Serving the Lord Jesus is truly an amazing journey, full of happiness, challenges, and adventure. It is a life that teaches us to focus on things of eternal value and to worship the almighty God of the Bible. But the craziness of today’s culture relentlessly promotes a self-centered life that is obsessed with temporal things. It causes people to listen with their eyes and think with their feelings. They exchange the worship of the almighty God for the worship of created things they can see and touch. Pleasure, pride, and self-gratification drive them forward to search for new ways to experience more and more of it.
Look at the current gender identity movement. Clearly, it is a perverse doctrine of Satan. And yet, in a few short years, millions of people, companies, and yes, even churches, now bow before it. The result can be seen in news headlines everywhere: broken people, hyper-sexuality aimed at children, shattered families, a rising epidemic of teenage suicide, and drug addiction. Make no mistake, sin is a brutal killer.
In contrast, Reformed Theology is the vibrant, inspiring, life-giving teaching of the Bible. It is a God-centered theology that places the worship of God as the primary pursuit of human existence. It places our focus first on the doctrine of God, his character, and his nature.
By focusing on God, we discover more about ourselves as men and women created in his image. We are not random, gender-fluid animals. We are human beings–men and women created in the image of God–who are dead in sin and need to be redeemed. The Scriptures teach us that through faith in Jesus alone we can be redeemed from spiritual death (Eph 2:8); we can be born again to live a life that God prepared for us since the beginning of time. This spiritual life can’t be earned by how good you are, purchased with money, or given by anyone but Jesus, our Redeemer.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. – Eph 2:8-9
How can you expect to dwell with God forever if you so neglect and forsake him here?– Jonathan Edwards
Reformed Theology stands on the foundation of Scripture as God’s inspired Word and divine roadmap for life, salvation, and eternal truth. It considers the teachings of the Bible as the highest authority, higher than the authority of any person, church, or government. This grinds painfully against today’s secular and corrupt religious world, yet it is absolutely true.
At the core of Reformed Theology is the gospel (the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection). At the heart of the gospel, is Jesus Christ. Tracing its roots in the teachings of the early church and the apostles, Reformed Theology teaches that the Christian life is one of saving grace, faith, and God’s sovereign power over all things: a life that glorifies God in everything, every day. How we talk, pray, worship, conduct ourselves, and treat others should all reflect the true teachings of the Bible. We are called to live as lights in a dark world. To live as servants of God and not as servants of self … just like Jesus.
If you’re someone who desires to be transformed from the crazy of this world (like I was), I challenge you to read on. Study the heart-changing doctrines of Reformed Theology and experience the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Let the pure, simple truth of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection set you free.
Calvin Bryant
Founder, JohnCalvin.com
Post tenebras lux (after darkness, light)