What
Does It Mean to be Reformed?
While
our beliefs and heritage as a Church are ultimately rooted in
God's Word, we also believe that we are indebted to the Protestant
Reformation of the 16 th century for its understanding of the
Bible. Beginning with the work of Martin Luther and continuing on
in the life and work of John Calvin (along with other
“Reformers”), we believe that the Reformation was a
“Back-to-the-Bible” Movement marked primarily by a time of
spiritual renewal where 
God
intervened in human history to draw many people into a
life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. It was really the
recovery of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the preaching thereof
against the corruption, tradition, and erroneous practices of the
Roman Catholic Church.
The Protestant
Reformation was marked by the
“Five Sola's”:
Salvation
by: Grace
Alone (Sola Gratia), through Faith
Alone (Sola Fide), in Christ
Alone (Sola Christos), As Revealed in the Scriptures
Alone (Sola Scriptura), and
To the Glory of God Alone (Sola
Deo Gloria).
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The
Westminster Confession of Faith (written in 1647) is one of the
foundational documents for understanding the Scripture as
understood by many of the Protestant Reformers linked to John
Calvin. The WCF teaches the sovereignty of God in salvation from
beginning to ending, as Paul expressed in Philippians: 
“He
who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until
the day of Christ Jesus.” The WCF teaches the Biblical principle
that before we chose to trust in Jesus Christ, he chose us (John
15:16 ) and before we loved him, he loved us (1 John 4:10 ,19).
The confession also teaches the Biblical idea of covenant .
Because his agreement, or covenant with Adam and Eve was broken
through their sin, God made an agreement with his son Jesus Christ
to give his life for sinful people. This Covenant of Grace was
revealed throughout the Bible to people like Noah, Abraham, Moses
and David. It is ultimately fulfilled in Christ's death and
resurrection.
Reformed
teaching balances the parallel biblical truths that 1) man is
responsible to believe in Christ and 2) God is sovereign and gives
man the ability to believe in the first place. Our salvation was
not just our decision at a point in our lives: God chose us
(Ephesians 1:3-6) before the world was created out of grace rather
than our own goodness.
The bottom line
of Reformed teaching is this:
God
loves us more than we could imagine, and he pursued and rescued us
from our sin in spite of the fact that we were running from him.
This
idea of the “covenant” or agreement God made with Christ also
helps us to understand the Christian practice of baptism and the
Lord's Supper, which the church calls sacraments.
Baptism
is a physical picture of the cleansing that happens
inside of us from God's Holy Spirit when we are “born
again.”
The
Lord's Supper , also called “communion” or the
“Eucharist,”
