Reformed Theology and Reformed Distinctives
By: Deji Yesufu
What has occasioned this article is the recent surge in a spate of cancellations that has hit reformed thinkers and reformed preachers. When Steve Lawson “fell”, every sermon he had preached, every book he had written; everywhere the man’s works could be found in any reputable reformed organisation, especially in the United States of America, were removed. The man has essentially been expunged from existence, as if he never lived. When this was going on, while I agree with the fact that Lawson committed a grave sin, I certainly do not agree with the crusade to cancel him. Lawson, as far as I know, was one of the leading thinkers on Puritan theology among reformed preachers in our world. Now that his works have all been expunged from existence, a generation will rise that will never have access to those resources that were the work of God within that vessel. The same thing has befallen Josh Buice. I predict that at this rate, every reformed preacher and thinker will ultimately be cancelled. Either this happens, or everyone succeeds at denying their sin or excusing themselves. I am surprised that Julie Royce of the Royce Report website is being quoted in the Josh Buice scandal. Has anyone looked well enough into the Royce Report’s website to find out what they have written on John MacArthur? Will the reformed world have the audacity to cancel John MacArthur? If they can’t, we may need to return to the subject of what true reformed theology is and remind ourselves of our distinctives, particularly why this theology forms the foundation of modern Western thoughts and why our fathers were so blessed by God. We will realise that at the heart of genuine biblical teaching, which is reformed theology, is a solution to the widespread problem of sin. It is either we employ a pharisaical attitude to dealing with sin, or we look more closely at what scripture tells us on how to deal with it. I suggest the latter in this article.
The sins of Martin Luther were what led him to reformed theology. Luther had a particularly sensitive conscience, and even after discovering the glorious doctrine in justification by faith, he never lost that sensitive conscience of his. Luther saw sin in the same manner that God saw sin. He understood that he was as depraved a sinner as the worst infidel in Germany. He understood that there was no righteous works of his that could earn him God’s approbation, and so he looked to the righteousness of God as it is found in Jesus Christ for right standing. Martin Luther’s story and those of many reformers after him led the churches to understand certain biblical truths that have today come to be known as reformed distinctives. We emphasise them as our distinctives because they distinguish reformed churches from the wider Christian world and culture. In this essay, I hope to remind us of a few of these distinctives, and I hope to show that when the churches depart from these distinctives, we begin to adopt something which we cannot wholeheartedly call “reformed”.
The depravity of sin. Reformed theology added the “depravity of sin” to Christian theology when our Arminian brothers began to suggest that sin can be minimised. We showed them that Ephesians 2:1 tells us that the unsaved man is dead in his sin and possesses no ability to respond to the righteous call of the gospel. Except God saves us from our sins; except the initiative begins with God, we possess no ability within us to respond to the gospel. The total depravity of the sinner, however, does not stop at our response to the gospel call alone. It follows us into the very Christian life we are talking about. It means that the minister and the people in the pew are all sinners. It means that a healthy church is a community where the sins of God’s people are ministered to. The Old Testament reminds us of this when it tells us that when the Priests make sacrifices in the temple, they first offer sacrifices for their sins, before he does that of the people. In our churches, sacrifice for sin is reflected in our pastoral prayers, as the minister leads the congregation to confess their sins collectively. It reflects in our relationship with each other – Christians can commit as many outrageous sins as people in the world. We do not throw our brothers under the bus for this; rather, we patiently show them their wrong and lovingly lead them to the path of repentance. We remind ourselves that sin is the common factor within all of us – besides the person of Christ, we all share. We are patient with each other; we celebrate our growth in grace; we love the brethren because they have been bought by the blood of Jesus. We do not make headlines of believers’ sins. The situation with Steve Lawson and Josh Buice is what it is because American reformed theology has succeeded in making celebrity pastors out of their ministers. Just as everything in America is big, so have their scandals also become big. This does not reflect what true biblical church discipleship should be. Christians sin, but Christians love each other so much as to cover up each other’s sin. The depravity of sin in all human beings humbles us, and it helps us to deal with sin in each other when it rears its ugly head.
Righteousness by faith. Martin Luther also helped the churches discover righteousness by faith. It is more appropriate to call it the righteousness of God (Romans 1:17) that is given to the Christian by faith. When the believer fails badly enough, he comes to the end of himself and then must resort to the righteousness of another. The reason why reformed Christians are not afraid to call themselves sinners is because, in the same breadth that scripture tells us we have sinned against a holy God, it also calls us saints (1 Corinthians 1:2). Reformed Christians do not need the beatification of the Roman Catholic Church to be called a saint. We are saints by the grace of God. We are the people of God. We are God’s special people. We are the people of God’s kingdom. We are light in a dark world. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We have been justified by faith. Our sins have been forgiven; our sins are covered; God will not hold our iniquity against us (Romans 4:6-7). We are the blessed of God in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3). We are a special people; we are a peculiar nation. Hallelujah! Pharisees have no conception of a righteousness that comes through grace alone. Pharisees are more concerned with keeping the letter of the law than enjoying the blessing of grace. Pharisees will amplify sin, while God’s people will amplify forgiveness. When Alistair Begg warned that a certain kind of reformed theology had emerged that carries more of the insignia of Pharisaism, many people felt he was saying it to justify himself. But we are seeing it play out now. Reformed theology is no longer a religion where a people owe their right standing with God by faith; rather, it has become a religion where everyone must tick the righteous boxes of certain leading reformed preachers in the world. The Christian’s righteousness is by faith! And if it is by faith, then it has come through grace. And if we know grace, we can be graceful to each other even when sin appears within the churches. Amen.
Worship. One should ask: What engenders your worship when you arrive in church? In the days when we attended charismatic churches, they told us to worship God because we are alive, or because we had a raise in our paycheck, or because we just bought a car or a house, or because we just had a baby. Etc. Reformed Christians worship God because their sins have been forgiven. We sing our hymns and reflect on the words of our fathers gone by, who remind us of the fact that our sins have been paid for; our sins have been forgiven. We worship God because we realise that God has chosen us as his own, not because we are better than others, but because we have found grace with him. Our worship is a reflection of what eternity will look like. Our worship is borne on the wings of grace. “Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise…” The hymn writer reminds us of how greatly indebted we are to God for saving us from our sins, and he wishes, and we do also, that we had more tongues than one, to sing the Redeemer’s praise. Perhaps it is why it is so satisfying to hear God’s people sing the hymn together. Worship or doxology is a perfect response to so much of what God has done in our lives, and what he is still doing with us. Amen.
Repentance. Reformed theology has shown us that whatever we do in the Christian life must be a response to what God has done first. It is the reason why worship must be the first hearty response to the gospel message. The second must be repentance. Now, this repentance is not repentance unto salvation, but 1 John 1:8-10 kind of repentance. It is a hearty, regular, and sincere repentance of sin before God as we come into his holy presence. It is an acknowledgement of the absolute holiness of God and the absolute sinfulness of man, even the redeemed man. Repentance reminds you and me of our sins. It helps us to understand that God has accepted us in the beloved despite our rebellion against him. Repentance gives us a glimpse of how deep-rooted sin is in our lives. Repentance humbles us. A local church that is repenting of its sins regularly will have very little space to advertise the sins of God’s people, including those of celebrity pastors. Perhaps the biggest blessing of repentance is that it promises a “cleansing from all unrighteousness”. I have often likened this cleansing to the effect of water over the rough edges of a stone. With time, the rough edges are smoothed from the continually flowing water. A hard and rough stone eventually becomes a smooth-surfaced pebble. A local church that is continually repenting is a church that would eventually know true and practical holiness amongst its people.
Holiness. Like worship and repentance, holiness is a response to the grace of God in the hearts of men. The Pharisees will prefer that we be holy by keeping a set of rules. That we become holy by joining their sect of “reformed theology” and are forever reminding others that “they are not reformed” because we do not follow their directives. Holiness, in the real practical sense, is the keeping of God’s holy laws after a heart has received the grace of God. We are holy unto the Lord out of worship, and not out of fear. We are holy because we are enamoured by the grace of God that he has revealed to us in Jesus Christ. We keep ourselves from sin not because we fear being cancelled, but because we love the Lord who has been so very gracious to us. When no man would receive us, the Lord stood with us. He washed us of our sins; he gave us a new beginning. And many of us have also known physical blessings along with them. We are indebted to God. We cannot pay back. Our holiness is a weak reflection of our gratitude. Many are “falling” in many reformed camps because their holiness has been borne more from the dictates of men than from the righteous and gracious standards of God.
Conclusion
If Reformed Theology is true at all, it will show that all men are sinners. It will also prove to us that Christians fail God too. Therefore, how many more American reformed preachers will fall in the next few years? As long as this spate of cancellation continues, even John MacArthur will come under the sledgehammer in the days to come. There is no one that does not sin. The church must find another avenue to solve the matter of sin besides making blog announcements and fanciful YouTube broadcasts. The American Churches may think that they are being “accountable” to their listeners. But they are setting up a standard that they will not be able to keep in the days to come. Christians cover each other’s sins; we do not broadcast them. We do this because the Lord also covers our sins. Reformed theology is biblical theology because it is one theology that reminds us of the cross. We look to Christ by faith, and we receive the grace of the cross into our hearts by faith. This grace is exemplified in our sins being forgiven, not once, but continually, throughout our lives. Because we have known so much grace, we have grace in our hearts to extend to others. These, brethren, are what consist of true reformed theology and what helps us to celebrate our reformed distinctives.
Deji Yesufu is the pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY. He can be reached at [email protected]
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