Here Calvin presses to the breaking point the question of human freedom, insisting that the will is not merely weak but enslaved, acting voluntarily yet necessarily toward evil until God intervenes. In Sections 5–7, he argues that conversion is not a cooperative project between grace and the will, but a divine re-creation in which God both breaks the bondage of sin and produces a new will altogether, so that every genuine movement toward righteousness—from its first desire to its final perseverance—is wholly the work of grace.

Readings:

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, Chapter 3 (Sections 5–7)

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