 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||
|
 |
Reformational Distinctives Covenant fellowship is committed to the Reformational distinctives of "Faith alone," "Scripture alone," and "Christ alone." These are discussed more thoroughly in some of the writings in another section of this web site. Within the overall flow of the Protestant Reformation, Covenant Fellowship is theologically in a sub-stream often signified by the word "reformed." The word "reformed" is a theological tag or label. What having such a tag means is that theologically we stand in one of the significant streams of thought that has flowed out of the Protestant Reformation. That is, on some issues we understand the Bible and the Christian life differently than some of our other Protestant brethren. But this needs to be made clear: We stand in solid agreement with other evangelical churches on the central elements of the Christian faith. Our desire is to work in harmony with our fellow Christians, not to emphasize our differences. Nevertheless, we believe that there are several things about the "reformed" tradition which are particularly important in this day and time, and thus we believe that the overall church will be well served by a contingent of healthy reformed churches. The reformed tradition has always been keen to emphasize that God (in and through the Lord Jesus Christ) is ruler of the universe, king of the Church, and Lord of salvation. In a nutshell, He is in charge. Nothing slips by Him. He is taking history somewhere. He made the world and He is going to redeem the world. He is going to call out a people to Himself through whom He will bless the world. We know he will do this because He said he would. He is good to His word, and He is in charge of His world. This is the basis of the Christian’s hope. In the reformed understanding of scripture and the scope of its reach and authority in and over our lives, much stress is placed on the Christian’s submission to the lordship of Christ in every area of life. All parts of life are seen to be important and "spiritual" and in need of transformation. The reformed perspective thus sees human culture as a legitimate outworking of the creation mandate (to multiply, to exercise dominion over creation, to work, etc.) and not as something inherently evil. Believers are to work to transform culture in order that it may be as pleasing to God as possible. The reformed view also sees that human beings are in rebellion against God, and have neither the desire nor the ability in themselves to be restored back to God. But God, who is rich in mercy and power, is able to fulfill His promise to save a people unto Himself. This is why we pray for God to save our friends and family. We know that He and He only has the power to overcome our resistance to Him. From first to last, salvation is of the Lord. |
 |
|
 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
