Reformed Wisdom

On Acts 5:31 (cont.) –

“In addition, let us bear in mind that man has no capacity to repent unless repentance comes from God, for he alone gives it, as I have just said. The papists teach the opposite, saying that man can generate that repentance himself. It is true, they will say, that if God leaves us where we are, we perish, but when he says, ‘Come,’ it is up to us to get up and go to him. That is how they try to garner for themselves a portion of God’s power and might, saying that they can help man come to God. We, on the other hand, heed what the text says here: that Jesus Christ’s office is to give repentance and forgiveness of sins. It follows that we do not have that capacity within ourselves. We know, therefore, that theirs is a doctrine from hell when they say it is up to them to be converted and within their own power to come to God.

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“Now how does Jesus Christ bring us to repentance? It is when he strips us of everything that belongs to our human nature and regenerates us by his Holy Spirit. We are then said to be children of God. That is why Jesus Christ’s Spirit is called ‘the Spirit of sanctification’ (Rom. 1:4), for he cleanses us of all our stains so that we may become children of God. As I have said, two things are required in this process, namely that everything in our human nature must be removed, and that cannot be done unless Jesus Christ sheds his grace upon us.

“Now we know that men cannot change themselves and that the Holy Spirit must work within them because they are given to every evil and are even slaves and captives of sin, as Paul says: ‘I am sold under sin’ (Rom. 7:14). That is the way men are in their natural state. Just as a horse is under the control of his mater and must be goaded on, we are wretchedly bound and imprisoned by servitude to sin and the devil until the Lord delivers us by his grace. It is true we will not be able to blame our sins on our being forcibly confined by sin. There is not one of us who does not knowingly and willingly in because we are all naturally corrupt and wicked. Consequently, Jesus has to pour out his grace to cleanse us of all our evil affections and free us of sin’s damnable captivity, which is our natural habitat” – John Calvin, Sermons on the Acts of the Apostles, Chapters 1-7, 268-269.