A Little Calvin to Make You Think

In Sunday’s message I set forth the notion that sin does not completely remove the image of God that man bears. Rather, the image bearing is marred (not removed or destroyed entirely) because of sin. Man is still depraved and his free will is ruined, yet he is not as sinful as he could be, and he has not lost all sense of intelligibility. This is simply due to God’s common grace. In our passage (Colossians 3:8-11), Paul speaks about the restoring of God’s image. This is the concept behind the words “renewed” (vs. 10), and “renewal” (vs. 11). The concept is simple to grasp- at the point of regeneration God begins a specific work to restore the image of God on the soul. As I said Sunday, the process of sanctification (which necessarily flows from regeneration) actually restores God’s image in a superior manner than even Adam possessed. This is due to the fact that the image Adam bore of God (pre-fall) did not contain the knowledge of God’s redemptive love.

Many of you know that I am re-reading Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (click on the picture of Calvin’s work on right side of blog page to read about this book). Six years ago, in my first semester of seminary, I read through it for the first time. Calvin has impacted me since. I use all of his commentaries, and often reference the Institutes. I decided to read through it again (six years later…and on the back side of my seminary experience) in order to see how Calvin has shaped my understanding of the Gospel and theology in general. I would like to share with you a quote that pertains to the topic of man bearing God’s image. The quote comes from my reading yesterday. In this particular quote, Calvin is essentially arguing that man’s innate quest for truth through human reasoning is a result of the residue of God’s image that he retains, though he is a sinner. However, by quoting John 1:5 Calvin strongly implies (and states elsewhere for that matter) that the specific work of regeneration by the Spirit of God is the only thing that reveals truth (the Gospel) to man. He will never attain it on his own.

“When man withdrew his loyalty to God, he was deprived of the spiritual gifts which had lifted him to the hope of eternal salvation. So it follows that he is an exile from the kingdom of God and everything which belongs to the spiritual life is extinguished, until he regains them by the grace of regeneration. Among these are faith, love to God and neighbor and the study of righteousness and holiness. When these are restored to us by Christ, they might be thought of as above and beyond nature. Then we infer that they were once wiped out. At the same time, soundness of mind and integrity of soul were withdrawn and it is this which produces the corruption of natural gifts. Although there is a residue of intelligence and judgments as well as will, a mind which is weak and darkened cannot be called sound and whole. The depravity of the will is only too well known. So, since reason, by which he understands and judges, is a natural gift, it could not be completely destroyed. But because it was weakened and corrupted to some extent, only a shapeless wreck is left. In this sense we read in John 1:5, ‘The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it’. These words clearly express both aspects. First, that there are still some sparks in man’s perverted and degenerate nature which shows that he is a rational animal. He differs from the lower orders because he possesses intelligence¸ but the light of it is enveloped in dark clouds so that it cannot shine out effectively. In the same way, because the will is inseparable from man’s nature, it did not perish, but became so bound by depraved lusts as to be incapable of worthy desires. It is contrary to the Word of God and to common experience to maintain that the intellect is forever blind, with no capacity at all. A longing to investigate the truth has been implanted in the human mind, and it would never rise to this unless some appetite for truth had existed from the beginning” (91-92).

Stay tuned for the second half tomorrow….

Blessings,

Andy