The New Covenant is an agreement between God the Father and the Jesus Christ the Son to redeem a people for God[1] by eternally forgiving their sin[2] and effecting such a transformation in them, by the Spirit[3], that He becomes God[4] to His people[5] -- such that they will eternally know Him[6], fear Him, obey Him and never turn away from Him[7]; and that by this transforming work of free, sovereign grace[8] their inclinations will be so radically altered[9] because now the law of God will be intrinsically and inherently imprinted upon their essential being[10].This Covenant planned in eternity, purchased through the precious blood of Christ[11], ratified by the resurrection will never end[12].This Covenant becomes effective in the lives of all believers and progressively finds its joy-filled culmination and fulfillment in the redemption of the body – in the New Heavens and New Earth[13].
[1] Acts 2:23; John 10:27-30; John 17:2; Luke 22:29;
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 20. OF PRAYER-A PERPETUAL EXERCISE OF FAITH. THE DAILY BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IT.
3.20.37.
I think Calvin is still observing an opponent in the form of a priest. One who thinks that he must supplicate for the penitant. Calvin embraces the fullness of the prayer, "Our Father . . ." by showing that a true child of God needs no human intercessor for as a father takes great delight in receiving his children, so does our God. "Will he not rather listen to the tears and groans of his children, when supplicating for themselves (especially seeing he invites and exhorts us to do so), than to any advocacy of others to whom the timid have recourse, not without some semblance of despair, because they are distrustful of their father's mildness and clemency?"
"Whenever, therefore, we are restrained by any feeling of hesitation, let us remember to ask of him that he may correct our timidity, and placing us under the magnanimous guidance of the Spirit, enable us to pray boldly."
3.20.38.
An interesting point is made by Calvin from the phrase we are entitled to use in that it does not say, "My Father . . ." but "our Father." "By this we are reminded how strong the feeling of brotherly love between us ought to be, since we are all alike, by the same mercy and free kindness, the children of such a Father." There is a common, communal, corporate expression here that embraces the good of all. " In short, all our prayers ought to bear reference to that community which our Lord has established in his kingdom and family."
3.20.39.
The above is not to say that we cannot prayer for our private needs. "In this way there is nothing repugnant to the will of God in those who, giving heed to this common society of the Church, yet offer up particular prayers, in which, with a public mind, though in special terms, they commend to God themselves or others, with whose necessity he has been pleased to make them more familiarly acquainted."
WHICH ART IN HEAVEN
3.20.40.
" Thus says the Lord, "Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?" (Isaiah 66:1, NASB95). God's presence is displayed without b
"But as our gross minds are unable to conceive of his ineffable glory, it is designated to us by heaven, nothing which our eyes can behold being so full of splendor and majesty." The point of the phrase is not so much to give a local of God but to remind us that He is exalted above all, beyond corruption or change and He is sitting in the seat of power. This reminds us that He is not like anything on earth, but is highly exalted and majestic. Yet He is not unknown to us or our needs and we can confidently approach Him. "In short, under the name of Father is set before us that God, who hath appeared to us in his own image, that we may invoke him with sure faith; the familiar name of Father being given not only to inspire confidence, but also to curb our minds, and prevent them from going astray after doubtful or fictitious gods."
THE FIRST PETITION: HALLOWED BE THY NAME
3.20.41.
For God's Name to be hallowed it implies the a knowledge that is true and holy. "For wherever God hath made himself known, his perfections must be displayed, his power, goodness, wisdom, justice, mercy, and truth, which fill us with admiration, and incite us to show forth his praise . . . It must be our desire that God may receive the honour which is his due: that men may never think or speak of him without the greatest reverence." For His Name to be truly hallowed by all is to make His Name exclusive and therefore glorifed.
THE SECOND PETITION: THY KINGDOM COME
3.20.42.
What is this kingdom that we long for? "God reigns when men, in denial of themselves and contempt of the world and this earthly life, devote themselves to righteousness and aspire to heaven." The kingdom of God, according to Calvin, consists of two parts:
1. "When God by the agency of his Spirit corrects all the depraved lusts of the flesh, which in bands war against Him;"and 2. "When he brings all our thoughts into obedience to his authority."
Calvin's pastoral heart reminds us that to pray this with integrity one would first of all make sure that we as individuals "pray that [we] may be purified from all the corruptions which disturb the tranquillity and impair the purity of God's kingdom."
We also ought to pray that the wicked schemes of men and devils be overruled by the sovereignty of God, but most importantly "this prayer, therefore, ought to withdraw us from the corruptions of the world which separate us from God, and prevent his kingdom from flourishing within us; secondly, it ought to inflame us with an ardent desire for the mortification of the flesh; and, lastly, it ought to train us to the endurance of the cross; since this is the way in which God would have his kingdom to be advanced."
Questions to Consider
1. What should encourage us about our use of the name Father?
2. What is significant in the word our?
3. Though God is in Heaven, what does Calvin want us to recognize?
4. What does it personally mean to you to hallow His Name?
5. What does it personally mean to you to invite His kingdom to come?
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 20. OF PRAYER-A PERPETUAL EXERCISE OF FAITH. THE DAILY BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IT.
3.20.31.
Isaiah 29:13 quotes the Lord, "Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote." Whatever means: words, song, etc. that we use to pray the important thing is the it be from the right heart.
3.20.32.
As to singing, Calvin makes this profound observation: "And certainly if singing is tempered to a gravity befitting the presence of God and angels, it both gives dignity and grace to sacred actions, and has a very powerful tendency to stir up the mind to true zeal and ardor in prayer. We must, however, carefully beware, lest our ears be more intent on the music than our minds on the spiritual meaning of the words."
3.20.33.
As to public prayers Calvin also offers the helpful insight that praying ought to be "in the vulgar tongue, so that all present may understand them, since they ought to be used for the edification of the whole Church, which cannot be in the least degree benefited by a sound not understood." This ought to wake up some of the modern practices of the Roman Church, but it is also practically important for us as we pray publicly. Mumbling to oneself is not edifying to the gathered assembly. Such praying ought to be reverent and truthful. "The principle we must always hold is, that in all prayer, public and private, the tongue without the mind must be displeasing to God."
3.20.34.
Calvin now introduces his exposition on the Lord's Prayer. "For he has given us a form in which is set before us as in a picture every thing which it is lawful to wish, every thing which is conducive to our interest, every thing which it is necessary to demand. From his goodness in this respect we derive the great comfort of knowing, that as we ask almost in his words, we ask nothing that is absurd, or foreign, or unseasonable; nothing, in short, that is not agreeable to him." This prayer is found in Matthew 6:9ff:
'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'
3.20.35.
Calvin outlines the Lord's Prayer in six separate petititons in two major categories. The objective of the first three petitons is "to look to the glory of God alone." The last three are "devoted to our interest, and properly relate to things which it is useful for us to ask".
OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN.
3.20.36.
It becomes a manifold honor that we as His children through gracious adoption can refer to God as our Father. Christ, by His grace, "being the true Son, has been given to us as a brother, so that that which he possesses as his own by nature becomes ours by adoption, if we embrace this great mercy with firm faith."
"Earthly parents, laying aside all paternal affection, might abandon their offspring; he will never abandon us (Ps. 27:10), seeing he cannot deny himself."
Questions to Consider
1. What are two kinds of corruption in public prayer?
2. Why is the order of the Lord's Prayer significant?
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 20. OF PRAYER-A PERPETUAL EXERCISE OF FAITH. THE DAILY BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IT.
3.20.28.
As to the types of prayer, Calvin turns our attention to those things which we "we pour out our desires before God" that are called supplication. And he describes our prayers of thanksgiving which "we duly celebrate his kindnesses toward us, ascribing to his liberality every blessing which enters into our lot." We use both continually along with our ever-present need for cleansing from sin. "To make this somewhat clearer: since all our hopes and resources are placed in God (this has already been fully proved), so that neither our persons nor our interests can prosper without his blessing, we must constantly submit ourselves and our all to him."
We are not to assume any direction apart from confiding in His will and we ought never to enjoy anything from His hand apart from thanksgiving and praise. Philippians 4:6 is clear, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." We are also called in Scripture to "pray without ceasing and be constantly giving thanks"(1 Thess 5:17-18). This Calvin expresses is because God "would have us with the utmost assiduity [persistence, diligence], at all times, in every place, in all things, and under all circumstances, direct our prayers to God." Again he emphasizes that God is the source of our praying.
3.20.29.
This assiduity is not in contravention to the vain, repetitive praying that Jesus warns us of (Mat 6:7). "For he does not there forbid us to pray long or frequently, or with great fervor, but warns us against supposing that we can extort anything from God by importuning him with garrulous loquacity, as if he were to be persuaded after the manner of men." The sound instruction of our Lord to enter our closet and pray is a good way to avoid the prayers that simply seek the approval of men. This is not to deny the need for public prayer as long as it is done with a holy heart and with a thankful dependence upon God.
3.20.30.
"He who promises to grant whatsoever two or three assembled in his name shall ask (Mt. 18:20), declares, that he by no means despises the prayers which are publicly offered up, provided there be no ostentation, or catching at human applause, and provided there be a true and sincere affection in the secret recesses of the heart."
"Even the temple was not represented to the Jews as confining the presence of God within its walls, but was meant to train them to contemplate the image of the true temple. Accordingly, a severe rebuke is administered both by Isaiah and Stephen, to those who thought that God could in any way dwell in temples made with hands (Isa. 66:2; Acts 7:48)."
Questions to Consider
1. What should accompany our reception from God's hand all the blessings He gives?
2. If we fail to offer Him praise for His blessings, what is our silence?
3. What are two kinds of corruption in public prayer?
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 20. OF PRAYER-A PERPETUAL EXERCISE OF FAITH. THE DAILY BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IT
3.20.23.
The Roman Catholic Church errs in several ways in this topic of intercession. There is a presumption that saints who have died in the Lord serve as ministering angels. No where in Scripture are people equated with angels or that they become angels. One passage quoted to support the intercession of the saints is found in Jeremiah 15:1, "Then the Lord said to me, "Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go!"
Calvin makes a couple points, the first being that this text is not the living praying to the dead. And also one can clearly see that "the Lord only declares that he would not spare the iniquities of the people, though some Moses or Samuel, to whose prayers he had shown himself so indulgent, should intercede for them. This meaning is most clearly elicited from a similar passage in Ezekiel: "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God," (Ezek. 14:14)." In other words the Scripture is using a hyperbole.
3.20.24.
Rome asks is it not illogical that after a pious life that saints would remain indifferent to the needs of others on earth. Again Calvin responds to say that because the saints are in the presence of Christ and are equally concerned that His Kingdom would come (i.e., the wicked are quashed and the elect are saved.) that there is a sense where their piety is ongoing -- but not to the daily earthly needs of people. And what of Ecclesiastes 9:5-6,
5 For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. 6 Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun."
3.20.25.
Calvin needs to correct the interpretation of Scripture in other cases such as Genesis 48:16 for example. When the saints call upon God to remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob it is not to their intercession but to the Divine covenant wrought by their name. "Thus regard is had to the covenant rather than to the individual."
3.20.26.
The proponents of "praying to dead saints" speak of the meritorious lives of these people equating that with the argument, "Why wouldn't they still be effective in their praying?" Calvin (as we would) certainly affirm that these saints had their prayers answered on earth, however, "does he infer that Elias possessed some peculiar privilege, and that we must have recourse to him for the use of it? By no means. He shows the perpetual efficacy of a pure and pious prayer, that we may be induced in like manner to pray." These then become models for our praying and we must also note that many of these saints, particularly David, addressed God with all humility and never assumed personal merit. Or like Jacob we could also say, "10 I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies" - Genesis 32:10.
3.20.27.
Thus we have this admonition: "On the whole, since Scripture places the principal part of worship in the invocation of God (this being the office of piety which he requires of us in preference to all sacrifices), it is manifest sacrilege to offer prayer to others . . . if we consult the whole volume of Scripture, we shall find that God claims this honour to himself alone. In regard to the office of intercession, we have also seen that it is peculiar to Christ, and that no prayer is agreeable to God which he as Mediator does not sanctify."
Questions to Consider
1. When the Bible tells us the saints were heard by God, what did this not mean?
2. What did it mean?
3. What is required so that our prayers are agreeable to God?
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 20. OF PRAYER-A PERPETUAL EXERCISE OF FAITH. THE DAILY BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IT.
3.20.18.
"That shadowy ceremony of the Law therefore taught, first, that we are all excluded from the face of God, and, therefore, that there is need of a Mediator to appear in our name, and carry us on his shoulders and keep us bound upon his breast, that we may be heard in his person; And secondly, that our prayers, which, as has been said, would otherwise never be free from impurity, are cleansed by the sprinkling of his blood." Thus we have the meaning of John 16:26, "In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf." This is not to say that the saints who prayed did not comprehend the need for sacrifice and mediation. No, now we as they did know that Christ ascended is a perfect Intercessor and we ought to embrace with confidence the discipline of prayer.
3.20.19.
1 Timothy 2:5 makes it clear then that this Christ is the only means to the Father. To go other ways is to incur wrath and judgment.
3.20.20.
"Moreover, the Sophists are guilty of the merest trifling when they allege that Christ is the Mediator of redemption, but that believers are mediators of intercession; as if Christ had only performed a temporary mediation, and left an eternal and imperishable mediation to his servants." The Scriptures are very clear about the continuing advocacy of Christ:
1 John 2:1 (NASB95) 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; Romans 8:32 (NASB95) 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
This does not negate the mutual praying and intercession among the saints. We are called to pray for one another, but all this is through the one means, the Lord Jesus Christ. "And thus the mutual prayers of all the members still laboring on the earth ascend to the Head, who has gone before into heaven, and in whom there is propitiation for our sins." In this context, Calvin quotes Augustine: `Christian men mutually commend one another by their prayers. However, it is he for whom no-one intercedes, while he intercedes for all, who is the one true Mediator.'
3.20.21.
What above praying to the saints or those who have died in Christ? Calvin answers thus: "It were the extreme of stupidity, not to say madness, to attempt to obtain access by means of others, so as to be drawn away from him without whom access cannot be obtained."
3.20.22.
To continue the discussion of praying to the saints, Calvin addresses a further foolishness: "After men began to look to the intercession of saints, a peculiar administration was gradually assigned to each, so that, according to diversity of business, now one, now another, intercessor was invoked. Then individuals adopted particular saints, and put their faith in them, just as if they had been tutelar deities."
Calvin also warns us to avoid crude conceptions of Christ's intercession, as if he were kneeling before the Father, begging him for some result or another, or in some kind of conflict of wills, supplicating for us in some anthropomorphic way. Rather, his intercession is inextricably connected to his death: he stands before God's presence in such a manner that the power of his death is his intercession, and it is this that allows him to bear to God our intercessions. Only by the blood of Jesus do our prayers find their way into God's presence.
Questions to Consider
1. If Christ were removed, what would remain for us in the throne of God?
2. As we intercede for one another, what should we be careful to do?
3. Why do people feel a need to enlist the saints?
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 20. OF PRAYER-A PERPETUAL EXERCISE OF FAITH. THE DAILY BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IT.
3.20.15.
If in anger I pray, like Jotham or Samson (Jdg 9 and 16) with vengeance and vindictiveness, does that mean that God answers prayers that are not in accordance with His will? Calvin's immediate answer is that these few instances do set aside a rule; nor do a few cases make a generality. Again Calvin understands that this is an incomplete answer so he pursues it further by teaching that "the wishes to which God assents are not always pleasing to him; but he assents, because it is necessary . . .." If through the unrighteous prayers of some God chooses to give relief to His people this reveals His sovereignty and providence and does not condone the wrong spirit by which the prayer is offered.
Calvin takes us to Psalm 107 to, in his words, show that "prayers are not without effect, though they do not penetrate to heaven by faith." What does he mean by that? Why would God answer the prayers of the ungodly or even the saints who pray with the wrong motive? Calvin's answer is that "It is, first, to magnify or display his mercy by the circumstance, that even the wishes of unbelievers are not denied; and, secondly, to stimulate his true worshippers to more urgent prayer, when they see that sometimes even the wailings of the ungodly are not without avail." This should not encourage the godly to pray without guidance of the Word it simply anticipates the doctrine of common grace whereby rain and sun fall upon even the ungodly by God's mercy.
Another objection that Calvin tackles has to do with Abraham and Samuel (Gen. 18:23; 1 Sam. 15:11). A similar case is of Jeremiah, who prayed that the city might not be destroyed (Jer. 32:16). Augustine poses the question more succinctly: ""How do the saints pray in faith when they ask from God contrary to what he has decreed?" His answer is, "Namely, because they pray according to his will, not his hidden and immutable will, but that which he suggests to them, that he may hear them in another manner; as he wisely distinguishes." It is so true that God Almighty in his secret and incomprehensibly sovereign will so ordains events that even our prayers though not always of faith and always with imperfection are not in vain.
3.20.16.
The fact that God demands perfect repentance and faith even in our praying is not to be dismissed because of His indulgent mercy and pardon. But the truth is that do to His manifold grace "even our stammering is tolerated by God, and pardon is granted to our ignorance as often as any thing rashly escapes us: indeed, without this indulgence, we should have no freedom to pray." Similar faults lie within us even in Calvin's second law (regarding fervor and passion). So often we are cold and thoughtless in our praying.
"Thus a twofold pardon is always to be asked; first, because they are conscious of many faults the sense of which, however, does not touch them so as to make them feel dissatisfied with themselves as they ought; and, secondly, in so far as they have been enabled to profit in repentance and the fear of God, they are humbled with just sorrow for their offenses, and pray for the remission of punishment by the judge."
3.20.17. The reality is that no of us can enter into God's presence in prayer apart from the advocacy and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this truth that requires us to pray "in His Name".
John 14:13 (NASB95) 13 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 16:24 (NASB95) 24 "Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
"Hence it is incontrovertibly clear that those who pray to God in any other name than that of Christ contumaciously falsify his orders, and regard his will as nothing, while they have no promise that they shall obtain. For, as Paul says "All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen;" (2 Cor. 1:20), that is, are confirmed and fulfilled in him."
Questions to Consider
1. Why does God answer prayers from unbelievers that are clearly defective?
2. What are the prayers of the saints a mixture of?
3. What does it mean, in the fullest sense, when we pray in Jesus' Name?
Thursday, July 23, 2009
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 20. OF PRAYER-A PERPETUAL EXERCISE OF FAITH. THE DAILY BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IT.
3.20.11.
A humble and contrite heart is a prerequiste for prayer, but also an attitude of expectation. As Calvin says, "We should be animated to pray with the sure hope of succeeding." Calvin rightly points out that repentance and faith go hand in hand. Therefore a humble heart ought to find rest in an expectant heart. When "the saints ... in consequence of their own necessities, they feel the greatest disquietude, and are all but driven to despair, until faith seasonably comes to their aid; because in such straits the goodness of God so shines upon them, that while they groan, burdened by the weight of present calamities, and tormented with the fear of greater, they yet trust to this goodness, and in this way both lighten the difficulty of endurance, and take comfort in the hope of final deliverance."
If we note carefully Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24 and James 1:5 we see the importance of expectant faith. In these case God "most aptly expresses the power of faith by opposing it to wavering."
3.20.12.
"What kind of prayer would this be? O Lord, I am indeed doubtful whether or not thou art inclined to hear me; but being oppressed with anxiety I fly to thee that if I am worthy, thou mayest assist me.'" Note:
Psalm 33:22 (NASB95) 22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, According as we have hoped in You. Ephesians 3:12 (NASB95) 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Hebrews 4:16 (NASB95) 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
3.20.13.
Calvin has strong words to those of us who would disobey God's invitation to "call upon Him" when we are in trouble. He says, "It is certain that all who cavillingly allege that they are not to come to God directly, are not only rebellious and disobedient but are also convicted of unbelief, inasmuch as they distrust the promises." We are commanded to pray. To fail to do so is sin.
3.20.14.
Do you like me find prayer so difficult? Is it not hard to pray at times? Yet we are admonished by Calvin as he says, "It is strange that these delightful promises affect us coldly, or scarcely at all, so that the generality of men prefer to wander up and down, forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out to themselves broken cisterns, rather than embrace the divine liberality voluntarily offered to them." Over and over again in Scripture we are invited, nay commanded, to pray. This should strike a willing chord in our hearts "since our prayers depend on no merit of our own, but all their worth and hope of success are founded and depend on the promises of God."
Therefore a bold, confident spirit of prayer is not in conflict with an attitude of dependence, penintence and supplication.
Questions to Consider
1. What is the fourth rule for prayer?
2. What does lack of trust in prayer do?
3. What demeanor should we have in prayer instead of terror?
THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 20.
OF PRAYER-A PERPETUAL EXERCISE OF FAITH. THE DAILY BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IT.
3.20.6.
Another consideration or rule of prayer is to avoid mechanical perfunctory praying. Calvin calls us to fervent prayer, prayed out of a real sense of need. Neither should we mumble and murmur in praying as if God is simply moved by our form with no thought to substance. "For instance, when we pray that his name be hallowed-that hallowing must, so to speak, be earnestly hungered and thirsted after."
3.20.7.
Now there will be relative importance to our praying that will of common sense make one issue more fervent than another. But we are to pray about all things. Calvin comments on Paul: "Still not less true is the injunction of Paul to pray "always," ( Eph. 6:18 ); because, however prosperously according to our view, things proceed, and however we may be surrounded on all sides with grounds of joy, there is not an instant of time during which our want does not exhort us to prayer. "
There is in every occasion a need to commune with God. One of the hindrances to prayer is the lack of repentance and contrition. "For it is right that those who seal up their hearts should find the ears of God closed against them, that those who, by their hardheartedness, provoke his severity should find him inflexible."
3.20.8.
"The third rule to be added is: that he who comes into the presence of God to pray must divest himself of all vainglorious thoughts, lay aside all idea of worth; in short, discard all self- confidence, humbly giving God the whole glory, lest by arrogating any thing, however little, to himself, vain pride cause him to turn away his face. Of this submission, which casts down all haughtiness ..."
3.20.9.
In short, Calvin says, the right way to prepare for prayer is to come to Christ for pardon and in a deep awareness of sin. "In The Psalms. David, when presenting a request on a different subject, says, "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to thy mercy remember me, for thy goodness sake, O Lord," ( Psalm 25:7 ). Again, "Look upon my affliction and my pain, and forgive my sins," ( Psalm 25:18 )."
Our praying needs to be washed in the blood with true repentance and honest contrition.
3.20.10.
Sometimes the saints seem to appeal to their own righteousness (Psa 86:2 or Isa 38:2). "All they mean by such expressions is, that regeneration declares them to be among the servants and children to whom God engages that he will show favour. " Another example is 1John 3:22, "and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him."
"In these passages he does not fix a value on prayer as a meritorious work, but designs to establish the confidence of those who are conscious of an unfeigned integrity and innocence, such as all believers should possess." Such confidence in prayer is never centered on one's own merit but they "found their confidence of success in prayer solely on the divine mercy."
Questions to Consider
1. What is the third rule for prayer?
2. What is the most important part of prayer?
3. What is meant when various saints in Scripture plead their own righteousness?
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 20. OF PRAYER-A PERPETUAL EXERCISE OF FAITH. THE DAILY BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IT.
3.20.1.
Psalm 36:9 says, "For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light." We are born into this world dependent and corrupt and devoid of any sense of need. "But after we have learned by faith to know that whatever is necessary for us or defective in us is supplied in God and in our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom it hath pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell, that we may thence draw as from an inexhaustible fountain." How we draw from this fountain is called prayer. A faith devoid of prayer is no faith at all.
3.20.2.
It is through prayer that we get to dive into the deep recesses of the promises of our Sovereign God. There is nothing promised to us that we cannot seek through prayer. The riches of the Gospel are supplied to our daily needs this way.
3.20.3.
Have you ever asked the question about the sovereignty of God and prayer? Calvin asks for us. "But some one will say, Does he not know without a monitor both what our difficulties are, and what is meet for our interest, so that it seems in some measure superfluous to solicit him by our prayers, as if he were winking, or even sleeping, until aroused by the sound of our voice?" But prayer (as Calvin reminds us) is for our sake not the Lord's. It is for our own good. Therefore prayer does for us these 3 things:
1. It inflames our hearts to seek, love and serve Him; 2. It grants us the the ability to posture all our desires that come into our minds with Him; and 3. It allows us to be of such a frame that we receive all His grace with much gratitude.
Prayer confirms in our thinking our dependence upon Him sending us constantly back to the Source for our needs and it also it keeps a true prospective of our humility and His greatness in our focus. "No better is the frivolous allegation of others, that it is superfluous to pray for things which the Lord is ready of his own accord to bestow; since it is his pleasure that those very things which flow from his spontaneous liberality should be acknowledged as conceded to our prayers."
3.20.4.
The first rule of prayer, Calvin notes, is to guard our minds with the knowledge that we are talking to God. This is not to say that certain anxieties might be present. What he means by this is to not "bring into the presence of God any of those things which our blind and stupid reason is wont to devise, nor keep itself confined within the little measure of its own vanity, but rise to a purity worthy of God."
3.20.5.
Here, Calvin introduces the first of two propositions: One, when praying we should so constrain our minds that we are devoid of frivolity and carnality, "because nothing is more contrary to the reverence due to God than that levity which bespeaks a mind too much given to license and devoid of fear." To this thought we ought to be very conscious:
"Let us know, then, that none duly prepare themselves for prayer but those who are so impressed with the majesty of God that they engage in it free from all earthly cares and affections. The ceremony of lifting up our hands in prayer is designed to remind us that we are far removed from God, unless our thoughts rise upward: as it is said in the psalm, "Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul," (Psalm 25:1)."
The second proposition is "that we are to ask only in so far as God permits. For though he bids us pour out our hearts (Ps. 62:8) he does not indiscriminately give loose reins to foolish and depraved affections; and when he promises that he will grant believers their wish, his indulgence does not proceed so far as to submit to their caprice." As 1 John 5:15 teaches us, "And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."
To pray rightly is a gift of the Spirit, but this does not mean that we ought to be lazy. Even though the Spirit inspires us to pray "it by no means impedes or retards our own endeavours; since in this matter God is pleased to try how efficiently faith influences our hearts."
Questions to Consider
1.Once we have learned what we are in Christ, what are we to do?
2. What are we to do when God promises us something?
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 19. OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY.
3.19.12.
As to the problem of when to offend and when not to, Calvin shows how Paul handles the different cases of Timothy and Titus ( cf: Acts 16:3 ; Gal. 2:3 ). In the former case Paul was catering to the weak; in there later case he was intentionally offending legalists. "We here see the necessity of vindicating our liberty when, by the unjust exactions of false apostles, it is brought into danger with weak consciences."
3.19.13.
We need to be clear that the subject is "indifferent" things. "Whatever I have said about avoiding offenses, I wish to be referred to things indifferent. Things which are necessary to be done cannot be omitted from any fear of offense." If so-called offenses lead us away from God's will then no matter who we offend is irrelevant. That is no indifferent matter.
3.19.14.
To place our consciences in these disputable matters (or indifferent matters, as Calvin would say) under the rule and tradition of men is serious. "We must not regard it as a trivial matter when we see how much it cost our Savior, being purchased not with silver or gold, but with his own blood (1 Pet. 1:18, 19); so that Paul hesitates not to say that Christ has died in vain, if we place our souls under subjection to men (Gal. 5:1, 4; 1 Cor. 7:23)."
3.19.15.
We live in a kingdom of two worlds: spiritual and civil. "To these two forms are commonly given the not inappropriate names of spiritual and temporal jurisdiction." One has it focus on the eternal and the soul. The other on the present life. "Now, these two, as we have divided them, are always to be viewed apart from each other. When the one is considered, we should call off our minds, and not allow them to think of the other. For there exists in man a kind of two worlds, over which different kings and different laws can preside." These two spheres should not be confused nor should one impose on the other. The spiritual world we find in the forum of the conscience. The physical world is in what Calvin calls the "external forum".
3.19.16.
The "conscience being nothing else than inward integrity of heart," Calvin now concludes the matter. "We ought to abstain from every thing that produces offense, but with a free conscience."
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 19. OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY.
3.19.8.
By quoting Romans 14:14 Calvin says that this verse makes all external things subject to the liberty of the conscience. If we are condemned by our conscience we should not contravene. How else can we enjoy whatever it is with thansgiving (1 Tim 4:5)?
"For here are comprehended all ceremonies of free observance, so that while our consciences are not to be laid under the necessity of observing them, we are also to remember that, by the kindness of God, the use of them is made subservient to edification."
3.19.9.
Christian liberty is meant for our joy and peace in these things. It is not meant as some woulld use it "as a cloak for their lusts, that they may licentiously abuse the good gifts of God, or who think there is no liberty unless it is used in the presence of men, and, accordingly, in using it pay no regard to their weak brethren."
We should be content with the place God has called us - whether rich or poor and "let all remember that the nourishment which God gives is for life, not luxury, and let them regard it as the law of Christian liberty, to learn with Paul" to learn to be content ( Phil. 4:11 ).
3.19.10.
"Very many also err in this: as if their liberty were not safe and entire, without having men to witness it, they use it indiscriminately and imprudently, and in this way often give offense to weak brethren."
Calvin makes this observation that is profound: to really enjoy Christian liberty one can have great joy even in abstaining for the sake of others. This is real freedom.
3.19.11.
Calvin clarifies the issue of "offense". When an offense is given, that is to say the "offense has been given by you, since the ground of offense is owing to your fault." Sometimes an offense is taken. If not intended but taken as evil, Calvin refers to the recipients as Pharisaical. The is different than the weak.
Calvin shows clearly how serious it is to offend the weak. But to the 'Pharisaical', Calvin quotes the example Matthew 15:14. "The disciples had intimated that the Pharisees were offended at his words. He answers that they are to be let alone that their offense is not to be regarded."
Question to Consider
1. What key principle should we remember in using our liberty?
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 19. OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY.
3.19.1.
Calvin now appends the discussion of justification with the topic of Christian liberty. He believes this is a proper direction because the doctrine of the Gospel, justification by faith alone, often causes much debate on liberty. Does grace give licence to sin, etc.?
3.19.2.
Calvin now turns to address this subject in three parts, the first focusing on the conscience of believers, who "while seeking the assurance of their justification before God, must rise above the law, and think no more of obtaining justification by it." Our conscience, Calvin explains, must be devoid of the Law as a means to acceptance with God. "Still it cannot be rightly inferred from this that believers have no need of the law. It ceases not to teach, exhort, and urge them to good . . .." The pursuit of holiness in the believer loves the Law of God, but not as a means to acceptance but a fruit of their justification.
3.19.3.
This, Calvin notes, is the whole point of Paul's letter to the Galatians:
1. The Gospel is the full and complete manifestation of the typical ceremonies under the Law. 2. Justification is devoid of works but only by faith. 3. The Cross frees the Christian from all condemnation. 4. Lastly, "asserts the right of believers to liberty of conscience, a liberty which may not be restrained without necessity."
3.19.4.
The second part that Calvin addresses is what the freedom affords us. There is a therapeutic reason to be free from the Law. Calvin rightly exclaims that someone under its curse and bondage cannot properly be free to obey God with a voluntary and pure motive. Thus the Law cannot be the motivation, but only love -- a love with one's whole being. This law of love demands perfect love and again can only be accomplished in the mercy and grace of Christ Jesus. So the believer's conscience does not obey the law compelled by legal necessity, but rather freely obeys the will of God.
3.19.5.
"See how our works lie under the curse of the law if they are tested by the standard of the law. But how can unhappy souls set themselves with alacrity to a work from which they cannot hope to gain any thing in return but cursing?" But when we are free from the curse and condemnation of the Law, we respond as a son to his father with joy to serve his best interests.
3.19.6.
"Although you feel that sin is not yet extinguished, and that righteousness does not plainly live in you, you have no cause for fear and dejection, as if God were always offended because of the remains of sin, since by grace you are freed from the law, and your works are not tried by its standard."
3.19.7.
The last part that is addressed is this: we are at full liberty either to us or omit these external laws. Believers are not bound to indifferent things (Greek: adiaphora) but have full liberty to either use them or forgo them. "The knowledge of this liberty is very necessary to us; where it is wanting our consciences will have no rest, there will be no end of superstition." Without the knowledge that these external rules are not his master, the Christian will be constantly disturbed and even doubt his faith. "In fine, he will come to this, that he will deem it criminal to trample on a straw lying in his way. For it is no trivial dispute that is here commenced, the point in debate being, whether the use of this thing or that is in accordance with the divine will, which ought to take precedence of all our acts and counsels."
Questions to Consider
1. What is true obedience?
2. Does anyone do this fully?
3. Justyn Taylor asks this pertinent question: "One relevant application for us today: even if we have it right theologically and doctrinally, are we practically and functionally operating as sons before a gracious Father, or are we falling back into the mistake of treating God like our demanding taskmaster?"
INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION By John Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 18. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF WORKS IMPROPERLY INFERRED FROM REWARDS.
3.18.6.
Other passages that people use to think that our earthly performance gains eternal merit are passages such as:
Luke 16:9 "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings." 1 Timothy 6:17-19, "17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed."
Calvin resonds to this objection by reminding us that this activity is not for the sake of justification, but it is the wisdom of the saints to send ahead into eternity those things done in the pleasure and grace of God. Matthew 6:21 reminds us that where our treasure is so will our heart be. The Christian's heart is upon heaven therefore he sends his treasure there.
3.18.7.
Further objections come as the objectors offer such passages as 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7 and Hebrews 6:10. All such passages must, as Calvin as labored to show, "ill be of no avail unless it is preceded by the free covenant of mercy, on which the whole certainty of our salvation depends."
3.18.8.
Many other passages are offered to undermine justification by faith alone. The Bible is clear that our justification depends entirely on the mercy of God and the merits of Christ. When we are called to love, opponents of this doctrine teach that it is our expression of love that works to our justification. But "we say that faith justifies not because it merits justification for us by its own worth, but because it is an instrument by which we freely obtain the righteousness of Christ."
3.18.9.
Other passages such as the rich young ruler who asks, "What must I DO to inherit eternal life?" Jesus takes him to the Law. We do not dispute with that. "If salvation is sought in works, we must keep the commandments, by which we are instructed in perfect righteousness." Let anyone try to keep the commandments perfectly! They cannot and thus they must plead for mercy.
3.18.10.
The opponents have entered into another form of reasoning that being if one sin makes a man guilty, surely one act of righteousness makes a man righteous! "The righteousness of works consists in perfect obedience to the law. Hence you cannot be justified by works unless you follow this straight line (if I may so call it) during the whole course of your life. The moment you decline from it you have fallen into unrighteousness." This being the case one might argue that righteousness can only be obtained by inumerable good works. The opposite is not necessarily true. The sinner is guilty completely by one singular act.
"Therefore, it should not seem absurd when we say that death is the just recompense of every sin, because each sin merits the just indignation and vengeance of God. But you reason absurdly if you infer the converse, that one good work will reconcile a man to God notwithstanding of his meriting wrath by many sins."
Questions to Consider
1. If we were justified by our love, who would be justified?
2. For someone to be called righteous, what must their life be like?
BOOK THIRD.HE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THEBENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THEEFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 18. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF WORKS IMPROPERLY INFERRED FROM REWARDS.
3.18.1.
Calvin quotes a number of passages that tell us that we give an account for our deeds. They include: Mt. 16:27; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 2:6; John 5:29; Mt. 25:34; Prov. 12:14; 13:13; Mt. 5:12; Luke 6:23; and 1 Cor. 3:8. The order of salvation is clearly stated in Romans 8:30 and all this is by mercy. But God also leads his people to take possession of that which he has freely given. "The moment they are admitted to fellowship with Christ, by the knowledge of the gospel, and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, their eternal life is begun, and then He which has begun a good work in them 'will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ' (Phil. 1:6)."
3.18.2.
Because there is rewards for our labour does not necessarily mean that they become the cause of our eternal life. In addition, Calvin notes, we are not hired servants but sons. We are adopted as sons. Such rewards then comprise our inheritance. "Here assuredly we see without ambiguity that God rewards the works of believers with blessings which he had given them before the works were thought of, there still being no cause for the blessings which he bestows but his own mercy."
3.18.3.
"When he says that they strive on account of it, he intimates that believers must continue running during the whole course of their lives in order that they may attain it. But to prevent us from supposing that the reward which is promised becomes a kind of merit . . .." In Matthew 20, Jesus gave a parable to support this view wherein He concludes: "Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?' "So the last shall be first, and the first last." So merit is not the issue.
3.18.4.
"Let us not suppose, then, that the Holy Spirit, by this promise, commends the dignity of our works, as if they were deserving of such a reward. For Scripture leaves us nothing of which we may glory in the sight of God." Perseverence and striving are critical to our sanctification so that we might learn personal discipline. The Lord keeps us "under the discipline of the cross, lest they should allow their heart to long for or confide in present good."
"Wherefore, there is nothing to prevent us from calling eternal life a recompense after the example of Scripture, because in it the Lord brings his people from labour to quiet, from affliction to a prosperous and desirable condition, from sorrow to joy, from poverty to affluence, from ignominy to glory; in short, exchanges all the evils which they endured for blessings."
Salvation, according to Calvin, is designed us comfort, not pride. It is humbling to remember that even our best works are unworthy in his sight were it not for his infinite mercy and goodness in destroying what is unworthy in such works.
3.18.5.
As we consider 2 Timothy 4:8, "in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing"we agree with Augustine who said,
"To whom could the righteous Judge give the crown if the merciful Father had not given grace, and how could there have been righteousness but for the precedence of grace which justified the ungodly? how could these be paid as things due were not things not due previously given?"
So Calvin is saying overall that the deeds in the lives of believers are not the cause of eternal life, but rather an essential preparatory step on the way to life eternal. His distinction that we are sons with an inheritance, not servants seeking to earn our wage is important.
Questions to Consider
1. How does Calvin explain those passages which say that God will repay every man according to his works?
2. How do we know that our good works are not meritorious in themselves?
3. How is the term "reward" to be understood?
4. The righteousness of good works depends upon what?
BOOK THIRD.THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THEBENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THEEFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 17. THE PROMISES OF THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL RECONCILED.
3.17.11.
Calvin now engages this debate that we often hear that some try to imagine between Paul and James. In James 2:21,24 that reads, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? . . . 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone." In this process he teaches us a great principle where we observe apparent contradiction between Biblical writers. In such cases we should always remind ourselves that the same Spirit inspired both to write and it is impossible that one is at variance with the other. He accuses his adversaries as falling "into a double paralogism, the one in the term faith, the other in the term justifying." a paralogism is a faulty means of reasoning defined as "a method or process of reasoning which contradicts logical rules or formulas, especially the use of a faulty syllogism (the formal fallacy)."
Calvin accuses these people of this false reasoning by explaining that "the Apostle, in giving the name of faith to an empty opinion altogether differing from true faith, makes a concession which derogates in no respect from his case." In other words the Apostle is using the term faith as an empty or dead faith that is devoid of works. James goes on to say that such that have dead faith believe in God, but there's no evidence of justification in their lives. It is a dead faith.
3.17.12.
Secondly James is using the word "justify" in a different way than Paul. Paul talks of a time before the birth of Isaac where God justified him simply by faith. This account is the story of Abraham offering Isaac in obedience. It cannot mean the same in both cases for "how thee can we say that he obtained justification by an obedience which followed long after?"
"Those who are justified by true faith prove their justification by obedience and good works, not by a bare and imaginary semblance of faith. In one word, he is not discussing the mode of justification, but requiring that the justification of believers shall be operative."
3.17.13.
Another objection quoted by the detractors is found in Romans 2:13, "for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified." Calvin interprets this simply as "the Apostle's object is to suppress the absurd confidence of the Jews who gave out that they alone had a knowledge of the law, though at the very time they where its greatest despisers."
3.17.14.
They also take us in objection to such passages as Psalm 18:20, "The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me." No where do these saints uphold perfect righteousness in all accounts. They plead to one decision or an event that it in itself may be regarded worthy of the Lord's mercy. They place "their confidence of salvation in the divine goodness only, and trusting that he will vindicate his poor when they are afflicted contrary to justice and equity, they truly commit to him the cause in which the innocent are oppressed."
These men knew that if their whole life were held up against a perfect scaled they would surely fail.
Psalm 130:3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
Psalm 143:2 And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous.
3.17.15.
There are other passages like:
Proverbs 20:7 A righteous man who walks in his integrity- How blessed are his sons after him.
Proverbs 12:28 In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death.
that are used to diminish the truth of justification by faith alone. "None of these declarations do we deny or obscure. But let one of the sons of Adam come forward with such integrity. If there is none, they must perish from the presence of God, or retake themselves to the asylum of mercy." This Calvin has previously discussed, but to remind ourselves, it is his contention that if there is good works within the beloved, God does not try them to the end of granting merity, but He views them in his Paternal love. And even those so-called good works are sullied by sin, and out of necessity require the blood of Christ to cleanse them. So "the righteousness which he bestows on man is gratuitous."
Questions to Consider
1. How does Calvin handle Romans 2:13?
2. How does Calvin handle the multiple places where believers appeal to God on the basis of their innocence?
3. Does Calvin allow believers to claim any kind of perfection?
When laws are included in the Scripture with accompanying promises, the true Christian is one who remembers that he or she is called into an eternal relationship with God so that they might ultimately honor and fear Him. So this thought ought to guide our approach to the Law and its promises: We will always strive in our calling within the Gospel, but our effort depends not upon works but upon mercy; and God Himself will fulfill his promises "who by right conduct correspond to their calling, because he recognizes the true badges of sons in those only who are directed to good by his Spirit."
"Therefore, if it be asked, What is the first cause which gives the saints free access to the kingdom of God, and a firm and permanent footing in it? the answer is easy. The Lord in his mercy once adopted and ever defends them. But if the question relates to the manner, we must descend to regeneration, and the fruits of it, as enumerated [for example] in the fifteenth Psalm."
3.17.7.
In this section Calvin enters into a discussion on the word righteousness as used in the Scriptures and applied by the Romanists to mean justification. For example in Deuteronomy 6:25, we read, "It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us." And it is true that the Septuagint was translated so, i.e., righteousness = justification! Calvin does not dispute this. We agree that the Law is holy and is an expression of righteousness. As the Lord has called it so, we cannot change that. But we must return to earlier premises where we established that to obey perfectly one would attain to righteousness, but no one can do that. And we must add that as to the integrity of the Law, it is not as if it is "in itself maimed and defective, but because of the weakness of our flesh it nowhere appears."
3.17.8.
Calvin appeals to the Apostle Paul who clearly argues for justification by faith alone. But as to the opponents who reminds us that they "set it down that though we are not justified without faith, it is not by faith only; that our justification is completed by works." The Bible is plain: works contribute nothing to justification. The problem always is the confusion between justification and sanctification. For "it is one thing to determine what power works have in themselves, and another to determine what place they are to hold after justification by faith has been established." Now this is a wonderful assessment of Calvin: Once the believer is forgiven and justified, "the good works which follow have a value different from their merit, because whatever is imperfect in them is covered by the perfection of Christ, and all their blemishes and pollutions are wiped away by his purity, so as never to come under the cognizance of the divine tribunal." But again this is by mercy and grace not personal virtue.
3.17.9.
Deuteronomy 27:26 teaches us that justification or righteousness cannot be attained by simply being holy in one dimension of life. No. For Moses reminds us that, "'Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'"
3.17.10.
But there is a sense where in the life of the regenerate, in the one saved by grace through faith, that works of righteousness even though tainted and partial are accepted before God as if they were perfect. This is only possible if "we remember on what foundation this is rested, every difficulty will be solved. The first time when a work begins to be acceptable is when it is received with pardon."
Calvin then makes this marvelous accounting that is worth every word of the quote:
"And whence pardon, but just because God looks upon us and all that belongs to us as in Christ? Therefore, as we ourselves when ingrafted into Christ appear righteous before God, because our iniquities are covered with his innocence; so our works are, and are deemed righteous, because every thing otherwise defective in them being buried by the purity of Christ is not imputed. Thus we may justly say, that not only ourselves, but our works also, are justified by faith alone."
So examined in that light even our good works require the mercy of God, the blood of Christ, the unction of the Spirit and are made acceptable by faith in Him.
Questions to Consider
1. Why is the Lord pleased with the good works of the believer?
2. How does God embrace our good works?
3. In what sense are our works justified by faith?
CHAPTER 17. THE PROMISES OF THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL RECONCILED.
3.17.1
Calvin has labored to refute those who defame him and speak falsely of those that believe the Bible clearly teaches justification. He does not teach that works are unimportant. He responds, "Our only confidence and boasting, our only anchor of salvation is, that Christ the Son of God is ours, and that we are in him sons of God and heirs of the heavenly kingdom, being called, not by our worth, but the kindness of God, to the hope of eternal blessedness.
His detractors claim that Calvin ignores the Law as irrelevant if salvation is by faith alone. However he does none of the kind. The whole point of the Law is to promise curses to the disobedient and blessing to the PERFECT obedient. Since there are none the whole world is cursed. Thus salvation must depend upon the grace of God and we are free from the Law. "This freedom from subjection to the law ... we obtain when by faith we apprehend the mercy of God in Christ, and are thereby assured of the pardon of sins, with a consciousness of which the law stung and tortured us."
3.17.2.
There would be no point in the Law, especially the blessings had not God provided a perfect substitute. This grace is given "not in leaving part of justification to be obtained by works, and in supplying part out of his indulgence, but in giving us Christ as in himself alone the fulfillment of righteousness."
Calvin makes this profound point that apart from the provision of a subsitute, an alien righteousness the blessings of the Law would be useless.
3.17.3.
The use and blessing of the Law is made profitable because of the Last Adam. Calvin profoundly writes: " But when the gospel promises are substituted, promises which announce the free pardon of sins, the result is not only that our persons are accepted of God, but his favor also is shown to our works, and that not only in respect that the Lord is pleased with them, but also because he visits them with the blessings which were due by agreement to the observance of his law. I admit, therefore, that the works.."
Why does God reward and give merit to works which He blesses?
One, because He "embraces them in Christ, and by the intervention of faith alone reconciles them to himself without the aid of works." Two, He honors the works in a filial way rather than finding virtue in them solely. He accepts the imperfect even as a father loves a child. Three, "Thirdly, he extends his pardon to them, not imputing the imperfection by which they are all polluted, and would deserve to be regarded as vices rather than virtues."
3.17.4.
The opponents attempt to refute by taking us to Acts 10 particularly verse 35, "but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." But to assume that any man can achieve divine acceptance all on his own, soley disregards his depravity. Any acceptance of man's good works is due only to mercy - not merit. "God looks not to the righteousness of the individual, but merely manifests the divine goodness towards miserable sinners, who are altogether undeserving of this great mercy."
3.17.5.
When God effectually calls someone, making them new creations, indwelling them with His Spirit and endowing them with spiritual gifts, He finds pleasure in their service. and bestows the gifts of his Spirit. "This is the acceptance to which Peter refers, and by which believers after their calling are approved by God even in respect of works; for the Lord cannot but love and delight in the good qualities which he produces in them by means of his Spirit."
"In one word, the only meaning of acceptance in this passage is, that God accepts and takes pleasure in his children, in whom he sees the traces and lineaments of his own countenance."
Questions to Consider
1. What is the only thing we can boast about in our good works?
2. How is the Law made relevant through justification by faith rather than annul it?
3. How can God be pleased with our imperfect efforts yet remain just?
"Our doctrine is, that justification is a thing of such value, that it cannot be put into the balance with any good quality of ours; and, therefore, could never be obtained unless it were gratuitous: moreover, that it is gratuitous to us, but not also to Christ, who paid so dearly for it; namely his own most sacred blood, out of which there was no price of sufficient value to pay what was due to the justice of God." Calvin
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 16. REFUTATION OF THE CALUMNIES BY WHICH IT IS ATTEMPTED TO THROW ODIUM ON THIS DOCTRINE.
CALUMNY: The making of false defamitory statements about someone or something.
3.16.1.
The oft response to Calvinism and the Biblical teaching on free grace is that people will not be motivated to serve Christ but in fact will take justification by faith alone to be their liscence to sin. The same arguments confronted Calvin in his day.
First of all there can not be true salvation or justification without the accompanied desire and pursuit of righteousness. Why is it not possible that salvation by grace through faith impowers and supports good works rather than dampen them? Nor can we totally separate justification from sanctification. For Calvin it is clear: "Christ, therefore, justifies no man without also sanctifying him. These blessings are conjoined by a perpetual and inseparable tie."
We are not justified by works but we are not justified without works. To embrace Christ is to embrace all of Him. When He unites with us He becomes our justification and sanctification.
3.16.2.
The argument is that if you remove the aspect of reward (i.e., eternal life) from men then they are not motivated to serve. But this is not necessarily true, nor is that type of obedience the kind the Lord requires. Obedience to God is to be done freely and with a motivation of love.
When we know what we have been saved from and we are, by His blood cleansed from dead works, we are motivated in gratitude to serve Christ.
3.16.3.
"All the Apostles abound in exhortations, admonitions and rebukes, for the purpose of training the man of God to every good work, and that without any mention of merit. " We are saved by His mercy and through the righteousness of Christ. Those that truly experience that will want to glorify Him and return gratitude to Him.
The fact that God will reward the saints for their good works ought not to be a prime motive of service. The Lord loves a cheerful giver and one who does not give begrudgingly.
3.16.4.
Calvin thinks that it is even a greater calumnity to suggest that those who are saved by free grace and mercy will desire to continue in sin. When we know that it is of no merit of ours and that the precious blood of Christ was spilled for our sin, not his, is it not "a greater horror of sin than if it were said to be wiped off by a sprinkling of good works?"
"We maintain that the guilt of sin is too heinous to be so frivolously expiated; that the offense is too grave to be forgiven to such valueless satisfactions; and, therefore, that forgiveness is the prerogative of Christ's blood alone . . . We think it too precious to be balanced by any compensation of works, and, therefore, in order to restore it, recourse must be had solely to the mercy of God."
Questions To Consider:
1. It is a common assault on Calvinism that this is a system of theology that paralyzes the Christian to service and mobilizes them to sin. The fact is that just the opposite occurs. Can you explain that?
2. Why can justification and sanctification (although distinguishable) not be divided?
3. What is the Christian response to God first loving him or her?
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 15. THE BOASTED MERIT OF WORKS SUBVERSIVE BOTH OF THE GLORY OF GOD, IN BESTOWING RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OF THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION.
3.15.4.
So how do we understand God's pleasure in what we do? Does it bring some sort of merit? "It is the doctrine of Scripture, moreover, that our good works are constantly covered with numerous stains by which God is justly offended and made angry against us, so far are they from being able to conciliate him, and call forth his favor towards us; and yet because of his indulgence, he does not examine them with the utmost strictness, he accepts them just as if they were most pure; and therefore rewards them, though undeserving, with innumerable blessings, both present and future."
This right understanding of Calvin regarding our good works must also be understood that such conduct is also honored in the life to come, but all this not to bring glory upon the person, "but the gifts, which he has bestowed upon us."
3.15.5.
Certainly the Gospel is that Christ has become for us righteousness and this He was ordained to do for us, the elect, before the foundation of the world and bring us into His family by grace through faith. We are adopted and His sons and granted His Spirit that we might do the works that He has called us to do. Yet no good works will make us singularily righteous. We continue to stand in need of His grace. "Though we are still foolish, he is our wisdom; though we are still sinners he is our righteousness; though we are unclean, he is our purity; though we are weak, unarmed, and exposed to Satan, yet ours is the power which has been given him in heaven and in earth, to bruise Satan under our feet, and burst the gates of hell (Mt. 28:18); though we still bear about with us a body of death, he is our life; in short, all things of his are ours, we have all things in him, he nothing in us."
3.15.6.
The heresy of the Roman Church is that they say Christ has "merited for us the first grace, that is, the occasion of meriting, and that it is our part not to let slip the occasion thus offered." The Scriptures never teach, as many Arminians do, that faith in Christ has given us the opportunity, the chance to become saved. Christ died and rose again that all who believe in Him, are indeed those whom He died for and are saved (not potentially saved).
3.15.7.
These heretics and those that erode Christian truth proclaim a type of faith (a formed faith) that gives them "faith they have good works which avail to justification." What horrid doctrine.
3.15 .8.
"See how it is that we do not justify men before God by works, but say, that all who are of God are regenerated and made new creatures, so that they pass from the kingdom of sin into the kingdom of righteousness. In this way they make their calling sure, and, like trees, are judged by their fruits."
Question To Consider:
1. What must happen in order for any good to proceed from us at all?
BOOK THIRD. THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 14.
THE BEGINNING OF JUSTIFICATION. IN WHAT SENSE PROGRESSIVE
3.14.19.
When Believers experience the joy and confidence that comes from serving Christ and knowing they belong to Him, this is not the cause of assurance but the fruit. All that we are and do, even in those seemingly good things are gifts of His grace. "Even this they could not do, had they not previously perceived that the goodness of God is sealed to them by nothing but the certainty of the promise."
3.14.20.
"We now see that believers have no such confidence in works as to attribute any merit to them (since they regard them only as divine gifts, in which they recognize his goodness, and signs of calling, in which they discern their election); nor such confidence as to derogate in any respect from the free righteousness of Christ; since on this it depends, and without this cannot subsist."
3.14.21.
Calvin concludes this section with a good summary of causes. It would go like this:
1. The efficient cause of our salvation and of anything good done to us is the love and mercy of the Father. 2. The material cause is the obedience of the Son in His life and death. 3. The instrumental cause is the Holy Spirit's work of grace 4. The the final cause is in the "praise of the divine goodness."
None of this denies that God can use weaker causes, more inferiort causes (secondary causes) in that He might say that He will do good -- He will honor, those that honor Him. This does not make our efforts efficient causes!
CHAPTER 15. THE BOASTED MERIT OF WORKS SUBVERSIVE BOTH OF THE GLORY OF GOD, IN BESTOWING RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OF THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION.
3.15.1.
Calvin, being an excellent instructor brings us back to the primary issue: "The principal point in this subject has been now explained: as justifications if dependent upon works, cannot possibly stand in the sight of God, it must depend solely on the mercy of God and communion with Christ, and therefore on faith alone . . . Above we have clearly shown that justification by works consists only in a perfect and absolute fulfillment of the law, and that, therefore, no man is justified by works unless he has reached the summit of perfection, and cannot be convicted of even the smallest transgression."
3.15.2.
So we are sure that good works do not "merit" justification, but do they in some way please God? Calvin is rightly concerned about the use of the term "merit" as some use it. He would rather strongly like a better word to be used for as soon as we use this word it engenders controversy. Now with some unusual poignant humor Calvin adds: "It suffices for merit to know that merits suffice not."
3.15.3.
Luke 17:10 gives us the foundational understanding of the virtue of good works ("So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.") And yet having said that we also know that "those good works which the Lord has bestowed upon us he counts ours also, and declares, that they are not only acceptable to him, but that he will recompense them." But if we truly understand that all goodness that may be found in us to any degree is because of grace. Therefore, "There is not a particle of it which we can properly ascribe to ourselves." The best thing that I can do for the sake of Christ is yet polluted by sin.
Questions To Consider:
1. For Calvin, what is justification by faith alone?
2. What problem does Calvin have with the use of the word merit?
3. Can someone use it without corrupting the gospel?
BOOK THIRD.
THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE
BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE
EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 14.
THE BEGINNING OF JUSTIFICATION. IN WHAT SENSE PROGRESSIVE.
3.14.12.
Calvin continues to confront the Roman Catholic view of justification and thei view of supererogation. In the theology of the Roman Catholic Church , "works of supererogation" are those which are performed beyond what is required by God. For example, celibacy.
The opponents to this teaching on justification by free grace in Christ alone, offer a very convuluded answer. They readily admit that their works are deficient to produce justification, therefore we are faced with a continual need for forgiveness and a continual need for grace.
But this grace, argues Calvin, is not a grace that is impotent to perfectly apply the righteousness of God to our souls. Indeed this grace is the only grace spoken of in God's Word and it is a grace that saves completely. It frees us from the present guilt of this life and readys us for "the day of the Lord, on which, being clothed with incorruptible bodies, we shall be translated to the glory of the heavenly kingdom. "
3.14.13.
Calvin keeps emphasizing this truth: "It is certain that our works cannot in themselves make us agreeable and acceptable to God, and even cannot please God, except in so far as being covered with the righteousness of Christ we thereby please him and obtain forgiveness of sins."
The idea that man can please God by partial obedience is alien to Scripture. The Bible demands nothing short of perfection. It is simply foolish to suggest that obeying some of the Law gains God's pleasure. "All the righteousness of men collected into one heap would be inadequate to compensate for a single sin."
How can those who are enemies to God do anything to merit His pleasure? One must be justified in His sight completely and all by grace.
3.14.14.
How can anyone brag even in so-called acts of supererogation when Jesus says in Luke 17:10 that all we do is only our duty. "But if it is part of the Law, let us not boast of voluntary liberality in matters of necessary obligation. "
3.14.15.
Those that argue for these extraordinary acts of service quote 1Cor 9:15 "But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. "
But Calvin argues that the context suggests that Paul's motivation was to support the weak, not gain greater acceptance with God. "In short, even when no such reason appears, yet the saying of Chrysostom is always true, that everything which we have is held on the same condition as the private property of slaves; it is always due to our Master."
3.14.16.
We must heed Calvin's warning regarding our service to the Lord that is "against putting any confidence in the righteousness of works, or ascribing any glory to them."
"Foolish men are puffed up to this false and lying confidence by the erroneous idea that the cause of their salvation is in works."
3.14.17.
None of the four types of people (the unbeliever, the nominal Christian, the hypocrite or the Christian) can claim any merit from their works. Calvin then makes this brilliant summary:
"The efficient cause of our eternal salvation the Scripture uniformly proclaims to be the mercy and free love of the heavenly Father towards us; the material cause to be Christ, with the obedience by which he purchased righteousness for us; and what can the formal or instrumental cause be but faith?"
When we see that all parts of our salvation subsist without self, how can anyone take any credit to self?
3.14.18.
"We can have no confidence in works before the bar of God, that we cannot glory in any opinion of their worth. " There is value in assessing good works but not for merit, but for assurance that these gifts of God working in us are evidence of our salvation.
Questions to Consider:
1. What tendency does holding to works of supererogation have?
2. What position does Calvin reject with regard to those who keep the law partly?
BOOK THIRD.
THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST. THE
BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE
EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.
CHAPTER 14.
THE BEGINNING OF JUSTIFICATION. IN WHAT SENSE PROGRESSIVE.
Calvin has categorized four types of people in relation to this doctrine of justification.The first are those who are unbelievers whose salvation depends entirely on mercy and remain unjustified until they are united with Christ.The next two categories are those who are either nominal Christians or hypocrites. Neither of them are justified before God.Calvin has scathing comments regarding them.The fourth and final category is people who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and justified by faith: such believers make true holiness their primary concern. Not that their works are perfect, of course; even the best works of the best Christians are stained by sin.
3.14.6.
You can belabor a point so much that one is in danger of thinking that it is somehow debatable or unclear.This Calvin is concerned about.But the doctrine of justification by faith alone is not ambiguous."Truth declares that we are all the avowed and inveterate enemies of God until we are justified and admitted to his friendship ( Rom. 5:6 ; Col. 1:21 )."
Isaiah 59:15-16 makes it clear that we have no righteousness for it is God alone that saves. If we are truly enemies of God prior to conversion, how can there be anything in His enemies that contribute to our salvation.We are only cleansed from sin and made right with God when we are regenerated and brought into relationship with Him.How can anything good be found in us or be done through us prior to that?"Let us, therefore, hold it as certain, that the beginning of our salvation is as it were a resurrection from death unto life, because, when it is given us on behalf of Christ to believe on him (Phil. 1:29), then only do we begin to pass from death unto life."
Justification is the first act of God's love.We love Him because He first loves us.He is not motivated by any righteousness in us for His love is free and spontaneous.
3.14.7.
Calvin turns his attention to other groups of people who are essentially hypocrites.They believe that they have gained sufficient good works to be able to achieve God's merit.I take these as the many liberal professors around today that promote law and good works.God "declares that all the works performed by sinners are contaminated by impurity of heart."
3.14.8.
Proverbs 15:8 says that the worship of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord.Let the unconverted hear this.
"And, therefore it is taught with perfect truth, that no man procures favor with God by means of works, but that, on the contrary, works are not pleasing to God unless the person has previously found favor in his sight."
3.14.9.
Calvin now looks to this fourth group of people - a people declared righteous by God and freely pardoned from sin.These people, by God's rich mercy, are granted the gift of the Holy Spirit.It is this Spirit that enables us to daily kill sin; help to become more and more sanctified in His grace, training our hearts to obey Christ.This motivation becomes our leading desire, seeking to advance His glory, in spite of our continual struggle with sin.And "lest we should become unduly elated, and forget ourselves, we have still remains of imperfection which serve to keep us humble."
How can our works of righteousness aid our acceptance with our holy Lord?"We thus see, that even saints cannot perform one work which, if judged on its own merits, is not deserving of condemnation."
3.14.10.
Since our lives on this side of heaven are always tainted by sin, we can never achieve perfection enough, in ourselves that would be acceptable before God.If we fail on one part of the Law we fail on all. "Therefore, when righteousness is sought by the Law, it is in vain to produce one or two single works; we must show an uninterrupted obedience."
We must never fall into the Galatian error by assuming that justification took care of our past sins but now we must achieve perfection by self effort and by obedience of the Law.
3.14.11.
Calvin does not want us to escape this truth that whatever act a believer performs, no matter how virtuous it seems, if God were to apply His holy assessment, it would be condemned.And even if it is incredibly good, it would be deprived of any merit because of its pollution by our sin.
The main issue between the biblical Christianity and the error of Arminianism, promulgated by such movements as Wesleyianism or the Roman Catholic Church, are that they confuse justification with sanctification.They are all part of God's gracious mercy, yet they must remain distinguishable to retain the doctrine of free grace.
Questions to Consider:
1.Why is it so easy for nominal Christians to assume they are justified?
2.Calvin shows that the real problem between Christians in understanding this doctrine is the confusion between justification and sanctification.How does one relate to the other?How are they different?
Reformed Evangelical Baptist, Non-cessationist, with an Inaugurated Eschatological viewpoint with a Partially Realized Millennial view, and a New Covenant lens.
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