Top 10 of Being Reformed :: Part 4
Being a reformed baptist…
10. Makes me a more careful reader of my Bible.
9. Makes me more consistent and fervent in my prayers.
8. Makes me a more confident preacher.
7. Makes me more patient with non-believers and skeptics, and more consistent in confronting sin and legalism with believers.
Reformed theology places a major emphasis on the depravity and futility of man. It is absolute, and something that is overcome only by the sovereign work of God. Since I have this understanding, I am more aware of the blindness of non-believers, and see their condition as damning and helpless outside of Christ. In fact, I believe that a complete understanding of the Bible as it concerns mankind must be built on an understanding of total depravity, for it it’s not, God is not sovereign, and we are somehow good, which is in direct contradiction with Scripture. Knowing this condition gives me great patience when pleading with sinners to see the great realities of Christ — It is foolishness to them, and I understand that God must change their hearts to see Him as all-glorious and all-satisfying. This gives me a heart to plead and pray and walk alongside sinners day in and day out in the joy of knowing that God will call His children to himself and they will be saved.
Believers have new hearts – they are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17) – and are expected to live as such. Believers are still fixed on sin, but are in the process of sanctification. It is the responsibility of fellow believers to lovingly confront sin, directing each other toward holiness. Additionally, the sinful nature of man often leads a believer to become legalistic. In an attempt to live up to the standard before us, we can sometimes create rules of law that don’t exist as commands in the Scriptures. Good intentions to glorify God can often become overbearing and unbiblical. This was an area that Jesus confronted often in his dealings with the most religious people of his day, namely the Pharisees and Sadducees. Christians ought to lovingly help one another remain on the course, striving for the finish line together.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44).
“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them” (John 12:40).
“the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4).
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10a-12).
