Week 46 - On The Reformation And The TULIP
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword…” (Hebrew 4:12, NASB)
The church celebrates Reformation Sunday on the last Sunday of October, commemorating a pivotal event in the history of the Reformed tradition. It was on 31 October 1517 that Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg.
At the time, Martin Luther had no idea what drastic changes this simple act would bring upon the church, but it started a chain reaction that resulted in the events we know today as the Protestant Reformation.
Martin Luther grew up during the time when the church taught people to fear God who watched over us, anxiously waiting for us to make a mistake so that He could then punish us with eternal suffering. One day, Luther was preparing for a series of lectures on Paul’s letter to the Romans. He was reading and studying Romans 3:19-28, a portion of Scripture that he had read many times before. However, this time as he read it, his eyes were opened, the light came on! As Luther describes it, “It was as though the gates of heaven were opened to me!”
“But now apart from Law the righteousness of God has been manifested… for all have sinned or fall short of the glory of God, being justified (put right with God) as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus… For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (
Suddenly Luther knew the truth of the gospel, and suddenly Luther was set free! He was set free from trying to make himself worthy and acceptable before God, something he could never achieve for himself, no matter how hard he tried.
We are saved solely by the love and grace of God freely and generously given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Salvation comes to us as a free gift of God’s grace. All we have to do is respond to it and to accept that gift in faith.
The September 2006 issue of Christianity Today ran a cover story entitled “Young, Restless, Reformed: Calvinism is making a comeback — and shaking up the church.” What is Reformed Calvinism? Reformed Calvinism is a system of biblical interpretation taught by John Calvin who lived in France in the 1500s at the time of Martin Luther who sparked the Reformation. The Reformed and Presbyterian churches look back to Calvin as the founder of their biblical-theological doctrinal position. The crux of his theological system is found in the Latin phrase sola Scriptura (Scripture only).
We can trace our Bible-Presbyterian roots to that branch of Protestantism known as the Reformed Faith of which John Calvin was the leader. His followers produced the famous acronym TULIP to describe the “doctrines of grace” that are the hallmarks of the Reformed Faith: Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace and Perseverance of the saints.
Total Depravity: We cannot respond to God’s offer of salvation, since our will has been rendered incapable by sin. Sin has affected all parts of man. The heart, emotions, will, mind, and body are all affected by sin. The Calvinist asks the question, “In light of the Scriptures that declare man’s true nature as being utterly lost and incapable, how is it possible for anyone to choose or desire God?” The answer is, “He cannot.” Therefore, God has to take the initiative to reach out to man.
Unconditional Election: God chooses to save some people, not because of anything they have done, but according to His sovereign will. God does not base His election on anything He sees in the individual. He chooses the elect according to the kind intention of His will without any consideration of merit within the individual.
Limited Atonement: Christ died for the sins of the church. Though Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all, He only bore the sins of the elect. As the Westminster Confession says, “Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only.”
Irresistible Grace: Those God elects cannot resist the Holy Spirit’s draw to salvation. God offers to all people the gospel message. This is the external call. However, to the elect, God extends an internal call and it cannot be resisted. This call is by the Holy Spirit who works in the hearts and minds of the elect to bring them to repentance and regeneration whereby they willingly and freely come to God.
Perseverance of the Saints: By God’s power, believers will endure in faith to the end. You cannot lose your salvation. Because the Father has elected, the Son has redeemed, and the Holy Spirit has applied salvation, those thus saved are eternally secure. They are eternally secure in Christ.
We are grateful to Martin Luther who initiated the Protestant Reformation and to John Calvin who systematised the Reformed Faith. They have set an example for us to follow — to “rightly handle the Word of God.”