Dudley A Davis

I am today a Reformed Protestant Christian and a member of the Presbyterian church. I believe I have come to know more about who I am as a Presbyterian.. I am as many know a former Roman Catholic and a convert to the Reformed Faith. My conversion was a gradual process over many years reading the scriptures and also I believe by God's grace alone. I am a Reformed Christian and a Presbyterian because its theology of free grace, a gift from our creator and something that is not earned. The Presbyterian church does not save, it offers Christian fellowship but your faith alone in Christ alone saves. Only by faith are we made right before God. Justification is by faith--not by anything we do. There are no meritorious works that we can do to save ourselves. Reformed theology places one's salvation on the unmerited grace of God alone, by faith alone in Christ alone. I explored and studied the Protestant reformers and the major Protestant denominations for several years. In 2010 after discovering John Calvin and John Knox and the theology of the free grace and the Reformed faith and meeting several times with then Pastor Steve Davis; I decided to join the Presbyterian Church and make an affirmation of faith as a Presbyterian. I made my affirmation of faith as a Presbyterian on October 24th 2010. As a Presbyterian I have peace of mind and no weight of guilt because of the grace of God alone and I am assured salvation. I will add that I am a Moderate Calvinist/Free Grace/ Firm Believer in the Eternal Security of the Believer. I subscribe to Westminster Confession of Faith which is the traditional formal statement of doctrinal belief for Presbyterians of what the scriptures teach for scripture is our only and final authority. I also read a book during my conversion experience titled 'On Being Presbyterian by: Sean Michael Lucas, who was a minister in the PCA, Presbyterian Church in America when he wrote the book and now is in the Independent Presbyterian church in Memphis Tennessee. The topic in one of the closing chapters in his book was addressing converts to the Reformed faith and becoming Presbyterian and did that create any identity crisis for you. I said: "To move from seeing yourself as a Roman Catholic as I was at one time and to identify yourself as a Protestant and a Presbyterian can involve a great cost to the psyche, both personal and familial. If you are use to seeing yourself a certain way, in a certain set of clothes for example as a Roman catholic as I was; it can be very challenging to change those clothes and view yourself in a new way as a Presbyterian. However I found and discovered by reading the scriptures and attending my good friend and Associate Pastor David Cottons Bible class in my Presbyterian church, I found I had a deep resonance with Presbyterian beliefs and practices and the Reformed theology as expressed by the Protestant Reformers and theologians John Calvin and John Knox. I also discovered that I was greatly inspired with a new feeling of finding faith again, which I was loosing as Roman catholic. When I fully embraced the Reformed faith as a Presbyterian and began worshiping regularly in the Presbyterian church I also discovered that I became truly satisfied and felt a relationship with Our Lord as I never had before when I was a Roman Catholic. I can say I experienced a personal relationship with Jesus and saw my savior really as a friend which I never had my entire life until I embraced a Presbyterian identity fully and joyfully. I also experienced a sense of relief when I started to identify and think of myself as a Presbyterian. As a Presbyterian I was finally in a church that believes and practices Christianity in the way I see it reflected in the scriptures. This is why I also now identify as a Presbyterian; because I am in a church which I believe is the way Jesus Christ intended his church to be. As a Presbyterian I now fully understand that only Jesus' sacrifice can cleanse us. Only by faith are we made right before God. Justification is by faith--not by anything we do. Different from the teachings of Roman Catholicism I realized and understood for the first time that there are no meritorious works that we can do to save ourselves. Reformed theology places one's salvation on the unmerited grace of God alone, by faith alone in Christ alone. We do good works because we live the gospel and are in that way united with Christ our savior, but good works do not and can not save; only faith alone in Christ alone and His redemptive act on Calvary for the salvation of all sinners can save us. It is not complicated, it really is that simple. ~ Dudley Davis ~