Revival of Reformed Theology
In both my undergraduate and graduate degrees I used Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology and read several works by John Piper. I’ve been to numerous Passion conferences, heard Loui Giglio and John Piper speak in person on several occasions, and even watched and used Giglio’s DVD’s in my church. I bought the five volume set of Charles Surgeon’s sermons, the Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, the sermons of Jonathan Edward, and the fourteen volume set of Romans by Martin-Lloyd Jones. I listen to the Albert Mohler radio program, Mark Driscoll, and Matt Chandler. I’m a proud owner of the Reformation Study Bible edited by R. C. Sproul and an ESV Study Bible filled with notes from Wayne Grudem. And what, pray tell, do all of these things have in common? You guessed it! Reformed Theology.
For quite some time now there has been a rumbling in the distance. The sound of Reformed Theology making its way back into the hearts and minds of students of the Word of God. While it was a gentle sound in the distance at first, the rumbling is getting closer and louder. People are actually starting to notice. For some it is a breath of fresh air. Tim Challies from Challies.com gives some insight into this in his review of the book Young, Restless, and Reformed by Collin Hansen. Tim says:
“Tired of seeing people as products and weary of experiencing church as a form of entertainment, church-goers have searched to find churches that offer a more satisfying approach to the Christian life.
He goes on to point out that many church-goers have moved to emerging churches while many others have rediscovered reformed theology. The point is, people have started to get the feeling that there is something inherently wrong about the way we do church and evangelism and they’ve started the process of attempting to discover what is right. Some just flee the church with the hopes of finding something new and “emerging”. Others genuinely desire to see the church become the true bride of Christ, more biblical and less traditional.
However, there are still those Christians who are products of their environment, whose unconscious goal is to keep change from happening. They hold on to traditions and things that make them comfortable in order to avoid change at all cost, whether Biblical or not. They abuse scripture to keep their traditions. Even for many Baptist, the thought of a resurgence of reformed theology strikes fear into their hearts. Mainly because associated with it is the term ‘Calvinism’ which makes them suddenly feel the need to go grab the pitch forks and matches. It’s nearly as bad as walking into church on a Sunday morning with a bible in one hand and Harry Potter in the other. People fear it, they despise it, and most of all they don’t have any clue what it is, so they overreact to it. Fear leads to rejection without inspection. That should sound familiar since it is very similar to how the Pharisee’s reacted to the message of Jesus.
We could possibly trace the roots of reformed theology back to Augustine, although it is often connected with the reformation and John Calvin. Technically we can trace it all the way back to the apostle Paul and other biblical authors who first put these concepts in words that were inspired by God. Reformed theology all became more of a systematic idea when it was portrayed in the 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith.
R.C. Sproul in his book “Grace Unknown” describes reformed theology in five ways:
1. It’s centered on God
2. It’s based on God’s word alone
3. It’s commited to faith alone
4. It’s devoted to Jesus Christ
5. It’s structured by three covenants (redemption, works, and grace)
It has also been described by what is called the five solas:
1. Sola Scripture: The Scripture alone is the standard.
2. Soli Deo Gloria: For the glory of God alone.
3. Solo Christo: By Christ’s work alone we are saved.
4. Sola Gratia: Salvation by grace alone.
5. Sola Fide: Justification by faith alone
I think any Christian would have no problem affirming these elements of reformed theology. People don’t start to jump ship until we talk about the doctrines of grace. Reformed theology affirms the following:
1. Total Depravity
2. Unconditional Election
3. Limited Atonement
4. Iresistible Grace
5. Perseverance of the Saints
Oddly enough Calvinism has received such negative publicity that most Christians automatically reject it without any understanding of it. What many Baptists don’t realize is that they most likely believe in the majority of these points. Christians accept the idea that mankind is totally depraved and unable to save itself. Most Christians don’t believe that God chooses people based on their own merits or based on a certain condition, race, or culture. Baptists believe in perseverance of the saints (once saved always saved). The problem is really the subject of election.
In some circles saying the word election is like saying a curse word out loud during a church service. People get upset and fearful of the concept so they reject everything associated with it, including reformed theology as a whole. Fear of election leads to rejection without inspection. Why are we so quick to throw out things that make us uncomfortable? A different view on one element of reformed theology, such as election, doesn’t make the rest of reformed theology worthless.
What makes little sense to me are the people who reject the Calvinist view of election and predestination, but have no alternative understanding for what election and predestination is. The issue is so unsettling that even pastors cower in fear at the thought of taking it on. They even avoid passages that deal with these things and they try not to bring it up. It seems to me that the church has failed to educate people on the matter, leaving many people confused and skeptical at the mention of it.
These issues should not be feared or immediately tossed. We shouldn’t let fear of the unknown and skepticism about certain elements cause us to reject reformed theology all together. Otherwise we are just tossing the baby out with the bath water.
It is overwhelmingly obvious that some elements of today’s church are problematic. There are church goers who are fed up with unbiblical traditions and unnecessary restrictions. There are church goers who are fed up with cheesy heartless Christian music, the juggernaut of marketed Christianity, and the continual use of “church” sayings or Christian speak which complicates communication. There are folks who are fed up with a surface level understanding of the Bible and dumbed-down teaching materials. There is a new generation of church goers who are looking for a deeper theological understanding of the bible, bolder preaching, Christ centered worship, and more radical living for Jesus Christ. Unfortunately they are not finding it in some of our churches today.
According to new research by the Barna Group, those who are outside of the Christian faith are not finding a deeper spiritual understanding or reality in our churches today either. If we are not reaching those inside the church and we are not reaching those outside of the church, then who are we reaching?
Have we lost our focus? Have we become so internally conceited that we are ceasing to be effective? If church goers and other young Christians are continuing to flee the scene of the church in search for true lives transformed by Christ, then I think a resurgence of reformed theology may be a good remedy. It could help. Here is how:
1. Sola Scripture - It is essential above all else that scripture alone becomes our ultimate standard. We should compare our programs, ministries, styles of worship, traditions, and all other aspects of church life to the truth revealed in God’s word. We will most likely find things we need to do differently. After all there are no perfect people and no perfect churches which means there will always be something we are doing wrong. With this in mind we should be in a continual state of change as we seek to become more like Jesus. When we stop seeking the truth of Scripture and stop comparing ourselves and our church to God’s standard, we start to develop un-biblical traditions and methods. Many try to defend these as if they carry the same authority as Scripture (this should sound familiar because the Pharisees were also guilty of this). People get comfortable, they like things the way they are, and they reject change. Our existence no longer reflects the influence of scripture because our traditions and methods become our standard for church life rather than Scripture itself.
When Scripture is our guide we may have to change the way we do missions, evangelism, worship, and other ministries. We may need to revise our church covenant and rethink how we do church membership. We may have to change the way we spend our money and the plans we have for the future. The fact remains that a church truly using Scripture as its guide will be in a continual state of repentance and change as we are all transformed into the image of God’s son.
2. Soli Deo Gloria – All that we do must be done for the glory of God alone. This relates to the first Sola. According to the Westminster Confession of Faith the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. In order to glorify God we must respond to him in obedience, being obedient to what God has revealed in Scripture. We are to glorify God in our actions, thoughts, worship, and church life. Christians and Churches who are not bringing glory to God are most likely accepting glory for themselves. The church needs to get over itself and remember that God created us for his glory, not our own. Therefore we must be about the business of living for the glory of God and doing everything with the goal of bringing glory to the creator and sustainer of heaven and earth.
3. Solo Christo – We also must remember that salvation is through Christ alone. While we often say this with our mouths, we don’t necessarily live it in our lives. We claim we believe Jesus is the only way and yet deny it by the way we do evangelism. Baptists believe that the only way to an eternal relationship with the Father is through the Son. Salvation comes from God alone. So why do we so often try to do God’s job? What is God’s job? It is God alone who saves people. It is God who calls, God who changes the heart, God who brings enlightenment and conviction of sin. It is God who justifies and God who redeems and God who rescues the soul. We have no part in that. Our job is to simply share the message. It is through the hearing of the Word that people come to faith in Jesus Christ and so our job is to be the vessels that spread the message. And guess what! It isn’t even our message, it’s God’s message. The church would do good to remember that. The great commission says go and make disciples. Our job is simply to share the message so that some might be saved, and to help new believers live the message in their lives. We must do this according to the Scriptures and in order to bring glory to God.
4. Sola Gratia – We would also do well to remember that salvation is through grace alone. It is by the grace of God that anyone is saved. Not a grace dependent upon who we are or what we’ve done. God didn’t save us because we are the best looking, strongest and most intelligent people on the planet. God chose to save people because of his own grace, though he didn’t have to. You see we are all sinners, condemned to a life apart from God and God didn’t have to save anyone. Yet while we were still sinners Christ died for us that we might be brought back to God. A proper understanding of the grace of God should humble us. We need to get over our arrogance and pride and humbly recognize that we are not saved because of who we are, we are saved because of who Jesus is. This should also help us to reach out to those who don’t look like us, talk like us, or act like us. God’s grace extends to all types of people everywhere.
5. Sola Fide – Similar to the last Sola, we should also remember that we are justified by faith alone, not by works. While it is certainly true that Christians are called to be holy as God is holy we need to understand that this holiness is the result of our Justification, not the cause. We have to be careful with the rules and regulations we impose upon people, because we may mistakenly teach people that they have to dress like us, talk like us, and act like us in order to fit into the “Jesus club”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There could be people in are churches who walk like us and talk like us and yet have never experienced the justification that comes through faith alone. We could deceive people by our actions and requirements.
Reformed theology is not some beast unleashed on the church to bring destruction, as some proposed. It has many benefits and is Biblically sound. But honestly we don’t have to call it reformed theology. Lets just call it getting back to the truth of Scripture and getting away from the traditions, methods, and programs that have entangled us in the web of fake Christianity and surface level faith.