These are the tradition's own historic confessions, as its members would recognise them. Every tradition varies internally.
TEACHING AND SCRIPTUREWhat the Reformation restored — and where it stopped
The Reformation took a great step back toward the apostolic faith and returned to the Church several fundamental truths that the medieval system had obscured. On the left — what was restored, or where the tradition stopped. On the right — Scripture. Below — the conclusion.
PART ONE
What was restored
01The authority of Scripture
THE REFORMATION RESTOREDThe Word of God stands above church tradition and human authority.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS2 Timothy 3:16–17God-breathed Scripture is able to fully equip the man of God.Acts 17:11Even the apostolic preaching was tested by the Scriptures.
Restored truthThe Reformation returned this apostolic principle to the Church: not the pope, the council or tradition stands over the Word; the Word judges every human authority.
Scripture is the highest authority for faith, not church tradition.
THE REFORMATION RESTOREDA person is accepted by God not through merits, indulgences or religious works, but through faith in Christ.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSRomans 3:28A person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.Romans 4:5God justifies the one who believes, not the one who has earned justification.Ephesians 2:8–9“By grace you have been saved through faith… not of works.”
Restored truthThis is the heart of the gospel, obscured by the medieval system of merits. The Reformation returned it to the Church.
God accepts a person through faith in Christ, not through merits.
03The sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice
THE REFORMATION RESTOREDCalvary was accomplished once for all.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSHebrews 9:12He “entered once for all into the holy places,” having obtained eternal redemption.Hebrews 10:10–14One sacrifice has been offered once for all; He sat down forever at the right hand of God.
Restored truthThe Reformation rejected the repeated offering of the sacrifice in the Mass and returned to the Church the once-for-all nature of Calvary.
Christ offered Himself once for all.
04Christ the only Mediator
THE REFORMATION RESTOREDBetween God and man there is one Mediator — Jesus Christ.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Timothy 2:5“There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”Hebrews 4:14–16Through Christ the believer comes directly to the throne of grace.
Restored truthThe Reformation removed the system of saints, Mary and a priestly class as necessary mediators, and restored direct access to Christ.
The only Mediator between God and man is Christ.
05The priesthood of all believers
THE REFORMATION RESTOREDEvery person born again has direct access to God through Christ.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Peter 2:5Believers are a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices.1 Peter 2:9Believers are a royal priesthood, a holy nation.
Restored truthIn the New Testament there is no separate priestly caste between the people and God. The Reformation returned this to the Church.
Every person born again has access to God through Christ, not through a special priestly class.
06The Bible returned to the people
THE REFORMATION RESTOREDScripture is to be read and understood by the whole Church, not by the clergy alone.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSActs 17:11The believers themselves examined the Scriptures daily, testing the preaching.Colossians 3:16“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”2 Timothy 3:15From childhood the Scriptures make a person wise for salvation through faith in Christ.
Restored truthThe apostolic Church did not lock the Word away with the clergy. The Reformation returned the Bible to the people.
Scripture belongs to the whole Church, not to the clergy alone.
THE TURNWhere the Reformation stopped
The Reformation restored first of all the Word, the gospel of grace and justification by faith, but had not yet restored in its fullness the life of the apostolic Church in the Holy Spirit.
The system changed theologically, but a large part of church form and of the understanding of the Church remained inherited from the preceding centuries.
PART TWO
What was not yet restored
01Baptism in the Holy Spirit as a lived reality
WHERE IT STOPPEDThe Reformation restored conversion and justification, but baptism in the Holy Spirit as being clothed with “power from on high” did not become the norm of church life.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSLuke 24:49Christ commands them to stay in the city until they are clothed with power from on high.Acts 1:4–8The promise is: “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” and “you will receive power.”Acts 8:14–17Already believing and baptized Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit.Acts 19:1–6After the Holy Spirit comes upon them, believers speak in tongues and prophesy.
Gospel truthThe apostolic Church knew not only conversion, but also being clothed with power from on high.
Justification by faith is the foundation. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the next apostolic reality, which the Reformation had not yet restored.
02The fullness of the Spirit’s active gifts
WHERE IT STOPPEDIn much of the Reformed tradition prophecy, tongues, interpretation, healings, miracles and discernment of spirits were pushed back into the apostolic age and ceased to be a normal part of church life.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Corinthians 12:7–11The Holy Spirit gives the Church prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues, interpretation and other gifts.1 Corinthians 14:1“Earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.”1 Corinthians 14:39“Do not forbid speaking in tongues.”
Gospel truthThese gifts were a normal part of apostolic church life, not a sign for the first generation alone.
The fullness of the Spirit’s gifts belongs to the Church, not only to the apostolic age.
WHERE IT STOPPEDThe New Testament does not speak of the disappearance of prophecy, but of not despising it and of testing everything. The Reformation largely left prophecy in the past.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Thessalonians 5:19–21“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things.”
Gospel truthThe apostolic response to prophecy is neither ban nor abolition, but testing.
Prophecy has not vanished; it must neither be despised nor received without testing.
WHERE IT STOPPEDChrist gave the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Reformed church form largely reduced this to pastors, teachers and elders.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSEphesians 4:11–13Christ gave the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers — until we all attain to the unity of the faith and to the fullness of Christ.
Gospel truthPastors and teachers are biblical ministries. But Paul also names apostles and prophets among Christ’s gifts to the Church, and in this text does not confine them to the first generation alone.
Christ gave the Church five ministries until she comes to His fullness; to shorten that list is to narrow what He Himself established.
05The apostolic pairing of Word and power
WHERE IT STOPPEDThe Reformation restored sound teaching, but preaching “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” largely ceased to be the norm.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Corinthians 2:4–5“My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” — so that faith might rest in the power of God.1 Corinthians 4:20“The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”
Gospel truthPaul preached not only sound doctrine, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
Apostolic preaching is the Word together with power, not sound teaching alone without the demonstration of the Spirit.
06Expecting God’s supernatural action in the gathering
WHERE IT STOPPEDThe Reformed gathering became primarily a ministry of the Word: preaching, prayer, psalms. The apostolic gathering assumed that one receives a psalm, another a teaching, another a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Corinthians 14:26“When you come together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, an interpretation.”
Gospel truthThe apostolic gathering expected the living action of God among the Church, not only a well-ordered sermon.
The gathering of the Church is a place where the Holy Spirit acts, not only a pulpit of sound teaching.
The Reformation restored a vast part of the foundation:
Scripture → Christ → grace → faith → justification.
But the restoration of the apostolic Church does not end there.
The New Testament shows the next level:
Word → Holy Spirit → power → gifts → ministries → the living action of God among the Church.
The Reformation returned to the Church the truth of the Word, but later generations still had to rediscover the fullness of life in the Holy Spirit.
Apostolic fullness is not a choice between the Reformation and Pentecost. It is the restored Word together with the restored power of the Holy Spirit.
COMPARED WITH ACTS
How it differs from the apostolic church
01Infant baptism
In Acts baptism follows repentance and faith: people hear the word, receive it and are baptised. The Reformed point to household baptisms, but no passage in Acts speaks plainly of baptising infants.
Acts 2:38, 41 · 8:12, 36–38 · 16:31–34The gifts of the Spirit
In Acts tongues, prophecy and healing are an ordinary part of church life, not only a sign for the apostles: Philip's daughters prophesy, the disciples in Ephesus speak in tongues. Cessationist practice stops this part of the image.
Acts 2:17–18 · 10:44–46 · 19:6 · 21:9Church and state
Geneva, Scotland and the Netherlands long built state Reformed churches in which civil power punished heresy. The church in Acts lives apart from the authorities and tells them: ‘We must obey God rather than men.’
Acts 4:19–20 · 5:29