Reforming Students

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.

6. Makes me more loving and gracious in my relationships.

5. Makes me more evangelistic, missional, and missions focused.

One of the major emphases of reformed theology is how a person is saved (5-points). It is because of an understanding of this process that I am made to be more consistent and zealous in my sharing of the gospel by various means. I know that a person’s salvation is not up to me, but rather that I am only used as a conduit by which God may or may not choose to save a person. This gives me greater confidence in knowing that God certainly will save some, and no matter the gimmicks, methods, or models I follow, God will have his way with the hearts of every man. This understanding leads me to give more to the global missions purpose, and causes me to mercifully meet the needs of others. I realize that God saved me, not because of anything I’ve done on my own, but because he chose to show me mercy, thus leading me to be compassionate and loving toward others. I see myself not only as a Christian, but as a missionary to those around me, knowing that God has a people from every tongue, tribe, and nation that he will redeem.

“What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.”

~ Romans 9:14-18