Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Oct/81

Contributor - Robert Hekhuis

Title - Reformation 1981

Topic - Reformation

In 1517 the greatest event, this side of Pentecost, shook the world. A German monk by the name of Martin Luther, led by the Spirit of the Living God, set out to correct some of the things, he knew from the Word of God, to be wrong within the church of his day. The church would not give nor budge, to say nothing of change. The Spirit could not be quenched, so Protestantism was born.

Now, some 474 years later, the Western world is in deep trouble again. Civilization is tottering; the walls of society are crumbling; the glue that holds things together is not being diligently applied. It is my opinion that the main line churches of our day need as drastic a transformation as did the church in Luther's day. For the church with all her numbers, wealth and organization is powerless to stem the tide of evil.

We who like to think of ourselves as being more orthodox, often say that liberalism is holding the church back. This may be true, but I doubt that it's as far-reaching in its effects as dead orthodoxy. Unless God is allowed to intervene, dead orthodoxy and liberalism will both go down with our fading culture.

He who was ready, willing, able and longing to transform the church in the sixteenth century, wants to do the same for our churches today. Will we let the Lord of the Church be the Lord of our lives and of our church?

Dr. Osterhaven says, "The Reformed Church must be always reforming".' Had we been doing this reforming according to the Word of God down through the years, God would be better able to use our church today.

"At the center of the Reformed tradition there is a profound sense of the presence of God and the consecration of life to Him. All else must be seen in relation to this central concept. Some will say that there is nothing uniquely Reformed in that. My response is indeed! This is simply biblical Christianity. This is the essence of the Reformed tradition. The Reformed Church does not claim to have a revelation from God that other Christians do not have. It claims only that it believes it has, by God's grace, a relatively clear insight into the revelation that God has given to the whole church."'

Today, as never before, we in the Reformed tradition need to take a good hard look at God's complete revelation - the Bible. All too long we have dreamed, planned, worked and prayed on the basis of what the arm of flesh could do more than we have relied on the Holy Spirit and what He can do in us and through us. We need to realize that if we are indeed the people of God then we too are charismatic, and all the power and encouragement of the Holy Spirit are to be a part of our lives as well.

We often chide those who, for various reasons, have "cut" their Bibles up through unbelief. Yet for all practical purposes the work of the Holy Spirit is sadly missing in our tradition. About all that is heard of the Holy Spirit in our circles is the mistakes of the Neo-Pentecostals. To be sure we ought not to make their mistakes, but in turning from the Spirit completely we make an even bigger mistake.

Dr. Pinnock says, "What we need is a new dynamism that will make all of the old evangelical convictions operational. We need not so much to be educated as vitalized. It's not a doctrine of the Spirit that we need, but a movement of the Spirit, pervading and filling us, setting our convictions on fire."'

We do not need nor want the church split; the spurious claims for miracles or the excess of "tongues" which are so prominent today. But we do need the real honest working of the Holy Spirit in our midst. We need to remember, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord of Hosts" (Zech. 4:6). And, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God these are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).

"May we not be too proud or fearful to recognize the testimony of our Pentecostal brethern and add their dynamism to our doctrine." When we do this our Reformed churches will again be used by God to make His impact felt in our day like it was in the days of the Reformation.

Please click the "Back" button of your browser to return to previous page.