What
do we stand for?
When you return to the Bible, what do you discover? How is
the Reformed faith different from, say, the Roman Catholic
faith and other mainline churches?
Here are a few statements to help you grasp what the
Reformed faith is all about. When you read this please
check out the Scripture references so that you can become
convinced that this is really what the Bible teaches.
Only
the Scriptures (in Latin: Sola Scriptura)
Only the Scriptureshave authority in the
church. Human ideas and traditions may never take the place
of the Word of God. It is the only rule for faith (see Acts
5:27-32 and 2Tim3,10-17).
Why is this important? Because Jesus is the head of the
church and believers need to obey him as Lord. Jesus guides
and directs his church by his Word and Spirit. If the
church follows human ideas and traditions it denies Jesus
his place of authority. He is the shepherd who leads his
flock of sheep and gives us life. His sheep need to listen
to his voice (John 10:1-18).
Only
through grace (Sola Gratia)
We are all sinners before God's judgment seat.
We cannot offer him anything in compensation, our good
works are not good enough to withstand the fire of God's
holiness. Instead, the Bible tells us that believers are
saved by grace alone: God gives us forgiveness because of
his love, expressed in Jesus Christ who died for our sins.
This is grace: we have not deserved it in any way
(Eph2:1-10).
Only
through faith (Sola Fide)
The Bible shows us a different way than
receiving grace automatically through sacraments. These
things have no power in themselves, they are symbols of
what God does, and you can only receive it by faith.
Jesus says: 'Believe in me'. He is the savior who died for
the sins of his people. The only way you can receive what
he has earned is by faith; this means trust in him, which
consists of a personal relationship with him. He lives in
you and you live in him. Everything he has is yours now.
Jesus has taken the place of the believer in God's
judgment, therefore every believer can be certain that
Jesus has carried the punishment in their place. His death
takes away the guilt and the power of sin; his life
(because he has risen from the dead) guarantees that every
believer will receive eternal life from him (Romans 5:1-11)
This faith is not our own accomplishment but God's gift
(Eph2:8).
Only
through Christ
It will not surprise you that the Christian
life according to the Bible centers around Jesus Christ.
God has sent him as the savior. Because he died on the
cross he took away the sins of his people and set them free
of the power of sin and death. Because he was raised from
the dead he is now the Lord of life: he gives his life to
believers: eternal life in God's presence! Only through him
we can survive God's judgment and be acquitted, and only
through him we can receive life again. The Christian life
is not characterized by moral behavior but by living in
fellowship with Jesus Christ, who makes our lives new so
that we begin living according to his will again.
(John3:16-21)
God
is sovereign
contrary to what many people (even many
Christians) tend to think, you cannot save yourself. If you
had to add even an ounce to your salvation you would still
be lost!
God reveals to us that our sins have damaged our nature and
corrupted our hearts so radically that without his
intervention we cannot do a single good thing (that is:
good according to God's standards, not to our watered-down
idea of what is right and good). "We were dead in our
trespasses and sins", writes Paul in Eph2:1. Dead people
cannot do a single thing, and spiritually dead people
cannot do anything that God is pleased with, nor change
themselves.
The Bible clearly teaches that salvation totally depends on
God. He is sovereign and brings people to repentance by the
work of his Holy Spirit. We are not saved because we feel
like it or suddenly decide it's the right thing to do. Your
response to God's call to repentance is proof that the Holy
Spirit has begun working in your heart.
But why does God command us to repent and believe? Does
this not show that we have to do something?
This is true: we are involved in the process. The question
is: how is that possible, since we were spiritually dead,
unable to do any good, including taking an interest in
God's word and obeying it?
Jesus said in John3:5: "Unless you are born again you
cannot enter the kingdom of God." First you need to receive
the Holy Spirit who makes you born again and changes your
heart. Only then you can respond to the message of the
Bible, repent, and believe in Christ.
This has consequences for preaching and evangelism. We do
not put pressure on people and try to find the best
marketing methods to get them to commit to the church.
Since it is the work of the Spirit and he uses God's word
to bring people to repentance, we need to preach the gospel
faithfully to everyone whom we can reach. We also need to
make sure that people don't hear a truncated message but
receive the full message of the gospel. Therefore we cannot
be satisfied with people being converted at one moment in
time, but we need to continue to teach them and equip them
to discover more about God's grace and his will for their
lives.
The Reformed faith helps you to understand what the Bible
is all about: God brought reconciliation between himself
and sinners through Jesus Christ, his Son.
This plan of salvation is God's initiative. It shows the
beauty of his grace and brings glory to his name.
Maximizing man's role in salvation means that God's work is
minimized and that he is robbed of his glory. (see:
Eph1:3-14; esp. vs. 12 & 14).
If you would like to understand more about God's initiative
and grace in your salvation, we suggest that you read the
book of Ephesians, which sums it all up very beautifully.
We invite you to contact us to talk about it further.
Continue: Reformed today