What does it mean that we are Reformed?

Reformed theology, though expressed clearly in God's Word, came to its doctrinal form in the 16th and 17th centuries. At this time the medieval Roman church was the dominant church in Europe and greedily sought power and financial gain under the guise of the spiritual church. Martin Luther first sought to bring the church back under the authority of Scripture, claiming correctly that Scripture alone was the rule of the Christian faith. He helped to make it clear what the Evangelical faith was and split off from the Roman Catholic church and begat the Protestant church.

Following in Luther's footsteps, John Calvin added depth to the Evangelical faith by intensive studies into God's word. In 1536 he finished the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, which detailed many doctrines which the Bible taught. In fact, much of this was agreed upon and understood by Luther and other forefathers of the faith, but Calvin was the first to put these principles into a thorough structure. This structure was labeled as Calvinism and spread from Geneva, Switzerland into the rest of Europe. Later, the doctrines which Calvin taught from the Bible were put into confessions and catechisms, of which the most clear and well known were the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dordt, and the Heidelberg Catechism.
Calvinism in many ways became synonymous with Reformed theology and has been carried into modern times by churches who call themselves 'Reformed' and hold to the above confessions.

As mentioned earlier, these doctrines deepened the Evangelical faith. The most profound of these was recognition of the Sovereignty of God. Reformed theology teaches that God rules over all and that all things come to pass according to His will. The Almighty is not an idle god, waiting to see how the future turn out, but is actively working out His plan in all of creation. This doctrine seeks to hold God in high esteem and man in humble esteem.

The sovereignty of God is explained very clearly in the doctrine of election. This doctrine teaches that God has chosen the people He would save from before Creation itself. He works out His plan of redemption through His gracious election of them, has sent His Son to die in their place on the Cross, and has sent His Holy Spirit to give them a new heart, a renewing of mind that acknowledges Him as Lord and Savior and thereby endeavors to serve its new Master.

Much of this has been challenged by others who only believe that God can be sovereign but has relinquished His control so as not to limit man's freedom. These challengers (based upon the beliefs of Arminius) deny the depths of Reformed theology, especially as it regards their individual worth. They do not believe that man is spiritually dead, but that he is only sick with sin. While Calvinism holds that man is saved by unconditional grace, Arminians teach that it is unconditional grace based upon a condition, which is that each person must develop in themselves a belief in God and reach out for that grace.
The Reformers taught that man is totally incapable of reaching (or even desiring to reach) out to God for salvation and needs God's Spirit to make them alive and give them faith, the challengers taught that man was worth at least a little and was able on his own to meet the condition's of God's grace.

SEE ALSO
DANIEL 4
ISAIAH 46
ROMANS 8.28-39, 9.10-16
EPHESIANS 1.3-12, 2.1-10
2 THESSALONIANS 2.13

Presbyterian - in Government
Evangelical - in Witness.

Just a word of thanks to Christ Covenant Reformed Church (PCA) for text from Presbyterian, Reformed, and Evangelical which have been used for these pages. If you visit their page and find almost exactly the same things written, just remember, they did the hard work.