Blogs by Sean Lucas

Calvin has already established his understanding of "a twofold government" to which human beings are subject: an inward government in which God rules over the individual human soul for eternal life and an outward government in which God through human... continue

Having discussed the nature of the sacraments generally, Calvin moves to unpack the sacrament of baptism. He defines baptism as "the sign of the initiation by which we are received into the society of the church, in order that, engrafted... continue

Calvin argues that the Old Testament sacraments "looked to the same purpose to which ours now tend: to direct and almost lead men by the head to Christ" (4.14.20). In particular, circumcision, baptisms, and sacrifices in the Old Testament all... continue

While the sacraments are wonderful gifts given to us by God, we have to say that they are not required for salvation. Nor are they even required for assurance of salvation: "Assurance of salvation does not depend upon participation in... continue

Lest we think that we can stir up the faith required to receive the sacraments in a worthy fashion, God grants us his Spirit to accompany his Word and sacrament and to stir our hearts to cling to Christ. "The... continue

Following on his dictum that word and sign belong together, Calvin insists, "The sacrament requires preaching to begat faith." Far from the Romanist understanding that the mere "mumbling" of the word-based formula, "without meaning and without faith," was required, Calvin... continue

Calvin turns his attention to a second objection, one that extends further the conversation in which he was engaged in the previous paragraph: "why should God impute those things to men as sin, the necessity of which he has imposed... continue

The other side of divine election for Calvin is divine reprobation, which is necessary if the case of election is to stand. Reprobation means "those whom God passes over, he condemns; and this he does for no other reason than... continue

Even though Calvin's principle that God's good pleasure is the determining factor in human destiny seems well established in Romans 9-11 and the words of Jesus, he also dealt with the support or opposition of church fathers. After all, Ambrose,... continue

Calvin moves to establish his argument that election is rooted in God's sovereign determination and not in human merit by turning to Romans 9-11. There he finds in the case of Jacob and Esau this basic principle: "If the will... continue