For those of you in the Reformed/Presby Camp...

[Grace_Alone4gives]

I am curious how any of you became Reformed (in denominations and doctrin). Were you raised in a Reformed/Presby church, become Reformed after personal study, or just 'end up' that way at conversion to Christianity?

I have seen a lot of threads on here regarding "What lead you to become Catholic, Baptist, Orthodox etc...", but never one about "What lead you to become Reformed?"

In Christ,

Victoria

 

[jesus_freak_for_life]

I researched, and it led me here. My dad is a hardcore Catholic, and anything that's not Catholic is evil to him. So I occasionally would go to a Catholic mass as a child, and when I was like, 12 I got my hands on this Catholicism book, and I read some of it. I disagree a lot with that church so now I stay away from it.

 

[A. believer]

Hi HopeTheyDance,

I'd like to respond to your question (not that have anything particularly profound to say, but I do believe that stories like mine are what you're looking for), but I'm not quite sure when I'll get to it. I'm involved in a discussion on sola Scriptura over in the interdenominational debate forum and it's keeping me busier than I'd like. But I'll return to this.

Ree

 

[Hunose]

I am curious how any of you became Reformed (in denominations and doctrin). Were you raised in a Reformed/Presby church, become Reformed after personal study, or just 'end up' that way at conversion to Christianity?

I have seen a lot of threads on here regarding "What lead you to become Catholic, Baptist, Orthodox etc...", but never one about "What lead you to become Reformed?"

In Christ,

Victoria

I was brought to my reformed views by the sheer force of biblical logic. I fought them for all I was worth but couldn't escape the conclusions. I was raised "Arminian" (and never knew it), but can't stay there anymore.

 

[Gabriel]

I came to Christ at the age of about 9 in a Baptist church. I remained a Baptist until about 3 years ago. Being that I am a salesman I tried hard to "sell" salvation to alot of people. I never even knew that I was an Armenian. Didn't know what Reformed theology was either. Then I started dating a girl that was a memebr of a PCA church. While having lunch one day with her and some of her friends the subject of predestination came up. I said the usual things about free will and how is it love if He makes us love Him and the like. But then one of them opened the Bible and showed me Ephesians 1:4-........... It was against everything I had ever been taught. but, the Lord comforted a strong and stubborn man and allowed me to let lose my pride and realize that I am saved because He chose me, not because I chose Him. I went home and looked up every cross reference to every verse that I had read in Ephesians, then I read Romans. It is a plain truth that I cannot deny. It is also all through-out scripture. Christ Himself speaks of His sheep knowing Him and coming when they are called. (Not knowing because they heard, but hearing because they are His.) As I became more in love with the truth and beauty of reformed theology and more comforted as well, I became more involved in her church (PCA). I also came to see how biblical the Pres. government is. Now three years later, she is my wife.....Mrs. Elder Gabriel

 

[Ioustinos]

Since I was 13 I have attended a fundamental baptist church which is basically armenian. My pastor has not had any formal education in the Scriptures and so about 3 years ago I began questioning some of the things he preached and that led me to study the Scriptures in turn which led to my study of reformed doctrine. I consider myself a Reformed Baptist although I am still in the process of learning I plan to remain with my current church until the end of the summer in order to help out during VBS (which has passed) and Sunday School. At the end of the summer I will be moving my membership to another church in which I feel I will grow in Christ more than I am at my current church. The church I will be transfering membership to is a Reformed Baptist congregation.

 

[Reformationist]

I am curious how any of you became Reformed (in denominations and doctrin). Were you raised in a Reformed/Presby church, become Reformed after personal study, or just 'end up' that way at conversion to Christianity?

I have seen a lot of threads on here regarding "What lead you to become Catholic, Baptist, Orthodox etc...", but never one about "What lead you to become Reformed?"

In Christ,

Victoria

Ever since the Lord brought me to life I have, albeit inconsistantly, attended church. As I was reading the Word or listening to the message in church none of it seemed to make any sense. It always seemed to point to an anthropocentric Gospel. It just always seemed to distract from the sovereign grace and providence of the Lord.

Then, my daughter's mother (I'm not married to her) enrolled our daughter into a Christian school. This was something my wife and I had been trying to persuade her to agree to for a long time so we were quite excited. She told me I should go check it out and so I did. The Christian school was run by a reformed church. I decided to check out their services because I wasn't really happy with where I was going at the time because they were a very man centered type of church. I talked to the Pastor about some theological views. I think he was trying to get an idea where I stood on the Word. Anyway, I decided to check out what they taught. Needless to say, I felt that I had finally come home. Every word that I heard was focused on the grace of God in our regeneration and in our lives and from that day on I knew that I was hearing the Truth of the Gospel.

The ironic thing is that my daughter's mother isn't a reformed Christian. I'm not even sure if she truly believes in God.

So, in summation, I can only say that God has been so merciful to me and given me the Truth of His Word and graced me with an understanding that I know beyond doubt is the Truth of His Word.

God bless,
Don

 

[Knight]

Honestly?

Through an objective study of the scriptures. Sure, I was also taught by my local church leaders but they always took the issue back to the Bible.

I've studied it quite a bit on my own as well. There was a time in my life that the whole idea of election offended me. Then God opened my eyes to the Scriptures and showed me otherwise. Now I'm a firm believer in the reformed theology.

Nothing more exciting than that I'm afraid.

 

[Gabriel]

Now I'm a firm believer in the reformed theology.

Any time I read that, it is exciting.

 

[Knight]

Thanks Gabe.

PS: Long time no type.

 

[Jerry_M]

After I came to know the Lord (or as Peter states, "came to be known by Him"), I was a member of a Southern Baptist church. Pretty solidly Arminian, except for the fact that the pastor was a great fan of C.H. Spurgeon.

His introduction to me of Spurgeon got the ball rolling, and I began to see God's Sovereignty on every page of Scripture. I soon discovered, from men like Nettles, that Southern Baptists had begun as rock solid Calvinists, and that the current state of affairs was an aberration.

In fact, if anyone is interested in the Calvinistic roots of the SBC, direct your attention to www.founders.org

It is a huge blessing to recognize that God calls me to be a faithful evangelist, knowing that He will use the meager means of my preaching to draw His elect to Himself.

 

[Suede]

HopeTheyDance,

That's a great question. I became a Calvinist after discovering that an apologist I respected very much was a Calvinist. I sat down with a clear mind and looked over Calvinism and found out how it matched up with the Bible. It fits 100%. Since it's I feel it fits, and have yet to hear a decent or lasting arguement against it (though several have tried) I keep with it. Take care,

SUEDE