We have a tendency to settle and sag in our piety; we begin with zeal, and then eventually grow dull & weary of our Christian duties. The danger with calling ourselves Reformed is that we can tend to think the project is done and dusted. But as the Reformers of the 16th & 17th centuries themselves pointed out, we should refer to ourselves as “the Reforming” not “the Reformed.”
The danger of receiving a rich theological heritage––and we have through such Protestant greats as Luther, Calvin, Knox, and later evangelical voices like Edwards, Spurgeon, and Kuyper––is viewing it as our birthright, rather than as it is: God’s grace. This is a profound legacy which we’ve received, but it is entirely possible to squander it. There are many ways of squandering an inheritance. Some obvious, like blatant compromise with worldliness. Others less obvious, like slowly putting our precious doctrines behind a glass case, thinking that we’re preserving the Reformation’s legacy.
The Lord’s Supper reminds us that we partake of the Risen and Reigning Christ. He is head of His church, not a museum’s prized display. Through our union with Christ, and by His Spirit, we’re regularly renewed in His work of Reforming His church, His bride, according to His Word. We are being transformed from one degree of glory to another. God has renewed His church in ages past, and we should be eager for Him, by the Word and Sacraments, to do so once more in our day.
So, just as in your individual sanctification you know that the Spirit is continuing His work of renewing you and conforming you to His image, so to, He continues the work of Reforming His body. As we partake in Christ’s body and blood, we are made “the Reforming” not just “the Reformed.”
So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…
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