And why you should join such a church
Part 2 of 3: Fourth to Seventh Reasons
[This is the second tranche of a three part 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.
The first three reason are:
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.
2. The second reason is: The Reformed Doctrine of God is Biblical, unlike the common caricatures today.
3. Reformed Worship Glorifies God, unlike modern, man-centred worship
—JJ Lim]
4. The Reformed Doctrine of Salvation emphasises the need for genuine salvation, instead of seeking a form of godliness
Protestant churches generally agree that sinners are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That’s good. However, experience teaches us that there is often a huge gulf between theory and practice. Many conservative churches, including fundamentalistic ones, while teaching justification by faith alone, give such emphasis to moral behaviour and demeanour without any reference to Christ that anyone who is well-behaved and has once prayed to receive Christ is considered a Christian. There is little regard for who Christ is to him in his heart and life. There is little attempt to ground the church Christo-centrically.
Likewise, many churches, in their quest to make Christianity more accessible, have ceased to teach a biblical doctrine of salvation carefully. Instead, they declare that God loves everyone without exception and that Christ died for everyone to make salvation possible for them. So long as you prayed a sinner’s prayer, you are a Christian, and will have the ticket to heaven!
The Reformed church, instead, notes that God says, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom 9:13). And she takes Christ’s word that He laid down His life only for His sheep (Jn 10:14-15; cf. Jn 17:9) seriously. Thus, while the Reformed church preaches the gospel to all, and calls upon everyone to repent and believe in Christ, she acknowleges that only the sheep of Christ whom He laid His life down for will hear His voice and follow Him (Jn 10:27). These sheep are by nature dead in sin (Eph 2:1), and must first be made alive by the Holy Spirit before they can believe in Christ. But if they are made alive, they will also grow spiritually.
Theologically, we say that Christ’s atonement is particular, that regeneration precedes faith, and that all who are justified will be sanctified. But do these things really matter? Or are we just splitting theological hair?
The Lord Jesus warns that at the last day, there will be many on the broad way who call Him “Lord, Lord,” who walk in lawlessness. These will be disowned by Him. The apostle Paul, likewise, warns that in the last days, perilous times shall come when men will have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof (2 Tim 3:5). Who are these but the same professing believers spoken of by the Lord?
Sadly, many modern churches, in the quest for numbers and the carnal mollification of members and visitors ignore these warnings (cf. Jer 6:14). There is little emphasis on the importance of the new birth, and of a godly Christian walk according to the third use of the law of God (which insists that believers must walk in love and gratitude according to dictates of the moral law). Indeed, some even claim that it is legalistic to preach against sin or to emphasise the moral law, since we are justified by faith alone. But what do we make of James’ warning that faith without works is dead (Jas 2:17)?
Today, apart from the Reformed church, very few churches are concerned enough about the possibility of false profession of faith and assurance to seek to teach their members these things. The Reformed church, on the other hand, does this so that, by the Holy Spirit applying the truths to our lives, and us working out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12), we may be steered heavenward confidently.
5. Reformed church Governments honour Christ the King more than worldly systems often adopted in churches today
How should the church be organised and governed? Like in the case of worship, many modern churches adopt whatever is traditional or whatever works. The result is that many Protestant churches, including conservative ones, are organised hierarchically like Roman Catholicism, with the pastor being revered like a pope. Then, in more liberal-leaning churches, instead of faithful men, men and women who are deemed to have a charismatic personality and good organisational skills are recruited to be leaders. Never mind if they are worldly in their attitude and demeanour.
A faithful Reformed church, on the other hand, seeks to ordain faithful men who are assessed against the biblical qualifications, as outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1-13. This reflects the fact that the church is not merely a human organisation, but the body of Christ. The elders and deacons are called to their respective offices not ultimately by the church (as is the case with Rome), but by Christ, the King of the Church. For this same reason, we do not have women serve as officers, not because they are incapable, but because the Apostle Paul, speaking with the authority of Christ, says, “I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man” (1 Tim 2:12). The Lord Jesus says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15). It is hard to imagine how a church claiming to believe Christ and love Him could disregard His inspired word and organise itself according to pragmatic and cultural principles.
6. The Reformed church envisages a Christ-centred, instead of Israel-centred eschatology
Every church will claim to have a Christ-centred eschatology (i.e., doctrine of last things). However, since the 1830s, with the spread of Dispensationalism1 through popular study Bibles such as the Scofield Study Bible and the Ryrie Study Bible, many churches have actually taught some kind of Israel-centric, rather than Christo-centric, eschatology. While a complete discussion of this subject is not possible in this short article, one can easily confirm if a particular church has an Israel-centric eschatology by observing how much time is spent talking about the nation of Israel in the context of eschatology, and how central Israel’s role is in the church’s understanding of last things.
While we believe that the Jews are “beloved for the fathers’ sake” (Rom 11:28), and we should pray for their conversion, we do not believe that there will be an earthly Jewish millennium or that Jewish blood is somehow more holy than Gentile blood. “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God,” says the apostle Paul (Rom 2:28-29). “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,” he adds (Gal 3:29). The nation of Israel was the “church under age” under the old Old Covenant (WCF 19.3). Today, the Church of Christ, which comprises Jews and Gentiles, is the “Israel of God” (Gal 5:16).
Apart from the possibility that many Jews may be converted, we do not believe that the nation of Israel plays any significant role in the last days. Christ will come on the last day. The dead shall rise, and the church (comprising all of Christ’s elect) will be caught up to meet Him like the five wise virgins, but they will descend with Him as He takes up His position as the Triumphant King and Judge over the world. “Then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fullness of joy and refreshing, which shall come from the presence of the Lord: but the wicked who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (WCF 33:2).
7. The Reformed church has a biblical rather than an unbiblical mystical doctrine of the Holy Spirit
Together with the Church of Christ throughout the ages, we believe in the Holy Spirit.2[1] Amongst other things, we believe that He was involved in creation (Gen 1:2), revelation (2 Tim 3:16), the anointing of Christ (Lk 3:22), and the outpouring at Pentecost (Acts 2:1ff). We also believe that He is still at work in the church in regenerating the elect (Tit 3:5), giving us faith (2 Cor 4:13; Eph 2:8), indwelling us (Rom 8:1), illumining our minds to understand God’s word (Jn 14:26) and sanctifying us (Rom 14:17, Gal 5:22-23). However, we do not believe, as a significant segment of the modern church does, that He is still revealing new truths or enabling believers to exercise revelatory gifts such as prophecy and tongues (i.e., the supernatural ability to speak in other human languages). While we believe that God can still perform miracles in response to prayer, we also believe that He has withdrawn the supernatural and revelational gifts of the Holy Spirit with the completion of the New Testament. The Scripture is sufficient (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:3). As such, we are convinced that the phenomena of ecstatic tongue-speaking and claims of supernatural knowledge are at best self-induced delusions, and at worst, fakery. Instead of honouring the Holy Spirit, they dishonour Him by ascribing confusion and contradictions to Him. By insisting on a confessional doctrine of the Holy Spirit drawn from Scripture instead of dubious experience, the Reformed church seeks to guard against such sacrilege.