What is Reformed theology?
Reformed theology is a historic Protestant Christian system of belief that emphasizes God's sovereignty, Scripture's final authority, salvation by grace alone, and the covenant structure of God's dealings with humanity. It's named for the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, with roots in John Calvin and the Reformed branches of the Reformation.
Five Latin phrases that summarize the Reformation.
Reformed theology holds to the "five solas" that distinguish Protestant Christianity from the medieval Roman Catholic church the Reformers departed from:
Sola Scriptura — Scripture alone is the final authority for faith and practice.
Sola Fide — faith alone is the instrument by which we receive salvation, not faith plus works.
Sola Gratia — grace alone saves us, not grace plus our effort or merit.
Solus Christus — Christ alone is the mediator between God and humanity, not Christ plus saints or priests.
Soli Deo Gloria — all glory belongs to God alone, not to human beings or human institutions.
Every orthodox Protestant church affirms the five solas in some form. Reformed theology takes them seriously and works out their implications in doctrine, worship, and life.
Sometimes called "the five points of Calvinism."
Reformed theology affirms that God is sovereign in salvation. The "doctrines of grace" (sometimes called TULIP) express this:
Total Depravity. Human beings are sinful in every part of their nature. We cannot save ourselves or even seek God on our own.
Unconditional Election. God chose to save a people before the world began, not because of anything in them, but according to His own mercy and purpose.
Limited Atonement (sometimes called Particular Redemption). Christ died specifically for His people, actually accomplishing their salvation rather than making it merely possible.
Irresistible Grace. When God calls His chosen people, the Holy Spirit works effectually in their hearts so that they come to Him.
Perseverance of the Saints. Those whom God saves, He keeps. Genuine believers will finally be preserved to eternal life.
These teachings are not meant to be cold or abstract. They are meant to produce humility, assurance, and worship.
God relates to His people through covenants.
Reformed theology reads the Bible as a unified story in which God relates to humanity through covenants: formal relationships with promises, obligations, and signs.
The covenant of works was made with Adam: perfect obedience would bring eternal life. Adam broke it, and all his descendants broke it in him.
The covenant of grace is God's promise to save a people through faith in a coming Savior. This covenant unfolds across the Bible from Abraham through Moses, David, the prophets, and finally fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Covenant theology is why we practice infant baptism, understand the Old and New Testaments as one story, and read the whole Bible as about Christ.
Where Reformed theology came from.
Reformed theology traces its roots to the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, particularly to Reformers in Switzerland (Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin), Scotland (John Knox), and the Netherlands.
It was systematized in confessions like the Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dort, and most comprehensively in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), which was produced in England by Reformed theologians and became the standard confession of English-speaking Presbyterian churches worldwide.
Reformed theology shaped Presbyterianism, parts of Anglicanism, Congregationalism, Reformed Baptists, and Dutch Reformed denominations. It has produced theologians like John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, B.B. Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, R.C. Sproul, and many living pastors today.
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A Shearer worship service is Reformed theology in action: Scripture read, hymns sung, gospel preached, Lord's Supper celebrated. You're welcome to come observe.
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