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75
once again,‖ he adds, ―we deny that, in whatever way they are
afflicted, they fall away and depart from the certain assurance
received from God‘s mercy.‖ 85 David is good example of
imperfect, troubled, but resolute faith. Calvin even introduces the
notion of ―imperfect faith‖ in this connection. ―It never goes so
well with us that we are wholly cured of the disease of unbelief and
entirely filled and possessed by faith,‖ he acknowledges. 86
Unbelief lurks in the remnants of the flesh that remain in us, and it
from time to time rises up to attack our faith. But faith ultimately
triumphs over these attacks. Calvin‘s realistic, pastoral theology is
evident in his assurance that even weak faith is authentic faith. His
counsel is for believers to remain in the Word, for the gospel
fortifies them when faith is assailed. One of the ways it does this is
by instilling in them a holy fear of God‘s wrath against sin and
unbelief; this acts as a deterrent to the evils of the flesh, and thus
strengthens faith. What finally preserves faith is our union with
Christ, for we not only receive his benefits but he lives in us and
we live in him.
Faith is more afraid of offending God than of punishment for
the offense, for it is fortified by God‘s promised grace. Word and
Spirit sustain faith, for together they lead us to Christ. Faith is a
matter of heart as well as mind. It is not established or affirmed by
the faulty scholastic teaching of ―moral conjecture,‖ that is, that
speculate that we possess true faith by gauging our moral integrity.
Rather, grasping God‘s promises and affirming the in-dwelling
Spirit, we find our faith deepened. Finally, in his treatment of faith
in 1559, Calvin returns to relationship of faith, hope, and love, the
theme with which he concluded his treatment of faith in 1535.
Concerning faith and love he asks, ―How can the mind be aroused
to taste the divine goodness without at the same time being wholly
kindled to love God in return?‖ 87 Faith in God engenders love for
God. Calvin rhapsodizes about the relation of faith and hope in
words closely parallel to those he wrote twenty-five years earlier.
85 Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 562
86 Ibid., p.564.
87 Ibid., p.589.