Calvin rightly reminded us not to confuse the order of teaching (e.g., “repent and believe”) with the order of salvation (ordo salutis). Believers repent but our repentance is not the ground of our salvation. The whole gospel includes the proclamation of the good news of the unconditional forgiveness of sins and the call to repentance. Our repentance, no less than our faith, is the free gift of God.

“Produce fruit worthy of repentance” ( “ποιήσατε οὖν καρπὸν ἄξιον τῆς μετανοίας”) these were the words of John the Baptizer to the many Pharisees and Sadducees “coming unto (the) baptism” (Matt 3:7). John was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He was the last one to call Israel to repentance in anticipation of the coming Messiah. He was the final call to “make straight the way of the Lord.” As he issued that call with fiery rhetoric there was a spiritual awakening of sorts. People began to come to him in droves. They heard the call to repentance and they were baptized as a sign and seal of their repentance. Calvin’s commentary on the early verses of Matthew 3 are helpful:

Repentance is not placed first, as some ignorantly suppose, as if it were the ground of the forgiveness of sins, or as if it induced God to begin to be gracious to us; but men are commanded to repent, that they may receive the reconciliation which is offered to them. Now, as the undeserved love of God—by which he receives into his favour wretched men, “not imputing their trespasses unto them,” (2 Cor. 5:19)—is first in order; so it must be observed, that pardon of sins is bestowed upon us in Christ, not that God may treat them with indulgence, but that he may heal us from our sins. And, indeed, without hatred of sin and remorse for transgressions, no man will taste the grace of God. But a definition of repentance and faith may explain more fully the manner in which both are connected; which leads me to handle this doctrine more sparingly.
With regard to the meaning of the present passage, it is proper to observe, that the whole Gospel consists of two parts,—forgiveness of sins, and repentance. Now, as Matthew denominates the first of these the kingdom of heaven, we may conclude, that men are in a state of deadly enmity with God, and altogether shut out from the heavenly kingdom, till God receives them into favour. Though John, when he introduces the mention of the grace of God, exhorts men to repentance, yet it must not be forgotten, that repentance, not less than the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom, is the gift of God. As he freely pardons our sins, and delivers us, by his mercy, from the condemnation of eternal death, so also does he form us anew to his image, that we may live unto righteousness. As he freely adopts us for his sons, so he regenerates us by his Spirit, that our life may testify, that we do not falsely address him as our Father. In like manner, Christ washes away our sins by his blood, and reconciles our Heavenly Father to us by the sacrifice of his death; but, at the same time, in consequence of “our old man being crucified with him, and the body of sin destroyed,” (Rom. 6:6,) he makes us “alive” unto righteousness. The sum of the Gospel is, that God, through his Son, takes away our sins, and admits us to fellowship with him, that we, “denying ourselves” and our own nature, may “live soberly, righteously, and godly,” and thus may exercise ourselves on earth in meditating on the heavenly life.¹

In short, Calvin rightly reminded us not to confuse the order of teaching (e.g., “repent and believe”) with the order of salvation (ordo salutis). Believers repent but our repentance is not the ground of our salvation. The whole gospel includes the proclamation of the good news of the unconditional forgiveness of sins and the call to repentance. Our repentance, no less than our faith, is the free gift of God. When Calvin says “regenerates” here he was not speaking of our initial awakening from death to live—which is the way we most often use it now—but of sanctification. True faith produces sanctification, beginning with repentance, reckoning with the law, and the gradual mortification (putting to death) of the old man and the making alive of the new (vivification). Sanctification is the fruit of our new life in Christ, the fruit of our justification, and an essential part of our gracious salvation from wrath and sin.

Not all who came to John in the desert, however, were genuine in their interest. He perceived that the Pharisees, who added their own laws to God’s thus corrupting it, and the Sadducees, who arrogantly rejected the bodily resurrection, came not out of spiritual interest.² They were what sports fans call “band wagon” fans or “front runners.” They came John so as to be perceived by the masses as pious.

As opposed as they were to each other, they were united in two commitments: the Pharisees and the Sadducees thought that they were able to contribute to their salvation. The Pharisees thought that they had so mastered God’s law that they were beyond it. The Sadducees ignored those portions of God’s law they thought no longer applied.

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