The Joy of My Journey into Reformed Theology
I suppose I have been becoming Reformed in my Christian faith since conception. Birth brought me into a Roman Catholic (dad) and Arminian Methodist (mom) home. I was familiar with the liturgical differences from an early age, but theology was more implied than actually taught in both church settings.
I succumbed to the ways of the world, in leaving for college and starting a Wall Street investment career. The catalyst for my conversion was meeting my wife. When she realized I was a fake Christian, she was sure of the kind of church that would fix me. We found an independent fundamental Baptist church the next Sunday.
Although we were far removed from Greenville, South Carolina, the ways and means of Bob Jones and his legacy were made known to me. Terms mean something and taken together: independent, fundamental, and Baptist also mean Arminian theology and practice. Holiness in Christian living was the steady diet on Sunday morning, evening, and also in the Wednesday night prayer meetings.
I was a financial consultant, and I was not any of the terms noted above. The Arminianism of this brand of Baptists was far removed from the Arminian Liberalism of my United Methodist upbringing. It was also a distant relative of the good works salvation message and methods I grew up with at Sunday Mass. Still, the underlying root of my theological journey until the age of thirty — be it Catholic, Methodist, or Baptist — was all Arminian. I still did not know who James Arminius was for the first thirty years of my life, but his followers were many, and I was fully saturated in his teachings.
Amazingly, God saved me (as He does many others) in the midst of all this man-centered theology. I would not even know what any of these terms really meant, until I departed for Dallas Theological Seminary in 1999. I do credit my Baptist brothers for inspiriting me, even challenging me, to open the Bible and read it for myself. God gave me an insatiable hunger, thirst, and delight in His Word starting in January 1996.
My Roman Catholic infant baptism was now complemented by my credo-baptism, by immersion, in February 1996. All of these movements in my life were guiding me toward seminary. Another influence began almost simultaneous to my full immersion baptism on my thirtieth birthday. One man began giving me books by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. The seed of the Reformed faith had been planted.
Dallas Theological Seminary, like Bob Jones University, both serve as centers for theological thought and practice. I knew absolutely nothing about a theological system known as, “Dispensationalism,” when we moved to Texas in 1999. I would be immersed in learning this system for the next four years (A.D. 1999–2003).
Interestingly, during my years at Dallas, I would learn of a pastor/theologian by the name of John Calvin. Many of my professors claimed to be “Calvinists,” but later, I discovered the tenuous relationship between Dispensationalism and “Calvinism,” which is a nickname for Reformed Theology.
In my post-graduate studies at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland (A.D. 2003–2007), I would come to know the meaning, understanding, and system of theology brought by the Reformers at the Protestant Reformation (16th Century). This was a system diametrically opposed to the Arminian (man-centered) system I had been baptized into twice.
It was in Scotland that I realized the books gifted to me for the past decade, by that one man, were the writings of Reformed pastors and theologians from the past five hundred years. My post-graduate research dissertation on Thomas Chalmers and the Free Church of Scotland reinforced my ever-elevating view of the sovereignty of God. I was discovering that God was not my co-pilot! It also occurred to me that if God had not chosen me for salvation (Rom 11:5), I know I would have never chosen Him (Jn 1:12–13; Rom 9:15–16).
Reformed Theology either leaves people with damaged pride (those who do not like it) or in grateful humility (those who embrace the sad truth about themselves). In this, Reformed Theology is kind of a lose/lose, with God and salvation as the consolation prize.
God introduced me to the Reformed Baptists when we moved to Los Angeles, and where I pastored from A.D. 2008–2016. These folk were not the Baptists I had previously known, but they revered the Reformers and the Puritans who were now my steady diet for learning theology and practice. I felt as if I was in a gold mine, as I continually discovered new authors from days gone by. I realized that with rare exception, current pastors and theologians were no match for the 16th and 17th century Reformed and Puritan divines. Still, I must credit the likes of Lloyd-Jones, A.W. Pink, J.I. Packer, J.C. Ryle, and others for leading me to that gold mine where they, too, had visited in their generations.
God has not finished with me and His providential theology journey for me. We moved to Spokane, Washington, where I was introduced to the excellent (not perfect) theological writings of the Protestant Reformed Church. Although I am not a member of this denomination, I can attest to a season of remarkable growth and understanding in Reformed Theology thanks to these very capable men of God.
What I have learned from my journey is that this ever-higher view of the sovereignty of God has given me joy unspeakable. The journey has all been by the grace of God, and it is my heart’s desire to give Him the glory, even as I express my gratitude here.
Man-centered theology (Arminianism) robs God of glory, leads me astray, and depresses me, as it did Charles H. Spurgeon. Still, seeing Jesus high and lifted up, more clearly in Reformed views, makes me recommend them to all people in my daily writings. Thus, I am Reformed, yet always Reforming; and I am not ashamed, for the sovereignty of God and the sovereignty of grace in salvation is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
April 11, 2022
