"How God Calls Our Hearts From the World" by John Owen

The great battle raging in heaven and earth concerns the hearts and minds of men. That the world should fight for man’s heart is no wonder. Everything in the world has no greater aim than to possess the hearts and minds of men. But here lies the danger, for the world and everything in it lies under the curse of God. So there is no greater evil we can do to our souls than to give our hearts and mind to this world and the things of this world. But that the holy God should also plead for the hearts and minds of men is a wonder indeed.

God says to man, ‘My son, give me your heart’ (Prov. 23:26). God will not accept anything from us unless it is given from the depths of our hearts. The most costly sacrifice will not be accepted unless it is given from the heart. All the purposes of God’s grace, all the counsels of his will, are centred on one purpose and that is to bring back the hearts and minds of men to himself. He wants nothing else but that man should love him with all his heart and soul and mind and strength (Deut. 10:12). God has also revealed what he intends to do in order to bring back man’s heart and mind to himself. He will circumcise man’s heart so that man may once again love the Lord his God with all his heart and with all his soul, in order that he may live and not die (Deut. 30:6).

On the other hand, the world with painted face, seductive promises and glorious robes, and assisted by Satan, also seeks to draw and hold the hearts and minds of men. And if man prefers the world before God, he shall justly perish along with the world, and be rejected by the one whom he has rejected (Prov. 1:24-31).

Our hearts and minds are the only real things we have to give, the only power which our souls have by which we may give ourselves as a gift, in order that we may belong to another. Every other power which our souls possess, even the most noble of them, are only equipped to receive. But by our hearts and minds we can give away what we are and all that we have. So it is only by our hearts and minds that we can give ourselves to God as he requires.

"Sanctification" by John Bunyan

I come now to another observation with which I will present you, and that is this, namely, “that every one that in way of profession and religion names the name of Christ, should depart from iniquity.”

I say, that every one that in a way of profession and religion, nameth the name of Christ, should depart from iniquity. This truth needs more practice than proof: for I think there are none that have either scripture or reason by them, but will freely consent to this.

Nor is there anything ambiguous in the observation that we need now to stand upon the explaining of. For,

What iniquity is, who knows not?

That it cleaves to the best, who knows not?

That it is disgraceful to profession, who knows not? and therefore that it ought to be departed from, who knows not?

But because the motives in particular may not be so much considered as they ought, and because it is Satan’s design to tempt us to be unholy, and to keep iniquity and the professing man together; therefore I will in this place spend some arguments upon you that profess, and in a way of profession do name the name of Christ, that you depart from iniquity; to wit, both in the inward thought, and in the outward practice of it. And those arguments shall be of four sorts, some respecting Christ, some his Father, some ourselves.

Our Relation to Christ

First. The Christ, whom you profess, whose name you name, and whose disciples you pretend to be, is holy. “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” (I Peter 1:16) This is natural to our discourse: for if Christ be holy, and if we profess him, and in professing of him, declare that we are his disciples, we ought therefore to depart from iniquity, that we may show the truth of our profession to the world.

Second. They that thus name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, because this Christ, whose name we name is loving. Those that have a loving master, a master that is continually extending his love unto his servants, should be forward in doing of his will, that thereby they may show their sense, and acceptation of the love of their master. Why, this is his will, “that we depart from iniquity, that we throw sin away; that we fly every appearance of evil.” (I Thess. 5:22)

"The Reformers on the Necessity for Repentance and Sanctification" 2

Huldrych Zwingli (the Swiss Reformer):

The second part of the gospel, then, is repentance: not that which takes place for a time, but that which makes a man who knows himself blush and be ashamed of his old life, for one reason because he sees it ought to be altogether foreign to a Christian to waste away in those sins from which he rejoiced to believe that he had been delivered...Therefore when Christ and John and the Apostles preach, saying, ‘Repent,’ they are simply calling us to a new life quite unlike our life before; and those who had undertaken to enter upon this were marked by an initiatory sacrament, baptism to wit, by which they give public testimony that they were going to enter upon a new life. (Commentary On True and False Religion (Durham: Labyrinth, 1981), pp. 131–132)


Martin Bucer:

It is a quality of the Kingdom of Christ that in it the repentance of sinners must always be preached. Hence where the kingdom of Christ has truly been received, there it is necessary that the sins of all be severely rebuked, that men may give themselves up completely to the kingship of Christ in order to be cleansed from their sins and endowed with the spirit of righteousness...Thus it is a hollow mockery that those who do not make a wholehearted effort to do the things that are pleasing to the heavenly Father should declare themselves citizens and members of the Kingdom of Christ. (On the Kingdom of Christ. Found in The Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1969), Volume XIX, p. 219)

"The Reformers on the Necessity for Repentance and Sanctification"

                  John Calvin:

Even though we have taught in part how to possess Christ, and how through it we enjoy his benefits, this would still remain obscure if we did not add an explanation of the effects we feel. With good reason, the sum of the gospel is held to consist in repentance and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47; Acts 5:31). Any discussion of faith, therefore, that omitted these two topics would be barren and mutilated and well–nigh useless...Surely no one can embrace the grace of the gospel without betaking himself from the errors of his past life into the right way, and applying his whole effort to the practice of repentance.
Can true repentance stand apart from faith? Not at all. But even though they cannot be separated, they ought to be distinguished (Institutes of the Christian Religion. Found in The Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), Volume XIX, Book III, Chapters 1, 5, pp. 592-593, 597).

The Hebrew word for ‘repentance’ is derived from conversion or return; the Greek word, from change of mind or of intention. And the thing itself corresponds closely to the etymology of both words. The meaning is that, departing from ourselves, we turn to God, and having taken off our former mind, we put on a new. On this account, in my judgment, repentance can thus be well defined: it is the turning of our life to God...When we call it a ‘turning of life to God,’ we require a transformation, not only in outward works, but in the soul itself. Only when it puts off its old nature does it bring forth the fruits of works in harmony with its renewal. The prophet, wishing to express this change, bids whom he calls to repentance to get themselves a new heart (Ezek. 18:31).
Outward uprightness of life is not the chief point of repentance, for God looks into men’s hearts. Whoever is moderately versed in Scripture will understand by himself...that when we have to deal with God nothing is achieved unless we begin from the inner disposition of the heart (emphasis mine). (Institutes of the Christian Religion. Found in The Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), Volume XIX, Book III.3. 5-6, 16, pp. 597-598, 609-610.