04-11-2007, 09:19 PM
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Daniel F.N. Ritchie, The Regulative Principle of Worship, pp. vii-viii: Quote: |
If someone were to ask you 'what is a Reformed Christian?' most of us would probably answer that a Reformed Christian is someone who subscribes to the doctrines commonly called the five points of Calvinism (total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistable grace and perservance of the saints). However, this is only part of the story. To be considered 'Reformed', in the historical sense, one is not only required to be a Calvinist in one's view of the doctrines of salvation; but one must also adhere to what is known as the 'regulative principle', which is, 'the theory of church government and worship that not only church doctrine but church practice, must be based on clear Scriptural warrant.' (A. Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms, p. 305). This is the consistent outworking of the principle that 'there is no other head of the Church, but the Lord Jesus Christ' (Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 25: Section 6). If Jesus Christ alone is King and Head of His Church, 'the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood' (Acts 20:28), the He alone has the right to stipulate how His Church should be governed and how it should worship Him.
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Andrew
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