In his Prayer and the Priesthood of Christ , Graham Redding summarizes Calvin’s teaching on the temporary faith:
“Calvin draws a distinction between the regenerating faith of the elect and the temporary faith of the reprobate. There are some among the reprobate, he says, who respond positively to the word and in so doing produce evidence of a kind of faith. When this happens, there are many similarities between the elect and the reprobate – even to the point that the reprobate may share ‘almost the same feeling as the elect’ [quoting Institutes 3.2.11]. However, in contrast to the true believer, the faith of the reprobate is temporary. Eventually it fails and falls away, while the faith of the true believer, though imperfect and subject to anxiety and fear, ultimately triumphs.”
Temporary faith can be characterized “by a false confidence in their eternal destiny and a dangerous self-reliance.” Thus, Calvin’s teaching on temporary faith “prompts Christians to self-examination, not in relation to their holiness or their works, but in relation to their belief in Christ, in whom they experience divine mercy and find the proper assurance of their election” (100).
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