1.Bawaba Kati ya Vitabu Viwili1.The Hinge Between Two Books

Kitabu cha II cha Institutes kinaishia na kazi iliyokamilika ya Kristo: utii wake, kifo chake, ufufuo wake na kupaa kwake. Kitabu cha III kinaanza kwa swali ambalo kila mhubiri lazima alikabili. Kama Kristo ametimiza yote, kwa nini si wote wanaookoka? Jibu la Calvin linatawala kitabu kilichosalia. Hazina iliyofungiwa katika nyumba ya mtu mwingine haimtajirishi mtu. Calvin anaandika kwamba “maadamu kuna mgawanyiko kati ya Kristo na sisi,” yote aliyoteseka “hayatufai kitu wala hayatusaidii.” Kristo hana budi kuwa wetu na kukaa ndani yetu. Kwa hiyo Kitabu cha III kinahusu utumiaji wa ukombozi: jinsi karama za Baba, zilizonunuliwa na Mwana, zinavyowafikia wenye dhambi halisi kwa Roho. Kila faida, anasisitiza, inapatikana katika Kristo, na tunampokea Kristo mwenyewe, si karama zake tu.Book II of the Institutes ends with Christ’s finished work: His obedience, death, resurrection and ascension. Book III opens with a question that every preacher must face. If Christ has done everything, why is not everyone saved? Calvin’s answer governs the rest of the book. A treasure locked in another man’s house enriches no one. Calvin writes that “as long as there is a separation between Christ and us,” all He suffered is “useless and unavailing to us.” Christ must become ours and dwell within us. So Book III is about the application of redemption: how the gifts of the Father, purchased by the Son, reach real sinners by the Spirit. Every benefit, he insists, is found in Christ, and we receive Christ Himself, not merely His gifts.

2.Roho Kama Kifungo (Sura ya I)2.The Spirit as the Bond (Chapter I)

Tunaunganishwaje na Kristo? Muhtasari wa Calvin ni mfupi na wa kukumbukwa: “Roho Mtakatifu ndiye kifungo ambacho kwa hicho Kristo anatuunganisha naye kwa ufanisi.” Roho alimiminwa kwanza juu ya Kristo bila kipimo, kama Masihi, ili kutoka katika utimilifu wake amimine Roho yule yule juu ya watu wake. Calvin anakusanya majina ya Biblia ya Roho kuonyesha kazi yake. Yeye ni “Roho wa kufanywa wana,” anayetuhakikishia upendo wa Baba na kutufundisha kulia, “Aba, Baba.” Yeye ni arabuni na muhuri wa urithi wetu. Yeye ni maji yanayosafisha na kuzaa matunda, mafuta yanayopaka, na moto unaoteketeza tamaa na kuwasha upendo. Bila yeye Kristo hubaki sura ya mbali katika historia; kwa yeye Kristo anaishi ndani yetu. Kazi kuu ya Roho, asema Calvin, ni imani. Injili inasikika katika masikio mengi, lakini ni Roho tu, “mwalimu wa milele,” anapoufungua moyo, ndipo ahadi inapenya zaidi ya sikio.How are we joined to Christ? Calvin’s summary is short and memorable: “the Holy Spirit is the bond by which Christ efficaciously unites us to himself.” The Spirit was first poured on Christ without measure, as Messiah, so that from His fullness He might pour the same Spirit on His people. Calvin gathers the Bible’s names for the Spirit to show His work. He is “the Spirit of adoption,” who assures us of the Father’s love and teaches us to cry, “Abba, Father.” He is the earnest and the seal of our inheritance. He is water that cleanses and makes fruitful, oil that anoints, and fire that burns away lust and kindles love. Without Him Christ remains a distant figure in history; by Him Christ lives in us. The Spirit’s chief work, Calvin says, is faith. The gospel sounds in many ears, but only when the Spirit, the “eternal teacher,” opens the heart does the promise pierce beyond the ear.

3.Maarifa, Si Kuamini Kipofu (Sura ya II, 1–6)3.Knowledge, Not Blind Trust (Chapter II, 1–6)

Kisha Calvin anauliza imani ni nini. Wengi katika siku zake walifundisha kwamba imani ni kukubali yote ambayo kanisa linafundisha, hata bila kuyaelewa. Wanascholastiki walikuwa “wamebuni dhana ya imani isiyo wazi” (implicit faith), ambayo, kwa maoni ya Calvin, ilitukuza ujinga na kuwaacha watu wa kawaida bila msaada. Imani, anajibu, inategemea maarifa, si heshima kwa kanisa. Haitoshi kuiweka akili chini ya hukumu ya kanisa. Calvin anakubali kwamba imani yote kwa maana fulani ni isiyo wazi maadamu tunaishi, kwa sababu mengi yamefichwa kwetu; hata wanafunzi walikuwa na “imani ya kweli lakini isiyo wazi” kabla ya Pentekoste. Lakini kujifunza kwa unyenyekevu kunakotaka kukua ni tofauti kabisa na ujinga wa kuridhika. Imani ya kweli inamtazama Kristo “kama anavyotolewa na Baba,” amevikwa injili yake. Imani na Neno ni vitu viwili vinavyoshikamana. Liondoe Neno, na imani hufa.Calvin then asks what faith is. Many in his day taught that faith meant agreeing with whatever the church taught, even without understanding it. The schoolmen had “fabricated the notion of implicit faith,” which in Calvin’s view honored ignorance and left ordinary people helpless. Faith, he answers, rests on knowledge, not on reverence for the church. It is not enough to submit one’s mind to the church’s judgment. Calvin grants that all faith is in some sense implicit while we live, because much remains hidden from us; even the disciples had “a true but an implicit faith” before Pentecost. But humble learning that wants to grow is very different from contented ignorance. True faith looks to Christ “as he is offered by the Father,” clothed in His gospel. Faith and the Word belong together. Take away the Word, and faith dies.

4.Imani Inategemea Ahadi (Sura ya II, 7, 28–32)4.Faith Rests on the Promise (Chapter II, 7, 28–32)

Si kila neno la Mungu linalozaa imani. Amri inaweza kutisha, na onyo linaweza kumfanya mtu ajifiche. Kile ambacho imani inakitafuta katika Neno ni uso wa Baba. Kwa hiyo Calvin anaifanya “ahadi ya bure” kuwa msingi halisi wa imani. Imani inaamini yote ambayo Mungu anasema, lakini inaweka uzito wake wote juu ya ahadi yake ya rehema katika Kristo. Kila ahadi, anaongeza, inatimizwa katika Kristo, ambaye ndani yake ahadi zote za Mungu ni “ndiyo” na “amina.” Hii si kuipunguza imani bali ndiyo kitovu chake. Muumini anayesoma maonyo ya Maandiko bado anayasoma kama mtoto anayeujua moyo wa Baba. Watu huja kumtegemea Mungu wanaposikia ahadi inayostahili kutegemewa.Not every word of God produces faith. A command can terrify, and a threat can drive a person to hide. What faith seeks in the Word is the face of a Father. So Calvin makes “the gratuitous promise” the proper foundation of faith. Faith believes all that God says, but it leans its whole weight on His promise of mercy in Christ. Every promise, he adds, is fulfilled in Christ, in whom all of God’s promises are “yea” and “amen.” This is not a narrowing of faith but its center. A believer who reads the warnings of Scripture still reads them as a child who knows the Father’s heart. People come to trust God when they hear a promise worthy of trust.

5.Ufafanuzi na Sehemu Zake (Sura ya II, 7, 14–16, 33–36)5.The Definition and Its Parts (Chapter II, 7, 14–16, 33–36)

Sasa inakuja ufafanuzi ambao makanisa ya Matengenezo yameuthamini. Imani ni “maarifa thabiti na ya hakika ya wema wa Mungu kwetu,” yaliyojengwa juu ya ahadi ya bure katika Kristo, yakidhihirishwa akilini mwetu na kuthibitishwa moyoni mwetu na Roho Mtakatifu. Kila sehemu ni muhimu. Ni maarifa, ingawa ni maarifa yanayopita kufikiwa na akili, jambo la kusadikishwa zaidi kuliko la kufahamu kikamilifu. Ni thabiti na ya hakika, si maoni yanayoyumba. Kitu chake ni mapenzi mema ya Mungu kwetu, si kuwapo kwake tu. Msingi wake ni ahadi. Na mwanzilishi wake ni Roho, anayefanya kazi akilini na moyoni. Calvin anaita hili “kiini kikuu ambacho imani inazunguka kwacho”: hatupaswi kudhani ahadi za Mungu ni za kweli kwa wengine lakini si kwetu. Imani inathubutu kumwita Baba wangu. Calvin anasisitiza kwamba imani si wazo baridi linaloelea kichwani; kile ambacho akili imekipokea lazima “kimiminwe moyoni.”Now comes the definition that the Reformed churches have treasured. Faith is “a steady and certain knowledge of the Divine benevolence towards us,” founded on the free promise in Christ, revealed to our minds and confirmed to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Each part matters. It is knowledge, though a knowledge that rises above the reach of reason, more a matter of persuasion than of comprehension. It is steady and certain, not a wavering opinion. Its object is God’s good will toward us, not merely His existence. Its ground is the promise. And its author is the Spirit, who works on both mind and heart. Calvin calls this the “principal hinge on which faith turns”: we must not think God’s promises are true for others but not for ourselves. Faith dares to call Him my Father. Calvin insists that faith is not a cold idea floating in the head; what the mind receives must “be transfused into the heart.”

6.Uhakika Chini ya Mashambulizi (Sura ya II, 11, 17–27, 37–40)6.Certainty Under Attack (Chapter II, 11, 17–27, 37–40)

Msomaji mwaminifu anapinga mara moja: je, waumini hawana shaka? Calvin anakubali, na sehemu hizi ni miongoni mwa zilizo za upole zaidi katika Institutes. Imani “inasumbuliwa na mashaka mbalimbali,” lakini haiangushwi kabisa kamwe. Anaeleza mfungwa katika chumba cheusi anayeliona jua kupitia dirisha jembamba tu, lakini kweli analiona. Hivyo imani dhaifu kabisa kweli inautazama uso wa Mungu. Muumini amegawanyika kati ya mwili na Roho, na mapambano yanaonyesha kwamba imani ni hai. Imani inajihami kwa Neno na kujibu majaribu kwa ahadi. Calvin anaeleza pia ukweli mgumu wa kichungaji. Watu wengine wanaonekana kuamini kwa muda kisha wanaanguka. Anaiita hii imani ya muda, kazi duni ya Roho ambayo ni halisi vya kutosha kuwaacha bila udhuru lakini si mzizi ulio hai unaopatikana kwa wateule. Dhidi ya wanascholastiki, waliosema hakuna awezaye kujua kibali cha Mungu isipokuwa kwa kukisia, Calvin anasema kwa uthabiti kwamba Mungu anataka watoto wake wawe na hakika ya upendo wake.An honest reader objects at once: do not believers doubt? Calvin agrees, and these sections are some of the most tender in the Institutes. Faith is “agitated with various doubts,” yet it is never finally overthrown. He describes a prisoner in a dark cell who sees the sun only through a narrow window, yet truly sees it. So the weakest faith truly beholds God’s face. The believer is divided between flesh and Spirit, and the struggle shows that faith is alive. Faith arms itself with the Word and answers temptation with promise. Calvin also explains a hard pastoral fact. Some people seem to believe for a time and then fall away. He calls this a temporary faith, an inferior working of the Spirit that is real enough to leave them without excuse but is not the living root found in the elect. Against the schoolmen, who said no one could know God’s favor except by guesswork, Calvin says firmly that God wants His children to be sure of His love.

7.Imani na Tumaini Kama Dada (Sura ya II, 41–43)7.Faith and Hope as Sisters (Chapter II, 41–43)

Calvin anarudi kwenye Waebrania 11:1, imani kama “kuwa na hakika ya mambo yatarajiwayo.” Popote palipo na imani hai, tumaini huandamana nayo. Imani inaamini kwamba Mungu ni wa kweli; tumaini linangoja aonyeshe hilo. Imani inaamini kwamba yeye ni Baba yetu; tumaini linatarajia atende siku zote kama Baba. Imani inaamini kwamba uzima wa milele umetolewa; tumaini linaungoja kufunuliwa. Tumaini, kwa upande wake, linailisha imani, likiiweka katika subira ahadi inapochelewa.Calvin returns to Hebrews 11:1, faith as “the substance of things hoped for.” Wherever living faith exists, hope goes with it. Faith believes that God is true; hope waits for Him to show it. Faith believes He is our Father; hope expects Him always to act as one. Faith believes eternal life has been given; hope looks for it to be revealed. Hope, in turn, feeds faith, keeping it patient when the promise is delayed.

8.Toba Kama Kuzaliwa Upya kwa Maisha Yote (Sura ya III, 1–10)8.Repentance as Lifelong Regeneration (Chapter III, 1–10)

Sasa Calvin anafanya uchaguzi wa makusudi wa mpangilio. Toba, anabisha, haitangulii imani kama bei inayolipwa ili kuipata. Bali toba “si tu inafuata imani mara moja, bali inazalishwa nayo.” Hakuna anayemgeukia Mungu kwa unyofu mpaka aamini kwamba Mungu ni mwenye neema. Ufafanuzi wake ni maarufu: toba ni “kugeuka kweli kwa maisha yetu kumwelekea Mungu, kunakotokana na hofu ya dhati na ya kweli ya Mungu,” kukiwa na kuua mwili na kuhuishwa kwa Roho. Kuua si majira ya taabu, wala kuhuishwa si nafuu inayofuata tu. Vyote viwili vinatiririka kutoka kwenye muungano na Kristo: tukishiriki kifo chake, mtu wa kale hufa; tukishiriki ufufuo wake, tunafufuka kwa uzima mpya. Kwa hiyo Calvin anaweza kusema, “Kwa neno moja nafahamu toba kuwa ni kuzaliwa upya,” ambalo lengo lake ni kurejesha sura ya Mungu, iliyoharibiwa katika Adamu. Hii si wakati mmoja bali ni mbio ambayo Mungu huwapangia waumini “katika maisha yao yote.” Hapa Calvin anaitikia hoja ya kwanza ya Luther ya 1517, kwamba maisha yote ya muumini yapaswa kuwa toba.Calvin now makes a deliberate choice of order. Repentance, he argues, does not come before faith as a price paid to get it. Rather, repentance “not only immediately follows faith, but is produced by it.” No one turns to God sincerely until he believes God is gracious. His definition is famous: repentance is “a true conversion of our life to God, proceeding from a sincere and serious fear of God,” consisting in the mortification of the flesh and the vivification of the Spirit. Mortification is not a season of misery, and vivification is not merely the relief that follows. Both flow from union with Christ: sharing His death, the old self dies; sharing His resurrection, we rise to new life. Calvin can therefore say, “In one word I apprehend repentance to be regeneration,” whose goal is the restoration of God’s image, defaced in Adam. This is not a single moment but a race God assigns believers “during their whole life.” Here Calvin echoes Luther’s first thesis of 1517, that the whole life of the believer should be repentance.

9.Dhambi Inayobaki, Matunda, na Dhambi Isiyosamehewa (Sura ya III, 10–25)9.Remaining Sin, Fruit, and the Unpardonable Sin (Chapter III, 10–25)

Je, kuzaliwa upya kunamaliza mapambano na dhambi? Hapana. Dhambi haitawali tena ndani ya waumini, lakini bado inakaa ndani yao. Calvin, akimfuata Augustino, anaona uharibifu huu unaobaki kuwa dhambi kweli, ingawa hatia yake haihesabiwi juu ya watoto wa Mungu. Anakataa maoni ya baadhi ya Waanabaptisti wa siku zake kwamba waliozaliwa upya wameinuliwa juu ya kila tamaa ya dhambi, jambo ambalo, kwa uzoefu wake, lilileta maisha ya kutojali. Matunda ya toba ni utauwa kwa Mungu, upendo kwa jirani, na utakatifu wa maisha; kufunga na kulia ni ishara zinazofaa, lakini ishara za nje kamwe zisichukue nafasi ya kugeuka kwa moyo. Toba ni karama ya Mungu, si nguvu tunayoweza kuiita. Mwishowe Calvin anashughulikia dhambi dhidi ya Roho Mtakatifu. Si anguko lolote moja, bali ni kukataa kwa makusudi na kwa nia mbaya kweli ambayo mtu anajua inatoka kwa Mungu. Wachungaji wa Matengenezo mara nyingi wameongeza faraja inayotokana na hili: wale wanaohuzunika kwamba huenda wameitenda wanaonyesha kwa huzuni hiyo kwamba hawajaitenda.Does regeneration end the struggle with sin? No. Sin no longer reigns in believers, but it still dwells in them. Calvin, following Augustine, treats this remaining corruption as truly sin, though its guilt is not counted against God’s children. He rejects the view of some Anabaptists of his day that the reborn are lifted beyond all sinful desire, which in his experience led to careless living. The fruits of repentance are piety toward God, love toward neighbor, and holiness of life; fasting and weeping are fitting signs, but outward signs must never replace the turning of the heart. Repentance is God’s gift, not a power we can summon. Finally Calvin treats the sin against the Holy Spirit. It is not any single fall, but a deliberate, malicious rejection of truth that a person knows comes from God. Reformed pastors have often added a comfort drawn from this: those who grieve that they may have committed it show by that grief that they have not.

10.Sura Hizi Katika Maungamo10.These Chapters in the Confessions

Katekisimu ya Heidelberg (1563) inatoa ufafanuzi wa Calvin kwa umbo la joto na la kibinafsi. Swali la 21 linaiita imani ya kweli “maarifa ya hakika” na “tegemeo la uhakika,” linalotendwa na Roho Mtakatifu kupitia injili, kwamba si wengine tu bali mimi pia nimepewa msamaha. Ungamo la Westminster (1646/47) linaichukulia “imani iokoayo” kuwa kazi ya Roho, kwa kawaida kupitia huduma ya Neno (sura ya 14), na linafundisha “toba kwa uzima” kama neema ya kiinjili ambayo kila mhudumu anapaswa kuihubiri (sura ya 15). Kanuni za Dort (1619), katika sehemu kuu ya tatu na ya nne, zinaeleza Roho akiingia moyoni kwa nguvu na kuufanya upya mapenzi. Kila ungamo linaendeleza msisitizo wa Calvin: neema inatumiwa na Roho, kupitia Neno, kuwafanya watu kuwa wapya kweli.The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) gives Calvin’s definition in warm personal form. Question 21 calls true faith “a certain knowledge” and “an assured confidence,” wrought by the Holy Spirit through the gospel, that not only others but I too have forgiveness. The Westminster Confession (1646/47) treats “saving faith” as the work of the Spirit, ordinarily through the ministry of the Word (chapter 14), and teaches “repentance unto life” as an evangelical grace that every minister should preach (chapter 15). The Canons of Dort (1619), in the third and fourth heads, describe the Spirit powerfully entering the heart and renewing the will. Each confession keeps Calvin’s emphasis: grace is applied by the Spirit, through the Word, to make people truly new.

11.Kuliweka Moyoni11.Taking It to Heart

1.Kutoka Mzozo wa Msamaha Hadi Kijitabu Juu ya Utakatifu1.From a Quarrel over Pardons to a Booklet on Holiness

Matengenezo yalianza kwa mzozo juu ya msamaha. Mwaka 1517 msamaha wa adhabu (indulgences) ulikuwa ukihubiriwa Ujerumani kukusanya fedha kwa ajili ya Kanisa la Mtakatifu Petro huko Roma, na Hoja Tisini na Tano za Martin Luther ziliuliza toba ya kweli ni nini. Kwake mfumo wa toba ya kanisa haukuwa jambo la pembeni. Uligusa swali lililowatesa waumini wa kawaida: nitajuaje kwamba dhambi zangu za baada ya ubatizo zimesamehewa? Hata hivyo Calvin hasimami katika kukosoa. Baada ya kuondoa kile alichokiona kuwa cha uongo, anatoa picha chanya ya maisha yaliyosamehewa. Sura ya VI hadi X zilichapishwa mapema peke yake na bado zinapendwa, kwa Kiingereza, kama Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life (Kijitabu cha Dhahabu cha Maisha ya Kweli ya Kikristo). Mpangilio unafundisha. Calvin hawezi kusema juu ya utakatifu mpaka dhamiri iwe imewekwa huru.The Reformation began with a quarrel over pardons. In 1517 indulgences were being preached in Germany to raise money for St Peter’s in Rome, and Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses asked what real repentance is. For him the system of penance was not a side issue. It touched the question that tormented ordinary believers: how can I know that my sins after baptism are forgiven? Yet Calvin does not stop at criticism. Having cleared away what he thought was false, he gives a positive picture of the forgiven life. Chapters VI to X were soon printed on their own and are still loved, in English, as the Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life. The order is instructive. Calvin cannot speak of holiness until the conscience has been set free.

2.Toba ya Kanisa kwa Sehemu Tatu (Sura ya IV, 1–3)2.Penance in Three Parts (Chapter IV, 1–3)

Wanascholastiki waligawanya toba ya kanisa kuwa “majuto ya moyo, kuungama kwa kinywa, na fidia ya tendo.” Pingamizi la Calvin ni la kivitendo na pia la kibiblia. Ikiwa msamaha unategemea majuto, huzuni kiasi gani inatosha? Dhamiri nyororo haiwezi kamwe kuwa na hakika kwamba imehuzunika vya kutosha, na kwa hiyo inasukumwa ama kukata tamaa au kujifanya. Calvin anasisitiza kwamba hii si “mabishano juu ya jambo dogo lisilo na maana.” Anataka wenye dhambi waache kutazama kipimo cha huzuni yao wenyewe na kuitazama rehema ya Mungu. Majuto ni muhimu, anakubali, lakini si bei ya msamaha. Mwenye dhambi aliyejeruhiwa na dhambi anapaswa kumkumbatia Kristo, si kupima machozi yake.The schoolmen divided penance into “contrition of heart, confession of mouth, and satisfaction of work.” Calvin’s objection is practical as well as biblical. If forgiveness depends on contrition, how much sorrow is enough? A tender conscience can never be sure it has grieved sufficiently, and so it is driven either to despair or to pretense. Calvin insists that this is “not a contention about an insignificant trifle.” He wants sinners to look away from the measure of their own sorrow to the mercy of God. Contrition matters, he agrees, but it is not the price of pardon. The sinner who is wounded by sin should embrace Christ, not measure his tears.

3.Maungamo Gani Yanayohitajika na Maandiko (Sura ya IV, 4–19)3.What Confession Scripture Requires (Chapter IV, 4–19)

Kisha Calvin anachunguza maungamo ya sikioni (auricular confession), sharti kwamba kila dhambi isemwe kwa faragha kwa kuhani. Anabisha kwamba mafungu yanayotumiwa kuthibitisha, kama Kristo kuwatuma wenye ukoma kwa makuhani, hayafundishi hilo, na anaona kwamba hapakuwa na sheria ya lazima mpaka Innocent wa Tatu, katika Mtaguso wa Nne wa Lateran wa mwaka 1215, alipodai kuungama angalau mara moja kwa mwaka. Maandiko yanahitaji nini? Kwanza, kuungama kwa Mungu, ambaye kwake peke yake msamaha unatoka. Pili, kuungama hadharani katika kusanyiko, jambo ambalo Calvin analithamini sana; ibada ya Matengenezo hadi leo mara nyingi huanza kwa sala ya kuungama. Tatu, kuungamiana sisi kwa sisi, iwe ili kupatanishwa na mtu tuliyemkosea au kutafuta ushauri na faraja. Calvin anapendekeza kwa joto kwenda kwa faragha kwa mchungaji dhamiri inaposumbuka, mradi ni kwa hiari, si kwa kulazimishwa. Malalamiko yake ni kwamba kuorodhesha kwa lazima kila dhambi kulikuwa jambo lisilowezekana kutimizwa, na hivyo likawa mateso kwa wanyofu na desturi tupu kwa wasiojali.Calvin then examines auricular confession, the requirement that every sin be told privately to a priest. He argues that the passages used to prove it, such as Christ sending lepers to the priests, do not teach it, and he notes that no binding law existed until Innocent III, at the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, required confession at least once a year. What does Scripture require? First, confession to God, from whom alone pardon comes. Second, public confession in the congregation, which Calvin values highly; Reformed worship to this day often begins with a prayer of confession. Third, confession to one another, whether to be reconciled with someone we have wronged or to seek counsel and comfort. Calvin warmly commends going privately to a pastor when the conscience is troubled, so long as it is free, not forced. His complaint is that a compulsory listing of every sin was impossible to fulfil and so became a torment to the sincere and a formality to the careless.

4.Funguo na Swali la Fidia (Sura ya IV, 20–39)4.The Keys and the Question of Satisfaction (Chapter IV, 20–39)

Mamlaka ya funguo, asema Calvin, yanatumika hasa katika kuhubiri injili: wahudumu wanazifungua dhamiri kwa kutangaza ahadi ya Mungu ya msamaha kwa wote wanaoamini. Kisha anageukia fidia. Dhidi ya maoni kwamba Mungu anasamehe hatia lakini bado anadai adhabu za muda, anaweka “msamaha wa bure wa dhambi,” unaofundishwa wazi katika Maandiko. Ikiwa Kristo alibeba dhambi zetu juu ya mti, ni adhabu gani iliyobaki kwetu kulipa? Calvin anauliza, “Kristo angetufanyia nini, kama adhabu ya dhambi bado inatutwika sisi?” Hakatai kwamba waumini wanateseka kwa sababu ya dhambi zao. Anatoa tofauti muhimu. Adhabu ya kisasi (vindictive) inaonyesha hasira ya Mungu na ni kwa adui zake. Kuadibu ni marekebisho ya Baba, yaliyokusudiwa kuponya. Mungu alipomwadibu Daudi baada ya dhambi yake, hakuwa akikusanya deni bali alikuwa akimzoeza mwana.The power of the keys, Calvin says, is exercised chiefly in preaching the gospel: ministers loose consciences by declaring God’s promise of forgiveness to all who believe. Then he turns to satisfaction. Against the view that God forgives the guilt but still requires temporal penalties, he sets “the gratuitous remission of sins,” plainly taught in Scripture. If Christ bore our sins on the tree, what punishment is left for us to pay? Calvin asks, “What would Christ have done for us, if punishment for sins were still inflicted on us?” He does not deny that believers suffer for their sins. He draws a crucial distinction. Punishment that is vindictive expresses God’s wrath and is for His enemies. Chastisement is a Father’s correction, meant to heal. When God disciplined David after his sin, He was not collecting a debt but training a son.

5.Msamaha wa Adhabu na Toharani (Sura ya V)5.Indulgences and Purgatory (Chapter V)

Msamaha wa adhabu ulitegemea wazo la “hazina ya Kanisa,” stahili za ziada za Kristo na watakatifu, ambazo Papa angeweza kuwatumia wengine. Calvin anajibu kwamba hii inachanganya damu ya wafia dini na damu ya Kristo, kana kwamba dhabihu yake ilihitaji msaada. Anamtaja Leo Mkuu, askofu wa Roma wa karne ya tano, aliyefundisha kwamba vifo vya watakatifu ni mifano ya thamani, lakini Kristo peke yake ndiye anayekomboa. Mantiki hiyo hiyo inabomoa toharani. Ikiwa “damu ya Kristo ndiyo fidia, upatanisho, na utakaso pekee” kwa dhambi za waumini, hakuna kinachobaki cha kutakaswa kwa moto. Calvin anachunguza maandiko yanayotolewa, kama 1 Wakorintho 3, na kubisha kwamba moto huko ni kupimwa kwa mafundisho na kazi katika Siku ya Bwana. Anakubali kwamba Wakristo wa mwanzo waliwaombea wafu, lakini anashikilia kwamba Maandiko hayatoi amri kwa hilo, na hatuwezi kuomba zaidi ya yale ambayo Mungu ameahidi.Indulgences rested on the idea of a “treasury of the Church,” the surplus merits of Christ and the saints, which the pope could apply to others. Calvin replies that this mixes the blood of martyrs with the blood of Christ, as if His sacrifice needed help. He cites Leo the Great, a fifth-century bishop of Rome, who taught that the saints’ deaths were precious examples, but that Christ alone redeems. The same logic undoes purgatory. If “the blood of Christ is the only satisfaction, expiation, and purgation” for the sins of believers, nothing remains to be purged by fire. Calvin examines the texts brought forward, such as 1 Corinthians 3, and argues that the fire there is the testing of doctrine and works on the Day of the Lord. He concedes that early Christians prayed for the dead, but holds that Scripture gives no command for it, and we may not pray beyond what God has promised.

6.Kwa Nini Mkristo Lazima Awe Mtakatifu (Sura ya VI)6.Why the Christian Must Be Holy (Chapter VI)

Sasa Calvin anageuka kutoka hoja hadi mawaidha. Maandiko yanatusukuma kwenye utakatifu kwa nia kuu mbili: utakatifu wa Mungu mwenyewe, ambao tumeitwa kwao, na Kristo, aliyetupatanisha ili tufanane naye. Injili, anaandika, ni “fundisho si la ulimi, bali la maisha.” Lazima ilimiliki nafsi nzima na kutulia katika hisia za ndani kabisa. Hata hivyo Calvin ni mpole. Hadai ukamilifu kabla ya kumwita mtu Mkristo, kwa maana hapo hakuna ye yote angekuwa. Anachoomba ni maendeleo thabiti: kwamba tuendelee kukimbia, hata kwa polepole, kuelekea lengo, na tusikate tamaa kwa sababu bado hatujafika.Calvin now turns from argument to exhortation. Scripture moves us to holiness by two great motives: God’s own holiness, to which we are called, and Christ, who reconciled us so that we might be conformed to Him. The gospel, he writes, is “a doctrine not of the tongue, but of the life.” It must possess the whole soul and settle in the deepest affections. Yet Calvin is gentle. He does not demand perfection before calling someone a Christian, for then no one would be one. What he asks is steady progress: that we keep running, however slowly, toward the goal, and do not lose heart because we have not yet arrived.

7.Hatuli Wetu Wenyewe (Sura ya VII)7.We Are Not Our Own (Chapter VII)

Sura ya VII ina baadhi ya mistari mashuhuri zaidi ya Calvin. “Hatuli wetu wenyewe,” anarudia; kwa hiyo akili yetu wenyewe na mapenzi yetu yasitawale maisha yetu. “Sisi ni wa Mungu; kwa hiyo, tuishi kwa ajili yake na tufe kwa ajili yake.” Kujikana kunamaanisha kwanza kujitoa kwa Mungu, kisha kwa jirani yetu. Kuna “ulimwengu wa maovu uliofichwa katika nafsi ya mwanadamu,” na dawa ni kuacha kutafuta mambo yetu wenyewe. Tunawezaje kuwapenda watu wasiostahili? Jibu la Calvin ni zuri: usiangalie stahili yao bali “tafakari sura ya Mungu ndani yao,” ambayo inastahili yote tunayoweza kutoa. Kujikana kwa Mungu kunamaanisha pia kuridhika. Ikiwa kila jema linatoka kwa baraka yake peke yake, hatutakimbilia mafanikio kwa njia zilizopotoka, na tutavumilia hasara kwa subira.Chapter VII contains some of Calvin’s most famous lines. “We are not our own,” he repeats; therefore our own reason and will must not rule our lives. “We are God’s; to him, therefore, let us live and die.” Self-denial means first giving ourselves to God, and then to our neighbor. There is “a world of vices concealed in the soul of man,” and the remedy is to stop seeking our own things. How can we love people who do not deserve it? Calvin’s answer is beautiful: do not regard their merit but “consider the image of God in them,” which deserves all we can give. Self-denial toward God also means contentment. If every good thing comes from His blessing alone, we will not chase success by crooked means, and we will bear loss with patience.

8.Msalaba na Tumaini la Mbinguni (Sura ya VIII–IX)8.The Cross and the Hope of Heaven (Chapters VIII–IX)

Kila mwanafunzi lazima abebe msalaba. Kristo alibeba wake bila kulazimika, kwa ajili yetu; sisi tunabeba wetu kwa sababu tunauhitaji. Majaribu hunyenyekeza kiburi chetu, hutufundisha kumtegemea Mungu, hupima subira yetu na hutuzoeza utii, kama nidhamu ya Baba mwenye hekima. Mateso “kwa ajili ya haki” ni heshima ya pekee. Calvin anawakataa “Wastoiki wa kisasa” wanaodhani ni dhambi kulia au kuhuzunika. Kristo mwenyewe alilia na kuugua; subira si ganzi bali ni kunyenyekea kimya katika maumivu. Sura ya IX kisha inainua macho yetu. Majaribu hulegeza kushika kwetu maisha haya ili tutamani yale yajayo. Calvin hayadharau maisha ya sasa, ambayo anayaita zawadi ya Mungu ambayo ni lazima tumshukuru kwayo. Lakini ukilinganishwa na mbinguni ni madogo, na muumini hana haja ya kuogopa kifo.Every disciple must carry a cross. Christ carried His without needing to, for our sake; we carry ours because we need it. Trials humble our pride, teach us to rely on God, test our patience and train us in obedience, like a wise Father’s discipline. Persecution “for righteousness’ sake” is a special honor. Calvin rejects the “modern Stoics” who think it sinful to weep or grieve. Christ Himself wept and groaned; patience is not numbness but quiet submission in pain. Chapter IX then lifts our eyes. Trials loosen our grip on this life so that we long for the one to come. Calvin does not despise the present life, which he calls a gift of God for which we must give thanks. But compared with heaven it is small, and a believer need not fear death.

9.Kuutumia Ulimwengu Huu Ipasavyo (Sura ya X)9.Using This World Rightly (Chapter X)

Mtu asidhani Calvin ni mtawa mwenye huzuni, sura ya X inajibu swali la jinsi ya kutumia mali za duniani. Mungu alitoa chakula si kwa mahitaji tu bali kwa furaha, na maua si kwa matumizi tu bali kwa uzuri na harufu nzuri. Calvin anakataa “falsafa ile isiyo ya kibinadamu” inayoruhusu mahitaji matupu tu. Hata hivyo uhuru una mipaka: kiasi, shukrani, subira katika umaskini na uwakili, kwa kuwa yote tuliyo nayo lazima yatolewe hesabu. Anamaliza na wito. Mungu amempangia kila mtu wito, na njia ya maisha ya kila mtu ni “kituo alichopewa na Bwana.” Hii inaleta faraja kubwa, kwa kuwa “hakuna kazi duni na chafu” itakayoshindwa kung’aa mbele za Mungu inapofanywa kwa utii. Mafundisho haya yaliunda heshima ya Waprotestanti kwa kazi ya kawaida.Lest anyone think Calvin a gloomy ascetic, chapter X answers the question how to use earthly goods. God gave food not only for need but for delight, and flowers not only for use but for beauty and fragrance. Calvin rejects “that inhuman philosophy” which allows only bare necessity. Yet freedom has limits: moderation, gratitude, patience in poverty and stewardship, since all we have must be accounted for. He ends with vocation. God has assigned each person a calling, and every individual’s line of life is “a post assigned him by the Lord.” This brings rich comfort, for “no employment so mean and sordid” will fail to shine before God when done in obedience. This teaching shaped the Protestant dignity of ordinary work.

10.Sura Hizi Katika Maungamo ya Matengenezo10.These Chapters in the Reformed Confessions

Katekisimu ya Heidelberg inafunguliwa kwa dokezo la Calvin la kuwa mali ya Mungu: faraja yetu pekee ni kwamba “si wangu mwenyewe,” bali ni mali ya Mwokozi wangu mwaminifu Yesu Kristo (Swali la 1). Ungamo la Westminster linafundisha kwamba toba si “fidia kwa dhambi,” hata hivyo ni ya lazima hata hakuna mtu anayepaswa kutarajia msamaha bila hiyo (15.3), na kwamba kila mtu anapaswa kuungama dhambi zake kwa faragha kwa Mungu (15.6). Linafundisha pia kwamba wakati wa kifo roho za wenye haki hupokelewa mbinguni, likikataa mahali pa tatu (32.1). Walutheri wanashiriki kukataa kwa Calvin msamaha wa adhabu na toharani, na Wawesley wamependa hasa kufuata utakatifu ambao sura hizi zinaueleza.The Heidelberg Catechism opens with Calvin’s note of belonging: our only comfort is that we are “not my own,” but belong to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ (Question 1). The Westminster Confession teaches that repentance is not “a satisfaction for sin,” yet is so necessary that none may expect pardon without it (15.3), and that every person should confess sins privately to God (15.6). It also teaches that at death the souls of the righteous are received into heaven, rejecting any third place (32.1). Lutherans share Calvin’s rejection of indulgences and purgatory, and Wesleyans have especially loved the pursuit of holiness these chapters describe.

11.Anachochukua Mchungaji wa Matengenezo Leo kutoka Hapa11.What a Reformed Pastor Takes from It Today

Kwanza, hubiri msamaha uliojaa hata dhamiri zilizosumbuka ziweze kupumzika; usiwafanye watu wapime machozi yao. Pili, endeleza kuungama katika ibada, na ujifanye upatikane kwa ushauri wa faragha bila kulazimisha. Tatu, fundisha nidhamu kama upendo wa Baba, si kama malipo. Nne, hubiri kujikana kama uhuru: wale walio wa Mungu hawana haja ya kujithibitisha. Tano, mheshimu mfanyakazi wa kiwanda, mkulima na mama nyumbani kama watu walio kwenye kituo chao walichopewa na Mungu.First, preach a forgiveness so full that troubled consciences can rest; do not make people measure their tears. Second, keep confession in worship, and make yourself available for private counsel without forcing it. Third, teach discipline as a Father’s love, not as payment. Fourth, preach self-denial as freedom: those who belong to God need not prove themselves. Fifth, honor the factory worker, the farmer and the mother at home as people at their God-given post.

12.Kuliweka Moyoni12.Taking It to Heart

1.Swali Lililo Nyuma ya Swali1.The Question Behind the Question

Kufikia miaka ya 1550 Waprotestanti na Wakatoliki walikubaliana zaidi kuliko walivyokiri wakati mwingine. Wote wawili walisema wokovu huanza kwa neema ya Mungu. Tofauti kali zaidi ilikuwa kinachofuata. Wanatheolojia wengi wa mwishoni mwa zama za kati walifundisha kwamba neema inayotolewa wakati wa ubatizo inamwezesha mtu kufanya matendo yanayostahili kweli kuongezewa neema na hatimaye uzima wa milele. Mtaguso wa Trento, katika amri yake juu ya kuhesabiwa haki ya mwaka 1547, ulithibitisha kwamba matendo mema ya waliohesabiwa haki yanastahili kweli. Calvin aliamini kwamba hili liliweka amani ya muumini juu ya msingi usio sahihi kwa maisha yake yote yaliyosalia. Kwa hiyo anafuata kuhesabiwa haki si mwanzoni tu bali katika “maendeleo yake ya daima,” kama kichwa chake kinavyosema. Jibu lake linaweza kufupishwa kwa picha ya bustani: matendo mema ni tunda la mti, kamwe si shina lake.By the 1550s Protestants and Catholics agreed on more than they sometimes admitted. Both said that salvation begins with God’s grace. The sharpest point of difference was what happens next. Many late medieval theologians taught that grace given at baptism enables a person to do works that truly merit an increase of grace and finally eternal life. The Council of Trent, in its decree on justification of 1547, affirmed that the good works of the justified truly merit. Calvin believed this placed the believer’s peace on the wrong foundation for the rest of his life. So he follows justification not only at its start but through its “continual progress,” as his title says. His answer can be summed up in a garden picture: good works are the fruit of the tree, never its root.

2.Aina Nne za Watu (Sura ya XIV, 1–8)2.Four Kinds of People (Chapter XIV, 1–8)

Calvin anawapanga wanadamu katika “madaraja manne”: wasiomjua Mungu na wanaoishi katika ibada ya sanamu; waliobatizwa lakini wanaoishi maisha yasiyo ya utauwa; wanafiki wanaoficha uovu nyuma ya dini; na waliozaliwa upya kweli. Kila mmoja anaweza kudai haki gani? Kundi la kwanza linaweza kuonyesha fadhila halisi. Calvin anakataa kujifanya kwamba hakuna tofauti kati ya mfalme mwadilifu kama Tito au Trajano na mkatili kama Nero. Fadhila kama hizo ni karama za Mungu, na mara nyingi huzithawabisha katika maisha haya; wanatheolojia wa Matengenezo baadaye walizungumza juu ya “neema ya jumla” (common grace). Hata hivyo, akimfuata Augustino, Calvin anasema hata matendo mashuhuri ya Warumi wenye heshima yalikuwa dhambi mbele ya Mungu, kwa sababu hayakutokana na imani wala hayakulenga utukufu wake. Bila muungano na Kristo “hakuna utakaso”; tunda linaweza kuwa zuri machoni, lakini mti si mwema. Wakristo wa jina tu na wanafiki hawako katika hali bora, kwa maana Mungu huutazama moyo.Calvin sorts humanity into “four classes”: those who do not know God and live in idolatry; those baptized but living ungodly lives; hypocrites who hide wickedness behind religion; and the truly regenerate. What righteousness can each claim? The first group may show real virtues. Calvin refuses to pretend there is no difference between a just emperor like Titus or Trajan and a cruel one like Nero. Such virtues are gifts of God, and He often rewards them in this life; Reformed theologians later spoke of “common grace.” Yet, following Augustine, Calvin says even the famous deeds of the noble Romans were sin before God, because they did not spring from faith or aim at His glory. Without union with Christ “there is no sanctification”; the fruit may be beautiful to the eye, but the tree is not good. Nominal Christians and hypocrites are in no better case, for God looks on the heart.

3.Matendo Bora ya Watakatifu Bora (Sura ya XIV, 9–15)3.The Best Works of the Best Saints (Chapter XIV, 9–15)

Vipi kuhusu waumini wa kweli? Hapa Calvin anasisitiza mambo mawili “kwa nguvu.” Kwanza, “hakujawahi kuwa na tendo lililofanywa na mtu mcha Mungu” ambalo lisingestahili hukumu likihukumiwa kwa haki kali ya Mungu. Hata matendo yetu bora yamechanganyika na udhaifu na kujipenda. Pili, hata kama tendo moja lingekuwa kamilifu, dhambi moja ingefuta dai lolote lililotupa, kama Yakobo asemavyo: mtu akikosa “katika neno moja, amekuwa na hatia ya yote.” Wazo la matendo ya ziada kwa hiyo linaporomoka. Mtu anawezaje kufanya zaidi ya anayotaka Mungu, wakati Kristo anatuambia kwamba baada ya kufanya yote tuliyoamriwa, ni lazima tuseme, “Sisi tu watumishi tusio na faida”? Hii si unyenyekevu wa uongo bali ni hesabu ya unyofu. Msamaha hautolewi mara moja mwanzoni ili baadaye tujilipie wenyewe; tunauhitaji kila siku.What of true believers? Here Calvin presses two points “strenuously.” First, “there never was an action performed by a pious man” that would not deserve condemnation if judged by God’s strict justice. Even our best deeds are mixed with weakness and self-love. Second, even if one work were perfect, a single sin would cancel any claim it gave us, as James says: whoever offends “in one point, he is guilty of all.” The notion of works of supererogation therefore collapses. How can anyone do more than God requires, when Christ tells us that after doing all we were commanded, we must say, “We are unprofitable servants”? This is not false modesty but honest accounting. Forgiveness is not given once at the beginning so that we may afterwards pay our own way; we need it every day.

4.Sababu Nne (Sura ya XIV, 16–21)4.The Four Causes (Chapter XIV, 16–21)

Calvin anakopa sababu nne za wanafalsafa kuonyesha kwamba matendo hayana nafasi katika msingi wa wokovu. Sababu ya utendaji (efficient cause), ile inayoleta jambo, ni rehema na upendo wa bure wa Baba. Sababu ya vitu (material cause), kile kilichofanyiza jambo, ni Kristo na utii wake. Sababu ya chombo (instrumental cause), njia ambayo kwayo tunaupokea, ni imani, ambayo ni karama ya Roho. Sababu ya mwisho (final cause), kusudi lake, ni sifa ya wema wa Mungu. Kila sababu ni ya Mungu. Hata hivyo Calvin hayatupi matendo. Watakatifu katika Maandiko wakati mwingine hupata faraja katika unyofu wao. Wanafanya hivyo kwa haki, anasema, wanapoyaona matendo yao kama matunda ya wito wao, ishara kwamba Mungu amewakubali kuwa wana, kamwe si msingi wa ujasiri wao. Katika mpango wa kawaida wa Mungu, matendo yanaweza hata kuitwa “sababu za chini” za kinachofuata, kama hatua katika njia ambayo kwayo anawaongoza watoto wake kwenye urithi ambao tayari ameshawapa bure.Calvin borrows the philosophers’ four causes to show that works have no place in the ground of salvation. The efficient cause, the one that brings it about, is the mercy and free love of the Father. The material cause, what it is made of, is Christ and His obedience. The instrumental cause, the means by which we receive it, is faith, which is the Spirit’s gift. The final cause, its purpose, is the praise of God’s goodness. Every cause is God’s. Yet Calvin does not throw works away. The saints in Scripture sometimes take comfort in their integrity. They do so rightly, he says, when they treat their works as fruits of their calling, signs that God has adopted them, never as the foundation of their confidence. In God’s ordinary plan, works can even be called “inferior causes” of what follows, as steps on the road by which He leads His children to the inheritance He has already freely given.

5.Tatizo la “Stahili” (Sura ya XV)5.The Trouble with “Merit” (Chapter XV)

Calvin hapendi mabishano juu ya maneno, lakini angependa neno “stahili” (merit) lisingewahi kutumika kwa matendo ya wanadamu mbele ya hukumu ya Mungu. Halitumiki katika Maandiko, na linazaa kiburi. Anamnukuu Bernardo wa Clairvaux, mtawa wa zama za kati anayemheshimu: kutothubutu kutegemea stahili zetu ni stahili ya kutosha. Kila jema ndani yetu ni karama ya Mungu, kwa hiyo anapoyatia taji matendo yetu anazitia taji karama zake mwenyewe. Calvin anaona kwamba Petro Lombardo, mwandishi mkuu wa vitabu vya kiada vya shule za zama za kati, alikuwa na msimamo bora kuliko walimu wa baadaye, ingawa bado alihusisha stahili kwa sehemu na hiari ya mwanadamu. Hatari ya kichungaji iko wazi. Stahili inapoingia, macho ya muumini huteleza kutoka kwa Kristo hadi kwenye kumbukumbu yake mwenyewe. Kwa hiyo Calvin anahimiza Kristo abaki kuwa msingi pekee, ambaye juu yake tunajengwa na ndani yake tunayo yote.Calvin is not fond of quarrels about words, but he wishes the term “merit” had never been applied to human works before God’s judgment. It is not used in Scripture, and it breeds pride. He quotes Bernard of Clairvaux, a medieval monk whom he admires: not to presume on our merits is merit enough. Everything good in us is God’s gift, so if He crowns our works He is crowning His own gifts. Calvin notes that Peter Lombard, the master textbook writer of the medieval schools, was sounder than later teachers, though he still traced merit partly to free will. The pastoral danger is plain. Once merit enters, the believer’s eyes slide from Christ to his own record. So Calvin urges that Christ remain the only foundation, upon whom we are built and in whom we have all things.

6.Kujibu Mashtaka (Sura ya XVI)6.Answering the Charges (Chapter XVI)

Wapinzani walisema fundisho la Calvin lingeharibu matendo mema na kufanya wokovu kuwa rahisi mno. Anajibu kwamba ni kinyume chake. Kristo yule yule anayehesabia haki pia anatakasa, wala hatoi karama moja bila nyingine. Sentensi ya Calvin ni ya kawaida ya kudumu: “tunahesabiwa haki, si bila matendo, lakini si kwa matendo.” Muungano na Kristo unajumuisha haki na utakatifu. Kuhusu hofu kwamba watu wataacha kumtumikia Mungu bila tumaini la kupata thawabu, Calvin anajibu kwamba utumishi wa kuajiriwa si kile Mungu anachokitaka. Yeye “anataka kuabudiwa kwa bure na kupendwa kwa bure.” Nia ambazo Maandiko yanatoa kwa utakatifu ni shukrani, upendo wa Mungu, na heshima ya Kristo, si mishahara. Wala kuhesabiwa haki kwa bure hakuwafanyi watu wasijali dhambi, kwa kuwa ni hasa wale walioonja rehema ndio wanaoogopa zaidi kumkosea.Opponents said Calvin’s doctrine would destroy good works and make salvation too easy. He answers that it is the opposite. The same Christ who justifies also sanctifies, and He never gives one gift without the other. Calvin’s sentence is a classic: “we are justified, not without works, yet not by works.” Union with Christ includes both righteousness and holiness. As for the fear that people will stop serving God without the hope of earning reward, Calvin replies that hired service is not what God wants. He “will be freely worshipped and freely loved.” The motives Scripture gives for holiness are gratitude, the love of God, and the honor of Christ, not wages. Nor does free justification make people careless about sin, since it is precisely those who have tasted mercy who most fear to offend.

7.Sheria na Injili Katika Upatano (Sura ya XVII, 1–10)7.Law and Gospel in Harmony (Chapter XVII, 1–10)

Basi vipi kuhusu ahadi nyingi katika sheria zinazosema, kwa maana, fanya hili nawe utaishi? Calvin hasemi kuwa zilikuwa tupu. Zinaonyesha kile ambacho utii kamilifu ungeleta. Lakini kwa kuwa hakuna mwenye dhambi anayetii kikamilifu, ahadi zote za sheria zingekuwa bure, isipokuwa injili ije kutusaidia. Katika Kristo, Mungu anafanya mambo mawili. Kwanza, anawapokea wenye dhambi kwa imani peke yake, bila matendo. Pili, kwa “wema wa kibaba na huruma,” anayakubali matendo yasiyokamilika ya wale aliowapatanisha, akipuuza kasoro zao na kuyaheshimu kana kwamba yamekamilika. Kwa hiyo kuna haki ya kweli, ingawa ya pili, ya matendo, si kama msingi wa kukubaliwa kwetu bali kama tunda lake. Mpangilio ni wa maamuzi. Mungu kwanza anamkubali mtu, kisha matendo ya mtu huyo. Calvin anaitumia hili kwa Kornelio katika Matendo 10: maombi na sadaka zake zilimpendeza Mungu kwa sababu tayari alimcha Mungu kwa imani.What then of the many promises in the law that say, in effect, do this and live? Calvin does not say they were empty. They show what perfect obedience would bring. But since no sinner obeys perfectly, all the promises of the law would be in vain unless the gospel came to our aid. In Christ, God does two things. First, He receives sinners by faith alone, without works. Second, in “paternal benignity and indulgence,” He accepts the imperfect works of those He has reconciled, overlooking their defects and honoring them as if they were complete. So there is a true, though secondary, righteousness of works, not as the ground of our acceptance but as its fruit. The order is decisive. God first accepts the person, then the person’s works. Calvin applies this to Cornelius in Acts 10: his prayers and alms pleased God because he already feared God through faith.

8.Yakobo na Zaburi (Sura ya XVII, 11–15)8.James and the Psalms (Chapter XVII, 11–15)

Pingamizi kubwa lilikuwa Yakobo 2: “Abrahamu alihesabiwa haki kwa matendo.” Calvin anajibu kwamba Roho yule yule alisema kupitia Paulo na Yakobo, kwa hiyo hawawezi kupingana. Wanalitumia neno “kuhesabia haki” kwa maana tofauti. Paulo anasema juu ya kuhesabiwa kuwa mwenye haki mbele ya Mungu. Yakobo anasema juu ya haki kuonyeshwa na kuthibitishwa mbele ya watu. Calvin anaona mfuatano wa matukio: Abrahamu alihesabiwa haki kwa imani katika Mwanzo 15, miaka mingi kabla ya kumtoa Isaka katika Mwanzo 22. Yakobo anashambulia imani tupu ya majivuno, si imani inayompokea Kristo. Vivyo hivyo, mtunga zaburi anapoomba, “Ee Bwana, unihukumu kwa kadiri ya haki yangu,” hadai kutokuwa na dhambi, bali anamwomba Mungu kuthibitisha hoja ya haki dhidi ya adui zake.The great objection was James 2: “Abraham was justified by works.” Calvin answers that the same Spirit spoke through Paul and James, so they cannot contradict each other. They use the word “justify” in different senses. Paul speaks of being counted righteous before God. James speaks of righteousness being shown and proved before people. Calvin notes the order of events: Abraham was counted righteous by faith in Genesis 15, many years before he offered Isaac in Genesis 22. James is attacking an empty, boasting faith, not the faith that receives Christ. Likewise, when a psalmist pleads, “Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,” he is not claiming sinlessness, but appealing to God to vindicate a just cause against his enemies.

9.Tunda na Shina Katika Maungamo ya Matengenezo9.Fruit and Root in the Reformed Confessions

Sura ya Ungamo la Westminster juu ya matendo mema (16) inamfuata Calvin kwa karibu. Matendo mema ni “matunda na ushahidi wa imani ya kweli na hai.” Matendo yetu bora hayawezi kustahili msamaha, hata hivyo “watu wa waumini wakikubaliwa kupitia Kristo, matendo yao mema nayo yanakubaliwa ndani yake” (16.6). Matendo yanayofanywa na wasiozaliwa upya, ingawa yana faida, “hayawezi kumpendeza Mungu” (16.7). Katekisimu ya Heidelberg inauliza kwa nini matendo yetu mema hayawezi kuwa haki yetu, na kujibu kwamba hata matendo yetu bora katika maisha haya hayakamiliki na yamechafuliwa na dhambi (Swali la 62); thawabu anayoitoa Mungu ni “ya neema” (Swali la 63). Inaongeza kwamba wale waliopandikizwa katika Kristo kwa imani ya kweli hawawezi kukosa kuzaa matunda ya shukrani (Swali la 64). Wengine wanazisikia sura hizi tofauti. Mafundisho ya Kikatoliki ya Roma yanaendelea kusema juu ya stahili, iliyojengwa kabisa katika neema. Walutheri wanakubaliana na Calvin juu ya stahili, na mwaka 1999 mashirika ya Kilutheri na ya Kikatoliki yalisaini Tamko la Pamoja likipunguza, ingawa si kuziba, pengo hilo. Wakristo wa Wesley wanakubali kwamba matendo si shina, lakini wanasisitiza kwamba utakaso unaweza kukua kuelekea upendo kamili zaidi katika maisha haya.The Westminster Confession’s chapter on good works (16) follows Calvin closely. Good works are “the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith.” Our best works cannot merit pardon, yet “the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him” (16.6). Works done by the unregenerate, though useful, “cannot please God” (16.7). The Heidelberg Catechism asks why our good works cannot be our righteousness, and answers that even our best works in this life are imperfect and defiled with sin (Question 62); the reward God gives is “of grace” (Question 63). It adds that those grafted into Christ by true faith cannot fail to bring forth fruits of thankfulness (Question 64). Others hear these chapters differently. Roman Catholic teaching continues to speak of merit, grounded wholly in grace. Lutherans agree with Calvin on merit, and in 1999 Lutheran and Catholic bodies signed a Joint Declaration narrowing, though not closing, the gap. Wesleyan Christians agree that works are not the root, but they stress that sanctification can grow toward a fuller love in this life.

10.Anachochukua Mchungaji wa Matengenezo Leo kutoka Hapa10.What a Reformed Pastor Takes from It Today

Kwanza, sifu wema unaofanywa na watu walio nje ya kanisa kama karama ya Mungu, bila kuuita wa kuokoa. Pili, usiwaruhusu waumini kamwe kudhani walianza kwa neema na sasa lazima waendelee kwa jitihada zao wenyewe. Tatu, fundisha matendo mema kwa ujasiri, lakini kama tunda linalokua kutokana na shukrani. Nne, wafariji watakatifu dhaifu kwamba Mungu Baba anapokea matoleo yao yaliyotiwa doa kwa ajili ya Kristo, kama baba anavyothamini mchoro wa mtoto.First, praise the good done by people outside the church as God’s gift, without calling it saving. Second, never let believers think they began by grace and must now continue by their own effort. Third, teach good works boldly, but as fruit that grows from gratitude. Fourth, comfort weak saints that God the Father receives their stained offerings for Christ’s sake, as a father treasures a child’s drawing.

11.Kuliweka Moyoni11.Taking It to Heart

1.Kwa Nini Hapa, na Kwa Nini Sasa?1.Why Here, and Why Now?

Watu wengi wanadhani kuchaguliwa tangu awali ndicho kitovu cha mfumo wa Calvin. Hakikuwa hivyo. Katika Institutes ya 1559 halionekani katika Kitabu cha I pamoja na majaliwa ya Mungu, kama mtu angetarajia, bali baadaye katika Kitabu cha III, baada ya imani, toba, kuhesabiwa haki na sala. Mahali hapo ni kwa makusudi. Calvin anataka waumini wakutane na uteule baada ya kukutana na Kristo, kama maelezo ya neema wanayoijua tayari. Fundisho hilo pia lilikuwa limekuwa mada ya mzozo wa hadharani huko Geneva. Mwaka 1551 mtawa wa zamani aitwaye Jerome Bolsec alilishambulia waziwazi, na Calvin alikuwa tayari amemjibu mwanatheolojia wa Kikatoliki Albert Pighius. Mwaka 1552 alichapisha mada juu ya kuchaguliwa tangu awali kwa milele. Sura hizi zinakusanya mabishano hayo katika mpangilio wa utulivu.Many people imagine that predestination was the center of Calvin’s system. It was not. In the 1559 Institutes it does not appear in Book I with God’s providence, as one might expect, but late in Book III, after faith, repentance, justification and prayer. That placement is deliberate. Calvin wants believers to meet election after they have met Christ, as an explanation of the grace they already know. The doctrine had also become a matter of public dispute in Geneva. In 1551 a former monk named Jerome Bolsec attacked it openly, and Calvin had already answered the Catholic theologian Albert Pighius. In 1552 he published a treatise on eternal predestination. These chapters gather those debates into calm order.

2.Si Udadisi Wala Ukimya (Sura ya XXI, 1–4)2.Neither Curiosity nor Silence (Chapter XXI, 1–4)

Calvin anaanza kwa uchunguzi ambao mtu yeyote anaweza kuufanya. Injili haihubiriwi kwa mataifa yote kwa usawa, na pale inapohubiriwa, si wote wanaoipokea. Tofauti hii inafunua “kina cha ajabu cha hukumu ya Mungu.” Kisha anaonya hatari mbili zilizo kinyume. Ya kwanza ni udadisi, unaozurura “katika mizunguko iliyokatazwa” na kujaribu kupekua siri za Mungu. Hapa hatupaswi kuonea aibu “aina ya kutokujua kwa kielimu.” Hatari ya pili ni ukimya. Baadhi, wakiogopeshwa na matumizi mabaya ya fundisho hilo, wanataka lisitajwe kamwe. Calvin anajibu kwamba “Maandiko ni shule ya Roho Mtakatifu,” ambayo hayafundishi kitu kisicho na faida. Pale Maandiko yanaposema, tunapaswa kusema; pale yanaponyamaza, tunapaswa kusimama. Likifundishwa ipasavyo, uteule huleta faida tatu: unaonyesha kwamba wokovu unatiririka kutoka kwa rehema ya bure ya Mungu, unanyenyekeza kiburi cha mwanadamu, na unawapa waumini faraja imara.Calvin begins with an observation anyone can make. The gospel is not preached to all peoples equally, and where it is preached, not all receive it. This diversity reveals “the wonderful depth of the Divine judgment.” He then warns of two opposite dangers. The first is curiosity, which wanders “into forbidden labyrinths” and tries to search out God’s secrets. Here we should not be ashamed of “a kind of learned ignorance.” The second danger is silence. Some, frightened by misuse of the doctrine, want it never mentioned. Calvin answers that “the Scripture is the school of the Holy Spirit,” which teaches nothing that is not profitable. Where Scripture speaks, we should speak; where it is silent, we should stop. Rightly taught, election brings three benefits: it shows that salvation flows from God’s free mercy, it humbles human pride, and it gives believers solid comfort.

3.Ufafanuzi (Sura ya XXI, 5)3.The Definition (Chapter XXI, 5)

Calvin anatofautisha ujuzi wa mapema (foreknowledge) na kuchaguliwa tangu awali (predestination). Mungu anajua mambo yote mapema, kwa kuwa kila kitu kiko daima mbele ya macho yake. Lakini hawachagui watu kwa sababu anaona kitu ndani yao mapema. Ufafanuzi wa Calvin ni wa moja kwa moja: “Kuchaguliwa tangu awali tunakuita amri ya milele ya Mungu,” ambayo kwayo ameamua atakachotaka kiwe cha kila mtu. Si wote wanaoumbwa kwa mwisho mmoja, bali “uzima wa milele umewekwa tangu awali kwa baadhi, na hukumu ya milele kwa wengine.” Hii mara nyingi huitwa “kuchaguliwa tangu awali kwa pande mbili” (double predestination). Calvin hapunguzi ukali wake. Hata hivyo anasisitiza kwamba pande hizo mbili hazilingani kwa aina. Uteule ni rehema ya bure ya Mungu, ikitoa kisichostahiliwa na mtu. Kukataliwa ni haki ya Mungu, ikiwaacha wenye dhambi katika kile wanachostahili tayari.Calvin distinguishes foreknowledge from predestination. God foreknows all things, since everything is always present before His eyes. But He does not choose people because He foresees something in them. Calvin’s definition is direct: “Predestination we call the eternal decree of God,” by which He has determined what He wills to become of every person. Not all are created with the same end, but “eternal life is fore-ordained for some, and eternal damnation for others.” This is often called “double predestination.” Calvin does not soften it. Yet he insists that the two sides are not equal in kind. Election is God’s free mercy, giving what no one deserves. Reprobation is God’s justice, leaving sinners to what they already deserve.

4.Israeli, Kisha Watu Mmoja Mmoja (Sura ya XXI, 5–7)4.Israel, Then Individuals (Chapter XXI, 5–7)

Calvin anafuata uteule kupitia Maandiko kwa undani unaopanuka. Kwanza, Mungu alichagua taifa moja, watoto wa Abrahamu, kwa sababu isiyo ya pekee ila upendo wake wa bure, kama Musa anavyowaambia Israeli katika Kumbukumbu la Torati 7. Kisha ndani ya taifa hilo anapata “daraja la pili la uteule, lililobanwa zaidi bado”: Isaka na si Ishmaeli, Yakobo na si Esau, ingawa wote walibeba ishara ya agano. Calvin anakubali kwamba Ishmaeli na Esau walianguka kwa kosa lao wenyewe, hata hivyo tofauti kati ya ndugu hao ilianzia kwa Mungu. Mwishowe, uteule unawafikia watu maalum, waliochaguliwa kuunganishwa na Kristo kwa Roho. Uteule wa jumla, kwa mapendeleo ya nje, unaweza kupotea kwa kutoamini; uteule maalum wa watu mmoja mmoja kwa uzima hauwezi kushindwa.Calvin traces election through Scripture in widening detail. First, God chose one nation, the children of Abraham, for no reason but His free love, as Moses tells Israel in Deuteronomy 7. Then within that nation he finds “a second degree of election, still more restricted”: Isaac and not Ishmael, Jacob and not Esau, though all bore the sign of the covenant. Calvin grants that Ishmael and Esau fell by their own fault, yet the difference between the brothers began in God. Finally, election reaches particular persons, chosen to be joined to Christ by the Spirit. General election, to outward privileges, can be lost by unbelief; the special election of individuals to life cannot fail.

5.Waliochaguliwa Katika Kristo, Si kwa Stahili Iliyoonwa Mapema (Sura ya XXII, 1–9)5.Chosen in Christ, Not for Foreseen Merit (Chapter XXII, 1–9)

Katika sura ya XXII Calvin anabisha kutoka katika Maandiko kwamba uteule hautegemei imani au matendo yaliyoonwa mapema. Paulo anasema tulichaguliwa “katika yeye kabla ya kuwekwa misingi ya ulimwengu,” na tulichaguliwa “tuwe watakatifu,” si kwa sababu tungekuwa. Utakatifu ni tunda la uteule, si sababu yake. Warumi 9 ni muhimu: kabla Yakobo na Esau hawajazaliwa wala kutenda jema au baya, Mungu alimpenda mmoja na kumpita mwingine, ili kusudi lake lipate kusimama. Yesu mwenyewe anasema, “Wote anipao Baba watakuja kwangu.” Calvin anamnukuu Augustino: neema ya Mungu haiwapati watu wanaofaa kuchaguliwa, bali “huwafanya wafae.” Anamshughulikia kwa ufupi Thomas Aquinas na baba wa kanisa wa mwanzo kama Ambrosio na Origen, waliofundisha kwamba Mungu aliwachagua wale aliowaona mapema kuwa wataamini, naye anajibu kwamba imani yenyewe ni karama ya Mungu.In chapter XXII Calvin argues from Scripture that election does not rest on foreseen faith or works. Paul says we were “chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world,” and chosen “that we should be holy,” not because we would be. Holiness is the fruit of election, not its cause. Romans 9 is central: before Jacob and Esau were born or had done good or evil, God loved one and passed by the other, so that His purpose might stand. Jesus Himself says, “All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me.” Calvin quotes Augustine: the grace of God does not find people fit to be elected, “but makes them so.” He deals briefly with Thomas Aquinas and with early fathers such as Ambrose and Origen, who taught that God chose those He foresaw would believe, and he answers that faith itself is God’s gift.

6.Mapenzi ya Mungu na Haki ya Mungu (Sura ya XXIII, 1–5)6.God’s Will and God’s Justice (Chapter XXIII, 1–5)

Sura ya XXIII inashughulikia pingamizi. Baadhi wanakubali uteule lakini wanakataa kukataliwa. Calvin anajibu kwamba kuwachagua baadhi kunamaanisha lazima kutowachagua wengine. Je, Mungu basi si mwadilifu? Calvin anajibu kwamba watu wote tangu anguko wanaunda kundi lililoharibika, kwa hiyo hakuna awezaye kulalamika kwa kupokea haki. Akibanwa zaidi, anasema kwamba “mapenzi ya Mungu ndiyo kanuni kuu ya haki.” Anakuwa mwangalifu kuongeza kwamba hii si mapenzi yasiyo na sheria ya dhalimu, bali ni mapenzi ya Yeye ambaye mwenyewe ni haki safi na kamilifu. Zaidi ya hapo, Calvin anaitikia Paulo: “Lakini wewe u nani, ee mwanadamu, ujibuye dhidi ya Mungu?” Pamoja na Augustino anapendelea kupaza sauti, “Lo, kina!” kuliko kubishana.Chapter XXIII takes up objections. Some accept election but deny reprobation. Calvin replies that choosing some necessarily means not choosing others. Is God then unjust? Calvin answers that all people since the fall form a corrupt mass, so no one can complain of receiving justice. Pressed further, he says that “the will of God is the highest rule of justice.” He is careful to add that this is not the lawless will of a tyrant, but the will of the One who is Himself pure and perfect justice. Beyond that point, Calvin echoes Paul: “O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” With Augustine he prefers to exclaim, “O the depth!” rather than to argue.

7.Je, Mungu Ndiye Mwanzilishi wa Dhambi? (Sura ya XXIII, 6–9)7.Is God the Author of Sin? (Chapter XXIII, 6–9)

Pingamizi gumu zaidi ni kwamba kama Mungu aliamuru anguko, yeye ndiye wa kulaumiwa. Calvin hakwepi kwa kusema Mungu aliruhusu anguko tu bila kulitaka; anaona tofauti hiyo haieleze chochote. Anakiri waziwazi, “Ni amri ya kutisha, nakiri.” Hii ni sentensi ambayo tafsiri za zamani huitafsiri kama “amri ya kutisha sana” (horrible decree); neno la Kilatini la Calvin linamaanisha kitu kinachoamsha hofu na mshangao wa heshima. Hata hivyo hatamfanya Mungu kuwa mwanzilishi wa dhambi. Adamu alianguka “kulingana na agizo la Majaliwa ya Kimungu; lakini anaanguka kwa kosa lake mwenyewe.” Aliharibu asili njema ambayo Mungu alimpa. Kwa hiyo Calvin anatuhimiza kutazama “sababu dhahiri ya hukumu,” uharibifu wa asili ya mwanadamu ambao kila mtu anauhisi ndani yake, kuliko sababu iliyofichwa ambayo hatuwezi kuielewa.The hardest objection is that if God decreed the fall, He is to blame for it. Calvin does not escape by saying God merely permitted the fall without willing it; he thinks that distinction explains nothing. He admits openly, “It is an awful decree, I confess.” This is the sentence older translations render as the “horrible decree”; Calvin’s Latin word means something that inspires dread and awe. Yet he will not make God the author of sin. Adam fell “according to the appointment of Divine Providence; but he falls by his own fault.” He corrupted the good nature God gave him. So Calvin urges us to look at “the evident cause of condemnation,” the corruption of human nature that each person feels within, rather than at a hidden cause we cannot understand.

8.Utakatifu, Kuhubiri na Kuombea Wote (Sura ya XXIII, 10–14)8.Holiness, Preaching and Prayer for All (Chapter XXIII, 10–14)

Je, uteule unawafanya watu wasijali? Calvin anajibu kwamba Mungu alituchagua tuwe watakatifu, kwa hiyo mtu yeyote anayehoji, kama nimechaguliwa, naweza kuishi nipendavyo, anathibitisha hajaelewa. Je, unafanya kuhubiri kuwa bure? Hapana. Mungu huwaokoa wateule wake kwa njia, na mawaidha ni miongoni mwazo. Hapa Calvin anamnukuu hekima ya kichungaji ya Augustino kwa urefu. Ingekuwa ujinga na madhara kulisema kanisa hivi, “Kama hamwamini, ni kwa sababu kwa amri ya Mungu tayari mmewekwa kwa uangamivu.” Badala yake, “kwa kuwa hatujui ni nani anayekuwa wa” wateule, inatupasa “kutamani kwa upendo wokovu wa wote,” na kujitahidi kumfanya kila tunayekutana naye mshiriki wa amani.Does election make people careless? Calvin answers that God chose us to be holy, so anyone who reasons, if I am elect, I may live as I please, proves he has not understood. Does it make preaching useless? No. God saves His elect through means, and exhortations are among them. Here Calvin quotes Augustine’s pastoral wisdom at length. It would be foolish and harmful to tell a congregation, “If you believe not, it is because you are by a Divine decree already destined to destruction.” Rather, “because we know not who belongs” to the elect, it becomes us “affectionately to desire the salvation of all,” and seek to make everyone we meet a partaker of peace.

9.Uteule Katika Maungamo ya Matengenezo9.Election in the Reformed Confessions

Kanuni za Dort (1619), zilizoandikwa kuwajibu Waremonstranti, zinafundisha uteule usio na masharti (unconditional election): Mungu alichagua idadi maalum “kwa neema tupu,” si kwa sababu ya imani iliyoonwa mapema, ambayo ni tunda la uteule (Sehemu kuu ya I, vifungu 7 na 9). Zinaeleza kukataliwa kuwa uamuzi wa Mungu wa kuwapita wengine na kuwaacha katika taabu ambayo wamejitumbukiza wenyewe (I.15), na zinasisitiza kwamba chanzo cha kutoamini kiko kwa mwanadamu, si kwa Mungu (I.5). Kwa umuhimu, Dort pia inatoa faraja ya kichungaji: wale ambao bado hawajisikii uhakika lakini wanatumia njia za neema wasitishwe na fundisho hili (I.16). Ungamo la Westminster, sura ya 3, linasema Mungu aliwapita wengine na kuwaagiza “kwa aibu na hasira kwa ajili ya dhambi yao,” na linaongeza kwamba “fumbo hili kuu” lazima lishughulikiwe “kwa busara na uangalifu wa pekee” (3.7–8). Ungamo la Ubelgiji (kifungu cha 16) linawasilisha uteule kama kuonyesha rehema ya Mungu na haki yake.The Canons of Dort (1619), written to answer the Remonstrants, teach unconditional election: God chose a definite number “out of mere grace,” not because of foreseen faith, which is rather the fruit of election (Head I, articles 7 and 9). They describe reprobation as God’s decision to pass by others and leave them in the misery into which they have plunged themselves (I.15), and they insist that the cause of unbelief lies in man, not in God (I.5). Notably, Dort also gives pastoral comfort: those who do not yet feel assurance but use the means of grace should not be terrified by this doctrine (I.16). The Westminster Confession, chapter 3, says God passed by the rest and ordained them “to dishonour and wrath for their sin,” and adds that this “high mystery” must be handled “with special prudence and care” (3.7–8). The Belgic Confession (article 16) presents election as showing both God’s mercy and His justice.

10.Anachochukua Mchungaji wa Matengenezo Leo kutoka Hapa10.What a Reformed Pastor Takes from It Today

Kwanza, fundisha uteule pale Maandiko yanapoufundisha, bila kuuficha wala kuufanya burudani. Pili, uufundishe kama Calvin alivyouweka, baada ya injili, kama faraja kwa wale wanaomtegemea Kristo tayari. Tatu, usiutumie kamwe kukatisha tamaa uinjilisti; tunahubiri kwa wote kwa sababu hatujui wateule ni nani. Nne, sema juu ya waliopotea kwa machozi, si kwa kuridhika. Tano, wachukulie ndugu na dada wanaoshikilia mitazamo ya Arminius, ya Wesley au ya Kilutheri kama washiriki wenzako wa mwili wa Kristo.First, teach election where Scripture teaches it, neither hiding it nor making it a hobby. Second, teach it as Calvin placed it, after the gospel, as comfort for those who already trust Christ. Third, never use it to discourage evangelism; we preach to all because we do not know who the elect are. Fourth, speak of the lost with tears, not with satisfaction. Fifth, treat brothers and sisters who hold Arminian, Wesleyan or Lutheran views as fellow members of Christ’s body.

11.Kuliweka Moyoni11.Taking It to Heart

1.Kutoka Amri Hadi Kizingiti cha Mlango1.From the Decree to the Doorstep

Calvin alijua kwamba kufundisha juu ya uteule kunaweza kuwaacha waumini na wasiwasi. Katika kizazi baada yake, baadhi ya wachungaji wa Matengenezo na wa Wapuritani wangetumia juhudi nyingi kuwasaidia watu kupambanua kama wao ni wateule, na Wakristo wa mapokeo mengi wameuhisi uzito wa swali hilo. Jibu la Calvin mwenyewe, linalotolewa hapa, ni rahisi kwa namna ya kushangaza na limelenga Kristo. Hatupandi juu katika shauri la siri la Mungu; tunashuka hadi mahali ambapo Mungu amejifanya ajulikane, katika Kristo, injili na wito wa Roho. Sura ya XXIV kwa hiyo ni mojawapo ya sehemu za kichungaji zaidi za Institutes. Sura ya XXV kisha inafunga Kitabu cha III kwa ufufuo, kwa sababu kila faida ya Kristo inaelekea siku hiyo ya mwisho.Calvin knew that teaching on election could leave believers anxious. In the generation after him, some Reformed and Puritan pastors would spend much energy helping people discern whether they were elect, and Christians of many traditions have felt the weight of that question. Calvin’s own answer, given here, is strikingly simple and Christ-centered. We do not climb up into God’s secret counsel; we come down to the place where God has made Himself known, in Christ, the gospel and the Spirit’s call. Chapter XXIV is therefore one of the most pastoral sections of the Institutes. Chapter XXV then closes Book III with the resurrection, because every benefit of Christ moves toward that final day.

2.Wito Unaofunua Uteule (Sura ya XXIV, 1–3)2.The Call That Reveals Election (Chapter XXIV, 1–3)

Uteule wa Mungu, asema Calvin, “vinginevyo umefichwa ndani yake mwenyewe,” lakini anaudhihirisha “kwa wito wake tu.” Wito ni ushahidi unaoonekana wa chaguo lililofichwa. Unakaa “si katika kuhubiri neno tu, bali katika kuangaza kwa Roho kunakoambatana nalo.” Calvin anamwelekeza Roho kama “Roho wa kufanywa wana,” muhuri na arabuni ya urithi, anayethibitisha uteule mioyoni mwa waumini. Anaonya dhidi ya “makosa mawili.” Baadhi wanafanya ridhaa ya mwanadamu kuwa jambo la kuamua, kana kwamba Mungu alitoa uwezo wa kuamini tu na si imani yenyewe. Wengine wanasema uteule hauna nguvu mpaka imani iuthibitishe. Calvin anajibu kwamba imani ni uthibitisho wa uteule kwetu, lakini si sababu yake. Imani ni muhuri unaoonyesha yale ambayo Mungu alikuwa ameyaandika tayari.God’s election, Calvin says, “is otherwise concealed within himself,” but He “manifests” it “only by his calling.” Calling is the visible evidence of a hidden choice. It consists “not in the mere preaching of the word, but in the accompanying illumination of the Spirit.” Calvin points to the Spirit as “the Spirit of adoption,” the seal and earnest of the inheritance, who confirms election in believers’ hearts. He warns against “two errors.” Some make human consent the deciding factor, as if God gave only an ability to believe and not faith itself. Others say election has no force until faith confirms it. Calvin answers that faith is the confirmation of election to us, but not its cause. Faith is the seal that shows what God had already written.

3.Kristo Kioo cha Uteule (Sura ya XXIV, 4–6)3.Christ the Mirror of Election (Chapter XXIV, 4–6)

“Shetani hawashambulii waumini kwa jaribu zito zaidi au la hatari zaidi,” Calvin anaandika, kuliko mashaka juu ya uteule wao, akiwajaribu wautafute “kwa njia isiyo sahihi.” Njia isiyo sahihi ni kujaribu kuisoma moja kwa moja amri ya milele ya Mungu, ambayo ni kama kuutazama shimo lisilo na mwisho. Njia sahihi ni kuanza na kumalizia na Kristo. Hatuwezi kupata uhakika ndani yetu wenyewe, wala hata ndani ya Mungu Baba akitazamwa mbali na Mwanawe. Lakini “Kristo, kwa hiyo, ni kioo, ambacho inatupasa kutafakari uteule wetu ndani yake,” na hapa tunaweza kutazama “kwa usalama.” Baba alichagua kuwaunganisha na Kristo wote aliowachagua. Kwa hiyo ikiwa tuna ushirika na Kristo kwa imani, tunao ushuhuda ulio wazi vya kutosha kwamba tumeandikwa katika kitabu cha uzima. Kristo mwenyewe anaahidi, “Wote anipao Baba watakuja kwangu,” na hakuna atakayepokonywa kutoka mkononi mwake. Calvin anaongeza kwamba ahadi ya kudumu inahusu wakati ujao, kwa hiyo waumini hawana haja ya kuogopa kwamba Mungu aliyeanza kazi ataiacha.“Satan never attacks believers with a more grievous or dangerous temptation,” Calvin writes, than doubt about their election, tempting them to seek it “in a wrong way.” The wrong way is to try to read God’s eternal decree directly, which is like staring into an abyss. The right way is to begin and end with Christ. We cannot find assurance in ourselves, nor even in God the Father considered apart from His Son. But “Christ, therefore, is the mirror, in which it behoves us to contemplate our election,” and here we may look “with safety.” The Father chose to unite to Christ all whom He elected. So if we have fellowship with Christ by faith, we have a sufficiently clear testimony that we are written in the book of life. Christ Himself promises, “All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me,” and none will be plucked from His hand. Calvin adds that the promise of perseverance belongs to the future, so believers need not fear that the God who began the work will abandon it.

4.Wale Wanaoanguka (Sura ya XXIV, 7–11)4.Those Who Fall Away (Chapter XXIV, 7–11)

Uzoefu unaleta swali lenye maumivu. Watu waliodhaniwa kuwa wa Kristo wakati mwingine wanageuka. Je, hili halimfanyi kila mtu kuwa na wasiwasi? Calvin anajibu kwamba watu kama hao “hawakuambatana na Kristo kamwe” kwa kumtegemea kwa moyo kunakoleta uhakika wa kweli. Yuda ndiye mfano: Yesu anasema hakuna aliyepotea wa wake “ila mwana wa upotevu,” kwa kuwa Yuda hakuwa kamwe kondoo wa kweli. Calvin anaeleza usemi “wengi wameitwa, bali wachache wateule” kwa kutofautisha aina mbili za wito. Kuna “wito wa jumla,” ambao kwao Mungu kupitia kuhubiri anawaalika wote waje; na “wito wa pekee,” ambao kwao, kwa kuangaza kwa ndani kwa Roho, anafanya neno lizame moyoni. Calvin pia anatukumbusha kwamba wateule hawakusanywi tangu kuzaliwa bali kwa wakati wa Mungu, mara nyingi baada ya miaka ya kuzurura. Maonyo kama “Basi yeye anayedhani kuwa amesimama, angalia asianguke” hayakusudiwi kuitikisa imani ya kweli, bali kukata kiburi cha kutojali.Experience raises a painful question. People who seemed to belong to Christ sometimes turn away. Does this not make everyone uncertain? Calvin answers that such persons “never adhered to Christ” with the heartfelt trust that brings true assurance. Judas is the example: Jesus says none of His were lost “but the son of perdition,” for Judas was never truly one of the sheep. Calvin explains the saying “many are called, but few chosen” by distinguishing two kinds of calling. There is “a universal call,” by which God through preaching invites all to come; and “a special call,” by which, through the inward illumination of the Spirit, He makes the word sink into the heart. Calvin also reminds us that the elect are not gathered from birth but in God’s time, often after years of wandering. Warnings such as “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall” are not meant to unsettle true faith, but to cut down careless pride.

5.Kupofushwa na Kufanywa Mgumu (Sura ya XXIV, 12–17)5.Blinding and Hardening (Chapter XXIV, 12–17)

Kichwa cha Calvin kinasema pia juu ya waliokataliwa, ambao uangamivu wao “unapatikana na wao wenyewe.” Kwa nini Mungu anawapa baadhi neema na kuwapita wengine? Calvin anamnukuu Augustino: Mungu angeweza kuugeuza mapenzi ya waovu; kwa nini hafanyi hivyo “kunabaki kwake mwenyewe.” Hata hivyo Calvin anasisitiza kwamba wanaopotea si wahanga wasio na hatia. Kufanywa kwao wagumu kunatokana na kuikataa kwao nuru wenyewe, na Maandiko yanaonyesha Mungu akituma neno lake hata kwa wale watakaolikataa, akiwaacha bila udhuru. Kisha anashughulikia maandiko yanayoletwa mara nyingi dhidi yake. Katika Ezekieli, Mungu anasema hapendezwi na kifo cha mwovu; Calvin anasoma hili kama toleo la dhati la Mungu la rehema kwa wote wanaotubu. Paulo anaposema Mungu “anataka watu wote waokolewe,” Calvin anaelewa “watu wote” kumaanisha watu wa kila aina na daraja, wakiwemo wafalme na watawala ambao Paulo ametoka kuwahimiza kuwaombea. Hitimisho lolote tutakalofikia, asema, hatupaswi kumshtaki Mungu wala kuacha kuhubiri kwa wote.Calvin’s title also speaks of the reprobate, whose destruction is “procured by themselves.” Why does God give grace to some and pass over others? Calvin quotes Augustine: God could convert the will of the wicked; why He does not “remains with himself.” Yet Calvin insists that those who perish are not innocent victims. Their hardening comes through their own rejection of light, and Scripture shows God sending His word even to those who will refuse it, leaving them without excuse. He then treats texts often raised against him. In Ezekiel, God says He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked; Calvin reads this as God’s sincere offer of mercy to all who repent. When Paul says God “will have all men to be saved,” Calvin takes “all men” to mean people of every kind and rank, including kings and rulers for whom Paul has just urged prayer. Whatever we conclude, he says, we must neither accuse God nor stop preaching to all.

6.Jua Limechomoza (Sura ya XXV, 1–3)6.The Sun Has Risen (Chapter XXV, 1–3)

Sura ya XXV inaanza na Kristo, “Jua la Haki,” aliyeibatilisha mauti na “kudhihirisha uzima na kutokuharibika.” Hata hivyo bado tunaishi miongoni mwa huzuni, kwa hiyo tunahitaji tumaini. Wanafalsafa wa kale walibishana juu ya “wema mkuu zaidi”; Plato peke yake aliona kwamba uko katika muungano na Mungu, lakini hakujua kifungo kinachotuunganisha naye. Muumini amepiga hatua halisi katika injili, asema Calvin, anapozoea kutafakari ufufuo. Ufufuo wa Kristo mwenyewe ni kielelezo na dhamana ya wetu: yeye ni “malimbuko, baadaye walio wa Kristo wakati wa kuja kwake.” Kwa kuwa alifufuka katika mwili ule ule ambao ndani yake aliteseka, tunao msingi imara kwa tumaini letu.Chapter XXV begins with Christ, “the Sun of Righteousness,” who has “abolished death” and “brought life and immortality to light.” Yet we still live among sorrows, so we need hope. The ancient philosophers argued over the “supreme good”; only Plato saw that it lies in union with God, but he did not know the bond that unites us to Him. A believer has made real progress in the gospel, Calvin says, when he has grown used to meditating on the resurrection. Christ’s own resurrection is the pattern and pledge of ours: He is “the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” Because He rose in the same body in which He suffered, we have a firm foundation for our hope.

7.Makosa Kuhusu Mambo ya Mwisho (Sura ya XXV, 4–9)7.Errors About the Last Things (Chapter XXV, 4–9)

Calvin anajibu makosa kadhaa. Dhidi ya Masadukayo wa kila kizazi, wanaokana ufufuo, anaelekeza kwa Maandiko na kwa desturi ya kale ya Kikristo ya mazishi ya heshima. Dhidi ya Wamilenaria (Millenarians), ambao, kwa usomaji wake, walipunguza utawala wa Kristo kuwa miaka elfu moja, anasema wazo lao ni “la kitoto mno kuhitaji au kustahili kukanushwa,” kwa kuwa ufalme wa Kristo hauna mwisho. Dhidi ya wale wanaodhani roho hulala au hufa pamoja na mwili, alikuwa ameandika kazi yake ya kwanza ya kitheolojia, iliyokamilika mwaka 1534. Dhidi ya wale wanaowaza miili mipya itaumbwa, anasisitiza “tutafufuka tena na miili ile ile tuliyo nayo sasa, kwa dutu,” lakini kwa hali tofauti, iliyotukuzwa. Miili yetu ni mahekalu ya Roho na viungo vya Kristo; haitatupwa.Calvin answers several errors. Against the Sadducees of every age, who deny the resurrection, he points to Scripture and to the ancient Christian custom of honorable burial. Against the Millenarians, who in his reading limited Christ’s reign to a thousand years, he says their idea is “too puerile to require or deserve refutation,” since Christ’s kingdom has no end. Against those who think souls sleep or die with the body, he had written his first theological work, completed in 1534. Against those who imagine new bodies will be created, he insists “we shall rise again with the same bodies we have now, as to the substance,” but with a different, glorified quality. Our bodies are temples of the Spirit and members of Christ; they will not be thrown away.

8.Utukufu na Hukumu (Sura ya XXV, 10–12)8.Glory and Judgment (Chapter XXV, 10–12)

Mbinguni patakuwaje? Calvin anajizuia. Kwa kuwa Mungu “ana ndani yake utimilifu wa baraka zote,” hakuna kitu zaidi yake kitakachotamaniwa; yeye ni “thawabu kuu mno” ya watu wake. Furaha ya watakatifu itakuwa kushiriki utukufu wa Mungu, ingawa kwa vipimo tofauti, na hakuna atakayemhusudu mwingine. Adhabu ya waovu inaelezwa katika Maandiko kwa “sura za kimwili,” kama giza, moto na mdudu anayekula. Picha hizi zimekusudiwa kutujaza hofu takatifu, lakini maana yake ya ndani kabisa ni maafa ya “kutengwa na uwepo wa Mungu.” Calvin anamaliza Kitabu cha III akiwa na waaminifu wakiendelea mbele chini ya msalaba “hata atakapokuwa yote katika yote.”What will heaven be? Calvin is restrained. Since God “contains within himself a plenitude of all blessings,” nothing beyond Him will be desired; He is His people’s “exceeding great reward.” The joy of the saints will be to share in God’s glory, though in different measures, and none will envy another. The punishment of the wicked is described in Scripture through “corporeal images,” such as darkness, fire and the gnawing worm. These pictures are meant to fill us with holy dread, but their deepest meaning is the calamity of being “alienated from the presence of God.” Calvin ends Book III with the faithful pressing forward under the cross “till he shall be all in all.”

9.Wito, Uhakika na Tumaini Katika Maungamo9.Calling, Assurance and Hope in the Confessions

Ungamo la Westminster linashughulikia “wito wenye nguvu” katika sura ya 10, likieleza kazi ya Mungu kwa Neno lake na Roho, “akiangaza akili zao” na “kuyafanya upya mapenzi yao.” Sura ya 17 inafundisha kwamba watakatifu “hawawezi kuanguka kabisa wala mwishowe kutoka katika hali ya neema,” na sura ya 18 kwamba waumini wa kweli wanaweza kupata “uhakika usioweza kukosea wa imani,” ingawa unaweza kutikiswa. Kanuni za Dort, Sehemu kuu ya V, zinafundisha kudumu kwa watakatifu kama kazi ya uaminifu wa Mungu, si nguvu zao. Katekisimu ya Heidelberg inakiri kwamba “si roho yangu tu” bali pia “mwili wangu,” ukifufuliwa kwa uweza wa Kristo, utafanywa kama mwili wake wa utukufu (Swali la 57). Wakristo wa Kilutheri na wa Wesley wanashiriki tumaini hili la ufufuo wa mwili, ingawa wengi katika mapokeo yote mawili wanashikilia kwamba muumini wa kweli anaweza kuanguka kutoka katika neema.The Westminster Confession treats “effectual calling” in chapter 10, describing God’s work by His Word and Spirit, “enlightening their minds” and “renewing their wills.” Chapter 17 teaches that saints “can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace,” and chapter 18 that true believers may attain “an infallible assurance of faith,” though it may be shaken. The Canons of Dort, Head V, teach the perseverance of the saints as the work of God’s faithfulness, not their strength. The Heidelberg Catechism confesses that “not only my soul” but also “my body,” raised by Christ’s power, will be made like His glorious body (Question 57). Lutheran and Wesleyan Christians share this hope of bodily resurrection, though many in both traditions hold that a true believer can fall from grace.

10.Kuliweka Moyoni10.Taking It to Heart