(shared from the BU page)

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.

Statement of Belief

• That the Holy Scriptures, comprising the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, are the complete and final written record of God’s revelation to man and are in their entirety the very word of God. They are powerful, with their own inherent authority and are the final rule and authority in all matters of faith and conduct. The Holy Scriptures were written by men who were supernaturally moved by the Holy Spirit in such a way that their human writing was divinely inspired. This inspiration of the Holy Scriptures extends equally to all parts; the thoughts and ideas are expressed in words which are themselves inspired. The Holy Scriptures are wholly reliable, trustworthy and true, without error. They have been, and will be, preserved by the Holy Spirit throughout all ages.
  (Amended Baptist Union Statement passed by the 1990 Assembly.)
• In One God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• That Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary and is true God and true man.
• That God created man in His own image; that man sinned and thereby incurred the penalty of death, physical and spiritual, that all human beings inherit a sinful nature which issues (in the case of those who reach moral responsibility) in actual transgression involving personal guilt.
• That the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, a substitutionary sacrifice, according to the Scriptures and that all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.
• In the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus, His ascension into heaven and His present life as our High Priest and Advocate.
• In the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• That all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God.
• In the resurrection both of the just and the unjust, the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and the eternal banishment of those who have rejected the offer of salvation.
• That the one true Church is the whole company of those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit; that the local Church on earth should take its character from this conception of the Church spiritual and therefore that the new birth and personal confession of Christ are essentials of Church membership.
• That the Lord Jesus Christ appointed two ordinances – Baptism and the Lord’s Supper – to be observed as acts of obedience and as perpetual witnesses to the cardinal facts of the Christian faith; that Baptism is the immersion of the believer in water as a confession of identification with Christ in burial and resurrection and that the Lord’s Supper is the partaking of bread and wine as symbolical of the Saviour’s broken body and shed blood, in remembrance of His sacrificial death till He come.
• That God has ordained marriage between a man and a woman. Therefore we believe in a heterosexual relationship between a natural man and a natural woman within the confines of lawful matrimony. 

(Baptist Union Statement of Belief passed by the 1924 Assembly).

Baptist Principles

PREAMBLE: 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. It is to clarify these that the following statement is made:

We, as Baptists believe in:

1. The CHURCH as the whole company of those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. The local church, being a manifestation of the universal church, is a community of believers in a particular place where the Word of God is preached and observed. It is fully autonomous and remains so notwithstanding responsibilities it may accept by voluntary association.
2. BELIEVER’S BAPTISM as an act of obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ and a sign of personal repentance, faith and regeneration; it consists of the immersion in water into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. The Principle of CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH GOVERNMENT, namely, that a constituted church meeting is, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the highest court of authority for the local church; and that each individual member has the inalienable right and responsibility to participate fully in the life and government of the church, including the appointment of its leaders.
4. The PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS, by which we understand that each Christian has direct access to God through Christ our High Priest, and shares with Him in His work of reconciliation. This involves intercession, worship, faithful service and bearing witness to Jesus Christ, even to the end of the earth.
5. The principle of RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, namely that no individual should be coerced either by the State or by any secular, ecclesiastical or religious group in matters of faith. The right of private conscience is to be respected. For each believer this means the right to interpret the Scriptures responsibly and to act in the light of his conscience.
6. The principle of SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE in that, in the providence of God, the two differ in their respective natures and functions. The Church is not to be identified with the State nor is it, in its faith or practice, to be directed or controlled by the State. The State is responsible for administering justice, ensuring an orderly community, and promoting the welfare of its citizens. The Church is responsible for preaching the Gospel and for demonstrating and making known God’s will and care for all mankind