If everyone was persuaded of the truth of Scripture that human nature possesses none of the gifts that the elect receive from their heavenly Father through the regeneration by the Spirit, then there would be no need to argue about these things. In Psalm 36:9, the congregation of faith believers by the mouth of the prophet praises God for his work of illumination, “For with You is the fountain of life; ​​In Your light we see light.” The apostle Paul also testifies to the same truth when he writes that, “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). When John the Baptist recognizes the spiritual dullness of his disciples, he exclaims, “No one can receive anything unless it is given to him from heaven” (John 3:27). The gifts John is referring to are not ordinary natural gifts, but the gift of illumination. He previously complained how little his disciples had profited by all that he had said to them about Christ. In effect, John is saying, “My words have not given my disciples understanding of divine truth. That can only come from the Lord through the Holy Spirit.” 

Moses also criticizes the people for their forgetfulness. Yet he also observes that they could become wise in the mysteries of God without his assistance. He writes, 

“You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land— the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders.  Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day” (Deut. 29:2-4). 

He probably could have only made his statement stronger if he called the people dumb rocks. Because of their spiritual dullness, the Lord promises the Israelites the most important thing they need: “I will give them a heart to know me” (Jer. 24:7). With reference to spiritual things, the human mind can only comprehend things as far as God enlightens it. The work of enlightening the mind is solely the work of God as confirmed by Jesus when he said, “No man can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). Yet, isn’t Christ the living image of the Father? Doesn’t the full brightness of God’s glory shine through Christ? Yet even though God’s image is so plainly shown to us in Christ, we still cannot “see” it. Doesn’t that show how far away our human mind is from knowing God? 

You might object, “Wait a minute, didn’t Christ come into the world to make the Father’s will known to people?” It is true that he did! But our minds are not opened through Christ’s preaching unless our inner teacher, the Holy Spirit opens our minds. Only those who have heard and learned about the Father come to Christ. 

What is the method of this hearing and learning? It occurs when the Holy Spirit powerfully works within us to give us the ears to hear and a mind to understand. This is not a new truth. Jesus refers to the prophecy of Isaiah which promises the renovation of the church, “For a little while, I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you again” (Isa. 54:7). The Lord predicts a special blessing will be upon his elect people which is not held in common with the ungodly and unbelievers. 

None can enter the kingdom of God except those whose minds have been renewed by the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit. Paul gives us the clearest exposition on this subject. After he condemns all the wisdom of the world as foolishness and declares humanity’s utter bankruptcy, he writes, “The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish to him. Neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). What does Paul mean by the “natural man”? The natural man is the person who trusts the light of nature. Those people have no understanding of God’s spiritual mysteries. Why? Is it just because they are too lazy to learn them? No. Even if natural people works hard to learn them, they won’t, because these spiritual truths are “spiritually discerned.” And what does it mean these things are “spiritually discerned”? It means that these truths are hidden from natural human reason and can only be understood by a revelation from the Holy Spirit. These truths are written off as foolishness by those who have not been enlightened by the Spirit. 

The apostle Paul previously had written that “No eye has seen nor ear has heard, nor things have entered into the heart of man except the things which God has prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). The wisdom of the world serves as a kind of veil which the mind is prevented from beholding God. What else can we say? God has made the wisdom of this world to be foolishness (1 Cor 1:20)! Can it ever understand the hidden mysteries of God’s kingdom? No way! 

“Blogging the Institutes” is my on-going attempt to paraphrase John Calvin’s work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion. You can find out more about the series in the Introduction. For all the posts in this series, check out the Master List.