Repentance: According to 2 Corinthians 7:11 - By John Calvin
Institutes of the Christian Religion
Vol 3 pages 76-86
Previous Post:
15. REPENTANCE ACCORDING TO 2 CORINTHIANS 7:11
16. OUTWARD AND INWARD REPENTANCE
17. THE OUTWARD PRACTICE OF PENANCE MUST NOT BECOME THE CHIEF THING
18. CONFESSION OF SIN BEFORE GOD AND BEFORE MEN
19. REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS ARE INTERRELATED
20. IN WHAT SENSE IS REPENTANCE THE PRIOR CONDITION OF FORGIVENESS?
21. REPENTANCE AS GOD'S FREE GIFT
18. CONFESSION OF SIN BEFORE GOD AND BEFORE MEN
Nevertheless, I shall insert this point here: when the term "repentance"
is applied to this external profession, it is improperly diverted from its
true meaning, which I have set forth. For it is not so much a turning to
God as a confession of guilt, together with a beseeching of God to
avert punishment and accusation.' Thus, to "repent in sackcloth and
ashes" [ Matthew 11:21; Luke 10:13] is only to evidence our
self-displeasure when God is angry with us because of our grave
offenses. Public, indeed, is this kind of confession, by which we,
condemning ourselves before the angels and the world, anticipate the
judgment of God. For Paul, rebuking the slothfulness of those who are
indulgent toward their own sins, says: "If we judged ourselves…we
should not be judged" by God [ 1 Corinthians 11:31].
Now, while it is not always necessary to make men open and conscious
witnesses of our repentance, yet to confess to God privately is a part of
true repentance that cannot be omitted. For there is nothing less
reasonable than that God should forgive those sins in which we flatter
ourselves, and which we hypocritically disguise lest he bring them to
light.
Not only is it fitting to confess those sins which we commit daily, but
graver offenses ought to draw us further and recall to our minds those
which seem long since buried. David teaches us this by his example.
For, touched with shame for his recent crime, he examines himself even
to the time when he was in his mother's womb, and acknowledges that
even then he was corrupted and infected with the filthiness of the flesh
[ Psalm 51:3-5]. And he does not do this to extenuate his guilt, as many
hide themselves in a crowd and seek to go unpunished by involving
others with them. David does far otherwise. He openly magnifies his
guilt, confessing that, corrupted from his very infancy, he has not
ceased to heap misdeeds upon misdeeds. Also, in another passage, he
undertakes such an investigation of his past life as to implore God's
mercy for the sins of his youth [Psalm 15:7]. Surely then, at last, we shall
prove that our drowsiness has been shaken from us, if we seek from
God a release by groaning under our burden, by bewailing
our evil deeds.
Moreover, we ought to note that the repentance which we are enjoined
constantly to practice differs from that repentance which, as it were,
arouses from death those who have either shamefully fallen or with
unbridled vices cast themselves into sinning, or have thrown off God's
yoke by some sort of rebellion. For often Scripture, in exhorting to
repentance, means by it a kind of passage and resurrection from death
to life. And in referring to a people as having "repented," it means that
they have been converted from idol worship and other gross offenses.
few are called to repentance we become careless, as if mortification of
the flesh no longer concerned us. For the base desires that always
pester us, and the vices that repeatedly sprout in us, do not allow us to
slacken our concern for mortification.
Therefore, the special repentance that is required only of certain ones
whom the devil has wrenched from fear of God and entangled in deadly
snares does not do away with the ordinary repentance to which
corruption of nature compels us to give attention throughout our lives.
19. REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS ARE INTERRELATED
Now if it is true - a fact abundantly clear - that the whole of the gospel is
contained under these two headings, repentance and forgiveness of
sins, do we not see that the Lord freely justifies his own in order that he
may at the same time restore them to true righteousness by
sanctification of his Spirit? John, a messenger sent before the face of
Christ to prepare his ways [ Matthew 11:10], proclaimed:
they were sinners, and their all was condemned before the Lord, that
they might with all their hearts desire the mortification of their flesh,
and a new rebirth in the Spirit. By proclaiming the Kingdom of God, he
was calling them to faith, for by the Kingdom of God, which he taught
was at hand, he meant the forgiveness of sins, salvation, life, and
utterly everything that we obtain in Christ. Hence we read in the other
Evangelists: "John came preaching a baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins" [ Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3]. What else is this than that they,
weighed down and wearied by the burden of sins, should turn to the
Lord and conceive a hope of forgiveness and salvation?
in himself; then he requires repentance; finally, trust in God's promises.
teaching of the gospel, men hear that all their thoughts, all their
inclinations, all their efforts, are corrupt and vicious. Accordingly, they
must be reborn if they would enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Forgiveness of sins is preached when men are taught that for them
Christ became redemption, righteousness, salvation, and life
[1 Corinthians 1:30], by whose name they are freely accounted righteous
and innocent in God's sight. Since both kinds of grace are received
by faith, as I have elsewhere proved, still, because the proper object of
faith is God's goodness, by which sins are forgiven, it was expedient
that it should be carefully distinguished from repentance.
20. IN WHAT SENSE IS REPENTANCE THE PRIOR CONDITION OF FORGIVENESS?
Now the hatred of sin, which is the beginning of repentance, first gives
us access to the knowledge of Christ, who reveals himself to none but
poor and afflicted sinners, who groan, toil, are heavy-laden, hunger,
thirst, and pine away with sorrow and misery [ Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew
11:5, 28; Luke 4:18]. Accordingly, we must strive toward repentance
itself, devote ourselves to it throughout life, and pursue it to the very
end if we would abide in Christ. For he came to call sinners, but it was
to repentance [cf. Matthew 9:13]. He was sent to bless the unworthy, but
in order that every one may turn from his wickedness [ Acts 3:26; cf.
Acts 5:31]. Scripture is full of such testimonies.
For this reason, when God offers forgiveness of sins, he usually
requires repentance of us in turn, implying that his mercy ought to be a
cause for men to repent. He says,
Yet we must note that this condition is not so laid down as if our
repentance were the basis of our deserving pardon, but rather,
because the Lord has determined to have pity on men to the end that
they may repent, he indicates in what direction men should proceed if
they wish to obtain grace. Accordingly, so long as we dwell in the prison
house of our body we must continually contend with the defects of our
corrupt nature, indeed with our own natural soul. a Plato sometimes
says that the life of a philosopher is a meditation upon death; but we
may more truly say that the life of a Christian man is a continual effort
and exercise in the mortification of the flesh, till it is utterly slain, and
God's Spirit reigns in us. Therefore, I think he has profited greatly who
has learned to be very much displeased with himself, not so as to stick
fast in this mire and progress no farther, but rather to hasten to God
and yearn for him in order that, having been engrafted into the life and
death of Christ, he may give attention to continual repentance. Truly,
they who are held by a real loathing of sin cannot do otherwise. For no
one ever hates sin unless he has previously been seized with a love of
righteousness. This thought, as it was the simplest of all, so has it
seemed to me to agree best with the truth of Scripture.(Sins for which
there is no repentance or pardon, 21-25)
21. REPENTANCE AS GOD'S FREE GIFT
Further, that repentance is a singular gift of God I believe to be so clear
from the above teaching that there is no need of a long discourse to
explain it.
at any time, he says, God may give them repentance to recover from the
snares of the devil [ 2 Timothy 2:25- 26]. Indeed, God declares that he
wills the conversion of all, and he directs exhortations to all in common.
Yet the efficacy of this depends upon the Spirit of regeneration. For it
would be easier for us to create men than for us of our own power to
put on a more excellent nature. Accordingly, in the whole course of
regeneration, we are with good reason called "God's handiwork,
created… for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them" [ Ephesians 2:10, cf. Vg.]. Whomsoever God wills
to snatch from death, he quickens by the Spirit of regeneration. Not that
repentance, properly speaking, is the cause of salvation, but because it
is already seen to be inseparable from faith and from God's mercy,
when, as Isaiah testifies,
Spirit has worked toward the salvation of man. Therefore, believers,
according to Isaiah, while they complain and grieve that they have been
forsaken by God, set this as a sort of sign of reprobation, that their
hearts have been hardened by him [ Isaiah 63:17]. The apostle, also
wishing to exclude apostates from the hope of salvation, gives the
reason that "it is impossible to restore them to repentance" [ Hebrews
6:4- 6 p.]. For obviously God, renewing those he wills not to perish,
shows the sign of his fatherly favor and, so to speak, draws them to
himself with the rays of his calm and joyous countenance. On the other
hand, he hardens and he thunders against the reprobate, whose impiety
is unforgivable. With this sort of vengeance the apostle threatens
willful apostates who, while they fall away from faith in the gospel, mock
God, scornfully despise his grace, profane and trample Christ's blood
[ Hebrews 10:29], yea, as much as it lies in their power, crucify him again
[ Hebrews 6:6].
For Paul does not, as certain austere folk would preposterously have it,
cut off hope of pardon from all voluntary sins. But he teaches that
apostasy deserves no excuse, so that it is no wonder God avenges
such sacrilegious contempt of himself with inexorable rigor. " For," he
teaches,
the Novatianists long ago found occasion for their ravings. Offended by
the harshness in these passages, certain good men believed this to be
a spurious letter, even though in every part it breathes an apostolic
spirit. But since we are contending only against those who accept this
letter, it is easy to show how these statements do not at all support their
error. First, it is necessary for the apostle to agree with his Master, who
declares that "every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven…but the sin
against the Holy Spirit," which is forgiven "neither in this age nor in the
age to come" [ Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10].
It is certain, I say, that the apostle was content with this exception,
unless we would make him an opponent of the grace of Christ. From
this it follows that pardon is not denied to any individual sins except
one, which, arising out of desperate madness, cannot be ascribed to
weakness, and clearly demonstrates that a man is possessed by the
devil.
Link -->> Repentance: According to 2 Corinthians 7:11 by John Calvin
Institutes of the Christian Religion
Vol 3 pages 76-86
Previous Post:
15. REPENTANCE ACCORDING TO 2 CORINTHIANS 7:11
16. OUTWARD AND INWARD REPENTANCE
17. THE OUTWARD PRACTICE OF PENANCE MUST NOT BECOME THE CHIEF THING
18. CONFESSION OF SIN BEFORE GOD AND BEFORE MEN
19. REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS ARE INTERRELATED
20. IN WHAT SENSE IS REPENTANCE THE PRIOR CONDITION OF FORGIVENESS?
21. REPENTANCE AS GOD'S FREE GIFT
18. CONFESSION OF SIN BEFORE GOD AND BEFORE MEN
Nevertheless, I shall insert this point here: when the term "repentance"
is applied to this external profession, it is improperly diverted from its
true meaning, which I have set forth. For it is not so much a turning to
God as a confession of guilt, together with a beseeching of God to
avert punishment and accusation.' Thus, to "repent in sackcloth and
ashes" [ Matthew 11:21; Luke 10:13] is only to evidence our
self-displeasure when God is angry with us because of our grave
offenses. Public, indeed, is this kind of confession, by which we,
condemning ourselves before the angels and the world, anticipate the
judgment of God. For Paul, rebuking the slothfulness of those who are
indulgent toward their own sins, says: "If we judged ourselves…we
should not be judged" by God [ 1 Corinthians 11:31].
Now, while it is not always necessary to make men open and conscious
witnesses of our repentance, yet to confess to God privately is a part of
true repentance that cannot be omitted. For there is nothing less
reasonable than that God should forgive those sins in which we flatter
ourselves, and which we hypocritically disguise lest he bring them to
light.
Not only is it fitting to confess those sins which we commit daily, but
graver offenses ought to draw us further and recall to our minds those
which seem long since buried. David teaches us this by his example.
For, touched with shame for his recent crime, he examines himself even
to the time when he was in his mother's womb, and acknowledges that
even then he was corrupted and infected with the filthiness of the flesh
[ Psalm 51:3-5]. And he does not do this to extenuate his guilt, as many
hide themselves in a crowd and seek to go unpunished by involving
others with them. David does far otherwise. He openly magnifies his
guilt, confessing that, corrupted from his very infancy, he has not
ceased to heap misdeeds upon misdeeds. Also, in another passage, he
undertakes such an investigation of his past life as to implore God's
mercy for the sins of his youth [Psalm 15:7]. Surely then, at last, we shall
prove that our drowsiness has been shaken from us, if we seek from
God a release by groaning under our burden, by bewailing
our evil deeds.
Moreover, we ought to note that the repentance which we are enjoined
constantly to practice differs from that repentance which, as it were,
arouses from death those who have either shamefully fallen or with
unbridled vices cast themselves into sinning, or have thrown off God's
yoke by some sort of rebellion. For often Scripture, in exhorting to
repentance, means by it a kind of passage and resurrection from death
to life. And in referring to a people as having "repented," it means that
they have been converted from idol worship and other gross offenses.
For this reason, Paul declares that he will mourn for those
sinners who"have not repented of lewdness, fornication,
and licentiousness" [ 2Corinthians 12:21].
We ought carefully to observe this distinction, lest when we hear thatsinners who"have not repented of lewdness, fornication,
and licentiousness" [ 2Corinthians 12:21].
few are called to repentance we become careless, as if mortification of
the flesh no longer concerned us. For the base desires that always
pester us, and the vices that repeatedly sprout in us, do not allow us to
slacken our concern for mortification.
Therefore, the special repentance that is required only of certain ones
whom the devil has wrenched from fear of God and entangled in deadly
snares does not do away with the ordinary repentance to which
corruption of nature compels us to give attention throughout our lives.
19. REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS ARE INTERRELATED
Now if it is true - a fact abundantly clear - that the whole of the gospel is
contained under these two headings, repentance and forgiveness of
sins, do we not see that the Lord freely justifies his own in order that he
may at the same time restore them to true righteousness by
sanctification of his Spirit? John, a messenger sent before the face of
Christ to prepare his ways [ Matthew 11:10], proclaimed:
"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near"
[Matthew 3:2; 4:17, Vg.].
By inviting them to repentance, he admonished them to recognize that[Matthew 3:2; 4:17, Vg.].
they were sinners, and their all was condemned before the Lord, that
they might with all their hearts desire the mortification of their flesh,
and a new rebirth in the Spirit. By proclaiming the Kingdom of God, he
was calling them to faith, for by the Kingdom of God, which he taught
was at hand, he meant the forgiveness of sins, salvation, life, and
utterly everything that we obtain in Christ. Hence we read in the other
Evangelists: "John came preaching a baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins" [ Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3]. What else is this than that they,
weighed down and wearied by the burden of sins, should turn to the
Lord and conceive a hope of forgiveness and salvation?
So, also, Christ entered upon his preaching: "The Kingdom
of God has come near; repent, and believe in the gospel" [ Mark 1:15].
First he declares that the treasures of God's mercy have been openedof God has come near; repent, and believe in the gospel" [ Mark 1:15].
in himself; then he requires repentance; finally, trust in God's promises.
Therefore, when he meant to summarize the whole gospel in
brief, he said that he "should suffer rise from the dead, and
that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached
in his name" [ Luke 24:26, 46-47].
brief, he said that he "should suffer rise from the dead, and
that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached
in his name" [ Luke 24:26, 46-47].
And after his resurrection the apostles preached this: "God
raised Jesus…to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness
of sins" [ Acts 5:30-31].
Repentance is preached in the name of Christ when, through theraised Jesus…to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness
of sins" [ Acts 5:30-31].
teaching of the gospel, men hear that all their thoughts, all their
inclinations, all their efforts, are corrupt and vicious. Accordingly, they
must be reborn if they would enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Forgiveness of sins is preached when men are taught that for them
Christ became redemption, righteousness, salvation, and life
[1 Corinthians 1:30], by whose name they are freely accounted righteous
and innocent in God's sight. Since both kinds of grace are received
by faith, as I have elsewhere proved, still, because the proper object of
faith is God's goodness, by which sins are forgiven, it was expedient
that it should be carefully distinguished from repentance.
20. IN WHAT SENSE IS REPENTANCE THE PRIOR CONDITION OF FORGIVENESS?
Now the hatred of sin, which is the beginning of repentance, first gives
us access to the knowledge of Christ, who reveals himself to none but
poor and afflicted sinners, who groan, toil, are heavy-laden, hunger,
thirst, and pine away with sorrow and misery [ Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew
11:5, 28; Luke 4:18]. Accordingly, we must strive toward repentance
itself, devote ourselves to it throughout life, and pursue it to the very
end if we would abide in Christ. For he came to call sinners, but it was
to repentance [cf. Matthew 9:13]. He was sent to bless the unworthy, but
in order that every one may turn from his wickedness [ Acts 3:26; cf.
Acts 5:31]. Scripture is full of such testimonies.
For this reason, when God offers forgiveness of sins, he usually
requires repentance of us in turn, implying that his mercy ought to be a
cause for men to repent. He says,
"Do judgment and righteousness, for salvation has come near." [ Isaiah 56:1 p.]
Again, "A redeemer will come to Zion, and to those in Jacob
who repent of their sins." [ Isaiah 59:20.]
Again, "Seek the Lord while he can be found, call upon him
while he is near; let the wicked man forsake his way and the
unrighteousness of his thoughts; let him return to the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him." [ Isaiah 55:6-7 p.]
Likewise, "Turn again, and repent, that your sins may be
blotted out." [ Acts 3:19.]
Again, "A redeemer will come to Zion, and to those in Jacob
who repent of their sins." [ Isaiah 59:20.]
Again, "Seek the Lord while he can be found, call upon him
while he is near; let the wicked man forsake his way and the
unrighteousness of his thoughts; let him return to the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him." [ Isaiah 55:6-7 p.]
Likewise, "Turn again, and repent, that your sins may be
blotted out." [ Acts 3:19.]
Yet we must note that this condition is not so laid down as if our
repentance were the basis of our deserving pardon, but rather,
because the Lord has determined to have pity on men to the end that
they may repent, he indicates in what direction men should proceed if
they wish to obtain grace. Accordingly, so long as we dwell in the prison
house of our body we must continually contend with the defects of our
corrupt nature, indeed with our own natural soul. a Plato sometimes
says that the life of a philosopher is a meditation upon death; but we
may more truly say that the life of a Christian man is a continual effort
and exercise in the mortification of the flesh, till it is utterly slain, and
God's Spirit reigns in us. Therefore, I think he has profited greatly who
has learned to be very much displeased with himself, not so as to stick
fast in this mire and progress no farther, but rather to hasten to God
and yearn for him in order that, having been engrafted into the life and
death of Christ, he may give attention to continual repentance. Truly,
they who are held by a real loathing of sin cannot do otherwise. For no
one ever hates sin unless he has previously been seized with a love of
righteousness. This thought, as it was the simplest of all, so has it
seemed to me to agree best with the truth of Scripture.(Sins for which
there is no repentance or pardon, 21-25)
21. REPENTANCE AS GOD'S FREE GIFT
Further, that repentance is a singular gift of God I believe to be so clear
from the above teaching that there is no need of a long discourse to
explain it.
Accordingly, the church praises God's benefit, and marvels
that he "granted repentance to the Gentiles unto salvation"
[ Acts 11:18, cf. 2 Corinthians 7:10].
And Paul bids Timothy be forbearing and gentle toward unbelievers: Ifthat he "granted repentance to the Gentiles unto salvation"
[ Acts 11:18, cf. 2 Corinthians 7:10].
at any time, he says, God may give them repentance to recover from the
snares of the devil [ 2 Timothy 2:25- 26]. Indeed, God declares that he
wills the conversion of all, and he directs exhortations to all in common.
Yet the efficacy of this depends upon the Spirit of regeneration. For it
would be easier for us to create men than for us of our own power to
put on a more excellent nature. Accordingly, in the whole course of
regeneration, we are with good reason called "God's handiwork,
created… for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them" [ Ephesians 2:10, cf. Vg.]. Whomsoever God wills
to snatch from death, he quickens by the Spirit of regeneration. Not that
repentance, properly speaking, is the cause of salvation, but because it
is already seen to be inseparable from faith and from God's mercy,
when, as Isaiah testifies,
"a redeemer will come to Zion, and to those in Jacob who
turn back from iniquity" [ Isaiah 59:20].
This fact indeed stands firm: wherever the fear of God flourishes, theturn back from iniquity" [ Isaiah 59:20].
Spirit has worked toward the salvation of man. Therefore, believers,
according to Isaiah, while they complain and grieve that they have been
forsaken by God, set this as a sort of sign of reprobation, that their
hearts have been hardened by him [ Isaiah 63:17]. The apostle, also
wishing to exclude apostates from the hope of salvation, gives the
reason that "it is impossible to restore them to repentance" [ Hebrews
6:4- 6 p.]. For obviously God, renewing those he wills not to perish,
shows the sign of his fatherly favor and, so to speak, draws them to
himself with the rays of his calm and joyous countenance. On the other
hand, he hardens and he thunders against the reprobate, whose impiety
is unforgivable. With this sort of vengeance the apostle threatens
willful apostates who, while they fall away from faith in the gospel, mock
God, scornfully despise his grace, profane and trample Christ's blood
[ Hebrews 10:29], yea, as much as it lies in their power, crucify him again
[ Hebrews 6:6].
For Paul does not, as certain austere folk would preposterously have it,
cut off hope of pardon from all voluntary sins. But he teaches that
apostasy deserves no excuse, so that it is no wonder God avenges
such sacrilegious contempt of himself with inexorable rigor. " For," he
teaches,
"it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who
have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly
gift, have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have
tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of
the age to come, if they fall away, since they crucify the Son
of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt." [ Hebrews 6:4-6.]
have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly
gift, have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have
tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of
the age to come, if they fall away, since they crucify the Son
of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt." [ Hebrews 6:4-6.]
Another passage: "If we sin willfully," he says, "after
receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remains no
longer a sacrifice for sins, but a certain dreadful expectation
of judgment," etc. [ Hebrews 10:26].
These are, also, the passages from the wrong understanding of whichreceiving the knowledge of the truth, there remains no
longer a sacrifice for sins, but a certain dreadful expectation
of judgment," etc. [ Hebrews 10:26].
the Novatianists long ago found occasion for their ravings. Offended by
the harshness in these passages, certain good men believed this to be
a spurious letter, even though in every part it breathes an apostolic
spirit. But since we are contending only against those who accept this
letter, it is easy to show how these statements do not at all support their
error. First, it is necessary for the apostle to agree with his Master, who
declares that "every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven…but the sin
against the Holy Spirit," which is forgiven "neither in this age nor in the
age to come" [ Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10].
It is certain, I say, that the apostle was content with this exception,
unless we would make him an opponent of the grace of Christ. From
this it follows that pardon is not denied to any individual sins except
one, which, arising out of desperate madness, cannot be ascribed to
weakness, and clearly demonstrates that a man is possessed by the
devil.
Link -->> Repentance: According to 2 Corinthians 7:11 by John Calvin