DE E A CONTINUACIÓN SE SEÑALAN LAS REFORMAS QUE HAN SUFRIDO SUS ARTÍCULOS CRONOLÓGICAMENTE.

As in the case of “discipline,” Calvin saw the Spirit sanctifying believers as they actively take part in the life of the Community of the people of God. The term, “Community,” as applied here, refers to the fellowship of believers which gives support and care for one another as members of one family. Calvin understood the Spirit to be the source of such care and support. As the Spirit enables believers to care for and support one another, the Spirit also transforms and renews the believers into the Image of God, hence sanctifying them in the life of “Grace” and “Gratitude.” Calvin saw this active participation of believers as constituting a means through which the needs of God’s people are met, hence a means through which the grace of God is attained. Furthermore, he saw such active participation of members as a way through which gratitude is demonstrated to God, particularly for his work in salvation. Through the saving work of Jesus Christ, believers have become part of one family, hence caring for and supporting one another. As believers care for each other, they honour God, hence demonstrating gratitude to him. How does Calvin then develop his argument on the subject from the Institutes itself?

Calvin’s discussion from Book Three to Book Four of the Institutes has a special message for those who share membership in the family of God. The message is that they, as a “Community” of the people of God, must support and care for each other, especially for the needy among them. Such support and care by itself becomes a means through which the grace of God is attained since through this exercise God meets the needs of his people.

In Calvin’s discussion in the Institutes, the section where he clearly spelled out the matter of support for one another is found in Book Three, dealing with the subject of the Christian life. We have already discussed the subject of the Christian life in Section 3.4.2.2 and have become acquainted with Calvin’s understanding of the Christian life, and how such a life relates to the work of the Spirit in his discussion in chapters six to ten of Book Three. In chapter seven, he focused on “A Summary of the Christian Life: Of Self-Denial.” His discussion there centred on “consecration” and the demonstration of “charity.”

While Calvin, on the subject of consecration, taught the need for demonstrating a holy life before God, he, on the demonstration of “charity,” exhorted that there is a real need for believers to demonstrate care and support for each other. It is from this latter focus on “charity” that his teaching on how believers should take care of each other begins. The theme, however, is developed in the later sections and more so in Book Four. Though Calvin did not often exhort on the need for showing support for one another, his views on the life of the believers as a Community were built on the fact that believers need to care for and support each other, especially with regard to the needy among them.187 Believers, according to Calvin, have to live to care for and support one another, especially in times of need.

How then did Calvin understand the matter of service to the “Community” and its relationship to the work of the Spirit in the sanctification of a believer? As has been noted from the beginning of our study in this chapter, all the matters that Calvin discussed on the subject of the Christian life were founded on the belief that it was through the power of the Spirit that all aspects of the Christian life came to be. Furthermore in Calvin’s thinking, as the Spirit works in the Christian life, it also transforms believers and renews them into the Image of God. Therefore, though Calvin seldom referred to the work of the Spirit in his discussion on the subject of service to the “Community,” he did understand the Spirit to be the Power through which believers can effectively give themselves to the care and support of each other. As the Spirit enables believers to give support to one another, the Spirit also transforms and renews them into the Image of God.

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In Section 3.4.2.2 we noted that Calvin focused on “… how difficult it is to perform the duty of seeking the good of our neighbour! Unless you leave off all thought of yourself, and in a manner cease to be yourself, you will never accomplish it. How can you exhibit those works of charity which Paul describes unless you renounce yourself, and become wholly devoted to others? ‘Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked” (Inst. 3.7.5). His thinking here demonstrates vividly how he saw the matter of care and support for each other as a necessity.

Furthermore, as such support and care are demonstrated, believers honour God, hence expressing gratitude to Him, firstly for his work in creation and, secondly, for his work in salvation. What have we already seen that God has done with regard to creation and salvation?

In his work of creation, God created humanity in his own image. Every individual therefore deserves support and care, not only from God, but also from one another. In salvation, God redeems humanity through his Son Jesus Christ, and those who have already experienced the saving work of God in Jesus Christ must live together as a family, hence carrying each other’s burdens as members of one family.

Having seen how Calvin related the issue of service to the “Community” to the issue of sanctification of believers in the life of “Grace” and “Gratitude,” we now give a brief summary of his views. The summary is the focus of study in the following section.

3.5.5 Conclusion

This section of our study has demonstrated that Calvin understood the life of “Grace” and “Gratitude” to be a life sanctified through the power of the Holy Spirit. That is, a life renewed into the Image of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Calvin believed that the Spirit sanctifies believers through the elements of the Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, and through that of the Church. Whenever such elements are observed according to God’s direction, the Spirit through them transforms and renews believers into the Image of God. Calvin again understood the elements as a means through which the grace of God itself is attained and gratitude demonstrated to God for his work in creation and salvation.

God’s teaching in the Word is the foundation upon which Calvin’s views on sanctification were founded. It is through the teaching of the Word, that God expects believers to observe all these other elements, beginning with the life of obedience to the Word.

While the Word is the foundation upon which Calvin built his teaching on sanctification, his theme, although beginning in Book One, is only well developed through Books Three to Four of the Institutes. It is in these two books that his discussion on the elements of the Word,

Baptism, the Lord's Supper and the Church is developed to relate to the matter sanctification of believers in the life of “Grace” and “Gratitude.” It is in his discussion of these elements that it becomes apparent how Calvin saw the Spirit sanctifying believers through the elements.

In concluding our study of John Calvin, it would therefore be important to recap his views on how he saw the work of the Spirit in the sanctification of the Christian man, as a reminder that Calvin indeed understood the Spirit to sanctify believers in “the Christian life” and in his understanding of the Christian life as a life of “Grace” and “ Gratitude.” This will be the focus of our study in the following section.