A Necessary Beginning

I begin this blog not out of bitterness, but out of love—love for the Lord Jesus Christ, love for His church, and love for that stream of doctrine commonly called Reformed theology, which I count the richest recovery of biblical truth in the last 500 or so years.


Personally, my own confessional convictions rest with the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession. Yet I write with deep affection and gratitude for my Westminster brethren. I have profited immensely from the preaching, writings, labours, and examples of many Presbyterian brothers whose faithfulness has strengthened my own walk with Christ. Though we differ in some particulars, I regard them as beloved fellow labourers in the kingdom of God.


It is precisely because of that love for all who love Christ, His Word and His Church that I write with sorrow.


In recent years I have seen—and heard from many others of—behaviours within ostensibly Reformed churches and associations that are grievously dishonouring to the name of Christ: authoritarianism, suppression of criticism, and in some places an increasingly cult-like atmosphere where loyalty to leaders or institutions appears to be prized above loyalty to truth.


Too often, reputation is guarded more carefully than righteousness. Too often, those who identify serious error or sin are treated not as brethren to be heard, but as enemies to be silenced. Such things ought not so to be.


I do not deny that “charity shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8, KJV), nor do I write as one ignorant of the need for patience, mercy, and longsuffering within Christ’s body. But love does not conceal corruption when corruption threatens the health of the church. The apostle’s instruction is not merely to cover sin, but also to act decisively when evil is tolerated among God’s people: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump” (1 Corinthians 5:7, KJV).


This blog is therefore not an exercise in cynicism, nor a platform for petty controversy, nor a place for reckless accusation. My desire is not to finger-point or name names for sport. My desire is for the health, purity, and growth of Christ’s kingdom—for the good of His people, the honour of His name, and the repentance and restoration of any who have erred.


If reformation is to mean anything, it must mean more than confessional precision and historical admiration. The church reformed must ever be reforming—according to the Word of God.


Ecclesia Reformata, semper reformanda.

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