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)