And why you should join such a church
Part 1 of 3: First Three Reasons
On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther nailed the famed Ninety Five Theses on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg in Germany. That action is popularly regarded as the catalyst for the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Although many more significant events happened before and after this pivotal event, most Protestant Church commemorate or, at least, recognise this day as the Day of the Reformation.
Martin Luther was the great Reformer who rediscovered the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone after it was buried under Roman centuries of Roman Catholic emphasis on salvation partly through faith, partly through the church and partly through good works. Nevertheless, left many of practices and doctrine of Romanism untouched for fear of rocking the boat too hard.
It was left to the later Reformed Theologians such as John Calvin to lead the church back to the purity of the apostolic church in terms of doctrine, worship and Christian life.
In this series of articles to commemorate the Protestant Reformation, we are considering ten reasons why a church should be Reformed and reforming and why we should be part of such a church.What is a “Reformed and Reforming Church”?
Simply stated, a Reformed church is a church whose doctrine and practice are faithfully consistent with the Word of God as taught by the 16th-century Reformer John Calvin1 and confessed in the 17th-century Protestant confessions, such as the Westminster Standards or the Three Forms of Unity. A reforming church, on the other hand, emphasises not only the need for the ministry of the church to conform to the doctrine and practices confessed, but also for the members of the church to be converted and have their lives transformed by the renewing of their minds. A Reformed church should be reforming. If a professedly Reformed church veers away from the Bible (which must be her primary standard) and their confession of faith (which is her subordinate standard), then she ceases to be truly Reformed to the degree of her departure. Therefore, when we refer to a Reformed church in this article, we do not include those who have veered so far from their confession that she is only Reformed in name.
However, the question remains: Why do we want to be Reformed or reforming when a Reformed church appears to be following the doctrine of men, instead of the doctrine of God? Here are ten reasons.
1. The Reformed church insists on contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints, in contrast to modern churches, which seek to be innovative and contemporary
The prophet Jeremiah, ministering to God’s people in the late 7th century BC, shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, announced:
“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein” (Jer 6:16).
Sadly, what was true of the Jews in those days has remained quite true of many professing Christians and churches today. Instead of walking in the old paths appointed in the word of God, many look for exciting innovations in doctrine and practice that are deemed more seeker-sensitive and church growth-friendly.
The Reformed church eschews this tendency and seeks to preserve a biblical heritage by earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). This is one of the reasons why we insist on the faithful (as opposed to nominal or formalistic) embrace and use of the Reformed Confessions of Faith. We believe that confessionalism is biblical. Amongst other reasons, the apostle Paul says, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom 10:9). The word translated “confess” speaks of affirming the same things as the apostles and the church of Christ down the ages. Churches that refuse to use any confessions of faith will tend to become increasingly broad and deviate more and more from the old paths established by the Lord. They will, in other words, begin to apostatise in terms of doctrine and practice, such that some may even cease to be true churches as they adopt false doctrines, desecrate the sacraments and refuse to exercise church discipline.2
2. The Reformed Doctrine of God is Biblical, unlike the common caricatures today
We want to believe that all Christian churches are Trinitarian, confessing that God is one in substance and three in subsistence. However, my own experience with ministers and ordinary members of the church from non-Reformed churches, including some conservative ones, tells a different story. Many are ignorant or confused about the doctrine. Some are fundamentally tritheistic, while others are basically modalists. Some think of Christ only as a magic word at the end of their prayer; some address Jesus as Father and thank him for dying for their sin!
The Reformed church insists that the faith and practice of the church must be inherently Trinitarian. As such, she does not shy away from teaching even children the doctrine of the Trinity and seeks to be consciously trinitarian in her practices, including her prayers.
Christianity is necessarily Trinitarian. Any church that is not Trinitarian, whether by conviction or by neglect, has ceased to be Christian to the degree of their departure.
Likewise, we want to believe that most Christians think of God as holy and sovereign (in control of everything). Sadly, however, some ministries seek to lower God to the level of ordinary men to make Him more approachable. Others speak of God as needing the help of man to accomplish His will, or that the devil has the power to thwart God’s plan. But such a god contradicts the self-declaration of the living and true God:
“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isa 46:9-10).
3. Reformed Worship Glorifies God, unlike modern, man-centred worship
Worship is fundamentally for the glory of God. Therefore, God has ordained that we must worship Him in the way that He has appointed us in His Word, without adding anything that He has not appointed (Dt 12:32). The Reformed church, therefore, insists that whatever is not appointed in God’s word for His own worship is forbidden. This insistence guards the church from innovations designed to entertain the worshippers and increase membership.
Regretfully, outside of the Reformed church, the manner of worship is often considered a matter of indifferent preference. The result is that styles and manners of worship begin to be increasingly designed for the entertainment of attendees instead of the glory of God. In such a scenario, worship that is most emotionally stirring is often mistaken as being most glorifying to God. However, if the Reformed church is correct, such worship breaks the Second Commandment and is displeasing to God.
The Reformed church, while not claiming to get everything right, refuses to worship God in any way for which we have no confidence will be acceptable to God (Heb 12:28). We seek to do so with reverence and godly fear.
… to be continued
—JJ Lim
- Bearing in mind that Calvin did have some peculiar convictions that the vast majority of Reformed theologians would disavow today, such as his belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. ↩︎
- “…The marks by which the true Church is known are these: If the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein; if it maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in chastening of sin.…” (Belgic Confession of Faith, art. 29) ↩︎