Romans 3 changed everything for me
I wanted so badly for Primitive Baptist soteriology to fit with what I was seeing in Scripture. But I couldn’t make it work, no matter how hard I tried.
Even after eight years, people still ask why I left the Primitive Baptists. I understand why. For many, the question isn’t asked solely out of curiosity. They’re grappling with the same doubts that once troubled me.
I grew up in a world where the phrase “time salvation1” was as natural to me as breathing. It was part of the theological air I’d always known, an idea as familiar as “Amazing Grace” or carry-in lunches. The notion that justification by faith was a temporal benefit, mostly detached from our eternal destiny, made sense to me. Primitive Baptist doctrines, with their simplicity and clear boundaries, felt safe. It was like a well-worn path I could walk with my eyes closed.
Over time and with much study, however, something shifted. What once comforted me started to weigh on me. The neat boxes we had drawn around salvation and justification began to feel more like cages.
When I began my pastoral ministry, none of that yet bothered me. I preached with confidence, certain that salvation had been secured in eternity, later sealed by Christ’s blood. All we had to do was look for the signs of it in ourselves—faith, repentance, fruit of the Spirit. These were sweet assurances experienced only after the main event on the cross. They were not essential to the saving work itself.
Enter Romans 3.
I had read Romans hundreds of times, but Paul’s words were alive and active, changing right in front of me, so to speak. Some of it remained as familiar as ever—none is righteous, no, not one, for example (Ro 3:10). Primitive Baptists held these verses close. We knew humanity’s condition was grim, and Romans 3 confirmed it. But when Paul went on to talk about justification halfway through the chapter, the framework I had trusted started to crumble.
Paul writes that we are justified by God’s grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Ro 3:24). That much fit neatly into my theology. But then he said this redemption is to be received by faith (Ro 3:25). (The KJV reads, “through faith in his blood.”) That’s where I got stuck. If justification is received by faith, how could I treat faith as little more than a sign of salvation that pointed back to what had already been accomplished? Paul seemed to teach that faith was the very means by which we receive justification before God.
Primitive Baptist doctrine had drawn a sharp line between “eternal salvation,” fully accomplished by God’s grace, and “time salvation,” the benefits we experience here and now, including faith. But Paul wasn’t making that distinction. In fact, he was doing the opposite. He was binding justification and faith together in a way that left no room for the categories I had always known.
The more I studied, the more I realized this wasn’t a minor issue. It was central to the gospel and Paul’s message to the Romans. If faith is merely an assurance, a byproduct of salvation, why does Paul insist that we are justified by faith? Faith wasn’t a postscript. It was essential to the process. Jesus is the justifier of whom? (Ro 3:26) The one who has faith (or “him which believeth” in the KJV).
I wrestled with this. I wanted so badly for Primitive Baptist soteriology to fit with what I was seeing in Scripture. But I couldn’t make it work, no matter how hard I tried. Faith wasn’t merely a signpost pointing back to something already done. It was how we laid hold of Christ’s righteousness in the first place.
The hardest part, however, wasn’t changing my mind. It was the uncertainty of the future for me, my family, and my church. I loved my church and the people in it. We prayed and worshiped together, sharing our lives with one another for seven years with me as their pastor. But I couldn’t stand in the pulpit and preach what I no longer believed, at least not with a clear conscience.
So, in October 2016, I resigned. I walked away, not in anger or bitterness, but with a deep sense of loss. I still love and respect the Primitive Baptists. Their devotion to God’s sovereignty and their simple and sincere faith are things I will always treasure. Most of my family is still Primitive Baptist, and I hold many of their traditions in high regard. But once I saw that repentance and faith were not just fruits of salvation but how we are saved, I couldn’t stay.
Romans 3, among other passages, left me no choice. I had to follow the truth wherever it led, even if it meant leaving behind the only church I had ever known. The gospel is always worth the cost.
Recommended reading
The Doctrine of Justification by James Buchanan
This classic work addresses the historical debates on the topic of justification and explains the role of faith.
The God Who Justifies by James R. White
White’s book offers a thorough exposition of the doctrine of justification, making a solid case for justification by faith alone.
Time salvation is a doctrine that distinguishes between eternal salvation—God’s sovereign work of saving sinners for eternity—and a more immediate, temporal salvation experienced in this life. While eternal salvation refers to the unchanging, grace-based promise of God secured by Christ’s work, time salvation focuses on the practical deliverance believers can experience here and now. It’s about being saved from the challenges and trials of earthly life through obedience, prayer, and reliance on God.↩︎