As a church our denomination calls itself Christian Reformed.

Why do we do so? What do we mean by the name?

We certainly do not mean to imply that among those bearing the name Reformed, we consider ourselves the only Christians. I say this, because some years back at a city-wide interdenominational Ministers’ Conference, someone intimated as much. Perhaps he did so tongue in cheek, but he did it. A minister of the Reformed Church of America had read a paper on the history and the doctrine of his denomination. On the whole I thought it a good paper, except for his apologetic way of speaking about the Canons of Dort. It was then, at coffee-time, that a Congregational minister next to me, inquired about my denominational affiliation. When I said, Christian Reformed, he quickly retorted, “Do you claim that you folks are Christians, but the Reformed are not?” Of course, as I assured him, this is not at all our claim. It would be the height of presumption so to understand our name.

What then, do we mean to say by our name?

In the first place, that we are a Christian church, a body of believers, followers of Jesus Christ. We are not Mohammedans, Hindus, Judaists, but part of the Christian church spread over the world. We wish there were no need for further differentiation, but the fact is that the Christian church in its history throughout the ages has been rent by deviations, by heresies, and consequently fractured. There are Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Roman Catholics, and since the Creat Reformation there are Lutherans, Mennonites, Baptists, etc. as well as Reformed. While the Lutherans followed in the line of Luther, we belong to those who came under the influence of Calvin. Our heritage lies in the Calvinistic tradition. As such we are Reformed. Consequently while the word Christian in our name points out that we are part of the great Christian church, the addition Reformed shows we are Christians of Reformed and Calvinistic persuasion. The Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and Canons of Dort) clearly give expression to our Christian faith and to our Reformed character.

We believe that the Reformed faith is the fullest, the most consistent, and above all the most Biblical expression of the Christian faith. As such we arc committed to teach it and ·to defend it over against all deviations from it. As ministers and office-bearers our leaders must give written assent to it, promising to adhere to it, to teach it, and to defend it. They are expected to do so without mental reservations of any kind, freely and wholeheartedly. The way is open should anyone feel otherwise by way of a gravamen [a grievance] to seek to bring the church to another conviction. Failing to do so, he is free to seek a church home elsewhere. We want to remain Reformed, because we believe that only so can we be true to the whole Word of God.

Of course, this does not mean that we are averse to development, to advance. That would be fatal, and “freeze” us in the past. We must go on, meeting the challenges of the day, relevant to our times. Many new problems have arisen since the day of the writing of our creeds, and will continue to arise. But it docs mean that all development must be in the line of the Reformed creeds, true to our Reformed and Calvinistic heritage. Any position that diverges from these creeds, that contradicts them, is a cancer in our denominational stand. We are, and want to be, true to our Reformed heritage. In other words, we must want to remain Reformed. Unless we do, we lose our reason for existence.

To remain Reformed is important. But it is not easy. It’s far easier to drift away from this full-orbed view of God and the world. But we must remain Reformed, not only in name but also in fact. To be less than that is to be untrue to our heritage, and to set our feet on the way that must ultimately end in outright humanism, if followed to the bitter end.

1. First of all, to remain Reformed we must maintain Calvin’s deep loyalty to the Scriptures. – Where Scripture speaks, we must speak; where Scripture stops, we must stop. To say less than the Bible does impoverishes the church, to say more opens the door to rationalism. We cannot remain Reformed unless we adhere to the Scripture; the Word, the whole Word, and nothing but the Word. Because this is so many of us were concerned about the Report on the Nature and the Extent of Biblical Authority. Some of us are still confused about the precise meaning. It is lamentable that the Report was not more specific, so that no room for confusion would remain. I doubt whether we have heard the last of this matter. Time will tell. 2. Second, to remain Reformed we must adhere tooth and nail to the Reformed position on sin and grace. – The Canons of Dort speak clearly to these matters: Total depravity must be taught and defended over against all Arminian perversions of it. It is Biblical, it is experientially true also. Only on the background of the total depravity of the sinner apart from Christ arc we provided with the opportunity to preach the truth that we are saved by grace, and by grace only. Unconditional election is a tenet of the Reformed faith, and unless we clearly maintain it, and defend it, our people will drift into the quagmire of Arminianism. The Bible teaches it, and we must teach it. Limited atonement also belongs to our Reformed heritage. Let us defend it. Efficacious grace, often called irresistible grace, belongs to our Reformed heritage. Away then with anything short of such a grace. God builds His church, and Christ is the one who begins, continues, and finishes salvation in us as well as for us. Hence, we shall need to maintain the Perseverance of the Saints. Once a Christian always a Christian, is thoroughly Biblical, if properly understood.

These doctrines of sin and grace arc not easily maintained in our present day. Arminianism dominates the thinking of too many in the modern ecclesiastical world. One can almost say that, in general, that is the ecclesiastical position of much of what goes by the name of evangelical Christianity. While we count all those that believe in Christ as Christian brethren, admire much of their witness and activity, we are not satisfied with it. It falls short of teaching the whole truth as taught in Scripture. Personally I view the Arminian position on sin ancl grace as the first long step on the way to outright rationalism. Let us defend and propagate the full Reformed, the Biblical view on these doctrines. Our people need it if they are not to be swept away in the maelstrom of Arminianism.

3. Third, to remain Reformed we must remain completely loyal to the covenant view so unique to our conception of Scripture. – Only as we have a deep sense of this truth can we fully maintain the validity of infant baptism. Yes, among the Reformed there are different views of the covenant, but common to all who would be Reformed is a deep realization of the covenant, both of its promises and obligations. Only so can we maintain the essential unity of the Old and New Testaments, and of the church of the Old and the New Testaments. Does not this covenant conception lie at the very basis of our Christian day schools? Perhaps the covenant more than any other doctrine marks us as a Reformed church. When men let this go, they soon fall into the errors of the Baptist’s view, and expose themselves to the inroads of dispensationalism. To remain Reformed, we must adhere to the covenant, preach it, teach it, defend it. 4. Fourth, I think we may add another emphasis to the Reformed view. It has been called its world-and–life view. – Whatever it has been called, the Reformed faith believes in the supremacy of God over all spheres of life. He is sovereign, and Christ as Savior is also the Lord over all of life. 10 every sphere we are to honor Him. The Word of God lays claim on our whole life. To be and to remain Reformed, we must not lose this emphasis. It would only impoverish us and our Christian witness. That is not easy to inculcate in 0ur present–day, secularly-minded world. Not even among us, who call ourselves Reformed. It needs emphasis, especially in our day.

There are winds of change blowing among us, not all for the good. Let us arise to do all in our power to remain Reformed!