{"id":10679,"date":"2013-07-12T08:54:33","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T13:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.\/uk\/?p=10679"},"modified":"2014-10-10T17:35:13","modified_gmt":"2014-10-10T16:35:13","slug":"what-does-reformed-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.banneroftruth.org\/uk\/resources\/articles\/2013\/what-does-reformed-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does ‘Reformed’ Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may be an evangelical and be an Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, Brethren or other. You may be Calvinist or Arminian. But we generally need more agreement on points of theology and worship if we are to live and serve together as a church.<\/p>\n

One of the ways in which churches identify themselves is by calling themselves \u2018Reformed\u2019. So – what does \u2018Reformed\u2019 mean?<\/p>\n

Historically the name comes from the period of the Reformation: \u2018Reformed\u2019 churches were those that followed Calvin rather than Luther. It is broadly accurate therefore to say that \u2018Reformed\u2019 is equivalent to \u2018Calvinistic\u2019. Men who studied under Calvin or his successors in Geneva brought the Reformed faith back to Britain where it took root in Scotland under John Knox and among the \u2018Puritans\u2019 in England and Wales. Other countries in northern and eastern Europe were influenced as well, such as France (where the Reformed were called Huguenots), the Netherlands, Poland and Hungary. In the seventeenth century the Puritans took Calvinism to the USA and in the eighteenth it was the theology of great revival preachers such as Jonathan Edwards in New England, and George Whitefield, Howell Harries, Daniel Rowland and many others in Britain.<\/p>\n

Some argue that if to be Reformed is truly to be Calvinistic, then Baptists have no right to call themselves Reformed. Baptists in the seventeenth century however would have disagreed vigorously, for the stronger branch of Baptists at that time was the Particular Baptists who in 1689 produced the\u00a0Second London Confession of Faith<\/i>\u00a0(the first had appeared in 1644).1<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0This was consciously drafted to show that on all major theological points Baptists were very close indeed to the Presbyterians of the\u00a0Westminster Confession<\/i>\u00a0(1646)2<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and the Congregationalists of the\u00a0Savoy Declaration<\/i>\u00a0(1658). There were of course differences \u2014 such as on baptism and church government. But \u2018Particular\u2019 Baptists were so called because of their commitment to \u2018particular\u2019 redemption (the Reformed doctrine that Christ\u2019s death is saving in its effect for the elect only). Their successors today believe that the claim to the name \u2018Reformed\u2019 is not a false one.<\/p>\n

But \u2014 what does it mean in practice today?<\/p>\n

Key words for understanding Reformed Christians are \u2018radical\u2019 and \u2018consistent.\u2019<\/p>\n

1.<\/h3>\n

We are\u00a0radical<\/i>\u00a0because we trace biblical truths to their depths. We are not content with superficial definitions. \u2018God\u2019 must be explored for all he is worth. He is not an object of scientific study, but in his Word he has given us so much information about himself that not to analyse it and synthesise it as rigorously as possible would be an affront to his condescension and kindness. In what follows I shall indicate other areas where the Reformed Christian is radical. We want to get to the depths of ourselves, the depths of the way of salvation and the heart of what it means to be a Christian.<\/p>\n

In practice we want to live our faith. Reformed Christians have therefore been at the forefront of battles for liberty of conscience and have not infrequently been a revolutionary force in the church and the world. Any idea of \u2018Reformed\u2019 that sees it as a synonym for staid, boring and predictable is a travesty.<\/p>\n

2.<\/h3>\n

We are\u00a0consistent<\/i>\u00a0in that we work the truths of Scripture through to their logical conclusions as far as possible. In this sense we are heirs of Calvin who was one of the most penetrating and systematic theologians of all time. We believe the Bible is the revealed Word of God and therefore has an internal consistency which does not have to be forced but is to be discovered. However, if there are two apparently opposing or apparently contradictory truths revealed in Scripture \u2014 the most obvious ones being the sovereignty of God and the free will and responsibility of man \u2014 we leave them to stand together and do not force them into a false harmony. In this we are like Calvin himself who was always insistent on allowing Scripture to have the last word even if he could not make logical sense of it. In this, too, we are unlike some other traditions, such as hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism, which make the mistake of putting logic above Scripture.<\/p>\n

Let us now look at some Reformed distinctives. It can be seen that while we share the \u2018big issues\u2019 with other Evangelicals, our radicalism and consistency contribute to making Reformed Christianity the clearest and strongest formulation of Christianity that the Church has yet attained.<\/p>\n

1. Scripture<\/h2>\n

Conviction of its authority is shared with others but we have a further emphasis on its:<\/p>\n

a.\u00a0necessity.<\/i>\u00a0We are in darkness without God\u2019s Word to us. \u2018By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God . . .’ (Heb.<\/i>\u00a011:3). Reformed Christians begin with a conviction of human spiritual blindness. This is a consequence of our greater insistence on total depravity.<\/p>\n

b.\u00a0sufficiency.<\/i>\u00a0We need nothing other than Scripture. This provides a bastion against the temptation of mixing Scripture with philosophy such as Roman Catholic \u2018tradition\u2019 or modern claims to \u2018prophecy today\u2019.<\/p>\n

c.\u00a0internal consistency.<\/i>\u00a0As stated above, Reformed Christians have been foremost in systematising Scripture. We develop doctrines and from them Confessions. The great Confessions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are of course Reformed. These provide great strength for Christian living derived from doctrine.<\/p>\n

(1) Presupposed is the unity of Scripture as God\u2019s Word. \u2018Men spoke from God\u2019 (2 Pet.<\/i>\u00a01:21) and acted freely in so doing, but God superintended their thinking and speaking so that what he wanted written they wrote. Can we grasp this \u2018dual working\u2019 with our minds? No, but we believe it and it is entirely rational. As a result the Bible is a unity, the work of one Mind.<\/p>\n

(2) Presupposed too is the importance of the human mind as a receiver of revelation and the way reason can grasp revelation. God spoke and the universe came into being. He made man and woman in his image to respond to him, to glorify him and to enjoy him for ever. Integral to this is the human mind. By it we receive God\u2019s Word, we speak back to him (in prayer) and we speak God\u2019s Word to others.<\/p>\n

(3)The importance of the mind in living the Christian life cannot be overemphasised – truth comes to us through the mind in conversion and as we love and understand the Word of God so we will grow as Christians.<\/p>\n

(4)But Calvinists insist that the mind must always be subordinate to the Word and when we cannot understand we must not distort or ignore Scripture to fit our systems.<\/p>\n

(5) Typical of the Calvinist sense of the unity of Scripture is the development of the theology of covenant as the unifying structure of Scripture, and of God\u2019s self-revelation in the twin doctrines of Law and Gospel. Law and Gospel comprise a conversation throughout Scripture between God\u2019s demand and his provision, between his righteousness and his grace.<\/p>\n

(6) Covenant, Law and Gospel, as all else in Scripture, are fulfilled and culminate in Christ.<\/p>\n

d.\u00a0dependence.<\/i>\u00a0We depend on the witness of the Spirit in the reception of truth. He confirms our faith in Scripture as God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n

2. The supremacy of God in all things<\/h2>\n

The Reformed Christian is \u2018God-entranced\u2019. We see the glory of God as the goal of all of life and eternity and God\u2019s purpose in all his work. It is of immense and ultimate comfort to the believer that God is sovereign in creation and providence (Gen.<\/i>\u00a050:19, 20;\u00a0Isa.<\/i>\u00a046:9-11) and in salvation (Acts<\/i>\u00a02:23, 4:28;\u00a0John<\/i>\u00a06:37,Jon.<\/i>\u00a02:9;\u00a0Eph.<\/i>\u00a01:3-11).<\/p>\n

3. The utter dependence of man in all things<\/h2>\n

We are utterly dependent though not merely passive or inactive. Although we have a deep conviction of man as totally depraved and work this out more consistently than other evangelical traditions, we do not have a low view of man as created. He is glorious, created as the summit of creation and his glory makes his fall only the more tragic and culpable.<\/p>\n

In creation, God made us; in providence, he governs us; in salvation, he saves us. He made us alive in Christ when we were spiritually dead.<\/p>\n

A combination of these views of God and man leads to the \u2018Five Points\u2019 of Calvinism which are not by any means all there is to Reformed Christianity, but Reformed Christianity is certainly not less than the five points:\u00a0Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Perseverance of the Saints<\/i>.3<\/a>, 4<\/a>, 5<\/a><\/sup> <\/p>\n

The same combination of views gives us a profound dependence on the Holy Spirit in living the Christian life. Calvin was called the \u2018theologian of the Holy Spirit\u2019.<\/p>\n

What is not so commonly understood about Reformed Christians is that they also hold<\/p>\n

4. A high view of the church<\/h2>\n

It is the body of Christ (Eph.<\/i>\u00a05:25-27). If we hold Christ as precious, the church must be precious. We are drawn together by Christ. We regard our assembling together, too, as precious.<\/p>\n

a. The marks of the Church are: preaching (Christ exercising his prophetic office among us); the sacraments (Christ exercising his priestly office) and discipline (Christ the King among us).<\/p>\n

b. Our worship is to be governed by God\u2019s Word. The \u2018regulative\u2019 principle is that only what is prescribed in God\u2019s Word or clearly implied in it is acceptable in worship services. This liberating principle frees the church from human laws, for example the tyranny of Roman rites, or of human imagination such as in modern man-centred worship, or entertainment-style worship.<\/p>\n

So Reformed worship will usually consist of: the Word of God read and preached (1 Tim.<\/i>\u00a04:13;\u00a0Acts<\/i>\u00a02:42;\u00a02 Tim.<\/i>\u00a04:2); prayer (1 Tim.<\/i>\u00a02:1;\u00a0Acts<\/i>\u00a02:43); praise (Eph.<\/i>\u00a05:19;\u00a0Col.<\/i>\u00a03:16;\u00a0Matt.<\/i>\u00a026:30); the Lord\u2019s Supper (1 Cor.<\/i>\u00a011:23- 26).<\/p>\n

The regulative principle is biblically based on the necessity of revelation to enable us to approach God and the sufficiency of Scripture for approaching him. In particular we look at the Second Commandment with its emphasis on spiritual worship, and at Leviticus 10:1-3 where Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, were severely punished for offering to God not what had been forbidden but simply what had not been commanded. See also Deuteronomy 4:12-15; 23-24.<\/p>\n

c. Worship is also to be rational, simple and Christ-centred.<\/p>\n

d. The task of the church in relation to the world is to obey the great commission \u2014 to go into the world and make disciples of all nations. It is in this way more than any other that we obey the \u2018cultural mandate\u2019 of Genesis 1. Historically Reformed Christians have been in the forefront of experiencing and praying for revival as the great means by which God advances his kingdom.<\/p>\n

5. The Christian life<\/h2>\n

a. It begins with evangelical experience. The experience of Isaiah (Isa.<\/i>\u00a06:1-3) though in itself unique also provides a great model for conversion \u2014 conviction of sin, cleansing by the sacrifice of Christ and glad response to his call to serve him.<\/p>\n

b. It is lived \u2018before God\u2019 –\u00a0coram Deo<\/i>\u00a0– a motto of the Puritans. Reformed Christians will have a grateful and positive attitude to God\u2019s law \u2014 seeing it not as an imposition or as something from which the gospel and the Spirit release us, but as the form of life which we are now to live – \u2018O how I love your law\u2019 (Psa.<\/i>119:97). We have been delivered from the bondage of law-breaking to enjoy the freedom of law-keeping. That includes the Fourth Commandment.<\/p>\n

c. It embraces all of life: home, politics, work, studies, culture, arts, sciences. The \u2018cultural mandate\u2019 (Gen.<\/i>\u00a01:28) still applies to man. This means witnessing, in word and life, to Christ\u2019s Lordship over all things. Reformed Christianity engages with all creation.<\/p>\n

(1) The Renaissance and Reformation of the sixteenth century opened up scientific discovery, and Calvinism in particular made the gospel a real force in the world. In\u00a0For the Glory of God<\/i>, American historian Rodney Stark argues that though one cannot say that the rise of modern science in the seventeenth century was a particularly Protestant movement, it is indisputable that it emerged in western Europe and nowhere else at that time. It can be persuasively argued that a faith that presented God as rational, responsive, dependable and omnipotent and the universe as his personal creation provides a solid basis. A rational and stable structure is in place awaiting human comprehension. It is this framework that makes science possible.6<\/a><\/sup> The emphasis is again on reason \u2018thinking God\u2019s thoughts after him\u2019. In no way has Christianity been an enemy of science. Calvin wrote, for example, \u2018. . . There is need of art and of more exacting toil in order to investigate the motion of the stars, to determine their assigned stations, to measure their intervals, to note their properties\u2019 (Institutes<\/i>, 1.5.2) and again, \u2018If we regard the Spirit of God as the sole fountain of truth, we shall neither reject the truth itself nor despise it wherever it appear . . .\u2019 (11.2.15).<\/p>\n

God\u2019s laws undergird everything. They give consistency, order, reliability, predictability. Nietsche gave a back-handed compliment to Christianity when he said, \u2018I fear we have not yet thrown off belief in God for we still trust grammar.\u2019<\/p>\n

(2) The Calvinist principle of \u2018vocation\u2019 gives honour to every human enterprise however humble because God called you to it and you do it for his glory. \u2018Vocation\u2019 is not a preserve of the clergy.<\/p>\n

Christians are being renewed in the image of God and should be foremost in subduing creation to the rule of Christ. We do so as we live obediently to his will in our calling.<\/p>\n

(3) The Christian life centres on seeking after God and communion with him, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. John Owen\u2019s books\u00a0Communion with God<\/i>7<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and\u00a0The Glory of Christ<\/i>8<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0reflect the dynamic of the spiritual life. Again, we are wholly dependent on the Spirit in this.<\/p>\n

(4) There is a proper perspective on life – our \u2018short and uncertain pilgrimage\u2019 to the \u2018city that has foundations\u2019 yet we are to seek \u2018the welfare of the city\u2019 on earth to which God has called us.<\/p>\n

(5) We are longing for Christ\u2019s return and believe in revival. Whatever our framework for the last things (and Reformed Christians would differ: most would be \u2018amillenialist\u2019 or \u2018postmillenialist\u2019 and have confidence in the flourishing of the gospel in this age, even if we do not all hold to the optimistic views of many of the Puritans or Jonathan Edwards) we look to Christ\u2019s return for the ultimate demonstration of his glory, our own glorification with him, and the completion of his work of redemption.<\/p>\n

(6) The Reformed Christian is always reforming. \u2018Perfecting holiness out of fear of the Lord\u2019; pursuing that \u2018holiness without which no-one will see, the Lord\u2019 (2 Cor.<\/i>\u00a07:1;\u00a0Heb.<\/i>\u00a012:14).<\/p>\n

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Notes<\/h3>\n
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