What the Reformed Believe?

We call ourselves Christians because we are disciples of Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God and God at the same time, and that He is the center of human history.

we define ourselves “reformed” because we are born from the first wave of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth, occurred in Europe as a result of corruption of the Roman Catholic Church that was purified and reformed both doctrines developed over the centuries and no longer conform to the Holy Scriptures, and both in moral behavior. So it had to return to the Church founded by Christ in the New Testament. And from there we left.

What we believe

We have a lot in common with other Christian churches in the world. The three they adopted by the churches around the world centuries ago summarize the most important tenets of our faith: the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed-Constantinople.

To summarize these common beliefs, we will use the text of the Apostles' Creed. Despite the title, the Apostles' Creed was not written by the apostles and disciples who walked and talked with Jesus in the first century, but it's a collection of what believers, in the first centuries recognized by the written and oral testimony, and it was then distilled into essential elements of Christian faith. This belief has been reworked by successive councils of the early church. It was adopted in its present form before the end of the fourth century.

A quick look at the structure of the Apostles' Creed reveals one of the fundamental truths of the Christian faith: the Trinity. The creed is divided into three parts: Father gave, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. All Christians believe that the Bible reveals a God in three “people” and to be regarded as Christians is essential to believe in the divinity of Jesus, otherwise it would not make sense this appellation.

Father gave

I believe in God

The creed begins with the simple statement of belief in God. The following three sections describe the three persons of the one God.

Father gave

Father Almighty,

Creator of heaven and earth.

The first person of the Trinity is the one that Jesus revealed to us as “the father.” God is certainly not a spiritual entity remote unknowable. Instead God is our love, the powerful heavenly Father.

Against all other ideologies about the beginning of the world, we profess that God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. This profession affirms the goodness of creation with a meaning and a purpose.

God the Son

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

It was conceived by the Holy Spirit

and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

he was crucified, He died and was buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day it rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and he is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

We affirm that Jesus of Nazareth, though he born of a woman, was more than a human being: He was actually the Son of God and therefore God himself.

As the Christ, Jesus brought to pass all the prophecies of the Old Testament in the Messiah who would free the people of God. The life, the death and resurrection of Jesus are proven historical fact also present in extra-biblical sources.

After his work of redemption on earth, Jesus took his place in heaven as the Lord of all things.

The Holy Spirit

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Holy Catholic Church *,

The Communion of Saints,

forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and everlasting life. Amen.

* That is the true Christian church of all times and all places (Catholic = universal)

When Jesus ascended to heaven with the body, He promised his disciples a comfort, a source of power, the Comforter Spirit they would receive the gift of faith and that would lead them to the right path. This gift is the Holy Spirit. since, the Holy Spirit dwelt among the people of God. The Holy Spirit dwells in the believer “It is the temple of God”. The Holy Spirit guides the Church (ie the set of believers and disciples of Christ), It unites the people of God, applying God's forgiveness for our pecati, He speaks in us, and stimulates us individually and as a community to live in piety.

the Bible

We believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, perfect and without mistakes. It is essential for the salvation of all people as it contains the saving message of Christ who is “the only way”. We call the Bible the Word of God, believing that, with the Holy Spirit's power, God speaks to us through this book while reading.

The Bible contains two main sections, at first sight, They look very different from each other: the Old Testament God's work through the centuries of Jewish history until about 400 BC and the New Testament with the work of God through the life of Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit in power, and subsequent spread of the Church in the first century d.C. You could also think of the Bible as the library of sixty-six books of various kinds written by many different authors, in different contexts in the course of thousands of years. But it is only a book with one story and all the books are consistent and are linked to other. The main object of this book is the relationship of God with man after creation. The Bible contains the history of humanity, past, present and future.

The creation

In the beginning God created a world where everything was in perfect harmony: there was death, suffering and disease, and the animals were peaceful between them and towards man. It fed on the land and no meat. The relationship between God and human beings since the creation were good.

The fall

pride, humans were attracted and deceived by Satan in his rebellion against God. Their disobedient act opened the door to “virus of sin” to enter the world thereafter. This virus contaminates everything: no person, no creature, no institution, no relationship or individual action is free from all of this contamination. The results of sin are evident in things like greed, violence and oppression as well as pollution, the illness, the death, and weeds. The most devastating effect of sin is separation from God. however, sin can not delete the '”image of God” in US, that is, the desire to know him, because we are his creatures who want to know their Creator.

redemption

But God did not allow that sin to have the last word in this story. Thanks to his great love for man and for the whole of creation, God chose a way to redeem the world from its sinful condition. God called Abraham and Sarah and their descendants, the people of Israel, and she told him to be his spokesman in the whole world. finally, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus the Messiah, to live a fully human life without sin (to show good example of how to comprotarsi the perfect child of God) and then to die, then paying the price for the sinful actions of mankind. God raised him from the dead to show that He had overcome sin and death. Now the kingdom of God grows and spreads in this world, and Christians are part of that great work. Christians will be saved only if they agree to have faith in Christ Jesus. There is no other way for humans to be reconciled with the Father.

New Creation

One day, Jesus will return to extend the kingdom of God on earth completely. He will remove all traces of sin and all its effects. There will be no more sickness, of suffering, not alienation from God, no more death. Evil will be deleted. God Himself will dwell with human beings and all creation will be fully restored. Praise God!

A Reformation emphasis

We have already pointed out that most of what we teach, and we believe has much in common with Christians around the world. and yet, Reformed denomination as we tend to emphasize some more than other scriptural teachings or interpretations.

If we think of the Church throughout the world as a body, then you can imagine how in it there are individual organs. Each organ contributes to the smooth functioning of the body, and each performs a unique function. Or imagine a room full of English speakers from different corners of the world (Georgia, Australia, Great Britain, South Africa, Scotland, e Canada). Everyone speaks the same language, but their accents are very different! Same as you can do with the speakers in Italy and their regional accents, Italians are always. So Christians, albeit with some differences, Christians have always.

Within the Reformed Church are three words that have the greatest relevance: the sovereignty, the alliance (or pact), and the kingdom.

Sovereignty of God

Everything depends on God who is sovereign! He decides everything, decide everything, and with all means all. All this happens under his sovereignty, and we are not left to ourselves. Those who speak with an accent reformed (among English speakers mentioned the example above) They have a very high view of God's sovereignty: God's plan, God's will, the power of God. Everything that happens in the world, by the acts of the nations to the faith of individuals, ultimately, It is under God's sovereign control.

For us it is very comforting that God's infinite love and grace are coupled with the power of God and the ability to work on our behalf. Celebrities, we know that no human thought or word or deed or desire, It is completely free from the effects of the Fall. our will is also flawed. So you can not help yourself to have faith: we are “dead in our sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Our only hope, then, It is to admit that we have a problem of sin in us, that we are unable to help ourselves, and that we need to seek God's intervention. Because God has already raised such a desire in us, we are sure that he will answer our cry.

mysteriously, God accomplishes His will in our lives, our choices, our actions and our faith. This means, that the salvation of every individio, It not depends on the individual himself who had faith but of God who chose him and gave him the faith. Although we have in us the desire to look for, this means that God has already sent us his Spirit to find him. It is depended on our free will. Why we do not invite people to “accept Jesus in life” because we know that our accept it or not accept it, depends solely and exclusively by God and for each of us is sealed the fate. We prefer to concentrate on how God calls people to have a relationship with him and explain to people the concept of divine sovereignty. Although we are deeply involved in responding to the love of God in Jesus Christ, his call, salvation is ultimately God's work from beginning to end.

The deal

Another important word for riformti is the alliance (or pact). A covenant is like a contract or a treaty. The program involves the parties, they promise to each other and then signed the agreement in some appropriate way, with her firm, for example. The Bible speaks of God as an alliance” between us and Him, in the sense that he makes promises and keeps them. (The word testament, as in the Old and New Testaments, actually means covenant.).

This is a very good thing to know! Although alliances, contracts, between us humans are “weak” (think of the failure of marriages and divorces) God's covenant is safe. God makes a covenant and promises to love and protect, treat and lead his people, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer. Although our promises may prove weak, those of God are firm and secure. It gave, indeed, can pursue our alliance from just because it is he who guides us as he wants.

And that's where our emphasis becomes even more pronounced. We profess that God's promises are not simply paid to individuals, but to a community. Not only, they are generational. We take inspiration from the Old Testament and God's covenant with the people of Israel. And we note that on the day of Pentecost, the first Christian sermon, the apostle Peter urges adults Jews to repent “to believe”. Then, he says, who will receive the promise of the Holy Spirit, which is “for you and your children and for all who are far away, for all whom the Lord our God will call” (proceedings 2:39). Even in the New Testament, God's promises are shared and generational.

This means, eg, who joyfully battezzaranno adults who want to profess their faith, and with joy we baptize the babies too (a practice that dates back to the early Church). There is a catch, But. Baptism is reserved for the children of believing parents who are part of the church family, because we know that the Holy Spirit is active in those families. You can not baptize children by tradition. Those children grow up and sperimentaranno the promises of God in the house and in the Christian community where parents speak constantly of God and will educate the faith. The purpose of the baptism of infants is to extend the promise of God to our children, even if they have the ability to understand at the time. It is an outward sign for the whole congregation that God's grace is a gift we can not earn: it is God who acts first.

The kingdom

The last important word is the Kingdom. And here the emphasis becomes very large, because it takes the whole human culture worldwide. Unlike nations on earth, The kingdom of God does not have defined borders. It is not restricted to a certain place, like a cathedral, nor can it be reduced to a religious activity. With the kingdom of God means God's sovereignty and its influence.

God calls each of us to participate in the spread of his Kingdom. All the world is a place where we can fulfill the mission of restoring the divine creation. In the memorable words of the Dutch statesman Abraham Kuyper and pastor, “There is not one square centimeter in the whole domain of our human existence, where Christ, It did not extend its sovereignty!'”

Our goal is to spread the news of God's kingdom. Avoiding any division between the sacred and the profane, We encourage efforts in every sphere of human activity: l'art, media, publishing, right, education, labor relations, assistance, agriculture, business, social and political justice. There is a human enterprise space that is free. The Reformed communities have set up by Christian schools to universities, not to protect the students from the rest of the world, but to give them the tools to involve them in every aspect of the culture from a Christian point of view. after all, it is God's world.

Jesus came to usher in the kingdom of God. His victory over sin and death changed history. Although sin and evil are still evident everywhere, They will be eliminated on his return, when He will restore His Kingdom.

Insights

• the Westminster Confession of Faith [pdf]
• The Catechism MinorWestminster [pdf]
• confession Belgian [pdf]
• Canons of Dort [pdf]
• The Heidelberg Catechism [pdf]