What Does it Mean to be Reformed?

4/18/10 Sermon by Minister Michael Johnson

What Does it Mean to be Reformed?

2 Timothy 3:14-17

This church is part of the Reformed Church in America. Obviously this is the denomination we belong to, but what does it mean to be reformed? If someone were to ask you what it means, how would you explain it to them? We’ll get into reformed theology but in order to fully understand its meaning, let’s quickly look at the beginning of reformation in church history.

Martin Luther was a Catholic priest and theology professor. He was primarily concerned with adhering to Scripture and doing away with any practice that was not Scriptural. The more he read Scripture the more he began to disagree with some of the Catholic Church’s teachings and traditions. His goal was not so much to break away from the Catholic Church, but to challenge various theologies such as the sale of indulgences. Indulgences were credits that were bought by those living in an effort to free a loved one who had passed away from God’s punishment. Luther made the argument that this act was not Biblical and, in fact, was in complete contradiction of God’s teachings. God’s grace cannot be purchased! The more Scripture Luther read the more his eyes opened to the Truth. In 1517, he posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther’s emphasis on Scripture eventually led him to translate the Bible from Latin into German so laypeople could read it and know God’s Word. The Catholic Church resisted Luther’s teachings. From this struggle began the Protestant Reformation.

Jumping forward a few years, to 1541, we come to a man named John Calvin, a French theologian and pastor. While Luther made the first big strides to separate from the Catholic Church, Calvin resisted even more of the Catholic doctrines. He sought not to just abolish Catholic teachings, but to replace them with the theology presented in Scripture. Calvin acknowledged Christ as the only way to Salvation and not based on any human effort whatsoever. Calvin sought to use Scripture alone to inform his theology, not teachings of other men, not traditions held by any church and not the predominant feelings or thoughts espoused by people of his day. He interpreted Scripture as it was written, in full scope, from beginning to end. He saw the relationship of each covenant God made in the Old Testament as it pointed to the fulfillment in the New Testament with Christ. He saw the thread of God’s sovereignty throughout all of Scripture. Using Scripture he penned a massive theological work called the Institutes of Christian Religion. I recommend reading it if you want to chew on dense, theological topics. Calvin’s emphasis on faith in Christ alone and his explicit focus on Scripture are the main tenets of the reformed belief system.

Reformed theology views Scripture alone as the foundation for understanding our faith in Jesus Christ. A text used as a main proof of the authority of Scripture is 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which states, “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.” Reformed theology believes that our beliefs and actions must be found in Scripture to agree with God’s plan. Luther’s disagreement with the purchase of “indulgences” is a prime example of this fact. Nowhere in Scripture could Luther find support for these “indulgences” and so he considered them not to be from God. When we deviate from God’s Word we become susceptible to worldly ways of thinking. With Scripture as our cornerstone we will remain on God’s path with no deviation. As we progress through this sermon keep this cornerstone in mind. It is the basis for all theology that is to follow.

Reformed theology, as is agreed upon by the RCA and Presbyterian churches, centers around many theologians with the most recognizable being John Calvin. Calvin is often recognized for creating the acronym T.U.L.I.P. or TULIP. TULIP stands for the following doctrines: T for total depravity, U for unconditional election, L for limited atonement, I for irresistible grace, and P for perseverance of the saints. This distinguishes Reformed Theology from many other theologies. I will quickly try to break down these five doctrines as well as apply practical examples and meanings.

Total depravity means that we are in complete sin. We have no good in us except what comes from the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the forgiveness of sin through faith in Christ. Because we have no good in us we are unable to willingly choose Christ as our Savior. We are also unable to do any good apart from the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. This does not mean that without Christ people will intentionally seek to do evil. Many try to do good, but without Christ this good will always be tainted with fleshly motivation. A classic text that backs up this theology is Rom 3:23, which states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The following verse states, “For the are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” According to this verse all are sinful and all are able to find justification through Christ if they profess faith in Him. This does not mean that all will follow Christ. This is due to the evil inherent in all humans. Thankfully we have Lord who calls His children into relationship with Him despite our sinful nature. This leads into unconditional election.

Unconditional Election is used to describe the notion that we are chosen by God to follow Him based on no merit of our own. Being chosen by God has nothing to do with our actions, looks, attitude, abilities, potential or any other characteristic. Romans 8:28-30 states, “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.” God chooses us to follow Him according to His will and His will alone. So what does this mean to us in a practical sense? It means that we had to do nothing to gain the favor of God. It had nothing to do with us at all, but had everything to do with God’s will. The Lord has chosen us to follow Him and this is a privilege. Unconditional election reminds us that we aren’t to pat ourselves on the back for being such wonderful Christians, but we are to lift our hands in praise of a merciful God that called us to Himself, to enjoy Him forever.

Limited Atonement is a very difficult theological concept because it claims that Christ died only for the elect. This means that His blood was shed to save only those the Father would call into relationship with Him. This is a doctrine can evoke a lot of emotion. Many do not want to even consider Christ’s blood limited only to those who have, do, and will follow Him. However, think of it this way. God did not waste a drop of blood when he died for us. He did not shed his blood for those who will continue to deny Him their whole lives. He shed it for you, for me, for every one will call up on His Name. Ephesians 1:4-6 states, “For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love. He did this by predestining us to adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will– to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son.” He has chosen those who will receive saving grace through the blood of Christ. This does not exempt us from sharing with others the Gospel message because we are to be imitators of Christ. We are to share the Gospel and to pray for those who aren’t saved. Think of it this way. Limited Atonement is not about us knowing who has been or will be called. It’s about us sharing the Gospel and leaving the salvation part up to God.

Irresistible Grace is the doctrine that those who are called into relationship with God cannot resist the call. If God chooses His people, and God does not make mistakes, then those He chooses will come to faith in Him. Ephesians 2:4-5 states, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!” There are many who have been called to relationship with God, but were reluctant to do so. I met a guy once who said growing up, he was fairly determined not to be a Christian. He thought Christians were hypocritical and judgmental. He didn’t think Jesus being in their lives made them better people. While his friends weren’t being very reflective of Christ, he was blaming Jesus for their faults. He did not think Jesus had anything to offer him. He didn’t see that he was in need of salvation. Life was good and he considered the idea of “life after death” to be a distant concept. Secretly, however, he felt God tugging at him. He ignored it, tried to fill his life with material things, but always felt something wasn’t quite right. Eventually, he came to a point that God’s voice was so clear he could no longer resist the call. After years of thinking he was dodging God, he realized how grateful he was that God never gave up on Him. God had pursued him with an endless love and he could not resist. He knew God’s love was the love he had been seeking his whole life. The same is for all those who feel a pull to faith in Jesus. It may not seem right at first. It may seem scary. Eventually though, all who are called by God will seek faith in Him. We are unable to resist this call and this is the best news there is!

Irresistible Grace gives us hope because we will be so overjoyed by the calling of God that we cannot resist Him despite our depravity. Like my friend many experience reluctance to finding faith in God. I have known people to “try” Christianity to see “if it is for them.” I have not known a person to find faith in Christ by this method because it is for selfish gain. It was by their own desire to yield some instant gratification benefit and not because the Lord whispered a calling in their ear. We are called into favor with God and we cannot resist this call. Many would consider this to mean that we had no choice. The difference between someone who is forced to do something and what is being discussed here is that we do not want to resist God’s grace.

Perseverance of the Saints is the final doctrine in the TULIP acronym. This means those who have been called to faith in Christ will never turn from Him. There is no way to lose the call God has placed on us to follow Him and we will always persevere to obey His Word. This means that during good times and bad times we will seek Him. Think of being in college or managing a difficult task. During the process things get tough, but you push through anyway. The goal is great enough that it makes the difficult times worth facing. In the same way, perseverance of the saints means that we will always follow the Lord’s command. We will not turn our back on Him because His call is greater than any adversity. We may mess up and do the wrong thing now and then but it will not strip us of our salvation. Thinking that we can remove Christ’s salvation actually places our ability to lose it higher than Christ’s ability to maintain it. This is not right.

We can find comfort because this shows us that we cannot lose our relationship with Him. We cannot lose relationship with Christ because it was never our relationship to grab. It was given to us because the Lord called us into relationship with Him. Think of a shepherd watching his herd. The shepherd does not allow any sheep to run away, but will get the sheep that has strayed from the herd. John 10:27-29 states, “My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand.” The Lord does not call people and then let them stray away permanently. Christians may stray from the Lord, but Jesus will always call His children back to Himself. We have the security that we can never lose our faith in Him.

So what does it mean when other denominations disagree with the Reformed theology. The answer to this lies in the context of the larger body of Christ. There are many denominations that base their theologies on Scripture. There are denominations that believe opposite to the five TULIP doctrines. The questions that must be asked are these: do these denominations believe Christ is the only way to salvation and that Scripture is authoritative? If the answer is yes to both these questions then you might need to agree to disagree on everything else.

We are bonded together as the body of Christ. Theology helps to explain our faith but it does not lead to salvation. Faith in Christ is our salvation. The enemy would love to have us get caught up in arguments over theology because doing so will distract us from Christ and cause division. Theology, which means the study of God, is an important exercise that cannot be done apart from Scripture, as Luther and Calvin demonstrated. Portions of Scripture will always confound us, but that is because we serve an all-knowing God whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are higher than our ways. To disagree with limited atonement is not sinful, but believing that atonement offered by Christ is not the only way to salvation is a different story. There is only one path to salvation and that is through faith in Christ Jesus. Our theology may be different than some denominations, but our love and need for Christ is the unity that binds all Christians together. May we grow in unity and in the wonder and grace of our salvation.