Semper Reformanda

This week I have been writing a series of posts on important Latin phrases that came out of the Reformation. This week we have already looked at, Coram Deo and Post Tenebras Lux. Today I want to work through the Latin phrase Semper Reformanda.

Semper Reformanda
This Latin phrase is different than any of the other Latin phrases that I am  looking at this week, becasue this phrase did not arise during the Reformation until much later than the other phrases. The 5 Sola's, Coram Deo, and even Post Tenebras Lux can be found early in the writing and sermons of the Reformers. But the Latin phrase Semper Reformanda did not come until a few years and even a decade or so had passed since the beginning of the Reformation. But this phrase is no less important than any of the other phrases that were used. Semper in Latin simply means always. We might know the Latin Semper from other phrases like Semper Fi. But when this Latin word is used, it is understood to be translated as always, continually, and never ceasing. The other Latin word, Reformanda, simply means reforming. As you can guess by how the Latin words looks, this word simply means reforming or fixing or adjusting. This word before it was linked to this phrase was given to the Reformers by the Reformers themselves becasue that is what they were. Luther and the rest were not church abolishers or church killers. Luther and the rest were simply calling for reform in the church or more importantly they were calling for the church to reform or adjust itself back to right Biblical truth and doctrine, especially the right doctrine of salvation. So the Reformers called themselves reformers or the noun form of this Latin word, Reformanda.

Semper Reformanda simply means when combined together, "always reforming". I love this phrase and so did the Reformers becasue it brought with it the truth that a right church, a holy church, is always being reformed back to the Word of God by the Spirit of God. Because we are fallen sinful humans from conception, we are always traveling down the slipper slop, the pain of destruction, and even the way of compromises, whether we will admit it or not. Even Christian tend to compromise and adjust to the wrong or negative, if they are left to their own devices. But becasue God gave us His Word and we now have the Holy Spirit, we must be a people who are always reforming ourselves to the Word by the work of the Spirit. The Reformers understood that reformation must be taking place in the church continuously. And this through many times was linked to Romans 12:1, where God is calling His people to be transformed by the renewing, readjusting, and sanctifying of the mind through the Word. So just like the Reformers used Semper Reformanda, the church today must also use this important Latin phrase to always be reforming, always going back to the Word, and always be in a growing sanctifying relationship with the one who saves. I hope at the end of the day, I can say about my life and the churches that I have lead, Semper Reformanda!