“Since faith embraces Christ as he is offered by the Father,
and he is offered not only for justification, for forgiveness of sins and
peace, but also for sanctification, as the fountain of living waters, it is
certain that no man will ever know him aright without at the same time
receiving the sanctification of the Spirit; or, to express the matter more
plainly, faith consists in the knowledge of Christ; Christ cannot be known
without the sanctification of his Spirit: therefore faith cannot possibly be
disjoined from pious affection” (3.2.8).
It is important to highlight here that, for Calvin, faith is
not a “cold” mental exercise merely seeking to identify known facts that even
the unbeliever could grasp. Nor can faith can be “formed” through acts of works
or piety that add to an intellectual clasping at faith. Faith, Calvin argues,
is a matter of the heart. The “heart” does not refer to simple subjective human
emotion, such as love, empathy, or shame that inherently points to the
individual. Instead, heart refers to the reconciliation of a relationship which
points to Christ. As the Spirit causes our dead, sinful hearts to turn from
stone to flesh, we are resuscitated into an obedient relationship with Christ
that convicts us of our sin, confirms in us of our knowledge of God, and
assures us to pursue salvation in him with confidence and trust. He cites Paul
in Romans 10:10 saying, “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.”
This faith that embraces Christ cannot be received without
sanctification through the Spirit. To state it more positively: at the same
time that we embrace Christ through faith so too are we sanctified through the
Spirit. Although we can economically divide faith and sanctification, one is
not possible without the other. The same Spirit that has sown this “seed of
life” within the elect is the Spirit who works to sanctify us.
Calvin also reminds us that this seed sown into the hearts
of the elect cannot be stolen away. Calvin writes in section 12 about the true
faith of the believer versus the false faith of the reprobate. Compared to the
reprobate, who may have “a taste of heavenly gifts” but does not “truly perceive
the power of spiritual grace and the sure light of faith,” in the elect “he
implants the living root of faith, so that they persevere even to the end.” When
describing the assurance of true faith Calvin says, “We must remember that
however feeble and slender the faith of the elect may be, yet as the Spirit of
God is to them a sure earnest and seal of their adoption, the impression once
engraven can never be effaced from their hearts, whereas the light which
glimmers in the reprobate is afterwards quenched.” The Romanist position leaves
a believer continually in doubt of his faith and questioning his salvation.
How encouraging it is for Calvinists to be assured of the
believer’s salvation. Rather than rely on human achievement or individual
piety, we are assured of our effectual calling in Christ.
As I mentioned in my previous post, Carl
Trueman provides helpful commentary and context on the true faith versus
false faith and “formed” faith versus “unformed” faith notions against which
Calvin is arguing.
W. Robert Godfrey’s lecture “Calvin on Faith” provides
a helpful summary going forward in Books 3. In it, Godfrey summarizes the
Calvinist notion of faith as “knowledge, trust, confidence, and a fountain.”
I thought Godfrey's other talks on Calvin were also worthwhile:
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