In this important analysis
of the nature of faith, provided in the 1559 edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion,
Calvin establishes a direct relation between faith and the merciful promises of
God. Note the emphasis placed upon the
role of the Holy Spirit in revealing and sealing this knowledge. Calvin
also deals with the question of whether the certainty of faith necessarily
implies that doubt is excluded from the Christian life. For Calvin, doubt is a normal part of the Christian life, and is not
inconsistent with his emphasis upon the trustworthiness of God’s promises.
Calvin wrote:
“Now we shall have a right definition of faith if we say that it is a
steady and certain knowledge of the divine benevolence towards us, which is
founded upon the truth of the gracious promise of God in Christ, and is both
revealed to our minds and sealed in
our hearts by the Holy Spirit…
When we stress that faith ought to be certain and
secure, we do not have in mind a certainty without doubt, or a security without
any anxiety. Rather, we affirm that believers have a perpetual struggle with
their own lack of faith, and are far from possessing a peaceful conscience,
never interrupted by any disturbance. On the other hand, we want to deny that they may fall out of, or depart from, their
confidence in the divine mercy, no matter how much they may be troubled.”
So you want to be a Calvinist? Please reread what John
Calvin himself wrote.
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
References:
1) Institutes, III.ii, in Joannis
Calvini: Opera Selecta, ed. P. Barth and W. Niesel, vol.4 (Munich: Kaiser,
1931), 16.31-35; 27:25-36.
2) The Christian Theology Reader edited by Alister E. McGrath (Oxford:
Blackwell), pg. 15
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