Baptist

Believer's baptism by full immersion only, rejecting infant baptism (and re-baptizing those baptized as infants)

Their basis
Every recorded New Testament baptism follows personal belief - Peter's hearers 'repented and were baptized' (Acts 2:38, 41), the Samaritans 'when they believed... were baptized' (Acts 8:12), and the Ethiopian, having heard Philip preach 'the good news about Jesus,' asks to be baptized and goes down into the water (Acts 8:35-38). The Greek baptizo means 'to immerse/dip,' and Romans 6:4 pictures being 'buried with him' - which fits immersion. Scripture nowhere commands baptizing infants.

Scripture answers
The Baptist link between baptism and personal faith is genuinely strong and biblical. Where the tradition can bind beyond the text is (1) treating immersion as the ONLY valid mode when Scripture never absolutely restricts it (3,000 baptized in one day, Acts 2:41; the Didache permitted pouring where water was scarce), and (2) requiring re-baptism, which risks unchurching godly believers over a disputed point. Paedobaptists answer from the household baptisms (Acts 16:15, 33; 1 Cor 1:16), baptism as the new-covenant counterpart to circumcision (Col 2:11-12), and Jesus welcoming the little ones (Mark 10:14) - so Scripture leaves room for honest disagreement rather than settling it as a test of fellowship.

Acts 2:38Acts 8:12Acts 16:33Colossians 2:11-12Mark 10:141 Corinthians 1:16

In fairness: They have a real and honest point: the New Testament consistently pairs baptism with repentance and faith, and never explicitly commands infant baptism. This is a serious biblical argument, not a novelty.

Eternal security / 'once saved, always saved' (especially in Southern and independent Baptist streams)

Their basis
Jesus says of His sheep, 'they shall never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand' (John 10:28-29); nothing can separate us from God's love (Rom 8:38-39); 'he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion' (Phil 1:6); believers are 'sealed with the Holy Spirit' as a guarantee (Eph 1:13-14).

Scripture answers
God's preserving of His own is a true and precious biblical doctrine - these verses mean what they say. The danger is a cheapened version that assures anyone who once 'prayed the prayer,' regardless of whether faith continues. Scripture's warning passages call the professing believer to persevere: Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-29 warn against falling away; Jesus says the unfruitful branch is cut off (John 15:6); Paul disciplines his own body 'lest I be disqualified' (1 Cor 9:27). True security belongs to those who 'continue in the faith' (Col 1:23) and 'hold our original confidence firm to the end' (Heb 3:14). Assurance is real, but it rests on continuing faith, not a past transaction.

John 10:28-29Hebrews 6:4-6Hebrews 10:26-29John 15:6Colossians 1:23Hebrews 3:14

In fairness: The doctrine rightly guards the sufficiency of grace and the faithfulness of God against a works-driven anxiety - it protects a real gospel truth even where it can be misapplied.

The ordinances (baptism and the Lord's Supper) are purely symbolic memorials that convey no grace

Their basis
Jesus said 'do this in remembrance of me' (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24-25) - the Supper is a memorial. Baptism is the outward sign of an inward reality. Salvation is by grace through faith, not by ritual (Eph 2:8-9), so the elements cannot themselves impart grace.

Scripture answers
Baptists are right to reject baptismal regeneration and transubstantiation - no rite saves apart from faith in Christ. But the bare-memorial view can under-read what the New Testament actually says about the ordinances. Peter writes that baptism 'now saves you... as an appeal to God for a good conscience' (1 Pet 3:21); Paul calls the cup 'a participation in the blood of Christ' and the bread 'a participation in the body' (1 Cor 10:16) - language of real communion, not mere reminder. The ordinances are more than empty symbols even if they are not magic.

1 Corinthians 11:24-25Ephesians 2:8-91 Peter 3:211 Corinthians 10:16Titus 3:5

In fairness: Rightly protects the gospel from the idea that a ritual saves apart from faith - a needed guardrail against sacramentalism, and true to Ephesians 2:8-9.

Conversion marked by a decision / 'sinner's prayer' and the altar call (revivalist practice)

Their basis
'If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved' (Rom 10:9-10); 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved' (Rom 10:13); Jesus stands at the door and knocks (Rev 3:20). A person must personally decide for Christ.

Scripture answers
Calling on the Lord and personally receiving Christ is thoroughly biblical - the instinct is right. But the formulaic 'sinner's prayer' and altar-call ritual are 19th-century revivalist inventions (Finney's 'anxious bench,' later popularized through Moody and Graham), not commands of Scripture, and can substitute a one-time recitation for genuine repentance and lifelong discipleship. The apostolic pattern is repentance, baptism, and devoted continuance in the church (Acts 2:38-42); Jesus warned that 'not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter' (Matt 7:21) and commissioned us to 'make disciples,' teaching obedience (Matt 28:19-20). The fruit, not the formula, confirms the faith.

Romans 10:9-13Acts 2:38-42Matthew 7:21Matthew 28:19-20Luke 6:46

In fairness: The core impulse - that each person must consciously repent and trust Christ rather than coast on family or culture - is exactly right and deeply biblical.

Local-church autonomy, congregational government, and 'no creed but the Bible'

Their basis
Every believer is a priest with direct access to God (1 Pet 2:5, 9); the gathered congregation exercises discipline (Matt 18:17); each church is self-governing under Christ its only Head, owing allegiance to no bishop, synod, or human creed above Scripture.

Scripture answers
This rests on solid ground - the priesthood of all believers and Christ's headship are biblical, and it healthily resists clericalism and top-heavy hierarchy. Yet the New Testament also shows churches accountable beyond themselves: a plurality of elders appointed in every church (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5), a Jerusalem council settling a dispute for many congregations (Acts 15), and a shared 'faith once for all delivered to the saints' (Jude 3). 'No creed but the Bible' is well-meant, but it can cut a congregation off from the whole body's accumulated discernment and leave it vulnerable to one strong leader's reading.

1 Peter 2:9Acts 14:23Acts 15:6-29Titus 1:5Jude 31 Timothy 2:5

In fairness: Rightly recovers that every believer has direct access to God through the one mediator, Christ Jesus (1 Tim 2:5), and rightly refuses to let human tradition sit above God's Word.