Published by The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1997, _Called to Serve_ is
a workbook for training nominating committees and church officers.
Of particular interest to VOW is the section in the _Preordination Training
_segment entitled the *Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith. *
We share this section with you, with the permission of Curriculum
Publishing, because it has been suggested so many times that we
Presbyterians cannot be sure what the essential tenets of the Reformed faith
are, and because we believe the document presents a carefully and
thoughtfully written antithesis to that idea.
*****
*Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith*
One of the questions officers are asked as part of ordination is, “Do you
sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as
expressed in the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable
expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will you be
instructed and led by those confessions as you lead the people of God?”
(G-14.0207c.).
The “essential tenets” are found in the different confessions in _The Book
of Confessions_. And since the officers-elect need to know what they are in
order to be able to answer this particular question with some understanding
and knowledge, they are listed here. We have indicated in which creed each
may be found:
* NICENE CREED *
*1.The personhead of Jesus Christ*. What is Jesus’ relationship to God and
to us as human beings? Jesus is both human and divine.
*2. The deity of the Holy Spirit and the unity of the Spirit with the Father
and the Son.* The emphasis of the Eastern Orthodox Church on the reality and
presence of the Holy Spirit in worship and life can add a wholesome balance
to Protestantism, insofar as Protestantism has emphasized Christ alone.
*APOSTLES CREED*
*3. One God in three persons.* The focus is on God’s person and God’s
personal activity in human history.
a. _One God_. The first fact is that God is one.
b. _Father_. The second fact is that God is a personal and loving parent, in
contrast to God as an impersonal substance. Parenthood was what the text of
the creed asserted. God is not only the father of Jesus Christ, but our
father (parent) as well.
c. _Almighty_, in the sense of “all-ruling.” God is the ruler over all
people.
*4. Creator, Maker of heaven and earth.* God is the creator of all things.
God is one. God created everything. This also affirms the goodness of God’s
creation.
*SCOTS CONFESSION*
*5. Election.* Election is the Reformed way of saying that we are saved by
God’s grace alone, not by anything we might do. Election is a doctrine of
assurance for us. It tells us that what God has done in mercy we cannot
undo, even by our worst sins.
*6. The Church.* The church is both visible and invisible. “Church” means
the universal church, including all those whom God has graciously touched in
all times and all places.
John Calvin said that there are two marks of the true church. If the Word of
God is truly preached and the Sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism
are rightly administered, there is the true church. Read W-2.2010 in the
Directory for Worship of the _Book of Order_. Note that preaching is not
done just by the preacher; hearing on the part of the congregation is an
important part of preaching.
John Knox said that a third mark of the church was “ecclesiastical
discipline uprightly ministered.” As members of the visible church, called
into membership by the grace of God, we are subject to one another. One of
the ways we express that oneness and that relationship to one another is
through ecclesiastical discipline.
Because of stories of excesses of church discipline in the past, many
Presbyterians are reluctant to do anything with church discipline. And yet,
if we are to be responsible church members, we must use it. In the
Presbyterian system we do not turn our judgment over to some individual.
Elected representatives of congregations, presbyteries, synods, and the
General Assembly have the awesome responsibility of exercising disciplinary
judgment, both in matters of doctrine and of morals. Without that, we would
have no system of Presbyterian government, only a group of people involved
in arbitrary activity.
Our system of discipline is designed to protect the rights of each
individual and to ensure the orderly working of the community. It is meant
to enable minority voices to be heard and still to allow the will of the
majority to function.
*HEIDELBERG CATECHISM*
*7. Stewardship.* Stewardship, in the Reformed tradition, means more than
giving money; it means an attitude toward all of life. We are given a
special mandate as stewards, or servants, to care for all that God has made.
The Heidelberg Catechism is structured to deal with the three principal
themes of the Christian life: sin, redemption, and thankfulness. Reformed
Christians have emphasized the Ten Commandments as a guide and encouragement
to Christians in righteous living. We do not have to earn our salvation. It
is a free gift. The Law then serves as a pattern by which to show our
gratitude for grace.
*8. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.* “Sacrament” stood for an oath, a
life-and-death commitment.
The Protestant Reformers argued that, biblically, there were only two
sacraments:
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. A sacrament had to be instituted by Christ.
Note that these two sacraments are distinguished by three factors:
* a. Each has an external sign:* Baptism water; the Lord’s Supper bread and
wine.
* b. Each points to a particular reality*: Baptism the new birth; the Lord’s
Supper the presence of Christ.
* c. Each is proclaimed in Scripture.*
* SECOND HELVETIC CONFESSION *
*9. Covenant.* Although not specifically mentioned in the Confession, the
concept was in Heinrich Bullinger’s theology. (Bullinger wrote the Second
Helvetic Confession after forty years as a pastor.)
For Reformed Christians, there is just one covenant in the Bible. Although
the covenant takes on many forms (that with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David,
and the “new covenant” fulfilled in Jesus Christ), the essence or substance
of the covenant remains the same. The promise is always the same: “I will be
your God and you shall be my people” (_Ex. 6:7; Jer. 31:33; 2 Cor. 6:16;
Heb. 8:10; Rev. 21:3_).
This covenant is a covenant of grace. The important thing to keep in mind is
that God initiates the relationship, invites us into an enduring fellowship
with God, and commits Godself in love and grace to an unworthy people, who
are then to respond in gratitude and love.
God’s covenant people are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God’s own people” (_1 Peter 2:9a_). This does not make us members of a
private club or an elite group, or superior in any way. It is the Lord of
history who determines the scope and bounds of the covenant.
*10. The three C’s of Presbyterianism:* confession, constitution, and
connection.
*a. Confession*. Presbyterians are a covenant people who make confession of
their faith. We believe in doctrine.
*b. Constitution*. Presbyterians believe in an orderly representative
process. (We’ll say more about this when we look at the Book of Order.)
* c. Connection*. Presbyterians act out their faith connectionally. We
believe in mission. Our being connected with other congregations through our
governing bodies enables us to serve in more ways than we could manage by
ourselves.
There is another important aspect of connectionalism that we often overlook.
When a congregation elects elders, for
example, and the session ordains and installs them, such action is done on
behalf of the whole church. That elder, having been ordained and installed
by your session, can move to another Presbyterian congregation anywhere in
the world and be elected an elder there and serve without having to be
ordained again. (It is also true that when your congregation baptizes an
infant or adult, it does so on behalf of the whole church.)
*11. The Sacrament of Baptism.* Baptism is a sign of entrance into the
Christian community, either as an infant or an adult. The emphasis
throughout the Reformed understanding of Baptism is on what God does, not on
what we do. It further stresses the fact that we belong to a community
rather than that we are isolated individuals in our relationship to God.
* WESTMINSTER CONFESSION AND CATECHISMS *
*12. The authority and interpretation of Scripture*. Such authority is
dependent on God, the inspirer of Scripture. Note that the Westminster
Confession speaks about Scripture before it speaks about God. Why do you
think it does so? Because it is through Scripture that we learn about God.
The confession placed primary emphasis on two motifs or themes: the Holy
Spirit’s relationship to Scripture (first five sections) and the
interpretation of Scripture in light of its purpose of bringing us to
salvation in Christ (last five sections).
For the members of the Westminster Assembly, the Bible was a book that told
one unified story: the saving grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
*13. The Sovereignty of God.* God is in charge. The sovereignty of God in
the Westminster Confession of Faith is a doctrine of comforting confidence,
not one of dictatorial determinism.
*BARMEN DECLARATION *
* 14. The sin of idolatry*. In Reformed theology, atheism is not the
problem. Idolatry is. An idol is any humanly created thing to which people
give their ultimate allegiance. Idolatry is giving our total commitment to
something in the creation rather than to the Creator alone. The church
honors government. The attitude expressed here is the same as that in the
Scots Confession: obey legitimate government, but resist illegitimate
tyranny (_The Book of Confessions_, 3.24).
*15. The Lordship of Christ*. Jesus Christ was proclaimed to be the one
Word, or revelation of God, to the church and to the world.
The declaration speaks of living from Jesus’ comfort. Comfort, in the
Reformed theological sense, as was true in the
Heidelberg Catechism, means “strength.” The comfort that Christ gives is not
ease and an absence of problems. God in Christ gives us strength to meet
whatever problems we have to encounter in the world. Reformed theology
declares that there is no comfort in conforming to the world.
Only in reliance on the Lordship of Jesus Christ is there strength.
* THE CONFESSION OF 1967*
* 16. Reconciliation.* Reconciliation is at the heart of the Christian
message, and it was what Americans most needed to hear in the mid-sixties.
The biblical passages from which the theme of reconciliation was drawn are
_2 Cor. 5:19_ and _Matt. 5:24._ These passages demonstrate the two movements
of reconciliation: God comes to humanity in forgiveness, and people are to
be peacemakers with their fellow human beings.
* 17. The equality of persons.* The confession explicitly addresses four
contemporary social problems:
* a. Racial discrimination*. Discrimination has taken new and more subtle
forms.
* b. Peace among nations.* As shalom, God’s peace heals, comforts,
strengthens, and frees. Only in God’s covenant can the church and the world
experience wholeness, security, and justice.
* c. Enslaving poverty in a world of abundance*. Economic justice.
“Enslaving poverty in a world of abundance is an intolerable violation of
God’s good creation.”
* d. Relationships between women and men*. The working out of the full
equality of women and men. More is said about this under A Brief Statement
of Faith.
*A BRIEF STATEMENT OF FAITH*
* 18. Commitment to God in Three Persons.* This serves as the framework for
A Brief Statement. The clear intent of A Brief Statement of Faith is to
affirm Presbyterian commonality with all Christians?Protestant, Roman
Catholic, Eastern Orthodox?who trust in one triune God,
Presbyterians share also with all Christians the conviction that we are not
alone. God has come to be one of us for our salvation.
*19. A Protestant Statement.* It affirms both justification by grace through
faith and the authority of Scripture.
*20. A Reformed Statement.* Chapter II of the Form of Government in the
_Book of Order_ embodies six phrases that are characteristic of our Reformed
theological heritage. A Brief Statement of Faith affirms each one:
*a. God’s sovereignty. *
* b. The election of the people of God for service as well as for
salvation.*
* c. God made a covenant with the chosen people. *
* d. A faithful stewardship of God’s creation. *
* e. A recognition of the human tendency toward idolatry and tyranny, which
is sin. *
* f. People of God are to work for the transformation of society.*
A Brief Statement of Faith tells us something significant about ourselves:
that at the most fundamental level of our being, male and female are equal.
There is no superior gender or race. For the first time, a confession
applies the equality of persons specifically to women.
Every confession is helpful to the extent that it clearly addresses issues
current in its own time and culture. Insofar as it is relevant to one time
period, it also runs the risk of being dated and not as directly relevant at
a later time. That should not be cause for dismay. Historical confessions
keep us from “faddish” theology. These confessions give us perspective on
our current situations. The confessions help us as we return to the
Scriptures in every generation to find direction and guidance for the
problems that are current.
You do not need to accept every word in every confession and catechism, but
you are expected to “receive and adopt” these essential tenets of the faith.