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Introduction

First Orthodox Reformed Protestant Church, Bulacan (the Philippines), is built upon the doctrine of the apostles. Every word of Christ came authoritatively to the disciples, and their teachings have become the strong foundation of the church of Jesus Christ. Unashamedly we are an apostolic church. The faith of the apostles is one with our faith. They infallibly wrote in scripture all things that are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That infallible foundation was built by Jesus Christ, and on that foundation the apostles organized churches. Our church is one with those churches. By the grace of God, we have been standing on the sure foundation of the word of God.

The churches established before ours, as they were built upon the apostolic doctrine, clearly recognized the truth. The minds of the saints in those churches were one, and they had the same words of truth. They willingly offered their heads and necks for that gospel with unrelenting assurance that they would surely be accepted in glory. In heaven the apostles and the saints speak one truth. They confess with us the one gospel of Jesus Christ. Though there are many mockers of the truth in these last days (Jude 18), the truth of the gospel will firmly stand.

Our history as the church of Jesus Christ proves that the only thing that matters is the truth of the gospel. Christ’s church has been experiencing many trials and temptations, but we are confident that God’s work will endure even the gates of hell. No power can overcome the gospel. Through the power of our resurrected Lord, the church will always rise from the crumbles of an apostate church. No worries. The truth prevails in the church, and the truth has been preserved in the church throughout all history.

There is only one absolute gospel truth. There is only one apostolic doctrine, and we can state that truth in these words: “God is the only savior of his church through the person and works of Jesus Christ alone.” Or more simply we could say, “Jehovah is salvation.” Or we could just simply confess, “Jesus Christ.” The apostles with the other saints in heaven confess that one doctrine because there is only one gospel of Jesus Christ. Of Jesus Christ is a genitive of possession. Christ owns that gospel, which he infallibly gives to his people through the faithful preaching in the church institute. Better yet, of Jesus Christ is also a genitive of source. The gospel that we have is given. The gospel of our Lord is a wonder of grace that we, prophets of the devil by nature, are caused to confess and believe. That very confession is given. And yes, even your believing is given. Nothing comes from us. We are taught and given to believe by God himself.

For us, as a Reformed Protestant church, we claim and confess that same gospel truth. We antithetically exist in the midst of many churches because of that gospel. We have no problem saying that outside this church there is no salvation. And we express antithetically that gospel in these words: “Salvation is by the sovereign grace of Jesus Christ alone.” This is the only truth we know. By this grace all the covenant promises of Jehovah in Jesus Christ will be fulfilled. From the beginning until the culmination of all things, only the grace of God matters. Every jot and tittle of our salvation is accomplished by the sovereign grace of God. Oh, yes, we attribute every aspect of our salvation to that grace. Grace upon grace! Grace objectively and grace experientially. That is all we know as Reformed Protestants.

What does it mean to be Reformed Protestant? This is a fitting question, especially since we are still in a doctrinal controversy. You know well that we were formed in the wombs of two mothers: the Protestant Reformed Churches in the Philippines and the First Reformed Church in Bulacan (the then First Reformed Protestant Church in Bulacan). As those churches became whores, we were called by Christ, “Come out of her!” Our Lord was not inside those churches. He was already at the door of that apostatized denomination and that church institute. He was knocking to call his people. Therefore, as the captain of our salvation, Christ led us out of those whore churches and formed the church anew. And in our formation, we called ourselves Reformed Protestant Church, and to distinctly identify ourselves from our former church, we added the word Orthodox. This to say that we are the true children of the reformation that happened in 2021. We are Reformed Protestants.

We have been in a Reformed church for many years. There are several Reformed churches in the Philippines. But I ask you, why are we in the Orthodox Reformed Protestant Church? Why are we here? What is it about the Reformed faith that we are still members of this church, even though God is not increasing our membership, and it has remained virtually unchanged for almost two years since our secession and reformation? Even though our small membership is not attractive, why are we still here? Have you thought about that?

Again, do we understand why we are Reformed? Are our hearts in this religion?

For instance, this year is the one hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America together with its sisters in the Philippines, Singapore, and Northern Ireland. The Protestant Reformed denomination was organized through the leadership of three great men: Herman Hoeksema, Henry Danhof, and George Ophoff. These fathers in the faith were used by God to defend and uphold the truth of God’s sovereign, particular grace. Nineteen twenty-four was a time in the history of the church when God had such an important work for such men in the defense and development of the doctrine of grace. In the inscrutable wisdom of God, he so often uses a minority to defend his gospel against many adversaries, and in 1924 he used those men to battle against doctrinal errors in the Christian Reformed Church.

But do we know how God used the Protestant Reformed denomination in the service of his word? Can we still say that she remains in the truth of Jesus Christ today? Can we still recognize the Protestant Reformed denomination as a true church through the works of her officebearers, ministers, and professors?

We Are Reformed

First, I want to emphatically state that we are Reformed. To be Reformed is simply to return to scripture. Through scripture God “makes Himself more clearly and fully known to us by His holy and divine Word,” and the prophets and the apostles were commanded by God to commit his word to writing (Belgic Confession 2–3, in Confessions and Church Order, 24). It is simply the dignity of the Reformed religion to revere scripture so highly. It is precisely the insistence of the Reformed faith on the authority of scripture that makes it so distinct from other religions.

Because of this insistence, every point of doctrine must be organically intertwined with other points of doctrine. A clear and consistent doctrine can be easily applied to the people of God, simply because the Spirit who dwells in them sanctifies them by the truth. He always seeks the faithful presentation of the word. The believer is well preserved and nourished by the pure word.

The Romish church has totally departed from the truth. This church has done despite to the name of Jesus Christ and his gospel. There is nothing good in every word that comes from the monarchy of her bishops and priests. Their throats are like open, steaming sepulchers. Garnishing their words with fundamental truths of scripture never helps them hide from the scrutiny of the word. Every homily is rooted in their hatred of Jesus Christ. They are ever preaching that Christ is not enough and always defending that scripture is insufficient.

The reformers labored to bring back to the church the truth of God’s sovereign grace. For instance, they insisted on justification by faith alone. Faith itself does not justify. Rather, the object of faith—Jesus Christ—justifies the ungodly before God. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to his people, and they were declared righteous once and for all at the cross. God justified the elect sinners at the cross. It is finished. We are already forgiven. In the eternal counsel of God, we were already justified in Jesus Christ. Faith is instrumental to apply that finished work of Christ, the work that was done according to the eternal justification of God of us. John Calvin says, “Faith is the principal work of the Holy Spirit.”² God the Spirit alone applies the finished work of Jesus Christ to the believer. By faith we are given the peace of the forgiveness of sins. Faith says that we are already forgiven. Therefore, we are justified in our consciences. Faith alone justifies. Faith is the bond through which we receive all the blessings of salvation, including the assurance that we are already justified because of Jesus Christ. Faith never needs the working of men. Rather, faith produces works that are worthy of God. The reformers insisted on this “because many are dangerously deluded today in this respect.”³ The Romish church teaches implicit faith (simply a blind, ignorant faith) and the mingling of faith and works. Implicit faith, according to the Westminster Confession of Faith, is the destruction of the “liberty of conscience.”⁴

The reformers held scripture in supremacy to battle against errors and heresies that were besetting the church. Ad fontes! Such was the battle cry during the great Reformation. The reformers were rallying with that cry: “To the fountainhead!” That is, “Go back to scripture.” In every doctrinal controversy the word of God is determinative. It is so certain that even the Reformed creeds can settle doctrinal controversies since they fully agree with the word of God.

Reformed churches never accuse the Reformed creeds of being against the scripture alone principle. Nothing comes equal to scripture, even the creeds. We insist that the authority of the creeds is derived from scripture. The creeds are subordinate standards of the church and never on a par with scripture.

But Rev. John L. Flores of First Reformed Church in Bulacan reacted negatively to the usage of the Reformed creeds in a doctrinal dispute on baptism and church membership. He sarcastically said to me during a council meeting on May 29, 2022, “So what? Are we now Catholics here that we now regard human tradition? So what if it is Reformed tradition? Will it affect the biblical tradition? or the apostolic tradition?” And in his Catechism preaching on the same day, he intently disjoined the Reformed creeds from the apostolic doctrine when he said,

And you must not forget this: When the Apostles’ Creed was written, there was no Reformed yet. There was no Calvinism yet. There were no confessions of faith like the three forms of unity! Don’t place forcefully something which is of this age but outside the intention of the Apostles’ Creed!

These vile statements came from the lips of an unreformed man, a Biblicist at his very heart.

The three forms of unity are not forced into the apostolic doctrine, but their doctrine is in the Apostles’ Creed and exists in the service of that doctrine. And in relation to Holy Writ, the Reformed creeds interpret scripture. Scripture has no obligation to interpret the writings of men.

When the Reformed creeds are being used to settle doctrinal controversies, no church should react negatively, as though the creeds are being put on par with scripture. Here is James Bannerman in defense of the Reformed creeds as a test of orthodoxy:

The Church may fairly and reasonably be entitled to make such human articles of faith the term of communion and the test of orthodoxy, because they embody her own belief of what the Word of God contains, the declaration of its meaning and import according to her understanding of it, and no more. Nor can the members and office-bearers justly complain that they are tried by such a subordinate standard, and acquitted or condemned accordingly, and not rather tried by the Word of God; unless they are prepared to put the Church itself on its trial because of the unsoundness of these standards themselves. Proceeding on the joint and equal assent of the Church itself, and of the members or the Church, to its confession or creed, there can be no injustice, but may be obvious convenience, in testing the opinions of one or by such a standard.⁵

This is sola scriptura. This is simply Reformed.

Returning to scripture is love for truth and doctrine. It is impossible to be a Christian if you do not have holy affection for doctrine. The Spirit enflames our hearts with zealous devotion and love for the truth. Interest in doctrine comes spontaneously out of the heart of the believer. This is not something natural to the believer, but it is a supernatural work of the Spirit’s dwelling in the believer.

Out of the love of the truth, we discern every spirit. Our Bibles remain open when a minister preaches. We make sure that everything he says comes from the Bible. This is the duty of every believer who sits under the preaching of the word. And it is quite helpful to have daily exhortation of the word of God in our homes. Through family worship we equip ourselves with the word of God. Week in and week out, members of covenant homes prepare themselves before the sabbath day by opening their Bibles during the week so that they remain open whenever a preacher says, “Thus saith the Lord.” I know inordinate doctrine cannot be easily detected. We are sometimes blinded by our high estimation of a preacher, or even our unwavering trust in an institution. Nevertheless, it is our holy calling to discern every spirit with holy scripture.

This is Reformed. This is true Christianity.

I am aware that the term Christian is somewhat generic and has been corrupted by many evangelical churches to the point that we cannot know what that term means in its common usage today. If one asks if we are Christians, we hesitate to respond in affirmation because the term is somewhat generic and mixed with unorthodox notions concerning the doctrine of salvation. I personally have hesitation to affirm when asked if I am a Christian. I usually clarify my response to avoid misconceptions. Our gospel is so sure and certain that we want it to be expressed distinctly from all the other gospels that are not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Nevertheless, to be a Christian is to be enjoined always with doctrine. This is simply Reformed. Many churches have their members rely on experience rather than on the word of God. This is mysticism. Mysticism is the exaltation of one’s experience rather than the objective truth of the word of God. Mysticism is also relying on what one feels and experiences as he fulfills conditions to the end that he feels blessed. J. Gresham Machen said that this error loves experience:

Mysticism unquestionably is the natural result of the anti-intellectual tendency which now prevails; for mysticism is the consistent exaltation of experience at the expense of thought…The experience upon which it is based, or in which it consists, is said to be ineffable; yet mystics love to
talk about that experience all the same.⁶

The mystics have no interest in doctrine. They are afraid of doctrine. Christianity for them is blind belief as long as their emotions actively bring them into a trance of I-can-do-all-things-through-Christ theology. It is all about obedience and doing something for God. Lack of interest in doctrine has often contributed a lot to their ignorance.

But to be Reformed is to be wise doctrinally, not just being knowledgeable of certain dogmas but wise doctrinally. To learn is one thing, but to know with understanding is another. A Reformed man can give an account of his faith. Without hesitation a Reformed believer confesses the truth of the gospel. And no matter how fierce the scrutiny of others, the believer remains consistent because God himself teaches the believer the mysteries of faith. He is not afraid of doctrine. He loves doctrine, for Jesus Christ himself is the truth.

God is teaching the believers through faithful preaching. Every preaching has a doctrine. There can never be preaching without a doctrine. But not just some doctrine but the doctrine—that is, the absolute gospel of Jesus Christ. Through preaching we are taught by God, and we become wise doctrinally. You must not join a church if you are ignorant of the doctrine of Christ. Discernment presupposes assured knowledge. We cannot turn around without bumping into doctrine. Therefore, it is tragic if officebearers and the members in the church are sluggish.

But the love for doctrine is not the end of being Reformed. The fact that even the evangelicals and cults, such as Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and the like, are all into doctrine and insist on biblical consistencies proves that love for doctrine is not what it means to be Reformed. No one in their right mind would call these cults and the Arminian churches Reformed. In fact, they are the opposite of the Reformed faith and religion.

To be Reformed is to be historic.

But an elder of First Reformed Church in Bulacan once commented, “Article 28 of the Belgic Confession of Faith will not stand the test of historic faith.” Prior to the statements made on May 29, 2022, this elder had mocked the authority of the Reformed faith. He had disagreed that outside the instituted church there is no salvation. He had made the statement to assert that article 28 is not of the historic faith. The Reformed Protestant Classis of January 2023 rejected this elder’s position and his council’s unreformed statements concerning the authority of the creeds.⁷

The elder must have been drunk. It will be impossible for him to sober up if he is inebriated by some wine of this age. The new wine of the Reformed faith is sweet, for it is the Lord who prepared the wine for the feasting of the children of the Reformation. But the wine of this age is bitter, prepared by Satan with much philosophies and sophistries. “What? Outside the church there is no salvation? I never heard that from my father. That is not historic.” Agreed. Only if your rightful father is the devil.

We are not a church that came out of nothing. We have a heritage and a history. Our faith comes to us as it was tried throughout history. We are one with the saints of all ages. We have the same Lord, baptism, and faith.

And in our own heritage, we are Dutch Reformed. Specifically, we are one with the faith of the Afscheiding and Doleantie churches. The three forms of unity have been the doctrinal standards in the churches until now. Aside from being classical Calvinists, we are historic Reformed.

If you do not agree with Calvinism and the Reformed faith, you should leave the Reformed Protestant Church. You are not part of this church if you cannot agree with the faith being held here. Problems will certainly arise if members are not convinced of our historic faith.

We Are Historic Protestant Reformed

Second, we are historic Protestant Reformed. I say “historic” because the old Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC) formed in 1924 have been lost in today’s PRC. That denomination cannot claim to be historic since the doctrine that was once recovered by the Protestant Reformed fathers is no longer maintained in that denomination. She occupies an impossible position when the activities of man are being upheld to high esteem. The fathers consistently taught that in the covenant works are totally excluded, both in the establishment and maintenance of the covenant. But the PRC is imposing conditions in the experience of the covenant. So cunning is this imposition that Protestant Reformed ministers teach an unconditional covenant in the establishment and maintenance of the covenant, but when regarding the application or the experience of the covenant, then that is another thing. In that aspect of the covenant, they say that grace abounds when man does good works. This is not the historically Protestant Reformed distinctive.

The rejection of common grace and the well-meant gospel offer is no longer an exclusive Protestant Reformed distinctive. Even the so-called Reformed and Particular Baptists can share that rejection, and some Dutch Reformed churches like the Bastion of Truth Reformed Churches in the Philippines agree with almost all the doctrine of the Protestant Reformed Churches. Rejection of the theory of common grace and all its three points is becoming a big umbrella.

For grace is not just about being particular, but grace is most of all sovereign. Grace is sovereignly free to bestow blessings on the elect alone based on what Christ has done for them—only on that basis. This is grace. This is mere grace objectively and experientially (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 60, in Confessions and Church Order, 106–7). Blessings are not readily offered goodness of God to his people that can be acquired by being obedient.

Rather, the strong, distinct doctrine of the historically Protestant Reformed faith is the unconditionality of the covenant of God with his people.

In the 1940s the Reformed churches in the Netherlands (liberated) infiltrated the American and Canadian Protestant Reformed churches. During these years the PRC was living through a time of serious controversy. Little did the Protestant Reformed people know that the deposition of Dr. Klaas Schilder by the Synod of the Gereformeerde Kerken (Reformed Churches in the Netherlands) would greatly affect the communion of the PRC in the truth when the doctor went to America. He had been deposed from his office as professor and emeritus minister while he was underground during World War II. Like Herman Hoeksema, Schilder had been deposed without a hearing. The two men eventually became friends.

But Hoeksema’s theology stemmed from the Doleantie, while Dr. Schilder’s theology was from the Afscheiding. The latter was a wing of the Dutch churches that was doctrinally weaker than the former. Dr. Schilder led some to secede from the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, and they followed Schilder in the liberation from the denomination. Dr. Abraham Kuyper Sr. held to the presupposed regeneration of infants to answer concerns regarding the validity of baptism. Dr. Schilder and the liberated churches rejected the notion that the promise of the covenant to infants was a presupposition. They disagreed with Kuyper’s position, but they imposed conditions in the covenant. They taught that the promise is given to infants on the condition of faith and obedience. This is the same with the theology of Dr. William Heyns, who was one of the professors of Herman Hoeksema. Though Dr. Schilder denied that his doctrine resembled Dr. Heyns’ doctrine, his disagreement with Dr. Heyns was Heyns’ incorporation of the theory of common grace, which Schilder rejected, into the giving of the covenant promise to all baptized infants—that is, even to those who are not elect.

In October and November 1947, Dr. Schilder lectured at doctrinal conferences of Reformed churches in the United States. The lectures were attended by members of several Reformed denominations, including the PRC. Sympathy for his theology was increasing among the Protestant Reformed ministers. Even confessing members were being attracted to the conditional theology of Dr. Schilder. This was a period when Protestant Reformed members were losing their zeal to be distinctively Reformed. This gave the spiritual members a sense of foreboding and tragedy. Tragedy is exactly what happened. Fully half of the Protestant Reformed churches and ministers eagerly followed the liberated churches’ theology, especially when Rev. Hubert De Wolf enthusiastically preached the heresy in the PRC. He preached on April 15, 1951, “God promises everyone of you that if you believe, you will be saved.”⁸ He was expelled in 1953, and many Protestant Reformed churches, ministers, and members went with him. But in 1961 the schismatics decided to return to the Christian Reformed Church with willingness to submit to its unrelenting position on the three points of common grace.⁹ Nevertheless, the theology of De Wolf was deeply imbedded in the PRC.

But why did God allow this to happen? The controversy was so serious that it disrupted the communion of the churches. Herman Hoeksema addressed Synod 1950 with these words:

God Himself by His providence uses these false doctrines in order to wake up the church and in order to set the church strongly against the false doctrine, and to cause her to develop the truth over against that doctrine.¹⁰

That same providence of God is operating yet today. In the PRC the false doctrine of conditional theology is being pulled out of the hellish doctrine of Heyns, Schilder, and De Wolf. It is quite difficult to think where the PRC of today is going. They have the doctrine of the unconditional covenant on the one hand and the conditional covenant on the other. It is quite impossible to walk straight with those two in both hands. That denomination is dead. You cannot mingle truth with anything. The denomination is dead because the heart of the churches is becoming weaker and weaker, and it is only a matter of time before the heart stops. Rev. Homer Hoeksema spoke these words in a gathering of pastors in Iowa: “The heart beats weakly or stops beating. Heart trouble may be caused by losing God and enthroning man.”¹¹

You cannot maintain an unconditional covenant while consistently preaching if-and-then theology of experiential subjective grace—that is, “God is going to bless you when you do this or that” or “God will forgive you if you repent” or “You will be saved if you believe.” We are aware that the term condition had a Reformed pedigree. It was originally used to limit salvation to the elect and to define that they are saved only through faith. Nevertheless, such a meaning of the term has been abandoned. You cannot use that term for the defense of God’s unconditional covenant. You cannot use that term to defend that the experience in the covenant is unconditional. It will not work. The term was abandoned because it is not found in scripture nor in the Reformed creeds. Also, only Pelagians use that word consistently and defend it to make man something in the work of salvation.

The (then) Rev. David Overway preached the same heresy many times in Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan. It is the concept of obedience as a condition by which the believer experiences fellowship with God. Overway preached consistently this idea that obedience is required to experience fellowship, which obedience is the active performance of the believer.

But we insist as historic Protestant Reformed that only the grace of God is determinative in the believer’s experience of covenant fellowship with God. By grace, as it is directed by the eternal election of God, the believer experiences fellowship with God. By grace through faith, we receive all the spiritual blessings from Jesus Christ. That receiving by faith is a very passive word. It is exclusively making the application of salvation about God, not the conscious man.

Application of salvation is not about what you consciously feel in your heart. Application is simply the work of the Spirit, giving us all the finished work of Jesus Christ through the bond of faith. It is the irresistible work of the Spirit in saving us. Lord’s Day 7 is so clear that only those who are engrafted into Christ are saved. They are not only saved, but they also infallibly receive all Christ’s benefits. The Catechism limits salvation only to those who are engrafted into Christ and are receiving all his benefits. We can go on and on enumerating the benefits of being engrafted into Christ, and one of them is forgiveness of sins. David said, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile” (Ps. 32:1–2). David knew that forgiveness of sins or justification is first. When God declared us righteous before him, that happened when our sins were covered. That covering is another term for atonement through a blood-shed sacrifice, and that happened on the cross. Justification through the blood of Jesus Christ is the objective reality of our salvation, and that is applied by the Spirit through faith—through the bond of faith. We are totally passive in receiving all Christ’s benefits. And in the case of justification, faith is always passive. I agree that according to Psalm 32:5, we actively confess our sins and God forgives our sins. But that is not the gospel. That is not the gospel simply because even our daily repentance is tainted with sin. That alone can be a ground for our condemnation.

But thanks be to God that we are not forgiven because we repent. We want Christ. David knew that. That is why repentance is in verse 5. The gospel is that we are forgiven because God has covered our sins with the blood of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is just a fruit of justification. God is always first. Repentance, in fact, is a gift of Christ, renewing us or converting us. And I should say that repentance (μετάνοια), a radical change of mind or turning, is solely the work of God. No one among us can say that we turn ourselves from sin and humble ourselves before God. Conversion is simply the work of God. In fact, the original question and answer 88 of the Heidelberg Catechism synonymously identifies repentance (Buße) with conversion (Bekehrung). This is a wonder of grace that we are turned or converted. The turning is the work of God’s sovereign grace converting our souls.

That is how we enjoy the covenant when God alone works in and through us.

Prof. David J. Engelsma beautifully summarized the historically Protestant Reformed position regarding the enjoyment of the covenant:

That the covenant is unconditional means that the establishment, maintaining, and perfecting of that blessed relationship of love and communion between God and man do not depend on the sinful man; that the blessings which the covenant brings to the man do not depend upon him; and that the final, everlasting salvation enjoyed by one with whom God makes His covenant does not depend upon that man. There is no work of the sinner that is a condition he must fulfill in order to have the covenant, or to enjoy its blessings.¹²

But Rev. Kenneth Koole wants something different. He wants man—the man who consciously works for his salvation. Koole wrote, “If a man would be saved, there is that which he must do.”¹³ Classis East has been exonerating this heretic. If David Overway was given a charitable and honorable exit, Reverend Koole is relishing the honor of being still one of the most trusted ministers, while Prof. Russell J. Dykstra wanted to silence the handful of protestants to Classis East.¹⁴ For the sake of a man, God’s people are being abused by political men, who now lead a century-old denomination. This is typical for an institution that puts man in high places, whether in theology or in office.

Rev. Hubert De Wolf was examined because of suspicion. But Reverend Koole is not being examined. This reflects how bad the PRC has become. But this is not about how bad she has become. This is about our Lord Jesus Christ, who has removed the candlestick from the PRC and is standing at the door knocking to gather the elect remnant.

Herman Hoeksema said on June 9, 1953, at the commencement exercises of the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches,

I always say, beloved: Give me God, if I must make a choice. If I must make a choice to lose God or man, give me God. Let me lose man. It’s all right to me: no danger there. Give me God! That’s Reformed! And that’s especially Protestant Reformed! Give me God: there is no salvation in man!¹⁵

So brave. Willing to die for the sake of the gospel. Willing to humble man to the dust! Total abhorrence of man. Man is nothing! But God is self-sufficient God.

That is historic Protestant Reformed: “Let me lose man. Give me God!”

In the establishment and maintenance of the covenant, “Let me lose man. Give me God!”

In the experience of salvation, “Let me lose man. Give me God!”

And that is simply Reformed Protestant. God alone in every aspect of the covenant and salvation.

We Are Reformed Protestant

Finally, we are Reformed Protestant. My above treatment is enough to tell you how we are Reformed Protestant—simply because we are Reformed and we are historic Protestant Reformed. Our name intimates those realities as we commune together in the truth. It is imbedded in our history and religion. We are fighting for the truth because our heritage is being despised. And this is not some heritage that we fanatically defend. We are not sectarians. Rather, we are for the truth of Jesus Christ. This is the only heritage we have—our Lord. “Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart” (Ps. 119:111). Our heritage is the only heritage we know and treasure. It is the heartbeat that keeps our church alive. To despise it is to despise life. We cannot do that, by the grace of God.

For this reason, schism is against the sixth commandment, for it is an attempt to separate the church from Jesus Christ. Schism is an attempt, for it is impossible to do that. The church shall endure schism because she is always mystically united to Christ. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. The Spirit always maintains that union even when others are so abusive that they always want to sever the church from her Lord. They always want man. Jehovah says, “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord” (Jer. 17:5). To depart from the Lord is schism, and the very effective way to do that is to trust in man rather than in God.

Therefore, it is such a blessing that our gospel as Reformed Protestants is the same gospel of old—of the apostles, of the reformers, of Dordt, of the Protestant Reformed forefathers.

We maintain that every aspect of salvation is worked by God alone. The intra-trinitarian decrees determine our salvation; that is, God chose us in Jesus Christ; and Jesus Christ suffered, died, and rose again for our justification; and the ineffable, sanctifying Spirit clothes us with all the righteousness and blessings of salvation through faith. The self-existent one has declared our salvation, and it is being fulfilled to the end that his name might be glorified as the justifier of the ungodly.

We also maintain, as Reformed Protestants, that we are still totally depraved. This truth is the reality of man. Our glory is found in the dust. Even in our regenerated state, we are still, by nature, organically one with all common men and are profane. We are still depraved. The Catechism in question and answer 8 asks the Christian if he is so corrupt and inclined to all wickedness. The Christian answers, “Yes.” Without grace, the answer is an unqualified yes. That is our nature simply because our nature does not belong to God, and it is not united to Jesus Christ. A day will come when this nature will be destroyed by the fierce judgment of Jesus Christ. And that depraved nature is infuriated by the existence of the new man in us. That new man is perfect and cannot sin (1 John 3:9). We are given that new man, but our depraved natures are so active that we cry, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24). The old man is so depraved and corrupt that he always grabs every activity of faith to make it unworthy unto salvation or void of any spiritual blessings. This is why we Reformed Protestants confess that we always need the cleansing blood of our Lord. We have the will to fulfill his will, but we do not have the natural integrity to execute perfectly what we ought to do.

We consequently confess that we cannot attain salvation nor the blessings of it by our good works nor by any activity of faith. Rather, we confess that faith and its activities are all blessings themselves. It is such a wonder that there are good works, that there is faith, that there is repentance. Grace upon grace!

This is simply Reformed Protestant doctrine. Jesus Christ alone is sufficient in all things that he might have the preeminence over all things.

We only trust in Christ as the mediator of the covenant of Jehovah, for of him God established, maintains, and will perfect his covenant with us. In that final consummation, we will enjoy fellowship with Jehovah because he has drawn us to himself. Also, in this life we enjoy fellowship with him because he has drawn us to himself through Jesus Christ. “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36).