Wednesday, February 18, 2009

What I Mean By Reformed

Most people don't like labels. They don't like wearing them, being given them, or owning up to them. I don't mind labels, as long as they are fair. It's impossible to speak in specifics all the time. We simply must generalize, categorize, and classify if we are going to be make any understandable, accessible analysis and evaluation. So I don't mind being called Calvinist, or Reformed, or even Evangelical. I am all three, glady.

But I also realize that labels turn people off. If I say I'm Reformed some people assume I'm that kind of Reformed, whatever that kind is (see Scot McKnight's recent post for one definition of that kind of Reformed). Or they imagine I automatically look down on them for not being a part of my team. Or they wonder if I'm following a man (Calvin) or a system (Calvinism) instead of Jesus. Or they think I'm a starstruck Piper-Driscoll-Mahaney groupie. Or they figure I'm into theology just like other people are into art, science fiction, or car repairs.

So I don't mind the label, but I call myself Reformed for different reasons. When I say I am Reformed I mean I am a Protestant, Evangelical Christian--rooted in historic, orthodox Christianity, and growing in the soil of Reformation theology as passed down through the trans-Atlantic evangelical movement that began to take shape with Whitefield, Wesley, and Edwards. When I say I am Reformed I am laying claim to this great tradition, and I give thanks for others rooted and growing in the same soil.

But that's not all I'm saying with the word Reformed. I don't view the Reformed faith as simply one branch on the Christian tree. I believe the Reformed understanding of the Bible is Christianity in full bloom. Hopefully, this does not make me haughty about "my flower." But it does make me glad to have the flower (or for the flower to have me), because I find the flower to be the most beautiful, sweetest smelling bloom on the Christian tree.

When I say am I am Reformed I mean:

I marvel at God's holiness, that he is independent, pure, good, and utterly beyond me.

I glory in God's goodness, that he should save a wretch like me, totally undeserving, bent toward evil in all my faculties.

I rejoice in God's sovereignty, that he chose to save me for the praise of his glory, not owing to anything I did or would do or any potential in me.

I find my hope in the second Adam who gives me life and imputed blessing, triumphing over the first Adam's imputed death and curse.

I am grateful for God's power by which he caused me, without my cooperation, to be born again and enabled me to believe his promises.

I take comfort in God's all-encompassing providence, that nothing happens to me by chance, but all things--prosperity or poverty, health or sickness, giving or taking away--are sent to me by my loving heavenly Father.

I praise God for his mercy, shown to me chiefly on the cross where his Son died, not just to make a way for me to come to him, but died effectually in my place such that my sins, my guilt, and my punishment all died in the death of Christ.

I find assurance in God's preserving grace believing with all my might that nothing--not even myself--can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord which he began in me and will see through to completion.

I rest secure in God's covenant love, depicted in both the Old and the New Testament, showing me the incomparable blessings of knowing that the Lord is my God and I am his beloved son, that God is a God to me and my children after me.

I stand amazed in the justifying grace of God whereby I am acquitted of all my sins and clothed with new garments in the presence of my King and Judge, not because of anything I have done but only because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in which I trust.

I delight in the glory of God and in God's delight for his own glory which brings me, on my best days, unspeakable joy, and on all my other days, still gives purpose and order to an otherwise confusing and seemingly random world.

I cherish the word of God because it is all true, because I see Christ in it, and because its rules and precepts are for my good,

I rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to illumine my mind, convict me of sin, and make me holy as God is holy.

When I say I am Reformed I mean that God is the center of the universe and I am not. I mean that I am a worse sinner than I imagine and God is a greater Savior than I ever thought possible. I mean that the Lord is my righteousness and the Lord alone is my boast. By Reformed I mean all this, and most of all that my only comfort in life and in death is that I am not my own but belong, in body and in soul, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever, amen.

13 comments:

Arthur Sido said...

Very well stated. I read the article from McKnight you linked, interesting view but since when is double-predestination a "classic Reformed doctrines"?

DP said...

Amen. Me too.

Doug Phillips

ZSB said...

Great stuff, Kevin.

JoyinJesus said...

Wow! Great blog. I am going to link to it from my facebook! Thanks for writing!

David Cooke said...

Thank for this. David

Matthew said...

I loved "Why We're Not Emergent" and I'm so glad you decided to start writing this blog. I've been encouraged and/or challenged by your writing, and this post paints the picture of what I want my beliefs to show. Thanks for your beautiful articulation of such precious truths about God.

Pete said...

Very well put. Thank you for the clear, theocentric statemenr of what many of us mean when we call ourselves "reformed."

christcentred.org said...

My pastor says:

When we say we are reformed we aren't just saying we chat about predestination all the time.

We are saying we glory in the fact that God has done it all for us.

Your post is in line with that thanks.

David McKay said...

G'day Kevin. I'd love to affirm this part of yoru magnificent statement:
I rest secure in God's covenant love, depicted in both the Old and the New Testament, showing me the incomparable blessings of knowing that the Lord is my God and I am his beloved son, that God is a God to me and my children after me.

But there are so many Christians with children who do not follow Christ, which is one of the great sorrows of any Christian parent.

Roy said...

Amen.

The Common Loon said...

Excellent post Kevin,

Your thoughts are a concise illustration of why I have deep appreciation for the Reformed tradition. I don't consider myself YRR per se, but yours is one of my favorite perspectives from within this stream of evangelicalism.

As a follow up to the McKnight post you referenced, I've been trying to de-escalate some of the evangelical family feud that's been brewing between YRR Christians and those from the post-modern/missional/emerging camp. I've come up with 5 questions for each group to consider.

Scot was kind enough to post his responses on my blog (as have a couple of gracious Calvinists) but I'd to love hear your thoughts if you have any.

5 Questions for emergent/missional/post-modern Christians
1. Can you name a Calvinist writer/thinker who has written a book you consider to be a helpful and worthwhile read?
2. Can you name a complementarian writer/thinker who you consider to be a faithful follower of Jesus?
3. Can you name a public policy issue on which your views are at odds with the Democratic Party's general platform?
4. Can you name something you appreciate about either J.I. Packer or John Piper?
5. Can you name something that concerns you about either Brian McLaren or Rob Bell?

Five Questions for Reformed/Calvinist Christians
1. Can you name an Arminian writer/thinker who has written a book that you consider to be a helpful and worthwhile read?
2. Can you name an egalitarian writer/thinker who you consider to be a faithful evangelical Christian?
3. Can you name a public policy issue on which your views are at odds with the Republican Party's general platform?
4. Can you name something you appreciate about either Dallas Willard or Eugene Peterson?
5. Can you name something that concerns you about either John MacArthur or Mark Driscoll?

http://thecommonloon.blogspot.com/2009/02/fued-rages-on-five-questions-for.html

By the way, I'm the same guy who put that super-long-winded 3-star review of WWNE on Amazon. I like your (and Ted’s) book more each time I read it. Peace.

abu 'n um tulip said...

Just started 'Why we're not emergent'. Your dad has been visiting us in the Middle East and gave us his copy. We had a great visit. Enjoying the book so far and glad you have a blog. ~ Um Tulip

TyChO said...

Thnx a lot, Daniel. Very good tips! TyChO

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