I was asked by a friend who is on the cusp of becoming a Christian what sort of Christian am I. He comes from a catholic background and is doing the Alpha course in a local Evangelical / Charismatic Church of England parish.

My reply was “I guess I am a reformed charismatic”, to which he went “Eh?”, and on the face of it that’s not a very clear statement is it. Especially to a non believer whose only experience of church is Mass and the Alpha course?

This led me to think about what I “am”. I’m not a great lover of labels but sometimes they can be helpful at the start of a discussion to set some ground rules. So let’s see if I can define what I mean by Reformed Charismatic.

Firstly I am an orthodox Christian, as in I believe in the triune God, Jesus born of the virgin Mary by the work of the holy Spirit, and Jesus death, resurrection and ascension. I believe that through his actions Jesus paid the price for my sins and made a way for me to have a relationship with Father God. Jesus is now sat beside the Father in heaven interceding for me, and one day he will return to judge the living and the dead.

Ok that’s the easy part although at the moment that part is often under fire even from within the global church!

So what do I mean by reformed.

Well the five points of Calvinism or reformed are as follows

Total Depravity: everyone who is or has been born (excepting Jesus) is subject to sin. People are sinful, selfish and evil by nature and action. Every part of a person is evil and sinful and we are unable to redeem ourselves from this depravity and therefore we are unable to have a relationship with a holy, pure, God.

Unconditional Election:  God has chosen an elect from before the start of history. They have been elected not on their actions, personality, achievements or works, but by Gods unconditional mercy and grace. This does not mean that the ‘elect’ can lord it over others but feel more love and mercy towards them. It should be seen as an encouragement to the ‘elect’ that they are saved and their faith is not in vain.

Limited atonement: Jesus paid the atonement only for those who will be saved. As Father can see who will be saved or not, as he has elected them to be saved, it would be wrong for him to put the sins of others also onto Jesus. The atonement for these ‘elect’ is full and complete and in no way limited.

Irresistible Grace: Simply put those that God the Father calls to be saved will be saved. They will be unable to resist His saving grace. If someone is chosen by God to be saved they will be.

Perseverance of the saints: Because God has full sovereignty over all things those that He calls to Him will be saved and cannot lose their faith. Those that do either were not saved in the first place or will return at a later date. This is of course a difficult thing to relate to as I have friends who have fallen away we looked like they had true faith in God and have fallen away but i pray that they return (or this is wrong doctrine)

So that is what I mean by reformed. I would not stake my house on them but that is what I believe and I am more than happy to be shot down or proven wrong on them.

So over to the work charismatic…

The term charismatic in Christian circles means different things to different people. So here is what I mean by it

I believe in the work and role of the Holy Spirit, who is God. He works before conversion, by convicting us of our sin and continues afterwards.

I believe in ‘baptism of the Spirit’ by which I mean a specific empowerment given by the Holy Spirit which can happen at conversion or anytime after.

I believe that we need to be constantly be(ing) filled with the Holy Spirit, it is not a one off event but a constant need.

I believe in the gifts of the Spirit, including speaking in tongues, prophecy, discernment, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, healing, exorcism, administration, teaching and giving. (There may be many more, I have heard of about 20+ mentioned in and through the word.)

I believe that these Gifts are given to the church to encourage it and strengthen it. The point of which is to enable and empower the church in its mission to reach the lost, hurt and needy.

I do believe that the Spirit affects people in different ways such as shouting and laughing and that at times there are massive outpourings of the spirit, as could be seen at Toronto and Lakeland. However these are for the empowering, healing and equipping of the church to enable it to fulfill its mission and purposes. They should not be taken as a bless-up or kept selfishly for the church or individuals.

So there a brief outline of what I believe. I have probably missed something’s off and put others in a way that will offend and upset others but i am willing to edit and clarify.