REFORMED and REFORMING

Two years have passed since the Lord, by His providence, brought Pilgrim Covenant Churchinto existence as a branch of the Body of Christ. It is time again for us toreflect on how the Lord has kindly and gently dealt with us over the past year.

When we first started, we introduced ourselves with the following words, whichI now quote in full for our instruction and reminder:

Pilgrim Covenant Church is anindependent, Protestant and Reformed,—or perhaps better: Reforming,—church whichis firmly committed to the teachings of the Scriptures, which we believe to bethe all-sufficient, inerrant and infallible Word of God; and the WestminsterStandards, which we believe to contain the most accurate doctrinal summaryand exposition of the Word of God today. Accordingly, we are determined topreach and practise the Word of God accurately, uncompromisingly, and with aclear conscience, even though such preaching and practices may be unpopular andoffensive in these days of apostasy and individualism (see 2 Timothy 3:1–5;4:1–4). In other words, we are determined to remain faithful to God, even atthe expense of slow numerical growth. We take this stance not because we wishto be controversial but because we desire sincerely to please our Holy andCovenantal God, and also because we are deeply concerned for the many who mayperhaps be perishing in self-delusion (Matthew 7:21–23; cf. Hebrews 3:2–5),having been taught only the gospel of easy-believism, rather than the Gospel ofChrist which exalts the sovereignty of God and acknowledges the total depravityof man.

Naturally, this dogmatism does not mean that we are not firm believers ofgenuine Christian unity, love and meekness. Christ teaches us that we are tolove one another as He has loved us (John 13:34–35; cf. 15:12, 17; 1 John 4:7,11). As such, we do seek to fellowship with and, as providence allows, perhapseven work with or be united in some way with any church or denomination whichis true and obedient to the Word of God, especially such as are honestly holdingon to the Reformed Creeds, be it the Westminster Confession of Faith andCatechisms, or the Three Forms of Unity,—all of which we believe to have greatconsensus in doctrine. Neither do we despise believers or churches which arenot persuaded of the Reformed Faith, but are constantly determined to conformto the Word of God as the Lord our God grants light. But, remembering that love“rejoiceth in the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6) and that “Faithful are the woundsof a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Proverbs 27:6), we seekalways to tell the truth with love and meekness even when the truth hurts.

Neither do we mean to say that we are a perfect church. “The purest churchesunder heaven are subject both to mixture and error” (WCF 25.5). Andwe are humbly aware that there are definitely areas where we,—individually andcorporately,—must yet be brought into conformity with the Word of God. It isour prayer that the Lord may not only grant us unity of faith, but grant usthat we may be constantly and willingly reforming to His Word as He gives usunderstanding of His revealed will—Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformada(achurch must be Reformed, and always reforming)!

Two years have gone by since those words were penned. I trust that we have notmoved from that position, individually or corporately. But declaration is onething whereas practice is quite another thing, so that while we may assent towhat is said and affirmed, we may find it difficult to live it out in practice.

One thing which some of us have difficulty, interestingly, is the fact that wecall ourselves a reforming church (while others call us a reformed church). Wehave written about the Reformed Faith, but what do we mean when we say we arereforming? What are the implications of being reforming? What should we expectin a reforming church? These are some questions which we must answer as we headinto another year together as a branch of the Body of Christ.

What a Reforming Churchis Not?

In the first place, a reforming church is not one, whichchanges her doctrine and practices with the time. God does not change (Mal3:6). The Lord Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever”(Heb 13:8). The Word of God is “settled in heaven” (Ps 119:89). The way of theLord is perfect (Ps 18:30). How then can the essence of a church of Christchange with time? Yes, the circumstances of worship and church government maychange so that we may worship in different buildings, and deacons may beinvolved in different kinds of waiting upon the tables. But in the main,because the Word of God is sufficient (2 Tim 3:16) for all doctrine andsignificant practices of the church, the church must remain faithful to theWord. She must tenaciously hold on to Sola Scriptura and notbe tempted to modify her doctrine and practices just so as to move with thetimes or to attract the present generation (cf. 2 Tim 4:3–4). So it would bewrong for a church to have choreographed worship experiences, which includedrama and dances, just because that will pull in the crowds. So it would bewrong for the church to appoint women elders just because times have change andthere are many capable women in authoritative positions in the work-force.

In the second place, a reforming church is not one whichchanges her doctrine and practices according to the membership composition ofthe church. A social club may evolve in this way. But a congregation, whichacknowledges Christ as Head, cannot possibly develop in this way. The Apostle Paulsays: “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? For if Iyet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Gal 1:10). To changethe doctrine and practices of a church according to the contour of the membersin the congregation is to be men-pleasing and, if adopted as a corporatephilosophy, makes the church no more a true church of Christ.

It is in recognition that man,—even regenerated man,—has a proneness to veerfrom the strait and narrow way, that the early Church Fathers and the Reformerswrote and made use of Creeds and Confessions. When a church subscribes to aConfession, she acknowledges the work of God’s Spirit, that He has so illuminedthe minds of His saints in the past, that their consensual judgements and interpretationsof the Scripture are correct in the main, or at least probably correct in theareas which may lend themselves to disputations.

When the framers of the Westminster Standards developed the documents, theywere in fact expounding Scriptures by laying down what they believed each ofthem and their posterity ought to believe concerning God and what duty isrequired of them. Matters of indifference were simply left out of the Standardsbecause they were regarded as things for which godly believers may agree todisagree. On the other hand, the statements in the Confession and Catechismsare intended to be anchors and nails fastened on the wall so that the churchmay not drift and be tossed to and fro at every wind of doctrine,interpretations and fancies of men, that are bound to arise in each generation.

In the third place, a reforming church is not one that isbecoming more Scottish Reformed or more Dutch Reformed. It is true, no doubt,that the best of the conservative Reformed traditions are found in the DutchReformed churches which subscribe to the Three Forms of Unity, and in theScottish and paleo-Presbyterian churches which subscribe to the WestminsterConfession of Faith. However, every church should not only be Reformed, butreforming. The Scottish and Dutch churches are also in need of reforming.Churches based on the Three Forms of Unity have split because of infiltrationof Arminianism, and a refusal on part of the body to recognise the malady andreform back to the old paths (Jer 6:16). Others have split because of adeadening encroachment of hyper-Calvinism and antinomianism, which again is notcorrected because of a refusal to be reforming. On the other hand, churches,which are based on the Westminster Confession of Faith, have suffered fromlegalism on the one hand, looseness in worship and doctrine on the other hand.These things, if not detected and dealt with humbly with a reforming attitude,would by and by lead to deadness or apostasy in the church.

Therefore we must never set as our goal any of these church traditions. Thus,for example, we must not regard ourselves to be reforming just because we arenot keeping the Lord’s Supper twice a year during the communion seasons as withthe Scottish church, nor do we have any reason to reform in that direction.Similarly, we must not regard ourselves to be reforming rather than Reformedbecause we have not begun preaching from the Catechisms in our evening worshipas according to the Dutch churches, though it is a helpful practice which we mayadopt. But neither, indeed, should we think that we have move up a notch in theReformed ladder should we adopt these two practices. Ultimately, to be Reformedis to be Biblical, and Christocentric.

What It Means to beReforming?

A reforming church is one that seeks to be more and more biblical and true toChrist in doctrine and practices. Corporately, it means correcting ourpractices and doctrines when we are convinced that our practices are not inconformity with the Word of God. Thus for example, when a church, which haswomen preachers, becomes convinced that the Word of God forbids women frompublic preaching, she should repent and cease to allow women on the pulpit. Inthe same way, a church which becomes convinced that the Scripture allows only inspiredPsalms in worship should expunged all uninspired hymns from her worship. Thiswas what happened in the congregation of Pastor Malcolm Watt in Salisbury, whenthey became convinced of exclusive psalmody.

On the other hand, at the individual level, to be reforming is to be constantlytransformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2). Thus, a reforming churchis also one in which every member is constantly seeking to grow in conformitywith the Word of God. This must be our prayer for one another. And knowing thedeceitfulness of sin, not only must the pastor seek to remind the congregationof our duties, but we must individually exhort one another and provoke oneanother unto faith, love and good works.

A reforming church may, moreover, be one which is working towards conformitywith the confessional Standards that has been adopted by the church. A church,which has publicly adopted a Confession, ought to honestly hold to theConfession. Much confusion and questions of integrity have arisen in somechurches because the practices of the church are contrary to what is stated inthe Confession. Thus, for example, if a church which holds to the WestminsterConfession of Faith should hold a food and fun fair on the Sabbath,contrary toWCF 21.8, then what is there to prevent a couple of thechurch from filing for divorce for reason of incompatibility, contrary to WCF 24.6?Under whose authority should the church decide that WCF 21.8is in error and therefore can be violated, whereas WCF 24.6 isvalid and cannot be violated? The result of such inconsistencies is confusionand sometimes the persecution of those who seeks to uphold what they perceiveto be right according to the Confession. “If the foundations be destroyed, whatcan the righteous do?” (Ps 11:3).

A confessional church should be honest to her Confession. A reformingconfessional church is also one, which is growing in conformity to herConfession. But of course since the Confession is subordinate to theScriptures, in the case where the church is thoroughly convinced that theConfession has error, then she should amend the Confession or even jettison italtogether.

Implications and Expectations Relative to Reforming

Would not a reforming church be very unstable? Would it not make the members veryunsettled? I believe it is inevitable, for we are all by nature resistant tochanges. But then, no child of God should resist changes when convinced aboutwhat the Scripture teaches. If Christ is our Lord and King, how could we resistHis commandments?

But the problem is that every congregation comprises numerous members who willalmost always differ in maturity and convictions. Whose view and convictionthen should determine whether a church should reform in her doctrine andpractices in matters that are not clearly spelt out in the Confession? Ibelieve it should be that of a plurality and consensus of the elders andpastors in the church. This is why it is important that the church calls onlymen who are faithful to the Word (2 Tim 2:2; Tit 1:9) to be elders in thechurch.

But would it not be very unsettling for the rest of the members of the church,who may not have the same convictions? Yes; and for this reason, the Session(or Presbytery or otherwise) of the church must implement changes that have corporatebearing very sensitively. We must not pour new wine into old wineskins. We mustknow the state of our flock (Prov 27:23), and resist being lords over God’sheritage (1 Pet 5:3).

On the other hand, the members in the congregation must learn not to becontentious and divisive, but strive to build the unity of the church in faithand love. Thus, for example, members in a church, who are convinced thatmothers should stay at home to look after the children, should be careful notto sound imposing on members who are not yet convinced. When the writer ofHebrews urges us to “provoke unto love and to good works” (Heb 10:24), he is insome sense telling us to “spur or stir up one another” or to “irritate oneanother” (cf. Acts 15:39). However, he also teaches us to “consider oneanother,” which means that we are to know one another’s situation and be verygracious towards one another (cf. Mt 7:1–4; Phil 2:3–4).

Conversely, in a reforming church, where there are many different levels ofconviction, it is sometimes necessary for members of the church to employ theRomans 14 Principle. According to this biblical principle, we should avoiddoing anything, which stumbles another brother even though it may not be sinfulto do so. Thus Paul says: “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine,nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak”(Rom 14:21). Now, Paul is referring to matters of doubtful disputation andmatters of indifference, such as eating and drinking. But be careful not torestrict what he writes only to things for which there are no specific moralinstructions in the Word of God. The fact is that even in eating and drinking,the Bible does give instructions, such as 1 Timothy 4:3 which makes it sin tocommand abstinence from meat. Paul was, rather, speaking about our conscienceand personal persuasions (see Romans 14:5, 23). Thus a member of a church, whois not convinced that it is wrong to watch television on the Lord’s Day, shouldnevertheless refrain from doing so if he knows that his actions will stumbleanother.

It is my prayer that none of us be discouraged rather than be provoked untolove and good works by well-meaning brethren who have keener convictions. Atthe same time, it is my prayer that “stronger brethren,” so to speak, may notbe discouraged by constantly having to give in to “weaker brethren”; but ratherthat we will all search the Scripture to see what the Word of God requires ofus. Remember that while the stronger brethren-weaker brethren tension exists,it is very likely that one party is sinning either by antinomianism or bylegalism. So let us seek to be fully persuaded in our own minds; and let usdeal as charitably as possible with one another. This is the beauty of areforming church. Her beauty will be greater for sure when all her members“come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto aperfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph4:13). But we must not despise the day of small things (Zec 4:10). Rather, wemust rely humbly on the Spirit of Christ to build the church and to help us tobe faithful and fruitful members in the church.

Nevertheless, as always, in a church that is reforming, there will be, alongthe way, some who for various reasons find the changes or the rate of change inthe church unbearable no matter how necessary the changes are from a biblicalstandpoint. These may become disenchanted and leave the church. It is my prayerand hope that none of us in this present congregation will be thus affected.But I would urge anyone who may be feeling “left-behind” because the church isreforming to be in close communication and prayer with the Session of thechurch.

Conclusion

It is a natural human tendency to resist changes. But we also have a sinfultendency to wander from the truth of the Word of God, and therefore it isnecessary that we remind ourselves of the rightness of changes as long as theyare changes, which reflect greater fidelity to the Word of God.

Most of us come from churches which have veered away from Reformationprinciples, so that many of us, especially when we first joined the church,found the practices in the church to be innovative and queer, rather thanbiblical and confessional. I trust that we are increasing in mental assent andheart conviction on the practices and doctrines already in place. I trust thatif you have been experiencing difficulties that you sought to have your doubtsclarified biblically. Now the question is: How much more changes are still install for PCC?

This is a question hard to answer. In the first place, every believer must knowhow far we fall short of the standards of God’s Word and so seek to grow inconformity with the Word of God, with the help of the Holy Spirit. So we mustpray that we will be better parents, better officers of the church, betterwitnesses for Christ, better Sabbath-delighters, better covenant-keepers, etc.But, are there any more changes on a corporate level? Well yes, a church mustnot only be Reformed, but reforming. What reforming changes may we expect inthe coming year? Well, to be honest, I do not know. We may amend ourConstitution slightly, such as to allow those who would like to refrain fromvoting (on account of ignorance or conviction) to do so. But, otherwise, itappears to me that our practices are more or less in conformity with ourConfession of Faith, so there is no immediate urgency to rectify anything. Butwould the Lord, by His providence and illumination of His Word, teach us thatwe are wanting in any area? I do not know. But I trust that we will not behasty to implement anything without regards for the state of the church and thefeelings of the members.

Let us pray that the Lord will grant us yet another year of building up oneanother, of witnessing His grace and power, of being His witnesses, ofstrengthening of the inner men, of conversions and additions. Let us thank Himfor His unwavering faithfulness in the year past, and let us look to Him withrenewed confidence that He will build His Church; and the gates of hell willnot prevail against it. Let us pray for another year of God-pleasing ratherthan men-pleasing (Gal 1:10), but let us pray also that love and truth willprevail in this church, so that the Name of Christ is exalted through her.

—J.J. Lim