What we believe: the Baptist Faith & Message
Joining the Southern Baptist Convention · Part 2
What we believe: the Baptist Faith & Message
Doctrinal agreement is one of the four marks of a cooperating church — so here is the shared statement of belief, in plain language.
In the last section we saw that one of the four marks of a cooperating Southern Baptist church is that it doctrinally embraces the faith Southern Baptists hold in common. That shared faith is written down in a single document: The Baptist Faith & Message (often shortened to “BF&M”). If your church already believes the historic evangelical Baptist faith, you will likely find this document feels like home.
A confession, not a creed
This distinction matters deeply to Baptists, so it’s worth getting right. Southern Baptists describe themselves as not a creedal people. The BF&M is a confession — a statement of what Southern Baptists believe and a pledge of faithfulness to those truths — but it is not placed above the Bible, and no one can force it on a church.
A simple picture
Think of the BF&M as a family’s shared testimony — “here is what we believe together” — written down as a witness to the world and a promise to one another. It is a guide, not a chain. Scripture alone remains the supreme authority; the confession only summarizes what Baptists understand Scripture to teach.
Three Baptist convictions built in
The BF&M itself affirms that confessions have no authority over conscience, that Baptists may revise their statements whenever wise, and that no secular or religious authority may impose a confession on a church. It honors soul competency, the priesthood of believers, and religious liberty — the very freedoms that protect your church’s autonomy.
The 18 articles, at a glance
The BF&M 2000 sets out the faith in eighteen short articles, each followed by supporting Scripture. Here they are in plain language:
This is only a summary — the full text (with all the Scripture references) is linked at the bottom, and it’s well worth reading in full before your church affirms it.
Where Slavic Baptists will feel at home
Familiar ground
For most Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking evangelical Baptists, the BF&M will read like convictions you already hold: the full authority and truthfulness of Scripture; believer’s baptism by immersion; the two ordinances; the autonomy of the local church; a deep heart for evangelism and missions; and a strong commitment to religious liberty — a freedom your own heritage knows the value of all too well. Far from asking you to adopt a foreign theology, the BF&M largely puts into words the faith your churches have carried for generations.
A short history
The BF&M didn’t appear all at once; it has been refined over a century:
First adopted, based on the older New Hampshire Confession of Faith, to state Baptist beliefs clearly for a new era.
Revised (under Herschel Hobbs) to reaffirm the authority and trustworthiness of Scripture.
An article on The Family was added.
The major revision in use today, adopted under the chairmanship of Adrian Rogers.
A single amendment to Article VI (see the note below) — the only change since 2000.
A note on the 2023 amendment
For accuracy & transparency
In 2023, messengers amended Article VI (The Church). It now states that a church’s two scriptural offices are pastor/elder/overseer and deacon — clarifying that those three biblical terms describe one and the same office — and that the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture, while affirming that both men and women are gifted for service in the church. This is the only change to the document since 2000, and it’s noted directly in the official text.
How the BF&M is used when you affiliate
Because doctrine is one of the four marks of cooperation, your association and state convention will ask your church to affirm the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 (or a statement consistent with the historic Baptist faith) as its doctrinal framework. That affirmation is the heart of the “what we believe” step. Note what it is not: it isn’t a loyalty oath or a surrender of your church’s freedom to read Scripture for itself — it’s a shared confession that lets churches of like faith trust one another and work together.
The Baptist Faith & Message doesn’t ask you to believe something new — it simply writes down, and lets you stand alongside others in, the faith you already hold.
Read it for yourself
Official text & resources
- The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 — full text (read online)All 18 articles with their Scripture references, on the SBC’s official site.
- BF&M 2000 — printable PDF (with the 2023 amendment)A clean copy to print and study with your leadership.
- NAMB — Baptist Faith & Message resource pageThe statement with added background from the North American Mission Board.
To go deeper
- Lifeway — BF&M 2000 printed bookletAn inexpensive tract for handing to members and inquirers.
- Book: “The Baptist Faith & Message” by Charles S. Kelley Jr., Richard Land & R. Albert Mohler Jr.A study of all 18 doctrines with biblical and historical commentary — ideal for a leadership study.
Joining the Southern Baptist Convention, Part 2 — within the Slavic Church Planting & Missions Hub. Summaries are in plain language; the official Baptist Faith & Message 2000 (as amended 2023) is the authoritative text. Drawn from sbc.net and bfm.sbc.net. Read the full statement before your church affirms it.