What is the difference between southern and free will baptists?
From what I understand, they differ in their views of predestination, mostly. Predestination is the belief that from the beginning of time God essentially said “You you and you are going to heaven, while you you and you are going to hell.” In other words, there is no choice in the matter of salvation. Southern Baptists believe in predestination, while free will Baptists do not. If I am mistaken in any of that info, please let me know.
There really isn’t much difference between Free Will Baptists and Southern Baptists The difference is that Free Will’s idea of eternal security (or once saved always saved) is different than Southern Baptists. The SBC says that once you are saved, nothing can keep you from losing that salvation. Free Will’s say the same thing, that you cannot “back slide or sin” and loose your salvation, but they say you can “lose faith” or “denounce your faith.” For example, let’s say a born again Christian suddenly decides that he no longer believes in Jesus and becomes a Muslim. Then he dies, where does he go? The SBC would say that if he was truly saved then he would go to heaven. Free Will’s would say that he goes to hell since he “lost faith or denounced his faith.” Let’s say a person is a born again Christian and falls into a sinful lifestyle and stops going to church. Then he dies. Both groups would say that he goes to heaven.
