Check out this excellent little statement on Reformed Theology written by Dr. Richard Pratt in answer to the question, “What is Reformed about Reformed Theological Seminary?” Reformed Theological Seminary is where I went to seminary and was taught by Dr. Pratt. Of course, Dr. Pratt’s answer is applicable across the board, not simply to Reformed Theological Seminary. So, for insatnce, if someone asked me what is Reformed about Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Pratt’s answer is the answer I would give them.

I especially like this section on the need to communally embody the doctrine of “grace alone”:

At RTS, we also teach our students the importance of letting grace saturate our community. We work hard to have a caring, friendly atmosphere that reflects the mercy of God. There isn’t one of us who is not in need of a lot of patience and mercy - both human and divine. God stooped low, really low, to scoop us up. He went to immeasurable lengths to give and forgive. How then can we not respond with grace toward the others in our seminary community? Indeed, freely we have received; freely we must give (Matt. 10:8).

Can you imagine if every home, church, and seminary were able to embody the Reformed doctrine of “grace alone” in these ways? It would revolutionize our witness to one another and to the watching world.

Francis Schaeffer once noted that bitter divisions among Christians give the world the justification they’re looking for to disbelieve the gospel. But when reconciliation, peacemaking, and unity are on display inside the church, that becomes a powerful witness to this fractured world. “Just as I have loved you,” Jesus commanded, “you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

You can read Pratt’s full statement here.