In Rom 6:17, we read:
But thanks be to God
that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart (καρδια)
to that form of teaching to which you were committed. (NASB)
Calvin, in his commentary on Romans, wrote
the following on this verse:
You have obeyed from the heart, etc. Paul compares here
the hidden power of the Spirit with the external letter of the law, as though
he had said, "Christ inwardly forms our souls in a better way, than when
the law constrains them by threatening and terrifying us." Thus is
dissipated the following calumny, "If Christ frees us from subjection to
the law, he brings liberty to sin." He does not indeed allow his people
unbridled freedom, that they might frisk about without any restraint, like
horses let loose in the fields; but he brings them to a regular course of life.
—Though Erasmus, following the old version, has chosen to translate it the
"form" (formam) of doctrine, I have felt constrained to retain
type, the word which Paul uses: some may perhaps prefer the word pattern
It seems indeed to me to denote the formed image or impress of that
righteousness which Christ engraves on our hearts: and this corresponds with
the prescribed rule of the law, according to which all our actions ought to be
framed, so that they deviate not either to the right or to the left hand.
From Matthew Henry’s (Reformed)
commentary, we read:
You have
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you, v. 17. This describes conversion, what it is; it is our
conformity to, and compliance with, the gospel which was delivered to us by
Christ and his ministers.--Margin. Whereto you were delivered; eis
hon paredothete--into which you were delivered. And so observe, First,
The rule of grace, that form of doctrine--typon didaches.
The gospel is the great rule both of truth and holiness; it is the stamp, grace
is the impression of that stamp; it is the form of healing words, 2 Tim. i. 13. Secondly, The nature of grace, as it is our
conformity to that rule. 1. It is to obey from the heart. The gospel is
a doctrine not only to be believed, but to be obeyed, and that from the heart,
which denotes the sincerity and reality of that obedience; not in profession
only, but in power--from the heart, the innermost part, the commanding part of
us. 2. It is to be delivered into it, as into a mould, as the wax is
cast into the impression of the seal, answering it line for line, stroke for
stroke, and wholly representing the shape and figure of it. To be a Christian
indeed is to be transformed into the likeness and similitude of the gospel, our
souls answering to it, complying with it, conformed to it--understanding, will,
affections, aims, principles, actions, all according to that form of doctrine.
The Lutheran Formula of Concord (1577),
IV: Good Works, referenced Rom 6:17 thusly:
16] But in this
connection the following distinction must also be noted, namely, that the
meaning must be: necessitas ordinis, mandati et voluntatis Christi ac debiti
nostri, non autem necessitas coactionis (a necessity of Christ's ordinance,
command, and will, and of our obligation, but not a necessity of coercion).
That is: When this word necessary is employed, it should be understood not of
coercion, but only of the ordinance of the immutable will of God, whose debtors
we are; thither also 17] His commandment points that the creature should be
obedient to its Creator. For in other places, as 2 Cor. 9:7, and in the Epistle
of St. Paul to Philemon 14, , also 1 Pet. 5:2, that is termed of necessity which
is wrung from one against his will, by force or otherwise, so that he acts
externally for appearance, but nevertheless without and against his will. For
such specious [hypocritical] works God does not want [does not approve], but
the people of the New Testament are to be a willing people, Ps. 110:3, and
sacrifice freely, Ps. 54:6, not grudgingly or of necessity, but are to be
obedient from the heart, 2 Cor. 9:7; Rom. 6:17. 18] For God loveth a cheerful
giver, 2 Cor. 9:7. In this understanding and in such sense it is correctly said
and taught that truly good works should be done willingly or from a voluntary
spirit by those whom the Son of God has made free, even as it was especially
for [confirming] this opinion that the disputation concerning the voluntariness
of good works was engaged in by some.
I know some will say, “But Jeremiah says
the heart is deceitful and cannot be trusted!!!!” To see why this is based on eisegesis, see the following
in response to Eric Johnson:
