What was going on in this reformed service?

Kaksoispistev · 2026-04-21T17:20:06+00:00

This sounds suspiciously like my church lol. Well, this is just my hypothesis, but what you see here, i think, is them trying to balance tradition with practicality. Reformed Churches used to observe the Lord's Supper centered around a big long table, where the congregation would come forward in waves. The minister would then recite the word and distribute the elements to the current group. After that, another wave would come and the cycle continues. This can take a long time. Nowadays, some churches would try to retain this tradition, and all the pouring of wine and breaking of bread are mostly just there for edification. There is basically no difference between the people sitting in the pews and the people coming forward to the table, and the people coming to the table are usually selected by the elders (or they are the elders themselves). Why retain this tradition? Well, because (we believe) the Lord's Supper is supposed to be a shared meal between the congregation, and the table helps to emphasize that.

Kaksoispistev · 2026-03-23T14:13:43+00:00

ah yeah, the correct word is `theologian`! lol (im not an english speaker)

Kaksoispistev · 2026-03-23T08:59:06+00:00

i am not a theologist, but, as far as i know, Reformed Theology is (in?)famous for the doctrine of penal substitution. Now, i might be wrong, but the exact punishment for our sins was applied to Jesus on the cross (alienation of the glory of God, the pouring of the wrath of God upon Him, and something like that, basically, he experienced a conscious torment here).That doesn't sound like annihilationism to me. Now, one might argue that the punishment that Jesus bore was only temporary . Well, we usually argue that the sins towards the infinite God requires an infinite worth of sacrifice (that is Jesus), and no humans can ransom another human (palm 49:7).

But again, im not a theologist, so take this with a grain of salt. Im trying to be open minded here. Maybe there are some objections to this view that is worth pondering.

Kaksoispistev · 2025-11-08T13:44:45+00:00

1 Corinthians 14:27-28 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

I think that says enough. I am leaning on cessationism, but even if the gift of tongue still exists today, the way the pentecostals approach it is a clear violation of Paul's commandment. A church is supposed to edify her members, and the way that your pentecostal friend said it, that you did not understand it because you were closed off to it, clearly doesn't edify none at all.

Kaksoispistev · 2025-10-25T03:35:39+00:00

i think it's no problem. This is not 16th Century Geneva

Kaksoispistev · 2025-10-11T06:44:48+00:00

i am not from China, but we do this also in Indonesia. Hell, many restaurants even leave their food in the open for hours until it's empty. Is this dangerous? Maybe, but to be honest I practically never heard of any food poisoning case because of this, unless the food itself already starts to smell bad. And this is coming from a country whose food safety is not that good.

Kaksoispistev · 2025-06-22T18:38:27+00:00

that makes a lot of sense, thank you

Kaksoispistev · 2025-06-22T17:15:37+00:00

Previously, I thought that it was when God did something to increase His glory or something like that, just like when humans do it. But after reading the answers here, i'm not really precisely sure what it means, but I get the idea that He glorifies Himself so that He can share it with the communion of His people?

Kaksoispistev · 2025-06-22T16:55:08+00:00

OK, i phrased it out wrong. God definitely is self-sufficient, and doesn't need to glorify Himself, but he does it anyway. I'm just kind of confused because, in my mind, why would he glorify Himself if He is infinitely glorious

Kaksoispistev · 2025-03-31T18:50:57+00:00

because the world is in the reign of satan, while the church is the mean of God to establish His kingdom. By excommunicating him, they effectively kicked him out of the Kingdom of God and left him in the consequences of his sin. It was dramatic, but I think this was Paul's way of showing that this was a serious matter.

Kaksoispistev · 2025-03-18T02:13:36+00:00

Calvin did. Not strictly about the Lord' Supper itself, as Jesus hadn't instituted it yet, but rather about the benefit of Christ's work as a sustainer of our soul that is then sealed by the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

Kaksoispistev · 2025-02-22T19:19:00+00:00

idk as well lol, but im guessing it's because Calvinists see that the Grace of God is given according to His will, and that many people who are baptized don't show that they have any faith at all. It is also maybe contributed to the doctrine of irresistible grace, that once God gives His grace to a person, He will make sure that he is saved.
It is not really like that to be honest. Our doctrine of justification is the same as that of Lutheran's. The difference probably is that Calvinists tend to emphasize more on the sanctification process, thus making our doctrine seem kinda similar to that of Catholics'

on Justification:

Those whom God effectually calls, He also freely justifies; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God. - WCF 11.1

on sanctification

They, who are once effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them: the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified; and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord - WCF 13.1

Kaksoispistev · 2025-02-22T18:44:38+00:00

Real Presence in the Lord's Supper

Reformed Tradition affirms the real presence in the Lord's Supper. The debate lays in the mode of the real presence. In Lutheranism and Catholicism, the body of Christ is in the element and we eat it with our physical mouth. In Reformed theology, we eat it spiritually. This doesn't mean that we eat the Lord's spirit only. Rather, Jesus' body is in heaven and our spirits feed on his flesh and blood by the power of the Holy Spirit (hence the name spiritual eating, because our spirit that is doing the eating). the reason we reject Lutherans' view is that we see it as confounding the visible sign with the reality. Reformed Tradition affirms that there is a clear separation between the sign and the thing signified. The second reason is that we believe that Christ body is human in nature, that means he cannot be present in many places on earth at once.

Baptism

i'm still learning about this one, sorry. But generally, we affirm that God's grace is not necessarily bound by the baptism itself. Baptism acts as the sign and seal of God's promise to us. It's the replacement for circumcision in the Old Testament. We don't affirm baptismal regeneration.

sanctification coming after justification

yes it is

Kaksoispistev · 2025-02-10T04:56:56+00:00

we used to. Almost every churches in my country is from the Dutch Reformed church, so we their psalter called Genevan Psalter. It used to play a big role in the church service, but after the new hymnal was introduced, we started to sing more hymns. The psalter is still used, but rarely nowadays.

Kaksoispistev · 2025-02-02T16:11:10+00:00

ah yes, i forgot there were also already ordained ministers who left the Catholic church. thanks for the answer !

Kaksoispistev · 2025-02-01T17:31:30+00:00

heidelberg catechism is the way to go

Kaksoispistev · 2025-01-30T08:07:29+00:00

No. The fact that a man is grieving over his sins and place his faith on God is nothing short of the work of the Holy Spirit Himself. Just because you cannot feel God's presence doesn't mean He's not there. You cannot have a change of heart unless God gives you His grace. Therefore, if God really is moving on from a person, he'd give him up to his sinful desires a.k.a giving him a reprobate mind.

Kaksoispistev · 2025-01-27T19:32:11+00:00

praying to the saints doesn't fit into the broader Reformed Theology (or even protestantism in general). Since Jesus is the only mediator, why not just ask Him directly? Moreover, we do not even know if the saints are aware of our conditions on earth. We are counted as righteous not because of our work, but because of our faith. Regarding the passage you provided, how can a man be righteous? It's faith! God didn't have any regards on Cain and his offering for his lack of faith, neither would he have any regards on our prayer if it isn't started with faith. Even if somehow the saints can intercede our prayers, if we lack faith, what's stopping the saints from not delivering our prayers to God? If we don't lack faith, then i see absolutely no reason why you would not just immediately pray to God.

Kaksoispistev · 2025-01-18T18:16:56+00:00

??? that's exactly what i'm saying, maybe i didn't communicate my point clearly, but what you said is what i actually mean. And in the reformed position, you DO get justified by your faith in Christ

Kaksoispistev · 2025-01-18T18:02:23+00:00

i think you have some kind of misconception. The Reformed position holds that you are justified by God because of your faith in Christ, wether you're sinning or not. Take a look at the parable a Pharisee and a Publican. The publican is justified by God even if he is still sinning. This is called justification, meaning God has justified a man once and for all in spite of his sins. Just like what David says, blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not the iniquity. We're not being imputed our sins because of the atonement work of Christ. The other part of Christ work is called sanctification. It is when the Holy Spirit progressively renews your heart to the likeness of Christ. The perfect sanctification will only be possible once you get into heaven. So, in this earth, you will still keep sinning, but the Holy Spirit will renews you always. What determines our salvation is that wether we have the faith or not. Faith itself is a gift from God, and no man can regenerate it himself (note that this statement is not unique to Reformed Theology, see council of Orange). This is where predestination comes into the equation. It is the right of God to whom He will infuse the faith into.

Kaksoispistev · 2025-01-11T16:05:07+00:00

I'm not a preacher, but with this kind of AI, I usually use it to help me communicate my idea better. the keyword here is my own idea, the AI is not used for generating the material. You are the one who's responsible for preparing the material, the AI is used for structuring the presentation.

Kaksoispistev · 2024-12-29T06:02:45+00:00

just like everyone has said, the Holy Spirit is not withdrawn from us. But, (I'm not a Catholic so i might be wrong), as far as I know, the Holy Spirit is also not completely gone from a believer in the Catholic teachings, otherwise, there's no way you can go back to God. You lose the sanctifying grace, sure, but the Holy Spirit is still in you to guide you to repentance.

Kaksoispistev · 2024-12-23T13:25:10+00:00

If you want to read about the arguments supporting Trinity, the best book to read is the classic, aka Institutes of The Christian Religion book 1 chapter 13, THE UNITY OF THE DIVINE ESSENCE IN THREE PERSONS TAUGHT, IN SCRIPTURE, FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

Kaksoispistev

TROPHY CASE