From a reader who lives in Virginia comes a brief note: “Would you please state and explain the reformed view.” I assume the reader wants to know what it means to be Reformed, or the basic tenets of the Reformed faith, rather than the Reformed view of some particular aspect of theology.
If my assumption of the reader’s intent is correct, then the task before me is really larger than can be adequately handled in the few paragraphs of this column. Many books have been written on this subject, and it would be rather presumptuous for me to say that I could fully explain the Reformed faith here. I will attempt, however, to summarize a few of the fundamentals of Reformed doctrine.
It is imperative that we begin with the principle of the absolute sovereignty of God. By “sovereignty” I mean t he supremacy, the kingship, the godhood of God. To say He is sovereign is simply to say He is God. It is to say that He is the Most High, doing His will in heaven and on earth with no one to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes. It is to say that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power, so t hat none can undo His counsel, defeat His purposes or resist His will. He is Lord of lords and King of kings. And because He is the sovereign God, it is a fact that every human being has to do, every moment of life, with this living, sovereign God.
This God has revealed Himself to us in two ways: through the world of creation, called His general revelation, and through the Bible, called His special revelation. The former must always be interpreted through the “spectacles” of the latter, to use John Calvin‘s word, in order to be meaningfully understood. For the Bible is God’s inspired and infallible Word to us, not only the record of His dealings with His people in history, but the revelation of His will and work pertaining to the way of salvation and all t hat relates to it in life and practice.
To mention the name of John Calvin, as I did in the previous paragraph, is to be reminded that the system of religious thought which I am attempting to define briefly here is also referred to as “Calvinism.” To use that term does not mean that Calvin was its author; he was only one of its chief exponents. And I make this reference to Calvinism in order to be able to quote meaningfully from a book authored by Dr. Benjamin Warfield entitled “Calvin And Augustine.” On page 491, Dr. Warfield defines the formative principle of Calvinism as lying “in a profound apprehension of God in His majesty, with the poignant realization which inevitably accompanies this apprehension, of the relation sustained to God by the creature as such, and particularly by the sinful creature. The Calvinist is the man who has seen God, and who, having seen God in His glory, is filled on the one hand, with a sense of his own unworthiness to stand in God‘s sight as a creature, and much more as a sinner, and on the other hand, with adoring wonder that nevertheless this God is a God who receives sinners. He who believes in God without reserve and is determined that God shall be God to him, in all his thinking, feeling, willing—in the entire compass of his life activities, intellectual, moral, spiritual—throughout all his individual, social, religious relations—is, by the force of that strictest of all logic which presides over the outworking of principles into thought and life, by the very necessity of the case, a Calvinist.”
Warfield continues in the next paragraph on page 492, “The Calvinist is t he man who sees God behind all phenomena, and in all t hat occurs recognizes the hand of God, working out His will; who makes the attitude of the soul to God in prayer the permanent attitude in all its life activities; and who casts himself on the grace of God alone, excluding every trace of dependence on self from the whole work of his salvation.”
What does it mean to be Reformed? My own testimony is this: I believe that the Sovereign God of heaven and earth, who created the world and upholds it today, who authored the Scriptures by His Spirit , and who sent His only–begotten Son Jesus Christ into human flesh, is, for Jesus’ sake, my God. Though by nature my relationship to this God was broken by sin, I have been justified by grace through faith in His Son Jesus. Jesus died to pay the penalty for my sin, He rose again on the third day for my justification, and now He lives and reigns at the right hand of God. And from that heavenly throne He calls me to walk in obedient service, prompted by gratitude and love for so great a gift of salvation which He has given. My salvation, though it is a measureless gift of grace, is not the highest end, but it is a means to the highest goal of my life, namely, God‘s glory. With the assurance of my sins being forgiven, and possessing the gift of eternal life—all for Jesus’ sake—I strive, by the grace of God and with His help, to live for Him now, and look forward to being with Him forever in heaven. That, for me, though it obviously leaves out much detail of Reformed theology, is what it means to be Reformed.
