 Section 8 of Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3. Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3 by John Calvin, translated by Henry Beverage. Chapter 3, Part 1. Regeneration by Faith of Repentance. This chapter is divided into five parts. One, the title of the chapter seems to promise a treatise on faith, but the only subject here considered is repentance, the inseparable attendant of faith. And first, various opinions on the subject of repentance are stated. Sections 1 through 4. Two, an exposition of the Orthodox doctrine of repentance. Sections 5 through 9. Three, reasons why repentance must be prolonged to the last moment of life. Sections 10 through 14. Four, of the fruits of repentance or its object in tendency. Sections 15 through 20. Five, the source when repentance proceeds. Sections 21 through 24. Of the sin against the Holy Spirit and the impenitence of the reprobate. Section 25. Sections 1. Connection of this chapter with the previous one and the subsequent chapters. Repentance follows faith and is produced by it. Reason, error of those who take a contrary view. Two, their first objection. Answer, in what sense the origin of repentance ascribed to faith? Cause of the erroneous idea that faith is produced by repentance. Refutation of it. The hypocrisy of monks and anabaptists in assigning limits to repentance exposed. Three, a second opinion concerning repentance considered. Four, a third opinion assigning two forms to repentance, a legal and an evangelical. Examples of each. Five, the Orthodox doctrine of repentance. One, faith and repentance to be distinguished not confounded or separated. Two, a consideration of the name. Three, a definition of the thing or what repentance is. Doctrine of the prophets and apostles. Six, explanation of the definition. This consists of three parts. One, repentance is a turning of our life unto God. This described and enlarged upon. Seven, two, repentance produced by fear of God. Hence the mention of divine judgment by the prophets and apostles. Example, exposition of the second branch of the definition from a passage in Paul. Why the fear of God is the first part of repentance. Eight, three, repentance consists in the mortification of the flesh and the quickening of the spirit. These required by the prophets, they are explained separately. Nine, how this mortification and quickening are produced. Repentance just a renewal of the divine image in us. Not completed in a moment, but extends to the last moment of life. Ten, reasons why repentance must so extend. Augustine's opinion as to concupiscence in the regenerate examined. A passage of Paul which seems to confirm that opinion. Eleven, answer. Confirmation of the answer by the apostle himself. Another confirmation from a precept of the law. Conclusion. Twelve, exception that those desires only are condemned which are repugnant to the order of God. Desires not condemned in so far as natural, but in so far as inordinate. Thirteen, passages from Augustine to show that this was his opinion. Objection from a passage in James. Fourteen, another objection of the Anabaptists and libertines to the continuance of repentance throughout the present life. An answer disclosing its impiety. Another answer founded on the absurdities to which it leads. A third answer contrasting sincere Christian repentance with the erroneous view of the objectors. Conformation from the example and declaration of an apostle. Fifteen, of the fruits of repentance, carefulness, excuse, indignation, fear, desire, zeal, revenge. Moderation to be observed as most sagely counseled by Bernard. Sixteen, internal fruits of repentance. One, piety towards God. Two, charity towards man. Three, purity of life. How carefully these fruits are commended by the prophets. External fruits of repentance. Bodily exercises too much commended by ancient writers. Two-fold excess in regard to them. Seventeen, delusion of some who consider these external exercises. External exercises as the chief part of repentance. Why received in the Jewish Church. The legitimate use of these exercises in the Christian Church. Eighteen, the principal part of repentance consists in turning to God. Confession and acknowledgement of sins. What their nature should be. Distinction between ordinary and special repentance. Use of this distinction. Nineteen, end of repentance. Its nature shown by the preaching of John Baptist, our Saviour and his Apostles. The sum of this preaching. Twenty, Christian repentance terminates with our life. Twenty-one, repentance has its origin in the grace of God as communicated to the elect whom God is pleased to save from death. The hardening and final impenitence of the reprobate. A passage of an apostle as to voluntary reprobates gives no countenance to the nobodians. Twenty-two, of the sin against the Holy Ghost. The true definition of this sin has proved and explained by Scripture. Who they are that sin against the Holy Spirit. Examples. One, the Jews resisting Stephen. Two, the Pharisees. Definition confirmed by the example of Paul. Twenty-three, why that sin unpardonable. The paralogism of the nobodians in resting the words of the apostle examined. Two passages from the same apostle. Twenty-four, first objection to the above doctrine. Answer. Solution of a difficulty founded on the example of Esau and the threatening of a prophet. Second objection. Twenty-five, third objection founded on the seeming approval of the feigned repentance of the ungodly as Ahab. Answer. Confirmation from the example of Esau. Why God bears for a time with the ungodly pretending repentance. Exception. One, although we have already in some measure shown how faith possesses Christ and gives us the enjoyment of his benefits. The subject would still be obscure where we not to add an exposition of the effects resulting from it. The sum of the gospel is not without good reason made to consist in repentance and forgiveness of sins. And therefore where these two heads are omitted any discussion concerning faith will be meager and defective and indeed almost useless. Now since Christ confers upon us and we obtain by faith both free reconciliation and newness of life reason and order require that I should here begin to treat of both. The shortest transition however will be from faith to repentance. For repentance being properly understood it will better appear how a man is justified freely by faith alone and yet that holiness of life real holiness as it is called is inseparable from the free imputation of righteousness. That repentance not only always follows faith but is produced by it ought to be without controversy. For since pardon and forgiveness are offered by the preaching of the gospel in order that the sinner delivered from the tyranny of Satan the yoke of sin and the miserable bondage of iniquity may pass into the kingdom of God. It is certain that no man can embrace the grace of the gospel without retaking himself from the errors of his former life into the right path and making it his whole study to practice repentance. Those who think that repentance precedes faith instead of flowing from or being produced by it as the fruit by the tree have never understood its nature and are moved to adopt that view on very insufficient grounds. 2. Christ and John it is said in their discourses first exhort the people to repentance and then add that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 3.2.4 verse 17. Such too is the message which the apostles received and such the course which Paul followed as is narrated by Luke acts 20 verse 21. But clinging superstitiously to the juxtaposition of the syllables they attend not to the coherence of meaning in the words. For when our Lord and John begin their preaching thus repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 3 verse 2. Do they not deduce repentance as a consequence of the offer of grace and promise of salvation? The force of the words therefore is the same as if it were said as the kingdom of heaven is at hand for that reason repent. For Matthew after relating that John so preached says that therein was fulfilled the prophecy concerning the voice of one crying in the desert prepare ye the way of the Lord make straight in the desert a highway of our God. Isaiah 40 verse 3. But in the prophet that voice is ordered to commence with consolation and glad tidings. Still when we attribute the origin of repentance to faith we do not dream of some period of time in which faith is to give birth to it. We only wish to show that a man cannot seriously engage in repentance unless he know that he is of God. But no man is truly persuaded that he is of God until he have embraced his offered favor. These things will be more clearly explained as we proceed. Some are perhaps misled by this that not a few are subdued by terror of conscience or disposed to obedience before they have been imbued with a knowledge nay before they have had any taste of the divine favor. This is that initial fear which some writers class among the virtues because they think it approximates to true and genuine obedience. But we are not here considering the various modes in which Christ draws us to himself or prepares us for the study of piety. All I say is that no righteousness can be found where the spirit whom Christ received in order to communicate it to his members reigns not. Then according to the passage in the Psalms there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared Psalm 130 verse 4. No man will ever reverence God who does not trust that God is propitious to him. No man will ever willingly set himself to observe the law who is not persuaded that his services are pleasing to God. The indulgence of God in tolerating and pardoning our iniquities is a sign of paternal favor. This is also clear from the exhortation in Hosea, quote, Come and let us return unto the Lord, for he has torn and he will heal us. He has smitten and he will bind us up. Hosea 6 verse 1. The hope of pardon is employed as a stimulus to prevent us from becoming reckless in sin. But there is no semblance of reason in the absurd procedure of those who, that they may begin with repentance, prescribe to their neophytes certain days during which they are to exercise themselves in repentance, and after these are elapsed admit them to communion and gospel grace. I allude to great numbers of Anabaptists, those of them especially, who plume themselves on being spiritual and their associates the Jesuits and others of the same stamp. Such are the fruits which their giddy spirit produces that repentance, which in every Christian man lasts as long as life, is with them completed in a few short days. 3. Certain learned men, who lived long before the present days and were desirous to speak simply and sincerely, according to the rule of Scripture, held that repentance consists of two parts, mortification and quickening. By mortification they mean grief of soul and terror produced by a conviction of sin and a sense of the divine judgment. For when a man is brought to a knowledge of sin, he begins truly to hate and abominate sin. He also is sincerely dissatisfied with himself, confesses that he is lost and undone and wishes he were different from what he is. Moreover, when he is touched with some sense of the divine justice, for the one conviction immediately follows the other, he lies terror struck and amazed, humbled and dejected, desponds and despairs. This, which they regarded as the first part of repentance, they usually termed contrition. By quickening they mean the comfort which is produced by faith as when a man prosperated by a consciousness of sin and smitten with the fear of God, afterwards beholding his goodness and the mercy, grace and salvation obtained through Christ, looks up, begins to breathe, takes courage and passes as it were from death unto life. I admit that these terms, when rightly interpreted, aptly enough express the power of repentance, only I cannot assent to their using the term quickening for the joy which the soul feels after being calmed from peturbation and fear. It more properly means that desire of pious and holy living which springs from the new birth, as if it were said that the man dies to himself, that he may begin to live unto God. Four. Others, seeing that the term is used in Scripture in different senses, have set down two forms of repentance and, in order to distinguish them, have called the one legal repentance, or that by which the sinner, stung with a sense of his sin and overwhelmed with fear of the divine anger, remains in that state of peturbation unable to escape from it. The other they term evangelical repentance, or that by which the sinner, though grievously downcast in himself, yet looks up and sees in Christ the cure of his wound, the solace of his terror, the haven of rest from his misery. They give Cain, Saul and Judas as examples of legal repentance. Scripture, in describing what is called their repentance, means that they perceived the heinousness of their sins and dreaded the divine anger, but thinking only of God as a judge and avenger, were overwhelmed by the thought. Their repentance, therefore, was nothing better than a kind of threshold to hell, into which, having entered even in the present life, they began to endure the punishment inflicted by the presence of an offended God. Examples of evangelical repentance we see in all those who, first stung with a sense of sin, but afterwards raised and revived by confidence in the divine mercy, turned unto the Lord. Hezekiah was frightened on receiving the message of his death, but praying with tears and beholding the divine goodness, regained his confidence. The Ninevites were terrified at the fearful announcement of their destruction, but clothing themselves in sackcloth and ashes, they prayed, hoping that the Lord might relent and avert his anger from them. David confessed that he had sinned greatly in numbering the people, but added, Now I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant." When rebuked by Nathan, he acknowledged the crime of adultery and humbled himself before the Lord, but he at the same time looked for pardon. Similar was the repentance of those who, stung to the heart by the preaching of Peter, yet trusted in the divine goodness and added, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Similar was the case of Peter himself, who indeed wept bitterly, but ceased not to hope. 5. Though all this is true, yet the term repentance, insofar as I can ascertain from Scripture, must be differently taken, for in comprehending faith under repentance, they are at variance with what Paul says in the Acts as to his quote, Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20 verse 21. Here he mentions faith and repentance as two different things. What then? Can true repentance exist without faith? By no means, but although they cannot be separated, they ought to be distinguished. As there is no faith without hope, and yet faith and hope are different, so repentance and faith, though constantly linked together, are only to be united, not confounded. I am not unaware that under the term repentance is comprehended the whole work of turning to God, of which not the least important part is faith. But in what sense this is done will be perfectly obvious when its nature and power shall have been explained. The term repentance is derived in the Hebrew from conversion or turning again, and in the Greek from a change of mind and purpose. Nor is the thing meant inappropriate to both derivations, for it is substantially this, that with drawing from ourselves we turn to God and laying aside the old put on a new mind. Wherefore it seems to me that repentance may be not inappropriately defined thus. A real conversion of our life unto God proceeding from sincere and serious fear of God and consisting in the mortification of our flesh and the old man and the quickening of the spirit. In this sense are to be understood all those addresses in which the prophets first and the apostles afterwards exhorted the people of their time to repentance. The great object for which they labored was to fill them with confusion for their sins and dread of the divine judgment that they might fall down and humble themselves before him whom they had offended, and with true repentance retake themselves to the right path. Accordingly they use indiscriminately in the same sense the expressions turning or returning to the Lord, repenting doing repentance. Whence also the sacred history describes it as repentance towards God when men who disregarded him and wantoned in their lusts began to obey his word and are prepared to go with or so ever he may call them. And John Baptist and Paul under the expression bringing forth fruits meet for repentance described a course of life exhibiting and bearing testimony in all its actions to such a repentance. 6. But before proceeding farther it will be proper to give a clearer exposition of the definition which we have adopted. There are three things then principally to be considered in it. First in the conversion of the life to God we require a transformation not only in external works but in the soul itself which is able only after it has put off its old habits to bring forth fruits conformable to its renovation. The prophet intending to impress this enjoins those whom he calls to repentance to make them quote a new heart and a new spirit. Hence Moses on several occasions when he would show how the Israelites were to repent and turn to the Lord tells them that it must be done with the whole heart and the whole soul. A mode of expression of frequent recurrence in the prophets and by terming it the circumcision of the heart points to the internal affections. But there is no passage better fitted to teach us the genuine nature of repentance than the following quote if thou wilt return O Israel sayeth the Lord return unto me and quote quote break up your fellow ground and so not among thorns circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your heart and quote Jeremiah 4 verses 1 through 4 See how he declares to them that it will be of no avail to commence the study of righteousness unless impiety shall first have been eradicated from their inmost heart and to malice the deeper impression he reminds them that they have to do with God and can gain nothing by deceit because he hates a double heart. For this reason Isaiah derides the preposterous attempts of hypocrites who zealously aimed at an external repentance by the observance of ceremonies but in the meanwhile cared not quote to loose the bands of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free. Isaiah 58.6 In these words he admirably shows wherein the acts of unfeigned repentance consist. 7. The second part of our definition is that repentance proceeds from a sincere fear of God. Before the mind of the sinner can be inclined to repentance he must be aroused by the thought of divine judgment but when once the thought that God will one day ascend his tribunal to take an account of all words and actions has taken possession of his mind it will not allow him to rest or have one moment's peace but will perpetually urge him to adopt a different plan of life that he may be able to stand securely at that judgment seat. Hence the scripture when exhorting to repentance often introduces the subject of judgment as in Jeremiah quote lest my fury come forth like fire and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings Jeremiah 4 verse 4. Paul in his discourse to the Athenians says quote the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent because he has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness Act 17 verses 30 and 31. The same thing is repeated in several other passages. Sometimes God is declared to be a judge from the punishments already inflicted thus leading sinners to reflect that worse awaits them if they do not quickly repent. There is an example of this in the 29th chapter of Deuteronomy. As repentance begins with dread and hatred of sin the apostle sets down godly sorrow as one of its causes. 2 Corinthians 7 verse 10. By godly sorrow he means when we not only tremble at the punishment but hate and abhor the sin because we know it is displeasing to God. It is not strange that this should be for unless we are stung to the quick the sluggishness of our carnal nature cannot be corrected. Nay, no degree of pungency would suffice for our stupor and sloth did not God lift the rod and strike deeper. There is moreover a rebellious spirit which must be broken as with hammers. The stern threatening which God employs are extorted from him by our depraved dispositions. For while we are asleep it were in vain to allure us by soothing measures. Passages to this effect are everywhere to be met with and I need not quote them. But there is another reason why the fear of God lies at the heart of repentance. That is that though the life of man were possessed of all kinds of virtue still if they do not bear reference to God how much so ever they may be lauded in the world they are a mere abomination in heaven in as much as it is the principal part of righteousness to render to God that service and honor of which he is impiously defrauded whenever it is not our express purpose to submit to his authority. 8. We must now explain the third part of the definition and show what is meant when we say that repentance consists of two parts that is the mortification of the flesh and the quickening of the spirit. The prophets in accommodation to a carnal people express this in simple and homely terms but clearly when they say depart from evil and do good some 34 verse 14 wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgment relieve the oppressed etc. Isaiah 1 verses 16 and 17 in dissuading us from wickedness they demand the entire destruction of the flesh which is full of perverseness and malice it is a most difficult and arduous achievement to renounce ourselves and lay aside our natural disposition for the flesh must not be thought to be destroyed unless everything that we have of our own is abolished but seeing that all the desires of the flesh are enmity against God Romans 8 verse 7 the first step to the obedience of his law is the renouncement of our own nature renovation is afterwards manifested by the fruits produced by it that is justice judgment and mercy since it were not sufficient duly to perform such acts were not the mind and heart previously in dude with sentiments of justice judgment and mercy this is done when the Holy Spirit instilling his holiness into our souls so inspired them with new thoughts and affections that they may justly be regarded as new and indeed as we are naturally averse to God unless self-denial proceed we shall never tend to that which is right since we are so often enjoined to put off the old man to renounce the world and the flesh to forsake our lusts and be renewed in the spirit of our mind moreover the very name mortification reminds us how difficult it is to forget our former nature because we hence infer that we cannot be trained to the fear of God in the first principles of piety unless we are violently smitten with the sword of the spirit and annihilated as if God were declaring that to be ranked among his sons there must be a destruction of our ordinary nature 9 both of these we obtain by union with Christ for if we have true fellowship in his death our old man is crucified by his power and the body of sin becomes dead so that the corruption of our original nature is never again in full vigor Roman 6 verses 5 and 6 if we are partakers in his resurrection we are raised up by means of it to newness of life which conforms us to the righteousness of God in one word then by repentance I understand regeneration the only aim of which is to form in us anew the image of God which was solid but it faced by the transgression of Adam so the apostle teaches when he says quote we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord and quote again quote be renewed in the spirit of your minds and quote and quote put ye on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness and quote again quote put ye on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him and quote accordingly through the blessing of Christ we are renewed by that regeneration into the righteousness of God from which we had fallen through Adam the Lord being pleased in this manner to restore the integrity of all whom he appoints to the inheritance of life this renewal indeed is not accomplished in a moment a day or a year but by uninterrupted sometimes even by slow progress God abolishes the remains of carnal corruption in his elect cleanses them from pollution and consecrates them as his temples restoring all their inclinations to real purity so that during their whole lives they may practice repentance and know that death is the only termination to this warfare the greater is the effrontery of an impure raver and apostate named Staphalus who pretends that I confound the condition of the present life with the celestial glory when after Paul I make the image of God to consist in righteousness and true holiness as if in every definition it were not necessary to take the thing defined in its integrity and perfection it is not denied that there is room for improvement but what I maintain is that the nearer anyone approaches in resemblance to God the more does the image of God appear in him that believers may attain to it God assigns repentance as the goal towards which they must keep running during the whole course of their lives ten by regeneration the children of God are delivered from the bondage of sin but not as if they had already obtained full possession of freedom and no longer felt any annoyance from the flesh materials for an unremitting contest remain that they may be exercised and not only exercised but made better understand their weakness all writers of sound judgment agree in this that in the regenerate man there is still a spring of evil which is perpetually sending forth desires that allure and stimulate him to sin they also acknowledge that the saints are still so liable to the disease of concupiscence that though opposing it they cannot avoid being ever and a non prompted and incited to lust, avarice, ambition or other vices it is unnecessary to spend much time in investigating the sentiments of ancient writers Augustine alone may suffice as he has collected all their opinions with great care and fidelity any reader who is desirous to know the sense of antiquity may obtain it from him there is this difference apparently between him and us that while he admits that believers so long as they are in the body are so liable to concupiscence that they cannot but feel it he does not venture to give this disease the name of sin he is contented with giving it the name of infirmity and says that it only becomes sin when either external act or consent is added to conception or apprehension that is when the will yields to the first desire we again regarded as sin whenever man is influenced in any degree by any desire contrary to the will of God nay we maintain that the very gravity which begets in us such desires is sin accordingly we hold that there is always sin in the saints until they are freed from their mortal frame because depraved concupiscence resides in their flesh and is at variance with rectitude Augustine himself does not always refrain from using the name of sin as when he says Paul gives the name of sin to that kernel concupiscence from which all sins arise this in regard to the saints loses its dominion in this world and is destroyed in heaven in these words he admits that believers in so far as they are liable to kernel concupiscence are chargeable with sin 11 when it is said that God purifies his church so as to be holy and without blemish Ephesians 5 26 and 27 that he promises this cleansing by means of baptism and performs it in his elect I understand that references made to the guilt rather than to the matter of sin in regenerating his people God indeed accomplishes this much for them he destroys the dominion of sin by supplying the agency of the spirit which enables them to come off victorious from the contest sin however though it ceases to reign ceases not to dwell in them accordingly though we say that the old man is crucified and the law of sin is abolished in the children of God Roman 6 verse 6 the remains of sin survive not to have dominion but to humble them under a consciousness of their infirmity we admit that these remains just as if they had no existence are not imputed but we at the same time content that it is owing to the mercy of God that the saints are not charged with the guilt which would otherwise make them sinners before God it will not be difficult for us to confirm this view seeing we can support it by clear passages of scripture how can we express our view more plainly than Paul does in Roman 7 verse 6 we have elsewhere shown and Augustine by solid reasons proves that Paul is there speaking in the person of a regenerated man I say nothing as to his use of the words evil and sin however those who object to our view may quibble on these words can any man deny that a version to the law of God is an evil and that hindrance to righteousness is sin in short who will not admit that there is guilt where there is spiritual misery but all these things Paul affirms of his disease again the law furnishes us with a clear demonstration by which the whole question may be quickly disposed of we are enjoined to love God with all our heart with all our soul with all our strength since all the faculties of our soul ought thus to be engrossed with the love of God it is certain that the commandment is not fulfilled by those who receive the smallest desire into their heart or admit into their minds any thought whatever which may lead them away from the love of God to vanity what then is it not through the faculties of mind that we are assailed with sudden motions that we perceive sensual or form conceptions of mental objects since these faculties give admission to vain and wicked thoughts do they not show that to that extent they are devoid of the love of God he then who admits not that all the desires of the flesh are sins and that that disease of concupiscence which they call a stimulus is a fountain of sin must of necessity deny that the transgression of the law is sin 12. If anyone thinks it is absurd thus to condemn all the desires by which man is naturally affected seeing they have been implanted by God the author of nature we answer that we by no means condemn those appetites which God so implanted in the mind of man at his first creation that they cannot be eradicated without destroying human nature itself and only the violent lawless movements which war with the order of God but as in consequence of the corruption of nature all our faculties are so vitiated and corrupted that a perpetual disorder and excess is apparent in all our actions and as the appetites cannot be separated from this excess we maintain that therefore they are vicious or to give the substance in fewer words we hold that all human desires are evil and we charge them with sin not in as far as they are natural but because they are inordinate and inordinate because nothing pure and upright can proceed from a corrupt and polluted nature nor does Augustine depart from this doctrine in reality so much as in appearance from an excessive dread of the invidious charge with which the Pelagians assailed him he sometimes refrains from using the term sin in this sense but when he says that the law of sin remaining in the saints the guilt only is taken away he shows clearly enough that his view is not very different from ours 13. We will produce some other passages to make it more apparent what his sentiments were in his second book against Julian he says this law of sin is both remitted in spiritual regeneration and remains in the mortal flesh remitted because the guilt is forgiven in the sacrament by which believers are regenerated and yet remains in as much as it produces desires against which believers fight again therefore the law of sin which was in the members of this great apostle also is forgiven in baptism not ended again the law of sin the guilt of which though remaining is forgiven in baptism Ambrose called iniquity for it is iniquitous for the flesh to lust against the spirit again sin is dead in the guilt by which it bound us and until it is cured by the perfection of burial though dead it rebels in the fifth book he says still more plainly quote as blindness of heart is the sin by which God is not believed and the punishment of sin by which a proud heart is justly punished and the cause of sin when through the error of a blinded heart any evil is committed so the lust of the flesh against which the good spirit wars is also sin because disobedient to the authority of the mind and the punishment of sin because the recompense rendered for disobedience and the cause of sin consenting by revolt or springing up through contamination end quote he here without ambiguity calls it sin because the Pallagian heresy being now refuted and the sound doctrine confirmed he was less afraid of Calumni thus also in his 41st homily on John where he speaks his own sentiments without controversy he says quote if with the flesh you serve the law of sin do what the apostle himself says let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof Romans 6 12 he does not say let it not be but let it not reign as long as you live there must be sin in your members but at least let its dominion be destroyed do not what it orders end quote those who maintain that concupiscence is not sin are want to found on the passage of James quote then when lust has conceived it bringeth forth sin James 115 but this is easily refuted for unless we understand him as speaking only of wicked works or actual sins even a wicked inclination will not be accounted sin but from his calling crimes and wicked deeds the fruits of lust and also giving them the name of sins it does not follow that the lust itself is not an evil and in the sight of God deserving of condemnation end of section 8 section 9 of Institutes of the Christian Religion book 3 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Institutes of the Christian Religion book 3 by John Calvin translated by Henry Beverage chapter 3 part 2 14 some Anabaptists in the present age mistake some indescribable sort of frenzied excess for the regeneration of the spirit holding that the children of God are restored to a state of innocence and therefore need give themselves no anxiety about curbing the lust of the flesh that they have the spirit for their guide and under his agency never air it would be incredible that the human mind could proceed to such insanity did they not openly and exultingly give utterance to their dogma it is indeed monstrous and yet it is just that those who have resolved to turn the word of God into a lie should thus be punished for their blasphemous audacity is it indeed true that all distinction between base and honorable just and unjust good and evil virtue and vice is abolished the distinction they say is from the curse of the old Adam and from this we are exempted by Christ there will be no difference then between whoredom and chastity sincerity and craft truth and falsehood justice and robbery away with vain fear they say the spirit will not bid you to do anything that is wrong provided you sincerely and boldly leave yourself to his agency who is not amazed at such monstrous doctrines and yet this philosophy is popular with those who blinded by insane lusts have thrown off common sense but what kind of Christ pray do they fabricate what kind of spirit do they belch forth we acknowledge one Christ and his one spirit whom the prophets foretold and the gospel proclaims as actually manifested but we hear nothing of this kind respecting him that spirit is not the patron of murder adultery drunkenness pride contention avarice and fraud but the author of love chastity sobriety modesty peace moderation and truth he is not a spirit of giddiness rushing rashly and precipitately without regard to right and wrong but full of wisdom and understanding by which he can duly distinguish between justice and injustice he instigates not to lawless and unrestrained licentiousness but discriminating between lawful and unlawful teaches temperance and moderation but why dwell longer in refuting that brutish frenzy to Christians the spirit of the Lord is not a turbulent phantom which they themselves have produced by dreaming or received ready made by others but they religiously seek the knowledge of him from scripture where two things are taught concerning him first that he is given to us for sanctification that he may purge us from all iniquity and defilement and bring us to the obedience of divine righteousness an obedience which cannot exist unless the lusts to which these men would give loose reigns are tamed and subdued secondly that though purged by his sanctification we are still beset by many vices and much weakness so long as we are enclosed in the prison of the body thus it is that placed at a great distance from perfection we must always be endeavoring to make some progress and daily struggling with the evil by which we are entangled hence too it follows that shaking off sloth and security we must be intently vigilant so as not to be taken unawares in the snares of our flesh unless indeed we presume to think that we have made greater progress than the apostle who was buffeted by a messenger of Satan in order that his strength might be perfected in weakness and who gives in his own person a true not a fictitious representation of the strife between the spirit and the flesh 2 Corinthians 12 7 and 9 Romans 7 verse 6 15 the apostle in his description of repentance 2 Corinthians 7 verse 2 enumerates 7 causes, effects or parts belonging to it and that on the best grounds these are carefulness, excuse, indignation fear, desire, zeal, revenge it should not excite surprise that I venture not to determine whether they ought to be regarded as causes or effects both views may be maintained they may also be called affections conjoined with repentance but as Paul's meaning may be ascertained without entering into any of these questions we shall be contented with a simple exposition he says then that Godly sorrow produces carefulness he who is really dissatisfied with himself for sinning against his God is at the same time stimulated to care and attention that he may completely disentangle himself from the chains of the devil and keep a better guard against his snares so as not afterwards to lose the guidance of the Holy Spirit or be overcome by security next comes excuse which in this place means not defense in which the sinner to escape the judgment of God either denies his fault or extenuates it but apologizing which trusts more to intercession than to the goodness of the cause just as children not altogether abandoned while they acknowledge and confess their errors yet employ deprecation and to make room for it testify by every means in their power that they have by no means cast off the reverence which they owe to their parents in short endeavor by excuse not to prove themselves righteous and innocent but only to obtain pardon next follows indignation under which the sinner inwardly murmurs expostulates and is offended with himself on recognizing his perverseness and ingratitude to God by the term fear is meant that trepidation which takes possession of our minds whenever we consider both what we have deserved and the fearful severity of the divine anger against sinners accordingly the exceeding disquietude which we must necessarily feel both trains us to humility and makes us more cautious for the future but if the carefulness or anxiety which he first mentioned is the result of fear the connection between the two becomes obvious desire seems to me to be used as equivalent to diligence in duty and alacrity in doing service to which the sense of our misdeeds ought to be a powerful stimulus to this also pertains zeal which immediately follows for it signifies the ardor with which we are inflamed when such goats as these are applied to us what have I done into what abyss had I fallen had not the mercy of God prevented the last of all is revenge for the stricter we are with ourselves and the severer the censure we pass upon our sins the more ground we have to hope for the divine favor and mercy and certainly when the soul is overwhelmed with the dread of divine judgment it cannot but act the part of an avenger in afflicting punishment upon itself pious men doubtless feel that there is punishment in the shame confusion, groans, self-displeasure and other feelings produced by a serious review of their sins let us remember however that moderation must be used so that we may not be overwhelmed with sadness there being nothing to which trembling consciences are more prone than to rush into despair this too is one of Satan's artifices those whom he sees thus overwhelmed with fear he plunges deeper and deeper into the abyss of sorrow that they may never again rise it is true that the fear which ends in humility without relinquishing the hope of pardon cannot be in excess and yet we must always beware according to the apostolic injunction of giving way to extreme dread as this tends to make us shun God while he is calling us to himself by repentance wherefore the advice of Bernard is good quote, grief for sins is necessary but must not be perpetual my advice is to turn back at times from sorrow and the anxious remembrance of our ways and escape to the plain to a calm review of the divine mercies let us mingle honey with wormwood that the salubrious bitter may give health when we drink it tempered with a mixture of sweetness while you think humbly of yourselves think also of the goodness of the Lord end quote 16 we can now understand what are the fruits of repentance that is offices of piety towards God and love towards men general holiness and purity of life in short the more a man studies to conform his life to the standard of the divine law the sureer signs he gives of his repentance accordingly the spirit in exhorting us to repentance brings before us at one time each separate precept of the law at another the duties of the second table although there are also passages in which after condemning impurity in its fountain in the heart he afterwards descends to external marks by which repentance is proved to be sincere a portraiture of this I will shortly set before the eye of the reader when I come to describe the Christian life I will not here collect the passages from the prophets in which they deride the frivolous observances of those who labor to appease God with ceremonies and show that they are a mere mockery or those in which they show that outward integrity of conduct is not the chief part of repentance seeing that God looks at the heart anyone moderately versent in Scripture will understand by himself without being reminded by others that when he has to do with God nothing is gained without beginning with the internal affections of the heart there is a passage of Joel which will avail not a little for the understanding of others quote rend your heart and not your garments Joel 2 verse 13 both are also briefly expressed by James in these words quote cleanse your hands ye sinners and purify your hearts ye double-minded James 4.8 here indeed the accessory is set down first but the source and principle is afterwards pointed out that is that hidden defilements must be wiped away and an altar erected to God in the very heart there are moreover certain external exercises which we employ in private as remedies to humble us and tame our flesh and in public to testify our repentance these have their origin in that revenge of which Paul speaks 2 Corinthians 7 verse 2 for when the mind is distressed it naturally expresses itself in sackcloth, groans and tears shuns ornament and every kind of show and abandons all delights then he who feels how great an evil the rebellion of the flesh is tries every means of curbing it besides he who considers a right how grievous a thing it is to have offended the justice of God cannot rest until in his humility he have given glory to God such exercises are often mentioned by ancient writers when they speak of the fruits of repentance but although they by no means place the power of repentance in them yet my readers must pardon me for saying what I think they certainly seem to insist on them more than is right anyone who judiciously considers the matter will, I trust agree with me that they have exceeded in two ways first by so strongly urging and extravagantly commending that corporal discipline they indeed succeeded in making the people embrace it with greater zeal but they in a manner obscured what they should have regarded as of much more serious moment secondly the inflictions which they enjoined were considerably more rigorous than ecclesiastical mildness demands as will be elsewhere shown 17 but as there are some who from the frequent mention of sackcloth fasting in tears especially in Joel 212 think that these constitute the principal part of repentance we must dispel their delusion in that passage the proper part of repentance is described by the words quote turn ye even to me with your whole heart rend your heart and not your garments end quote the fastings weeping and mourning are introduced not as invariable or necessary effects but as special circumstances having foretold that most grievous disasters were impending over the Jews he exhorts them to turn away the divine anger not only by repenting but by giving public signs of sorrow for as a criminal to excite the commissuration of the judge appears in a supplicating posture with a long beard uncombed hair and coarse clothing so should those who are charged at the judgment seat of God deprecate his severity in a garb of wretchedness but although sackcloth and ashes were perhaps more conformable to the customs of these times yet it is plain that weeping and fasting are very appropriate in our case whenever the Lord threatens us with any defeat or calamity in presenting the appearance of danger he declares that he is preparing and in a manner arming himself for vengeance rightly therefore does the prophet exhort those on whose crimes he had said a little before that vengeance was to be executed to weeping and fasting that is to the mourning habit of criminals nor in the present day do ecclesiastical teachers act improperly when seeing ruin hanging over the necks of their people they call aloud on them to hasten with weeping and fasting only they must always urge with greater care and earnestness rend your hearts and not your garments it is beyond doubt that fasting is not always a concomitant of repentance but is especially destined for seasons of calamity hence our savior connects it with mourning Matthew 9 verse 15 and relieves the apostles of the necessity of it until by being deprived of his presence they are filled with sorrow I speak of formal fasting for the life of Christians ought ever to be tempered with frugality and sobriety so that the whole course of it should present some appearance of fasting as the subject will be fully discussed when the discipline of the church comes to be considered I now dwell less upon it 18 this much however I will add when the name repentance is applied to the external profession it is used improperly and not in the genuine meaning as I have explained it for that is not so much a turning unto God as the confession of a fault accompanied with deprecation of the sentence and punishment thus to repent in sackcloth and ashes Matthew 11 verse 21, Luke 10 13 is just to testify self dissatisfaction when God is angry with us for having grievously offended him it is indeed a kind of public confession by which condemning ourselves before angels and the world we prevent the judgment of God for Paul rebuking the sluggishness of those who indulge in their sins says, quote if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged verse Corinthians 11 31 it is not always necessary however openly to inform others and make them the witnesses of our repentance but to confess privately to God is a part of true repentance which cannot be omitted nothing were more incongruous than that God should pardon the sins in which we are flattering ourselves and hypocritically cloaking that he may not bring them to light we must not only confess the sins which we daily commit but more grievous lapses ought to carry us farther and bring to our remembrance things which seem to have been long ago buried of this David sets an example before us in his own person Psalm 51 filled with shame for a recent crime he examines himself going back to the womb and acknowledging that even then he was corrupted and defiled this he does not to extenuate his fault as many hide themselves in the crowd and catch at impunity by involving others along with them very differently does David who ingenuously makes it an aggravation of his sin that being corrupted from his earliest infancy he ceased not to add iniquity to iniquity in another passage also he takes a survey of his past life and implores God to pardon the errors of his youth Psalm 25 verse 7 and indeed we shall not prove that we have thoroughly shaken off our stupor until groaning under the burden and lamenting our sad condition we seek relief from God it is moreover to be observed that the repentance which we are enjoined assiduously to cultivate differs from that which raises as it were from death those who had fallen more shamefully or given themselves up to sin without restraint or by some kind of open revolt had thrown off the authority of God for scripture in exhorting to repentance often speaks of it as a passage from death unto life and when relating that a people had repented means that they had abandoned idolatry and other forms of gross wickedness for which reason Paul denounces woe to sinners quote who have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed 2 Corinthians 12 verse 21 this distinction ought to be carefully observed lest when we hear of a few individuals having been summoned to repent we indulge in supine security as if we had nothing to do with the mortification of the flesh whereas in consequence of the depraved desires which are always enticing us and the iniquities which are ever and anon springing from them it must engage our unremitting care the special repentance enjoined upon those whom the devil has entangled in deadly snares and withdrawn from the fear of God does not abolish that ordinary repentance which the corruption of nature obliges us to cultivate during the whole course of our lives 19 moreover if it is true and nothing can be more certain than that a complete summary of the gospel is included under these two heads that is repentance and the remission of sins do we not see that the Lord justifies his people freely and at the same time renews them to true holiness by the sanctification of his spirit John the messenger sent before the face of Christ to prepare his ways proclaimed quote repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand Matthew 11 verse 10 chapter 3 verse 2 by inviting them to repentance he urged them to acknowledge that they were sinners and in all respects condemned before God that thus they might be induced earnestly to seek the mortification of the flesh and a new birth in the spirit by announcing the kingdom of God he called for faith since by the kingdom of God which he declared to be at hand he meant forgiveness of sins, salvation, life and every other blessing which we obtain in Christ wherefore we read in the other evangelists quote John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins Mark 1 verse 4 Luke 3 3 what does this mean but that weary and oppressed with the burden of sin they should turn to the Lord and entertain hopes of forgiveness and salvation thus too Christ began his preaching quote the kingdom of God is at hand repent ye and believe the gospel Mark 1 verse 10 first he declares that the treasures of the divine mercy were opened in him next he enjoins repentance and lastly he encourages confidence in the promises of God accordingly when intending to give a brief summary of the whole gospel he said that he behaved quote to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations Luke 24 verses 26 and 46 in like manner after his resurrection the apostles preached quote him has God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins Acts 5 31 repentance is preached in the name of Christ when men learn through the doctrines of the gospel that all their thoughts, affections and pursuits are corrupt and vicious and that therefore if they would enter the kingdom of God they must be born again forgiveness of sins is preached when men are taught that Christ quote is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30 that on his account they are freely deemed righteous and innocent in the sight of God though both graces are obtained by faith as has been shown elsewhere yet as the goodness of God by which sins are forgiven is the proper object of faith it is proper carefully to distinguish it from repentance 20 more over as hatred of sin which is the beginning of repentance first gives us access to the knowledge of Christ who manifests himself to none but miserable and afflicted sinners groaning, laboring, burdened, hungry and thirsty pining away with grief and wretchedness so if we would stand in Christ we must aim at repentance cultivate it during our whole lives and continue it to the last Christ came to call sinners but to call them to repentance he was sent to bless the unworthy but by quote turning away everyone from his iniquities and quote the scripture is full of similar passages hence when God offers forgiveness of sins he in return usually stipulates for repentance intimating that his mercy should induce men to repent quote keep ye judgment sayeth he and do justice for my salvation is near to come and quote again quote the redeemer shall come to Zion and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob and quote again quote seek ye the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and quote quote repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out and quote here however it is to be observed that repentance is not made a condition which a sense as to be a foundation for meriting pardon nay it rather indicates the end at which they must aim if they would obtain favor God having resolved to take pity on men for the express purpose of leading them to repent therefore so long as we dwell in the prison of the body we must constantly struggle with the vices of our corrupt nature and so with our natural disposition Plato sometimes says that the life of the philosopher is to meditate on death more truly may we say that the life of a Christian man is constant study and exercise in mortifying the flesh until it is certainly slain and the spirit of God obtains dominion in us wherefore he seems to me to have made most progress who has learned to be most dissatisfied with himself he does not however remain in the my re clay without going forward but rather hastens and sighs after God that engrafted both into the death and the life of Christ he may constantly meditate on repentance unquestionably those who have a genuine hatred of sin cannot do otherwise for no man ever hated sin without being previously enamored of righteousness this view as it is the simplest of all seemed to me also to accord best with scripture truth 21. Moreover that repentance is a special gift of God I trust is too well understood from the above doctrine to require any lengthened discourse hence the church extols the goodness of God and looks on in wonder saying then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life Acts 11 verse 18 and Paul in joining Timothy to deal meekly and patiently with unbelievers says quote if God pair adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil 2 Timothy 2 25 and 26 God indeed declares that he would have all men to repent and addresses exhortations in common to all their efficacy however depends on the spirit of regeneration it were easier to create us at first than for us by our own strength to acquire a more excellent nature where for in regard to the whole process of regeneration it is not without cause that we are called God's quote workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them Ephesians 2 verse 10 those whom God is pleased to rescue from death he quickens by the spirit of regeneration not that repentance is properly the cause of salvation but because as already seen it is inseparable from the faith and mercy of God for as Isaiah declares quote the Redeemer shall come to Zion and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob and quote this indeed is a standing truth that wherever the fear of God is invigor the spirit has been carrying on his saving work hence in Isaiah while believers complain and lament that they have been forsaken of God they set down the supernatural hardening of the heart as a sign of reprobation the apostle also intending to exclude apostates from the hope of salvation states as the reason that it is impossible to renew them to repentance Hebrews 6 verse 6 that is God by renewing those whom he wills not to perish gives them a sign of paternal favor and in a manner attracts them to himself by the beams of a calm and reconciled countenance on the other hand by hardening the reprobate whose impiety is not to be forgiven he thunders against them this kind of vengeance the apostle denounces against voluntary apostates Hebrews 10 verse 29 who in falling away from the faith of the gospel mock God insultingly reject his favor profane and trample underfoot the blood of Christ nay as far as in them lies crucify him afresh still he does not as some austere persons preposterously insist leave no hope of pardon to voluntary sins but shows that apostasy being altogether without excuse it is not strange that God is inexorably rigorous in punishing sacrilegious contempt thus shown to himself for in the same epistle he says quote it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them again to repentance seeing they crucify the son of God afresh and put him to an open shame Hebrews 7 verses 4 through 6 and in another passage quote if we sin willingly after that we have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful looking for of judgment etc Hebrews 11 verses 25 and 26 there are other passages from a misinterpretation of which the Novotians of old extracted materials for their heresy so much so that some good men taking offense at their harshness have deemed the epistle altogether spurious though it truly savors in every part of it of the apostolic spirit but as our dispute is only with those who receive the epistle it is easy to show that those passages give no support to their error first the apostle must of necessity agree with his master who declares that quote all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy against the holy ghost shall not be forgiven unto men end quote quote neither in this world, neither in the world to come Matthew 12 31 Luke 12 10 we must hold that this was the only exception which the apostle recognized unless we would set him in opposition to the grace of God hence it follows that to no sin as pardon denied saved to one which proceeding from desperate fury cannot be ascribed to infirmity and plainly shows that the man guilty of it is possessed by the devil 22 here however it is proper to consider what the dreadful iniquity is which is not to be pardoned the definition which Augustine somewhere gives that is that it is obstinate perverseness with distrust of pardon continued till death scarcely agrees with the words of Christ that it shall not be forgiven in this world for either this is said in vain or it may be committed in this world but if Augustine's definition is correct the sin is not committed unless persisted in till death others say that the sin against the holy spirit consists in envying the grace conferred upon a brother but I know not on what it is founded here however let us give the true definition which when once it is established by sound evidence will easily of itself overturn all the others I say therefore that he sins against the holy spirit who while so constrained by the power of divine truth that he cannot plead ignorance yet deliberately resists and that merely for the sake of resisting for Christ in explanation of what he had said immediately adds quote whosoever speaketh a word against the son of man it shall be forgiven him but whosoever speaketh against the holy ghost it shall not be forgiven him Matthew 12 verse 31 and Matthew uses the term spirit of blasphemy for blasphemy against the spirit how can anyone insult the son without at the same time attacking the spirit in this way those who in ignorance assail the unknown truth of God and yet are so disposed that they would be unwilling to extinguish the truth of God when manifested to them or utter one word against him whom they knew to be the Lord's anointed sin against the father and the son thus there are many in the present day who have the greatest abhorrence to the doctrine of the gospel and yet if they knew it to be the doctrine of the gospel would be prepared to venerate it with their whole heart but those who are convinced in conscience that what they repudiate and impune is the word of God and yet cease not to impune it are said to blaspheme against the spirit in as much as they struggle against the illumination which is the work of the spirit such were some of the Jews who when they could not resist the spirit speaking by Stephen yet were bent on resisting act 6 verse 10 there can be no doubt that many of them were carried away by zeal for the law but it appears that there were others who maliciously and impiously raged against God himself that is against the doctrine which they knew to be of God such too were the Pharisees on whom our Lord denounced woe to depreciate the power of the Holy Spirit they defamed him by the name of Bales above Matthew 9 verses 3 and 4 and chapter 12 verse 24 the spirit of blasphemy therefore is when a man audaciously and of set purpose rushes forth to insult his divine name this Paul intimates when he says quote but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief end quote otherwise he had deservedly been held unworthy of the grace of God if ignorance joined with unbelief made him obtain pardon it follows that there is no room for pardon when knowledge is added to unbelief 23 if you attend properly you will perceive that the apostle speaks not of one particular lapse or two but of the universal revolt by which the reprobate renounced salvation it is not strange that God should be implacable whom John in his epistle declares not to have been of the elect from whom they went out verse John 2 verse 19 for he is directing his discourse against those who imagined that they could return to the Christian religion though they had once revolted from it to divest them of this false and pernicious opinion he says as is most true that those who had once knowingly and willingly cast off fellowship with Christ had no means of returning to it it is not however so cast off by those who merely by the disiluteness of their lives transgress the word of the Lord but by those who avowedly reject his whole doctrine there is a paralogism in the expression casting off and sinning casting off as interpreted by the Novodians is when anyone notwithstanding of being taught by the law of the Lord not to steal or commit adultery refrains not from theft or adultery on the contrary I holds that there is a tacit antithesis in which all the things contrary to those which have been said must be held to be repeated so that the thing expressed is not some particular vice but universal aversion to God and so to speak the apostasy of the whole man therefore when he speaks of those falling away who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy ghost and have tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come we must understand him as referring to those who with deliberate impiety have quenched the light of the spirit tasted of the heavenly word and spurned it alienated themselves from the sanctification of the spirit and trampled underfoot the word of God and the powers of a world to come the better to show that this was the species of impiety intended he afterwards expressly adds the term willfully for when he says quote if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins end quote he denies not that Christ is a perpetual victim to expiate the transgressions of saints this the whole epistle in explaining the priesthood of Christ distinctly proclaims but he says that there remains no other sacrifice after this one is abandoned and it is abandoned when the truth of the gospel is professedly abjured 24 to some it seems harsh and it variants with the divine mercy utterly to deny forgiveness to any who retake themselves to it this is easily disposed of it is not said that pardon will be refused if they turn to the Lord but it is altogether denied that they can turn to repentance in as much as for their ingratitude they are struck by the just judgment of God with eternal blindness there is nothing contrary to this in the application which is afterwards made of the example of Esau who tried in vain by crying in tears to recover his lost birthright nor in the denunciation of the prophet quote they cried and I would not hear end quote such modes of expression do not denote true conversion or calling upon God but that anxiety with which the wicked when in calamity are compelled to see what they before securely disregarded that is that nothing can avail but the assistance of the Lord this however they do not so much implore as lament the loss of hence all that the prophet means by crying and the apostle by tears is the dreadful torment which stings and excruciates the wicked in despair it is of consequence carefully to observe this for otherwise God would be inconsistent with himself when he proclaims through the prophet that quote if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he has committed well surely live he shall not die Ezekiel 18 21 and 22 and as I have already said it is certain that the mind of man cannot be changed for the better unless by his preventing grace the promise as to those who call upon him will never fail but the names of conversion and prayer are improperly given to that blind torment by which the reprobate are distracted when they see that they must see God if they would find a remedy for their calamities and yet shun to approach him 25 but as the apostle declares that God is not appeased by feigned repentance it is asked how Ahab obtained pardon and averted the punishment denounced against him 1 Kings 21 verses 28 and 29 seeing it appears he was only amazed on the sudden and afterwards continued his former course of life he indeed clothed himself in sackcloth covered himself with ashes lay on the ground and as the testimony given to him bears humbled himself before God it was a small matter to rend his garments while his heart continued obstinate and swollen with wickedness and yet we see that God was inclined to mercy I answer that though hypocrites are thus occasionally spared for a time the wrath of God still lies upon them and that they are thus spared not so much on their own account as for a public example for what did Ahab gain by the mitigation of his punishment except that he did not suffer it alive on the earth the curse of God though concealed was fixed on his house and he himself went to eternal destruction we may see the same thing in Esau Genesis 27 verses 38 and 39 for though he met with a refusal a temporal blessing was granted to his tears but as according to the declaration of God the spiritual inheritance could be possessed only by one of the brothers when Jacob was selected instead of Esau that event excluded him from the divine mercy but still there was given to him as a man of a groveling nature this consolation should be filled with the fullness of the earth and the dew of heaven and this as I lately said should be regarded as done for the example of others that we may learn to apply our minds and exert ourselves with greater alacrity in the way of sincere repentance as there cannot be the least doubt that God will be ready to pardon those who turn to him truly and with the heart seeing his mercy extends even to the unworthy though they bear marks of his displeasure in this way also we are taught how dreadful the judgment is which awaits all the rebellious who with audacious brow and iron heart make it their sport to despise and disregard the divine threatening God in this way often stretched forth his hand to deliver the Israelites from their calamities though their cries were pretended and their minds double and perfidious he himself complains in the Psalms that they immediately returned to their former course Psalm 78 verses 36 and 37 but he designed thus by kindness and forbearance to bring them to true repentance or leave them without excuse and yet by remitting the punishment for a time he does not lay himself under any perpetual obligation he rather at times rises with a greater severity against hypocrites and doubles their punishment that it may thereby appear how much hypocrisy displeases him but as I have observed he gives some examples of his inclination to pardon that the pious may thereby be stimulated to amend their lives and the pride of those who petulantly kick against the pricks be more severely condemned End of section 9 Recording by Tricia G