Reform has always been distorted. It is one of the most abused, misused and misunderstood slogans today. Progressives captured and mutilated the 17th-century motto and demanded that our theology, churches, and denominations constantly change to adapt to our constantly changing culture. doesn’t mean what they think it means.
Semper reformanda does not mean ‘always changing’, ‘always transforming’ or even ‘always reforming’; rather, it means ‘still in renewal’. When used for the first time, the reformanda semper was part of the broader declaration of reformed ecclesia, semper reformanda (the Reformed Church and still in the process of reform). To clarify the statement, the phrase secundum verbum Dei (according to the Word of God) was subsequently added, composing the statement “The Church has reformed herself and is still reforming according to The Word of God, born of a pastoral concern that we, as God’s people, have always been reformed by the Word of God, that our theology was not only a theoretical knowledge , but our theology was known, loved and practiced over time. In simple terms, that our theology reformed according to the Word of God was always reforming our lives.
- Fundamentally.
- Reformed theology is a theology based and formed by the Word of God.
- Because it is the Word of God that forms our theology.
- And we are the ones who are reformed by this theology by constantly returning to the Word of God every day and In essence.
- This is what the Reform of the sixteenth century was.
- And that is what it means to be Reformed : confess and practice what the Word of God teaches.
- The Word of God and the Spirit of God reform the church.
- That said.
- Simple men are not true reformers.
- But stewards and servants of God’s reform.
In this sense, Martin Luther, John Calvin and others were not reformers. Luther and Calvin did not speak boldly to reform the Church; humbly submitted to the reforming truth of the Word and to the reforming power of the Spirit. The Word and spirit reformed the Church in the 16th century, and have since reformed the Church. Luther and Calvin helped bring the Church back to the scriptures. , and only the scriptures, as an infallible authority for faith and life.
The Reformation is not over, nor will it ever end, because the reform, the Word of God, and the Spirit of God reforming your church will never end. The Word of God is always powerful and the Spirit of God always works to renew our minds, transform our hearts, and change our lives. Therefore, God’s people, the church, will always agree with God’s immutable Word, not according to our ever-changing culture.