Calvinistic Roots of Baptists
I proudly call myself a Southern Baptist, but one area that I tend to think differently than most Southern Baptists today is in the area of the sovereignty of God in salvation. I hold to the Calvanistic Doctrine that Baptists like John Gill, Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, and Augustus Strong so boldly proclaimed. Though most of that foundation has been denied by many of the Southern Baptists today, there seems to be a slight resurgence taking place of the old doctrines. So it always thrills my soul when I am looking through Baptist liturature and still see the remants of those Calvinistic roots. Tonight we were keeping up with that Southern Baptist tradition of getting to pick out our favorite songs to sing for evening worship. As we where thumbing through the pages my wife ran across this song.My Lord, I Did Not Choose You
My Lord, I did not choose You,
For that could never be;
My heart would still refuse You,
Had You not chosen me.
You took the sin that stained me,
You cleansed me, made me new;
Of old You have ordained me,
That I should live in You.
Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my op’ning mind,
The world would have enthralled me,
To heav’nly glories blind.
My heart knows none above You;
For Your rich grace I thirst;
I know that if I love You,
You must have loved me first.
Josiah Conder 1789 - 1855
Though Conder was not a Baptist, the fact that his song has lingered in the Baptist hymnal brings joy to my heart!
Praise God for His Salvation!
Doug
Labels: Hymns
posted by Doug E. @ 8:51 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Those are great words far better then recent songs like
"I wanna be a history maker"
I wanna
I wanna
i wanna
I love the old hymns. I am not familiar with that one so I did a search. You can listen to a midi file here:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/l/mlidncyo.htm
PB: "I wanna be a history maker"?? Groan. Never heard that one either. . .
Such powerful words, we do lose much when we neglect the worship of our predecessors. There are still some modern gems though.
Grace And Love
by Kutless
Verse:
Many things in life are hard for me;
Many things can pull us down;
I don't understand why I do what I do;
How could I take my eyes off you;
After all You've done for me;
And after all You've done for me;
Chorus:
It's by Your grace and love I am saved;
It's by Your grace and love You've forgiven me;
And by that love and grace I'm amazed;
It's by Your grace and love I am free;
I am free, I am free, I am free;
Bridge:
And it's by grace and love that I am free;
I'll live with You eternally;
I thank you Lord that I am free;
I thank You Lord for loving me;
I thank You Lord for dying upon the tree of Calvary;
I thank You Lord for loving me;
I thank You Lord for dying for me;
Doug,
There is a group called "The Founders" and they have a blog site called "Founders Ministry Blog". I do not know the address, but I do have it book marked.
Great post, and you are right about the growing of numbers of those who hold to the "Doctrines of Grace" within the SBC.
Great words in the song. I would like to hear it sometime. Is it in the newest Baptist Hymnal?
Doug, there is a book I think you might be very interested in . . . I believe it is out of print but you could probably find a copy of it at www.bookfinder.com.
The title of the book is By His Grace and for His Glory by Thomas J. Nettles. The book is about the Calvinistic history of the Southern Baptist denomination.
I was raised Southern Baptist and spent the first 30 years of my life in the Southern Baptist denomination . . . when I became Calvinist there were, at the time, not too many Calvinists in the SBC denomination - this was long before Al Molher became President of SBTS.
Nettles book was a Godsend for me at a particular time in my life, so if you have not heard of it, I would highly recommend tracking it down and getting a copy.
Tim,
If you click on the title of the Song on my blog it will take you to cyberhymnal where you can hear the music to the song.
Doug
Thanks for the link to the founders. I will google it.
Oh what a wonderful song! Yes, thank you Lord for choosing me! "Before the foundations of the earth were laid I was formed in you." And without His drawing me to Himself and giving me repentance I could not find him still.
Doug,
Great post!
Check out http://www.founders.org it would be right up your alley. Mine to- a SBC/Reformed believer!
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