Our Story
The Baptist Union of Southern Africa was founded in 1877 by four English-speaking churches and one German-speaking church in the Eastern Cape. Today it comprises of many hundreds of churches spread throughout Southern Africa. It is a voluntary organisation comprised of a number of Networks which prescribe to Christian tenants of belief and Baptist distinctives.
Our Mission
Our Mission Is To Advance The Cause Of The Kingdom Of God Primarily In Southern Africa. To Promote Unity And Brotherly Love Among Its Member Churches And Churches Moving Towards Membership. To Disseminate Baptist Principles And To Maintain Religious Liberty. To Establish And Assist Churches Wherein Baptist Principles Are Practised.
WHAT IS A BAPTIST?
We as Baptists share many areas of our faith with other members of the professing Christian Church. These include a belief in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; in the supreme Lordship of Jesus Christ as Head of the Church; and in the Bible as the inspired Word of God, and as the final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
There are however areas of principle and practice where we as Baptists make distinctive emphases arising out of our understanding of the Scriptures such as the direct lordship of Jesus Christ, the autonomy of the local church, believer’s baptism, the congregational principal of church government, the priesthood of all believers, the principle of religious liberty and the principle of separation of church and state.
According to StatsOnline, the South African census of 2001 recorded that out of a population of 44,819,774 citizens 691,235 people identified themselves as Baptists in South Africa.
Baptist Union
Archives
It is vital that we don’t lose or forget our heritage as the Baptist Union, considering our rich and vibrant history. To this end, the Baptist Union Archives has found a home at the Baptist Theological College in Randburg, Johannesburg. To visit the archives, whether for interest or research purposes, please contact the college here
What is the Gospel?
Every person has sinned against God. Basically this means we’ve all fallen short of His perfect standard. You see, God is holy and righteous, He’s perfect and He stands apart from sin. We’re not and so we’ve separated ourselves in many ways from Him by what we’ve thought, what we’ve said, what we’ve done and even in what we’ve left undone. We’re guilty. None of us make the grade, make the cut, stands acceptable.
Now, there are results to this stain of sin in our lives, some of them are temporal others eternal. God says in the Bible that the wages of sin is death. This isn’t just a physical death but an eternal, everlasting death. And He’s just; we’ll get what we deserve.
Pretty gloomy? Well that’s the bad news. The good news is that Jesus, as a demonstration of God’s love died for sinners like you and me so that those who come to Him may have eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen! Bottom line, Jesus’ death paid for the penalty of God’s wrath against our sins and what’s more His resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus’ death as the payment.
God has revealed in His Word that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to all who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. This Gospel is a call to live a life of faith joined with turning away from our sins and turning to God in repentance. It’s not something that we can do for ourselves but a gracious gift from Him.
While the wrath of God rests on sinners the saved are at peace with Him having been reconciled to God through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Because of that great work we can rest secure in the certain promise that nothing will ever separate us from His love.
All this means that we, with Paul, can say, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
If you would like to know more about being a Christ follower, we would love to connect you with a local church in your area where you can meet with someone that can go on a spiritual journey with you. We are better together! Please let us know via the button below that you would like more information, and one of the BU Team Members will assist you.
