“...Without a knowledge of history, we are subject to the twin errors of faithless timidity and unenlightened zeal. We are either too afraid to go forth in obedience or we jump into projects and support policies with presumptuous ignorance. We act like children. We are either too easily intimidated or all too easily discouraged. As one has said, “To be ignorant of history is always to remain a child...” “...The children of this nation are being made into revolutionaries by the history books they are reading. We cannot continue to allow theological Canaanites to teach us our past. For the last two generations in this country we have been told that Christianity is irrelevant and that Christians are dangerous. We have been told that our faith is good for comforting us emotionally and soothing us psychologically but it is of no use in tackling real problems in the “real world.” And we have believed it...” “...This is our glorious task in this generation. We must not shirk it. For the glory and honor of God and the future of our culture, let us give ourselves to knowing and telling the great things He has done. To do otherwise is to surrender future generations to the slavery that always follows unholy forgetfulness...”
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, to reform means"...to improve by alteration, correction of error..." Throughout the history of the Christian Church, the need for reform has been a constant force leading Christ's followers in many directions with many goals. In the twenty-first century, true church reformation is the sincere desire of many within the church "to improve by alteration," to turn away from beliefs and doctrines that would cloud the eyes of the faithful and to return to a commitment to the Christian faith as authoritatively revealed in the written Word of God, which is historically and morally communicated from Holy Scripture to man. By its very nature, true reformation cannot include doctrinal neutrality, but must champion commitment to a balanced and consistent Bible teaching. Reformation, as it is correctly set forth among orthodox churches, is organized in the texts of the notable Reformed confessions and catechisms of faith:
"For I say, through the grace given to me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith."Romans 12:3
Why is Reformation necessary?
In a time filled with so many conflicting beliefs, one priority of reformation is to reclaim the church's devotion to scriptural truth. A crucial warning must be sent to all who may be detoured with religious sounding slogans and platitudes, or the twisting of God's word to make it "politically correct." Many contemporary church leaders shamelessly promote themselves above the Gospel, consecrate unnatural affections, and prohibit authority. Some even teach bizarre, uncontrolled theatrical outbursts as a form of revival. These and many others will stand exposed in the light of God's Word.
A sustained, straightforward criticism against all false teachers and desecrated doctrine is always to be expected from true church reformation. Some believe that reformation is not only unnecessary, but deem it to be negative and mean-spirited. Those who condemn reformation as negative either do not understand the gravity of the crisis or are themselves advocates of a human-centered faith. Scripture is extremely "negative" when it deals with man's sinful, self-willed hypocrisy and apostasy! Therefore honest reformation is unalterably opposed to the fashionable "theological" systems, which sacrifice the supernatural mysteries of the Christian faith to the common prejudices that stem from modern man's mechanical, metaphysical, and relative mentality.
Reformation holds that the continued use of Christian words, phrases and "lip-service" paid to the Holy Scriptures and confessions of faith by the practitioners of this "new anti-Christian theology" are totally dishonest and hypocritical.
"These are murmurers, complainers, leading lives according to their lusts. And their mouth speaks proud things, admiring faces for the sake of gain. But you, beloved, remember the words spoken before by the apostles of our Loud Jesus Christ, because they told you that at the last time there will be mockers according to their lusts, leading ungodly lives. These are those setting themselves apart, animal-like ones, not having the Spirit."Jude 16-19
"Many a dangerous temptation comes to us in fine gay colors, that are but skin-deep."Matthew HenryBio
A few notes concerning Church Reformation
"In the beginning" when nothing plus chance and time equaled nothing and always equal nothing, the Sovereign God SPOKE according to His own good pleasure. This God, that no man's conscience can deny, originated an intimate and particular plan for a personal interaction with Him and His creation.
"And God said, Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good..." Genesis 1:3,4
"A sense of deity is inscribed on every heart." John CalvinBio
"The Lord knows how to deliver the Godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust for a day of judgment, to be punished, and especially those who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise dominion. They are darers, self-pleasing; not trembling at glories, speaking evil... Having eyes full of adultery and never ceasing from sin, alluring unstable soul, having a heart exercised with covetousness. They are cursed children...For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they lure through the lusts of the flesh, by unbridled lust, the ones who were escaping from those who live in error, promising them liberty, they themselves are the slaves of corruption. For by whom anyone has been overcome, even to this one he has been enslaved."2 Peter 2:9,10,14,18,19
"He who prays as he ought, will endeavor to live as he prays."John OwenBio
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits to see if they are of God. Because many false prophets have gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1
"The best evidence of the Bible's being the Word of God is found between its covers." Charles HodgeBio
"Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?"Isaiah 53:1
"The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety." George MüllerBio
"But to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Ephesians 4:7