Knowing that man’s understanding, reason, and will are foul, what is left of this creature? How does God in Scripture describe him and what is his hope? Calvin deigns to answer this question in chapter 3, Book 2 of his Institutes. He will end with the good news of God’s grace. “The human will does not obtain grace by freedom, but obtains freedom by grace…except through grace (God’s grace in Jesus), the human will can neither be converted to God nor abide in God; and whatever it can do it is able to do only through grace” (Pg, 308-09). All I can say is praise be to God.
Here is the summary of the chapter.
1. Mankind is a sinner [Jn 3:6; Rom 3:10-20; Rom 8:6-7]. This flesh is corrupt, perverted, darkened, alienated from God, blind, dead in sins, and full of vanity. [Eph 4:22-23; 2:1-3; 4:17-20; Jer 17:9; Gen 8:21; Ps 14:1-3; 51; 53:1-3; Is 59:7]
2. The thunderbolts of Rom 3:10-18, “Strips man of righteousness, that is, integrity and purity; then, of understanding....He adds that all have fallen away and have, as it were, become corrupt, that there is no one who does good...Finally, he declares them devoid of the fear of God, to whose rule our steps ought to have been directed” (Pg., 291).
3. But what of those good things that unbelievers do? Are they not good people who do good works? No. As Calvin writes, “These (good works) are not common gifts of nature, but special graces of God, which He bestows variously and in a certain measure upon men otherwise wicked” (Pg., 293).
4. Sinful man cannot, not sin. He sins of necessity, yet he sins of his free will. This depraved will freely chooses what the depraved nature craves, namely evil. [see Bernard’s quote in sect., 5. Pg, 294]
5. Bernard writes, the will “Is guilty because it is free, and enslaved because it is guilty, and as a consequence enslaved because it is free” (Pg., 296).
6. Man’s enslavement to evil is most clearly understood when the works of redemption are considered. Man cannot help himself in this work. It is all of God, not a co-operation between man and God.
7. As Augustine said, “Grace precedes every good work; while will does not go before as its leader but follows after as its attendant” (Pg., 298), meaning that grace is prior to all merit.
8. Commenting on John 6:45, Augustine succinctly explains how God’s grace assists the will of the elect. “Man’s choice is so assisted that it not only knows what it ought to do, but also does because it has known. And thus when God teaches not through the letter of the law but through the grace of the Spirit, He so teaches that whatever anyone has learned he not only sees by knowing, but also seeks by willing, and achieves by doing” (Pg., 299).
9. What is man’s hope? God’s sovereign work of salvation through Jesus Christ the Lord. [Ezek 36:26-27; 11:19-20; Jer 32:39-40; 1 Kgs 8:58; Ps 119:33, 36; 51:10; 86:11; Jn 15:5; 6:45; Phil 2:13; 1 Cor 12:6; Eph 2:8-9; 2 Tim 1:9; 2 Thess 2:13].
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Calvin's Institutes Bk 2, chapter 2. Part 6: God must rescue the human will.
This is the last entry on chapter 2. It ends on a good note. God comes to the rescue.
1. Though man’s understanding and love for heavenly things is dark and dead; his conscience has God’s law written on it. (Rom 2:14-15). What is the purpose of this natural law in the consciences of men? “The purpose of natural law, therefore, is to render man inexcusable” (Pg., 282).
2. “Natural law is that apprehension of the conscience which deprives men of the excuse of ignorance, while it proves them guilty by their own testimony” (Pg,282).
3. “Man is so indulgent toward himself that when he commits evil he readily averts his mind, as much as he can, from the feeling of sin” (Pg., 282). That is, man attempts to run away from the conscience which would judge between right and wrong, and runs to the lust of his evil desires.
4. He sins in ignorance; only in so far as he conveniently chooses to forget what he knows is right. When he desires and commits sin, he lies to himself while wiping his mouth. [Prov 30:20]
5. Man the sinner not only breaks the commandments of God, but cannot lovingly understand either the 1st or the 2nd table of the law. Though his conscience shouts at his evil deeds, greater attention is given to “evil desires that gently tickle the mind” (Pg., 284).
6. Calvin asks this question. “Does our diligence, insight, understand, and carefulness so completely corrupted that we can devise or prepare nothing right in God’s eyes? Scripture says yes. [1 Cor 3:20; Ps 94:11; Gen 6:6; 8:21; Ps 119:34, 12, 18, 19, 26, 33, 64, 68, 73, 124-125, 135, 169; Col 1:9-10; Phil 1:9; Ps 51:10]
7. But if a man cannot understand heavenly things, can he then choose those things?
8. What is the will? Calvin writes, “Choice belongs to the sphere of the will rather than to that of the understanding” (Pg., 286). This will is subject to the cravings of man’s appetite, by which is meant “inclination of nature” (Pg., 286).
9. This nature in man always craves the “good.” Not meaning God, righteousness, holiness, virtue or justice; but the good in the sense “as to condition when things go well with him....the desire for well being” (Pg., 286-287).
10. The power of free will does not come from this fallen appetite. For a man to have free will he must be able to “discern good by right reason; that knowing it he choose it; that having chosen it he follow it” (Pg., 286). But this understanding or reason is also corrupt. Thus, the entire man is enslaved to sin. Free will, that is the ability to choose with the mind and heart that which is truly good, namely God, is dead.
11. Calvin gives this summery. “To sum up, much as man desires to follow what is good, still he does not follow it. There is no man to whom eternal blessedness is not pleasing, yet no man aspires to it except by the impulsion of the Holy Spirit” (Pg., 286).
12. No man can will or do anything good without the Holy Spirit, who does not originate in sinful man but is given by God’s grace to his elect.
13. Calvin: "We are all sinners by nature; therefore we are held under the yoke of sin. But if the whole man lies under the power of sin, surely it is necessary that the will, which is its chief seat, be restrained by the stoutest bonds” (Pg., 288). [2 Cor 3:5; Gen 8:21; Jn 8:34; Phil 2:13; Ps 51].
14. Though conscience pricks and leaves man inexcusable, the mind of man is “miserably subject to vanity” (Pg., 285). For sinners to understand heavenly things, they need the grace of God’s illuminating and regenerating work.
1. Though man’s understanding and love for heavenly things is dark and dead; his conscience has God’s law written on it. (Rom 2:14-15). What is the purpose of this natural law in the consciences of men? “The purpose of natural law, therefore, is to render man inexcusable” (Pg., 282).
2. “Natural law is that apprehension of the conscience which deprives men of the excuse of ignorance, while it proves them guilty by their own testimony” (Pg,282).
3. “Man is so indulgent toward himself that when he commits evil he readily averts his mind, as much as he can, from the feeling of sin” (Pg., 282). That is, man attempts to run away from the conscience which would judge between right and wrong, and runs to the lust of his evil desires.
4. He sins in ignorance; only in so far as he conveniently chooses to forget what he knows is right. When he desires and commits sin, he lies to himself while wiping his mouth. [Prov 30:20]
5. Man the sinner not only breaks the commandments of God, but cannot lovingly understand either the 1st or the 2nd table of the law. Though his conscience shouts at his evil deeds, greater attention is given to “evil desires that gently tickle the mind” (Pg., 284).
6. Calvin asks this question. “Does our diligence, insight, understand, and carefulness so completely corrupted that we can devise or prepare nothing right in God’s eyes? Scripture says yes. [1 Cor 3:20; Ps 94:11; Gen 6:6; 8:21; Ps 119:34, 12, 18, 19, 26, 33, 64, 68, 73, 124-125, 135, 169; Col 1:9-10; Phil 1:9; Ps 51:10]
7. But if a man cannot understand heavenly things, can he then choose those things?
8. What is the will? Calvin writes, “Choice belongs to the sphere of the will rather than to that of the understanding” (Pg., 286). This will is subject to the cravings of man’s appetite, by which is meant “inclination of nature” (Pg., 286).
9. This nature in man always craves the “good.” Not meaning God, righteousness, holiness, virtue or justice; but the good in the sense “as to condition when things go well with him....the desire for well being” (Pg., 286-287).
10. The power of free will does not come from this fallen appetite. For a man to have free will he must be able to “discern good by right reason; that knowing it he choose it; that having chosen it he follow it” (Pg., 286). But this understanding or reason is also corrupt. Thus, the entire man is enslaved to sin. Free will, that is the ability to choose with the mind and heart that which is truly good, namely God, is dead.
11. Calvin gives this summery. “To sum up, much as man desires to follow what is good, still he does not follow it. There is no man to whom eternal blessedness is not pleasing, yet no man aspires to it except by the impulsion of the Holy Spirit” (Pg., 286).
12. No man can will or do anything good without the Holy Spirit, who does not originate in sinful man but is given by God’s grace to his elect.
13. Calvin: "We are all sinners by nature; therefore we are held under the yoke of sin. But if the whole man lies under the power of sin, surely it is necessary that the will, which is its chief seat, be restrained by the stoutest bonds” (Pg., 288). [2 Cor 3:5; Gen 8:21; Jn 8:34; Phil 2:13; Ps 51].
14. Though conscience pricks and leaves man inexcusable, the mind of man is “miserably subject to vanity” (Pg., 285). For sinners to understand heavenly things, they need the grace of God’s illuminating and regenerating work.
Calvin's Institutes Bk 2, chapter 2. Part 5: The Holy Spirit the great Revealer.
In the last post I summarized Calvin’s assertion why fallen mankind can understand and live out the necessary “earthly things” in human life. The “earthly things” being things “which do not pertain to God or His Kingdom, to true justice, or to the blessedness of the future life; but which have their significance and relationship with regard to the present life and are, in a sense, confined within its bounds” (Pg., 272).
Calvin had another category; “heavenly things.”
1. To Calvin they are, “The pure knowledge of God, the nature of true righteousness, the mysteries of the heavenly Kingdom, the knowledge of God’s will, and the rule by which we conform our lives” (Pg., 272).
2. Understanding heavenly things demands spiritual insight. To Calvin this spiritual insight consists in three things. “(1) Knowing God; (2) knowing His fatherly favour in our behalf, in which our salvation consists, and (3) knowing how to frame our life according to the rule of His law” (Pg., 277).
3. This understanding and spiritual insight is absent in the minds of fallen man. “Human reason, therefore, neither approaches, nor strives toward, nor even takes a straight aim at, this truth: to understand who the true God is or what sort of God He wishes to be toward us” (Pg., 278).
4. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (Jn 1:4-5).
5. “This means: Flesh is not capable of such lofty wisdom as to conceive God and what is God’s, unless it be illumined by the Spirit of God. As Christ testified, the fact that Peter recognized him was a special revelation of the Father. [Matt 16:17]” (Pg., 278). By “flesh” Calvin means the natural man, the person not born again by God’s Spirit.
6. How then can fallen mankind see and understand heavenly things?
7. “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:3 cf. 1 Cor 2:9-14)
8. Calvin: “Only those men, therefore, who have heard and been taught by the Father come to Him. What kind of learning and hearing is this? Surely, where the Spirit by a wonderful and singular power forms our ears and our minds to understand” (Pg., 279). [Is 54:7, 13; Jn 6:45; 1 Cor 1:13; 1 Cor 2:9, 10, 14; Eph 1:17-18; James 1:17; Jn 14:26]
9. Only God, in sovereign grace and by the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit can cast light into the darkened heart and understanding of sinful man.
Calvin had another category; “heavenly things.”
1. To Calvin they are, “The pure knowledge of God, the nature of true righteousness, the mysteries of the heavenly Kingdom, the knowledge of God’s will, and the rule by which we conform our lives” (Pg., 272).
2. Understanding heavenly things demands spiritual insight. To Calvin this spiritual insight consists in three things. “(1) Knowing God; (2) knowing His fatherly favour in our behalf, in which our salvation consists, and (3) knowing how to frame our life according to the rule of His law” (Pg., 277).
3. This understanding and spiritual insight is absent in the minds of fallen man. “Human reason, therefore, neither approaches, nor strives toward, nor even takes a straight aim at, this truth: to understand who the true God is or what sort of God He wishes to be toward us” (Pg., 278).
4. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (Jn 1:4-5).
5. “This means: Flesh is not capable of such lofty wisdom as to conceive God and what is God’s, unless it be illumined by the Spirit of God. As Christ testified, the fact that Peter recognized him was a special revelation of the Father. [Matt 16:17]” (Pg., 278). By “flesh” Calvin means the natural man, the person not born again by God’s Spirit.
6. How then can fallen mankind see and understand heavenly things?
7. “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:3 cf. 1 Cor 2:9-14)
8. Calvin: “Only those men, therefore, who have heard and been taught by the Father come to Him. What kind of learning and hearing is this? Surely, where the Spirit by a wonderful and singular power forms our ears and our minds to understand” (Pg., 279). [Is 54:7, 13; Jn 6:45; 1 Cor 1:13; 1 Cor 2:9, 10, 14; Eph 1:17-18; James 1:17; Jn 14:26]
9. Only God, in sovereign grace and by the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit can cast light into the darkened heart and understanding of sinful man.
Calvin's Institutes Bk 2, chapter 2. Part 4: Man is sinful, but he is still a human being
This is the 4th instalment of Calvin’s Institutes, Book II, and chapter 2. Here Calvin discusses why and to some degree why and how fallen mankind still does good and creates beautiful things.
1. Man has understanding. He has power to perceive, to feel, to think and to decide. Yes, these faculties are marred but nevertheless, are implanted in man. See Calvin’s comment that even though man has understanding and, “Some sort of desire to search out the truth,” he is nevertheless, incapable of seeking and finding the truth. (Pg., 271)
2. A man can only understand that which he is able to understand.
3. An unregenerate person (a person not saved by the grace of God in Christ), can understand earthly things. What is that? Calvin explains. Those things “Which do not pertain to God or His Kingdom, to true justice, or to the blessedness of the future life; but which have their significance and relationship with regard to the present life and are, in a sense, confined within its bounds” (Pg., 272). Men can understand government, relationships, mechanics, science, and art on an earthly level.
4. What are the results of this understanding God has graciously allowed man to retain?
5. First, social loves and social justice. Man is a social creature therefore; he will naturally “foster and preserve society.” “Consequently, we observe that there exist in all men’s minds universal impressions of a certain civic fair dealing and order. Hence no man is to be found who does not understand that every sort of human organization must be regulated by laws, and who does not comprehend the principles of those laws” (Pg., 272).
There is love in all society. There is a conscious awareness of good and evil in every culture. There is government as well. Consequently, we observe that there exist in all men’s minds universal impressions of a certain fair dealing and order, and the need for the rule of law. Every society has law codes, either written or ingrained in the tradition.
6. Though social loves and justice move by limps and staggers (which proves the weakness of man), the truth remains that the law has been implanted in men’s hearts. Calvin writes, “The fact remains that some seed of political order has been implanted in all men. And this is ample proof that in the arrangement of this life no man is without the light of reason” (Pg., 273).
7. Second, man’s ability and appreciation for art manifests that man has reason and understanding of earthly things.
8. Third, man’s endeavours in science manifests the truth that man has reason and understanding of earthly things.
9. These must be attributed to the grace of God, not to natural theology. We appreciate and admire the work of those who have benefited the human race by their profound knowledge, “But shall we count anything praiseworthy or noble without recognizing at the same time that it comes from God?” (Pg., 274)
10. God ordains whatsoever comes to pass. In God’s common grace, by the work of the Holy Spirit, God gives earthly understanding to men; some greater, some less. He gives these gifts for three reasons:
a) For the common good of man. For restraining evil, for feeding the hungry, and for eradicating disease, education, etc. But most of all even by these to bring to pass his saving purposes and the salvation of his people. Gen 8:21-22; Acts 17 these two passages are a call to preach the gospel because as God showers his care, or as the Scot John Murray said, “general benevolence” upon the world the church sees his longsuffering and forbearance the church is delighted in God and brings his gospel to the lost.
b) For the furtherance of the Kingdom of God.
c) For his own glory.
1. Man has understanding. He has power to perceive, to feel, to think and to decide. Yes, these faculties are marred but nevertheless, are implanted in man. See Calvin’s comment that even though man has understanding and, “Some sort of desire to search out the truth,” he is nevertheless, incapable of seeking and finding the truth. (Pg., 271)
2. A man can only understand that which he is able to understand.
3. An unregenerate person (a person not saved by the grace of God in Christ), can understand earthly things. What is that? Calvin explains. Those things “Which do not pertain to God or His Kingdom, to true justice, or to the blessedness of the future life; but which have their significance and relationship with regard to the present life and are, in a sense, confined within its bounds” (Pg., 272). Men can understand government, relationships, mechanics, science, and art on an earthly level.
4. What are the results of this understanding God has graciously allowed man to retain?
5. First, social loves and social justice. Man is a social creature therefore; he will naturally “foster and preserve society.” “Consequently, we observe that there exist in all men’s minds universal impressions of a certain civic fair dealing and order. Hence no man is to be found who does not understand that every sort of human organization must be regulated by laws, and who does not comprehend the principles of those laws” (Pg., 272).
There is love in all society. There is a conscious awareness of good and evil in every culture. There is government as well. Consequently, we observe that there exist in all men’s minds universal impressions of a certain fair dealing and order, and the need for the rule of law. Every society has law codes, either written or ingrained in the tradition.
6. Though social loves and justice move by limps and staggers (which proves the weakness of man), the truth remains that the law has been implanted in men’s hearts. Calvin writes, “The fact remains that some seed of political order has been implanted in all men. And this is ample proof that in the arrangement of this life no man is without the light of reason” (Pg., 273).
7. Second, man’s ability and appreciation for art manifests that man has reason and understanding of earthly things.
8. Third, man’s endeavours in science manifests the truth that man has reason and understanding of earthly things.
9. These must be attributed to the grace of God, not to natural theology. We appreciate and admire the work of those who have benefited the human race by their profound knowledge, “But shall we count anything praiseworthy or noble without recognizing at the same time that it comes from God?” (Pg., 274)
10. God ordains whatsoever comes to pass. In God’s common grace, by the work of the Holy Spirit, God gives earthly understanding to men; some greater, some less. He gives these gifts for three reasons:
a) For the common good of man. For restraining evil, for feeding the hungry, and for eradicating disease, education, etc. But most of all even by these to bring to pass his saving purposes and the salvation of his people. Gen 8:21-22; Acts 17 these two passages are a call to preach the gospel because as God showers his care, or as the Scot John Murray said, “general benevolence” upon the world the church sees his longsuffering and forbearance the church is delighted in God and brings his gospel to the lost.
b) For the furtherance of the Kingdom of God.
c) For his own glory.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Calvin's Institutes Bk 2, chapter 2. Part 3: A sad affair
I’ve been extremely busy since my last Calvin entry. Exciting and hard things have been happening in our church. Thankfully God is Immanuel helping us to rejoice and carry on for his name’s sake. Anyway back to the summaries of Calvin’s Institutes.
I am currently in Book II, chapter 2. Due to its size and detail I decided to summarize it in six parts. As the blog title indicates this is entry number 3.
1. The truth of man’s enslavement to sin hurts the pride of man, nevertheless it is humility we need in order to truly have knowledge of ourselves. As Calvin so pointedly writes, “Whoever is utterly cast down and overwhelmed by the awareness of his calamity, poverty, nakedness, and disgrace has thus advanced farthest in knowledge of himself” (Pg., 267).
2. Man has no virtue or godly power. [Jer 17:5; Ps 147:10-11; Is 40:29-31; Rom 3]
3. Augustine wrote, “Why do we presume so much on ability of human nature? It is wounded, battered, troubled, lost. What we need is true confession, not false defence.....By God’s mercy alone we stand, since by ourselves we are nothing but evil” (Pg., 269).
But bear this in mind. Though mankind is now radically depraved, man did not cease to be man. Man’s fall into his depraved nature did not make him a brute beast. Man is a fallen human being, not a mere animal. Even though he is totally depraved he is still a human soul with understanding, conscience, and will. He had these before the fall and he retained them after the fall; albeit a fallen understanding, conscience, and will.
4. How did this evil come about? We withdrew from the kingdom of God by our own fall into sin through our representative, Adam. Man is now in the kingdom of darkness being children of wrath.
5. In this fall man was striped of all spiritual gifts, died unto God. A very sad situation indeed; but with God Almighty hope is overcoming the sadness.
6. Mankind did retain something of will, understanding and judgment, but they are weak, twisted and full of darkness.
7. More particularly, “The will, because it is inseparable from man’s nature, did not perish, but was so bound to wicked desires that it cannot strive after the right” (Pg., 271).
8. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:4-6) (ESV)
I am currently in Book II, chapter 2. Due to its size and detail I decided to summarize it in six parts. As the blog title indicates this is entry number 3.
1. The truth of man’s enslavement to sin hurts the pride of man, nevertheless it is humility we need in order to truly have knowledge of ourselves. As Calvin so pointedly writes, “Whoever is utterly cast down and overwhelmed by the awareness of his calamity, poverty, nakedness, and disgrace has thus advanced farthest in knowledge of himself” (Pg., 267).
2. Man has no virtue or godly power. [Jer 17:5; Ps 147:10-11; Is 40:29-31; Rom 3]
3. Augustine wrote, “Why do we presume so much on ability of human nature? It is wounded, battered, troubled, lost. What we need is true confession, not false defence.....By God’s mercy alone we stand, since by ourselves we are nothing but evil” (Pg., 269).
But bear this in mind. Though mankind is now radically depraved, man did not cease to be man. Man’s fall into his depraved nature did not make him a brute beast. Man is a fallen human being, not a mere animal. Even though he is totally depraved he is still a human soul with understanding, conscience, and will. He had these before the fall and he retained them after the fall; albeit a fallen understanding, conscience, and will.
4. How did this evil come about? We withdrew from the kingdom of God by our own fall into sin through our representative, Adam. Man is now in the kingdom of darkness being children of wrath.
5. In this fall man was striped of all spiritual gifts, died unto God. A very sad situation indeed; but with God Almighty hope is overcoming the sadness.
6. Mankind did retain something of will, understanding and judgment, but they are weak, twisted and full of darkness.
7. More particularly, “The will, because it is inseparable from man’s nature, did not perish, but was so bound to wicked desires that it cannot strive after the right” (Pg., 271).
8. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:4-6) (ESV)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Calvin's Institutes Bk 2, chapter 2. Part 2: Free Will and the Philosophers
Calvin knew his historical theology as this section of Book II, chapter 2 bears out.
Here are the summaries for today.
1. What do the philosophers say about free will? In Calvin’s day they imagined that it was midway between human reason and human sense perception. Their philosophy: the reason can persuade the will; the sense can also persuade the will, but the will itself is free. For them this free will says Calvin, “Possesses right and freedom of itself either to obey reason or to prostitute itself to be ravished by sense - whichever it pleases” (Pg., 257).
2. These philosophers confessed that man has gigantic problems in their love affair with evil. Nevertheless, they maintain that man is free and full of power to do good as well as evil.
The good Calvin is talking about is not the true good and virtue done by man in common grace. Here the good is sincere righteousness before God; living the life that pleases God from an unstained human nature and love to God.
3. Calvin summarizes the philosophers view of free will by writing, “Reason which abides in human understanding is a sufficient guide for right conduct; the will, being subject to it, is indeed incited by the senses to evil things; but since the will has free choice, it cannot be hindered from following reason as its leader in all things” (Pg., 258).
4. Many of the early church fathers (particularly the apologists), in an attempt to defend Christianity with Greek philosophy, essentially agreed with this view.
5. Chrysostom was the greatest defender this Greek view. As time progressed the teachers of the church (save Augustine), “gradually fell from bad to worse, until it came to the point that man was commonly thought to be corrupted only in his sensual part and to have a perfectly unblemished reason and a will also largely unimpaired” (Pg., 260).
This was Duns Scotus’ view.] [Note: read sect., 9 here. Pg., 266]
6. What did these teachers teach about the will?
Origen: “It is a faculty of the reason to distinguish between good and evil, a faculty of the will to choose one or the other.”
Augustine: “It is a faculty of the reason and the will to choose good with the assistance of grace; evil, when grace is absent.”
Bernard: “It is consent.”
Anselm: “It is the power for maintaining rectitude (moral integrity) for its own sake.”
Aquinas: “It is power of selection, which, derived from a mingling of understanding and appetite, yet inclines more to appetite.” [see sect., #8 pg., 265].
7. As time progressed a shift in thinking took place. The stark Greek concept of free will was replaced by the “operating and co-operating” concept.
8. In other words man can do some good apart form grace. Good such as seeking after God and truly desiring to love him, but redemption is a work of God’s grace. However, even this work of salvation succumbed to synergetic salvation.
Here are the summaries for today.
1. What do the philosophers say about free will? In Calvin’s day they imagined that it was midway between human reason and human sense perception. Their philosophy: the reason can persuade the will; the sense can also persuade the will, but the will itself is free. For them this free will says Calvin, “Possesses right and freedom of itself either to obey reason or to prostitute itself to be ravished by sense - whichever it pleases” (Pg., 257).
2. These philosophers confessed that man has gigantic problems in their love affair with evil. Nevertheless, they maintain that man is free and full of power to do good as well as evil.
The good Calvin is talking about is not the true good and virtue done by man in common grace. Here the good is sincere righteousness before God; living the life that pleases God from an unstained human nature and love to God.
3. Calvin summarizes the philosophers view of free will by writing, “Reason which abides in human understanding is a sufficient guide for right conduct; the will, being subject to it, is indeed incited by the senses to evil things; but since the will has free choice, it cannot be hindered from following reason as its leader in all things” (Pg., 258).
4. Many of the early church fathers (particularly the apologists), in an attempt to defend Christianity with Greek philosophy, essentially agreed with this view.
5. Chrysostom was the greatest defender this Greek view. As time progressed the teachers of the church (save Augustine), “gradually fell from bad to worse, until it came to the point that man was commonly thought to be corrupted only in his sensual part and to have a perfectly unblemished reason and a will also largely unimpaired” (Pg., 260).
This was Duns Scotus’ view.] [Note: read sect., 9 here. Pg., 266]
6. What did these teachers teach about the will?
Origen: “It is a faculty of the reason to distinguish between good and evil, a faculty of the will to choose one or the other.”
Augustine: “It is a faculty of the reason and the will to choose good with the assistance of grace; evil, when grace is absent.”
Bernard: “It is consent.”
Anselm: “It is the power for maintaining rectitude (moral integrity) for its own sake.”
Aquinas: “It is power of selection, which, derived from a mingling of understanding and appetite, yet inclines more to appetite.” [see sect., #8 pg., 265].
7. As time progressed a shift in thinking took place. The stark Greek concept of free will was replaced by the “operating and co-operating” concept.
8. In other words man can do some good apart form grace. Good such as seeking after God and truly desiring to love him, but redemption is a work of God’s grace. However, even this work of salvation succumbed to synergetic salvation.
Calvin's advise: Preachers, step down and serve the Lord together.
Calvin's advice to ministers, given in his commentary on 1 Corinthains is needed as much today as it was back then. Pride and self ambition puts a preacher in hall of mirrors where all they see and think about is themselves. Even when they preach using the name of Jesus, it's to see how they are doing. How aweful, how divisive, and how this has damaged the church.
Here is what Calvin said.
"The aim of good ministers is this, that they may all in common serve Christ, and claim for him exclusively power, authority, and glory - fight under his banner - obey him alone, and bring others in subjection to his sway. If any one is influenced by ambition, that man gathers disciples, not to Christ, but to himself…In short, the unity of the church consists more especially in this one thing - that we all depend upon Christ alone, and that men thus occupy an inferior place, so as not to detract in any degree from his (Jesus') pre-eminence." John Calvin. Commentary on 1 Corinthians. Pg, 66-67.
Here is what Calvin said.
"The aim of good ministers is this, that they may all in common serve Christ, and claim for him exclusively power, authority, and glory - fight under his banner - obey him alone, and bring others in subjection to his sway. If any one is influenced by ambition, that man gathers disciples, not to Christ, but to himself…In short, the unity of the church consists more especially in this one thing - that we all depend upon Christ alone, and that men thus occupy an inferior place, so as not to detract in any degree from his (Jesus') pre-eminence." John Calvin. Commentary on 1 Corinthians. Pg, 66-67.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Calvin's Institutes Bk 2, chapter 2. Part 1: Free Will and Man’s Sin
My studies in Calvin’s Institutes continue. Before I go on to look at the second chapter of Book II, please remember my format. I am basically summarizing and trying to think through Calvin’s main points.
Some time ago I jumped on a motocross dirt bike. I cranked on the gas and wow, this was a big bike to handle. Chapter 2 is really a big bike to handle. Calvin is very thorough in his explanation of man’s sin, free will, common grace, man’s blindness to God and so on. He is clearly Augustinian, and uses Scripture too. When I have the time I'm going to try and find out how medieval Calvin is in his theology.
Because this chapter is so big I will give six entries on it.
1. Man is fallen in sin. The disgrace of sin chains the entire man because in his nature, man the sinner is under the dominion of sin.
Note. Man as created by God was not a disgrace…the disgrace is the sin he disgraced himself with. Thankfully, wonderfully God by his grace became man to deliver us from disgrace.
2. The question of man’s freedom must be understood in due to sin. Since man is now under the dominion of sin has he been deprived of all freedom?
3. In answering this question two errors must be avoided.
a. Complacency and irresponsibility. In other words, if I am enslaved to sin and cannot help but sin, lets live it up; besides God can’t judge me if I can’t help myself!
b. Pride and glory. In other words, if I am responsible and have absolute freedom, I have the ability to do right by my own will; therefore I have something to glory in!
4. To avoid these errors lets remember this. “When man has been taught that no good thing remains in his power, and that he is hedged about on all sides by most miserable necessity, in spite of this he should nevertheless be instructed to aspire to a good of which he is empty, to a freedom of which he has been deprived” (Pg., 255). We are command to repent and believe but we cannot apart from God’s grace in Jesus.
5. “Nothing of his own ought to be taken away from man” (Pg., 255). Man is a free moral agent responsible to God even though he is enslaved to sin and unable to do good.
6. But, as Calvin warned, “It ought to be clearly evident how important it is for him to be barred from false boasting” (Pg., 255).
7. Even when man was upright (in innocence), nothing was attributed to man other than that he was created in the image of God. [Gen 1:27]
8. This teaches us, “That man was blessed, not because of his own good actions, but by participation in God” (Pg., 256).
9. It is advantageous for us that we remember God’s Word to us in Scripture and on the cross. Man in his fallen state, in the first Adam, lives in prison house of death devoid of good works and good wisdom. If God in his freedom had not come to save, man in his enslavement to sin would never be free.
10. To strengthen the biblical doctrine of “free will,” we must remember that man is responsible and obligated to obey God. Yet, he is stripped of all power to do so. If a man does begin to obey it is because of the power and mercy of God enabling him to do so.
Some time ago I jumped on a motocross dirt bike. I cranked on the gas and wow, this was a big bike to handle. Chapter 2 is really a big bike to handle. Calvin is very thorough in his explanation of man’s sin, free will, common grace, man’s blindness to God and so on. He is clearly Augustinian, and uses Scripture too. When I have the time I'm going to try and find out how medieval Calvin is in his theology.
Because this chapter is so big I will give six entries on it.
1. Man is fallen in sin. The disgrace of sin chains the entire man because in his nature, man the sinner is under the dominion of sin.
Note. Man as created by God was not a disgrace…the disgrace is the sin he disgraced himself with. Thankfully, wonderfully God by his grace became man to deliver us from disgrace.
2. The question of man’s freedom must be understood in due to sin. Since man is now under the dominion of sin has he been deprived of all freedom?
3. In answering this question two errors must be avoided.
a. Complacency and irresponsibility. In other words, if I am enslaved to sin and cannot help but sin, lets live it up; besides God can’t judge me if I can’t help myself!
b. Pride and glory. In other words, if I am responsible and have absolute freedom, I have the ability to do right by my own will; therefore I have something to glory in!
4. To avoid these errors lets remember this. “When man has been taught that no good thing remains in his power, and that he is hedged about on all sides by most miserable necessity, in spite of this he should nevertheless be instructed to aspire to a good of which he is empty, to a freedom of which he has been deprived” (Pg., 255). We are command to repent and believe but we cannot apart from God’s grace in Jesus.
5. “Nothing of his own ought to be taken away from man” (Pg., 255). Man is a free moral agent responsible to God even though he is enslaved to sin and unable to do good.
6. But, as Calvin warned, “It ought to be clearly evident how important it is for him to be barred from false boasting” (Pg., 255).
7. Even when man was upright (in innocence), nothing was attributed to man other than that he was created in the image of God. [Gen 1:27]
8. This teaches us, “That man was blessed, not because of his own good actions, but by participation in God” (Pg., 256).
9. It is advantageous for us that we remember God’s Word to us in Scripture and on the cross. Man in his fallen state, in the first Adam, lives in prison house of death devoid of good works and good wisdom. If God in his freedom had not come to save, man in his enslavement to sin would never be free.
10. To strengthen the biblical doctrine of “free will,” we must remember that man is responsible and obligated to obey God. Yet, he is stripped of all power to do so. If a man does begin to obey it is because of the power and mercy of God enabling him to do so.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
We sunk ourselves.
We’ve studied Book I of Calvin’s Institutes in which Calvin focused on the knowledge of God; theology proper as theologians say. Calvin discussed God as Creator, God as Triune, and God’s divine providence. “God is the ruler and governor of all things, who in accordance with his wisdom has from the farthest limit of eternity decreed what he was going to do, and now by his might carries out what he has decreed” (Pg., 207).
Today we begin with the topics Calvin discusses in Book II, in relation to the knowledge of God the Redeemer in Jesus Christ. He begins by explaining the doctrine of man and sin. Before he gives us the good news of the gospel, he shows us the bad news of our sin. I find it amazing that the sin in us and in the world is a gate to let in the abundant goodness of God. And actually the whole story of the Bible exalts the Lord Jesus Christ in a fallen world where his redemption shines brilliantly in the midst of darkness. A darkness that God has conquered through his Son, even as he first conquered the darkness and void before creation through his Son.
Let’s begin. Here is the summary of Book II, Chapter 1.
1. A proper knowledge of ourselves is most valuable and essential for true living.
At the beginning of his Institutes Calvin asserted the necessity of a knowledge of God and a knowledge of man. As to which one is necessary to know first, Calvin chose the knowledge of God. The second necessity is the knowledge of man. “God’s truth, therefore, agrees with the common judgement of all mortals that the second part of wisdom consists in the knowledge of ourselves” (Pg., 243).
2. A true knowledge of self, “Will strip us of all confidence in our own ability, deprive us of all occasion for boasting, and lead us to submission” (Pg., 242).
3. For this to occur in our present condition we ought to realize that our original state in Adam reveals the nature of man’s duty to God; namely divine worship & enjoyment of God. But also that and our present corruption reveals our deadness to God and to that duty.
4. What is this thing called sin which destroyed our original joy and righteousness?
5. It started with pride, said Augustine. Its root was unfaithfulness, says Calvin.
6. I think they are both inseparably involved like light is to seeing or sound to hearing. “Adam would never have dared oppose God’s authority unless he had disbelieved in God’s Word.....thereafter ambition and pride, together with ungratefulness, arose, because Adam by seeking more than was granted him shamefully spurned God’s great bounty” (Pg., 246-45).
7. In Adam all have sinned and now are by nature children of wrath. [Rom 5:12-21; Eph 2:3; Jn 3:6] It is not a derived wickedness received from culture or example. No, “we have descended from impure seed, are born infected with the contagion of sin. In fact, before we saw the light of this life we were soiled and spotted in God’s sight” (Pg., 248). [Ps 51; Job 14:1-5]
8. This is called the doctrine of original sin. Calvin defines it as, “A hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature, diffused into all parts of the soul, which first makes us liable to God’s wrath, than also brings forth in us those works which Scripture calls ‘works of the flesh’ [Gal 5:19]” (Pg., 251).
9. Because of original sin we are corrupt and therefore, justly condemned and guilty before God. Because of original sin the perversity inherent to our depraved nature never ceases. The only hope is God’s mercy.
10. Eccl 7:29. Calvin was right when he said, “Man’s ruin is to be ascribed to man alone; for he, having acquired righteousness by God’s kindness, has by his own folly sunk into vanity” (Pg., 254).
Today we begin with the topics Calvin discusses in Book II, in relation to the knowledge of God the Redeemer in Jesus Christ. He begins by explaining the doctrine of man and sin. Before he gives us the good news of the gospel, he shows us the bad news of our sin. I find it amazing that the sin in us and in the world is a gate to let in the abundant goodness of God. And actually the whole story of the Bible exalts the Lord Jesus Christ in a fallen world where his redemption shines brilliantly in the midst of darkness. A darkness that God has conquered through his Son, even as he first conquered the darkness and void before creation through his Son.
Let’s begin. Here is the summary of Book II, Chapter 1.
1. A proper knowledge of ourselves is most valuable and essential for true living.
At the beginning of his Institutes Calvin asserted the necessity of a knowledge of God and a knowledge of man. As to which one is necessary to know first, Calvin chose the knowledge of God. The second necessity is the knowledge of man. “God’s truth, therefore, agrees with the common judgement of all mortals that the second part of wisdom consists in the knowledge of ourselves” (Pg., 243).
2. A true knowledge of self, “Will strip us of all confidence in our own ability, deprive us of all occasion for boasting, and lead us to submission” (Pg., 242).
3. For this to occur in our present condition we ought to realize that our original state in Adam reveals the nature of man’s duty to God; namely divine worship & enjoyment of God. But also that and our present corruption reveals our deadness to God and to that duty.
4. What is this thing called sin which destroyed our original joy and righteousness?
5. It started with pride, said Augustine. Its root was unfaithfulness, says Calvin.
6. I think they are both inseparably involved like light is to seeing or sound to hearing. “Adam would never have dared oppose God’s authority unless he had disbelieved in God’s Word.....thereafter ambition and pride, together with ungratefulness, arose, because Adam by seeking more than was granted him shamefully spurned God’s great bounty” (Pg., 246-45).
7. In Adam all have sinned and now are by nature children of wrath. [Rom 5:12-21; Eph 2:3; Jn 3:6] It is not a derived wickedness received from culture or example. No, “we have descended from impure seed, are born infected with the contagion of sin. In fact, before we saw the light of this life we were soiled and spotted in God’s sight” (Pg., 248). [Ps 51; Job 14:1-5]
8. This is called the doctrine of original sin. Calvin defines it as, “A hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature, diffused into all parts of the soul, which first makes us liable to God’s wrath, than also brings forth in us those works which Scripture calls ‘works of the flesh’ [Gal 5:19]” (Pg., 251).
9. Because of original sin we are corrupt and therefore, justly condemned and guilty before God. Because of original sin the perversity inherent to our depraved nature never ceases. The only hope is God’s mercy.
10. Eccl 7:29. Calvin was right when he said, “Man’s ruin is to be ascribed to man alone; for he, having acquired righteousness by God’s kindness, has by his own folly sunk into vanity” (Pg., 254).
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Election, Assurance, Church Membership and John Calvin
In some evangelical circles, even of the Reformed type, anxiety attacks over personal assurance of salvation and whether or not church members are “really saved” are frequent.
In Reformed Churches the question of when non-communicant members should become communicant members has been asked countless times. Do they know enough? Yes, they have been baptized, but are they really called by Jesus? Do they know their sin well enough?
Then there is the issue of the membership itself. Some pastors cannot address their congregations as Christian people, or “people of God,” because they are not really sure if they are elect or called even though they are members of Christ’s church.
Paul’s attitude is completely different however. Notice the introductions to his letters, especially 1 Corinthians.
Calvin commenting on Paul's outlook on the Corinthian Christians said in his commentary, "Every one ought to regard his calling as a token of his election. Farther, although one cannot judge with the same certainty as to another's election, yet we must always in the judgment of charity conclude that all that are called are called to salvation; I mean efficaciously and fruitfully…Now this is needful (Paul obviously deemed it needful for the Corinthian church), in order that their minds might not be disheartened on discovering so many faults, as he comes afterwards to present before their view. The sum of this may be stated thus, - that it is the part of Christian candour to hope well of all who have entered on the right way of salvation, and are still persevering in that course, notwithstanding, that they are at the same time still beset with many distempers. Every one of us, too, from the time of his being illuminated (Heb 10:32) by the Spirit of God in the knowledge of Christ, ought to conclude with certainty from this that he has been adopted by the Lord to an inheritance of eternal life." John Calvin, Calvin's' Commentaries: 1 Corinthians. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House). Pg, 59-60.
In Reformed Churches the question of when non-communicant members should become communicant members has been asked countless times. Do they know enough? Yes, they have been baptized, but are they really called by Jesus? Do they know their sin well enough?
Then there is the issue of the membership itself. Some pastors cannot address their congregations as Christian people, or “people of God,” because they are not really sure if they are elect or called even though they are members of Christ’s church.
Paul’s attitude is completely different however. Notice the introductions to his letters, especially 1 Corinthians.
Calvin commenting on Paul's outlook on the Corinthian Christians said in his commentary, "Every one ought to regard his calling as a token of his election. Farther, although one cannot judge with the same certainty as to another's election, yet we must always in the judgment of charity conclude that all that are called are called to salvation; I mean efficaciously and fruitfully…Now this is needful (Paul obviously deemed it needful for the Corinthian church), in order that their minds might not be disheartened on discovering so many faults, as he comes afterwards to present before their view. The sum of this may be stated thus, - that it is the part of Christian candour to hope well of all who have entered on the right way of salvation, and are still persevering in that course, notwithstanding, that they are at the same time still beset with many distempers. Every one of us, too, from the time of his being illuminated (Heb 10:32) by the Spirit of God in the knowledge of Christ, ought to conclude with certainty from this that he has been adopted by the Lord to an inheritance of eternal life." John Calvin, Calvin's' Commentaries: 1 Corinthians. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House). Pg, 59-60.
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