just came across this label last week and I have to say that I love it.  For those of you that know me know that I think very linear and naturally place things in neat boundaries (Obviously not in some sort of legalistic sense).  After jockeying over the meaning and application of reformed a week or so ago with others, I think I may have to start employing this label myself.

Well, any who.

The following is from Jeff Purswell, Dean of Pastors College for Sovereign Grace Ministries, on what it means to be essentially reformed.  I’ve had the privilege of exchanging a few e-mails and am encouraged and blessed by his level of humility and insight.

Now, only if Sovereign Grace Ministries had a process to enter pastoral ministry for those – like myself – that don’t live near one of their churches and don’t have the ability to make multiple moves.  In short, that would be great (Hint, hint).

Sorry for the rabbit trail.  It’s time to get back on track.

According to Jeff Purswell, to be Essentially Reformed is not to be completely Reformed in the historic meaning of the word.  I think Jeff is wise to point-out that the meaning of Reformed is “not monolithic—there are many gradations and different emphases among those who would called themselves ‘Reformed.’”

Jeff believes there are 4 divergences within the ranks of the Reformed tradition:

1. Infant baptism
2. Cessationism
3. Church Government
4. Hyper-Calvinism

To his list there are a few other variances that I would like to add myself:

1. The Sabbath Day
2. Commission of Deaconesses
3. Application of Old Testament Civil Laws
4. Old Earth and New Earth
5. Sprinkling or Immersion

To be essentially Reformed is to not to agree on every point of the Westminster Confession of Faith.  To be essentially Reformed is to agree upon the essential facets of Reformed theology

What Does it Mean to Be Essentially Reformed?

In a very general gist, to be essentially Reformed, according to Jeff, is to believe in “The Sovereign God, freely bestowing His grace on fallen man, for the ultimate goal of His glory” (For an elaboration on these points, click here).  I think this is a great synopsis of what it means to be essentially Reformed.  As a person that adheres to the Reformed tradition, this obviously is broad enough to encompass anyone with that label.

Regardless of how we define essentially Reformed, I think it would be important for us to heed the words of Rupertus Meldenius who said,

In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.

As this new resurgence of acceptance, love, and appreciation for some facets of the Reformed tradition, may we heed Rupertus’s words and provide liberty in the way that someone labels themselves instead of rattling off a litany of verbal attacks as if labels are essential to one’s Christianity.

Enjoy this post?  Consider sharing it with your friends with the Share/Shave below or Tweet above and subscribing to Reformed and Reforming by E-mail or RSS.

From Monergism.com:

Reformed theology…

…presupposes God’s Word alone as our ultimate authority.

…stresses the sovereignty of God, that is, His reign over all things, meticulously determining (Eph 1:11) all that comes to pass (i.e. God is never taken by surprise).

…emphasizes a Christ-Centered proclamation of the gospel, that salvation is wholly of God, by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone as revealed in the Scripture alone to the Glory of God alone.

…views the Bible as a redemptive-historical organic unfolding of revelation which is structured by three covenants (redemption, works and grace).

It goes without saying that those in the Reformed Tradition hold to the doctrines of grace (the five points of Calvinism), man’s helpless condition apart from Christ, the necessity of evangelism and the work of the Holy Spirit who (monergistically) quickens the dead to life through the preaching of the word as God turning their heart of stone to flesh, and opening their eyes to the excellencies of the gospel (uniting them to Christ).

In other words,  RT stresses the way the objective, written Word together with the inner, supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit work together.  For the Word without the illumination of the Holy Spirit remains a closed book. We (the church) cast forth the seed of the gospel and the Holy Spirit germinates it, so to speak, with the blood of Christ bringing forth life in people from every nation, tribe, language, and people (Rev 14:6). 

RT traces its historical and theological lineage back to the theology of Christ, Paul, Augustine and to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century.

For a plethora of resources on Reformed Theology, follow this link (Monergism.com) and scroll to the bottom of the page.

[Question: Does this help you better understand Reformed Theology in a nutshell?]

Enjoy this post?  Get more like them by subscribing to Reformed and Reforming by E-mail or RSS.

Consider sharing this post

The following is from Sam Storms at Enjoying God Ministries.

On several occasions in John’s Gospel divine election is described in terms of God the Father giving certain persons to God the Son (6:37, 39; 10:29; 17:1-2,6,9,24). In each of these cases the giving of men to Christ precedes and is the cause of their receiving eternal life. Those who are given to the Son include not only the present company of disciples who believe in Jesus but also the elect of future ages who will come to faith through the gospel. Jesus looks upon them as already his (John 17:20-21; see also John 10:16; Acts 18:10), even though they have not yet believed in his name. They are his because they were given to him by the Father in eternity past.

What is of special importance to us is what Jesus says about how those whom the Father has given to him come to him and whether or not those who come can ever lose their salvation. It will prove helpful to look at this in terms of three impossibilities.

The first impossibility. Jesus says that it is morally and spiritually impossible for a person to come to Christ apart from the “drawing” of that person by God the Father (6:44,65). May I strongly emphasize the words morally and spiritually. The reason people do not come to Christ is not because they lack a will, or a mind, or feelings, or even lack opportunity and occasion. Their not coming to Christ is due to their moral and spiritual refusal to do so, a refusal in which they willingly and freely delight. If they cannot come it is not because God will not let them. It is because it is their nature not to want to come.

The second impossibility. Jesus also says that it is impossible for someone whom the Father “draws” not to come to him. He says in verse 37, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me”‘ In other words, just as it is impossible for a person to come to Christ apart from the Father drawing him/her, so also is it impossible for a person not to come to Christ if the Father does draw him/her. Two crucial elements are involved here. On the one hand, if a man is to be saved he must come to Christ. An active, willing embrace of Jesus Christ in faith is essential. On the other hand, this active, willing embrace of Jesus Christ is guaranteed by virtue of the Father having given certain people to Jesus Christ. John Murray explains it this way:

“Jesus does not say: all that the Father giveth me are brought to me. He uses the term that denotes motion on the part of the person – ‘will come to me.’ Coming to Christ is the movement of commitment to Christ, coming that engages the whole-souled activity of the person coming. It is not that he may come, not that he has the opportunity to come, not that he will in all probability come, and not simply that he is empowered to come, but that he will come. There is absolute certainty; There is a divine necessity; the order of heaven insures the sequence.’

John Murray, ‘Irresistible Grace’, in Soli Deo Gloria: Essays in Reformed Theology, Festschrift for John H. Gerstner, ed. R. C. Sproul (Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1976), p. 59. The Greek word translated ‘draw’ (John 6:44) is found elsewhere in the NT only in John 12:32; 18:10; 21:6,11; Acts 16:19. Some believe that the use of the term in 12:32 indicates that the ‘drawing’ is not necessarily efficacious in all. But, as D. A. Carson (Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Biblical Perspectives in Tension [Atlanta: John Knox, 1981]) has noted, ‘the all’ whom Jesus will draw, and the drawing itself, cannot both be taken absolutely, because in the succeeding verses it becomes clear that not all are saved (12:35-41). In the context of the arrival of the Greeks (12:20-22), to whose request for an audience Jesus has not so far responded, the ‘all’ appears to mean ‘all’ as opposed to Jews only: Jesus does not talk to the Greeks because that which will draw all men is the climactic event of his own death/exaltation’ (p. 174).

Therefore, it is impossible that an elect person, a “given-by-the-Father-to-the-Son” person, might fail to come to faith in Christ. Or to put it positively, all the elect shall come to faith in Christ. God’s drawing of them is efficacious. The Father will never fail in drawing to salvation those whom he has given to the Son.

Before we move to the third impossibility, observe one more crucial fact. Since this drawing of people by the Father to the Son is always efficacious, it cannot refer to the so-called enabling grace of Arminianism. Do you recall what the Arminian believes? He believes that God restores in all men a power or an ability sufficient to enable them to come to Christ. Clearly this “universal enablement” cannot be the drawing that Jesus describes, Why not? Because millions and millions of men and women do not, in fact, come to Christ! And yet Jesus says that all who are given by the Father are drawn by the Father and shall come to Christ. There is no escaping the clear and unequivocal language of our Lord Jesus Christ: no one can come unless drawn by the Father; but if one is drawn by the Father he shall come.

Some may want to argue that there is significance in what Jesus does not say: He does not say that others have not been given to him by the Father. However, if in fact all are given, then all shall be saved, for Jesus does say that all whom the Father gives him shall come to him. In other words, if election/giving is universal, so is salvation.

The third impossibility. To the previous two impossibilities Jesus adds a third. He has already said it is impossible to come to him unless the Father draws. He has also said it is impossible not to come if the Father does draw. Now he says that when a man does come through the drawing of the Father it is impossible for him to be cast out. Look again at verse 37: “and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out.” The point is that those whom the Father gives to the Son, who therefore come to the Son, will be received by the Son and shall never perish.

The verb translated “cast out” in verse 37 is used several times in John (2:15; 6:37; 9:34f.; 10:4; 12:31) and always means to cast out someone or something already in. Thus the emphasis here is not so much on receiving the one who comes (although that is true enough in itself) but on preserving him. In other words, “6:37 argues not only that the ones given to Jesus will inevitably come to him, but that Jesus will keep them individually . . . once there.’(Murray, ‘Irresistible Grace’, 184).

Who would dare suggest that Jesus Christ would refuse to accept what his Father has given him? If the Father was pleased to make a gift of certain sinners to his most blessed Son, you may rest assured that the Son will neither despise nor deny his Father’s gracious generosity. The certainty of ultimate and absolute salvation for those who come to the Son is reaffirmed in verses 38-40. Their life in Christ is eternal and irrevocable because that is the will of the Father; a will or a purpose that the whole of Christ’s person and work was designed to secure. What did Jesus come to do? He came to do the Father’s will (v.38). What is the Father’s will? The Father’s will is that all those he has given to the Son be fully and finally saved (v. 39). Oh, what a glorious thought it is, that

“My name from the palms of His hands

Eternity will not erase;

Impress’d on His heart it remains,

In marks of indelible grace.”

And still again we sing:

“Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,

For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by my gracious, omnipotent hand.”

“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to his foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!”

So I ask you, have you experienced the invincible attraction of the Redeemer? Have you been entranced by His beauty? Have you been so drawn to him that you invest your all in Him?? (John Murray, ‘The Father’s Donation’, in Collected Writings of John Murray, 4 vols. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), 3:207). If so, you may be assured that the Father has given you to the Son and that the Son has given himself for you. Therefore, he has drawn you with an everlasting and efficacious love. Therefore, you have abandoned yourself to him in faith. ‘This is why his attraction has become irresistible and you have fallen in love with the Savior of your soul’ (ibid.).

My conclusion: Yes, Jesus was a Calvinist!

[Question: In your opinion, do Calvinist get their theological positions from Jesus Christ?]

Enjoy this post?  Get more like them by subscribing to Reformed and Reforming by E-mail or RSS.

Consider sharing this post

The following is from the Presbyterian Church in America’s Historical Archives.  Take a few minutes to read through and respond in the comments below.  What’s your opinion on their position?   

A Pastoral Letter Concerning the Experience of the Holy Spirit in the Church Today
A Pastoral Letter to the churches and members of the PCA adopted by the Second General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America. [1975]

The General Assembly of the National Presbyterian Church, being fully aware of the widespread notice being given to the question of the work of the Holy Spirit today, offers the following pastoral letter addressed to its churches:

The General Assembly rejoices in all evidences of new life in Christ’s body. It prays earnestly that the spirit which Christ has poured out on His church may continue to affect radically the lives of men throughout the world.

At the same time, the General Assembly would express concern over an increasing emphasis on experience-centered criteria as they are applied to the life of God’s people. The General Assembly would encourage the church as a whole to take most seriously its commitment to the Scriptures as the “only infallible rule of faith and practice” (B.C.O. 22-5), particularly as Scripture relates to current questions within the church.

In seeking to provide guidelines from Scripture to questions relating to the church’s experience of the Holy Spirit, the General Assembly would offer the following observations:

I. Concerning the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

 Baptism of the Holy Spirit was promised by Joel and other prophets in the Old Testament[1] as well as by John the Baptist and our Lord in the New Testament[2]. It found its fulfillment at Pentecost[3]. While public and external manifestations of the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred on occasion in the Apostolic Age[4], Scripture teaches that the normal experience of the Spirit’s baptism coincides with regeneration[5]. It is therefore not to be viewed as a second blessing or a special work of grace enjoyed by some but not by all Christians[6]. The initial reception of Christ by faith is not to be separated from the total impartation of the Person of the Holy Spirit[7].

II. Concerning Life in the Spirit.

Life in the Spirit begins with regeneration[8]. The first manifestation of this life is the believer’s calling on the name of the Lord for salvation[9]. Assurance of salvation is not based on any experience, but on the Word of God that promises eternal life to all who believe[10]. This assurance is to be cultivated by the continual use of the means of grace[11].

III. Concerning the Filling of the Spirit.

The filling of the Spirit denotes the dominion of Christ in our lives and occurs when one is led willingly by the Word through which the Spirit works[12]. By their subjection to the Word of Scripture, believers grow in grace and the benefits of the redemption they receive freely through Christ[13]. The evidence of this spiritual growth is seen in the fruits of the Spirit, which is proof of their abiding in Christ and His Word abiding in them[14]. By the filling of the Spirit they are enabled to speak the truth of Christ with great boldness[15].

The Scripture commands every Christian to be filled continually by the Holy Spirit, and to grow spiritually by obedience to God’s Written Word and the proper use of the means of grace[16]. When we neglect or ignore His Word or are disobedient to it, we are guilty of quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit[17].

IV. Concerning the Gifts of the Spirit.

Spiritual gifts are granted to every believer by the Holy Spirit, who apportions to each Christian “individually as He wills”[18]. Christians are to use these gifts to serve Christ in the work of His kingdom and for the edification of the body of Christ[19]. All true believers receive some spiritual gift or gifts[20]. No spiritual gift is to be despised, nor is it to be misused to bring glory to any other than to Christ[21]. Specific spiritual gifts noted in Scripture are found in the following passages: Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11-16.

Some spiritual gifts plainly have ceased, such as the founding office of apostle. Others are obscure and cannot be clearly defined, such as “helps.” Others are clearly seen today, such as “teaching” and “giving.” Some have received undue prominence in recent days, such as “tongues,” “working of miracles” and “healing.”

A. Tongues.

It seems evident that the tongues in Acts 2 were foreign languages known to the hearers there present. It is more difficult, however, to resolve the question of the exact nature of the tongues mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. It is also difficult to determine with certainty the relationship of the modern tongues phenomenon to the New Testament experience. The General Assembly suggests, however, that:

1. Any view of the tongues as experienced in our time which conceives of it an experience by which revelation is received from God is contrary to the finalized character of revelation in Scripture;
2. Any view of tongues which sees this phenomenon as an essential sign of the baptism of the Spirit is contradictory to Scripture; and
3. Any practice of the tongues phenomenon in any age which causes dissension and division within the body of Christ or diverts the church from its mission is contrary to the purpose of the Spirit’s gifts.

B. Miracles.

Much discussion and debate continue throughout the church of Christ on the subject of miracles. In the Scripture certain clusters of miracles were associated with various servants of God and related to the giving of revelation, such as Exodus 4:1-9; 1 Kings 17:23-24; John 2:11, 3:2. Such miracles were signs by which God communicated divine truth or confirmed that the speaker indeed spoke from God. These miracles related to revelation have ceased, since revelation was completed with the closing of the Canon in the New Testament era.

Scripture also uses the term “miracle” or wonder to describe the acts of God in all areas of creation and providence[22]. The power of God in response to believing prayer to work wonders and to heal the sick cannot be limited[23]. Such wonders certainly do continue to this day and are all for the glory of God not man.

Finally, the General Assembly would speak a word of caution against an obsession with signs and miraculous manifestations which is not indicative of a healthy church, but of the opposite[24]. The Spirit provides all that is necessary for the equipping of the saints through His presence and power in the lives of the regenerate[25]. The true basis of faith and spiritual growth is the work of the Holy Spirit in believers as they are made subject to His written Word, which is sufficient in itself for spiritual growth to complete maturity[26].

The General Assembly would also urge a spirit of forbearance among those holding differing views regarding the spiritual gifts as they are experienced today[27].

As the church continues to study these matters, the General Assembly would recommend:

1. Prayerful study of the scriptural teaching on the Holy Spirit and His gifts;
2. Study of the church’s Standards on such areas as Scripture, Trinity, Doctrines of Grace;
3. Careful training, examination and selection of officers and others in the place of teaching and leadership in the church to assure a consistency of commitment to Scripture and the Reformed faith and to the health and unity of the church;
4. Preaching and teaching of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit and His work as taught in Scripture and the Standards of the church; and
5. The promotion of a charitable spirit in the whole church.

For a list of the footnotes, click on “read more.”

Enjoy this post?  Get more like them by subscribing to Reformed and Reforming by E-mail or RSS.

Consider sharing this post

Read the rest of this entry »

From John Piper and Desiring God Ministries:

These ten points are my personal testimony to the effects of believing in the five points of Calvinism. I have just completed teaching a seminar on this topic and was asked by the class members to post these reflections so they could have access to them. I am happy to do so. They, of course, assume the content of the course, which is available online from Desiring God Ministries, but I will write them here in the hope that they might stir others to search, Berean-like, to see if the Bible teaches what I call “Calvinism.”

1. These truths make me stand in awe of God and lead me into the depth of true God-centered worship.

2. These truths help protect me from trifling with divine things.

3. These truths make me marvel at my own salvation.

4. These truths make me alert to man-centered substitutes that pose as good news.

5. These truths make me groan over the indescribable disease of our secular, God-belittling culture.

6. These truths make me confident that the work which God planned and began, he will finish – both globally and personally.

7. These truths make me see everything in the light of God’s sovereign purposes – that from him and through him and to him are all things, to him be glory forever and ever.

8. These truths make me hopeful that God has the will, the right, and the power to answer prayer that people be changed.

9. These truths reminds me that evangelism is absolutely essential for people to come to Christ and be saved, and that there is great hope for success in leading people to faith, but that conversion is not finally dependent on me or limited by the hardness of the unbeliever.

10. These truths make me sure that God will triumph in the end.

If you liked this, you may also be interested in The Life and Influence of John Calvin: The Complete Series

Enjoy this post?  Get more like them by subscribing to Reformed and Reforming by E-mail or RSS.

Consider sharing this post:

The following is taken from John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.  This argument has stood the test of time for over 300 years.  Read it, ponder it, and let me know what you think about it.  In the meantime, you can read the entire book for free here or buy it here:

God imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent the pains of hell for, either:

All the sins of all men,

All the sins of some men, or

Some sins of all men.

In which case it may be said:

If the last, some sins of all men, then have all men have some sins to answer for, and so no man shall be saved.

If the second, that is it which we affirm, that Christ in their stead and room suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the world.

But if the first be true, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins?

You answer, “Because of their unbelief.”

I ask,

“Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it is, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!”

Enjoy this post?  Get more like them by subscribing to Reformed and Reforming by E-mail or RSS.

Consider sharing this post:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZdoSG0IdNE[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9blnYudWrN4&feature=related[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GchowiLaifY&feature=related[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfg1lMDHblU[/youtube]

Enjoy this post?  Get more like them by subscribing to Reformed and Reforming by E-mail or RSS.   

Consider sharing this post:

From Alister McGrath’s, A Life of John Calvin, pgs. 202-208:

In the sixth decade of the sixteenth century, a new expression entered the polemical literature of the churches of the Reformation.  The term “Calvinism” appears to have been introduced by the German Lutheran polemicist Joachim Westphal to refer to the theological, and particularly the sacramental, views of the Swiss reformers in genearl ,and John Calvin in particular…The term “Calvinism” was thus introduced to refer to the religious outlook of Calvin’s followers by their opponents…

The precise relationship between Calvin and Reformed thought and polity, particularly in th eperiod after his deat, is considerably more complex tan might be expected, and the use of the term “Calvinism” to refer to that theology is fraught with potential danger.  History, however, cannot be conducted in a psychological vacuum, in which words and their associated memoreis are set to one side.  “Calvinism” remains firmly embedded within the historian’s vocabulary…

Similarly, to account for the origins and development of Calvinism, including ts successes and failures, it is necessary to ask in what manner and to what extent Cavlin’s ideas were appropriated by his followers.  Hhow were these ideas found to be applicable to social, political and economic situations which bore little relation to those of the sixteenth-century Geneva, within which they were originaly formulated?…

The term “Calvinism” is thus potentially misleading, in that it suggests a movement primarily concerned with the appropriation of the intellecutal heritage of Calvin.  Yet it may be shown that theologians historically regarded as “Calvinist” in their outlook regarded themselves at liberty to draw upon theological and methodolgical resources other than the writings of Calvin himself.  Calvin may have been the most significant luminary in the Calvinist firmament; there were, nevertheless, others, whose ideas and methods modified him at points.  It is for this reason that the term “Reformed” is perhaps to be preferred to “Calvinist,” in that it implies no exclusive dependence upon Calvin himself…

“Calvinism” thus came to mean something different in each of its local manifestations, reflecting local factors which combined to give it a different shape, a different persona, in its various locations…

So, if you hail from the Reformed/Calvinist Tradition, what do you consider yourself, Reformed or Calvinist? 

Enjoy this post?  Get more like them by subscribing to Reformed and Reforming by E-mail or RSS.   

Consider sharing this post.

The second of seven themes that characterizes the Reformed tradition is the affirmation that God is sovereign over everyone and everything.  John de Witt commented, “The Reformed faith is also characterized by the insistence that God is to be known and worshipped as the sovereign God.  Some would make ths sovereignty the leading characteristic” (pg. 9). 

Sovereignty is not an obscure thought and idea that has no bearing on our life whatsoever – especially in relationship to God’s sovereignty. 

For instance, for a person or country to be sovereign means that they would be self-governing and not ruled by another person or country.  This same line of thought plays out in God’s relationship to everyone and everything.    

For God to be sovereign means that  He is not only independent from His creation in making decisions, He also rules with complete power and authority.  Not only does God rule with absolute power, He also predetermines what will happen, brings it to past, towards an appointed end.

What does it mean to be sovereign?

Within this vein of thought also resides that God created man to both enjoy and glorify Him forever.  This aspect of the Reformed tradition is considered one of the foundational tenets and is known in Latin as “soli deo Gloria” (“For the Glory of God Alone”).  

Along this line of thought, Louis Berkhof had the following to say,

It would seem to be perfectly self-evident that God does not exist for the sake of man, but man for the sake of God…The temporal finds its end in the eternal, the human in the divine, and not vice versa (Systematic Theology, pg. 136). 

This has tremendous implications for everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike.

God’s goal is His glory, not ours

This means that we do have a purpose and are not animals of accident or byproducts of an evolutionary process.  We do have a purpose in life and it is not the American dream.  Our purpose in life is to know, glorify, and enjoy the One, True, Living, and Personal God.  Who we are and what we do is to be directed towards this end.  

With this being the case, many – if not most – will balk in how this works out in our everyday life: God is the object of our pursuits which means that we are not the object of His.  Let me explain it this way.

Our happiness and satisfaction is not God’s highest priority, regardless of what many may say.  His purpose is not to protect us from sickness, poverty, tragedy, or day-to-day difficulties. 

You see, it is written, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stat his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4.3-4; also see 1 Chronicles 29.11-13; Psalm 22.28; Proverbs 16.19; Matthew 6.13; Acts 17.26; 1 Timothy 6.15; and James 1.13-15). 

His purpose, His highest priority, the aim that everything and everyone has been created for is His glory.  This is why each and every single one of us is called to pursue this same end and not our own (Romans 11.36; 1 Corinthians 10.31; Ephesians 1.5-6; Colossians 3.17).      

The Sovereignty of God is Foundational to Christianity

Affirming the sovereignty of God is not a haphazard ordeal.  The sovereignty of God strikes at the very core of Christianity.

James White, Director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, had the following to say:

The sovereignty of God is foundational to Christianity.  It is a basic principle of Calvinism.  If this tenet is removed by the false doctrines of any other creedal system, then the whole of biblical Christianity will fall with it.  If we do not have a sovereign God, then our faith is worthless…The whole process of salvation flows from God’s electing love and predestination, but it moves to its goal, which is the glory of God, through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, as the elected saints preserve to the end and are glorified (pg. 39).

He goes on to say,

The very foundation upon which the certainty of the gospel rests is the divine attribute of sovereignty and active ruler ship over the creation.  Without this truth, one is left with the religions of men: God offers, God tries, but in the final analysis, men dispose (pg. 39).

Final Thoughts

In closing, let us look back to the words of John Calvin who encouraged that our “faith ought to penetrate more deeply, namely, having found Him creator of all, forthwith to conclude he is also everlasting Governor and Preserver…in that he sustains, nourishes, and cares for everything he has made, even to the least sparrow” (Institutes of Christian Religion, pgs. 197-198) 

He goes on to say, “But we must so cherish moderation that we do not try to make God render account to us, but so reverence his secret judgments as to consider his will the truly just cause of all things” (ibid., pg. 201).   

To God be the glory who humbles and exalts, who gives and who takes away, who inflicts pain and who gives relief, and who wounds and whose hands also heal.     

Enjoy this post?  Get more like them by subscribing to Reformed and Reforming by E-mail or RSS.   

Consider sharing this post.