The short answer is yes and no.
You see, when an individual identifies as a Reformed Baptist, they are identifying with an existing tradition. Specifically, they are identifying with a tradition which originates from the English Particular Baptists of the early 17th century. From the very onset, this group adhered to the promulgation of the Reformed tradition, and advanced the ideas of Calvin, Zwingli, Bucer, and Bullinger. However, they disagreed when it came to both baptism and the interconnected Paedobaptist view of Covenant Theology which underpinned infant baptism. The idea of infant baptism being, as many early Reformed Baptists reasoned, a holdover from the papacy.
For holding such a position, amongst other things, Baptists were persecuted as heterodox non-conformists. Yet, it is during this time of persecution that the Particular Baptists wanted to stress their continuity with the Reformed tradition and thus came out with their first, well-known, confession — the 1644/1646 London Baptist Confession of Faith which was adopted by many Baptist congregations. Yet, even with such a document, many still remained skeptical concerning the theology of Particular Baptists — therefore, some time after the publication of the Presbyterian Westminster Confession of Faith in 1646, Particular Baptists met once again to issue a new document to explicitly stress both the points of continuity with the Presbyterians and the areas of contention. This document was known at the 1677/1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, which whilst published in 1677 anonymously to prevent further persecution, was only officially adopted by Particular Baptist congregations in 1689 after persecution had dissipated with the ascendency of William and Mary to the English throne.
Throughout the 18th century, Particular Baptists continued to be confessional, either adhering to the existing confessions or composing new smaller ones for use in their own respective congregations. However, it was understood that Particular Baptists were creedal people who held to ‘Reformed‘ confessions and stressed continuity with the ‘Reformed‘ tradition. This was the hallmark of all Reformed Baptists.
Today, however, the term Reformed Baptist is used by some to convey specifically that one holds to the doctrines of grace otherwise known as Calvinism. While Calvinism, as evidenced by the popular acrostic TULIP, is an important part of Reformed theology, it by no means, as the Presbyterian theologian R.C. Sproul rightly puts it, “exhaust[s] this system of doctrine. There is much more to Reformed theology than the five points.” Indeed, the Reformed tradition, some may be surprised, is even more than the five solae.
Byron G. Curtis, a theologian based at Geneva college, deftly adds that the Reformed faith, while including the Solae and TULIP, also includes the following distinctives:
- In worship: the Regulative Principle of Worship “Whatever is not commanded in public worship is forbidden.” God alone directs how he is to be worshiped in the assembly of the visible church.
- In the Visible Church: Covenant Theology & Covenant Community. The Church is the New Israel, incorporating believers among Jews and Gentiles alike. Infant Baptism ordinarily follows from this understanding. Sacraments are not merely human observances, but acts of Jesus Christ, marking out the visible church. [While we, Reformed Baptists, may disagree with our Paedobaptist brethren as to what Covenant Theology may precisely looks like, Reformed Baptists hold, as Particular Baptists did, to a form of Covenant Theology.]
- In life: Life is religion: there is no sacred/secular distinction. As such Christians have neither jobs nor careers; they have vocations (callings). Every calling is “full time Christian service,” because every Christian is a full-time Christian.
Suffice to say, the historic usage of the term ‘Reformed’ had more connotations than what some people attribute to the term today.
However, this takes us back to the original question — Can one be a Reformed Baptist and not hold to the 1677/89 LBCF?
To which, we answer: Yes. If the beliefs held by a Baptist are in continuity with the Reformed tradition, which involves the above, but does not specifically hold to the 1677/89 LBCF, than they can, indeed, be considered a Reformed Baptist. (For example, we’d consider brethren who held to either the 1644/46 or the 1966 Baptist Affirmation of Faith as fellow Reformed Baptists if they also held to the above Reformed distinctives.) However, if one only holds to the doctrines of grace or the five solae in isolation, than No. They should be considered a Calvinistic Baptist instead.