I think Terry a while ago stated the clear difference between a baptist denomination/sect and a local church right here:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
[*]Membership
1. Baptists make membership being a formality before becoming a member of the assembly.
2. Local churches all that is needed for membership is regeneration; salvation by the blood of Jesus Christ.
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Any group that has formal membership requirements must automatically be discounted as being a genuine local church. When a person is baptized in a Baptist church, they are baptized into the Baptist church, hence their baptism is denominational. This is demonstrated when a Baptist church will re-baptize a person just because they were not baptized properly by full immersion or baptized in a non-similar denomination. People who have a denominational baptism will usually say "I was baptized as a ... Baptist" , or "baptized as a ... Lutheran". They have no concept of true baptism when they think they are baptized into a particular denomination.