Page "John Calvin" Paragraph 58

In the third book, Calvin describes how the spiritual union of Christ and humanity is achieved.

He first defines faith as the firm and certain knowledge of God in Christ.

The immediate effects of faith are repentance and the remission of sin.

This is followed by spiritual regeneration, which returns the believer to the state of holiness before Adam's transgression.

However, complete perfection is unattainable in this life, and the believer should expect a continual struggle against sin.

Several chapters are then devoted to the subject of justification by faith alone.

He defined justification as " the acceptance by which God regards us as righteous whom he has received into grace.

" In this definition, it is clear that it is God who initiates and carries through the action and that people play no role ; God is completely sovereign in salvation.

Near the end of the book, Calvin describes and defends the doctrine of predestination, a doctrine advanced by Augustine in opposition to the teachings of Pelagius.

Fellow theologians who followed the Augustinian tradition on this point included Thomas Aquinas and Martin Luther.

The principle, in Calvin's words, is that " God adopts some to the hope of life and adjudges others to eternal death.