Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO 63080
Date: December 26, 2004
An Open Letter To The Germantown Baptist Church
B.J. Clarke
[NOTE: Brother B.J. Clarke, who preaches for the Southaven church of Christ, in Southaven, MS, wrote a
letter to the Germantown Baptist Church, in Germantown, TN, just outside of Memphis, back in 1997. Even
though written in 1997, the contents are still just as applicable now as then. The letter is as follows.]
Dear Germantown Baptist Church,
Recently, I was up late watching television when I came across your weekly TV program. At the moment I
tuned in, one of your preachers was in the water preparing to baptize someone.
Because I love the Bible, and what it teaches, I was greatly interested to watch this baptism. However, as I
watched, I saw something very odd take place. One of your preachers asked the candidate for baptism if they
had anything that they would like to confess. The person in the water nodded in the affirmative and
proceeded to confess that Jesus had saved him from his sins. Several other baptisms immediately followed,
and in each case, prior to baptism, the candidate for baptism confessed that Jesus had saved them from their
sins.
Please let me explain why this is so unusual to me. I have read my Bible diligently, and I have never read of
an example (after the establishment of the New Testament church in Acts 2) where someone confessed that
Jesus had saved them from their sins before they were baptized. In fact, I read of just the opposite.
For example, the inspired apostle Peter affirmed that “baptism doth also now save us” (I Pet. 3:21). This same
apostle Peter commanded the people on Pentecost who wanted to be saved, to “repent and be baptized for the
remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). Furthermore, the Bible says that salvation is in Christ (2 Tim. 2:10). Hence,
one who is not in Christ is not saved. However, the Bible clearly teaches that we are baptized into Christ
(Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27). Therefore, if salvation is in Christ, and baptism is what puts me into Christ, then it is
impossible for me to be saved before I have been baptized. This being so, I must ask why your TV show
depicted people confessing that they had been saved prior to baptism? Can you show me a New Testament
example after Acts 2 where anyone ever confessed salvation prior to baptism? If baptism saves us, and Peter
plainly states that it does, then how can one be saved before they have done that which the Bible says saves
their soul?
I was also puzzled by a statement your preacher, Mr. Ken Story, made. In his lesson, he asserted that Saul
of Tarsus was saved on the road to Damascus. This puzzled me because if Saul had been saved on the road
to Damascus, he wasn’t aware of it. He went into the city and fasted and prayed in anguish. If he had been
saved on the road to Damascus, he was the most miserable saved man that ever lived.
Furthermore, if Saul had been saved on the road to Damascus, God didn’t know it because He dispatched
Ananias to go tell Saul how to have his sins washed away.
When Ananias arrived, he said to Saul, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy
sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Mr. Story, would you please explain something to me? If
Saul had already been saved on the road to Damascus, why did he have sins that needed to be washed away?
If he had been saved on the road to Damascus, would not his sins have already been washed away?
In view of the fact that Acts 22:16 teaches that our sins are not washed away prior to baptism, how does your
practice at Germantown Baptist Church measure up to Holy Scripture? Why do you have people confess that
their sins are washed away before baptism, when Acts 22:16 teaches that it is when a penitent believer is
baptized that the blood of Christ washes away his/her sins? Saul did not confess that his sins had been
forgiven prior to his baptism. Why don’t you follow his example?
One more thing that confused me about your program was the presence of a choir singing to the
accompaniment of mechanical instruments of music. Where is the New Testament authority for such a
practice? The Bible teaches that all Christians are to sing and make melody in their hearts (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:
16). Is your practice with or without scriptural authority?
Please do not be offended by my questions. I just believe that if any man speak, he should speak as the
oracles of God (I Pet. 4:11).
Will someone please write me and give me the book, chapter, and verse that teaches one should believe he is
saved before he is baptized? Would someone please demonstrate how Saul could have been saved on the
road to Damascus, and yet still be in his sins when Ananias arrived? Would someone please provide an
example in the New Testament of a group of worshippers dressing up in special robes and singing to the
accompaniment of mechanical instruments of music?
Awaiting your scriptural reply,
B.J. Clarke
A REPLY (?) FROM THE GERMANTOWN BAPTIST CHURCH
B.J. Clarke writes,
“After waiting several weeks, and receiving no reply, I just happened to bump into Ken Story at Baptist
Central Hospital in Memphis, TN. I verified that he was Ken Story, and that he was the preacher for the
Germantown Baptist Church. He told me that he was, but that he had resigned and would soon be moving
on. After informing him that I had watched one of the GBC TV programs, I asked, ‘Did you get my letter?’ He
did not remember having seen it; I was fairly confident that he would remember the letter if he had seen it.
He explained that his secretary sometimes screened his mail and that perhaps she had decided not to pass it
on to his attention. I tried to discuss some of the objections mentioned in answering my questions. He
thanked me for watching the program and proceeded to move on down the hall. I thought that was the end of
it.
However, sometime later, I received the following ‘answer’ from Ken Story:”
Dear BJ —
As we were moving the church office your letter of April 30 was found. I appreciate your interest in GBC’s TV
ministry and also the opportunity I had to meet you. The information you indicated you are looking for is stated clearly
in the Bible so I don’t know how you missed it. Look again — May the Lord guide you. Ken Story
[Next week, we will continue by considering brother Clarke’s comments on Ken Story’s so-called
reply.]