Accordingly, in brief, hope is nothing else than the expectation of those things which faith has believed to have been truly promised by God. Thus, faith believes God to be true, hope awaits the time when his truth shall be manifested; faith believes that he is our Father, hope anticipates that he will ever show himself to be a Father toward us; faith believes that eternal life has been given to us, hope anticipates that it will sometime be revealed; faith is the foundation upon which hope rests, hope nourishes and sustains faith.
(Calvin, Inst. 3.2.42)
Regeneration
Calvin has a lovely definition of regeneration.
“It is the actualization in the believer of the life of Christ,” and, “anticipation in conditions of the time of the final resurrection.”
The Issue
“Most of God’s people are contented to be saved from the hell that is without; they are not so anxious to be saved from the hell that is within.”
Robert M. M’Cheyne
Come & Die
“Jeder Ruf Christi fuhrt in den Tod” (every call of Christ leads to death) – Bonhoeffer (modern trans. “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die”)
Sweet Flattery
“Now God’s truth requires us to look for something different when we think of ourselves – namely, a knowledge which banishes our arrogant belief in our own strength and which removes every excuse for vainglory, leading us instead to humility. This is a rule we ought to follow if we want to reach the goal of right thinking and right action. I know how much nicer it is for men to be allowed to recognize their gifts and praises than to see and understand their poverty, shame, vileness, and frailty. There is nothing our mind desires more than to be wooed by honeyed words and flattery…thus because man is so prone to self-flattery, nothing can please him more than to be tickled with empty praise.”
John Calvin (Institutes, French Edition, 1541, pp. 29, 30)
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