the term, "Free Will Baptist," this means that we are a specific and unique community of Baptists qualified by our belief in the essential "free will" of man. Free Will Baptists are different than Southern or Independent Baptists in that we believe in the free will of man before and after the moment of justification. Just as man is given the free will to either accept or reject the free grace of God for salvation before conversion, he is able to reject that grace after walking in the faith. This is called apostasy and is outlined mainly in the book of Hebrews, namely chapter 6. Apostasy is an indefinite and improbable point that a beliver may reach in his or her life when they ultiamately reject their faith in Jesus Christ and forfeit their own salvation.
This is not properly identified as "losing" your salvation, seeing as this is a willing choice made by the believer. We disagree with the Wesleyan notion of "repeated regeneration" or the belief that if a believer sins, they must become "re-saved" as it were. We reject the notion that a believer may fall out of grace by sinning, although a life of sin is evidence to the contrary of a true salvation experience and may eventually lead to a "hardening of the heart" and ultimately apostasy. At First Church we teach the Free Will Baptist doctrine, but have opened our doors to accept those of other "Bible believing" denominational backgrounds, mainly those from the Southern Baptist and Pentecostal churches. There is a tremendous sense of unity at First Church as we stand firm on the authority of the Scripture, although our interpretations may differ within the realm of orthodoxy. We have dual fellowship with the National Association of Free Will Baptists and the Southern Baptist Convention and welcome those of like faith who would join us in worship. For more information concerning the history of the Free Will Baptist movement click here.
Click here to download a copy of the FWB Treatise