Why I Am Reformed: Part 1

People sometimes assume that if you believe in election and predestination, you can’t really believe in the free offer of salvation. “If God has already chosen who will be saved,” they ask, “Why preach? Why evangelize? Why invite?”

This is one of the main reasons I’m glad to call myself Reformed. Reformed theology convinces me that the gospel can be and must be preached boldly, freely, and confidently to every person.

In this first of four post, I want to show that the classic Reformers believed in a universal, sincere offer of salvation. To say “universal offer” is not to say “universalism.” Reformed theology clearly rejects any such thing and instead, teaches that:

• The gospel is to be preached to every person. (Matt. 24:14)

• Anyone who repents and believes in Jesus will truly be saved.

• God commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

• The gospel says that we can and must say to all sinners, “Christ will receive you if you come to Him.”

Martin Luther loved Christ’s command: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” This is no narrow invitation for an exclusive few. It is a public declaration for the whole world. For Martin Luther the Reformation was, above everything else, the unleashing of that gospel to all.

Ulrich Zwingli, working independently in Zurich, would say of his own ministry: “I know that my sermons and doctrine are nothing else than the holy, true, pure Gospel.” 

In simple terms, the Reformers saw themselves not as gatekeepers like some modern Calvinists seem to think, but as heralds and ambassadors calling all who will hear to come to Christ.

Election and the Universal Offer

So, how can I believe in election and still say the gospel is sincerely offered to all? Historic Reformed theology has always answered this question with a twofold response.

1. Scripture itself holds both truths. The Bible does not blush to put them side by side:

• God chooses a people in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).

• Yet the same Bible says: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13) and “Let anyone who is thirsty come” (Rev. 22:17).

John Calvin, often caricatured as cold and restrictive, actually wrote: “God invites all indiscriminately to salvation through the Gospel.”[1]  In another place he wrote: “God offers his benefits indiscriminately to all.”[2]  Does this sound like a man who believes the offer of salvation is only for an elite few?

2. Christ’s death is sufficient for all, effective for the elect. Reformed theology insists that Christ’s atonement is:

• Of infinite worth and more than sufficient to save every sinner who has ever lived.

• Designed and applied to actually secure the salvation of the elect.

So,I don’t have to wonder, when I’m talking to someone, “Is there enough grace for this sinner?” I can say, with full assurance and scriptural force: “If you come to Christ, His blood is sufficient for you.”

Charles Spurgeon, loved to hold both truths together. He’d gladly preach, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,” and in the same breath affirm that salvation is “not of him that willeth… but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:16).[3]

When questioned by a lady about preaching both sides of this glorious paradox he responded, “Madam the Bible teaches both therefore I am required to preach both, not reconcile them.”

For Spurgeon, the universal offer of salvation and the strongest view of God’s sovereignty belonged in the same sermon.

God’s Revealed Will and God’s Secret Will

Another way the Reformed tradition makes sense of this deep truth is by distinguishing between:

• God’s revealed will, which is that He commands and invites in Scripture.

• God’s secret will, His eternal plan to redeem those whom He has chosen.

What has God revealed? That He calls all to repent and believe, that He “has no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezek. 33:11), and that whoever comes to Christ will not be cast out.

What has He not revealed? Who will be saved and who will be lost.

John Murray, reflecting on the universal offer of the Gospel put his finger on the key tension: “The real point in dispute… is whether it can properly be said that God desires the salvation of all men.” 

His answer, and the answer of classic Reformed theology, is, “Yes!” In the gospel, God truly and earnestly calls all to come to Christ and He is not willing that any should perish, even though He has clearly promised to save the elect. (Mark 13:26-27)

In the end my job and calling is not to say who is elect and who is not. Such a thing is beyond human capacity. My task is to obey God’s revealed will: preach Christ to everyone, and invite everyone to come to Jesus.

So why does this make me gladly Reformed?

1. It gives me a big view of God. I do not have to choose between a loving, inviting God and a sovereign, powerful God. Reformed theology teaches that He is both. The God who freely calls everyone to salvation effectually saves the many that believe.

   
   

2. It gives me confidence and peace in preaching and witnessing. If everything depended on our skills and methodology all would be lost. Spiritual success would only be all about the reaping and sowing without reaping would be seen as a failure. But if God invites all indiscriminately to salvation through the Gospel, God does the drawing, and God gives the faith, then I can speak boldly, pray confidently, and rest in Him.

   
   

3. It keeps me humble and hopeful. Zwingli could say his preaching was “the holy, true, pure Gospel,” yet he admitted he did not know “the secret of [God’s] counsels.”  That humility is deeply Reformed. We proclaim Christ widely and leave the results to God.

   
   

4. It ties me back to the Reformers themselves. Luther pointing to a gospel for “every creature;” Calvin insisting God “offers his benefits indiscriminately to all; ” Zwingli preaching Christ alone; Spurgeon crying “whosoever will,” and Murray defending God’s real desire that sinners be saved … this is the stream I stand in and the heritage I claim.

In the posts that follow, I want to explore more reasons why I am Reformed and how this theology shapes my view of God’s glory, assurance, worship, and all around Christian living.

But it starts here:

I am Reformed because I believe in the universal offer of salvation by a sovereign God who sincerely says to all, “Come to me,” and who truly has the power to make the dead, live again.

[1]John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 1, trans. William Pringle (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 115–16

[2] Calvin Commentary Luke 1.

[3] Sermon “God’s Will and Man’s Will” on Romans 9:16 preached March 30, 1862. Volume 8.