Please note that the entire series entitled “Were the Reformers Heretics”? can now be viewed by clicking here as one complete essay.
The post below originally went from: “Reformed confessional statements continued to link the sacrament of baptism and the forgiveness of sin in the manner of John Calvin” to: “Those who grow up in Reformed families … salvation was sealed to them in baptism.”
Bro Ross,
Thanks again for this series, it's certainly needed. I think in and of itself it should give great pause to those today that have no problem calling themselves Calvinists or Reformed. Will the series be available in one complete form on your website or in a book?
Dear Bro Rodgers,
Thanks for the comment. I found it personally helpful and also a help in evangelizing unconverted people who are in the Reformed tradition, and it should indeed give pause to those who claim to be Baptists and also Calvinists/Reformed. It should also give pause to those who use Protestant educational curricula, so that all this is new to them.
The essay "Were the Reformers Heretics?" is available at http://sites.google.com/site//thross7
Dear Brother,
Thank you for your post on Reformed Theology.
Today, most Christians think Galatians 1 is for "other" doctrines but theirs.
What is Reformed Theology – certainly not what Paul had preached! What about the Church of Christ where not only baptism is necessary for salvation but baptism in their church and "works" are necessary to "complete" salvation.
We too have the Evangelical Church not accepting the finished work of Christ on the cross and still wanting to ask for forgiveness of sins and "restore" fellowship quoting 1 John 1:9 when this passage was addressed to a mixed congregation that had Gnostics in it. See 1 John 4:2-3 – this is what the Gnostics believed.
Jesus Christ said "It is finished" and the Church is saying "no it's not – I've still got to do my part".
The writer of Hebrews was explaining to the Jews that Jesus Christ had come and the New Covenant was in place of, and better than the Old Covenant and that they should leave their sacrifices and traditions behind.
Hebrews is just as applicable today for the Evangelical Church as it was for the Jews. They are not accepting the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. They want to live with one foot in the Old Covenant and one foot in the New.
A lot of Christians don't realize that the New Covenant only started when Jesus Christ died – read Hebrews.
The Gospels are not the New Covenant and Jesus preached from the Old Covenant. A lot of Christians get hung up on the Lord's (Disciples) prayer when Jesus said "if you don't forgive others, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you". Now we know that as Christians that cannot apply to us.
The same applies to removing limbs and gouging out eyes. Jesus was showing how the Law condemned. The Law was like an x-ray machine – able to reveal a broken bone but not able to fix it – Jesus came for that and fixed it. Praise Him.
I also appreciated your article on Matt 18:20.
In Him,
Norman Silva.
Dear Mr. Silva,
Thank you for your kind words about my article.
I agree with you totally that Paul and Scripture as a whole do not teach Reformed theology.
However, the idea that believers should ask for forgiveness when they sin is not just Reformed theology, it is something taught all over the place in the Bible.
Furthermore, I would suggest that you examine the article:
"A Word Study Demonstrating the Meaning of the Word Church, ekklesia, and consequently the Nature of the Church as a Local Assembly only, not a Universal, Invisible Entity"
at http://sites.google.com/site/thross7 to stimulate your thinking on ecclesiology.
You are correct that the New Covenant was officially put in place with the death of Christ, but Christ started His church in the gospels (Matthew 18:15-20), the epistles quote the Gospels as authoritative teaching for us today (1 Tim 5:18; Lu 10:7), and so things such as the model prayer in Matthew 6, which includes the request "forgive us of our sins," are appropriate for Christians to pray. Of course, this is not because they need to work for salvation or to stay saved, for they are eternally secure, but simply because this is the clear teaching of Scripture.
By the way, salvation was by grace through faith alone in the OT also–there is nothing in Mark 11:25 that contradicts this truth in the least.
Thanks again for the comment.