What does it mean to be Reformed?

By Timothy J. Hammons

You may hear me say from time to time, that we are Reformed Presbyterian in our convictions. And that might cause you to ask the questions, what does it mean to be Reformed? One of you actually posed that question to me when we put out our brochures. Therefore this is a topic that needs attention.

It is a hard question to answer because reformed theology is so broad in its understanding of scripture. But there are two issues at the heart of the matter. The first is that to be reformed means that we believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Bible. In other words, the Bible is God’s word and revelation about who He is, and about who we are. The second issue that drives Reformed theology is that of God’s sovereignty, especially in the realm of soteriology, (the study of salvation).

The Authority of Scripture

To began to understand what it means to be Reformed, we must understand that to get to the positions we do, we must accept the reality that the Bible is authoritative. When the Reformation started back in the 1500s, the Roman Catholic church was the authority on what to believe and how to get to heaven. Because man is at the center of Roman Catholicism, all kinds of venues into heaven were offered for the right price. The Reformers were first trying to get back to the Bible as the sole authority of faith. This was known as sola scriptura.

Why? As our confession loosely says: The Bible is the only rule of faith and obedience and teach  us what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. As the Apostle Paul put it: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

All this to say, that the Bible tells us about the God who is. It does not tell us about the God we would like, or the God that we think is there, but the living and true God of all creation. Therefore when we come to the Bible, we have to come with the belief that the words, the stories, the people and the events found in Scripture are real. We are not reading fiction or some man’s opinion, but holy revelation from God Himself, to His people.

It also tells us about who we are. It shows us that we have fallen short of God’s glory and are in need of a Savior. There is nothing man can do in order to merit God’s favor. We need someone in whom God is well pleased to help us and that is Christ, alone.

If we punt on these issues then we have no hope of ever knowing truth or finding salvation. If we say that the word of God is not real, that it was redacted, or rewritten, or written after the fact by a bunch of Roman Catholic monks, then we open ourselves up to all sorts of lies and deceit.

Remember what took place in the Garden of Eden when Eve was deceived? Remember Satan’s tactic? He took the word of God and twisted it for His purposes, “Did God really say…?”

 And the answer is always a resounding yes. The moment we doubt Scripture is the moment we begin down a path of unrighteousness. The moment we turn to other opinions not originating in the Bible is the moment we join hands with Satan. After all, he only twisted the words of God just a bit, and with that twisting, came all sorts of sin and misery into the world.

Living with the Reality

There will always be attacks on the Bible. This is Satan’s favorite offense, to try and dupe as many as possible that the Bible is not real, or not to be trusted. Satan has found the most success with this tactic. He is trying to get us to doubt God’s word. The sad reality is that our own flesh does the same as well. We too like to doubt God’s word as real, and we find reasons not to believe, not to obey, not to honor God as He should be honored. But these should not be excuses. We need to trust God’s word to be the truth. We should read it with the same heart the psalmist did: Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statues, and I shall keep it to the end (Psalm 119:33).

All this to say that we must have a clear understanding that the Bible is indeed God’s word. We must believe that it is authoritative. This means that when God speaks we listen. We must also believe and understand that God’s word is relevant for today. After all, who is speaking, but God Himself. Just the nature of the person speaking makes the words themselves relevant. It doesn’t matter how long ago they were spoken. Since they were spoken by God, they are worthy of instructions. His words are still relevant because He never changes. He is word is as He is. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

It is sufficient in matters of belief and salvation. There is no where else to turn to in order for salvation to be found. If there is one issue that will help Christianity as a whole it is this issue of the authority of Bible.

God’s Sovereignty

So what does it mean to be Reformed? First it means that we believe the Scripture to be true and authoritative revelation from God, about Himself and us. Secondly, to be Reformed means that we recognize the sovereignty of God in all situations.

Now, many claim that they believe God is sovereign, but in reality those claims fall short. Just ask them, “was God sovereign over the hurricanes? Was He sovereign over the tsunami that hit Asia last year? What about the 9/11?” The answer has to be “yes.” As our shorter catechism puts it: what are the decrees of God? The decrees of God are His eternal purpose according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory, He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

This is in regards to two areas: the providence of creation and the providence of salvation. In other words, He is sovereign over all the important things in life. What I’m saying is that He is sovereign over all things. He is ruling completely from heaven, and is involved in providence. He isn’t just sitting about while nothing happens.

To be Reformed means that we see our salvation as being all from God. He chooses us, moves in us, redeems us, cleanses us and makes us holy so that we can be the people of God. This does not mean that we do not have a responsibility in the sanctification aspect of our salvation. We do. When Peter writes the words of the Lord, Be holy, for I am holy, he does mean that we are strive for and pursue holiness in our lives. But the power to do so comes from God who enables us. Even our sanctification is from God. God is sovereign in bringing about our salvation. It is His work and we are mere recipients of God’s grace.

So what does it mean to be Reformed? It means that God gets the glory in my salvation. Why? Because that is what is revealed in His word.