Faith is a gift of God to us; and that gift becomes, by God's grace, a natural habit of the Christian's mind. Yes, often we do not believe and trust like we want to (Rom 7:22), yet we still think God's thoughts after him and delight in God's word in our inmost self.
Bavink wrote, "Believing is the natural breath of the children of God. Their submission to the Word of God is not slavery but freedom. In that sense faith is not a sacrifice of the intellect but mental health."
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Friday, January 25, 2013
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.7. The Siamese twins, faith and hope.
I now come to consider the relationship between faith and the two comforting virtues hope and love. To understand this relationship the essential nature of faith itself must be known. In simple terms it is a secure trust in the promises of God. Hope is similar. It anticipates the promises of God. For Calvin hope and faith were focused on the Person and reward of God’s grace…Jesus.
1. From Hebrews 11:1, Calvin explains the essential nature of faith four ways.
a. Substance of faith is a sort of “support upon which the godly mind may lean and rest. It is as if he were to say that faith itself is a sure and secure possession of those things which God has promised us, unless someone prefers to understand ‘hypostasis’ as confidence!” (Pg., 588).
b. These promises are not perceived by our immediate senses, therefore we do not group these promises “any other way than if we transcend all the limits of our senses and direct our perception beyond all things of this world and, in short, surpass ourselves. Therefore he adds that this assurance of possession is on those things which lie in hope, and are therefore not seen” (Pg., 588).
c. Hence faith is “an evidence of things not appearing, a seeing of things not seen, a clearness of things obscure, a presence of things absent, a showing forth of things hidden.”
d. Therefore faith understands, knows, trusts, and rests upon the real promises of God, which cannot be seen by the naked eye, but are tangible, alive, and already done to the eye of saving faith.
2. Obviously, those who see and believe the promises of God are aroused to hope and love for God.
3. Hope in God and what he has promised in Scripture, “is nothing else than the expectation of those things which faith has believed to have been truly promised by God” (Pg., 590).
4. How do faith and hope work together? “Faith knows God to be true, hope waits for the time this truth will be manifest; faith believes that he is our Father, hope anticipates that he will ever show himself to be a Father toward us; faith believes that eternal life has been given to us, hope anticipates that it will some time be revealed; faith is the foundation upon which hope rests, hope nourishes and sustains faith…(This is because, ‘Faith must be sustained and nourished by patient hope and expectation, lest it fail and grow faint.’) Hope restrains faith that it may not fail headlong from to much hast...Hope strengthens faith that it may not waver in God’s promises…Hope refreshes faith, that it may not become weary. In short, by unremitting renewing and restoring, it (hope) invigorates faith again and again with perseverance” (Pg., 590).
5. Hope also supports faith through periods of testing and waiting. [Hab. 2:3; Isa. 8:7; 2 Peter 3:3,4; Ps. 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8]
6. Faith and Hope are inseparably linked together. “Because, embracing the testimony of the gospel concerning freely given love, we look for the time when God will openly show that which is now hidden under hope” (Pg., 591).
7. The believer has faith and hope in God, for the express purpose to embrace his mercy. The Spirit gives faith and hope for this reason. As Calvin writes, “The single goal of faith is the mercy of God” (Pg., 592). Faith and hope are like Siamese twins.
1. From Hebrews 11:1, Calvin explains the essential nature of faith four ways.
a. Substance of faith is a sort of “support upon which the godly mind may lean and rest. It is as if he were to say that faith itself is a sure and secure possession of those things which God has promised us, unless someone prefers to understand ‘hypostasis’ as confidence!” (Pg., 588).
b. These promises are not perceived by our immediate senses, therefore we do not group these promises “any other way than if we transcend all the limits of our senses and direct our perception beyond all things of this world and, in short, surpass ourselves. Therefore he adds that this assurance of possession is on those things which lie in hope, and are therefore not seen” (Pg., 588).
c. Hence faith is “an evidence of things not appearing, a seeing of things not seen, a clearness of things obscure, a presence of things absent, a showing forth of things hidden.”
d. Therefore faith understands, knows, trusts, and rests upon the real promises of God, which cannot be seen by the naked eye, but are tangible, alive, and already done to the eye of saving faith.
2. Obviously, those who see and believe the promises of God are aroused to hope and love for God.
3. Hope in God and what he has promised in Scripture, “is nothing else than the expectation of those things which faith has believed to have been truly promised by God” (Pg., 590).
4. How do faith and hope work together? “Faith knows God to be true, hope waits for the time this truth will be manifest; faith believes that he is our Father, hope anticipates that he will ever show himself to be a Father toward us; faith believes that eternal life has been given to us, hope anticipates that it will some time be revealed; faith is the foundation upon which hope rests, hope nourishes and sustains faith…(This is because, ‘Faith must be sustained and nourished by patient hope and expectation, lest it fail and grow faint.’) Hope restrains faith that it may not fail headlong from to much hast...Hope strengthens faith that it may not waver in God’s promises…Hope refreshes faith, that it may not become weary. In short, by unremitting renewing and restoring, it (hope) invigorates faith again and again with perseverance” (Pg., 590).
5. Hope also supports faith through periods of testing and waiting. [Hab. 2:3; Isa. 8:7; 2 Peter 3:3,4; Ps. 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8]
6. Faith and Hope are inseparably linked together. “Because, embracing the testimony of the gospel concerning freely given love, we look for the time when God will openly show that which is now hidden under hope” (Pg., 591).
7. The believer has faith and hope in God, for the express purpose to embrace his mercy. The Spirit gives faith and hope for this reason. As Calvin writes, “The single goal of faith is the mercy of God” (Pg., 592). Faith and hope are like Siamese twins.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.6. Faith and the Holy Spirit.
We now come to consider the Holy Spirit's work in connection with faith. To put it differently, can Scripture and man by themselves bring faith, or is this God’s work? Yes, God the Holy Spirit must take Scripture and illuminate it into and upon the darkened heart. "Without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the Word can do nothing" (Pg., 580). I would add without the Holy Spirit we can not know Jesus Christ.
Here is today’s summary.
1. Blind men can not see the blinding sun unless their eyes are made to see. Sinful men cannot see their sin or the truth of God in Jesus, unless they are allowed by grace to see the truth. [1 Cor. 2:9-11,14,16; Matt. 11:25; Luke 10:21; Matt. 16:17; Rom. 11:34; John 6:44,45; John 1:18 and 5:37; Luke 24:27,45; John 16:13]
2. As man cannot initiate faith by himself, so he cannot beam the light of the Scripture upon his mind and heart, so as to love, believe and embrace Jesus Christ and be united to God.
3. Calvin sums it up. "Christ, when he illumines us into faith be the power of his Spirit, at the same time so engrafts us into his body that we become partakers of every good" (Pg., 583).
4. Saving Faith reaches both the mind and heart. To put it another way, the understanding must be illuminated in God's truth to such an extent that truth is grasped, loved, and followed by the heart.
5. The Spirit's illumination and "efficacious winning" of the heart will drive out those deep seated doubts, distrusts and blackness. The Spirit will seal God's truth in the believer's heart, being the guarantee. "The Spirit accordingly serves as a seal, to seal up in our hearts those very promises the certainty of which it has previously impressed upon our minds; and takes the place of a guarantee to confirm and establish them. After Ayou believed" (the apostle declares), "you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance" (Pg., 584). [Eph. 1:13-14. See Calvin’s Commentary on Ephesians]
6. Scripture tells us God's children confidently rejoice and persevere in their faith through the indwelling Holy Spirit. [1 Cor. 2:12; Rom. 8:9,11,14,16; 1 John 3:24, 4:13; Isa. 44:3; cf. Joel 2:28; Rom. 8:38,39]
7. God the Holy Spirit takes Scripture and illumines the mind and heart of his people to see God, but not only to see God…to also be at rest in God.
8. Again as Calvin said, "That the root of faith can never be torn from the godly breast, but clings so fast to the inmost parts that, however faith seems to be shaken or to bend this way or that, its light is never so extinguished or snuffed out that it does not at least lurk as it were beneath the ashes."
Here is today’s summary.
1. Blind men can not see the blinding sun unless their eyes are made to see. Sinful men cannot see their sin or the truth of God in Jesus, unless they are allowed by grace to see the truth. [1 Cor. 2:9-11,14,16; Matt. 11:25; Luke 10:21; Matt. 16:17; Rom. 11:34; John 6:44,45; John 1:18 and 5:37; Luke 24:27,45; John 16:13]
2. As man cannot initiate faith by himself, so he cannot beam the light of the Scripture upon his mind and heart, so as to love, believe and embrace Jesus Christ and be united to God.
3. Calvin sums it up. "Christ, when he illumines us into faith be the power of his Spirit, at the same time so engrafts us into his body that we become partakers of every good" (Pg., 583).
4. Saving Faith reaches both the mind and heart. To put it another way, the understanding must be illuminated in God's truth to such an extent that truth is grasped, loved, and followed by the heart.
5. The Spirit's illumination and "efficacious winning" of the heart will drive out those deep seated doubts, distrusts and blackness. The Spirit will seal God's truth in the believer's heart, being the guarantee. "The Spirit accordingly serves as a seal, to seal up in our hearts those very promises the certainty of which it has previously impressed upon our minds; and takes the place of a guarantee to confirm and establish them. After Ayou believed" (the apostle declares), "you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance" (Pg., 584). [Eph. 1:13-14. See Calvin’s Commentary on Ephesians]
6. Scripture tells us God's children confidently rejoice and persevere in their faith through the indwelling Holy Spirit. [1 Cor. 2:12; Rom. 8:9,11,14,16; 1 John 3:24, 4:13; Isa. 44:3; cf. Joel 2:28; Rom. 8:38,39]
7. God the Holy Spirit takes Scripture and illumines the mind and heart of his people to see God, but not only to see God…to also be at rest in God.
8. Again as Calvin said, "That the root of faith can never be torn from the godly breast, but clings so fast to the inmost parts that, however faith seems to be shaken or to bend this way or that, its light is never so extinguished or snuffed out that it does not at least lurk as it were beneath the ashes."
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.5. Faith is trusting Jesus Christ.
I was talking with the kids about faith the other day. One of them said, “Sometimes Christian pastors and teachers make faith so hard to understand. What is it really?” Someone said in response, “Faith is simply trusting and depending on the Lord. After all he sent Jesus didn’t he?”
Calvin wrote about faith as trust years ago. Here is the gist of his discussion.
1. Faith is repose upon God's promises. The promises of God are the foundation of our faith. "Faith properly begins with the promise, rests in it, and ends in it" (Pg., 575).
2. Calvin says Christians do have faith in God's commands, threatenings, and prohibitions but true faith does not find its nourishment here. Why? "For in God faith seeks life: a life that is not found in commandments or declarations of penalties, but in the promise of mercy, and only in a freely given promise" (Pg., 575).
3. "Therefore, if we would not have our faith tremble and waver, we must buttress it with the promise of salvation, which is willingly and freely offered to us by the Lord in consideration of our misery rather than our deserts" (Pg., 575).
4. These promises of God are found in Jesus Christ, and Scripture witnesses to him. We are again reminded of the necessary connection between faith and Scripture. The Scriptures direct us to the verity that these promises are found in Jesus Christ. (Rom. 1:17; 2 Cor. 1:20) "The reason for this fact is at hand; for if God promises anything, by it he witnesses his benevolence, so that there is no promise of his which is not a testimony of his love" (Pg., 579).
5. It must be understood; even the wicked receive gifts from the goodness of God's providing hand. However, they reject these gifts of common grace as coming from God's hand and therefore hate and spurn the promise contained in Christ. Rather than the goodness of God leading them to repentance, it leads them to rebellion.
6. "Nothing prevents them, in habitually rejecting the promises intended for them, from thereby bringing upon themselves a greater vengeance" (Pg., 579).
7. Those promises which manifest God's love to man, wicked men are commanded to believe and obey. But if they are not elect in Christ, they will themselves disregard those promises, and not be loved by the Father. "It is indisputable that no one is loved by God apart from Christ" (Pg., 579). [Eph. 1:6; Eph. 2:14; Rom. 8:3 ff]
8. The elect of God have great and exceeding and precious promise, upon which to rest and practise faith.
Calvin wrote about faith as trust years ago. Here is the gist of his discussion.
1. Faith is repose upon God's promises. The promises of God are the foundation of our faith. "Faith properly begins with the promise, rests in it, and ends in it" (Pg., 575).
2. Calvin says Christians do have faith in God's commands, threatenings, and prohibitions but true faith does not find its nourishment here. Why? "For in God faith seeks life: a life that is not found in commandments or declarations of penalties, but in the promise of mercy, and only in a freely given promise" (Pg., 575).
3. "Therefore, if we would not have our faith tremble and waver, we must buttress it with the promise of salvation, which is willingly and freely offered to us by the Lord in consideration of our misery rather than our deserts" (Pg., 575).
4. These promises of God are found in Jesus Christ, and Scripture witnesses to him. We are again reminded of the necessary connection between faith and Scripture. The Scriptures direct us to the verity that these promises are found in Jesus Christ. (Rom. 1:17; 2 Cor. 1:20) "The reason for this fact is at hand; for if God promises anything, by it he witnesses his benevolence, so that there is no promise of his which is not a testimony of his love" (Pg., 579).
5. It must be understood; even the wicked receive gifts from the goodness of God's providing hand. However, they reject these gifts of common grace as coming from God's hand and therefore hate and spurn the promise contained in Christ. Rather than the goodness of God leading them to repentance, it leads them to rebellion.
6. "Nothing prevents them, in habitually rejecting the promises intended for them, from thereby bringing upon themselves a greater vengeance" (Pg., 579).
7. Those promises which manifest God's love to man, wicked men are commanded to believe and obey. But if they are not elect in Christ, they will themselves disregard those promises, and not be loved by the Father. "It is indisputable that no one is loved by God apart from Christ" (Pg., 579). [Eph. 1:6; Eph. 2:14; Rom. 8:3 ff]
8. The elect of God have great and exceeding and precious promise, upon which to rest and practise faith.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.4. Faith and peace.
Peace and faith go together. We don’t often think of faith as the way to peace. Knowledge, science, medicine, politics or technologies are the keys to peace, we think. However, faith or trust in the word and will of God brings true peace. Here are Calvin’s thoughts on the relationship between faith and peace.
I should remind my readers that I am using the John T. McNeill edition of Calvin’s Institutes found in The Library of Christian Classics. The summary below covers pages 561-66.
1. Faith and inward peace. From Scripture's testimony we realize that true faith brings and grows the fruit of peace. Actually, peace is a part of faith, due to faith's embracing the gospel. [Rom. 5:1]
2. Calvin says that the "hinge on which faith turns is that a person individually embraces God's promises of mercy. Hence, at last is born that confidence which Paul elsewhere calls 'peace'"(Pg., 561).
3. Yet it must be remembered, as Calvin reminds us, that this faith can be, and is assailed by temptations of the mind and our own conflict with unbelief. But Calvin quickly adds, "we deny that, in whatever way they are afflicted, they fall away and depart from the certain assurance received from God's mercy"(Pg., 562).
4. David is an example of persevering faith. (See, Pg. 563) "So David, even when he might have seemed overwhelmed, in rebuking himself did not cease to rise up to God. He who, struggling with his own weakness, presses toward faith in his moments of anxiety is already in large part victorious"(Pg., 563).
5. From David's life, from the life of other saints in the Bible and our own life we understand that there is a conflict between faith and unbelief. Why? Calvin gives 2 reasons.
a. The division between flesh and spirit.
b. The godly heart feels itself divided between a love for God's goodness and hatred of our own sin, a restful reliance upon God's promises and an awareness of our "restless reliance," and a great expectation of eternal life, and fear of death.
6. However, Calvin is quick to remind us that, "the end of the conflict is always this: that faith ultimately triumphs over those difficulties which besiege and seem to imperil it" (Pg., 564).
7. Weak faith however is still real faith; hence faith is weak and strong at times. [1 Cor. 13:9-12] For the weakness to be cured and faith to be strengthened "we must constantly keep at learning," from the Scriptures (Pg., 565).
8. The Scripture fortifies faith. "The Word, which is an incorruptible seed, brings forth fruit like itself, whose fertility never wholly dries up and dies" (Pg. 567).
9. "Holy fear" also strengthens faith and peace. [1 Cor. 10:11, Ps 5:7, Phil 2:12-13] Calvin explains how this occurs. "This happens when believers, considering that the examples of divine wrath are executed upon the ungodly as warnings to them, take special care not to provoke God=s wrath against them by the same offences; or, when inwardly contemplating their own misery, learn to depend wholly upon the Lord, without whom they see themselves more unstable and fleeting than any wind" (Pg., 568).
10. Faith and peace live together. [Ps. 23:4] We must be "content with this certainty: that, however many things fail us that have to do with the maintenance of this life, God will never fail. Rather, the chief assurance of faith rests in the expectation of the life to come, which has been placed beyond doubt through the Word of God. Yet whatever earthly miseries and calamities await those whom God has embraced in his love, these cannot hinder his benevolence from being their full happiness" (Pg., 574).
I should remind my readers that I am using the John T. McNeill edition of Calvin’s Institutes found in The Library of Christian Classics. The summary below covers pages 561-66.
1. Faith and inward peace. From Scripture's testimony we realize that true faith brings and grows the fruit of peace. Actually, peace is a part of faith, due to faith's embracing the gospel. [Rom. 5:1]
2. Calvin says that the "hinge on which faith turns is that a person individually embraces God's promises of mercy. Hence, at last is born that confidence which Paul elsewhere calls 'peace'"(Pg., 561).
3. Yet it must be remembered, as Calvin reminds us, that this faith can be, and is assailed by temptations of the mind and our own conflict with unbelief. But Calvin quickly adds, "we deny that, in whatever way they are afflicted, they fall away and depart from the certain assurance received from God's mercy"(Pg., 562).
4. David is an example of persevering faith. (See, Pg. 563) "So David, even when he might have seemed overwhelmed, in rebuking himself did not cease to rise up to God. He who, struggling with his own weakness, presses toward faith in his moments of anxiety is already in large part victorious"(Pg., 563).
5. From David's life, from the life of other saints in the Bible and our own life we understand that there is a conflict between faith and unbelief. Why? Calvin gives 2 reasons.
a. The division between flesh and spirit.
b. The godly heart feels itself divided between a love for God's goodness and hatred of our own sin, a restful reliance upon God's promises and an awareness of our "restless reliance," and a great expectation of eternal life, and fear of death.
6. However, Calvin is quick to remind us that, "the end of the conflict is always this: that faith ultimately triumphs over those difficulties which besiege and seem to imperil it" (Pg., 564).
7. Weak faith however is still real faith; hence faith is weak and strong at times. [1 Cor. 13:9-12] For the weakness to be cured and faith to be strengthened "we must constantly keep at learning," from the Scriptures (Pg., 565).
8. The Scripture fortifies faith. "The Word, which is an incorruptible seed, brings forth fruit like itself, whose fertility never wholly dries up and dies" (Pg. 567).
9. "Holy fear" also strengthens faith and peace. [1 Cor. 10:11, Ps 5:7, Phil 2:12-13] Calvin explains how this occurs. "This happens when believers, considering that the examples of divine wrath are executed upon the ungodly as warnings to them, take special care not to provoke God=s wrath against them by the same offences; or, when inwardly contemplating their own misery, learn to depend wholly upon the Lord, without whom they see themselves more unstable and fleeting than any wind" (Pg., 568).
10. Faith and peace live together. [Ps. 23:4] We must be "content with this certainty: that, however many things fail us that have to do with the maintenance of this life, God will never fail. Rather, the chief assurance of faith rests in the expectation of the life to come, which has been placed beyond doubt through the Word of God. Yet whatever earthly miseries and calamities await those whom God has embraced in his love, these cannot hinder his benevolence from being their full happiness" (Pg., 574).
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.3. Faith and knowledge.
Beginning with the Enlightenment to the present day the West has had anxiety over the relation, or lack thereof, between faith and reason. The worried language has set itself in terms of “faith and science,” or “religion and reason,” or even “conservatives and liberals.” Now that western civilization has “fallen,” it seems we are coming around to understand that faith is a gate to knowledge, and is actually not without knowledge at all. Of course this has given rise to a new resurgent and militant atheism; the likes of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens to mention a few.
Calvin and those before him did not believe real faith was empty or disconnected with knowledge. He tackled this issue in Chapter 3, Bk.2. Here I summarize that section.
1. Biblical faith has more than one component. The Bible speaks of faith in terms of knowledge, inward peace and a full repose upon the promises of God. Calvin explains all three with great clarity.
2. Faith and knowledge. They are not contradictions but rather inseparable friends.
3. First of all, when faith is called knowledge, it refers to that apprehension which grasps and “really, lovingly knows the infinite truth of God. [Eph 3:18-19]
4. Secondly, faith is called recognition [Eph 1:17; 4:13; Col 1:9; 3:10; 1 Tim 2:4; Titus 1:1; Philemon 6; 2 Pet 2:21]. John asserts that God’s children can have the knowledge (recognition) that they are God’s children. “But, as Calvin writes, they are more strengthened by the persuasion of divine truth than instructed by rational proof” (Pg., 560).
The mistake we have fallen into since the rise of Christian liberalism and its affront against the reality of God’s work in incarnation, miracle, and atonement is that we have sought proof for persuasion rather than be persuaded by God’s promises by the Spirit. Calvin has good advice to help us here.
5. Third, this faith called knowledge can and often does come with great certainty due to the sureness of God’s promises. [Rom 4:16; Ps 19:7]
6. Calvin says, “As faith is not content with a doubtful and changeable opinion, so is it not content with an obscure and confused conception; but requires full and fixed certainty, such as men are wont to have from things experienced and proved” (Pg., 560).
7. Calvin essentially demands that true faith and knowledge always includes certainty! His reason for this is twofold.
a. “For unbelief is so deeply rooted in our hearts, and we are so inclined to it, that not without hard struggle is each one able to persuade himself of what all confess with the mouth: namely, that God is faithful” (Pg., 560).
b. Going half-way in faith leaves the human soul in great fear. That is, God in his goodness is manifested to us so as to leave us without doubt; therefore those who do doubt do not stand before God with tranquil hearts. “This kind of faith,” says Calvin, “is no right faith” (Pg., 561).
8. Is Calvin completely correct? Can a person have true faith and still not have confidence, or at least struggle with assurance from time to time? Yes. Calvin was not completely correct and a person can struggle and still have true faith. (See WCF, XVIII)
9. However, we must always cleave to Calvin’s advice when he says, “Surely, as often as God commends his Word to us, he indirectly rebukes us for our unbelief, for he has no other intention than to uproot perverse doubts from our hearts” (Pg., 560-561). God says we can boldly claim His promises and come before his presence. [Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:15-16]
Calvin and those before him did not believe real faith was empty or disconnected with knowledge. He tackled this issue in Chapter 3, Bk.2. Here I summarize that section.
1. Biblical faith has more than one component. The Bible speaks of faith in terms of knowledge, inward peace and a full repose upon the promises of God. Calvin explains all three with great clarity.
2. Faith and knowledge. They are not contradictions but rather inseparable friends.
3. First of all, when faith is called knowledge, it refers to that apprehension which grasps and “really, lovingly knows the infinite truth of God. [Eph 3:18-19]
4. Secondly, faith is called recognition [Eph 1:17; 4:13; Col 1:9; 3:10; 1 Tim 2:4; Titus 1:1; Philemon 6; 2 Pet 2:21]. John asserts that God’s children can have the knowledge (recognition) that they are God’s children. “But, as Calvin writes, they are more strengthened by the persuasion of divine truth than instructed by rational proof” (Pg., 560).
The mistake we have fallen into since the rise of Christian liberalism and its affront against the reality of God’s work in incarnation, miracle, and atonement is that we have sought proof for persuasion rather than be persuaded by God’s promises by the Spirit. Calvin has good advice to help us here.
5. Third, this faith called knowledge can and often does come with great certainty due to the sureness of God’s promises. [Rom 4:16; Ps 19:7]
6. Calvin says, “As faith is not content with a doubtful and changeable opinion, so is it not content with an obscure and confused conception; but requires full and fixed certainty, such as men are wont to have from things experienced and proved” (Pg., 560).
7. Calvin essentially demands that true faith and knowledge always includes certainty! His reason for this is twofold.
a. “For unbelief is so deeply rooted in our hearts, and we are so inclined to it, that not without hard struggle is each one able to persuade himself of what all confess with the mouth: namely, that God is faithful” (Pg., 560).
b. Going half-way in faith leaves the human soul in great fear. That is, God in his goodness is manifested to us so as to leave us without doubt; therefore those who do doubt do not stand before God with tranquil hearts. “This kind of faith,” says Calvin, “is no right faith” (Pg., 561).
8. Is Calvin completely correct? Can a person have true faith and still not have confidence, or at least struggle with assurance from time to time? Yes. Calvin was not completely correct and a person can struggle and still have true faith. (See WCF, XVIII)
9. However, we must always cleave to Calvin’s advice when he says, “Surely, as often as God commends his Word to us, he indirectly rebukes us for our unbelief, for he has no other intention than to uproot perverse doubts from our hearts” (Pg., 560-561). God says we can boldly claim His promises and come before his presence. [Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:15-16]
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.2.
We had a good weekend. Saturday I had the privilege of sharing the faith of Jesus with a number of prisoners at our local jail; and Sunday, as always, our faith was built up and re-aligned to Jesus Christ again. So I am glad to start with this summary on what Calvin said about faith itself in Book 3, chapter 2 of his Institutes.
By the way if you are interested in a good book on Calvin’s doctrine of faith read Victor Shepherd’s, The Nature and Function of Faith in the Theology of John Calvin. You can purchase it here
http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Sermons/books_by_victor_shepherd.htm
“Everybody has a faith” is a common statement of faith today! As a result, faith is defined many ways for many people, and as a result, true saving faith is misunderstood. This was a problem in Calvin’s day as well, thus he spends some time refuting false concepts of faith in order to clear the road for understanding true faith.
1. The first kind of false faith he refutes is what he terms “shadow-shapes of faith” (Pg., 554), or “image faith”(Pg., 554), or “unformed faith” (Pg., 551). What is it? “People who are touched by no fear of God, no sense of piety, nevertheless believe whatever it is necessary to know for salvation” (Pg., 551).
2. In a nut shell, this “shadow-shaped faith” is belief that faith without works is still true faith. Or to put it another, this “shadow-shaped faith” is justification without sanctification. This is false faith [Acts 8:13; Lk 8:6-13; Jn 8:29-59; James 2].
For Calvin the goal of justification was sanctification. Thus the whole point of faith was not just justification, but justification for sanctification. Justification is strategically first, but the goal is sanctification. Karl Barth clearly explained this in his Church Dogmatics. In the CD. Vol.IV. Pt.2, he says, “Calvin in Bk III does deal with the order. Calvin basically teaches here that, "God renews those whom he freely reckons as righteous for the cultivation of righteousness (Bk III, 11:6).” Barth says Calvin is the theologian of sanctification because he seeks to answer a very biblical question, "What is it that God by his grace and will, wills to accomplish in man?" Yet, as a study of the Institutes shows Calvin hinges everything on justification. Without this foundation there is neither assurance or sanctification. In all his explanation of the life of the Christian he never loses sight of justification. So we can and must say Calvin was the theologian of justification too. So…"we can and should learn from the classical example of his mode of treatment that we can give only a twofold answer to the question of priority in the relationship of these two moments and aspects. Calvin was quite in earnest when he gave sanctification a strategic precedence over justification. He was also quite in earnest when he gave the latter a tactical precedence." Pg, 510.
Back to the summary.
3. Calvin’s biblical refutation. “Since faith embraces Christ, as offered to us by the Father [cf. Jn 6:29] - that is, since he is offered not only for righteousness, forgiveness of sins, and peace, but also for sanctification [cf. 1 Cor 1:30] and the fountain of the water of life [Jn 7:38; cf. 4:14] - without a doubt, no one can duly know him without at the same time apprehending the sanctification of the Spirit....And Christ cannot be known apart from the sanctification of his Spirit. It follows that faith can in no wise be separated from a devout disposition” (Pg., 552).
4. How is false faith distinguished from true faith? Calvin gives 5 marks.
a) True faith flourishes confidence; false faith divided allegiance. [Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15]
b) The elect are regenerated with incorruptible seed, forever [1Pet 1:23]; the reprobate are not regenerated at all and hence are not steady in life or faith - they do not persevere.
c) “The reprobate never receive anything but a confused awareness of grace, so that they grasp a shadow rather than the firm body of it. For the Spirit, strictly speaking, seals the forgiveness of sins in the elect alone, so that they apply it by special faith to their own use” (Pg., 555).
d) He does not show Himself merciful to them, to the extent of truly snatching them from death and receiving them into His keeping, but only manifests to them His mercy for the time being. Only His elect does He account worthy of receiving the living root of faith so that they may endure to the end [Matt 24:13]” (Pg., 556).
e) True faith grasps and grows in the truths of Scripture, but false faith cannot penetrate into the Scriptures. That is, they cannot know them - lovingly.
5. Calvin sums it up this way. “However deficient or weak faith may be in the elect, still, because the Spirit of God is for them the sure guarantee and seal of their adoption [Eph 1:14; cf. 2 Cor 1:22], the mark He has engraved can never be erased from their hearts; but on the wicked such light is shed as may afterward pass away” (Pg., 556). [see pg., 557 for the discussion on God’s chastisement]
6. Calvin advises us to understand the many definitions of faith so that we can distinguish saving faith from other forms of faith.
7. Faith means doctrine. “Faith is rightly extended to the whole sum of heavenly doctrine, from which it cannot be separated” (Pg., 558). [1 Tim 4:6; Col 2:3 ]
8. Faith refers to an object [Matt 9:2; 8:10]; faith is connected with the performance of miracles [1 Cor 13], and faith is connected with the activity of teaching in the church. [see pg., 559 for an explanation of this.]
9. But what is that faith; what are the aspects of true saving faith, through and by which we call upon God, are justified and receive all the benefits of redemption? Calvin answers this question in the remainder of this chapter. I will summarize the answers in the next entry.
By the way if you are interested in a good book on Calvin’s doctrine of faith read Victor Shepherd’s, The Nature and Function of Faith in the Theology of John Calvin. You can purchase it here
http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Sermons/books_by_victor_shepherd.htm
“Everybody has a faith” is a common statement of faith today! As a result, faith is defined many ways for many people, and as a result, true saving faith is misunderstood. This was a problem in Calvin’s day as well, thus he spends some time refuting false concepts of faith in order to clear the road for understanding true faith.
1. The first kind of false faith he refutes is what he terms “shadow-shapes of faith” (Pg., 554), or “image faith”(Pg., 554), or “unformed faith” (Pg., 551). What is it? “People who are touched by no fear of God, no sense of piety, nevertheless believe whatever it is necessary to know for salvation” (Pg., 551).
2. In a nut shell, this “shadow-shaped faith” is belief that faith without works is still true faith. Or to put it another, this “shadow-shaped faith” is justification without sanctification. This is false faith [Acts 8:13; Lk 8:6-13; Jn 8:29-59; James 2].
For Calvin the goal of justification was sanctification. Thus the whole point of faith was not just justification, but justification for sanctification. Justification is strategically first, but the goal is sanctification. Karl Barth clearly explained this in his Church Dogmatics. In the CD. Vol.IV. Pt.2, he says, “Calvin in Bk III does deal with the order. Calvin basically teaches here that, "God renews those whom he freely reckons as righteous for the cultivation of righteousness (Bk III, 11:6).” Barth says Calvin is the theologian of sanctification because he seeks to answer a very biblical question, "What is it that God by his grace and will, wills to accomplish in man?" Yet, as a study of the Institutes shows Calvin hinges everything on justification. Without this foundation there is neither assurance or sanctification. In all his explanation of the life of the Christian he never loses sight of justification. So we can and must say Calvin was the theologian of justification too. So…"we can and should learn from the classical example of his mode of treatment that we can give only a twofold answer to the question of priority in the relationship of these two moments and aspects. Calvin was quite in earnest when he gave sanctification a strategic precedence over justification. He was also quite in earnest when he gave the latter a tactical precedence." Pg, 510.
Back to the summary.
3. Calvin’s biblical refutation. “Since faith embraces Christ, as offered to us by the Father [cf. Jn 6:29] - that is, since he is offered not only for righteousness, forgiveness of sins, and peace, but also for sanctification [cf. 1 Cor 1:30] and the fountain of the water of life [Jn 7:38; cf. 4:14] - without a doubt, no one can duly know him without at the same time apprehending the sanctification of the Spirit....And Christ cannot be known apart from the sanctification of his Spirit. It follows that faith can in no wise be separated from a devout disposition” (Pg., 552).
4. How is false faith distinguished from true faith? Calvin gives 5 marks.
a) True faith flourishes confidence; false faith divided allegiance. [Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15]
b) The elect are regenerated with incorruptible seed, forever [1Pet 1:23]; the reprobate are not regenerated at all and hence are not steady in life or faith - they do not persevere.
c) “The reprobate never receive anything but a confused awareness of grace, so that they grasp a shadow rather than the firm body of it. For the Spirit, strictly speaking, seals the forgiveness of sins in the elect alone, so that they apply it by special faith to their own use” (Pg., 555).
d) He does not show Himself merciful to them, to the extent of truly snatching them from death and receiving them into His keeping, but only manifests to them His mercy for the time being. Only His elect does He account worthy of receiving the living root of faith so that they may endure to the end [Matt 24:13]” (Pg., 556).
e) True faith grasps and grows in the truths of Scripture, but false faith cannot penetrate into the Scriptures. That is, they cannot know them - lovingly.
5. Calvin sums it up this way. “However deficient or weak faith may be in the elect, still, because the Spirit of God is for them the sure guarantee and seal of their adoption [Eph 1:14; cf. 2 Cor 1:22], the mark He has engraved can never be erased from their hearts; but on the wicked such light is shed as may afterward pass away” (Pg., 556). [see pg., 557 for the discussion on God’s chastisement]
6. Calvin advises us to understand the many definitions of faith so that we can distinguish saving faith from other forms of faith.
7. Faith means doctrine. “Faith is rightly extended to the whole sum of heavenly doctrine, from which it cannot be separated” (Pg., 558). [1 Tim 4:6; Col 2:3 ]
8. Faith refers to an object [Matt 9:2; 8:10]; faith is connected with the performance of miracles [1 Cor 13], and faith is connected with the activity of teaching in the church. [see pg., 559 for an explanation of this.]
9. But what is that faith; what are the aspects of true saving faith, through and by which we call upon God, are justified and receive all the benefits of redemption? Calvin answers this question in the remainder of this chapter. I will summarize the answers in the next entry.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Calvin’s Institutes: Christian Faith, Pt.1.
The Canadian Presbyterian theologian Walter W. Bryden said, "The Christian is an optimist…because he believes God has come and does come into this world. The Christian's faith and hope lie in the fact that the Word was made flesh." This faith, like Jesus, is a gift God gives us so that by his gift we can come into his presence and live out our human lives as new creations. Knowing that faith is the principle work of the Spirit, what is its object, what is faith and how does the Spirit bring faith to the sinner? Calvin answers these questions in this great “faith chapter” of his Institutes.
Because of the size of the chapter I will summarize it over at least 5 entries. It really is a great chapter.
1. The object of faith. It is not the law of God or human ability. Rather, the object of true faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the express revelation of God. [2 Cor 4:6; Jn 17:3; Heb 1:3]
2. God in all his power and redemptive grace would have remained hidden from us if he had not purposed to reveal himself by Christ. Christ is the life, the living water, living bread and way. He is the One sent from and by God to be the Saviour. In short, he is the revelation of God himself, and thus true faith looks to Christ alone.
3. “As God he is the destination to which we move; as man, the path by which we go. Both are found in Christ alone. But, while Paul proclaims faith in God, he does not have in mind to overturn what he so often emphasizes concerning faith: namely, that all its stability rests in Christ” (Pg., 544).
4. This faith must rest explicitly upon Christ alone and simultaneously be dressed with true knowledge of Christ. Implicit faith, which is simultaneously covered with ignorance requires a person to “submit their feelings, obediently to the whim of a church” (Pg., 545), or person. This is not true faith, it is a blind fold used to cover and hide Christ as revealed by the Spirit in Scripture. Calvin writes, “Faith consists n the knowledge of God and Christ [Jn 17:3], not in reverence for the church” (Pg., 545).
Of course this does not mean the church should not preach Jesus. She must, and therefore she must judge herself to see what her “whim” is. If the whim is church growth, or psychological self-help (I could list countless other things), then she is not helping people have an explicit faith in the Lord of the world, and she needs to repent.
And if her “whim” is to preach Christ Jesus, well then she must still judge herself so she can stay on track and give people what Hauerwas once wrote, “the interpretive skills, a truthful understanding of how to see the world under the banner of Jesus Christ.”
5. Does this mean all implicit faith is wrong? No. Implicit faith is wrong when persons in a position of authority demand the “blind faith” of others, while teaching them error or not teaching them at all. Implicit faith is legitimate when it is “strictly nothing but the preparation of faith” (Pg., 547). [i.e Jn 4:50-53; 42; Lk 24:11-12; Jn 20:8]
6. The disciples are an example of this legitimate implicit faith. Notice their whole attitude about the resurrection. Jesus had told them of this truth, but they did not finally believe until they discerned for themselves the truth Jesus’ words by the resurrection fact itself. Calvin says, “Not that they then began to believe, but because the seed of hidden faith - which had been dead, as it were, in their hearts - at that time burst through with renewed vigour! For there was in them a true but implicit faith because they had reverently embraced Christ as their sole teacher” (Pg., 547).
7. Anselm sums up the meaning of true implicit faith in the phrase “Faith seeks understanding.” Because we are surrounded by many obstacles and clouds, our faith is not complete. But we must strive to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, and teachers of the church must seek to make the members of Christ, scholars of Christ who abound in the knowledge of the object of true faith, namely Jesus Christ.
Because of the size of the chapter I will summarize it over at least 5 entries. It really is a great chapter.
1. The object of faith. It is not the law of God or human ability. Rather, the object of true faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the express revelation of God. [2 Cor 4:6; Jn 17:3; Heb 1:3]
2. God in all his power and redemptive grace would have remained hidden from us if he had not purposed to reveal himself by Christ. Christ is the life, the living water, living bread and way. He is the One sent from and by God to be the Saviour. In short, he is the revelation of God himself, and thus true faith looks to Christ alone.
3. “As God he is the destination to which we move; as man, the path by which we go. Both are found in Christ alone. But, while Paul proclaims faith in God, he does not have in mind to overturn what he so often emphasizes concerning faith: namely, that all its stability rests in Christ” (Pg., 544).
4. This faith must rest explicitly upon Christ alone and simultaneously be dressed with true knowledge of Christ. Implicit faith, which is simultaneously covered with ignorance requires a person to “submit their feelings, obediently to the whim of a church” (Pg., 545), or person. This is not true faith, it is a blind fold used to cover and hide Christ as revealed by the Spirit in Scripture. Calvin writes, “Faith consists n the knowledge of God and Christ [Jn 17:3], not in reverence for the church” (Pg., 545).
Of course this does not mean the church should not preach Jesus. She must, and therefore she must judge herself to see what her “whim” is. If the whim is church growth, or psychological self-help (I could list countless other things), then she is not helping people have an explicit faith in the Lord of the world, and she needs to repent.
And if her “whim” is to preach Christ Jesus, well then she must still judge herself so she can stay on track and give people what Hauerwas once wrote, “the interpretive skills, a truthful understanding of how to see the world under the banner of Jesus Christ.”
5. Does this mean all implicit faith is wrong? No. Implicit faith is wrong when persons in a position of authority demand the “blind faith” of others, while teaching them error or not teaching them at all. Implicit faith is legitimate when it is “strictly nothing but the preparation of faith” (Pg., 547). [i.e Jn 4:50-53; 42; Lk 24:11-12; Jn 20:8]
6. The disciples are an example of this legitimate implicit faith. Notice their whole attitude about the resurrection. Jesus had told them of this truth, but they did not finally believe until they discerned for themselves the truth Jesus’ words by the resurrection fact itself. Calvin says, “Not that they then began to believe, but because the seed of hidden faith - which had been dead, as it were, in their hearts - at that time burst through with renewed vigour! For there was in them a true but implicit faith because they had reverently embraced Christ as their sole teacher” (Pg., 547).
7. Anselm sums up the meaning of true implicit faith in the phrase “Faith seeks understanding.” Because we are surrounded by many obstacles and clouds, our faith is not complete. But we must strive to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, and teachers of the church must seek to make the members of Christ, scholars of Christ who abound in the knowledge of the object of true faith, namely Jesus Christ.
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