Reformed theology simply means that we have a historical faith. We are not making it up as we go along, rejecting and ignoring Church history as if we know better than the centuries worth of faithful godly men that came before us, paving the way for the modern Church. It is important to glean from the faith that God has imparted to His people throughout time. And so, we inherit or adopt much of the theological tradition that was recovered in the time of the Reformation in the 16th Century regarding God, man, sin, Scripture, salvation, and the Gospel. The Reformation was not a movement of ingenuity or inventing new ideas, but rather it was a restoring, and a going back to Biblical foundational truths taught by Scripture that had for centuries been clouded by the Church. So we may be in the modern day, but we are tied to the Church of the past, and ultimately to the same Word that it was founded on. Many see Reformed Theology as merely holding a high view of both the sovereignty of God and of Scripture. However, it goes further than that. Reformed theology has several distinctives, here are just a few.
What is Reformed Theology?
‘FIVE SOLAS’ OF THE REFORMATION
Sola Gratia - Salvation is by “Grace Alone”
Sola Fide - through “Faith Alone”
Solas Christus - in “Christ Alone”
Sola Scriptura - according to “Scripture Alone”
Soli Deo Gloria - for the “Glory of God Alone”
We are saved by God’s sovereign and free act of unmerited grace, his undeserved favor and mercy. This grace is applied to us through faith in Jesus Christ alone as Lord. Not by our own merit or works, but by faith in the sufficient work of Christ Jesus. Our faith, and this salvation is according to Scripture alone, it is our highest authority, not the Church, its leaders, or popes. And this salvation, and all we do, is ultimately for the Glory of God alone, not ours.
THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE
Total Depravity - Our spiritual inability, blindness, and deadness in our natural state of sin before receiving Christ. While a slave to sin, we are wholly corrupted by it, and unable to come to God on our own apart from the work of regeneration. (Salvation Needed)
Unconditional Election - God’s sovereign plan from before the foundation of the world to choose a specific or “elect” people for himself to whom He will show mercy and save. This is solely according to the good pleasure of His will (Salvation planned)
Definite Atonement - God’s full and perfect accomplished work for the salvation of those whom he destines to save. His finished work on the cross is sufficient for their atonement. In His time, God saves every sheep for whom He died (Salvation Accomplished)
Irresistible Grace - God’s effectual calling and drawing of the individual to himself. God never fails to bring His sheep to faith. Regeneration always causes the individual to be drawn irresistibly to Christ, whom the new heart now craves. (Salvation Applied)
Perseverance of the Saints - The Lord eternally securing the salvation of His people. His elect will not lose their salvation, Christ will not lose one sheep. The Holy Spirit works in their life to persevere their faith, bearing fruit until the end (Salvation Secured)
CONFESSIONAL
One distinctive of reformed theology is its adherence to historic creeds and confessions of faith from Church history. These creeds and confessions of history help to keep the modern Church from giving way to false teaching, and from rehashing old heresies from the past. They help to keep us within the bounds of Christian orthodoxy, and help to bring unity to the Church at large by the Christian truths we profess. The Church today is not the inventors of objective truth. There have been centuries and millennia of faithful believers who have expounded upon truth, and it is of great benefit to the Church today to glean from their wisdom, clarity, and knowledge. Grace Bible Church affirms such creeds such as the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. We also affirm the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith.
COVENANTAL
Another major distinctive of reformed theology is what is understood as ‘Covenant Theology’. Simply put, Covenant Theology is a framework or lens, through which we view and interpret the whole of Scripture. It asserts that God has always related to His people through distinct covenants. It also understands that all of Redemptive History is accomplished through the outworking of God’s covenants. These particular covenants include the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and New Covenants. Covenant Theology also recognizes certain covenants that span the whole of eternity, working as an overarching framework for all of Redemptive History. These covenants include:
The Covenant of Redemption - The eternal covenant between the persons of the Trinity from before the foundations of the earth, to save and redeem a particular people, according to which, the Father would elect and ordain redemption, the Son would accomplish redemption, and the Spirit would apply and preserve redemption.
The Covenant of Works - The covenant which speaks of the pre-fall agreement between God and Adam in which Adam was promised blessing and life upon obedience to the terms of the covenant and cursing and death should he disobey the terms of the covenant.
The Covenant of Grace - The covenant from the offended God to the offending but elect sinner, in which God promises salvation by Grace through faith in Christ, and the sinner accepts this believingly, resulting in a life of faith and obedience.
None in all of humanity could fulfill the Covenant of Works, thus by both nature and deed incurring the penalty of death for unfaithfulness to God’s covenant. The only one in humanity who could fulfill this Covenant faithfully and perfectly was the man Christ Jesus himself, fully God, and fully man. He perfectly and wholly fulfilled the Covenant of Works, and so provided the grounds for the Covenant of Grace. Having swallowed man’s penalties from the Covenant of Works on the cross, the Covenant of Grace provides mercy and reconciliation to God for all of God’s elect in the Covenant of Redemption. Therefore, all the promises of blessings found in the Covenant of Works, and its particular administrations are all found and fulfilled in Christ Jesus.
The ultimate conclusion of Covenant Theology is that the Lord always has and always will bring salvation by nothing other than grace through faith in Christ as the Messiah. And it is accomplished by nothing other than the merit, righteousness, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus our Lord. God ultimately has always had one single elect people for whom He has foreordained salvation by the Covenant of Redemption. There are not separate ways of salvation for separate peoples, i.e. Israel and the Church. And the Church has not replaced Israel, but rather the ‘True Israel’ is revealed in the Church, uniting both Jew and Gentile, through faith in Christ.