The Reformed Church Is Always Being Reformed Pt 2

Introduction

In our last issue we considered the importance of our relationship to the Word of God in the process of transformation. Growing in grace requires standing under the authority of Scripture. The Scripture is simultaneously simple enough for a new believer to embrace but deep enough to challenge his thinking and shape his character for the rest of his life. The Word of God transforms those who humbly submit to its authority. This month we will consider the impact God’s immutable Word has on our mutable existence and the historical context out of which the slogan reflected in our title arose.

The Mutable and the Immutable

While God’s truth is immutable, we are not. In fact, “change” is what most characterizes the present existence of the believer. Transformation, sanctification, and illumination are the warp and woof of the Christian’s pilgrimage (cf. 2 Cor 3:18, Heb 10:14, Eph 1:17-18). Throughout our journey in this world, we can never claim to have arrived. There is always more to learn as well as to unlearn. There is an ever-greater conformity to Christ’s image to which we are summonsed. When a Christian begins to think that he has a handle on the Word of God he actually betrays the fact that he “knows nothing yet as he ought to know” (1 Cor 8:2).

Our understanding of the Scripture, which is subject to change, is never the criteria for truth. God’s Word always remains objectively true. As such, the Scripture continually shapes and reforms God’s people throughout their present journey.

The Historical Setting

The slogan, “Ecclesia Reformata Semper Reformanda” (the Reformed church is always being reformed) comes to us from the period of the Protestant Reformation, a maxim directly inspired by the teachings of Luther and Calvin. To properly understand this important concept we should recall the historical context.

The Reformation was like the radiant sun breaking forth in brilliant dawn over against a bleak night of grave spiritual darkness. The Roman Catholic Church was in an appalling state of spiritual bankruptcy. Seeking the kingdom of God had given way to an all-consuming passion for earthly politics. Economic wealth had become a far greater concern than godly character. As evidenced by the devious scheming, bickering, backbiting and fighting over positions in the church, seeking to glorify God had been abandoned for the pursuit of personal fame. The church of that age was characterized by extravagance, greed, elitism, tyranny, rampant immorality, and biblical illiteracy. Few people knew the Scripture allowing superstition to gain a stronghold. The church tyrannized the people into subjection through manipulation, fear, and with increasing frequency, outright physical force. This promoted an elitist mentality whereby the layman came to despise those who “served” in the church. For a price, the church would overlook the immoral behavior of clergymen and just about anyone could buy their way out of purgatory if they had the financial resources.

This was a dismal age in the history of the church, a period of unprecedented spiritual and moral decline. But, as the Reformers came to understand, little else could be expected. The Bible had been stripped of its genuine authority. Church tradition had become the standard against which everything was judged. The Word of God was hidden away from the common man. There was no lamp for his feet or a light for his path. However, this was not only an age of biblical ignorance for the layman. Though most of the clergy possessed some understanding of church tradition, they had little first hand knowledge of the Bible itself.

Tradition Versus the Scriptures

During this period, tradition was considered of equal authority with Scripture. But such a position is untenable. You simply cannot have two equal authoritative sources, particularly when one is supposed to have been derived from the other. The tradition of the church was said to be founded upon the Scripture. How then could it be of equal authority? What will happen when the Scripture and church tradition are found to be at odds? One will have to defer to the other. In this case, the Scripture was ultimately made to conform to tradition. Tradition became the master dictating how any difficulty would be resolved. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the plain sense of Scripture was often ignored while tradition enjoyed the supreme position.

A Paradigm Shift

Thanks be to God, a faint cry for “reform” had been gaining momentum. Following the lead of men such as Tyndale and Huss, Reformers like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and Knox spoke authoritatively against the gross darkness thriving within the church. But what right did they have to be heard? If the church was simply following its authoritative traditions, how could these men call for a correction to these errors? Before any cry for reform could be considered valid, Christians had to recover the distinction between church tradition and the Scripture, a line that had been blurred during the age of medieval scholasticism. Searching the Scripture, the Reformers found no support for many of the traditions and theological interpretations promoted by the church of that day. Often, the Scripture exposed such church traditions as actually opposing biblical doctrine. The church had ceased to be reformed by the Word of God. Instead, the church was reshaping the Scripture. It was this return to the principle of Scriptural authority that made the Reformation possible.

In our next issue we will consider the principle of “Sola Scriptura,” the watchword of the Reformation.

- Stan McGehee Jr