What do Reformed Christians believe?
Plain-language summary of Reformed belief: grace, the Bible, covenant, the Three Forms of Unity, sacraments, church life and common misunderstandings.
Deo Gloria, . 6 minute read.
If you typed “Reformed church” into a search box and landed here, you may be wondering what the word means. It appears on churches with Dutch names, Scottish names and no obvious name at all. This article explains what Reformed Christians believe, in plain language, so that you can decide for yourself what to make of it.
Where the name comes from
“Reformed” comes from the Reformation of the 1500s. Christians in Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Scotland and elsewhere wanted the church to be re-formed according to the Bible. They did not set out to start a new religion. They believed they were recovering what the apostles had taught and what the early church had confessed.
Reformed churches share the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed with Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Christians. They believe in one God in three persons, in Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man, in his death for sinners, his bodily resurrection and his return. On these central matters there is no daylight between a Reformed church and the great majority of Christian churches through history.
God is sovereign, and salvation is a gift
If one idea holds Reformed teaching together, it is that God is God. He made everything, he rules everything, and nothing is outside his care (Psalm 115:3; Matthew 10:29–31). Reformed Christians find this comforting rather than threatening: the God who governs the universe is the same Father who counts the hairs on your head.
The same conviction shapes how Reformed Christians talk about salvation. Human beings are not able to earn God’s favour or repair their relationship with him. Salvation is entirely God’s gift, received by faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8–9). Grace comes first; faith and good works follow as the response. Reformed Christians summarize this with the old Reformation phrases: by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
The Bible
Reformed churches hold that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, is God’s own Word, written by human authors under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16). It is the final authority for what the church teaches and how Christians live. Creeds, confessions and church traditions are valued, but they stand under Scripture and are always open to correction by it.
In practice this means preaching sits at the centre of a Reformed service, and sermons work through passages of the Bible rather than topics of the day. It also means members are expected to read the Bible at home, and children learn to do the same.
Covenant
A word you will hear often is covenant. It describes the way God relates to his people: not as isolated individuals, but as a family bound to him by his promise. God promised Abraham that he would be God to him and to his children after him (Genesis 17:7), and Reformed Christians understand that promise to continue through Jesus to believers and their children today (Acts 2:39).
This is why Reformed churches baptize the infants of believing parents, and why they take the teaching of children seriously. A child in a Reformed church is not treated as an outsider waiting to become a Christian, but as someone to whom God has already made promises, who is called to trust and follow him as they grow.
The Three Forms of Unity
Reformed churches of Dutch background hold to three historic documents, together called the Three Forms of Unity. They are public, so anyone can read exactly what the church teaches.
- The Belgic Confession (1561) was written in the Low Countries during a time of persecution. In thirty-seven short articles it sets out what the church believes about God, Scripture, Christ, salvation, the church and the sacraments.
- The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) is a set of 129 questions and answers written to teach the faith to ordinary people and children. Its first question asks what your only comfort is in life and death, and the answer begins: “That I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.” The catechism has three parts: our need, God’s rescue, and our thankful response.
- The Canons of Dort (1618–1619) were adopted by an international gathering of Reformed churches in the Dutch city of Dordrecht. They deal with one subject: how God saves people who cannot save themselves.
Ministers, elders and deacons promise to teach in agreement with these documents, and members are taught from them. That is what people mean when they call a church “confessional.”
Sacraments
Reformed churches have two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, because they find only these two commanded by Christ for the whole church (Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26). A sacrament is understood as a visible sign and seal of God’s promise: something you can see, touch and taste that confirms what the gospel says. Baptism marks a person as belonging to God’s covenant people. The Lord’s Supper, celebrated several times a year, is a meal in which believers are nourished by Christ through faith. Reformed Christians believe Christ is truly present at the Supper by his Spirit, though the bread and wine remain bread and wine.
What church life looks like
A Reformed congregation is led by a group of elders (including the minister) and served by deacons who care for people in need. There is no bishop; instead, churches join together in a federation and hold regional and national meetings to help one another and to keep each other accountable.
Most Reformed churches hold two services every Sunday. Singing is congregational, and the Psalms of the Bible are sung alongside hymns. Children attend the services with their parents, and from about the age of ten they attend weekly catechism classes taught by the minister. When they are ready, usually as young adults, they make a public profession of faith and become communicant members. Adults who come to faith later follow the same path at their own pace.
Some common misunderstandings
“Reformed churches teach predestination, so nothing you do matters.” Reformed churches do teach that God chooses to save people out of pure grace (Ephesians 1:4–5), because they find that in the Bible. But they teach it as a comfort, not as fate. The point is that your salvation rests on God’s faithfulness rather than on the strength of your own grip (Romans 8:28–30). The Canons of Dort themselves warn against prying into who is chosen; the gospel invitation is sincerely offered to everyone who hears it, and whoever comes to Christ is received.
“It’s a Dutch church.” Many Reformed churches in Canada were founded by Dutch immigrants after 1945, and you may still notice Dutch surnames. But services are in English, most members were born in Canada, and a growing number have no Dutch background at all. Nobody is expected to know the culture. The faith is not Dutch; it is Christian.
“Reformed churches are legalistic.” Reformed Christians do take God’s commandments seriously; the Ten Commandments are read in worship every week. But the Heidelberg Catechism places the commandments in its third part, under the heading of gratitude. Obedience is not the way to earn God’s favour; it is the way people say thank you for a favour already given. Where that gets lost, Reformed churches would say they have drifted from their own teaching.
Drawing your own conclusions
Reformed Christianity is not a new movement or a private opinion. It is an attempt to hold the faith of the Bible and the creeds with care and to hand it on whole. If you would like to see what that looks like in practice, the local Reformed church listed on this site would be glad to have you visit, with no expectations attached.