TheologiaCrucis said:
Actually, there is one more question. What is the difference between "Calvinist" and "Reformed?" I have it said that one is Calvinist but not Reformed so I figure they must be different. Thanks for your help and God Bless!!!!
I figured i'd tackle the easy question first.
"Reformed"
theology is Calvinism. I use these terms interchangably-, if someone were to suggest otherwise, I would probably find that certain "someone" has a personality that tends to argue and nit-pick over trivalities.
On the other hand,
not all "Reformed" churches are "Calvinist" churches. It took me quite a while to find a Reformed church that held to the 5 points of Calvinism. Maybe at one time all the "Reformed" churches held to doctrinal Calvinism, but due to liberal theology and theological trends they abandoned these doctrinal distinctives. Some examples:
I visitied a few Christian Reformed Churches (CRC) when looking for a church. One of the CRC's had a minister who lectured on M.Scott Peck's
Road Less Traveled book as his sermon. The church had succumbed to "self-help" sermons. Another CRC church had a rockin' band and a pentacostal-type-guy screaming out a sermon that could've been in any non-Reformed pentacostal church. Even in Presbyterianism this has been a sad trend. I met a Presbyterian minister a few years back, and I mentioned to him how much I liked the
Westminster Confession of Faith. His response: "Oh, my church has progressed beyond that."
I eventually found the church I now attend, which is part of the
United Reformed Churches in North America:
http://www.iserv.net/~bethany/URC.htm. They are very doctrinally strong.
My church was one of the founding churches:
http://www.pprbc.org/. You'll note we adhere to these confessions:
The
Heidelberg Catechism gets top theological billing in my church. Here is how this confession explains
baptism:
Q66: What are the sacraments?
A66: The sacraments are visible, holy signs and seals appointed by God for this end, that by their use He may the more fully declare and seal to us the promise of the Gospel, namely, that of free grace He grants us the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life for the sake of the one sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross.[1]
1. Gen. 17:11; Rom. 4:11; Deut. 30:6; Heb. 9:8-9; Ezek. 20:12
Q67: Are both the Word and the sacraments designed to direct our faith to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation?
A67: Yes, truly, for the Holy Ghost teaches in the Gospel and assures us by the holy sacraments, that our whole salvation stands in the one sacrifice of Christ made for us on the cross.[1]
1. Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27; Heb. 9:12; Acts 2:41-42
Q68: How many sacraments has Christ instituted in the New Testament?
A68: Two: Holy Baptism and the Holy Supper.
Q69: How is it signified and sealed to you in Holy Baptism that you have part in the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross?
A69: Thus: that Christ instituted this outward washing with water [1] and joined to it this promise,[2] that I am washed with His blood and Spirit from the pollution of my soul, that is, from all my sins, as certainly as I am washed outwardly with water, whereby commonly the filthiness of the body is taken away.[3]
1. Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:38
2. Matt. 3:11; Mark 16:16; Rom. 6:3-4
3. Mark 1:4
Q70: What is it to be washed with the blood and Spirit of Christ?
Q70: It is to have the forgiveness of sins from God through grace, for the sake of Christ's blood, which He shed for us in His sacrifice on the cross;[1] and also to be renewed by the Holy Spirit and sanctified to be members of Christ, so that we may more and more die unto sin and lead holy and unblamable lives.[2]
1. Heb. 12:24; I Peter 1:2; Rev. 1:5; Zech. 13:1; Ezek. 36:25-27
2. John 1:33; 3:3; I Cor. 6:11; 12:13; Heb. 9:14
Q71: Where has Christ promised that we are as certainly washed with His blood and Spirit as with the water of Baptism?
Q72: In the institution of Baptism, which says: Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. [1] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.[2] This promise is also repeated where the Scripture calls Baptism the washing of regeneration [3] and the washing away of sins.[4]
1. Matt. 28:19
2. Mark 16:16
3. Titus 3:5
4. Acts 22:16
Q72: Is, then, the outward washing with water itself the washing away of sins?
A72: No,[1] for only the blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sin.[2]
1. I Peter 3:21; Eph. 5:26
2. I John 1:7; I Cor. 6:11
Q73: Why then does the Holy Ghost call Baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins?
A73: God speaks thus with great cause, namely, not only to teach us thereby that just as the filthiness of the body is taken away by water, so our sins are taken away by the blood and Spirit of Christ;[1] but much more, that by this divine pledge and token He may assure us that we are as really washed from our sins spiritually as our bodies are washed with water.[2]
1. Rev. 7:14
2. Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38
Q74: Are infants also to be baptized?
A74: Yes, for since they, as well as their parents, belong to the covenant and people of God,[1] and through the blood of Christ [2] both redemption from sin and the Holy Ghost, who works faith, are promised to them no less than to their parents,[3] they are also by Baptism, as a sign of the covenant, to be ingrafted into the Christian Church, and distinguished from the children of unbelievers,[4] as was done in the Old Testament by circumcision,[5] in place of which in the New Testament Baptism is appointed.[6]
1. Gen. 17:7
2. Matt. 19:14
3. Luke 1:14-15; Psa. 22:10; Acts 2:39
4. Acts 10:47
5. Gen. 17:14
6. Col. 2:11-13
Hope this clarifies some things. I would say, look up the prooftexts given in the answers. Likewise, review the answers given in the Book of Concord (and maybe also check the Westminster Confession of Faith). Then pray, alot. On second thought, first pray alot, then look up the scriptures, then pray alot again.
Blessings,
James Swan