• γὰρ — SBLGNT
• γὰρ — Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
• δὲ — Robinson-Pierpont

• ἀλλήλοις ἀντίκειται — SBLGNT
• ἀλλήλοις ἀντίκειται — Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
• ἀντίκειται ἀλλήλοις — Robinson-Pierpont

• ἐὰν — SBLGNT
• ἐὰν — Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
• ἂν — Robinson-Pierpont

§2515Etymologically, "concupiscence" can refer to any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of the sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason. the apostle St. Paul identifies it with the rebellion of the "flesh" against the "spirit."301 Concupiscence stems from the disobedience of the first sin. It unse…

§2744Prayer is a vital necessity. Proof from the contrary is no less convincing: if we do not allow the Spirit to lead us, we fall back into the slavery of sin.38 How can the Holy Spirit be our life if our heart is far from him? Nothing is equal to prayer; for what is impossible it makes possible, what is difficult, easy.... For it is impossible, utterly impossible, for the man who …

§2819"The kingdom of God (is) righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."90 The end-time in which we live is the age of the outpouring of the Spirit. Ever since Pentecost, a decisive battle has been joined between "the flesh" and the Spirit.91 Only a pure soul can boldly say: "Thy kingdom come." One who has heard Paul say, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies,…

Chapter 13.—What Was the First Punishment of the Transgression of Our First Parents. For, as soon as our first parents had transgressed the commandment, divine grace forsook them, and they were confounded at their own wickedness; and therefore they took fig-leaves (which were possibly the first that came to hand in their troubled state of mind), and covered their shame; for tho…

Chapter 5.—Of the Fratricidal Act of the Founder of the Earthly City, and the Corresponding Crime of the Founder of Rome. Thus the founder of the earthly city was a fratricide. Overcome with envy, he slew his own brother, a citizen of the eternal city, and a sojourner on earth. So that we cannot be surprised that this first specimen, or, as the Greeks say, archetype of crime, s…

Chapter 7.—Of the Cause of Cain’s Crime and His Obstinacy, Which Not Even the Word of God Could Subdue. But though God made use of this very mode of address which we have been endeavoring to explain, and spoke to Cain in that form by which He was wont to accommodate Himself to our first parents and converse with them as a companion, what good influence had it on Cain? Did he no…

He saith to me, "Put away from thee all evil desire, and clothe thyself with good and holy desire. For clothed with this desire, thou shalt hate evil desire, and shalt bridle and direct it as thou wilt. For evil desire is savage, and is tamed with difficulty."

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me? Calvin expounds the inner conflict of the believer. The law is holy, just, and good, but it reveals sin and arouses it. Paul speaks from his own experience as a regenerate man: the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. This struggle is not the mark of an unregenerate person but of one in whom the S…

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. The Christian is simultaneously righteous and a sinner — righteous in Christ through faith, yet still a sinner in his own nature…

1. The Power of Harmony in Relation to Prayer. Again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them. Matthew 18:19 The word symphony is strictly applied to the harmonies of sounds in music. And there are indeed among musical sounds some accordant and others discordant. But the Evangelic Scripture is fam…

He finally describes the thirty-second year of his age, the most memorable of his whole life, in which, being instructed by Simplicianus concerning the conversion of others, and the manner of acting, he is, after a severe struggle, renewed in his whole mind, and is converted unto God. Chapter 1. He, Now Given to Divine Things, and Yet Entangled by the Lusts of Love, Consults Si…

Having manifested what he was and what he is, he shows the great fruit of his confession; and being about to examine by what method God and the happy life may be found, he enlarges on the nature and power of memory. Then he examines his own acts, thoughts and affections, viewed under the threefold division of temptation; and commemorates the Lord, the one mediator of God and me…

Containing a general view of the subjects treated in Holy Scripture Chapter 1.— The Interpretation of Scripture Depends on the Discovery and Enunciation of the Meaning, and is to Be Undertaken in Dependence on God's Aid. 1. There are two things on which all interpretation of Scripture depends: the mode of ascertaining the proper meaning, and the mode of making known the meaning…

Was there sin in Christ? Was there the "fomes" of sin in Him? Was there ignorance? Was His soul passible? Was there sensible pain in Him? Was there sorrow? Was there fear? Was there wonder? Was there anger? Was He at once wayfarer and comprehensor? Article 1. Whether there was sin in Christ? Objection 1. It would seem that there was sin in Christ. For it is written (Psalm 21:2)…

Not only sin properly so called (that is, a voluntary transgression of a known law) but sin improperly so called (that is, an involuntary transgression of a divine law, known or unknown) needs the atoning blood. I believe there is no such perfection in this life as implies an entire deliverance from ignorance, mistake, or infirmity. I believe a person filled with the love of Go…

Q. But why are you called a Christian? A. Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I share in his anointing. I am anointed to confess his name, to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for all eternity.

Q. What does the sixth request mean? A. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one means: By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment. And our sworn enemies — the devil, the world, and our own flesh — never stop attacking us. And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to …

Hence daily sins of weakness arise, and blemishes cling to even the best works of God's people, giving them continual cause to humble themselves before God, to flee for refuge to Christ crucified, to put the flesh to death more and more by the Spirit of supplication and by holy exercises of godliness, and to press on toward the goal of perfection.

Although that power of God strengthening and preserving true believers in grace is more than able to overcome the flesh, yet those converted are not always so led and moved by God that they cannot in certain particular actions, by their own fault, depart from the leading of grace, be seduced by the desires of the flesh, and give in to them. For this reason they must constantly …

In this matter we teach that there is a threefold condition or state of man. Man in his first estate before the fall was endowed with free will, so that he could either remain in goodness or decline to evil. However, he declined to evil, and has involved himself and the entire human race in sin, as has been said already. Man in his second estate, after the fall, is not deprived…