not familiar with that texting acronysm: what does it mean?
T — total depravity. This doesn’t mean people are as bad as they can be. It means that sin is in every part of one’s being, including the mind and will, so that a man cannot save himself.
U — unconditional election. God chooses to save people unconditionally; that is, they are not chosen on the basis of their own merit.
L — limited atonement. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross was for the purpose of saving the elect.
I — irresistible grace. When God has chosen to save someone, He will.
P — perseverance of the saints. Those people God chooses cannot lose their salvation; they will continue to believe. If they fall away, it will be only for a time.
not familiar with that texting acronysm: what does it mean?
Someone asked me that privately a month or so ago. This was my response:
>VM Catholic and don’t know what “the five point” plan is, or what “reformed church means, among other protestant denominations. Can you say, without to much trouble? Thanks, R.I’ll try.
The Wikipedia article on “Calvinism” looks to be not too bad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism
For “the five points of Calvinism”, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism#Five_points_of_Calvinism . It’s a mnemonic concocted by an unknown person in the early 20th century to summarize certain Calvinist distinctives in the area of soteriology.
Reformed Churches are those bodies that confess one or another set of reformed confessions, either the “Three Forms of Unity” or the “Westminster Standards”. These would be churches with “presbyterian” or “reformed” in their denominational label. There’s a history behind all that, depending mostly on how things played out in Britain vs. the continent, and then imported into North America with various immigrant groups.
The beliefs these confessions articulate play out in sometimes distinctive ways in reformed worship and polity. Kind of complicated to go into.
Rather than yammer on at length, I think I’d just point you to, first and preferred, the Heidelberg catechism (http://www.ccel.org/creeds/heidelberg-cat.html). That’s about an hour’s reading.
Then, if you’re still up to it, the Belgic confession (http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/belgic-confession-1561/).