Calvin’s Definition of the Regenerate is the Bible’s Definition of the Unregenerate
There is a slight problem with Calvinism. Calvin’s definition of a Christian is the Bible’s definition of a lost person. Calvin, the supposed genius that he was, therefore declared Christians everywhere to be lost. Brilliant.
It all starts with Calvin’s view of the Christian’s relationship to the law:
1. It is the standard for the Christian’s justification.
2. The law must be kept perfectly in order to be considered righteous presently.
3. Christians cannot please God through obedience to the law because we still sin.
Let’s establish these three points from the Calvin Institutes (3.14.9-11):
We thus see, that even saints cannot perform one work which, if judged on its own merits, is not deserving of condemnation.
Even were it possible for us to perform works absolutely pure, yet one sin is sufficient to efface and extinguish all remembrance of former righteousness, as the prophet says (Ezek. 18:24). With this James agrees, “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all,” (James 2:10). And since this mortal life is never entirely free from the taint of sin, whatever righteousness we could acquire would ever and anon be corrupted, overwhelmed, and destroyed, by subsequent sins, so that it could not stand the scrutiny of God, or be imputed to us for righteousness. In short, whenever we treat of the righteousness of works, we must look not to the legal work but to the command. Therefore, when righteousness is sought by the Law, it is in vain to produce one or two single works; we must show an uninterrupted obedience.
God does not (as many foolishly imagine) impute that forgiveness of sins once for all, as righteousness; so that having obtained the pardon of our past life we may afterwards seek righteousness in the Law. This were only to mock and delude us by the entertainment of false hopes. For since perfection is altogether unattainable by us, so long as we are clothed with flesh, and the Law denounces death and judgment against all who have not yielded a perfect righteousness, there will always be ground to accuse and convict us unless the mercy of God interpose, and ever and anon absolve us by the constant remission of sins. Wherefore the statement which we set out is always true, if we are estimated by our own worthiness, in everything that we think or devise, with all our studies and endeavors we deserve death and destruction.
We must strongly insist on these two things: That no believer ever performed one work which, if tested by the strict judgment of God, could escape condemnation; and, moreover, that were this granted to be possible (though it is not), yet the act being vitiated and polluted by the sins of which it is certain that the author of it is guilty, it is deprived of its merit.
Clearly, Calvin believed Christians are still under the law and its requirement of perfection. Once our past sins are forgiven, the law requires a perfect keeping thereafter:
God does not (as many foolishly imagine) impute that forgiveness of sins once for all, as righteousness; so that having obtained the pardon of our past life we may afterwards seek righteousness in the Law.
Notice that Calvin dismisses a future forgiveness of sins once we are forgiven of “our past life.” Apparently, at the point of salvation, past sins are forgiven but from there forward a perfect keeping of the law is required in order to be considered righteous. Since this is not possible, a perpetual forgiveness of sins is required to maintain our just standing:
For since perfection is altogether unattainable by us, so long as we are clothed with flesh, and the Law denounces death and judgment against all who have not yielded a perfect righteousness, there will always be ground to accuse and convict us unless the mercy of God interpose, and ever and anon absolve us by the constant remission of sins.
Calvin taught a need for the perpetual remission of sin in order to remain just, and a perpetual imputation of Christ’s righteousness as well:
Therefore we must have this blessedness not once only, but must hold it fast during our whole lives. Moreover, the message of free reconciliation with God is not promulgated for one or two days, but is declared to be perpetual in the Church (2 Cor. 5:18, 19). Hence believers have not even to the end of life any other righteousness than that which is there described. Christ ever remains a Mediator to reconcile the Father to us, and there is a perpetual efficacy in his death—viz. ablution, satisfaction, expiation; in short, perfect obedience, by which all our iniquities are covered (Ibid.)
Calvin believed that faith alone in sanctification, the same way we were saved, keeps this process of perpetual justification going. He posed the opposition as those who believed that the new birth enabled the Christian to participate in completing justification, and since the completion would not be a perfect keeping of the law, that it was a false approach:
They admit that the sinner, freely delivered from condemnation, obtains justification, and that by forgiveness of sins; but under the term justification they comprehend he renovation by which the Spirit forms us anew to the obedience of the Law; and in describing the righteousness of the regenerate man, maintain that being once reconciled to God by means of Christ, he is afterwards deemed righteous by his good works, and is accepted in consideration of them (Ibid).
Until this day, the Reformed misrepresent the new birth as a work inside the believer that enables them to participate in the completion of justification because they only recognize a “golden chain of salvation” in which sanctification finishes justification. That is why authentic Calvinism insists on “Christ 100% for us [IN sanctification and justification both]” and any and all works of grace being completely outside of the believer. What about “faith”? Faith must focus on the gospel OUTSIDE of us or it is irrelevant. Any recognition that faith is inside of us leads to subjectivism. So, true faith is that which focuses on another object, or it’s not faith. Whether or not it is inside of us is irrelevant. In fact, God Himself should not be emphasized as much as Christ and His gospel lest we “rather mislead miserable souls by vain speculation, than direct them to the proper mark” (Institutes III.2.i).
The primary contradiction is that Christians are no longer under the law for justification. There is NO law standard that must be maintained for our just standing. That is how unbelievers are biblically framed. Again, Calvin frames believers in the same way that the Bible frames unbelievers:
Romans 3:19 – Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:21 – But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
Romans 3:28 – For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Romans 4:15 – For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
Romans 5:13 – for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
Romans 7:6 – But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
Romans 7:8 – But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.
We see that a perfect keeping of the law is completely unnecessary for the Christian. Who keeps it or doesn’t keep it for our justification is completely irrelevant for the standard of the law does not exist in justification: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.”
Furthermore, if we are still under the jurisdiction of the law for our justification, we are technically, according to the Bible, unregenerate and still enslaved to sin:
Romans 6:14 – For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Because we died with Christ, the old us that was under the law is like a spouse that died; we are no longer under that marriage law and the new us is free to marry another:
Romans 7:1 – Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
We are no longer under the law for justification, and not of the nature that goes along with that: enslavement to sin. Nor are we any longer provoked to sin by the law, which is another characteristic of being under it:
Romans 7:5 – 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.
Those under the law cannot obey the law, but in direct contradiction to Calvin, those under grace can obey and please God with obedience accordingly:
Romans 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
The law now informs our sanctification (ROM 3:21, GAL 4:21) and provokes us to obedience from our redeemed hearts:
Romans 6:1 – What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,[c] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Calvin’s soteriology is utterly anti-gospel and the antitheses of truth. It must be rejected with extreme prejudice. It makes a mockery of biblical common sense—describing the regenerate as unregenerate.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Reblogged this on Clearcreek Chapel Watch.
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Paul, please forgive me for the lengthiness of this comment.
1) There seems to be a contradiction here:
“Notice that Calvin *dismisses a future forgiveness of sins once we are forgiven of ‘our past life.*’ Apparently, at the point of salvation, past sins are forgiven but from there forward a perfect keeping of the law is required in order to be considered righteous. Since this is not possible, *a perpetual forgiveness of sins is required to maintain our just standing:*” (My emphasis using *)
It seems you would have “Calvin [dismissing] a future forgiveness of sins,’ and then acknowledging “a perpetual forgiveness of sins…”. Namely, because “the mercy of God interpose[s], and ever and anon absolve[s] us by the constant remission of sins.”
2) Calvin does say that believers are capable of good works, even though they are not perfect:
“Wherefore, when we exclude confidence in works, we merely mean, that the
Christian mind must not turn back to the merit of works as an aid to salvation, but must dwell
entirely on the free promise of justification. But we forbid no believer to confirm and support this
faith by the signs of the divine favor towards him. For if when we call to mind the gifts which God
has bestowed upon us, they are like rays of the divine countenance, by which we are enabled to
behold the highest light of his goodness; *much more is this the case with the gift of good works,
which shows that we have received the Spirit of adoption.*” (3.14.18)
3) Calvin states that God accepts man’s imperfect good works after their imperfections are wiped away by Christ’s purity and perfection:
“If a price is to be put upon works according to their own worth, we hold that they are unfit to appear in the presence of God: that man, accordingly, has no works in which he can glory before God, and that hence, deprived of all aid from works, he is justified by faith alone. Justification, moreover, we thus define: The
sinner being admitted into communion with Christ is, for his sake, reconciled to God; when purged
by his blood he obtains the remission of sins, and clothed with righteousness, just as if it were his
own, stands secure before the judgment-seat of heaven. Forgiveness of sins being previously given,
the good works which follow have a value different from their merit, because whatever is imperfect
in them is covered by the perfection of Christ, and all their blemishes and pollutions are wiped away by his purity, so as never to come under the cognizance of the divine tribunal. *The guilt of all transgressions, by which men are prevented from offering God an acceptable service, being thus effaced, and the imperfection which is wont to sully even good works being buried, the good works which are done by believers are deemed righteous, or; which is the same thing, are imputed for righteousness.*” (3.17.8)
4) Calvin says that after God has justified a person, He adopts him and considers him a new creature, and bestows upon him the gifts of the Spirit:
“But after the Lord has withdrawn the sinner from the abyss of perdition, and set him apart
for himself by means of adoption, having begotten him again and formed him to newness of life,
he embraces him as a new creature, and bestows the gifts of his Spirit.” (3.17.5)
All of this seems to me to be within the realm of orthodox thinking, albeit with some Calvinistic nuances. It does not seem to be within the realm of New Calvinist thinking, which is why I think there should sometimes be a distinction between Calvinism and New Calvinism. Not that Calvinism is without flaws. But I think NC does a disservice to Calvinism.
I’m not pretending that I’ve covered all the issues with this short piece. Just want to point out that I think it is sometimes a mistake to identify NC with Calvinism.
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1. No contradiction at all. Past and future in regard to being forgiven before the foundation of the earth for our whole life before and after salvation. Therefore, the future forgiveness of sins that Calvin speaks of should’t be necessary at all if Calvin’s soteriology is correct–which it isn’t.
2. Um, where does this statement say that we do good works? I go into this in detail at this year’s conference. Calvin is talking about the manifestation of “gifts” in the realm that we live in as a result of “dwell[ing] entirely on the free promise of justification”….IN sanctification. Calvin must be interpreted through the authentic Reformed metaphysical perspective that he is speaking and thinking from.
3. A careful reading of this causes problems with this being understood as good works being done by the believer in sanctification. If they are actually being done by us in sanctification, according to the Reformed gospel, that’s works salvation. Read Calvin’s deceptive rhetoric more carefully–he is not saying that we do good works that please God in sanctification. A reading of Luther’s Heidelberg confession is helpful here: the idea is that we experience the gift (or the works of Christ imputed to our sanctification so that we can remain just) as sinners and the works are marred in this realm like works done with a “dull tool.” Nevertheless, because we are not doing the works and knowledge that they are Christ’s and are marred by our humanity, they are not counted against our justification because of Christ.
4. Again, read the evil one more carefully. We are “formed in newness of life.” The FORMS of the GIFTS take place but it is not us doing the works. We experience the works, but it is not us doing them. And how do we know when we are experiencing our works verses a manifestation of Christ? We will experience the works out of joy and a willing spirit. Also, we are embraced AS new creatures–he’s not saying that we actually are new creatures. The gifts he is talking about are the imputed works of Christ, not our works.
5. Yes, it is orthodoxy, because orthodoxy is the Reformed interpretation of the Scriptures for mass consumption in a way that the totally depraved saints can understand it.
6. New Calvinism IS Calvinism. It is the rediscovery of the authentic Reformed gospel.
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“No contradiction at all. Past and future in regard to being forgiven before the foundation of the earth for our whole life before and after salvation. Therefore, the future forgiveness of sins that Calvin speaks of should’t be necessary at all if Calvin’s soteriology is correct–which it isn’t.”
This is correct and many Calvinists forget it when in discussions. They forget the foundational premise of Calvinism. It makes everything moot. The Cross, man’s salvation, etc. So we have to keep taking them back to the foundational premise of their belief system “everything was decided before the foundation of the world”……
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1. “Therefore, when righteousness is sought by the Law, it is in vain to produce one or two single works; we must show an uninterrupted obedience. God does not (as many foolishly imagine) impute that forgiveness of sins once for all, as righteousness; so that having obtained the pardon of our past life we may afterwards seek righteousness in the Law. This were only to *mock and delude us by the entertainment of false hopes.*”
Calvin is saying that it’s a mockery and a delusion to imagine that God only forgives the sins committed before we were believers, and that now He leaves us to find righteousness in the Law.
This is made more clear by the next chapter (11), where he ridicules the Schoolmen: “Indeed, they so describe the righteousness of the regenerated man that a man once for all reconciled to God through faith in Christ may be reckoned righteous before God by good works and be accepted by the merit of them.” (Battles trans.) He then goes on to use Abraham and David as examples of the just living by faith (Hab. 2:4). Calvin ends this discussion by quoting David – “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven” – and maintaining that David was speaking of believers. You quoted above the next part:
“Therefore we must have this blessedness not once only, but must hold it fast during our whole lives. Moreover, the message of free reconciliation with God is not promulgated for one or two days, but is declared to be perpetual in the Church (2 Cor. 5:18, 19). Hence believers have not even to the end of life any other righteousness than that which is there described. Christ ever remains a Mediator to reconcile the Father to us, and there is a perpetual efficacy in his death—viz. ablution, satisfaction, expiation; in short, perfect obedience, by which all our iniquities are covered.”
However, you left out the last sentence: “And Paul does not say to the Ephesians that we have the *beginning* of salvation from grace but that we have been *saved* through grace, ‘not by works, lest any man should boast.'” [Eph. 2:8-9] (Battles trans.; my emphasis)
Calvin is saying 1) We should not seek righteousness in the Law, especially after we have already been reconciled to God through faith in Christ; 2) The just live by faith; 3) “Christ ever remains a Mediator to reconcile the Father to us”; 4) We don’t just “have the beginning of salvation from grace,” but all of it through grace, not by works.
Yet you say that Calvin believes concerning the law: “1. It is the standard for the Christian’s justification.
2. The law must be kept perfectly in order to be considered righteous presently.
3. Christians cannot please God through obedience to the law because we still sin.”
Calvin certainly believes the last one, but I don’t see where he believes the first two.
1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It’s obvious that John is speaking to believers. I suppose it’s possible to read this as an example of “progressive justification,” though I’m quite sure you don’t. Likewise, isn’t it possible that we could read Calvin as espousing “progressive justification” when he isn’t? Admittedly, he doesn’t make it easy when he entitles 3.14 “The Beginning of Justification and its Continual Progress.” But I see nowhere in that chapter him saying that works are worthless because they fall so short of the Law, so all we can do is continually have faith in the perfection of Christ and His perfect works, and, if we do so, those works will be ascribed to us.
3.16 begins: “Does the doctrine of justification do away with good works?”
“This, in one word, is enough to refute the shamelessness of certain impious persons who slanderously charge us with abolishing good works, and with seducing men from the pursuit of them, when we say that men are not justified by works and do not merit salvation by them;” The rest of the chapter talks about good works resulting from justification.
I realize that all of this is distorted by the “New Calvinists,” but I don’t think it’s accurate to lay all of their errors at the feet of Calvin.
I’ll engage your other points later. Now you have something to look forward to, right? (Don’t answer.)
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Jeff,
You don’t get it. There is NO law in justification. Justification is finished and is completely apart from the law. It is impossible for the Christian to sin against justification because there is no law to judge him, and the old man born under the law died with Christ and is free from the law. Calvin believed that our justification is maintained by a perfect keeping of the law. Hence, the need for the continued salvific works of Christ in sanctification. But no law needs to be kept in order to maintain our justification and our true righteous standing. Law-keeping by anyone, including Christ, is NOT part of the atonement. We are truly righteous now because the seed of God is within us and the law provokes us to righteousness instead of provoking us to sin. The fact that we don’t keep the law perfectly is neither here nor there in regard to justification and only effects our intimacy with the Father which is a family matter and not a justification matter. The weakness of our flesh that causes us to sin and wages war against us is the spouse who died, so we are no longer judged by that covenant, which is the law. See Romans 7. Calvin preached a justification that HAS TO BE MAINTAINED by a perfect keeping of the law by Christ and imputed to our sanctification by faith alone. It’s a false gospel.
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“Calvin preached a justification that HAS TO BE MAINTAINED by a perfect keeping of the law by Christ and imputed to our sanctification by faith alone. It’s a false gospel.”
Yes, it is the imputed righteousness for “sanctification” where most Calvinists miss it because they tend to fuse Justification/sanctification without really realizing it. It is inherent in their doctrine because of a fautly reading of election. And I think that is because they cling to the” chosen before the foundation of the world” misunderstanding where we can do nothing in sanctification so Christ does it for us. We were chosen before Adam and can do nothing. God is controlling every molecule 24/7. Man has no volition at all.
they don’t explain it that way but that is the result. It is the worm theology. You are saved but are really a reprobate worm.
Calvin is a black hole. That is why quoting him can be confusing. He tends to contradict himself but it is so tedious to point it out because one is accused of proof texting him as if his writings are inspired or something.
I say, forget all that and look at how he lived…his behavior the second time around in Geneva and what he wrought there. The man was a moral monster and tyrant. So if our beliefs drive our behavior why would he ever be anyone’s go to guy for knowing Christ? I am astonished at his new found popularity among the young men. Not only him but other tyrannical types like the Puritans. Chilling.
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Paul, I agree with everything you wrote in your last comment. Calvin’s writing style is somewhat unwieldy by today’s standards, but I don’t read him as contradicting you. He says that it’s a mockery and a delusion “when righteousness is sought by the Law.” He says that it is foolish to imagine that, having been forgiven “once for all” for our sins, to “afterwards seek righteousness in the Law.” Isn’t this another way of saying that we’re through with the law after justification?
“3.19.2 – Freedom from the law.
Christian freedom, in my opinion, consists of three parts. THE FIRST: THAT THE CONSCIENCES OF BELIEVERS, IN SEEKING ASSURANCE OF THEIR JUSTIFICATION BEFORE GOD, SHOULD RISE ABOVE AND ADVANCE BEYOND THE LAW, FORGETTING ALL LAW RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (My caps)
Because of your mentioning it, I’m reading through Luther’s “Heidelberg Disputation.” There I see what you are talking about.
I imagine that we’re both tired of this particular discussion and that we can agree to disagree. FWIW, I’m very much in agreement with you about the New Calvinists, and I think you do valuable work in this area.
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Jeff,
For Calvin, activity in sanctification is not separate from the goal of justification. Calvin believed that justification cannot be separated form sanctification. They are both of the same reality. You are not reading Calvin from that perspective. He is not talking about justification alone–he is talking about both. That is why when people ask Matt Chandler if he is talking about justification or sanctification, his answer is, “yes.”
This can be seen in your second quote specifically. The Bible states specifically that believers find assurance in law-keeping because it is separate from justification. Here, Calvin teaches against it for sanctification because he sees the two as the same.
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You wrote: “This can be seen in your second quote specifically. The Bible states specifically that believers find assurance in law-keeping because it is separate from justification. Here, Calvin teaches against it for sanctification because he sees the two as the same.”
Here is the beginning of Calvin’s second part of Christian freedom:
“The second part, dependent upon the first, is that consciences observe the law, not as if constrained by the necessity of the law, but that freed from the law’s yoke they willingly obey God’s will. For since they dwell in perpetual dread so long as they remain under the sway of the law, they will never be disposed with eager readiness to obey God unless they have already been given this sort of freedom.” (3.19.4)
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Jeff,
Calvin didn’t believe that we actually keep the law in any way that would be considered obedience towards God. See 3.14.9-11 where he makes that absolutely clear. Notice that he refers to, “eager readiness” obedience. This is obedience manifested by the imputation of Christ’s “saving” works in sanctification and earmarked by joy. This is where Piper gets his Christian Hedonism gig. Calvin, like all cultists, hijacks the terms and appoints them with different meanings. “True obedience” to Calvin meant a MANIFESTATION of Christ’s saving works. Luther explains how all of this works in his Heidelberg Confession of which Calvin does not stray from. It is the premise of the Institutes.
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