Here are the big steps that led to individual soul liberty.
The Church of England separated from RCC over King Henry VIII (So King Henry VIII could divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn 1533).
Puritans sought to purify The Church of England of RCC-like policies.
Separatists separated from the puritans over these issues.
Baptists separated from Separatists over infant baptism.
Thomas Helwys and John Smyth fled England and traveled to Amsterdam in 1609 for religious freedom from the oppression of the Church of England and King James I.
They started the first Baptist church that year. In 1610, the two separated when Smyth join the Mennonites.
In 1612, Helwys wrote the first declaration of religious freedom in English called the A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity.
In 1613, Helwys moved back to London and started the first Baptist church on English soil.
Helwys was arrested for his beliefs of individual soul liberty and died in prison in 1616 at the age of 40.
From the inception of the Baptist movement, separation of church and state, individual soul liberty, and the autonomy of the local church have been Baptist Distinctives. Dr. Colon Smith argued that the acrostic B-A-P-T-I-S-T was a hindrance to understanding the Baptist Distinctives because each distinctive does not lead logically to the next. For example, Biblical authority does not lead logically to the autonomy of the local church nor does the autonomy of the local church lead logically to the priesthood of believers. Dr. Smith also noted that there is no letter for congregational rule. I guess you could add I C and make B-A-P-T-I-S-T-I-C. The C could stand for congregational rule. The I could stand for Independent. Just kidding.
Just a few questions before we proceed. Why are these Baptist distinctives? Don’t other denominations hold to these truths? Yes, other denominations hold to these doctrines but only Baptists hold only to these doctrines. Are labels like Baptist important? Were labels used in the early church? The early church recognized Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians who are all referred to in Matthew 22. Willaima Lane Criage argues, that labels on a medicine bottle versus a box of rat poison are important If you’ve got a headache. You’d better believe that labels are important!
A more logical approach would start with Biblical authority (which includes verbal, plenary inspiration and inerrancy)
and then lead to a saved or regenerate membership.
This would logically lead to the priesthood of every believer. The local church is founded on God’s Word which demands sinners be saved. The example of the first church in Acts 2:37-42 certainly had a regenerated church membership that resulted from the preaching of God’s authoritative Word. Ideally, with a regenerated church membership that produces a priesthood of believers who have a direct relationship with the Head of the Church,
you can have congregational rule where God is directing each believer priest into His will for the church. I know even the best of Baptist churches do not have completely regenerated church membership, but the biblical concept makes for a better church and we should strive for saved church membership.
Once you have a priesthood of believers in an autonomous church, then the two officers (1st Timothy 3:1-13) can be elected and
the two ordinances can be practiced which are the Lord’s Supper and Baptism by immersion.
The next Baptist distinctive is individual soul liberty where no hierarchy is pressuring believers to violate their consciences as seen in Acts 5:29.
This distinctive leads to the separation of church and state to ensure individual soul liberty and religious freedom. Jesus broke centuries of practice in Matthew 22:21 when he taught to render to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to render to God the things that are God’s. A theocracy was the OT rule (Deuteronomy 17:14-20) where the king was the spiritual leader.
The autonomy of the local church was also advocated by Jesus when he gave the steps of church discipline in Matthew 18:15-17. The same three steps were followed by Paul with the lazy Thessalonians.
He first admonished them to go to work when he was at Thessalonica (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Secondly, he rebuked them in 1 Thessalonians 4:11. Lastly, in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-14, he called for church discipline. After the final step prescribed by Christ, which is telling it to the church and counting the unrepentant a heathen, there is no next step. There is no bishop to appeal to. The congregation is the final court of appeal.
1) The autonomy of the local church is also taught in Acts 15:3, 4, and 22, when “the whole church” agreed on the regulations accepted by the Jerusalem Conference.
2) The autonomy of the local church is found in Paul commanding the churches in Galatia (Gal. 1:2) to settle the problem of false teaching.
3) The autonomy of the local church is also promoted in the priesthood of every believer (1 Peter 2:5). Every believer in a local church can be directed by God in important church issues concerning which the church is voting.
Congregational rule is the responsibility of every autonomous church. Mark Dever in his book Nine Marks of a Healthy Church advised: Church members are going to vote either with the ballot, their wallet, or their feet. Congregational rule is inevitable.
See the post on The Importance of Doctrinal Statements. See also the post The Process and Result of Fuller Theological Seminary Abandoning Its Doctrinal Statement.