Core Reformed Theological Distinctives

The next post in our series on reformed theology is about the distinctive doctrines held to by reformed Christians. I will examine in my next post the things that divide reformed Christians, but these are the basic tenants to which one must hold to to aptly label themselves "reformed."

Even though there are slight differentiations on how reformed Christians interpret each of these truths; the fact is that all would agree that these are the most prominent and the most important. The next post will uncover the areas of disagreement on these issues.

The Doctrines of Grace

These doctrines are known by most Christians as the five points of Calvinism, but as we uncovered in the last post, these doctrines did not start with John Calvin. These doctrines deal with the systematic field of soteriology which is the name for the doctrine of salvation (soterios), but the first point deals with anthropology which is the doctrine of man (anthropos). Here is an outline of the doctrines.

From the fall of Adam, man is morally dead to God. There is nothing inside the natural man that longs for, desires, or seeks after God. Without the intervention of God alone, no one would ever be saved; because man's will is only inclined and enslaved to evil.
But there are people who are saved. This is only because of the rich, undeserving, and everlasting grace provided by God through election. This is where God chosen His favored ones not on the basis of anything they have done to merit God's favor. God's election is unconditional and individual.
The intent of Christ's death was to secure the salvation of those the Father gave Him, but covering their sin in a substitutionary manner. Christ bore the sins of the elect on the cross, and it was accomplished perfectly.
Since no man naturally will come to or seek after God, He overcomes our stubborn will to awaken us to Him. This is the process of regeneration or the "new birth" which is brought about by the Holy Spirit. We are not "dragged" against our will, but we are finally set free from the bondage of sin.
God is faithful to finish the work that He started in us to the praise of His name. Therefore, it is the work of God, through the Holy Spirit, to see us through the race of life to reach glorification.

These doctrines are also called Monergism which means there is only One Agent in regeneration--and that is God alone. I am not going to defend these doctrines Biblically here, but I have done so elsewhere. See my essay linked below.

Covenant Theology

S.M. Baugh declares, "Let me make a bold assertion about Covenant theology: It is not incidental to Reformed theology -- it is Reformed theology." And he is quite right. The only reason I didn't start with Covenant Theology is because most people are familiar only with Calvinism. Covenant Theology is actually the "forest" of theology for the reformed theologian, while Calvinism is actually a "tree." Covenant Theology is the grid to which all reformed theologians look through. (Although it should be mentioned there are theologians such as John MacArthur and his group that hold to a form of Dispensationalism; they are really 'black sheep' amongst reformed Christians.)

Covenant Theology is a way to interpret the events of the Bible. We utilize the redemptive-historical hermeneutic where we interpret the unfolding revelation of the Bible as events shadowing and pointing forward to Jesus (this is called Biblical Theology). In Covenant Theology, God's main purpose in history is first His Son and by extension His elect throughout the ages. Through successive covenants (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Messianic) God reveals His plan of redemption with Christ being the epicenter of all God's revelation.

Covenant Theology is often seen as "the other side" in the debate with Dispensationalists who largely interpret God's main purpose in history being ethnic Israel (which they believe will be reunited in the Millennium of Rev 20). While Covenant Theologians see "Israel" as receiving a different definition in the New Testament. The true Israel is in fact Jesus and those who are the spiritual seed of Abraham made possible by Christ (Gal 3:29). While there are slight differentiations in this study, these listed are the main points of agreement. See below for a listing of main points of Covenant Theology.

The Five Solas

There are fives solas ("only") that are subscribed to by reformed Christians. These were the battle cry of the reformers in the 16th century, and these are the best synopsis of the reformed vantage point on theology.

Sola Scriptura - Scripture alone is the ultimate guide and source of authority.
Sola Christus - Christ alone is necessary for salvation.
Sola Gratia - We are saved by grace alone.
Sola Fide - Faith alone is the only necessary ingredient for justification (not works).
Sola Deo Gloria - We do all things for the glory of God alone.

The Regulative Principle

The Regulative Principle deals with the subject of the church (Ecclessiology). This is the doctrine that Christians, in the local church, should only worship in methods proscribed in the Scriptures. This is contrasted to the Normative Principle which states that anything not forbidden in the Scriptures is permissible in the local church.

The main modes of worship proscribed in the Scriptures are the public reading of Scripture, the public preaching of Scripture, music, prayer, and the ordinances (communion and baptism). Now just because we all agree that those are the outlined methods of worship does not mean that all reformed Christians agree on what those definitions are, but I will cover that in the next post.

Creedalism

The last point of agreement among reformed Christians (generally) is a belief in historic creeds which outline the doctrines of our reformed faith. Presbyterians use the Westminster Confession of Faith, and Baptists use the London Baptist Confessions of Faith (1646 and 1689). Catechisms are also popular with the most popular being the Heidelberg Catechism.

Imperishable Inheritance