What Is A Reformed Baptist?

A Review of Tom Hicks’s book published by Founders Ministries 2025

What is a Reformed Baptist?¹ by Tom Hicks published by Founders Ministries 2025 is a book that begins with an introduction set in the right tone of humility—“we are reformed baptists because we believe it is the most biblical thing to be.” “We could win arguments while losing people and giving up ground to the enemy.” “Secondary doctrines of Scripture are not as beautiful as Christ, but when the church neglects them, the glorious truths about Jesus Himself start to become threatened.” Hicks compares Christ to a diamond, and secondary doctrines to the prongs that hold up the diamond. Everyone in Christ has the same Christ, but Hicks puts forth the importance of having the whole counsel of God to properly pass on to the next generation. He sees that “to be a faithful Reformed Baptist is to hold to one of our historic confessions of faith, especially the Second London Confession” but also allows variation for certain matters within the mainstream historic Reformed Baptists beliefs.

Hicks begins by tracing the historical roots of Reformed Baptists from the writings of the early church fathers and the Protestant reformers. It is presumed by people that Reformed Baptists are merely Baptists who hold to the five points of Calvinism, and that they are simply a group of Baptists separate from other Baptists. Hicks unfolds the facts about Reformed Baptists not being a branch from a Baptist tree, but from a Reformed Tree; and that they arose from English independency. He goes on to explain the scholastic method of Anselm that was “faith seeking understanding” existed in the spiritual blood of Reformed Baptists. He further explains the term “Reformed Baptists” coming to fruition in 1950 among administrators of Westminster Theological Seminary who held to The Second London Confession of Faith up against a time when dispensationalism was the prevailing hermeneutic. For the Reformed Baptist, “Paedobaptism could be tolerated but the ‘Arminian position’ could not.” What made Reformed Baptists who they were was not being a distinct kind of Baptist, but a distinct kind of Reformed Christian within the confessional and scholastic or classical theistic tradition.

Hicks then moves into the subject of Confessionalism stressing that “Reformed Baptists are confessional because their churches subscribe to written confessions of faith.” With a specific commitment to the Second London Baptist Confession, he argues that a written confession serves to express the church’s standard for teaching for both officers and other members and to protect against heresy and error. Hicks most notably sets the stage for Confessionalism more broadly by identifying the consistent hermeneutic held in the Reformed tradition is one that prioritizes the New Testament, centers on Christ, and includes logical deductions. He then is apt to argue how the argument for Scripture Alone or Sola Scriptura is in fact confessional—the reformers never intending the doctrine of Sola Scriptura to exclude confessions of faith. The matter is more accurately explained to be one of authority—whether Scripture is under the church’s authority or whether the church is under the Scripture’s authority. Individual Christians are also helped to see their place where they can best understand Scripture together in confessional churches that instead of usurping the Scripture’s authority, hold to a belief that gives proper place to such authority. Reformers never excluded tradition, but simply stress the interpretive tradition is actually valuable to the church. The best way then to study the Bible is argued to be with the Scripture’s above us and God’s people around us (both past and present). Sola Scriptura was originally intended by the Protestant Reformers as expressed in the classical confessions like the Second London. When Reformed Baptists come to the Bible and they discover something they think is different from their confession, they will question their understanding before they will launch an attack against their confession. Since the reformed hermeneutic has been faithful to give us salvation by grace, it naturally follows that if our understanding disagrees with that hermeneutic, there is something wrong with our thoughts not the faith we confess. This chapter then agrees with the former in Anselm’s classical method of “Faith seeking understanding.” Rejecting reformed confessionalism is called nuda Scriptura, a term that means bare or naked Scripture, otherwise known as biblicism. Most know this term expressed in words like “no creed but the Bible!” This phrase originates with the Campbellites which formed Churches of Christ denomination, but not Reformed Baptists. Reformed Baptists, Hicks argues along with others, prefer to write their confessions down so as to be honest about their beliefs. To not write down your beliefs does not mean you do not have a confession, but that you are actually hiding it from congregants, and refusing for your beliefs to be evaluated. Other problems that ensue from an anti-confessional viewpoint include pastoral authoritarianism as well as heresies divisions among the other members of the church. Since the church is the “pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15) it is asserted that the church is responsible “to confess its understanding and the meaning of the whole Bible.” Hicks closes his chapter on confessionalism with arguments for a church holding to a confession and then with a practical recommendation of holding the Second London Confession among Reformed Baptist Churches. This latter matter distinguishes between officers and members. All believers are to have a unity with other church members to the faith that the church holds together and teaches. This requires every member to at minimum have a teachable spirit and not to promote division about matters in the confession by developing strong opposition or promoting strife about certain matters of doctrine. When it comes to the officers, Hicks sees that it is also healthy for the church to hold to subscribe fully to their church’s confession. This means that pastors and deacons are in agreement with every doctrine in the confession. Hicks pleads that the confession is useful to protect the unity and well-being of the church members as a whole and especially guards her from pastoral authoritarianism. There certainly can be theological disagreement, but the church should have a simple and sincere profession of faith in Christ with a commitment to learning and conveying the whole counsel of God.

Appropriately, the author moves from Confessionalism to the matter of God’s law. For Hicks, the subject of God’s law is crucial to the church and in particular the Reformed Baptist Church. The eternal law of God is said to exist in God himself and is revealed to us in both nature and in Scripture. Moral law is defined as God’s eternal law revealed in Scripture. Natural law is defined as God’s eternal law seen in creation and in human consciences. As a “transcript of God’s character” the law reveals how people are to relate to God and one another. Hicks goes on to explain the three-fold division of Old Testament Law giving first place to a two-fold distinction—both moral or natural law and then positive law. Moral laws are those laws of God which never change, while positive laws are issued by divine fiat in sync with providential purposes and covenants. Moral laws transcend the biblical covenants, while positive commands act in relations to those covenants from Adam all the way to Christ as head of New Covenant. This especially explains how one knows “to receive baptism, join the local church, take the Lord’s Supper, follow the leadership of pastors and deacons practice church discipline, etc.” In terms of positive law in the Old testament, it breaks into ceremonial and judicial law. In terms of the three-fold division of Old Testament law there is moral which forms the basis of all law, ceremonial which deals positively with worship, and judicial which deals with positive law for God’s covenant people in the life of the land. So, this bigger picture is what is set forth at greater length for explanation. Hicks states succinctly that

“with the fulfillment and abrogation of the old covenant in Christ (Heb. 8:13), both kinds of old covenant positive law have now expired (Heb. 7:12; 10:9), and only the moral aspects that derive from the Ten Commandments remain in effect for the new covenant people of God. This is the law God writes on the hearts of all new covenant believers (Jer. 31:31–34; Heb. 8:8–10).”

This is defended in the Second London Confession 19:2–4 which is in sync with other Reformed confessions; main stream Christianity including the church father Irenaeus; as well as the Bible’s basis for this thinking. Concerning this last defense, the Bible, the moral law is placed higher than other Old Testament law. Hicks defends this according to the uniqueness, intimacy, placement, and precedence of the moral law. The nature of this law is then described as a gift that transcends all biblical covenants teaching men how to perfectly live inwardly and outwardly in relation to God, and this forever. And since there is perpetuity to the moral law, the Christian Sabbath is considered before a broader summation of the use of the law is given. Picking up from the Second London Confession 22.1, Hicks defends the Sabbath as a creation ordinance, grounded in both creation and redemption, abiding in the new covenant though transferred to the first day of the week under Christ and the apostle’s teaching. Since the Christian Sabbath has been established it entails both morning and evening worship. While objections are often raised against this perpetual law from a misuse of Scripture, apparently using the scholastic method, Hicks clears this way by accurately explaining the normal texts (Romans 14:1–9; Galatians 4:10–11; Colossians 2:16) often used to teach against the Christian Sabbath. Hicks rightly argues for a biblical rhythm that reflects what pleased the Christ of the Bible. Finally, the three fold use of the moral law is explained: (1) to restrain evil of sinners and promote the common good; (2) to drive sinners from their sin to trust in Christ alone; (3) to guide us in the standard conduct for life that is pleasing to God. “God’s law reveals God” and “further reveals the nature of a true image of God…the blueprint of a true human being…the transcription of Christ’s character…the standard to which every Christian should be growing in their sanctification.”

Having now dealt with the subject of God’s law, Reformed Baptist Covenant Theology is engaged. He opens with a vast and staggering statement about the covenants: “God rules history through His covenants, which are revealed in the Bible.” He then goes on to define the word “covenant” in both the Hebrew and Greek. The Bible’s three overarching covenants are introduced and then explained one by one. First, the covenant of works is defined and proven by both Scripture and the Confession. Hicks begins in Genesis, and then gives further evidence from all of Scripture that the covenant of works is a distinct covenant from the old covenant, because after all the old covenant did not offer life like the covenant of works. Three aspects of the covenant of works are explained as (1) the context and terms for friendship with God; (2) promised glorification of Adam and his posterity; (3) threatened death for sin. Hicks then answers the objection concerning if Adam could have boasted if he had obtained eternal life, to which he answers in terms of Adam’s duty (Luke 17:10) which excludes boasting. Nevertheless, since there was no provision for the redemption of sinners in the covenant of works, it cannot be confused with the covenant of grace. Concerning the covenant of redemption which is God’s purpose to redeem his chosen people through Jesus Christ a similar pattern of evidence is given from both the Second London Confession and Scripture. Scripture, however, is what more largely occupies each defense. The nature of this covenant is explained as unique concerning the parties being the Triune God, the time belonging to both timeless eternity and temporal history, the promises to Jesus in the covenant, the essence which is the required works for Christ to satisfy divine justice for the redemption of the elect, the terms given to the incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, and the probation where Christ was tested in the wilderness just as Adam was in the garden of Eden. It was Christ who overcame the curse of the covenant of works, secured the blessing of the covenant of grace, and all of this leads to worship of the great God of heaven and earth! Concerning the covenant of grace, which is God’s sworn oath to save his chosen people from the curse of the covenant of works on the basis of Christ’s work in the covenant of redemption, Hicks stresses the Holy Spirit’s application of what Christ there accomplished. As there is only one gospel, Hicks explains that there is only one covenant of grace. The covenant of grace is the seed of the new covenant. “The Old Testament covenants with Israel could not save because membership in them was not union with Christ. Their purpose was to sustain the physical line of the promised offspring, preserving the people of Israel, giving them temporal life until the promised Christ came from them.” Hicks explains the promises of the covenant of grace throughout the entire Bible—both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Particular instances are cited in the Bible of those who were personally saved by this one covenant of grace, including: Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, etc. He distinguishes between the covenant of grace (which saved) and the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants (which did not save). Examples given are from the Pre-Abrahamic Patriarchs, Melchizedek, Jethro, Caleb, Rahab, Ruth, the Queen of Sheba, the Widow of Zarapeth, Naaman, Job, the sailors in Jonah, and the people of Nineveh. The nature of this covenant includes its having the parties of God and his elect people, being a free gift from God to his people (unlike with Adam in the covenant of works), being unconditional, effecting salvation, establishing the church, and bringing a new heavens and a new earth. The chapter on covenants by Hicks in itself is its own thorough treatise for the believer to have with him an organizing principle for Scripture reading and a sound hermeneutical compass for Bible study. Hicks concludes with a statement of clarity:

“In the covenant of works, Adam broke God’s law and deserved eternal condemnation and death. In the covenant of redemption, Jesus Christ perfectly obeyed God’s law to accomplish the redemption of His chosen people. In the covenant of grace, the Holy Spirit applies Christ’s work, imputing Christ’s perfect law-keeping for their justification (obedience and death) and working in them to keep the law more and more for their sanctification and communion with God.”

Rightly does Hicks go on to deal with the law and the gospel in the next chapter, as that last statement leaves off with a new and profound subject related to union and communion.

In the chapter on the law and the gospel, Hicks begins with a historical explanation of the terms “evangelical obedience” and “legal obedience.” Evangelical obedience being “gospel obedience” and “legal obedience” being that which the Christian is now on a journey to put off! To understand the law and the gospel requires understanding the three overarching covenants of Scripture “reveal the law as a covenant (covenant of works), the gospel as promise (covenant of redemption), and the gospel as a covenant (covenant of grace).” Evangelical obedience in the covenant of grace is said to be “faithful obedience to God’s good law on the basis of and in light of Christ’s free and gracious redemption.” It follows the guilt, grace, gratitude schema. As such, the Christian is equipped to fight the world, the flesh, and the devil, as well as live faithfully before God and others. Hicks moves on from this foundation to explain the reformed tradition of the law and the gospel. He quotes from Calvin, Beza, Bavinck, Berkof, Keach, Spurgeon, Sam Renihan, Colquhoun, and Sinclair Ferguson to teach this tradition. He goes on to explain what the law/gospel distinction is not providing for a wholistic view of both with precise distinctions leading to an unfolding of the law and the gospel, each in their large and strict terms; which is supported by a quotation by John Gill (1697–1771) using these same categories concerning the gospel. The law largely speaking is said to include God’s law as well as his promise to reward obedience and disobedience, while strictly speaking is God’s law without any promises or threats, but as a rule for life. The gospel strictly speaking is said to be a pure promise of redemption with no commands involved, while largely speaking is the gospel as the covenant of grace or the new covenant, including promises and commands. The law and the gospel are said to be about two different ways to be justified and have eternal life when the law is viewed largely and the gospel strictly. The law here is a covenant of life, and the gospel is a purse promise of life. Concerning sanctification, Hicks describes this as the gospel/law continuum. In this continuum, sanctification is where believers are obeying the law of Christ from a heart of love and gratitude because Jesus saved them. Thereafter, Hicks returns to the law/gospel contrast in justification to underscore its importance, which he says humbles sinners, and assures fearful saints. He returns again to the gospel/law continuum in sanctification to illustrate that the gospel is like sails to propel the believer forward like a boat, and the law like a rudder to give necessary direction. The gospel rightly motivates sanctification and the law rightly directs sanctification. The relationship between the law and the gospel guards believers from both legalism and antinomianism, viewed by Hicks as progressions of decline from normative Christianity. The only solution to these declines is “to see and believe the power and supreme goodness of Jesus.” Hicks labors to make clear that whenever we want to motivate Christians to obey God’s law from an passage of Scripture, we must ground those commands in the precious promises of Christ revealed in the gospel, not in guilt. Guilt-driven obedience turns us away from Christ to ourselves. A final admonition being made here “to have the law and gospel theology in their minds when they preach from every text.” Unlike the law in justification which says do this and live, the gospel says simply live! In sanctification the law is retained as a standard in the covenant of grace for the believer producing a “live and do this” new way of life as opposed to the old way of the law covenant “do this and live.”

Next comes the subject of Calvinism. Loosening the rocks from the field that many baptists have unfortunately been pastured in, Hicks states upfront that “Among some…Calvinism is a bad word” conjuring up “thoughts of a fatalistic God” who is “the author of evil who approves of sin.” But rather than using a different word, Hicks shrugs that proposal aside to get to the truth that the real problem is that of the biblical doctrines that Calvinism represents, and the human pride which it offends. Hicks argues that the term Calvinism should be retained for various and stated reasons including the need for some word to dispense with long definitions, the reality that this term is its proper historical-theological term, and in a pastoral context may help to remove its negative stigma so that opponents to these truths may be thwarted. Thereafter, Hicks explains unconditional election in terms of sovereignty and providence, followed by total depravity related to the covenant of works, followed by definite atonement related to the covenant of redemption, followed by effectual grace and perseverance of the saints both related to the covenant of grace. In each of these explanations Hicks gives a solid defense and application along with the answer to objections.

Next Hicks speaks of the Church as Christ’s bride, a people made up of individuals all on the way back to God. Their purpose is God-centered in worship, edification, and evangelism all on the foundation of Jesus Christ himself, and marked by the Nicene formula—one, holy, catholic, apostolic. Hicks differentiates between the universal or catholic church and local churches or assemblies. Required in the local church is regenerate church membership for reasons of: pure worship, unity in orthodoxy, congregational church government leading to implications about baptism of disciples alone, church discipline, evangelism and missions, and separation of the church and the state, all under God. The Word and Sacrament are considered together yet distinct. Hicks describes the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper in terms of spiritual benefit to the congregation in sync with reformed teaching. They are means of grace. The two offices of the church are also discussed including Pastors/Elders/Bishops and Deacons. The first being a governing body and ministers of the word, the latter being overseen by the former. Deacons are not to be exercising oversight over the elders. Elders are to oversee the deacons. Beyond this, Hicks addresses family worship and individual members in the church. He points out that the local church “is the center of the life of the believer. Scripture teaches that a believer’s life should revolve around his local church.” This is then supported by the Scriptural “one another” statements.

The Regulative Principle of Worship is addressed next in contrast to the normative principle. The idea is that the church has authority only to institute in worship that which God commands, not merely what God remains silent upon. However, Hicks does speak about circumstances by the end of the chapter. Hicks believes that all images are forbidden including pictures of Jesus because Jesus is a divine person; this is his interpretation of the second commandment. He states that Old Covenant regulations no longer apply and makes his case that the New Testament regulations are what are binding upon the church today. The elements of Scripture reading and preaching, prayer, singing, baptism, Lord’s Supper, tithes and offerings, public confession of faith, solemn oaths and vows including ordinations are all set forth as proper elements of worship. Circumstances are said to vary from church to church, but defined strictly as something that does not overpower the positive elements of worship. When the aforementioned takes place, Hicks states it has become an element of worship and is therefore forbidden. Transitioning at this point to the next chapter, he speaks of liberty of conscience freeing the believer from pagan worship, infant baptism, papal innovations, government interference, pragmatism, silliness, and manipulation in favor of the ordinary means of grace.

In the final chapter before a brief conclusion, Hicks addresses Christian Liberty as a larger theme to liberty of conscience. Christian liberty is a major principle of the Reformation which teaches that “Jesus frees us from every kind of bondage.” In its broadest sense, it “refers to freedom from the dominion of all our enemies: Satan, the world, and the flesh.” Jesus is said to free us from every “this present evil age, and to the glorious age to come in the new heavens and new earth. The subset, liberty of conscience, “means that God alone has the authority to define sin through His law, and that our consciences are free from the arbitrary laws of men.” Hicks explores five truths about liberty of conscience: (1) Only God has authority to bind the human conscience; (2) All of God’s commands needed for life and godliness are in the Bible; (3) Any teaching that contradicts the Bible or adds any doctrine or command not in the Bible has no authority over our consciences; (4) When people allow anyone else, whether father or mother, pastor, teacher, or even an angel from heaven, to bind their consciences outside the Bible they commit sin against God. No creature is to take the place of God and his law. This liberty is described as “not an absolute liberty.” Hicks warns against those who come out of legalistic background and who go too far in expressing their liberty without self-control. As another help for balance, Christian liberty and liberty of conscience are considered with Christian ethics which contain three elements: (1) A morally right act requires a good motive; (2) The action itself must be good; (3) A morally good act requires a right end or goal. Hicks goes on to complete the chapter on Christian Liberty with a practical example, and liberty and human authorities in church and home. He addresses abuses of this liberty and makes clear that the goal of Christian Liberty is not so we can follow after loves of the world, but faithfulness, love, obedience, worship of the one true God and rebellion against all that is false. Christian Liberty is said to help us learn true wisdom for ourselves and provides us peace and unity in the local churches.

Hicks concludes his book describing Reformed Baptist Theology as “an effort to understand the teachings of the whole Bible.” He has unfolded historical theology on the matter, a high view of God’s law, a distinction between law and gospel theology, and implored the importance of great theology to give life to the churches. He closes with a prayer that God will raise up more wanting to build this way by grace.

1. Founders Ministries sent me a copy of What Is a Reformed Baptist? by Tom Hicks for review