“but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (2 Peter 3:18)
1. Grow = Likeness
2. Knowledge = Learning
Be like the Lord and learn of and from the Lord = Growth in Christ
Absence of Religion
Calvin says (Inst. I.2.3) that “if religion is absent from the life of men, they are then in no wise superior to brute beasts, but are in many respects far more miserable. Subject, then, to so many forms of wickedness, they drag out their lives in ceaseless tumult and disquiet. Therefore, it is worship of God alone that renders men higher than the brutes, and through it alone they aspire to immortality.”
Ought we not to pity the unbeliever then all the more and beg God to save sinners (such as we once were)?
The Secret
Calvin points out in his commentary on Psalm 18 (vv. 21 – 24) that “whoever, therefore, would desire to persevere in uprightness and integrity of life, let them learn to exercise themselves daily in the study of the Word of God; for, whenever a man despises or neglects instruction, he easily falls into carelessness and stupidity, and all fear of God vanishes from his mind.”
Inward Persuasion
According to Calvin in his Institutes (1.8.13), Scripture will ultimately suffice for a saving knowledge of God only when it’s certainty is founded upon the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit…those who wish to prove to unbelievers that Scripture is the Word of God are acting foolishly, for only by faith can this be known.
The Witness of the Spirit
The testimony of the the Holy Spirit is more excellent than reason or nature. General revelation leads us only so far but no further – that there is a God. God alone is a perfect witness of himself in his Word, and his Word only finds acceptance in our minds and hearts when it is sealed by the inward witness of the Spirit. The sheep hear the voice of the Shepherd and they follow him.
I like how Calvin put it: “those whom the Holy Spirit has inwardly taught truly rest upon Scripture, and that Scripture indeed is self-authenticated; hence , it is not right to subject it to proof and reasoning. And the certainty it deserves with us it attains by the testimony of the Spirit. For even if it wins reverence for itself by its own majesty, it seriously affects us only when it is sealed upon our hearts through the Spirit. Therefore, illumined by its power, we believe neither by our own nor by anyone else’s judgment that Scripture is from God; but above human judgment we affirm with utter certainty (just as if we were gazing upon the majesty of God himself) that it has flowed to us from the very mouth of God by the ministry of men. We seek no proofs, no marks of genuineness upon which our judgment may lean, but we subject our judgment and wit to it as to a thing far beyond any guesswork!”