Reformed Theology

1
Reformed Theology

• What does it mean to be Presbyterian and why
  should we care?
• Rodger Nishioka
• Associate Professor of Christian Education
• Columbia Theological Seminary

2
What does it mean to be Presbyterian?

• 1. We say debts instead of trespasses.
• 2. We sprinkle instead of dunk.
• 3. Nobody can spell us.

3
Why is this important?

• Post-denominational age.
• To deny this is to deny Gods creativity.
• Being one does not mean being the same.
• Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential
  tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the
  confessions of our church as authentic and
  reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us
  to believe and do, and will you be instructed and
  led by those confessions as you lead the people
  of God? G-14.0207 and G-14.0405

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So how did we get here?

• In the 16th century, two world Christian churches
  existed The Roman Catholic Church primarily in
  Western Europe and the Orthodox Church primarily
  in Eastern Europe and Asia. The Great Schism
  occurred in 1054 over papal authority.

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Early Reformation

• John Wycliffe in England in the 14th century.
• Jan Hus in Bohemia in the early 15th century.
• Both key early reformers began to raise
  objections to several practices in the Roman
  Catholic Church.

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The Reformation

• Came to fruition in 1517 in the person of Martin
  Luther, a Roman Catholic monk and teacher of
  theology in Wittenburg, Germany.

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Martin Luther (1483-1546)

• Nailed 95 theses to the Wittenburg Church door.
• Justification by Faith
• Sola Gratia. Sola Fides. Sola Scriptura.

8
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)

• Began the Swiss Reformation preaching and
  teaching in Zurich in 1518.
• Differed with Luther over the sacrament of the
  Lords Supper.

9
John Calvin (1509-1564)

• French born and educated, published the
  Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536.

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The Reformation produced two major new church
movements

• Lutherans (began in Germany and spread throughout
  central Europe and Scandanavia).

• Reformed (began in Switzerland and spread
  throughout the Netherlands, France, and the
  British Isles).

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So what about Presbyterian?

• The Swiss Reformed eventually also became known
  as Calvinists because they subscribed to
  Calvins theology and also as Presbyterians
  because they subscribed to Calvins form of
  church government being ruled by elders or
  presbyters (from the Greek presbuteros meaning
  elder).

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What does it mean to be Presbyterian?

• Five key tenets of Reformed theology

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Presbyterians stand for the majesty, praise, and
sovereignty of God.

• Worship is at the heart of our tradition because
  as sinful humans, that is all we can do. Total
  depravity.
• We emphasize the God of the Trinity.
• God is both immanent and transcendent.
• God is the subject and the creation is the
  object.

14
Presbyterians are formed by and reformed by Gods
word through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

• We find the authority of Christ in scripture.
• Ecclesia reformata sed semper reformanda.
• We read the Bible in the spirit of the law rather
  than the letter of the law.

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Presbyterians are more concerned about the glory
of God and the coming of Gods reign than the
salvation of souls.

• What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and
  enjoy him forever.
• We trust in Gods grace. Sola gratia. Sola
  Fides. Sola scriptura. Salvation is up to God.
• We view faith as a mystery and discipleship as a
  response to Gods grace.

16
Presbyterians believe the Holy Community is the
best expression of Christs body on earth.

• We are a committee people and a connected people.
• The call comes for us both personally and
  corporately.
• No one person has the corner on truth.

17
Presbyterians engage our mind and will for Gods
glory.

• We emphasize the cognitive sometimes too much
  so.
• We do things decently and in order.
• We are critical of governments and suspicious of
  rulers.

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Five points of Calvinism

• Total depravity
• Unconditional election.
• Limited atonement.
• Irresistible Grace.
• Perseverance of the Saints.
• Summary given at the Synod of Dort in 1618-1619
  against the Remonstrants, persons who defended
  human choice against Calvinist interpretations of
  Gods sovereignty.

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Total Depravity

• Because of the fall, humankind is unable to
  believe the Gospel on our own. Our will is not
  free. It is captive to sin. Salvation is Gods
  gift alone through faith.
• Romans 3.23 since all have sinned and fall short
  of the glory of God.
• 1 John 1.8 If we say that we have no sin, we
  deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

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Unconditional Election

• God elects certain persons to be saved. There is
  nothing inherently better or different about
  these persons. God unconditionally chooses some
  through Gods grace and mercy.
• Eph. 13-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our
  Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ
  with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
  places, just as he chose us in Christ before the
  foundation of the world to be holy and blameless
  before him in love. He predestined us for
  adoption as his children through Jesus Christ

21
Limited Atonement

• Christs redeeming work was intended to save the
  elect only. Christs death was the
  substitutionary atonement for the sins of the
  elect.
• John 3.16 For God so loved the world

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Irresistible Grace

• While the call is extended to all, the Holy
  Spirit extends to the elect a special inward call
  that brings them to salvation. This inward call
  cannot be rejected.
• Eph. 2.8-10 For by grace you have been saved
  through faith and this is not your own doing it
  is the gift of Godnot the result of works so
  that no one may boast. For we are what he has
  made us, created in Jesus Christ for good works,
  which God prepared beforehand to be our way of
  life.

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Perseverance of the Saints

• Perseverance of God with the Saints
• Those who are chosen by God, redeemed by Christ
  and given faith by the Spirit, are eternally
  saved. They are kept by the power of God and
  thus persevere to the end. Once saved, always
  saved.
• John 10.28 I give them eternal life, and they
  will never perish. No one will snatch them out
  of my hand.

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• The Reformed witness to the world today is that
  Gods grace is the last word in every human
  situation whether that situation is a historical
  event that overwhelms us or a natural event that
  threatens us with destruction.
• - John Leith writing in The Reformed Imperative