You may or may not have heard this term before. If you have, you may identify with it or you may not. I have met many people who claim to know what it is but when they give an explanation it’s evident they dont. It can become a hot discussion especially if one of those in the discussion gets their knowledge of Reformed from those on the internet who are already against it. This isn’t going to be a deep dive but I will give you my thoughts as a Reformed Christian. It’s always best to actually find out what someone believes and not just assume what they believe. Here are a few things, not a full list, of Reformed beliefs that some misunderstand.
First, reformed does not mean to reform, repackage, or change the Bible or the Gospel. I have had that said to me numerous times by the same people, even after I have explained to them that is 100% not what it means. The Scripture is out sole source of divine revelation, the only inspired, infallible, final, and authoritative norm of faith and practice. So we take Scripture very serious and would never think to reform or change it.
Next concerning Reformed soteriology, which is the doctrine of salvation, we see it as monergistic. The most widely known name for this is Calvinism. Monergism comes from a Greek compound, Mono(one) and Ergon(work). This is the belief that salvation from beginning to end depends upon God alone. This from John Hendryx” Very simply, then, monergism is the doctrine that our new birth (or “quickening”) is the work of God, the Holy Spirit alone, with no contribution and without the cooperation of fallen man, since the natural man, of himself, has no desire for God and cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor 2:14, Rom 3:11,12; Rom 8:7; John 3:19, 20). Man remains resistant to all outward callings of the gospel until the Spirit comes to disarm us, call us inwardly and implant in us new holy affections for God. Our faith comes about only as the immediate result of the Spirit working faith in us in the hearing of the proclamation of the word. But just as God does not force us to see against our will when He gives us physical eyes, so God does not force us to believe against our will when giving us spiritual eyes. God gives the gift of sight and we willingly exercise it”.
Since I mentioned Calvinism, I will list the five points, also called T.U.L.I.P. Each of these letters stand for a doctrine. I covered these and have a description for each in another post already so I won’t go into detail here again.
- T- Total Depravity
- U- Unconditional Election
- L- Limited Atonement
- I-Irresistible Grace
- P- Perseverance of the Saints
Next, Reformed would mean holding to Covenant Theology. Throughout the Bible we see and the Bible plainly teaches that there is only one people of God/one flock, one shepherd (John 10:16) and one plan of salvation (Acts 4:10-12; Gal. 3:7-9, 29). Within covenant theology we can see two covenants. The first being the Covenant of works found in Genesis 2:16-17, the second being the Covenant of Grace found in Genesis 3:15.
The reformed view of worship is that the worship of God in public, with family, or in private settings, is always to be regulated by the Word of God alone and not by our own personal preferences or human imagination (Lev. 10:1-3; Deut. 4:2, 12:31-32; John 4:23-24). The services should strive to uphold true biblical worship practices, always seeking to worship God as He commands and not how we may think we can have the most fun/excitement doing.
Reformed is Confessional and Creedal. Confessions are about what we believe and Creeds are about who we believe in. These do not take the place of Scripture but serve as useful tools used to summarize what the Bible teaches, helps explain doctrines, expose false doctrine, and helps as a great apologetic tool. There have been many confessions and Creeds. The Westminster Confession, Belgic Confession, and the 1689 London Baptist Confession are a few. And we have the Apostles Creed which is the earliest as it dates back to 340AD. We also have the Nicene Creed which was created to expose the Arian heresy which claimed Jesus wasn’t fully divine, and was a created being.
And finally I will add that the Reformed believers hold to the 5 Solas of the Reformation. These 5 Solas separated and distinguished the Reformers from the Church of Rome. WE BELIEVE IN
- Sola Scripture- Scripture Alone
- Sola Fide- Faith Alone
- Sola Gratia- Grace Alone
- Solus Christus- Christ Alone
- Soli Deo Gloria- Glory to God Alone
This isn’t an exhaustive list of Reformed beliefs and practices but it is a good starting point for now. I believe it will give a person a great place to begin study, in an honest way, by a reformed Christian rather than someone who claims they know but are not reformed.
No King but Christ 