Reforming warnings

There are some great examples of church reforming in the Bible.

In the days of Nehemiah, we’re told, ‘the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshipped the LORD their God’ (Neh. 9:1-3). That must have been quite a day! They listened intently to God, and deeply lamented their own sin. What followed was pretty amazing too – they began to reform themselves in response to what they heard from God’s word.

Reform yourself

In my recent sabbatical, I read through the whole Bible, and also re-read the works of John Owen (in chronological order this time, which was enlightening). Owen was no stranger to reforming efforts in his day. And yet I noticed this very blunt warning from 1656 for anyone engaged in such work.