• ἀπεκρίθη — SBLGNT
• ἀπεκρίθη — Reader's GNT (NA27), Robinson-Pierpont
• + ὁ — Westcott-Hort, Tregelles

§720Finally, with John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man of "the divine likeness," prefiguring what he would achieve with and in Christ. John's baptism was for repentance; baptism in water and the Spirit will be a new birth.100 "Rejoice, you who are full of grace"

§728Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he alludes to him even in his teaching of the multitudes, as when he reveals that his own flesh will be food for the life of the world.110 He also alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus,111 to the Samaritan woman,112 and to …

§782The People of God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious, ethnic, political, or cultural groups found in history: - It is the People of God: God is not the property of any one people. But he acquired a people for himself from those who previously were not a people: "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation."202 - One becomes a …

1. Of the men of that time some clung to their error, others laid hold on the truth, while of these last, some having retained it for a little while again fell off from it. Alluding to these, Christ compared them to seeds not deeply sown, but having their roots upon the surface of the earth; and He said that they should quickly perish. And these the Evangelist has here pointed …

2. But first I wish to remind you who are initiated of the response , which on that evening they who introduce you to the mysteries bid you make; and then I will also explain the saying of Paul: so this likewise will be clearer to you; we after all the other things adding this which Paul now says. And I desire indeed expressly to utter it, but I dare not on account of the unini…

Chapter 7.—Of the Death Which the Unbaptized585585 Literally, unregenerate. Suffer for the Confession of Christ. For whatever unbaptized persons die confessing Christ, this confession is of the same efficacy for the remission of sins as if they were washed in the sacred font of baptism. For He who said, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the …

Chapter 27.—Against the Belief of Those Who Think that the Sins Which Have Been Accompanied with Almsgiving Will Do Them No Harm. It remains to reply to those who maintain that those only shall burn in eternal fire who neglect alms-deeds proportioned to their sins, resting this opinion on the words of the Apostle James, “He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no …

§27For while fulfilling His office as preacher He chose Apostles, sending them as He had been sent by the Father [24] - namely, as teachers, rulers, instruments of holiness in the assembly of the believers; He appointed their Chief and His Vicar on earth;[25] He made known to them all things and whatsoever He had heard from His Father; [26] He also determined that through Baptism …

Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Calvin shows that regeneration is absolutely necessary — not merely an improvement of nature but an entirely new birth. This new birth is from above, by the Spirit, and is as mysterious and sovereign as the wind. The lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness is a type of Christ's crucifixion: as Moses lifted up the…

Man, before he is renewed into the new creation of the Spirit's kingdom, does and endeavors nothing to prepare himself for this renewal and kingdom, and when he is renewed, he does and endeavors nothing toward his perseverance in that kingdom; but the Spirit alone works both blessings in us, regenerating us, and preserving us when regenerate, without ourselves.

Of the goodness of God explained in the creation of things, and of the Trinity as found in the first words of Genesis. The story concerning the origin of the world (Genesis 1) is allegorically explained, and he applies it to those things which God works for sanctified and blessed man. Finally, he makes an end of this work, having implored eternal rest from God. Chapter 1. He Ca…

Is God alone the efficient cause of grace? Is any disposition towards grace needed on the part of the recipient, by an act of free-will? Can such a disposition make grace follow of necessity? Is grace equal in all? May anyone know that he has grace? Article 1. Whether God alone is the cause of grace? Objection 1. It would seem that God alone is not the cause of grace. For it is…

Is a sacrament a kind of sign? Is every sign of a sacred thing a sacrament? Is a sacrament a sign of one thing only, or of several? Is a sacrament a sign that is something sensible? Is some determinate sensible thing required for a sacrament? Is signification expressed by words necessary for a sacrament? Are determinate words required? May anything be added to or subtracted fro…

What is Baptism? Is it a washing? The institution of this sacrament Is water the proper matter of this sacrament? Is plain water required? Is this a suitable form of this sacrament: "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost"? Could one baptize with this form: "I baptize thee in the name of Christ?" Is immersion necessary for Baptism? Is tr…

If anyone denies that infants, newly born from their mothers' wombs, even though they be sprung from baptized parents, need to be baptized, or says that they are indeed baptized for the remission of sins but that they derive nothing of original sin from Adam which has need of being expiated by the laver of regeneration for the obtaining of life everlasting — let him be anathema…

By which words a description of the Justification of the impious is indicated, as being a translation from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam, Jesus Christ our Saviour. And this translation cannot, since the promulgation of the Gospel, be effected without the laver of reg…

If anyone saith that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation, but superfluous; and that without them, or without the desire thereof, men obtain of God through faith alone the grace of justification, though all the sacraments are not indeed necessary for every individual — let him be anathema.

Unless you are born again, you can have no peace. You must not only be convinced of sin, not only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; you must be truly regenerated and born again by the Spirit of the living God. This is not an outward reformation but an inward transformation. Old things must pass away, and all things must become new.

Q. But are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil? A. Yes, unless we are born again by the Spirit of God.

Q. It is by faith alone that we share in Christ and all his blessings: where then does that faith come from? A. The Holy Spirit produces it in our hearts by the preaching of the holy gospel, and confirms it through our use of the holy sacraments.

Q. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and Spirit? A. To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ's blood poured out for me in his sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ's Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to…

Therefore, all people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath, unfit for any saving good, inclined to evil, dead in their sins, and slaves to sin. Without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit they are neither willing nor able to return to God, to reform their distorted nature, or to dispose themselves to the reformation of it.

Moreover, when God carries out this good pleasure in the elect and works true conversion in them, God not only has the gospel outwardly preached to them and enlightens their minds powerfully by the Holy Spirit so that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God, but by the effective operation of the same regenerating Spirit, God also penetrates into …

I will also relate the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we had been made new through Christ; lest, if we omit this, we seem to be unfair in the explanation we are making. As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remissio…

We believe that there are in the Church Evangelical Mysteries [i.e. Sacraments], and that they are seven. For a less or greater number of the Mysteries we have not in the Church; since any number of the Mysteries other than seven hath no foundation in Scripture, or in the Doctors and Councils of the Church. And these seven are as follows: Baptism, Confirmation (Chrismation), th…

We believe Holy Baptism, which was instituted by the Lord, who said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5), to be necessary for salvation. For without it none is able to be saved. Baptism confers the remission of original and actual sin. Infants also, since they too are under original sin, and without Baptism are n…

We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference whereby Christians are distinguished from others that are not baptized; but it is also a sign of regeneration or the new birth. The Baptism of young children is to be retained in the Church.

Basil teaches that the Spirit was present at creation, moving over the waters, and continues to bring life through sanctification. The Spirit is the agent of new birth in baptism and the power of resurrection. The Psalmist declares that by the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the Breath of His mouth all their host.

Gregory describes baptism as simultaneously a tomb and a womb — the old self dies and the new self is born. We are buried with Christ through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised, we too may walk in newness of life. The water is a grave for the sinful nature and a birthplace for the regenerated soul.

The water of baptism is not ordinary water — it is water over which the Spirit of God has moved, just as the Spirit moved over the waters at creation. Ambrose teaches that the waters were barren and lifeless until the Spirit descended, and so the baptismal font is barren until the Spirit is invoked. What the Spirit accomplished in creation, He now accomplishes in the new creati…