Are We Reformed?

What does it mean to be Reformed? Are we “Reformed” just because we happen to attend a historically Reformed church? Are we “Reformed” merely because we subscribe, verbally, to the Westminster Confession, the 1689 London Baptist Confession, or some other Reformed Confession? Are we “Reformed” simply because we consider ourselves a part of the Reformed tradition: It’s what we’ve always known; what we feel comfortable and at home with on a Sunday, and perhaps one evening mid-week?

Or is being truly Reformed something far more fundamental and significant?

The truth is that if we are only “Reformed” by culture, tradition, upbringing, and preference, or if our “Reformed” theology is merely an intellectual hobby which doesn’t have any actual impact on how we live our lives, then we are not truly Reformed at all. We are merely walking – for our own selfish purposes – in the traditions of men. We are not sincerely worshipping God. In fact, we are little different to the Pharisees of old: “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (Matthew 15:7-9).

Robert Godfrey writes: “The part of religion that always needs reforming is the human heart. It is vital religion and true faith that must be constantly cultivated.”¹ If we are Reformed, in the true and Biblical sense, we will strive to be always reforming (semper reformanda). And this is not something merely concerned with the government and worship and discipline of the local church, as important as these things are. It is, first and foremost, about each and every one of our hearts before God. True Reformation begins in our hearts.

In the words of our Lord: “[T]he hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). We must worship “in truth”; that is vitally important. But true worshippers must also worship “in spirit”; that is, sincerely, from the heart.

Part of this is having the humility to allow the Word of God to search our hearts, try us, and sift us; to expose every stronghold of sin, every area of compromise, every lie of the world and of the devil to which we cling. Being truly Reformed is about having – by the grace of God – a true and deep and unshakable commitment of heart to joyfully and willingly submit every thought, word, and deed to the Word of God.

Paul Washer put it this way:

“The Reformers didn’t want to be Reformers: They just wanted to be Biblical… You’re not “Reformed” simply because you’ve adopted an academic view of some sort of Sovereign Grace soteriology. You’re following in the spirit of the Reformers because you’re trying to take every aspect of your thought, your doctrine, your disposition, your life, your family, your church, and submitting it to what is written.”²

Does this describe us in our life and worship? If not, why not? And if not, then what right do we have to call ourselves “Reformed” at all? Are we not bearing false witness against ourselves, and walking in hypocrisy and self-deception?

“[B]e doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:22-25).

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1 W. Robert Godfrey, “What Does “Semper Reformanda” Mean?”, Ligonier Ministries (2017). Available at: https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/what-does-semper-reformanda-mean, accessed 14^th May 2026.

2 Paul Washer, “Greatest Threat to the Church in Our Generation?”, I’ll Be Honest (2021). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQDY58wZd0U, accessed 7^th May 2026.

Image: Andrew Barden, "Edale, Derbyshire" (August 2017).