A few weeks ago, in my ongoing summarizations of Calvin’s Institutes, I summarized Calvin’s understanding of the first four Commandments. Today I move ahead to the last six.
I don’t think these commandments were arranged by chance or accident. As the first table indicates, man and his relationship with God is cardinal. But this in no way diminishes man’s responsibility to love each other. Actually, loving God and loving our fellow man are so connected that how we treat each other, to a very large extent, reveals our relationship with God. If we love God we will love our neighbour. If we do not love God we will not love our neighbour. Why, because we fail to see the image of God in them, and because we love our selves more than we ought to.
On with the summary.
1. The fifth commandment (Ex 20:12). Mankind is to respect those whom God has placed over them.
2. Calvin: “This then is the sum: that we should look up to those whom God has placed over us, and would treat them with honour, obedience, and gratefulness. It follows from this that we are forbidden to detract from their dignity either by contempt, by stubbornness, or by ungratefulness” (Pg., 401).
3. The sixth commandment (Ex 20:13). Life is a gift from God. Therefore, to steal that life, either with the hands or with the heart, in an evil fashion is murder.
4. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment is: the Lord has bound mankind together by a certain unity; hence each man ought to concern himself with the safety of all. To sum up, then, all violence, injury, and any harmful thing at all that may injure our neighbour=s body are forbidden to us” (Pg., 404).
5. The seventh commandment (Ex 20:14). Sex is a gift of God given to the married. To those who practice it outside the marriage relationship violates this commandment.
6. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment is: because God loves modesty and purity, all uncleanliness must be far from us. To sum up, then: we should not become defiled with any filth or lustful intemperance of the flesh. To this corresponds the affirmative commandment that we chastely and continually regulate all parts of our life” (Pg., 405).
7. The eighth commandment (Ex 20:15). “The purpose of this commandment is: since injustice is an abomination to God, we should render to each man what belongs to him [Rom 13:7]. To sum up: we are forbidden to pant after the possessions of others, and consequently are commanded to strive faithfully to help every man to keep his own possessions” (Pg., 408).
8. The ninth commandment (Ex 20:16). “The purpose of this commandment is: since God (who is truth) abhors a lie, we must practice truth without deceit toward one another. To sum up then: let us not malign any one with slander or false charges, nor harm his substance by falsehood, in short, injure him by unbridled evils peaking and impudence....we should faithfully help everyone as much as we can in affirming the truth, in order to protect the integrity of his name and possessions” (Pg., 411).
9. The tenth commandment (Ex 20:17). Loves is the fulfilling of the law. Covetousness comes from a heart empty of love; hence, when we covet we break all the laws of God (Rom 7:7).
10. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment is: since God wills that our whole soul be possessed with a disposition to love, we must banish from our hearts all desire contrary to love. To sum up, then: no thought should steal upon us to move our hearts to a harmful covetousness that tends to our neighbours loss.....whatever we conceive, deliberate, will, or attempt is to be linked to our neighbour’s good” (Pg., 413).
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Can we help God save us?
Reading the free will issue in Calvin’s Institutes a few weeks ago got me thinking about that classic idea of synergism in salvation. So I wanted to make a separate blog entry. Today I finally got to it.
The issue of synergism in God's salvation work has been with the church is the at least the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Theological positions known as Pelagianism and Arminianism have been the strongest voice for it.
Synergism asserts that man is able to cooperate with God’s grace of salvation. The will is free and able to choose God making faith the action of fallen man. The will of man excited or moved by God cooperates with God by believing.
The Council of Trent (Session 6, Canon 4) Canon 4 declares. “If anyone says that man's free will moved and aroused by God, by assenting to God's call and action, in no way cooperates toward disposing and preparing itself to obtain the grace of justification, that it cannot refuse its assent if it wishes, but that, as something inanimate, it does nothing whatever and is merely passive, let him be anathema.”
Scripture gives us these truths in response the above argument. First, fallen man has no inate natural ability to co-operate with God because of original sin.(Gen 6:5; 8:21; Jn 3:6; Eph 2:1-3; Rom 3:10ff; Ezk 26:26). Second, co-operation with God is impossible because the very nature of regeneration. Dead sinners need to be made alive and this is solely a work of God alone. Regeneration is impossible for man (1 Cor 2:14; Rom 8:7; Jer 13:23). Regeneration is being created in the image of God – only God can create us in his own image (Col 3:10). It is a “creation,” (2 Cor 5:17), a “resurrection” (Col 2:12) which are divine infinite acts of God’s power alone. No man can aid in creation or resurrection. Third, faith is a gift of God (Eph 2:8-9; 1 Jn 4:10, 19; Jn 6:44-45; 1 Jn 2:20, 27; Phil 1:29). Last, the Bible plainly says salvation is the work of God alone (Ps 100:3; Jn 1:12-13; James 1:18; 1 Pet 1:3; Tit 3:5).
The issue of synergism in God's salvation work has been with the church is the at least the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Theological positions known as Pelagianism and Arminianism have been the strongest voice for it.
Synergism asserts that man is able to cooperate with God’s grace of salvation. The will is free and able to choose God making faith the action of fallen man. The will of man excited or moved by God cooperates with God by believing.
The Council of Trent (Session 6, Canon 4) Canon 4 declares. “If anyone says that man's free will moved and aroused by God, by assenting to God's call and action, in no way cooperates toward disposing and preparing itself to obtain the grace of justification, that it cannot refuse its assent if it wishes, but that, as something inanimate, it does nothing whatever and is merely passive, let him be anathema.”
Scripture gives us these truths in response the above argument. First, fallen man has no inate natural ability to co-operate with God because of original sin.(Gen 6:5; 8:21; Jn 3:6; Eph 2:1-3; Rom 3:10ff; Ezk 26:26). Second, co-operation with God is impossible because the very nature of regeneration. Dead sinners need to be made alive and this is solely a work of God alone. Regeneration is impossible for man (1 Cor 2:14; Rom 8:7; Jer 13:23). Regeneration is being created in the image of God – only God can create us in his own image (Col 3:10). It is a “creation,” (2 Cor 5:17), a “resurrection” (Col 2:12) which are divine infinite acts of God’s power alone. No man can aid in creation or resurrection. Third, faith is a gift of God (Eph 2:8-9; 1 Jn 4:10, 19; Jn 6:44-45; 1 Jn 2:20, 27; Phil 1:29). Last, the Bible plainly says salvation is the work of God alone (Ps 100:3; Jn 1:12-13; James 1:18; 1 Pet 1:3; Tit 3:5).
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Ten Commandments in Calvin’s Institutes, Part 3: The first four Commandments.
1. The first commandment (Ex 20:2-3). No other gods at all!
2. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment is that the Lord wills alone to be pre-eminent among His people, and to exercise complete authority over them. To affect this, He enjoins us to put far from us all impiety and superstition, which either diminish or obscure the glory of His divinity” (Pg., 382).
3. What belongs to him is adoration, trust, invocation and thanksgiving.
4. The second commandment (Ex 20:4-5). They that worship God must worship him in spirit, not by vain imaginations of the mind.
5. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment, then, is that He does not will that His lawful worship be profaned by superstitious rites. To sum up, He wholly calls us back and with draws us from petty carnal observances, which our stupid minds, crassly conceiving of God, are wont to devise. And then He makes us conform to His lawful worship, that is, a spiritual worship established by Himself” (Pg., 383).
There are curses and promises connected to this command. This last phrase is repeated throughout God’s word (Num 14:18; Ex 34:6-7; Jer 32:18). Its blessing and curse are not limited only to this present life; they have eternal ramifications.
6. The third commandment (Ex 20:7). The mind and tongue are forbidden to speak God’s name without meaning, or with cursing.
7. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment is: God wills that we hallow the majesty of His name. Therefore, it means in brief that we are not to profane His name by treating it contemptuously and irreverently......we ought to be so disposed in mind and speech that we neither think nor say anything concerning God and His mysteries, without reverence and much soberness; that in estimating His works we conceive nothing but what is honourable to Him” (Pg., 388).
If every idle word will be brought into judgment - how much more terrible the judgment of idle words about God. See Matthew 12:36-37.
8. The fourth commandment (Ex 20:8-10). The whole universe is God’s, including all the days. But one day in seven is a holy convocation to and for the Lord from the work He has given us to do.
9. Calvin did not affirm the Christian Sabbath. At the Lord Jesus’ coming the ceremonial part of the command was abolished. Christians should meet on Sundays, not because God commands it, but simply because that is what the church has done since her beginning. Christians must do spiritual service on the day the church meets. He writes, Athe purpose of this commandment is that, being dead to our own inclinations and works, we should meditate on the Kingdom of God, and that we should practice that meditation in the ways established by him” (Pg., 394).
“The purpose of this commandment,” Calvin writes, “is that, being dead to our own inclinations and works, we should meditate on the Kingdom of God, and that we should practice that meditation in the ways established by Him” (Pg., 394).
2. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment is that the Lord wills alone to be pre-eminent among His people, and to exercise complete authority over them. To affect this, He enjoins us to put far from us all impiety and superstition, which either diminish or obscure the glory of His divinity” (Pg., 382).
3. What belongs to him is adoration, trust, invocation and thanksgiving.
4. The second commandment (Ex 20:4-5). They that worship God must worship him in spirit, not by vain imaginations of the mind.
5. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment, then, is that He does not will that His lawful worship be profaned by superstitious rites. To sum up, He wholly calls us back and with draws us from petty carnal observances, which our stupid minds, crassly conceiving of God, are wont to devise. And then He makes us conform to His lawful worship, that is, a spiritual worship established by Himself” (Pg., 383).
There are curses and promises connected to this command. This last phrase is repeated throughout God’s word (Num 14:18; Ex 34:6-7; Jer 32:18). Its blessing and curse are not limited only to this present life; they have eternal ramifications.
6. The third commandment (Ex 20:7). The mind and tongue are forbidden to speak God’s name without meaning, or with cursing.
7. Calvin: “The purpose of this commandment is: God wills that we hallow the majesty of His name. Therefore, it means in brief that we are not to profane His name by treating it contemptuously and irreverently......we ought to be so disposed in mind and speech that we neither think nor say anything concerning God and His mysteries, without reverence and much soberness; that in estimating His works we conceive nothing but what is honourable to Him” (Pg., 388).
If every idle word will be brought into judgment - how much more terrible the judgment of idle words about God. See Matthew 12:36-37.
8. The fourth commandment (Ex 20:8-10). The whole universe is God’s, including all the days. But one day in seven is a holy convocation to and for the Lord from the work He has given us to do.
9. Calvin did not affirm the Christian Sabbath. At the Lord Jesus’ coming the ceremonial part of the command was abolished. Christians should meet on Sundays, not because God commands it, but simply because that is what the church has done since her beginning. Christians must do spiritual service on the day the church meets. He writes, Athe purpose of this commandment is that, being dead to our own inclinations and works, we should meditate on the Kingdom of God, and that we should practice that meditation in the ways established by him” (Pg., 394).
“The purpose of this commandment,” Calvin writes, “is that, being dead to our own inclinations and works, we should meditate on the Kingdom of God, and that we should practice that meditation in the ways established by Him” (Pg., 394).
Friday, April 17, 2009
The Ten Commandments in Calvin’s Institutes, Part 2: The Two Tables, and love.
Scripture in Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man,” or as the New American Translation has it, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”
This law of God which is summarized for us in the Ten Commandments is divided into two tables so as to leave nothing unaddressed. God has so designed the Ten Commandments so as to contain the whole of righteousness. The first table (Commandments number 1 through 4), address our relationship to God (particularly concerning the worship of God’s majesty), and the second table (Commandments number 5 through 10) address our relationships with our neighbour.
But to obey both tables requires faith-filled love. As Christ said there are only two commandments ultimately: love God; and a by-product from that: love your fellow man as you love yourself [Mark 29-31]. Paul in a sense reduces all Ten Commandments to one commandment, namely love. [Rom 13:10; Gal 5:14].
Chapter 8 of the Institutes is a study on each of the Commandments. Here is entry number of 1, summarizing the first few sections. This is one of those long chapters in the Institutes so there will be a number of summaries.
1. Is the law sin and against the promises of God? God forbid. [Rom 7:7; Gal 3:21]
2. This law calls us to reverence God for His majesty and holiness. This law reveals our depravity and reproves our impotence. Calvin correctly remarks. “Our nature, wicked and deformed, is always opposing His uprightness; and our capacity, weak and feeble to do good, lies far from His perfection” (Pg., 367).
3. God is our Creator. He is Father and Lord. Therefore, by right and Being, he can and does command us to obey his commandments. It is a sin to follow the caprice of our minds in deciding what commandments are suitable.
4. The law is good! Because it is so severe it aids in showing us our foul deadness which prompts us to seek mercy from God. Because of its promises and threats we are warmed to virtue and hateful against vice. Because of it’s righteousness it is sufficient we need not to dream of our own way to do good works. The law is given to teach us true and perfect righteousness.
5. God is a Spirit and his law is spiritual (Rom 7:14). Human laws demand only physical obedience, but God requires heart (spiritual) obedience. God requires obedience of soul, mind and will. “For since He is a spiritual lawgiver, He speaks no less to the soul than to the body” (Pg., 372).
6. Jesus, who knows what is in man, interprets the law correctly. The law must be obeyed in the man with and in love for the law to be truly obeyed. [Matt 5:28; 1 Jn 3:15; Matt 5:21-22, 43; Matt 16:6, 11]
7. Before Calvin gives his commentary on the law he explains why the Commandments tell what man should and should not do; or in reformed and Presbyterian way of saying it, “what the law requires and forbids.”
He explains it this way, One, “Through the law man’s life is moulded not only to outward honesty but to inward and spiritual righteousness” (Pg., 372). Two, “The commandments and prohibitions always contain more than is expressed in words” (Pg., 374). For Calvin’s in-depth explanation on interpreting the law see sect., 8, 9 10. Pg, 374.
This law of God which is summarized for us in the Ten Commandments is divided into two tables so as to leave nothing unaddressed. God has so designed the Ten Commandments so as to contain the whole of righteousness. The first table (Commandments number 1 through 4), address our relationship to God (particularly concerning the worship of God’s majesty), and the second table (Commandments number 5 through 10) address our relationships with our neighbour.
But to obey both tables requires faith-filled love. As Christ said there are only two commandments ultimately: love God; and a by-product from that: love your fellow man as you love yourself [Mark 29-31]. Paul in a sense reduces all Ten Commandments to one commandment, namely love. [Rom 13:10; Gal 5:14].
Chapter 8 of the Institutes is a study on each of the Commandments. Here is entry number of 1, summarizing the first few sections. This is one of those long chapters in the Institutes so there will be a number of summaries.
1. Is the law sin and against the promises of God? God forbid. [Rom 7:7; Gal 3:21]
2. This law calls us to reverence God for His majesty and holiness. This law reveals our depravity and reproves our impotence. Calvin correctly remarks. “Our nature, wicked and deformed, is always opposing His uprightness; and our capacity, weak and feeble to do good, lies far from His perfection” (Pg., 367).
3. God is our Creator. He is Father and Lord. Therefore, by right and Being, he can and does command us to obey his commandments. It is a sin to follow the caprice of our minds in deciding what commandments are suitable.
4. The law is good! Because it is so severe it aids in showing us our foul deadness which prompts us to seek mercy from God. Because of its promises and threats we are warmed to virtue and hateful against vice. Because of it’s righteousness it is sufficient we need not to dream of our own way to do good works. The law is given to teach us true and perfect righteousness.
5. God is a Spirit and his law is spiritual (Rom 7:14). Human laws demand only physical obedience, but God requires heart (spiritual) obedience. God requires obedience of soul, mind and will. “For since He is a spiritual lawgiver, He speaks no less to the soul than to the body” (Pg., 372).
6. Jesus, who knows what is in man, interprets the law correctly. The law must be obeyed in the man with and in love for the law to be truly obeyed. [Matt 5:28; 1 Jn 3:15; Matt 5:21-22, 43; Matt 16:6, 11]
7. Before Calvin gives his commentary on the law he explains why the Commandments tell what man should and should not do; or in reformed and Presbyterian way of saying it, “what the law requires and forbids.”
He explains it this way, One, “Through the law man’s life is moulded not only to outward honesty but to inward and spiritual righteousness” (Pg., 372). Two, “The commandments and prohibitions always contain more than is expressed in words” (Pg., 374). For Calvin’s in-depth explanation on interpreting the law see sect., 8, 9 10. Pg, 374.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Ten Commandments in Calvin’s Institutes, Part 1: The grace of the law.
John Patton, Presbyterian missionary to the New Hebrides followed Calvin’s pastoral method in presenting the gospel to men. After learning the language of the people he began to teach them to memorize Scripture; the first were the Ten Commandments.
Calvin’s reason for giving an exposition of the law after explaining man’s original sin is simply because Jesus “came to seek and save that which is lost.” Mankind must know they are lost before they will come to the Saviour. From the beginning of the world God has willed that all his people look to Christ alone for their salvation, but before they will look to him they must be lead to him; and it is the law that leads us to Christ. For the gospel’s sake Calvin expounded the Ten Commandments in chapter 7 and 8 of his Institutes.
1. Moses and the laws he communicated were not agents of legalism. They were spokesmen of God’s grace, speaking in types and foreshadows of the Messiah; Christ the Mediator. [Acts 7:44; Heb 8:5; Heb 9; Ex 25:40]
2. What of the moral law? This holy and good law is a perfect expression of righteousness which in turn teaches us our unrighteousness. Calvin explains. “Because observance of the law is found in none of us, we are excluded from the promises of life, and fall back into the mere curse” (Pg., 352). [Gal 3:10] [See section 4, pg, 352]
3. The Scriptures clearly explain that sinful man is cursed because he cannot fulfill the law. [Rom 3:10, 23; Eccl 7:21; 1 Kgs 8:46; Ps 143:2; Job 9:2; 25:4; Gal 3:10; Deut 27:26]
4. The moral law has 3 functions. All in the reformed tradition have held Calvin’s position more or less. Here it is in summary.
First, “while it shows God’s righteousness, that is, the righteousness alone acceptable to God, it warns, informs, convicts, and lastly condemns, every man of his own unrighteousness” (Pg., 354).
Second. The moral law of God written in the Word and conscience of men restrains evil. Yet, as Calvin has this caveat, “They are restrained, not because their inner mind is stirred or affected, but because, being bridled, so to speak, they keep their hands from outward activity, and hold inside the depravity that otherwise they would wantonly have indulged” (Pg., 358).
Third. The moral law of God is a tool of the believers’ sanctification. “Here is the best instrument for them to learn more thoroughly each day the nature of the Lord’s will to which they aspire, and to confirm them in the understanding of it” (Pg., 360).
5. Some have said that the moral law has been abrogated. We are not under law but under grace is their slogan, and by it they mean freedom from it’s worth and obligation. Calvin called these people “ignorant persons.” Why? They do not understand the distinctions between the law as a curse unto death and the law as a divine course in the life of grace. Calvin in no uncertain terms said this has damaged the church.
6. “Through Christ the teaching of the law remains inviolable; by teaching, admonishing, reproving, and correcting, it forms us and prepares us for every good work [ 2Tim 3:16-17]” (Pg., 363).
7. Are believers under the laws curse? No, Christ has redeemed the elect from the curse of the moral law by becoming a curse for us. [Gal 3:13; 4:4-5]
8. What of the ceremonial laws of Moses? Christ the Mediator is once again the answer. They pointed to and pictured him, and he has honoured their purpose and so they have no more use; other than to still point us to Christ even as the church reads and preaches from these Scriptures today. [Col 2:17; Heb 10:1; Lk 16:16; Jn 1:17; Eph 2:14-15]
Calvin’s reason for giving an exposition of the law after explaining man’s original sin is simply because Jesus “came to seek and save that which is lost.” Mankind must know they are lost before they will come to the Saviour. From the beginning of the world God has willed that all his people look to Christ alone for their salvation, but before they will look to him they must be lead to him; and it is the law that leads us to Christ. For the gospel’s sake Calvin expounded the Ten Commandments in chapter 7 and 8 of his Institutes.
1. Moses and the laws he communicated were not agents of legalism. They were spokesmen of God’s grace, speaking in types and foreshadows of the Messiah; Christ the Mediator. [Acts 7:44; Heb 8:5; Heb 9; Ex 25:40]
2. What of the moral law? This holy and good law is a perfect expression of righteousness which in turn teaches us our unrighteousness. Calvin explains. “Because observance of the law is found in none of us, we are excluded from the promises of life, and fall back into the mere curse” (Pg., 352). [Gal 3:10] [See section 4, pg, 352]
3. The Scriptures clearly explain that sinful man is cursed because he cannot fulfill the law. [Rom 3:10, 23; Eccl 7:21; 1 Kgs 8:46; Ps 143:2; Job 9:2; 25:4; Gal 3:10; Deut 27:26]
4. The moral law has 3 functions. All in the reformed tradition have held Calvin’s position more or less. Here it is in summary.
First, “while it shows God’s righteousness, that is, the righteousness alone acceptable to God, it warns, informs, convicts, and lastly condemns, every man of his own unrighteousness” (Pg., 354).
Second. The moral law of God written in the Word and conscience of men restrains evil. Yet, as Calvin has this caveat, “They are restrained, not because their inner mind is stirred or affected, but because, being bridled, so to speak, they keep their hands from outward activity, and hold inside the depravity that otherwise they would wantonly have indulged” (Pg., 358).
Third. The moral law of God is a tool of the believers’ sanctification. “Here is the best instrument for them to learn more thoroughly each day the nature of the Lord’s will to which they aspire, and to confirm them in the understanding of it” (Pg., 360).
5. Some have said that the moral law has been abrogated. We are not under law but under grace is their slogan, and by it they mean freedom from it’s worth and obligation. Calvin called these people “ignorant persons.” Why? They do not understand the distinctions between the law as a curse unto death and the law as a divine course in the life of grace. Calvin in no uncertain terms said this has damaged the church.
6. “Through Christ the teaching of the law remains inviolable; by teaching, admonishing, reproving, and correcting, it forms us and prepares us for every good work [ 2Tim 3:16-17]” (Pg., 363).
7. Are believers under the laws curse? No, Christ has redeemed the elect from the curse of the moral law by becoming a curse for us. [Gal 3:13; 4:4-5]
8. What of the ceremonial laws of Moses? Christ the Mediator is once again the answer. They pointed to and pictured him, and he has honoured their purpose and so they have no more use; other than to still point us to Christ even as the church reads and preaches from these Scriptures today. [Col 2:17; Heb 10:1; Lk 16:16; Jn 1:17; Eph 2:14-15]
Calvin’s Institutes: Man is to seek God’s salvation in Jesus.
Calvin delves into this topic, even after he has spent two chapters telling the reader that man in his sin cannot seek God because his will is fallen. Furthermore he will not want to seek God because in his sinful state he is estranged from God (Eph 4:18), accursed (Gal 3:10), a child of wrath (Eph 2:2-3), and unable to please God (Rom 5:6; 8:7-8). Where is the hope? Who is the hope?
At this juncture Calvin preaches Jesus Christ. He is always a great sermon.
1. Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and man. No man comes to the Father but by Him (Jn 14:6). It has always been Jesus and always been Jesus who saves His people from their sins.
2. The Old Testament saints were to seek salvation only in the atonement of Christ. (Heb 9)
3. Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and the others of Hebrews 11 depended on the Mediator’s grace. As Calvin writes, “Since God cannot without the Mediator be propitious toward the human race, under the law Christ was always set before the holy fathers as the end to which they should direct their faith” (Pg., 344). [see all the Scripture references in sect, 2]
4. Scriptures in the O.T indicate “that the hope of all the godly has ever reposed in Christ alone” (Pg., 345) [ Hab 3:13; 2 Kgs 8:19; Jer 23:5-6; Ezek 34:23-25; 37:24-26; Hos 1:11; 3:5; Micah 2:13; Amos 9:11; Ps 28:8-9; Zech 9:9]
5. The law and the prophets proclaimed their message of faith in God which is nothing else but faith in Christ. Calvin says, “God willed that the Jews should be so instructed by these prophecies that they might turn their eyes directly to Christ in order to seek deliverance” (Pg., 346).
6. “God is the object of faith, yet it required qualification. For Christ is not without reason called ‘the image of the invisible God’ [Col 1:15]. This title warns us that, that unless God confronts us in Christ, we cannot come to know that we are saved” (Pg., 346-347).
7. What John proclaimed in 1 Jn 2:23 is eternally true. God is understood and seen in Christ alone. Those who would say that OT saints are not saved by faith in Christ misunderstand the gospel and tear Christ from being the Saviour of all the elect. “Apart from Christ the saving knowledge of God does not stand. From the beginning of the world He had consequently been set before all the elect that they should look unto Him and put their trust in Him” (Pg., 347).
At this juncture Calvin preaches Jesus Christ. He is always a great sermon.
1. Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and man. No man comes to the Father but by Him (Jn 14:6). It has always been Jesus and always been Jesus who saves His people from their sins.
2. The Old Testament saints were to seek salvation only in the atonement of Christ. (Heb 9)
3. Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and the others of Hebrews 11 depended on the Mediator’s grace. As Calvin writes, “Since God cannot without the Mediator be propitious toward the human race, under the law Christ was always set before the holy fathers as the end to which they should direct their faith” (Pg., 344). [see all the Scripture references in sect, 2]
4. Scriptures in the O.T indicate “that the hope of all the godly has ever reposed in Christ alone” (Pg., 345) [ Hab 3:13; 2 Kgs 8:19; Jer 23:5-6; Ezek 34:23-25; 37:24-26; Hos 1:11; 3:5; Micah 2:13; Amos 9:11; Ps 28:8-9; Zech 9:9]
5. The law and the prophets proclaimed their message of faith in God which is nothing else but faith in Christ. Calvin says, “God willed that the Jews should be so instructed by these prophecies that they might turn their eyes directly to Christ in order to seek deliverance” (Pg., 346).
6. “God is the object of faith, yet it required qualification. For Christ is not without reason called ‘the image of the invisible God’ [Col 1:15]. This title warns us that, that unless God confronts us in Christ, we cannot come to know that we are saved” (Pg., 346-347).
7. What John proclaimed in 1 Jn 2:23 is eternally true. God is understood and seen in Christ alone. Those who would say that OT saints are not saved by faith in Christ misunderstand the gospel and tear Christ from being the Saviour of all the elect. “Apart from Christ the saving knowledge of God does not stand. From the beginning of the world He had consequently been set before all the elect that they should look unto Him and put their trust in Him” (Pg., 347).
Monday, April 13, 2009
God, not free will saves us.
The title for Chapter Five is quite lengthy: Refutation of the Objections Commonly Put Forward in Defence of Free Will. Reading it I wondered if these objections are still around today? After reading the chapter and thinking about the current church,"yes," was the answer to my question.
Before I list the summary points let’s remind ourselves what the will is. The will is simply the faculty by which we choose this or that. The will is that mode of the soul (of which understanding and conscience are a part), which self-determines, inclines, desires and chooses according to our human nature. The New Testament uses three Greek words to describe the activity of the will.
- Heart (Rom 1:24; 2:5; 10:9-10; Luke 1:17). When this word is used it refers to our inclinations. Therefore we choose according to our inclinations. Therefore the will is subject to our natural desires.
- Will (Philemon 1:14; Jn 7:17). In these passages the will is the will of desire and delight.
- Wanted, Decision, Counsel, Judge, Wished, Would like (2 Cor 1:15; Luke 23:52; Acts 18:15; 19:30; 25:22) These words denote the power to chose. Mankind has the ability of choice.
This is pretty philosophical but I hope you get the point. God created us as human beings not robots. We chose as perfect human beings in the Garden of Eden; we now choose as sinful human beings who were not made to choose evil but in their free will chose evil. Mystery? Yes, but thanks be to God in his freedom he came to save us.
Here is the summary of what Calvin tried to say in chapter 5.
1. Man’s will is enslaved to sin. Men object to this because it is said, common sense tells us that man is free to do good or evil. Is sin voluntary? Yes. Are men and women boys and girls forced to sin when they sin? No.
2. Because sin is voluntary, is it avoidable? No. Man’s nature is corrupt, therefore the sinner freely chooses what he cannot avoid, namely to act according to his depraved nature. Men are bound to sin, “not from creation but from corruption of nature that men are bound to sin and can will nothing but evil....He who sins of necessity sins no less voluntarily” (Pg., 317).
We cannot avoid sin. Man cannot not sin. We are sinful flesh (Jn 3:6; Rom 3:10-20; Rom 8:6-7). We are bad trees who bring forth nothing but bad fruit (Luke 6:40ff).
3. Because man is enslaved do reward and punishment lose their meaning? No.
4. Man is justly punished even though he is enslaved to sin! His sin “Is by voluntary desire - especially since man is proved a sinner because he is under the bondage of sin” (Pg., 318). Punishment, therefore, is justly executed upon sinners because the guilt of sin comes from their nature.
5. A sinner who is an object of God’s electing love receives rewards because of grace, not obligation or merit. As Augustine said, “God does not crown our merits but His own gifts; we call ‘rewards not what are due our merits, but what are rendered for graces already bestowed’” (Pg., 318). [See Augustine’s comments in this section. Pg., 318-319]
6. Because all men are born empty of free will, then would it not be reasonable to ask, “Will all men forever remain evil?” No. “Though all of us are by nature suffering from the same disease, only those whom it pleases the Lord to touch with His healing hand will get well. The others, whom He, in His righteous judgment, passes over, waste away in their own rottenness until they are consumed” (Pg., 320).
7. Because man sins of necessity is there any profit in preaching the gospel to them calling them to repent and believe in Jesus? Yes. God has decreed to use the preaching of the gospel to save all his elect in Christ. As Augustine aptly wrote, “God does not measure the precepts of His law according to human powers, but where He has commanded what is right, He freely gives to His elect the capacity to fulfill it” (Pg., 320).
8. God works in his elect in two ways. “Within, through His Spirit; without, through His Word. By His Spirit, illuminating their minds and forming their hearts to the love and cultivation of righteousness, He makes them a new creation. By His Word, He arouses them to desire, to seek after, and to attain that same renewal” (Pg., 322).
9. What of those not chosen in Christ? “When He addresses the same Word to the reprobate, though not to correct them, He makes it serve another use: today to press them with the witness of conscience, and in the Day of Judgment to render them the more inexcusable” (Pg., 322). [Jn 6:44-45; 2 Cor 2:15-16]
The Scriptures teach that man can understand truth, only when God teaches them. [ 1 Cor 3:7; Is 5:24; 24:5; Jer 9:13ff; 16:11ff; 14:10ff; Dan 6:11; Amos 2:4; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 11:19; 36:26; Jer 31:33]
10. Pelagianism: They argue that man has free will, or God would not have given commandments, promises, or rebukes which are not attainable. Is this a valid argument? No, and Calvin explains why.
In general the commands of God can be divided into three classes. When these classes are studied it will be understood that without grace we can do nothing.
First, the Lord commands sinners to seek and turn to Him. But the Bible says they will not and when they do it is a work of God’s grace fulfilling His covenant of grace. [Joel 2;12; Ezek 18:30-32; Hos 14:2ff; Jer 31:18-19; Deut 30:6; Ezek 18:31; 11:19; 36:26; Rom 3:10-19] Augustine said, “But what God promises, we ourselves do not do through choice or nature; but He Himself does through grace” (Pg., 325).
Secondly, we are commanded to honour God, to serve Him and trust only in Him. But holiness righteousness, piety, service are all gifts of God. [Eph 2:10; 1 Cor 1:30; 4:7; James 1:17; Jn 15:5, 2 Cor 1:12; 1 Cor 15:10; Josh 24:3; Neh 9:7]
Thirdly, believers are commanded to persevere in God’s grace; to be strong in the Lord [Eph 6:10]. This cannot be done by sheer human will. Only by the grace and sovereign mercy of God. [Matt 6:13; 2 Thess 1:11; 2 Cor 8;16; Hag 12:14; Is 42:1; Jer 50:9; Ezra 1:1; Pd 105:24; Phil 4:13; 2:12-13]
Fourthly, opponents of original sin conclude that God’s promises presuppose that man has free will to avail or not avail from them. They cite Amos 5:14; Is 1:19-20; Jer 4:1; Deut 28:1; Lev 26:3 etc.] However, promises originate from God’s heart of mercy and grace. They are not wages which the sinner earns. Therefore, if anyone receives them it is not by free will but by God’s grace.
Last of all, opponents of original sin conclude that the reproofs and exhortations of Scripture lose their meaning if man has no freewill. They quote the following passages [ Num 14:43; Jer 7:13-14, 28-29; Jer 19:15]. However, reproof and exhortation do their full job because man can do nothing without the mercy and grace of God. Reproof for evil tells a sinner what he actually is. [See Dan 9:4-19; Jer 7:27; Ps 78:8] Exhortation to righteousness tells a sinner that he can do nothing without grace. As Calvin says, “They are bidden to do God’s own work. By it He clearly intimates that believers act passively, so to speak, seeing that the capacity is supplied from heaven, that they may claim nothing at all for themselves” (Pg., 330). [ Ps 119:36; Phil 2:12-13; 2 Cor 7:1; 1 Jn 5:18; 3:9; 5:4; Jn 17:15; 1 Pet 1:22]
11. Arminianism: They say Scriptures proves human ability. Is this a valid argument? Calvin refutes arminianism too.
They marshal Deut 30:11-14. This passage speaks of the gospel (Rom 10:8), not the ability of man. Also, the sinful heart must be circumcised by God’s hand before we can love Him and be converted. The ability of Deut 30:11-14 is lodged, “not in the power of man, but in the help and protection of the Holy Spirit, who mightily carries out His work in our weakness” (Pg., 332). [see Calvin=s The Bondage & Liberation of the Will pg., 169]
They marshal Hosea 5:15. They suppose from this passage that God waits for man to do his part thus implying free will. The problem is solved by a question. Can sinful man or any other creation of God do anything apart from God’s power? [John 15:5; Acts 17:28].
They marshal Hebrews 6:10. They conjecture that such personal pronouns imply that these works are man’s works, chosen and performed by free will, without grace. Christians do these works, but not by self ability, rather they are gifts of God’s grace. “Because whatever God out of His loving-kindness does in us is ours, provided we understand that it is not of our doing; secondly, because ours is the mind, ours the will, ours the striving, which He directs toward the good” (Pg., 335). [1 Cor 15:10; 4:7; Eph 3:7; Matt 10:20; 2 Cor 3:5; Phil 2:13; 4:13; Col 1:29]
They marshal Genesis 4:7. This verse is in the imperative telling us what Cain ought to have done, not what he was able to do. What he ought to have done was beyond his power.
12. Man has no good will unless it be prepared by the Lord. Not that we ought not to will and to run; but because God accomplishes both in us” (Pg., 338).
13. Augustine: “To will is of nature, but to will aright is of grace. Unless God helps, we shall be able neither to conquer nor even to fight” (Pg., 335).
Before I list the summary points let’s remind ourselves what the will is. The will is simply the faculty by which we choose this or that. The will is that mode of the soul (of which understanding and conscience are a part), which self-determines, inclines, desires and chooses according to our human nature. The New Testament uses three Greek words to describe the activity of the will.
- Heart (Rom 1:24; 2:5; 10:9-10; Luke 1:17). When this word is used it refers to our inclinations. Therefore we choose according to our inclinations. Therefore the will is subject to our natural desires.
- Will (Philemon 1:14; Jn 7:17). In these passages the will is the will of desire and delight.
- Wanted, Decision, Counsel, Judge, Wished, Would like (2 Cor 1:15; Luke 23:52; Acts 18:15; 19:30; 25:22) These words denote the power to chose. Mankind has the ability of choice.
This is pretty philosophical but I hope you get the point. God created us as human beings not robots. We chose as perfect human beings in the Garden of Eden; we now choose as sinful human beings who were not made to choose evil but in their free will chose evil. Mystery? Yes, but thanks be to God in his freedom he came to save us.
Here is the summary of what Calvin tried to say in chapter 5.
1. Man’s will is enslaved to sin. Men object to this because it is said, common sense tells us that man is free to do good or evil. Is sin voluntary? Yes. Are men and women boys and girls forced to sin when they sin? No.
2. Because sin is voluntary, is it avoidable? No. Man’s nature is corrupt, therefore the sinner freely chooses what he cannot avoid, namely to act according to his depraved nature. Men are bound to sin, “not from creation but from corruption of nature that men are bound to sin and can will nothing but evil....He who sins of necessity sins no less voluntarily” (Pg., 317).
We cannot avoid sin. Man cannot not sin. We are sinful flesh (Jn 3:6; Rom 3:10-20; Rom 8:6-7). We are bad trees who bring forth nothing but bad fruit (Luke 6:40ff).
3. Because man is enslaved do reward and punishment lose their meaning? No.
4. Man is justly punished even though he is enslaved to sin! His sin “Is by voluntary desire - especially since man is proved a sinner because he is under the bondage of sin” (Pg., 318). Punishment, therefore, is justly executed upon sinners because the guilt of sin comes from their nature.
5. A sinner who is an object of God’s electing love receives rewards because of grace, not obligation or merit. As Augustine said, “God does not crown our merits but His own gifts; we call ‘rewards not what are due our merits, but what are rendered for graces already bestowed’” (Pg., 318). [See Augustine’s comments in this section. Pg., 318-319]
6. Because all men are born empty of free will, then would it not be reasonable to ask, “Will all men forever remain evil?” No. “Though all of us are by nature suffering from the same disease, only those whom it pleases the Lord to touch with His healing hand will get well. The others, whom He, in His righteous judgment, passes over, waste away in their own rottenness until they are consumed” (Pg., 320).
7. Because man sins of necessity is there any profit in preaching the gospel to them calling them to repent and believe in Jesus? Yes. God has decreed to use the preaching of the gospel to save all his elect in Christ. As Augustine aptly wrote, “God does not measure the precepts of His law according to human powers, but where He has commanded what is right, He freely gives to His elect the capacity to fulfill it” (Pg., 320).
8. God works in his elect in two ways. “Within, through His Spirit; without, through His Word. By His Spirit, illuminating their minds and forming their hearts to the love and cultivation of righteousness, He makes them a new creation. By His Word, He arouses them to desire, to seek after, and to attain that same renewal” (Pg., 322).
9. What of those not chosen in Christ? “When He addresses the same Word to the reprobate, though not to correct them, He makes it serve another use: today to press them with the witness of conscience, and in the Day of Judgment to render them the more inexcusable” (Pg., 322). [Jn 6:44-45; 2 Cor 2:15-16]
The Scriptures teach that man can understand truth, only when God teaches them. [ 1 Cor 3:7; Is 5:24; 24:5; Jer 9:13ff; 16:11ff; 14:10ff; Dan 6:11; Amos 2:4; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 11:19; 36:26; Jer 31:33]
10. Pelagianism: They argue that man has free will, or God would not have given commandments, promises, or rebukes which are not attainable. Is this a valid argument? No, and Calvin explains why.
In general the commands of God can be divided into three classes. When these classes are studied it will be understood that without grace we can do nothing.
First, the Lord commands sinners to seek and turn to Him. But the Bible says they will not and when they do it is a work of God’s grace fulfilling His covenant of grace. [Joel 2;12; Ezek 18:30-32; Hos 14:2ff; Jer 31:18-19; Deut 30:6; Ezek 18:31; 11:19; 36:26; Rom 3:10-19] Augustine said, “But what God promises, we ourselves do not do through choice or nature; but He Himself does through grace” (Pg., 325).
Secondly, we are commanded to honour God, to serve Him and trust only in Him. But holiness righteousness, piety, service are all gifts of God. [Eph 2:10; 1 Cor 1:30; 4:7; James 1:17; Jn 15:5, 2 Cor 1:12; 1 Cor 15:10; Josh 24:3; Neh 9:7]
Thirdly, believers are commanded to persevere in God’s grace; to be strong in the Lord [Eph 6:10]. This cannot be done by sheer human will. Only by the grace and sovereign mercy of God. [Matt 6:13; 2 Thess 1:11; 2 Cor 8;16; Hag 12:14; Is 42:1; Jer 50:9; Ezra 1:1; Pd 105:24; Phil 4:13; 2:12-13]
Fourthly, opponents of original sin conclude that God’s promises presuppose that man has free will to avail or not avail from them. They cite Amos 5:14; Is 1:19-20; Jer 4:1; Deut 28:1; Lev 26:3 etc.] However, promises originate from God’s heart of mercy and grace. They are not wages which the sinner earns. Therefore, if anyone receives them it is not by free will but by God’s grace.
Last of all, opponents of original sin conclude that the reproofs and exhortations of Scripture lose their meaning if man has no freewill. They quote the following passages [ Num 14:43; Jer 7:13-14, 28-29; Jer 19:15]. However, reproof and exhortation do their full job because man can do nothing without the mercy and grace of God. Reproof for evil tells a sinner what he actually is. [See Dan 9:4-19; Jer 7:27; Ps 78:8] Exhortation to righteousness tells a sinner that he can do nothing without grace. As Calvin says, “They are bidden to do God’s own work. By it He clearly intimates that believers act passively, so to speak, seeing that the capacity is supplied from heaven, that they may claim nothing at all for themselves” (Pg., 330). [ Ps 119:36; Phil 2:12-13; 2 Cor 7:1; 1 Jn 5:18; 3:9; 5:4; Jn 17:15; 1 Pet 1:22]
11. Arminianism: They say Scriptures proves human ability. Is this a valid argument? Calvin refutes arminianism too.
They marshal Deut 30:11-14. This passage speaks of the gospel (Rom 10:8), not the ability of man. Also, the sinful heart must be circumcised by God’s hand before we can love Him and be converted. The ability of Deut 30:11-14 is lodged, “not in the power of man, but in the help and protection of the Holy Spirit, who mightily carries out His work in our weakness” (Pg., 332). [see Calvin=s The Bondage & Liberation of the Will pg., 169]
They marshal Hosea 5:15. They suppose from this passage that God waits for man to do his part thus implying free will. The problem is solved by a question. Can sinful man or any other creation of God do anything apart from God’s power? [John 15:5; Acts 17:28].
They marshal Hebrews 6:10. They conjecture that such personal pronouns imply that these works are man’s works, chosen and performed by free will, without grace. Christians do these works, but not by self ability, rather they are gifts of God’s grace. “Because whatever God out of His loving-kindness does in us is ours, provided we understand that it is not of our doing; secondly, because ours is the mind, ours the will, ours the striving, which He directs toward the good” (Pg., 335). [1 Cor 15:10; 4:7; Eph 3:7; Matt 10:20; 2 Cor 3:5; Phil 2:13; 4:13; Col 1:29]
They marshal Genesis 4:7. This verse is in the imperative telling us what Cain ought to have done, not what he was able to do. What he ought to have done was beyond his power.
12. Man has no good will unless it be prepared by the Lord. Not that we ought not to will and to run; but because God accomplishes both in us” (Pg., 338).
13. Augustine: “To will is of nature, but to will aright is of grace. Unless God helps, we shall be able neither to conquer nor even to fight” (Pg., 335).
God’s sovereignty over devils and men.
In the Institutes, chapter 4 of Book II, Calvin describes God’s sovereignty over man and the devils. Happily, as Scripture testifies God is more sovereign than man, Satan, or the devils.
1. Scripture reveals that man is enslaved to evil, but it says he is also a child of the devil. Is man enslaved to sin or to the devil? And is the devil outside the control of God?
2. Good questions indeed! Calvin says, “It consequently remains for us to determine the part of the devil and the part of man in the action. Then we must answer the question whether we ought to ascribe to God any part of the evil works in which Scripture signifies that some action of His intervenes” (Pg., 309).
3. These questions are answered by using the illustration of Job’s trial. [Job 1]
a. The Lord permits Satan to afflict his servant.
b. He hands the Chaldeans over to be impelled by Satan, having chosen them as his ministers for this task.
c. Satan with his poison darts arouses the wicked minds of the Chaldeans to execute that evil deed.
d. They dash madly into injustice, and they render all their members guilty and befoul them by crime (Pg., 310).
4. Calvin concludes. “Satan is properly said, therefore, to act in the reprobate over whom he exercises his reign, that is, the reign of wickedness. God is also said to act in His own manner, in that Satan himself, since he is the instrument of God’s wrath, bends himself hither and thither at His beck and command to execute His just judgements” (Pg., 311).
5. Calvin then discusses the hardening of the heart in the reprobate, although noting that the church fathers “sometimes scrupulously shrink from a simple confession of the truth because they are afraid that they may open the way for the impious to speak irreverently of God’s works” (Pg, 311). Calvin approved of this soberness by the way. But I wonder why Calvin said, “simple confession of the truth?” There is nothing simple about this as he goes on to show quoting Augustine and alluding to others, none of whom had a clear answer on how and why God hardens the heart of the reprobate devils and men.
This was Calvin’s answer. “To carry our his judgements through Satan as minister of his wrath, God destines men’s purposes as he pleases, arouses their wills, and strengthens their endeavours” (Pg, 312). Not clear at all to me. Yes, for example, it is true that because God willed to destroy Egypt and Sihon he prepared their ruin by hardening their heart, yet it is still a mystery. After all God is sovereign. These passages show God’s sovereignty and involvement in making people hard hearted. [Job 12:20 cf. Ezek 7:26; Job 12:24 cf, Ps 107:40; Is 63:17; Pharaoh Ex 4:21; 7:3-4; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:8; Deut 2:30; Ps 105:25; Is 5:26; 7:18; 10:15; Ezek 12:13; 17:20; Jer 50:23]
6. Satan is a servant of God. [ Job 1; 1 Sam 16:14; 18:10; 19:9; 2 Thess 2:10-11 etc] “Yet in the same work there is always a great difference between what the Lord does and what Satan and the wicked try to do. God makes these evil instruments, which He holds under His hand and can turn wherever He pleases, to serve His justice. They, as they are evil, by their action give birth to a wickedness conceived in their depraved nature” (Pg., 313).
7. Both the devils and man are under the sovereign dominion of God Almighty. God is more sovereign than Satan, devils or, man’s so called free will. This is good news.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)