The Institution of Christian Religion

The second point was, that we taught that repentance proceedeth of an earnest fear of God. For, before that the mind of a sinner be inclined to repentance, it must be stirred up with thinking upon the judgment of God. But when this thought is ones throughly settled, that God will one day go up into his judgement seat, to require an account of all sayings & doings: it will not suffer the silly man to rest, nor to take breathe one minute of time, but continually stirreth him up to think upon a new trade of life, whereby he may safely appear at that judgement. Therefore oftentimes the Scripture, when it exhorteth to repentance,¹ maketh mention of the judgement: as in Jerem: least peradventure my wrath go out as fire, & there be none to quench it, because of the naughtiness of your works. In Pauls sermon to the Athenians: And whereas hitherto God hath borne with the times of this ignorance, now he giveth warning to men, that all men every where may repent them, because he hath appointed the day wherein he will judge the world in equity. And in many other places. Sometime it declareth by the punishments already extended, that God is a judge, that sinners should think with them selves, that worse things hang over them if they do not repent in time. You have an example thereof in the xxix. of Exodus. But because the turning beginneth at the abhorring and hatred of sin,² therefore the Apostle maketh sorrowfulness, such as is according to God, the cause of repentance. And he calleth sorrowfulness according to God, when we are not only afraid of punishment, but do hate and abhor sin it self, forasmuch as we understand that it displeaseth God. And no marvel. For unless we be sharply pricked, the slothfulness of our flesh could not be corrected, yea prickings would not suffice for the dullness and slothfulness thereof, unless God in stretching out his rods should pierce more deeply. This is also an obstinacy which must be beaten down as it were with beetles. Therefore the perverseness of our nature enforceth God to the severity that he useth in threatening, because he should in vain call us alluringly with fair speech while we lye a sleep. I recite not the testimonies that commonly offer them selves to be found. The fear of God is in an other manner also the beginning ⟨p. 129⟩of repentance.