You do not need to be a Baptist to attend a Baptist Church. Everyone is welcome to come, hear the Gospel and worship with us. We are always glad to see you. First you need to be saved. In John 3:3, Jesus told Nicodemus, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Jesus tells Nicodemus how God sent Him, Jesus, to die on the cross, and pay the price for our sins, so that if we believe what Jesus has said and trust Him for our salvation we will be saved. John 3:16-18"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Second you need to tell Jesus's Church that you have trusted in Jesus for your salvation and want to be obedient to Him by following His example and be baptized into His Church. In Luke 23 verse 39 we hear one of the malefactors, which were hanged, rail on Jesus saying, "If thou be Christ, save thyself and us." In verse 40 the other malefactor rebuked him saying, "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss." Verse 42 And he said unto Jesus, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." You can see this malefactor believed Christ. In verse 43, Jesus lets us know, this is a saved man. And Jesus said unto him, "Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise." This man was saved because he trusted Jesus. That is the only way you can be saved from death and hell. This man was not baptized. One need only trust Jesus to be saved. Baptism does not save you. This man confessed Jesus to be the Christ when he said, "Lord. remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."
Third you need to be Baptized. When we are saved we are to be obedient and confess Christ before men. One way to do this is to tell His Church of your salvation and ask to be baptized by His Church. This act of baptism is an act of obedience and a testimony to the world that you believe in the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
After you have been saved and baptized into the Church that Jesus organized you will be a Baptist because that is what anyone who is a member of the only Church that has a history of being true to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ is called in this day and age.
If you believe you are a true Baptist, and want to join this Church, read the article "What is a Missionary Baptist Church". If your former Church held these Landmarks of Baptist faith we can ask them for a letter. If for some reason this is not possible the Church could vote to receive you on your statement of faith. If you were baptized by a church that did not hold to the Landmarks of Baptist Faith we can still receive you if you are willing to be baptized. This is how we got the name Baptist. It is because Jesus Christ gave authority to baptize to His Church and only to His Church. The Roman Catholic Church did not have that authority nor did any Church that came out of the Roman Church. Jesus did not give that authority to any other organization or individual.
There may be, and are other objections, but I will give the two which are the most important. 1. It is unscriptural. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Cor.12:13, "by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body;" in verse 12 he says, "body is one," and in verse 20 he says, "but one body." Also Eph. 4:4 and 1 Cor.12:27 show the church is the body of Christ; see also Eph.1:22-23, 4:12, 5:23-30, Col.1:18-24. These passages make it clear that the church is the body of Christ into which all Christians were baptized up to the time Paul wrote those epistles, and therefore, the only scriptural way to get into a church of Christ, is to be baptized into it. See also Rom. 6:3, Gal. 3:27, Eph. 5:30, and any other way of entering a church of Christ is unscriptural. To be plain, I say baptism is the only scriptural door to church membership. But some say that Christ is the door, and this would be an unanswerable argument to those who make salvation and church membership synonymous. Christ is the door to salvation, and the only door to salvation. But I deny the claim that church membership is necessary to salvation; in fact these scriptures prove the contrary. There is harmony in holding the belief of two doors one to salvation, CHRIST the other to church membership BAPTISM and both are clearly scriptural. 2. It recognizes the authority of the Roman Catholic church. And this is almost, if not altogether, as serious as the first. Luther, Calvin and the other Protestant reformers received their ordinations and ordinances from the Roman Catholic priests, so when we receive their immersions we get it at second or third hand from Rome all the same. One said to me once, "Don't you think it is so far back it would make no difference? I answered, "How old does a falsehood have to get before it becomes a truth?"