HKB
2 passages · search this phrase →
Often appears with: equity, mercy, and pardon · word rooted in heart · temporary impressions · saul · samuel-like example · providence and divine governance · prayer and worship · faith through temptation · earnest of inheritance · conversion and faith
Usually: the test or trial (2) · detachment (2) · argument (1) · reflection (1) · crisis of belief (1) · exhortation (1)
“Therefore the Spirit acts as a seal, to seal on our hearts those very promises, the certainty of which he has previously impressed on our minds, and serves as an earnest to confirm and establish them.” Jean Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Vol. 1 of 2) · observation
“For the spirit of love was given to Christ alone, that he might instil it into his members.” Jean Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Vol. 1 of 2) · insight
He explains that temporary faith can produce real feelings of mercy that later vanish, using analogies of a shallow tree and extinguished rays, while claiming God’s sealing preserves the elect.
objection, that if God truly discovers his grace, it remains for ever; because nothing prevents God from illuminating some with a present perception of his grace, which afterwards vanishes away. XII. Moreover, though faith is a knowledge of the benevolence of God towards us, and a certain persuasion of his veracity, yet it is not to be wondered at, that the subjects of these temporary impressions lose the sense of D…
He claims God’s word must take root in the heart as an impregnable fortress, with the Spirit sealing believers, serving as earnest, and sustaining faith through doubts and tribulation.
when he illuminates us with faith by the power of his Spirit, at the same time ingrafts us into his body, that we may become partakers of all his benefits. XXXVI. It next remains, that what the mind has imbibed, be transfused into the heart. For the word of God is not received by faith, if it floats on the surface of the brain; but when it has taken deep root in the heart, so as to become an impregnable fortress to …