Muller on Confessing Five Points
Over at the Riddleblog there is a post by Richard Muller, in which he considers what it means to say you believe in the five points of Calvinism. Muller suggests that there is much more to the historical Reformed faith than a bare confession of adherence to the so-called “five points of Calvinism”–which, incidentally, did not originate with John Calvin. At a time when many are coming to a fuller acceptance of the biblical teaching on the sovereignty of God in all spheres, the efficacy of the atonement Jesus made at Calvary, and the principles of human depravity and inability, Muller raises several important issues to which those who profess a commitment to biblical reformation would be wise to give serious consideration. You can read the post here.
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Nick
Muller is spot on. The idea that someone calls themselves Reformed because they believe in the five points is, at best, superficial (a lot depends on their progress in the faith of course). I know two presbyteries that ask the question to licentiates “What is it to be a Calvinist?” – if the answer comes back as the five points, they’ve got it wrong.
Really what we need to do is use the five points as a platform to derive far deeper implications concerning grace, sovereignty and man’s standing before God. And that is not to mention issues of worship, ecclesiology, sacramentology, missions etc, etc.
As with the word evangelical, the word Reformed is becoming more and more diluted by the day. That is why the church must preach the “whole counsel of God” rather than the potted soteriological version of it.
Matt
PS You wearing a tie on Sunday? 😉
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