17
therefore ought to be placed later. I reply, that both statements perfectly agree . . .
the illumination of our minds by the Holy Spirit belongs to our renewal, and thus
faith flows from regeneration as from its source; but since it is by the same faith that
we receive Christ, who sanctifies us by his Spirit, on that account it is said to be the
beginning of our adoption.
Another solution, still more plain and easy, may be offered; for when the Lord
breathes faith into us, he regenerates us by some method that is hidden and
unknown to us; but after we have received faith, we perceive, by a lively feeling of
conscience, not only the grace of adoption, but also newness of life and the other
gifts of the Holy Spirit.
41
One may note the second difficulty in Calvin's careful comments on Acts
20:21. He says there:
He doth not, therefore, name repentance in the former place, as if it did wholly go
before faith, forasmuch as a part thereof proceedeth from faith, and is an effect
thereof; but because the beginning of repentance is a preparation unto faith. I call
the displeasing of ourselves the beginning, which doth enforce us, after we be
thoroughly touched with the fear of the wrath of God, to seek some remedy.
42
These two difficulties are really just one. Repentance and regeneration, as we
have noted already, designate the same reality for Calvin only from two distinct
viewpoints. Repentance views the matter from the viewpoint of human responsibility
and activity. Regeneration views it from the standpoint of divine power and agency.
This "confusion" of Calvin, nevertheless, remains a difficulty.
43
It may be
resolved, however, when several things are recalled. These considerations remove the
problems this difficulty raises for the question at stake in this essay. First, Calvin is not
really confused. His statements make clear that he is aware of the seeming contradiction
involved in his statements and that he thinks it is capable of resolution. Second, the
structure of Calvin's applied soteriology noted above already indicates that the Holy
Spirit's work precedes faith. The question only concerns whether and in what sense this
may work of the Holy Spirit may be called regeneration. Third, and most importantly for
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41
Comm. John 1:13.
42
Comm. Acts 20:21.
43
The treatments of Stuermann, A Critical Study, 199. and Shepherd, The Nature and Function
of Faith, 35-38 touch on this difficulty and provide helpful discussions of it.