Radically Reformed?

When I thought about starting this blog I was initially going to call it "Radically Reformed." I wanted a title with either the word "Reformed," or "Reformation" in it. Plus it kind of rolls off the tongue. I was hesitant to use the word "radically" because words mean different things to different people. So I went to my old friend Webster to see what he had to say. I like to look up the meaning of words and their etymology. It's interesting how words change over time and sometimes mean very different, or even opposite things from what they originally meant. Anyway, here's how Webster defines the word radical: 1) very new and different from what is traditional or ordinary; 2) very basic and important.

As I began to reflect on this it didn't bother me so much and I began to think of some things that were radical in Scripture, as well as in church history, and in my own life.

Jesus did some radical things. He ate with sinners and tax collectors. He healed the sick on the Sabbath Day. He rebuked religious leaders. And He did strange things like making mud with His spittle and anointing the eyes of the blind. He even brought the dead back to life. The incarnation itself was totally out of the ordinary. In fact, it was unprecedented! The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And what may be even more radical was instead of overthrowing Roman rule and reigning as the triumphant Messiah; He became the suffering servant and died on a cross to redeem His people.

In the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation was considered radical. Many Protestants today don’t even know what they are protesting. Yet in those days, joining the growing Reformation movement could cost you your life. It took a lot of courage for an unknown Augustinian monk named Martin Luther to stand alone against the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet in 1517 the sound of pounding nails as Luther hammered his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg reverberated throughout the world and changed the course of history forever.

The Lord Jesus Christ has also done something radical in my own life. Far from such earth-shattering things as raising the dead or changing history, although no less meaningful to me, He has opened my eyes to see the truth revealed in His word. By His grace, I laid aside my presuppositions and allowed the Bible to speak for itself. I began to see the truths recaptured by the Reformers. Unwillingly at first and not without struggle, but the more I study, the more I am convinced.

I now consider myself to be Reformed for no other reason than because I am forced to be by the clear testimony of Holy Scripture. Faithful, consistent exegesis is the only basis for this transition. I simply find it to be the most God-honoring, Christ-exalting, biblically faithful system of theology. In fact, I would say that it is nothing more than true biblical Christianity.

For over thirty years I was largely ignorant of the Reformed faith up until a few years ago. Like so many of us, we simply believe what we have been taught without looking at it critically or testing it in light of Scripture. This of course requires hermeneutics and hermeneutics requires work, but the benefits are abundant. As I studied like never before, I began to see throughout the entirety of Scripture truths that were always there but I somehow missed. The Bible opened up like an unfolding flower. The God I worshipped suddenly grew infinitely larger, and my love for Christ and His atoning sacrifice grew deeper. I feel as though I have only scratched the surface and have a long way to go, but the well is deep and the goal is God, "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen," Rom. 11:36.