Institutes of the Christian religion; a new translation by Henry Beveridge

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INSTITUTES

OF THE

CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

VOL. II.

THE CALVIN TRANSLATION SOCIETY,

INSTITUTED IN MAY M.DCCC.XLIII.

FOR THE PUBLICATION OF TRANSLATIONS OF THE WORKS OF
JOHN CALVIN.

INSTITUTES

OF

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

BY JOHN CALVIN.

A NEW TRANSLATION,

BY HENRY BEVEKIDGE, ESQ.

VOLUME SECOND.

EDINBURGH :

PRINTED FOR THE CALVIN TRANSLATION SOCIETY
M.DCCC.XLV.

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INSTITUTES

OF

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

BOOK SECOND

CONTINUED.

CHAPTER XII.

CHRIST, TO PERFORM THE OFFICE OF MEDIATOR, BEHOVED
TO BECOME MAN.

The two divisions of this chapter are, I. The reasons why our Mediator
behoved to be very God, and to become man, sec. 1-3. II. Disposal of
various objections by some fanatics, and especially by Osiander, to the
orthodox doctrine concerning the Mediator, sec. 4-7.

Sections.

1. Necessary, not absolutely, but by divine decree, that the Mediator

should be God, and become man. Neither man nor angel, though
pure, could have sufficed. The Son of God behoved to come down.
Man in innocence could not penetrate to God without a Mediator,
much less could he after the fall.

2. A second reason why the Mediator behoved to be God and man,

viz., that he had to convert those who were heirs of hell into
children of God.

3. Third reason, that in our flesh he might yield a perfect obedience,

satisfy the divine justice, and pay the penalty of sin. Fourth
reason, regarding the consolation and confirmation of the whole
Church.
VOL. II. A

2 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

4. First objection against the orthodox doctrine : Answer to it. Con

firmation from the sacrifices of the Law, the testimony of the Pro
phets, Apostles, Evangelists, and even Christ himself.

5. Second objection: Answer: Answer confirmed. Third objection:

Answer. Fourth objection by Osiander : Answer.

6. Fifth objection, forming the basis of Osiander's errors on this subject :

Answer. Nature of the divine image in Adam. Christ the head
of angels and men.

7. Sixth objection : Answer. Seventh objection : Answer. Eighth ob

jection : Answer. Ninth objection : Answer. Tenth objection :
Answer. Eleventh objection : Answer. Twelfth objection : An
swer. The sum of the doctrine.

1. IT deeply concerned us, that he who was to be our
Mediator should be very God and very man. If the neces
sity be inquired into, it was not what is commonly termed
simple or absolute, but flowed from the divine decree on
which the salvation of man depended. What was best for
us, our most merciful Father determined. Our iniquities,
like a cloud intervening between Him and us, having utterly
alienated us from the kingdom of heaven, none but a person
reaching to him could be the medium of restoring peace.
But who could thus reach to him ? Could any of the sons
of Adam? All of them, with their parent, shuddered at
the sight of God. Could any of the angels ? They had
need of a head, by connection with which they might adhere
to their God entirely and inseparably. What then ? The
case was certainly desperate, if the Godhead itself did not
descend to us, it being impossible for us to ascend. Thus
the Son of God behoved to become our Emmanuel, i.e. God
with us ; and in such a way, that by mutual union his
divinity and our nature might be combined ; otherwise,
neither was the proximity near enough, nor the affinity
strong enough, to giveTus hope that God would dwell with
us ; so great was the repugnance between our pollution and
the spotless purity of God. Had man remained free from
all taint, he was of too humble a condition to penetrate to
God without a Mediator. What, then, must it have been,
when by fatal ruin he was plunged into death and hell,
denied by so many stains, made loathsome by corruption ; in
fine, overwhelmed with every curse? It is not without

CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 3

cause, therefore, that Paul, when he would set forth Christ
as the Mediator, distinctly declares him to be man. There
is, says he, " one Mediator between God and man, the man
Christ Jesus," (1 Tim. ii. 5.) He might have called him
God, or at least, omitting to call him God he might also
have omitted to call him man ; but because the Spirit,
speaking by his mouth, knew our infirmity, he opportunely
provides for it by the most appropriate remedy, setting the
Son of God familiarly before us as one of ourselves. That
njD^ong, therefore, may feel .perplexed where to seek the
Mediator, or by what means to reach him, the Spirit, by
calling him man, reminds us that he is near, nay, contiguous
to us, inasmuch as he is our flesh. And, indeed, he intimates
the same thing in another place, where he explains at greater
length that he is not a high priest who " cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin," (Heb. iv. 15.)

2. This will become still clearer if we reflect, that the
•tY^jjf *.n hfi perform fid hy flip MpfjiaJ-.nv was of no common
description : being to restore us to the divine favour, so as to
make us, instead of sons of men, sons of God ; instead of
heirs of hell, heirs of a heavenly kingdom. Who could do
this unless the Son of God should also become the Son of
man, and so receive what is ours as to transfer to us what
is his, making that which is his by nature to become ours by
grace ? Relying on this earnest, we trust that we are the
sons of God, because the natural Son of God assumed to
himself a body of our body, flesh of our flesh, bones of our
bones, that he might be one with us ; he declined not to
jtake what was peculiar to us, that he might in his turn
! extend to us wha-t was peculiarly his own, and thus might
be in common with us both Son of God and Son of man.
Hence that holy brotherhood which he commends with his
own lips, when he says, " I ascend to my Father, and your
Father, to my God, and your God," (John xx. 17.) In this
way, we have a sure inheritance in the heavenly kingdom,
because the only Son of God, to whom it entirely belonged,
has adopted us as his brethren ; and if brethren, then partners
with him in the inheritance, (Rom. viii. 17.) Moreover, it

4 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

was especially necessary for this cause also that he who was
to be our Redeemer should be truly God and man. It was
his to swallow up death : who but Life could do so ? It was
his to conquer sin : who could do so save Righteousness
itself? It was his to put to flight the powers of the air and
the world : who could do so but the mighty power superior
to both ? But who possesses life and righteousness, and the
dominion and government of heaven, but God alone ? There
fore, God, in his infinite mercy, having determined to redeem
us, became himself our Redeemer in the person of his only
begotten Son.

3. Another principal part of our reconciliation with God
was, that man, who had lost himself by his disobedience,
should, by way of remedy, oppose to it obedience, satisfy
the justice of God, and pay the penalty of sin. Therefore,
our Lord came forth very man, adopted the person of Adam,
and assumed his name, that he might in his stead obey the
Father ; that he might present our flesh as the price of satis
faction to the just judgment of God, and in the same flesh
pay the penalty which we had incurred. Finally, since as
God only he could not suffer, and as man only could not
overcome death, he united the human nature with the divine,
that he might subject the weakness of the one to death as
an expiation of sin, and by the power of the other, maintain
ing a struggle with death, might gain us the victory. Those,
therefore, who rob Christ of divinity or humanity, either
detract from his majesty and glory, or obscure his goodness.
On the other hand, they are no less injurious to men, under
mining and subverting their faith, which, unless it rest on
this foundation, cannot stand. Moreover, the expected
Redeemer was that son of Abraham and David whom God
had promised in the Law and in the Prophets. Here be
lievers have another advantage. Tracing up his origin in
regular series to David and Abraham, they more distinctly
recognise him as the Messiah celebrated by so many oracles.
But special attention must be paid to what I lately explained,
namely, that a common nature is the pledge of our union
with the Son of God ; that, clothed with our flesh, he warred
to death with sin that he might be our triumphant conqueror ;

CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 0

that the flesh which he received of us he offered in sacrifice,
in order that by making expiation he might wipe away our
guilt, and appease the just anger of his Father.
^ 4. He who considers these things with due attention, will
easily disregard vague speculations, w^hich attract giddy
minds and lovers of novelty. One speculation of this class
is, that Christ, even though there had been no need of his
interposition to redeem the human race, would still have
become man. I admit that in the first ordering of creation,
while the state of nature was entire, he was appointed head
of angels and men ; for which reason Paul designates him
"the first-born of every creature," (Col. i. 15.) But since
the whole Scripture proclaims that he was clothed with
flesh in order to become a Redeemer, it is presumptuous to
imagine any other cause or end. We know well why Christ
was at first promised, viz., that he might renew a fallen
world, and succour lost man. Hence under the Law he was
typified by sacrifices, to inspire believers with the hope that
God would be propitious to them after he was reconciled by
the expiation of their sins. Since from the earliest age,
even before the Law was promulgated, there was never any
promise of a Mediator without blood, we justly infer that he
was destined in the eternal counsel of God to purge the
pollution of man, the shedding of blood being the symbol of
expiation. Thus, too, the prophets, in discoursing of him, fore
told that he would be the Mediator between God and man.
It is sufficient to refer to the very remarkable prophecy of
Isaiah, (Is. liii. 4, 5,) in which he foretells that he was
" smitten for our iniquities ;" that " the chastisement of our
peace was upon him ;" that as a priest " he was made an
offering for sin ;" " that by his stripes we are healed ;" that
as all " like lost sheep have gone astray," " it pleased the
Lord to bruise him, and put him to grief," that he might
" bear our iniquities." After hearing that Christ was divinely
appointed to bring relief to miserable sinners, whoso overleaps
these limits gives too much indulgence to a foolish curiosity.
Then when he actually appeared, he declared the cause of
his advent to be, that by appeasing God he might brjng us
from death unto life. To the same effect was the testimony

6 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

of the Apostles concerning him, (John i. 9 ; x. 14.) Thus
John, before teaching that the Word was made flesh, nar
rates the fall of man. But above all, let us listen to our
Saviour himself when discoursing of his office : " God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever
lasting life." Again, " The hour is coming, and now is, when
the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they
that hear shall live." " I am the resurrection and the life :
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he
live." a The Son of man is come to save that which was
lost." Again, " They that be whole need not a physician."1
I should never have done were I to quote all the passages.
Indeed, the Apostles, with one consent, lead us back to this
fountain; and assuredly, if he had not come to reconcile
God, the honour of his priesthood would fall, seeing it was
his office as priest to stand between God and men, and
a offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins," (Heb. v. 1 ;) nor
could he be our righteousness, as having been made a pro
pitiation for us in order that God might not impute to us our
sins, (2 Cor. v. 19.) In short, he would be stript of ah1 the
titles with which Scripture invests him. Nor could Paul's
doctrine stand, " What the law could not do, in that it
was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh," (Eom. viii. 3.) Nor what he states in another pass
age : " The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath
appeared to all men," (Tit. ii. 11.) In fine, the only end
wrhich the Scripture uniformly assigns for the Son of God
voluntarily assuming our nature, and even receiving it as a
command from the Father, is, that he might propitiate the
Father to us by becoming a victim. " Thus it is written,
and thus it behoved Christ to suffer ;" — " and that repent
ance and remission of sins should be preached in his name."
" Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my
life, that I might take it again." — " This commandment have
I received of my Father." " As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
1 John iii. 16 ; v. 25 ; xi. 25 ; Matth. xviii. 11 ; ix. 12.

CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 7

up." " Father, save me from this hour : but for this cause
came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name."1 Here
he distinctly assigns as the reason for assuming our nature,
that he might become a propitiatory victim to take away
sin. For the same reason Zacharias declares, (Luke i. 79,)
that he came " to perform the mercy promised to our
fathers," " to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in
the shadow of death." Let us remember that all these
things are affirmed of the Son of God, in whom, as Paul
elsewhere declares, were " hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge," and save whom it was his determination
" not to know any thing," (Col. ii. 3 ; 1 Cor. ii. 2.)

5. Should any one object, that in this there is nothing to
prevent the same Christ who redeemed us when condemned
from also testifying his love to us when safe by assuming
our nature, we have the brief answer, that when the Spirit
declares that by the eternal decree of God the two things
were connected together, viz., that Christ should be our
Redeemer, and, at the same time, a partaker of our nature,
it is unlawful to inquire further. He who is tickled with a
desire of knowing something more, not contented with the
immutable ordination of God, shows also that he is not
even contented with that Christ who has been given us as
the price of redemption. And, indeed, Paul not only de
clares for what end he was sent, but rising to the sublime
mystery of predestination, seasonably represses all the wanton
ness and pruriency of the human mind. " He hath chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before him in love :
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of
his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he
hath made us accepted in the Beloved : In whom we have
redemption through his blood," (Eph. i. 4—7.) Here cer
tainly the fall of Adam is not presupposed as anterior in
point of time, but our attention is directed to what God
predetermined before all ages, when he was pleased to pro
vide a cure for the misery of the human race. If, again, it is
1 Luke xxiv. 46 ; John x. 17 ; iii. 14 ; xii. 27, 28.

8 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

objected that this counsel of God depended on the fall of
man, which he foresaw, to me it is sufficient and more to
reply, that those who propose to inquire, or desire to know
more of Christ than God predestinated by his secret decree,
are presuming with impious audacity to invent a new Christ.
Paul, wrhen discoursing of the proper office of Christ, justly
prays for the Ephesians that God would strengthen them
" by his Spirit in the inner man," that they might " be able
to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length,
and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge," (Eph. iii. 16, 18 ;) as if he in
tended of set purpose to set barriers around our minds, and
prevent them from declining one iota from the gift of recon
ciliation whenever mention is made of Christ. Wherefore,
seeing it is as Paul declares it to be, " a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners," (1 Tim. i. 15,) in it I willingly
acquiesce. And since the same Apostle elsewhere declares
that the grace which is now manifested by the Gospel " was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began," (2 Tim. i.
9,) I am resolved to adhere to it firmly even to the end.
This moderation is unjustly vituperated by Osiander, who
has unhappily, in the present day, again agitated this ques
tion, which a few had formerly raised. He brings a charge
of overweening confidence against those who deny that the
Son of God would have appeared in the flesh if Adam had
not fallen, because this notion is not repudiated by any pass
age of Scripture. As if Paul did not lay a curb on perverse
curiosity when, after speaking of the redemption obtained
by Christ, he bids us " avoid foolish questions," (Tit. iii. 9.)
To such insanity have some proceeded in their preposterous
eagerness to seem acute, that they have made it a question
whether the Son of God might not have assumed the nature
of an ass. This blasphemy, at which all pious minds justly
shudder with detestation, Osiander excuses by the pretext
that it is no where distinctly refuted in Scripture ; as if Paul,
when he counted nothing valuable or worth knowing " save
Jesus Christ and him crucified," (1 Cor. ii. 2,) were admitting
that the author of salvation is an ass. He who elsewhere

CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 9

declares that Christ was by the eternal counsel of the Father
appointed " head over all things to the church," would never
have acknowledged another to whom no office of redemption
had been assigned.

6. The principle on which Osiander founds is altogether
frivolous. He will have it that man was created in the
image of God, inasmuch as he was formed on the model of
the future Messiah, in order to resemble him whom the
Father had already determined to clothe with flesh. Hence
he infers, that though Adam had never fallen from his first
and pure original, Christ would still have been man. How
silly and distorted this view is, all men of sound judgment at
once discern ; still he thinks he was the first to see what the
image of God was, namely, that not only did the divine glory
shine forth in the excellent endowments with which he was
adorned, but God dwelt in him essentially. But while I
grant that Adam bore the image of God, inasmuch as he was
united to God, (this being the true and highest perfection of
dignity,) yet I maintain, that the likeness of God is to be
sought for only in those marks of superiority with which God
has distinguished Adam above the other animals. All, like
wise, with one consent, acknowledge that Christ was even
then the image of God, and, accordingly, whatever excellence
was engraven on Adam had its origin in this, that by means
of the only begotten Son he approximated to the glory of
his Maker. Man, therefore, was created in the image of
God, (Gen. i. 27,) and in him the Creator was pleased to be
hold, as in a mirror, his own glory. To this degree of honour
he was exalted by the kindness of the only begotten Son.
But I add, that, as the Son was the common head both of
men and angels, so the dignity which was conferred on man
belonged to the angels also. For when we hear them called
the sons of God, (Ps. Ixxxii. 6,) it would be incongruous to
deny that they were endued with some quality in which
they resembled the Father. But if he was pleased that
his glory should be represented in "men and angels, and
made manifest in both natures, it is ignorant trifling in
Osiander to say, that angels were postponed to men, because
they did not bear the image of Christ. They could not con-

•c

10 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

stantly enjoy the immediate presence of God if they were not
like to him ; nor does Paul teach (Col. iii. 10) that men are
renewed in the image of God in any other way than by being
associated with angels, that they may be united together
under one head. In fine, if we believe Christ, our felicity
will be perfected when we shall have been received into the
heavens, and made like the angels. But if Osiander is en
titled to infer that the primary type of the image of God was
in the man Christ, on the same ground may any one main
tain that Christ behoved to partake of the angelic nature,
seeing that angels also possess the image of God.

7. Osiander has no reason to fear that God would be found
a liar, if the decree to incarnate the Son was not previously
immutably fixed in his mind. Even had Adam not lost his in
tegrity, he would, with the angels, have been like to God ; and
yet it would not therefore have been necessary that the Son of
God should become either a man or an angel. In vain does
he entertain the absurd fear, that unless it had been deter
mined by the immutable counsel of God, before man was
created, that Christ should be born, not as the Redeemer, but
as the first man, he might lose his precedence, since he would
not have been born, except for an accidental circumstance,
namely, that he might restore the lost race of man; and
in this way would have been created in the image of Adam.
For why should he be alarmed at what the Scripture plainly
teaches, that " he was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin?" (Heb. iv. 15.) Hence Luke, also, hesitates
not to reckon him in his genealogy as a son of Adam, (Luke
iii. 38.) I should like to know why Christ is termed by Paul
the second Adam, (1 Cor. xv. 47,) unless it be that a human
condition was decreed him, for the purpose of raising up the
ruined posterity of Adam. For if in point of order, that condi
tion was antecedent to creation, he ought to have been called
the first Adam. Osiander confidently affirms, that because
Christ was in the purpose of God foreknown as man, men were
formed after him as their model. But Paul, by calling him the
second Adam, gives that revolt which made it necessary to
restore nature to its primitive condition an intermediate place
between its original formation and the restitution which we

CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 11

obtain by Christ : hence it follows, that it was this restitu
tion which made the Son of God be born, and thereby
become man. Moreover, Osiander argues ill and absurdly,
that as long as Adam maintained his integrity, he would have
been the image of himself, and not of Christ. I maintain, on
the contrary, that although the Son of God had never become
incarnate, nevertheless the image of God wras conspicuous
in Adam, both in his body and his soul ; in the rays of this
image it always appeared that Christ was truly head, and had
in all things the pre-eminence. In this way we dispose of
the futile sophism put forth by Osiander, that the angels
would have been without this head, had not God purposed
to clothe his Son with flesh, even independent of the sin of
Adam. He inconsiderately assumes wrhat no rational person
will grant, that Christ could have had no supremacy over the
angels, so that they might enjoy him as their prince, unless
in so far as he was man. But it is easy to infer from the
words of Paul, (Col. i. 15,) that inasmuch as he is the eternal
Word of God, he is the first-born of every creature, not because
he is created, or is to be reckoned among the creatures, but
because the entire structure of the world, such as it w^as from
the beginning, when adorned with exquisite beauty, had no
other beginning ; then, inasmuch as he was made man, he is
the first-born from the dead. For in one short passage,
(Col. i. 16-18,) the Apostle calls our attention to both views:
that by the Son all things were created, so that he has
dominion over angels ; and that he became man, in order that
he might begin to be a Kedeemer. Owing to the same
ignorance, Osiander says that men would not have had Christ
for their king unless he had been a man ; as if the kingdom
of God could not have been established by his eternal Son,
though not clothed with human flesh, holding the supre
macy, while angels and men were gathered together to
participate in his celestial life and glory. But he is always
deluded, or imposes upon himself by this false principle, that
the church would have been axepaXov — without a head — had
not Christ appeared in the flesh. In the same way as angels
enjoyed him for their head, could he not by his divine
energy preside over men, and by the secret virtue of his
Spirit quicken and cherish them as his body, until they

12 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

were gathered into heaven to enjoy the same life with the
angels ? The absurdities which I have been refuting, Osi-
ander regards as infallible oracles. Taking an intoxicating
delight in his own speculations, his wont is to extract ridicu
lous paeans out of nothing. He afterwards says that he has
a much stronger passage to produce, namely, the prophecy
of Adam, who, when the woman was brought to him, said,
" This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh," (Gen.
ii. 23.) But how does he prove it to be a prophecy ? Because
in Matthew Christ attributes the same expression to God ! as
if every thing which God has spoken by man contained a pro
phecy. On the same principle, as the law proceeded from God,
let Osiander in each precept find a prophecy. Add, that our
Saviour's exposition would have been harsh and grovelling,
had he confined himself to the literal meaning. He was not
referring to the mystical union with which he has honoured
the Church, but only to conjugal fidelity, and states, that the
reason why God declared man and wife to be one flesh,
was to prevent any one from violating that indissoluble tie
by divorce. If this simple meaning is too low for Osiander,
let him censure Christ for not leading his disciples to the
hidden sense, by interpreting his Father's words with more
subtlety. Paul gives no countenance to Osiander's dream,
when, after saying that " we are members of his body, of
his flesh, and of his bones," he immediately adds, " This is a
great mystery," (Eph. v. 30-32.) For he meant not to refer
to the sense in which Adam used the words, but sets forth,
under the figure and similitude of marriage, the sacred union
which makes us one with Christ. His words have this
meaning ; for reminding us that he is speaking of Christ and
the Church, he, by way of correction, distinguishes between
the marriage tie and the spiritual union of Christ with his
Church. Wherefore, this subtlety vanishes at once. I deem it
unnecessary to discuss similar absurdities : for from this very
brief refutation, the vanity of them all will be discovered.
Abundantly sufficient for the solid nurture of the children
of God is this sober truth, that " when the fulness of the
time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to redeem them who were under the
law," (Gal. iv. 4, 5.)

CHAP. XIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 13

CHAPTER XIII.

CHRIST CLOTHED WITH THE TRUE SUBSTANCE OF HUMAN
NATURE.

The heads of this chapter are, I. The orthodox doctrine as to the
true humanity of our Saviour, proved from many passages of Scripture,
sec. 1. II. Refutation of the impious objections of the Marcionites,
Manichees, and similar heretics, sec. 2-4.

Sections.

1. Proof of the true humanity of Christ, against the Manichees and

Marcionites.

2. Impious objections of heretics farther discussed. Six objections an

swered.

3. Other eight objections answered.

1. OF the divinity of Christ, which has elsewhere been
established by clear and solid proofs, I presume it were super
fluous again to treat. It remains, therefore, to see how, when
clothed with our flesh, he fulfilled the office of Mediator. In
ancient times, the reality of his human nature was impugned
by the Manichees and Marcionites, the latter figuring to
themselves a phantom instead of the body of Christ, and
the former dreaming of his having been invested with celes
tial flesh. The passages of Scripture contradictory to both
are numerous and strong. The blessing is not promised in
a heavenly seed, or the mask of a man, but the seed of
Abraham and Jacob ; nor is the everlasting throne promised
to an aerial man, but to the Son of David, and the fruit of
his loins. Hence, when manifested in the flesh, he is called
the Son of David and Abraham, not because he was born of
a virgin, and yet created in the air, but because, as Paul
explains, he was " made of the seed of David, according to
the flesh," (Rom. i. 3,) as the same apostle elsewhere says,
that he came of the Jews, (Rom. ix. 5.) Wherefore, our
Lord himself, not contented with the name of man, frequently

14 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK IT.

calls himself the Son of man, wishing to express more clearly
that he was a man by.jtrue human descent. The Holy Spirit
having so often, by so many organs, with so much care and
plainness, declared a matter which in itself is not abstruse,
who could have thought that mortals would have had the
effrontery to darken it with their glosses ? Many other
passages are at hand, were it wished to produce more : for
instance, that one of Paul, that st God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman," (Gal. iv. 4,) and innumerable others,
which show that he was subject to hunger, thirst, cold, and
the other infirmities of our nature. But from the many we
must chiefly select those which may conduce to build up our
minds in true faith, as when it is said, " Verily, he took not
on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham," " that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death," (Heb. ii. 16, 14.) Again, " Both
he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one :
for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren."
" Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto
his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest," (Heb. ii. 11, 17.) Again, " We have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,"
(Heb. iv. 15,) and the like. To the same effect is the passage
to which we lately referred, in which Paul distinctly declares,
that the sins of the world behoved to be expiated in our flesh,
(Rom. viii. 3.) And certainly every thing which the Father
conferred on Christ pertains to us for this reason, that " he
is the head," that from him the whole body is " fitly joined
together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,"
(Eph. iv. 16.) Nay, in no other way could it hold true as is
said, that the Spirit was given to him without measure, (John
i. 16,) and that out of his fulness have all we received; since
nothing could be more absurd than that God, in his own
essence, should be enriched by an adventitious gift. For this
reason also, Christ himself elsewhere says, " For their sakes
I sanctify myself," (John xvii. 19.)

2. The passages which they produce in confirmation of
their error are absurdly wrested, nor do they gain any thing
by their frivolous subtleties when they attempt to do away

CHAP. XIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 15

with what I have now adduced in opposition to them. Marcion
imagines that Christ, instead of a body, assumed a phantom,
because it is elsewhere said, that he was made in the likeness
of man, and found in fashion as a man. Thus he altogether
overlooks what Paul is then discussing, (Philip, ii. 7.) His
object is not to show what kind of body Christ assumed, but
that, when he might have justly asserted his divinity he was
pleased to exhibit nothing but the attributes of a mean and
despised man. For, in order to exhort us to submission by
his example, he shows, that when as God he might have
displayed to the world the brightness of his glory, he gave /
up his right, and voluntarily emptied himself; that he
assumed the form of a servant, and, contented with that
humble condition, suffered his divinity to be concealed under
a veil of flesh. Here, unquestionably, he explains not what )£X
Christ was, but in what way he acted. Nay, from the whole ' f ]
context it is easily gathered, that it was in the true nature of
man that Christ humbled himself. For what is meant by
the words, he was " found in fashion as a man," but that for
a time, instead of being resplendent wdth divine glory, the
human form only appeared in a mean and abject condition ?
Nor would the words of Peter, that he was " put to death
in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit," (1 Pet. iii. 18,)
hold true, unless the Son of God had become weak in the
nature of man. This is explained more clearly by Paul,
when he declares that " he was crucified through weakness,"
(2 Cor. xiii. 4.) And hence his exaltation; for it is dis
tinctly said, that Christ acquired new glory after he humbled
himself. This could fitly apply only to a man endued with a
body and a soul. " Manes" dreams of an aerial body, because
Christ is called the second Adam, the Lord from heaven.
But the apostle does not there speak of the essence of his
body as heavenly, but of the spiritual life which derived from
Christ quickens us, (1 Cor. xv. 47.) This life Paul and Peter,
as we have seen, separate from his flesh. Nay, that passage
admirably confirms the doctrine of the orthodox, as to the
human nature of Christ. If his body were not of the same
nature with ours, there would be no soundness in the argu
ment which Paul pursues with so much earnestness, — If

16 INSTITUTES OF THE

BOOK II.

Christ is risen, we shall rise also ; if we rise not, neither hath
Christ risen. Whatever be the cavils by which the ancient
Manichees, or their modern disciples, endeavour to evade
this, they cannot succeed. It is a frivolous and despicable
evasion to say, that Christ is called the Son of man, because
he was promised to men; it being obvious that, in the Hebrew
idiom, the Son of man means a true man : and Christ, doubt
less, retained the idiom of his own tongue.1 Moreover, there
cannot be a doubt as to what is to be understood by the sons
of Adam. Not to go farther, a passage in the eighth psalm,
which the apostles apply to Christ, will abundantly suffice :
" What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? and the son
of man, -that thou visitest him ?" (Ps. viii. 4.) Under this
figure is expressed the true humanity of Christ. For although
he was not immediately descended of an earthly father,
yet he originally sprang from Adam. Nor could it other
wise be said in terms of the passage which we have already
quoted, " Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the
same ;" these words plainly proving that he was an associate
and partner in the same nature with ourselves. In this sense
also it is said, that " both he that sanctifieth and they who
are sanctified are all of one." The context proves that this
refers to a community of nature ; for it is immediately added,
" For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,"
(Heb. ii. 11.) Had he said at first that believers are of
God, where could there have been any ground for being
ashamed of persons possessing such dignity ? But when Christ
of his boundless grace associates himself with the mean and
ignoble, we see why it was said that "he is not ashamed."
It is vain to object, that in this way the wicked will be the
brethren of Christ ; for we know that the children of God
are not born of flesh and blood, but of the Spirit through
faith. Therefore, flesh alone does not constitute the union
of brotherhood. But although the apostle assigns to believers
only the honour of being one with Christ, it does not how
ever follow, that unbelievers have not the same origin accord
ing to the flesh ; just as when we say that Christ became
1 The last clause of this sentence is omitted in the French.

CHAP. XIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 17

man, that he might make us sons of God, the expression does
not extend to all classes of persons ; the intervention of faith
being necessary to our being spiritually ingrafted into the
body of Christ. A dispute is also ignorantly raised as to the
term first-born. It is alleged that Christ ought to have been
the first son of Adam, in order that he might be the first-born
among the brethren, (Eom. viii. 29.) But primogeniture
refers not to age, but to degree of honour and pre-emi
nence of virtue. There is just as little colour for the frivolous
assertion that Christ assumed the nature of man, and not that
of angels, (Heb. ii. 16,) because it was the human race that
he restored to favour. The apostle, to magnify the honour
which Christ has conferred upon us, contrasts us with the
angels, to whom we are in this respect preferred. And if
due weight is given to the testimony of Moses, (Gen.iii. 15,)
when he says that the seed of the woman would bruise the
head of the serpent, the dispute is at an end. For the words
there used refer not to Christ alone, but to the whole human
race. Since the victory was to be obtained for us by Christ,
God declares generally, that the posterity of the woman
would overcome the devil. From this it follows, that Christ
is a descendant of the human race, the purpose of God in
thus addressing Eve being to raise her hopes, and prevent
her from giving way to despair.

3. The passages in which Christ is called the seed of
Abraham, and the fruit of the loins of David, those per
sons, with no less folly than wickedness, wrap up in alle
gory. Had the term seed been used allegorically, Paul surely
would not have omitted to notice it, when he affirms clearly,
and without figure, that the promise was not given " to
seeds, as of many ; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is
Christ," (Gal. iii. 16.) With similar absurdity they pretend
that he was called the Son of David, for no other reason but
because he had been promised, and was at length in due
time manifested. For Paul, after he had called him the Son
of David, by immediately subjoining according to the flesh,
certainly designates his nature. So also, (Rom. ix. 5,) while
declaring him to be " God blessed for ever," he mentions
separately, that, " as concerning the flesh, he was descended

VOL. II. B

18 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

from the Jews." Again, if he had not^been truly begotten
of the seed of David, what is the meaning of the expression,
that he is the " fruit of his loins;" or what the meaning of the
promise, " Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne" ?
(Ps. cxxxii. 11.) Moreover, their mode of dealing with the
genealogy of Christ, as given by Matthew, is mere sophistry ;
for though he reckons up the progenitors not of Mary, but of
Joseph, yet as he was speaking of a matter then generally
understood, he deems it enough to show that Joseph was
descended from the seed of David, since it is certain that
Mary was of the same family. Luke goes still farther,
showing that the salvation brought by Christ is common to
the whole human race, inasmuch as Christ, the author of
salvation, is descended from Adam, the common father of
us all. I confess, indeed, that the genealogy proves Christ
to be the Son of David, only as being descended of the Virgin;
but the new Marcionites, for the purpose of giving a gloss to
their heresy, namely, to prove that the body which Christ
assumed was unsubstantial, too confidently maintain that the
expression as to seed is applicable only to males, thus subvert
ing the elementary principles of nature. But as this discussion
belongs not to theology, and the arguments which they ad
duce are too futile to require any laboured refutation, I will
not touch on matters pertaining to philosophy and the medical
art. It will be sufficient to dispose of the objection drawn
from the statement of Scripture, that Aaron and J ehoiadah
married wives out of the tribe of Judah, and that thus the
distinction of tribes was confounded, if proper descent could
come through the female. It is well known, that in regard
to civil order, descent is reckoned through the male; and yet
the superiority on his part does not prevent the female from
having her proper share in the descent. This solution ap
plies to all the genealogies. When Scripture gives a list of
individuals, it often mentions males only. Must we therefore
say that females go for nothing? Nay, the very children
know that they are classified with men. For this reason,
wives are said to give children to their husbands, the name
of the family always remaining with the males. Then, as the
male sex has this privilege, that sons are deemed of noble or

CHAP. XIII. CHEISTIAN RELIGION. 19

ignoble birth, according to the condition of their fathers, so,
on the other hand, in slavery, the condition of the child is
determined by that of the mother, as lawyers say,partus sequitur
ventrem. Whence we may infer, that offspring is partly pro
created by the seed of the mother. According to the common
custom of nations, mothers are deemed progenitors, and with
this the divine law agrees, which could have had no ground to
forbid the marriage of the uncle with the niece, if there was
no consanguinity between them. It would also be lawful
for a brother and sister uterine to intermarry, when their
fathers are different. But while I admit that the power
assigned to the woman is passive, I hold that the same thing
is affirmed indiscriminately of her and of the male. Christ is
not said to have been made by a woman, but of a woman,
(Gal. iv. 4.) But some of this herd, laying aside all shame,
publicly ask whether we mean to maintain that Christ was
procreated of the proper seed of a Virgin.1 I, in my turn, ask,
whether they are not forced to admit that he was nourished
to maturity in the Virgin's womb. Justly, therefore, we
infer from the words of Matthew, that Christ, inasmuch as
he was begotten of Mary, was procreated of her seed; as
a similar generation is denoted when Boaz is said to have
been begotten of Rachab, (Matth. i. 5, 16.) Matthew does
not here describe the Virgin as the channel through which
Christ flowed, but distinguishes his miraculous from an ordi
nary birth, in that Christ was begotten by her of the seed
of David. For the same reason for which Isaac is said to
be begotten of Abraham, Joseph of Jacob, Solomon of David,
is Christ said to have been begotten of his mother. The
Evangelist has arranged his discourse in this way. Wishing
to prove that Christ derives his descent from David, he deems
it enough to state, that he was begotten of Mary. Hence
it follows, that he assumed it as an acknowledged fact, that
Mary was of the same lineage as Joseph.

4. The absurdities which they wish to fasten upon us are
mere puerile calumnies. They reckon it base and dishonour-

1 Latin, " An dicere velimus ex seraine menstrual! virginis procreatur
esse Christum."

20 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

ing to Christ to have derived his descent from men ; because,
in that case, he could not be exempted from the common
law which includes the whole offspring of Adam, without
exception, under sin. But this difficulty is easily solved by
Paul's antithesis, " As by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin" — " even so by the righteousness of
one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life,"
(Rom. v. 12, 18.) Corresponding to this is another passage,
" The first man is of the earth, earthy : the second man is the
Lord from heaven," (1 Cor. xv. 47.) Accordingly, the same
apostle, in another passage, teaching that Christ was sent
" in the likeness of sinful flesh, that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us," distinctly separates him from
the common lot, as being true man, and yet without fault
and corruption, (Rom. viii. 3.) It is childish trifling to main
tain, that if Christ is free from all taint, and was begotten of
the seed of Mary, by the secret operation of the Spirit, it is
not therefore the seed of the woman that is impure, but only
that of the man. We do not hold Christ to be free from all
taint, merely because he was born of a woman unconnected
with a man, but because he was sanctified by the Spirit, so that
the generation was pure and spotless, such as it would have
been before Adam's fall. Let us always bear in mind, that
wherever Scripture adverts to the purity of Christ, it refers
to his true human nature, since it were superfluous to say
that God is pure. Moreover, the sanctification of which
John speaks in his seventeenth chapter is inapplicable to
the divine nature. This does not suggest the idea of a two
fold seed in Adam, although no contamination extended to
Christ, the generation of man not being in itself vicious or
impure, but an accidental circumstance of the fah1. Hence,
it is not strange that Christ, by whom our integrity was to
be restored, was exempted from the common corruption.
Another absurdity which they obtrude upon us, viz., that
if the Word of God became incarnate, it must have been
enclosed in the narrow tenement of an earthly body, is
sheer petulance. For although the boundless essence of the
Word was united with human nature into one person, we

CHAP. XIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 21

have nojdgaj^jm^ ^enclosing. The Son of God descended
miraculously from heaven, yet without abandoning heaven ;
was pleased to be conceived miraculously in the Virgin's
womb, to live on the earth, and hang upon the cross, and yet
always filled the world as from the beginning.

22 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

CHAPTER XIY.

HOW TWO NATURES CONSTITUTE THE PERSON OF
THE MEDIATOR.

This chapter contains two principal heads : I. A brief exposition of
the doctrine of Christ's two natures in one person, sec. 1-4. II. A
refutation of the heresies of Servetus, which destroy the distinction of
natures in Christ, and the eternity of the divine nature of the Son.

Sections.

1. Proof of two natures in Christ — a human and a divine. Illustrated

by analogy, from the union of body and soul. Illustration applied.

2. Proof from passages of Scripture which distinguish between the two

natures. Proof from the communication of properties.

3. Proof from passages showing the union of both natures. A rule to

be observed in this discussion.

4. Utility and use of the doctrine concerning the two natures. The

Nestorians. The Eutychians. Both justly condemned by the
Church.

5. The heresies of Servetus refuted. General answer or sum of the

orthodox doctrine concerning Christ. What meant by the hypos-
tatic union. Objections of Servetus to the deity of Christ. AnsAver.

6. Another objection and answer. A twofold filiation of Christ.

7. Other objections answered.

8. Conclusion of the former objections. Other pestilential heresies of

Servetus.

1. WHEN it is said that the Word was made flesh, we
must not understand it as if he were either changed into
flesh, or confusedly intermingled with flesh, but that he made
choice of the Virgin's womb as a temple in which he might
dwell. He who was the Son of God became the Son of
man, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.
For we maintain, that the divinity was so conjoined and
united with the humanity, that the entire properties of each
nature remain entire, and yet the two natures constitute only
one Christ. If, in human affairs, any thing analogous to this

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 23

great mystery can be found, the most apposite similitude1
seems to be that of man, who obviously consists of two sub
stances, neither of which however is so intermingled with
the other as that both do not retain their own properties.
For neither is soul body, nor is body soul. Wherefore that
is said separately of the soul which cannot in any way apply
to the body ; and that, on the other hand, of the body which
is altogether inapplicable to the soul ; and that, again, of the
whole man, which cannot be affirmed without absurdity either
of the body or of the soul separately. Lastly, the properties
of the soul are transferred to the body, and the properties of
the body to the soul, and yet these form only one man, not
more than one. Such modes of expression intimate both
that there is in man one person formed of two compounds,
and that these two different natures constitute one person.
Thus the Scriptures speak of Christ. They sometimes attri-j
bute to him qualities which should be referred specially to
his humanity, and sometimes qualities applicable peculiarly!
to his divinity, and sometimes qualities which embrace both \
natures, and do not apply specially to either. This com
bination of a twofold nature in Christ they express so
carefully, that they sometimes communicate them with each
other, a figure of speech which the ancients termed idiupdruv
zoivuvia, (a communication of properties.)

2. Little dependence could be placed on these statements,
were it not proved by numerous passages throughout the
sacred volume that none of them is of man's devising. What
Christ said of himself, " Before Abraham was I am," (John
$iii. 58,) was very foreign to his humanity. I am not unaware
of the cavil by which erroneous spirits distort this passage,
viz., that he was before all ages, inasmuch as he was fore
known as the Redeemer, as well in the counsel of the Father as
in the minds of believers. But seeing he plainly distinguishes
the period of his manifestation from his eternal existence,
and professedly founds on his ancient government, to prove
his precedence to Abraham, he undoubtedly claims for him
self the peculiar attributes of divinity. Paul's assertion that

1 Augustine employs the same similitude, Epist. cii.

24 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

he is " the first-born of every creature," that " he is before
all things, and by him all things consist," (Col. i. 15, 17 ;)
his own declaration, that he had glory Avith the Father before
the world was, and that he worketh together with the Father,
are equally inapplicable to man. These and similar proper
ties must be specially assigned to his divinity. Again, his
being called the servant of the Father, his being said to grow
in stature, and wisdom, and favour with God and man, not
to seek his own glory, not to know the last day, not to speak
of himself, not to do his own will, his being seen and handled,1
apply entirely to his humanity ; since, as God, he cannot be
in any respect said to grow, works always for himself, knows
every thing, does all things after the counsel of his own
will, and is incapable of being seen or handled. And yet he
not merely ascribes these things separately to his human
nature, but applies them to himself as suitable to his office
of Mediator. There is a communication of /'d/w^ara, or pro
perties, when Paul says, that God purchased the Church
"with his own blood," (Acts xx. 28,) and that the Jews
crucified the Lord of glory, (1 Cor. ii. 8.) In like manner,
John says, that the Word of God was "handled." God cer
tainly has no blood, suffers not, cannot be touched with hands;
but since that Christ, who was true God and true man, shed
his blood on the cross for us, the acts which were performed
in his human nature are transferred improperly, but not
causelessly, to his divinity. We have a similar example in the
passage where John says that God laid down his life for us,
(1 John iii. 16.) Here a propert} i of his humanity is commu
nicated Avith his other nature. On the other hand, Avhen
Christ, still living on the earth, said, " No man hath ascended
up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the
Son of man, which is in heaven," (John iii. 13,) certainly
regarded as man in the flesh AAiiich he had put on, he Avas not
then in heaven, but inasmuch as he was both God and man,
he, on account of the union of a tAvofold nature, attributed
to the one what properly belonged to the other.

1 Isaiah xli. 1, &c. ; John v. 17 ; Luke ii. 52 ; John viii. 50 ; Murk
xiii. 32 ; John xiv. 10 ; vi. 38 ; Luke xxiv. 39.

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 25

3. But, above all, the true substance of Christ is most
clearly declared in those passages which comprehend both
natures at once. Numbers of these exist in the Gospel of
John. What we there read as to his having received power
from the Father to forgive sins ; as to his quickening whom
he will ; as to his bestowing righteousness, holiness, and salva
tion; as to his being appointed judge both of the quick and the
dead ; as to his being honoured even as the Father,1 are not
peculiar either to his Godhead or his humanity, but applicable
to both. In the same way he is called the Light of the world,
the good Shepherd, the only Door, the true Vine. With such
prerogatives the Son of God was invested on his manifestation
in the flesh, and though he possessed the same with the
Father before the world was created, still it was not in the
same manner or respect ; neither could they be attributed to
one who was a man and nothing more. In the same sense
we ought to understand the saying of Paul, that at the end
Christ shall deliver up "the kingdom to God, even the
Father," (1 Cor. xv. 24.) The kingdom of God assuredly
had no beginning, and will have no end : but because he was
hid under a humble clothing of flesh, and took upon himself
the form of a servant, and humbled himself, (Phil. ii. 8,) and,
laying aside the insignia of majesty, became obedient to the
Father ; and after undergoing this subjection was at length
crowned with glory and honour, (Heb. ii. 7,) and exalted to
supreme authority, that at his name every knee should bow,
(Phil. ii. 10 ;) so at the end he will subject to the Father both
the name and the crown of glory, and whatever he received
of the Father, that God may be all in all, (1 Cor. xv. 28.)
For what end were that power and authority given to him,
save that the Father might govern us by his hand ? In the
same sense, also, he is said to sit at the right hand of the
Father. But this is only for a time, until we enjoy the imme
diate presence of his Godhead. And here we cannot excuse
the error of some ancient writers, who, by not attending to
the office of Mediator, darken the genuine meaning of almost
the whole doctrine which we read in the Gospel of John, and

1 John i. 29 ; v. 21-23 ; ix. 5 ; x. 9-11 ; xv. 1.

26 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK II.

entangle themselves in many snares. Let us, therefore, re
gard it as the key of true interpretation, that those things
which refer to the office of Mediator are not spoken of the
divine or human nature simply.1 Christ, therefore, shah1
reign until he appear to judge the world, inasmuch as, accord
ing to the measure of our feeble capacity, he now connects us
with the Father. But when, as partakers of the heavenly
glory, we shall see God as he is, then Christ, having accom
plished the office of Mediator, shall cease to be the vicegerent
of the Father, and will be content with the glory which he
possessed before the world was. Nor is the name of Lord
specially applicable to the person of Christ in any other
respect than in so far as he holds a middle place between God
and us. To this effect are the words of Paul, " To us there
is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we
in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things,
and we by him," (1 Cor. viii. 6 ;) that is, to the latter a tem
porary authority has been committed by the Father until his
divine majesty shah1 be beheld face to face. His giving up
of the kingdom to the Father, so far from impairing his
majesty, will give a brighter manifestation of it. God will
then cease to be the head of Christ, and Christ's own God
head will then shine forth of itself, whereas it is now in a
manner veiled.

4. This observation, if the readers apply it properly, will
be of no small use in solving a vast number of difficulties.
For it is strange how the ignorant, nay, some who are not
altogether without learning, are perplexed by these modes of
expression which they see applied to Christ, without being
properly adapted either to his divinity or his humanity, not
considering their accordance with the character in which he
was manifested as God and man, and with his office of Me
diator. It is very easy to see how beautifully they accord
with each other, provided they have a sober interpreter, one
who examines these great mysteries with the reverence which
is meet. But there is nothing which furious and frantic
spirits cannot throw into confusion.2 They fasten on the

1 Vide Calv. Epist. ad Polonos adversus Stancarum.

2 See August, in Enchir. ad Laurent, c. 36.

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 27

attributes of humanity to destroy his divinity ; and, on the
other hand, on those of his divinity to destroy his humanity:
while those which, spoken conjointly of the two natures, apply
to neither, they employ to destroy both. But what else
is this than to contend that Christ is not man because he is
God, not God because he is man, and neither God nor
man because he is both at once. Christ, therefore, as God
and man, possessing natures which are united, but not con
fused, we conclude that he is our Lord and the true Son of
God, even according to his humanity, though not by means
of his humanity. For we must put far from us the heresy of
Nestorius, who, presuming to dissect rather than distinguish |
between the two natures, devised a double Christ. But we
see the Scripture loudly protesting against this, when the
name of the Son of God is given to him who is born of a
Virgin, and the Virgin herself is called the mother of our
Lord, (Luke i. 32, 43.) We must beware also of the insane
fancy of Eutyches, lest, when we would demonstrate the
unity of person, we destroy the two natures. The many
passages we have already quoted, in which the divinity is
distinguished from the humanity, and the many other pass
ages existing throughout Scripture, may well stop the mouth
of the most contentious. I wTill shortly add a few obser
vations, which will still better dispose of this fiction. For
the present, one passage will suffice — Christ would not have
called his body a temple, (John ii. 19,) had not the Godhead
distinctly dwelt in it. Wherefore, as Nestorius had been
justly condemned in the Council of Ephesus, so afterwards
was Eutyches in those of Constantinople and Chalcedon, it
being not more lawful to confound the two natures of Christ
than to divide them.

5. But in our age, also, has arisen a not less fatal monster,
Michael Servetus, who for the Son of God has substituted a
figment composed of the essence of God, spirit, flesh, and
three uncreated elements. First, indeed, he denies that
Christ is the Son of God, for any other reason than because
he was begotten in the womb of the Virgin by the Holy
Spirit. The tendency of this crafty device is to make out,
by destroying the distinction of the two natures, that Christ

28 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

is somewhat composed of God and man, and yet is not to
be deemed God and man. His aim throughout is to estab
lish, that before Christ was manifested in the flesh there
were only shadowy figures in God, the truth or effect of which
existed for the first time, when the Word who had been
destined to that honour truly began to be the Son of God.
We indeed acknowledge that the Mediator who was born of
the Virgin is properly the Son of God. And how could the
man Christ be a mirror of the inestimable grace of God, had
not the dignity been conferred upon him both of being and of
being called the only-begotten Son of God ? Meanwhile, how
ever, the definition of the Church stands unmoved, that he is
accounted the Son of God, because the Word begotten by the
Father before all ages assumed human nature by hypostatic
union, — a term used by ancient writers to denote the union
which of two natures constitutes one person, and invented
to refute the dream of Nestorius, who pretended that the
Son of God dwelt in the flesh in such a manner as not to
be at the same time man. Servetus calumniously charges
us with making the Son of God double, when we say that
the eternal Word before he was clothed with flesh was
already the Son of God : as if we said anything more than
that he was manifested in the flesh. Although he was God
before he became man, he did not therefore begin to be a
new God. Nor is there any greater absurdity in holding
that the Son of God, who by eternal generation ever had the
property of being a Son, appeared in the flesh. This is in
timated by the angel's words to Mary : " That holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God,"
(Luke i. 35 ;) as if he had said that the name of Son, which
was more obscure under the law, would become celebrated and
universally known. Corresponding to this is the passage of
Paul, that being now the sons of God by Christ, we " have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father," (Rom. viii. 15.) Were not also the holy patri
archs of old reckoned among the sons of God ? Yea, trusting
to this privilege, they invoked God as their Father. But
because ever since the only-begotten Son of God came forth
into the world, his celestial paternity has been more clearly

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 29

manifested, Paul assigns this to the kingdom of Christ as
its distinguishing feature. We must, however, constantly
hold, that God never was a Father to angels and men save
in respect of his only-begotten Son : that men, especially, who
by their iniquity were rendered hateful to God, are sons by
gratuitous adoption, because he is a Son by nature. Nor is
there anything in the assertion of Servetus, that this de
pends on the filiation which God had decreed with himself.
Here we deal not with figures, as expiation by the blood of
beasts was shown to be ; but since they could not be the
sons of God in reality, unless their adoption was founded in
the head, it is against all reason to deprive the head of that
which is common to the members. I go farther : since
the Scripture gives the name of sons of God to the angels,
whose great dignity in this respect depended not on the
future redemption, Christ must in order take precedence of
them that he may reconcile the Father to them. I will
again briefly repeat and add the same thing concerning the
human race. Since angels as well as men were at first
created on the condition that God should be the common
Father of both ; if it is true, as Paul says, that Christ always
was the head, " the first-born of every creature — that in all
things he might have the pre-eminence," (Col. i. 15, 18,) I
think I may legitimately infer, that he existed as the Son of
God before the creation of the world.

6. But if his filiation (if I may so express it) had a begin
ning at the time when he was manifested in the flesh, it
follows that he wras a Son in respect of human nature also.
Servetus, and others similarly frenzied, hold that Christ who
appeared in the flesh is the Son of God, inasmuch as but
for his incarnation he could not have possessed this name.
Let them now answer me, whether, according to both
natures, and in respect of both, he is a Son ? So indeed they
prate ; but Paul's doctrine is very different. We acknow
ledge, indeed, that Christ in human nature is called a Son,
not like believers by gratuitous adoption merely, but the true,
natural, and, therefore, only Son, this being the mark which
distinguishes him from all others. Those of us who are re
generated to a new life God honours with the name of sons ;

30 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

the name of true and only-begotten Son he bestows on
Christ alone. But how is he an only Son in so great a mul-
I titude of brethren, except that he possesses by nature what
j we acquire by gift ? This honour we extend to his whole
character of Mediator, so that He who was born of a Virgin,
and on the cross offered himself in sacrifice to the Father,
is truly and properly the Son of God ; but still in respect of
his Godhead : as Paul teaches when he says, that he was
" separated unto the gospel of God, (which he had promised
afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures,) concerning his
Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of
David according to the flesh ; and declared to be the Son
of God with power," (Rom. i. 1—4.) When distinctly call
ing him the Son of David according to the flesh, why should
he also say that he was " declared to be the Son of God,"
if he meant not to intimate, that this depended on some
thing else than his incarnation ? For in the same sense in
which he elsewhere says, that " though he was crucified
through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God,"
(2 Cor. xiii. 4,) so he now draws a distinction between the
two natures. They must certainly admit, that as on account
of his mother he is called the Son of David, so, on account
of his Father, he is the Son of God, and that in some respect
differing from his human nature. The Scripture gives him
both names, calling him at one time the Son of God, at
another the Son of Man. As to the latter, there can be no

(question that he is called a Son in accordance with the
phraseology of the Hebrew language, because he is of the
offspring of Adam. On the other hand, I maintain that he
is called a Son on account of his Godhead and eternal
| essence, because it is no less congruous to refer to his divine
i nature his being called the Son of God, than to refer to his
S human nature his being called the Son of Man. In fine, in
the passage which I have quoted, Paul does not mean, that
he who according to the flesh was begotten of the seed of
David, was declared to be the Son of God in any other
sense than he elsewhere teaches that Christ, who descended
of the Jews according to the flesh, is " over all, God
blessed for ever," (Rom. ix. 5.) But if in both passages the

CHAP. XTY. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 31

distinction of two natures is pointed out, how can it be de
nied, that he who according to the flesh is the Son of Man,
is also in respect of his divine nature the Son of God ?

7. They indeed find a blustering defence of their heresy in
its being said, that " God spared not his own Son," and in
the communication of the angel, that He who was to be born
of the Virgin should be called the " Son of the Highest,"
(Rom. viii. 32 ; Luke i. 32.) But before pluming them
selves on this futile objection, let them for a little consider
with us what weight there is in their argument. If it is
legitimately concluded, that at conception he began to be
the Son of God, because he who has been conceived is called
a Son, it will follow, that he began to be the Word after his
manifestation in the flesh, because John declares, that the
Word of life of which he spoke was that which " our hands
have handled," (1 John i. 1.) In like manner we read
in the prophet, " Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou
be little among the thousands of Israel, yet out of thee
shall he come forth that is to be a ruler in Israel ; whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting," (Mic.
v. 2.) How will they be forced to interpret if they will
follow such a method of arguing ? I have declared that we
by no means assent to Nestorius, who imagined a twofold
Christ, when we maintain that Christ, by means of brotherly
union, made us* sons of God with himself, because in the
flesh, which he took from us, he is the only-begotten Son
of God. And Augustine wisely reminds us,1 that he is
a bright mirror of the wonderful and singular grace of God,
because as man he obtained honour which he could not
merit. With this distinction, therefore, according to the
flesh, was Christ honoured even from the womb, viz., to
be the Son of God. Still, in the unity of person we are
not to imagine any intermixture which takes away from
the Godhead what is peculiar to it. Nor is it more absurd
that the eternal Word of God and Christ, uniting the two
natures in one person, should in different ways be called
the Son of God, than that he should in various respects be

1 See August. De Corruptione et Gratia, cap. xi., et De Civitate Dei,
lib. x. cap. 29, et alibi. See also cap. xvii. s. 1.

32 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

called at one time the Son of God, at another the Son of
Man. Nor are we more embarrassed by another cavil of
Servetus, viz., that Christ, before he appeared in the flesh, is
nowhere called the Son of God, except under a figure. For
though the description of him was then more obscure, yet it
has already been clearly proved, that he was not otherwise
the eternal God, than as he was the Word begotten of the
eternal Father. Nor is the name applicable to the office of
Mediator which he undertook, except in that he was God
manifest in the flesh. Nor would God have thus from the
beginning been called a Father, had there not been even
then a mutual relation to the Son, " of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named," (Eph. iii. 15.) Hence
it is easy to infer, that under the Law and the Prophets
he was the Son of God before this name was celebrated in
the Church. But if we are to dispute about the word merely,
Solomon, speaking of the incomprehensibility of God, affirms
that his Son is like himself, incomprehensible : " What is his
name, and what is his Son's name, if thou canst tell ?" (Prov.
xxx. 4.) I am well aware that with the contentious this
passage will not have sufficient weight ; nor do I found much
upon it, except as showing the malignant cavils of those
who affirm that Christ is the Son of God only in so far as
he became man. We may add, that all the most ancient
writers, with one mouth and consent, testified the same
thing so plainly, that the effrontery is no less ridiculous than
detestable, which dares to oppose us with Irenasus and Ter-
tullian, both of whom acknowledge that He who was after
wards visibly manifested was the invisible Son of God.1

8. But although Servetus heaped together a number of
horrid dogmas, to which, perhaps, others would not subscribe,
you will find, that all who refuse to acknowledge the Son of
God except in the flesh, are obliged, when urged more
closely, to admit that he was a Son, for no other reason
than because he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin
by the Holy Spirit ; just like the absurdity of the ancient

1 See Irenasus, lib. iv. cap. 14 et 37 ; Tertullian adversus Praxeam.
The above passage from The Proverbs is quoted by Augustine, Ep. 49,
Quics. 5.

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 33

Manichees, that the soul of man was derived by transfusion
from God, from its being said, that he breathed into Adam's
nostrils the breath of life, (Gen. ii. 7.) For they lay such
stress on the name of Son that they leave no distinction
between the natures, but babblingly maintain that the man
Christ is the Son of God, because, according to his human
nature, he was begotten of God. Thus, the eternal genera
tion of Wisdom, celebrated by Solomon, (Prov. viii. 22, seq.)
is destroyed, and no kind of Godhead exists in the Mediator :
or a phantom is substituted instead of a man. The grosser
delusions of Servetus, by which he imposed upon himself and
some others, it were useful to refute, that pious readers might
be warned by the example, to confine themselves within the
bounds of soberness and modesty : however, I deem it super
fluous here, as I have already done it in a special treatise.1
The whole comes to this, that the Son of God was from the
beginning an idea, and was even then a preordained man, who
was to be the essential image of God. Nor does he acknow
ledge any 'other word of God except in external splendour. The
generation he interprets to mean, that from the beginning a
purpose of generating the Son was begotten in God, and that
this purpose extended itself by act to creation. Meanwhile, he
confounds the Spirit with the Word, saying that God arranged
the invisible Word and Spirit into flesh and soul. In short,
in his view the typifying of Christ occupies the place of
generation ; but he says, that he who was then in appearance
a shadowy Son, was at length begotten by the Word, to which
he attributes a generating power. From this it will follow,
that dogs and swine are not less sons of God, because created
of the original seed of the Divine Word. But although he
compounds Christ of three uncreated elements, that he may
be begotten of the essence of God, he pretends that he is the
first-born among the creatures, in such a sense that, according
to their degree, stones have the same essential divinity. But
lest he should seem to strip Christ of his Deity, he admits
that his flesh is O/AOOVGIOV, of the same substance with God, and
that the Word was made man, by the conversion of flesh

Vide Calv. Defensio Orthodox® Fidel Sacrae Trinitatis adversus Pro-
digiosos Errores Michaelis Serveti Hispani.

VOL. II. C

84 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

into Deity. Thus, while he cannot comprehend that Christ
was the Son of God, until his flesh came forth from the
essence of God and was converted into Deity, he reduces the
eternal personality (Jiypostasis) of the Word to nothing, and
robs us of the Son of David, who was the promised Redeemer.
It is true, he repeatedly declares that the Son was begotten
of God by knowledge and predestination, but that he was at
length made man out of that matter which, from the begin
ning, shone with God in the three elements, and afterwards
appeared in the first light of the world, in the cloud and pillar
of fire. How shamefully inconsistent with himself he ever and
anon becomes, it were too tedious to relate. From this brief
account sound readers will gather, that by the subtle ambigui
ties of this infatuated man, the hope of salvation was utterly
extinguished. For if the flesh were the Godhead itself, it
would cease to be its temple. Now, the only Redeemer wTe
can have is He who being begotten of the seed of Abraham
and David according to the flesh, truly became man. But
he erroneously insists on the expression of John, " The Word
was made flesh." As these words refute the heresy of Nes-
torius, so they give no countenance to the impious fiction
of which Eutyches was the inventor, since all that the
Evangelist intended was to assert a unity of person in two
natures.

CHAP. XV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 35

CHAPTER XV.

THREE THINGS CHIEFLY TO BE REGARDED IN CHRIST; VIZ.,
HIS OFFICES OF PROPHET, KING, AND PRIEST.

The principal parts of this chapter are — I. Of the Prophetical Office
of Christ, its dignity and use, sec. 1, 2. II. The nature of the Kingly
power of Christ, and the advantage we derive from it, sec. 3-5. III. Of
the Priesthood of Christ, and the efficacy of it, sec. 6.

Sections.

1. Among heretics and false Christians, Christ is found in name only ;

but by those who are truly and eifectually called of God, he is
acknowledged as a Prophet, King, and Priest. In regard to the Pro
phetical Office, theKedeemer of the Church is the same from whom
believers under the Law hoped for the full light of understanding.

2. The unction of Christ, though it has respect chiefly to the Kingly Office,

refers also to the Prophetical and Priestly Offices. The dignity,
necessity, and use of this unction.

3. From the spirituality of Christ's kingdom its eternity is inferred.

This twofold, referring both to the whole body of the Church, and
to its individual members.

4. Benefits from the spiritual kingdom of Christ. 1. It raises us to

eternal life. 2. It enriches us with all things necessary to salvation.

3. It makes us invincible by spiritual foes. 4. It animates us to
patient endurance. 5. It inspires confidence and triumph. 6. It
supplies fortitude and love.

5. The unction of our Redeemer heavenly. Symbol of this unction.

A passage in the apostle reconciled with others previously quoted, to
prove the eternal kingdom of Christ.

6. What necessary to obtain the benefit of Christ's Priesthood. We

must set out with the death of Christ. From it follows, 1. His inter
cession for us. 2. Confidence in prayer. 3. Peace of conscience.

4. Through Christ, Christians themselves become priests. Griev
ous sin of the Papists in pretending to sacrifice Christ.

1. THOUGH heretics pretend the name of Christ, truly
does Augustine affirm, (Enchir. ad Laurent, cap. v.,) that the
foundation is not common to them with the godly, but belongs
exclusively to the Church : for if those things which pertain

26 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

to Christ be diligently considered, it will be found that Christ
is with them in name only, not in reality. Thus, in the pre
sent day, though the Papists have the words, Son of God,
Redeemer of the world, sounding in their mouths, yet, be
cause contented with an empty name, they deprive him of
his virtue and dignity ; what Paul says of " not holding
the head," is truly applicable to them, (Col. ii. 19.) There
fore, that faith may find in Christ a solid ground of salvation,
and so rest in him, we must set out with this principle, that
the office which he received from the Father consists of three
parts. For he was appointed both Prophet, King, and
Priest ; though little were gained by holding the names unac
companied by a knowledge of the end and use. These too
are spoken of in the Papacy, but frigidly, and with no great
benefit, the full meaning comprehended under each title not
being understood. We formerly observed, that though God,
by supplying an uninterrupted succession of prophets, never
left his people destitute of useful doctrine, such as might
suffice for salvation ; yet the minds of believers were always
impressed with the conviction that the full light of under
standing was to be expected only on the advent of the Messiah.
This expectation, accordingly, had reached even the Samari
tans, to whom the true religion had never been made known.
This is plain from the expression of the woman, " I know
that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is
come, he will tell us all things," (John iv. 25.) Nor was this
a mere random presumption which had entered the minds of
the Jews. They believed what sure oracles had taught them.
One of the most remarkable passages is that of Isaiah, " Be
hold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader
and commander to the people," (Is. Iv. 4 ;) that is, in the
same way in which he had previously in another place styled
him " Wonderful, Counsellor," (Is. ix. 6.1) For this reason,
the apostle commending the perfection of gospel doctrine,
first says that " God, at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in times past unto the prophets," and then adds, that he
" hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son," (Heb.

1 Calvin translates, " Angelum vel Interpretcm magni consilii ;" — u the
Angel or Interpreter of the great counsel."

CHAP. XV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 37

i. 1, 2.) But as the common office of the prophets was to
hold the Church in suspense, and at the same time support
it until the advent of the Mediator ; we read, that the faith
ful, during the dispersion, complained that they were deprived
of that ordinary privilege. " We see not our signs : there
is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any that
knoweth how long," (Ps. Ixxiv. 9.) But when Christ was
now not far distant, a period was assigned to Daniel " to
seal up the vision and prophecy," (Daniel ix. 24,) not only
that the authority of the prediction there spoken of might be
established, but that believers might, for a time, patiently
submit to the want of the prophets, the fulfilment and com
pletion of all the prophecies being at hand.

2. Moreover, it is to be observed, that the name Christ
refers to those three offices : for we know that under the
Law, prophets as well as priests and kings were anointed
with holy oil. Whence, also, the celebrated name of Mes
siah was given to the promised Mediator. But although I
admit (as, indeed, I have elsewhere shown) that he was so
called from a view to the nature of the kingly office, still the
prophetical and sacerdotal unctions have their proper place,
and must not be overlooked. The former is expressly men
tioned by Isaiah in these words : " The Spirit of the Lord God
is upon me : because the Lord hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek ; he hath sent me to bind up the
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord," (Is. Ix. 1, 2.) We see that
he was anointed by the Spirit to be a herald and witness of
his Father's grace, and not in the usual way ; for he is distin
guished from other teachers who had a similar office. And
here, again, it is to be observed, that the unction which he
received, in order to perform the office of teacher, was not for
himself, but for his whole body, that a corresponding efficacy
of the Spirit might always accompany the preaching of
the Gospel. This, however, remains certain, that by the
perfection of doctrine which he brought, an end was put to
all the prophecies, so that those who, not contented with the
Gospel, annex somewhat extraneous to it, derogate from its

38 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

authority. The voice which thundered from heaven, " This
is my beloved Son, hear him," gave him a special privilege
above all other teachers. Then from him, as head, this
unction is diffused through the members, as Joel has foretold,
" Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old
men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see
visions," (Joel ii. 28.) Paul's expressions, that he was
" made unto us wisdom," (1 Cor. i. 30,) and elsewhere, that
in him " are hid all the treasures of wisdom and know
ledge," (Col. ii. 3,) have a somewhat different meaning,
namely, that out of him there is nothing worth knowing, and
that those who, by faith, apprehend his true character,
possess the boundless immensity of heavenly blessings. For
which reason, he elsewhere says, " I determined not to know
any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified,"
(1 Cor. ii. 2.) And most justly : for it is unlawful to go
beyond the simplicity of the Gospel. The purpose of this
proj^hetical dignity in Christ is to teach us, that in the doc
trine which he delivered is substantially included a wisdom
which is perfect in all its parts.

3. I come to the K^inglyjoffice, of which it were in vain
to speak, without previously reminding the reader that
its nature is spiritual; because it is from thence we learn
its efficacy, the benefits it confers, its whole power and
eternity. Eternity, moreover, which in Daniel an angel
attributes to the office of Christ, (Dan. ii. 44,) in Luke an
angel justly applies to the salvation of his people, (Luke i.
33.) But this is also twofold, and must be viewed in two
ways ; the one pertains to the whole body of the Church, the
other is proper to each member. To the former is to be
referred what is said in the Psalms, " Once have I sworn by
my holiness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall
endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It
shall be established for ever, as the moon, and as a faithful
witness in heaven," (Ps. Ixxxix. 35, 37.) There can be no
doubt that God here promises that he will be, by the hand of
his Son, the eternal governor and defender of the Church.
In none brr; Christ will the fulfilment of this prophecy
be found ; since immediately after Solomon's death the king-

CHAP. XV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 39

dom in a great measure lost its dignity, and, with ignominy
to the family of David, was transferred to a private indivi
dual. Afterwards decaying by degrees, it at length came
to a sad and dishonourable end. In the same sense are we
to understand the exclamation of Isaiah, " Who shall declare
his generation ?" (Isaiah liii. 8.) For he asserts that Christ
will so survive death as to be connected with his members.
Therefore, as often as we hear that Christ is armed with
etej*mdjDj)wer, let us learn that the perpetuity of the Church
is thus effectually secured ; that amid the turbulent agita
tions by which it is constantly harassed, and the grievous
and fearful commotions which threaten innumerable disasters,
it still remains safe. Thus, Avhen David derides the auda
city of the enemy who attempt to throw off the yoke of God
and his anointed, and says, that kings and nations rage " in
vain," (Ps. ii. 2-4,) because he who sitteth in the heaven is
strong enough to repel their assaults, assuring believers of the
perpetual preservation of the Church, he animates them to
have good hope whenever it is occasionally oppressed. So,
in another place, when speaking in the person of God, he
says, " The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right
hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool," (Ps. ex. 1,)
he reminds us, that however numerous and powerful the ene
mies who conspire to assault the Church, they are not pos
sessed of strength sufficient to prevail against the immortal
decree by which he appointed his Son eternal King. Whence
it follows that the devil, with the whole power of the world,
can never possibly destroy the Church, which is founded on i
the eternal throne of Christ. Then in regard to the special |
use to be made by each believer, this same eternity ought to
elevate us to the hope of a^ jigged. imraoilali|iy . For we see
that every thing which is earthly, and of the world, is tem
porary, and soon fades away. Christ, therefore, to raise our
hope to the heavens, declares that his kingdom is not of this
world, (John xviii. 36.) In fine, let each of us, when he
hears that the kingdom of Christ is spiritual, be roused by
the thought to entertain the hope of a better life, and to
expect that as it is now protected by the hand of Christ, so
it will be fully realised in a future life.

40 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

4. That the strength and utility of the kingdom of Christ
cannot, as we have said, be fully perceived, without recog
nising it as sgjrjjku&J, is sufficiently apparent, even from this,
that having during the whole course of our lives to war
under the cross, our condition here is bitter and wretched.
What then would it avail us to be ranged under the govern
ment of a heavenly King, if its benefits were not realised
beyond the present earthly life ? We must, therefore, know
that the happiness which is promised to us in Christ does not
consist in external advantages — such as leading a joyful and
tranquil life, abounding in wealth, being secure against all
injury, and having an affluence of delights, such as the flesh is
wont to long for — but properly belongs to the heavenly life.
As in the world the prosperous and desirable condition of
a people consists partly in the abundance of temporal good
and domestic peace, and partly in the strong protection which
gives security against external violence ; so Christ also en
riches his people with all things necessary to the eternal
salvation of their souls, and fortifies them with courage to
stand unassailable by all the attacks of spiritual foes. Whence
\ve infer, that he reigns more for us than for himself, and
that both within us and without us ; that being replenished,
in so far as God knows to be expedient, with the gifts of the
Spirit, of which we are naturally destitute, we may feel from
their first fruits, that we are truly united to God for perfect
blessedness ; and then trusting to the power of the same
Spirit, may not doubt that we shall always be victorious
against the devil, the world, and every thing that can do us
harm. To this effect was our Saviour's reply to the Pharisees,
" The kingdom of God is within you." " The kingdom of God
cometh not with observation," (Luke xvii. 21, 22.) It
is probable that on his declaring himself to be that King
under whom the highest blessing of God was to be expected,
they had in derision asked him to produce his insignia. But
to prevent those who were already more than enough in
clined to the earth from dwelling on its pomp, he bids them
enter into their consciences, for " the kingdom of God" is
" righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," (Rom.
xiv. 17.) These words briefly teach what thejdngdom of

CHAP. XV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 41

Christ bestows upon us. Not being earthly or carnal, and so
subject to corruption, but spiritual, it raises us even to eter
nal life, so that we can patiently live -at present under toil,
hunger, cold, contempt, disgrace, and other annoyances ;
contented with this, that our King will never abandon us,
but will supply our necessities until our warfare is ended,
and we are called to triumph : such being the nature of his
kingdom, that he communicates to us whatever he received of
his Father. Since then he arms and equips us by his power,
adorns us with splendour and magnificence, enriches us with
wealth, we here find most abundant cause of glory ing, "and
also are inspired with boldness, so that we can contend in
trepidly with the devil, sin, and death. In fine, clothed with
his righteousness, we can bravely surmount all the insults of
the world : and as he replenishes us liberally with his gifts, so
we can in our turn bring forth fruit unto his glory.

5. Accordingly, his royal unction is not set before us as com
posed of oil or aromatic perfumes ; but he is called the Christ
of God, because " the Spirit of the Lord" rested upon him ;
" the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of
counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear
of the Lord," (Isaiah xi. 2.) This is the oil of joy with which
the Psalmist declares that he was anointed above his fel
lows, (Ps. xlv. 7.) For, as has been said, he was not enriched
privately for himself, but that he might refresh the parched
and hungry with his abundance. For as the Father is said to
have given the Spirit to the Son without measure, (John iii.
34,) so the reason is expressed, that we might all receive of
his fulness, and grace for grace, (John i. 16.) From this
fountain flows the copious supply (of which Paul makes men
tion, Eph. iv. 7) by which grace is variously distributed to
believers according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Here
we have ample confirmation of what I said, that the kingdom
of Christ consists in the Spirit, and not in earthly delights
or pomp, and that hence, in order to be partakers with him,
we must renounce the world. A visible symbol of this grace
was exhibited at the baptism of Christ, when the Spirit rest
ed upon him in the form of a dove. To designate the Spirit
and his gifts by the term unction is not new, and ought not

42 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

to seem absurd, (see 1 John ii. 20, 27,) because this is the
only quarter from which we derive life ; but especially
in what regards the heavenly life, there is not a drop of
vigour in us save what the Holy Spirit instils, who has chosen
his seat in Christ, that thence the heavenly riches, of which
we are destitute, might flow to us in copious abundance.
But because believers stand invincible in the strength of their
King, and his spiritual riches abound towards them, they are
not improperly called Christians. Moreover, from this eter
nity of which we have spoken, there is nothing derogatory
in the expression of Paul, " Then cometh the end, when
he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father," (1 Cor. xv. 24;) and also, "Then shall the Son
also himself be subject unto him that put all things under
him, that God may be all in all," (1 Cor. xv. 28 ;) for the
meaning merely is, that, in that perfect glory, the adminis
tration of the kingdom will not be such as it now is. For
1 the Father hath given all power to the Son, that by his hand
\ he may govern, cherish, sustain us, keep us under his
1 guardianship, and give assistance to us. Thus, while we
wander far as pilgrims from God, Christ interposes, that he
may gradually bring us to full communion with God. And,
indeed, his sitting at the right hand of the Father has the
same meaning as if he was called the vicegerent of the
Father, entrusted with the whole power of government. For
God is pleased, mediately (so to speak) in his person to rule
and defend the Church. Thus also his being seated at the
right hand of the Father is explained by Paul, in the Epistle
to the Ephesians, to mean, that " he is the head over all
things to the Church, which is his body," (Eph. i. 20, 22.)
Nor is this different in purport from what he elsewhere
teaches, that God hath " given him a name which is above
every name ; that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow,
of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," (Phil. ii. 9-1 1.) For
in these words, also, he commends an arrangement in the
kingdom of Christ, which is necessary for our present in
firmity. Thus Paul rightly infers that God will then be the

CHAP. XV. CHKISTIAN RELIGION. 43

only Head of the Church, because the office of Christ, in
defending the Church, shall then have been completed. For
the same reason, Scripture throughout calls him Lord, the
Father having appointed him over us for the express pur
pose of exercising his government through him. For though
many lordships are celebrated in the world, yet Paul says,
" To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all
things, and we in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
are all things, and we by him," (1 Cor. viii. 6.) Whence it
is justly inferred that he is the same God, who, by the
mouth of Isaiah, declared, " The Lord is]our Judge, the Lord
is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King : he will save us,"
(Isaiah xxxiii. 22.) For though he every where describes
ah1 the power which he possesses as the benefit and gift of
the Father, the meaning simply is, that he reigns by divine
authority, because his reason for assuming the office of Me
diator was, that descending from the bosom and incompre
hensible glory of the Father, he might draw near to us.
Wherefore there is the greater reason that we all should
with one consent prepare to obey, and with the greatest
alacrity yield implicit obedience to his will. For as he
unites the offices of King and Pastor towards believers, who
voluntarily submit to him, so, on the other hand, we are told
that he wields an iron sceptre to break and bruise all the
rebellious like a potter's vessel, (Ps. ii. 9.) We are also
told that he will be the Judge of the Gentiles, that he will
cover the earth with dead bodies, and level down every
opposing height, (Ps. ex. 6.) Of this examples are seen
at present, but full proof will be given at the final judg
ment, which may be properly regarded as the last act of his
reign.

6. With regard to his Priesthood, we must briefly hold its
end and use to be, that as a Mediator, free from all taint, he /
may by his own holiness procure the favour of God for us.
But because a deserved curse obstructs the entrance, and
God in his character of Judge is hostile to us, expiation
must necessarily intervene, that as a priest employed to
appease the wrath of God, he may reinstate us in his favour.
Wherefore, in order that Christ might fulfil this office, it

44 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

behoved him to appear with a sacrifice. For even under the
law of the priesthood it was forbidden to enter the sanctuary
without blood, to teach the worshipper that however the
priest might interpose to deprecate, God could not be pro
pitiated without the expiation of sin. On this subject the
Apostle discourses at length in the Epistle to the Hebrews,
from the seventh almost to the end of the tenth chapter.
The sum comes to this, that the honour of the priesthood was
competent to none but Christ, because, by the sacrifice of
his death, he wiped away our guilt, and made satisfaction for
sin. Of the great importance of this matter, we are reminded
by that solemn oath which God uttered, and of which he
declared he would not repent, " Thou art a priest for ever,
after the order of Melchizedek," (Ps. ex. 4.) For, doubtless,
his purpose was to ratify that point on which he knew that
our salvation chiefly hinged. For, as has been said, there is
no access to God for us or for our prayers until the priest,
purging away our defilements, sanctify us, and obtain for us
that favour of which the impurity of our lives and hearts de
prives us. Thus we see, that if the benefit and efficacy of
Christ's priesthood is to reach us, the commencement must
be with his death. Whence it follows, that he by whose
aid we obtain favour, must be a perpetual intercessor. From
this again arises not only confidence, . in prayer, but also the
tranquillity of pious minds, while they recline in safety on the
paternal indulgence of God, and feel assured, that whatever
has been consecrated by the Mediator is pleasing to him.
But since God under the Law ordered sacrifices of beasts to
be offered to him, there was a different and new arrange
ment in regard to Christ, viz., that he should be at once
victim and priest, because no other fit satisfaction for sin
could be found, nor was any one worthy of the -honour of
oifering an only begotten son to God. Christ now bears the
office of priest, not only that by the eternal law of reconcilia
tion he may render the Father favourable and propitious to
us, but also admit us into this most honourable alliance: For
we though in ourselves polluted, in him being priests, (Rev.
i. 6,) offer ourselves and our all to God, and freely enter the
heavenly sanctuary, so that the sacrifices of prayer and praise

CHAP. XV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 45

which we present are grateful and of sweet odour before
him. To this effect are the words of Christ, " For their
sakes I sanctify myself/' (John xvii. 19 ;) for being clothed
with his holiness, inasmuch as he has devoted us to the Father
with himself, (otherwise we were an abomination before him,)
we please him as if we were pure and clean, nay, even
sacred. Hence that unction of the sanctuary of which men
tion is made in Daniel, (Dan. ix. 24.) For we must attend
to the contrast between this unction and the shadowy one
which was then in use ; as if the angel had said, that when
the shadows were dispersed, there would be a clear priest
hood in the person of Christ. The more detestable, therefore,
is the fiction of those who, not content with the priesthood
of Christ, have dared to take it upon themselves to sacrifice
him, a thing daily attempted in the Papacy, where the mass
is represented as an immolation of Christ.

46 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

CHAPTER XVI.

HOW CHRIST PERFORMED THE OFFICE OF REDEEMER IN
PROCURING OUR SALVATION. THE DEATH, RESURREC
TION, AND ASCENSION OF CHRIST.

This chapter contains four leading heads — I. A general consideration
of the whole subject, including a discussion of a necessary question
concerning the justice of God and his mercy in Christ, sec. 1-4. II. How
Christ fulfilled the office of Redeemer in each of its parts, sec. 5-17.
His death, burial, descent to hell, resurrection, ascension to heaven, seat
at the right hand of the Father, and return to judgment. III. A great
part of the Creed being here expounded, a statement is given of the
view which ought to be taken of the Creed commonly ascribed to the
Apostles, sec. 18. IV. Conclusion, setting forth the doctrine of Christ
the Redeemer, and the use of the doctrine, sec. 19.

Sections.

1. Every thing needful for us exists in Christ. How it is to be obtained.

2. Question as to the mode of reconciling the justice with the mercy of

God. Modes of expression used in Scripture to teach us how
miserable our condition is without Christ.

3. Not used improperly ; for God finds in us ground both of hatred and

love.

4. This confirmed from passages of Scripture and from Augustine.

5. The second part of the chapter, treating of our redemption by Christ.

First generally. Redemption extends to the whole course of our
Saviour's obedience, but is specially ascribed to his death. The
voluntary subjection of Christ. His agony. His condemnation
before Pilate. Two things observable in his condemnation. 1. That
he was numbered among transgressors. 2. That he was declared
innocent by the judge. Use to be made of this.

6. Why Christ was crucified. This hidden doctrine typified in the Law,

and completed by the Apostles and Prophets. In what sense Christ
was made a curse for us. The cross of Christ connected with the
shedding of his blood.

7. Of the death of Christ. Why he died. Advantages from his death.

Of the burial of Christ. Advantages.

8. Of the descent into hell. This article gradually introduced into the

Church. Must not be rejected, nor confounded with the previous
article respecting burial.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 47

9. Absurd exposition concerning the Limbus Patrum. This fable refuted.

10. The article of the descent to hell more accurately expounded. A

great ground of comfort.

11. Confirmation of this exposition from passages of Scripture and the

works of ancient Theologians. An objection refuted. Advantages
of the doctrine.

12. Another objection that Christ is insulted, and despair ascribed to

him in its being said that he feared. Answer, from the statements
of the Evangelists, that he did fear, was troubled in spirit, amazed,
and tempted in all respects as we are, yet without sin. Why
Christ was pleased to become weak. His fear without sin. Kefu-
tation of another objection, with an answer to the question, Did
Christ fear death, and why? When did Christ descend to hell,
and how ? What has been said refutes the heresy of Apollinaris
and of the Monothelites.

13. Of the resurrection of Christ. The many advantages from it. 1.

Our righteousness in the sight of God renewed and restored.
2. His life the basis of our life and hope, also the efficacious cause
of new life in us. 3. The pledge of our future resurrection.

14. Of the ascension of Christ. Why he ascended. Advantages derived

from it.

15. Of Christ's seat at the Father's right hand. What meant by it.

16. Many advantages from the ascension of Christ. 1. He gives access

to the kingdom which Adam had shut up. 2. He intercedes for us
with the Father. 3. His virtue being thence transfused into us,
he works effectually in us for salvation.

17. Of the return of Christ to judgment. Its nature. The quick and

dead who are to be judged. Passages apparently contradictory
reconciled. Mode of judgment.

18. Advantages of the doctrine of Christ's return to judgment. Third

part of the chapter, explaining the view to be taken of the Apostles'
Creed. Summary of the Apostles' Creed.

19. Conclusion of the whole chapter, showing that in Christ the salva

tion of the elect in all its parts is comprehended.

1. ALL that we have hitherto said of Christ leads to this
one result, that condemned, dead, and lost in ourselves, we
must in him seek righteousness, deliverance, life and salva
tion, as we are taught by the celebrated words of Peter,
" Neither is there salvation in any other : for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we
must be saved," (Acts iv. 12.) The name of Jesus was !
not given him at random, or fortuitously, or by the will of
man, but was brought from heaven by an angel, as the herald

48 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

of the supreme decree ;! the reason also being added, " for
he shall save his people from their sins," (Matt. i. 21.) In
these words attention should be paid to what we have else
where observed, that the office of Eedeemer was assigned
him in order that he might be our Saviour. Still, however,
redemption would be defective if it did not conduct us by an
uninterrupted progression to the final goal of safety. There
fore, the moment we turn aside from him in the minutest
degree, salvation, \vhich resides entirely in him, gradually
disappears ; so that all who do not rest in him voluntarily
deprive themselves of all grace. The observation of Bernard
well deserves to be remembered : The name of Jesus is not
only light but food also, yea, oil, without which all the food
of the soul is dry ; salt, without which as a condiment what
ever is set before us is insipid ; in fine, honey in the mouth,
melody in the ear, joy in the heart, and, at the same time,
medicine ; every discourse where this name is not heard is
absurd, (Bernard in Cantica., Serm. 15.) But here it is
necessary diligently to consider in what way we obtain
salvation from him, that we may not only be persuaded that
he is the author of it, but having embraced whatever is
sufficient as a sure foundation of our faith, may eschew all
that might make us waver. For seeing no man can
descend into himself, and seriously consider what he is, without
feeling that God is angry and at enmity with him, and
therefore anxiously longing for the means of regaining his
favour, (this cannot be without satisfaction,) the certainty here
required is of no ordinary description, — sinners, until freed
from guilt, being always liable to the wrath and curse of
God, who, as he is a just judge, cannot permit his law to be
violated with impunity, but is armed for vengeance.

2. But before we proceed farther, we must see in passing,
how can it be said that God, who prevents us with his mercy,
was our enemy until he was reconciled to us by Christ. For
how could he have given us in his only-begotten Son a singular
pledge of his love, if he had not previously embraced us with
free favour ? As there thus arises some appearance of contra-

1 Latin, " Supremi decreti." French, " Decret eternel et inviolable ;" —
Eternal and inviolable decree.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 49

diction, I will explain the difficulty. The mode in which
the Spirit usually speaks in Scripture is, that God was the
enemy of men until they were restored to favour by the
death of Christ, (Rom. v. 10 ;) that they were cursed until
their iniquity was expiated by the sacrifice of Christ, (Gal.
iii. 10, 13 ;) that they were separated from God, until by
means of Christ's body they were received into union, (Col.
i. 21, 22.) Such modes of expression are accommodated to
our capacity, that we may the better understand how miser
able and calamitous our condition is without Christ. For
were it not said in clear terms, that Divine wrath, and ven
geance, and eternal death, lay upon us, we should be less
sensible of our wretchedness without the mercy of God, and less
disposed to value the blessing of deliverance. For example,
let a person be told, Had God at the time you were a
sinner hated you, and cast you off as you deserved, horrible
destruction must have been your doom ; but spontaneously
and of free indulgence he retained you in his favour, not
suffering you to be estranged from him, and in this way
rescued you from danger, — the person will indeed be affected,
and made sensible in some degree how much he owes to
the mercy of God. But again, let him be told, as Scripture
teaches, that he was estranged from God by sin, an heir of
wrath, exposed to the curse of eternal death, excluded from
all hope of salvation, a complete alien from the blessing of
God, the slave of Satan, captive under the yoke of sin ;
in fine, doomed to horrible destruction, and already involved
in it ; that then Christ interposed, took the punishment
upon himself, and bore what by the just judgment of God
was impending over sinners ; with his own blood expiated
the sins which rendered them hateful to God, by this expi
ation satisfied and duly propitiated God the Father, by this
intercession appeased his anger, on this basis founded peace
between God and men, and by this tie secured the Divine
benevolence toward them ; will not these considerations
move him the more deeply, the more strikingly they represent
the greatness of the calamity from which he was delivered ?
In short, since our mind cannot lay hold of life through the
mercy of God with sufficient eagerness, or receive it with
VOL. ir. D

50 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

becoming gratitude, unless previously impressed with, fear of
the Divine anger, and dismayed at the thought of eternal
death, we are so instructed by divine truth, as to perceive
that without Christ God is in a manner hostile to us, and
has his arm raised for our destruction. Thus taught, we
look to Christ alone for divine favour and paternal love.

3. Though this is said in accommodation to the weakness
of our capacity, it is not said falsely. For God, who is per
fect righteousness, cannot love the iniquity which he sees in
all. All of us, therefore, have that within which deserves
the hatred of God. Hence, in respect, first, of our corrupt
nature ; and, secondly, of the depraved conduct following
upon it, we are all offensive to God, guilty in his sight, and
by nature the children of hell. But as the Lord wills not to
destroy in us that which is his own, he still finds something
in us which in kindness he can love. For though it is by our
own fault that we are sinners, we are still his creatures ;
though we have brought death upon ourselves, he had created
us for life. Thus, mere gratuitous love prompts him to
receive us into favour. But if there is a perpetual and irre
concilable repugnance between righteousness and iniquity, so
long as we remain sinners we cannot be completely received.
Therefore, in order that all ground of offence may be removed,
and he may completely reconcile us to himself, he, by means
of the expiation set forth in the death of Christ, abolishes
all the evil that is in us, so that we, formerly impure and
unclean, now appear in his sight just and holy. Accord
ingly, God the Father, by his love, prevents and anticipates
f our reconciliation in Christ. Nay, it is because he first loves
/ us, that he afterwards reconciles us to himself. But because
the iniquity, which deserves the indignation of God, remains
in us until the death of Christ comes to our aid, and that
iniquity is in his sight accursed and condemned, we are not
admitted to full and sure communion with God, unless in so
far as Christ unites us. And, therefore, if we would indulge
the hope of having God placable and propitious to us, we
must fix our eyes and minds on Christ alone, as it is to him
alone it is owing that our sins, which necessarily provoked
the wrath of God, are not imputed to us.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 51

4. For this reason Paul says, that God " hath blessed us
Avith all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ : ac
cording as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of
the world/' (Eph. i. 3, 4.) These things are clear and con
formable to Scripture, and admirably reconcile the passages
in which it is said, that " God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son," (John iii. 16 ;) and yet that it
was " when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son," (Eom. v. 10.) But to give additional
assurance to those who require the authority of the ancient
Church, I will quote a passage of Augustine to the same
effect : " Incomprehensible and immutable is the love of
God. For it was not after we were reconciled to him by the
blood of his Son that he began to love us, but he loved us
before the foundation of the world, that with his only be
gotten Son we too might be sons of God before we were
any thing at all. Our being reconciled by the death of
Christ must not be understood as if the Son reconciled us,
in order that the Father, then hating, might begin to love
us, but that we were reconciled to him already, loving,
though at enmity with us because of sin. To the truth of
both propositions we have the attestation of the Apostle,
* God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us,' (Eom. v. 8.) There-/
fore he had this love towards us even when, exercising \
enmity towards him, we were the workers of iniquity. Ac- !
cordingly., in a manner wondrous and divine, he loved even
when he hated us. For he hated us Avhen we were such as
he had not made us, and yet because our iniquity had not
destroyed his work in every respect, he knew in regard to
each one of us, both to hate what we had made, and love
what he had made." Such are the words of Augustine,
(Tract in Jo. 110.)

5. When it is asked then how Christ, by abolishing sin,
removed the enmity between God and us, and purchased a
righteousness which made him favourable and kind to us, it
may be answered generally, that he accomplished this by the
whole course of his obedience. This is proved by the testi
mony of Paul, " As by one man's disobedience many were
made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made

52 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

righteous," (Rom. v. 19.) And indeed he elsewhere extends
the ground of pardon which exempts from the curse of the
law to the whole life of Christ, " When the fulness of the
time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law," (Gal. iv. 4, 5.) Thus even at his baptism he declared
that a part of righteousness was fulfilled by his yielding
obedience to the command of the Father. Jn short, from the

I moment when he assumed the form of a servant, he began,
in order to redeem us, to pay the price of deliverance. Scrip
ture, however, the more certainly to define the mode of
salvation, ascribes it peculiarly and specially to the death of
Christ. He himself declares that he gave his life a ransom
for many, (Matth.,xx. 28.) Paul teaches that he died for
our sins, (Rom. iv. 25.) John Baptist exclaimed, " Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,"
(John i. 29.) Paul in another passage declares, "that we
are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus : whom God hath set forth to be a propi
tiation through faith in, his blood," (Rom. iii. 25.) Again,
being "justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through him," (Rom. v. 9.) Again, "He hath made him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that .we might be made the
righteousness of God in him," (2 Cor. v. 21..) I will not
search out all the passages, for the list would be endless, and
many a^re afterwards to be quoted in their order. In the
Confession of Faith, called the Apostles' Creed, the transi
tion is admirably made from the birth of Christ to his death
and resurrection," in which the completion of a perfect salva-
\ tion consists. Still there is no exclusion of the other part of
obedience which he performed in life. Thus Paul compre
hends, from the beginning .even to the end, his having
assumed the form of a servant, humbled himself, and become
obedient to death, even the death of the cross, (Phil. ii. 7.)
And, indeed, the first step in obedience was his voluntary
subjection ; for the sacrifice would have been unavailing to
justification if not offered spontaneously. Hence our Lord,
after testifying, " I lay down my life for the sheep," distinctly
adds, " No man taketh it from me," (John x. 15, 18.) In the
game sense Isaiah says, " Like a sheep before her shearers is

CHAP. XYI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 53

dumb, so he opened not his mouth," (Is. liii. 7.) The Gospel
History relates that he came forth to meet the soldiers ; and
in presence of Pilate, instead of defending himself, stood to
receive judgment. This, indeed, he did jnot without a
struggle, for hejiad_assurned our infirmities^ .also, and in this
way it behoved him to prove that he was yielding obedi
ence to his Father. It was no ordinary example of incom
parable love towards us to struggle with dire terrors, and
amid fearful tortures to cast away all care of himself that he
might provide for us. We must bear in mind, that Christ
could not duly propitiate God without renouncing his own
feelings, and subjecting himself entirely to his Father's will.
To this effect the Apostle appositely quotes a passage from
the Psalms, " Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is
written of me) to do thy will, O God," (Heb. x. 5-; Ps. xl.
7, 8.) Thus, as trembling consciences find no rest without
sacrifice and ablution by which sins are expiated, we are pro
perly directed thither, the source of our life being placed in
the death of Christ. Moreover, as the curse consequent upon
guilt remained for the final judgment of God, one principal
point in the narrative is his condemnation before Pontius
Pilate, the governor of Judea, to teach us, that the punishment
to which we were liable was inflicted on that J ust One. We
could not escape the fearful judgment of God ; and Christ,
that he might rescue us from it, submitted to be condemned
by a mortal, nay, by a wicked and profane man. For the
name of Governor is mentioned not only to support the cre
dibility of the narrative, but to remind us of what Isaiah says,
that " the chastisement of our peace was upon him ;" and
that " with his stripes we are healed," (Is. liii. 5.) For, in
order to remove our condemnation, it was not sufficient to
endure any kind of death. To satisfy our ransom, it was/
necessary to select a mode of death in which he might deliver!
us, both by giving himself up to condemnation, and under- \
taking our expiation. Had he been cut off by assassins, or )
slain in a seditious tumult, there could have been no kind off
satisfaction in such a death. But when he is placed as a '
criminal at the bar, where witnesses are brought to give
evidence against him, and the mouth of the judge condemns
him to die, we see him sustaining the character of an offender

54 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

and evil-doer. Here we must attend to two points which
had both been foretold by the prophets, and tend admirably
to comfort and confirm our faith. When we read that Christ
was led away from the judgment-seat to execution, and was
crucified between thieves, we have a fulfilment of the prophecy
which is quoted by the Evangelist, " He was numbered with
the transgressors," (Is. liii. 12 ; Mark xv. 28.) Why was it
so ? That he might bear the character of a sinner, not of a
just or innocent person, inasmuch as he met death on account
not of innocence, but of sin. On the other hand, when we
read that he was acquitted by the same lips that condemned
him, (for Pilate was forced once and again to bear public tes
timony to his innocence,) let us call to mind what is said by
another prophet, " I restored that which I took not away,"
(Ps. Ixix. 4.) Thus we perceive Christ representing the
character of a sinner and a criminal, while, at the same time,
J his innocence shines forth, and it becomes manifest that he
i suffers for another's and not for his OAvn crime. He there
fore suffered under Pontius Pilate, being thus, by the formal
sentence of the judge, ranked among criminals, and yet he is
declared innocent by the same judge, when he affirms that
he finds no cause of death in him. Our acquittal is in this
—that the guilt which made us liable to punishment was
transferred to the head of the Son of God, (Is. liii. 12.) We
must specially remember this sul^itution in order that we
may not be all our lives in trepidation and anxiety, as if the
just vengeance, which the Son of God transferred to himself,
were still impending over us.

6, The very form of the death embodies a striking truth.
The cross was cursed not only in the opinion of men, but by
I the enactment of the Divine Law. Hence Christ, while
I suspended on it, subjects himself to the curse. And thus it
behoved to be done, in order that the whole curse, which on
account of our iniquities awaited us, or rather lay upon us,
might be taken from us by being transferred to him. This was
also shadowed in the Law, since nift&^Xj the word by which
sin itself is properly designated, was applied to the sacrifices
and expiations offered for sin. By this application of the
term, the Spirit intended to intimate, that they were a kind
of xa6ap/j,druv, (purifications,) bearing, by substitution, the

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 55

curse due to sin. But that which was represented figura
tively in the Mosaic sacrifices is exhibited in Christjjhyp
flrd|e.,type- Wherefore, in order to accomplish a full expia
tion, he made his soul tD&^X? 2. e., a propitiatory victim for
sin, (as the prophet says, Is. liii. 5, 10,) on which the guilt
and penalty being in a manner laid, ceases to be imputed to
us. The Apostle declares this more plainly when he says,
that " he made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him," (2 Cor.
v. 21.) For the Son of God, though spotlessly piye- took
upon him the disgrace and ignominy of our iniquities, and in
return clothed us with his purity. To the same thing he seems
to refer, when he says, that he " condemned sin in the flesh,"
(Rom. viii. 3,) the Father having destroyed fo*» pftwo* ^f
sin when it was transferred to the flesh of Christ. This
term, therefore, indicates that Christ, in his death, was
offered to the Father as a propitiatory victim ; that, expiation tt
being made by his sacrifice, we might cease to tremble at the I
divine wrath. It is now clear what the prophet means when |
he says, that " the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us
all," (Is. liii. 6 ;) namely, that as he was to wash away the
pollution of sins, they were transferred to him by imputa
tion. Of this the cross to which he was nailed was a symbol,
as the Apostle declares, " Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us : for it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree : that the blessing
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ," (Gal. iii. 13, 14.) In the same way Peter says,
that he " bare our sins in his own body on the tree," (1 Peter
ii. 24,) inasmuch as from the very symbol of the curse, we
perceive more clearly that the burden with which we were
oppressed was laid upon him. Nor are we to understand
that by the curse which he endured he was himself over
whelmed, but rather that by enduring it he repressed, broke,
annihilated all its force. Accordingly, faith apprehends
acquittal in the condemnation of Christ, and blessing in his
curse. Hence it is not without cause that Paul magnificently
celebrates the triumph which Christ obtained upon the cross,
as if the cross, the symbol of ignominy, had been converted

56 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

into a triumphal chariot. For he says, that he blotted out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which
was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to
his cross : that, " having spoiled principalities and powers, he
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it,"
(Col. ii. 14, 15.) Nor is this to be wondered at ; for, as
another Apostle declares, Christ, " through the eternal Spirit,
offered himself without spot to God," (Heb. ix. 14,) and
hence that transformation of the cross which were otherwise
against its nature. But that these things may take deep root
and have their seat in our inmost hearts, }£

sight, of sacrifice and ablution. For, were not Christ a vic
tim, we could have no sure conviction of his being «ToXurgw<r/£,
xou IXaffrrigtov, our $3JfJ($$.tute-ra.rL$om and jwppitia-
And hence mention is always made of IjJ&cucL whenever
Scripture explains the mode of redemption : although the
shedding of Christ's blood v>-as available not only for propi
tiation, but also acted as a laver to purge our defilements.

7. The Creed next mentions, that he (i was dead and

buried." Here again it is necessary to consider how he sub

stituted himself in order to pay the .price of our redemption.

Death held us under its yoke, but he in our place delivered

himself into its power, that he might exempt us from it.

This the Apostle means when he says, " that he tasted death

for every mjfiri," (Heb. ii. 9.) By dying he prevented us

from dying;;. or (which is the same thing) he by his death

purchased life for us, (see Calvin in Psychopaim,) But in

* this he differed from us, that in permitting himself to be

1 overcome of death, it was not so as to be ingulfed in its

1 abyss, but rather to annihilate it, as it must otherwise have

; annihilated us ; he did not allow himself to be so subdued

by it as to be crushed by its power ; he rather laid it pros

trate, when it was impending over us, and exulting over us

as already overcome. In fine, his object was, " that through

.death he might destroy him that had the power of death,

jthat is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of

/death were all their lifetime subject to bondage," (Heb. ii.

14, 15,) This is the first fruit which his death produced

to us. Another is, that by fellowship with him he mortifies

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 57

our earthly members, that they may not afterwards exert
themselves in action, and kills the old man, that he may not
hereafter be in vigour and bring forth fruit. An effect of
his burial, moreover, is, that we as his fellows are buried to
sjju For when the Apostle says, that we are ingrafted
into the likeness of Christ's death, and that we are buried
with him unto sin, that by his cross the world is crucified
unto us and we unto the world, and that we are dead with
him, he not only exhorts us to manifest an example of his
death, but declares that there is an efficacy in it which
should appear in all Christians, if they would not render his
death unfruitful and useless. Accordingly, in the death and
burial of Christ a twofold blessing is set before us, viz., de
liverance from death, to which we were enslaved, and the
mortification of our flesh, (Rom. vi. 5; Gal. ii. 19, vi. 14 ;
Col. iii. 3.)

8. Here we must not omit the decent to hell, which was
of no little importance to the accomplishment of redemption.
For although it is apparent from the writings of the ancient
Fathers, that the clause which now stands in the Creed was
not formerly so much used in the churches, still, in giving a
summary of doctrine, a place must be assigned to it, as con
taining a matter of great importance which ought not by
any means to be disregarded. Indeed, some of the ancient
Fathers do not omit it,1 and hence we may conjecture, that
having been inserted in the Creed after a considerable lapse
of time, it came into use in the Church not immediately but
by degrees.2 This much is uncontroverted, that it was in
accordance with the general sentiment of all believers, since
there is none of the Fathers who does not mention Christ's
descent into hell, though they have various modes of explain
ing it. But it is of little consequence by whom and at what
time it was introduced. The chief thing to be attended to
in the Creed is, that it furnishes us with a full and every way

1 It is not -adverted to by Augustine, Lib. i. De Symbolo de Catechu-
menos.

2 The French of this sentence is, u Dont on peut conjecturer qu'il a este
tantost apres le terns des Apostres adjouste ; mais que peu a peu il est
venu en usage." — Whence we may conjecture that it was added some time
after the days of the Apostles, but gradually came into use.

58 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

complete summary of faith, containing nothing but what
has been derived from the infallible word of God. But
should any still scruple to give it admission into the Creed,
it will shortly be made plain, that the place which it holds in
a summary of our redemption is so important, that the
omission of it greatly detracts from the benefit of Christ's
death. There are some again who think that the article
contains nothing new, but is merely a repetition in different
words of what wras previously said respecting burial, the
word HeU (Infernis) being often used in Scripture for
sepulchre. I admit the truth of what they allege with re
gard to the not unfrequent use of the term infernis for
sepulchre; but I cannot adopt their opinion, for two obvious
reasons. First, What folly wrould it have been, after ex
plaining a matter attended with no difficulty in clear and
unambiguous terms, afterwards to involve rather than
illustrate it by clothing it in obscure phraseology ? When
two expressions having the same meaning are placed to
gether, the latter ought to be explanatory of the former.
But what kind of explanation would it be to say, the
expression, Christ was buried, means, that he descended into
hell ? My second reason is, the improbability that a super
fluous tautology of this description should have crept into
this compendium, in which the principal articles of faith are
set down summarily in the fewest possible number of
wrords. I have no doubt that all who weigh the matter with
some degree of care will here agree with me.

!9. Others interpret differently, viz., That Christ descended
to the souls of the Patriarchs who died under the law, to
announce his accomplished redemption, and bring them out
of the prison in which they were confined. To this effect
they wrest the passage1 in the Psalms, " He hath broken
the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder,"
(Ps. cvii. 16 ;) and also the passage in Zechariah, " I have
sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water,"
(Zech. ix. 11.) But since the psalm foretells the deliverance of

3 The French is, " Pour colorer leur fantasie, ils tirent par Ics cheveux
quelques temoignages." — To colour their fancy, they pull by the hair
(Violently wrest) certain passages.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 59

those who were held captive in distant lands, and Zechariah
comparing the Babylonish disaster into which the people had
been plunged to a deep dry well or abyss, at the same time
declares, that the salvation of the whole Church was an
escape from a profound pit, I know not how it comes to
pass, that posterity imagined it to be a subterraneous cavern,
to which they gave the name of Limbus. Though this fable
has the countenance of great authors, and is now also seri
ously defended by many as truth,1 it is nothing but a fable.
To conclude from it that the souls of the dead are in prison is
childish. And what occasion was there that the soul of Christ
should go down thither to set them at liberty ? I readily
admit that Christ illumined them by the power of his Spirit,
enabling them to perceive that the grace of which they had
only had a foretaste was then manifested to the world. And
to this not improbably the passage of Peter may be applied,
wherein he says, that Christ " went and preached to the
spirits that were in prison," (or rather " a watch-tower,")
(1 Pet. iii. 19.) The purport of the context is, that believers
who had died before that time were partakers of the same
grace with ourselves : for he celebrates the power of Christ's
death, in that he penetrated even to the dead, pious souls
obtaining an immediate view of that visitation for which
they had anxiously waited ; while, on the other hand, the
reprobate were more clearly convinced that they were com
pletely excluded from salvation. Although the passage in
Peter is not perfectly definite, we must not interpret as if he
made no distinction between the righteous and the wicked :
he only means to intimate, that the death of Christ was made
known to both.

10. But, apart from the Creed, we must seek for a surer
exposition of Christ's descent to hell : and the word of God
furnishes us with one not only pious and holy, but replete
with excellent consolation. Nothing had been done if Christ
had only endured corporeal death. In order to interpose/
between us and God's anger, and satisfy his righteous judg- 1

1 See Justin, Ambrose, Jerome. The opinions of the Fathers and
Kabbis on Hell and Limbus are collected by Peter Martyr, Loci Com
munes, Lib. iii. Loc. xvi. sect. 8 ; see Augustine, Ep. 99.

60 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

ment, it was necessary that he should feel the weight of
divine vengeance. Whence also it was necessary that he
should engage^ asr it were, at close quarters with the powers
of hell and the horrors of eternal death. We lately quoted
from the Prophet, that the " chastisement of our peace was
laid upon him," that he "was bruised for our iniquities," that he
" bore our infirmities '" expressions which intimate, that, like
a sponsor and surety for the guilty, and, as it were, subjected
to condemnation, he undertook and paid all the penalties
which must have been exacted from them, the only exception
being, that the pains of death could not hold him. Hence
there is nothing strange in its being said that he descended
to hell, seeing he endured the death which is inflicted on
the wicked by an angry God. It is frivolous and ridicul
ous to object that in this way the order is perverted, it being
absurd that an event which preceded burial should be placed
after it. But after explaining what Christ endured in the
sight of man, the Creed appropriately adds the invisible and
incomprehensible judgment which he endured before God,
to teach us that not only was the body of Christ given up as
the price of redemption, but that there was a greater and
more excellent price — that he bore in his soul the tortures of
condemned and ruined man.

11. In this sense, Peter says that God raised up Christ,
" having loosed the pains of death : because it was not pos
sible he should be holden of it," (Acts ii. 24.) He does not
mention death simply, but says that the Son of God
endured the pains produced by the curse and wrath of God,
the source of death. How small a matter had it been to
come forth securely, and as it were in sport to undergo
death. Herein was a true proof of boundless mercy, that
he shunned not the death he so greatly dreaded. And there
can be no doubt that, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the
Apostle means to teach the same thing, when he says that
he "was heard in that he feared," (Heb. v. 7.) Some,
instead of " feared," use a term meaning reverence or piety,
but how inappropriately, is apparent both from the nature
of the thing and the form of expression.1 Christ then praying

1 French, u Lcs autres translatent Reverence ou Piete ; mais la Gram-

CHAP. XYI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. Gl

in a loud voice, and with tears, is heard in that he feared,
not so as to be exempted from death, but so as not to be swal
lowed up of it like a sinner, though standing as our repre
sentative. And certainly no abyss can be imagined more
dreadful than to feel that you are abandoned and forsaken
of God, and not heard when you invoke him, just as if he
had conspired your destruction. To such a degree was
Christ dejected, that in the depth of his agony he was
forced to exclaim, " My God, my God, why hast thou for
saken me ?" The view taken by some, that he here expressed
the opinion of others rather than his own conviction, is most
improbable ; for it is evident that the expression was wrung
from the anguish of his inmost soul. We do not, however, )
insinuate that God was ever hostile to him or angry with \
him.1 How could he be angry with the beloved Son, with i
whom his soul was well pleased ? or how could he have ap- V
peased the Father by his intercession for others if He were \
hostile to himself? But this we say, that he bore the
weight of the divine anger, that, smitten and afflicted, he
experienced all the signs of an angry and avenging God.
Hence Hilary argues, that to this descent we owe our
exemption from death. Nor does he dissent from this view
in other passages, as when he says, " The cross, death, hell,
are our life." And again, " The Son of God is in hell, but
man is brought back to heaven." And why do I quote the
testimony of a private writer, when an Apostle asserts the
same thing, stating it as one fruit of his victory that he de
livered " them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage ?" (Heb. ii. 15.) He behoved, therefore, to
conquer the fear which incessantly vexes and agitates the
breasts of all mortals ; and this he could not do without a
contest. Moreover, it will shortly appear with greater
clearness that his was no common sorrow, was not the result
of a trivial cause. Thus by engaging with the power of the

maire et la matiere qui est la tractc monstrent que c^est mal a propos." —
Others translate Reverence or Piety ; but Grammar and the subject-
matter show that they do it very unseasonably.

1 See Cyril. Lib. ii. De Recta Fide ad Reginas ; Item, Hilarius de
Trinitate, Lib. iv. c. 2 and 3.

62 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK IT.

devil, the fear of death, and the pains of hell, he gained the
victory, and achieved a triumph, so that we now fear not
in death those things which our Prince has destroyed.1

12. Here some miserable creatures, who, though unlearned,
are however impelled more by malice than ignorance, cry
out that I am offering an atrocious insult to Christ, because
it were most incongruous to hold that he feared for the
safety of his soul. And then in harsher terms they urge
the calumnious charge that I attribute despair to the Son of
God, a feeling the very opposite of faith. First, they wickedly
raise a controversy as to the fear and dread which Christ
felt, though these are openly affirmed by the Evangelists.
[For before the hour of his death arrived, he was troubled
'in spirit, and affected with grief; and at the very onset began
to be exceedingly amazed. To speak of these feelings as
merely assumed, is a shameful evasion. It becomes us, there
fore, (as Ambrose truly teaches,) boldly to profess the agony
of Christ, if we are not ashamed of the cross. And cer
tainly had not his soul shared in the punishment, he would
have been a Redeemer of bodies only. The object of his
struggle was to raise up those who were lying prostrate ;
and so far is this from detracting from his heavenly glory,
that his goodness, which can never be sufficiently extolled,
becomes more conspicuous in this, that he declined not to bear
our infirmities. Hence also that solace to our anxieties and
griefs which the Apostle sets before us : " We have not an
high priest who cannot be touched writh the feeling of our
infirmities ; but was in all respects tempted like as we are,
yet without sin," (Heb. iv. 15.) These men pretend that a
thing in its nature vitious is improperly ascribed to Christ ;
as if they were wiser than the Spirit of God, who in the same
passage reconciles the two things, viz., that he was tempted
in all respects like as we are, and yet was without sin.
There is no reason, therefore, to take alarm at infirmity
in Christ, infirmity to which he submitted not under the
constraint of violence and necessity, but merely because he
loved and pitied us. Whatever he spontaneously suffered,
detracts in no degree from his majesty. One thing which

1 Vide Luther, torn. i. in Condone de Morte, fol. 87.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 63

misleads these detractors is, that they do not recognise in
Christ an infirmity which was pure and free from every
species of taint, inasmuch as it was kept within the limits of
obedience. As no moderation can be seen in the depravity of
our nature, in which all affections with turbulent impetuosity
exceed their due bounds, they improperly apply the same
standard to the Son of God. But as he was upright, all
his affections were under such restraint as prevented every
thing like excess. Hence he could resemble us in grief,
fear, and dread, but still with this mark of distinction.
Thus refuted, they fly off to another cavil, that although
Christ feared death, yet he feared not the curse and wrath
of God, from which he knew that he was safe. But let the
pious reader consider how far it is honourable to Christ to
make him more effeminate and timid than the generality of
men. Robbers and other malefactors contumaciously hasten
to death, many men magnanimously despise it, others meet
it calmly. If the Son of God was amazed and terror-struck
at the prospect of it, where was his firmness or magnanimity ?
We are even told, what in a common death would have
been deemed most extraordinary, that in the depth of his
agony his sweat was like great drops of blood falling to the
ground. Nor was this a spectacle exhibited to the eyes of
others, since it was from a secluded spot that he uttered his
groans to his Father. And that no doubt may remain, it
was necessary that angels should come down from heaven to
strengthen him with miraculous consolation. How shame
fully effeminate would it have been (as I have observed) to
be so excruciated by the fear of an ordinary death as to
sweat drops of blood, and not even be revived by the presence
of angels ? What ? Does not that prayer, thrice repeated,
" Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,"
(Matth. xxvi. 39,) a prayer dictated by incredible bitterness
of sonl, show that Christ had a fiercer and more arduous
struggle than with ordinary death ?

Hence it appears that these triflers, with wThom I am
disputing, presume to talk of what they know not, never
having seriously considered what is meant and implied by
ransoming us from the justice of God. It is of consequence

64 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK If.

to understand aright how much our salvation cost the Son
of God. If any one now ask, Did Christ descend to hell at
the time when he deprecated death ? I answer, that this was
the commencement, and that from it we may infer how dire
and dreadful were the tortures which he endured when he
felt himself standing at the bar of God as a criminal in our
stead. And although the divine power of the Spirit veiled
itself for a moment, that it might give place to the infirmity
of the flesh, we must understand that the trial arising from
feelings of grief and fear was such as not to be at variance
with faith. And in this was fulfilled what is said in Peter's
sermon as to having been loosed from the pains of death,
because " it was not possible he could be holden of it," (Acts
| ii. 24.) Though feeling, as it were, forsaken of God, he did
} not cease in the slightest degree to confide in his goodness.
This appears from the celebrated prayer in which, in the
depth of his agony, he exclaimed, " My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?" (Matth. xxvii. 46.) Amid all his
agony he ceases not to call upon his God, while exclaiming
that he is forsaken by him. This refutes the Apollinarian
heresy, as well as that of those who are called Monothelites.
Apollinaris pretended, that in Christ the eternal Spirit sup
plied the place of a soul, so that he was only half a man ; as
if he could have expiated our sins in any other way than by
obeying the Father. But where does the feeling or desire of
obedience reside but in the soul ? and we know that his soul
was troubled in order that ours, being free from trepidation,
might obtain peace and quiet. Moreover, in opposition to
the Monothelites, we see that in his human he felt a repug
nance to what he willed in his divine nature. I say nothing of
his subduing the fear of which we have spoken by a contrary
affection. This appearance of repugnance is obvious in the
words, " Father, save me from this hour : but for this cause
came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name," (John
xii. 27, 28.) Still, in this perplexity, there was no violent
emotion, such as we exhibit while making the strongest
endeavours to subdue our own feelings.

13. Next follows the^esu^r£ectioii_ from . the dead, withojit
which all that has hitherto been said would be defective.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 65

For seeing that in the cross, death, and burial of Christ,
nothing but weakness appears, faith must go beyond all these,
in order that it may be provided with full strength. Hence,
although in his death we have an effectual completion of
salvation, because by it we are reconciled to God, satisfaction
is given to his justice, the curse is removed, and the penalty
paid ; still it is not by his death, but by his resurrection, that
we are said to be begotten again to a living hope, (1 Pet. i.
3 ;) because, as he, by rising again, became victorious over
death, so the victory of our faith consists only in his resur
rection. The nature of it is better expressed in the words
of Paul, "Who (Christ) was delivered for our offences, and was
raised again for our justification," (Rom. iv. 25 ;) as if he had
said, By his death sin was taken away, by his resurrection
righteousness was renewed and restored. For how could he
by dying have freed us from death, if he had yielded to its
power ? how could he have obtained the victory for us, if he
had fallen in the contest ?

Our salvation may be thus divided between the death and
the resurrection of Christ : by the former sin was abolished
and death annihilated; by the latter righteousness was restored
and life revived, the power and efficacy of the former being still
bestowed upon us by means of the latter. Paul accordingly
affirms, that b,e_was ,_declaredL_ta. b^the_BQajQ£...Cia(Lby, his
resurrection, (Rom. i. 4,) because lie then fully displayed that
heavenly power which is both a bright mirror of his divinity,
and a sure support of our faith ; as he also elsewhere teaches,
that " though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth
by the power of God," (2 Cor. xiii. 4.) In the same sense,
in another passage, treating of perfection, he says, " That I
may know him and the power of his resurrection," (Phil. iii.
10.) Immediately after he adds, " being made conformable
unto his death." In perfect accordance with this is the passage
in Peter, that God " raised him up from the dead, and gave
him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God," ( 1 Pet.
i. 21.) Not that faith founded merely on his death is vacil
lating, but that the divine power by which he maintains our
faith is most conspicuous in his resurrection. Let us remem
ber, therefore, that when death only is mentioned, everything

VOL. II. E

66 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

peculiar to the resurrection is at the same time included, and
that there is a like synecdoche in the term resurrection^ as
often as it is used apart from death, everything peculiar to
death being included. But as, by rising again, he obtained
the victory, and became the resurrection and the life, Paul
justly argues, " If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain ; ye
are yet in your sins," (1 Cor. xv. 17.) Accordingly, in
another passage, after exulting in the death of Christ in
opposition to the terrors of condemnation, he thus enlarges,
" Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us," (Rom. viii. 34.) Then, as we have already explained that
the mortification of our flesh depends on communion with the
cross, so we must also understand, that a corresponding
benefit is derived from his resurrection. For as the Apostle
says, " Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life," (Rom. vi. 4.) Accordingly, as in another passage,
from our being dead with Christ, he inculcates, "Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth," (Col. iii.
5 ;) so from our being risen with Christ he infers, " seek
those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the
right hand of God," (Col. iii. 1.) In these words we are not
only urged by the example of a risen Saviour to follow new
ness of life, but are taught that by his power we are renewed
unto righteousness. A third benefit derived from it is, that,
like an earnest, it assures us of our own resurrection, of which
it is certain that his is the surest representation. This sub
ject is discussed at length, (1 Cor. xv.) But it is to be
observed, in passing, that when he is said to have "risen
from the dead," these terms express the reality both of his
death and resurrection, as if it had been said, that he died
the same death as other men naturally die, and received
immortality in the same mortal flesh which he had assumed.
14. The resurrection is naturally followed by the ascension
into heaven. For although Christ, by rising again, began
fully to display his glory and virtue, having laid aside the
abject and ignoble condition of a mortal life, and the igno
miny of the cross, yet it was only by his ascension to heaven

CHAP. XVI. CHKTSTIAN RELIGION. 67

that his reign truly commenced. This the Apostle shows,
when he says he ascended "that he might fill all things," (Eph.
iv. 10;) thus reminding us, that under the appearance of con
tradiction, there is a beautiful harmony, inasmuch as though
he departed from us, it was that his departure might be more
useful to us than that presence which was confined in a hum
ble tabernacle of flesh during his abode on the earth. Hence
John, after repeating the celebrated invitation, " If any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink," immediately adds,
"the Holy Ghost was not yet given ; because that Jesus was
not yet glorified," (John vii. 37, 39.) This our Lord him
self also declared to his disciples, " It is expedient for you
that I go away : for if I go not away, the Comforter will not
come unto you," (John xvi. 7.) To console them for his
bodily absence, he tells them that he will not leave them
comfortless, but will come again to them in a manner invisible
indeed, but more to be desired, because they were then taught
by a surer experience that the government which he had
obtained, and the power which he exercises, would enable his
faithful followers not only to live well, but also to die happily.
And, indeed, we see how much more abundantly his Spirit
was poured out, how much more gloriously his kingdom was
advanced, how much greater power was employed in aiding
his followers and discomfiting his enemies. Being raised to
heaven, he withdrew his bodily presence from our sight, not
that he might cease to be with his followers, who are still
pilgrims on the earth, but that he might rule both heaven
and earth more immediately by his power; or rather, the
promise which he made to be with us even to the end of the
world, he fulfilled by this ascension, by which, as his body
has been raised above all heavens, so his power and efficacy
have been propagated and diffused beyond all the bounds of
heaven and earth. This I prefer to explain in the words of
Augustine rather than my own : " Through death Christ was
to go to the right hand of the Father, whence he is to come
to judge the quick and the dead, and that in corporal pre
sence, according to the sound doctrine and rule of faith.
For, in spiritual presence, he was to be with them after his
ascension," (August. Tract, in Joann. 109.) In another pass-

68 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

age he is more full and explicit : " In regard to ineffable and
invisible grace, is fulfilled what he said, Lo, I am with you
alway, even to the end of the world, (Matth. xxviii. 20 ;) but
in regard to the flesh which the Word assumed, in regard to
his being born of a Virgin, in regard to his being apprehended
by the Jews, nailed to the tree, taken down from the cross,
wrapt in linen clothes, laid in the sepulchre, and manifested
on his resurrection, it may be said, Me ye have not always
with you. Why ? because, in bodily presence, he conversed
with his disciples forty days, and leading them out where
they saw, but followed not, he ascended into heaven, and is
not here : for there he sits at the right hand of the Father :
and yet he is here, for the presence of his Godhead was not
withdrawn. Therefore, as regards his divine presence, we
have Christ always : as regards his bodily presence, it was
truly said to the disciples, Me ye have not always. For a
few days the Church had him bodily present. Now, she
apprehends him by faith, but sees him not by the eye,"
(August. Tract. 51.)

15. Hence it is immediately added, that he " sitteth at
the right hand of God the Father ;" a similitude borrowed
from princes, wrho have their assessors to whom they commit
the office of ruling and issuing commands. Thus Christ, in
whom the Father is pleased to be exalted, and by whose hand
he is pleased to reign, is said to have been received up, and
seated on his right hand, (Mark xvi. 19 ;) as if it had been
said, that he was installed in the government of heaven and
earth, and formally admitted to possession of the administra
tion committed to him, and not only admitted for once,
but to continue until he descend to judgment. For so the
Apostle interprets, when he says, that the Father " set him
at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all
principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every
name that is named not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come ; and hath put all things under his feet, and
given him to be the head over all things to the Church."1
You see to what end he is so seated, namely, that all crea-

1 Ephes. i. 20 ; Phil. ii. 9 ; 1 Cor. xv. 27 ; Ephes. iv. 15 ; Acts ii. 33 :
iii. 21 ; Heb. i. 4.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 69

tures both in heaven and earth should reverence his majesty, I
be ruled by his hand, do him implicit homage, and submit to I
his power. All that the Apostles intend, when they so '
often mention his seat at the Father's hand, is to teach, that
every thing is placed at his disposal. Those, therefore, are in
error, who suppose that his blessedness merely is indicated.
We may observe, that there is nothing contrary to this doc
trine in the testimony of Stephen, that he saw him standing,
(Acts vii. 56,) the subject here considered being not the
position of his body, but the majesty of his empire, sitting
meaning nothing more than presiding on the judgment-seat
of heaven.

16. From this doctrine faith derives manifold advantages.1
First, it perceives that the Lord, by his ascension to heaven, f
has opened up the access to the heavenly kingdom, which ;
Adam had shut. For having entered it in our flesh, as it
were in our name, it follows, as the Apostle says, that we
are in a manner now seated in heavenly places, not enter
taining a mere hope of heaven, but possessing it in our head.
Sejjondly, faith perceives that his seat beside the Father is
not without great advantage to us. Having entered the
temple not made with hands, he constantly appears as our
advocate and intercessor in the presence of the Father ;
directs attention to his own righteousness, so as to turn it
away from our sins ; so reconciles him to us, as by his interces
sion to pave for us a way of access to his throne, presenting
it to miserable sinners, to whom it would otherwise be an ob
ject of dread, as replete with grace and mercy. Thirdly* it
discerns his jxjwer., on which depend our strength, might,
resources, and triumph over hell, " When he ascended up on
high, he led captivity captive," (Eph. iv. 8.) Spoiling his
foes, he gave gifts to his people, and daily loads them with
spiritual riches. He thus occupies his exalted seat, that,
thence transferring his virtue unto us, he may quicken us to
spiritual life, sanctify us by his Spirit, and adorn his Church
with various graces, by his protection preserve it safe from
all harm, and by the strength of his hand curb the enemies

1 August, de Fide et Symbolo, cap. 8 ; Eph. ii. 6 ; Heb. vii. 25 , ix. 11.

70 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

raging against his cross and our salvation ; in fine, that he
may possess all power in heaven and earth, until he have
utterly routed all his foes, who are also ours, and completed
the structure of his Church. Such is the true nature of the
kingdom, such the power which the Father has conferred
upon him, until he arrive to complete the last act by
judging the quick and the dead.

17. Christ, indeed, gives his followers no dubious proofs of
present power, but as his kingdom in the world is in a manner
veiled by the humiliation of a carnal condition, faith is most
properly invited to meditate on the visible presence which
he will exhibit on the last day. For he will descend from
heaven in visible form, in like manner as he was seen to
ascend,1 and appear to all, with the ineffable majesty of his
kingdom, the splendour of immortality, the boundless power
of divinity, and an attending company of angels. Hence we
are told to wait for the Redeemer against that day on which
he will separate the sheep from the goats, and the elect from
the reprobate, and when not one individual either of the
living or the dead shall escape his judgment. From the ex
tremities of the universe shall be heard the clang of the
trumpet summoning all to his tribunal ; both those whom
that day shall find alive, and those whom death shall pre
viously have removed from the society of the living. There
are some who take the words, quick and dead, in a different
sense ;2 and, indeed, some ancient writers appear to have
hesitated as to the exposition of them ; but our meaning being
plain and clear, is much more accordant with the Creed,
which was certainly written for popular use. There is nothing
contrary to it in the Apostle's declaration, that it is appointed
unto all men once to die. For though those who are sur
viving at the last day shall not die after a natural manner,
yet the change which they are to undergo, as it shall resem
ble, is not improperly called, death, (Heb. ix. 27.) "We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed," (1 Cor. xv.

1 Acts i. 11 ; Matth. xxiv. 30 ; xxv. 31 ; 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17.

2 The French is, " II y en a aucuns qui exposent par les vivans et les
morts, les bons et les mauvais." — There are some who, by the quick and
the dead, understand the good and the bad.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 71

51.) What does this mean ? Their mortal life shall perish
and be swallowed up in one moment, and be transformed
into an entirely new nature. Though no one can deny that
that destruction of the flesh will be death, it still remains true
that the quick and the dead shall be summoned to judgment,
(1 Thess. iv. 16 :) for " the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." In
deed, it is probable, that these words in the Creed were
taken from Peter's sermon as related by Luke, (Acts x. 42,)
and from the solemn charge of Paul to Timothy, (2 Tim.
iv. 1.)

18. It is most consolatory to think, that judgment is vested
in him who has already destined us to share with him in the
honour of judgment, (Matth. xix. 28 ;) so far is it from being
true, that he will ascend the judgment-seat for our condem
nation. How could a most merciful prince destroy his own
people ? how could the head disperse its own members ? how
could the advocate condemn his clients ? For if the Apostle^
when contemplating the interposition of Christ, is bold to
exclaim, " Who is he that condemneth ?" (Rom. viii. 33,)
much more certain is it that Christ, the intercessor, will not
condemn those whom he has admitted to his protection. It
certainly gives no small security, that we shall be sisted at
no other tribunal than that of our Redeemer, from whom
salvation is to be expected ; and that he who in the Gospel
now promises eternal blessedness, will then as judge ratify
his promise.1 The end for which the Father has honoured
the Son by committing all judgment to him, (John v. 22,)
was to pacify the consciences of his people when alarmed at
the thought of judgment. Hitherto I have followed the order
of the Apostles' Creed, because it states the leading articles
of redemption in a few words, and may thus serve as a tablet
in which the points of Christian doctrine, most deserving of
attention, are brought separately and distinctly before us.2 I

1 Vide Ambros. de Jac. et Vita Beata, Lib. i. c. 6.

2 The French is, " Jusqucs ici j'ay suivi 1'ordre du Symbole qu'on
appelle des Apostres, pource que la nous pouvons voir comme en im
tableau, par les articles qui y sont contenus, en quoy gist nostre salut : 'et

72 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK IT.

call it the Apostles' Creed, though I am by no means solicitous
as to its authorship. The general consent of ancient writers
certainly does ascribe it to the Apostles, either because they
imagined it was written and published by them for common
use, or because they thought it right to give the sanction of
such authority to a compendium faithfully drawn up from the
doctrine delivered by their hands. I have no doubt, that,
from the very commencement of the Church, and, therefore,
in the very days of the Apostles, it held the place of a public
and universally received confession, whatever be the quarter
from which it originally proceeded. It is not probable that
it was written by some private individual, since it is certain
that, from time immemorial, it was deemed of sacred authority
by all Christians. The only point of consequence we hold
to be incontrovertible, viz., that it gives, in clear and suc
cinct order, a full statement of our faith, and in every thing
which it contains is sanctioned by the sure testimony of
Scripture. This being understood, it were to no purpose to
labour anxiously, or quarrel with any one as to the author
ship, unless, indeed, we think it not enough to possess the
sure truth of the Holy Spirit, without, at the same time,
knowing by whose mouth it was pronounced, or by whose
hand it was written.

19. When we see that the whole sum of our salvation, and
every single part of it, are comprehended in Christ, we must
beware of deriving even the minutest portion of it from any
other quarter. If we seek salvation, we are taught by the
very name of Jesus that he possesses it ;* if we seek any
other gifts of the Spirit, we shall find them in his unction ;
strength in his government ; purity in his conception ; indul
gence in his nativity, in which he was made like us in all
respects, in order that he might _ J.eam ,,to sympathise with
jus : if wTe seek redemption, we shall find it in his passion ;

par ce moyen aussi entendons a quelles choses il nous faut arrester pour
obtenir salut en Jesus Christ," — Hitherto I have followed the order of
what is called the Apostles' Creed, because there we may see, as in a
tablet, by the articles which are contained in it, wherein consists our sal
vation, and by this means also understand on what things we ought to
dwell, in order to obtain salvation in Jesus Christ.
1 Acts iv. 12 ; 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Heb. ii. 17 ; Gal. iii. 13.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 73

acquittal in his condemnation ; remission of the curse in his
cross ; satisfaction in his sacrifice ; purification in his blood ;
reconciliation in his descent to hell ; mortification of the
flesh in his sepulchre ; newness of life in his resurrection ;
immortality also in his resurrection ; the inheritance of a
celestial kingdom in his entrance into heaven ; protection,
security, and the abundant supply of all blessings, in his king
dom; secure anticipation of judgment in the power of judg
ing committed to him. In fine, since in him all kinds of;
blessings are treasured up, let us draw a full supply from him, I
and none from any other quarter. Those who, not satisfied?
with him alone, entertain various hopes from others, though
they may continue to look to him chiefly, deviate from the
right path by the simple fact, that some portion of their
thought takes a different direction. No distrust of this de
scription can arise when once the abundance of his blessings
is properly known.

74 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

CHAPTER XVII.

CHRIST RIGHTLY AND PROPERLY SAID TO HAVE MERITED
GRACE AND SALVATION FOR US.

The three leading divisions of this chapter are, — I. A proof from reason
and from Scripture that the grace of God and the merit of Christ (the
prince and author of our salvation) are perfectly compatible, sec. 1 and 2.

II. Christ, by his obedience, even to the death of the cross, (which was
the price of our redemption,) merited divine favour for us, sec. 3-5.

III. The presumptuous rashness of the Schoolmen in treating this branch
of doctrine.

Sections.

1. Christ not only the minister, but also the author and prince of salva

tion. Divine grace not obscured by this mode of expression.
The merit of Christ not opposed to the mercy of God, but depends
upon it.

2. The compatibility of the two proved by various passages of Scripture.

3. Christ by his obedience truly merited divine grace for us.

4. This grace obtained by the shedding of Christ's blood, and his obe

dience even unto death.

5. In this way he paid our ransom.

6. The presumptuous manner in which the Schoolmen handle this

subject.

1. A QUESTION must here be considered by way of supple
ment. Some men too much given to subtilty, while they
admit that we obtain salvation through Christ, will not hear
of the name of merit, by which they imagine that the grace of
God is obscured ; and therefore insist that Christ was only the
instrument or minister, not the author or leader, or prince of
life, as he is designated by Peter, (Acts iii. 1 5.) I admit that
were Christ opposed simply, and by himself, to the justice of
God, there could be no room for merit, because there cannot
be found in man a worth which could make God a debtor ;

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 75

nay, as Augustine says most truly,1 " The Saviour, the man
Christ Jesus, is himself the brightest illustration of predes
tination and grace : his character as such was not procured
by any antecedent merit of works or faith in his human
nature. Tell me, I pray, how that man, when assumed into
unity of person by the Word, co-eternal with the Father,
as the only begotten Son of God, could merit this." — " Let
the very fountain of grace, therefore, appear in our head,
whence, according to the measure of each, it is diffused
through all his members. Every man, from the commence
ment of his faith, becomes a Christian, by the same grace by
which that man from his formation became Christ." Again,
in another passage, a There is not a more striking example
of predestination than the Mediator himself. He who made
him (without any antecedent merit in his will) of the seed
of David a righteous man never to be unrighteous, also con
verts those who are members of his head from unrighteous
into righteous," and so forth. Therefore, when we treat of
the merit of Christ, we do not place the beginning in him,
but we ascend to the ordination of God as the primary cause,
because of his mere good pleasure he appointed a Mediator
to purchase salvation for us. Hence the merit of Christ is
inconsiderately opposed to the mercy of God. It is a well-
known rule, that principal and accessory are not incompatible,
and therefore there is nothing to prevent the justification of
man from being the gratuitous result of the mere mercy of
God, and, at the same time, to prevent the merit of Christ
from intervening in subordination to this mercy. The free
favour of God is as fitly opposed to our works as is the
obedience of Christ, both in their order : for Christ could not
merit anything save by the good pleasure of God, but only
inasmuch as he was destined to appease the wrath of God
by his sacrifice, and wipe away our transgressions by his
obedience : in one word, since the merit of Christ depends
entirely on. the grace of. God, (which provided this mode of
salvation for us,) the latter is no less appropriately opposed
to all righteousness of men than is the former.

1 August, de Prsedest. Sanct. Lib. i. c. xv. ; De Bono Perseverantia,
cap. ult. See supra, chapter xiv. sec. 7.

76 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK IT.

2. This distinction is found in numerous passages of
Scripture : " God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not
perish," (John iii. 16.) We see that the first place is assigned
to the love of God as the chief cause or origin, and that
faith in Christ follows as the second and more proximate
cause. Should any one object that Christ is only the formal
cause,1 he lessens his energy more than the words justify.
For if we obtain justification by a faith which leans on him,
the groundwork of our salvation must be sought in him.
This is clearly proved by several passages : " Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son to be the propitiation for our sins," (1 John iv. 10.)
These words clearly demonstrate that God, in order to
remove any obstacle to his love towards us, appointed the
method of reconciliation in Christ. There is great force in
this word propitiation ; for in a manner which cannot be
expressed, God, at the very time when he loved us, was
hostile to us until reconciled in Christ. To this effect are
all the following passages : " He is the propitiation for our
sins ;" " It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness
dwell, and having made peace by the blood of his cross, by
him to reconcile all things unto himself ;" " God was in
Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them ;" " He hath made us accepted in
the Beloved," " That he might reconcile both into one body
by the cross."2 The nature of this mystery is to be learned
from the first chapter to the Ephesians, where Paul, teaching
that we were chosen in Christ, at the same time adds, that
we obtained grace in him. How did God begin to embrace
with his favour those whom he had loved before the founda
tion of the world, unless in displaying his love when he was
reconciled by the blood of Christ ? As God is the fountain
of all righteousness, he must necessarily be the enemy and
judge of man so long as he is a sinner. Wherefore, the
commencement of love is the bestowing of righteousness, as

1 The French adds, " C'est a dire, qui n'emporte en soy vrai effect ;"
— that is to say, which in itself produces no true effect.

2 1 John ii. 2 ; Col. i. 19, 20; 2 Cor. v. 19 ; Eph. i. 6 ; ii. 16.

CTIAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 77

described by Paul : " He hath made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin ; that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him," (2 Cor. v. 21.) He intimates, that by the
sacrifice of Christ we obtain free justification, and become
pleasing to God, though we are by nature the children of
wrath, and by sin estranged from him. This distinction is
also noted whenever the grace of Christ is connected with
the love of God, (2 Cor. xiii. 13;) whence it follows, that
lie bestows upon us of his own which he acquired by purchase.
For otherwise there would be no ground for the praise
ascribed to him by the Father, that grace is his, and pro
ceeds from him.

3. That Christ, by his obedience, truly purchased and
jmerited grace for na with the Father, is accurately inferred

from several passages of Scripture. I take it for granted,
that if Christ satisfied for our sins, if he paid the penalty
due by us, if he appeased God by his obedience ; in fine, if
he suffered the just for the unjust, salvation was obtained for
us by his righteousness ; which is just equivalent to meriting
Now, Paul's testimony is, that we were reconciled, and
received reconciliation through his death, (Rom. v. 11.)
But there is no room for reconciliation unless where offence1
has preceded. The meaning, therefore, is, that God, to
whom we were hateful through sin, was appeased by the
death of his Son, and made propitious to us. And the anti
thesis which immediately follows is carefully to be observed,
" As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so
by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous,"
(Rom. v. 19.) For the meaning is — As by the sin of Adam
we were alienated from God and doomed to destruction, so
by the obedience of Christ we are restored to his favour as if
we were righteous. The future tense of the verb does not
exclude present righteousness, as is apparent from the con
text. For he had previously said, " the free gift is of many
offences unto justification."

4. When we say, that grace was obtained for us by the
merit of Christ, our meaning is, that we were cleansed by his

1 French, " Offense, haine, divorce ;" — offence, hatred, divorce.

78 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

blood, that his death was an expiation for sin, " His blood
cleanses us from all sin." " This is my blood, which is shed
for the remission of sins," (1 John i. 7 ; Luke xxii. 20.) If
the effect of his shed blood is, that our sins are not imputed
to us, it follows, that by that price the justice of God was
satisfied. To the same effect are the Baptist's words, " Be
hold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
World," (John i. 29.) For he contrasts Christ with all the
sacrifices of the Law, showing that in him alone was fulfilled
/what these figures typified. But we know the common ex
pression in Moses — Iniquity shall be expiated, sin shall be
wiped away and forgiven. In short, we are admirably taught
by the ancient figures what power and efficacy there is in
Christ's death. And the Apostle, skilfully proceeding from
this principle, explains the whole matter in the Epistle to the
Hebrews, showing that without shedding of blood there is
no remission, (Heb. ix. 22.) From this he infers, that Christ
appeared once for all to take away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. Again, that he was offered to bear the sins of many,
j (Heb. ix. 12.) He had previously said, that not by the
\ blood of goats or of heifers, but by his own blood, he had
l once entered into the holy of holies, having obtained eternal
I redemption for us. Now, when he reasons thus, "If the
blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprink
ling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh : how
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself to God, purge your consciences from
,„. dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. ix. 13, 14,) it is
obvious that too little effect is given to the grace of Christ,
unless we concede to his sacrifice the power of expiating,
appeasing, and satisfying : as he shortly after adds, " For
this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by
means of his death, for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the first testament, they which are called
might receive the promise of eternal inheritance," (Heb. ix.
15.) But it is especially necessary to attend to the analogy
which is drawn by Paul as to his having been made a curse
for us, (Gal. iii. 13.) It had been superfluous and therefore
absurd, that Christ should have been burdened with a curse,

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 79

had it not been in order that, by paying what others owed,
he might acquire righteousness for them. There is no am
biguity in Isaiah's testimony, " He was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastise
ment of our peace was laid upon him ; and with his stripes
we are healed," (Is. liii. 5.) For had not Christ satisfied
for our sins, he could not be said to have appeased God by
taking upon himself the penalty which we had incurred.
To this corresponds what follows in the same place, " for the
transgression of my people was he stricken," (Is. liii. 8.)
We may add the interpretation of Peter, who unequivocally
declares, that he " bare our sins in his own body on the tree,"
(1 Pet. ii. 24,) that the whole burden of condemnation, of
which we were relieved, was laid upon him.

5. The Apostles also plainly declare that he paid a price
to ransom us from death : " Being justified freely by his
grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus : whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood," (Rom. iii. 24, 25.) Paul commends the grace of
God, in that he gave the price of redemption in the death of
Christ ; and he exhorts us to flee to his blood, that having
obtained righteousness, we may appear boldly before the
judgment-seat of God. To the same effect are the words
of Peter : " Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed

with corruptible things, as silver and gold," " but with

the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot," (1 Pet. i. 18, 19.) The antithesis would be
incongruous if he had not by this price made satisfaction for
sins. For which reason, Paul says, " Ye are bought with a
price." Nor could it be elsewhere said, there is " one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
who gave himself a ransom for all," (1 Tim. ii. 5, 6,) had
not the punishment which we deserved been laid upon him.
Accordingly, the same Apostle declares, that " we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins,"
(Col. i. 14 ;) as if he had said, that we are justified or ac
quitted before God, because that blood serves the purpose of
satisfaction. With this another passage agrees, viz., that he
blotted out " the handwriting of ordinances which was against

80 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK II.

us, which was contrary to us," (Col. ii. 14.) These words
denote the payment or compensation which acquits us from
guilt. There is great weight also in these words of Paul :
" If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in
vain," (Gal. ii. 21.) For we hence infer, that it is from
Christ we must seek what the Law would confer on any
one who fulfilled it ; or, which is the same thing, that by the
grace of .Christ we obtain what God promised in the Law to
our works : " If a man do, he shall live in them," (Lev.
xviii. 5.) This is no less clearly taught in the discourse at
Antioch, when Paul declares, " That through this man is
preached unto you the forgiveness of sins ; and by him all
that believe are justified from all things, from which ye
could not be justified by the law of Moses," (Acts xiii. 38,
39.) For if the observance of the Law is righteousness,
who can deny that Christ, by taking this burden upon him
self, and reconciling us to God, as if we were the observers
of the Law, merited favour for us ? Of the same nature is
what he afterwards says to the Galatians : a God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law," (Gal. iv. 4, 5.) For to
what end that subjection, unless that he obtained justification
for us by undertaking to perform what we were unable to
pay ? Hence that imputation of righteousness without
works, of which Paul treats, (Rom. iv. 5,) the righteousness
found in Christ alone being accepted as if it were ours.
And certainly the only reason why Christ is called our
" meat," (John vi. 55,) is because we find in him the sub
stance of life. And the source of this efficacy is just that
the Son of God was crucified as the price of our justification ;
as Paul says, Christ " hath given himself for us an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour," (Eph.
v. 2 ;) and elsewhere, he " was delivered for our offences,
and was raised again for our justification," (Rom. iv. 25.)
Hence it is proved not only that salvation was given us by
Christ, but that on account of him the Father is now pro
pitious to us. For it cannot be doubted that in him is com
pletely fulfilled what God declares by Isaiah under a figure,
"I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 81

for my servant David's sake," (Isaiah xxxvii. 35.) Of this
the Apostle is the best witness, when he says, " Your sins
are forgiven you for his name's sake," (1 John ii. 12.) For
although the name of Christ is not expressed, John, in his
usual manner, designates him by the pronoun " He," (avro$.)
In the same sense also our Lord declares, "As the living
Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father : so he that
eateth me, even he shall live by me," (John vi. 57.) To
this corresponds the passage of Paul, " Unto you it is given
in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also
to suffer for his sake," (Phil. i. 29.)

6. To inquire, as Lombard and the Schoolmen do, (Sent.
Lib. III. Dist. 18,) whether he merited for himself, is foolish
curiosity. Equally rash is their decision when they answer
in the affirmative. How could it be necessary for the only
Son of God to come down in order to acquire some new
quality for himself? The exposition which God gives of
his own purpose removes all doubt. The Father is not said
to have consulted the advantage of his Son in his services,
but to have given him up to death, and not spared him,
because he loved the world, (Rom. viii.) The prophetical
expressions should be observed: "To us a Son is born;"
" Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion : shout, O daughter
of Jerusalem : behold, thy King cometh unto thee," (Isaiah
ix. 6 ; Zech. ix. 9.) It would otherwise be a cold commen
dation of love which Paul describes, when he says, " God
commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us," (Rom. v. 8.) Hence, again, we
infer that Christ had no regard to himself; and this he
distinctly affirms, when he says, " For their sakes I sanctify
myself," (John xvii. 19.) He who transfers the benefit of
his holiness to others, testifies that he acquires nothing for
himself. And surely it is most worthy of remark, that Christ,
in devoting himself entirely to our salvation, in a manner
forgot himself. It is absurd to wrest the testimony of Paul
to a different effect : " Wherefore God hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name,"
(Phil. ii. 9.1) By what services could a man merit to be-

1 The sentence stands thus in the French : — " Les Sorbonnistes per-
VOL. II. F

82 INSTITUTES OF THE, ETC. BOOK II.

come the judge of the world, the head of angels, to obtain
the supreme government of God, and become the residence
of that majesty of which all the virtues of men and angels
cannot attain one thousandth part? The solution is easy
and complete. Paul is not speaking of the cause of Christ's
exaltation, but only pointing out a consequence of it by
way of example to us. The meaning is not much different
from that of another passage : " Ought not Christ to have
suffered these things, and to enter into his glory ?" (Luke
xxiv. 26.)

vertissent le passage de S. Paul, 1'appliquans a ce propos c'est que pource
que Jesus Christ s'est humilie, le Pere Fa exalte et lui donne un nom
souverain ;" — The Sorbonnists pervert the passage of St Paul, and apply
it in this way, — that because Christ humbled himself, the Father exalted
him, and gave him a sovereign name.

END OF THE SECOND BOOK.

INSTITUTES

OF

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGIOK

BOOK THIRD.

THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST.

THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE

EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.

SUBJECT.

The two former Books treated of God the Creator and Redeemer.
This Book, which contains a full exposition of the Third Part of the
Apostles' Creed, treats of the mode of procuring the grace of Christ, the
benefits which we derive and the effects which follow from it, or of the
operations of the Holy Spirit in regard to our salvation.

The subject is comprehended under seven principal heads, which
almost all point to the same end, namely, the doctrine of faith.

I. As it is by the secret and special operation of the Holy Spirit that
we enjoy Christ and all his benefits, the First Chapter treats of this opera
tion, which is the foundation of faith, new life, and all holy exercises.

II. Faith being, as it were, the hand by which we embrace Christ the
Redeemer, offered to us by the" Holy Spirit, Faith is fully considered in
the Second Chapter.

III. In further explanation of Saving Faith, and the benefits derived
from it, it is mentioned that true repentance always flows from true
faith. The doctrine of Repentance is considered generally in the Third
Chapter, Popish Repentance in the Fourth Chapter, Indulgences and
Purgatory in the Fifth Chapter. Chapters Sixth to Tenth are devoted
to a special consideration of the different parts of true Repentance, viz.,
mortification of the flesh, and quickening of the Spirit.

IV. More clearly to show the utility of this Faith, and the effects
resulting from it, the doctrine of Justification by Faith is explained in
the Eleventh Chapter, and certain questions connected with it explained
from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Chapter. Christian liberty a kind
of accessory to Justification, is considered in the Nineteenth Chapter.

V. The Twentieth Chapter is devoted to Pra}7er, the principal exercise
of faith, and, as it were, the medium or instrument through which we
daily procure blessings from God.

VI. As all do not indiscriminately embrace the fellowship of Christ
offered in the Gospel, but those only whom the Lord favours with the
effectual and special grace of his Spirit, lest any should impugn this
arrangement, Chapters Twenty-First to Twenty-Fourth are occupied
with a necessary and apposite discussion of the subject of Election.

VII. Lastly, As the hard warfare which the Christian is obliged con
stantly to wage may have the effect of disheartening him, it is shown
how it may be alleviated by meditating on the final resurrection. Hence
the subject of the Resurrection is considered in the Twenty-Fifth
Chapter.

INSTITUTES

OF

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

BOOK THIRD.

THE MODE OF OBTAINING THE GRACE OF CHRIST.

THE BENEFITS IT CONFERS, AND THE

EFFECTS RESULTING FROM IT.

CHAPTER I.

THE BENEFITS OF CHRIST MADE AVAILABLE TO US BY
THE SECRET OPERATION OF THE SPIRIT.

The three divisions of this chapter are, — I. The secret operation of the
Holy Spirit, which seals our salvation, should be considered first in Christ
the Mediator as our Head, sec. 1 and 2. II. The titles given to the
Holy Spirit show that we become members of Christ by his grace and
energy, sec. 3. III. As the special influence of the Holy Spirit is mani
fested in the gift of faith, the former is a proper introduction to the latter,
and thus prepares for the second chapter, sec. 4.

Sections.

1. The Holy Spirit the bond which unites us with Christ. This the re

sult of faith produced by the secret operation of the Holy Spirit.
This obvious from Scripture.

2. In Christ the Mediator the gifts of the Holy Spirit are to be seen in

all their fulness. To what end. Why the Holy Spirit is called
the Spirit of the Father and the Son.

86 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

3. Titles of the Spirit,—!. The Spirit of adoption. 2. An earnest and

seal. 3. Water. 4. Life. 5. Oil and unction. 6. Fire. 7. A
fountain. 8. The word of God. Use of these titles.

4. Faith being the special work of the Holy Spirit, the power and efficacy

of the Holy Spirit usually ascribed to it.

1. WE must now see in what way we become possessed of
the blessings which God has bestowed on his only-begotten
Son, not for private use, but to enrich the poor and needy.
And the first thing to be attended to is, that so long as we
are without Christ and separated from him, nothing which
he suffered and did for the salvation of the human race is of
the least benefit to us. To communicate to us the blessings
which he received from the Father, he must become ours
and dwell in us. Accordingly, he is called our Head, and
the first-born among many brethren, while, on the other
hand, we are said to be ingrafted into him and clothed with
him,1 all which he possesses being, as I have said, nothing to
us until we become one with him. And although it is true
that we obtain this by faith, yet since we see that all do not
indiscriminately embrace the offer of Christ which is made
by the gospel, the very nature of the case teaches us to
ascend higher, and inquire into the secret efficacy of the
Spirit, to which it is owing that we enjoy Christ and all his
blessings. I have already treated of the eternal essence and
divinity of the Spirit, (Book I. chap. xiii. sect. 14, 15 ;) let
us at present attend to the special point, that Christ came
by water and blood, as the Spirit testifies concerning him,
that we might not lose the benefits of the salvation wThich he
has purchased. For as there are said to be three witnesses
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, so there are
also three on the earth, namely, water, blood, and Spirit. It
is not without cause that the testimony of the Spirit is twice
mentioned, a testimony which is engraven on our hearts by
way of seal, and thus seals the cleansing and sacrifice of Christ.
For which reason, also, Peter says, that believers are " elect"
" through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," (1 Pet. i. 2.) By

1 Eph. iv. 15 ; Rom. vi. 5 ; xi. 17 ; viii. 29 ; Gal. iii. 27.

CHAP. I. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 87

these words he reminds us, that if the shedding of his sacred
blood is not to be in vain, our souls must be washed in it by
the secret cleansing of the Holy Spirit. For which reason,
also, Paul, speaking of cleansing and purification, says, " But
ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God,"
(1 Cor. vi. 11.) The whole comes to this, that the Holy
Spirit is the bond by which Christ effectually binds us to
himself. Here we may refer to what was said in the last
Book concerning his anointing.

2. But in order to have a clearer view of this most im
portant subject, we must remember that Christ came pro
vided with the Holy Spirit after a peculiar manner, namely,
that he might separate us from the world, and unite us in the
hope of an eternal inheritance. Hence the Spirit is called
the Spirit of sanctification, because he quickens and cherishes
us, not merely by the general energy which is seen in the
human race, as well as other animals, but because he is the
seed and root of heavenly life in us. Accordingly, one of
the highest commendations which the prophets give to the
kingdom of Christ is, that under it the Spirit would be poured
out in richer abundance. One of the most remarkable pass
ages is that of Joel, " It shall come to pass afterward, that
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh," (Joel ii. 28.) For
although the prophet seems to confine the gifts of the Spirit
to the office of prophesying, he yet intimates under a figure,
that God will, by the illumination of his Spirit, provide him
self with disciples who had previously been altogether igno
rant of heavenly doctrine. Moreover, as it is for the sake of
his Son that God bestows the Holy Spirit upon us, and yet
has deposited him in all his fulness with the Son, to be the
minister and dispenser of his liberality, he is called at one
time the Spirit of the Father, at another the Spirit of the
Son : a Ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that
the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," (Rom. viii. 9 ;) and
hence he encourages us to hope for complete renovation :
u If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall

88 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in
you," (Rom. viii. 11.) There is no inconsistency in ascribing
the glory of those gifts to the Father, inasmuch as he is the
author of them, and, at the same time, ascribing them to Christ,
with whom they have been deposited, that he may bestow
them on his people. Hence he invites all the thirsty to come
unto him and drink, (John vii. 37.) And Paul teaches, that
" unto every one of us is given grace, according to the mea
sure of the gift of Christ," (Eph. iv. 7.) And we must re
member, that the Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ, not
only inasmuch as the eternal Word of God is with the
Father united with the Spirit, but also in respect of his office
of Mediator; because, had he not been endued with the
energy of the Spirit, he had come to us in vain. In this sense
he is called the " last Adam," and said to have been sent
from heaven "a quickening Spirit," (1 Cor. xv. 45,) where
Paul contrasts the special life which Christ breathes into his
people, that they may be one with him, with the animal life
which is common even to the reprobate. In like manner,
when he prays that believers may have " the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God," he at the same time
adds, " the communion of the Holy Ghost," without which
no man shall ever taste the paternal favour of God, or the
benefits of Christ. Thus, also, in another passage he says,
" The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost, which is given unto us," (Rom. v. 5.)

3. Here it will be proper to point out the titles which the
Scripture bestows on the Spirit, when it treats of the com
mencement and entire renewal of our salvation. First, he
is called the " Spirit of adoption," because he is witness to us
of the free favour with which God the Father embraced us
in his well-beloved and only-begotten Son, so as to become
our Father, and give us boldness of access to him ; nay, he
dictates the very words, so that we can boldly cry, " Abba,
Father." For the same reason, he is said to have " sealed us,
and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts," because,
as pilgrims in the world, and persons in a manner dead, he
so quickens us from above as to assure us that our salvation
is safe in the keeping of a faithful God. Hence, also, the

CHAP. I. CHRISTIAN RELIGION*. 89

Spirit is said to be " life because of righteousness." But
since it is his secret irrigation that makes us bud forth and
produce the fruits of righteousness, he is repeatedly described
as water. Thus in Isaiah, " Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters." Again, " I will pour water upon
him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." Cor
responding to this are the words of our Saviour, to which I
lately referred, " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and
drink." Sometimes, indeed, he receives this name from his
energy in cleansing and purifying, as in Ezekiel, where the
Lord promises, a Then will I sprinkle you with clean water,
and ye shall be clean." As those sprinkled with the Spirit
are restored to the full vigour of life, he hence obtains the
names of " Oil" and " Unction" On the other hand, as he
is constantly employed in subduing and destroying the vices
of our concupiscence, and inflaming our hearts with the love
of God and piety, he hence receives the name of Fire. In
fine, he is described to us as a Fountain, whence all heavenly
riches flow to us ; or as the Hand by wrhich God exerts his
power, because by his divine inspiration he so breathes divine
life into us, that we are no longer acted upon by ourselves,
but ruled by his motion and agency, so that everything good
in us is the fruit of his grace, while our own endowments
without him are mere darkness of mind and perverseness of
heart. Already, indeed, it has been clearly shown, that un
til our minds are intent on the Spirit, Christ is in a manner
unemployed, because we view him coldly without us, and so
at a distance from us. Now we know that he is of no avail
save only to those to whom he is a head and the first-born
among the brethren, to those, in fine, who are clothed with
him.1 To this union alone it is owing that, in regard to us,
the Saviour has not come in vain. To this is to be referred
that sacred marriage, by which we become bone of his bone,
and flesh of his flesh, and so one with him, (Eph. v. 30,) for
it is by the Spirit alone that he unites himself to us. By
the same grace and energy of the Spirit we become his

1 Rom. viii. 15 ; Gal. iv. 6 ; 2 Cor. i. 22 ; Eph. i. 13, 14 ; Rom. viii. 10 ;
Isa. Iv. 1 ; xliv. 3 ; John viii. 37 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 25 ; Jolm ii. 14 ; 1 John
ii. 20, 27 ; Luke iii. 16 ; Acts xi. 21.

90 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

members, so that he keeps us under him, and we in our turn
possess him.

4. But as faith is his principal work, all those passages
which express his power and operations are, in a great mea
sure, referred to it, as it is only by faith that he brings us
to the light of the Gospel, as John teaches, that to those
who believe in Christ is given the privilege " to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe in his name, which
were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God," (John i. 12.) Opposing God
to flesh and bloody he declares it to be a supernatural gift,
that those who would otherwise remain in unbelief receive
Christ by faith. Similar to this is our Saviour's reply to
Peter, " Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
my Father which is in heaven," (Matt. xvi. 17.) These
things I now briefly advert to, as I have fully considered
them elsewhere. To the same effect Paul says to the Ephe-
sians, " Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,"
(Eph. i. 13 ;) thus showing that he is the internal teacher, by
whose agency the promise of salvation, which would other
wise only strike the air or our ears, penetrates into our minds.
In like manner, he says to the Thessalonians, " God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sancti-
fication of the Spirit and belief of the truth," (2 Thess. ii.
13 ;) by this passage briefly reminding us, that faith itself is
produced only by the Spirit. This John explains more dis
tinctly, " We know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit
which he hath given us ;" again, " Hereby know we that
we dwell in him and he in us, because he hath given us of
his Spirit," (1 John iii. 24; iv. 13.) Accordingly, to make
his disciples capable of heavenly wisdom, Christ promised
them " the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,"
(John xiv. 17.) And he assigns it to him, as his proper
office, to bring to remembrance the things which he had
verbally taught ; for in vain were light offered to the blind,
did not that Spirit of understanding open the intellectual
eye ; so that he himself may be properly termed the key by
which the treasures of the heavenly kingdom are unlocked,
and his illumination, the eye of the mind by which we are

CHAP. I. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 91

enabled to see : hence Paul so highly commends the ministry
of the Spirit,1 (2 Cor. iii. 6,) since teachers would cry aloud
to no purpose, did not Christ, the internal teacher, by means
of his Spirit, draw to himself those who are given him of the
Father. Therefore, as we have said that salvation is per
fected in the person of Christ, so, in order to make us par
takers of it, he baptizes us " with the Holy Spirit and with
fire," (Luke iii. 16,) enlightening us into the faith of his
Gospel, and so regenerating us to be new creatures. Thus
cleansed from all pollution, he dedicates us as holy temples
to the Lord.

1 The French adds, " qui vaut autant a dire comme la predication
ay ant avec soy vivacite spirituelle ;" — that is to say, preaching carrying
spiritual quickening along with it.

92 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

CHAPTER II.

OF FAITH. THE DEFINITION OF IT. ITS PECULIAR
PROPERTIES.

This chapter consists of three principal parts. — I. A brief explanation
of certain matters pertaining to the doctrine of Faith, sec. 1-14. First,
of the object of faith, sec. 1. Second, of Implicit Faith, sec. 2-6. Third,
Definition of Faith, sec. 7. Fourth, the various meanings of the term
Faith, sec. 8-13. II. A full exposition of the definition given in the
seventh section, sec. 14-40. III. A brief confirmation of the definition
by the authority of an Apostle. The mutual relation between faith,
hope, and charity, sec. 41-43.

Sections.

1. A brief recapitulation of the leading points of the whole discussion.

The scope of this chapter. The necessity of the doctrine of faith.
This doctrine obscured by the Schoolmen, who make God the object
of faith, -without referring to Christ. The Schoolmen refuted by
various passages.

2. The dogma of implicit faith refuted. It destroys faith, which con

sists in a knowledge of the divine will. What this will is, and how
necessary the knowledge of it.

3. Many things are and will continue to be implicitly believed. Faith,

however, consists in the knowledge of God and Christ, not in a
reverence for the Church. Another refutation from the absurdities
to which this dogma leads.

4. In what sense our faith may be said to be implicit. Examples in the

Apostles, in the holy women, and in all believers.

5. In some, faith is implicit, as being a preparation for faith. This, how

ever, widely different from the implicit faith of the Schoolmen.

6. The word of God has a similar relation to faith, the word being, as

it were, the source and basis of faith, and the mirror in which it
beholds God. Confirmation from various passages of Scripture,
Without the knowledge of the word there can be no faith. Sum
of the discussion of the Scholastic doctrine of implicit faith.

7. What faith properly has respect to in the word of God, namely, the

promise of grace offered in Christ, provided it be embraced with
faith. Proper definition of faith.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 93

8. Scholastic distinction between faith formed and unformed, refuted by

a consideration of the nature of faith, which, as the gift of the Spirit,
cannot possibly be disjoined from pious affection.

9. Objection from a passage of Paul. Answer to it. Error of the

Schoolmen in giving only one meaning to faith, whereas it has
many meanings. The testimony of faith improperly ascribed to
two classes of men.

10. View to be taken of this. Who those are that believe for a time.

The faith of hypocrites. With whom they may be compared.

11. Why faith attributed to the reprobate. Objection. Answer. What

perception of grace in the reprobate. How the elect are distin
guished from the reprobate.

12. Why faith is temporary in the reprobate, firm and perpetual in the

elect. Reason in the case of the reprobate. Example. Why God
is angry with his children. In what sense many are said to fall
from faith.

13. Various meanings of the term faith. 1. Taken for soundness in the

faith. 2. Sometimes restricted to a particular object. 3. Signifies
the ministry or testimony by which we are instructed in the faith.

14. Definition of faith explained under six principal heads. 1. What

meant by Knowledge in the definition.

15. Why this knowledge must be sure and firm. Reason drawn from

the consideration of our weakness. Another reason from the
certainty of the promises of God.

16. The leading point in this certainty. Its fruits. A description of

the true believer.

17. An objection to this certainty. Answer. Confirmation of the

answer from the example of David. This enlarged upon from the
opposite example of Ahaz. Also from the uniform experience and
the prayers of believers.

18. For this reason the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit in the

soul of the believer described. The issue of this conflict, the
victory of faith.

19. On the whole, the faith of the elect certain and indubitable. Con

firmation from analogy.

20. Another confirmation from the testimony of an Apostle, making it

apparent, that, though the faith of the elect is as yet imperfect, it is
nevertheless firm and sure.

21. A fuller explanation of the nature of faith. 1. When the believer is

shaken with fear, he betakes himself to the bosom of a merciful
God. 2. He does not even shun God when angry, but hopes in him.
3. He does not suffer unbelief to reign in his heart. 4. He opposes
unbelief, and is never finally lost. 5. Faith, however often assailed,
at length comes off victorious.

22. Another species of fear, arising from a consideration of the judgment

of God against the wicked. This also faith overcomes. Exam-

94 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

pies of this description, placed before the eyes of believers, repress
presumption, and fix their faith in God.

23. Nothing contrary to this in the exhortation of the Apostle to work

out our salvation with fear and trembling. Fear and faith mutu
ally connected. Confirmation from the words of a Prophet.

24. This doctrine gives no countenance to the error of those who dream

of a confidence mingled with incredulity. Refutation of this error,
from a consideration of the dignity of Christ dwelling in us. The
argument retorted. Refutation confirmed by the authority of an
Apostle. What we ought to hold on this question.

25. Confirmation of the preceding conclusion by a passage from Bernard.

26. True fear caused in two ways, viz., when we are required to rever

ence God as a Father, and also to fear him as Lord.

27. Objection from a passage in the Apostle John. Answer founded on

the distinction between filial and servile fear.

28. How faith is said to have respect to the divine benevolence. What

comprehended under this benevolence. Confirmation from David
and Paul.

29. Of the Free Promise which is the foundation of Faith. Reason.

Confirmation.

30. Faith not divided in thus seeking a Free Promise in the Gospel.

Reason. Conclusion confirmed by another reason.

31. The word of God the prop and root of faith. The word attests the

divine goodness and mercy. In what sense faith has respect to
the power of God. Various passages of Isaiah, inviting the godly
to behold the power of God, explained. Other passages from
David. We must beware of going beyond the limits prescribed by
the word, lest false zeal lead us astray, as it did Sarah, Rebekah,
and Isaac. In this way faith is obscured, though not extinguished.
We must not depart one iota from the word of God.

32. All the promises included in Christ. Two objections^ answered. A

third objection drawn from example. Answer explaining the faith
of Naaman, Cornelius, and the Eunuch.

33. Faith revealed to our minds, and sealed on our hearts, by the Holy

Spirit. 1. The mind is purified so as to have a relish for divine
truth. 2. The mind is thus established in the truth by the agency
of the Holy Spirit.

34. Proof of the former. 1. By reason. 2. By Scripture. 3. By ex

ample. 4. By analogy.

35. 5. By the excellent qualities of faith. 6. By a celebrated passage

from Augustine.

36. Proof of the latter by the argument a minor e ad majus. Why the

Spirit is called a seal, an earnest, and the Spirit of promise.

37. Believers sometimes shaken, but not so as to perish finally. They

ultimately overcome their trials, and remain stedfast. Proofs
from Scripture.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 95

38. Objection of the Schoolmen. Answer. Attempt to support the

objection by a passage in Ecclesiastes. Answer, explaining the
meaning of the passage.

39. Another objection, charging the elect in Christ with rashness and

presumption. Answer. Answer confirmed by various passages
from the Apostle Paul. Also from John and Isaiah.

40. A third objection, impugning the final perseverance of the elect.

Answer by an Apostle. Summary of the refutation.

41. The definition of faith accords with that given by the Apostle in the

Hebrews. Explanation of this definition. Kefutation of the
scholastic error, that charity is prior to faith and hope.

42. Hope the inseparable attendant of true faith. Eeason. Connection

between faith and hope. Mutually support each other. Obvious
from the various forms of temptation, that the aid of hope necessary
to establish faith.

43. The terms faith and hope sometimes confounded. Refutation of the

Schoolmen, who attribute a twofold foundation to hope, viz., the
grace of God and the merit of works.

1. ALL these things will be easily understood after we have
given a clearer definition of faith, so as to enable the readers
to apprehend its nature and power. Here it is of importance
to call to mind what was formerly taught, first, That since
God by his Law prescribes what we ought to do, failure in
any one respect subjects us to the dreadful judgment of
eternal death, which it denounces. Secondly, Because it is
not only difficult, but altogether beyond our strength and
ability, to fulfil the demands of the Law, if we look only to
ourselves and consider what is due to our merits, no ground of
hope remains, but we lie forsaken of God under eternal death.
Thirdly, That there is only one method of deliverance which
can rescue us from this miserable calamity, viz., when Christ
the Redeemer appears, by whose hand our heavenly Father,
out of his infinite goodness and mercy, has been pleased to
succour us, if we with true faith embrace this mercy, and
with firm hope rest in it. It is now proper to consider the
nature of this faith, by means of which, those who are
adopted into the family of God obtain possession of the
heavenly kingdom. For the accomplishment of so great an
end, it is obvious that no mere opinion or persuasion is
adequate. And the greater care and diligence is necessary
in discussing the true nature of faith, from the pernicious

96 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

delusions which many, in the present day, labour under with
regard to it. Great numbers, on hearing the term, think
that nothing more is meant than a certain common assent to
the Gospel History ; nay, when the subject of faith is dis
cussed in the Schools, by simply representing God as its
object, they by empty speculation, as we have elsewhere
said, (Book II. chap. vi. sec. 4,) hurry wretched souls away
from the right mark instead of directing them to it. For
seeing that God dwells in light that is inaccessible, Christ
must intervene. Hence he calls himself " the light of the
world ;" and in another passage, " the way, the truth, and
the life." None cometh to the Father (who is the fountain
of life) except by him ; for " no man knoweth who the
Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal
him." For this reason, Paul declares, " I count all things
as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord." In the twentieth chapter of the Acts, he states
that he preached " faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ ;"
and in another passage, he introduces Christ as thus address
ing him : " I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to

make thee a minister and a witness ;" " delivering thee

from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I

send thee," " that they may receive forgiveness of sins,

and inheritance among them which are sanctified through
faith which is in me." Paul further declares, that in the
person of Christ the glory of God is visibly manifested to
us, or, which is the same thing, we have " the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."1
It is true, indeed, that faith has respect to God only ; but to
this we should add, that it acknowledges Jesus Christ whom
he hath sent. God would remain far off, concealed from us,
were we not irradiated by the brightness of Christ. All
that the Father had, he deposited with his only begotten
Son, in order that he might manifest himself in him, and
thus by the communication of blessings express the true
image of his glory. Since, as has been said, we must be led
by the Spirit, and thus stimulated to seek Christ, so must we

1 1 Tim. vi. 16 ; John viii. 12 ; xiv. 6 ; Luke x. 22 ; 1 Cor. ii. 2 j Acts
xx. 21 ; xxvi. 17, 18 ; 2 Cor. iv. 6.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 97

also remember that the invisible Father is to be sought
nowhere but in this image. For which reason Augustine,
treating of the object of faith, (De Civitate Dei, Lib. xi.
c. 2,) elegantly says, (s The thing to be known is, whither
we are to go, and by what way;" and immediately after
infers, that " the surest way to avoid all errors is to know
him who is both God and man. It is to God we tend,
and it is by man we go, and both of these are found
only in Christ."1 Paul, when he preaches faith towards God,
surely does not intend to overthrow what he so often incul
cates, viz., that faith has all its stability in Christ. Peter
most appropriately connects both, saying, that by him " we
believe in God," (1 Pet. i. 21.)

2. This evil, therefore, must, like innumerable others, be
attributed to the Schoolmen,2 who have in a manner drawn
a veil over Christ, to whom, if our eye is not directly turned,
we must always wander through many labyrinths. But
besides impairing, and almost annihilating, faith by their
obscure definition, they have invented the fiction of implicit
faith, with which name decking the grossest ignorance, they
delude the wretched populace to their great destruction.3
Nay, to state the fact more truly and plainly, this fiction not
only buries true faith, but entirely destroys it. Is it faith
to understand nothing, and merely submit your convictions
implicitly to the Church ? Faith consists not in ignorance,
but in knowledge — knowledge not of God merely, but of the
divine will. We do not obtain salvation either because we
are prepared to embrace every dictate of the Church as true,
or leave to the Church the province of inquiring and deter
mining ; but when we recognise God as a propitious Father
through the reconciliation made by Christ, and Christ as
given to us for righteousness, sanctification, and life. By
this knowledge, I say, not by the submission of our under
standing, we obtain an entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

1 The French is, " Car nous tendons a Dieu, et par 1'humanite de
Jesus Christ, nous y somraes conduits ;" — For we tend to God, and by
the humanity of Christ are conducted to him.

2 French, " Theologiens Sorboniques ;" — Theologians ofSorbonne.

8 In opposition to this ignorance, see Chrysostorn in Joann. Homil.
xvi.

VOL. II. G

98 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

For when the Apostle says, " With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness ; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation," (Rom. x. 10;) he intimates, that it is not
enough to believe implicitly without understanding, or even
inquiring. The thing requisite is an explicit recognition of
the divine goodness, in which our righteousness consists.

3. I indeed deny not, (so enveloped are we in ignorance,)
that to us very many things now are and will continue to be
completely involved until we lay aside this weight of flesh,
and approach nearer to the presence of God. In such cases
the fittest course is to suspend our judgment, and resolve to
maintain unity with the Church. But under this pretext, to
honour ignorance tempered with humility with the name
of faith, is most absurd. Faith consists in the knowledge
of God and Christ, (John xvii. 3,) not in reverence for the
Church. And we see what a labyrinth they have formed out
of this implicit faith — every thing, sometimes even the most
monstrous errors, being received by the ignorant as oracles
without any discrimination, provided they are prescribed to
them under the name of the Church. This inconsiderate
facility, though the surest precipice to destruction, is, however,
excused on the ground that it believes nothing definitely, but
only with the appended condition, If such is the faith of the
Church. Thus they pretend to find truth in error, light in
darkness, true knowledge in ignorance. Not to dwell longer
in refuting these views, we simply advise the reader to compare
them with ours. The clearness of truth will itself furnish
a sufficient refutation. For the question they raise is not,
whether there may be an implicit faith with many remains
of ignorance, but they maintain, that persons living and even
indulging in a stupid ignorance duly believe, provided, in
regard to things unknown, they assent to the authority and
judgment of the Church : as if Scripture did not uniformly
teach, that with faith understanding is conjoined.

4. We grant, indeed, that so long as we are pilgrims in the
world faith is implicit, not only because as yet many things
are hidden from us, but because, involved in the mists of
error, we attain not to all. The highest wisdom, even of him
who has attained the greatest perfection, is to go forward, and

CHAP. IF. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 99

endeavour in a calm and teachable spirit to make further pro
gress. Hence Paul exhorts believers to wait for further
illumination in any matter in which they differ from each
other, (Phil. iii. 15.1) And certainly experience teaches,
that so long as we are in the flesh, our attainments are less
than is to be desired. In our daily reading we fall in
with many obscure passages which convict us of ignorance.
With this curb God keeps us modest, assigning to each a
measure of faith, that every teacher, however excellent, may
still be disposed to learn. Striking examples of this implicit
faith may be observed in the disciples of Christ before they
were fully illuminated. We see with what difficulty they
take in the first rudiments, how they hesitate in the minutest
matters, how, though hanging on the lips of their Master,
they make no great progress ; nay, even after running to the
sepulchre on the report of the women, the resurrection of
their Master appears to them a dream. As Christ previously
bore testimony to their faith, we cannot say that they were
altogether devoid of it ; nay, had they not been persuaded
that Christ would rise again, all their zeal would have been
extinguished. Nor was it superstition that led the women
to prepare spices to embalm a dead body of whose revival
they had no expectation ; but, although they gave credit to
the words of one whom they knew to be true, yet the igno
rance which still possessed their minds involved their faith in
darkness, and left them in amazement. Hence they are said
to have believed only when, by the reality, they perceive the
truth of what Christ had spoken ; not that they then began
to believe, but the seed of a hidden faith, which lay as it were
dead in their hearts, then burst forth in vigour. They had,
therefore, a true but implicit faith, having reverently em
braced Christ as the only teacher. Then, being taught by
him, they felt assured that he was the author of salvation :
in fine, believed that he had come from heaven to gather

* See Augustin. Ep. 102, " Si propter eos solos Christus mortuus est,
qui certa intelligentia possunt ista discernera, paene frustra in ecclesia
laboramus," &c. ; — If Christ died for those only who are able to discern
these things with true understanding, our labour in the Church is almost

100 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

disciples, and take them thither through the grace of the
Father. There cannot be a more familiar proof of this, than
that in all men faith is always mingled with incredulity.

5. We may also call their faith implicit, as being properly
nothing else than a preparation for faith. The Evangelists
describe many as having believed, although they were only
roused to admiration by the miracles, and went no farther
than to believe that Christ was the promised Messiah, with
out being at all imbued with Evangelical doctrine. The
reverence which subdued them, and made them willingly sub
mit to Christ, is honoured with the name of faith, though it
was nothing but the commencement of it. Thus the noble
man who believed in the promised cure of his son, on return
ing home, is said by the Evangelist (John iv. 53) to have
again believed ; that is, he had first received the words which
fell from the lips of Christ as an oracular response, and there
after submitted to his authority and received his doctrine.
Although it is to be observed that he was docile and disposed
to learn, yet the word " believed " in the former passage de
notes a particular faith, and in the latter gives him a place
among those disciples who had devoted themselves to Christ.
Not unlike this is the example which John gives of the
Samaritans, who believed the woman, and eagerly hastened
to Christ ; but, after they had heard him, thus express them
selves, " Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we
have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the
Christ, the Saviour of the world," (John iv. 42.) From these
passages it is obvious, that even those who are not yet im
bued with the first principles, provided they are disposed to
obey, are called believers, not properly indeed, but inasmuch
as God is pleased in kindness so highly to honour their pious
feeling. But this docility, with a desire of further progress,
is widely different from the gross ignorance in which those
sluggishly indulge who are contented with the implicit faith
of the Papists. If Paul severely condemns those who are
" ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of
the truth," how much more sharply ought those to be re
buked who avowedly affect to know nothing ?

6. The true knowledge of Christ consists in receiving him

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 101

as he is offered by the Father, namely, as invested with his
Gospel. For, as he is appointed as the end of our faith, so
we cannot directly tend towards him except under the
guidance of the Gospel. Therein are certainly unfolded to
us treasures of grace. Did these continue shut, Christ would
profit us little. Hence Paul makes faith the inseparable
attendant of doctrine in these words, " Ye have not so learned
Christ ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been
taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus," (Eph. iv. 20, 21.)
Still I do not confine faith to the Gospel in such a sense as
not to admit that enough was delivered to Moses and the
Prophets to form a foundation of faith ; but as the Gospel
exhibits a fuller manifestation of Christ, Paul justly terms it
the doctrine of faith, (1 Tim. iv. 6.) For which reason, also,
he elsewhere says, that, by the coming of faith, the Law was
abolished, (Rom. x. 4,) including under the expression a new
and unwonted mode of teaching, by which Christ, from the
period of his appearance as the great Master, gave a fuller
illustration of the Father's mercy, and testified more surely
of our salvation. But an easier and more appropriate method
will be to descend from the general to the particular. First,
we must remember, that there is an inseparable relation
between faith and the word, and that these can no more be
disconnected from each other than rays of light from the
sun. Hence in Isaiah the Lord exclaims, " Hear, and your
soul shall live," (Is. Iv. 3.) And John points to this same
fountain of faith in the following words, " These are written
that ye might believe," (John xx. 31.) The Psalmist also
exhorting the people to faith says, " To-day, if ye will hear his
voice," (Ps. xcv. 7,) to hear being uniformly taken for to believe.
In fine, in Isaiah the Lord distinguishes the members of the
Church from strangers by this mark, " All thy children shall
be taught of the Lord," (Is. liv. 13;) for if the benefit was
indiscriminate, why should he address his words only to a
few ? Corresponding with this, the Evangelists uniformly
employ the terms believers and disciples as synonymous. This
is done especially by Luke in several passages of the Acts.
He even applies the term disciple to a woman, (Acts ix. 36.)
Wherefore, if faith declines in the least degree from the mark

102 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

at which it ought to aim, it does not retain its nature, but
becomes uncertain credulity and vague wandering of mind.
The same word is the basis on which it rests and is sustained.
Declining from it, it falls. Take away the word, therefore,
and no faith will remain. We are not here discussing
whether, in order to propagate the word of God by which
faith is engendered, the ministry of man is necessary, (this
will be considered elsewhere;) but we say that the word

(itself, whatever be the way in which it is conveyed to us, is
a kind of mirror in which faith beholds God. In this, there
fore, whether God uses the agency of man, or works imme
diately by his own power, it is always by his word that he
manifests himself to those whom he designs to draw to him
self. Hence Paul designates faith as the obedience which is
given to the Gospel, (Rom. i. 5 ;) and writing to the Phi-
lippians, he commends them for the obedience of faith, (Phil,
ii. 17.) For faith includes not merely the knowledge that God
is, but also, nay chiefly, a perception of his will toward us. It
concerns us to know not only what he is in himself, but also
in what character he is pleased to manifest himself to us.
We now see, therefore, that faith is the knowledge of the
divine will in regard to us, as ascertained from his word.
And the foundation of it is a previous persuasion of the truth
of God. So long as your mind entertains any misgivings as
to the certainty of the word, its authority will be weak and
dubious, or rather it will have no authority at all. Nor is it
sufficient to believe that God is true, and cannot lie or
deceive, unless you feel firmly persuaded that every word
which proceeds from him is sacred, inviolable truth.

7. But since the heart of man is not brought to faith by
every word of God, we must still consider what it is that
faith properly has respect to in the word. The declaration
of God to Adam was, " Thou shalt surely die," (Gen. ii. 17 ;)
and to Cain, " The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto
me from the ground," (Gen. iv. 10 ;) but these, so far from
being fitted to establish faith, tend only to shake it. At the
same time, we deny not that it is the office of faith to
assent to the truth of God whenever, whatever, and in what
ever way he speaks : we are only inquiring what faith can

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGIOX. 103

find in the word of God to lean and rest upon. When
conscience sees only wrath and indignation, how can it but
tremble and be afraid ? and how can it avoid shunning the
God whom it thus dreads ? But faith ought to seek God, not
shun him. It is evident, therefore, that we have not yet
obtained a full definition of faith, it being impossible to give
the name to every kind of knowledge of the divine will. Shall
we, then, for will, which is often the messenger of bad news
and the herald of terror, substitute the benevolence or mercy
of God ? In this way, doubtless, we make a nearer approach
to the nature of faith. For we are allured to seek God
when told that our safety is treasured up in him ; and we
are confirmed in this when he declares that he studies and
takes an interest in our welfare. Hence there is need of the
gracious promise, in which he testifies that he is a propitious
Father; since there is no other way in which we can
approach to him, the promise being the only thing on which
the heart of man can recline. For this reason, the two
things, mercy and truth, are uniformly conjoined in the
Psalms as having a mutual connection with each other.
For it were of no avail to us to know that God is true, did
He not in mercy allure us to himself; nor could we of our
selves embrace his mercy did not He expressly offer it. " I
have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation : I have not
concealed thy loving-kindness and thy truth. Withhold not
thy tender mercies from me, O Lord : let thy loving-kind
ness and thy truth continually preserve me," (Ps. xl. 10, 11.)
" Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens ; and thy faithful
ness reacheth unto the clouds," (Ps. xxxvi. 5.) "All the
paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep
his covenant and his testimonies," (Ps. xxv. 10.) " His
merciful kindness is great toward us : and the truth of the
Lord endureth for ever," (Ps. cxvii. 2.) ft I will praise thy
name for thy loving-kindness and thy truth," (Ps. cxxxviii.
2.) I need not quote what is said in the Prophets, to the
effect that God is merciful and faithful in his promises.
It were presumptuous in us to hold that God is propitious
to us, had we not his own testimony, and did he not prevent
us by his invitation, which leaves no doubt or uncertainty

104 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

as to his will. It has already been seen that Christ is the
only pledge of love, for without him all things, both above
and below, speak of hatred and wrath. We have also seen,
that since the knowledge of the divine goodness cannot be
of much importance unless it leads us to confide in it, we
must exclude a knowledge mingled with doubt, — a know
ledge which, so far from being firm, is continually wavering.
But the human mind, when blinded and darkened, is very
far from being able to rise to a proper knowledge of the
divine will; nor can the heart, fluctuating with perpetual
doubt, rest secure in such knowledge. Hence, in order that
the word of God may gain full credit, the mind must be
enlightened, and the heart confirmed, from some other
quarter. We shall now have a full definition of faith1 if we
say that it is a firm and sure knowledge of the divine favour
toward us, founded on the truth of a free promise in Christ,
and revealed to our minds, and sealed on our hearts, by the
Holy Spirit.

8. But before I proceed farther, it will be necessary to
make some preliminary observations for the purpose of re
moving difficulties which might otherwise obstruct the reader.
And first, I must refute the nugatory distinction of the
Schoolmen as to formed and unformed faith.2 For they
imagine that persons who have no fear of God, and no sense
of piety, may believe all that is necessary to be known for
salvation ; as if the Holy Spirit were not the witness of our
adoption by enlightening our hearts unto faith. Still, how
ever, though the whole Scripture is against them, they
dogmatically give the name of faith to a persuasion devoid
of the fear of God. It is unnecessary to go farther in
refuting their definition, than simply to state the nature of
faith as declared in the word of God. From this it will
clearly appear how unskilfully and absurdly they babble,
rather than discourse, on this subject. I have already done

1 This definition is explained, sections 14, 15, 28, 29, 32, 33, 31, of
this chapter.

* See Lombard, Lib. iii. Dist. 23. See the refutation in the middle of
sections 41, 42, 43, where it is shown that faith produces, and is insepar
able from hope and love.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 105

this in part, and will afterwards add the remainder in its
proper place. At present, I say that nothing can be ima
gined more absurd than their fiction. They insist that faith
is an assent with which any despiser of God may receive
what is delivered by Scripture. But we must first see
whether any one can by his own strength acquire faith, or
whether the Holy Spirit, by means of it, becomes the wit
ness of adoption. Hence it is childish trifling in them to
inquire whether the faith formed by the supervening quality
of love be the same, or a different and new faith. By
talking in this style, they show plainly that they have never
thought of the special gift of the Spirit ; since one of the
first elements of faith is reconciliation implied in man's
drawing near to God. Did they duly ponder the saying of
Paul, " With the heart man believeth unto righteousness,"
(Rom. x. 10,) they wrould cease to dream of that frigid
quality. There is one consideration which ought at once to
put an end to the debate, viz., that assent itself (as I have
already observed, and will afterwards more fully illustrate)
is more a matter of the heart than the head, of the affection
than the intellect. For this reason, it is termed " the obe
dience of faith," (Rom. i. 5,) which the Lord prefers to all
other service, and justly, since nothing is more precious to
him than his truth, which, as John Baptist declares, is in a
manner signed and sealed by believers, (John iii. 33.) As
there can be no doubt on the matter, we in one word
conclude, that they talk absurdly when they maintain that
faith is formed by the addition of pious affection as an
accessory to assent, since assent itself, such at least as the
Scriptures describe, consists in pious affection. But we are
furnished with a still clearer argument. Since faith embraces
Christ as he is offered by the Father, and he is offered not
only for justification, for forgiveness of sins and peace, but
also for sanctification, as the fountain of living waters, it is
certain that no man will ever know him aright without at
the same time receiving the sanctification of the Spirit ; or,
to express the matter more plainly, faith consists in the
knowledge of Christ ; Christ cannot be known without the
sanctification of his Spirit : therefore faith cannot possibly be
disjoined from pious affection.

106 IXST1TUTES OF THE BOOK III.

9. In their attempt to mar faith by divesting it of love,
they are wont to insist on the words of Paul, " Though I
have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have
not charity, I am nothing," (1 Cor. xiii. 2.) But they do
not consider what the faith is of which the Apostle there
speaks. Having, in the previous chapter, discoursed of the
various gifts of the Spirit, (1 Cor. xii. 10,) including diver
sity of tongues, miracles, and prophecy, and exhorted the
Corinthians to follow the better gifts, in other words, those
from which the whole body of the Church would derive
greater benefit, he adds, "Yet show I unto you a more
excellent way," (1 Cor. xii. 30.) All other gifts, how excel
lent soever they may be in themselves, are of no value unless
they are subservient to charity. They were given for the
edification of the Church, and fail of their purpose if not so
applied. To prove this he adopts a division, repeating the
same gifts which he had mentioned before, but under different
names. Miracles and faith are used to denote the same
thing, viz., the power of working miracles. Seeing, then,
that this miraculous power or faith is the particular gift of
God, which a wicked man may possess and abuse, as the gift
of tongues, prophecy, or other gifts, it is not strange that he
separates it from charity. Their whole error lies in this,
that while the term faith has a variety of meanings, over
looking this variety, they argue as if its meaning were
invariably one and the same. The passage of James, by
which they endeavour to defend their error, will be elsewhere
discussed, (infra, chap. xvii. sec. 11.) Although, in discours
ing of faith, we admit that it has a variety of forms ; yet,
when our object is to show what knowledge of God the
wicked possess, we hold and maintain, in accordance with
Scripture, that the pious only have faith. Multitudes un
doubtedly believe that God is, and admit the truth of the
Gospel History, and the other parts of Scripture, in the same
way in which they believe the records of past events, or
events which they have actually witnessed. There are some
who go even farther : they regard the Word of God as an
infallible oracle ; they do not altogether disregard its precepts,
but are moved to some degree by its threatenings and pro
mises. To such the testimony of faith is attributed, but by

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 107

catachresis; because they do not with open impiety impugn,
reject, or contemn, the Word of God, but rather exhibit
some semblance of obedience.

10. But as this shadow or image of faith is of no moment,
so it is unworthy of the name. How far it differs from true
faith will shortly be explained at length. Here, however, we
may just indicate it in passing. Simon Magus is said to
have believed, though he soon after gave proof of his unbe
lief, (Acts viii. 13-18.) In regard to the faith attributed to
him, we do not understand with some, that he merely pre
tended a belief which had no existence in his heart : we
rather think that, overcome by the majesty of the Gospel, he
yielded some kind of assent, and so far acknowledged Christ
to be the author of life and salvation, as willingly to assume
his name. In like manner, in the Gospel of Luke, those in
whom the seed of the word is choked before it brings forth
fruit, or in whom, from having no depth of earth, it soon
withereth away, are said to believe for a time. Such, we
doubt not, eagerly receive the word with a kind of relish,
and have some feeling of its divine power, so as not only to
impose upon men by a false semblance of faith, but even to
impose upon themselves. They imagine that the reverence
which they give to the word is genuine piety, because
they have no idea of any impiety but that which consists
in open and avowed contempt. But whatever that assent
may be, it by no means penetrates to the heart, so as to
have a fixed seat there. Although it sometimes seems to
have planted its roots, these have no life in them. The
human heart has so many recesses for vanity, so many lurk
ing places for falsehood, is so shrouded by fraud and hypocrisy,
that it often deceives itself. Let those who glory in such
semblances of faith know that, in this respect, they are not
a whit superior to devils. The one class, indeed, is inferior
to them, inasmuch as they are able without emotion to hear
and understand things, the knowledge of which makes devils
tremble, (James ii. 19.) The other class equals them in this,
that whatever be the impression made upon them, its only
result is terror and consternation.

11. I am aware it seems unaccountable to some how faith is

108 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

attributed to the reprobate, seeing that it is declared by Paul
to be one of the fruits of election;1 and yet the difficulty is
easily solved : for though none are enlightened into faith, and
truly feel the efficacy of the Gospel, with the exception of
those who are fore-ordained to salvation, yet experience
shows that the reprobate are sometimes affected in a way so
similar to the elect, that even in their own judgment there is
no difference between them. Hence it is not strange, that
by the Apostle a taste of heavenly gifts, and by Christ him
self a temporary faith, is ascribed to them. Not that they
truly perceive the power of spiritual grace and the sure light
of faith ; but the Lord, the better to convict them, and leave
them without excuse, instils into their minds such a sense of
his goodness as can be felt without the Spirit of adoption.
Should it be objected, that believers have no stronger testi
mony to assure them of their adoption, I answer, that though
there is a great resemblance and affinity between the elect of
God and those who are impressed for a time with a fading faith,
yet the elect alone have that full assurance which is extolled
by Paul, and by which they are enabled to cry, Abba, Father.
Therefore, as God regenerates the elect only for ever by
incorruptible seed, as the seed of life once sown in their
hearts never perishes, so he effectually seals in them the grace
of his adoption, that it may be sure and stedfast. But in
this there is nothing to prevent an inferior operation of the
Spirit from taking its course in the reprobate. Meanwhile,
believers are taught to examine themselves carefully and
humbly, lest carnal security creep in and take the place of
assurance of faith. We may add, that the reprobate never
have any other than a confused sense of grace, laying hold
of the shadow rather than the substance, because the Spirit
properly seals the forgiveness of sins in the elect only, ap
plying it by special faith to their use. Still it is correctly
said, that the reprobate believe God to be propitious to them,
inasmuch as they accept the gift of reconciliation, though
confusedly and without due discernment ; not that they are
partakers of the same faith or regeneration with the children

1 1 Thess. i. 3, 4 ; 2 Tliess. ii. 13 ; Tit. i.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 109

of God ; but because, under a covering of hypocrisy, they seem
to have a principle of faith in common with them. Nor do I
even deny that God illumines their minds to this extent, that
they recognise his grace ; but that conviction he distinguishes
from the peculiar testimony which he gives to his elect in
this respect, that the reprobate never attain to the full result
or to fruition. When he shows himself propitious to them,
it is not as if he had truly rescued them from death, and
taken them under his protection. He only gives them a
manifestation of his present mercy.1 In the elect alone he
implants the living root of faith, so that they persevere even
to the end. Thus we dispose of the objection, that if God
truly displays his grace, it must endure for ever. There is
nothing inconsistent in this with the fact of his enlightening
some with a present sense of grace, which afterwards proves
evanescent.

12. Although faith is a knowledge of the divine favour
towards us, and a full persuasion of its truth, it is not strange
that the sense of the divine love, which though akin to faith
differs much from it, vanishes in those who are temporarily
impressed. The will of God is, I confess, immutable, and his
truth is always consistent with itself; but I deny that the
reprobate ever advance so far as to penetrate to that secret
revelation which Scripture reserves for the elect only. I
therefore deny that they either understand his will consi
dered as immutable, or steadily embrace his truth, inasmuch
as they rest satisfied with an evanescent impression ; just as
a tree not planted deep enough may take root, but will in
process of time wither away, though it may for several years
not only put forth leaves and flowers, but produce fruit. In
short, as by the revolt of the first man, the image of God
could be effaced from his mind and soul, so there is nothing
strange in His shedding some rays of grace on the reprobate,
and afterwards allowing these to be extinguished. There
is nothing to prevent His giving some a slight knowledge
of his Gospel, and imbuing others thoroughly. Meanwhile,
we must remember that however feeble and slender the

1 The French adds, u Comme par une bouffee ;" — as by fits and starts.

110 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

faith of the elect may be, yet as the Spirit of God is to
them a sure earnest and seal of their adoption, the impres
sion once engraven can never be effaced from their hearts,
whereas the light which glimmers in the reprobate is after
wards quenched.1 Nor can it be said that the Spirit there
fore deceives, because he does not quicken the seed which
lies in their hearts, so as to make it ever remain incorruptible
as in the elect. I go farther : seeing it is evident, from the doc
trine of Scripture and from daily experience, that the reprobate
are occasionally impressed with a sense of divine grace, some
desire of mutual love must necessarily be excited in their
hearts. Thus for a time a pious affection prevailed in Saul,
disposing him to love God. Knowing that he was treated
with paternal kindness, he was in some degree attracted by
it. But as the reprobate have no rooted conviction of the
paternal love of God, so they do not in return yield the love
of sons, but are led by a kind of mercenary affection. The
Spirit of love was given to Christ alone, for the express pur
pose of conferring this Spirit upon his members ; and there
can be no doubt that the following words of Paul apply to
the elect only : " The love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us," (Rom. v.
5 ;) namely, the love which begets that confidence in prayer
to which I have above adverted. On the other hand, we see
that God is mysteriously offended with his children, though
he ceases not to love them. He certainly hates them not,
but he alarms them with a sense of his anger, that he may
humble the pride of the flesh, arouse them from lethargy, and
urge them to repentance. Hence they, at the same instant,
feel that he is angry with them or their sins, and also pro
pitious to their persons. It is not from fictitious dread that
they deprecate his anger, and yet they betake themselves to
him with tranquil confidence. It hence appears that the
faith of some, though not true faith, is not mere pretence.
They are borne along by some sudden impulse of zeal,
and erroneously impose upon themselves, sloth undoubtedly
preventing them from examining their hearts with due care.

1 See section 13, where it is said, that this impression sometimes exist
ing in the reprobate is called faith, but improperly.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. Ill

Such probably was the case of those whom John describes as
believing on Christ ; but of whom he says, " Jesus did not
commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and
needed not that any should testify of man : for he knew
wrhat was in man," (John ii. 24, 25.) Were it not true that
many fall away from the common faith, (I call it common,
because there is a great resemblance between temporary and
living, ever-during faith,) Christ would not have said to his
disciples, " If ye continue in my w^ord, then are ye my dis
ciples indeed ; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free," (John viii. 31, 32.) He is addressing
those who had embraced his doctrine, and urging them to
progress in the faith, lest by their sluggishness they extin
guish the light which they have received. Accordingly,
Paul claims faith as the peculiar privilege of the elect, inti
mating that many, from not being properly rooted, fall away,
(Tit. i. 1.) In the same way, in Matthew, our Saviour says,
" Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted
shall be rooted up," (Matth. xvi. 13.) Some who are not
ashamed to insult God and man are more grossly false. Against
this class of men, who profane the faith by impious and lying
pretence, James inveighs, (James ii. 14.) Nor would Paul
require the faith of believers to be unfeigned, (1 Tim. i. 5,)
were there not many who presumptuously arrogate to them
selves what they have not, deceiving others, and sometimes
even themselves, with empty show. Hence he compares a
good conscience to the ark in which faith is preserved, be
cause many, by falling away, have in regard to it made ship
wreck.

13. It is necessary to attend to the ambiguous meaning of
the term : for faith is often equivalent in meaning to sound
doctrine, as in the passage which we lately quoted, and in
the same Epistle where Paul enjoins the deacons to hold " the
mystery of the faith in a pure conscience ;" in like manner,
when he denounces the defection of certain from the faith.
The meaning again is the same, when he says that Timothy
had been brought up in the faith ; and in like manner, when he
says that profane babblings and oppositions of science, falsely
so called, lead many away from the faith. Such persons he

1 12 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

elsewhere calls reprobate as to the faith. On the other hand,
when he enjoins Titus, " Rebuke them sharply, that they
may be sound in the faith ;'n by soundness he means purity
of doctrine, which is easily corrupted, and degenerates through
the fickleness of men. And indeed, since in Christ, as
possessed by faith, are " hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge," (Col. i. 2, 3,) the term faith is justly extend
ed to the whole sum of heavenly doctrine, from which it
cannot be separated. On the other hand, it is sometimes
confined to a particular object, as when Matthew says of those
who let down the paralytic through the roof, that Jesus saw
their faith, (Matth. ix. 2 ;) and Jesus himself exclaims in
regard to the centurion, " I have not found so great faith,
no, not in Israel," (Matth. viii. 10.) Now, it is probable
that the centurion wras thinking only of the cure of his son,
by whom his whole soul was engrossed ;2 but because he is
satisfied with the simple answer and assurance of Christ, and
does not request his bodily presence, this circumstance calls
forth the eulogium on his faith. And we have lately shown
how Paul uses the term faith for the gift of miracles — a gift
possessed by persons who were neither regenerated by the
Spirit of God, nor sincerely reverenced him. In another pass
age, he uses faith for the doctrine by which we are instructed

O 7 J

in the faith. For when he says, that " that which is in part
shall be done away," (1 Cor. xiii. 10,) there can be no doubt
that reference is made to the ministry of the Church, which
is necessary in our present imperfect state ; in these forms
of expression the analogy is obvious. But when the name of
faith is improperly transferred to a false profession or lying
assumption, the catachresis ought not to seem harsher than when
the fear of God is used for vitious and perverse worship ; as
when it is repeatedly said in sacred history, that the foreign
nations which had been transported to Samaria and the neigh
bouring districts, feared false gods and the God of Israel : in
other words, confounded heaven with earth. But we have
now been inquiring what the faith is which distinguishes the

1 1 Tim. iii. 9 ; iv. 1, 6 ; 2 Tim. ii. 15 ; iii. 18 ; Tit. i. 13 ; ii. 2.
9 The French adds, u Comme il montre par ses propos quel souci il en
avoit ;" — as he shows by his urgency what anxiety he felt.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 113

children of God from unbelievers, the faith by which we
invoke God the Father, by which we pass from death unto
life, and by which Christ our eternal salvation and life dwells
in us. Its power and nature have, I trust, been briefly and
clearly explained.

14. Let us now again go over the parts of the definition
separately : I should think that, after a careful examination
of them, no doubt will remain. By knowledge we do not
mean comprehension, such as that which we have of things
falling under human sense. For that knowledge is so much
superior, that the human mind must far surpass and go
beyond itself in order to reach it. Nor even when it has
reached it does it comprehend what it feels, but persuaded
of what it comprehends not, it understands more from mere
certainty of persuasion than it could discern of any human
matter by its own capacity. Hence it is elegantly described
by Paul as ability " to comprehend with all saints what is
the breadth, and length, and depth, and height ; and to know
the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge," (Eph. iii. 18,
19.) His object was to intimate, that what our mind em
braces by faith is every way infinite, that this kind of
knowledge far surpasses all understanding. But because the
"mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations"
is now " made manifest to the saints," (Col. i. 26,) faith is, for
good reason, occasionally termed in Scripture understanding^
(Col. ii. 2 ;) and knowledge, as by John, (1 John iii. 2,) when
he declares that believers know themselves to be the sons of
God. And certainly they do know, but rather as confirm
ed by a belief of the divine veracity than taught by any
demonstration of reason. This is also indicated by Paul
when he says, that " whilst we are at home in the body, we
are absent from the Lord : (For we walk by faith, not by
sight,)" (2 Cor. v. 6, 7 :) thus showing, that what we under
stand by faith is yet distant from us and escapes our view.
Hence we conclude that the knowledge of faith consists more
of certainty than discernment.

15. We add, that it is sure and firm, the better to express
strength and constancy of persuasion. For as faith is not
contented with a dubious and fickle opinion, so neither is it

VOL. n. H

114 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

contented with an obscure and ill-defined conception. The
certainty which it requires must be full and decisive, as is
usual in regard to matters ascertained and proved. So deeply
rooted in our hearts is unbelief, so prone are we to it, that while
all confess with the lips that God is faithful, no man ever believes
it without an arduous struggle. Especially when brought to
the test,1 we by our wavering betray the vice which lurked
within. Nor is it without cause that the Holy Spirit bears
such distinguished testimony to the authority of God, in
order that it may cure the disease of which I have spoken,
and induce us to give full credit to the divine promises :
" The words of the Lord" (says David, Ps. xii. 6) " are pure
words, as silver tried in afurnace of earth, purified seven times:"
et The word of the Lord is tried : he is a buckler to all those
that trust in him," (Ps. xviii. 30.) And Solomon declares the
game thing almost in the same words, " Every word of God is
pure," (Prov. xxx. 5.) But further quotation is superfluous, as
the cxix. Psalm is almost wholly occupied with this subject.
Certainly, whenever God thus recommends his word, he indi
rectly rebukes our unbelief, the purport of all that is said being
to eradicate perverse doubt from our hearts. There are very
many also who form such an idea of the divine mercy as yields
them very little comfort. For they are harassed by miserable
anxiety while they doubt whether God will be merciful to them.
They think, indeed, that they are most fully persuaded of the
divine mercy, but they confine it within too narrow limits.
The idea they entertain is, that this mercy is great and
abundant, is shed upon many, is offered and ready to be
bestowed upon all ; but that it is uncertain whether it will
reach to them individually, or rather whether they can reach
to it. Thus their knowledge stopping short leaves them only
mid-way ; not so much confirming and tranquillizing the mind
as harassing it with doubt and disquietude. Very different
is that feeling of full assurance (-rX^opog/a) which the Scrip
tures uniformly attribute to faith — an assurance which leaves
no doubt that the goodness of God is clearly offered to us.

1 Latin, "Praesentim ubi ad rem ventum est." — French, "Principale-
ment quand les tentations nous pressent ;" — especially when temptations
press us.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGIOX. 115

This assurance we cannot have without truly perceiving its
sweetness, and experiencing it in ourselves. Hence from
faith the Apostle deduces confidence, and from confidence
boldness. His words are, " In whom (Christ) we have bold
ness and access with confidence by the faith of him," (Eph.
iii. 12:) thus undoubtedly showing that our faith is not true
unless it enables us to appear calmly in the presence of God.
Such boldness springs only from confidence in the divine
favour and salvation. So true is this, that the term faith is
often used as equivalent to confidence.

16. The principal hinge on which faith turns is this : We
must not suppose that any promises of mercy which the Lord
offers are only true out of us, and not at all in us : we should
rather make them ours by inwardly embracing them. In this
way only is engendered that confidence which he elsewhere
terms peace, (Rom. v. 1;) though perhaps he rather means to
make peace follow from it. This is the security which quiets
and calms the conscience in the view of the judgment of God,
and without which it is necessarily vexed and almost torn
with tumultuous dread, unless when it happens to slumber
for a moment, forgetful both of God and of itself. And
verily it is but for a moment. It never long enjoys that
miserable obliviousness, for the memory of the divine judg
ment, ever and anon recurring, stings it to the quick. In
one word, he only is a true believer who, firmly persuaded
that God is reconciled, and is a kind Father to him, hopes
everything from his kindness, who, trusting to the promises
of the divine favour, with undoubting confidence anticipates
salvation ; as the Apostle shows in these words, " We are
made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
confidence stedfast unto the end," (Heb. iii. 14.) He thus
holds, that none hope well in the Lord save those who con
fidently glory in being the heirs of the heavenly kingdom.
No man, I say, is a believer but he who, trusting to the
security of his salvation, confidently triumphs over the devil
and death, as we are taught by the noble exclamation of
Paul, "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,

116 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

shall be able to separate us from tbe love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord," (Rom. viii. 38.) In like manner, the
same Apostle does not consider that the eyes of our under
standing are enlightened unless we know what is the hope
of the eternal inheritance to which we are called, (Eph. i.
18.) Thus he uniformly intimates throughout his writings,
that the goodness of God is not properly comprehended
when security does not follow as its fruit.

17. But it will be said that this differs widely from the
experience of believers, who, in recognising the grace of
God toward them, not only feel disquietude, (this often
happens,) but sometimes tremble, overcome with terror,1 so
violent are the temptations which assail their minds. This
scarcely seems consistent with certainty of faith. It is
necessary to solve this difficulty, in order to maintain the
doctrine above laid down. When we say that faith must
be certain and secure, we certainly speak not of an assur
ance which is never affected by doubt, nor a security which
anxiety never assails ; we rather maintain that believers
have a perpetual struggle with their own distrust, and are
thus far from thinking that their consciences possess a placid
quiet, uninterrupted by perturbation. On the other hand,
whatever be the mode in which they are assailed, we deny
that they fall off and abandon that sure confidence which
they have formed in the mercy of God. Scripture does not
set before us a brighter or more memorable example of faith
than in David, especially if regard be had to the constant
tenor of his life. And yet how far his mind was from being
always at peace is declared by innumerable complaints, of
which it will be sufficient to select a few. When he rebukes
the turbulent movements of his soul, what else is it but a cen
sure of his unbelief? " Why art thou cast down, my soul ? and
why art thou disquieted in me ? hope thou in God," (Psalm
xlii. 6.) His alarm was undoubtedly a manifest sign of dis
trust, as if he thought that the Lord had forsaken him. In
another passage we have a fuller confession : " I said in my
haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes," (Psalm xxxi. 22.)

1 As to the imperfection, strengthening, and increase of faith, see Book
IV. chap. xiv. sec. 7, 8.

CHAP. 11. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 117

In another passage, in anxious and wretched perplexity, he
debates with himself j nay, raises a question as to the nature
of God : " Hath God forgotten to be -gracious ? hath he in
anger shut up his tender mercies ?" (Psalm Ixxvii. 9.) What
follows is still harsher : " I said this is my infirmity ; but I
will remember the years of the right hand of the Most
High."1 As if desperate, he adjudges himself to destruc
tion.2 He not only confesses that he is agitated by doubt,
but as if he had fallen in the contest, leaves himself nothing
in reserve, — God having deserted him, and made the hand
which was wont to help him the instrument of his destruc
tion. Wherefore, after having been tossed among tumul
tuous waves, it is not without reason he exhorts his soul to
return to her quiet rest, (Psalm cxvi. 7.) And yet (what is
strange) amid those commotions, faith sustains the believer's
heart, and truly acts the part of the palm tree, which supports
any weights laid upon it, and rises above them ; thus David,
when he seemed to be overwhelmed, ceased not by urging him
self forward to ascend to God. But he who anxiously contend
ing with his own infirmity has recourse to faith, is already in
a great measure victorious. This we may infer from the
following passage, and others similar to it : " Wait on the
Lord : be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine
heart : wait, I say, on the Lord," (Psalm xxvii. 14.) He
accuses himself of timidity, and repeating the same thing
twice, confesses that he is ever and anon exposed to agita
tion. Still he is not only dissatisfied with himself for so
feeling, but earnestly labours to correct it. Were we to
take a nearer view of his case, and compare it with that of
Ahaz, we should find a great difference between them.
Isaiah is sent to relieve the anxiety of an impious and
hypocritical king, and addresses him in these terms : " Take
heed, and be quiet ; fear not," &c., (Isaiah vii. 4.) How did
Ahaz act ? As has already been said, his heart was shaken
as a tree is shaken by the wind : though he heard the pro-

1 Calvin's Latin translation of the passage is, " Atque dixi, occidere
meum est ; mutationes dextera? excelsi." — -The French is, " J'ay dit, II
me faut mourir. Voicy un changement de la main de Dieu ;" — I said I
must die. Behold a change in the hand of God.

2 See Calv. adv. Pighium, near the commencement.

118 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

mise, he ceased not to tremble. This, therefore, is the
proper hire and punishment of unbelief, so to tremble as in
the day of trial to turn away from God, who gives access
to himself only by faith. On the other hand, believers,
though weighed down and almost overwhelmed with the
burden of temptation, constantly rise up, though not without
toil and difficulty ; hence, feeling conscious of their own
weakness, they pray with the Prophet, " Take not the
word of truth utterly out of my mouth," (Psalm cxix. 43.)
By these words, we are taught that they at times become
dumb, as if their faith were overthrown, and yet that they
do not withdraw or turn their backs, but persevere in the
contest, and by prayer stimulate their sluggishness, so as not
to fall into stupor by giving way to it. (See Calv. in Psalm
Ixxxviii. 16.)

18. To make this intelligible, we must return to the dis
tinction between flesh and spirit, to which we have already
adverted, and which here becomes most apparent. The
believer finds within himself two principles : the one filling
him with delight in recognising the divine goodness, the other
filling him with bitterness under a sense of his fallen state ;
the one leading him to recline on the promise of the Gospel,
the other alarming him by the conviction of his iniquity ;
the one making him exult with the anticipation of life, the
other making him tremble with the fear of death. This
diversity is owing to imperfection of faith, since we are
never so well in the course of the present life as to be
entirely cured of the disease of distrust, and completely
replenished and engrossed by faith. Hence those conflicts :
the distrust cleaving to the remains of the flesh rising up to
assail the faith existing in our hearts. But if in the be
liever's mind certainty is mingled with doubt, must we not
always be carried back to the conclusion, that faith consists
not of a sure and clear, but only of an obscure and confused,
understanding of the divine will in regard to us ? By no
means. Though we are distracted by various thoughts, it
does not follow that we are immediately divested of faith.
Though we are agitated and carried to and fro by distrust,
we are not immediately plunged into the abyss ; though we

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 119

are shaken, we are not therefore driven from our place.
The invariable issue of the contest is, that faith in the long-
run surmounts the difficulties by which it was beset and
seemed to be endangered.

19. The whole, then, comes to this : As soon as the
minutest particle of faith is instilled into our minds, we
begin to behold the face of God placid, serene, and pro
pitious ; far off, indeed, but still so distinctly as to assure us
that there is no delusion in it. In proportion to the progress
we afterwards make, (and the progress ought to be uninter
rupted,) we obtain a nearer and surer view, the very con
tinuance making it more familiar to us. Thus we see that a
mind illumined with the knowledge of God is at first in
volved in much ignorance, — ignorance, however, which is
gradually removed. Still this partial ignorance or obscure
discernment does not prevent that clear knowledge of the
divine favour which holds the first and principal part in
faith. For as one shut up in a prison, where from a narrow
opening he receives the rays of the sun indirectly and in a
manner divided, though deprived of a full view of the sun,
has no doubt of the source from which the light comes, and is
benefited by it ; so believers, while bound with the fetters of an
earthly body, though surrounded on all sides with much ob
scurity, are so far illumined by any slender light which beams
upon them and displays the divine mercy as to feel secure.

20. The Apostle elegantly adverts to both in different
passages. When he says, " We know in part, and we pro
phesy in part ;" and <rNow we see through a glass darkly,"
(1 Cor. xiii. 9, 12,) he intimates how very minute a portion
of divine wisdom is given to us in the present life. For
although those expressions do not simply indicate that faith
is imperfect so long as we groan under a weight of flesh, but
that the necessity of being constantly engaged in learning is
owing to our imperfection, he at the same time reminds us,
that a subject which is of boundless extent cannot be com
prehended by our feeble and narrow capacities. This Paul
affirms of the whole Church, each individual being retarded
and impeded by his own ignorance from making so near an
approach as were to be wished. But that the foretaste

120 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

which we obtain from any minute portion of faith is certain,
and by no means fallacious, he elsewhere shows, when he
affirms that " We all, with open face beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image,
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord,"
(2 Cor. iii. 18.) In such degrees of ignorance much doubt
and trembling is necessarily implied, especially seeing that
our heart is by its own natural bias prone to unbelief. To this
we must add the temptations which, various in kind and
infinite in number, are ever and anon violently assailing us.
In particular, conscience itselfj burdened with an incumbent
load of sins, at one time complains and groans, at another
accuses itself; at one time murmurs in secret, at another
openly rebels. Therefore, whether adverse circumstances
betoken the wrath of God, or conscience finds the subject
and matter within itself, unbelief thence draws weapons and
engines to put faith to flight, the aim of all its efforts being
to make us think that God is adverse and hostile to us, and
thus, instead of hoping for any assistance from him, to make
us dread him as a deadly foe.

21. To withstand these assaults, faith arms and fortifies
itself with the word of God. When the temptation sug
gested is, that God is an enemy because he afflicts, faith
replies, that while he afflicts he is merciful, his chastening
proceeding more from love than anger. To the thought
that God is the avenger of wickedness, it opposes the pardon
ready to be bestowed on all offences whenever the sinner
betakes himself to the divine mercy. *Thus the pious mind,
how much soever it may be agitated and torn, at length
rises superior to all difficulties, and allows not its confidence
in the divine mercy to be destroyed. Nay, rather, the dis
putes which exercise and disturb it tend to establish this
confidence. A proof of this is, that the saints, when the
hand of God lies heaviest upon them, still lodge their com
plaints with him, and continue to invoke him, when to all
appearance he is least disposed to hear. But of what use
were it to lament before him if they had no hope of solace ?
They never would invoke him did they not believe that he
is ready to assist them. Thus the disciples, while repri-

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 121

manded by their Master for the weakness of their faith in
crying out that they were perishing, still implored his aid,
(Matth. viii. 25.) And he, in rebuking them for their want
of faith, does not disown them or class them with unbelievers,
but urges them to shake off the vice. Therefore, as we
have already said, we again maintain, that faith remaining
fixed in the believer's breast never can be eradicated from it.
However it may seem shaken and bent in this direction or
in that, its flame is never so completely quenched as not
at least to lurk under the embers. In this way, it appears
that the word, which is an incorruptible seed, produces
fruit similar to itself. Its germ never withers away
utterly and perishes. The saints cannot have a stronger
ground for despair than to feel, that, according to present
appearances, the hand of God is armed for their destruction ;
and yet Job thus declares the strength of his confidence :
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." The truth is,
that unbelief reigns not in the hearts of believers, but only
assails them from without ; does not wound them mortally
with its darts, but annoys them, or, at the utmost, gives
them a wound which can be healed. Faith, as Paul declares,
(Eph. vi. 16,) is our shield, which receiving these darts,
either wards them off entirely, or at least breaks their force,
and prevents them from reaching the vitals. Hence when faith
is shaken, it is just as when, by the violent blow of a javelin,
a soldier standing firm is forced to step back and yield a
little ; and again, when faith is wounded, it is as if the
shield were pierced, but not perforated by the blow. The
pious mind will always rise, and be able to say with David,
" Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me," (Psalm
xxiii. 4.) Doubtless it is a terrific thing to walk in the
darkness of death, and it is impossible for believers, however
great their strength may be, not to shudder at it ; but since
the prevailing thought is that God is present and providing
for their safety, the feeling of security overcomes that of
fear. As Augustine says, — whatever be the engines which
the devil erects against us, as he cannot gain the heart
where faith dwells, he is cast out. Thus, if we may judge

122 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

by the event, not only do believers come off safe from every
contest so as to be ready, after a short repose, to descend
again into the arena, but the saying of John, in his Epistle,
is fulfilled, a This is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith," (1 John v. 4.) It is not said that it will be
victorious in a single fight, or a few, or some one assault,
but that it will be victorious over the whole world, though
it should be a thousand times assailed.

22. There is another species of fear and trembling, which,
so far from impairing the security of faith, tends rather to
establish it ; namely, when believers, reflecting that the
examples of the divine vengeance on the ungodly are a
kind of beacons warning them not to provoke the wrath
of God by similar wickedness, keep anxious watch, or,
taking a view of their own inherent wretchedness, learn
their entire dependence on God, without whom they feel
themselves to be fleeting and evanescent as the wind.
For when the Apostle sets before the Corinthians the
scourges which the Lord in ancient times inflicted on the
people of Israel, that they might be afraid of subjecting
themselves to similar calamities, he does not in any degree
destroy the ground of their confidence ; he only shakes off
their carnal torpor which suppresses faith, but does not
strengthen it. Nor when he takes occasion from the case
of the Israelites to exhort, " Let him that thinketh he stand-
eth take heed lest he fall," (1 Cor. x. 12,) he does not bid
us waver, as if we had no security for our stedfastness : he
only removes arrogance and rash confidence in our strength,
telling the Gentiles not to presume because the Jews had
been cast off, and they had been admitted to their place,
(Rom. xi. 20.) In that passage, indeed, he is not address
ing believers only, but also comprehends hypocrites, who
gloried merely in external appearance ; nor is he addressing
individuals, but contrasting the Jews and Gentiles, he first
shows that the rejection of the former was a just punish
ment of their ingratitude and unbelief, and then exhorts the
latter to beware lest pride and presumption deprive them of
the grace of adoption which had lately been transferred to
them. For as in that rejection of the Jews there still

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 123

remained some who were not excluded from the covenant of
adoption, so there might be some among the Gentiles who,
possessing no true faith, were only puffed up with vain
carnal confidence, and so abused the goodness of God to
their own destruction. But though you should hold that the
words were addressed to elect believers, no inconsistency
will follow. It is one thing, in order to prevent believers
from indulging vain confidence, to repress the temerity
which, from the remains of the flesh, sometimes gains upon
them, and it is another thing to strike terror into their con
sciences, and prevent them from feeling secure in the mercy
of God.

23. Then, when he bids us work out our salvation with
fear and trembling, all he requires is, that we accustom our
selves to think very meanly of our own strength, and confide
in the strength of the Lord. For nothing stimulates us so
strongly to place all our confidence and assurance on the
Lord as self-diffidence, and the anxiety produced by a con
sciousness of our calamitous condition. In this sense are we
to understand the words of the Psalmist : " I will come into
thy house in the multitude of thy mercy : and in thy fear
will I worship toward thy holy temple," (Ps. v. 7.) Here he
appropriately unites confident faith leaning on the divine
mercy with religious fear, which of necessity we must feel
whenever coming into the presence of the divine majesty,
we are made aware by its splendour of the extent of our own
impurity. Truly also does Solomon declare : " Happy is the
man that feareth alway ; but he that hardeneth his heart
falleth into mischief," (Prov. xxviii. 14.) The fear he speaks
of is that which renders us more cautious, not that which
produces despondency ; the fear which is felt when the mind
confounded in itself resumes its equanimity in God, down
cast in itself, takes courage in God, distrusting itself, breathes
confidence in God. Hence there is nothing inconsistent in
believers being afraid, and at the same time possessing secure
consolation as they alternately behold their own vanity,
and direct their thoughts to the truth of God. How, it
will be asked, can fear and faith dwell in the same mind ?
Just in the same way as sluggishness and anxiety can so

124 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

dwell. The ungodly court a state of lethargy that the fear
of God may not annoy them ; and yet the judgment of God
so urges that they cannot gain their desire. In the same way
God can train his people to humility, and curb them by the
bridle of modesty, while yet fighting bravely. And it is plain,
from the context, that this was the Apostle's meaning, since
he states, as the ground of fear and trembling, that it is God
who worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure.
In the same sense must we understand the words of the Pro
phet, " The children of Israel " " shall fear the Lord and his
goodness in the latter days," (Hos. iii. 5.) For not only does
piety beget reverence to God, but the sweet attractiveness
of grace inspires a man, though desponding of himself, at once
with fear and admiration, making him feel his dependence on
God, and submit humbly to his power.

24. Here, however, we give no countenance to that most
pestilential philosophy which some semi-papists are at present
beginning to broach in corners. Unable to defend the gross
doubt inculcated by the Schoolmen, they have recourse to
another fiction, that they may compound a mixture of faith
and unbelief. They admit, that whenever we look to Christ
we are furnished with full ground for hope ; but as we are ever
unworthy of all the blessings which are offered us in Christ,
they will have us to fluctuate and hesitate in the view of our
unworthiness. In short, they give conscience a position be
tween hope and fear, making it alternate, by successive turns,
to the one and the other. Hope and fear, again, they place
in complete contrast, — the one falling as the other rises, and
rising as the other falls. Thus Satan, finding the devices by
which he was wont to destroy the certainty of faith too mani
fest to be now of any avail, is endeavouring, by indirect
methods, to undermine it.1 But what kind of confidence is
that which is ever and anon supplanted by despair ? They
tell you, if you look to Christ salvation is certain ; if you

1 The French is, " Voila comme Satan, quand il voit que par raensonge
clair et ouvert il ne peust plus destruire la certitude de la foy, s'efforce en
cachette et comme par dessous terre la miner. " — Behold how Satan, when
he sees that by clear and open falsehood he can no longer destroy the
certainty of faith, is striving in secret, and as it were below ground, to
ruin it.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 125

return to yourself damnation is certain. Therefore, your
mind must be alternately ruled by diffidence and hope ; as if
we were to imagine Christ standing at a distance, and not
rather dwelling in us. We expect salvation from him — not
because he stands aloof from us, but because ingrafting us
into his body he not only makes us partakers of all his bene
fits, but also of himself. Therefore, I thus retort the argu
ment, If you look to yourself damnation is certain : but since
Christ has been communicated to you with all his benefits,
so that all which is his is made yours, you become a mem
ber of him, and hence one with him. His righteousness
covers your sins — his salvation extinguishes your condemna
tion ; he interposes with his worthiness, and so prevents your
unworthiness from coming into the view of God. Thus it
truly is. It will never do to separate Christ from us, nor us
from him ; but we must, with both hands, keep firm hold of
that alliance by which he has rivetted us to himself. This
the Apostle teaches us : " The body is dead because of sin ;
but the spirit is life because of righteousness," (Rom. viii. 10.)
According to the frivolous trifling of these objectors he ought
to have said, Christ indeed has life in himself, but you, as
you are sinners, remain liable to death and condemnation.
Very different is his language. He tells us that the con
demnation which we of ourselves deserve is annihilated by
the salvation of Christ ; and to confirm this he employs the
argument to which I have referred, viz., that Christ is not
external to us, but dwells in us ; and not only unites us to
himself by an undivided bond of fellowship, but by a wondrous
communion brings us daily into closer connection, until he
becomes altogether one with us. And yet I deny not, as I
lately said, that faith occasionally suffers certain interruptions
when, by violent assault, its weakness is made to bend in this
direction or in that ; and its light is buried in the thick dark
ness of temptation. Still happen what may, faith ceases not
to long after God.

25. The same doctrine is taught by Bernard when he treats
professedly on this subject in his Fifth Homily on the Dedi
cation of the Temple : " By the blessing of God, sometimes
meditating on the soul, methinks I find in it as it were two

126 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

contraries. When I look at it as it is in itself and of itself,
the truest thing I can say of it is, that it has been reduced
to nothing. What need is there to enumerate each of its
miseries ? how burdened with sin, obscured with darkness,
ensnared by allurements, teeming with lusts, ruled by passion,
filled with delusions, ever prone to evil, inclined to every
vice ; lastly, full of ignominy and confusion. If all its right
eousnesses, when examined by the light of truth, are but as
filthy rags, (Is. Ixiv. 6,) what must we suppose its unrighteous
ness to be ? 6 If, therefore, the light that is in thee be dark
ness, how great is that darkness ?' (Matth. vi. 23.) What
then ? man doubtless has been made subject to vanity — man
has been reduced to nothing — man is nothing. And yet how
is he whom God exalts utterly nothing ? How is he nothing
to whom a divine heart has been given ? Let us breathe
again, brethren. Although we are nothing in our hearts,
perhaps something of us may lurk in the heart of God. O
Father of mercies ! O Father of the miserable ! how plantest
thou thy heart in us ? Where thy heart is, there is thy trea
sure also. But how are we thy treasure if we are nothing ?
All nations before thee are as nothing. Observe, before thee ;
not within thee. Such are they in the judgment of thy truth,
but not such in regard to thy affection. Thou callest the
things which be not as though they were ; and they are not,
because thou callest them ' things that be not : ' and yet
they are because thou callest them. For though they are
not as to themselves, yet they are with thee according to the
declaration of Paul : ' Not of works, but of him that calleth,'"
(Rom. ix. 11.) He then goes on to say that the connection
is wonderful in both points of view. Certainly things which
are connected together do not mutually destroy each other.
This he explains more clearly in his conclusion in the follow
ing terms : " If, in both views, we diligently consider what
we are, — in the one view our nothingness, in the other our
greatness, — I presume our glorying will seem restrained ; but
perhaps it is rather increased and confirmed, because we
glory not in ourselves, but in the Lord. Our thought is, if he
determined to save us we shall be delivered ; and here we
begin again to breathe. But, ascending to a loftier height,

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 127

let us seek the city of God, let us seek the temple, let us seek
our home, let us seek our spouse. I have not forgotten myself
when, with fear and reverence, I say, We are, — are in the heart
of God. We are, by his dignifying, not by our own dignity."

26. Moreover, the fear of the Lord, which is uniformly
attributed to all the saints, and which, in one passage, is
called " the beginning of wisdom, " in another wisdom itself,
although it is one, proceeds from a twofold cause. God is en
titled to the reverence of a Father and a Lord. Hence he
who desires duly to worship him, will study to act the part
both of an obedient son and a faithful servant. The obedience
paid to God as a Father he by his prophet terms honour ;
the service performed to him as a master he terms fear. UA
son honoureth his father, and a servant his master. If then
I be a father, where is mine honour ? and if I be a master,
where is my fear T l But while he thus distinguishes between
the two, it is obvious that he at the same time confounds
them. The fear of the Lord, therefore, may be defined
reverence mingled with honour and fear. It is not strange
that the same mind can entertain both feelings ; for he who
considers with himself what kind of a father God is to us,
will see sufficient reason, even were there no hell, why the
thought of offending him should seem more dreadful than
any death'. But so prone is our carnal nature to indulgence
in sin, that, in order to curb it in every way, we must also
give place to the thought that all iniquity is abomination to
the Master under whom we live ; that those who, by wicked
lives, provoke his anger, will not escape his vengeance.

27. There is nothing repugnant to this in the observation
of John : " There is no fear in love ; but perfect love casteth
out fear : because fear hath torment," (1 John iv. 18.) For
he is speaking of the fear of unbelief, between which and the
fear of believers there is a wide difference. The wicked do
not fear God from any unwillingness to offend him, provided
they could do so with impunity; but knowing that he is
armed with power for vengeance, they tremble in dismay on
hearing of his anger. And they thus dread his anger, because

1 Ps. cxi. 10 ; Prov. i 7, ix. 10, xv. 24 ; Job xxviii. 28 ; Mul. i. 6.

128 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

they think it is impending over them, and they every moment
expect it to fall upon their heads. But believers, as has been
said, dread the offence even more than the punishment. They
are not alarmed by the fear of punishment, as if it were im
pending over them,1 but are rendered the more cautious of
doing anything to provoke it. Thus the Apostle addressing
believers says, "Let no man deceive you with vain words ; for
because of these things, the wrath of God cometh upon the
children of disobedience," (Eph. v. 6 ; Col. iii. 6.) He does
not threaten that wrath will descend upon them ; but he ad
monishes them, while they think how the wrath of God is
prepared for the wicked, on account of the crimes which he
had enumerated, not to run the risk of provoking it. It
seldom happens that mere threatenings have the effect of
arousing the reprobate ; nay, becoming more callous and hard
ened when God thunders verbally from heaven, they obsti
nately persist in their rebellion. It is only when actually
smitten by his hand that they are forced, whether they will
or riot, to fear. This fear the sacred writers term servile, and
oppose to the free and voluntary fear which becomes sons.
Some, by a subtle distinction, have introduced an intermediate
species, holding that that forced and servile fear sometimes
subdues the mind, and leads spontaneously to proper fear.

28. The divine favour to which faith is said to have respect,
we understand to include in it the possession of salvation and
eternal life. For if, when God is propitious, no good thing
can be wanting to us, we have ample security for our salva
tion when assured of his love. " Turn us again, O God, and
cause thy face to shine," says the Prophet, " and we shall be
saved," (Ps. Ixxx. 3.) Hence the Scriptures make the sum
of our salvation to consist in the removal of all enmity, and
our admission into favour ; thus intimating, that when God is
reconciled all danger is past, and every thing good will befall
us. Wherefore, faith apprehending the love of God has the
promise both of the present and the future life, and ample
security for all blessings, (Eph. ii. 14.) The nature of this

1 Latin, " acsi cervicibus suis impenderet." — French, " comme si 1'enfer
leur etoit desia present pour les englouter ;"— as if hell were already pre
sent to engulf them.

CHAP. IL CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 129

must be ascertained from the word. Faith does not promise
us length of days, riches and honours, (the Lord not having
been pleased that any of these should be appointed us ;) but
is contented with the assurance, that however poor we may
be in regard to present comforts, God will never fail us. The
chief security lies in the expectation of future life, which is
placed beyond doubt by the word of God. Whatever be the
miseries and calamities which await the children of God in
this world, they cannot make his favour cease to be complete
happiness. Hence, when we were desirous to express the
sum of blessedness, we designated it by the favour of God,
from which, as their source, all kinds of blessings flow. And
we may observe throughout the Scriptures, that they refer us
to the love of God, not only when they treat of our eternal
salvation, but of any blessing whatever. For which reason
David sings, that the loving-kindness of God experienced by
the pious heart is sweeter and more to be desired than life
itself, (Ps. Ixiii. 3.) In short, if we have every earthly com
fort to a wish, but are uncertain whether we have the love or
the hatred of God, our felicity will be cursed, and therefore
miserable. But if God lift on us the light of his fatherly
countenance, our very miseries will be blessed, inasmuch as
they will become helps to our salvation. Thus Paul, after
bringing together all kinds of adversity, boasts that they can
not separate us from the love of God : and in his prayers he
uniformly begins with the grace of God as the source of all
prosperity. In like manner, to all the terrors which assail us
David opposes merely the favour of God, — " Yea, tfrough I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil : for thou art with me," (Ps. xxiii. 4.) And we feel
that our minds always waver until, contented with the grace
of God, we in it seek peace, and feel thoroughly persuaded
of what is said in the psalm, " Blessed is the nation whose
God is the Lord, and the people whom he hath chosen for
his own inheritance," (Ps. xxxiii. 12.)

29. Free promise we make the foundation of faith, because
in it faith properly consists. For though it holds that God
is always true, whether in ordering or forbidding, promising
or threatening; though it obediently receive his. commands,

VOL. II. I

130 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

observe his prohibitions, and give heed to his threatenings ;
yet it properly begins with promise, continues with it, and
ends with it. It seeks life in God, life which is not found in
commands or the denunciations of punishment, but in the
promise of mercy. And this promise must be gratuitous ;
for a conditional promise, which throws us back upon our
works, promises life only in so far as we find it existing in
ourselves. Therefore, if we would not have faith to waver
and tremble, we must support it with the promise of salva
tion, which is offered by the Lord spontaneously and freely,
from a regard to our misery, rather than our worth. Hence
the Apostle bears this testimony to the Gospel, that it is the
word of faith, (Rom. x. 8.) This he concedes not either
to the precepts or the promises of the Law, since there is
nothing which can establish our faith, but that free embassy
by which God reconciles the world to himself. Hence he
often uses faith and the Gospel as correlative terms, as when
he says, that the ministry of the Gospel was committed to
him for " obedience to the faith ;" that (( it is the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believeth ;" that
" therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith," (Rom. i. 5, 16, 17.) No wonder : for seeing that the
Gospel is " the ministry of reconciliation," (2 Cor. v. 18,)
there is no other sufficient evidence of the divine favour, such
as faith requires to know. Therefore, when we say, that
faith must rest on a free promise, we deny not that believers
accept and embrace the word of God in all its parts, but we
point to the promise of mercy as its special object. Believers,
indeed, ought to recognise God as the judge and avenger of
wickedness ; and yet mercy is the object to which they pro
perly look, since he is exhibited to their contemplation as
" good and ready to forgive," " plenteous in mercy," " slow
to anger," " good to all," and shedding " his tender mercies
over all his works," (Ps. Ixxxvi. 5 ; ciii. 8 ; cxlv. 8, 9.)

30. I stay not to consider the rabid objections of Pighius,
and others like-minded, who inveigh against this restriction, as
rending faith, and laying hold of one of its fragments. I admit,
as I have already said, that the general object of faith (as they
express it) is the truth of God, whether he threatens or gives

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 131

hope of his favour. Accordingly, the Apostle attributes it
to faith in Noah, that he feared the destruction of the world,
when as yet it was not seen, (Heb. xi. 17.) If fear of im
pending punishment was a work of faith, threatenings ought
not to be excluded in defining it. This is indeed true ; but
we are unjustly and calumniously charged with denying that
faith has respect to the whole word of God. We only mean
to maintain these two points, — that faith is never decided
until it attain to a free promise ; and that the only way in
which faith reconciles us to God is by uniting us with Christ.
Both are deserving of notice. We are inquiring after a
faith which separates the children of God from the reprobate,
believers from unbelievers. Shall every man, then, who be
lieves that God is just in what he commands, and true in
what he threatens, be on that account classed with believers ?
Very far from it. Faith, then, has no firm footing until it
stand in the mercy of God. Then what end have we in view
in discoursing of faith ? Is it not that we may understand
the way of salvation ? But how can faith be saving, unless in
so far as it ingrafts us into the body of Christ ? There is no
absurdity, therefore, when, in defining it, we thus press its
special object, and, by way of distinction, add to the generic
character the particular mark which distinguishes the believer
from the unbeliever. In short, the malicious have nothing
to carp at in this doctrine, unless they are to bring the same
censure against the Apostle Paul, who specially designates
the Gospel as " the word of faith," (Kom. x. 8.)

31. Hence again we infer, as has already been explained,
that faith has no less need of the word than the fruit of a
tree has of a living root ; because, as David testifies, none can
hope in God but those who know his name, (Ps. ix. 10.) /
This knowledge, however, is not left to every man's imagi
nation, but depends on the testimony which God himself
gives to his goodness. This the same Psalmist confirms
in another passage, " Thy salvation according to thy word,"
(Ps. cxix. 41.) Again, " Save me," " I hoped in thy word,"
(Ps. cxix. 146, 147.) Here we must attend to the relation
of faith to the word, and to salvation as its consequence.
Still, however, we exclude not the power of God. If faith

132 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

cannot support itself in the view of this power, it never will
give Him the honour which is due. Paul seems to relate a
trivial or very ordinary circumstance with regard to Abraham,
when he says, that he believed that God, who had given him
the promise of a blessed seed, was able also to perform it,
(Rom. iv. 21.) And in like manner, in another passage, he
says of himself, " I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have com
mitted unto him against that day," (2 Tim. i. 12.) But let any
one consider with himself, how he is ever and anon assailed
with doubts in regard to the power of God, and he will readily
perceive, that those who duly magnify it have made no small
progress in faith. We all acknowledge that God can do
whatsoever he pleases ; but while every temptation, even the
most trivial, fills us with fear and dread, it is plain that we
derogate from the power of God, by attaching less importance
to his promises than to Satan's threatenings against them.1

This is the reason why Isaiah, when he would impress
on the hearts of the people the certainty of faith, dis
courses so magnificently of the boundless power of God.
He often seems, after beginning to speak of the hope of
pardon and reconciliation, to digress, and unnecessarily take
a long circuitous course, describing how wonderfully God
rules the fabric of heaven and earth, with the whole course
of nature ; and yet he introduces nothing which is not
appropriate to the occasion; because, unless the power of
God, to which all things are possible, is presented to our
eye, our ears malignantly refuse admission to the word,
or set no just value upon it. We may add, that an effec
tual power is here meant; for piety, as it has elsewhere
been seen, always makes a practical application of the power
of God ; in particular, keeps those works in view in which he
has declared himself to be a Father. Hence the frequent
mention in Scripture of redemption ; from which the Israelites
might learn, that he who had once been the author of salva
tion would be its perpetual guardian. By his own example,

1 The French adds, " Combien que nous ayons les promesses de Dieu
pour nous munir a 1'encontre ;" — although we have the promise of God to
strengthen us for the encounter.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 133

also, David reminds us, that the benefits which God has
bestowed privately on any individual, tend to confirm his faith
for the time to come ; nay, that when God seems to have
forsaken us, we ought to extend our view farther, and take
courage from his former favours, as is said in another psalm,
" I remember the days of old : I meditate on all thy works,"
(Ps. cxliii. 5.) Again, " I will remember the works of the
Lord ; surely I will remember thy wonders of old," (Ps.
Ixxvii. 11.) But because all our conceptions of the power
and works of God are evanescent without the word, we are
not rash in maintaining, that there is no faith until God pre
sent us with clear evidence of his grace.

Here, however, a question might be raised as to the view to
be taken of Sarah and Rebekah, both of whom, impelled as it
would seem by zeal for the faith, went beyond the limits of the
word. Sarah, in her eager desire for the promised seed, gave
her maid to her husband. That she sinned in many respects
is not to be denied ; but the only fault to which I now refer
is her being carried away by zeal, and not confining herself
within the limits prescribed by the word. It is certain,
however, that her desire proceeded from faith. Rebekah,
again, divinely informed of the election of her son Jacob,
procures the blessing for him by a wicked stratagem ; de
ceives her husband, who was a witness and minister of divine
grace ; forces her son to lie ; by various frauds and impos
tures corrupts divine truth ; in fine, by exposing his promise
to scorn, does what in her lies to make it of no effect. And
yet this conduct, however vicious and reprehensible, was not
devoid of faith. She must have overcome many obstacles
before she obtained so strong a desire of that which, without
any hope of earthly advantage, was full of difficulty and
danger. In the same way, we cannot say that the holy
patriarch Isaac was altogether void of faith, in that, after he
had been similarly informed of the honour transferred to the
younger son, he still continues his predilection in favour of his
first-born, Esau. These examples certainly show that error is
often mingled with faith ; and yet that when faith is real, it
always obtains the pre-eminence. For as the particular
error of Rebekah did not render the blessing of no effect,

134 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

neither did it nullify the faith which generally ruled in her
mind, and was the principle and cause of that action. In this,
nevertheless, Rebekah showed how prone the human mind
is to turn aside whenever it gives itself the least indulgence.
But though defect and infirmity obscure faith, they do not
extinguish it. Still they admonish us how carefully we
ought to cling to the word of God, and at the same time
confirm what we have taught, viz., that faith gives way
when not supported by the word, just as the minds of
Sarah, Isaac, and Rebekah, would have lost themselves in
devious paths, had not the secret restraint of Providence kept
them obedient to the word.

32. On the other hand, we have good ground for compre
hending all the promises in Christ, since the Apostle com
prehends the whole Gospel under the knowledge of Christ,
and declares that all the promises of God are in him yea,
and amen.1 The reason for this is obvious. Every promise
which God makes is evidence of his good will. This is
invariably true, and is not inconsistent with the fact, that
the large benefits which the divine liberality is constantly
bestowing on the wicked are preparing them for heavier
judgment. As they neither think that these proceed from
the hand of the Lord, nor acknowledge them as his, or if
they do so acknowledge them, never regard them as proofs
of his favour, they are in no respect more instructed thereby
in his mercy than brute beasts, which, according to their
condition, enjoy the same liberality, and yet never look
beyond it. Still it is true, that by rejecting the promises
generally offered to them, they subject themselves to severer
punishment. For though it is only when the promises are
received in faith that their efficacy is manifested, still their
reality and power are never extinguished by our infidelity
or ingratitude. Therefore, when the Lord by his promises
invites us not only to enjoy the fruits of his kindness, but
also to meditate upon them, he at the same time declares his
love. Thus we are brought back to our statement, that
every promise is a manifestation of the divine favour toward

1 Bom. i. 3 ; 1 Cor. ii. 2 ; 2 Cor. i. 20.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 135

us. Now, without controversy, God loves no man out of
Christ. He is the beloved Son, in whom the love of the
Father dwells, and from whom it afterwards extends to us.
Thus Paul says, " In whom he hath made us accepted in the
Beloved," (Eph. i. 6.) It is by his intervention, therefore,
that love is diffused so as to reach us. Accordingly, in
another passage, the Apostle calls Christ " our peace," (Eph.
ii. 14,) and also represents him as the bond by which the
Father is united to us in paternal affection, (Rom. viii. 3.)
It follows, that whenever any promise is made to us, we
must turn our eyes toward Christ. Hence, with good reason,
Paul declares that in him all the promises of God are con
firmed and completed, (Rom. xv. 8.) Some examples are
brought forward as repugnant to this view. When Naaman
the Syrian made inquiry at the prophet as to the true mode
of worshipping God, we cannot (it is said) suppose that he
was informed of the Mediator, and yet he is commended for
his piety, (2 Kings v. 17-19.) Nor could Cornelius, a
Roman heathen, be acquainted with what was not known to
all the Jews, and at best known obscurely. And yet his
alms and prayers were acceptable to God, (Acts x. 31,)
while the prophet by his answer approved of the sacrifices
of Naaman. In both, this must have been the result of
faith. In like manner, the eunuch to whom Philip was
sent, had he not been endued with some degree of faith,
never would have incurred the fatigue and expense of a long
and difficult journey to obtain an opportunity of worship,
(Acts viii. 27, 31 ;) and yet we see how, when interrogated
by Philip, he betrays his ignorance of the Mediator. I
admit that, in some respect, their faith was not explicit
either as to the person of Christ, or the power and office
assigned him by the Father. Still it is certain that they
were imbued with principles which might give some, though
a slender, foretaste of Christ. This should not be thought
strange ; for the eunuch would not have hastened from a
distant country to Jerusalem to an unknown God ; nor could
Cornelius, after having once embraced the Jewish religion,
have lived so long in Judea without becoming acquainted
with the rudiments of sound doctrine. In regard to Naaman,

136 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

it is absurd to suppose that Elisha, while he gave him many
minute precepts, said nothing of the principal matter. There
fore, although their knowledge of Christ may have been
obscure, we cannot suppose that they had no such know
ledge at all. They used the sacrifices of the Law, and must
have distinguished them from the spurious sacrifices of the
Gentiles, by the end to which they referred, viz., Christ.

33. A simple external manifestation of the word ought to
be amply sufficient to produce faith, did not our blindness
and perverseness prevent. But such is the proneness of our
mind to vanity, that it can never adhere to the truth of
G od, and such its dulness, that it is always blind even in
his light. Hence without the illumination of the Spirit the
word has no effect ; and hence also it is obvious that faith is
something higher than human understanding. Nor were it
sufficient for the mind to be illumined by the Spirit of God
unless the heart also were strengthened and supported by
his power. Here the Schoolmen go completely astray,
dwelling entirely in their consideration of faith, on the bare
simple assent of the understanding, and altogether overlook
ing confidence and security of heart. Faith is the special
gift of God in both ways, — in purifying the mind so as to
give it a relish for divine truth, and afterwards in establishing
it therein. For the Spirit does not merely originate faith,
but gradually increases it, until by its means he conducts us
into the heavenly kingdom. " That good thing which was
committed unto thee," says Paul, " keep by the Holy Ghost
which dwelleth in us," (2 Tim. i. 14.) In what sense Paul
says, (Gal. iii. 2,) that the Spirit is given by the hearing of
faith, may be easily explained. If there were only a single
gift of the Spirit, he who is the author and cause of faith
could not without absurdity be said to be its effect; but
after celebrating the gifts with which God adorns his church,
and by successive additions of faith leads it to perfection,
there is nothing strange in his ascribing to faith the very
gifts which faith prepares us for receiving. It seems to
some paradoxical, when it is said that none can believe
Christ save those to whom it is given ; but this is partly
because they do not observe how recondite and sublime

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 137

heavenly wisdom is, or how dull the mind of man in discern
ing divine mysteries, and partly because they pay no regard
to that firm and stable constancy of heart which is the chief
part of faith.

34.1 But as Paul argues, " What man knoweth the things
of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him ? even so
the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God,"
(1 Cor. ii. 11.) If in regard to divine truth we hesitate even
as to those things which we see with the bodily eye, how can
we be firm and stedfast in regard to those divine promises
which neither the eye sees nor the mind comprehends ?
Here human discernment is so defective and lost, that the
first step of advancement in the school of Christ is to re
nounce it, (Matth. xi. 25 ; Luke x. 21.) Like a veil inter
posed, it prevents us from beholding divine mysteries, which
are revealed only to babes. " Flesh and blood " doth not
reveal them, (Matth. xvi. 17.) " The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God : for they are foolishness
unto him ; neither can he know them, for they are spiritually
discerned," (1 Cor. ii. 14.) The supplies of the Holy Spirit
are therefore necessary, or rather his agency is here the
only strength. " For who hath known the mind of the
Lord ? or who hath been his counseller ?" (Rom. xi. 34 ;)
but " The Spirit searcheth ah1 things, yea, the deep things of
God," (1 Cor. ii. 10.) Thus it is that we attain to the mind
of Christ : " No man can come to me, except the Father
which hath sent me draw him : and I will raise him up at
the last day." " Every man therefore that hath heard, and
learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man
hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen
the Father," (John vi. 44, 45, 46.) Therefore, as we cannot
possibly come to Christ unless drawn by the Spirit, so when
we are drawn we are both in mind and spirit exalted far
above our own understanding. For the soul, when illumined
by him, receives as it were a new eye, enabling it to contem
plate heavenly mysteries, by the splendour of which it was
previously dazzled. And thus, indeed, it is only when the

1 The French thus begins the section: " Lequel erreur est facile a
convaincre ;" — This error is easily refuted.

138 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

human intellect is irradiated by the light of the Holy Spirit that
it begins to have a taste of those things which pertain to the
kingdom of God ; previously it was too stupid and senseless to
have any relish for them. Hence our Saviour, when clearly
declaring the mysteries of the kingdom to the two disciples,
makes no impression till he opens their minds to understand
the Scriptures, (Luke xxiv. 27, 45.) Hence also, though he
had taught the Apostles with his own divine lips, it was still
necessary to send the Spirit of truth to instil into their
minds the same doctrine which they had heard with their
ears. The word is, in regard to those to whom it is preached,
like the sun which shines upon all, but is of no use to the
blind. In this matter we are all naturally blind ; and hence
the word cannot penetrate our mind unless the Spirit, that
internal teacher, by his enlightening power make an entrance
for it.

35. Having elsewhere shown more fully, when treating of
the corruption of our nature, how little able men are to
believe, (Book II. c. ii. iii.,) I will not fatigue the reader
by again repeating it. Let it suffice to observe, that the
spirit of faith is used by Paul as synonymous with the very
faith which we receive from the Spirit, but which we have
not naturally, (2 Cor. iv. 13.) Accordingly, he prays for
the Thessalonians, " that our God would count you worthy
of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his good
ness, and the work of faith with power," (2 Thess. i. 2.)
Here, by designating faith the work of God, and distinguish
ing it by way of epithet, appropriately calling it his good
pleasure, he declares that it is not of man's own nature ; and
not contented with this, he adds, that it is an illustration
of divine power. In addressing the Corinthians, when he
tells them that faith stands not " in the wisdom of man, but
in the power of God," (1 Cor. ii. 4,) he is no doubt speaking
of external miracles ; but as the reprobate are blinded when
they behold them, he also includes that internal seal of which
he elsewhere makes mention. And the better to display his
liberality in this most excellent gift, God does not bestow it
upon all promiscuously, but, by special privilege, imparts it to
whom he will. To this effect we have already quoted pass-

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 139

ages of Scripture, as to which Augustine, their faithful ex
positor, exclaims, (De Verbo Apost. Serm. ii.) " Our Saviour,
to teach that faith in him is a gift, not a merit, says, * No
man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me,
draw him/ (John vi. 44.) It is strange when two persons
hear, the one despises, the other ascends. Let him who de
spises impute it to himself; let him who ascends not arrogate
it to himself." In another passage he asks, " Wherefore is
it given to the one, and not to the other ? I am not ashamed
to say, This is one of the deep things of the cross. From
some unknown depth of the judgments of God, which we
cannot scrutinize, all our ability proceeds. I see that I am
able ; but how I am able I see not : — this far only I see, that
it is of God. But why the one, and not the other ? This is
too great for me : it is an abyss, a depth of the cross. I can
cry out with wonder; not discuss and demonstrate." The
whole comes to this, that Christ, when he produces faith in
us by the agency of his Spirit, at the same time ingrafts us
into his body, that we may become partakers of all blessings.
36. The next thing necessary is, that what the mind has
imbibed be transferred into the heart. The word is not
received in faith when it merely flutters in the brain, but
when it has taken deep root in the heart, and become an in
vincible bulwark to withstand and repel all the assaults of
temptation. But if the illumination of the Spirit is the true
source of understanding in the intellect, much more manifest
is his agency in the confirmation of the heart ; inasmuch as
there is more distrust in the heart than blindness in the mind ;
and it is more difficult to inspire the soul with security than
to imbue it with knowledge. Hence the Spirit performs the
part of a seal, sealing upon our hearts the very promises, the
certainty of which was previously impressed upon our minds.
It also serves as an earnest in establishing and confirming
these promises. Thus the Apostle says, " In whom also, after
that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of pro
mise, which is the earnest of our inheritance," (Eph. i. 13, 14.)
You see how he teaches that the hearts of believers are
stamped with the Spirit as with a seal, and calls it the Spirit
of promise, because it ratifies the gospel to us. In like man-

140 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

ner he says to the Corinthians, " God hath also sealed us,
and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts," (2 Cor. i. 22.)
And again, when speaking of a full and confident hope, he
founds it on the " earnest of the Spirit," (2 Cor. v. 5.)

37. I am not forgetting what I formerly said, and experi
ence brings daily to remembrance ; viz., that faith is subject
to various doubts,1 so that the minds of believers are seldom
at rest, or at least are not always tranquil. Still, whatever
be the engines by which they are shaken, they either escape
from the whirlpool of temptation, or remain stedfast in their
place. Faith finds security and protection in the words of
the psalm, " God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble ; therefore will not we fear, though the earth
be removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of
the sea," (Ps. xlvi. 1, 2.) This delightful tranquillity is else
where described : " I laid me down and slept ; I awaked, for
the Lord sustained me," (Ps. iii. 5.) Not that David was
uniformly in this joyful frame ; but in so far as the measure
of his faith made him sensible of the divine favour, he glories
in intrepidly despising every thing that could disturb his
peace of mind. Hence the Scripture, when it exhorts us to
faith, bids us be at peace. In Isaiah it is said, " In quietness
and in confidence shall be your strength," (Is. xxx. 15;) and
in the psalm, " Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for
him." Corresponding to this is the passage in the Hebrews,
" Ye have need of patience," &c., (Heb. x. 36.)

38. Hence we may judge how pernicious is the scholastic
dogma,2 that we can have no stronger evidence of the divine
favour toward us than moral conjecture, according as each
individual deems himself not unworthy of it. Doubtless, if
we are to determine by our works in what way the Lord
stands affected towards us, I admit that we cannot even get
the length of a feeble conjecture : but since faith should
accord with the free and simple promise, there is no room
left for ambiguity. With what kind of confidence, pray,
shall we be armed if we reason in this way — God is propi-

1 French, " Doutes, solicitudes, et detresses ;" — doubts, anxieties, and
distresses.

3 French, " La doctrine des theologiens sophistes ;" — the doctrine of
sophistical theologians.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 141

tious to us, provided we deserve it by the purity of our lives ?
But since we have reserved this subject for discussion in its
proper place, we shall not prosecute it farther at present,
especially seeing it is already plain that nothing is more ad
verse to faith than conjecture, or any other feeling akin to
doubt. Nothing can be worse than their perversion of the
passage of Ecclesiastes, which" is ever in their mouths : " No
man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them,"
(Eccl. ix. I.1) For without insisting that the passage is
erroneously rendered in the common version — even a child
cannot fail to perceive what Solomon's meaning is, — viz., that
any one who would ascertain, from the present state of things,
who are in the favour or under the displeasure of God, labours
in vain, and torments himself to no useful purpose, since " all
things come alike to all ;" " to him that sacrificeth, and to
him that sacrificeth not :" and hence God does not always
declare his love to those on whom he bestows uninterrupted
prosperity, nor his hatred against those whom he afflicts.
And it tends to prove the vanity of the human intellect, that
it is so completely in the dark as to matters which it is of the
highest importance to know. Thus Solomon had said a little
before, u That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth
beasts ; even one thing befalleth them : as the one dieth, so
dieth the other," (Eccl. iii. 19.) Were any one thence to
infer that we hold the immortality of the soul by conjecture
merely, would he not justly be deemed insane ? Are those
then sane who cannot obtain any certainty of the divine
favour, because the carnal eye is now unable to discern it
from the present appearance of the world ?

39. But, they say, it is rash and presumptuous to pretend
to an undoubted knowledge of the divine will. I would
grant this, did we hold that we were able to subject the
incomprehensible counsel of God to our feeble intellect. But
when we simply say with Paul, "We have received not
the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God ; that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of
God," (1 Cor. ii. 12,) what can they oppose to this, without

1 See Bernard, Serin, ii. in Die Ascensionis, and Serm. ii. in Octava
Paschae.

142 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

offering insult to the Spirit of God ? But if it is sacrilege to
charge the revelation which he has given us with falsehood,
or uncertainty, or ambiguity, how can we be wrong in main
taining its certainty ? But they still exclaim, that there is
great temerity in our presuming to glory in possessing the
Spirit of God.1 Who could believe that these men, who
desire to be thought the masters of the world, could be so
stupid as to err thus grossly in the very first principles of
religion ? To me, indeed, it would be incredible, did not
their own writings make it manifest. Paul declares that
those only are the sons of God who are led by his Spirit,
(Kom. viii. 14;) these men would have those who are the
sons of God to be led by their own, and void of the divine
Spirit. He tells us that we call God our Father in terms
dictated by the Spirit, who alone bears witness with our
spirit that we are the sons of God, (Rom. viii. 16 ;) they,
though they forbid us not to invoke God, withdraw the
Spirit, by whose guidance he is duly invoked. He declares
that those only are the servants of Christ who are led by the
Spirit of Christ, (Rom. viii. 9 ;) they imagine a Christianity
which has no need of the Spirit of Christ. He holds out the
hope of a blessed resurrection to those only who feel His
Spirit dwelling in them, (Rom. viii. 11 ;) they imagine hope
when there is no such feeling. But perhaps they will say,
that they deny not the necessity of being endued with the
Spirit, but only hold it to be the part of modesty and humility
not to recognise it. What, then, does Paul mean, when he
says to the Corinthians, " Examine yourselves whether ye
be in the faith : prove your own selves. Know ye not your
own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be repro
bates ?" (2 Cor. xiii. 5.) John, moreover, says, " Hereby we
know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given
us," (1 John iii. 24.) And what else is it than to bring the
promises of Christ into doubt, when we would be deemed
servants of Christ without having his Spirit, whom he
declared that he would pour out on all his people ? (Isa. xliv.

1 The French adds, " En quoy ils demonstrent grandement leurbetise;"
— In this they give a great demonstration of their stupidity.

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 143

3.) What ! do we not insult the Holy Spirit, when we
separate faith, which is his peculiar work, from himself?
These being the first rudiments of religion, it is the most
wretched blindness to charge Christians with arrogance, for
presuming to glory in the presence of the Holy Spirit ; a
glorying without which Christianity itself does not exist.
The example of these men illustrates the truth of our Savi
our's declaration, that his Spirit " the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him ; but ye know
him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you," (John
xiv. 17.)

40. That they may not attempt to undermine the certainty
of faith in one direction only, they attack it in another, viz.,
that though it be lawful for the believer, from his actual state
of righteousness, to form a judgment as to the favour of God,
the knowledge of final perseverance still remains in suspense.
An admirable security, indeed, is left us, if, for the present
moment only, we can judge from moral conjecture that we are
in grace, but know not how we are to be to-morrow ! Yery
different is the language of the Apostle, " I am persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,"
(Rom. viii. 38.) They endeavour to evade the force of this
by frivolously pretending that the Apostle had this assurance
by special revelation. They are too well caught thus to
escape ; for in that passage he is treating not of his indivi
dual experience, but of the blessings which all believers in
common derive from faith. But then Paul in another passage
alarms us by the mention of our weakness and inconstancy,
" Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,"
(1 Cor. x. 12.) True ; but this he says not to inspire us
with terror, but that we may learn to humble ourselves under
the mighty hand of God, as Peter explains, (1 Pet. v. 6.)
Then how preposterous is it to limit the certainty of faith to a
point of time ; seeing it is the property of faith to pass beyond
the whole course of this life, and stretch forward to a future
immortality ? Therefore, since believers owe it to the favour

144 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

of God, that, enlightened by his Spirit, they, through faith,
enjoy the prospect of heavenly life ; there is so far from
an approach to arrogance in such glorying, that any one
ashamed to confess it, instead of testifying modesty or sub
mission, rather betrays extreme ingratitude, by maliciously
suppressing the divine goodness.

4 1 . Since the nature of faith could not be better or more
clearly evinced than by the substance of the promise on which
it leans as its proper foundation, and without which it
immediately falls or rather vanishes away, we have derived
our definition from it — a definition, however, not at ah1 at
variance with that definition, or rather description, which the
Apostle accommodates to his discourse, when he says that
faith is " the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen," (Heb. xi. 1.) For by the term substance,
(vcro<jra<r/s,) he means a kind of prop on which the pious mind
rests and leans. As if he had said, that faith is a kind of
certain and secure possession of those things which are pro
mised to us by God; unless we prefer taking u-rotfracvg for
confidence. I have no objection to this, though I am more
inclined to adopt the other interpretation, which is more
generally received. Again, to intimate that until the last
day, when the books will be opened, (Dan. vii. 10 ; Rev.
xx. 12,) the things pertaining to our salvation are too lofty
to be perceived by our sense, seen by our eyes, or handled
by our hands, and that in the meantime there is no
possible way in which these can be possessed by us, unless
we can transcend the reach of our own intellect, and raise
our eye above all worldly objects ; in short, surpass our
selves, he adds that this certainty of possession relates to
things which are only hoped for, and therefore not seen.
For as Paul says, (Rom. viii. 24,) " hope that is seen is not
hope," that we " hope for that we see not." When he calls
it the evidence or proof, or, as Augustine repeatedly renders
it, (see Horn, in Joann. 79 and 95,) the conviction of things not
present, the Greek term being g'Xgy^oj, it is the same as if he
had called it the appearance of things not apparent, the sight
of things not seen, the clearness of things obscure, the pre
sence of things absent, the manifestation of things hid. For

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN EELIGION. 145

the mysteries of God (and to this class belong the things
which pertain to our salvation) cannot be discerned in them
selves, or, as it is expressed, in their own nature ; but we
behold them only in his word, of the truth of which we ought
to be as firmly persuaded as if we held that every thing which
it says were done and completed. But how can the mind
rise to such a perception and foretaste of the divine good
ness, without being at the same time wholly inflamed with
love to God ? The abundance of joy which God has treasured
up for those who fear him cannot be truly known without
making a most powerful impression. He who is thus once
affected is raised and carried entirely towards him. Hence
it is not strange that no sinister perverse heart ever expe
riences this feeling, by which, transported to heaven itself,
we are admitted to the most hidden treasures of God, and
the holiest recesses of his kingdom, which must not be pro
faned by the entrance of a heart that is impure. For what
the Schoolmen say as to the priority of love to faith and hope
is a mere dream, (see Sent. Lib. iii. Dist. 25, &c.,) since it
is faith alone that first engenders love. How much better is
Bernard, " The testimony of conscience, which Paul calls
c the rejoicing' of believers, I believe to consist in three
things. It is necessary, first of all, to believe that you can
not have remission of sins except by the indulgence of God ;
secondly, that you cannot have any good work at all unless he
also give it ; lastly, that you cannot by any works merit eternal
life unless it also be freely given," (Bernard, Serm. i. in An-
nuntiatione.) Shortly after he adds, " These things are not
sufficient, but are a kind of commencement of faith ; for while
believing that your sins can only be forgiven by God, you
must also hold that they are not forgiven until persuaded by
the testimony of the Holy Spirit that salvation is treasured
up for us ; that as God pardons sins, and gives merits, and
after merits rewards, you cannot halt at that beginning." But
these and other topics will be considered in their own place ;
let it suffice at present to understand what faith is.

42. Wherever this living faith exists, it must have the
hope of eternal life as its inseparable companion, or rather
must of itself beget and manifest it ; where it is wanting, how-

VOL. II. K

146 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK I!T.

ever clearly and elegantly we may discourse of faith, it is cer
tain Ave have it not. For if faith is (as has been said) a firm
persuasion of the truth of God — a persuasion that it can never
be false, never deceive, never be in vain, those who have
received this assurance must at the same time expect that
God will perform his promises, which in their conviction are
absolutely true ; so that in one word hope is nothing more
than the expectation of those things which faith previously
believes to have been truly promised by God. Thus, faith
believes that God is true ; hope expects that in due season
he will manifest his truth. Faith believes that he is our
Father ; hope expects that he will always act the part of a
Father towards us. Faith believes that eternal life has
been given to us ; hope expects that it will one day be re
vealed. Faith is the foundation on which hope rests ; hope
nourishes and sustains faith. For as no man can expect any
thing from God without previously believing his promises,
so, on the other hand, the weakness of our faith, which might
grow weary and fall away, must be supported and cherished
by patient hope and expectation. For this reason Paul justly
says, " We are saved by hope," (Rom. viii. 24.) For while
hope silently waits for the Lord, it restrains faith from hast
ening on with too much precipitation, confirms it when it
might waver in regard to the promises of God or begin to
doubt of their truth, refreshes it when it might be fatigued,
extends its view to the final goal, so as not to allow it to give up
in the middle of the course, or at the very outset. In short,
by constantly renovating and reviving, it is ever and anon
furnishing more vigour for perseverance. On the whole, how
necessary the reinforcements of hope are to establish faith
will better appear if we reflect on the numerous forms of
temptation by wrhich those who have embraced the word of
God are assailed and shaken. First, the Lord often keeps
us in suspense, by delaying the fulfilment of his promises
much longer than we could wish. Here the office of hope
is to perform what the prophet enjoins, " Though it tarry,
wait for it," (Hab. ii. 3.) Sometimes he not only permits
faith to grow languid, but even openly manifests his displea
sure. Here there is still greater necessity for the aid of hope,

CHAP. II. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 147

that we may be able to say with another prophet, " I will
wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of
Jacob, and I will look for him," (Isaiah viii. 17.) Scoffers
also rise up, as Peter tells us, and ask, " Where is the pro
mise of his coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of the creation,"
(2 Pet. iii. 4.) Nay, the world and the flesh insinuate the
same thing. Here faith must be supported by the patience
of hope, and fixed on the contemplation of eternity, consider
that u one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day," (2 Pet. iii. 8 ; Ps. xc. 4.)

43. On account of this connection and affinity Scripture
sometimes confounds the two terms faith and hope. For when
Peter says that we are " kept by the power of God through
faith until salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time,"
(1 Pet. i. 5,) he attributes to faith what more properly be
longs to hope. And not without cause, since we have already
shown that hope is nothing else than the food and strength
of faith. Sometimes the two are joined together, as in the
same Epistle, " That your faith and hope might be in God,"
(1 Pet. i. 21.) Paul, again, in the Epistle to the Philip-
pians, from hope deduces expectation, (Phil. i. 20,) because
in hoping patiently we suspend our wishes until God manifest
his own time. The whole of this subject may be better under
stood from the tenth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews,
to which I have already adverted. Paul, in another passage,
though not in strict propriety of speech, expresses the same
thing in these words, " For we through the Spirit wait for the
hope of righteousness by faith," (Gal. v. 5 ;) that is, after em
bracing the testimony of the Gospel as to free love, we wait
till God openly manifest what is now only an object of hope.
It is now obvious how absurdly Peter Lombard lays down a
double foundation of hope, viz., the grace of God and the
merit of works, (Sent. Lib. iii. Dist. 26.) Hope cannot have
any other object than faith has. But we have already shown
clearly that the only object of faith is the mercy of God, to
which, to use the common expression, it must look with both
eyes. But it is worth while to listen to the strange reason
which he adduces. If you presume, says he, to hope for any

148 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

thing without merit, it should be called not hope, but pre
sumption. Who, dear reader, does not execrate the gross
stupidity1 which calls it rashness and presumption to confide
in the truth of God ? The Lord desires us to expect every
thing from his goodness, and yet these men tell us it is pre
sumption to rest in it. O teacher, worthy of the pupils whom
you found in these insane raving schools ! Seeing that, by
the oracles of God, sinners are enjoined to entertain the hope
of salvation, let us willingly presume so far on his truth as
to cast away all confidence in our works, and trusting in his
mercy, venture to hope. He who hath said, " According to
your faith be it unto you," (Matth. ix. 29,) will never deceive.

1 Latin, " Quis non merito, amice lector, talesbestias execretur ?" French,
" Je vous prie, mes amis, qui se tiendra de maudire telles bestes ?" — I pray
you, my friends, who can refrain from execrating such beasts ?

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 149

CHAPTER III.

REGENERATION BY FAITH. OF REPENTANCE.

This chapter is divided into five parts. I. The title of the chapter
seems to promise a treatise on Faith, but the only subject here considered
is Repentance, the inseparable attendant of faith. And, first, various
opinions on the subject of repentance are stated, sec. 1-4. II. An
exposition of the orthodox doctrine of Repentance, sec. 5-9. III. Rea
sons why repentance must be prolonged to the last moment of life, sec.
10-14. IV. Of the fruits of repentance, or its object and tendency,
sec. 15-20. V. The source whence repentance proceeds, sec. 21-24.
Of the sin against the Holy Spirit, and the impenitence of the reprobate,
sec. 25.

Sections.

1. Connection of this chapter with the previous one and the subsequent

chapters. Repentance follows faith, and is produced by it.
Reason. Error of those, who take a contrary view.

2. Their First Objection. Answer. In what sense the origin of Re

pentance ascribed to Faith. Cause of the erroneous idea that
faith is produced by repentance. Refutation of it. The hypocrisy
of Monks and Anabaptists in assigning limits to repentance
exposed.

3. A second opinion concerning repentance considered.

4. A third opinion, assigning two forms to repentance, a legal and an

Evangelical. Examples of each.

5. The orthodox doctrine of Repentance. 1. Faith and Repentance to

be distinguished, not confounded or separated. 2. A considera
tion of the name. 3. A definition of the thing, or what repentance
is. Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles.

6. Explanation of the definition. This consists of three parts. 1. Re

pentance is a turning of our life unto God. This described and
enlarged upon.

7. 2. Repentance produced by fear of God. Hence the mention of

divine judgment by the Prophets and Apostles. Example, Expo-

150 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

sition of the second branch of the definition from a passage in
Paul. Why the fear of God is the first part of Repentance.

8. 3. Repentance consists in the mortification of the flesh and the

quickening of the Spirit. These required by the Prophets. They
are explained separately.

9. How this mortification and quickening are produced. Repentance

just a renewal of the divine image in us. Not completed in a
moment, but extends to the last moment of life.

10. Reasons why repentance must so extend. Augustine's opinion as

to concupiscence in the regenerate examined. A passage of Paul
which seems to confirm that opinion.

11. Answer. Confirmation of the answer by the Apostle himself.

Another confirmation from a precept of the law. Conclusion.

12. Exception, that those desires only are condemned which are repug

nant to the order of God. Desires not condemned in so far as
natural, but in so far as inordinate. This held by Augustine.

13. Passages from Augustine to show that this was his opinion. Objec

tion from a passage in James.

14. Another objection of the Anabaptists and Libertines to the con

tinuance of repentance throughout the present life. An answer
disclosing its impiety. Another answer, founded on the absurdi
ties to which it leads. A third answer, contrasting sincere Chris
tian repentance with the erroneous view of the objectors. Con
firmation from the example and declaration of an Apostle.

15. Of the fruits of repentance. Carefulness. Excuse. Indignation.

Fear. Desire. Zeal. Revenge. Moderation to be observed, as
most sagely counselled by Bernard.

16. Internal fruits of Repentance. 1. Piety towards God. 2. Charity

towards man. 3. Purity of life. How carefully these fruits are
commended by the Prophets. External fruits of repentance.
Bodily exercises too much commended by ancient WTiters. Two
fold excess in regard to them.

17. Delusion of some who consider these external exercises as the chief

part of Repentance. Why received in the Jewish Church. The
legitimate use of these exercises in the Christian Church.

18. The principal part of repentance consists in turning to God. Con

fession and acknowledgment of sins. What their nature should
be. Distinction between ordinary and special repentance. Use
of this distinction.

19. End of Repentance. Its nature shown by the preaching of John

Baptist, our Saviour, and his Apostles. The sum of this preach
ing.

20. Christian repentance terminates with our life.

21. Repentance has its origin in the grace of God, as communicated to

the elect, whom God is pleased to save from death. The harden
ing and final impenitence of the reprobate. A passage of an

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 151

Apostle as to voluntary reprobates, gives no countenance to the
Novatians.

22. Of the sin against the Holy Ghost. The true definition of this sin

as proved and explained by Scripture. Who they are that sin
against the Holy Spirit. Examples : — 1. The Jews resisting
Stephen. 2. The Pharisees. Definition confirmed by the example
of Paul.

23. Why that sin unpardonable. The paralogism of the JSTovatians in

wresting the words of the Apostle examined. Two passages from
the same Apostle.

24. First objection to the above doctrine. Answer. Solution of a

difficulty founded on the example of Esau and the threatening of
a Prophet. Second objection.

25. Third objection, founded on the seeming approval of the feigned

repentance of the ungodly, as Ahab. Answer. Confirmation
from the example of Esau. Why God bears for a time with the
ungodly, pretending repentance. Exception.'

1. ALTHOUGH we have already in some measure shown
how faith possesses Christ, and gives us the enjoyment or
his benefits, the subject would still be obscure were we not
to add an exposition of the effects resulting from it. The
sum of the Gospel is, not without good reason, made to
consist in repentance and forgiveness of sins ; and, therefore,
where these two heads are omitted, any discussion concern
ing faith will be meagre and defective, and indeed almost
useless. Now, since Christ confers upon us, and we obtain
by faith, both free reconciliation and newness of life, reason
and order require that I should here begin to treat of both.
The shortest transition, however, will be from faith to repent
ance ; for repentance being properly understood, it will better
appear how a man is justified freely by faith alone, and yet I
that holiness of life, real holiness, as it is called, is inseparable \
from the free imputation of righteousness.1 That repentance
not only always follows faith, but is produced by it, ought
to be without controversy, (see Calvin in Joann. i. 13.) For
since pardon and forgiveness are offered by the preaching of
the Gospel, in order that the sinner, delivered from the

1 The French adds in explanation, " C'est a dire, que cela s'accorde
bien, que nous ne soyons pas sans bonnes oeuvres, et toutesfois que nous
soyons rept^es justes sans bonnes ceuvres ;" — That is to say, that the two
propositions are quite consistent, viz., that we are not without good
works, and yet that we*are accounted righteous without works.

152 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

tyranny of Satan, the yoke of sin, and the miserable bondage
of iniquity, may pass into the kingdom of God, it is certain
that no man can embrace the grace of the Gospel without
betaking himself from the errors of his former life into the
right path, and making it his whole study to practise repent
ance. Those who think that repentance precedes faith
instead of flowing from, or being produced by it, as the fruit
by the tree, have never understood its nature, and are moved
to adopt that view on very insufficient grounds.

2. Christ and John, it is said, in their discourses, first
exhort the people to repentance, and then add, that the
kingdom of heaven is at hand, (Matth. iii. 2 ; iv. 17.) Such,
too, is the message which the Apostles received, and such
the course which Paul followed, as is narrated by Luke,
(Acts xx. 21.) But clinging superstitiously to the juxta
position of the syllables, they attend not to the coherence
of meaning in the words. For when our Lord and John
begin their preaching thus, " Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand," (Matth. iii. 2,) do they not deduce
repentance as a consequence of the offer of grace and pro
mise of salvation ? The force of the words, therefore, is the
same as if it were said, As the kingdom of heaven is at
hand, for that reason repent. For Matthew, after relating
that John so preached, says that therein was fulfilled the
prophecy concerning the voice of one crying in the desert,
" Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the
desert a highway for our God," (Isaiah xl. 3.) But in the
Prophet that voice is ordered to commence with consolation
and glad tidings. Still, when we attribute the origin of
repentance to faith, we do not dream of some period of time
in which faith is to give birth to it : we only wish to show
that a man cannot seriously engage in repentance unless he
know that he is of God. But no man is truly persuaded
that he is of God until he have embraced his offered favour.
These things will be more clearly explained as wre proceed.
Some are perhaps misled by this, that not a few are subdued
by terror of conscience, or disposed to obedience before they
have been imbued with a knowledge, nay, before they have
had any taste of the divine favour, (see Calvin in Acts xx.

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 153

21.) This is that initial fear1 which some writers class
among the virtues, because they think it approximates to
true and genuine obedience. But we are not here consider
ing the various modes in which Christ draws us to himself, or
prepares us for the study of piety : All I say is, that no right
eousness can be found where the Spirit, whom Christ received
in order to communicate it to his members, reigns not. Then,
according to the passage in the Psalms, " There is forgive
ness with thee, that thou mayest be feared," (Psalm cxxx. 4,)
no man will ever reverence God who does not trust that
God is propitious to him, no man will ever willingly set
himself to observe the Law who is not persuaded that his
services are pleasing to God. The indulgence of God in
tolerating and pardoning our iniquities is a sign of paternal
favour. This is also clear from the exhortation in Hosea,
" Come, and let us return unto the Lord : for he hath torn,
and he will heal us ; he hath smitten, and he will bind us
up," (Hos. vi. 1 ;) the hope of pardon is employed as a
stimulus to prevent us from becoming reckless in sin. But
there is no semblance of reason in the absurd procedure of
those who, that they may begin with repentance, prescribe
to their neophytes certain days during which they are to
exercise themselves in repentance, and after these are elapsed,
admit them to communion in Gospel grace. I allude to
great numbers of Anabaptists, those of them especially who
plume themselves on being spiritual, and their associates the
Jesuits, and others of the same stamp. Such are the fruits
which their giddy spirit produces, that repentance, which in
every Christian man lasts as long as life, is with them com
pleted in a few short days.

3. Certain learned men, who lived long before the present
day, and were desirous to speak simply and sincerely, accord
ing to the rule of Scripture, held that repentance consists of
two parts, mortification and quickening. By mortification
they mean, grief of soul and terror, produced by a conviction

1 Latin, "Initialis timor," which is thus paraphrased by the French :
" Et c'est une crainte comme on la voit aux petits enfans, qui ne sont
point gouvernes par raison ;" — And it is a fear such as we see in little
children, who are not governed by reason.

154 INSTITUTES OF TliE TOOK III.

of sin and a sense of the divine judgment. For when a man
is brought to a true knowledge of sin, he begins truly to hate
and abominate sin. He also is sincerely dissatisfied with
himself, confesses that he is lost and undone, and Avishes he
were different from what he is. Moreover, when he is
touched with some sense of the divine justice, (for the one
conviction immediately follows the other,) he lies terror-
struck and amazed, humbled and dejected, desponds and
despairs. This, which they regarded as the first part of
repentance, they usually termed contrition. By quickening
they mean, the comfort which is produced by faith, as when
a man prostrated by a consciousness of sin, and smitten with
the fear of God, afterwards beholding his goodness, and
the mercy, grace, and salvation obtained through Christ, looks
up, begins to breathe, takes courage, and passes, as it were,
from death unto life. I admit that these terms, when rightly
interpreted, aptly enough express the power of repentance ;
only I cannot assent to their using the term quickening, for
the joy which the soul feels after being calmed from pertur
bation and fear. It more properly means, that desire of
pious and holy living which springs from the new birth ; as
if it were said, that the man dies to himself that he may
begin to live unto God.

4. Others seeing that the term is used in Scripture in
different senses, have set down two forms of repentance, and,
in order to distinguish them, have called the one Legal
repentance ; or that by which the sinner, stung with a sense
of his sin, and overwhelmed with fear of the divine anger,
remains in that state of perturbation, unable to escape from
it. The other they term Evangelical repentance ; or that by
which the sinner, though grievously downcast in himself, yet
looks up and sees in Christ the cure of his wound, the solace
of his terror, the haven of rest from his misery. They give
Cain, Saul, and Judas,1 as examples of legal repentance.
Scripture, in describing what is called their repentance,
means that they perceived the heinousness of their sins, and
dreaded the divine anger ; but, thinking only of God as

1 Gen. iv. 13 ; 1 Sam. xv. 30 ; Matt, xxrii. 3, 4.

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 155

a judge and avenger, were overwhelmed by the thought.
Their repentance, therefore, was nothing better than a kind
of threshold to hell, into which having entered even in the
present life, they began to endure the punishment inflicted
by the presence of an offended God. Examples of evan
gelical repentance we see in all those who, first stung with a
sense of sin, but afterwards raised and revived by confidence
in the divine mercy, turned unto the Lord.1 Hezekiah was
frightened on receiving the message of his death, but pray
ing with tears, and beholding the divine goodness, regained
his confidence. The Ninevites were terrified at the fearful
announcement of their destruction ; but clothing themselves
in sackcloth and ashes, they prayed, hoping that the Lord
might relent and avert his anger from them. David con
fessed that he had sinned greatly in numbering the people,
but added, " Now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the
iniquity of thy servant." When rebuked by Nathan, he
acknowledged the crime of adultery, and humbled himself
before the Lord ; but he, at the same time, looked for pardon.
Similar was the repentance of those who, stung to the heart
by the preaching of Peter, yet trusted in the divine goodness,
and added, " Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" Similar
was the case of Peter himself, who indeed wept bitterly, but
ceased not to hope.

5. Though all this is true, yet the term repentance (in so
far as I can ascertain from Scripture) must be differently
taken. For in comprehending faith under repentance, they
are at variance with what Paul says in the Acts, as to his
" testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repent
ance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,"
(Acts xx. 21.) Here he mentions faith and repentance as
two different things. What then? Can true repentance
exist without faith ? By no means. But although they
cannot be separated, they ought to be distinguished. As
there is no faith without hope, and yet faith and hope are
different, so repentance and faith, though constantly linked
together, are only to be united, not confounded. I am not

1 2 Kings xx. 2 ; Isa. xxxviii. 2 ; Jonah iii. 5 ; 2 Sara. xxiv. 10 ; xii.
13, 16 ; Acts ii. 37 ; Matth. xxvi. 75 ; Luke xxii. 62.

156 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

unaware that under the term repentance is comprehended the
whole work of turning to God, of which not the least import
ant part is faith ; but in what sense this is done will be
perfectly obvious, when its nature and power shall have been
explained. The term repentance is derived in the Hebrew
from conversion, or turning again ; and in the Greek from a
change of mind and purpose ; nor is the thing meant inappro
priate to both derivations, for it is substantially this, that
withdrawing from ourselves we turn to God, and laying
aside the old, put on a new mind. Wherefore, it seems to
me, that repentance may be not inappropriately defined thus :
A real conversion of our life unto God, proceeding from
sincere and serious fear of God ; and consisting in the morti
fication of our flesh and the old man, and the quickening of
the Spirit. In this sense are to be understood all those
addresses in which the prophets first, and the apostles after
wards, exhorted the people of their time to repentance. The
great object for which they laboured was, to fill them with
confusion for their sins and dread of the divine judgment,
that they might fall down and humble themselves before him
whom they had offended, and, with true repentance, betake
themselves to the right path. Accordingly, they use indis
criminately in the same sense, the expressions, turning, or
returning to the Lord; repenting, doing repentance.1 Whence,
also, the sacred history describes it as repentance towards God,
when men who disregarded him and wantoned in their lusts
begin to obey his word, and are prepared to go whithersoever
he may call them. And John Baptist and Paul, under the
expression, bringing forth fruits meet for repentance, described
a course of life exhibiting and bearing testimony, in all its
actions, to such a repentance.

6. But before proceeding farther, it will be proper to give
a clearer exposition of the definition which we have adopted.
There are three things, then, principally to be considered in
it. First, in the conversion of the life to God, we require a
transformation not only in external works, but in the soul
itself, which is able only after it has put off its old habits to

1 Matth. iii. 2 ; 1 Sam. vii. 8 ; Luke iii. 8 ; Rom. vi. 4 ; Acts xxvi. 20.

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 157

bring forth fruits conformable to its renovation. The pro
phet, intending to express this, enjoins those whom he calls
to repentance to make them " a new heart and a new spirit,"
(Ezek. xviii. 31.) Hence Moses, on several occasions, when
he would show how the Israelites were to repent and turn
to the Lord, tells them that it must be done with the whole
heart, and the whole soul, (a mode of expression of frequent
recurrence in the prophets,) and by terming it the circumci
sion of the heart, points to the internal affections. But there
is no passage better fitted to teach us the genuine nature of
repentance than the following : " If thou wilt return, O Israel,
saith the Lord, return unto me." " Break up your fallow
ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves
to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart,"
(Jer. iv. 1-4.) See how he declares to them that it will be
of no avail to commence the study of righteousness unless
impiety shall first have been eradicated from their inmost
heart. And to make the deeper impression, he reminds them
that they have to do with God, and can gain nothing by
deceit, because he hates a double heart. For this reason
Isaiah derides the preposterous attempts of hypocrites, who
zealously aimed at an external repentance by the observance
of ceremonies, but in the meanwhile cared not " to loose the
bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let
the oppressed go free," (Isaiah Iviii. 6.) In these words he
admirably shows wherein the acts of unfeigned repentance
consist.

7. The second part of our definition is, that repentance
proceeds from a sincere fear of God. Before the mind of the
sinner can be inclined to repentance, he must be aroused by
the thought of divine judgment ; but when once the thought
that God will one day ascend his tribunal to take an account
of all words and actions has taken possession of his mind,
it will not allow him to rest, or have one moment's peace,
but will perpetually urge him to adopt a different plan of
life, that he may be able to stand securely at that judg
ment-seat. Hence the Scripture, when exhorting to repent
ance, often introduces the subject of judgment, as in Jere
miah, " Lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none

158 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

can quench it, because of the evil of your doings," (Jer. iv.
4.) Paul, in his discourse to the Athenians, says, " The
times of this ignorance God winked at ; but now command-
eth all men every where to repent : because he hath appointed
a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness,"
(Acts xvii. 30, 31.) The same thing is repeated in several
other passages. Sometimes God is declared to be a judge,
from the punishments already inflicted, thus leading sinners
to reflect that worse awaits them if they do not quickly
repent. There is an example of this in the xxixth chapter of
Deuteronomy. As repentance begins with dread and hatred
of sin, the Apostle sets down godly sorrow as one of its
causes, (2 Cor. vii. 10.) By godly sorrow he means when we
not only tremble at the punishment, but hate and abhor the
sin, because we know it is displeasing to God. It is not
strange that this should be, for unless we are stung to the
quick, the sluggishness of our carnal nature cannot be cor
rected ; nay, no degree of pungency would suffice for our
stupor and sloth, did not God lift the rod and strike deeper.
There is, moreover, a rebellious spirit which must be broken
as with hammers. The stern threatenings which God em
ploys are extorted from him by our depraved dispositions.
For while we are asleep it were in vain to allure us by sooth
ing measures. Passages to this effect are every where to be
met with, and I need not quote them. But there is another
reason why the fear of God lies at the root of repentance,
viz., that though the life of man were possessed of all kinds of
virtue, still if they do not bear reference to God, how much
soever they may be lauded in the world, they are mere abomi
nation in heaven, inasmuch as it is the principal part of right
eousness to render to God that service and honour of which
he is impiously defrauded, whenever it is not our express pur
pose to submit to his authority.

8. We must now explain the third part of the definition,
and show what is meant when we say that repentance con
sists of two parts, viz., the mortification of the flesh, and the
quickening of the Spirit. The prophets, in accommodation
to a carnal people, express this in simple and homely terms,
but clearly, when they say, u Depart from evil, and do good,"

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 159

(Ps. xxxiv. 14.) " Wash you, make you clean, put away the
evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil ;
learn to do well ; seek judgment ; relieve the oppressed," &c.,
(Isaiah i. 16, 17.) In dissuading us from wickedness they
demand the entire destruction of the flesh, which is full of
perverseness and malice. It is a most difficult and arduous
achievement to renounce ourselves, and lay aside our natural
disposition. For the flesh must not be thought to be destroy
ed unless every thing that we have of our own is abolished.
But seeing that all the desires of the flesh are enmity against
God, (Rom. viii. 7,) the first step to the obedience of his law
is the renouncement of our own nature. Renovation is after
wards manifested by the fruits produced by it, viz., justice,
judgment, and mercy. Since it were not sufficient duly to
perform such acts, were not the mind and heart previously
endued with sentiments of justice, judgment, and mercy, this
is done when the Holy Spirit, instilling his holiness into our
souls, so inspires them with new thoughts and affections, that
they may justly be regarded as new. And, indeed, as we are
naturally averse to God, unless self-denial precede, we shall
never tend to that which is right. Hence we are so often
enjoined to put off the old man, to renounce the world and
the flesh, to forsake our lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of
our mind. Moreover, the very name mortification reminds
us how difficult it is to forget our former nature, because we
hence infer that we cannot be trained to the fear of God,
and learn the first principles of piety, unless we are violently
smitten with the sword of the Spirit and annihilated, as if
God were declaring, that to be ranked among his sons there
must be a destruction of our ordinary nature.

9. Both of these we obtain by union with Christ. For if
we have true fellowship in his death, our old man is crucified
by his power, and the body of sin becomes dead, so that the
corruption of our original nature is never again in full vigour,
(Rom. vi. 5, 6.) If we are partakers in his resurrection, we
are raised up by means of it to newness of life, which con
forms us to the righteousness of God. In one word, then, by
repentance I understand regeneration,1 the only aim of which

1 French, " une regeneration spirituelle ;" — a spiritual regeneration.

160 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

is to form in us anew the image of God, which was sullied,
and all but effaced by the transgression of Adam. So the
Apostle teaches when he says, " We all with open face behold
ing as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord."
Again, " Be renewed in the spirit of your mind," and " put
ye on the new man, which after God is created in righteous
ness and true holiness." Again, " Put ye on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that
created him."1 Accordingly, through the blessing of Christ
we are renewed by that regeneration into the righteousness
of God from which we had fallen through Adam, the Lord
being pleased in this manner to restore the integrity of all
whom he appoints to the inheritance of life. This renewal,
indeed, is not accomplished in a moment, a day, or a year,
but by uninterrupted, sometimes even by slow, progress God
abolishes the remains of carnal corruption in his elect, cleanses
them from pollution, and consecrates them as his temples,
restoring all their inclinations to real purity, so that during
their whole lives they may practise repentance, and know
that death is the only termination to this warfare. The
greater is the effrontery of an impure raver and apostate,
named Staphylus, who pretends that I confound the condition
of the present life with the celestial glory, when, after Paul,
I make the image of God to consist in righteousness and true
holiness ; as if in every definition it were not necessary to
take the thing defined in its integrity and perfection. It is
not denied that there is room for improvement ; but what I
maintain is, that the nearer any one approaches in resemblance
to God, the more does the image of God appear in him. That
believers may attain to it, God assigns repentance as the goal
towards which they must keep running during the whole
course of their lives.

1 0. By regeneration the children of God are delivered from
the bondage of sin, but not as if they had already obtained
full possession of freedom, and no longer felt any annoyance
from the flesh. Materials for an unremitting contest remain,

1 2 Cor. iii. 18 ; Eph. iv. 23, 24 ; Col. iii. 10 ; 2 Cor. iv. 16.

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 161

that they may be exercised, and not only exercised, but
may better understand their weakness. All writers of sound
judgment agree in this, that, in the regenerate man, there is
still a spring of evil which is perpetually sending forth desires
that allure and stimulate him to sin. They also acknowledge
that the saints are still so liable to the disease of concupiscence,
that, though opposing it, they cannot avoid being ever and
anon prompted and incited to lust, avarice, ambition, or other
vices. It is unnecessary to spend much time in investigat
ing the sentiments of ancient writers. Augustine alone may
suffice, as he has collected all their opinions with great care
and fidelity.1 Any reader who is desirous to know the sense
of antiquity may obtain it from him. There is this differ
ence apparently between him and us, that while he admits
that believers, so long as they are in the body, are so liable
to concupiscence that they cannot but feel it, he does not
venture to give this disease the name of sin. He is con
tented with giving it the name of infirmity, and says, that it
only becomes sin when either external act or consent is add
ed to conception or apprehension; that is, when the will
yields to the first desire. We again regard it as sin when
ever man is influenced in any degree by any desire contrary
to the law of God ; nay, we maintain that the very pravity
which begets in us such desires is sin. Accordingly, we
hold that there is always sin in the saints, until they are freed
from their mortal frame, because depraved concupiscence
resides in their flesh, and is at variance with rectitude.
Augustine himself does not always refrain from using the
name of sin, as when he says, " Paul gives the name of sin to
that carnal concupiscence from which all sins arise. This in
regard to the saints loses its dominion in this world, and is
destroyed in heaven." In these words he admits that be
lievers, in so far as they are liable to carnal concupiscence,
are chargeable with sin.

11. When it is said that God purifies his Church, so as to
be "holy and without blemish," (Eph. v. 26, 27,) that he

1 See August, ad Bonif. Lib. iv. et cont. Julianum, Lib. i. and ii. See
also Serin. 6, de Verbis Apost. See also Calv. cont. Pighium, and Calv.
ad Cone. Trident.

VOL. II. L

162 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK ITT.

promises this cleansing by means of baptism, and performs it
in his elect, I understand that reference is made to the guilt
rather than to the matter of sin. In regenerating his people
God indeed accomplishes this much for them ; he destroys the
dominion of sin,1 by supplying the agency of the Spirit,
which enables them to come off victorious from the contest.
Sin, however, though it ceases to reign, ceases not to dwell in
them. Accordingly, though we say that the old man is cru
cified, and the law of sin is abolished in the children of God,
(Rom. vi. 6,) the remains of sin survive, not to have domi
nion, but to humble them under a consciousness of their in
firmity. We admit that these remains, just as if they had no
existence, are not imputed, but we, at the same time, contend
that it is owing to the mercy of God that the saints are not
charged with the guilt which would otherwise make them sin
ners before God. It will not be difficult for us to confirm this
view, seeing we can support it by clear passages of Scripture.
How can we express our view more plainly than Paul does
in Rom. vii. 6 ? We have elsewhere shown, and Augustine by
solid reasons proves, that Paul is there speaking in the person
of a regenerated man. I say nothing as to his use of the words
evil and sin. However those who object to our view may
quibble on these words, can any man deny that aversion to
the law of God is an evil, and that hinderance to righteous
ness is sin ? In short, who will not admit that there is guilt
where there is spiritual misery ? But all these things Paul
affirms of this disease. Again, the law furnishes us with a
clear demonstration by which the whole question may be
quickly disposed of. We are enjoined to love God with all
our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength. Since all
the faculties of our soul ought thus to be engrossed with the
love of God, it is certain that the commandment is not ful
filled by those who receive the smallest desire into their
heart, or admit into their minds any thought whatever which
may lead them away from the love of God to vanity. What
then ? Is it not through the faculties of mind that we are

1 Latin, " Reatus." — French, " 1'imputation du peche;" — the imputation
of sin.

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGIOX. 163

assailed with sudden motions, that we perceive sensual, or
form conceptions of mental objects ? Since these faculties
give admission to vain and wicked thoughts, do they not show
that to that extent they are devoid of the love of God ? He,
then, who admits not that all the desires of the flesh are sins,
and that that disease of concupiscence, which they call a
stimulus, is a fountain of sin, must of necessity deny that the
transgression of the law is sin.

12. If any one thinks it absurd thus to condemn all the
desires by which man is naturally affected, seeing they have
been implanted by God the author of nature, we answer, that
we by no means condemn those appetites which God so im
planted in the mind of man at his first creation, that they
cannot be eradicated without destroying human nature itself,
but only the violent lawless movements which war with the
order of God. But as, in consequence of the corruption of
nature, all our faculties are so vitiated and corrupted, that a
perpetual disorder and excess is apparent in all our actions,
and as the appetites cannot be separated from this excess,
we maintain that therefore they are vicious ; or, to give the
substance in fewer words, we hold that all human desires are
evil, and we charge them with sin not in as far as they are
natural, but because they are inordinate, and inordinate because
nothing pure and upright can proceed from a corrupt and pol
luted nature. Nor does Augustine depart from this doctrine
in reality so much as in appearance. From an excessive
dread of the invidious charge with which the Pelagians assail
ed him, he sometimes refrains from using the term sin in this
sense ; but when he says (ad Bonif.) that the law of sin remain
ing in the saints^ the guilt only is taken away, he shows clearly
enough that his view is not very different from ours.

13. We will produce some other passages to make it more
apparent what his sentiments were. In his second book
against Julian, he says, u This law of sin is both remitted
in spiritual regeneration and remains in the mortal flesh ;
remitted, because the guilt is forgiven in the sacrament by
which believers are regenerated, and yet remains, inasmuch as
it produces desires against which believers fight." Again,
" Therefore the law of sin (which was in the members of this

164 INSTITUTES OF THE

BOOK III.

great Apostle also) is forgiven in baptism, not ended."
Again, " The law of sin, the guilt of which, though remaining,
is forgiven in baptism, Ambrose called iniquity, for it is
iniquitous for the flesh to lust against the Spirit." Again,
" Sin is dead in the guilt by which it bound us ; and until
it is cured by the perfection of burial, though dead it rebels."
In the fifth book he says still more plainly, " As blindness of
heart is the sin by which God is not believed; and the
punishment of sin, by wrhich a proud heart is justly punished ;
and the cause of sin, when through the error of a blinded
heart any evil is committed : so the lust of the flesh, against
which the good Spirit wars, is also sin, because disobedient
to the authority of the mind; and the punishment of sin,
because the recompense rendered for disobedience ; and the
cause of sin, consenting by revolt or springing up through
contamination." He here without ambiguity calls it sin,
because the Pelagian heresy being now refuted, and the sound
doctrine confirmed, he was less afraid of calumny. Thus,
also, in his forty-first Homily on John, where he speaks his
own sentiments without controversy, he says, " If with the
flesh you serve the law of sin, do what the Apostle himself
says, < Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body,
that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof,' (Rom. vi. 12.) He
does not say, Let it not be, but Let it not reign. As long as
you live there must be sin in your members ; but at least let
its dominion be destroyed ; do not what it orders." Those
who maintain that concupiscence is not sin, are wont to found
on the passage of James, " Then, when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin," (James i. 15.) But this is easily
refuted : for unless we understand him as speaking only of
wicked works or actual sins, even a wicked inclination will not
be accounted sin. But from his calling crimes and wicked
deeds the fruits of lust, and also giving them the name of
sins, it does not follow that the lust itself is not an evil,
and in the sight of God deserving of condemnation.

14. Some Anabaptists in the present age mistake some
indescribable sort of frenzied excess for the regeneration of
the Spirit, holding that the children of God are restored to
a state of innocence, and, therefore, need give themselves no

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 165

anxiety about curbing the lust of the flesh ; that they have
the Spirit for their guide, and under his agency never err.1
It would be incredible that the human mind could proceed to
such insanity, did they not openly and exultingly give utter
ance to their dogma. It is indeed monstrous, and yet it is
just, that those who have resolved to turn the word of God
into a lie, should thus be punished for their blasphemous
audacity. Is it indeed true, that all distinction between
base and honourable, just and unjust, good and evil, virtue
and vice, is abolished ? The distinction, they say, is from
the curse of the old Adam, and from this we are exempted
by Christ. There will be no difference, then, between
whoredom and chastity, sincerity and craft, truth and false
hood, justice and robbery. Away with vain fear ! (they say,)
the Spirit will not bid you do any thing that is wrong, provided
you sincerely and boldly leave yourself to his agency. Who is
not amazed at such monstrous doctrines ? And yet this philo
sophy is popular with those who, blinded by insane lusts, have
thrown off common sense. But what kind of Christ, pray, do
they fabricate ? what kind of Spirit do they belch forth ? We
acknowledge one Christ, and his one Spirit, whom the
prophets foretold and the Gospel proclaims as actually mani
fested, but we hear nothing of this kind respecting him.
That Spirit is not the patron of murder, adultery, drunken
ness, pride, contention, avarice, and fraud, but the author of
love, chastity, sobriety, modesty, peace, moderation, and
truth. He is not a Spirit of giddiness, rushing rashly and
precipitately, without regard to right and wrong, but full of
wisdom and understanding, by which he can duly distinguish
between justice and injustice. He instigates not to lawless
and unrestrained licentiousness, but, discriminating between
lawful and unlawful, teaches temperance and moderation.
But why dwell longer in refuting that brutish frenzy ? To
Christians the Spirit of the Lord is not a turbulent phantom,
which they themselves have produced by dreaming, or
received ready-made by others ; but they religiously seek
the knowledge of him from Scripture, where two things are

1 See Calvin, adv. Libertinos, cap. xviii.

1G6 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK 1IT.

taught concerning him ; Jirst, that he is given to us for sancti-
fication, that he may purge us from all iniquity and defilement,
and bring us to the obedience of divine righteousness, an
obedience which cannot exist unless the lusts to which these
men would give loose reins are tamed and subdued ; secondly,
that though purged by his sanctification, we are still beset
by many vices and much weakness, so long as we are enclosed
in the prison of the body. Thus it is, that placed at a great
distance from perfection, we must always be endeavouring to
make some progress, and daily struggling with the evil by
which we are entangled. Whence, too, it follows, that, shaking
off sloth and security, we must be intently vigilant, so as not
to be taken unawares in the snares of our flesh; unless,
indeed, we presume to think that we have made greater
progress than the Apostle, who was buffeted by a messenger
of Satan, in order that his strength might be perfected in
weakness, and who gives in his own person a true, not a
fictitious representation, of the strife between the Spirit and
the flesh, (2 Cor. xii. 7, 9 ; Rom. vii. 6.)

15. The Apostle, in his description of repentance, (2 Cor.
vii. 2,) enumerates seven causes, effects, or parts belonging
to it, and that on the best grounds. These are carefulness,
excuse, indignation, fear, desire, zeal, revenge. It should not
excite surprise that I venture not to determine whether they
ought to be regarded as causes or effects : both views may
be maintained. They may also be called affections conjoined
with repentance ; but as Paul's meaning may be ascertained
without entering into any of these questions, we shall be con
tented with a simple exposition. He says then that godly
sorrow produces carefulness. He who is really dissatisfied
with himself for sinning against his God, is, at the same time,
stimulated to care and attention, that he may completely
disentangle himself from the chains of the devil, and keep a
better guard against his snares, so as not afterwards to lose
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or be overcome by security.
Next comes excuse, which in this place means not defence,
in which the sinner to escape the judgment of God either
denies his fault or extenuates it, but apologising, which trusts
more to intercession than to the goodness of the cause ; just

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN KELIG1OX. 1G7

as children not altogether abandoned, while they acknowledge
and confess their errors, yet employ deprecation ; and to make
room for it, testify, by every means in their power, that they
have by no means cast off the reverence which they owe to
their parents ; in short, endeavour by excuse not to prove
themselves righteous and innocent, but only to obtain pardon.
Next follows indignation, under which the sinner inwardly
murmurs, expostulates, and is offended with himself on recog
nising his perverseness and ingratitude to God. By the term
fear is meant that trepidation which takes possession of our
minds whenever we consider both what we have deserved,
and the fearful severity of the divine anger against sinners.
Accordingly, the exceeding disquietude which we must ne
cessarily feel, both trains us to humility and makes us more
cautious for the future. But if the carefulness or anxiety
which he first mentioned is the result of fear, the connection
between the two becomes obvious. Desire seems to me to
be used as equivalent to diligence in duty, and alacrity in
doing service, to which the sense of our misdeeds ought to
be a powerful stimulus. To this also pertains zeal, which
immediately follows ; for it signifies the ardour with which
we are inflamed when such goads as these are applied to us.
" What have I done ? Into what abyss had I fallen had not
the mercy of God prevented ?" The last of all is revenge, for
the stricter we are with ourselves, and the severer the cen
sure we pass upon our sins, the more ground we have to hope
for the divine favour and mercy. And certainly when the
soul is overwhelmed with a dread of divine judgment, it can
not but act the part of an avenger in inflicting punishment
upon itself. Pious men, doubtless, feel that there is punish
ment in the shame, confusion, groans, self- displeasure, and
other feelings produced by a serious review of their sins.
Let us remember, however, that moderation must be used,
so that we may not be overwhelmed with sadness, there being
nothing to which trembling consciences are more prone than
to rush into despair. This, too, is one of Satan's artifices.
Those whom he sees thus overwhelmed with fear he plunges
deeper and deeper into the abyss of sorrow, that they may
never again rise. It is true that the fear which ends in

168 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

humility without relinquishing the hope of pardon cannot be
in excess. And yet we must always beware, according to
the apostolic injunction, of giving way to extreme dread,
as this tends to make us shun God while he is calling us to
himself by repentance. Wherefore, the advice of Bernard is
good, " Grief for sins is necessary, but must not be perpetual.
My advice is to turn back at times from sorrow and the
anxious remembrance of your ways, and escape to the plain,
to a calm review of the divine mercies. Let us mingle honey
with wormwood, that the salubrious bitter may give health
when we drink it tempered with a mixture of sweetness :
while you think humbly of yourselves, think also of the good
ness of the Lord," (Bernard in Cant. Serm. xi.)

1 6. We can now understand what are the fruits of repent
ance ; viz., offices of piety towards God, and love towards
men, general holiness and purity of life. In short, the more
a man studies to conform his life to the standard of the
divine law, the surer signs he gives of his repentance. Ac
cordingly, the Spirit, in exhorting us to repentance, brings
before us at one time each separate precept of the law ; at
another the duties of the second table ; although there are
also passages in which, after condemning impurity in its foun
tain in the heart, he afterwards descends to external marks,
by wrhich repentance is proved to be sincere. A portraiture
of this I Avill shortly set before the eye of the reader when I
come to describe the Christian life, (infra, chapter vi.) I
will not here collect the passages from the prophets in which
they deride the frivolous observances of those who labour to
appease God with ceremonies, and show that they are mere
mockery ; or those in which they show that outward integrity
of conduct is not the chief part of repentance, seeing that
God looks at the heart. Any one moderately versant in
Scripture will understand by himself, without being reminded
by others, that when he has to do with God, nothing is
gained without beginning with the internal affections of the
heart. There is a passage of Joel which will avail not a little
for the understanding of others : " Rend your heart, and not
your garments," (Joel ii. 13.) Both are also briefly expressed
by James in these words : " Cleanse your hands, ye sinners ;

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 169

and purify your hearts, ye double-minded," (James iv. 8.)
Here, indeed, the accessory is set down first ; but the source
and principle is afterwards pointed out, — viz., that hidden
defilements must be wiped away, and an altar erected to
God in the very heart. There are, moreover, certain
external exercises which we employ in private as remedies
to humble us and tame our flesh, and in public, to testify
our repentance. These have their origin in that revenge
of which Paul speaks, (2 Cor. vii. 2,) for when the mind
is distressed it naturally expresses itself in sackcloth, groans,
and tears, shuns ornament and every kind of show, and
abandons all delights. Then he who feels how great an evil
the rebellion of the flesh is, tries every means of curbing
it. Besides, he who considers aright how grievous a thing it
is to have offended the justice of God, cannot rest until, in
his humility, he have given glory to God. Such exercises
are often mentioned by ancient writers when they speak of
the fruits of repentance. But although they by no means
place the power of repentance in them, yet my readers must
pardon me for saying what I think — they certainly seem to
insist on them more than is right. Any one who judiciously
considers the matter will, I trust, agree with me that they
have exceeded in two ways ; first, by so strongly urging and
extravagantly commending that corporal discipline, they in
deed succeeded in making the people embrace it with greater
zeal ; but they in a manner obscured what they should have
regarded as of much more serious moment. Secondly, the
inflictions which they enjoined were considerably more rigor
ous than ecclesiastical mildness demands, as will be elsewhere
shown.

17. But as there are some who, from the frequent mention
of sackcloth, fasting, and tears, especially in Joel, (ii. 12,)
think that these constitute the principal part of repentance,
we must dispel their delusion. In that passage the proper
part of repentance is described by the words, " turn ye even
to me with your whole heart ;" " rend your heart, and not
your garments." The " fasting," " weeping," and " mourn
ing," are introduced not as invariable or necessary effects, but

170 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

as special circumstances.1 Having foretold that most grievous
disasters were impending over the Jews, he exhorts them to
turn away the divine anger, not only by repenting, but by
giving public signs of sorrow. For as a criminal, to excite
the commiseration of the judge, appears in a supplicating
posture, with a long beard, uncombed hair, and coarse cloth
ing, so should those who are charged at the judgment-seat of
God deprecate his severity in a garb of wretchedness. But
although sackcloth and ashes were perhaps more conformable
to the customs of these times,2 yet it is plain that weeping
and fasting are very appropriate in our case whenever the
Lord threatens us with any defeat or calamity. In present
ing the appearance of danger, he declares that he is preparing,
and, in a manner, arming himself for vengeance. Rightly,
therefore, does the Prophet exhort those, on whose crimes he
had said a little before that vengeance wTas to be executed, to
weeping and fasting, — that is, to the mourning habit of crimi
nals. Nor in the present day do ecclesiastical teachers act
improperly when, seeing ruin hanging over the necks of their
people,3 they call aloud on them to hasten with weeping and
fasting : only they must always urge, with greater care and
earnestness, " rend your hearts, and not your garments." It
is beyond doubt that fasting is not always a concomitant
of repentance, but is specially destined for seasons of calamity.4
Hence our Saviour connects it with mourning, (Matth. ix. 15,)
and relieves the Apostles of the necessity of it until, by being
deprived of his presence, they were filled with sorrow. I
speak of formal fasting. For the life of Christians ought ever
to be tempered with frugality and sobriety, so that the whole
course of it should present some appearance of fasting. As

1 French, " Circonstances qui convenoyent specialement alors ;" — cir
cumstances which were then specially suitable.

2 French, " Fust la coustume de ce temps-la, et ne nous appartienne
aujourdhui de rien ;" — was the custom of that time, and we have now-
a-days nothing to do with it.

3 The French adds, " Soit de guerre, de famine, ou de pestilence ;" —
whether of war, famine, or pestilence.

4 Latin, u Calamitosis temporibus peculiariter destinari." — French,
" Convient particulierement a ceux qui veulent testifier quils se recog-
noissant avoir merite 1'ire de Dieu, et neantmoins requierent pardon de sa
clemence ;" — is particularly suitable to those who acknowledge they have
deserved the wrath of God, and yet seek pardon of his mercy.

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 171

this subject will be fully discussed when the discipline of the
Church comes to be considered, I now dwell less upon it.

18. This much, however, I will add : when the name re
pentance is applied to the external profession, it is used impro
perly, and not in the genuine meaning as I have explained
it. For that is not so much a turning unto God as the con
fession of a fault accompanied with deprecation of the sen
tence and punishment. Thus to repent in sackcloth and
ashes, (Matth. xi. 21 ; Luke x. 13,) is just to testify self-
dissatisfaction when God is angry with us for having grievous
ly offended him. It is, indeed, a kind of public confession by
which, condemning ourselves before angels and the world,
we prevent the judgment of God. For Paul, rebuking the
sluggishness of those who indulge in their sins, says, " If we
would judge ourselves, we should not be judged," (1 Cor. xi.
31.) It is not always necessary, however, openly to inform
others, and make them the witnesses of our repentance ; but
to confess privately to God is a part of true repentance which
cannot be omitted. Nothing were more incongruous than
that God should pardon the sins in which we are flattering
ourselves, and hypocritically cloaking that he may not bring
them to light. We must not only confess the sins which we
daily commit, but more grievous lapses ought to carry us
farther, and bring to our remembrance things which seemed
to have been long ago buried. Of this David sets an example
before us in his own person, (Ps. li.) Filled with shame for a
recent crime he examines himself, going back to the womb, and
acknowledging that even then he was corrupted and defiled.
This he does not to extenuate his fault, as many hide them
selves in the crowd, and catch at impunity by involving others
along with them. Very differently does David, who ingenuous
ly makes it an aggravation of his sin, that being corrupted from
his earliest infancy he ceased not to add iniquity to iniquity.
In another passage, also, he takes a survey of his past life,
and implores God to pardon the errors of his youth, (Ps. xxv.
7.) And, indeed, we shall not prove that we have thoroughly
shaken off our stupor until, groaning under the burden, and
lamenting our sad condition, we seek relief from God. It is,
moreover, to be observed, that the repentance which we are

172 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

enjoined assiduously to cultivate, differs from that which
raises, as it were, from death those who had fallen more
shamefully, or given themselves up to sin without restraint,
or by some kind of open revolt, had thrown off the authority
of God. For Scripture, in exhorting to repentance, often
speaks of it as a passage from death unto life, and when relat
ing that a people had repented, means that they had aban
doned idolatry, and other forms of gross wickedness. For
which reason Paul denounces woe to sinners, " who have not
repented of the uncleanness, and fornication, and lascivious-
ness which they have committed," (2 Cor. xii. 21.) This
distinction ought to be carefully observed, lest when we hear
of a few individuals having been summoned to repent we
indulge in supine security, as if we had nothing to do with
the mortification of the flesh ; whereas, in consequence of the
depraved desires which are always enticing us, and the ini
quities which are ever and anon springing from them, it must
engage our unremitting care. The special repentance enjoin
ed upon those whom the devil has entangled in deadly snares,
and withdrawn from the fear of God, does not abolish that
ordinary repentance which the corruption of nature obliges
us to cultivate during the whole course of our lives.

19. Moreover, if it is true, and nothing can be more cer
tain, than that a complete summary of the Gospel is includ
ed under these two heads, viz., repentance and the remission
of sins, do we not see that the Lord justifies his people freely,
and at the same time renews them to true holiness by the
sanctification of his Spirit ? John, the messenger sent before
the face of Christ to prepare his ways, proclaimed, " Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," (Matth. xi. 10 ; iii. 2.)
By inviting them to repentance, he urged them to acknow
ledge that they were sinners, and in all respects condemned
before God, that thus they might be induced earnestly to
seek the mortification of the flesh, and a new birth in the
Spirit. By announcing the kingdom of God he called for
faith, since by the kingdom of God which he declared to be
at hand, he meant forgiveness of sins, salvation, life, and
every other blessing which we obtain in Christ ; wherefore
we read in the other Evangelists, " John did baptize in the

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 173

wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins," (Mark i. 4 ; Luke iii. 3.) What does
this mean, but that, weary and oppressed with the burden
of sin, they should turn to the Lord, and entertain hopes of
forgiveness and salvation ?l Thus, too, Christ began his
preaching, " The kingdom of God is at hand : repent ye, and
believe the Gospel," (Mark i. 15.) First, he declares that
the treasures of the divine mercy were opened in him ; next,
he enjoins repentance ; and, lastly, he encourages confidence
in the promises of God. Accordingly, when intending to
give a brief summary of the whole Gospel, he said that he
behoved " to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day,
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached
in his name among all nations," (Luke xxiv. 26, 46.) In like
manner, after his resurrection the Apostles preached, " Him
hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a
Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins," (Acts v. 31.) Repentance is preached in the name of
Christ, when men learn, through the doctrines of the Gos
pel, that all their thoughts, affections, and pursuits, are cor
rupt and vicious ; and that, therefore, if they would enter the
kingdom of God they must be born again. Forgiveness of
sins is preached when men are taught that Christ " is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, arid sanctification, and
redemption," (1 Cor. i. 30,) that on his account they are
freely deemed righteous and innocent in the sight of God.
Though both graces are obtained by faith, (as has been shown
elsewhere,) yet as the goodness of God, by which sins are
forgiven, is the proper object of faith, it was proper carefully
to distinguish it from repentance.

20. Moreover, as hatred of sin, which is the beginning of
repentance, first gives us access to the knowledge of Christ,
who manifests himself to none but miserable and afflicted
sinners, groaning, labouring, burdened, hungry, and thirsty,
pining away with grief and wretchedness, so if we would

1 The French adds, " pource qu'il lui est propre, et comme naturel, de
sauver ce que est perdu ;"— -because it is proper, and, as it were, natural
to him to save that which is lost.

1 74 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

stand in Christ, we must aim at repentance, cultivate it dur
ing our whole lives, and continue it to the last. Christ came
to call sinners, but to call them to repentance. He was sent
to bless the unworthy, but by "turning away every one"
" from his iniquities." The Scripture is full of similar pass
ages. Hence, when God offers forgiveness of sins, he in
return usually stipulates for repentance, intimating that his
mercy should induce men to repent. " Keep ye judgment,"
saith he, " and do justice : for my salvation is near to come."
Again, a The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them
that turn from transgression in Jacob." Again, " Seek ye
the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he
is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unright
eous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and
he will have mercy upon him." " Repent ye, therefore, and
be converted, that your sins may be blotted out."1 Here,
however, it is to be observed, that repentance is not made a
condition in such a sense as to be a foundation for meriting
pardon ; nay, it rather indicates the end at which they must
aim if they would obtain favour, God having resolved to
take pity on men for the express purpose of leading them to
repent. Therefore, so long as we dwell in the prison of the
body, we must constantly struggle with the vices of our cor
rupt nature, and so with our natural disposition. Plato some
times says,2 that the life of the philosopher is to meditate on
death. More truly may we say, that the life of a Christian
man is constant study and exercise in mortifying the flesh,
until it is certainly slain, and the Spirit of God obtains domi
nion in us. Wherefore, he seems to me to have made most
progress who has learned to be most dissatisfied with him
self. He does not, however, remain in the miry clay with
out going forward ; but rather hastens and sighs after God,
that, ingrafted both into the death and the life of Christ, he
may constantly meditate on repentance. Unquestionably
those who have a genuine hatred of sin cannot do otherwise :

1 Isaiah Ivi. 1 ; lix. 20 ; Iv. 6, 7 ; Acts ii. 38 ; iii. 19.

2 This is to be found in different passages of his work, and often in the
Phaido.

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN KELIGION. 175

for no man ever hated sin without being previously enamour
ed of righteousness. This view, as it is the simplest of all,
seemed to me also to accord best with Scripture truth.

21. Moreover, that repentance is a special gift of God, I
trust is too well understood from the above doctrine to
require any lengthened discourse. Hence the Church1 extols
the goodness of God, and looks on in wonder, saying, Cs Then
hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life,"
(Acts xi. 18 ;) and Paul enjoining Timothy to deal meekly
and patiently with unbelievers, says, " If God peradventure
will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth,
and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the
devil," (2 Tim. ii. 25, 26.) God indeed declares, that he
would have all men to repent, and addresses exhortations in
common to all; their efficacy, however, depends on the
Spirit of regeneration. It were easier to create us at first,
than for us by our own strength to acquire a more excel
lent nature. Wherefore, in regard to the whole process
of regeneration, it is not without cause we are called God's
" workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them," (Eph. ii. 10.2) Those whom God is pleased to
rescue from death, he quickens by the Spirit of regeneration ;
not that repentance is properly the cause of salvation,
but because, as already seen, it is inseparable from the
faith and mercy of God ; for, as Isaiah declares, " The
Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from
transgression in Jacob." This, indeed, is a standing truth,
that wherever the fear of God is in vigour, the Spirit has
been carrying on his saving work. Hence, in Isaiah, while
believers complain and lament that they have been forsaken
of God, they set down the supernatural hardening of the
heart as a sign of reprobation. The Apostle, also, intending
to exclude apostates from the hope of salvation, states, as the
reason, that it is impossible to renew them to repentance,

1 French, u L'Eglise primitive du temps des Apostres ;" — the primitive
Church of the Apostles' time.

'2 The French adds, " Et ce lion seulement au regard d'un jour, mais dc
tout le cours de notre vocation ;"— and this in regard not only to a single
dav, but to the whole course of our vocation.

176 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

(Heb. vi. 6 ;) that is, God by renewing those whom he wills
not to perish, gives them a sign of paternal favour, and in a
manner attracts them to himself, by the beams of a calm and
reconciled countenance ; on the other hand, by hardening
the reprobate, whose impiety is not to be forgiven, he thunders
against them. This kind of vengeance the Apostle denounces
against voluntary apostates, (Heb. x. 29,) who, in falling
away from the faith of the gospel, mock God, insultingly
reject his favour, profane and trample under foot the blood of
Christ, nay, as far as in them lies, crucify him afresh. Still,
he does not, as some austere persons preposterously insist,
leave no hope of pardon to voluntary sins, but shows that
apostacy being altogether without excuse, it is not strange
that God is inexorably rigorous in punishing sacrilegious
contempt thus shown to himself. For, in the same Epistle, he
says, that " it is impossible for those who were once enlight
ened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made
partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word
of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall
fall away to renew them again to repentance, seeing they
crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open
shame," (Heb. vii. 4-6.) And in another passage, " If we
sin willingly, after that we have received the knowledge of
the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a
certain fearful looking for of judgment," <&c. (Heb. xi. 25,
26.) There are other passages, from a misinterpretation of
which the Novatians of old extracted materials for their
heresy ; so much so, that some good men taking offence at
their harshness, have deemed the Epistle altogether spurious,
though it truly savours in every part of it of the apostolic
spirit. But as our dispute is only with those who receive the
Epistle, it is easy to show that those passages give no support
to their error. First, the Apostle must of necessity agree with
his Master, who declares, that " all manner of sin and blas
phemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men," " neither
in this world, neither in the world to come," (Matth. xii. 31 ;
Luke xii. 10.) We must hold that this was the only excep
tion which the Apostle recognised, unless we would set him

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 177

in opposition to the grace of God. Hence it follows, that
to no sin is pardon denied save to one, which proceeding
from desperate fury cannot be ascribed to infirmity, and
plainly shows that the man guilty of it is possessed by the
devil.

22. Here, however, it is proper to consider what the
dreadful iniquity is which is not to be pardoned. The defi
nition which Augustine somewhere gives,1 — viz., that it is
obstinate perverseness, with distrust of pardon, continued till
death, — scarcely agrees with the words of Christ, that it shall
not be forgiven in this world. For either this is said in vain,
or it may be committed in this world. But if Augustine's
definition is correct, the sin is not committed unless persisted
in till death. Others say, that the sin against the Holy
Spirit consists in envying the grace conferred upon a brother ;
but I know not on what it is founded. Here, however, let
us give the true definition, which, when once it is established
by sound evidence, will easily of itself overturn all the others.
I say, therefore, that he sins against the Holy Spirit who,
while so constrained by the power of divine truth that he
cannot plead ignorance, yet deliberately resists, and that
merely for the sake of resisting. For Christ, in explanation
of what he had said, immediately adds, " Whosoever speaketh
a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him ; but
whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be
forgiven him," (Matth. xii. 31 .) And Matthew uses the term
spirit of blasphemy2 for blasphemy against the Spirit. How
can any one insult the Son, without at the same time attack
ing the Spirit ? In this way. Those who in ignorance assail
the unknown truth of God, and yet are so disposed that they
would be unwilling to extinguish the truth of God when
manifested to them, or utter one word against him whom
they knew to be the Lord's Anointed, sin against the Father
and the Son. Thus there are many in the present day who
have the greatest abhorrence to the doctrine of the Gospel, and
yet, if they knew it to be the doctrine of the Gospel, would

1 August. Lib. de Correp. et Gratia, cap. xii.

2 The Greek is, " rov nvtvpotros /8&«*$)y*6i." This Calvin translates in
Latin, " Spiritum blasphemia?," and in French, "Esprit de blaspheme."

VOL. II. M

178 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

be prepared to venerate it with their whole heart. But those
who are convinced in conscience that what they repudiate
and impugn is the word of God, and yet cease not to impugn
it, are said to blaspheme against the Spirit, inasmuch as
they struggle against the illumination which is the work of
the Spirit. Such were some of the Jews, who, when they
could not resist the Spirit speaking by Stephen, yet were
bent on resisting, (Acts vi. 10.) There can be no doubt
that many of them were carried away by zeal for the law ;
but it appears that there were others who maliciously and
impiously raged against God himself, that is, against the
doctrine which they knew to be of God. Such, too, were
the Pharisees, on whom our Lord denounced woe. To
depreciate the power of the Holy Spirit, they defamed him
by the name of Beelzebub, (Matth. ix. 3, 4 ; xii. 24.) The
spirit of blasphemy, therefore, is, when a man audaciously,
and of set purpose, rushes forth to insult his divine name.
This Paul intimates when he says, " but I obtained mercy,
because I did it ignorantly in unbelief;" otherwise he had
deservedly been held unworthy of the grace of God.1 If
ignorance joined with unbelief made him obtain pardon, it
follows, that there is no room for pardon when knowledge is
added to unbelief.

23. If you attend properly, you will perceive that the
Apostle speaks not of one particular lapse or two, but of the
universal revolt by which the reprobate renounce salvation.
It is not strange that God should be implacable to those
whom John, in his Epistle, declares not to have been of the
elect, from whom they went out, (1 John ii. 19.) For he is
directing his discourse against those who imagined that they
could return to the Christian religion though they had once
revolted from it. To divest them of this false and pernicious
opinion, he says, as is most true, that those who had once
knowingly and willingly cast off fellowship with Christ, had
no means of returning to it. It is not, however, so cast off
by those who merely, by the dissoluteness of their lives,
transgress the word of the Lord, but by those who avowedly

1 The omission of this last clause in the French seems to be an improve
ment.

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 179

reject his whole doctrine. There is a paralogism in the
expression casting off and sinning. Casting off, as interpreted
by the Novatians, is when any one, notwithstanding of being
taught by the Law of the Lord not to steal or commit
adultery, refrains not from theft or adultery. On the con
trary, I hold that there is a tacit antithesis, in which all the
things, contrary to those which had been said, must be held to
be repeated, so that the thing expressed is not some particular
vice, but universal aversion to God, and (so to speak) the
apostacy of the whole man. Therefore, when he speaks of
those falling away " who were once enlightened, and have
tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the
Holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good word of God, and
the powers of the world to come," we must understand him
as referring to those who, with deliberate impiety, have
quenched the light of the Spirit, tasted of the heavenly word
and spurned it, alienated themselves from the sanctification
of the Spirit, and trampled under foot the word of God
and the powers of a world to come. The better to show
that this was the species of impiety intended, he afterwards
expressly adds the term wilfully. For when he says, " If
we sin wilfully, after that we have received the knowledge
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins," he
denies not that Christ is a perpetual victim to expiate the
transgressions of saints, (this the whole Epistle, in explain
ing the priesthood of Christ, distinctly proclaims,) but he
says that there remains no other sacrifice after this one is
abandoned. And it is abandoned when the truth of the
Gospel is professedly abjured.

24. To some it seems harsh, and at variance with the
divine mercy, utterly to deny forgiveness to any who be
take themselves to it. This is easily disposed of. It is
not said that pardon will be refused if they turn to the
Lord, but it is altogether denied that they can turn to
repentance, inasmuch as for their ingratitude they are struck
by the just judgment of God with eternal blindness. There
is nothing contrary to this in the application which is after
wards made of the example of Esau, who tried in vain, by
crying and tears, to recover his lost birthright ; nor in the

180 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

denunciation of the Prophet, " They cried, and I would not
hear." Such modes of expression do not denote true con
version or calling upon God, but that anxiety with which
the wicked, when in calamity, are compelled to see what
they before securely disregarded, viz., that nothing can avail
but the assistance of the Lord. This, however, they do not
so much implore as lament the loss of. Hence all that the
Prophet means by crying, and the Apostle by tears, is the
dreadful torment which stings and excruciates the wicked in
despair. It is of consequence carefully to observe this : for
otherwise God would be inconsistent with himself wrhen he
proclaims through the Prophet, that " If the wicked will
turn from all his sins that he hath committed," — " he shall
surely live, he shall not die," (Ezek. xviii. 21, 22.) And
(as I have already said) it is certain that the mind of man
cannot be changed for the better unless by his preventing
grace. The promise as to those who call upon him will
never fail ; but the names of conversion and prayer are
improperly given to that blind torment by which the repro
bate are distracted when they see that they must seek God
if they would find a remedy for their calamities, and yet
shun to approach him.

25. But as the Apostle declares that God is not appeased
by feigned repentance, it is asked how Ahab obtained pardon,
and averted the punishment denounced against him, (1 Kings
xxi. 28, 29,) seeing, it appears, he was only amazed on the
sudden, and afterwards continued his former course of life.
He, indeed, clothed himself in sackcloth, covered himself
with aslies, lay on the ground, and (as the testimony given
to him bears) humbled himself before God. It was a
small matter to rend his garments while his heart continued
obstinate and swollen with wickedness, and yet we see that
God was inclined to mercy. I answer, that though hypo
crites are thus occasionally spared for a time, the wrath of
God still lies upon them, and that they are thus spared not
so much on their own account as for a public example. For
W7hat did Ahab gain by the mitigation of his punishment
except that he did not suffer it alive on the earth ? The
curse of God, though concealed, was fixed on his house, and

CHAP. III. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 181

he himself went to eternal destruction. We may see the
same thing in Esau, (Gen. xxvii. 38, 39.) For though he
met with a refusal, a temporal blessing was granted to his
tears. But as, according to the declaration of God, the
spiritual inheritance could be possessed only by one of the
brothers, when Jacob was selected instead of Esau, that
event excluded him from the divine mercy ; but still there
was given to him, as a man of a grovelling nature, this con
solation, that he should be filled with the fatness of the
earth and the dew of heaven. And this, as I lately said,
should be regarded as done for the example of others, that
we may learn to apply our minds, and exert ourselves with
greater alacrity, in the way of sincere repentance, as there
cannot be the least doubt that God will be ready to pardon
those who turn to him truly and with the heart, seeing his
mercy extends even to the unworthy, though they bear
marks of his displeasure. In this way also, we are taught
how dreadful the judgment is which awaits all the rebellious
who with audacious brow and iron heart make it their sport
to despise and disregard the divine threatenings. God in
this way often stretched forth his hand to deliver the
Israelites from their calamities, though their cries were pre
tended, and their minds double and perfidious, as he himself
complains in the Psalms, that they immediately returned to
their former course, (Psalm Ixxviii. 36, 37.) But he designed
thus by kindness and forbearance to bring them to true
repentance, or leave them without excuse. And yet by
remitting the punishment for a time, he does not lay himself
under any perpetual obligation. He rather at times rises
with greater severity against hypocrites, and doubles their
punishment, that it may thereby appear how much hypocrisy
displeases him. But, as I have observed, he gives some
examples of his inclination to pardon, that the pious may
thereby be stimulated to amend their lives, and the pride of
those who petulantly kick against the pricks be more severely
condemned.

182 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

CHAPTER IV.

PENITENCE, AS EXPLAINED IN THE SOPHISTICAL JARGON OF
THE SCHOOLMEN, WIDELY DIFFERENT FROM THE PURITY
REQUIRED BY THE GOSPEL. OF CONFESSION AND SATIS
FACTION.

The divisions of this chapter are, — I. The orthodox doctrine of repent
ance being already expounded, the false doctrine is refuted in the present
chapter ; a general summary survey being at the same time taken of the
doctrine of the Schoolmen, sec. 1, 2. II. Its separate parts are after
wards examined. Contrition, sec. 2 and 3. Confession, sec. 4-20.
Sanctification, from sec. 20 to the end of the chapter.

Sections.

1. Errors of the Schoolmen in delivering the doctrine of repentance. 1.

Errors in defining it. Four different definitions considered. 2. Absurd
division. 3. Vain and puzzling questions. 4. Mode in which they
entangle themselves.

2. The false doctrine of the Schoolmen necessary to be refuted. Of

contrition. Their view of it examined.

3. True and genuine contrition.

4. Auricular confession. Whether or not of divine authority. Argu

ments of Canonists and Schoolmen. Allegorical argument founded
on Judaism. Two answers. Keason why Christ sent the lepers to
the priests.

5. Another allegorical argument. Answer.

6. A third argument from two passages of Scripture. These passages

expounded.

7. Confession proved not to be of divine authority. The use of it free

for almost twelve hundred years after Christ. Its nature. When
enacted into a law. Confirmation from the history of the Church.
A representation of the ancient auricular confession still existing
among the Papists, to bear judgment against them. Confession
abolished in the Church of Constantinople.

8. This mode of confession disapproved by Chrysostom, as shown by

many passages.

9. False confession being thus refuted, the confession enjoined by the

word of God is considered. Mistranslation in the old version.
Proof from Scripture that confession should be directed to God alone.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 183

10. Effect of secret confession thus made to God. Another kind of con
fession made to men.

11. Two forms of the latter confession, viz., public and private. Public

confession either ordinary or extraordinary. Use of each. Objec
tion to confession and public prayer. Answer.

12. Private confession of two kinds. 1. On our own account. 2. On
account of our neighbour. Use of the former. Great assistance to
be obtained from faithful ministers of the Church. Mode of pro
cedure. Caution to be used.

13. The use of the latter recommended by Christ. What comprehended
under it. Scripture sanctions no other method of confession.

14. The power of the keys exercised in these three kinds of confession.
The utility of this power in regard to public confession and absolu
tion. Caution to be observed.

15. Popish errors respecting confession. 1. In enjoining on all the
necessity of confessing every sin. 2. Fictitious keys. 3. Pretended
mandate to loose and bind. 4. To whom the office of loosing and
binding committed.

16. Refutation of the first error, from the impossibility of so confessing,
as proved by the testimony of David.

17. Refuted farther from the testimony of conscience. Impossible to

observe this most rigid obligation. Necessarily leads to despair or
indifference. Confirmation of the preceding remarks by an appeal
to conscience.

18. Another refutation of the first error from analogy. Sum of the whole
refutation. Third refutation, laying down the surest rule of con
fession. Explanation of the rule. Three objections answered.

19. Fourth objection, viz., that auricular confession does no harm, and is
even useful. Answer, unfolding the hypocrisy, falsehood, impiety,
and monstrous abominations of the patrons of this error.

20. Refutation of the second error. 1. Priests not successors of the
Apostles. 2. They have not the Holy Spirit, who alone is arbiter
of the keys.

21. Refutation of the third error. 1. They are ignorant of the command

and promise of Christ. By abandoning the word of God they run
into innumerable absurdities.

22. Objection to the refutation of the third error. Answers, reducing the
Papists to various absurdities.

23. Refutation of the fourth error. 1. Petitio principii. 2. Inversion
of ecclesiastical discipline. Three objections answered.

24. Conclusion of the whole discussion against this fictitious confession.

25. Of satisfaction, to which the Sophists assign the third place in
repentance. Errors and falsehoods. These views opposed by the
terms, — 1. Forgiveness. 2. Free forgiveness. 3. God destroying
iniquities. 4. By and on account of Christ. No need of our satis
faction.

184 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

26. Objection, confining the grace and efficacy of Christ within narrow
limits. Answers by both John the Evangelist and John the Baptist.
Consequence of these answers.

27. Two points violated by the fiction of satisfaction. First, the honour
of Christ impaired. Secondly, the conscience cannot find peace.
Objection, confining the forgiveness of sins to Catechumens, refuted.

28. Objection, founded on the arbitrary distinction between venial and
mortal sins. This distinction insulting to God and repugnant to
Scripture. Answer, showing the true distinction in regard to venial
sin.

29. Objection, founded on a distinction between guilt and the punish
ment of it. Answer, illustrated by various passages of Scripture.
Admirable saying of Augustine.

30. Answer, founded on a consideration of the efficacy of Christ's death,
and the sacrifices under the law. Our true satisfaction.

31. An objection, perverting six passages of Scripture. Preliminary
observations concerning a twofold judgment on the part of God.
1. For punishment. 2. For correction.

32. Two distinctions hence arising. Objection, that God is often angry
with his elect. Answer, God in afflicting his people does not take
his mercy from them. This confirmed by his promise, by Scripture,
and the uniform experience of the Church. Distinction between the
reprobate and the elect in regard to punishment.

33. Second distinction. The punishment of the reprobate a commence
ment of the eternal punishment awaiting them ; that of the elect
designed to bring them to repentance. This confirmed by passages
of Scripture and of the Fathers.

34. Two uses of this doctrine to the believer. In affliction he can
believe that God, though angry, is still favourable to him. In the
punishment of the reprobate, he sees a prelude to their final doom.

35. Objection, as to the punishment of David, answered. Why all men
here subjected to chastisement.

36. Objections, founded on five other passages, answered.

37. Answer continued.

38. Objection, founded on passages in the Fathers. Answer, with pass
ages from Chrysostom and Augustine.

39. These satisfactions had reference to the peace of the Church, and
not to the throne of God. The Schoolmen have perverted the
meaning of some absurd statements by obscure monks.

1. I COME now to an examination of what the scholastic
sophists teach concerning repentance. This I will do as
briefly as possible ; for I have no intention to take up every
point, lest this work, which I am desirous to frame as a com
pendium of doctrine, should exceed all bounds. They have

CHAI». IY. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 185

managed to envelop a matter, otherwise not much involved,
in so many perplexities, that it will be difficult to find an
outlet if once you get plunged but a little way into their
mire. And, first, in giving a definition, they plainly show
they never understood what repentance means. For they
fasten on some expressions in the writings of the Fathers
which are very far from expressing the nature of repentance.
For instance, that to repent is to deplore past sins and not
commit what is to be deplored. Again, that it is to bewail
past evils, and not again to do what is to be bewailed.
Again, that it is a kind of grieving revenge, punishing in
itself what it grieves to have committed. Again, that it is
sorrow of heart and bitterness of soul for the evils which the
individual has committed, or to which he has consented.1
Supposing we grant that these things were well said by
Fathers, (though, if one were inclined to dispute, it were not
difficult to deny it,) they were not, however, said with the
view of describing repentance, but only of exhorting peni
tents not again to fall into the same faults from which they
had been delivered. But if all descriptions of this kind are
to be converted into definitions, there are others which have
as good a title to be added. For instance, the following
sentence of Chrysostom : " Repentance is a medicine for the
cure of sin, a gift bestowed from above, an admirable virtue,
a grace surpassing the power of laws." Moreover, the
doctrine which they2 afterwards deliver is somewhat worse
than their definition. For they are so keenly bent on
external exercises, that all you can gather from immense
volumes3 is, that repentance is a discipline, and austerity,
which serves partly to subdue the flesh, partly to chasten
and punish sins : of internal renovation of mind, bringing

1 The first definition is that of Gregory, and is contained Sentent. Lib.
iv. Dist. 14, c. 1. The second, which is that of Ambrose, is given same
place, and also Decret. Dist. 3, de Poenitentia C. Poenit. Prior. The
third is Augustine's, as stated in the same place, and C. Poenit. Poster.
The fourth is from Ambrose, and is given Dist. 1, de Poenit. C. Vera
Poenitentia.

2 French, " Ces bons glosateurs ;" — these worthy glossers.

3 Latin, " Immensis voluminibus." — French, u Leur gros bobulaire de
livres ;" — their large lumbering books.

186 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

with it true amendment of life, there is a strange silence.1
No doubt, they talk much of contrition and attrition, torment
the soul with many scruples, and involve it in great trouble
and anxiety ; but when they seem to have deeply wounded
the heart, they cure all its bitterness by a slight sprinkling
of ceremonies. Repentance thus shrewdly defined, they
divide into contrition of the heart, confession of the mouth,
and satisfaction of works.2 This is not more logical than
the definition, though they would be thought to have spent
their whole lives in framing syllogisms.3 But if any one
argues from the definition (a mode of argument prevalent
with dialecticians) that a man may weep over his past sins,
and not commit things that cause weeping ; may bewail past
evils, and not commit things that are to be bewailed ; may
punish what he is grieved for having committed, though he
does not confess it with the mouth, — how will they defend
their division ? For if he may be a true penitent and not
confess, repentance can exist without confession. If they
answer, that this division refers to repentance regarded as a
sacrament, or is to be understood of repentance in its most
perfect form, which they do not comprehend in their defini
tions, the mistake does not rest with me : let them blame
themselves for not defining more purely and clearly. When
any matter is discussed, I certainly am dull enough to refer
everything to the definition as the hinge and foundation of
the whole discussion. But granting that this is a license which
masters have, let us now survey the different parts in their
order. In omitting as frivolous several things which they
vend with solemn brow as mysteries, I do it not from igno
rance. It were not very difficult to dispose of all those points
which they plume themselves on their acuteness and subtilty
in discussing ; but I consider it a sacred duty not to trouble

1 Latin, " Mirum silentium." — French, " II n'en est nulles nouuelles
en leur quartier ;" — there are no news in their quarter.

2 Sent. Lib. iv. Dist. 16, cap. 1 ; De Pcenit. Dist. 1 ; C. Perfecta
Poenit.

3 French, " Combien qu'ils n'estudient autre chose en toute leur vie
que la Dialectique, que est Fart de definir et partir ;" — although they
study nought else during their whole life but Dialectics, which is the art
of denning and dividing.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 187

the reader to no purpose with such absurdities. It is
certainly easy to see from the questions which they move
and agitate, and in which they miserably entangle them
selves, that they are prating of things they know not. Of
this nature are the following : Whether repentance of one sin
is pleasing to God, while there is an obstinate adherence to
other sins. Again, whether punishments divinely inflicted
are available for satisfaction. Again, whether repentance
can be several times repeated for mortal sins, whereas they
grossly and wickedly define that daily repentance has to do
with none but venial sins. In like manner, with gross error,
they greatly torment themselves with a saying of Jerome,
that repentance is a second plank after shipwreck.1 Herein
they show that they have never awoke from brutish stupor, so
as to obtain a distant view of the thousandth part of their sins.
2. I would have my readers to observe, that the dispute
here relates not to a matter of no consequence ; 2 but to one
of the most important of all, viz., the forgiveness of sins. For
while they require three things in repentance, viz., compunction
of heart, confession of the mouth, and satisfaction of work,3
they at the same time teach that these are necessary to obtain
the pardon of sins. If there is any thing in the whole compass
of religion which it is of importance to us to know, this certain
ly is one of the most important, viz., to perceive and rightly
hold by what means, what rule, what terms, with what facility
or difficulty, forgiveness of sins may be obtained. Unless our
knowledge here is clear and certain, our conscience can have
no rest at all, no peace with God, no confidence or security,
but is continually trembling, fluctuating, boiling, and dis
tracted ; dreads, hates, and shuns the presence of God. But
if forgiveness of sins depends on the conditions to which they
bind it, nothing can be more wretched and deplorable than

1 Latin, " Secundam tabulam post naufragium." — French, " Une se-
conde planche, sur laquelle celui que estoit pour perir en la mer, nage
pour venir au port ;" — a second plank on which he who was on the point
of perishing in the sea swims to gain the harbour.

2 Latin, " De asini umbra rixam." — French, "En un combat frivole ;"
— engaged in a frivolous combat.

8 Luther (adv. Bullam Antichristi, Art. vi.) shows that those who set
down these three parts of repentance, speak neither according to Scrip
ture nor the ancient Fathers.

188 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

our situation. Contrition they represent as the first step in
obtaining pardon ; and they exact it as due, that is, full and
complete : meanwhile, they decide not when one may feel
secure of having performed this contrition in due measure.
I admit that we are bound strongly and incessantly to urge
every man bitterly to lament his sins, and thereby stimulate
himself more and more to dislike and hate them. For this
is the " repentance to salvation not to be repented of,"
(2 Cor. vii. 10.) But when such bitterness of sorrow is de
manded as may correspond to the magnitude of the offence,
and be weighed in the balance with confidence of pardon,
miserable consciences are sadly perplexed and tormented
when they see that the contrition due for sin is laid upon
them, and yet that they have no measure of what is due, so
as to enable them to determine that they have made full
payment. If they say we are to do what in us lies, we are
always brought back to the same point ; 1 for when will any
man venture to promise himself that he has done his utmost
in bewailing sin ? Therefore, when consciences, after a length
ened struggle and long contests with themselves, find no
haven in which they may rest, as a means of alleviating their
condition in some degree, they extort sorrow and wring out
tears, in order to perfect their contrition.

3. If they say that this is calumny on my part, let them
come forward and point out a single individual who, by this
doctrine of contrition, has not either been driven to despair,
or has not, instead of true, opposed pretended fear to the jus
tice of God. We have elsewhere observed, that forgiveness
of sins never can be obtained without repentance, because
none but the afflicted, and those wounded by a consciousness
of sins, can sincerely implore the mercy of God ; but we, at
the same time, added, that repentance cannot be the cause of
the forgiveness of sins: and we also did away with that torment
of souls — the dogma that it must be performed as due. Our
doctrine was, that the soul looked not to its own compunction
or its own tears, but fixed both eyes on the mercy of God
alone. Only we observed, that those who labour and are

1 French, "Nous tournerons toujours en un meme circuit;" — we shall
always revolve in the same circle.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 189

heavy laden are called by Christ, seeing he was sent "to
preach good tidings to the meek ;" " to bind up the broken
hearted ; to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound ;" " to comfort all that
mourn."1 Hence the Pharisees were excluded, because, full
of their own righteousness, they acknowledged not their own
poverty; and despisers, because, regardless of the divine anger,
they sought no remedy for their wickedness. Such persons
neither labour nor are heavy laden, are not broken-hearted,
bound, nor in prison. But there is a great difference between
teaching that forgiveness of sins is merited by a full and com
plete contrition, (which the sinner never can give,) and in
structing him to hunger and thirst after the mercy of God,
that recognising his wretchedness, his turmoil, weariness, and
captivity, you may show him where he should seek refresh
ment, rest, and liberty ; in fine, teach him in his humility to
give glory to God.

4. Confession has ever been a subject of keen contest
between the Canonists and the Scholastic Theologians ; the
former contending that confession is of divine authority — the
latter insisting, on the contrary, that it is merely enjoined by
ecclesiastical constitution. In this contest great effrontery
has been displayed by the Theologians, who have corrupted
and violently wrested every passage of Scripture they have
quoted in their favour.2 And when they saw that even thus
they could not gain their object, those who wished to be
thought particularly acute had recourse to the evasion that
confession is of divine authority in regard to the substance, but
that it afterwards received its form from positive enactment.
Thus the silliest of these quibblers refer the citation to divine
authority, from its being said, "Adam, where art thou?"
(Gen. iii. 9, 12 ;) and also the exception from Adam having
replied as if excepting, " The woman whom thou gavest to be
with me," &c. ; but say that the form of both was appointed
by civil law. Let us see by what arguments they prove that
this confession, formed or unformed, is a divine command-

1 Matth. xi. 28 ; Is. Ixi. 1 ; Luke iv. 18.

2 Erasmus, in a letter to the Augustine Steuchus in 1531, while flatter
ing, at the same time laughs at him, for thinking that the fifth chapter of
Numbers sufficiently proves, in opposition to Luther, that auricular confes
sion is of God.

190 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

merit. The Lord, they say, sent the lepers to the priests,
(Matth. viii. 4.) What ? did he send them to confession ?
Who ever heard tell that the Levitical priests were appointed
to hear confession? Here they resort to allegory. The
priests were appointed by the Mosaic law to discern between
leper and leper : sin is spiritual leprosy ; therefore it belongs
to the priests to decide upon it. Before I answer, I would
ask, in passing, why, if this passage makes them judges of
spiritual leprosy, they claim the cognisance of natural and
carnal leprosy ? This, forsooth, is not to play upon Scripture! l
The law gives the cognisance of leprosy to the Levitical
priests : let us usurp this to ourselves. Sin is spiritual le
prosy : let us also have cognisance of sin. I now give my
answer : There being a change of the priesthood, there must
of necessity be a change of the law. All the sacerdotal func
tions were transferred to Christ, and in him fulfilled and
ended, (Heb. vii. 12.) To him alone, therefore, all the rights
and honours of the priesthood have been transferred. If they
are so fond then of hunting out allegories, let them set Christ
before them as the only priest, and place full and universal
jurisdiction on his tribunal : this we will readily admit. Be
sides, there is an incongruity in their allegory : it classes a
merely civil enactment among ceremonies. Why, then, does
Christ send the lepers to the priests ? Lest the priests should
be charged with violating the law, which ordained that the
person cured of leprosy should present himself before the
priest, and be purified by the offering of a sacrifice, he orders
the lepers who had been cleansed to do what the law required.
" Go and show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleans
ing according as Moses commanded for a testimony unto
them," (Luke v. 17.) And assuredly this miracle would be
a testimony to them : they had pronounced them lepers ;
they now pronounce them cured. Whether they would or
not, they are forced to become witnesses to the miracles of
Christ. Christ allows them to examine the miracle, and they
cannot deny it : yet, as they still quibble, they have need of
a testimony. So it is elsewhere said, " This gospel of the

1 French, "N'est ce pas bien se jouer des Escritures, de les tourner en
ceste fa<?on ?" — is it not indeed to make game of Scripture, to turn it in
this fashion ?

CJIAT. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 191

kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto
all nations," (Matth. xxiv. 14.) Again, " Ye shall be brought
before governors, and kings for my sake, for a testimony against
them and the Gentiles," (Matth. x. 18 ;) that is, in order that,
in the judgment of God, they might be more fully convicted.
But if they prefer taking the view of Chrysostom, (Horn. xii.
de Muliere Canansea,) he shows that this was done by Christ
for the sake of the Jews also, that he might not be regarded
as a violator of the law. But we are ashamed to appeal to the
authority of any man in a matter so clear, when Christ de
clares that he left the legal right of the priests entire, as pro
fessed enemies of the Gospel, who were always intent on
making a clamour if their mouths were not stopped. Where
fore, let the Popish priests, in order to retain this privilege,
openly make common cause with those whom it was neces
sary to restrain, by forcible means, from speaking evil of
Christ.1 For there is here no reference to his true ministers.
5. They draw their second argument from the same foun
tain, — I mean allegory ; as if allegories were of much avail in
confirming any doctrine. But, indeed, let them avail, if those
which I am able to produce are not more specious than theirs.
They say, then, that the Lord, after raising Lazarus, com
manded his disciples to " loose him and let him go," (John
xi. 44.) Their first statement is untrue : we no where read
that the Lord said this to the disciples ; and it is much more
probable that he spoke to the Jews who were standing by,
that from there being no suspicion of fraud the miracle might
be more manifest, and his power might be the more conspi
cuous from his raising the dead without touching him, by a
mere word. In the same way, I understand 'that our Lord,
to leave no ground of suspicion to the Jews, wished them to
roll back the stone, feel the stench, perceive the sure signs
of death, see him rise by the mere power of a word, and first
handle him when alive. And this is the view of Chrysostom,
(Serm. C. Jud. Gent, et Hasret.) But granting that it was
said to the disciples, what can they gain by it ? That the

1 The French is, "Car ce que Jesus Christ laissc aux Prestres de la
loy, n'appartient en rien a ses vrais ministres ;" — for that which Jesus
Christ leaves to the Priests, belongs not in any respect to his true ministers.

192 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

Lord gave the apostles the power of loosing ? How much
more aptly and dexterously might we allegorise and say, that
by this symbol the Lord designed to teach Jiis followers to
loose those whom he raises up ; that is, not to bring to remem
brance the sins which he himself had forgotten, not to con
demn as sinners those whom he had acquitted, not still to
upbraid those whom he had pardoned, not to be stern and
severe in punishing, while he himself was merciful and ready
to forgive. Certainly nothing should more incline us to par
don than the example of the Judge who threatens that he
will be inexorable to the rigid and inhumane. Let them go
now and vend their allegories.1

6. They now come to closer quarters, while they support
their view by passages of Scripture which they think clearly in
their favour.2 Those who came to John's baptism confessed
their sins, and James bids us confess our sins one to another,
(James v. 16.) It is not strange that those who wished
to be baptized confessed their sins. It has already been
mentioned, that John preached the baptism of repentance,
baptized with water unto repentance. Whom then could he
baptize, but those who confessed that they were sinners ?
Baptism is a symbol of the forgiveness of sins ; and who could
be admitted to receive the symbol but sinners acknowledg
ing themselves as such ? They therefore confessed their sins
that they might be baptized. Nor without good reason does
James enjoin us to confess our sins one to another. But if
they would attend to what immediately follows, they would
perceive that this gives them little support. The words are,
" Confess your sins one to another, and pray one for another."
He joins together mutual confession and mutual prayer. If,
then, we are to confess to priests only, we are also to pray
for them only. What ? It would even follow from the words
of James, that priests alone can confess. In saying that we
are to confess mutually, he must be addressing those only
who can hear the confession of others. He says, aAA^Xot^,
mutually, by turns, or, if they prefer it, reciprocally. But

1 French, " Qu'ils voisent maintenant, et facent un bouclier de leur alle
gories ;" — let them go now and make a buckler of their allegories.

2 Augustin. Epist. 54.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 193

those only can confess reciprocally who are fit to hear confes
sion. This being a privilege which they bestow upon priests
only, we also leave them the office of confessing to each other.
Have done then with such frivolous absurdities, and let us
receive the true meaning of the apostle, which is plain and
simple ; first, That we are to deposit our infirmities in the
breasts of each other, with the view of receiving mutual
counsel, sympathy, and comfort ; and, secondly r, That mutually
conscious of the infirmities of our brethren, we are to pray
to the Lord for them. Why then quote James against us
who so earnestly insist on acknowledgment of the divine
mercy ? No man can acknowledge the mercy of God with
out previously confessing his own misery. Nay, we pro
nounce every man to be anathema who does not confess him
self a sinner before God, before his angels, before the Church ;
in short, before all men. " The Scripture hath concluded all
under sin," " that every mouth may be stopped, and all the
world may become guilty before God," that God alone may
be justified and exalted, (Gal. iii. 22 ; Rom. iii. 9, 19.)

7. I wonder at their effrontery in venturing to maintain
that the confession of which they speak is of divine autho
rity. We admit that the use of it is very ancient ; but we
can easily prove that at one time it was free. It certainly
appears, from their own records, that no law or constitution
respecting it was enacted before the days of Innocent III.
Surely if there had been a more ancient law they would have
fastened on it, instead of being satisfied with the decree of
the Council of Lateran, and so making themselves ridiculous
even to children. In other matters, they hesitate not to coin
fictitious decrees, which they ascribe to the most ancient
Councils, that they may blind the eyes of the simple by vener
ation for antiquity. In this instance it has not occurred to
them to practise this deception, and. hence, themselves being
witnesses, three centuries have not yet elapsed since the
bridle was put, and the necessity of confession imposed by
Innocent III. And to say nothing of the time, the mere
barbarism of the terms used destroys the authority of the law.
For when these worthy fathers enjoin that every person of
both sexes (utriusque sexus) must once a year confess his sins

VOL. IT. N

194 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

to his own priest, men of wit humorously object that the
precept binds hermaphrodites only, and has no applica
tion to any one who is either a male or a female. A still
grosser absurdity has been displayed by their disciples, who
are unable to explain what is meant by one's own priest, (pro-
prius sacerdos.) Let all the hired ravers of the Pope babble as
they may,1 we hold that Christ is not the author of this law,
which compels men to enumerate their sins ; nay, that twelve
hundred years elapsed after the resurrection of Christ before
any such law was made, and that, consequently, this tyranny
was not introduced until piety and doctrine were extinct, and
pretended pastors had usurped to themselves unbridled license.
There is clear evidence in historians, and other ancient writers,
to show that this was a politic discipline introduced by
bishops, not a law enacted by Christ or the Apostles. Out
of many I will produce only one passage, which will be no
obscure proof. Sozomen2 relates,3 that this constitution of
the bishops was carefully observed in the Western churches,
but especially at Rome ; thus intimating that it was not the
universal custom of all churches. He also says, that one of
the presbyters was specially appointed to take charge of this
duty. This abundantly confutes their falsehood as to the
keys being given to the whole priesthood indiscriminately for
this purpose, since the function was not common to all the
priests, but specially belonged to the one priest \vhom the
bishop had appointed to it. He it was (the same who at
present in each of the cathedral churches has the name of
poenitentiary) who had cognizance of offences which were more
heinous, and required to be rebuked for the sake of example.
He afterwards adds, that the same custom existed at Constan
tinople, until a certain matron, while pretending to confess,
was discovered to have used it as a cloak to cover her inter
course with a deacon. In consequence of that crime, Nec-
tarius, the bishop of that church — a man famous for learning

1 French, " Quoy que tous les advocats et procureurs du Pape, et tous
les caphars qu'il a a louage gazouillent ;" — whatever all the advocates
and procurators of the Pope, and all the caphars whom he has in his pay
may gabble.

- The French adds, "1'un des auteurs de 1'Histoire Ecclesiastique ;" — one
of the authors of the Ecclesiastical History.

s Eccles. Hist. Lib. viii. cap. 17, et Trepont. Hist. Lib. ix.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 195

and sanctity — abolished the custom of confessing. Here,
then, let these asses prick up their ears. If auricular confes •
sion was a divine law, how could Nectarius have dared to abo
lish or remodel it ? Nectarius, a holy man of God, approved
by the suffrage of all antiquity, will they charge with heresy
and schism ? With the same vote they will condemn the
church of Constantinople, in which Sozomen affirms that the
custom of -confessing was not only disguised for a time, but
even in his own memory abolished. Nay, let them charge
with defection, not only Constantinople, but all the Eastern
churches, which (if they say true) disregarded an inviolable
law enjoined on all Christians.

8. This abrogation is clearly attested in so many passages
by Chrysostom, who lived at Constantinople, and was him
self prelate of the church, that it is strange they can venture
to maintain the contrary : " Tell your sins," says he, " that
you may efface them : if you blush to tell another what sins
you have committed, tell them daily in your soul. I say not,
tell them to your fellow-servant who may upbraid you, but
tell them to God who cures them. Confess your sins upon
your bed, that your conscience may there daily recognise its
iniquities." Again, " Now, however, it is not necessary to
confess before witnesses ; let the examination of your faults
be made in your own thought : let the judgment be without
a witness : let God alone see you confessing." Again, " I
do not lead you publicly into the view of your fellow-
servants ; I do not force you to disclose your sins to
men ; review and lay open your conscience before God.
Show your wounds to the Lord, the best of physicians, and
seek medicine from him. Show to him who upbraids not,
but cures most kindly." Again, " Certainly tell it not to man
lest he upbraid you. Nor must you confess to your fellow-
servant, who may make it public ; but show your wounds to
the Lord, who takes care of you, who is kind and can cure."
He afterwards introduces God speaking thus : " I oblige you
not to come into the midst of a theatre, and have many wit
nesses ; tell your sins to me alone in private, that I may cure
the ulcer."1 Shall we say that Chrysostom, in writing these

1 Clirysost. Horn. ii. in Psal. 1. Serm. de Poenit. et Confess. Horn. v.
De Incomprehensibili Dei Nat. cont. Anomeos. Item, Horn. iv. de Lazaro.

196 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

and similar passages, carried his presumption so far as to free
the consciences of men from those chains with which they
are bound by the divine law ? By no means ; but knowing
that it was not at all prescribed by the word of God, he
dares not exact it as necessary.

9. But that the whole matter may be more plainly un
folded, we shall first honestly state the nature of confession
as delivered in the word of God, and thereafter subjoin
their inventions — not all of them indeed, (who could drink
up that boundless sea?) but those only which contain a
summary of their secret confession. Here I am grieved to
mention how frequently the old interpreter l has rendered the
word confess instead of praise, a fact notorious to the most
illiterate, were it not fitting to expose their effrontery in
transferring to their tyrannical edict what was written con
cerning the praises -of God. To prove that confession has
the effect of exhilarating the mind, they obtrude the passage
in the psalm, " with the voice of joy and praise," (Vulgate, con-
fessionis,) (Ps. xlii. 4.) But if such a metamorphosis is valid,
any thing may be made of any thing. But, as they have
lost all shame, let pious readers reflect how, by the just ven
geance of God, they have been given over to a reprobate
mind, that their audacity may be the more detestable. If we
are disposed to acquiesce in the simple doctrine of Scripture,
there will be no danger of our being misled by such glosses.
There one method of confessing is prescribed; since it is the
Lord who forgives, forgets, and wipes away sins, to him let
us confess them, that we may obtain pardon. He is the
physician, therefore let us show our wounds to him. He is
hurt ^nd offended, let us ask peace of him. He is the dis-
cerner of the heart, and knows all our thoughts ; let us hasten
to pour out our hearts before him. He it is, in fine, who in
vites sinners ; let us delay not to draw near to him. " I
acknowledge my sin unto thee," says David ; " and mine ini
quity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgres
sions unto the Lord ; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my
sin," (Ps. xxxii. 5.) Another specimen of David's confession
is as follows : " Have mercy upon me, O God, according to

1 Latin, " Vetus intcrpres." — French, " Le translateur tant Grec qui
Latin ;" — the Greek as well as Latin translator.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 197

thy loving kindness/' (Ps. li. 1.) The following is Daniel's
confession : (t We have sinned, and have committed iniquity,
and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by depart
ing from thy precepts and thy judgments," (Dan. ix. 5.)
Other examples every where occur in Scripture : the quota
tion of them would almost fill a volume. " If we confess our
sins," says John, " he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins," (1 John i. 9.) To whom are Ave to confess? to Him
surely ; — that is, we are to fall down before him with a grieved
and humbled heart, and sincerely accusing and condemning
ourselves, seek forgiveness of his goodness and mercy.

10. He who has adopted this confession from the heart
and as in the presence of God, will doubtless have a tongue
ready to confess whenever there is occasion among men to
publish the mercy of God. He will not be satisfied to whisper
the secret of his heart for once into the ear of one individual,
but will often, and openly, and in the hearing of the whole
world, ingenuously make mention both of his own ignominy,
and of the greatness and glory of the Lord. In this way
David, after he was accused by Nathan, being stung in his
conscience, confesses his sin before God and men. u I have
sinned unto the Lord," says he, (2 Sam. xii. 1 3 ;) that is, I
have now no excuse, no evasion ; all must judge me a sin
ner ; and that which I wished to be secret with the Lord
must also be made manifest to men. Hence the secret con
fession which is made to God is followed by voluntary con
fession to men, whenever that is conducive to the divine
glory or our humiliation. For this reason the Lord anciently
enjoined the people of Israel that they should repeat the
words after the priest, and make public confession of their
iniquities in the temple ; because he foresaw that this was a
necessary help to enable each one to form a just idea of him
self. And it is proper that, by confession of our misery, we
should manifest the mercy of our God both among ourselves
and before the whole world*

11. It is proper that this mode of confession should
both be ordinary in the Church, and also be specially
employed on extraordinary occasions, when the people in
common happen to have fallen into any fault. Of this latter
description we have an example in the solemn confession

198 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

which the whole people made under the authority and guid
ance of Ezra and Nehemiah, (Neh. i. 6, 7.) For their long
captivity, the destruction of the temple, and suppression of
their religion, having been the common punishment of their
defection, they could not make meet acknowledgment of the
blessing of deliverance without previous confession of their
guilt. And it matters not though in one assembly it may
sometimes happen that a few are innocent, seeing that the
members of a languid and sickly body cannot boast of
soundness. Nay, it is scarcely possible that these few have
not contracted some taint, and so bear part of the blame.
Therefore, as often as we are afflicted with pestilence, or
war, or famine, or any other calamity whatsoever, if it is our
duty to betake ourselves to mourning, fasting, and other
signs of guiltiness, confession also, on which all the others
depend, is not to be neglected. That ordinary confession
which the Lord has moreover expressly commended, no
sober man, who has reflected on its usefulness, will venture
to disapprove. Seeing that in every sacred assembly we
stand in the view of God and angels, in what way should
our service begin but in acknowledging our own unworthi-
ness ? But this you will say is done in every prayer ; for as
often as we pray for pardon, we confess our sins. I admit it.
But if you consider how great is our carelessness, or drowsi
ness, or sloth, you will grant me that it would be a salutary
ordinance if the Christian people were exercised in humilia
tion by some formal method of confession. For though the
ceremony which the Lord enjoined on the Israelites be
longed to the tutelage of the Law, yet the thing itself
belongs in some respect to us also. And, indeed, in aU well-
ordered churches, in observance of an useful custom, the
minister, each Lord's day, frames a formula of confession
in his own name and that of the people, in which he makes
a common confession of iniquity, and supplicates pardon
from the Lord. In short, by this key a door of prayer is
opened privately for each, and publicly for all.

12. Two other forms of private confession are approved
by Scripture. The one is made on our own account, and to
it reference is made in the passage in James, " Confess your
sins one to another," (James v. 16 ;) for the meaning is,

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 199

that by disclosing our infirmities to each other, we are to
obtain the aid of mutual counsel and consolation. The
other is to be made for the sake of our neighbour, to appease
and reconcile him if by our fault he has been in any respect
injured. In the former, although James, by not specifying
any particular individual into whose bosom we are to disbur
den our feelings, leaves us the free choice of confessing to
any member of the church who may seem fittest ; yet as for
the most part pastors are to be supposed better qualified
than others, our choice ought chiefly to fall upon them.
And the ground of preference is, that the Lord, by caUing
them to the ministry, points them out as the persons by
whose lips we are to be taught to subdue and correct our
sins, and derive consolation from the hope of pardon. For
as the duty of mutual admonition and correction is committed
to all Christians, but is specially enjoined on ministers, so
while we ought all to console each other mutually, and con
firm each other in confidence in the divine mercy, we see
that ministers, to assure our consciences of the forgiveness
of sins, are appointed to be the witnesses and sponsors of it,
so that they are themselves said to forgive sins and loose
souls, (Matth. xvi. 19 ; xviii. 18.) When you hear this
attributed to them, reflect that it is for your use. Let every
believer, therefore, remember, that if in private he is so
agonized and afflicted by a sense of his sins that he cannot
obtain relief without the aid of others, it is his duty not to
neglect the remedy which God provides for him, viz., to
have recourse for relief to a private confession to his own
pastor, and for consolation privately implore the assistance
of him whose business it is, both in public and private, to
solace the people of God with Gospel doctrine. But we are
always to use moderation, lest in a matter as to which God
prescribes no certain rule, our consciences be burdened with
a certain yoke. Hence it follows, first, that confession of
this nature ought to be free so as not to be exacted of all,
but only recommended to those who feel that they have
need of it ; and, secondly, even those who use it according
to their necessity must neither be compelled by any precept,
nor artfully induced to enumerate all their sins, but only in

200 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK HI.

so far as they shall deem it for their interest, that they may
obtain the full benefit of consolation. Faithful pastors, as
they would both eschew tyranny in their ministry, and
superstition in the people, must not only leave this liberty to
churches, but defend and strenuously vindicate it.

13. Of the second form of confession, our Saviour speaks
in Matthew. " If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there
remember that thy brother hath ought against thee ; leave
there thy gift before the altar; first be reconciled to thy
brother, and then come and offer thy gift," (Matth. v. 23,
24.) Thus love, which has been interrupted by our fault,
must be restored by acknowledging and asking pardon for
the fault. Under this head is included the confession of
those who by their sin have given offence to the whole
Church, (supra, sec. 10.) For if Christ attaches so much
importance to the offence of one individual,, that he forbids
the sacrifice of all who have sinned in any respect against
their brethren, until by due satisfaction they have regained
their favour, how much greater reason is there that he, who
by some evil example has offended the Church, should be
reconciled to it by the acknowledgment of his fault ? Thus
the member of the Church of Corinth was restored to com
munion after he had humbly submitted to correction, (2 Cor.
ii. 6.) This form of confession existed in the ancient Chris
tian Church, as Cyprian relates : " They practise repentance,"
says he, " for a proper time, then they come to confession,
and by the laying on of the hands of the bishop and clergy,
are admitted to communion." Scripture knows nothing of
any other form or method of confessing, and it belongs not
to us to bind new chains upon consciences which Christ most
strictly prohibits from being brought into bondage. Mean
while, that the flock present themselves before the pastor
whenever they would partake of the Holy Supper, I am
so far from disapproving, that I am most desirous it should
be everywhere observed. For both those whose conscience
is hindered may thence obtain singular benefit, and those
who require admonition thus afford an opportunity for it ;
provided always no countenance is given to tyranny and
superstition.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 201

14. The power of the keys has place in the three following
modes of confession, — either when the whole Church, in a
formal acknowledgment of its defects,1 supplicates pardon ;
or when a private individual, who has given public offence
by some notable delinquency, testifies his repentance; or
when he who from disquiet of conscience needs the aid of
his minister, acquaints him with his infirmity. With regard
to the reparation of offence, the case is different. For
though in this also provision is made for peace of conscience,
yet the principal object is to suppress hatred, and re-unite
brethren in the bond of peace. But the benefit of Avhich I
have spoken is by no means to be despised, that we may the
more willingly confess our sins. For when the whole Church
stands as it were at the bar of God, confesses her guiltr and
finds her only refuge in the divine mercy, it is no common
or light solace to have an ambassador of Christ present,
invested with the mandate of reconciliation, by whom she
may hear her absolution pronounced. Here the utility of
the keys is justly commended when that embassy is duly
discharged with becoming order and reverence. In like
manner, when he who has as it were become an alien from
the Church receives pardon, and is thus restored to brotherly
unity, how great is the benefit of understanding that he is
pardoned by those to whom Christ said, " Whose soever
sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them," (John xx. 23.)
Nor is private absolution of less benefit or efficacy when
asked by those who stand in need of a special remedy for
their infirmity. It not seldom happens, that he who hears
general promises which are intended for the whole congrega
tion of the faithful, nevertheless remains somewhat in doubt,
and is still disquieted in mind, as if his own remission were
not yet obtained. Should this individual lay open the secret
wound of his soul to his pastor, and hear these words of the
Gospel specially addressed to him, " Son, be of good cheer ;
thy sins be forgiven thee," (Matth. ix. 2,2) his mind will feel

1 As to the form of repentance enjoined by the primitive Church for
more flagrant offences, see Book IV. chap. i. sec. 29.

2 The French is, " Et quo le Pasteur addressant sa parole a lui, 1'asseure
comme lui applicant en particulier la doctrine generale ;" — and when the
Pastor, addressing his discourse to him, assures him as applying the
general doctrine to him in particular.

202 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

secure, and escape from the trepidation with which it was
previously agitated. But when we treat of the keys, we
must always beware of dreaming of any power apart from
the preaching of the Gospel. This subject will be more fully
explained when we come to treat of the government of the
Church, (Book IY. chap. xi. xii.) There we shall see, that
whatever privilege of binding and loosing Christ has bestowed
on his Church is annexed to the word. This is especially
true with regard to the ministry of the keys, the whole
power of which consists in this, that the grace of the Gospel
is publicly and privately sealed on the minds of believers by
means of those whom the Lord has appointed ; and the only
method in which this can be done is by preaching.

15. What say the Roman theologians ? That all persons
of both sexes,1 so soon as they shall have reached the years
of discretion, must, once a year at least, confess all their
sins to their own priest ; that the sin is not discharged
unless the resolution to confess has been firmly conceived ;
that if this resolution is not carried into effect when an
opportunity offers, there is no entrance into Paradise ; that
the priest, moreover, has the power of the keys, by which he
can loose and bind the sinner; because the declaration of
Christ is not in vain : " Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven," (Matth. xviii. 18.) Concerning
this power, however, they wage a fierce war among them
selves. Some say there is only one key essentially, viz., the
power of binding and loosing ; that knowledge, indeed, is
requisite for the proper use of it, but only as an accessory,
not as essentially inherent in it. Others, seeing that this
gave too unrestrained license, have imagined two keys, viz.,
discernment and power. Others, again, seeing that the
license of priests was curbed by such restraint, have forged
other keys, (infra, sec. 21,) the authority of discerning to be
used in denning, and the power to carry their sentences into
execution ; and to these they add knowledge as a counsellor.
This binding and loosing, however, they do not venture to

1 " C. Omnis utriusque sexus ;" — every one of both sexes. Innocent's
decree is in the Lateran Council, De Summa Trinitate et Fide Cathol.
It is also given Sent. Lib. iv. Dist. 14, cap. 2, et Dist. 18, cap. 2.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 203

interpret simply, to forgive and wipe away sins, because
they hear the Lord proclaiming by the prophet, " I, even I,
am the Lord ; and beside me there is no saviour." a I, even

I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions," (Isaiah xliii.

II, 25.) But they say it belongs to the priest to declare
who are bound or loosed, and whose sins are remitted or
retained ; to declare, moreover, either by confession, when
he absolves and retains sins, or by sentence, when he excom
municates or admits to communion in the Sacraments. Last
ly, perceiving that the knot is not yet untied, because it may
always be objected that persons are often undeservedly
bound and loosed, and therefore not bound or loosed in
heaven ; as their ultimate resource, they answer, that the
conferring of the keys must be taken writh limitation, because
Christ has promised that the sentence of the priest, properly
pronounced, will be approved at his judgment-seat according
as the bound or loosed asked what they merited. They say,
moreover, that those keys which are conferred by bishops at
ordination were given by Christ to all priests, but that the
free use of them is with those only who discharge ecclesiastical
functions ; that with priests excommunicated or suspended the
keys themselves indeed remain, but tied and rusty. Those
who speak thus may justly be deemed modest and sober
compared with others, who on a new anvil have forged new
keys, by which they say that the treasury of heaven is
locked up : these we shall afterwards consider in their own
place, (chap. v. sec. 2.)

16. To each of these views I will briefly reply. As to
their binding the souls of believers by their laws, whether
justly or unjustly, I say nothing at present, as it will be
seen at the proper place ; but their enacting it as a law, that
all sins are to be enumerated ; their denying that sin is dis
charged except under the condition that the resolution to
confess has been firmly conceived ; their pretence that there
is no admission into Paradise if the opportunity of confession
has been neglected, are things which it is impossible to bear.
Are all sins to be enumerated ? But David, who, I pre
sume, had honestly pondered with himself as to the confession
of his sins, exclaimed, " Who can understand his errors ?

204 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

cleanse thou me from secret faults," (Ps. xix. 12;) and in
another passage, " Mine iniquities are gone over my head :
as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me," (Ps. xxxviii.
4.) He knew how deep was the abyss of our sins, how
numerous the forms of wickedness, how many heads the
hydra carried, how long a tail it drew. Therefore, he did
not sit down to make a catalogue, but from the depth of
his distress cried unto the Lord, " I am overwhelmed, and
buried, and sore vexed ; the gates of hell have encircled
me : let thy right hand deliver me from the abyss into which
I am plunged, and from the death which I am ready to die."
Who can now think of a computation of his sins when he
sees David's inability to number his ?

17. By this ruinous procedure, the souls of those who
were affected with some sense of God have been most cruelly
racked. First, they betook themselves to calculation, pro
ceeding according to the formula given by the Schoolmen,
and dividing their sins into- boughs, branches, twigs, and
leaves ; then they weighed the qualities, quantities, and
circumstances ; and in this way, for some time, matters pro
ceeded. But after they had advanced farther, when they
looked around, nought was seen but sea and sky ; no road, no
harbour. The longer the space they ran over, a longer still
met the eye ; nayr lofty mountains began to rise, and there
seemed no hope of escape ; none at least till after long
wanderings. They were thus brought to a dead halt, till at
length the only issue was found in despair. Here these
cruel murderers, to ease the wounds which they had made,
applied certain fomentations. Every one was to do his best.
But new cares again disturbed, nay, new torments excru
ciated their souls. " I have not spent enough of time ; I
have not exerted myself sufficiently : many things I have
omitted through negligence : forgetfulness proceeding from
want of care is not excusable." Then new drugs were
supplied to alleviate their pains. " Repent of your negli
gence ; and provided it is not done supinely, it will be
pardoned." All these things, however, could not heal the
wound, being not so much alleviations of the sore as poison
besmeared with honey, that its bitterness might not at once •

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN KELIGIOtf. 205

offend the taste, but penetrate to the vitals before it could be
detected. The dreadful voice, therefore, was always heard
pealing in their ears, " Confess all your sins," and the dread
thus occasioned could not be pacified without sure consolation.
Here let my readers consider whether it be possible to take
an account of the actions of a whole year, or even to collect
the sins committed in a single day, seeing every man's
experience convinces him that at evening, in examining the
faults of that single day, memory gets confused, so great is
the number and variety presented. I am not speaking of
dull and heartless hypocrites, who, after animadverting on
three or four of their grosser offences, think the work finished ;
but of the true worshippers of God, who, after they have
performed their examination, feeling themselves overwhelmed,
still add the words of John : " If our heart condemn us, God
is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things," (1 John
iii. 20 ;) and, therefore, tremble at the thought of that Judge
whose knowledge far surpasses our comprehension.

18. Though a good part of the world rested in these soothing
suggestions, by which this fatal poison was somewhat tem
pered, it was not because they thought that God was satisfied,
or they had quite satisfied themselves ; it was rather like an
anchor cast out in the middle of the deep, which for a little
interrupts the navigation, or a weary, worn-out traveller,
who lies down by the way.1 I give myself no trouble in
proving the truth of this fact. Every one can be his own
witness. I will mention generally what the nature of this
law is. First, The observance of it is simply impossible ;
and hence its only result is to destroy, condemn, confound,
to plunge into ruin and despair. Secondly, By withdrawing
sinners from & true sense of their sins, it makes them
hypocritical, and ignorant both of God and themselves. For,
while they are wholly occupied with the enumeration of their
sins, they lose sight of that lurking hydra, their secret

1 The French is, " Mais comme les nautonniers fichans 1'anchre au
milieu de la mer, se reposent du trauail de leur navigation ; ou comme
nn pelerin lasse ou defaillant se sied au milieu de la voye pour reposer : en
telle maniere ils prenoyent ce repos, combien qu'il ne leur fust suffisant ;"
— but as mariners casting anchor in the midst of the sea, repose from the
toil of navigation ; or as a pilgrim, weary or faint, sits down in the middle
of the way to rest himself: in this way they took this .rest, though it was
not sufficient for them.

206 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

iniquities and internal defilements, the knowledge of which
would have made them sensible of their misery. But the
surest rule of confession is, to acknowledge and confess our
sins to be an abyss so great as to exceed our comprehension.
On this rule we see the confession of the publican was formed,
" God be merciful to me, a sinner," (Luke xviii. 13 ;) as if he
had said, How great, how very great a sinner, how utterly
sinful I am ! the extent of my sins I can neither conceive nor
express. Let the depth of thy mercy ingulf the depth of
sin ! What ! you will say, are we not to confess every single
sin ? Is no confession acceptable to God but that which
is contained in the words, " I am a sinner " ? Nay, our
endeavour must rather be, as much as in us lies, to pour out
our whole heart before the Lord. Nor are we only in one
word to confess ourselves sinners, but truly and sincerely
acknowledge ourselves as such ; to feel with our whole soul
how great and various the pollutions of our sins are ; con
fessing not only that we are impure, but what the nature of
our impurity is, its magnitude and its extent ; not only that
we are debtors, but what the debts are which burden us, and
how they were incurred ; not only that we are wounded, but
how numerous and deadly are the wounds. When thus
recognising himself, the sinner shall have poured out his
whole heart before God, let him seriously and sincerely
reflect that a greater number of sins still remains, and that
their recesses are too deep for him thoroughly to pene
trate. Accordingly, let him exclaim with David, "Who
can understand his errors ? cleanse thou me from secret
faults," (Ps. xix. 12.) But when the Schoolmen affirm
that sins are not forgiven, unless the resolution to confess
has been firmly conceived, and that the gate of Paradise is
closed on him who has neglected the opportunity of confess
ing when offered, far be it from us to concede this to them.
The remission of sins is not different now from what it has
ever been. In all the passages in which we read that sinners
obtained forgiveness from God, we read not that they whis
pered into the ear of some priest.1 Indeed, they could not

1 "Tous ceux que nous lisons avoir obtenu de Christ la remission de leurs
pechez, ne sont pas dits s'etre confesses a 1'aureille de quelque Messire '
Jean ;" — None of whom we read as having obtained the forgiveness of

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 207

then confess, as priests were not then confessionaries, nor did
the confessional itself exist. And for many ages afterwards,
this mode of confession, by which sins were forgiven on this
condition, was unheard of. But not to enter into a long
discussion, as if the matter were doubtful, the word of God,
which abideth for ever, is plain, et When the wicked shall
turn away from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep
all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he
shall surely live, he shall not die," (Ezek. xviii. 21.) He who
presumes to add to this declaration binds not sins, but the
mercy of God. When they contend that judgment cannot
be given unless the case is known, the answer is easy, that
they usurp the right of judging, being only self-created
judges. And it is strange, how confidently they lay down
principles, which no man of sound mind will admit. They
give out, that the office of binding and loosing has been com
mitted to them, as a kind of jurisdiction annexed to the right
of inquiry. That the jurisdiction was unknown to the
Apostles their whole doctrine proclaims. Nor does it belong
to the priest to know for certainty whether or not a sinner
is loosed, but to Him from whom acquittal is asked ; since he
who only hears can ever know whether or not the enumera
tion is full and complete. Thus there would be no absolution,
without restricting it to the words of him who is to be judged.
We may add, that the whole system of loosing depends on
faith and repentance, two things which no man can know of
another, so as to pronounce sentence. It follows, therefore,
that the certainty of binding and loosing is not subjected to
the will of an earthly judge, because the minister of the
word, when he duly executes his office, can only acquit con
ditionally, when, for the sake of the sinner, he repeats the
words, " Whose soever sins ye remit ;" lest he should doubt
of the pardon, which, by the command and voice of God, is
promised to be ratified in heaven.

19. It is not strange, therefore, that we condemn that
auricular confession, as a thing pestilent in its nature, and in
many ways injurious to the Church, and desire to see it

their sins from Christ, are said to have confessed in the ear of some Mess
John.

208 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

abolished. But if the thing were in itself indifferent, yet,
seeing it is of no use or benefit, and has given occasion to so
much impiety, blasphemy, and error, who does not think
that it ought to be immediately abolished ? They enumerate
some of its uses, and boast of them as very beneficial, but
they are either fictitious or of no importance. One thing
they specially commend, that the blush of shame in the
penitent is a severe punishment, which makes him more
cautious for the future, and anticipates divine punishment,
by his punishing himself. As if a man was not sufficiently
humbled with shame when brought under the cognisance of
God at his supreme tribunal. Admirable proficiency — if
we cease to sin because we are ashamed to make one man
acquainted with it, and blush not at having God as the
witness of our evil conscience ! The assertion, however,
as to the effect of shame, is most unfounded, for we may
every where see, that there is nothing which gives men
greater confidence and license in sinning than the idea,
that after making confession to priests, they can wipe their
lips and say, I have not done it. And not only do they
during the whole year become bolder in sin, but, secure
against confession for the remainder of it, they never sigh
after God, never examine themselves, but continue heaping
sins upon sins, until, as they suppose, they get rid of them
all at once. And when they have got rid of them, they think
they are disburdened of their load, and imagine they have
deprived God of the right of judging, by giving it to the
priest ; have made God forgetful, by making the priest con
scious. Moreover, who is glad when he sees the day of con
fession approaching? Who goes with a cheerful mind to
confess, and does not rather, as if he were dragged to prison
with a rope about his neck, go unwillingly, and, as it were,
struggling against it? with the exception, perhaps, of the
priests themselves, who take a fond delight in the mutual
narrative of their own misdeeds, as a kind of merry tales. I
will not pollute my page by retailing the monstrous abomi
nations with which auricular confession teems ; I only say,
that if that holy man (Nectarius, of whom supra, sec. 7) did
not act unadvisedly, when for one rumour of whoredom he
banished confession from his church, or rather from the

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 209

memory of his people, the innumerable acts of prostitution,
adultery, and incest, which it produces in the present day,
warn us of the necessity of abolishing it.

20. As to the pretence of the confessionaries respecting
the power of the keys, and their placing in it, so to speak,
the sum and substance of their kingdom, we must see what
force it ought to have. Were the keys, then, (they ask,)
given without a cause? Was it said without a cause,
" Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven?" (Matth. xviii. 18.) Do we make void the word of
Christ? I answer, that there was a weighty reason for
giving the keys, as I lately explained, and will again show
at greater length when I come to treat of Excommunication,
(Book IV. cap. 12.) But what if I should cut off the handle
for all such questions with one sword, viz., that priests are
neither vicars nor successors of the Apostles ? But that also
will be elsewhere considered, (Book IV. 6.) Now, at the very
place where they are most desirous to fortify themselves, they
erect a battering-ram, by which all their own machinations
are overthrown. Christ did not give his Apostles the power
of binding and loosing before he endued them with the Holy
Spirit. I deny, therefore, that any man, who has not pre
viously received the Holy Spirit, is competent to possess the
power of the keys. I deny that any one can use the keys,
unless the Holy Spirit precede, teaching and dictating what
is to be done. They pretend, indeed, that they have the
Holy Spirit, but by their works deny him ; unless, indeed,
we are to suppose that the Holy Spirit is s ome vain thing
of no value, as they certainly do feign, but we will not believe
them. With this engine they are completely overthrown ;
whatever be the door of which they boast of having the key,
we must always ask, whether they have the Holy Spirit,
who is arbiter and ruler of the keys ? If they reply, that
they have, we must again ask, whether the Holy Spirit can
err ? This they will not venture to say distinctly, although
by their doctrine they indirectly insinuate it. Therefore, we
must infer, that no priestlings have the power of the keys,
because they every where and indiscriminately loose what the

VOL. II. O

210 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

Lord was pleased should be bound, and bind what he has
ordered to be loosed.

21. When they see themselves convicted on the clearest
evidence, of loosing and binding worthy and unworthy with
out distinction, they lay claim to power Avithout knowledge.
And although they dare not deny that knowledge is requisite
for the proper use, they still affirm that the power itself has
been given to bad administrators. This, however, is the
power, " Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound
in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven." Either the promise of Christ must be
false, or those who are endued with this power bind and
loose properly. There is no room for the evasion, that the
words of Christ are limited, according to the merits of him
who is loosed or bound. We admit, that none can be bound
or loosed but those who are worthy of being bound or loosed.
But the preachers of the Gospel and the Church have the
word by which they can measure this worthiness. By this
word preachers of the Gospel can promise forgiveness of
sins to all who are in Christ by faith, and can declare a sen
tence of condemnation against all, and upon all, who do not
embrace Christ. In this word the Church declares, that
" neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers," " nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extor
tioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God," (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10.)
Such it binds in sure fetters. By the same word it looses
and consoles the penitent. But what kind of power is it
which knows not what is to be bound or loosed ? You can
not bind or loose without knowledge. Why, then, do they say,
that they absolve by authority given to them, when absolution
is uncertain ? As regards us, this power is merely imaginary,
if it cannot be used. Now, I hold, either that there is no
use, or one so uncertain as to be virtually no use at all.
For when they confess that a good part of the priests do not
use the keys duly, and that power without the legitimate use is
ineffectual, Avho is to assure me, that the one by whom I am
loosed is a good dispenser of the keys ? But if he is a bad
one, what better has he given me than this nugatory dispen
sation, — What is to be bound or loosed in you I know not, •

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 211

since I have not the proper use of the keys; but if you
deserve it, I absolve you ? As much might be done, I say
not by a laic, (since they would scarcely listen to such a
statement,) but by the Turk or the devil. For it is just to
say, I have not the word of God, the sure rule for loosing, but
authority has been given me to absolve you, if you deserve
it. We see, therefore, what their object was, when they
defined (see sec. 16) the keys as authority to discern and
power to execute ; and said, that knowledge is added as a
counsellor, and counsels the proper use ; their object was to
reign libidinously and licentiously, without God and his
word.

22. Should any one object, first, that the lawful ministers
of Christ will be no less perplexed in the discharge of their
duty, because the absolution, which depends on faith, will
always be equivocal ; and, secondly, that sinners will receive
no comfort at all, or cold comfort, because the minister, who
is not a fit judge of their faith, is not certain of their absolu
tion, we are prepared with an answer. They say that no
sins are remitted by the priest, but such sins as he is cog
nizant of; thus, according to them, remission depends on
the j udgment of the priest, and unless he accurately discri
minate as to who are worthy of pardon, the whole procedure
is null and void. In short, the power of which they speak is
a jurisdiction annexed to examination, to which pardon and
absolution are restricted. Here no firm footing can be found,
nay, there is a profound abyss ; because, where confession is
not complete, the hope of pardon also is defective ; next, the
priest himself must necessarily remain in suspense, while he
knows not whether the sinner gives a faithful enumeration of
his sins ; lastly, such is the rudeness and ignorance of priests,
that the greater part of them are in no respect fitter to per
form this office than a cobbler to cultivate the fields, while
almost all the others have good reason to suspect their own
fitness. Hence the perplexity and doubt as to the Popish
absolution, from their choosing to found it on the person of
the priest, and not on his person only, but on his knowledge,
so that he can only judge of what is laid before him, inves
tigated, and ascertained. Now, if any should ask at these

212 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

good doctors, Whether the sinner is reconciled to God when
some sins are remitted ? I know not what answer they could
give, unless that they should be forced to confess, that what
ever the priest pronounces with regard to the remission of
sins which have been enumerated to him will be unavailing,
so long as others are not exempted from condemnation. On
the part of the penitent, again, it is hence obvious in what a
state of pernicious anxiety his conscience will be held ; be
cause, while he leans on what they call the discernment of the
priest, he cannot come to any decision from the word of God.
From all these absurdities the doctrine which we deliver is
completely free. For absolution is conditional, allowing the
sinner to trust that God is propitious to him, provided he
sincerely seek expiation in the sacrifice of Christ, and accept
of the grace offered to him. Thus, he cannot err who, in
the capacity of a herald, promulgates what has been dictated
to him from the word of God. The sinner, again, can receive
a clear and sure absolution when, in regard to embracing the
grace of Christ, the simple condition annexed is in terms of
the general rule of our Master himself, — a rule impiously
spurned by the Papacy, — " According to your faith be it un
to you," (Matth. ix. 29.)

23. The absurd jargon which they make of the doctrine of
Scripture concerning the power of the keys, I have promised
to expose elsewhere ; the proper place will be in treating of
the Government of the Church, (Book IV. c. 12.) Mean
while, let the reader remember how absurdly they wrest to
auricular and secret confession what was said by Christ
partly of the preaching of the Gospel, and partly of excom
munication. Wherefore, when they object that the power of
loosing was given to the Apostles, and that this power priests
exercise by remitting sins acknowledged to them, it is plain
that the principle which they assume is false and frivolous :
for the absolution which is subordinate to faith is nothing
else than an evidence of pardon, derived from the free pro
mise of the Gospel, while the other absolution, which depends
on the discipline of the Church, has nothing to do with secret
sins; but is more a matter of example for the purpose of
removing the public offence given to the Church. As to

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 213

their diligence in searching up and down for passages by
which they may prove that it is not sufficient to confess sins
to God alone, or to laymen, unless the priest take cognizance,
it is vile and disgraceful. For when the ancient fathers advise
sinners to disburden themselves to their pastor, we cannot
understand them to refer to a recital which was not then in
use. Then, so unfair are Lombard and others like-minded,
that they seem intentionally to have devoted themselves to
spurious books, that they might use them as a cloak to deceive
the simple. They, indeed, acknowledge truly, that as forgive
ness always accompanies repentance, no obstacle properly
remains after the individual is truly penitent, though he may
not have actually confessed ; and, therefore, that the priest
does not so much remit sins, as pronounce and declare that
they are remitted ; though in the term declaring, they insi
nuate a gross error, surrogating ceremony1 in place of doc
trine. But in pretending that he who has already obtained
pardon before God is acquitted in the face of the Church, they
unseasonably apply to the special use of every individual, that
which we have already said wras designed for common disci
pline when the offence of a more heinous and notorious trans
gression was to be removed. Shortly after they pervert and
destroy their previous moderation, by adding that there is
another mode of remission, namely, by the infliction of penalty
and satisfaction, in which they arrogate to their priests the
right of dividing what God has every where promised to us
entire. While He simply requires repentance and faith, their
division or exception is altogether blasphemous. For it is
just as if the priest, assuming the office of tribune, wrere to
interfere with God,2 and try to prevent him from admitting
to his favour by his mere liberality any one wrho had not
previously lain prostrate at the tribunicial bench, and there
been punished.

24. The whole comes to this,8 when they wish to make

1 Latin, simply, " ceremoniam." French, " la ceremonie de faire une
croix sur le dos ;" — the ceremony of making a cross upon the back.

2 French, " Car cela vaut autant comme si les prestres se faisoyent con-
trerolleurs de Dieu ;" — for that is as much as if the priests made themselves
controllers of God.

3 See on the subject of this section, Calv. ad Concil. Trident. Also

214 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

God the author of this fictitious confession their vanity is
proved, as I have shown their falsehood in expounding the
few passages which they cite. But while it is plain, that the
law was imposed by men, I say that it is both tyrannical
and insulting to God, who, in binding consciences to his
word, would have them free from human rule. Then when
confession is prescribed as necessary to obtain pardon, which
God wished to be free, I say that the sacrilege is altogether
intolerable, because nothing belongs more peculiarly to God
than the forgiveness of sins, in which our salvation consists. I
have, moreover, shown that this tyranny was introduced when
the world was sunk in shameful barbarism.1 Besides, I have
proved that the law is pestiferous, inasmuch as when the fear
of God exists, it plunges men into despair, .and when there
is security soothing itself with vain flattery, it blunts it the
more. Lastly, I have explained that all the mitigations
which they employ have no other tendency than to entangle,
obscure, and corrupt the pure doctrine, and cloak their ini
quities with deceitful colours.

25. In repentance they assign the third place to satisfac
tion, all their absurd talk as to wrhich can be refuted in one
word. They say,2 that it is not sufficient for the penitent to
abstain from past sins, and change his conduct for the better,
unless he satisfy God for what he has done ; and that there
are many helps by which we may redeem sins, such as tears,
fastings, oblations,3 and offices of charity ; that by them the
Lord is to be propitiated ; by them the debts due to divine
justice are to be paid ; by them our faults are to be compen
sated ; by them pardon is to be deserved : for though in the
riches of his mercy he has forgiven the guilt, he yet, as a just
discipline, retains the penalty, and that this penalty must be
bought off by satisfaction. The sum of the whole comes to

Yera Ecclesiae Reformandaa Ratio, Epist. ad Sadoletum. Epist. advcrsus
Theologos Parisienses. De Scandalis. De Necessitate Reformandse Ec
clesiae, Lib. iv.

1 French, " une barbaric si vileine que rien plus ;" — a barbarism so vile
that nothing could be more so.

2 See Lombard, Sent. Lib. iv. Dist. 10, c. 4. C. Non sufficit. de Pcenit.
C. (middle of same Dist.) C. Nullus, (same Dist.) See also on the subject
of satisfaction, infra, s. 29, and Chap. xvi. 4.

3 The French adds, " aumosnes ;" — alms.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN KELIG ION. 215

this : that we indeed obtain pardon of our sins from the mercy
of God, but still by the intervention of the merit of works,
by which the evil of our sins is compensated, and due satis
faction made to divine justice. To such false views I oppose
the free forgiveness of sins, one of the doctrines most clearly
taught in Scripture.1 First, what is forgiveness but a gift
of mere liberality ? A creditor is not said to forgive when
he declares by granting a discharge, that the money has
been paid to him ; but when, without any payment, through
voluntary kindness, he expunges the debt. And why is the
term gratis (free) afterwards added, but to take away all idea
of satisfaction ? With what confidence, then, do they still set
up their satisfactions, which are thus struck down as with a
thunderbolt ? What ? When the Lord proclaims by Isaiah,
" I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for
mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins," does he not
plainly declare, that the cause and foundation of forgiveness
is to be sought from his goodness alone ? Besides, when the
wrhole of Scripture bears this testimony to Christ, that through
his name the forgiveness of sins is to be obtained, (Acts x.
43,) does it not plainly exclude all other names ? How then
do they teach that it is obtained by the name of satisfaction ?
Let them not deny that they attribute this to satisfactions,
though they bring them in as subsidiary aids.2 For when
Scripture says, by the name of Christ, it means, that we are to
bring nothing, pretend nothing of our own, but lean entirely on
the recommendation of Christ. Thus Paul, after declaring that
" God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them," immediately adds the
reason and the method, " For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin," (2 Cor. v. 19, 20.)

26. But with their usual perverseness, they maintain that
both the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation take place at
once when we are received into the favour of God through

1 Isa. lii. 3 ; Rom. v. 8 ; Col. ii. 14 ; Tit. iii. 5.

2 The French is, " Et ne faut pas qu'ils disent, que combien que les
satisfactions en soyent moyens, neantmoins ce n'est pas en leur nom, mais
au nom de Jesus Christ ;" — and they must not say that though satisfac
tions are the means, nevertheless it is not in their name, but in the name
of Jesus Christ.

2 1 6 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

Christ in baptism ; that in lapses after baptism we must rise
again by means of satisfactions ; that the blood of Christ is of
no avail unless in so far as it is dispensed by the keys of the
Church. I speak not of a matter as to which there can be any
doubt ; for this impious dogma is declared in the plainest terms,
in the writings not of one or two, but of the whole Schoolmen.
Their master, (Sent. Lib. iii. Dist. 9,) after acknowledging,
according to the doctrine of Peter, that Christ " bare our
sins in his own body on the tree," (1 Pet. ii. 24,) immediate
ly modifies the doctrine by introducing the exception, that in
baptism all the temporal penalties of sin are relaxed ; but
that after baptism they are lessened by means of repentance,
the cross of Christ and our repentance thus co-operating to
gether. St John speaks very differently, " If any man sin,
we have an advocate \\iih the Father, Jesus Christ the right
eous ; and he is the propitiation for our sins." " I write
unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you
for his name's sake," (1 John ii. 1, 2, 12.) He certainly is
addressing believers, and while setting forth Christ as the
propitiation for sins, shows them that there is no other satisfac
tion by which an offended God can be propitiated or appeased.
He says not : God was once reconciled to you by Christ ;
now, seek other methods ; but he makes him a perpetual
advocate, who always, by his intercession, reinstates us in his
Father's favour — a perpetual propitiation by which sins are
expiated. For what was said by another John will ever hold
true, " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins
of the world," (John i. 29.) He, I say, takes them away,
and no other ; that is, since he alone is the Lamb of God, he
alone is the offering for our sins ; he alone is expiation ; he
alone is satisfaction. For though the right and power of
pardoning properly belongs to the Father, when he is dis
tinguished from the Son, as has already been seen, Christ is
here exhibited in another view, as transferring to himself the
punishment due to us, and wiping away our guilt in the sight
of God. Whence it follows, that we could not be partakers
of the expiation accomplished by Christ, were he not possessed
of that honour of which those who try to appease God by
their compensations seek to rob him.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIE RELIGION. 217

27. Here it is necessary to keep two things in view : that
the honour of Christ be preserved entire and unimpaired, and
that the conscience, assured of the pardon of sin, may have
peace with God. Isaiah says that the Father " hath laid on
him the iniquity of us all ;" that " with his stripes we are
healed," (Isa. liii. 5, 6.) Peter repeating the same thing, in
other words says, that he " bare our sins in his own body on
the tree," (1 Pet. ii. 24.) Paul's words are, " God sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin con
demned sin in the flesh," " being made a curse for us," (Rom.
viii. 3 ; Gal. iii. 13 ;) in other words, the power and curse of
sin was destroyed in his flesh when he was offered as a sacri
fice, on which the whole weight of our sins was laid, with their
curse and execration, with the fearful judgment of God5 and
condemnation to death. Here there is no mention of the vain
dogma, that after the initial cleansing no man experiences
the efficacy of Christ's passion in any other way than by
means of satisfying penance : we are directed to the satisfac
tion of Christ alone for every fall. Now call to mind their
pestilential dogma : that the grace of God is effective only
in the first forgiveness of sins ; but if we afterwards fall, our
Avorks co-operate in obtaining the second pardon. If these
things are so, do the properties above attributed to Christ
remain entire ? How immense the difference between the
two propositions — that our iniquities were laid upon Christ,
that in his own person he might expiate them, and that they
are expiated by our works ; that Christ is the propitiation
for our sins, and that God is to be propitiated by works.
Then, in regard to pacifying the conscience, what pacifica
tion will it be to be told that sins are redeemed by satisfac
tions ? How will it be able to ascertain the measure of satis
faction ? It will always doubt whether God is propitious ;
will always fluctuate, always tremble. Those who rest satis
fied with petty satisfactions form too contemptible an esti
mate of the justice of God, and little consider the grievous
heinousness of sin, as shall afterwards be shown. Even were
we to grant that they can buy off some sins by due satisfac
tion, still what will they do while they are overwhelmed with
so many sins, that not even a hundred lives, though wholly

218 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

devoted to the purpose, could' suffice to satisfy for them ? We
may add, that all the passages in which the forgiveness of sins
is declared refer not only to catechumens,1 but to the regene
rate children of God ; to those who have long been nursed
in the bosom of the Church. That embassy which Paul so
highly extols, a we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled
to God," (2 Cor. v. 20,) is not directed to strangers, but
to those who had been regenerated long before. Setting
satisfactions altogether aside, he directs us to the cross of
Christ. Thus when he writes to the Colossians that Christ had
" made peace through the blood of his cross," " to reconcile
all things unto himself," he does not restrict it to the moment
at which we are received into the Church, but extends it to
our whole course. This is plain from the context, where he
says that in him " we have redemption by his blood, even the
forgiveness of sins," (Col. i. 14.) It is needless to collect
more passages, as they are ever occurring.

28. Here they take refuge in the absurd distinction that
some sins are venial, and others mortal; that for the latter a
weighty satisfaction is due, but that the former are purged
by easier remedies ; by the Lord's Prayer, the sprinkling of
holy water, and the absolution of the Mass. Thus they in
sult and trifle with God.2 And yet, though they have the
terms venial and mortal sin continually in their mouth, they
have not yet been able to distinguish the one from the other,
except by making impiety and impurity of heart3 to be venial
sin. We, on the contrary, taught by the Scripture standard
of righteousness and unrighteousness, declare that u the wages
of sin is death ;" and that " the soul that sinneth, it shall die,"
(Rom. vi. 23 ; Ezek. xviii. 20.) The sins of believers are
venial, not because they do not merit death, but because by
the mercy of God there is " now no condemnation to those
which are in Christ Jesus," their sin being not imputed, but
effaced by pardon. I know how unjustly they calumniate
this our doctrine ; for they say it is the paradox of the Stoics

1 Latin, " Catechumenos.'1 — French, " Ceux qui ne sont point encore
baptisez ;" — those who are not yet baptized.

* See on this Section, Book II. chap. viii. s. 58, 59.

3 The French adds, (" Qui est le plus horrible peche devant Dieu ;") —
which is the most heinous sin in the sight of God.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 219

concerning the equality of sins : but we shall easily convict
them out of their own mouths. I ask them whether, among
those sins which they hold to be mortal, they acknowledge
a greater and a less ? If so, it cannot follow, as a matter of
course, that all sins which are mortal are equal. Since Scrip
ture declares that the wages of sin is death, — that obedience
to the law is the way to life, — the transgression of it the way
to death, — they cannot evade this conclusion. In such a mass
of sins, therefore, how will they find an end to their satisfac
tions ? If the satisfaction for one sin requires one day, while
preparing it they involve themselves in more sins ; since no
man, however righteous, passes one day without falling re
peatedly. While they prepare themselves for their satisfac
tions, number, or rather numbers without number, will be
added.1 Confidence in satisfaction being thus destroyed,
what more would they have ? how do they still dare to think
of satisfying ?

29. They endeavour, indeed, to disentangle themselves,
but it is impossible. They pretend a distinction between
penalty and guilt, holding that the guilt is forgiven by the
mercy of God ; but that though the guilt is remitted, the
punishment which divine justice requires to be paid remains.
Satisfactions then properly relate to the remission of the
penalty. How ridiculous this levity ! They now confess that
the remission of guilt is gratuitous ; and yet they are ever
and anon telling us to merit it by prayers and tears, and other
preparations of every kind. Still the whole doctrine of Scrip
ture regarding the remission of sins is diametrically opposed
to that distinction. But although I think I have already
done more than enough to establish this, I will subjoin some
other passages, by which these slippery snakes will be so
caught as to be afterwards unable to writhe even the tip of
their tail : " Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I
wih1 make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with
the house of Judah." " I will forgive their iniquity, and I

1 French, " Et quand ils voudront satisfaire pour plusieurs, ils en com-
mettront encore davantage jusques a venir h un abysme sans fin. Je traite
encore des plus justes ;" — And when they would satisfy for several sins,
they will commit still more, until they come at last to a bottomless abyss.
I am still speaking of the best.

220 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

will remember their sin no more," (Jer. xxxi. 31, 34.) What
this means we learn from another Prophet, when the Lord
says, " When the righteous turneth away from his righteous
ness," " all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be
mentioned." " Again, when the wicked man turneth away
from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doth that
which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive," (Ezek.
xviii. 24, 27.) When he declares that he will not remember
righteousness, the meaning is, that he will take no account of
it to reward it. In the same way, not to remember sins is not
to bring them to punishment. The same thing is denoted in
other passages,1 by casting them behind his back, blotting
them out as a cloud, casting them into the depths of the sea,
not imputing them, hiding them. By such forms of expres
sion the Holy Spirit has explained his meaning not obscurely,
if we would lend a willing ear. Certainly if God punishes
sins, he imputes them ; if he avenges, he remembers ; if he
brings them to judgment, he has not hid them ; if he ex
amines, he has not cast them behind his back ; if he investi
gates, he has not blotted them out like a cloud ; if he exposes
them, he has not thrown them into the depths of the sea. In
this way Augustine clearly interprets : " If God has covered
sins, he willed not to advert to them ; if he willed not to advert,
he willed not to animadvert ; if he willed not to animadvert,
he willed not to punish : he willed not to take knowledge of
them, he rather willed to pardon them. Why then did he
say that sins were hid ? Just that they might not be seen.
What is meant by God seeing sins but punishing them?"
(August, in Ps. xxxii. 1.) But let us hear from another
prophetical passage on what terms the Lord forgives sins :
" Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow ;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool," (Isa.
i. 18.) In Jeremiah again we read : " In those days, and in
that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought
for, and there shall be none ; and the sins of Judah, they shall
not be found : for I will pardon them whom I reserve," (Jer. 1.
20.) Would you briefly comprehend the meaning of these

1 Isa. xxxviii. 17 ; xliv. 22 ; Micah vii, 19 ; Ps. xxxii. 1.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 221

words ? Consider what, on the contrary, is meant by these
expressions, " that transgression is sealed up in a bag ;" " that
the iniquity of Ephraim is bound up ; his sin is hid ;" that
" the sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the
point of a diamond." * If they mean, as they certainly do, that
vengeance will be recompensed, there can be no doubt that,
by the contrary passages, the Lord declares that he renounces
all thought of vengeance. Here I must entreat the reader
not to listen to any glosses of mine, but only to give some
deference to the word of God.

30. What, pray, did Christ perform for us if the punish
ment of sin is still exacted? For when we say that he
" bare our sins in his own body on the tree," (1 Pet. ii. 24,)
all we mean is, that he endured the penalty and punishment
which was due to our sins. This is more significantly
declared by Isaiah, when he says that the " chastisement (or
correction) of our peace was upon him," (Isaiah liii. 5.) But
what is the correction of our peace, unless it be the punish
ment due to our sins, and to be paid by us before we could
be reconciled to God, had he not become our substitute?
Thus you clearly see that Christ bore the punishment of sin
that he might thereby exempt his people from it. And
whenever Paul makes mention of the redemption procured
by him,2 he calls it a<ffo\vr§uffi$, by which he does not simply
mean redemption, as it is commonly understood, but the very
price and satisfaction of redemption.3 For which reason, he
also says, that Christ gave himself an dvr/Xur^ov (ransom) for
us. " What is propitiation with the Lord (says Augustine)
but sacrifice? And what is sacrifice but that which was
offered for us in the death of Christ?" But we have our
strongest argument in the injunctions of the Mosaic Law as
to expiating the guilt of sin. The Lord does not there
appoint this or that method of satisfying, but requires the
whole compensation to be made by sacrifice, though he at
the same time enumerates all the rites of expiation with the

1 Job xiv. 17; Hos. xiii. 12 ; Jer. xxii. 1.

2 Rom. iii. 24 ; 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Eph. i. 7 ; Col. i. 14 ; 1 Tim. ii. 6.

* The French adds, " Que nous appellons Rancon en Fran9ois ;" — which
we call Ransom in French.

222 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

greatest care and exactness. How comes it that he does
not at all enjoin works as the means of procuring pardon,
but only requires sacrifices for expiation, unless it were his
purpose thus to testify that this is the only kind of satisfaction
by which his justice is appeased ? For the sacrifices which
the Israelites then offered were not regarded as human works,
but were estimated by their antitype, that is, the sole sacrifice
of Christ. The kind of compensation which the Lord re
ceives from us is elegantly and briefly expressed by Hosea :
" Take with you words, and turn to the Lord : say unto him,
Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously," here is
remission : " so will we render the calves of our lips," here is
satisfaction, (Hos. xiv. 2.) I know that they have still a
more subtile evasion,1 by making a distinction between
eternal and temporal punishment ; but as they define tem
poral punishment to be any kind of infliction with which
God visits either the body or the soul, eternal death only
excepted, this restriction avails them little. The passages
which we have quoted above say expressly that the terms
on which God receives us into favour are these, viz., he re
mits all the punishment which we deserved by pardoning our
guilt. And whenever David or the other prophets ask
pardon for their sins, they deprecate punishment. Nay, a
sense of the divine justice impels them to this. On the
other hand, when they promise mercy from the Lord, they
almost always discourse of punishments and the forgiveness
of them. Assuredly, when the Lord declares in Ezekiel,
that he will put an end to the Babylonish captivity, not " for
your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's
sake," (Ezek. xxxvi. 22,) he sufficiently demonstrates that
both are gratuitous. In short, if we are freed from guilt by
Christ, the punishment consequent upon guilt must cease
with it.

31. But since they also arm themselves with passages of
Scripture, let us see what the arguments are which they em
ploy. David, they say, when upbraided by Nathan the Prophet
for adultery and murder, receives pardon of the sin, and yet

1 See Calvin, ad Concil. Tridentini, Sess. cap. i. ad xv.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 223

by the death of the son born of adultery is afterwards pun
ished, (2 Sam. xii. 13, 14.) Such punishments, which were
to be inflicted after the remission of the guilt, we are taught
to ransom by satisfactions. For Daniel exhorted Nebuchad
nezzar : " Break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine
iniquities by showing mercy to the poor," (Dan. iv. 27.)
And Solomon says, " By mercy and truth iniquity is purged,"
(Prov. xvi. 6;) and again, "love covereth all sins," (Prov.
x. 12.) This sentiment is confirmed by Peter, (1 Pet. iv.
8.) Also in Luke, our Lord says of the woman that was
a sinner, " Her sins, which are many, are forgiven ; for she
loved much," (Luke vii. 47.) How perverse and prepos
terous the judgment they ever form of the doings of God I1
Had they observed, what certainly they ought not to have
overlooked, that there are two kinds of divine judgment,
they would have seen in the correction of David a very
different form of punishment from that which must be thought
designed for vengeance. But since it in no slight degree
concerns us to understand the purpose of God in the chas
tisements by which he animadverts upon our sins, and how
much they differ from the exemplary punishments which he
indignantly inflicts on the wicked and reprobate, I think it
will not be improper briefly to glance at it. For the sake of
distinction, we may call the one kind of judgment punishment,
the other chastisement. In judicial punishment, God is to be
understood as taking vengeance on his enemies, by display
ing his anger against them, confounding, scattering, and
annihilating them. By divine punishment, properly so called,
let us then understand punishment accompanied with indig
nation. In judicial chastisement, he is offended, but not in
wrath ; he does not punish by destroying or striking down
as with a thunderbolt. Hence it is not properly punishment
or vengeance, but correction and admonition. The one is
the act of a judge, the other of a father. When the judge
punishes a criminal, he animadverts upon the crime, and
demands the penalty. When a father corrects his son
sharply, it is not to mulct or avenge, but rather to teach him,

1 For a full exposition of these passages, see infra, sec. 35-37.

224 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

and make him more cautious for the future. Chrysostom
in his writings employs a simile which is somewhat different,
but the same in purport. He says, " A son is whipt, and a
slave is whipt, but the latter is punished as a slave for his
offence : the former is chastised as a free-born son, standing
in need of correction." The correction of the latter is
designed to prove and amend him; that of the former is
scourging and punishment.

32. To have a short and clear view of the whole matter,
we must make two distinctions. First, whenever the inflic
tion is designed to avenge, then the curse and wrath of God
displays itself. This is never the case with believers. On
the contrary, the chastening of God carries his blessing with
it, and is an evidence of love, as Scripture teaches.1 This
distinction is plainly marked throughout the word of God.
All the calamities which the wicked suffer in the present life
are depicted to us as a kind of anticipation of the punish
ment of hell. In these they already see, as from a distance,
their eternal condemnation ; and so far are they from being
thereby reformed, or deriving any benefit, that by such pre
ludes they are rather prepared for the fearful doom which
finally awaits them. The Lord chastens his servants sore,
but does not give them over unto death, (Ps. cxviii. 18.)
When afflicted, they acknowledge it is good for them, that
they may learn his statutes, (Ps. cxix. 71.) But as we
everywhere read that the saints received their chastisements
with placid mind, so inflictions of the latter kind they always
most earnestly deprecated. " O Lord, correct me," says
Jeremiah, " but with judgment ; not in thine anger, lest
thou bring me to nothing. Pour out thy fury upon the
heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call
not on thy name," (Jer. x. 24, 25.) David says, " O Lord,
rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot
displeasure," (Ps. vi. 1.) There is nothing inconsistent with
this in its being repeatedly said, that the Lord is angry with
his saints when he chastens them for their sins, (Ps. xxxviii.
7.) In like manner, in Isaiah, " And in that day thou shalt

1 Job v. 17 ; Prov. iii. 11 ; Heb. xii. 5.

CPIAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 225

say, O Lord, I will praise thee : though thou wast angry
with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst
me," (Isa. xii. 1.) Likewise in Habakkuk, " In wrath remem
ber mercy," (Hab. iii. 2 ;) and in Micah, a I will bear the
indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him,"
(Mic. vii. 9.) Here we are reminded not only that those who are
justly punished gain nothing by murmuring, but that believers
obtain a mitigation of their pain by reflecting on the divine
intention. For the same reason, he is said to profane his
inheritance ; and yet we know that he will never profane it.
The expression refers not to the counsel or purpose of God
in punishing, but to the keen sense of pain, endured by those
who are visited with any measure of divine severity. For
the Lord not only chastens his people with a slight degree of
austerity, but sometimes so wounds them, that they seem to
themselves on the very eve of perdition. Pie thus declares that
they have deserved his anger, and it is fitting so to do, that they
may be dissatisfied with themselves for their sins, may be more
careful in their desires to appease God, and anxiously hasten
to seek his pardon ; still, at this very time, he gives clearer
evidence of his mercy than of his anger. For He who can
not deceive has declared, that the covenant made with us in
our true Solomon l stands fast and will never be broken, " If
his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments ;
if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments ;
then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their
iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will
I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to
fail," (Ps. Ixxxix. 31-34.) To assure us of this mercy, he
says, that the rod with which he will chastise the posterity
of Solomon will be the " rod of men," and " the stripes of the
children of men," (2 Sam. vii. 14.) While by these terms
he denotes moderation and lenity, he, at the same time,
intimates, that those who feel the hand of God opposed to
them cannot but tremble and be confounded. How much
regard he has to this lenity in chastening his Israel he shows

1 French, " Car 1' alliance qu'il a une fois faite avec Jesus Christ et ses
membres ;" — For the covenant which he once made with Jesus Christ and
his members.

VOL. II. P

226 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

by the Prophet, " Behold, I have refined thee, but not with
silver ; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction," (Isa.
xlviii. 10.) Although he tells them that they are chastise
ments with a view to purification, he adds, that even these
are so tempered, that they are not to be too much crushed
by them. And this is very necessary, for the more a man
reveres God, and devotes himself to the cultivation of piety,
the more tender he is in bearing his anger, (Ps. xc. 11 ; and
ibid. Calv.) The reprobate, though they groan under the
lash,1 yet, because they weigh not the true cause, but rather
turn their back, as well upon their sins as upon the divine
judgment, become hardened in their stupor ; or, because they
murmur and kick, and so rebel against their judge, their
infatuated violence fills them with frenzy and madness.
Believers, again, admonished by the rod of God, immediately
begin to reflect on their sins, and, struck with fear and dread,
betake themselves as suppliants to implore mercy. Did not
God mitigate the pains by which wretched souls are excru
ciated, they would give way a hundred times, even at slight
signs of his anger.

33. The second distinction is, that when the reprobate are
brought under the lash of God, they begin in a manner to
pay the punishment due to his justice; and though their
refusal to listen to these proofs of the divine anger will not
escape with impunity, still they are not punished with the view
of bringing them to a better mind, but only to teach them by
dire experience that God is a judge and avenger. The sons of
God are beaten with rods, not that they may pay the punish
ment due to their faults, but that they may thereby be led
to repent. Accordingly, we perceive that they have more
respect to the future than to the past. I prefer giving this
in the words of Chrysostom rather than my own: " His object
in imposing a penalty upon us, is not to inflict punishment
on our sins, but to correct us for the future," (Chrysost.
Serm. de Pcenit. et Confess.) So also Augustine, " The
suffering at which you cry, is medicine, not punishment ;

1 French, u Car combien les reprouves souspirent ou grin9ent les dents
sous les coups ;" — For though the reprobate sigh or gnash their teeth
under the strokes.

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 227

chastisement, not condemnation. Do not drive away the
rod, if you would not be driven away from the inheritance.
Know, brethren, that the whole of that misery of the human
race, under which the world groans, is a medicinal pain, not
a penal sentence," (August, in Psal. cii. circa finem.) It
seemed proper to quote these passages, lest any one should
think the mode of expression which I have used to be novel
or uncommon. To the same effect are the indignant terms in
which the Lord expostulates with his people, for their ingra
titude in obstinately despising ah1 his inflictions. In Isaiah
he says, " Why should ye be stricken any more ? ye will
revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole
heart faint," (Isa. i. 5, 6.) But as such passages abound in
the Prophets, it is sufficient briefly to have shown, that the
only purpose of God in punishing his Church is to subdue
her to repentance. Thus, when he rejected Saul from the
kingdom, he punished in vengeance, (I Sam. xv. 23 ;) when
he deprived David of his child, he chastised for amendment,
(2 Sam. xii. 18.) In this sense Paul is to be understood
when he says, " When we are judged, we are chastened of
the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the \vorld,"
(1 Cor. xi. 32 ;) that is, while we as sons of God are afflicted
by our heavenly Father's hand, it is not punishment to con
found, but only chastisement to train us. On this subject
Augustine is plainly with us, (De Peccator. Meritis ac
Remiss. Lib. ii. cap. 33, 34.) For he shows that the punish
ments with which men are equally chastened by God are to
be variously considered ; because the saints after the forgive
ness of their sins have struggles and exercises, the reprobate
without forgiveness are punished for their iniquity. Enu
merating the punishments inflicted on David and other saints,
he says, it was designed, by thus humbling them, to prove
and exercise their piety. The passage in Isaiah, in which it
is said, " Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto
her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is
pardoned ; for she has received of the Lord's hands double
for all her sins," (Isa. xl. 2,) proves not that the pardon of sin
depends on freedom from punishment. It is just as if he had
said, Sufficient punishment has now been exacted ; as for their

228 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

number and heinousness, you have long been oppressed with
sorrow and mourning, it is time to send you a message of
complete mercy, that your minds may be filled with joy on
feeling me to be a Father. For God there assumes the
character of a father who repents even of the just severity
which he has been compelled to use towards his son.

34. These are the thoughts with which the believer ought
to be provided in the bitterness of affliction, " The time is
come that judgment must begin at the house of God," " the
city which is called by my name," (1 Pet. iv. 17 ; Jer. xxv.
29.) What could the sons of God do, if they thought that
the severity which they feel was vengeance? He who,
smitten by the hand of God, thinks that God is a judge
inflicting punishment, cannot conceive of him except as angry
and at enmity with him ; cannot but detest the rod of God as
curse and condemnation ; in short, can never persuade him
self that he is loved by God, while he feels that he is still
disposed to inflict punishment upon him. He only profits
under the divine chastening who considers that God, though
offended with his sins, is still propitious and favourable to
him. Otherwise, the feeling must necessarily be what the
Psalmist complains that he had experienced, " Thy wrath
lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy
waves." Also what Moses says, " For we are consumed by
thine anger, and by thy wrath we are troubled. Thou hast
set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of
thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in thy
wrath ; we spend our years as a tale that is told," (Ps. xc.
7—9.) On the other hand, David, speaking of fatherly chas
tisements, to show how believers are more assisted than
oppressed by them, thus sings, " Blessed is the man whom
thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law ;
that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity,
until the pit be digged for the wicked," (Ps. xciv. 12, 13.)
It is certainly a sore temptation, when God, sparing unbe
lievers and overlooking their crimes, appears more rigid
towards his own people. Hence, to solace them, he adds the
admonition of the law which teaches them, that their salvation
is consulted when they are brought back to the right path,

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 229

whereas the wicked are borne headlong in their errors, which
ultimately lead to the pit. It matters not whether the pun
ishment is eternal or temporary. For disease, pestilence,
famine, and war, are curses from God, as much as even the
sentence of eternal death, whenever their tendency is to
operate as instruments of divine wrath and vengeance against
the reprobate.

35. All, if I mistake not, now see what view the Lord had
in chastening David, namely, to prove that murder and
adultery are most offensive to God, and to manifest this offen-
siveness in a beloved and faithful servant, that David himself
might be taught never again to dare to commit such wicked
ness ; still, however, it was not a punishment designed in
payment of a kind of compensation to God. In the same way
are we to judge of that other correction, in which the Lord sub
jects his people to a grievous pestilence, for the disobedience
of David in forgetting himself so far as to number the people.
He indeed freely forgave David the guilt of his sin ; but
because it was necessary, both as a public example to all
ages and also to humble David himself, not to allow such
an offence to go unpunished, he chastened him most sharply
with his whip. We ought also to keep this in view in the
universal curse of the human race. For since after obtaining
grace we still continue to endure the miseries denounced to
our first parent as the penalty of transgression, we ought
thereby to be reminded, how offensive to God is the trans
gression of his law, that thus humbled and dejected by a
consciousness of our wretched condition, we may aspire more
ardently to true happiness. But it were most foolish in any
one to imagine, that we are subjected to the calamities of the
present life for the guilt of sin. This seems to me to have
been Chrysostom's meaning when he said, " If the purpose of
God in inflicting punishment is to bring those persisting in
evil to repentance, when repentance is manifested punish
ment would be superfluous," (Chrysos. Homil. iii. de Provid.)
Wherefore, as he knows what the disposition of each requires,
he treats one with greater harshness, and another with more
indulgence. Accordingly, when he wishes to show that he
is not excessive in exacting punishment, he upbraids a hard-

2,50 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

hearted and obstinate people, because, after being smitten,
they still continued in sin, (Jer. v. 3.) In the same sense
he complains, that " Ephraim is a cake not turned," (Hos.
vii. 8,) because chastisement did not make a due impression
on their minds, and, correcting their vices, make them fit to
receive pardon. Surely he who thus speaks shows, that as
soon as any one repents he will be ready to receive him, and
that the rigour which he exercises in chastising faults is
wrung from him by our perverseness, since we should prevent
him by a voluntary correction. Such, however, being the
hardness and rudeness of all hearts, that they stand univer
sally in need of castigation, our infinitely wise Parent hath
seen it meet to exercise all without exception, during their
whole lives, with chastisement. It is strange how they fix
their eyes so intently on the one example of David, and are
not moved by the many examples in which they might have
beheld the free forgiveness of sins. The publican is said to
have gone down from the temple justified, (Luke xviii. 14 ;)
no punishment follows. Peter obtained the pardon of his
sin, (Luke xxii. 61.) " We read of his tears," says Ambrose,
(Serm. 46, De Prenit. Petri,) "we read not of satisfaction."
To the paralytic it is said, " Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins
be forgiven thee," (Matth. ix. 2 ;) no penance is enjoined. All
the acts of forgiveness mentioned in Scripture are gratuitous.
The rule ought to be drawn from these numerous examples,
rather than from one example which contains a kind of specialty.
36. Daniel, in exhorting Nebuchadnezzar to break off his
sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to
the poor, (Dan. iv. 27,) meant not to intimate, that righteous
ness and mercy are able to propitiate God and redeem from
punishment, (far be it from us to suppose that there ever was
any other dcroXir^ovs (ransom) than the blood of Christ ;) but
the breaking off referred to in that passage has reference toman
rather than to God : as if he had said, O king, you have exer
cised an unjust and violent domination, you have oppressed
the humble, spoiled the poor, treated your people harshly
and unjustly ; instead of unjust exaction, instead of violence
and oppression, now practise mercy and justice. In like
manner, Solomon says, that love covers a multitude of sins ;

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 231

not, however, with God, but among men. For the whole
verse stands thus, " Hatred stirreth up strifes ; but love
covereth all sins," (Prov. x. 12.) Here, after his manner, he
contrasts the evils produced by hatred with the fruits of
charity, in this sense, Those who hate are incessantly biting,
carping at, upbraiding, lacerating each other, making every
thing a fault ; but those who love mutually conceal each
other's faults, wink at many, forgive many : not that the one
approves the vices of the other, but tolerates and cures by
admonishing, rather than exasperates by assailing. That the
passage is quoted by Peter (1 Pet. iv. 8) in the same sense
we cannot doubt, unless we would charge him with corrupting
or craftily wresting Scripture. When it is said, that " by
mercy and truth iniquity is purged," (Prov. xvi. 6,) the mean
ing is, not that by them compensation is made to the Lord,
so that he being thus satisfied remits the punishment which he
would otherwise have exacted ; but intimation is made after
the familiar manner of Scripture, that those who, forsaking
their vices and iniquities, turn to the Lord in truth and piety,
will find him propitious : as if he had said, that the wrath of
God is calmed, and his judgment is at rest, whenever we rest
from our wickedness. But, indeed, it is not the cause of
pardon that is described, but rather the mode of true con
version ; just as the Prophets frequently declare, that it is in
vain for hypocrites to offer God fictitious rites instead of
repentance, seeing his delight is in integrity and the duties
of charity.1 In like manner, also, the author of the Epistle
to the Hebrews, commending kindness and humanity, reminds
us, that " with such sacrifices God is well pleased," (Heb.
xiii. 16.) And indeed when Christ, rebuking the Pharisees
because, intent merely on the outside of the cup and platter,
they neglected purity of heart, enjoins them, in order that
they may be clean in all respects, to give alms, does he exhort
them to give satisfaction thereby ? He only tells them what
the kind of purity is which God requires. Of this mode of
expression we have treated elsewhere, (Matth. xxiii. 25 ;
Luke xi. 39-41 ; see Calv. in Harm. Evang.)

1 French, " Integrite, pitie, droiture, et choses semblables ;" — integrity,
pity, uprightness, and the like.

232 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

37. Iii regard to the passage in Luke, (Luke vii. 36, sq.)
no man of sober judgment, who reads the parable there em
ployed by our Lord, will raise any controversy with us. The
Pharisee thought that the Lord did not know the character
of the woman whom he had so easily admitted to his presence.
For he presumed that he would not have admitted her if he
had known what kind of a sinner she was ; and from this he
inferred, that one who could be deceived in this way was not
a prophet. Our Lord, to show that she was not a sinner,
inasmuch as she had already been forgiven, spake this parable:
a There was a certain creditor which had two debtors ; the
one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when
they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell
me, therefore, which of them will love him most ? The Phari
see answers : " I suppose that he to whom he forgave most."
Then our Saviour rejoins: "Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven ; for she loved much." By these words it is plain
he does not make love the cause of forgiveness, but the proof
of it. The similitude is borrowed from the case of a debtor,
to whom a debt of five hundred pence had been forgiven. It
is not said that the debt is forgiven because he loved much,
but that he loved much because it was forgiven. The simili
tude ought to be applied in this way : You think this woman
is a sinner ; but you ought to have acknowledged her as not
a sinner, in respect that her sins have been forgiven her.
Her love ought to have been to you a proof of her having
obtained forgiveness, that love being an expression of grati
tude for the benefit received. It is an argument a posteriori^
by which something is demonstrated by the results produced
by it. Our Lord plainly attests the ground on which she
had obtained forgiveness, when he says, " Thy faith hath
saved thee." By faith, therefore, we obtain forgiveness : by
love we give thanks, and bear testimony to the loving-kind
ness of the Lord.

38. I am little moved by the numerous passages in the
writings of the Fathers relating to satisfaction. I see in
deed that some (I will frankly say almost all whose books are
extant) have either erred in this matter, or spoken too roughly
and harshly ; but I cannot admit that they were so rude and

CHAP. IV. CHRISTIAN KELIGION. 233

unskilful as to write these passages in the sense in which they
are read by our new satisfactionaries. Chrysostom some
where says, " When mercy is implored, interrogation ceases ;
when mercy is asked, judgment rages not ; when mercy is
sought, there is no room for punishment; where there is
mercy, no question is asked ; where there is mercy, the an
swer gives pardon," (Chrysos. Horn. ii. in Psal. 1.) How
much soever these words may be twisted, they can never be
reconciled with the dogmas of the Schoolmen. In the book
De Dogmatibus Ecclesiasticis, which is attributed to Augus
tine, you read, (cap. 54,) " The satisfaction of repentance is
to cut off the causes of sins, and not to indulge an entrance
to their suggestions." From this it appears that the doctrine
of satisfaction, said to be paid for sins committed, was every
where derided in those ages ; for here the only satisfaction
referred to is caution, abstinence from sin for the future. I
am unwilling to quote what Chrysostom says, (Horn. x. in
Genes.) that God requires nothing more of us than to con
fess our faults before him with tears, as similar sentiments
abound both in his writings and those of others. Augustine
indeed calls works of mercy remedies for obtaining forgive
ness of sins, (Enchir. ad Laur. ;) but lest any one should
stumble at the expression, he himself, in another passage,
obviates the difficulty. "The flesh of Christ," says he, "is
the true and only sacrifice for sins — not only for those which
are all effaced in baptism, but those into which we are after
wards betrayed through infirmity, and because of which the
whole Church daily cries, ' Forgive us our debts,' (Matth.
vi. 12.) And they are forgiven by that special sacrifice."

39. By satisfaction, however, they, for the most part, meant
not compensation to be paid to God, but the public testi
mony, by which those who had been punished with excom
munication, and wished again to be received into communion,
assured the Church of their repentance. For those penitents
were enjoined certain fasts and other things, by wrhich they
might prove that they were truly, and from the heart, weary
of their former life, or rather might obliterate the remem
brance of their past deeds : in this way they were said to
give satisfaction, not to God, but to the Church. The same

234 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK IIT.

thing is expressed by Augustine in a passage in his Enchi
ridion ad Laurentium, cap. 65.1 From that ancient custom
the satisfactions and confessions now in use took their rise.
It is indeed a viperish progeny, not even a vestige of the
better form now remaining. I know that ancient writers
sometimes speak harshly ; nor do I deny, as I lately said, that
they have perhaps erred ; but dogmas, which were tainted with
a few blemishes, now that they have fallen into the unwashed
hands of those men, are altogether defiled. And if we were
to decide the contest by authority of the Fathers, what kind
of Fathers are those whom they obtrude upon us ? A great
part of those, from whom Lombard their Coryphaeus framed
his centos, are extracted from the absurd dreams of certain
monks passing under the names of Ambrose, Jerome, Augus
tine, and Chrysostom. On the present subject almost all his
extracts are from the book of Augustine De Pcenitentia^ a
book absurdly compiled by some rhapsodist, alike from good
and bad authors — a book which indeed bears the name of
Augustine, but which no person of the least learning would
deign to acknowledge as his. Wishing to save my readers
trouble, they will pardon me for not searching minutely into
all their absurdities. For myself it were not very laborious,
and might gain some applause, to give a complete exposure
of dogmas which have hitherto been vaunted as mysteries ;
but as my object is to give useful instruction, I desist.

1 It is quoted in the Decret. c. in Art. de Pcenit. Dist. i.

CHAP. V. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 235

CHAPTER V.

OF THE MODES OF SUPPLEMENTING SATISFACTION, VIZ.,
INDULGENCES AND PURGATORY.

Divisions of the chapter, — I. A summary description and refutation of
Popish indulgences, sec. 1, 2. II. Confutation by Leo and Augustine.
Answer to two objections urged in support of them, sec. 3, 4. A
profane love of filthy lucre on the part of the Pope. The origin of indul
gences unfolded, sec. 5. III. An examination of Popish purgatory. Its
horrible impiety, sec. 6. An explanation of five passages of Scripture by
which Sophists endeavour to support that dream, sec. 7, 8. Sentiments
of the ancient Theologians concerning purgatory, sec. 10.

Sections.

1. The dogma of satisfaction the parent of indulgences. Vanity of both.

The reason of it. Evidence of the avarice of the Pope and the
Romish clergy: also of the blindness with which the Christian
world was smitten.

2. View of indulgences given by the Sophists. Their true nature. Refu

tation of them. Refutation confirmed by seven passages of Scrip
ture.

3. Confirmed also by the testimony of Leo, a Roman Bishop, and by

Augustine. Attempts of the Popish doctors to establish the mon
strous doctrine of indulgences, anJ. even support it by Apostolical
authority. First answer.

4. Second answer to the passage of an Apostle adduced to support the

dogma of indulgences. Answer confirmed by a comparison with
other passages, and from a passage in Augustine, explaining the
Apostle's meaning. Another passage from the same Apostle con
firming this view.

5. The Pope's profane thirst for filthy lucre exposed. The origin of

indulgences.

6. Examination of the fictitious purgatory of the Papists. 1. From

the nature of the thing itself. 2. From the authority of God.
3. From the consideration of the merit of Christ, which is destroy
ed by this fiction. Purgatory, what it is. 4. From the impiety
teeming from this fountain.

7. Exposition of the passages of Scripture quoted in support of purga

tory. 1. Of the unpardonable sin, from which it is inferred that

236 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

there are some sins afterwards to be forgiven. 2. Of the passage
as to paying the last farthing.

8. 3. The passage concerning the bending of the knee to Christ by

things under the earth. 4. The example of Judas Maccabeus in
sending an oblation for the dead to Jerusalem.

9. 5. Of the fire which shall try every man's work. The sentiment of

the ancient theologians. Answer, containing a reductio ad absur-
dum. Confirmation by a passage of Augustine. The meaning of
the Apostle. What to be understood by fire. A clear exposition of
the metaphor. The day of the Lord. How those who suffer loss
are saved by fire.

10. The doctrine of purgatory ancient, but refuted by a more ancient
Apostle. Not supported by ancient writers, by Scripture, or solid
argument. Introduced by custom and a zeal not duly regulated by
the word of God. Ancient writers, as Augustine, speak doubt
fully in commending prayer for the dead. At all events, we must
hold by the word of God, which rejects this fiction. A vast differ
ence between the more ancient and the more modern builders of
purgatory. This shown by comparing them.

1. FROM this dogma of satisfaction that of indulgences
takes its rise. For the pretence is, that what is wanting to
our own ability is hereby supplied ; and they go the insane
length of denning them to be a dispensation of the merits of
Christ, and the martyrs which the Pope makes by his bulls.
Though they are fitter for hellebore than for argument, — and
it is scarcely worth while to refute these frivolous errors,
which, already battered down, begin of their own accord to
grow antiquated, and totter to their fall ; — yet, as a brief re
futation may be useful to some of the unlearned, I will not
omit it. Indeed, the fact that indulgences have so long stood
safe and with impunity, and wantoned with so much fury and
tyranny, may be regarded as a proof into how deep a night
of ignorance mankind were for some ages plunged. They
saw themselves insulted openly, and without disguise, by the
Pope and his bull-bearers ; they saw the salvation of the soul
made the subject of a lucrative traffic, salvation taxed at a few
pieces of money, nothing given gratuitously ; they saw what
was squeezed from them in the form of oblations basely con
sumed on strumpets, pimps, and gluttony, the loudest trum
peters of indulgences being the greatest despisers ; they saw
the monster stalking abroad, and every day luxuriating with

CHAP. V. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 237

greater license, and that without end, new bulls being con
stantly issued, and new sums extracted. Still indulgences
were received with the greatest reverence, worshipped, and
bought. Even those who saw more clearly than others deemed
them pious frauds, by which, even in deceiving, some good
was gained. Now, at length, that a considerable portion of
the world have begun to bethink themselves, indulgences
grow cool, and gradually even begin to freeze, preparatory to
their final extinction.

2. But since very many who see the vile imposture, theft,
and rapine, (with which the dealers in indulgences have
hitherto deluded and sported with us,) are not aware of the
true source of the impiety, it may be proper to show not only
wrhat indulgences truly are, but also that they are polluted
in every part.1 They give the name of treasury of the Church
to the merits of Christ, the holy Apostles and Martyrs. They
pretend, as I have said, that the radical custody of the granary
has been delivered to the Roman bishop, to whom the dis
pensation of these great blessings belongs in such a sense,
that he can both exercise it by himself, and delegate the
power of exercising it to others. Hence we have from the
Pope at one time plenary indulgences, at another for certain
years ; from the cardinals for a hundred days, and from the
bishops for forty. These, to describe them truly, are a pro
fanation of the blood of Christ, and a delusion of Satan, by
which the Christian people are led away from the grace of
God and the life which is in Christ, and turned aside from
the true way of salvation. For how could the blood of Christ
be more shamefully profaned than by denying its sufficiency
for the remission of sins, for reconciliation and satisfaction,
unless its defects, as if it were dried up and exhausted, are
supplemented from some other quarter ? Peter's words are :
a To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name
whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins,"

3 French, " II est expedient de monstrer ici non seulement quelles sont
les indulgences, comme ils en usent ; mais du tout que c'est, a les prendre
en leur propre et meilleure nature, sans quelque qualite on vice acci
dental ;" — it is expedient here to show not only what indulgences are as in
use, but in themselves, taking them in their proper and best form, without
any qualification or accidental vice.

238 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

(Acts x. 43 ;) but indulgences bestow the remission of sins
through Peter, Paul, and the Martyrs. " The blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin," says John, (1 John
i. 7.) Indulgences make the blood of the martyrs an ablution
of sins. " He hath made him to be sin (i. e. a satisfaction
for sin) for us who knew no sin," says Paul, (2 Cor. v. 21,)
" that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Indulgences make the satisfaction of sin to depend on the
blood of the martyrs. Paul exclaimed and testified to the
Corinthians, that Christ alone was crucified, and died for
them, (1 Cor. i. 13.) Indulgences declare that Paul and
others died for us. Paul elsewhere says that Christ purchased
the Church with his own blood, (Acts xx. 28.) Indulgences
assign another purchase to the blood of martyrs. " By one
offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified,"
says the Apostle, (Heb. x. 14.) Indulgences, on the other
hand, insist that sanctification, which would otherwise be
insufficient, is perfected by martyrs. John says that all the
saints " have washed their robes, and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb," (Rev. vii. 14.) Indulgences tell us
to wash our robes in the blood of saints.

3. There is an admirable passage in opposition to their
blasphemies in Leo, a Roman Bishop, (ad Palasstinos, Ep. 81.)
" Although the death of many saints was precious in the sight
of the Lord, (Ps. cxvi. 15,) yet no innocent man's slaughter
was the propitiation of the world. The just received crowns,
did not give them ; and the fortitude of believers produced
examples of patience, not gifts of righteousness : for their
deaths were for themselves ; and none by his final end paid
the debt of another, except Christ our Lord, in whom alone
all are crucified — all dead, buried, and raised up." This
sentiment, as it was of a memorable nature, he has elsewhere
repeated, (Epist. 95.) Certainly one could not desire a clearer
confutation of this impious dogma. Augustine introduces
the same sentiment not less appositely : " Although brethren
die for brethren, yet no martyr's blood is shed for the remis
sion of sins : this Christ did for us, and in this conferred upon
us not what we should imitate, but what should make us
grateful," (August. Tract, in Joann. 84.) Again, in another

CHAP. V. CHRISTIAN KELIGIOX. 239

passage : " As he alone became the Son of God and the Son
of man, that he might make us to be with himself sons of
God, so he alone, without any ill desert, undertook the pen
alty for us, that through him we might, without good desert,
obtain undeserved favour," (ad Bonif. Lib. iv. cap. 4.) Indeed,
as their whole doctrine is a patchwork of sacrilege and blas
phemy, this is the most blasphemous of the whole. Let them
acknowledge whether or not they hold the following dogmas :
That the martyrs, by their death, performed more to God,
and merited more than was necessary for themselves3 and
that they have a large surplus of merits which may be applied
to others ; that in order that this great good may not prove
superfluous, their blood is mingled with the blood of Christ,
and out of both is formed the treasury of the Church, for the
forgiveness and satisfaction of sins ; and that in this sense we
must understand the words of Paul : " Who now rejoice in
my sufferings, and fill up that which is behind of the afflic
tions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the
Church," (Col. i. 24.) What is this but merely to leave the
name of Christ, and at the same time make him a vulgar
saiutling, who can scarcely be distinguished in the crowd?
He alone ought to be preached, alone held forth, alone named,
alone looked to, whenever the subject considered is the ob
taining of the forgiveness of sins, expiation, and sanctification.
But let us hear their propositions. That the blood of martyrs
may not be shed without fruit, it must be employed for the
common good of the Church. Is it so ? Was there no fruit
in glorifying God by death ? in sealing his truth with their
blood ? in testifying, by contempt of the present life, that
they looked for a better ? in confirming the faith of the
Church, and at the same time disabling the pertinacity of
the enemy by their constancy ? But thus it is. They ac
knowledge no fruit if Christ is the only propitiation, if he
alone died for our sins, if he alone was offered for our re
demption. Nevertheless, they say, Peter and Paul would
have gained the crown of victory though they had died in
their beds a natural death. But as they contended to blood,
it would not accord with the justice of God to leave their
doing; so barren and unfruitful. As if God were unable to

240 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

augment the glory of his servants in proportion to the mea
sure of his gifts. The advantage derived in common by the
Church is great enough, when, by their triumphs, she is in
flamed with zeal to fight.

4. How maliciously they wrest the passage in which Paul
says, that he supplies in his body that which was lacking in
the sufferings of Christ ! (Col. i. 24,) That defect or supple
ment refers not to the work of redemption, satisfaction, or
expiation, but to those afflictions with which the members
of Christ, in other words, all believers, behove to be exercised,
so long as they are in the flesh. He says, therefore, that
part of the sufferings of Christ still remains, viz., that what
he suffered in himself he daily suffers in his members. Christ
so honours us as to regard and count our afflictions as his
own. By the additional words — for the Church^ Paul means
not for the redemption, or reconciliation, or satisfaction of
the Church, but for edification and progress. As he else
where says, " I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that
they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus
with eternal glory," (2 Tim. ii. 10.) He also writes to the
Corinthians : " Whether we be afflicted, it is for your conso
lation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the
same sufferings which we also suffer," (2 Cor. i. 6.) In the
same place he immediately explains his meaning by adding,
that he was made a minister of the Church, not for redemp
tion, but according to the dispensation which he received to
preach the gospel of Christ. But if they still desire another
interpreter, let them hear Augustine : " The sufferings of
Christ are in Christ alone, as in the head ; in Christ and the
Church as in the whole body. Hence Paul, being one member,
says, ' I fill up in my body that which is behind of the sufferings
of Christ.' Therefore, O hearer, whoever you be, if you are
among the members of Christ, whatever you suffer from those
who are not members of Christ, was lacking to the sufferings
of Christ," (August, in Ps. xvi.) Pie elsewhere explains the
end of the sufferings of the Apostles undertaken for Christ :
" Christ is my door to you, because ye are the sheep of
Christ purchased by his blood : acknowledge your price, which
is not paid by me, but preached by me," (August. Tract, in

CHAP. V. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 241

Joann. 47.) He afterwards adds, " As he laid down his life,
so ought we to lay down our lives for the brethren, to build
up peace and maintain faith." Thus far Augustine. Far be
it from us to imagine that Paul thought any thing was want
ing to the sufferings of Christ in regard to the complete ful
ness of righteousness, salvation, and life, or that he wished to
make any addition to it, after showing so clearly and eloquently
that the grace of Christ was poured out in such rich abund
ance as far to exceed all the power of sin, (Rom. v. 15.) All
saints have been saved by it alone, not by the merit of their
own life or death, as Peter distinctly testifies, (Acts xv. 11 ;)
so that it is an insult to God and his Anointed to place the
worthiness of any saint in any thing save the mercy of God
alone. But why dwell longer on this, as if the matter were
obscure, when to mention these monstrous dogmas is to
refute them ?

5. Moreover, to say nothing of these abominations, who
taught the Pope to enclose the grace of Jesus Christ in lead
and parchment, grace which the Lord is pleased to dispense by
the word of the Gospel? Undoubtedly either the Gospel of
God or indulgences must be false. That Christ is offered to us
in the Gospel with all the abundance of heavenly blessings,
with all his merits, all his righteousness, wisdom, and grace,
without exception, Paul bears witness when he says, " Now
then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech
you by us : we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to
God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him," (2
Cor. v. 20, 21.) And what is meant by the fellowship (xo/v&wa)
of Christ, which according to the same Apostle (1 Cor. i. 9)
is offered to us in the Gospel, all believers know. On the
contrary, indulgences, bringing forth some portion of the grace
of God from the armoury of the Pope, fix it to lead, parchment,
and a particular place, but dissever it from the word of God.
When we inquire into the origin of this abuse, it appears to
have arisen from this, that when in old times the satisfac
tions imposed on penitents were too severe to be borne, those
who felt themselves burdened beyond measure by the pen
ance imposed, petitioned the Church for relaxation. The

VOL. II. Q

242 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

remission so given was called indulgence. But as they trans
ferred satisfactions to God, and called them compensations
by which men redeem themselves from the justice of God,
they in the same way transferred indulgences, representing
them as expiatory remedies which free us from merited punish
ment. The blasphemies to which we have referred have been
feigned with so much effrontery that there is not the least
pretext for them.

6. Their purgatory cannot now give us much trouble, since
with this axe we have struck it, thrown it down, and over
turned it from its very foundations. I cannot agree with
some who think that we ought to dissemble in this matter,
and make no mention of purgatory, from which (as they say)
fierce contests arise, and very little edification can be obtain
ed. I myself would think it right to disregard their follies
did they not tend to serious consequences. But since pur
gatory has been reared on many, and is daily propped up by
new blasphemies ; since it produces many grievous offences,
assuredly it is not to be connived at, however it might have
been disguised for a time, that without any authority from
the word of God, it was devised by prying audacious rash
ness, that credit was procured for it by fictitious revelations,
the wiles of Satan, and that certain passages of Scripture
were ignorantly wrested to its support. Although the Lord
bears not that human presumption should thus force its way
to the hidden recesses of his judgments ; although he has
issued a strict prohibition against neglecting his voice, and
making inquiry at the dead, (Deut. xviii. 11,) and permits
not his word to be so erroneously contaminated. Let us
grant, however, that all this might have been tolerated for a
time as a thing of no great moment ; yet when the expiation
of sins is sought elsewhere than in the blood of Christ, and
satisfaction is transferred to others, silence were most peril
ous. We are bound, therefore, to raise our voice to its high
est pitch, and cry aloud that purgatory is a deadly device of
Satan ; that it makes void the cross of Christ ; that it offers
intolerable insult to the divine mercy ; that it undermines
and overthrows our faith. For what is this purgatory but
the satisfaction for sin paid after, death by the souls of the
dead ? Hence when this idea of satisfaction is refuted, purga-

CHAP. V. CHKISTIAN RELIGION. 243

tory itself is forthwith completely overturned.1 But if it is
perfectly clear, from what was lately said, that the blood of
Christ is the only satisfaction, expiation, and cleansing for
the sins of believers, what remains but to hold that purga
tory is mere blasphemy, horrid blasphemy against Christ ? I
say nothing of the sacrilege by which it is daily defended,
the offences which it begets in religion, and the other innu
merable evils which we see teeming forth from that fountain
of impiety.

7. Those passages of Scripture on which it is their wont
falsely and iniquitously to fasten, it may be worth while to
wrench out of their hands.2 When the Lord declares that
the sin against the Holy Ghost will not be forgiven either in
this world or the world to come, he thereby intimates (they
say) that there is a remission of certain sins hereafter. But
who sees not that the Lord there speaks of the guilt of sin ?
But if this is so, what has it to do with their purgatory, see
ing they deny not that the guilt of those sins, the punish
ment of which is there expiated, is forgiven in the present
life ? Lest, however, they should still object, we shall give a
plainer solution. Since it was the Lord's intention to cut off
all hope of pardon from this flagitious wickedness, he did not
consider it enough to say, that it would never be forgiven,
but in the way of amplification employed a division by which
he included both the judgment which every man's conscience
pronounces in the present life, and the final judgment which
will be publicly pronounced at the resurrection ; as if he had
said, Beware of this malignant rebellion, as you would of
instant destruction ; for he who of set purpose endeavours
to extinguish the offered light of the Spirit, shall not obtain
pardon either in this life, which has been given to sinners for
conversion, or on the last day when the angels of God shall
separate the sheep from the goats, and the heavenly king
dom shall be purged of all that offends. The next passage
they produce is the parable in Matthew : " Agree with thine

1 French, " Tellement que si on ote la funtasie dc satisfaire, leur purga-
toric s'en va has ;" — so that if the fancy of satisfying is taken away, down
goes their purgatory.

2 Matth. xii. 32 ; Mark iii. 28 ; Luke xii. 10 ; Matth. v. 25.

244 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him ; lest
at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the
judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Verily, I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out
thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing," (Matth. v.
25, 26.) If in this passage the judge means God, the adversary
the devil, the officer an angel, and the prison purgatory, I give
in at once. But if every man sees that Christ there intend
ed to show to how many perils and evils those expose them
selves who obstinately insist on their utmost right, instead of
being satisfied with what is fair and equitable, that he might
thereby the more strongly exhort his followers to concord,
where, I ask, are we to find their purgatory ?l

8. They seek an argument in the passage in which Paul
declares, that all things shall bow the knee to Christ, " things
in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth,"
(Phil. ii. 10.) They take it for granted, that by " things
under the earth," cannot be meant those who are doomed to
eternal damnation, and that the only remaining conclusion is,
that they must be souls suffering in purgatory. They would
not reason very ill if, by the bending of the knee, the Apostle
designated true worship ; but since he simply says that Christ
has received a dominion to which all creatures are subject,
what prevents us from understanding those " under the earth"
to mean the devils, who shall certainly be sisted before the
judgment-seat of God, there to recognise their Judge with
fear and trembling ? In this way Paul himself elsewhere
interprets the same prophecy : " We shall all stand before the
judgment-seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith
the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue
shall confess to God," (Rom. xiv. 10, 11.) But we cannot
in this way interpret what is said in the Apocalypse : "Every
creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
earth, and such as are in the sea, heard I saying, Blessing,

1 The French adds the following sentence : " Brief, que le passage soit
regarde et prins en sa simple intelligence, et il n'y sera rien trouve de ce
qu'ils pretendent ;" — In short, let the passage be looked at and taken in
its simple meaning, and there will be nothing found in it of what they
pretend.

CHAP. V. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 245

and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever,"
(Rev. v. 13.) This I readily admit ; but what kinds of crea
tures do they suppose are here enumerated ? It is absolutely
certain, that both irrational and inanimate creatures are com
prehended. All, then, which is affirmed is, that every part
of the universe, from the highest pinnacle of heaven to the
very centre of the earth, each in its own way proclaims the
glory of the Creator.

To the passage which they produce from the history of the
Maccabees, (1 Maccab. xii. 43,) I will not deign to reply, lest
I should seem to include that work among the canonical books.
But Augustine1 holds it to be canonical. First, with what
degree of confidence ? " The Jews," says he, " do not hold
the book of the Maccabees as they do the Law, the Prophets,
and the Psalms, to which the Lord bears testimony as to his
own witnesses, saying, Ought not all things which are written
in the Law, and the Psalms, and the Prophets, concerning
me be fulfilled ? (Luke xxiv. 44.) But it has been received
by the Church not uselessly, if it be read or heard with sober
ness." Jerome, however, unhesitatingly affirms, that it is of
no authority in establishing doctrine ; and from the ancient
little book, De Expositione Symboli, which bears the name of
Cyprian, it is plain that it was in no estimation in the ancient
Church. And why do I here contend in vain ? As if the
author himself did not sufficiently show what degree of defer
ence is to be paid him, when in the end he asks pardon for
any thing less properly expressed, (2 Maccab. xv. 38.) He
who confesses that his writings stand in need of pardon, cer
tainly proclaims that they are not oracles of the Holy Spirit.
We may add, that the piety of Judas is commended for no
other reason than for having a firm hope of the final resurrec
tion, in sending his oblation for the dead to Jerusalem. For
the writer of the history does not represent what he did as fur
nishing the price of redemption, but merely that they might be
partakers of eternal life, with the other saints who had fallen
for their country and religion. The act, indeed, was not free

1 See August, contra Secundum Gaudentii Epistolam, cap. 23.

246 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

from superstition and misguided zeal ; but it is mere fatuity
to extend the legal sacrifice to us, seeing we are assured that
the sacrifices then in use ceased on the advent of Christ.

9. But, it seems, they find in Paul an invincible support,
which cannot be so easily overthrown. His words are, " Now
if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious
stones, wood, hay, stubble ; every man's work shall be made
manifest : for the day shall declare it, because it shall be
revealed by fire ; and the fire shall try every man's work of
what sort it is. If any man's work shall be burnt, he shall
suffer loss : but he himself shall be saved ; yet so as by fire,"
(1 Cor. iii. 12-15.) What fire (they ask) can that be but
the fire of purgatory, by which the defilements of sin are
wiped away, in order that we may enter pure into the kingdom
of God ? But most of the Fathers1 give it a different mean
ing, viz., the tribulation or cross by which the Lord tries his
people, that they may not rest satisfied with the defilements
of the flesh. This is much more probable than the fiction of
a purgatory. I do not, however, agree with them, for I think
I see a much surer and clearer meaning to the passage. But,
before I produce it, I wish they would answer me, whether
they think the Apostle and all the saints have to pass through
this purgatorial fire ? I am aware they wiU say, no ; for it
were too absurd to hold that purification is required by those
whose superfluous merits they dream of as applicable to all
the members of the Church. But this the Apostle affirms ;
for he says, not that the works of certain persons, but the
works of all will be tried.2 And this is not my argument,
but that of Augustine, who thus impugns that inter
pretation.3 And (what makes the thing more absurd) he
says, not that they will pass through fire for certain works,
but that even if they should have edified the Church with the
greatest fidelity, they will receive their reward after their

1 Chrysostom, Augustine, and others ; see August. Enchirid. ad Laurent,
cap. 68.

2 The French adds, u auquel nombre universel sont enclos les Apostres ; "
— in which universal number the Apostles are included.

3 French, "Pexposition que font aujourdhui nos adversaires ; " — the
exposition which our opponents give in the present day.

CHAP. V. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 247

works shall have been tried by fire. First, we see that the
Apostle used a metaphor when he gave the names of wood,
hay, and stubble, to doctrines of man's device. The ground
of the metaphor is obvious, viz., that as wood when it is put
into the fire is consumed and destroyed, so neither will those
doctrines be able to endure when they come to be tried.
Moreover, every one sees that the trial is made by the Spirit
of God. Therefore, in following out the thread of the
metaphor, and adapting its parts properly to each other, he
gave the name of fire to the examination of the Holy Spirit.
For, just as silver and gold, the nearer they are brought to
the fire, give stronger proof of their genuineness and purity,
so the Lord's truth, the more thoroughly it is submitted to
spiritual examination, has its authority the better confirmed.
As hay, wood, and stubble, when the fire is applied to them,
are suddenly consumed, so the inventions of man, not founded
on the word of God, cannot stand the trial of the Holy Spirit,
but forthwith give way and perish. In fine, if spurious
doctrines are compared to wood, hay, and stubble, because,
like wood, hay, and stubble, they are burned by fire and
fitted for destruction, though the actual destruction is only
completed by the Spirit of the Lord, it follows that the Spirit
is that fire by which they will be proved. This proof Paul
calls the day of the Lord ; using a term common in Scripture.
For the day of the Lord is said to take place whenever he in
some way manifests his presence to men, his face being
specially said to shine when his truth is manifested. It has
now been proved, that Paul has no idea of any other fire
than the trial of the Holy Spirit. But how are those who
suffer the loss of their works saved by fire ? This it will not
be difficult to understand, if we consider of what kind of
persons he speaks. For he designates them builders of the
Church, who, retaining the proper foundation, build different
materials upon it ; that is, who, not abandoning the principal
and necessary articles of faith, err in minor and less perilous
matters, mingling their own fictions with the word of God.
Such, I say, must suffer the loss of their work by the
destruction of their fictions. They themselves, however, are
saved, yet so as by fire ; that is, not that their ignorance and

248 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

delusions are approved by the Lord, but they are purified
from them by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. All
those, accordingly, who have tainted the golden purity of the
divine word with the pollution of purgatory, must necessarily
suffer the loss of their work.

10. But the observance of it in the Church is of the highest
antiquity. This objection is disposed of by Paul, when,
including even his own age in the sentence, he declares, that
all who in building the Church have laid upon it something
not conformable to the foundation, must suffer the loss of
their work. When, therefore, my opponents object, that it
has been the practice for thirteen hundred years to offer
prayers for the dead, I, in return, ask them, by what word
of God, by what revelation, by what example it was done ?
For here not only are passages of Scripture wanting, but in
the examples of all the saints of whom we read, nothing of
the kind is seen. We have numerous, and sometimes long
narratives, of their mourning and sepulchral rites, but not
one word is said of prayers.1 But the more important the
matter was, the more they ought to have dwelt upon it.
Even those who in ancient times offered prayers for the dead,
saw that they were not supported by the command of God
and legitimate example. Why then did they presume to do
it ? I hold that herein they suffered the common lot of man,
and therefore maintain, that what they did is not to be
imitated. Believers ought not to engage in any work without
a firm conviction of its propriety, as Paul enjoins, (Rom. xiv.
23 ;) and this conviction is expressly requisite in prayer. It
is to be presumed, however, that they were influenced by
some reason ; they sought a solace for their sorrow, and it
seemed cruel not to give some attestation of their love to the
dead, when in the presence of God. All know by experience
how natural it is for the human mind thus to feel.

Received custom too was a kind of torch, by which the

1 French, " L'Escriture racorite souventesfois et bien au long, comment
les fideles ont pleure la mort de leurs parens, et comment ils les out
ensevelis ; mais qu'ils ayent prie pour eux, il n'en est nouvelles ; " — Scrip
ture relates oftentimes and at great length, how the faithful lamented the
death of their relations, and how they buried them ; but that they prayed
for them is never hinted at.

CHAP. V. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 2-49

minds of many were inflamed. We know that among all the
Gentiles, and in all ages, certain rites were paid to the dead,
and that every year lustrations were performed for their
manes. Although Satan deluded foolish mortals by these
impostures, yet the means of deceiving were borrowed from
a sound principle, viz., that death is not destruction, but a
passage from this life to another. And there can be no
doubt that superstition itself always left the Gentiles with
out excuse before the judgment-seat of God, because they
neglected to prepare for that future life which they professed
to believe. Thus, that Christians might not seem worse than
heathens, they felt ashamed of paying no office to the dead,
as if they had been utterly annihilated. Hence their ill-
advised assiduity ; because they thought they would expose
themselves to great disgrace, if they were slow in providing
funeral feasts and oblations. What was thus introduced by
perverse rivalship, ever and anon received new additions,
until the highest holiness of the Papacy consisted in giving
assistance to the suffering dead. But far better and more
solid comfort is furnished by Scripture when it declares,
" Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord ;" and adds the
reason, " for they rest from their labours," (Rev. xiv. 13.)
We ought not to indulge our love so far as to set up a per
verse mode of prayer in the Church. Surely every person
possessed of the least prudence easily perceives, that whatever
we meet with on this subject in ancient writers, was in
deference to public custom and the ignorance of the vulgar.
I admit they were themselves also carried away into error,
the usual effect of rash credulity being to destroy the judg
ment. Meanwhile the passages themselves show, that when
they recommended prayer for the dead it was with hesitation.
Augustine relates in his Confessions, that his mother, Monica,
earnestly entreated to be remembered when the solemn rites
at the altar were performed ; doubtless an old woman's wish,
which her son did not bring to the test of Scripture, but
from natural affection wished others to approve. His book,
De Cur a pro Mortuis Agenda, On showing Care for the Dead,
is so full of doubt, that its coldness may well extinguish the
heat of a foolish zeal. Should any one, in pretending to be a

250 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

patron of the dead, deal merely in probabilities, the only effect
will be to make those indifferent who were formerly solicitous.1
The only support of this dogma is, that as a custom of
praying for the dead prevailed, the duty ought not to be
despised. But granting that ancient ecclesiastical writers
deemed it a pious thing to assist the dead, the rule which can
never deceive is always to be observed, viz., that we must
not introduce anything of our own into our prayers, but must
keep all our wishes in subordination to the word of God,
because it belongs to Him to prescribe what he wishes us to
ask. Now, since the whole Law and Gospel do not contain
one syllable which countenances the right of praying for the
dead, it is a profanation of prayer to go one step farther than
God enjoins. But, lest our opponents boast of sharing their
error with the ancient Church, I say, that there is a wide
difference between the two. The latter made a commemora
tion of the dead, that they might not seem to have cast off all
concern for them ; but they, at the same time, acknowledged
that they were doubtful as to their state ; assuredly they made
no such assertion concerning purgatory as implied that they
did not hold it to be uncertain. The former insist, that their
dream of purgatory shall be received without question as an
article of faith. The latter sparingly and in a perfunctory
manner only commended their dead to the Lord, in the
communion of the holy supper. The former are constantly
urging the care of the dead, and by their importunate
preaching of it, make out that it is to be preferred to all the
offices of charity. But it would not be difficult for us to
produce some passages from ancient writers,2 which clearly

1 French, " Le liure qu'il a compose tout expres de cest argument, et
qu'il a intitule, Du soin pour les inorts, est envellopee en tant de doutes,
qu'il doit suffire pour refroidir ceux qui y auroyent devotion ; pour le
moins en voyant qu'il ne s'aide que de conjectures bien legeres et foibles,
on verra qu'on ne se doit point fort empescher d'une chose ou il n'y a nulle
importance ;" — The book which he has composed expressly on this subject,
and which he has entitled, Of Care for the Dead, is enveloped in so many
doubts, that it should be sufficient to cool those who are devoted to it ;
at least, as he supports his view only by very slight and feeble conjectures,
it will be seen, that we ought not to trouble ourselves much witli a matter
in which there is no importance.

2 See August. Homil. in Joann. 49. De Civitate Dei, Lib. xxi. cap.
xiii. — xxiv.

CHAP. V. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 251

overturn all those prayers for the dead which were then in
use. Such is the passage of Augustine, in which he shows
that the resurrection of the flesh and eternal glory is expected
by all, but that rest which follows death is received by every
one who is worthy of it when he dies. Accordingly, he
declares that all the righteous, not less than the Apostles,
Prophets, and Martyrs, immediately after death enjoy blessed
rest. If such is their condition, what, I ask, will our prayers
contribute to them P1 I say nothing of those grosser super
stitions by which they have fascinated the minds of the simple ;
and yet they are innumerable, and most of them so monstrous,
that they cannot cover them with any cloak of decency. I
say nothing, moreover, of those most shameful traffickings,
which they plied as they listed while the world was stupified.
For I would never come to an end ; and, without enume
rating them, the pious reader will here find enough to estab
lish his conscience.

1 The French of the latter clause of this sentence is, " et toutesfois il y
aura matiere assez ample de les pourmener en cette campagne, veu qu'ils
n'ont nulle couleur pour s'excuser, qu'ils ne soyent conveincus d'etre les
plus vilains trompeurs qui furent jamais ; " — and yet there is ample space
to travel them over this field, seeing they have no colour of excuse, but
must be convicted of being the most villanous deceivers that ever were.

252 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

CHAPTEK VI.

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN MAN. SCRIPTURAL ARGUMENTS
EXHORTING TO IT.

This and the four following chapters treat of the Life of the Christian,
and are so arranged as to admit of being classed under two principal
heads.

First, it must be held to be an universally acknowledged point, that no
man is a Christian who does not feel some special love for righteousness,
chap. vi. Secondly, in regard to the standard by which every man ought
to regulate his life, although it seems to be considered in chap. vii. only,
yet the three following chapters also refer to it. For it shows that the
Christian has two duties to perform. First, the observance being so
arduous, he needs the greatest patience. Hence chap. viii. treats profess
edly of the utility of the cross, and chap. ix. invites to meditation on the
future life. Lastly, chap. x. clearly shows, as in no small degree conducive
to this end, how we are to use this life and its comforts without abusing
them.

This sixth chapter consists of two parts, — I. Connection between this
treatise on the Christian Life and the doctrine of Regeneration and Re
pentance. Arrangement of the treatise, sec. 1-3. II. Extremes to be
avoided; 1. False Christians denying Christ, by their works condemned,
sec. 4. 2. Christians should not despair, though they have not attained
perfection, provided they make daily progress in piety and righteousness.

Sections.

1. Connection between this chapter and the doctrine of Regeneration.

Necessity of the doctrine concerning the Christian Life. The
brevity of this treatise. The method of it. Plainness and un
adorned simplicity of the Scripture system of morals.

2. Two divisions. First, Personal holiness. 1. Because God is holy.

2. Because of our communion with his saints.

3. Second division, relating to our Redemption. Admirable moral system

of Scripture. Five special inducements or exhortations to a Chris
tian Life.

4. False Christians who are opposed to this life censured. 1. They have

not truly learned Christ. 2. The Gospel not the guide of their
words or actions. 3. They do not imitate Christ the Master.
4. They would separate the Spirit from his word.

CHAP. VI. CHRISTIAN RELIG1OX. 253

5. Christians ought not to despond : Provided, 1. They take the word
of God for their guide. 2. Sincerely cultivate righteousness.

3. Walk, according to their capacity, in the ways of the Lord.

4. Make some progress. 5. Persevere.

1. WE have said that the object of regeneration is to bring
the life of believers into concord and harmony with the right
eousness of God, and so confirm the adoption by which they
have been received as sons. But although the law compre
hends within it that new life by which the image of God is
restored in us, yet, as our sluggishness stands greatly in need
both of helps and incentives, it will be useful to collect out
of Scripture a true account of this reformation, lest any who
have a heartfelt desire of repentance should in their zeal go
astray. Moreover, I am not unaware that, in undertaking to
describe the life of the Christian, I am entering on a large and
extensive subject, one which, when fully considered in all its
parts, is sufficient to fill a large volume. We see the length
to which the Fathers, in treating of individual virtues, extend
their exhortations. This they do, not from mere loquacious
ness ; for whatever be the virtue which you undertake to
recommend, your pen is spontaneously led by the copiousness
of the matter so to amplify, that you seem not to have dis
cussed it properly if you have not done it at length. My in
tention, however, in the plan of life which I now propose to give,
is not to extend it so far as to treat of each virtue specially,
and expatiate in exhortation. This must be sought in the
writings of others, and particularly in the Homilies of the
Fathers.1 For me it will be sufficient to point out the method
by which a pious man may be taught how to frame his life
aright, and briefly lay down some universal rule by which he
may not improperly regulate his conduct. I shall one day
possibly find time for more ample discourse, [or leave others to
perform an office for which I am not so fit. I have a natural
love of brevity, and, perhaps, any attempt of mine at copious
ness would not succeed. Even if I could gain the highest
applause by being more prolix, I would scarcely be disposed

1 The French adds, " C'est a dire, sermons populaires ;" — that is to say,
popular sermons.

25 i INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

to attempt it,1] while the nature of my present work requires
me to glance at simple doctrine with as much brevity as pos
sible. As philosophers have certain definitions of rectitude and
honesty, from which they derive particular duties and the
whole train of virtues ; so in this respect Scripture is not with
out order, but presents a most beautiful arrangement, one too
which is every way much more certain than that of philoso
phers. The only difference is, that they, under the influence
of ambition, constantly affect an exquisite perspicuity of
arrangement, which may serve to display their genius, where
as the Spirit of God, teaching without affectation, is not so
perpetually observant of exact method, and yet by observing
it at times sufficiently intimates that it is not to be neglected.
2. The Scripture system of which we speak aims chiefly
at two objects. The former is, that the love of righteous
ness, to which we are by no means naturally inclined, may
be instilled and implanted into our minds. The latter is,
(see chap, vii.,) to prescribe a rule which will prevent us while
in the pursuit of righteousness from going astray. It has
numerous admirable methods of recommending righteous
ness.2 Many have been already pointed out in different
parts of this work ; but we shall here also briefly advert
to some of them. With what better foundation can it begin
than by reminding us that we must be holy, because " God
is holy?" (Lev. xix. 1; 1 Pet. i. 16.) For when we were
scattered abroad like lost sheep, wandering through the laby
rinth of this world, he brought us back again to his own fold.
When mention is made of our union with God, let us remem
ber that holiness must be the bond ; not that by the merit
of holiness we come into communion with him, (we ought
rather first to cleave to him, in order that, pervaded with his
holiness, we may follow whither he calls,) but because it
greatly concerns his glory not to have any fellowship with
wickedness and impurity. Wherefore he tells us that this is
the end of our calling, the end to which we ought ever to
have respect, if we would answer the call of God. For to

1 The passage in brackets is omitted in the French.

2 The French begins the sentence thus, " Quant est du premier poinct ;"
— As to the former point.

CHAP. VI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 255

what end were we rescued from the iniquity and pollution of
the world into which we were plunged, if we allow ourselves,
during our whole lives, to wallow in them ? Besides, we are
at the same time admonished, that if we would be regarded
as the Lord's people, we must inhabit the holy city Jerusa
lem, (Isaiah xxxv. 8, et alibi,) which, as he hath consecrated
it to himself, it were impious for its inhabitants to profane by
impurity. Hence the expressions, " Who shall abide in thy
tabernacle ? who shall dwell in thy holy hill ? He that walk-
eth uprightly, and worketh righteousness," (Ps. xv. 1, 2 ; xxiv.
3, 4 ;) for the sanctuary in which he dwells certainly ought
not to be like an unclean stall.

3. The better to arouse us, it exhibits God the Father,
wrho, as he hath reconciled us to himself in his Anointed, has
impressed his image upon us, to which he would have us to
be conformed, (Rom. v. 4.) Come, then, and let them show
me a more excellent system among philosophers, who think
that they only have a moral philosophy duly and orderly
arranged. They, when they would give excellent exhorta
tions to virtue, can only tell us to live agreeably to nature.
Scripture derives its exhortations from the true source,1 when
it not only enjoins us to regulate our lives with a view to
God its author to whom it belongs ; but after showing us that
we have degenerated from our true origin, viz., the law of our
Creator, adds, that Christ, through whom we have returned
to favour with God, is set before us as a model, the image of
which our lives should express. What do you require more
effectual than this ? Nay, what do you require beyond this ?
If the Lord adopts us for his sons on the condition that our
life be a representation of Christ, the bond of our adoption, —
then, unless we dedicate and devote ourselves to righteous
ness, we not only, with the utmost perfidy, revolt from our
Creator, but also abjure the Saviour himself. Then, from an
enumeration of ah1 the blessings of God, and each part of our
salvation, it finds materials for exhortation. Ever since God
exhibited himself to us as a Father, we must be convicted of

1 Mai. i. 6 ; Eph. v. 1 ; 1 John iii. 1,3; Epli. v. 26 ; Rom. vi. 1-4 ;
1 Cor. vi. 11 ; 1 Pet. i. 15, 19 ; 1 Cor. vi. 15 ; John xv. 3 ; Eph. v. 2, 3;
Col. iii. 1, 2 ; 1 Cor. iii. 16 ; vi. 17 ; 2 Cor. vi. 16; 1 Thess. v. 23.

256 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

extreme ingratitude if we do not in turn exhibit ourselves as
his sons. Ever since Christ purified us by the laver of his
blood, and communicated this purification by baptism, it
would ill become us to be defiled with new pollution. Ever
since he ingrafted us into his body, we, who are his members,
should anxiously beware of contracting any stain or taint.
Ever since he who is our head ascended to heaven, it is be
fitting in us to withdraw our affections from the earth, and
with our whole soul aspire to heaven. Ever since the Holy
Spirit dedicated us as temples to the Lord, we should make
it our endeavour to show forth the glory of God, and guard
against being profaned by the defilement of sin. Ever since
our soul and body were destined to heavenly incorruptibility
and an unfading crown, we should earnestly strive to keep
them pure and uncorrupted against the day of the Lord.
These, I say, are the surest foundations of a well-regulated
life, and you will search in vain for any thing resembling
them among philosophers, who, in their commendation of vir
tue, never rise higher than the natural dignity of man.

4. This is the place to address those who, having nothing
of Christ but the name and sign, would yet be called Christ
ians. How dare they boast of this sacred name ? None have
intercourse with Christ but those who have acquired the
true knowledge of him from the Gospel. The Apostle denies
that any man truly has learned Christ who has not learned
to put off " the old man, which is corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts, and put on Christ," (Eph. iv. 22.) They are
convicted, therefore, of falsely and unjustly pretending a
knowledge of Christ, whatever be the volubility and elo
quence with which they can talk of the Gospel. Doctrine is
not an affair of the tongue, but of the life ; is not apprehend
ed by the intellect and memory merely, like other branches
of learning ; but is received only when it possesses the whole
soul, and finds its seat and habitation in the inmost recesses
of the heart. Let them, therefore, either cease to insult
God, by boasting that they are what they are not, or let
them show themselves not unworthy disciples of their divine
Master. To doctrine in which our religion is contained we
have given the first place, since by it our salvation commences ;

CHAP. VI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 257

but it must be transfused into the breast, and pass into the
conduct, and so transform us into itself, as not to prove
unfruitful. If philosophers are justly offended, and banish from
their company with disgrace those who, while professing an
art which ought to be the mistress of their conduct, convert
it into mere loquacious sophistry, with how much better
reason shall we detest those flimsy sophists who are con
tented to let the Gospel play upon their lips, when, from
its efficacy, it ought to penetrate the inmost affections of the
heart, fix its seat in the soul, and pervade the whole man
a hundred times more than the frigid discourses of philoso
phers ?

5. I insist not that the life of the Christian shall breathe
nothing but the perfect Gospel, though this is to be desired,
and ought to be attempted. I insist not so strictly on evan
gelical perfection, as to refuse to acknowledge as a Christian
any man who has not attained it. In this way all would
be excluded from the Church, since there is no man who is
not far removed from this perfection, while many, who have
made but little progress, would be undeservedly rejected.
What then ? Let us set this before our eye as the end at
which we ought constantly to aim. Let it be regarded as
the goal towards which we are tor run. For you cannot
divide the matter with God, undertaking part of what his
word enjoins, and omitting part at pleasure. For, in the
first place, God uniformly recommends integrity as the prin
cipal part of his worship, meaning by integrity real single
ness of mind, devoid of gloss and fiction, and to this is op
posed a double mind ; as if it had been said, that the spiritual
commencement of a good life is when the internal affections
are sincerely devoted to God, in the cultivation of holiness
and justice. But seeing that, in this earthly prison of the
body, no man is supplied with strength sufficient to hasten
in his course with due alacrity, while the greater number are
so oppressed with weakness, that hesitating, and halting, and
even crawling on the ground, they make little progress, let
every one of us go as far as his humble ability enables him,
and prosecute the journey once begun. No one will travel
so badly as not daily to make some degree of progress. This,

VOL. II.

258 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

therefore, let us never cease to do, that we may daily advance
in the way of the Lord ; and let us not despair because of
the slender measure of success. How little soever the suc
cess may correspond with our wish, our labour is not lost
when to-day is better than yesterday, provided with true
singleness of mind we keep our aim, and aspire to the goal,
not speaking flattering things to ourselves, nor indulging our
vices, but making it our constant endeavour to become bet
ter, until we attain to goodness itself. If during the whole
course of our life we seek and follow, we shall at length
attain it, when relieved from the infirmity of flesh we are
admitted to full fellowship with God,

CHAP. VII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 259

CHAPTEK VII.

A SUMMARY OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. OF SELF-DENIAL.1

The divisions of the chapter are, — I. The rule which permits us not to
go astray in the study of righteousness, requires two things, viz., that
man, abandoning his own will, devote himself entirely to the service of
God ; whence it follows, that we must seek not our own things, but the
things of God, sec. 1, 2. II. A description of this renovation or Chris
tian life taken from the Epistle to Titus, and accurately explained under
certain special heads, sec. 3 to end.

Sections.

1. Consideration of the second general division in regard to the Chris

tian life. Its beginning and sum. A twofold respect. 1. "We
are not our own. Respect to both the fruit and the use. Un
known to philosophers, who have placed reason on the throne of
the Holy Spirit.

2. Since we are not our own, we must seek the glory of God, and obey

his will. Self-denial recommended to the disciples of Christ. He
who neglects it, deceived either by pride or hypocrisy, rushes on
destruction.

3. Three things to be followed, and two to be shunned in life. Impiety

and worldly lusts to be shunned. Sobriety, justice, and piety, to
be followed. An inducement to right conduct.

4. Self-denial the sum of Paul's doctrine. Its difficulty. Qualities in

us which make it difficult. Cures for these qualities. 1. Ambition
to be suppressed. 2. Humility to be embraced. 3. Candour to
be esteemed. 4. Mutual charity to be preserved. 5. Modesty to
be sincerely cultivated.

5. The advantage of our neighbour to be promoted. Here self-denial

most necessary, and yet most difficult. Here a double remedy.
1. The benefits bestowed upon us are for the common benefit of the
Church. 2. We ought to do all we can for our neighbour. This
illustrated by analogy from the members of the human body.
This duty of charity founded on the divine command.

1 On this and the three following chapters, which contain the second
part of the Treatise on the Christian Life, see Augustin. De Moribus
Ecclesiae Catholica3, and Calvin de Scandalis.

260 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

6. Charity ought to have for its attendants patience and kindness.

We should consider the image of God in our neighbours, and
especially in those who are of the household of faith. Hence a
fourfold consideration which refutes all objections. A common
objection refuted.

7. Christian life cannot exist without charity. Remedies for the vices

opposed to charity. 1. Mercy. 2. Humility. 3. Modesty.
4. Diligence. 5. Perseverance.

8. Self-denial, in respect of God, should lead to equanimity and toler

ance. 1. We are always subject to God. 2. We should shun
avarice and ambition. 3. We should expect all prosperity from
the blessing of God, and entirely depend on him.

9. We ought not to desire wealth or honours without the divine bless

ing, nor follow the arts of the wicked. We ought to cast all our
care upon God, and never envy the prosperity of others.
10. We ought to commit ourselves entirely to God. The necessity of
this doctrine. Various uses of affliction. Heathen abuse and
corruption.

1. ALTHOUGH the Law of God contains a perfect rule of
conduct admirably arranged, it has seemed proper to our
divine Master to train his people by a more accurate method,
to the rule which is enjoined in the Law ; and the leading
principle in the method is, that it is the duty of believers
to present their " bodies a living sacrifice, holy and accept
able unto God, which is their reasonable service," (Rom. xii.
1 .) Hence he draws the exhortation : " Be not conformed to
this world : but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect will of God." The great point, then, is, that we
are consecrated and dedicated to God, and, therefore, should
not henceforth think, speak, design, or act, without a view to
his glory. What he hath made sacred cannot, without signal
insult to him, be applied to profane use. But if we are not our
own, but the Lord's, it is plain both what error is to be shunned,
and to what end the actions of our lives ought* to be directed.
We are not our own ; therefore, neither is our own reason
or will to rule our acts and counsels. We are not our own ;
therefore, let us not make it our end to seek what may be
agreeable to our carnal nature. We are not our own ; there
fore, as^fer asj)ossiblfi, let us forget ourselves and the things
that are ours. On the other hand, we are God's; let us,

CHAP. VII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 261

therefore, live and die to him, (Rom. xiv. 8.) We are God's ;
therefore, let his wisdom and will preside over all our actions.
We are God's ; to him, then, as the only legitimate end, let
every part of our life be directed. O how great the pro
ficiency of him who, taught that he is not his own, has with
drawn the dominion and government of himself from his
own reason that he may give them to God ! For as the
surest source of destruction to men is to obey themselves, so
the only haven of safety is to have no other will, no other
wisdom, than to follow the Lord wherever he leads. Let
this, then, be the first step, to abandon ourselves, and devote
the whole energy of our minds to the service of God. By
service, I mean not only that which consists in verbal obe
dience, but that by which the mind, divested of its own
carnal feelings, implicitly obeys the call of the Spirit of God.
This transformation, (which Paul calls the renewing of the
mind, Rom. xii. 2 ; Eph. iv. 23,) though it is the first entrance
to life, was unknown to all the philosophers. They give the
government of man to reason alone, thinking that she alone is
to be listened to ; in short, they assign to her the sole direction
of the conduct. But Christian philosophy bids her give place,
and yield complete submission to the Holy Spirit, so that
the man himself no longer lives, but Christ lives and reigns
in him, (Gal. ii. 20.)

2. Hence follows the other principle, that we are not to
seek our own, but the Lord's will, and act with a view to
promote his glory. Great is our proficiency, when, almost
forgetting ourselves, certainly postponing our own reason,
we faithfully make it our study to obey God and his com
mandments. For when Scripture enjoins us to lay aside"
private regard to ourselves, it not only divests our minds of
an excessive longing for wealth, or power, or human favour,
but eradicates all ambition and thirst for worldly glory, and
other more secret pests. The Christian ought, indeed, to
so trained and disposed as to consider, that during his whole
life he has to do with God. For this reason, as he will
bring all things to the disposal and estimate of God, so he
will religiously direct his whole mind to him. For he who
has learned to look to God in everything he does, is at the

262 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

same time diverted from all vain thoughts. This is that
self-denial which Christ so strongly enforces on his disciples
from the very outset, (Matth. xvi. 24,) which, as soon as it
takes hold of the mind, leaves no place either, first, for pride,
show, and ostentation ; or, secondly, for avarice, lust, luxury,
effeminacy, or other vices which are engendered by self-
love. On the contrary, wherever it reigns not, the foulest
vices are indulged in without shame ; or, if there is some
appearance of virtue, it is vitiated by a depraved longing for
/applause. Show me, if you can, an individual who, unless
I he has renounced himself in obedience to the Lord's com-
I mand, is disposed to do good for its own sake. Those
who have not so renounced themselves have followed virtue
at least for the sake of praise. The philosophers who
have contended most strongly that virtue is to be desired on
her own account, were so inflated with arrogance as to make
it apparent that they sought virtue for no other reason than
as a ground for indulging in pride. So far, therefore, is God
from being delighted with these hunters after popular ap
plause with their swollen breasts, that he declares they have
received their reward in this world, (Matth. vi. 2,) and that
harlots and publicans are nearer the kingdom of heaven than
they, (Matth. xxi. 31.) We have not yet sufficiently
explained how great and numerous are the obstacles by
which a man is impeded in the pursuit of rectitude, so long
as he has not renounced himself. The old saying is true,
.; There is a world of iniquity treasured up in the human soul.
I Nor can you find any other remedy for this than to deny
yourself, renounce your own reason, and direct your whole
mind to the pursuit of those things which the Lord requires
of you, and which you are to seek only because they are
pleasing to Him.

3. In another passage, Paul gives a brief, indeed, but
more distinct account of each of the parts of a well-
ordered life : " The grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungod
liness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly, in this present world ; looking for that blessed
hope, and the glorious appearance of the great God and our

CHAP. VII. CHKISTIAN KELIGIOX. 263

Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a
peculiar people, zealous of good works," (Tit. ii. 11-14.)
After holding forth the grace of God to animate us, and
pave the way for His true worship, he removes the two
greatest obstacles which stand in the way, viz., ungodliness,
to which we are by nature too prone, and worldly lusts,
which are of still greater extent. Under ungodliness, he
includes not merely superstition, but everything at variance
with the true fear of God. Worldly lusts are equivalent to
the lusts of the flesh. Thus he enjoins us, in regard to both
tables of the Law, to lay aside our own mind, and renounce
whatever our own reason and will dictate. Then he reduces
all the actions of our lives to three branches, sobriety, right
eousness, and godliness. Sobriety undoubtedly denotes as
well chastity and temperance as the pure and frugal use of
temporal goods, and patient endurance of want. Righteous
ness comprehends all the duties of equity, in rendering to
every one his due. Next follows godliness, which separates us
from the pollutions of the world, and connects us with God
in true holiness. These, when connected together by an
indissoluble chain, constitute complete perfection. But as
nothing is more difficult than to bid adieu to the will of the
flesh, subdue, nay, abjure our lusts, devote ourselves to God
and our brethren, and lead an angelic life amid the pollutions
of the world, Paul, to set our minds free from all entangle
ments, recalls us to the hope of a blessed immortality, justly
urging us to contend, because as Christ has once appeared
as our Redeemer, so on his final advent he will give full
effect to the salvation obtained by him. And in this way
he dispels all the allurements which becloud our path, and
prevent us from aspiring as we ought to heavenly glory;
nay, he tells us that we must be pilgrims in the world, that
we may not fail of obtaining the heavenly inheritance.

4. Moreover, we see by these words that self-denial has
respect partly to men and partly (more especially) to God,
(sec. 8-10.) For when Scripture enjoins us, in regard to
our fellow-men, to prefer them in honour to ourselves, and
sincerely labour to promote their advantage, (Rom. xii. 10

264 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK HI.

Phil. ii. 3,) he gives us commands which our mind is utterly
incapable of obeying until its natural feelings are suppressed.
?6f so blindly do we all rush in the direction of self-love,
that every one thinks he has a good reason for exalting him
self and despising all others in comparison. If God has
bestowed on us SjDmejMngjiot^^ trusting to

it, we immediately become elated, and not only swell, but
almost burst with pride. The vices with which we abound
we both carefully conceal from others, and flatteringly repre
sent to ourselves as minute and trivial, nay, sometimes hug
them as virtues. When the same qualities which we admire in
ourselves are seen in others, even though they should be
superior, we, in order that we may not be forced to yield to
them, maliciously lower and carp at them ; in like manner, in
the case of vices, not contented with severe and keen animad
version, we studiously exaggerate them. Hence the inso
lence with which each, as if exempted from the common lot,
seeks to exalt himself above his neighbour, confidently and
proudly despising others, or at least looking down upon them
as his inferiors. The poor man yields to the rich, the plebeian
to the noble, the servant to the master, the unlearned to the
learned, and yet every one inwardly cherishes some idea of
\ his own superiority. Thus each flattering himself sets up a
kind of kingdom in his breast ; the arrogant, to satisfy
themselves, pass censure on the minds and manners of other
men, and when contention arises, the full venom is displayed.
Many bear about with them some measure of mildness so
long as all things go smoothly and lovingly with them, but
how few are there who, when stung and irritated, preserve
the same tenor of moderation ? For this there is no other
remedy than to pluck up by the roots those most noxious
pgsts, self-love and love of victory, (<p/Xoj/g/x/a %«/ p/Xaur/a.)
This the doctrine of Scripture does. For it teaches us to
remember, that the endowments which God has bestowed
upon us are noj^pjur__pjvj^^ and that those

who plume themselves upon them betray their ingratitude.
" Who maketh thee to differ," saith Paul, " and what hast
thou that thou didst not receive ? now if thou didst receive
it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it ?"

CHAP. VII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 265

(IjCor^iv^J.) Then by a diligent examination of our faults,
let us keep ourselves humble. Thus while nothing will
remain to swell our pride, there will be much to subdue it.
Again, we are enjoined, whenever we behold the gifts of God
in others, so to reverence and respect the gifts, as also to
honour those in whom they reside. God having been pleased
to bestow honour upon them, it would ill become us to
deprive them of it. Then we are told to overlook their
faults, not, indeed, to encourage by flattering them, but not
because of them to insult those whom we ought to regard
with honour and good will.1 In this way, with regard to
all with whom we have intercourse, our behaviour will be
not only moderate and modest, but courteous and friendly.
The only way by which you can ever attain to true meek
ness, is to have your heart imbued with a humble opinion of
yourself and respect for others.

5. How difficult it is to perform the duty of seeking the
good of our neighbour ! Unless you leave off all thought of
yourself, and in a manner cease to be yourself, you will
never accomplish it. How can you exhibit those works of
charity which Paul describes unless you renounce yourself,
and become wholly devoted to others ? " Charity (says he,
1 Cor. xiii. 4) sufFereth long, and is kind ; charity envieth
not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not
behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her OTyn is not easily
provoked," &c. Were it the only thing required of us to
seek not our own, nature would not have the least power to"'
comply : she so inclines us to love ourselves only, that she will
not easily allow us carelessly to pass by ourselves and our own
interests that we may watch over the interests of others, nay,
spontaneously to yield our own right, and resign it to another.
But Scripture, to conduct us to this, reminds us, that what
ever we obtain from the Lord is granted on the condition of
our employing it for the common good of the Church, and
that, therefore, the legitimate use of all our gifts is a kind
and liberal communication of them with others. There can-i
not be a surer rule, nor a stronger exhortation to the observ-

1 Calvin, 'le Sacerdotiis Ecclcs. Papal, in fine.

266 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

ance of it, than when we are taught that all the endowments
\ which we possess are divine deposits entrusted to us for the
1 very purpose of being distributed for the good of our neigh-
Ibour. But Scripture proceeds still farther when it likens
these endowments to the different members of the body,
(1 Cor. xii. 12.) No member has its function for itself, or
applies it for its own private use, but transfers it to its
fellow-members ; nor does it derive any other advantage
from it than that which it receives in common with the
whole body. Thus, whatever the pious man can do, he is"
bound to do for his brethren, not consulting his own interest
in any other way than by striving earnestly for the common
edification of the Church. Let this, then, be our method of
showing good-will and kindness, considering that, in regard
to everything which God has bestowed upon us, and by
which we can aid our neighbour, we are his stewards, and
are bound to give account of our stewardship ; moreover,
/ that the only right mode of administration is that which is
regulated by love. In this way, we shall not only unite the
study of our neighbour's advantage w^tli_ar^aj^.j^_iiur.
own, but make the latter subordinate to the former. And
lest we should have omitted to perceive that this is the law
for duly administering every gift which we receive from
God, he of old applied that law to the minutest expressions
of his own kindness. He commanded the first-fruits to be
offered to him as an attestation by the people that it was
impious to reap any advantage from goods not previously
consecrated to him, (Exod. xxii. 29 ; xxiii. 19.) But if the
gifts of God are not sanctified to us until we have with our
own hand dedicated them to the Giver, it must be a gross
abuse that does not give signs of such dedication. It is in
vain to contend that you cannot enrich the Lord by your
offerings. Though, as the Psalmist says, " Thou art my
Lord : my goodness extendeth not unto thee," yet you can
extend it " to the saints that are in the earth," (Ps. xvi. 2, 3 ;)
and therefore a comparison is drawn between sacred oblations
and alms as now corresponding to the offerings under the
Law.1

1 Heb. xiii. 16 ; 2 Cor. ix. 12.

CHAP. VII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 267

6. Moreover, that we may not weary in well-doing, (as
would otherwise forthwith and infallibly be the case,) we must
add the other quality in the Apostle's enumeration, " Charity
suffereth long, and is kind, is not easily provoked," (1 Cor.
xiii. 4.) The Lord enjoins us to do good to all without
exception, though the greater part, if estimated by their own
merit, are most unworthy of it. But Scripture subjoins a
most excellent reason, when it tells us that we are not to look
to what men in themselves deserve, but to attend to the
image of God, which exists in all, and to which we owe all
honour and love. But in those who are of the household of
faith, the same rule is to be more carefully observed, inasmuch
as that image is renewed and restored in them by the Spirit
of Christ. Therefore, whoever be the man that is presented
to you as needing your assistance, you have no ground for
declining to give it to him. Say he is a stranger. The Lord
has given him a mark which ought to be familiar to you :
for which reason he forbids you to despise your own flesh,
(Gal. vi. 10.) Say he is mean and of no consideration. The
Lord points him out as one whom he has distinguished by
the lustre of his own image, (Isaiah Iviii. 7.) Say that you
are bound to him by no ties of duty. The Lord has substi
tuted him as it were into his own place, that in him you
may recognise the many great obligations under which the/
Lord has laid you to himself. Say that he is unworthy or ,
your least exertion on his account ; but the image of God,
by which he is recommended to you, is worthy of yourself
and all your exertions. But if he not only merits no good,
but has provoked you by injury and mischief, still this is no
good reason why you should not embrace him in love, and
visit him with offices of love. He has deserved very differ
ently from me, you will say. But what has the Lord de
served?1 Whatever injury he has done you, when he enjoins
you to forgive him, he certainly means that it should be

1 French, " Car si nous disons qu'il n'a merite que inal de nous ; Dieu
nous pourra demander quel mal il nous a fait, lui dont nous tenons tout
notre bien ;" — For if we say that he has deserved nothing of us but evil,
God may ask us what evil he has done us, he of whom we hold our every
blessin!

'o*

268 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

imputed to himself. In this way only we attain to what is
not to say difficult, but altogether against nature,1 to love
those that hate us, render good for evil, and blessing for
cursing, remembering that we are not to reflect on the wick
edness of men, but look to the image of God in them, an
image which, covering and obliterating their faults, should by
its beauty and dignity allure us to love and embrace them.

7. We shall thus succeed in mortifying ourselves if we ful
fil all the duties of charity. Those duties, however, are not
fulfilled by the mere discharge of them, though none be omit
ted, unless it is done from a pure feeling of love. For it may
happen that one may perform every one of these offices, in so
far as the external act is concerned, and be far from perform
ing them aright. For you see some who would be thought
very liberal, and yet accompany every thing they give with
insult, by the haughtiness of their looks, or the violence of
their words. And to such a calamitous condition have we
come in this unhappy age, that the greater part of men never
almost give alms without contumely. Such conduct ought
not to have been tolerated even among the heathen ; but
from Christians something more is required than to carry
cheerfulness in their looks, and give attractiveness to the
discharge of their duties by courteous language. First, they
should put themselves in the place of him whom they see in
need of their assistance, and pity his misfortune as if they
felt and bore it, so that a feeling of pity and humanity should
incline them to assist him just as they would themselves. He
who is thus minded will go and give assistance to his brethren,
and not only not taint his acts with arrogance or upbraiding,
but will neither look down upon the brother to whom he does
a kindness, as one who needed his help, or keep him in sub
jection as under obligation to him, just as we do not insult a
diseased member when the rest of the body labours for its
recovery, nor think it under special obligation to the other
members, because it has required more exertion than it has
returned. A communication of offices between members is
not regarded as at all gratuitous, but rather as the payment

1 Matth. v. 44 ; vi. 14 ; xviii. 35 ; Luke xvii. 3.

CHAP. VII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 2G9

of that which being due by the law of nature it were mon
strous to deny. For this reason, he who has performed one
kind of duty will not think himself thereby discharged, as is
usually the case when a rich man, after contributing some
what of his substance, delegates remaining burdens to others
as if he had nothing to do with them. Every one should
rather consider, that however great he is, he owes himself to
his neighbours, and that the only limit to his beneficence is
the failure of his means. The extent of these should regu
late that of his charity.

8. The principal part of self-denial, that which as we have said
has reference to God, let us again consider more fully. Many
things have already been said with regard to it which it were
superfluous to repeat ; and, therefore, it will be sufficient to
view it as forming us to equanimity and endurance. First,
then, in seeking the convenience or tranquillity of the pre
sent life, Scripture calls us to resign ourselves, and all we*
have, to the disposal of the Lord, to give him up the affec
tions of our heart, that he may tame and subdue them. We
have a frenzied desire, an infinite eagerness, to pursue wealth
and honour, intrigue for power, accumulate riches, and col
lect all those frivolities which seem conducive to luxury and
splendour. On the other hand, we have a remarkable dread,
a remarkable hatred of poverty, mean birth, and a humble
condition, and feel the strongest desire to guard against them.
Hence, in regard to those who frame their life after their own
counsel, we see how restless they are in mind, how many
plans they try, to what fatigues they submit, in order that
they may gain what avarice or ambition desires, or, on the
other hand, escape poverty and meanness. To avoid similar
entanglements, the course which Christian men must follow
is this : first, they must not long for, or hope for, or think of
any kind of prosperity apart from the blessing of God ; on it
they must cast themselves, and there safely and confidently
recline. For, however much the carnal mind may seem suffi
cient for itself when in the pursuit of honour or wealth, it de
pends on its own industry arid zeal, or is aided by the favour of
men, it is certain that all this is nothing, and that neither intel
lect nor labour will be of the least avail, except in so far as the

270 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

Lord prospers both. On the contrary, his blessing alone
makes a way through all obstacles, and brings every thing to
a joyful and favourable issue. Secondly, though without
this blessing we may be able to acquire some degree of fame
and opulence, (as we daily see wicked men loaded with
honours and riches,) yet since those on whom, the curse of
God lies do not enjoy the least particle of true happiness,
whatever we obtain without his blessing must turn out ill.
But surely men ought not to desire what adds to their misery.
9. Therefore, if we believe that all prosperous and desirable
success depends entirely on the blessing of God, and that
when it is wanting all kinds of misery and calamity await us,
it follows that we should not eagerly contend for riches and
honours, trusting to our own dexterity and assiduity, or leaning
on the favour of men, or confiding in any empty imagination
of fortune ; but should always have respect to the Lord, that
under his auspices we may be conducted to whatever lot he
has provided for us. First, the result will be, that instead of
rushing on regardless of right and wrong, by wiles and wicked
arts, and with injury to our neighbours, to catch at wealth
and seize upon honours, we will only follow such fortune as we
may enjoy with innocence. Who can hope for the aid of the
divine blessing amid fraud, rapine, and other iniquitous arts ?
As this blessing attends him only who thinks purely and acts
uprightly, so it calls off all who long for it from sinister de
signs and evil actions. Secondly, a curb will be laid upon
us, restraining a too eager desire of becoming rich, or an
ambitious striving after honour. How can any one have the
effrontery to expect that God will aid him in accomplishing
desires at variance with his word ? What God with his own
lips pronounces cursed, never can be prosecuted with his
blessing. Lastly, if our success is not equal to our wish and
hope, we shall, however, be kept from impatience and detesta
tion of our condition, whatever it be, knowing that so to feel
were to murmur against God, at whose pleasure riches and
poverty, contempt and honours, are dispensed. In short, he
who leans on the divine blessing in the way which has been
described, will not, in the pursuit of those things which men
are wont most eagerly to desire, employ wicked arts which he

CIIAr. VII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 271

knows would avail him nothing ; nor when any thing pros- )
perous befalls him will he impute it to himself and his own/
diligence, or industry, or fortune, instead of ascribing it to i
God as its author. If, while the affairs of others flourish, his \
make little progress, or even retrograde, he will bear his
humble lot with greater equanimity and moderation than any
irreligious man does the moderate success which only falls
short of what he wished ; for he has a solace in which he can
rest more tranquilly than at the very summit of wealth or
power, because he considers that his affairs are ordered by
the Lord in the manner most conducive to his salvation.
This, we see, is the way in which David was affected, who,
while he follows God and gives up himself to his guidance,
declares, " Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or
in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and
quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother," (Ps.
cxxxi. 1, 2.)

10. Nor is it in this respect only that pious minds ought to
manifest this tranquillity and endurance ; it must be extended
to all the accidents to which this present life is liable. He
alone, therefore, has properly denied himself, who has resigned
himself entirely to the Lord, placing all the course of his life
entirely at his disposal. Happen what may, he whose mind
is thus composed will neither deem himself wretched nor
murmur against God because of his lot. How necessary this
disposition is will appear, if you consider the many accidents to
which \ve are liable. Various diseases ever and anon attack
us : at one time pestilence rages ; at another we are involved
in all the calamities of war. Frost and hail, destroying the
promise of the year, cause sterility, which reduces us to penury ;
wife, parents, children, relatives, are carried off by death ; our
house is destroyed by fire. These are the events which make
men curse their life, detest the day of their birth, execrate
the light of heaven, even censure God, and (as they are
eloquent in blasphemy) charge him with cruelty and injustice.
The believer must in these things also contemplate the
mercy and truly paternal indulgence of God. Accordingly,
should he see his house by the removal of kindred reduced
to solitude, even then he will not cease to bless the Lord ;

272 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

his thought will be, Still the grace of the Lord, which dwells
within my house, will not leave it desolate. If his crops are
blasted, mildewed, or cut off by frost, or struck down by
hail,1 and he sees famine before him, he will not however
despond or murmur against God, but maintain his confidence
in him ; (t We thy people, and sheep of thy pasture, will give
thee thanks for ever/' (Ps. Ixxix. 13 ;) he will supply me with
food, even in the extreme of sterility. If he is afflicted with
disease, the sharpness of the pain will not so overcome him,
as to make him break out with impatience, and expostulate
with God ; but, recognising justice and lenity in the rod,
will patiently endure. In short, whatever happens, knowing
that it is ordered by the Lord, he will receive it with a placid
and grateful mind, and will not contumaciously resist the
government of him, at whose disposal he has placed himself
and all that he has. Especially let the Christian breast
eschew that foolish and most miserable consolation of the
heathen, who, to strengthen their mind against adversity,
imputed it to fortune, at which they deemed it absurd to feel
indignant, as she was &ffxo<ro$ (aimless) and rash, and blindly
wounded the good equally with the bad. On the contrary,
the rule of piety is, that the hand of God is the ruler and
arbiter of the fortunes of all, and, instead of rushing on with
thoughtless violence, dispenses good and evil with perfect
regularity.

1 The French is, " Soit que ses bleds et vignes soyent gastees et des-
truites par gelee, gresle, ou autre tempeste ; " — whether his corn and
vines are hurt and destroyed by frost, hail, or other tempest.

CHAP. VIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 273

CHAPTER VIII.

OF BEARING THE CROSS — ONE BRANCH OF SELF-DENIAL.

The four divisions of this chapter are, — I. The nature of the cross, its
necessity and dignity, sec. 1, 2. II. The manifold advantages of the
cross described, sec. 3-6. III. The form of the cross the most excellent
of all, and yet it by no means removes all sense of pain, sec. 7, 8. IV.
A description of warfare under the cross, and of true patience, (not that
of philosophers,) after the example of Christ, sec. 9-11.

Sections.

1. What the cross is. By whom, and on whom, and for what cause

imposed. Its necessity and dignity.

2. The cross necessary. 1. To humble our pride. 2. To make us apply

to God for aid. Example of David. 3. To give us experience of
God's presence.

3. Manifold uses of the cross. 1. Produces patience, hope, and firm

confidence in God, gives us victory and perseverance. Faith in
vincible,

4. 2. Frames us to obedience. Example of Abraham. This training

how useful.

5. The cross necessary to subdue the wantonness of the flesh. This

pourtrayed by an apposite simile. Various forms of the cross.

6. 3. God permits our infirmities, and corrects past faults, that he may

keep us in obedience. This confirmed by a passage from Solomon
and an Apostle.

7. Singular consolation under the cross, when we suffer persecution for

righteousness. Some parts of this consolation.

8. This form of the cross most appropriate to believers, and should be

borne willingly and cheerfully. This cheerfulness is not unfeeling
hilarity, but, while groaning under the burden, waits patiently for
the Lord.

9. A description of this conflict. Opposed to the vanity of the Stoics.

Illustrated by the authority and example of Christ.
10. Proved by the testimony and uniform experience of the elect. Also
by the special example of the Apostle Peter. The nature of the
patience required of us.

VOL. II. 8

274 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

11. Distinction between the patience of Christians and philosophers. The
latter pretend a necessity which cannot be resisted. The former
hold forth the justice of God and his care of our safety. A full
exposition of this difference.

1. THE pious mind must ascend still higher, namely,
whither Christ calls his disciples when he says, that every
one of them must " take up his cross," (Matth. xvi. 24.)
Those whom the Lord has chosen and honoured with his
intercourse must prepare for a hard, laborious, troubled life,
a life full of many and various kinds of evils ; it being the
will of our heavenly Father to exercise his people in this
way while putting them to the proof. Having begun this
course with Christ the first-born, he continues it towards all
his children. For though that Son was dear to him above
others, the Son in whom he was " well pleased," yet we see,
that far from being treated gently and indulgently, we may
say, that not only was he subjected to a perpetual cross
while he dwelt on earth, but his whole life was nothing else
than a kind of perpetual cross. The Apostle assigns the
reason, " Though he was a Son, yet learned he obedience by
the things which he suffered," (Heb. v. 8.) Why then should
we exempt ourselves from that condition to wrhich Christ our
Head behoved to submit ; especially since he submitted on
our account, that he might in his own person exhibit a model
of patience ? Wherefore, the Apostle declares, that all the
children of God are destined to be conformed to him. Hence
it affords us great consolation in hard and difficult circum
stances, which men deem evil and adverse, to think that we
are holding fellowship with the sufferings of Christ ; that as
he passed to celestial glory through a labyrinth of many woes,
so we too are conducted thither through various tribulations.
For, in another passage, Paul himself thus speaks, " we must
through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God," ( Acts
xiv. 22 ;) and again, " that I may know him, and the power
of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being
made conformable unto his death," (Rom. viii. 29.) How
powerfully should it soften the bitterness of the cross, to
think that the more we are afflicted with adversity, the surer
we are made of our fellowship with Christ ; by communion

CHAP. VIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 275

with whom our sufferings are not only blessed to us, but
tend greatly to the furtherance of our salvation.

2. We may add, that the only thing which made it
necessary for our Lord to undertake to bear the cross, was
to testify and prove his obedience to the Father ; whereas
there are many reasons which make it necessary for us to
live constantly under the cross. Feeble as wre are by nature,
and prone to ascribe all perfection to our flesh, unless we
receive as it were ocular demonstration of our weakness,
wre readily estimate our virtue above its proper worth, and
doubt not that, whatever happens, it will stand unimpaired
and invincible against all difficulties. Hence we indulge a
stupid and empty confidence in the flesh, and then trusting
to it wax proud against the Lord himself; as if our own
faculties were sufficient without his grace. This arrogance
cannot be better repressed than when He proves to us by
experience, not only how great our weakness, but also our
frailty is. Therefore, he visits us with disgrace, or poverty,
or bereavement, or disease, or other afflictions. Feeling
altogether unable to support them, we forthwith, in so far
as regards ourselves, give way, and thus humbled learn to
invoke his strength, which alone can enable us to bear up
under a weight of affliction. Nay, even the holiest of men,
however well aware that they stand not in their own strength,
but by the grace of God, would feel too secure in their own
fortitude and constancy, were they not brought to a more
thorough knowledge of themselves by the trial of the cross.
This feeling gained even upon David, " In my prosperity I
said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by thy favour thou hast
made my mountain to stand strong : thou didst hide thy face,
and I was troubled," (Ps. xxx. 6, 7.) He confesses that in
prosperity his feelings were dulled and blunted, so that,
neglecting the grace of God, on which alone he ought to have
depended, he leant to himself, and promised himself perpe
tuity. If it so happened to this great prophet, who of us
should not fear and study caution ? Though in tranquillity
they flatter themselves with the idea of greater constancy
and patience, yet, humbled by adversity, they learn the
deception. Believers, I say, warned by such proofs of their

276 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

diseases, make progress in humility, and, divesting themselves
of a depraved confidence in the flesh, betake themselves to
the grace of God, and, when they have so betaken them
selves, experience the presence of the divine power, in which
is ample protection.

3. This Paul teaches, when he says that tribulation worketh
patience, and patience experience. God having promised
that he will be with believers in tribulation, they feel the
truth of the promise ; while supported by his hand, they
endure patiently. This they could never do by their own
strength. Patience, therefore, gives the saints an experi
mental proof that God in reality furnishes the aid which he
has promised whenever there is need. Hence also their faith
is confirmed, for it were very ungrateful not to expect that
in future the truth of God will be, as they have already found
it, firm and constant. We now see how many advantages
are at once produced by the cross. Overturning the over
weening opinion we form of our own virtue, and detecting
the hypocrisy in which we delight, it removes our perni
cious carnal confidence, teaching us, when thus humbled, to
recline on God alone, so that we neither are oppressed nor
despond. Then victory is followed by hope, inasmuch as the
Lord, by performing what he has promised, establishes his
truth in regard to the future. Were these the only reasons,
it is surely plain how necessary it is for us to bear the cross.
It is of no little importance to be rid of your self-love, and
made fully conscious of your weakness ; so impressed with a
sense of your weakness as to learn to distrust yourself — to
distrust yourself so as to transfer your confidence to God,
reclining on him with such heartfelt confidence as to trust in
his aid, and continue invincible to the end, standing by his
grace so as to perceive that he is true to his promises, and so
assured of the certainty of his promises as to be strong in
hope.

4. Another end which the Lord has in afflicting his people
is to try their patience, and train them to obedience — not
that they can yield obedience to him except in so far as he
enables them ; but he is pleased thus to attest and display
striking proofs of the graces which he has conferred upon

CHAP. VIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 277

his saints, lest they should remain within unseen and unem
ployed. Accordingly, by bringing forward openly the strength
and constancy of endurance with which he has provided his
servants, he is said to try their patience. Hence the expres
sions that God tempted Abraham, (Gen. xxi. 1, 12,) and
made proof of his piety by not declining to sacrifice his
only son. Hence, too, Peter tells us that our faith is proved
by tribulation, just as gold is tried in a furnace of fire. But
who will say it is not expedient that the most excellent gift
of patience which the believer has received from his God
should be applied to use, by being made sure and manifest ?
Otherwise men would never value it according to its worth.
But if God himself, to prevent the virtues which he has con
ferred upon believers from lurking in obscurity, nay, lying
useless and perishing, does aright in supplying materials for
caUing them forth, there is the best reason for the afflictions
of the saints, since without them their patience could not
exist. I say, that by the cross they are also trained to obedi
ence, because they are thus taught to live not according to
their own wish, but at the disposal of God. Indeed, did all
things proceed as they wish, they would not know what it is
to follow God. Seneca mentions (De Vit. Beata, cap. xv.)
that there was an old proverb when any one was exhorted to
endure adversity, "Follow God;" thereby intimating, that
men truly submitted to the yoke of God only when they gave
their back and hand to his rod. But if it is most right that
we should in all things prove our obedience to our heavenly
Father, certainly we ought not to decline any method by
which he trains us to obedience.

5. Still, however, we see not how necessary that obedience
is, unless we at the same time consider how prone our car
nal nature is to shake off the yoke of God whenever it has
been treated with some degree of gentleness and indulgence.
It just happens to it as with refractory horses, which, if kept
idle for a few days at hack and manger, become ungovern
able, and no longer recognise the rider, whose command
before they implicitly obeyed. And we invariably become
what God complains of in the people of Israel — waxing gross
and fat, we kicL against him who reared and nursed us,

278 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK IIT.

(Deut. xxxii. 15.) The kindness of God should allure us to
ponder and love his goodness ; but since such is our malig
nity, that we are invariably corrupted by his indulgence, it
is more than necessary for us to be restrained by discipline
from breaking forth into such petulance. Thus, lest we become
emboldened by an over-abundance of wealth ; lest elated with
honour, we grow proud ; lest inflated with other advantages
of body, or mind, or fortune, we grow insolent, the Lord him
self interferes as he sees to be expedient by means of the
cross, subduing and curbing the arrogance of our flesh, and
that in various ways, as the advantage of each requires. For
as we do not all equally labour under the same disease, so we do
not all need the same difficult cure. Hence we see that all are
not exercised with the same kind of cross. While the heavenly
Physician treats some more gently, in the case of others he
employs harsher remedies, his purpose being to provide a
cure for all. Still none is left free and untouched, because
he knows that all, without a single exception, are diseased.

6. We may add, that our most merciful Father requires
not only to prevent our weakness, but often to correct our
past faults, that he may keep us in due obedience. There
fore, whenever we are afflicted we ought immediately to call
to mind our past life. In this way we will find that the
faults which we have committed are deserving of such casti-
gation. And yet the exhortation to patience is not to be
founded chiefly on the acknowledgment of sin. For Scrip
ture supplies a far better consideration when it says, that in
adversity " we are chastened of the Lord, that we should
not be condemned with the world," (1 Cor. xi. 32.) There
fore, in the very bitterness of tribulation we ought to recog
nise the kindness and mercy of our Father, since even then
he ceases not to further our salvation. For he afflicts,
not that he may ruin or destroy, but rather that he may
deliver us from the condemnation of the world. Let this
thought lead us to what Scripture elsewhere teaches : "My
son, despise not the chastening of the Lord ; neither be weary
of his correction : For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth ;
even as a father the son in whom he delighteth," (Prov. iii.
11, 12.) When we perceive our Father's rod, is it not our

CHAP. VIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 279

part to behave as obedient docile sons, rather than rebelliously
imitate desperate men, who are hardened in wickedness ? God
dooms us to destruction, if he does not, by correction, call us
back when we have fallen off from him, so that it is truly
said, " If ye be without chastisement," " then are ye bastards,
and not sons," (Heb. xii. 8.) We are most perverse then if we
cannot bear him while he is manifesting his good-will to us,
and the care which he takes of our salvation. Scripture
states the difference between believers and unbelievers to be,
that the latter, as the slaves of inveterate and deep-seated
iniquity, only become worse and more obstinate under the
lash ; whereas the former, like free-born sons, turn to repent
ance. Now, therefore, choose your class. But as I have
already spoken of this subject, it is sufficient to have here
briefly adverted to it.

7. There is singular consolation, moreover, when we are
persecuted for righteousness' sake. For our thought should
then be, How high the honour which God bestows upon us
in distinguishing us by the special badge of his soldiers. By
suffering persecution for righteousness' sake, I mean not only
striving for the defence of the Gospel, but for the defence of
righteousness in any way. Whether, therefore, in maintain
ing the truth of God against the lies of Satan, or defending
the good and innocent against the injuries of the bad, we are
obliged to incur the offence and hatred of the world, so as to
endanger life, fortune, or honour, let us not grieve or decline
so far to spend ourselves for God ; let us not think ourselves
wretched in those things in which he with his own lips has
pronounced us blessed, (Matth. v. 1 0.) Poverty, indeed, con
sidered in itself, is misery ; so are exile, contempt, imprison
ment, ignominy : in fine, death itself is the last of all calami
ties. But when the favour of God breathes upon is, there is
none of these things which may not turn out to our happi
ness. Let us then be contented with the testimony of Christ
rather than with the false estimate of the flesh, and then, after
the example of the Apostles, we will rejoice in being " counted
worthy to suffer shame for his name," (Acts v. 41.) For why ?
If, while conscious of our innocence, we are deprived of our
substance by the wickedness of man, we are, no doubt,
humanly speaking, reduced to poverty ; but in truth our

280 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

riches in heaven are increased : if driven from our homes, we
have a more welcome reception into the family of God ; if
vexed and despised, we are more firmly rooted in Christ ; if
stigmatised by disgrace and ignominy, we have a higher place
in the kingdom of God; and if we are slain, entrance is
thereby given us to eternal life. The Lord having set such
a price upon us, let us be ashamed to estimate ourselves at
less than the shadowy and evanescent allurements of the pre
sent life.

8. Since by these, and similar considerations, Scripture
abundantly solaces us for the ignominy or calamities which
we endure in defence of righteousness, we are very ungrate
ful if we do not willingly and cheerfully receive them at the
hand of the Lord, especially since this form of the cross is
the most appropriate to believers, being that by which Christ
desires to be glorified in us, as Peter also declares, (1 Pet. iv.
11, 14.) But as to ingenuous natures, it is more bitter to
suffer disgrace than a hundred deaths, Paul expressly reminds
us that not only persecution, but also disgrace awaits us, " be
cause we trust in the living God," (1 Tim. iv. 10.) So in
another passage he bids us, after his example, walk " by evil
report and good report," (2 Cor. vi. 8.) The cheerfulness
required, however, does not imply a total insensibility to
pain. The saints could show no patience under the cross
if they were not both tortured with pain and grievously
molested. Were there no hardship in poverty, no pain in
disease, no sting in ignominy, no fear in death, where would
be the fortitude and moderation in enduring them ? But while
every one of these, by its inherent bitterness, naturally vexes
the mind, the believer in this displays his fortitude, that though
fully sensible of the bitterness, and labouring grievously, he
still withstands and struggles boldly ; in this displays his
patience, that though sharply stung, he is however curbed by
the fear of God from breaking forth into any excess ; in this
displays his alacrity, that though pressed with sorrow and
sadness, he rests satisfied with spiritual consolation from God.

9. This conflict which believers maintain against the natural
feeling of pain, while they study moderation and patience,
Paul elegantly describes in these words : " We are troubled
on every side, yet not distressed ; we are perplexed, but not

CHAP. VIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 281

in despair ; persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast down, but not
destroyed," (2 Cor. iv. 8, 9.) You see that to bear the cross
patiently is not to have your feelings altogether blunted, and
to be absolutely insensible to pain, according to the absurd
description which the Stoics of old gave of their hero as one
who, divested of humanity, was affected in the same way by
adversity and prosperity, grief and joy ; or rather, like a stone,
was not affected by anything. And what did they gain by
that sublime wisdom ? they exhibited a shadow of patience,
which never did, and never can, exist among men. Nay,
rather by aiming at a too exact and rigid patience, they
banished it altogether from human life. Now also we have
among Christians a new kind of Stoics, who hold it vicious
not only to groan and weep, but even to be sad and anxious.
These paradoxes are usually started by indolent men who, em
ploying themselves more in speculation than in action, can do
nothing else for us than beget such paradoxes. But we have
nothing to do with that iron philosophy which our Lord and
Master condemned — not only in word, but also by his own
example. For he both grieved and shed tears for his own and
others' woes. Nor did he teach his disciples differently : " Ye
shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice," (John
xvi. 20.) And lest any one should regard this as vicious, he
expressly declares, " Blessed are they that mourn," (Matth.
v. 4.) And no wonder. If all tears are condemned, what
shall we think of our Lord himself, whose " sweat was as it
were great drops of blood falling down to the ground ?" (Luke
xxii. 44 ; Matth. xxvi. 38.) If every kind of fear is a mark
of unbelief, what place shall we assign to the dread which, it
is said, in no slight degree amazed him ; if all sadness is con
demned, how shall we justify him when he confesses, " My
soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death ?"

10. I wished to make these observations to keep pious minds
from despair, lest, from feeling it impossible to divest them
selves of the natural feeling of grief, they might altogether
abandon the study of patience. This must necessarily be the
result with those who convert patience into stupor, and a brave
and firm man into a block. Scripture gives saints the praise
of endurance when, though afflicted by the hardships they

282 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

endure, they are not crushed ; though they feel bitterly, they
are at the same time filled with spiritual joy ; though pressed
with anxiety, breathe exhilarated by the consolation of God.
Still there is a certain degree of repugnance in their hearts,
because natural sense shuns and dreads what is adverse to it,
while pious affection, even through these difficulties, tries to
obey the divine will. This repugnance the Lord expressed
when he thus addressed Peter: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself and walkedst
whither thou wouldst ; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt
stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry
thee whither thou wouldest not," (John xxi. 18.) It is not
probable, indeed, that when it became necessary to glorify
God by death, he was driven to it unwilling and resisting ; had
it been so, little praise would have been due to his martyrdom.
But though he obeyed the divine ordination with the greatest
alacrity of heart, yet, as he had not divested himself of hu
manity, he was distracted by a double will. When lie thought
of the bloody death which he was to die, struck with horror,
he would willingly have avoided it : on the other hand, when
he considered that it was God who called him to it, his fear
was vanquished and suppressed, and he met death cheerfully.
It must therefore be our study, if we would be disciples of
Christ, to imbue our minds with such reverence and obedi
ence to God as may tame and subjugate all affections contrary
to his appointment. In this way, whatever be the kind of
cross to which we are subjected, we shall in the greatest
straits firmly maintain our patience. Adversity will have its
bitterness, and sting us. When afflicted with disease, we shall
groan and be disquieted, and long for health ; pressed with
poverty, wre shall feel the stings of anxiety and sadness, feel
the pain of ignominy, contempt, and injury, and pay the tears
due to nature at the death of our friends : but our conclusion
will always be, The Lord so willed it, therefore let us follow
his will. Nay, amid the pungency of grief, among groans
and tears, this thought will necessarily suggest itself, and
incline us cheerfully to endure the things for which we are so
afflicted.

11. But since the chief reason for enduring the cross has "

CHAP. VJIT. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 283

been derived from a consideration of the divine will, we must
in few words explain wherein lies the difference between
philosophical and Christian patience. Indeed, very few of
the philosophers advanced so far as to perceive that the hand
of God tries us by means of affliction, and that we ought in
this matter to obey God. The only reason which they adduce
is, that so it must be. But is not this just to say, that we
must yield to God, because it is in vain to contend against
him ? For if we obey God only because it is necessary,
provided we can escape, we shah1 cease to obey him. But
what Scripture calls us to consider in the will of God is very
different, namely, first justice and equity, and then a regard
to our own salvation. Hence Christian exhortations to
patience are of this nature, Whether poverty, or exile, or
imprisonment, or contumely, or disease, or bereavement, or
any such evil affects us, we must think that none of them
happens except by the will and providence of God ; more
over, that every thing he does is in the most perfect order.
What ! do not our numberless daily faults deserve to be
chastised, more severely, and with a heavier rod than his
mercy lays upon us ? Is it not most right that our flesh
should be subdued, and be, as it were, accustomed to the yoke,
so as not to rage and wanton as it lists ? Are not the justice
and the truth of God worthy of our suffering on their
account ? l But if the equity of God is undoubtedly displayed
in affliction, we cannot murmur or struggle against them
without iniquity. We no longer hear the frigid cant, Yield,
because it is necessary ; but a living and energetic precept,
Obey, because it is unlawful to resist ; bear patiently,
because impatience is rebellion against the justice of God.
Then as that only seems to us attractive which we per
ceive to be for our own safety and advantage, here also our
heavenly Father consoles us, by the assurance, that in the
very cross with which he afflicts us he provides for our
salvation. But if it is clear that tribulations are salutary to
us, why should we not receive them with calm and grateful
minds ? In bearing them patiently we are not submitting to

1 Sec end of sec. 4, and sec. 5, 7, 8.

284 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

necessity, but resting satisfied with our own good. The
effect of these thoughts is, that to whatever extent our minds
are contracted by the bitterness which we naturally feel
under the cross, to the same extent will they be expanded
with spiritual joy. Hence arises thanksgiving, which cannot
exist unless joy be felt. But if the praise of the Lord and
thanksgiving can emanate only from a cheerful and gladdened
breast, and there is nothing which ought to interrupt these
feelings in us, it is clear how necessary it is to temper the
bitterness of the cross with spiritual joy.

CHAP. IX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 285

CHAPTER IX.

OF MEDITATING ON THE FUTURE LIFE.

The three divisions of this chapter, — I. The principal use of the cross
is, that it in various ways accustoms us to despise the present, and excites
us to aspire to the future life, sec. 1, 2. II. In withdrawing from the
present life we must neither shun it nor feel hatred for it ; but desiring
the future life, gladly quit the present at the command of our sovereign
Master, sec. 3, 4. III. Our infirmity in dreading death described. The
correction and safe remedy, sec. 6.

Sections.

1. The design of God in afflicting his people. 1. To accustom us to de

spise the present life. Our infatuated love of it. Afflictions employed
as the cure. 2. To lead us to aspire to heaven.

2. Excessive love of the present life prevents us from duly aspiring to

the other. Hence the disadvantages of prosperity. Blindness of
the human judgment. Our philosophising on the vanity of life only
of momentary influence. The necessity of the cross.

3. The present life an evidence of the divine favour to his people ; and,

therefore, not to be detested. On the contrary, should call forth
thanksgiving. The crown of victory in heaven after the contest on
earth.

4. Weariness of the present life how to be tempered. The believer's

estimate of life. Comparison of the present and the future life.
How far the present life should be hated.

5. Christians should not tremble at the fear of death. Two reasons.

Objection. Answer. Other reasons.

6. Reasons continued. Conclusion.

1. WHATEVER be the kind of tribulation with which we
are afflicted, we should always consider the end of it to be,
that we may be trained to despise the present, and thereby
stimulated to aspire to the future life. For since God well
knows how strongly we are inclined by nature to a slavish
love of this world, in order to prevent us from clinging too
strongly to it, he employs the fittest reason for calling us
back, and shaking ^ff our lethargy. Every one of us, indeed,

286 INSTITUTES OF TI1E BOOK III.

would be thought to aspire and aim at heavenly immortality
during the whole course of his life. For we would be
ashamed in no respect to excel the lower animals; whose
condition would not be at ah1 inferior to ours, had we not
a hope of immortality beyond the grave. But when you
attend to the plans, wishes, and actions of each, you see
nothing in them but the earth. Hence our stupidity ; our
minds being so dazzled with the glare of wealth, power, and
honours, that they can see no farther. The heart also,
engrossed with avarice, ambition, and lust, is weighed down
and cannot rise above them. In short, the whole soul,
ensnared by the allurements of the flesh, seeks its happiness
on the earth. To meet this disease, the Lord makes his
people sensible of the vanity of the present life, by a constant
proof of its miseries. Thus, that they may not promise
themselves deep and lasting peace in it, he often allows them
to be assailed by war, tumult, or rapine, or to be disturbed
by other injuries. That they may not long with too much
eagerness after fleeting and fading riches, or rest in those
which they already possess, he reduces them to want, or, at
least, restricts them to a moderate allowance, at one time by
exile, at another by sterility, at another by fire, or by other
means. That they may not indulge too complacently in the
advantages of married life, he either vexes them by the
misconduct of their partners, or humbles them by the wicked
ness of their children, or afflicts them by bereavement. But
if in all these he is indulgent to them, lest they should either
swell with vain-glory, or be elated with confidence, by diseases
and dangers he sets palpably before them how unstable and
evanescent are all the advantages competent to mortals. We
duly profit by the discipline of the cross, when we learn that
this life, estimated in itself, is restless, troubled, in numberless
ways wretched, and plainly in no respect happy ; that what
are estimated its blessings are uncertain, fleeting, vain, and
vitiated by a great admixture of evil. From this we con
clude, that all we have to seek or hope for here is contest ;
that when we think of the crown we must raise our eyes to
heaven. For we must hold, that our mind never rises
seriously to desire and aspire after the future, until it has
learned to despise the present life.

CHAP. IX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 287

2. For there- is no medium between the two things : the
earth must either be worthless in our estimation, or keep us
enslaved by an intemperate love of it. Therefore, if we have
any regard to eternity, we must carefully strive to disen
cumber ourselves of these fetters. Moreover, since the
present life has many enticements to allure us, and great
semblance of delight, grace, and sweetness to soothe us, it is
of great consequence to us to be now and then called off from
its fascinations.1 For what, pray, would happen, if we here
enjoyed an uninterrupted course of honour and felicity, when
even the constant stimulus of affliction cannot arouse us to a
due sense of our misery ? That human life is like smoke or a
shadow, is not only known to the learned; there is not a
more trite proverb among the vulgar. Considering it a fact
most useful to be known, they have recommended it in many
well-known expressions. Still there is no fact which we ponder
less carefully, or less frequently remember. For we form all
our plans just as if we had fixed our immortality on the
earth. If we see a funeral, or walk among graves, as the
image of death is then present to the eye, I admit we
philosophise admirably on the vanity of life. We do not
indeed always do so, for those things often have no effect upon
us at all. But, at the best, our philosophy is momentary.
It vanishes as soon as we turn our back, and leaves not the
vestige of remembrance behind; in short, it passes away,
just like the applause of a theatre at some pleasant spectacle.
Forgetful not only of death, but also of mortality itself, as if
no rumour of it had ever reached us, we indulge in supine
security as expecting a terrestrial immortality. Meanwhile,
if any one breaks in with the proverb, that man is the crea
ture of a day,2 we indeed acknowledge its truth, but, so far
from giving heed to it, the thought of perpetuity still keeps

1 French, u Or pource que la vie presente a tousiours force de delices
pour nous attraire, et a grande apparence d'amenlte, de grace et de douceur
pour nous amieller, il nous est bicn mestier d'estre retire d'heure en d'heure,
a ce que nous ne soyons point abusez, et corame ensorcelez de telles
flatteries ;" — Now because the present life has always a host of delights to
attract us, and has great appearance of amenity, grace, and sweetness to
entice us, it is of great importance to us to be hourly withdrawn, in order
that we may not be deceived, and, as it were, bewitched with such flattery.

2 Latin, u Animal esse ttpi]u.£(>ov ;" — is an ephemeral animal.

288 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

hold of our minds. Who then can deny that it is of the
highest importance to us all, I say not, to be admonished
by words, but convinced by all possible experience of the
miserable condition of our earthly life ; since even when
convinced we scarcely cease to gaze upon it with vicious,
stupid admiration, as if it contained within itself the sum of
all that is good ? But if God finds it necessary so to train us,
it must be our duty to listen to him when he calls, and shakes
us from our torpor, that we may hasten to despise the world,
and aspire with our whole heart to the future life.

3. Still the contempt which believers should train them
selves to feel for the present life, must not be of a kind to
beget hatred of it or ingratitude to God. This life, though
abounding in all kinds of wretchedness, is justly classed
among divine blessings which are not to be despised. Where
fore, if we do not recognise the kindness of God in it, we
are chargeable with no little ingratitude towards him. To
believers, especially, it ought to be a proof of divine benevo
lence, since it is wholly destined to promote their salvation.
Before openly exhibiting the inheritance of eternal glory,
God is pleased to manifest himself to us as a Father by
minor proofs, viz., the blessings which he daily bestows upon
us. Therefore, while this life serves to acquaint us with the
goodness of God, shall we disdain it as if it did not contain
one particle of good ? We ought, therefore, to feel and be
affected towards it in such a manner as to place it among
those gifts of the divine benignity which are by no means to be
despised. Were there no proofs in Scripture, (they are most
numerous and clear,) yet nature herself exhorts us to return
thanks to God for having brought us forth into light, granted
us the use of it, and bestowed upon us all the means neces
sary for its preservation. And there is a much higher reason
when we reflect that here we are in a manner prepared for
the glory of the heavenly kingdom. For the Lord hath
ordained, that those who are ultimately to be crowned in
heaven must maintain a previous warfare on the earth, that
they may not triumph before they have overcome the diffi
culties of war, and obtained the victory. Another reason is,
that we here begin to experience in various ways a foretaste

CHAP. IX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 289

of the divine benignity, in order that our hope and desire
may be whetted for its full manifestation. When once we
have concluded that our earthly life is a gift of the divine
mercy, of which, agreeably to our obligation, it behoves us to
have a grateful remembrance, we shall then properly descend
to consider its most wretched condition, and thus escape from
that excessive fondness for it, to which, as I have said, we
are naturally prone.

4. In proportion as this improper love diminishes, our
desire of a better life should increase. I confess, indeed,
that a most accurate opinion was formed by those who
thought, that the best thing was not to be born, the next
best to die early. For, being destitute of the light of God and
of true religion, what could they see in it that was not of
dire and evil omen ? Nor was it unreasonable for those1
who felt sorrow and shed tears at the birth of their kindred,
to keep holiday at their deaths. But this they did without
profit ; because, devoid of the true doctrine of faith, they saw
not how that which in itself is neither happy nor desirable
turns to the advantage of the righteous : and hence their
opinion issued in despair. Let believers, then, in forming
an estimate of this mortal life, and perceiving that in itself
it is nothing but misery, make it their aim to exert them
selves with greater alacrity, and less hinderance, in aspiring
to the future and eternal life. When we contrast the two,
the former may not only be securely neglected, but, in com
parison of the latter, be disdained and contemned. If heaven
is our country, what can the earth be but a place of exile ?
If departure from the world is entrance into life, what is the
world but a sepulchre, and what is residence in it but im
mersion in death ? If to be freed from the body is to gain
full possession of freedom, what is the body but a prison ?
If it is the very summit of happiness to enjoy the presence
of God, is it not miserable to want it ? But " whilst we are
at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord," (2 Cor.
v. 6.) Thus when the earthly is compared with the heavenly
life, it may undoubtedly be despised and trampled under foot.

1 French, " Le peuple des Scythes ;" — the Scythians.
VOL. II. X

290 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

We ought never, indeed, to regard it with hatred, except
in so far as it keeps us subject to sin ; and even this hatred
ought not to be directed against life itself. At all events,
we must stand so affected towards it in regard to weariness
or hatred as, while longing for its termination, to be ready at
the Lord's will to continue in it, keeping far from everything
like murmuring and impatience. For it is as if the Lord had
assigned us a post, which we must maintain till he recalls us.
Paul, indeed, laments his condition, in being still bound with
the fetters of the body, and sighs earnestly for redemption,
(Rom. vii. 24 ;) nevertheless, he declared that, in obedience
to the command of God, he was prepared for both courses,
because he acknowledges it as his duty to God to glorify his
name whether by life or by death, while it belongs to God
to determine what is most conducive to His glory, (Phil. i.
20-24.) Wherefore, if it becomes us to live and die to the
Lord, let us leave the period of our life and death at his dis
posal. Still let us ardently long for death, and constantly
meditate upon it, and in comparison with future immortality,
let us despise life, and, on account of the bondage of sin, long
to renounce it whenever it shall so please the Lord.

5. But, most strange to say, many who boast of being
Christians, instead of thus longing for death, are so afraid of
it that they tremble at the very mention of it as a thing
ominous and dreadful. We cannot wonder, indeed, that our
natural feelings should be somewhat shocked at the mention
of our dissolution. But it is altogether intolerable that the
light of piety should not be so powerful in a Christian breast
as with greater consolation to overcome and suppress that
fear. For if we reflect that this our tabernacle, unstable,
defective, corruptible, fading, pining, and putrid, is dissolved,
in order that it may forthwith be renewed in sure, perfect,
incorruptible, in fine, in heavenly glory, will not faith compel
us eagerly to desire what nature dreads ? If we reflect that
by death we are recalled from exile to inhabit our native
country, a heavenly country, shall this give us no comfort ?
But everything longs for permanent existence. I admit
this, and therefore contend that we ought to look to future
immortality, where we may obtain that fixed condition which

CHAP. IX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 291

nowhere appears on the earth. For Paul admirably enjoins
believers to hasten cheerfully to death, not because they
" would be unclothed, but clothed upon," (2 Cor. v. 2.)
Shah1 the lower animals, and inanimate creatures themselves,
even wood and stone, as conscious of their present vanity,
long for the final resurrection, that they may with the sons of
God be delivered from vanity, (Rom. viii. 19 ;) and shall we,
endued with the light of intellect, and more than intellect,
enlightened by the Spirit of God, when our essence is in
question, rise no higher than the corruption of this earth ?
But it is not my purpose, nor is this the place, to plead
against this great perverseness. At the outset, I declared
that I had no wish to engage in a diffuse discussion of com
mon-places. My advice to those whose minds are thus
timid is to read the short treatise of Cyprian De Mortalitate,
unless it be more accordant with their deserts to send
them to the philosophers, that by inspecting what they say
on the contempt of death, they may begin to blush. This,
however, let us hold as fixed, that no man has made much
progress in the school of Christ who does not look forward
with joy to the day of death and final resurrection, (2 Tim.
iv. 18 ; Tit. ii. 13 :) for Paul distinguishes all believers by
this mark ; and the usual course of Scripture is to direct us
thither whenever it would furnish us with an argument ft r
substantial joy. " Look up," says our Lord, " and lift up
your heads : for your redemption draweth nigh," (Luke xxi.
28.) Is it reasonable, I ask, that what he intended to have
a powerful effect in stirring us up to alacrity and exultation
should produce nothing but sadness and consternation ? If
it is so, why do we still glory in him as our Master ? There
fore, let us come to a sounder mind, and how repugnant so
ever the blind and stupid longing of the flesh may be, let us
doubt not to desire the advent of the Lord not in wish only,
but with earnest sighs, as the most propitious of ah1 events.
He will come as a Redeemer to deliver us from an immense
abyss of evil and misery, and lead us to the blessed inherit
ance of his life and glory.

6. Thus, indeed, it is ; the whole body of the faithful, so
long as they live on the earth, must be like sheep for the

292 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

slaughter, in order that they may be conformed to Christ
their head, (Rom. viii. 36.) Most deplorable, therefore,
would their situation be did they not, by raising their mind
to heaven, become superior to all that is in the world, and
rise above the present aspect of affairs, (1 Cor. xv. 19.) On
the other hand, when once they have raised their head above
all earthly objects, though they see the wicked flourishing in
wealth and honour, and enjoying profound peace, indulging
in luxury and splendour, and revelling in all kinds of delights,
though they should moreover be wickedly assailed by them,
suffer insult from their pride, be robbed by their avarice, or
assailed by any other passion, they will have no difficulty in
bearing up under these evils. They will turn their eye to that
day, (Isaiah xxv. 8 ; Rev. vii. 17,) on which the Lord will re
ceive his faithful servants, wipe away all tears from their eyes,
clothe them in a robe of glory and joy, feed them with the
ineffable sweetness of his pleasures, exalt them to share with
him in his greatness ; in fine, admit them to a participation
in his happiness. But the wicked who may have flourished
on the earth, he will cast forth in extreme ignominy, will
change their delights into torments, their laughter and joy
into wailing and gnashing of teeth, their peace into the
gnawing of conscience, and punish their luxury wTith un
quenchable fire. He will also place their necks under the
feet of the godly, whose patience they abused. For, as Paul
declares, " it is a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you ; and to you who are
troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven," (2 Thess. i. 6, 7.) This, indeed, is our only
consolation ; deprived of it, we must either give way to
despondency, or resort to our destruction to the vain solace
of the world. The Psalmist confesses, " My feet were almost
gone : my steps had well nigh slipt : for I was envious at
the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked," (Psalm
Ixxiii. 3, 4 ;) and he found no resting-place until he entered
the sanctuary, and considered the latter end of the righteous
and the wicked. To conclude in one word, the cross of
Christ then only triumphs in the breasts of believers over
the devil and the flesh, sin and sinners, when their eyes are
directed to the power of his resurrection.

CHAP. X. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 293

CHAPTER X.

HOW TO USE THE PRESENT LIFE, AND THE COMFORTS OF IT.

The divisions of this chapter are, — I. The necessity and usefulness of
this doctrine. Extremes to be avoided, if we would rightly use the pre
sent life and its comforts, sec. 1, 2. II. One of these extremes, viz., the
intemperance of the flesh, to be carefully avoided. Four methods of
doing so described in order, sec. 3-6.

Sections.

1. Necessity of this doctrine. Use of the goods of the present life. Ex

tremes to be avoided. 1. Excessive austerity. 2. Carnal intemper
ance and lascivionsness.

2. God, by creating so many mercies, consulted not only for our necessi

ties, but also for our comfort and delight. Confirmation from a
passage in the Psalms, and from experience.

3. Excessive austerity, therefore, to be avoided. So also must the wan

tonness of the flesh. 1. The creatures invite us to know, love, and
honour the Creator. 2. This not done by the wicked, who only
abuse these temporal mercies.

4. All earthly blessings to be despised in comparison of the heavenly

life. Aspiration after this life destroyed by an excessive love of
created objects. First, Intemperance.

5. Second, Impatience and immoderate desire. Remedy of these evils.

The creatures assigned to our use. Man still accountable for the
use he makes of them.

6. God requires us in all our actions to look to his calling. Use of this

doctrine. It is full of comfort.

1. BY such rudiments we are at the same time well in
structed by Scripture in the proper use of earthly blessings,
a subject which, in forming a scheme of life, is by no means
to be neglected. For if we are to live, we must use the neces
sary supports of life ; nor can we even shun those things which
seem more subservient to delight than to necessity. We
must therefore observe a mean, that we may use them with a

294 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

pure conscience, whether for necessity or for pleasure. This
the Lord prescribes by his word, when he tells us that to his
people the present life is a kind of pilgrimage by which they
hasten to the heavenly kingdom. If "we are only to pass
I through the earth, there can be no doubt that we are to use
[ its blessings only in so far as they assist our progress, rather
' than retard it. Accordingly, Paul, not without cause, ad
monishes us to use this world without abusing it, and to buy
possessions as if we were selling them, (1 Cor. vii. 30, 31.)
But as this is a slippery place, and there is great danger of fall
ing on either side, let us fix our feet where we can stand safely.
There have been some good and holy men who, when they
saw intemperance and luxury perpetually carried to excess,
if not strictly curbed, and were desirous to correct so per
nicious an evil, imagined that there was no other method
than to allow man to use corporeal goods only in so far as
they were necessaries : a counsel pious indeed, but unne
cessarily austere ; for it does the very dangerous thing of
binding consciences in closer fetters than those in which
they are bound by the word of God. Moreover, necessity,
according to them,1 was abstinence from every thing which
could be wanted, so that they held it scarcely lawful to make
any addition to bread and water. Others were still more
austere, as is related of Cratetes the Theban, who threw
his riches into the sea, because he thought, that unless he
destroyed them they would destroy him. Many also in the
present day, while they seek a pretext for carnal intemperance
in the use of external things, and at the same time would
pave the way for licentiousness, assume for granted, what I
by no means concede, that this liberty is not to be restrained
by any modification, but that it is to be left to every man's
conscience to use them as far as he thinks lawful. I indeed
confess that here consciences neither can nor ought to be
bound by fixed and definite laws ; but that Scripture having
laid down general rules for the legitimate use, we should keep
within the limits which they prescribe.

1 See CliipysQst. ad Heb. xi. As to Cratetes the Theban, see Plutarch,
Lib. de Vitand. acre alien, and Philostratus in Vita Apollonii.

CHAP. X. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 295

2. Let this be our principle, that we err not in the use of
the gifts of Providence when we refer them to the end for
which their author made and destined them, since he created
them for our good,' and not for our destruction. No man
will keep the true path better than he who shall have this
end carefully in view. Now then, if we consider for what
end he created food, we shall find that he consulted not only
for our necessity, but also for our enjoyment and delight.
Thus, in clothing, the end was, in addition to necessity, come
liness and honour ; and in herbs, fruits, and trees, besides
their various uses, gracefulness of appearance and sweetness
of smell. Were it not so, the Prophet would not,enumerate
among the mercies of God " wine that maketh glad the heart
of man, and oil to make his face to shine," (Ps. civ. 15.) The
Scriptures would not everywhere mention, in commendation
of his benignity, that he had given such things to men. The
natural qualities of things themselves demonstrate to what
end, and how far, they may be lawfully enjoyed. Has the
Lord adorned flowers with all the beauty which spontaneously
presents itself to the eye, and the sweet odour which delights
the sense of smell, and shall it be unlawful for us to enjoy
that beauty and this odour ? What ? Has he not so dis
tinguished colours as to make some more agreeable than
others ? Has he not given qualities to gold and silver, ivory
and marble, thereby rendering them precious above other
metals or stones?. In short, has he not given many things a
value without having any necessary use ?

3. Have done, then, with that inhuman philosophy which,
in allowing no use of the creatures but for necessity, not only
maliciously deprives us of the lawful fruit of the divine be
neficence, but cannot be realised without depriving man of
all his senses, and reducing him to a block. But, on the
other hand, let us with no less care guard against the lusts
of the flesh, which, if not kept in order, break through ah1
bounds, and are, as I have said, advocated by those who,
under pretence of liberty, allow themselves every sort of
license. First one restraint is imposed when we hold that
the object of creating all things was to teach us to know their
author, and feel grateful for his indulgence. Where is the

296 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

gratitude, if you so gorge or stupify yourself with feasting
and wine as to be unfit for offices of piety, or the duties of
your calling? Where the recognition of God, if the flesh,
boiling forth in lust through excessive indulgence, infects the
mind with its impurity, so as to lose the discernment of
honour and rectitude ? Where thankfulness to God for cloth
ing, if on account of sumptuous raiment we both admire
ourselves and disdain others ? if, from a love of show and
splendour, we pave the way for immodesty ? Where our re
cognition of God, if the glare of these things captivates our
minds ? For many are so devoted to luxury in ah1 their senses,
that their .mind lies buried: many are so delighted with
marble, gold, and pictures, that they become marble-hearted
— are changed as it were into metal, and made like painted
figures. The kitchen, with its savoury smells, so engrosses
them that they have no spiritual savour. The same thing
may be seen in other matters. Wherefore, it is plain that
there is here great necessity for curbing licentious abuse, and
conforming to the rule of Paul, " make not provision for the
flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof," (Rom. xiii. 14.) Where too
much liberty is given to them, they break forth without mea
sure or restraint.

4. There is no surer or quicker way of accomplishing this
than by despising the present life and aspiring to celestial
immortality. For hence two rules arise : First, " it remaineth,
that both they that have wives be as though they had none ;"
" and they that use this world, as not abusing it," (1 Cor. vii.
29, 31.) Secondly, we must learn to be no less placid and
patient in enduring penury, than moderate in enjoying abun
dance. He who makes it his rule to use this world as if he
used it not, not only cuts off all gluttony in regard to meat
and drink, and all effeminacy, ambition, pride, excessive
show, and austerity, in regard to his table, his house, and his
clothes, but removes every care and affection which might
withdraw or hinder him from aspiring to the heavenly life,
and cultivating the interest of his soul.1 It was well said

1 French, " Parer notre ame de ses vrais orneir.ens ;" — deck our soul
with its true ornaments.

CHAP. X. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 297

by Cato : Luxury causes great care, and produces great
carelessness as to virtue ; and it is an old proverb, — Those
who are much occupied with the care of the body, usually
give little care to the soul. Therefore, while the liberty of
the Christian in external matters is not to be tied down to
a strict rule, it is, however, subject to this law — he must
indulge as little as possible ; on the other hand, it must be
his constant aim, not only to curb luxury, but to cut off all
show of superfluous abundance, and carefully beware of con
verting a help into an hinderance.

5. Another rule is, that those in narrow and slender circum
stances should learn to bear their wants patiently, that they
may not become immoderately desirous of things, the mode
rate use of which implies no small progress in the school of
Christ. For in addition to the many other vices which
accompany a longing for earthly good, he who is impatient
under poverty almost always betrays the contrary disease in
abundance. By this I mean, that he who is ashamed of a
sordid garment will be vain-glorious of a splendid one ; he
who not contented with a slender, feels annoyed at the want
of a more luxurious supper, will intemperately abuse his
luxury if he obtains it ; he who has a difficulty, and is dis
satisfied in submitting to a private and humble condition,
will be unable to refrain from pride if he attain to honour.
Let it be the aim of all who have any unfeigned desire for
piety to learn, after the example of the Apostle, " both to
be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer
need," (Philip, iv. 12.) Scripture, moreover, has a third
rule for modifying the use of earthly blessings. We have
already adverted to it when considering the offices of
charity. For it declares that they have all been given us
by the kindness of God, and appointed for our use under
the condition of being regarded as trusts, of which we
must one day give account. We must, therefore, adminis
ter them as if we constantly heard the words sounding in
our ears, " Give an account of your stewardship." At the
same time, let us remember by whom the account is to be
taken, viz., by him who, while he so highly commends
abstinence, sobriety, frugality, and moderation, abominates

298 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

luxury, pride, ostentation, and vanity ; who approves of no
administration but that which is combined with charity,
who with his own lips has already condemned all those plea
sures which withdraw the heart from chastity and purity,
or darken the intellect.

6. The last thing to be observed is, that the Lord enjoins
every one of us, in all the actions of life, to have respect to our
own calling. He knows the boiling restlessness of the human
mind, the fickleness with which it is borne hither and thither,
its eagerness to hold opposites at one time in its grasp, its
ambition. Therefore, lest all things should be thrown into
confusion by our folly and rashness, he has assigned distinct
duties to each in the different modes of life. And that no
one may presume to overstep his proper limits, he has dis
tinguished the different modes of life by the name of callings.
/ Every man's mode of life, therefore, is a kind of station
j assigned him by the Lord, that he may not be always driven
/ about at random. So necessary is this distinction, that all
our actions are thereby estimated in his sight, and often in a
very different way from that in which human reason or
philosophy would estimate them. There is no more illus
trious deed even among philosophers than to free one's
country from tyranny, and yet the private individual who
stabs the tyrant is openly condemned by the voice of the
heavenly Judge. But I am unwilling to dwell on particular
examples ; it is enough to know that in every thing the
call of the Lord is the foundation and beginning of right
action. He who does not act with reference to it will
never, in the discharge of duty, keep the right path. He
will sometimes be able, perhaps, to give the semblance of
something laudable, but whatever it may be in the sight of
man, it will be rejected before the throne of God; and
besides, there will be no harmony in the different parts of
his life. Hence, he only who directs his life to this end
will have it properly framed ; because, free from the impulse
of rashness, he will not attempt more than his calling
justifies, knowing that it is unlawful to overleap the pre
scribed bounds. He who is obscure will not decline to
cultivate a private life, that he may not desert the post at

CHAP. X. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 290

which God has placed him. Again, in all our cares, toils,
annoyances, and other burdens, it will be no small alleviation
to know that all these are under the superintendence of
God. The magistrate will more willingly perform his office,
and the father of a family confine himself to his proper
sphere. Every one in his particular mode of life will, with
out repining, suffer its inconveniences, cares, uneasiness, and
anxiety, persuaded that God has laid on the burden. This,
too, will afford admirable consolation, that in following your
proper calling, no work will be so mean and sordid as not
to have a splendour and value in the eye of God.

300 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

CHAPTER XL

OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. BOTH THE NAME AND THE
REALITY DEFINED.

In this chapter and the seven which follow, the doctrine of Justification
by Faith is expounded, and opposite errors refuted. The following may
be regarded as the arrangement of these chapters : — Chapter XI. states
the doctrine, and the four subsequent chapters, by destroying the right
eousness of works, confirm the righteousness of faith, each in the order
which appears in the respective titles of these chapters. In Chapter
XII. the doctrine of Justification is confirmed by a description of perfect
righteousness ; in Chapter XIII. by calling attention to two precautions ;
in Chapter XIV. by a consideration of the commencement and progress
of regeneration in the regenerate ; and in Chapter XY. by two very
pernicious effects which constantly accompairy the righteousness of works.
The three other chapters are devoted to refutation; Chapter XVI.
disposes of the objections of opponents ; Chapter XVII. replies to the
arguments drawn from the promises of the Law or the Gospel ; Chapter
XVIII. refutes what is said in support of the righteousness of faith from
the promise of reward.

There are three principal divisions in the Eleventh Chapter. I. The
terms used in this discussion are explained, sec. 1-4. II. Osiander's
dream as to essential righteousness impugned, sec. 5-13. III. The
righteousness of faith established in opposition to the righteousness of
works.

Sections.

1. Connection between the doctrine of Justification and that of Regene

ration. The knowledge of this doctrine very necessary for two
reasons.

2. For the purpose of facilitating the exposition of it, the terms are

explained. 1. What it is to be justified in the sight of God.

2. To be justified by works. 3. To be justified by faith. Defini
tion.

3. Various meanings of the term Justification. 1. To give praise to

God and truth. 2. To make a vain display of righteousness.

3. To impute righteousness by faith, by and on account of
Christ. Confirmation from an expression of Paul, and another of
our Lord.

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 301

4. Another confirmation from a comparison with other expressions, in

which justification means free righteousness before God through
faith in Jesus Christ. 1. Acceptance. 2. Imputation of right
eousness. 3. Remission of sins. 4. Blessedness. 5. Reconcilia
tion with God. 6. Righteousness by the obedience of Christ.

5. The second part of the chapter. Osiander's dream as to essential

righteousness refuted. 1. Osiander's argument : Answer. 2. Osian
der's second argument : Answer. Third argument : Answer.

6. Necessity of this refutation. Fourth argument : Answer. Confir

mation : Another answer. Fifth and sixth arguments and
answers.

7. Seventh and eighth arguments : Answers.

8. Ninth argument : Answer.

9. Tenth argument : Answer.

10. In what sense Christ is said to be our righteousness. Eleventh and

twelfth arguments and answers.

11. Thirteenth and fourteenth arguments : Answers. An exception by

Osiander. Imputed and begun righteousness to be distinguished.
Osiander confounds them. Fifteenth argument : Answer.

12. Sixteenth argument, a dream of Osiander : Answer Other four

arguments and answers. Conclusion of the refutation of Osiander's
errors.

13. Last part of the chapter. Refutation of the Sophists pretending a

righteousness compounded partly of faith and partly of works.

14. Sophistical evasion by giving the same name to different things :

Two answers.

15. Second evasion : Two answers. First answer. Pernicious conse

quences resulting from this evasion.

16. Second answer, showing wherein, according to Scripture, Justification

consists.

17. In explanation of this doctrine of Justification, two passages of

Scripture produced.

18. Another passage of Scripture.

19. Third evasion. Papistical objection to the doctrine of Justification

by Faith alone : Three answers. Fourth evasion : Three answers.

20. Fifth evasion, founded on the application of the term Righteousness

to good works, and also on their reward : Answer, confirmed by
the invincible argument of Paul. Sixth evasion : Answer.

21. Osiander and the Sophists being thus refuted, the accuracy of the

definition of Justification by Faith established.

22. Definition confirmed. 1. By passages of Scripture. 2. By the

writings of the ancient Fathers.

23. Man justified by faith, not because by it he obtains the Spirit, and is

thus made righteous, but because by faith he lays hold of the
righteousness of Christ. An objection removed. An example of
the doctrine of Justification by Faith from the works of Ambrose.

302 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

1. I TRUST I have now sufficiently shown1 how man's only
resource for escaping from the curse of the law, and recover
ing salvation, lies in faith ; and also what the nature of faith
is, what the benefits which it confers, and the fruits which it
produces. The whole may be thus summed up : Christ given
to us by the kindness of God is apprehended and possessed
by faith, by means of which we obtain in particular a two
fold benefit ; first, being reconciled by the righteousness of
Christ, God becomes, instead of a judge, an indulgent Father ;
and, secondly, being sanctified by his Spirit, we aspire to
integrity and purity of life. This second benefit, viz., rege
neration, appears to have been already sufficiently discussed.
On the other hand, the subject of justification was discussed
more cursorily, because it seemed of more consequence first
to explain that the faith by which alone, through the mercy
of God, we obtain free justification, is not destitute of good
works ; and also to show the true nature of these good works
on which this question partly turns. The doctrine of Justi
fication is now to be fully discussed, and discussed under the
conviction, that as it is the principal ground on which reli
gion must be supported, so it requires greater care and
attention. For unless you understand first of all what your
position is before God, and what the judgment which he
passes upon you, you have no foundation on which your sal
vation can be laid, or on which piety towards God can be
reared. The necessity of thoroughly understanding this sub
ject will become more apparent as we proceed with it.

2. Lest we should stumble at the very threshold, (this we
should do were we to begin the discussion without knowing
what the subject is,) let us first explain the meaning of the
expressions, To be, justified in the sight of Godj To be justified
by faith or by works. A man is said to be justified in the
sight of God when in the judgment of God he is deemed
righteous, and is accepted on account of his righteousness ;
for as iniquity is abominable to God, so neither can the sin
ner find grace in his sight, so far as he is and so long as he

1 See Institutes, Book II. chap. vi. and vii. and Book III. from the com
mencement to the present chapter.

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 303

is regarded as a sinner. Hence, wherever sin is, there also
are the wrath and vengeance of God. He, on the other
hand, is justified who is regarded not as a sinner, but as right
eous, and as such stands acquitted at the judgment-seat of
God, where all sinners are condemned. As an innocent
man3 when charged before an impartial judge, who decides
according to his innocence, is said to be justified by the
judge, so a man is said to be justified by God when, removed
from the catalogue of sinners, he has God as the witness and
assertor of his righteousness. In the same manner, a man
will be said to be justified by works, if in his life there can be
found a purity and holiness which merits an attestation of
righteousness at the throne of God, or if by the perfection of
his works he can answer and satisfy the divine justice. On
the contrary, a man will be justified by faith when, excluded
from the righteousness of works, he by faith lays hold of the
righteousness of Christ, and clothed in it appears in the sight
of God not as a sinner, but as righteous. Thus we simply
interpret justification, as the acceptance with which God
receives us into his favour as if we were righteous ; and we
say that this justification consists in the forgiveness of sins
and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, (see sec.
21 and 23.)

3. In confirmation of this there are many clear passages of
Scripture. First, it cannot be denied that this is the proper
and most usual signification of the term. But as it were
too tedious to collect all the passages, and compare them with
each other, let it suffice to have called the reader's attention
to the fact : he will easily convince himself of its truth. I
will only mention a few passages in which the justification of
which we speak is expressly handled. First, when Luke
relates that all the people that heard Christ "justified God,"
(Luke vii. 29,) and when Christ declares, that " Wisdom is
justified of all her children," (Luke vii. 35,) Luke means not
that they conferred righteousness which always dwells in per
fection with God, although the whole world should attempt
to wrest it from him, nor does Christ mean that the doctrine
of salvation is made just : this it is in its own nature ; but
both modes of expression are equivalent to attributing due

304 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

praise to God and his doctrine. On the other hand, when
Christ upbraids the Pharisees for justifying themselves,
(Luke xvi. 15,) he means not that they acquired righteous
ness by acting properly, but that they ambitiously courted a
reputation for righteousness of which they were destitute.
Those acquainted with Hebrew understand the meaning bet
ter : for in that language the name of wicked is given not
only to those who are conscious of wickedness, but to those
who receive sentence of condemnation. Thus, when Bath-
sheba says, " I and my son Solomon shall be counted offend
ers," she does not acknowledge a crime, but complains that
she and her son will be exposed to the disgrace of being num
bered among reprobates and criminals, (1 Kings i. 21.) It is,
indeed, plain from the context, that the term even in Latin1
must be thus understood, viz., relatively, and does not denote
any quality. In regard to the use of the term with reference to
the present subject, when Paul speaks of the Scripture, " fore
seeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,"
(Gal. iii. 8,) what other meaning can you give it than that
God imputes righteousness by faith ? Again, when he says,
" that he (God) might be just, and the justifier of him who
believeth in Jesus," (Horn. iii. 26,) what can the meaning be,
if not that God, in consideration of their faith, frees them
from the condemnation which their wickedness deserves?
This appears still more plainly at the conclusion, when he ex
claims, " Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's
elect ? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth ?
It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us," (Rom. viii. 33, 34.) For it is just as if he had said,
Who shall accuse those whom God has acquitted ? Who shall
condemn those for whom Christ pleads ? To justify, there
fore, is nothing else than to acquit from the charge of guilt,
as if innocence were proved. Hence, when God justifies us
through the intercession of Christ, he does not acquit us on a
proof of our own innocence, but by an imputation of right-

1 Latin, " etiam dum Latine legitur."— French, " mesme en Grec et en
Latin ;" even in Greek and Latin.

CHAP. XI. CHEISTIAN RELIGION. 305

eousness, so that though not righteous in ourselves, we are
deemed righteous in Christ. Thus it is said, in Paul's discourse
in the Acts, " Through this man is preached unto you the for
giveness of sins ; and by him all that believe are justified from
all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of
Moses," (Acts xiii. 38, 39.) You see that after remission of
sins justification is set down by way of explanation ; you see
plainly that it is used for acquittal ; you see how it cannot be
obtained by the works of the law ; you see that it is entirely
through the interposition of Christ ; you see that it is obtain
ed by faith ; you see, in fine, that satisfaction intervenes,
since it is said that we are justified from our sins by Christ.
Thus when the publican is said to have gone down to his
house "justified," (Luke xviii. 14,) it cannot be held that he
obtained this justification by any merit of works. All that
is said is, that after obtaining the pardon of sins he was
regarded in the sight of God as righteous. He was justified,
therefore, not by any approval of works, but by gratuitous
acquittal on the part of God. Hence Ambrose elegantly terms
confession of sins "legal justification," (Ambrose on Psalm
cxviii. Serm. x.)

4. Without saying more about the term, we shall have no
doubt as to the thing meant if we attend to the description
which is given of it. For Paul certainly designates justification
by the term acceptance^ when he says to the Ephesians, " Hav
ing predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the Beloved," (Eph. i. 5, 6.) His meaning is
the very same as where he elsewhere says, " being justified
freely by his grace," (Rom. iii. 24.) In the fourth chapter of
the Epistle to the Romans, he first terms it the imputation of
righteousness, and hesitates not to place it in forgiveness of
sins : " Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the
man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven," &c.,
(Rom. iv. 6-8.) There, indeed, he is not speaking of a part
of justification, but of the whole. He declares, moreover,
that a definition of it was given by David, when he pro-

VOL. II. U

306 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

nounced him blessed who has obtained the free pardon of his
sins. Whence it appears that this righteousness of which he
speaks is simply opposed to judicial guilt.1 But the most
satisfactory passage on this subject is that in which he
declares the sum of the Gospel message to be reconciliation
to God, who is pleased, through Christ, to receive us into
favour by not imputing our sins, (2 Cor. v. 18-21.) Let my
readers carefully weigh the whole context. For Paul shortly
after adding, by way of explanation, in order to designate the
mode of reconciliation, that Christ who knew no sin was
made sin for us, undoubtedly understands by reconciliation
nothing else than justification. Nor, indeed, could it be said,
as he elsewhere does, that we are made righteous " by the
obedience" of Christ, (Rom. v. 1 9,) were it not that we are
deemed righteous in the sight of God in him and not in
ourselves.

5. But as Osiander has introduced a kind of monstrosity
termed essential righteousness, by which, although he designed
not to abolish free righteousness, he involves it in darkness,
and by that darkness deprives pious minds of a serious sense
of divine grace ;2 before I pass to other matters, it may be
proper to refute this delirious dream. And, first, the whole
speculation is mere empty curiosity. He, indeed, heaps together
many passages of Scripture showing that Christ is one with
us, and we likewise one with him, a point which needs no
proof; but he entangles himself by not attending to the bond
of this unity. The explanation of all difficulties is easy to
us, who hold that we are united to Christ by the secret
agency of his Spirit, but he had formed some idea akin to that
of the Manichees, desiring to transfuse the divine essence into
men.3 Hence his other notion, that Adam was formed in the

1 French, " Dont il appert qu'il note ces deux choses comme opposites,
Estre justifies et Estre tenu coulpable ; a ce que le proces soit fait a 1'homme
qui aura failli ;" — whence it appears that he sets down as opposites the two
things, To be justified, and To be held guilty, in that the process is

brought against man who has failed.
2 French, " Que les poures ames n

s poures ames ne sauroyent comprendre en telle ob-

scurite la grace de Christ ;" — that poor souls cannot in such obscurity com
prehend the grace of Christ.

3 French, uC'est, que Tame est de Tessence de Dieu ;" — that is, that the
soul is of the essence of God.

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 307

image of God, because even before the fall Christ was destined
to be the model of human nature. But as I. study brevity, I will
confine myself to the matter in hand. He says, that we are
one with Christ. This we admit, but still we deny that the
essence of Christ is confounded with ours. Then wre say that
he absurdly endeavours to support his delusions by means of
this principle : that Christ is our righteousness, because he is
the eternal God, the fountain of righteousness, the very right
eousness of God. My readers will pardon me for now only
touching on matters which method requires me to defer to
another place. But although he pretends that, by the term
essential righteousness, he merely means to oppose the sen
timent that we are reputed righteous on account of Christ,
he however clearly shows, that not contented with that
righteousness, which was procured for us by the obedience
and sacrificial death of Christ, he maintains that we are sub
stantially righteous in God by an infused essence as well as
quality. For this is the reason why he so vehemently con
tends, that not only Christ but the Father and the Spirit
dwell in us. The fact I admit to be true, but still I maintain
it is wrested by him. He ought to have attended to the mode
of dwelling, viz., that the Father and the Spirit are in Christ ;
and as in him the fulness of the Godhead dwells, so in him we
possess God entire. Hence, whatever he says separately
concerning the Father and the Spirit, has no other tendency
than to lead away the simple from Christ. Then he intro
duces a substantial mixture, by which God, transfusing him
self into us, makes us as it were a part of himself. Our
being made one with Christ by the agency of the Spirit, he
being the head and we the members, he regards as almost
nothing unless his essence is mingled with us. But, as I have
said, in the case of the Father and the Spirit he more clearly
betrays his views, namely, that we are not justified by the
mere grace of the Mediator, and that righteousness is not
simply or entirely offered to us in his person, but that we are
made partakers of divine righteousness when God is essen
tially united to us.

6. Had he only said, that Christ by justifying us becomes
ours by an essential union, and that he is our head not only

308 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

in so far as he is man, but that as the essence of the divine
nature is diffused into us, he might indulge his dreams with
less harm, and, perhaps, it were less necessary to contest the
matter with him ; but since this principle is like a cuttle-fish,
which, by the ejection of dark and inky blood, conceals its
many tails,1 if we would not knowingly and willingly allow
ourselves to be robbed of that righteousness which alone
gives us full assurance of our salvation, we must strenuously
resist. For, in the whole of this discussion, the noun righteous
ness, and the verb to justify, are extended by Osiander to two
parts ; to be justified being not only to be reconciled to God
by a free pardon, but also to be made just ; and righteousness
being not a free imputation, but the holiness and integrity
which the divine essence dwelling in us inspires. And he
vehemently asserts (see sec. 8) that Christ is himself our
righteousness, not in so far as he, by expiating sins, appeased
the Father, but because he is the eternal God and life. To
prove the first point, viz., that God justifies not only by
pardoning but by regenerating, he asks, whether he leaves
those whom he justifies as they were by nature, making no
change iipon their vices ? The answer is very easy : as Christ
cannot be divided into parts, so the two things, justification
and sanctification, which we perceive to be united together
in him, are inseparable. Whomsoever, therefore, God
receives into his favour, he presents with the Spirit of adop
tion, whose agency forms them anew into his image. But if
the brightness of the sun cannot be separated from its heat,
are we therefore to say, that the earth is warmed by light
and illumined by heat ? Nothing can be more apposite to
the matter in hand than this simile. The sun by its heat
quickens and fertilizes the earth ; by its rays enlightens and
illumines it. Here is a mutual and undivided connection,
and yet reason itself prohibits us from transferring the peculiar
properties of the one to the other. In the confusion of a

1 French, "Mais comme le principe qu'il prend est comme une seche,
laquelle en jettant son sang qui est noir comme encre, trouble 1'eau d'alen-
tour pour cacher une grande multitude de queues ;" — But as the principle
which he adopts is like a cuttle-fish, which, casting out its blood, which is
black as ink, troubles the water all around, to hide a great multitude of
tails.

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 309

twofold grace, which Osiander obtrudes upon us, there is a
similar absurdity. Because those whom God freely regards
as righteous, he in fact renews to the cultivation of righte
ousness, Osiander confounds that free acceptance with this
gift of regeneration, and contends that they are one and the
same. But Scripture, while combining both, classes them
separately, that it may the better display the manifold grace
of God. Nor is Paul's statement superfluous, that Christ is
made unto us " righteousness and sanctification," (1 Cor. i.
30.) And whenever he argues from the salvation procured
for us, from the paternal love of God and the grace of Christ,
that we are called to purity and holiness, he plainly intimates,
that to be justified is something else than to be made new
creatures. Osiander on coming to Scripture corrupts every
passage which he quotes. Thus when Paul says, " to him
that worketh not, but belie veth on him that justifieth the
ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness," he expounds
justifying as making just. With the same rashness he perverts
the whole of the fourth chapter to the Romans. He hesitates
not to give a similar gloss to the passage which I lately
quoted, " Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's
elect? It is God that justifieth." Here it is plain that
guilt and acquittal simply are considered, and that the
Apostle's meaning depends on the antithesis. Therefore his
futility is detected both in his argument and his quotations
for support from Scripture. He is not a whit sounder in
discussing the term righteousness, when it is said, that faith
was imputed to Abraham for righteousness after he had
embraced Christ, (who is the righteousness of God and God
himself,) and was distinguished by excellent virtues. Hence
it appears, that two things which are perfect are viciously
converted by him into one which is corrupt. For the righte^
ousness which is there mentioned pertains not to the whole
course of life ; or rather, the Spirit testifies, that though
Abraham greatly excelled in virtue, and by long perseverance
in it had made so much progress, the only way in which he
pleased God was by receiving the grace which was offered
by the promise, in faith. From this it follows, that, as Paul
justly maintains, there is no room for works in justification.

310 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

7. When he objects that the power of justifying exists not
in faith, considered in itself, but only as receiving Christ, I
willingly admit it. For did faith justify of itself, or (as it is
expressed) by its own intrinsic virtue, as it is always weak
and imperfect, its efficacy would be partial, and thus our
righteousness being maimed, would give us only a portion of
salvation. We indeed imagine nothing of the kind, but say,
that, properly speaking, God alone justifies. The same thing
we likewise transfer to Christ, because he was given to us
for righteousness ; while we compare faith to a kind of vessel,
because we are incapable of receiving Christ, unless we are
emptied and come with open mouth to receive his grace.
Hence it follows, that we do not withdraw the power of
justifying from Christ, when we hold that, previous to his
righteousness, he himself is received by faith. Still, however,
I admit not the tortuous figure of the sophist, that faith is
Christ ; as if a vessel of clay were a treasure, because gold
is deposited in it.1 And yet this is no reason why faith,
though in itself of no dignity or value, should not justify us
by giving Christ ; just as such a vessel filled with coin may
give wealth. I say, therefore, that faith, which is only the
instrument for receiving justification, is igriorantly confounded
with Christ, who is the material cause, as well as the author
and minister of this great blessing. This disposes of the
difficulty, viz., how the term faith is to be understood when
treating of justification.

8. Osiander goes still farther in regard to the mode of
receiving Christ, holding, that by the ministry of the external
word the internal word is received ; that he may thus lead
us away from the priesthood of Christ, and his office of
Mediator, to his eternal divinity.2 We, indeed, do not divide
Christ, but hold that he who, reconciling us to God in his

1 French, " Quant a d'autres folies extravagantes d'Osiander, tout
homme de sain jugement les rejettera ; comme quand il dit que la foy est
Jesus Christ, autant que s'il disoit, qu'un pot de terre est le thresor qui est
cache dedans ;" — As to the other extravagant follies of Osiander, every man
of sound judgment will reject them; for instance, when he says that faith
is Jesus Christ, as much as if he said, that an earthen pot is the treasure
which is hidden in it.

* French, " Faisant semblant de les rauir a la divinite d'icelui ;" — under
pretence of leading them to his divinity.

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 311

flesh, bestowed righteousness upon us, is the eternal Word of
God ; and that he could not perform the office of Mediator,
nor acquire righteousness for us, if he were not the eternal
God. Osiander will have it, that as Christ is God and man,
he was made our righteousness in respect not of his human
but of his divine nature. But if this is a peculiar property
of the Godhead, it will not be peculiar to Christ, but common
to him with the Father and the Spirit, since their righteous
ness is one and the same. Thus it would be incongruous to
say, that that which existed naturally from eternity was
made ours. But granting that God was made unto us
righteousness, what are we to make of Paul's interposed
statement, that he was so made by God ? This certainly is
peculiar to the office of Mediator, for although he contains in
himself the divine nature, yet he receives his own proper
title, that he may be distinguished from the Father and the
Spirit. But he makes a ridiculous boast of a single passage
of Jeremiah, in which it is said, that Jehovah will be our
righteousness, (Jer. xxiii. 6 ; xxxiii. 16.) But all he can
extract from this is, that Christ, who is our righteousness,
was God manifest in the flesh. We have elsewhere quoted
from Paul's discourse, that God purchased the Church with
his own blood, (Acts xx. 28.) Were any one to infer from
this that the blood by which sins were expiated was divine,
and of a divine nature, who could endure so foul a heresy ?
But Osiander, thinking that he has gained the whole cause
by this childish cavil, swells, exults, and stuffs whole pages with
his bombast, whereas the solution is simple and obvious, viz.,
that Jehovah, \vhen made of the seed of David, was indeed to
be the righteousness of believers, but in what sense Isaiah
declares, " By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many," (Isa. liii. 11.) Let us observe that it is the Father
who speaks. He attributes the office of justifying to the
Son, and adds the reason, — because he is " righteous." He
places the method, or medium, (as it is called,) in the doctrine
by which Christ is known. For the word HJTl is more
properly to be understood in a passive sense. Hence I infer,
first, that Christ was made righteousness when he assumed
the form of a servant ; secondly, that he justified us by his

312 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

obedience to the Father ; and, accordingly, that he does not
perform this for us in respect of his divine nature, but
according to the nature of the dispensation laid upon him.
For though God alone is the fountain of righteousness, and
the only way in which we are righteous is by participation
with him, yet, as by our unhappy revolt we are alienated
from his righteousness, it is necessary to descend to this
lower remedy, that Christ may justify us by the power of his
death and resurrection.

9. If he objects, that this work by its excellence transcends
human, and therefore can only be ascribed to the divine
nature ; I concede the former point, but maintain, that on
the latter he is ignorantly deluded. For although Christ
could neither purify our souls by his own blood, nor appease
the Father by his sacrifice, nor acquit us from the charge of
guilt, nor, in short, perform the office of priest, unless he had
been very God, because no human ability was equal to such
a burden, it is however certain, that he performed all these
things in his human nature. If it is asked, in what wray we
are justified ? Paul answers, by the obedience of Christ. Did
he obey in any other way than by assuming the form of a
servant ? We infer, therefore, that righteousness was manifested
to us in his flesh. In like manner, in another passage, (which
I greatly wonder that Osiander does not blush repeatedly
to quote,) he places the fountain of righteousness entirely in
the incarnation of Christ, " He hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him," (2 Cor. v. 21.) Osiander in turgid sentences
lays hold of the expression, righteousness of God, and shouts
victory ! as if he had proved it to be his own phantom of
essential righteousness,1 though the words have a very
different meaning, viz., that we are justified through the
expiation made by Christ. That the righteousness of God
is used for the righteousness which is approved by God,
should be known to mere tyros, as in John, the praise of

1 French, " II magnifie la justice de Dieu tant et plus ; mais c'est pour
triompher comme s'il auoit gagn6 ce poinct, que la justice de Dieu nous est
essencielle ;" — He magnifies the righteousness of God above measure ; but
it is to triumph, as if he had gained this point, that the righteousness of
God is. essential to us.

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN KELIGIOX. 313

God is contrasted with the praise of men,1 (John xii. 43.)
I know that by the righteousness of God is sometimes meant
that of which God is the author, and which he bestows upon
us ; but that here the only thing meant is, that being sup
ported by the expiation of Christ, we are able to stand at
the tribunal of God, sound readers perceive without any
observation of mine. The word is not of so much importance,
provided Osiander agrees with us in this, that we are justified
by Christ in respect he was made an expiatory victim for us.
This he could not be in his divine nature. For which reason
also, when Christ would seal the righteousness and salvation
which he brought to us, he holds forth the sure pledge of it
in his flesh. He indeed calls himself " living bread," but, in
explanation of the mode, adds, " my flesh is meat indeed, and
my blood is drink indeed," (John vi. 55.) The same doctrine
is clearly seen in the sacraments ; which, though they direct
our faith to the whole, not to a part of Christ, yet, at the
same time, declare that the materials of righteousness and
salvation reside in his flesh ; not that the mere man of him
self justifies or quickens, but that God was pleased, by means
of a Mediator, to manifest his own hidden and incompre
hensible nature. Hence I often repeat, that Christ has
been in a manner set before us as a fountain, whence we may
draw what would otherwise lie without use in that deep and
hidden abyss which streams forth to us in the person of the
Mediator.2 In this way, and in this meaning, I deny not
that Christ, as he is God and man, justifies us ; that this work
is common also to the Father and the Holy Spirit ; in fine,

1 The French adds, " signifiant, que ceux desquels il parle ont nage
entre deux eaux ; pource qu'ils aimoyent mieux garder leur bonne reputa
tion au monde, que d'etre priser devant Dieu ;" — meaning, that those of
whom he speaks were swimming between two streams ; that they preferred
keeping their good reputation in the world, to being prized in the sight
of God.

2 'French, " Pour ceste cause j'ay accoustume de dire que Christ nous est
comme une fontaine, dont chacun peut puiser et boire a son aise et a
souhait ; et que par son moyen les biens celestes sourdent et decoulent a
nous, lesquels ne nous profiteroyent rien demeurans en la majeste de Dieu,
qui est comme une source profonde ;" — For this cause I am accustomed
to say, that Christ is to us like a fountain, of which every man may draw
and drink at his ease, and to the fill ; and that by his means heavenly
blessings rise and flow to us, which blessings would profit us nothing,
remaining in the majesty of God, which is, as it were, a profound abyss.

314 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

that the righteousness of which God makes us partakers is
the eternal righteousness of the eternal God, provided effect
is given to the clear and valid reasons to which I have ad
verted.

10. Moreover, lest by his cavils he deceive the unwary, I
acknowledge that we are devoid of this incomparable gift
until Christ become ours. Therefore, to that union of the
head and members, the residence of Christ in our hearts, in
fine, the mystical union, we assign the highest rank, Christ
when he becomes ours making us partners with him in the
gifts with which he \vas endued. Hence we do not view
him as at a distance and without us, but as we have put him
on, and been ingrafted into his body, he deigns to make us
one with himself, and, -therefore, we glory in having a fellow
ship of righteousness with him. This disposes of Osiander's
calumny, that we regard faith as righteousness ; as if we
were robbing Christ of his rights when we say, that, destitute
in ourselves, we draw near to him by faith, to make way for
his grace, that he alone may fill us. But Osiander, spurning
this spiritual union, insists on a gross mixture of Christ with
believers ; and, accordingly, to excite prejudice, gives the
name of Zuinglians1 to all who subscribe not to his fanatical
heresy of essential righteousness, because they do not hold
that, in the supper, Christ is eaten substantially. For my
part, I count it the highest honour to be thus assailed by a
haughty man, devoted to his own impostures ; though he
assails not me only, but writers of known reputation through
out the world, and whom it became him modestly to venerate.
This, however, does not concern me, as I plead not my own
cause, and plead the more sincerely that I am free from
every sinister feeling. In insisting so vehemently on essential
righteousness, and an essential inhabitation of Christ within
us, his meaning is, first, that God by a gross mixture2 tra^ns-
fuses himself into us, as he pretends that there is a carnal
eating in the supper ; and, secondly, that by instilling his own

1 The Latin, uideo Zuinglianos odiose nominal;" is in the French
simply, u condamne furieusement ;" — furiously condemns.

2 Latin, u crassa mixtura;" — French, " mixtion telle que les viandes que
nous mangeons ; " — mixture such as the victuals we eat.

CHAP. XL CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 315

righteousness into us, he makes us really righteous with
himself, since, according to him, this righteousness is as well
God himself as the probity, or holiness, or integrity of God.
I will not spend much time in disposing of the passages of
Scripture which he adduces, and which, though used in
reference to the heavenly life, he wrests to our present state.
Peter says, that through the knowledge of Christ u are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by them
ye might be partakers of the divine nature," (2 Pet. i. 4 ;)*
as if we now were what the gospel promises we shall be at
the final advent of Christ ; nay, John reminds us, that " when
he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as
he is," (1 John iii. 2.) I only wished to give my readers a
slender specimen of Osiander, it being my intention to decline
the discussion of his frivolities, not because there is any
difficulty in disposing of them, but because I am unwilling to
annoy the reader with superfluous labour.

11. But more poison lurks in the second branch, when he
says that we are righteous together with God. I think I
have already sufficiently proved, that although the dogma
were not so pestiferous, yet because it is frigid and jejune,
and falls by its own vanity, it must justly be disrelished by
all sound and pious readers. But it is impossible to tolerate
the impiety which, under the pretence of a twofold right
eousness, undermines our assurance of salvation, and hurry
ing us into the clouds, tries to prevent us from embracing
the gift of expiation in faith, and invoking God with quiet
minds. Osiander derides us for teaching, that to be justified
is a forensic term, because it behoves us to be in reality
just : there is nothing also to which he is more opposed
than the idea of our being justified by a free imputation.
Say, then, if God does not justify us by acquitting and
pardoning, what does Paul mean when he says, " God was
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them" ? " He made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin ; that we might be made the righteous-

1 The French adds, " Osiander tire de la que Dieu a meslee son essence
avec la nostre ; " — Osiander implies from this that God has mingled his
essence with ours.

316 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

ness of God in him," (2 Cor. v. 19, 21.) Here I learn, first,
that those who are reconciled to God are regarded as right
eous : then the method is stated, God justifies by pardoning ;
and hence, in another place, justification is opposed to accu
sation, (Rom. viii. 33 ;) this antithesis clearly demonstrating
that the mode of expression is derived from forensic use.
And, indeed, no man, moderately versant in the Hebrew
tongue, (provided he is also of sedate brain,) is ignorant that
this phrase thus took its rise, and thereafter derived its
tendency and force. Now, then, when Paul says that
David " describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom
God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven," (Rom. iv. 6, 7 ; Ps.
xxxii. 1,) let Osiander say whether this is a complete or only
a partial definition. He certainly does not adduce the
Psalmist as a witness that pardon of sins is a part of right
eousness, or concurs with something else in justifying, but
he includes the whole of righteousness in gratuitous forgive
ness, declaring those to be blessed " whose iniquities are
forgiven, and whose sins are covered," and " to whom the
Lord will not impute sin." He estimates and judges of his
happiness from this, that in this way he is righteous not in
reality, but by imputation.

Osiander objects that it would be insulting to God, and
contrary to his nature, to justify those who still remain
wicked. But it ought to be remembered, as I already ob
served, that the gift of justification is not separated from
regeneration, though the two things are distinct^ But as it
Is too well known by experience, that the remains of sin
always exist in the righteous, it is necessary that justification
should be something very different from reformation to new
ness of life. This latter God begins in his elect, and carries
on during the whole course of life, gradually and sometimes
slowly, so that if placed at his judgment-seat they would
always deserve sentence of death. He justifies not partially,
but freely, so that they can appear in the heavens as if
clothed with the purity of Christ. No portion of righteous
ness could pacify the conscience. It must be decided that
we are pleasing to God, as being without exception righteous"

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 317

in his sight. Hence it follows that the doctrine of justifica
tion is perverted and completely overthrown whenever doubt
is instilled into the mind, confidence in salvation is shaken,
and free and intrepid prayer is retarded ; yea, whenever rest
and tranquillity with spiritual joy are not established. Hence
Paul argues against objectors, that " if the inheritance be
of the law, it is no more of promise," (Gal. iii. 18,) that in
this way faith would be made vain ; for if respect be had to
works it fails, the holiest of men in that case finding nothing
in which they can confide. This distinction between justifi
cation and regeneration (Osiander confounding the two, calls
them a twofold righteousness) is admirably expressed by Paul.
Speaking of his real righteousness, or the integrity bestowed
upon him, (which Osiander terms his essential righteousness,)
he mournfully exclaims, "O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death ?" (Rom. vii. 24 ;) but
betaking himself to the righteousness which is founded solely
on the mercy of God, he breaks forth thus magnificently into
the language of triumph : " Who shall lay any thing to the
charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth." « Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ ? shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword ?" (Rom. viii. 33, 35.) He clearly declares that the
only righteousness for him is that which alone suffices for com
plete salvation in the presence of God, so that that miserable
bondage, the consciousness of which made him a little before
lament his lot, derogates not from his confidence, and is no
obstacle in his way. This diversity is well known, and indeed is
familiar to all the saints who groan under the burden of sin, and
yet with victorious assurance rise above all fears. Osiander's
objection as to its being inconsistent with the nature of God,
falls back upon himself; for though he clothes the saints
with a twofold righteousness as with a coat of skins, he is,
however, forced to admit, that without forgiveness no man
is pleasing to God. If this be so, let him at least admit,
that with reference to what is called the proportion of impu
tation, those are regarded as righteous who are not so in
reality. But how far shall the sinner extend this gratuitous-
acceptance, which is substituted in the room of righteousness ?

318 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK in.

Will it amount to the whole pound, or will it be only an
ounce ? He will remain in doubt, vibrating to this side and
to that, because he will be unable to assume to himself as
much righteousness as will be necessary to give confidence.
It is well that he who would prescribe a law to God is not
the judge in this cause. But this saying will ever stand
true, " That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
and be clear when thou judgest," (Ps. li. 4.) What arrogance
to condemn the Supreme Judge when he acquits freely, and
try to prevent the response from taking effect : " I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy." And yet the interces
sion of Moses, wrhich God calmed by this answer, was not
for pardon to some individual, but to all alike, by wiping
away the guilt to which all were liable. And we, indeed,
say, that the lost are justified before God by the burial of
their sins ; for (as he hates sin) he can only love those
whom he justifies. But herein is the wondrous method of
justification, that, clothed with the righteousness of Christ,
they dread not the judgment of which they are worthy ; and
while they justly condemn themselves, are yet deemed right
eous out of themselves.

12. I must admonish the reader carefully to attend to the
mystery which he boasts he is unwilling to conceal from
them. For after contending with great prolixity that we do
not obtain favour with God through the mere imputation of
the righteousness of Christ, because (to use his own words)
it were impossible for God to hold those as righteous who
are not so, he at length concludes that Christ was given to
us for righteousness, in respect not of his human, but of his
divine nature ; and though this can only be found in the
person of the Mediator, it is, however, the righteousness not
of man, but of God. He does not now twist his rope of
two righteousnesses, but plainly deprives the human nature
of Christ of the office of justifying. It is worth while to
understand what the nature of his argument is. It is said
in the same passage that Christ is made unto us wisdom,
(I Cor. i. 30 ;) but this is true only of the eternal Word,
find, therefore, it is not the man Christ that is made righteous
ness. I answer, that the only begotten Son of God was •

XI, CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 319

indeed his eternal wisdom, but that this title is applied to him
by Paul in a different way, viz., because " in him are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and righteousness," (Col. ii. 3.) That,
therefore, which he had with the Father he manifested to
us ; and thus Paul's expression refers not to the essence of
the Son of God, but to our use, and is fitly applied to the
human nature of Christ ; for although the light shone in
darkness before he was clothed with flesh, yet he was a
hidden light until he appeared in human nature as the Sun
of Righteousness, and hence he calls himself the light of the
world. It is also foolishly objected by Osiander, that justi
fying far transcends the power both of men and angels, since
it depends not on the dignity of any creature, but on the
ordination of God. Were angels to attempt to give satis
faction to God, they could have no success, because they are
not appointed for this purpose, it being the peculiar office of
Christ, who " hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us," (Gal. iii. 13.) Those who deny
that Christ is our righteousness, in respect of his divine
nature, are wickedly charged by Osiander with leaving only
a part of Christ, and (what is worse) with making two Gods ;
because, while admitting that God dwells in us, they still
insist that we are not justified by the righteousness of God.
For though we call Christ the author of life, inasmuch as he
endured death that he might destroy him who had the power
of death, (Heb. ii. 14,) we do not thereby rob him of this
honour, in his whole character as God manifested in the flesh.
We only make a distinction as to the manner in which the
righteousness of God comes to us, and is enjoyed by us, — a
matter as to which Osiander shamefully erred. We deny not
that that which was openly exhibited to us in Christ flowed from
the secret grace and power of God ; nor do we dispute that
the righteousness which Christ confers upon us is the right
eousness of God, and proceeds from him. What we con
stantly maintain is, that our righteousness and life are in the
death and resurrection of Christ. I say nothing of that
absurd accumulation of passages with which, without selec
tion or common understanding, he has loaded his readers, in
endeavouring to show, that whenever mention is made of

320 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

righteousness, this essential righteousness of his should be
understood ; as when David implores help from the righteous
ness of God. This David does more than a hundred times,
and as often Osiander hesitates not to pervert his meaning.
Not a whit more solid is his objection, that the name of
righteousness is rightly and properly applied to that by
which we are moved to act aright, but that it is God only
that worketh in us both to will and to do, (Phil. ii. 13.) For
we deny not that God by his Spirit forms us anew to holi
ness and righteousness of life ; but we must first see whether
he does this of himself, immediately, or by the hand of his
Son, with whom he hath deposited all the fulness of the Holy
Spirit, that out of his own abundance he may supply the
wants of his members. Then, although righteousness comes
to us from the secret fountain of the Godhead, it does not
follow that Christ, who sanctified himself in the flesh on
our account, is our righteousness in respect of his divine
nature, (John xvii. 19.) Not less frivolous is his observa
tion, that the righteousness with which Christ himself was
righteous was divine ; for had not the will of the Father
impelled him, he could not have fulfilled the office assigned
him. For although it has been elsewhere said that all the
merits of Christ flow from the mere good pleasure of God,
this gives no countenance to the phantom by which Osiander
fascinates both his own eyes and those of the simple. For
who will allow him to infer, that because God is the source
and commencement of our righteousness, we are essentially
righteous, and the essence of the divine righteousness dwells
in us? In redeeming us, says Isaiah, " he (God) put on
righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation
upon his head," (Isaiah lix. 17,) was this to deprive Christ
of the armour which he had given him, and prevent him
from being a perfect Redeemer ? All that the Prophet
meant was, that God borrowed nothing from an external
quarter, that in redeeming us he received no external aid.
The same thing is briefly expressed by Paul in different
terms, when he says that God set him forth " to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins." This is not the
least repugnant to his doctrine : in another place, that " by

CHAP. XL CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 321

the obedience of one shall many be made righteous," (Rom.
v. 19.) In short, every one who, by the entanglement of a
twofold righteousness, prevents miserable souls from resting
entirely on the mere mercy of God, mocks Christ by putting
on him a crown of plaited thorns.

13. But since a great part of mankind imagine a righteous
ness compounded of faith and works, let us here show that
there is so wide a difference between justification by faith
and by works, that the establishment of the one necessarily
overthrows the other. The Apostle says, " Yea doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung,
that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith," (Phil. iii. 8, 9.) You here see a comparison
of contraries, and an intimation that every one who would
obtain the righteousness of Christ must renounce his own.
Hence he elsewhere declares the cause of the rejection of
the Jews to have been, that " they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own right
eousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteous
ness of God," (Rom. x. 3.) If we destroy the righteousness
of God by establishing our own righteousness, then, in order
to obtain his righteousness, our own must be entirely aban
doned. This also he shows, when he declares that boasting
is not excluded by the Law, but by faith, (Rom. iii. 27.)
Hence it follows, that so long as the minutest portion of our
own righteousness remains, we have still some ground for
boasting. Now if faith utterly excludes boasting, the right
eousness of works cannot in any way be associated with the
righteousness of faith. This meaning is so clearly expressed
in the fourth chapter to the Romans as to leave no room for
cavil or evasion. " If Abraham were justified by works, he
hath whereof to glory ;" and then it is added, " but not
before God," (Rom. iv. 2.) The conclusion, therefore, is,
that he was not justified by works. He then employs
another argument from contraries, viz., when reward is paid
VOL. n. x

322 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

to works, it is done of debt, not of grace ; but the righteous
ness of faith is of grace : therefore it is not of the merit of
works. Away, then, with the dream of those who invent a
righteousness compounded of faith and works, (see Calvin,
ad Concilium Tridentinum.)

14. The Sophists, who delight in sporting with Scripture
and in empty cavils, think they have a subtle evasion when
they expound works to mean, such as unregenerated men
do literally, and by the effect of free will, without the grace
of Christ, and deny that these have any reference to spiritual
works.1 Thus, according to them, man is justified by faith
as well as by works, provided these are not his own works,
but gifts of Christ and fruits of regeneration ; Paul's only
object in so expressing himself being to convince the Jews,
that in trusting to their own strength they foolishly arro
gated righteousness to themselves, whereas it is bestowed
upon us by the Spirit of Christ alone, and not by studied
efforts of our own nature. But they observe not that in the
antithesis between Legal and Gospel righteousness, which
Paul elsewhere introduces, all kinds of works, with whatever
name adorned, are excluded, (Gal. iii. 11, 12.) For he says
that the righteousness of the Law consists in obtaining sal
vation by doing what the Law requires, but that the right
eousness of faith consists in believing that Christ died and
rose again, (Rom. x. 5-9.) Moreover, we shall afterwards
see, at the proper place, that the blessings of sanctification
and justification, which we derive from Christ, are different.
Hence it follows, that not even spiritual works are taken
into account when the power of justifying is ascribed to
faith. And, indeed, the passage above quoted, in which
Paul declares that Abraham had no ground of glorying
before God, because he was not justified by works, ought not
to be confined to a literal and external form of virtue, or to
the effort of free will. The meaning is, that though the life
of the Patriarch had been spiritual and almost angelic, yet

1 French, " Ainsi ils disent que cela n'appartient de rien aux bonnes
ceuvres des fideles qui se font par la vertu du Sainct Esprit ;" — Thus
they say that that has no reference at all to the good works of believers,
which are done by the power of the Holy Spirit.

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 323

he could not by the merit of works have procured justifica
tion before God. <&

15. The Schoolmen treat the matter somewhat more
grossly by mingling their preparations with it ; and yet the
others instil into the simple and unwary a no less pernicious
dogma, when, under cover of the Spirit and grace, they hide
the divine mercy, which alone can give peace to the trembling
soul. We, indeed, hold with Paul, that those who fulfil the
Law are justified by God ; but because we are all far from
observing the Law, we infer that the works which should be
most effectual to justification are of no avail to us, because
we are destitute of them. In regard to vulgar Papists or
Schoolmen, they are here doubly wrong, both in calling faith
assurance of conscience while waiting to receive from God
the reward of merits, and in interpreting divine grace to
mean not the imputation of gratuitous righteousness, but
the assistance of the Spirit in the study of holiness. They
quote from an Apostle : " He that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is the re warder of them that
diligently seek him," (Heb. xi. 6.) But they observe not
what the method of seeking is. Then in regard to the term
grace, it is plain from their writings that they labour under a
delusion. For Lombard holds that justification is given to
us by Christ in two ways. " First," says he, (Lombard,
Sent. Lib. iii. Dist. 16, c. 11,) "the death of Christ justifies
us when by means of it the love by which we are made
righteous is excited in our hearts ; and, secondly, when by
means of it sin is extinguished, sin by which the devil held
us captive, but by which he cannot now procure our con
demnation." You see here that the chief office of divine
grace in our justification he considers to be its directing us
to good works by the agency of the Holy Spirit. He intend
ed, no doubt, to follow the opinion of Augustine, but he fol
lows it at a distance, and even wanders far from a true
imitation of him, both obscuring what was clearly stated by
Augustine, and making what in him was less pure more cor
rupt. The Schools have always gone from worse to worse,
until at length, in their downward path, they have degenerat
ed into a kind of Pelagianism. Even the sentiment of Au-

324 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

gustine, or at least his mode of expressing it, cannot be en
tirely approved of. For although he is admirable in stripping
man of all merit of righteousness, and transferring the whole
praise of it to God, yet he classes the grace by which we are
regenerated to newness of life under the head of sanctification.

16. Scripture, when it treats of justification by faith, leads
us in a very different direction. Turning away our view
from our own works, it bids us look only to the mercy of
God and the perfection of Christ. The order of justification
which it sets before us is this : first, God of his mere gratui
tous goodness is pleased to embrace the sinner, in whom he
sees nothing that can move him to mercy but wretchedness,
because he sees him altogether naked and destitute of good
works. He, therefore, seeks the cause of kindness in him
self, that thus he may affect the sinner by a sense of his
goodness, and induce him, in distrust of his own works, to
cast himself entirely upon his mercy for salvation. This is
the meaning of faith, by which the sinner comes into the
possession of salvation, when, according to the doctrine of
the Gospel, he perceives that he is reconciled by God ;
when, by the intercession of Christ, he obtains the pardon of
his sins, and is justified ; and, though renewed by the Spirit
of God, considers that, instead of leaning on his own works,
he must, look solely to the righteousness which is treasured
up for him in Christ. When these things are weighed
separately, they will clearly explain our view, though they
may be arranged in a better order than that in which they
are here presented. But it is of little consequence, provided
they are so connected with each other as to give us a full
exposition and solid confirmation of the whole subject.

17. Here it is proper to remember the relation which we
previously established between faith and the Gospel ; faith
being said to justify because it receives and embraces the
righteousness offered in the Gospel. By the very fact of its
being said to be offered by the Gospel, all consideration of
works is excluded. This Paul repeatedly declares, and in
two passages, in particular, most clearly demonstrates. In
the Epistle to the Romans, comparing the Law and the
Gospel, he says, "Moses describeth the righteousness which

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 325

is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall
live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speak-
eth on this wise, — If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved," (Rom. x. 5,
6, 9.) Do you see how he makes the distinction between
the Law and the Gospel to be, that the former gives justifica
tion to works, whereas the latter bestows it freely without any
help from works ? This is a notable passage, and may free us
from many difficulties if we understand that the justification
which is given us by the Gospel is free from any terms of
Law. It is for this reason he more than once places the pro
mise in diametrical opposition to the Law. " If the inherit
ance be of the law, it is no more of promise," (Gal. iii.. 18.)
Expressions of similar import occur in the same chapter.
Undoubtedly the Law also has its promises ; and, therefore,
between them and the Gospel promises there must be some
distinction and difference, unless we are to hold that the
comparison is inept. And in what can the difference consist
unless in this, that the promises of the Gospel are gratuitous,
and founded on the mere mercy of God, whereas the pro
mises of the Law depend on the condition of works ? But
let no prater here allege that only the righteousness which men
would obtrude upon God of their own strength and free will
is repudiated ; since Paul declares, without exception, that
the Law gained nothing by its commands, being such as
none, not only of mankind in general, but none even of the
most perfect, are able to fulfil. Love assuredly is the chief
commandment in the Law ; and since the Spirit of God trains
us to love, it cannot but be a cause of righteousness in us,
though that righteousness even in the saints is defective, and
therefore of no value as a ground of merit.

18. The second passage is, " That no man is justified by
the law in the sight of God, it is evident : for, The just shall
live by faith. And the law is not of faith : but, The man
that doeth them shall live in them," (Gal. iii. 11, 12; Hab.
ii. 4.) How could the argument hold unless it be true that
works are not to be taken into account, but are to be alto
gether separated? The Law, he says, is different from faith.

326 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

Why ? Because to obtain justification by it, works are
required; and hence it follows, that to obtain justification
by the Gospel they are not required. From this statement,
it appears that those who are justified by faith are justified
independent of, nay, in the absence of, the merit of works,
because faith receives that righteousness which the Gospel
bestows. But the Gospel differs from the Law in this, that
it does not confine justification to works, but places it
entirely in the mercy of God. In like manner, Paul con
tends, in the Epistle to the Romans, that Abraham had no
ground of glorying, because faith was imputed to him for
righteousness, (Rom. iv. 2 ;) and he adds in confirmation,
that the proper place for justification by faith is where there
are no works to which reward is due. " To him that worketh
is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." What is
given to faith is gratuitous, this being the force of the mean
ing of the words which he there employs. Shortly after he
adds, u Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace,"
(Rom. iv. 16;) and hence infers that the inheritance is
gratuitous because it is procured by faith. How so but
just because faith, without the aid of works, leans entirely
on the mercy of God ? And in the same sense, doubtless,
he elsewhere teaches, that the righteousness of God without
the Law was manifested, being witnessed by the Law and
the Prophets, (Rom. iii. 21 ;) for excluding the Law, he
declares that it is not aided by works, that we do not obtain
it by working, but are destitute wrhen we draw near to
receive it.

19. The reader now perceives with what fairness the
Sophists of the present day cavil at our doctrine, when we say
that a man is justified by faith alone, (Rom. iv. 2.) They
dare not deny that he is justified ly faith, seeing Scripture so
often declares it ; but as the word alone is nowhere expressly
used, they will not tolerate its being added.1 Is it so ?
What answer, then, will they give to the words of Paul,

1 French, " Mais pource que ce mot Seule, n'y est point exprime, ils
nous reprochent qu'il est adjouste du notre ;" — but because this word
Alone is not expressed, they upbraid us with having added it of our own
accord.

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 327

when he contends that righteousness is not of faith unless it
be gratuitous ? How can it be gratuitous, and yet by works ?
By what cavils, moreover, will they evade his declaration in
another place, that in the Gospel the righteousness of God
is manifested? (Rom. i. 17.) If righteousness is manifested
in the Gospel, it is certainly not a partial or mutilated, but a
full and perfect righteousness. The Law, therefore, has no
part in it, and their objection to the exclusive word alone
is not only unfounded, but is obviously absurd. Does he
not plainly enough attribute everything to faith alone when
he disconnects it with works ? What, I would ask, is meant
by the expressions, " The righteousness of God without the
law is manifested ;" " Being justified freely by his grace ;"
" Justified by faith without the deeds of the law ?" (Rom.
iii. 21, 24, 28.) Here they have an ingenious subterfuge,
one which, though not of their own devising, but taken from
Origen and some ancient writers, is most childish. They
pretend that the works excluded are ceremonial, not moral
works. Such profit do they make by their constant wrang
ling, that they possess not even the first elements of logic.
Do they think the Apostle was raving when he produced, in
proof of his doctrine, these passages ? " The man that
doeth them shall live in them," (Gal. iii. 12.) "Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things that are written
in the book of the law to do them," (Gal. iii. 10.) Unless
they are themselves raving, they will not say that life was
promised to the observers of ceremonies, and the curse
denounced only against the transgressors of them. If these
passages are to be understood of the Moral Law, there can
not be a doubt that moral works also are excluded from the
power of justifying. To the same effect are the arguments
which he employs. " By the deeds of the law there shall no
flesh be justified in his sight : for by the law is the know
ledge of sin," (Rom. iii. 20.) " The law worketh wrath,"
(Rom. iv. 15,) and therefore not righteousness. " The law
cannot pacify the conscience," and therefore cannot confer
righteousness. " Faith is imputed for righteousness," and
therefore righteousness is not the reward of works, but is
given without being due. Because " we are justified by

328 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

faith," boasting is excluded. " Had there been a law given
which could have given life, verily righteousness should have
been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all
under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe," (Gal. iii. 21, 22.) Let them
maintain, if they dare, that these things apply to ceremonies,
and not to morals, and the very children will laugh at their
effrontery. The true conclusion, therefore, is, that the whole
Law is spoken of when the power of justifying is denied
to it.

20. Should any one wonder why the Apostle, not con
tented with having named works, employs this addition, the
explanation is easy. However highly works may be esti
mated, they have their whole value more from the approba
tion of God than from their own dignity. For who will
presume to plume himself before God on the righteousness
of works, unless in so far as He approves of them ? Who
will presume to demand of Him a reward except in so far as
He has promised it ? It is owing entirely to the goodness
of God that works are deemed worthy of the honour and
reward of righteousness ; and, therefore, their whole value
consists in this, that by means of them we endeavour to
manifest obedience to God. Wherefore, in another passage,
the Apostle, to prove that Abraham could not be justified
by works, declares, (t that the covenant, that was confirmed
before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred
and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make
the promise of none effect," (Gal. iii. 17.) The unskilful
would ridicule the argument that there could be righteous
works before the promulgation of the Law, but the Apostle,
knowing that works could derive this value solely from the
testimony and honour conferred on them by God, takes it
for granted that, previous to the Law, they had no power of
justifying. We see why he expressly terms them works of
Law when he would deny the power of justifying to them,
viz., because it was only with regard to such works that
a question could be raised ; although he sometimes, with
out addition, excepts all kinds of works whatever, as when
on the testimony of David he speaks of the man to whom

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 329

the Lord imputeth righteousness without works, (Eom. iv.
5, 6.) No cavils, therefore, can enable them to prove that
the exclusion of works is not general. In vain do they lay
hold of the frivolous subtilty, that the faith alone, by which
we are justified, " worketh by love" and that love, therefore,
is the foundation of justification. We, indeed, acknowledge
with Paul, that the only faith which justifies is that which
works by love, (Gal. v. 6 ;) but love does not give it its
justifying power. Nay, its only means of justifying consists
in its bringing us into communication with the righteousness
of Christ. Otherwise the whole argument, on which the
Apostle insists with so much earnestness, would fall. " To
him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but
of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for right
eousness." Could he express more clearly than in this way,
that there is justification in faith only where there are no
works to which reward is due, and that faith is imputed for
righteousness only when righteousness is conferred freely
without merit ?

21. Let us now consider the truth of what was said in the
definition, viz., that justification by faith is reconciliation with
God, and that this consists solely in the remission of sins.
We must always return to the axiom, that the wrath of God
lies upon all men so long as they continue sinners. This is
elegantly expressed by Isaiah in these words : " Behold, the
Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save ; neither
his ear heavy, that it cannot hear : but your iniquities have
separated between you and your God, and your sins have
hid his face from you, that he will not hear," (Isaiah lix.
1, 2.) We are here told that sin is a separation between
God and man; that His countenance is turned away from
the sinner ; and that it cannot be otherwise, since to have
any intercourse with sin is repugnant to his righteousness.
Hence the Apostle shows that man is at enmity with God
until he is restored to favour by Christ, (Rom. v. 8—10.)
When the Lord, therefore, admits him to union, he is said
to justify him, because he can neither receive him into
favour, nor unite him to himself, without changing his condi-

330 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

tion from that of a sinner into that of a righteous man. We
add, that this is done by remission of sins. For if those
whom the Lord hath reconciled to himself are estimated by
works, they will still prove to be in reality sinners, while they
ought to be pure and free from sin. It is evident, therefore,
that the only way in which those whom God embraces are
made righteous, is by having their pollutions wiped away by
the remission of sins, so that this justification may be termed
in one word the remission of sins.

22. Both of these become perfectly clear from the words
of Paul : (c God was in Christ reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them ; and hathf
committed unto us the word of reconciliation." He then
subjoins the sum of his embassy : " He hath made him to be
sin for us who knew no sin ; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him," (2 Cor. v. 19-21.) He here
uses righteousness and reconciliation indiscriminately, to
make us understand that the one includes the other. The
mode of obtaining this righteousness he explains to be, that
our sins are not imputed to us. Wherefore, you cannot
henceforth doubt how God justifies us when you hear that
he reconciles us to himself by not imputing our faults. In
the same manner, in the Epistle to the Romans, he proves, by
the testimony of David, that righteousness is imputed without
works, because he declares the man to be blessed " whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered," and " unto
whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity," (Rom. iv. 6; Ps. xxxii.
1, 2.) There he undoubtedly uses blessedness for righteous
ness ; and as he declares that it consists in forgiveness of
sins, there is no reason why we should define it otherwise.
Accordingly, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, sings
that the knowledge of salvation consists in the forgiveness of
sins, (Luke i. 77.) The same course was followed by Paul
when, in addressing the people of Antioch, he gave them a
summary of salvation. Luke states that he concluded in
this way : " Through this man is preached unto you the
forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified
from all things from which ye could not be justified by the
law of Moses," (Acts xii. 38, 39.) Thus the Apostle con-

CHAP. XI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 331

nects forgiveness of sins with justification in such a way as
to show that they are altogether the same ; and hence he
properly argues that justification, which we owe to the indul
gence of God, is gratuitous. Nor should it seem an unusual
mode of expression to say that believers are justified before
God not by works, but by gratuitous acceptance, seeing it
is frequently used in Scripture, and sometimes also by
ancient writers. Thus Augustine says : " The righteousness
of the saints in this world consists more in the forgiveness
of sins than the perfection of virtue," (August, de Civitate
Dei, Lib. xix. cap. 27.) To this corresponds the well-known
sentiment of Bernard : " Not to sin is the righteousness of
God, but the righteousness of man is the indulgence of
God," (Bernard, Serin, xxii. xxiii. in Cant.) He previously
asserts that Christ is our righteousness in absolution, and,
therefore, that those only are just who have obtained pardon
through mercy.

23. Hence also it is proved, that it is entirely by the inter
vention of Christ's righteousness that we obtain justification
before God. This is equivalent to saying that man is not
just in himself, but that the righteousness of Christ is com
municated to him by imputation, while he is strictly deserving
of punishment. Thus vanishes the absurd dogma, that man is
justified by faith, inasmuch as it brings him under the in
fluence of the Spirit of God by whom he is rendered righteous.
This is so repugnant to the above doctrine that it never can
be reconciled with it. There can be no doubt that he who
is taught to seek righteousness out of himself does not pre
viously possess it in himself.1 This is most clearly declared
by the Apostle, when he says, that he who knew no sin was
made an expiatory victim for sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him, (2 Cor. v. 21.) You see
that our righteousness is not in ourselves, but in Christ ;
that the only way in which we become possessed of it is by
being made partakers with Christ, since with him we possess

1 French, " Ceci est fort contraire a la doctrine ci dessus mise : car il
n'y a nulle doute c|ue celui qui doit cercher justice hors de soy-mesme, ne
soit desnue de la sienne propre ;" — This is quite contrary to the doctrine
above laid down ; for there is no doubt, that he who is to seek righteous
ness out of himself, is devoid of righteousness in himself.

332 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

all riches. There is nothing repugnant to this in what he else
where says : " God sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh : that the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us," (Eom. viii.
3, 4.) Here the only fulfilment to which he refers is that
which we obtain by imputation. Our Lord Jesus Christ
communicates his righteousness to us, and so by some won
drous way, in so far as pertains to the justice of God, trans
fuses its power into us. That this was the Apostle's view is
abundantly clear from another sentiment which he had
expressed a little before : " As by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous," (Rom. v. 19.) To declare that we are
deemed righteous, solely because the obedience of Christ is
imputed to us as if it were our own, is just to place our
righteousness in the obedience of Christ. Wherefore, Am
brose appears to me to have most elegantly adverted to the
blessing of Jacob as an illustration of this righteousness, when
he says that as he who did not merit the birthright in him
self personated his brother, put on his garments which gave
forth a most pleasant odour, and thus introduced himself to
his father that he might receive a blessing to his own advan
tage, though under the person of another, so we conceal
ourselves under the precious purity1 of Christ, our first-born
brother, that we may obtain an attestation of righteousness
from the presence of God. The words of Ambrose are, —
a Isaac's smelling the odour of his garments, perhaps means
that we are justified not by works, but by faith, since carnal
infirmity is an impediment to works, but errors of conduct
are covered by the brightness of faith, which merits the
pardon of faults," (Ambrose de Jacobo et Vita Beata, Lib.
ii. c. 2.) And so indeed it is ; for in order to appear in the
presence of God for salvation, we must send forth that
fragrant odour, having our vices covered and buried by his
perfection.

1 French, "Sous la robbe ;" — under the robe.

CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION, 333

CHAPTER XII.

NECESSITY OF CONTEMPLATING THE JUDGMENT-SEAT OF
GOD, IN ORDER TO BE SERIOUSLY CONVINCED OF THE
DOCTRINE OF GRATUITOUS JUSTIFICATION.

The divisions of this chapter are, — I. A consideration of the righteous
ness of God overturns the righteousness of works, as is plain from pass
ages of Scripture, and the confession and example of the saints, sec. 1-3.
II. The same effect produced by a serious examination of the conscience,
and a constant citation to the divine tribunal, sec. 4 and 5. III. Hence
arises, in the hearts of the godly, not hypocrisy, or a vain opinion of
merit, but true humility. This illustrated by the authority of Scripture
and the example of the Publican, sec. 6, 7. IV. Conclusion — arrogance
and security must be discarded, every man throwing an impediment in
the way of the divine goodness in proportion as he trusts to himself.

Sections.

1. Source of error on the subject of Justification. Sophists speak as if

the question were to be discussed before some human tribunal.
It relates to the majesty and justice of God. Hence nothing accept
ed without absolute perfection. Passages confirming this doctrine.
If we descend to the righteousness of the Law, the curse imme
diately appears.

2. Source of hypocritical confidence. Illustrated by a simile. Exhor

tation. Testimony of Job, David, and Paul.

3. Confession of Augustine and Bernard.

4. Another engine overthrowing the righteousness of works, viz., a

serious examination of the conscience, and a comparison between
the perfection of God and the imperfection of man.

5. How it is that we so indulge this imaginary opinion of our own works.

The proper remedy to be found in a consideration of the majesty of
God and our own misery. A description of this misery.

6. Christian humility consists in laying aside the imaginary idea of our

own righteousness, and trusting entirely to the mercy of God,
apprehended by faith in Christ. This humility described. Proved
by passages of Scripture.

7. The parable of the Publican explained.

8. Arrogance, security, and self-confidence, must be renounced. General

rule, or summary of the above doctrine.

334 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

1. ALTHOUGH the perfect truth of the above doctrine is
proved by clear passages of Scripture, yet we cannot clearly
see how necessary it is, before we bring distinctly into view
the foundations on which the whole discussion ought to rest.
First, then, let us remember that the righteousness which we
are considering is not that of a human, but of a heavenly tri
bunal ; and so beware of employing our own little standard
to measure the perfection which is to satisfy the justice of
God. It is strange with what rashness and presumption this
is commonly defined. Nay, we see that none talk more con
fidently, or, so to speak, more blusteringly, of the righteous
ness of works, than those whose diseases are most palpable,
and blemishes most apparent. This they do because they
reflect not on the righteousness of Christ, which, if they had
the slightest perception of it, they would never treat with so
much insult. It is certainly undervalued, if not recognised
to be so perfect that nothing can be accepted that is not in
every respect entire and absolute, and tainted by no impu
rity ; such indeed as never has been, and never will be, found
in man. It is easy for any man, within the precincts of the
schools, to talk of the sufficiency of works for justification ;
but when we come into the presence of God there must be a
truce to such talk. The matter is there discussed in earnest,
and is no longer a theatrical logomachy. Hither must we
turn our minds if we would inquire to any purpose concern
ing true righteousness ; the question must be, How shall we
answer the heavenly Judge when he calls us to account ? Let
us contemplate that Judge, not as our own unaided intellect
conceives of him, but as he is pourtrayed to us in Scripture,
(see especially the Book of Job,) with a brightness which
obscures the stars, a strength which melts the mountains, an
anger which shakes the earth, a wisdom which takes the wise
in their own craftiness, a purity before which all things become
impure, a righteousness to which not even angels are equal,
(so far is it from making the guilty innocent,) a vengeance
which once kindled burns to the lowest hell, (Exod. xxxiv. 7 ;
Nahum i. 3 ; Deut. xxxii. 22.) Let Him, I say, sit in judg
ment on the actions of men, and who will feel secure in sist-
ing himself before his throne ? u Who among us," says the"

CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 335

prophet, " shall dwell with the devouring fire ? who among
us shall dwell with everlasting burnings ? Pie that walketh
righteously, and speaketh uprightly," &c., (Isaiah xxxiii. 14,
15.) Let whoso will come forth. Nay, the answer shows
that no man can. For, on the other hand, we hear the dread
ful voice : " If thou, Lord, shouldst mark our iniquities, O
Lord, who shall stand?" (Ps. cxxx. 3.) All must imme
diately perish, as Job declares, " Shall mortal man be more
just than God ? shall a man be more pure than his Maker ?
Behold, he put no trust in his servants ; and his angels he
charged with folly : Howr much less in them that dwell in
houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are
crushed before the moth ? They are destroyed from morning
to evening," (Job iv. 17-20.) Again, " Behold, he putteth
no trust in his saints ; yea, the heavens are not clean in his
sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man, which
drinketh iniquity like water?" (Job xv. 15, 16.) I confess,
indeed, that in the Book of Job reference is made to a right
eousness of a more exalted description than the observance of
the Law. It is of importance to attend to this distinction ;
for even could a man satisfy the Law, he could not stand
the scrutiny of that righteousness which transcends all our
thoughts. Hence, although Job was not conscious of offend
ing, he is still dumb with astonishment, because he sees that
God could not be appeased even by the sanctity of angels,
were their works weighed in that supreme balance. But to
advert no farther to this righteousness, which is incompre
hensible, I only say, that if our life is brought to the standard
of the written law, we are lethargic indeed if we are not filled
with dread at the many maledictions which God has employ
ed for the purpose of arousing us, and among others, the
following general one : " Cursed be he that confirmeth not all
the words of this law to do them," (Deut. xxvii. 26.) In
short, the whole discussion of this subject will be insipid and
frivolous, unless we sist ourselves before the heavenly Judge,
and anxious for our acquittal, voluntarily humble ourselves,
confessing our nothingness.

2. Thus, then, must we raise our eyes that we may learn
to tremble instead of vainly exulting. It is easy, indeed,

336 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

when the comparison is made among men, for every one to
plume himself on some quality which* others ought not to
despise ^ but when we rise to God that confidence instantly
falls and dies away. The case of the soul with regard to
God is very analogous to that of the body in regard to
the visible firmament. The bodily eye, while employed in
surveying adjacent objects, is pleased with its own perspi
cacity ; but when directed to the sun, being dazzled and over
whelmed by the refulgence, it becomes no less convinced of
its weakness than it formerly was of its power in viewing
inferior objects. Therefore, lest we deceive ourselves by vain
confidence, let us recollect that even though we deem our
selves equal or superior to other men, this is nothing to God,
by whose judgment the decision must be given. But if our
presumption cannot be tamed by these considerations, he will
answer us as he did the Pharisees, " Ye are they which justify
yourselves before men ; but God knoweth your hearts : for
that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in
the sight of God," (Luke xvi. 15.) Go now and make a proud
boast of your righteousness among men, while God in heaven
abhors it. But what are the feelings of the servants of God,
of those who are truly taught by his Spirit ? " Enter not into
judgment with thy servant ; for in thy sight shall no man
living be justified," (Ps. cxliii. 2.) Another, though in a
sense somewhat different, says, " How should man be just
with God ? If he will contend with him he cannot answer
him one of a thousand," (Job ix. 2, 3.) Here we are plainly
told what the righteousness of God is, namely, a righteous
ness which no human works can satisfy, which charges us
with a thousand sins, while not one sin can be excused. Of
this righteousness Paul, that chosen vessel of God, had form
ed a just idea, when he declared, " I know nothing by myself,
yet am I not hereby justified," (1 Cor. iv. 4.)

3. Such examples exist not in the sacred volume only ; all
pious writers show that their sentiment was the same. Thus,
Augustine says, u Of all pious men groaning under this bur
den of corruptible flesh, and the infirmities of this life, the
only hope is, that we have one Mediator Jesus Christ the
righteous, and that he intercedes for our sins," (August, "ad

CHAI*. XJI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 337

Bonif. Lib. iii. c. 5.) What do we hear? If this is their
only hope, where is their confidence in works ? When he says
only, he leaves no other. Bernard says, " And, indeed, where
have the infirm firm security and safe rest, but in the wounds
of the Saviour ? Hold it then the more securely, the more
powerful he is to save. The world frowns, the body presses,
the devil lays snares : I fall not, because I am founded on a
firm rock. I have sinned a grievous sin : conscience is
troubled, but it shall not be overwhelmed, for I will remem
ber the wounds of the Lord." He afterwards concludes,
" My merit, therefore, is the compassion of the Lord ; plain
ly I am not devoid of merit so long as he is not devoid of
commiseration. But if the mercies of the Lord are many,
equally many are my merits. Shall I sing of my own right
eousness ? O Lord, I will make mention of thy righteous
ness alone. That righteousness is mine also, being made mine
by God," (Bernard, Semi. 61, in Cantic.) Again, in an
other passage, " Man's whole merit is to place his whole hope in
him who makes the whole man safe," (in Psal. Qui Habitat.
Serm. 15.) In like manner, reserving peace to himself, he
leaves the glory to God : " Let thy glory remain unimpaired :
it is well with me if I have peace ; I altogether abjure boast
ing, lest if I should usurp what is not mine, I lose also
what is offered," (Serm. 13, in Cantic.) He says still more
plainly in another place : " Why is the Church solicitous
about merits ? God purposely supplies her with a firmer and
more secure ground of boasting. There is no reason for ask
ing by what merits may we hope for blessings, especially
when you hear in the prophet, ' Thus saith the Lord God,
I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine
holy name's sake,' (Ezek. xxxvi. 22, 32.) It is sufficient for
merit to know that merits suffice not ; but as it is sufficient
for merit not to presume on merit, so to be without merits is
sufficient for condemnation," (Bernard, Serm. 68.) The free
use of the term merits for good works must be pardoned to
custom. Bernard's purpose was to alarm hypocrites, who
turned the grace of God into licentiousness, as he shortly after
explains : " Happy the church which neither wants merit
without presumption, nor presumption without merit. It

VOL. JI. y

338 INSTITUTES OF THE §OOK III.

has ground to presume, but not merit. It has merit, merit
to deserve, not presume. Is not the absence of presumption
itself a merit ? He, therefore, to whom the many mercies of
the Lord furnish ample grounds of boasting, presumes the
more securely that he presumes not," (Bernard, Serm. 68.)

4. Thus, indeed, it is. Aroused consciences, when they
have to do with God, feel this to be the only asylum in which
they can breathe safely. For if the stars which shine most
brightly by night lose their brightness on the appearance of
the sun, what think we will be the case with the highest
purity of man when contrasted with the purity of God ? For
the scrutiny will be most strict, penetrating to the most hid
den thoughts of the heart. As Paul says, it "will bring to
light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest
the counsels of the heart," (1 Cor. iv. 5 ;) will compel the
reluctant and dissembling conscience to bring forward every
thing, even things which have now escaped our memory. The
devil, aware of all the iniquities which he has induced us to
perpetrate, will appear as accuser ; the external show of good
works, the only thing now considered, will then be of no
avail ; the only thing demanded will be the true intent of the
will. Hence hypocrisy, not only that by which a man, though
consciously guilty before God, affects to make an ostentatious
display before man, but that by which each imposes upon
himself before God, (so prone are we to soothe and flatter
ourselves,) will fall confounded, how much soever it may now
swell with pride and presumption. Those who do not turn
their thoughts to this scene may be able for the moment
calmly and complacently to rear up a righteousness for them
selves ; but this the judgment of God will immediately over
throw, just as great wealth amassed in a dream vanishes the
moment we awake. Those who, as in the presence of God,
inquire seriously into the true standard of righteousness, will
certainly find that all the works of men, if estimated by their
own worth, are nothing but vileness and pollution, that what
is commonly deemed justice is with God mere iniquity ;
what is deemed integrity is pollution ; what deemed glory is
ignominy.

5. Let us not decline to descend from this contemplation

CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 339

of the divine perfection, to look into ourselves without flat
tery or blind self-love. It is not strange that we are so
deluded in this matter, seeing none of us can avoid that pes
tilential self-indulgence, which, as Scripture proclaims, is
naturally inherent in all : " Every way of a man is right in his
own eyes," says Solomon, (Prov. xxi. 2.) And again, " All
the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes," (Prov. xvi. 2.)
What then ? does this hallucination excuse him ? No, indeed,
as Solomon immediately adds, " The Lord weigheth the
spirits ;" that is, while man flatters himself by wearing an
external mask of righteousness, the Lord weighs the hidden
impurity of the heart in his balance. Seeing, therefore, that
nothing is gained by such flattery, let us not voluntarily delude
ourselves to our own destruction. To examine ourselves pro
perly, our conscience must be called to the judgment-seat of
God. His light is necessary to disclose the secret recesses of
wickedness which otherwise lie too deeply hid. Then only
shall we clearly perceive what the value of our works is ; that
man, so far from being just before God, is but rottenness and
a worm, abominable and vain, drinking in " iniquity like
water." For " who can bring a clean thing out of an un
clean? not one," (Job xiv. 5.) Then we shall experience
the truth of what Job said of himself : " If I justify myself,
mine own mouth shall condemn me : if I say I am perfect,
it shall prove me perverse," (Job ix. 20.) Nor does the com
plaint which the prophet made concerning Israel apply to
one age only. It is true of every age, that " all we like
sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his
own way," (Isaiah liii. 6.) Indeed, he there comprehends
all to whom the gift of redemption was to come. And the
strictness of the examination ought to be continued until it
have completely alarmed us, and in that way prepared us for
receiving the grace of Christ. For he is deceived who thinks
himself capable of enjoying it, until he have laid aside all
loftiness of mind. There is a well-known declaration, " God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble," (1 Pet
v.5.)

6. But what means is there of humbling us if we do not
make way for the m, rcy of God by our utter indigence and

340 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

destitution ? For I call it not humility, so long as we think
there is any good remaining in us. Those who have joined
together the two things, to think humbly of ourselves before
God and yet hold our own righteousness in some estimation,
have hitherto taught a pernicious hypocrisy. For if we con
fess to God contrary to what we feel, we wickedly lie to
him ; but we cannot feel as we ought without seeing that
every thing like a ground of boasting is completely crushed.
Therefore, when you hear from the prophet, u thou wilt save
the afflicted people ; but wilt bring down high looks," (Ps.
xviii. 27,) consider, first, that there is no access to salva
tion unless all pride is laid aside and true humility embraced ;
secondly, that that humility is not a kind of moderation by
which you yield to God some article of your right, (thus men
are called humble in regard to each other when they neither
conduct themselves haughtily nor insult over other, though
they may still entertain some consciousness of their own
excellence,) but that it is the unfeigned submission of a mind
overwhelmed by a serious conviction of its want and misery.
Such is the description every where given by the word of
God. When in Zephaniah the Lord speaks thus, "I will
take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy
pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy
mountain. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted
and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the
Lord," (Zeph. iii. 11, 12,) does he not plainly show who are
the humble, viz., those who lie afflicted by a knowledge of
their poverty ? On the contrary, he describes the proud as
rejoicing, (exultantes,) such being the mode in which men
usually express their delight in prosperity. To the humble,
whom he designs to save, he leaves nothing but hope in the
Lord. Thus, also, in Isaiah, " To this man will I look, even to
him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my
word," (Isaiah Ixvi. 2.) Again, " Thus saith the high and
lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy ; I
dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a
contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones," (Isaiah Ivii. 15.)
By the term contrition, which you so often hear, understand a

CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 341

wounded heart, which, humbling the individual to the earth,
allows him not to rise. With such contrition must your
heart be wounded, if you would, according to the declaration
of God, be exalted with the humble. If this is not your
case, you shall be humbled by the mighty hand of God to
your shame and disgrace.

7. Our divine Master, not confining himself to words, has
by a parable set before us, as in a picture, a representation
of true humility. He brings forward a publican, who stand
ing afar off, and not daring to lift up his eyes to heaven,
smites upon his breast, laments aloud, and exclaims, " God
be merciful to me a sinner," (Luke xviii. 13.) Let us not
suppose that he gives the signs of a fictitious modesty when
he dares not come near or lift up his eyes to heaven, but,
smiting upon his breast, confesses himself a sinner ; let us
know that these are the evidences of his internal feeling.
With him our Lord contrasts the Pharisee, who thanks God
" I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give
tithes of aU that I possess." In this public confession he
admits that the righteousness which he possesses is the gift
of God ; but because of his confidence that he is righteous,
he departs from the presence of God unaccepted and abomi
nated. The publican acknowledging his iniquity is justified.
Hence we may see how highly our humility is valued by the
Lord : our breast cannot receive his mercy until deprived
completely of all opinion of its own worth. When such an
opinion is entertained, the door of mercy is shut. That there
might be no doubt on this matter, the mission on which
Christ was sent into the world by his Father was " to preach
good tidings to the meek," " to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God ; to
comfort all that mourn ; to appoint unto them that mourn in
Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,"
(Isa. Ixi. 1-3.) In fulfilment of that mission, the only per
sons whom he invites to share in his beneficence are the

342 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

t( weary and heavy laden." In another passage he says, " I
am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,"
(Matth. xi. 28 ; ix. 13.)

8. Therefore, if we would make way for the call of Christ,
we must put far from us all arrogance and confidence.
The former is produced by a foolish persuasion of self-right
eousness, when a man thinks that he has something in himself
which deservedly recommends him to God ; the latter may
exist without any confidence in works.1 For many sinners,
intoxicated with the pleasures of vice, think not of the judg
ment of God. Lying stupified, as it were, by a kind of
lethargy, they aspire not to the offered mercy. It is not less
necessary to shake off torpor of this description than every
kind of confidence in ourselves, in order that we may haste
to Christ unencumbered, and while hungry and empty be
filled with his blessings. Never shall we have sufficient con
fidence in him unless utterly distrustful of ourselves ; never
shall we take courage in him until we first despond of our
selves ; never shall we have full consolation in him until we
cease to have any in ourselves. When we have entirely dis
carded all self-confidence, and trust solely in the certainty of
his goodness, we are fit to apprehend and obtain the grace of
God. "When," (as Augustine says,) "forgetting our own
merits, we embrace the gifts of Christ, because if he should
seek for merits in us we should not obtain his gifts,"
(August, de Verb. Apost. 8.) With this Bernard admirably
accords, comparing the proud, who presume in the least on
their merits, to unfaithful servants, who wickedly take the
merit of a favour merely passing through them, just as if a
wall were to boast of producing the ray which it receives
through the window, (Bernard, Serm. 13, in Cant.) Not
to dwell longer here, let us lay down this short but sure and

1 French, " Par arrogance j'enten 1'orgueil qui s'engendre d'une fole
persuasion de justice, quand rhomme pense avoir quelque chose, dont
il merite d'estre agreable a Dieu ; par presomption j'enten une nonchal
ance charnelle, qui pent estre sans aucune fiance des ceuvres ;" — by arro
gance I mean the pride which is engendered by a foolish persuasion of
righteousness, when man thinks he has something for which he deserves
to be agreeable to God. By presumption I understand a carnal indiffer
ence, which may exist without any confidence in works,

CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN KELIGION. 313

general rule, That he is prepared to reap the fruits of the
divine mercy who has thoroughly emptied himself, I say not
of righteousness, (he has none,) but of a vain and blustering
show of righteousness ; for to whatever extent any man rests
in himself, to the same extent he impedes the beneficence
of God.

344 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

CHAPTER XIII.

TWO THINGS TO BE OBSERVED IN GRATUITOUS
JUSTIFICATION.

The divisions of this chapter are, — I. The glory of God, and peace of
conscience, both secured by gratuitous justification. An insult to the
glory of God to glory in ourselves and seek justification out of Christ,
whose righteousness, apprehended by faith, is imputed to all the elect for
reconciliation and eternal salvation, sec. 1, 2. II. Peace of conscience
cannot be obtained in any other way than by gratuitous justification.
This fully proved, sec. 3-5.

Sections.

1 . The glory of God remains untarnished, when he alone is acknowledged

to be just. This proved from Scripture.

2. Those who glory in themselves glory against God. Objection. An

swer, confirmed by the authority of Paul and Peter.

3. Peace of conscience obtained by free justification only. Testimony of

Solomon, of conscience itself, and the Apostle Paul, who contends
that faith is made vain if righteousness come by the law.

4 The promise confirmed by faith in the mercy of Christ. This is con
firmed by Augustine and Bernard, is in accordance with what has
been above stated, and is illustrated by clear predictions of the
prophets.

5. Farther demonstration by an Apostle. Refutation of a sophism.

1. HERE two ends must be kept specially in view, namely,
that the glory of God be maintained unimpaired, and that our
consciences, in the view of his tribunal, be secured in peaceful
rest and calm tranquillity. When the question relates to
righteousness, we see how often and how anxiously Scripture
exhorts us to give the whole praise of it to God. Accord
ingly, the Apostle testifies that the purpose of the Lord in
conferring righteousness upon us in Christ, was to demon
strate his own righteousness. The nature of this demonstra
tion he immediately subjoins, viz., "that he might be just,
and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus," (Rom. iii.

CHAP. XIII. CiilUSTlAN KELIGION. 345

25.) Observe, that the righteousness of God is not sufficiently
displayed, unless He alone is held to be righteous, and freely
communicates righteousness to the undeserving. For this
reason it is his will, that " every mouth may be stopped, and
all the world may become guilty before God," (Rom. iii. 19.)
For so long as a man has any thing, however small, to say in
his own defence, so long he deducts somewhat from the glory
of God. Thus, we are taught in Ezekiel how much we
glorify his name by acknowledging our iniquity: " Then shall
ye remember your ways and all your doings, wherein ye have
been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own
sight, for all your evils that ye have committed. And ye
shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with
you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways,
nor according to your corrupt doings," (Ezek. xx. 43, 44.)
If part of the true knowledge of God consists in being
oppressed by a consciousness of our own iniquity, and in
recognising him as doing good to those who are unworthy of
it, why do we attempt, to our great injury, to steal from the
Lord even one particle of the praise of unmerited kindness ?
In like manner, when Jeremiah exclaims, " Let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches : but let
him that glorieth glory" in the Lord, (Jer. ix. 23, 24,) does
he not intimate, that the glory of the Lord is infringed when
man glories in himself? To this purpose, indeed, Paul
accommodates the words when he says, that all the parts of
our salvation are treasured up with Christ, that we may glory
only in the Lord, (1 Cor. i. 29.) For he intimates, that
whosoever imagines he has any thing of his own, rebels
against God, and obscures his glory.

2. Thus, indeed, it is : we never truly glory in him until
we have utterly discarded our own glory. It must, therefore,
be regarded as an universal proposition, that whoso glories in
himself glories against God. Paul indeed considers, that the
whole world is not made subject to God until every ground
of glorying has been withdrawn from men, (Rom. iii. 19.)
Accordingly, Isaiah, when he declares that " in the Lord
shall all the seed of Israel be justified," adds, " and shall

346 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

glory," (Isa. xlv. 25 ;) as if lie had said, that the elect are
justified by the Lord, in order that they may glory in him,
and in none else. The way in which we are to glory in the
Lord he had explained in the preceding verse, "fUnto me
every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear ;" " Surely,
shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength,
even to him shall men come." Observe, that the thing
required is not simple confession, but confession confirmed
by an oath, that it might not be imagined that any kind of
fictitious humility might suffice. And let no man here allege
that he does not glory, when without arrogance he recog
nises his own righteousness ; such a recognition cannot take
place without generating confidence, nor such confidence
without begetting boasting. Let us remember, therefore,
that in the whole discussion concerning justification the great
thing to be attended to is, that God's glory be maintained
entire and unimpaired ; since, as the Apostle declares, it was
in demonstration of his own righteousness that he shed his
favour upon us ; it was " that he might be just, and the justi-
fier of him which belie veth in Jesus," (Rom. iii. 26.) Hence,
in another passage, having said that the Lord conferred
salvation upon us, in order that he might show forth the
glory of his name, (Eph. i. 6,) he afterwards, as if repeating
the same thing, adds, " By grace are ye saved through faith ;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of
works, lest any man should boast," (Eph. ii. 8.) And Peter,
when he reminds us that we are called to the hope of salva
tion, " that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath
called you out of darkness into his marvellous light," (1 Pet. ii.
9,) doubtless intends thus to proclaim in the ears of believers
only the praises of God, that they may bury in profound silence
all arrogance of the flesh. The sum is, that man cannot claim
a single particle of righteousness to himself, without at the same
time detracting from the glory of the divine righteousness.

3. If we now inquire in what way the conscience can be
quieted as in the view of God, we shall find that the only
way is by having righteousness bestowed upon us freely by
the gift of God. Let us always remember the words of
Solomon, " Who can say I have made my heart clean, I am

CHAP. XIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 347

free from my sin ?" (Prov. xx. 9.) Undoubtedly, there is
not one man who is not covered with infinite pollutions. Let
the most perfect man descend into his own conscience, and
bring his actions to account, and what will the result be?
Will he feel calm and quiescent, as if all matters were well
arranged between himself and God ; or will he not rather be
stung with dire torment, when he sees that the ground of
condemnation is within him if he be estimated by his works ?
Conscience, when it beholds God, must either have sure
peace with his justice, or be beset by the terrors of hell.
We gain nothing, therefore, by discoursing of righteousness,
unless we hold it to be a righteousness stable enough to
support our souls before the tribunal of God. When the soul
is able to appear intrepidly in the presence of God, and
receive his sentence without dismay, then only let us know
that we have found a righteousness that is not fictitious.
It is not, therefore, without cause, that the Apostle insists
on this matter. I prefer giving it in his words rather than
my own : " If they which are of the law be heirs, faith is
made void, and the promise made of no effect," (Rom. iv. 14.)
He first infers that faith is made void if the promise of
righteousness has respect to the merit of our works, or
depends on the observance of the law. Never could any one
rest securely in it, for never could he feel fully assured that
he had fully satisfied the law ; and it is certain that no man
ever fully satisfies it by works. Not to go far for proof of
this, every one who will use his eyes aright may be his own
witness. Hence it appears how deep and dark the abyss is
into which hypocrisy plunges the minds of men, when they
indulge so securely as, without hesitation, to oppose their
fiattery to the judgment of God, as if they were relieving him
from his office as judge. Yery different is the anxiety which
fills the breasts of believers, who sincerely examine them
selves.1 Every mind, therefore, would first begin to hesitate,
and at length to despair, while each determined for itself
with how great a load of debt it was still oppressed, and how
far it was from coming up to the enjoined condition. Thus,

1 The two previous sentences are omitted in the French.

348 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

then, faith would be oppressed and extinguished. To have
faith is not to fluctuate, to vary, to be carried up and down,
to hesitate, remain in suspense, vacillate, in fine, to despair ; it
is to possess sure certainty and complete security of mind, to
have whereon to rest and fix your foot.

4. Paul, moreover, adds, that the promise itself would be
rendered null and void. For if its fulfilment depends on our
merit, when, pray, will we be able to come the length of
meriting the favour of God ? Nay, the second clause is a
consequence of the former, since the promise will not be ful
filled unless to those who put faith in it. Faith therefore
failing, no power will remain in the promise. " Therefore it
is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise
might be sure to all the seed," (Rom. iv. 16.) It was abund
antly confirmed when made to rest on the mercy of God
alone, for mercy and truth are united by an indissoluble tie ;
that is, whatever God has mercifully promised he faithfully
performs. Thus David, before he asks salvation according
to the word of God, first places the source of it in his mercy.
" Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort,
according to thy word unto thy servant," (Ps. cxix. 76.)
And justly, for nothing but mere mercy induces God to
promise. Here, then, we must place, and, as it were, firmly
fix our whole hope, paying no respect to our works, and
asking no assistance from them. And lest you should sup
pose that there is any thing novel in what I say, Augustine
also enjoins us so to act. " Christ," says he, u will reign for
ever among his servants. This God has promised, God has
spoken ; if this is not enough, God has sworn. Therefore, as
the promise stands firm, not in respect of our merits, but in
respect of his mercy, no one ought to tremble in announcing
that of which he cannot doubt," (August. inPs. Ixxxviii. Tract.
1.) Thus Bernard also, " Who can be saved? ask the dis
ciples of Christ. He replies, With men it is impossible, but
not with God. This is our whole confidence ; this our only
consolation ; this the whole ground of our hope : but being
assured of the possibility, what are we to say as to his will
ingness ? Who knows whether he is deserving of love or
hatred ? (Eccles. ix. 1.) ( Who hath known the mind of the

CHAP. XIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION'. 349

Lord that he may instruct him?' (1 Cor. ii. 16.) Here it is
plain, faith must come to our aid : here we must have the
assistance of truth, in order that the secret purpose of the
Father respecting us may be revealed by the Spirit, and the
Spirit testifying may persuade our hearts that we are the
sons of God. But let him persuade by calling and justi
fying freely by faith : in these there is a kind of transition
from eternal predestination to future glory," (Berd. in Dedica.
Templi, Serm. 5.) Let us thus briefly conclude : Scripture
indicates that the promises of God are not sure, unless they
are apprehended with full assurance of conscience ; it declares
that wherever there is doubt or uncertainty, the promises are
made void ; on the other hand, that they can only waver
and fluctuate if they depend on our works. Therefore, either
our righteousness must perish, or without any consideration of
our works, place must be given to faith alone, whose nature it is
to prick up the ear, and shut the eye ; that is, to be intent on
the promise only, to give up all idea of any dignity or merit
in man. Thus is fulfilled the celebrated prophecy of Zecha-
riah : " I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man
his neighbour under the vine, and under the fig-tree," (Zech.
iii. 9, 10.) Here the prophet intimates that the only way
in which believers can enjoy true peace, is by obtaining the
remission of their sins. For we must attend to this pecu
liarity in the prophets, that when they discourse of the king
dom of Christ, they set forth the external mercies of God as
types of spiritual blessings. Hence Christ is called the Prince
of Peace, and our peace, (Isaiah ix. 6; Eph. ii. 14,) because
he calms all the agitations of conscience. If the method is
asked, we must come to the sacrifice by which God was
appeased, for no man will ever cease to tremble, until he
hold that God is propitiated solely by that expiation in
which Christ endured his anger. In short, peace must be
sought no where but in the agonies of Christ our Redeemer.
5. But why employ a more obscure testimony ? Paul uni
formly declares that the conscience can have no peace or
quiet joy until it is held for certain that we are justified by
faith. And he at th^ same time declares whence this cer-

350 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

tainty is derived, viz., when " the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost/' (Rom. v. 5 ;) as if he had
said, that our souls cannot have peace until we are fully as
sured that we are pleasing to God. Hence he elsewhere
exclaims in the person of believers in general, " Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ ?" (Rom. viii. 35.) Until
we have reached that haven, the slightest breeze will make
us tremble, but so long as the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall
walk without fear in the valley of the shadow of death, (Ps.
xxiii.) Thus those who pretend that justification by faith con
sists in being regenerated and made just, by living spiritually,
have never tasted the sweetness of grace in trusting that
God will be propitious. Hence also, they know no more
of praying aright than do the Turks or any other heathen
people. For, as Paul declares, faith is not true, unless it sug
gest and dictate the delightful name of Father ; nay, unless
it open our mouths and enable us freely to cry, Abba, Father.
This he expresses more clearly in another passage, " In whom
we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith
of him," (Eph. iii. 12.) This, certainly, is not obtained by
the gift of regeneration, which, as it is always defective in
the present state, contains within it many grounds of doubt.
Wherefore, we must have recourse to this remedy ; we must
hold that the only hope which believers have of the heavenly
inheritance is, that being ingrafted into the body of Christ,
they are justified freely. For, in regard to justification, faith
is merely passive, bringing nothing of our own to procure the
favour of God, but receiving from Christ every thing that we
want.

CHAP. XIV.

CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

351

CHAPTER XIV.

THE BEGINNING OF JUSTIFICATION.
PROGRESSIVE.

IN WHAT SENSE

To illustrate what has been already said, and show what kind of right
eousness man can have during the whole course of his life, mankind arc
divided into four classes. I. First class considered, sec. 1-6. II. Second
and third classes considered together, sec. 7, 8. III. Fourth class con
sidered, sec. 9 to end.

Sections.

1. Men either idolatrous, profane, hypocritical, or regenerate. 1. Ido

laters void of righteousness, full of unrighteousness, and hence in
the sight of God altogether wretched and undone.

2. Still a great difference in the characters of men. This difference

manifested. 1. In the gifts of God. 2. In the distinction between
honourable and base. 3. In the blessings of the present life.

3. All human virtue, how praiseworthy soever it may appear, is cor

rupted. 1. By impurity of heart. 2. By the absence of a proper
nature.

4. By the want of Christ, without whom there is no life.

5. Natural condition of man as described by Scripture. All men dead

in sins before regeneration.

6. Passages of Scripture to this effect. Vulgar error confounding the

righteousness of works with the redemption purchased by Christ.

7. The second and third classes of men, comprehending hypocrites and

Christians in name only. Every action of theirs deserves condem
nation. Passage from Haggai. Objection. Answer.

8. Other passages. Quotations from Augustine and Gregory.

9. The fourth class, viz., the regenerate. Though guided by the Spirit,

corruption adheres to all they do, especially when brought to the
bar of God.

10. One fault sufficient to efface all former righteousness. Hence they

cannot possibly be justified by works.

11. In addition to the two former arguments, a third adduced against

the Sophists, to show that whatever be the works of the regenerate,
they are justified solely by faith and the free imputation of Christ's
righteousness.

352 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

12. Sophism of the Schoolmen in opposition to the above doctrine.

Answer.

13. Answer explained. Refutation of the fiction of partial righteousness,

and compensation by works of supererogation. This fiction neces
sarily falls with that of satisfaction.

14. Statement of our Saviour, viz., that after we have done all, we are

still unprofitable servants.

15. Objection founded on Paul's boasting. Answer, showing the Apos

tle's meaning. Other answers, stating the general doctrine out of
Chrysostom. Third answer, showing that supererogation is the
merest vanity.

16. Fourth answer, showing how Scripture dissuades us from all confi

dence in works. Fifth answer, showing that we have no ground
of boasting.

17. Sixth answer, showing, in regard to four different causes, that works

have no part in procuring our salvation. 1. The efficient cause is
the free love of the Father. 2. The material cause is Christ
acquiring righteousness for us. 3. The instrumental cause is faith.
4. The final cause the display of the divine justice and praise of
the divine goodness.

18. A second objection, founded on the glorying of saints. An answer,

explaining these modes of expression. How the saints feel in
regard to the certainty of salvation. The opinion they have of
their own works as in the sight of God.

19. Another answer, viz., that the elect, by this kind of glorying, refer

only to their adoption by the Father as proved by the fruits of their
calling. The order of this glorying. Its foundation, structure,
and parts.

20. Conclusion. The saints neither attribute anything to the merits of

works, nor derogate in any degree from the righteousness which
they obtain in Christ. Confirmation from a passage of Augustine,
in which he gives two reasons why no believer will presume to
boast before God of his works.

21. A third objection, viz., that the good works of believers are the

causes of divine blessings. Answer. There are inferior causes,
but these depend on free justification, which is the only true cause
why God blesses us. These modes of expression designate the
order of sequence rather than the cause.

1. IN farther illustration of the subject, let us consider
what kind of righteousness man can have, during the whole
course of his life, and for this purpose let us make a fourfold
division. Mankind, either endued with no knowledge of God,
are sunk in idolatry ; or, initiated in the sacraments, but by
the impurity of their lives denying him whom they confess

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 353

with their mouths, are Christians in name only ; or they are
hypocrites, who with empty glosses hide the iniquity of the
heart ; or they are regenerated by the Spirit of God, and aspire
to true holiness. In the first place, when men are judged by
their natural endowments, not an iota of good will be found from
the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, unless we are to
charge Scripture with falsehood, when it describes all the sons
of Adam by such terms as these : " The heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked." " The imagination of man's
heart is evil from his youth." " The Lord knoweth the thoughts
of man that they are vanity." " They are all gone aside :
they are altogether become filthy ; there is none that doeth
good, no, not one." In short, that they are^/fesA, under which
name are comprehended all those works which are enumerated
by Paul; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies, envy ings, murders, drunkenness, re veilings,
and all kinds of pollution and abomination which it is pos
sible to imagine.1 Such, then, is the worth on which men are
to plume themselves. But if any among them possess an
integrity of manners which presents some semblance of sanc
tity among men, yet because we know that God regards not
the outward appearance, we must penetrate to the very source
of action, if we would see how far works avail for right
eousness. We must, I say, look within, and see from what
affection of the heart these works proceed. This is a very
wide field of discussion, but as the matter may be explained
in few words, I will use as much brevity as I can.

2. First, then, I deny not, that whatever excellent endow
ments appear in unbelievers2 are divine gifts. Nor do I set
myself so much in opposition to common sense, as to contend
that there was no difference between the justice, moderation,
and equity of Titus and Trajan, and the rage, intemperance,
and cruelty of Caligula, Nero, and Domitian ; between the
continence of Vespasian, and the obscene lusts of Tiberius ;

1 Jer. xvii. 9 ; Gen. viii. 21 ; Ps. xciv. 11 ; xxxvi. 2 ; xiv. 2, 3 ; Gen.
vi. 3; Gal. v. 19.

2 Latin, " in incredulis." French, " en la vie des infideles etidolatres ;"
— in the life of infidels and idolaters.

VOL. II. Z

354 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

and (not to dwell on single virtues and vices) between the
observance of law and justice, and the contempt of them.
So great is the difference between justice and injustice, that
it may be seen even where the former is only a lifeless
image. For what order would remain in the world if we
were to confound them ? Hence this distinction between
honourable and base actions God has not only engraven on
the minds of each, but also often confirms in the administra
tion of his providence. For we see how he visits those who
cultivate virtue with many temporal blessings. Not that
that external image of virtue in the least degree merits his
favour, but he is pleased thus to show how much he delights
in true righteousness, since he does not leave even the out
ward semblance of it to go unrewarded. Hence it follows,
as we lately observed, that those virtues, or rather images of
virtues, of whatever kind, are divine gifts, since there is
nothing in any degree praiseworthy which proceeds not from
him.

3. Still the observation of Augustine is true, that all who
are strangers to the true God, however excellent they may
be deemed on account of their virtues, are more deserving of
punishment than of reward, because, by the pollution of their
heart, they contaminate the pure gifts of God, (August, contra
Julian, Lib, iv.) For though they are instruments of God
to preserve human society by justice, continence, friendship,
temperance, fortitude, and prudence, yet they execute these
good works of God in the worst manner, because they are
kept from acting ill, not by a sincere love of goodness, but
merely by ambition or self-love, or some other sinister affec
tion. Seeing then that these actions are polluted as in their
very source, by impurity of heart, they have no better title
to be classed among virtues than vices, which impose upon
us by their affinity or resemblance to virtue. In short, when
we remember that the object at which righteousness always
aims is the service of God, whatever is of a different tend
ency deservedly forfeits the name. Hence, as they have
no regard to the end which the divine wisdom prescribes,
although from the performance the act seems good, yet from
the perverse motive it is sin. Augustine, therefore, concludes .

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 355

that all the Fabriciuses, the Scipios, and Catos,1 in their illus
trious deeds, sinned in this, that, wanting the light of faith,
they did not refer them to the proper end, and that, there
fore, there was no true righteousness in them, because duties
are estimated not by acts but by motives.

4. Besides, if it is true, as John says, that there is no life
without the Son of God, (1 John v. 12,) those who have no
part in Christ, whoever they be, whatever they do or devise,
are hastening on, during their whole career, to destruction
and the judgment of eternal death. For this reason, Augus
tine says, " Our religion distinguishes the righteous from the
wicked, by the law, not of works but of faith, without which
works which seem good are converted into sins," (August,
ad Bonif. Lib. iii. c. v.) He finely expresses the same idea
in another passage, when he compares the zeal of such men
to those who in a race mistake the course, (August. Prasf. in
Ps. xxxi.) He who is off the course, the more swiftly he
runs is the more distant from the goal ; and, therefore, the
more unhappy. It is better to limp in the way than run out
of the way. Lastly, as there is no sanctification without union
with Christ, it is evident that they are bad trees which are
beautiful and fair to look upon, and may even produce fruit,
sweet to the taste, but are still very far from good. Hence
we easily perceive that every thing which man thinks, designs,
and performs, before he is reconciled to God by faith, is cursed,
and not only of no avail for justification, but merits certain
damnation. And why do we talk of this as if it were doubt
ful, when it has already been proved by the testimony of an
apostle, that " without faith it is impossible to please God ?"
(Heb. xi. 6.)

5. But the proof will be still clearer if divine grace is set
in opposition to the natural condition of man. For Scripture
everywhere proclaims that God finds nothing in man to in
duce him to show kindness, but that he prevents him by free
liberality. What can a dead man do to obtain life ? But
when he enlightens us with the knowledge of himself, he is

1 Latin, " omnes Fabricios, Scipiones, Catones." French, u tons ceux
qui ont este prisez entre les Pagans ;" — all those who have been prized
unions the Heathen.

356 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

said to raise us from the dead, and make us new creatures,
(John v. 25.) On this ground we see that the kindness of
God toward us is often commended, especially by the apostle :
" God," says he, " who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ," (Eph. ii. 4.) In another
passage, when treating of the general call of believers under
the type of Abraham, he says, " God quickeneth the dead,
and calleth those things which be not as though they were,"
(Rom. iv. 17.) If we are nothing, what, pray, can we do ?
Wherefore, in the Book of Job the Lord sternly represses all
arrogance in these words, " Who hath prevented me, that I
should repay him ? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is
mine," (Job xli. 11.) Paul explaining this sentence applies it
in this way, — Let us not imagine that we bring to the Lord any
thing but the mere disgrace of want and destitution, (Rom. xi.
35.) Wherefore, in the passage above quoted, to prove that we
attain to the hope of salvation, not by works but only by grace,
he affirms that " we are his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them," (Eph. ii. 10;) as if he had said, Who
of us can boast of having challenged God by his righteous
ness, seeing our first power to act aright is derived from
regeneration ? For, as we are formed by nature, sooner shall
oil be extracted from stone than good works from us. It
is truly strange how man, convicted of such ignominy, dares
still to claim any thing as his own. Let us acknowledge,
therefore, with that chosen vessel, that God " hath called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works, but accord
ing to his own purpose and grace ;" and " that the kindness
and love of God our Saviour toward men appeared not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us ;" that being justified by his grace, we
might become the heirs of everlasting life, (2 Tim. i. 9 ; Tit.
iii. 4, 5.) By this confession we strip man of every particle
of righteousness, until by mere mercy he is regenerated unto
the hope of eternal life, since it is not true to say we are
justified by grace, if works contribute in any degree to our
justification. The apostle undoubtedly had not forgotten'

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 357

himself in declaring that justification is gratuitous, seeing he
argues in another place, that if works are of any avail, " grace
is no more grace," (Rom. xi. 6.) And what else does our
Lord mean, when he declares, " I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance ?" (Matth. ix. 13.) If
sinners alone are admitted, why do we seek admission by
means of fictitious righteousness ?

6. The thought is ever and anon recurring to me, that I
am in danger of insulting the mercy of God by labouring
with so much anxiety to maintain it, as if it were doubtful or
obscure. Such, however, is our malignity in refusing to con
cede to God what belongs to him until most strongly urged,
that I am obliged to insist at greater length. But as Scrip
ture is clear. enough on this subject, I shall contend in its
words rather than my own. Isaiah, after describing the
universal destruction of the human race, finely subjoins the
method of restitution. " The Lord saw it, and it displeased
him that there was no judgment. And he saw that there
was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor :
therefore his arm brought salvation unto him ; and his right
eousness, it sustained him," (Isaiah lix. 15, 16.) Where is
our righteousness, if the prophet says truly, that no man
in recovering salvation gives any assistance to the Lord?
Thus another prophet, introducing the Lord as treating con
cerning the reconciliation of sinners, says, " I will betroth
thee unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and
in mercies." " I will have mercy upon her that had not
obtained mercy," (Hosea ii. 19, 23.) If a covenant of this
kind, evidently forming our first union with God, depends
on mercy, there is no foundation left for our righteousness.
And, indeed, I would fain know, from those who pretend that
man meets God with some righteousness of works, whether
they imagine there is any kind of righteousness save that
which is acceptable to Him. If it were insane to think so,
can any thing agreeable to God proceed from his enemies,
whom he abominates with all their deeds ? Truth declares
that we are all the avowed and inveterate enemies of God until
we are justified and admitted to his friendship, (Rom. v. 6 ;

358 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

Col. i. 21.) If justification is the beginning of love, how can
the righteousness of works precede it ? Hence John, to put
down the arrogant idea, carefully reminds us that God first
loved us, (1 John iv. 10.) The Lord had formerly taught
the same thing by his Prophet : " I will love them freely :
for mine anger is turned away from him," (Hosea xiv. 4.)
Assuredly he is not influenced by works if his love turns to
us spontaneously. But the rude and vulgar idea entertained
is; that we did not merit the interposition of Christ for our
redemption, but that we are aided by our Avorks in obtaining
possession of it. On the contrary, though we may be
redeemed by Christ, still, until we are ingrafted into union
with him by the calling of the Father, we are darkness, the
heirs of death, and the enemies of God. For Paul declares
that we are not purged and washed from our impurities by
the blood of Christ until the Spirit accomplishes that cleans
ing in us, (1 Cor. vi. 11.) Peter, intending to say the same
thing, declares that the sanctification of the Spirit avails
" unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,"
(1 Pet. i. 2.) If the sprinkling of the blood of Christ by
the Spirit gives us purification, let us not think that, pre
vious to this sprinkling, we are anything but sinners without
Christ. Let us, therefore, hold it as certain, that the begin
ning 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. i. 29,) then only do we begin to pass
from death unto life.

7. Under this head the second and third class of men
noted in the above division is comprehended. Impurity of
conscience proves that as yet neither of these classes is re
generated by the Spirit of God. And, again, their not being
regenerated proves their want of faith. Whence it is clear
that they are not yet reconciled, not yet justified, since it is
only by faith that these blessings are obtained. What can
sinners, alienated from God, produce save that which is abo
minable in his sight ? Such, however, is the stupid confidence
entertained by all the wicked, and especially by hypocrites,
that however conscious that their whole heart teems with
impurity, they yet deem any spurious works which they may

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 359

perform as worthy of the approbation of God. Hence the
pernicious consequence, that though convicted of a wicked and
impious mind, they cannot be induced to confess that they are
devoid of righteousness. Even acknowledging themselves to
be unrighteous, because they cannot deny it, they yet arro
gate to themselves some degree of righteousness. This
vanity the Lord admirably refutes by the prophet: " Ask now
the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh
in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread,
or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy ?
And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai,
If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these,
shall it be unclean ? And the priests answered and said, It
shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai, and said, So is
this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord ;
and so is every work of their hands ; and that which they
offer there is unclean," (Haggai ii. 11-14.) I wish these
sentiments could obtain full credit with us, and be deeply
fixed on our memories. For there is no man, however flagi
tious the whole tenor of his life may be, who will allow him
self to be convinced of what the Lord here so clearly declares.
As soon as any person, even the most wicked, has performed
some one duty of the law, he hesitates not to impute it to
himself for righteousness ; but the Lord declares that no
degree of holiness is thereby acquired, unless the heart has
previously been made pure. And not contented with this,
he declares that all the works performed by sinners are con
taminated by impurity of heart. Let us cease then to give
the name of righteousness to works which the mouth of the
Lord condemns as polluted. How well is this shown by that
elegant similitude ? It might be objected, that what the Lord
has commanded is inviolably holy. But he, on the contrary,
replies, that it is not strange that those things which are
sanctified in the law are contaminated by the impurity of the
wicked, the unclean hand profaning that which is sacred by
handling it.

8. The same argument is admirably followed out by Isaiah :
" Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is an abomination
unto me ; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assem-

360 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK IIT.

blies, I cannot away with ; it is iniquity, even the solemn
meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my
soul hateth : they are a trouble unto me ; I am weary to bear
them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide
mine eyes from you ; yea, when ye make many prayers, I
will not hear : your hands are full of blood. Wash you,
make you clean ; put away the evil of your doings from before
mine eyes," (Isaiah i. 13-16, compared with Iviii.) What is
meant by the Lord thus nauseating the observance of his
law ? Nay, indeed, he does not repudiate any thing relating
to the genuine observance of the law, the beginning of which
is, as he uniformly declares, the sincere fear of his name.
When this is wanting, all the services which are offered to
him are not only nugatory, but vile and abominable. Let
hypocrites now go, and while keeping depravity wrapt up in
their heart, study to lay God under obligation by their
works. In this way they will only offend him more and
more. (( The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the
Lord ; but the prayer of the upright is his delight," (Prov.
xv. 8.) We hold it, therefore, as indubitable, indeed it should
be notorious to all tolerably versant with Scripture, that the
most splendid works performed by men, who are not yet
truly sanctified, are so far from being righteousness in the
sight of the Lord, that he regards them as sins. And, there
fore, it is taught with perfect truth, that no man procures
favour with God by means of works, but that, on the con
trary, works are not pleasing to God unless the person has
previously found favour in his sight.1 Here we snould care
fully observe the order which Scripture sets before us. Moses
says, that " the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering,"
(Gen. iv. 4.) Observe how he says that the Lord was pro
pitious (had respect) to Abel, before he had respect to his
works. Wherefore, purification of heart ought to precede,
in order that the works performed by us may be graciously
accepted by God : for the saying of Jeremiah is always true,
UO Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth?" (Jer. v. 3.)

1 See August. Lib. de Poenit, and Gregory, whose words are quoted,
Sent. Lib. hi. Quasst. 7.

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 361

Moreover, the Holy Spirit declared by the mouth of Peter,
that it is by faith alone the heart is purified, (Acts xv. 9.)
Hence it is evident, that the primary foundation is in true
and living faith.

9. Let us now see what kind of righteousness belongs to
those persons whom we have placed in the fourth class. We
admit, that when God reconciles us to himself by the inter
vention of the righteousness of Christ, and bestowing upon
us the free pardon of sins regards us as righteous, his good
ness is at the same time conjoined with mercy, so that he
dwells in us by means of his Holy Spirit, by whose agency
the lusts of our flesh are every day more and more morti
fied, while that we ourselves are sanctified ; that is, conse
crated to the Lord for true purity of life, our hearts being
trained to the obedience of the law. It thus becomes our
leading desire to obey his will, and in all things advance
his glory only. Still, however, while we walk in the ways
of the Lord, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, lest
we should become unduly elated, and forget ourselves, we
have still remains of imperfection which serve to keep us
humble : " There is no man that sinneth not," saith Scrip
ture, (1 Kings viii. 46.) What righteousness then can men
obtain by their works ? First, I say, that the best thing
which can be produced by them is always tainted and cor
rupted by the impurity of the flesh, and has, as it were,
some mixture of dross in it.> Let the holy servant of God,
I say, select from the whole course of his life the action
which he deems most excellent, and let him ponder it in all
its parts ; he will doubtless find in it something that savours
of the rottenness of the flesh, since our alacrity in well-doing
is never what it ought to be, but our course is always
retarded by much weakness. Although we see that the
stains by which the works of the righteous are blemished
are by no means unapparent, still, granting that they are the
minutest possible, will they give no offence to the eye of
God, before which even the stars are not clean ? We thus
see, that even saints cannot perform one work which, if judged
on its own merits, is not deserving of condemnation.

10. Even were it possible for us to perform works abso
lutely pure, yet one sin is sufficient to efface and extinguish

362 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

all remembrance of former righteousness, as the prophet says,
(Ezek. xviii. 24.) With this James agrees, " Whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, is
guilty of all," (James ii. 10.) And since this mortal life is
never entirely free from the taint of sin, whatever righteous
ness we could acquire would ever and anon be corrupted,
overwhelmed, and destroyed, by subsequent sins, so that it
could not stand the scrutiny of God, or be imputed to us for
righteousness. In short, whenever we treat of the righteous
ness of works, we must look not to the legal work but to the
command. 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. God does not
(as many foolishly imagine) impute that forgiveness of sins,
once for all, as righteousness ; so that having obtained the
pardon of our past life we may afterwards seek righteous
ness in the Law. This were only to mock and delude us by
the entertainment of false hopes. For since perfection is alto
gether unattainable by us, so long as we are clothed with
flesh, and the Law denounces death and judgment against
all who have not yielded a perfect righteousness, there will
always be ground to accuse and convict us unless the mercy of
God interpose, and ever and anon absolve us by the constant
remission of sins. Wherefore the statement with which we
set out is always true, If we are estimated by our own wor
thiness, in every thing that we think or devise, with all our
studies and endeavours wre deserve death and destruction.

11. We must strongly insist on these two things : That
no believer ever performed one work which, if tested by the
strict judgment of God, could escape condemnation ; and,
moreover, that were this granted to be possible, (though it
is not,) yet the act being vitiated and polluted by the sins of
which it is certain that the author of it is guilty, it is deprived
of its merit. This is the cardinal point of the present dis
cussion. There is no controversy between us and the sounder
Schoolmen as to the beginning of justification.1 They admit

1 The following sentence is added in the French : — " II est bien vray
que le poure monde a este seduit jusques la, de penser que 1'homme se
preparast de soy-mesine pour estre justifie de Dieu : et que ce blaspheme
a regne communement tant en predications qu'aux escoles ; comme encore
anjourdhui il est sousteime de ceux qui veulent maintenir toutes les

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 363

that the sinner, freely delivered from condemnation, ob
tains justification, and that by forgiveness of sins ; but under
the term justification they comprehend the renovation by
which the Spirit forms us anew to the obedience of the Law ;
and in describing the righteousness of the regenerate man,
maintain that being once reconciled to God by means of
Christ, he is afterwards deemed righteous by his good works,
and is accepted in consideration of them. The Lord, on the
contrary, declares, that he imputed Abraham's faith for right
eousness, (Rom. iv. 3,) not at the time when he was still a
worshipper of idols, but after he had been many years distin
guished for holiness. Abraham had long served God with a
pure heart, and performed that obedience of the Law which
a mortal man is able to perform : yet his righteousness still
consisted in faith. Hence we infer, according to the reason
ing of Paul, that it was not of icorks. In like manner, when
the prophet says, " The just shall live by his faith," (Hab. ii.
4,) he is not speaking of the wicked and profane, whom the
Lord justifies by converting them to the faith : his discourse
is directed to believers, and life is promised to them by faith.
Paul also removes every doubt, when in confirmation of this
sentiment he quotes the wrords of David, t6 Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered," (Ps. xxxii. 1.)
It is certain that David is not speaking of the ungodly, but
of believers such as he himself was, because he was giving
utterance to the feelings of his own mind. Therefore we
must have this blessedness not once only, but must hold it fast
during our whole lives. Moreover, the message of free recon
ciliation with God is not promulgated for one or two days,
but is declared to be perpetual in the Church, (2 Cor. v. 18,
19.) Hence believers have not even to the end of life any
other righteousness than that which is there described. Christ
ever remains a Mediator to reconcile the Father to us, and
there is a perpetual efficacy in his death, viz., ablution, satis
faction, expiation ; in short, perfect obedience, by which all

abominations de la Papaute." — It is very true that the poor world has
been seduced hitherto, to think that man could of himself prepare to be
justified by God, and that this blasphemy has commonly reigned both in
sermons and schools, as it is still in the present day asserted by those who
would maintain all the abominations of the Papacy.

364 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

our iniquities are covered. In the Epistle to the Ephesians,
Paul says not that the beginning of salvation is of grace, but
" by grace are ye saved," " not of works, lest any man should
boast," (Eph. ii. 8, 9.)

12. The subterfuges by which the Schoolmen here endea
vour to escape will not disentangle them. They say that
good works are not of such intrinsic worth as to be sufficient
to procure justification, but it is owing to accepting grace that
they have this effect. Then because they are forced to con
fess that here the righteousness of works is always imperfect,
they grant that so long as we are in this life we stand in
need of the forgiveness of sin in order to supply the de
ficiency of works, but that the faults which are committed
are compensated by works of supererogation. I answer,
that the grace which they call accepting, is nothing else than
the free goodness with which the Father embraces us in
Christ when he clothes us with the innocence of Christ, and
accepts it as ours, so that in consideration of it he regards
us as holy, pure, and innocent. For the righteousness of
Christ (as it alone is perfect, so it alone can stand the scru
tiny of God) must be sisted for us, and as a surety represent
us judicially. Provided with this righteousness, we con
stantly obtain the remission of sins through faith. Our
imperfection and impurity, covered with this purity, are not
imputed, but are as it were buried, so as not to come under
judgment until the hour arrive when the old man being
destroyed, and plainly extinguished in us, the divine good
ness shall receive us into beatific peace with the new Adam,
there to await the day of the Lord, on which, being clothed
with incorruptible bodies, we shall be translated to the glory
of the heavenly kingdom.

13. If these things are so, 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. God has not promised
life as the reward of certain works, but only declares, " which
if a man do, he shall live in them," (Lev. xviii. 5,) denoun
cing the well-known curse against all who do not continue in

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 3G5

all things that are written in the book of the Law to do
them. In this way is completely refuted the fiction of a
partial righteousness, the only righteousness acknowledged
in heaven being the perfect observance of the Law. There
is nothing more solid in their dogma of compensation by
means of works of supererogation. For must they not
always return to the proposition which has already been
disproved, viz., that he who observes the Law in part is so
far justified by works ? This, which no man of sound judg
ment will concede to them, they are not ashamed to take for
granted. The Lord having so often declared that he recog
nises no justification by works unless they be works by
which the Law is perfectly fulfilled, — how perverse is it, while
we are devoid of such works, to endeavour to secure some
ground of glorying to ourselves ; that' is, not to yield it
entirely to God, by boasting of some kind of fragments of
works, and trying to supply the deficiency by other satisfac
tions ? Satisfactions have already been so completely disposed
of, that we ought never again even to dream of them. Here
all I say is, that those who thus trifle with sin do not at
all consider how execrable it is in the sight of God ; if they
did, they would assuredly understand, that all the righteous
ness of men collected into one heap would be inadequate to
compensate for a single sin. For we see that by one sin
man Avas so cast off and forsaken by God, that he at the same
time lost all power of recovering salvation. He was, there
fore, deprived of the power of giving satisfaction. Those
who flatter themselves with this idea will never satisfy God,
who cannot possibly accept or be pleased with anything that
proceeds from his enemies. But all to whom he imputes sin
are enemies, and, therefore, our sins must be covered and
forgiven before the Lord has respect to any of our works.
From this it follows, that the forgiveness of sins is gratui
tous, and this forgiveness is wickedly insulted by those who
introduce the idea of satisfaction. Let us, therefore, after
the example of the Apostle, " forgetting those things which
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are
before," " press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Jesus Christ," (Philip, iii. 13, 14.)

366 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

14. How can boasting in works of supererogation agree
with the command given to us : " When ye shall have done
all those things which are commanded you, say, We are
unprofitable servants : we have done that which was our
duty to do ?" (Luke xvii. 10.) To say or speak in the pre
sence of God is not to feign or lie, but to declare what we
hold as certain. Our Lord, therefore, enjoins us sincerely
to feel and consider with ourselves that we do not perform
gratuitous duties, but pay him service which is due. And
truly. For the obligations of service under which we lie
are so numerous, that we cannot discharge them though all
our thoughts and members were devoted to the observance
of the Law ; and, therefore, when he says, " When ye shall
have done all those things which are commanded you," it is
just as if he had said, that all the righteousness of men
would not amount to one of these things. Seeing, then,
that every one is very far distant from that goal, how can we
presume to boast of having accumulated more than is due ?
It cannot be objected that a person, though failing in some
measure in what is necessary, may yet in intention go beyond
what is necessary. For it must ever be held, that in what
ever pertains to the worship of God, or to charity, nothing
can ever be thought of that is not comprehended under the
Law. But if it is part of the Law, let us not boast of
voluntary liberality in matters of necessary obligation.

15. On this subject, they causelessly allege the boast of
Paul, that among the Corinthians he spontaneously renounced
a right which, if he had otherwise chosen, he might have
exercised, (1 Cor. ix. 15 ;) thus not only paying what he
owed them in duty, but gratuitously bestowing upon them
more than duty required. They ought to have attended to
the reason there expressed, that his object was to avoid
giving offence to the weak. For wicked and deceitful work
men employed this pretence of kindness that they might
procure favour to their pernicious dogmas, and excite hatred
against the Gospel, so that it was necessary for Paul either
to peril the doctrine of Christ, or to thwart their schemes.
Now, if it is a matter of indifference to a Christian man
whether or not he cause a scandal when it is in his power tg

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 367

avoid it, then I admit that the Apostle performed a work of
supererogation to his Master ; but if the thing which he did
was justly required in a prudent minister of the Gospel, then
I say he did what he was bound to do. 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. Christ does not disguise this in the
parable ; for he asks in regard to the master wTho, on return
from his labour, requires his servant to gird himself and
serve him, " Does he thank that servant because he did the
things that were commanded him? I trow not," (Luke
xvii. 9.) But possibly the servant was more industrious
than the master would have ventured to exact. Be it so :
still he did nothing to which his condition as a servant did not
bind him, because his utmost ability is his master's. I say
nothing as to the kind of supererogations on which these men
would plume themselves before God. They are frivolities
which he never commanded, which he approves not, and will
not accept when they come to give in their account. The
only sense in which we admit works of supererogation is that
expressed by the prophet, when he says, " Who hath required
this at your hand ?" (Isaiah i. 12.) But let them remember
what is elsewhere said of them : " Wherefore do ye spend
money for that which is not bread ? and your labour for that
Avhich satisfieth not ?" (Isaiah Iv. 2.) It is, indeed, an easy
matter for these indolent Rabbins to carry on such discussions
sitting in their soft chairs under the shade ; but when the
Supreme Judge shall sit on his tribunal, all these blustering
dogmas will behove to disappear.1 This, this I say, was the
true question : not what we can fable and talk in schools and
corners, but what ground of defence we can produce at his
judgment-seat.

16. In this matter the minds of men must be specially guard
ed against two pestiferous dogmas, viz., against putting any
confidence in the righteousness of works, or ascribing any

1 French, " Tout ce qu'ils auront determine ne profitera gueres, ains
s'evanouisra comme fumee ;" — All their decisions will scarcely avail them,
but will vanish like smoke.

368 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

glory to them. From all such confidence the Scriptures
uniformly dissuade us when they declare that our righteous
ness is offensive in the sight of God unless it derives a sweet
odour from the purity of Christ : that it can have no other
effect than to excite the divine vengeance unless sustained
by his indulgent mercy. Accordingly, the only thing they
leave to us is to deprecate our Judge with that confession of
David : " Enter not into judgment with thy servant : for in
thy sight shall no living be justified," (Psalm cxliii. 2.)
And when Job says, " If I be wicked, woe unto me : and if
I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head," (Job x. 15.)
Although he refers to that spotless righteousness of God,
before which even angels are not clean, he however shows,
that when brought to the bar of God, all that mortals can
do is to stand dumb. He does not merely mean that he
chooses rather to give way spontaneously than to risk a con
test with the divine severity, but that he was not conscious of
possessing any righteousness that would not fall the very first
moment it was brought into the presence of God. Confi
dence being banished, all glorying must necessarily cease.
For who can attribute any merit of righteousness to works,
which instead of giving confidence, only make us tremble in
the presence of God ? We must, therefore, come to what
Isaiah invites us : " In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel
be justified, and shall glory," (Isaiah xlv. 25 ;) for it is most
true, as he elsewhere says, that we are " the planting of the
Lord, that he might be glorified," (Isaiah Ixi. 3.) Our soul,
therefore, will not be duly purified until it ceases to have
any confidence, or feel any exultation in works. Foolish
men are puffed up to this false and lying confidence by the
erroneous idea that the cause of their salvation is in works.

17. But if we attend to the four kinds of causes which
philosophers bring under our view in regard to effects, we
shall find that not one of them is applicable to works as a
cause of salvation. The efficient cause of our eternal salva
tion 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 instru-

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

mental cause be but faith ? John includes the three in one
sentence when he says, " God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life," (John iii. 16.)
The Apostle, moreover, declares that the final cause is the
demonstration of the divine righteousness and the praise of
his goodness. There also he distinctly mentions the other
three causes ; for he thus speaks to the Romans : " All
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ; being
justified freely by his grace," (Rom. iii. 23, 24.) You have
here the head and primary source — God has embraced us
with free mercy. The next words are, " through the redemp
tion that is in Christ Jesus ;" this is as it were the material
cause by which righteousness is procured for us. " Whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith."
Faith is thus the instrumental cause by which righteousness
is applied to us. He lastly subjoins the final cause when he
says, " To declare at this time his righteousness ; that he
might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in
Jesus." And to show by the way that this righteousness
consists in reconciliation, he says that Christ was " set forth
to be a propitiation." Thus also, in the Epistle to the
Ephesians, he tells us that we are received into the favour
of God by mere mercy ; that this is done by the interven
tion of Christ ; that it is apprehended by faith ; the end of
all being that the glory of the divine goodness may be fully
displayed. When we see that all the parts of our salvation
thus exist without us, what ground can we have for glorying
or confiding in our works ? Neither as to the efficient nor
the final cause can the most sworn enemies of divine grace
raise any controversy writh us unless they would abjure the
whole of Scripture. In regard to the material or formal
cause they make a gloss, as if they held that our works
divide the merit with faith and the righteousness of Christ.
But here also Scripture reclaims, simply affirming that Christ
is both righteousness and life, and that the blessing of justi
fication is possessed by faith alone.

18. When the saints repeatedly confirm and console them
selves with the remembrance of their innocence and integrity,

VOL. II. 2 A

370 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

and sometimes even abstain not from proclaiming them, it is
done in two ways : either because by comparing their good
cause with the bad cause of the ungodly, they thence feel secure
of victory, not so much from commendation of their own righte
ousness, as from the just and merited condemnation of their
adversaries ; or because, reviewing themselves before God, even
without any comparison with others, the purity of their con
science gives them some comfort and security. The former
reason will afterwards be considered, (chap. xvii. sec. 14, and
chap. xx. sec. 10 ;) let us now briefly show, in regard to the
latter, how it accords with what we have above said, that we
can have no confidence in works before the bar of God, that we
cannot glory in any opinion of their worth. The accordance lies
here, that when the point considered is the constitution and
foundation of salvation, believers, without paying any respect
to works, direct their eyes to the goodness of God alone.
Nor do they turn to it only in the first instance, as to the
commencement of blessedness, but rest in it as the completion.
Conscience being thus founded, built up, and established, is
farther established by the consideration of works, inasmuch
as they are proofs of God dwelling and reigning in us. Since,
then, this confidence in works has no place unless you have
previously fixed your whole confidence on the mercy of God,
it should not seem contrary to that on which it depends.
Wherefore, when we exclude confidence in works, we merely
mean, that the Christian mind must not turn back to the
merit of works as an aid to salvation, but must dwell entirely
on the free promise of justification. But we forbid no
believer to confirm and support this faith by the signs of the
divine favour towards him. For if when wTe call to mind the
gifts which God has bestowed upon us, they are like rays of
the divine countenance, by which we are enabled to behold
the highest light of his goodness; much more is this the
case with the gift of good works, which shows that we have
received the Spirit of adoption.

19. When believers therefore feel their faith strengthened
by a consciousness of integrity, and entertain sentiments of
exultation, it is just because the fruits of their calling con
vince them that the Lord has admitted them to a place

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 371

among his children. Accordingly, when Solomon says, a In
the fear of the Lord is strong confidence," (Prov. xiv. 26,)
and when the saints sometimes beseech the Lord to hear
them, because they walked before his face in simplicity and
integrity, (Gen. xxiv. 10 ; 2 Kings xx. 3,) these expressions
apply not to laying the foundation of a firm conscience, but
are of force only when taken a posteriori.1 For there is no
where such a fear of God as can give full security, and the
saints are always conscious that any integrity which they
may possess is mingled with many remains of the flesh. But
as the fruits of regeneration furnish them with a proof of the
Holy Spirit dwelling in them, experiencing God to be a
Father in a matter of so much moment, they are strengthened
in no slight degree to wait for his assistance in all their
necessities. Even this they could not do, had they not pre
viously perceived that the goodness of God is sealed to them
by nothing but the certainty of the promise. Should they
begin to estimate it by their good works, nothing will be
weaker or more uncertain ; works, when estimated by them
selves, no less proving the divine displeasure by their imper
fection, than his good-will by their incipient purity. In
short, while proclaiming the mercies of the Lord, they never
lose sight of his free favour, with all its " breadth and length,
and depth and height," testified by Paul, (Eph. iii. 18 ;) as if
he had said, Whithersoever the believer turns, however loftily
he climbs, however far and wide his thoughts extend, he
must not go farther than the love of Christ, but must be
wholly occupied in meditating upon it, as including in
itself all dimensions. Accordingly, he declares that it " passeth
knowledge," that "to know the love of Christ" is to "be
filled with all the fulness of God," (Eph. iii. 19.) In another
passage, where he glories that believers are victorious in every
contest, he adds the reason, s( through him that loved us,"
(Rom. viii. 37.)

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 recognise his good-

1 Latin, " a posteriori ;" French, " comme enseigne de la vocation de
Dieu ;" — as a sign o/ the calling of God.

372 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

ness, 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. The same thing is briefly but
elegantly expressed by Augustine when he says, " I do not
say to the Lord, Despise not the works of my hands ; I have
sought the Lord with my hands, and have not been deceived.
But I commend not the works of my hands, for I fear that when
thou examinest them thou wilt find more faults than merits.
This only I say, this ask, this desire, Despise not the works
of thy hands. See in me thy w7ork, not mine. If thou
seest mine, thou condemnest ; if thou seest thine own, thou
crownest. Whatever good works I have are of thee,"
(August, in Ps. cxxxvii.) He gives two reasons for not ven
turing to boast of his works before God : first, that if he has
any good works, he does not see in them any thing of his
own; and, secondly, that these works are overwhelmed by
a multitude of sins. Whence it is, that the conscience
derives from them more fear and alarm than security.
Therefore, the only way in which he desires God to look at
any work wThich he may have done aright is, that he may
therein see the grace of his calling, and perfect the work
which he has begun.

21. Moreover, when Scripture intimates that the good
works of believers are causes why the Lord does them good,
we must still understand the meaning so as to hold unshaken
what has previously been said, viz., that the efficient cause of
our salvation is placed in the love of God the Father ; the
material cause in the obedience of the Son ; the instrumental
cause in the illumination of the Spirit, that is, in faith; and
the final cause in the praise of the divine goodness. In this,
however, there is nothing to prevent the Lord from embracing
works as inferior causes. But how so ? In this way : Those
whom in mercy he has destined for the inheritance of eternal
life, he, in his ordinary administration, introduces to the
possession of it by means of good works. What precedes
in the order of administration is called the cause of what
follows. For this reason, he sometimes makes eternal life a
consequent of works ; not because it is to be ascribed to

CHAP. XIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 373

them, but because those whom he has elected he justifies,
that he may at length glorify, (Rom. viii. 30 ;) he makes the
prior grace to be a kind of cause, because it is a kind of
step to that which follows. But whenever the true cause is
to be assigned, he enjoins us not to take refuge in works, but
to keep our thoughts entirely fixed on the mercy of God ;
" The wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal
life," (Rom. vi. 23.) Why, as he contrasts life with death,
does he not also contrast righteousness with sin? Why,
when setting down sin as the cause of death, does he not
also set down righteousness as the cause of life ? The anti
thesis which would otherwise be complete is somewhat marred
by this variation ; but the Apostle employed the comparison
to express the fact, that death is due to the deserts of men,
but that life was treasured up solely in the mercy of God.
In short, by these expressions, the order rather than the
cause is noted.1 The Lord adding grace to grace, takes
occasion from a former to add a subsequent, so that he may
omit no means of enriching his servants. Still, in following
out his liberality, he would have us always look to free
election as its source and beginning. For although he
loves the gifts which he daily bestows upon us, inasmuch as
they proceed from that fountain, still our duty is to hold
fast by that gratuitous acceptance, which alone can support
our souls ; and so to connect the gifts of the Spirit, which
he afterwards bestows, with their primary cause, as in no
degree to detract from it.

1 French, " Brief, en toutes ces faspns de parler, ou il est fait mention
de bonnes oeuvres, il n'est pas question de la cause pourquoy Dieu fait
bien aux siens, mais seulement de 1'ordre qu'il y tient ; " — In short, in all
those forms of expression in which mention is made of good works, there
is no question as to the cause why God does good to his people, but only
to the order which he observes in it.

374 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

CHAPTER XV.

THE BOASTED MERIT OF WORKS SUBVERSIVE BOTH OF THE
GLORY OF GOD, IN BESTOWING RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OF
THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION.

The divisions of this chapter are, — I. To the doctrine of free justification
is opposed the question, Whether or not works merit favour with God,
sec. 1. This question answered, sec. 2 and 3. II. An exposition of cer
tain passages of Scripture produced in support of the erroneous doctrine
of merit, sec. 4 and 5. III. Sophisms of Semipelagian Schoolmen refut
ed, sec. 6 and 7. IV. Conclusion, proving the sufficiency of the orthodox
doctrine, sec. 8.

Sections.

1. After a brief recapitulation, the question, Whether or not good works

merit favour with God, considered.

2. First answer, fixing the meaning of the term Merit. This term im

properly applied to works, but used in a good sense, as by Augus
tine, Chrysostom, Bernard.

3. A second answer to the question. First by a negative, then by a

concession. In the rewarding of works what to be attributed to
God, and what to man. Why good works please God, and are
advantageous to those who do them. The ingratitude of seeking
righteousness by works. This shown by a double similitude.

4. First objection taken from Ecclesiasticus. Second objection from the

Epistle to the Hebrews. Two answers to both objections. A weak
distinction refuted.

5. A third and most complete answer, calling us back to Christ as the

only foundation of salvation. How Christ is our righteousness.
Whence it is manifest that we have all things in Christ and he no
thing in us.

6. We must abhor the sophistry which destroys the merit of Christ, in

order to establish that of man. This impiety refuted by clear pass
ages of Scripture.

7. Errors of the younger Sophists extracted from Lombard. Kefuted

by Augustine. Also by Scripture.

8. Conclusion, showing that the foundation which has been laid is suffi

cient for doctrine, exhortation, and comfort. Summary of the
orthodox doctrine of Justification.

CHAP. XV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 375

1. THE principal point in this subject has been now explain
ed : as justification, if dependant 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. But let us carefully attend to the point on which the
whole subject hinges, lest we get entangled in the common
delusion, not only of the vulgar, but of the learned. For the
moment the question is raised as to the justification by faith
or works, they run off to those passages which seem to ascribe
some merit to works in the sight of God, just as if justifica
tion by works were proved whenever it is proved that works
have any value with God. Above we have clearly shown
that justification by works consists only in a perfect and
absolute fulfilment 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. But there is another and a separate question,
Though works by no means suffice to justify, do they not
merit favour with God ?

2. First, I must premise with regard to the term Merit,
that he, whoever he was, that first applied it to human works,
viewed in reference to the divine tribunal, consulted very
ill for the purity of the faith. I willingly abstain from dis
putes about words, but I could wish that Christian writers
had always observed this soberness — that when there was
no occasion for it, they had never thought of using terms
foreign to the Scriptures — terms which might produce much
offence, but very little fruit. I ask, what need was there to
introduce the word Merit, when the value of works mio-lit

' O

have been fully expressed by another term, and without
offence ? The quantity of offence contained in it the world
shows to its great loss. It is certain that, being a high
sounding term, it can only obscure the grace of God, and
inspire men with pernicious pride. I admit it was used by
ancient ecclesiastical waiters, and 1 wish they had not by
the abuse of one term furnished posterity with matter of
heresy, although in some passages they themselves show that
they had no wish to injure the truth. For Augustine says,
" Let human merits, which perished by Adam, here be silent,

376 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

and let the grace of God reign by Jesus Christ," (August,
de Prredest. Sanct.) Again, " The saints ascribe nothing to
their merits ; every thing will they ascribe solely to thy
mercy, O God," (August, in Psal. cxxxix.) Again, "And
when a man sees that whatever good he has he has not of
himself, but of his God, he sees that every thing in him which
is praised is not of his own merits, but of the divine mercy,"
(August, in Psal. Ixxxviii.) You see how he denies man the
power of acting aright, and thus lays merit prostrate. Chry-
sostom says, " If any works of ours follow the free calling of
God, they are return and debt ; but the gifts of God are grace,
and beneficence, and great liberality." But to say nothing
more of the name, let us attend to the thing. I formerly quot
ed a passage from Bernard : " As it is sufficient for merit not
to presume on merit, so to be without merit is sufficient for
condemnation," (Bernard in Cantic. Serm. 98.) He imme
diately adds an explanation which softens the harshness of the
expression, Avhen he says, " Hence be careful to have merits ;
when you have them, know that they were given ; hope for
fruit from the divine mercy, and you have escaped all the perils
of poverty, ingratitude, and presumption. Happy the Church
wrhich neither wants merit without presumption, nor presump
tion without merit." A little before he had abundantly shown
that he used the words in a sound sense, saying, " Why is the
Church anxious about merits ? God has furnished her with a
firmer and surer ground of boasting. God cannot deny himself ;
he will do what he has promised. Thus there is no reason for
asking by what merits may we hope for blessings ; especially
when you hear, ' Thus saith the Lord God ; I do not this
for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's
sake,' (Ezek. xxxvi. 22.) It suffices for merit to know that
merits suffice not."

3. What all our works can merit Scripture shows when it
declares that they cannot stand the view of God, because
they are full of impurity ; it next shows what the perfect
observance of the law (if it can any where be found) will
merit when it enjoins, " So likewise ye, when ye shall have
done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are
unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duty

CEIAP. XV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 377

to do," (Luke xvii. 10 ;) because we make no free-offering to
God, but only perform due service by which no favour is
deserved. And yet 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. It is ours in return to be animated by this great pro
mise, and to keep up our courage, that we may not weary in
well-doing, but feel duly grateful for the great kindness of
God. There cannot be a doubt, that every thing in our
works which deserves praise is owing to divine grace, and
that there is not a particle of it which we can properly ascribe
to ourselves. If we truly and seriously acknowledge this, not
only confidence, but every idea of merit vanishes. I say we
do not, like the Sophists, share the praise of works between
God and man, but we keep it entire and unimpaired for the
Lord. Ah1 we assign to man is, that, by his impurity, he
pollutes and contaminates the very works which were good.
The most perfect thing which proceeds from man is always
polluted by some stain. Should the Lord, therefore, bring-
to judgment the best of human works, he would indeed be
hold his own righteousness in them ; but he would also behold
man's dishonour and disgrace. Thus good works please
God, and are not without fruit to their authors, since, by
way of recompense, they obtain more ample blessings from
God, not because they so deserve, but because the divine
benignity is pleased of itself to set this value upon them.
Such, however, is our malignity, that, not contented with this
liberality on the part of God, which bestows rewards on works
that do not at all deserve them, we with profane ambition
maintain that that which is entirely due to the divine muni
ficence is paid to the merit of works. Here I appeal to every
man's common sense. If one who by another's liberality
possesses the usufruct of a field, rear up a claim to the pro
perty of it, does he not by his ingratitude deserve to lose the
possession formerly granted ? In like manner, if a slave, who
has been manumitted, conceals his humble condition of freed-
man, and gives out that he was free-born, does he not deserve
to be reduced to his original slavery ? A benefit can only be
legitimately enjoyed when we neither arrogate more to our-

378 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

selves than has been given, nor defraud the author of it of
his due praise ; nay, rather when we so conduct ourselves as
to make it appear that the benefit conferred still in a manner
resides with him who conferred it. But if this is the modera
tion to be observed towards men, let every one reflect and
consider for himself what is due to God.

4. I know that the Sophists abuse some passages in order
to prove that the Scriptures use the term merit with refer
ence to God. They quote a passage from Ecclesiasticus :
" Mercy will give place to every man according to the merit
of his works," (Ecclesiasticus xvi. 14 ;) and from the Epistle to
the Hebrews : " To do good and communicate forget not ; for
with such sacrifices God is well pleased," (Heb. xiii. 16.) I
now renounce my right to repudiate the authority of Eccle
siasticus ; but I deny that the words of Ecclesiasticus, who
ever the writer may have been, are faithfully quoted. The
Greek is as follows : Ilarf^ sXeri/Jsoavvp <ro/?j<r«/ roVoV ixaffrog yag
xara ra eeya, ai/roD svgqffst. a He will make room for all
mercy : for each shall find according to his works." That
this is the genuine reading, and has been corrupted in the
Latin version, is plain, both from the very structure of the
sentence, and from the previous context. In the Epistle to
the Hebrews there is no room for their quibbling on one little
word, for in the Greek the Apostle simply says, that such
sacrifices are pleasing and acceptable to God. This alone
should amply suffice to quell and beat down the insolence of
our pride, and prevent us from attaching value to works
beyond the rule of Scripture. 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 favour 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 innu
merable blessings, both present and future. For I admit not
the distinction laid down by otherwise learned and pious
men, that good works merit the favours which are conferred
upon us in this life, whereas eternal life is the reward of faith.

CHAP. XV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 379

only. The recompense of our toils, and crown of our contest,
our Lord almost uniformly places in heaven. On the other
hand, to attribute to the merit of works, so as to deny it to
grace, that we are loaded with other gifts from the Lord, is
contrary to the doctrine of Scripture. For though Christ says,
" Unto every one that hath shall be given ;" " thou hast been
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many
things," (Matth. xxv. 29, 21,) he, at the same time, shows
that all additional gifts to believers are of his free benignity :
" Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he
that hath no money, come ye, buy, and eat : yea, come, buy
wine and milk, without money and without price," (Isaiah
Iv. 1.) Therefore, every help to salvation bestowed upon
believers, and blessedness itself, are entirely the gift of God,
and yet in both the Lord testifies that he takes account of
works, since to manifest the greatness of his love toward us,
he thus highly honours not ourselves only, but the gifts which
he has bestowed upon us.

5. Had these points been duly handled and digested in
past ages, never could so many tumults and dissensions have
arisen. Paul says, that in the architecture of Christian doc
trine, it is necessary to retain the foundation which he had
laid with the Corinthians, " Other foundation can no man
lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ," (1 Cor.
iii. 11.) What then is our foundation in Christ? Is it that
he begins salvation and leaves us to complete it ? Is it that he
only opened up the way, and left us to follow it in our own
strength ? By no means, but as Paul had a little before de
clared, it is to acknowledge that he has been given us for
righteousness. No man, therefore, is well founded in Christ
who has not entire righteousness in him, since the Apostle
says not that he was sent to assist us in procuring, but was
himself to be our righteousness. Thus it is said that God
" hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,"
not according to our merit, but " according to the good plea
sure of his will ;" that in him " we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins ;" that peace has
been made " through the blood of his cross ;" that we are
reconciled by his blood ; that, placed under his protection, we

380 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

are delivered from the danger of finally perishing ; that thus
ingrafted into him we are made partakers of eternal life, and
hope for admission into the kingdom of God.1 Nor is this
all. Being admitted to participation in him, 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, (Matth. xxviii. 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. On this
foundation, I say, we must be built, if we would grow up into
a holy temple in the Lord.

• 6. For a long time the world has been taught very differ
ently. A kind of good works called moral has been found
out, by which men are rendered agreeable to God before they
are ingrafted into Christ ; as if Scripture spoke falsely when
it says, " He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath
not the Son of God hath not life," (1 John v. 12.) How
can they produce the materials of life if they are dead ? Is
there no meaning in its being said, that " whatsoever is not
of faith is sin T (Rom. xiv. 23 ;) or can good fruit be produced
from a bad tree ? What have these most pestilential Sophists
left to Christ on which to exert his virtue ? They say that he
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.
O the daring effrontery of impiety ! Who would have thought
that men professing the name of Christ would thus strip him
of his power, and all but trample him under foot ? The testi
mony uniformly borne to him in Scripture is, that whoso
believeth in him is justified ; the doctrine of these men is,
that the only benefit which proceeds from him is to open up
a way for each to justify himself. I wish they could get a
taste of what is meant by these passages : t6 He that hath
the Son hath life." " He that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me," "is passed from death unto life."

i 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Eph. i. 3-5 ; Col. i. 14, 20 ; John i. 12 ; x. 28.

CHAP. XV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 381

Whoso believeth in him " is passed from death unto life."
" Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus." " Pie that keepeth his command
ments dwelleth in him, and he in him." God " hath raised
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ." " Who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son."1 There are similar passages without number. Their
meaning is not, that by faith in Christ an opportunity is given
us of procuring justification, or acquiring salvation, but that
both are given us. Hence, so soon as you are ingrafted into
Christ by faith, you are made a son of God, an heir of heaven,
a partaker of righteousness, a possessor of life, and (the better
to manifest the false tenets of these men) youhave not obtained
an opportunity of meriting, but all the merits of Christ, since
they are communicated to you.

7. In this way the schools of Sorbonne, the parents of all
heresies, have deprived us of justification by faith, which
lies at the root of all godliness. They confess, indeed, in
word, that men are justified by a formed faith, but they after
wards explain this to mean that of faith they have good
works, which avail to justification, so that they almost seem
to use the term faith in mockery, because they were unable,
without incurring great obloquy, to pass it in silence, seeing
it is so often repeated by Scripture. And yet not con
tented with this, they by the praise of good works transfer
to man what they steal from God. And seeing that good
works give little ground for exultation, and are not even pro
perly called merits, if they are regarded as the fruits of divine
grace, they derive them from the power of free-will ; in other
words, extract oil out of stone. They deny not that the
principal cause is in grace ; but they contend that there is
no exclusion of free-will through which all merit comes. This
is the doctrine, not only of the later Sophists, but of Lom
bard their Pythagoras, (Sent. Lib. ii. Dist. 28,) who, in
comparison of them, may be called sound and sober. It was

1 1 John v. 12 ; John v. 24 ; Rom. iii. 24 ; 1 John iii. 24 ; Epli. ii. G ;
Col. i. 13.

382 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

surely strange blindness, while he had Augustine so often in
his mouth, not to see how cautiously he guarded against ascrib
ing a single particle of praise to man because of good works.
Above, when treating of free-will, we quoted some passages
from him to this effect, and similar passages frequently
occur in his writings, (see in Psal. civ. ; Ep. cv.,) as when he
forbids us ever to boast of our merits, because they them
selves also are the gifts of God, and when he says that all
our merits are only of grace, are not provided by our suffi
ciency, but are entirely the production of grace, &c. It is
less strange that Lombard was blind to the light of Scripture,
in which it is obvious that he had not been a very suc
cessful student.1 Still there cannot be a stronger declaration
against him and his disciples than the words of the Apostle,
who, after interdicting all Christians from glorying, subjoins
the reason why glorying is unlawful : " For we are his work
manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them," (Eph.
ii. 10.) Seeing, then, that no good proceeds from us unless
in so far as we are regenerated — and our regeneration is with
out exception wholly of God — there is no ground for claim
ing to ourselves one iota in good works. Lastly, while these
men constantly inculcate good works, they, at the same time,
train the conscience in such a way as to prevent it from
venturing to confide that works will render God favour
able and propitious. We, on the contrary, without any
mention of merit, give singular comfort to believers when we
teach them that in their works they please, and doubtless are
accepted of God. Nay, here we even insist that no man
shall attempt or enter upon any work without faith, that is,
unless he previously have a firm conviction that it will please
God.

8. Wherefore, let us never on any account allow ourselves
to be drawn away one nail's breadth2 from that only founda
tion. After it is laid, wise architects build upon it rightly

1 French, " d'autant qu'il n'y estoit gueres exercite ; " — inasmuch as he
was little Tersant in it.

2 French, " ne fust ce que de la pointe d'une espingle ;"— were it only
a pin's point.

CHAP. XV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 383

and in order. For whether there is need of doctrine or
exhortation, they remind us that " for this purpose the Son
of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of
the devil ;" that " whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin ;" that " the time past of our life may suffice us to have
wrought the will of the Gentiles;" that the elect of God are
vessels of mercy, appointed " to honour," purged, " sanctified,
and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good
work." The whole is expressed at once, when Christ thus
describes his disciples, " If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."1
He who has denied himself has cut off the root of all evil, so
as no longer to seek his own ; he who has taken up his •
cross has prepared himself for all meekness and endurance. '
The example of Christ includes this and all offices of piety
and holiness. He obeyed his Father even unto death ; his
whole life was spent in doing the works of God ; his whole
soul was intent on the glory of his Father ; he laid down his
life for the brethren ; he did good to his enemies, and prayed
for them. And when there is need of comfort, it is admirably
afforded in these words : " We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed ; we are perplexed, but not in despair ;
persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast down, but not destroyed ;
always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our
body." " For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with
him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him;" by means
of " the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable
unto his death ;" the Father having predestinated us " to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
first-born among many brethren." Hence it is, that " neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord;"2 nay,
rather all things will work together for our good. See how

1 1 John iii. 8 ; 1 Pet. iv. 3 ; 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21 ; Luke ix. 23.

2 2 Cor. iv. 8 ; 2 Tim. ii. 11 ; Phil. iii. 10 ; Rom. viii. 29, 39.

384 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

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.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 385

CHAPTER XVI.

REFUTATION OF THE CALUMNIES BY WHICH IT IS ATTEMPTED
TO THROW ODIUM ON THIS DOCTRINE.

The divisions of this chapter are, — I. The calumnies of the Papists
against the orthodox doctrine of Justification by Faith are reduced to two
classes. The first class, with its consequences, refuted, sec. 1-3. II.
The second class, which is dependant on the first, refuted in the last
section.

Sections.

1. Calumnies of the Papists. 1. That we destroy good works, and give

encouragement to sin. Refutation of the first calumny. 1. Character
of those who censure us. 2. Justification by faith establishes the
necessity of good works.

2. Refutation of a consequent of the former calumny, viz., that men are

dissuaded from well-doing when we destroy merit. Two modes
of refutation. First mode confirmed by many invincible arguments.

3. The Apostles make no mention of merit, when they exhort us to good

works. On the contrary, excluding merit, they refer us entirely
to the mercy of God. Another mode of refutation.

4. Refutation of the second calumny and of an inference from it, viz.,

that the obtaining righteousness is made too easy, when it is made
to consist in the free remission of sins.

1. OUR last sentence may refute the impudent calumny of
certain ungodly men, who charge us, first, with destroying
good works, and leading men away from the study of them,
when we say, that men are not justified, and do not merit
salvation by works ; and, secondly, with making the means of
justification too easy, when we say that it consists in the free
remission of sins, and thus alluring men to sin to which they
are already too much inclined. These calumnies, I say, are
sufficiently refuted by that one sentence; however, I will
briefly reply to both. The allegation is, that justification by
faith destroys good works. I will not describe what kind of
zealots for good works the persons are who thus charge us.

VOL. II. 2 B

386 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

We leave them as much liberty to bring the charge, as they
take license to taint the whole world with the pollution of their
lives.1 They pretend to lament2 that when faith is so highly
extolled, works are deprived of their proper place. But what if
they are rather ennobled and established ? We dream not of
a faith which is devoid of good works, nor of a justification
which can exist without them : the only difference is, that while
we acknowledge that faith and works are necessarily connected,
we, however, place justification in faith, not in works. How
this is done is easily explained, if we turn to Christ only, to
whom our faith is directed, and from whom it derives all its
power. Why, then, are we justified by faith ? Because by
faith we apprehend the righteousness of Christ, wrhich alone
reconciles us to God. This faith, however, you cannot appre
hend without at the same time apprehending sanctification ;
for Christ " is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption," (I Cor. i. 30.) Christ,
therefore, justifies no man without also sanctifying him.
These blessings are conjoined by a perpetual and inseparable
tie. Those whom he enlightens by his wisdom he redeems ;
whom he redeems he justifies ; whom he justifies he sancti
fies. But as the question relates only to justification and
sanctification, to them let us confine ourselves. Though we
distinguish between them, they are both inseparably com
prehended in Christ. Would ye then obtain justification in
Christ ? You must previously possess Christ. But you
cannot possess him without being made a partaker of his
sanctification : for Christ cannot be divided. Since the
Lord, therefore, does not grant us the enjoyment of these
blessings without bestowing himself, he bestows both at
once, but never the one without the other. Thus it appears
how true it is that we are justified not without, and yet
not by works, since in the participation of Christ, by which
we are justified, is contained not less sanctification than
justification.

2. It is also most untrue that men's minds are with-

1 This sentence is wholly omitted in the French.

" Latin, " Dolere sibi simulant." — French, " Us alleguent ;" — they

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 387

drawn from the desire of well-doing when we deprive them of
the idea of merit. Here, by the way, the reader must be told
that those men absurdly infer merit from reward, as I will
afterwards more clearly explain. They thus infer, because
ignorant of the principle that God gives no less a display of
his liberality when he assigns reward to works, than when
he bestows the faculty of well-doing. This topic it will be
better to defer to its own place. At present, let it be suffi
cient merely to advert to the weakness of their objection.
This may be done in two ways.1 For, first, they are al
together in error when they say that, unless a hope of reward
is held forth, no regard will be had to the right conduct of
life. For if all that men do when they serve God is to look
to the reward, and hire out or sell their labour to him, little
is gained : he desires to be freely worshipped, freely loved :
I say he approves the worshipper who, even if all hope of
reward were cut off, would cease not to worship him. More
over, when men are to be urged, there cannot be a stronger
stimulus than that derived from the end of our redemption
and calling, such as the word of God employs when it says,
that it were the height of impiety and ingratitude not to
" love him who first loved us ;" that by " the blood of Christ"
our conscience is purged " from dead works to serve the
living God ;" that it were impious sacrilege in any one to
count " the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sancti
fied, an unholy thing ;" that we have been " delivered out
of the hands of our enemies," that we " might serve him
without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all
the days of our life ;" that being " made free from sin," we
" become the servants of righteousness ;" " that our old man is
crucified with him," in order that we might rise to newness of
life. Again, " if ye then be risen with Christ, (as becomes his
members,) seek those things which are above," living as pil
grims in the world, and aspiring to heaven, where our trea
sure is. " The grace of God hath appeared to all men,
bringing salvation, teaching us that, denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and

1 All the previous sentences of this section, except the first, are omitted
in the French.

388 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

godly, in this present world ; looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ." " For God hath not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."
u Know ye not that ye are the temples of the Holy Spirit,"
which it were impious to profane ? " Ye were sometimes
darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord : walk as the
children of light." " God hath not called us unto uncleanness,
but unto holiness." " For this is the will of God, even your
sanctification, that ye should abstain " from all illicit desires :
ours is a " holy calling," and we respond not to it except by
purity of life. " Being then made free from sin, ye became
the servants of righteousness." Can there be a stronger
argument in exciting us to charity than that of John ? " If God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another." " In this the
children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil :
whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he
that loveth not his brother." Similar is the argument of
Paul, " Know ye not that your bodies are the members of
Christ ?" " For as the body is one, and hath many members,
and all the members of that one body being many, are one
body, so also is Christ." Can there be a stronger incentive to
holiness than when we are told by John, " Every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure ?"
and by Paul, " Having, therefore, these promises, dearly be
loved, cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit ;" or when we hear our Saviour hold forth himself as an
example to us that we should follow his steps P1

3. I have given these few passages merely as a specimen ;
for were I to go over them all, I should form a large volume.
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. Nay,
rather their chief exhortations are founded on the fact, that
without any merit of ours, our salvation depends entirely on

1 1 John iv. 10, 19 ; Heb. ix. 14 ; x. 29 ; Luke i. 74, 75 ; Rom. vi.
18 ; Col. iii. 1 ; Tit. ii. 11 ; 1 Thess. v. 9 ; 1 Cor. iii. 16 ; Eph. ii. 21 ; v.
8 ; 2 Cor. vi. 16 ; 1 Thess. iv. 3, 7 ; 2 Tim. i. 9 ; Rom. vi. 18 ; 1 John
iv. 10 ; iii. 11 ; 1 Cor. vi. 15, 17 ; xii. 12 ; 1 John iii. 3 ; 2 Cor. vii. 1 ;
John xv. 10.

CHAP. XVI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 389

the mercy of God. Thus Paul, who during a whole Epistle
had maintained that there was no hope of life for us save in
the righteousness of Christ, when he comes to exhorta
tion, beseeches us by the mercy which God has bestowed
upon us, (Rom. xii. 1.) And, indeed, this one reason ought
to have been sufficient, that God may be glorified in us.
But if any are not so ardently desirous to promote the glory
of God, still the remembrance of his kindness is most suffi
cient to incite them to do good, (see Chrysost. Homil. in
Genes.) But those men,1 because, by introducing the idea
of merit, they perhaps extract some forced and servile
obedience of the Law, falsely allege, that as we do not adopt
the same course, we have no means of exhorting to good
works. As if God were well pleased with such services
when he declares that he loves a cheerful giver, and forbids
any thing to be given him grudgingly or of necessity, (2 Cor.
ix. 7.) I say not that I would reject that or omit any kind
of exhortation which Scripture employs, its object being
not to leave any method of animating us untried. For
it states, that the recompense which God will render to
every one is according to his deeds ; but, first, I deny that
that is the only, or, in many instances, the principal motive ;
and, secondly, I admit not that it is the motive with which
we are to begin. Moreover, I maintain that it gives not the
least countenance to those merits which these men are always
preaching. This will afterwards be seen. Lastly, there is no
use in this recompense, unless we have previously embraced
the doctrine that we are justified solely by the merits of
Christ as apprehended by faith, and not by any merit of
works ; because the study of piety can be fitly prosecuted only
by those by whom this doctrine has been previously imbibed.
This is beautifully intimated by the Psalmist when he thus
addresses God, " There is forgiveness with thee, that thou
mayest be feared," (Ps. cxxx. 4.) For he shows that the
wrorship of God cannot exist without acknowledging his
mercy, on which it is founded and established. This is spe
cially deserving of notice, as showing us not only that the
beginning of the due worship of God is confidence in his

1 French, u ces Pharisiens ;" — those Pharisees.

390 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

mercy ; but that the fear of God (which Papists will have to be
meritorious) cannot be entitled to the name of merit, for this
reason, that it is founded on the pardon and remission of sins.
4. But the most futile calumny of all is, that men are in
vited to sin when we affirm that the pardon in which we hold
that justification consists is gratuitous. 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, there
fore, could never be obtained unless it were gratuitous : more
over, 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. When men are thus taught, they
are reminded that it is owing to no merit of theirs that the
shedding of that most sacred blood is not repeated every time
they sin. Moreover, we say that our pollution is so great, that
it can never be washed away save in the fountain of his pure
blood. Must not those who are thus addressed conceive a
greater horror of sin than if it were said to be wiped off by a
sprinkling of good works ? If they have any reverence for
God, how can they, after being once purified, avoid shudder
ing at the thought of again wallowing in the mire, and as
much as in them lies troubling and polluting the purity of
this fountain? "I have washed my feet," (says the believing
soul in the Song of Solomon, v. 3,) "how shall I defile them?" It
is now plain which of the two makes the forgiveness of sins of
less value, and derogates from the dignity of justification.
They pretend that God is appeased by their frivolous satis
factions ; in other words, by mere dross. We maintain that
the guilt of sin is too heinous to be so frivolously expiated ;
that the offence is too grave to be forgiven to such valueless
satisfactions ; and, therefore, that forgiveness is the preroga
tive of Christ's blood alone. They say that righteousness,
wherever it is defective, is renewed and repaired by works of
satisfaction. 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. For
the other points relating to the forgiveness of sins, see the
following chapter.

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 391

CHAPTER XVII.

THE PROMISES OF THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL RECONCILED.

In the following chapter, the arguments of Sophists, who would
destroy or impair the doctrine of Justification by Faith, are reduced to two
classes. The former is general, the latter special, and contains some
arguments peculiar to itself. I. The first class, which is general, and in
a manner contains the foundation of all the arguments, draws an argu
ment from the promises of the law. This is considered from sec. 1-3.
II. The second class following from the former, and containing special
proofs. An argument drawn from the history of Cornelius explained,
sec. 4, 5. III. A full exposition of those passages of Scripture which
represent God as showing mercy and favour to the cultivators of right
eousness, sec. 6. IV. A third argument from the passages which distin
guish good works by the name of righteousness, and declare that men are
justified by them, sec. 7, 8. V. The adversaries of justification by faith
placed in a dilemma. Their partial righteousness refuted, sec. 9, 10.
VI. A fourth argument, setting the Apostle James in opposition to Paul,
considered, sec. 11, 12. VII. Answer to a fifth argument, that, accord
ing to Paul, not the hearers but the doers of the law are justified, sec.
13. VIII. Consideration of a sixth argument, drawn from those passages
in which believers boldly submit their righteousness to the judgment of
God, and ask him to decide according to it, sec. 14. IX. Examination of
the last argument, drawn from passages which ascribe righteousness and
life to the ways of believers, sec. 15.

Sections.

1. Brief summary of Chapters xv. and xvi. Why justification is denied

to works. Argument of opponents founded on the promises of the
law. The substance of this argument. Answer. Those who would
be justified before God must be exempted from the power of the
law. How this is done.

2. Confirmation of the answer ab impossibili, and from the testimony

of an Apostle and of David.

3. Answer to the objection, by showing why these promises were given.

Refutation of the sophistical distinction between the intrinsic value
of works, and their value ex pacto.

4. Argument from the history of Cornelius. Answer, by distinguishing

between two kinds of acceptance. Former kind. Sophistical ob
jection refitted.

392 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

5. Latter kind. Plain from this distinction that Cornelius was accept

ed freely before his good works could be accepted. Similar expla
nations to be given of the passage in which God is represented as
merciful and propitious to the cultivators of righteousness.

6. Exposition of these passages. Necessary to observe whether the pro

mise is legal or evangelical. The legal promise always made under
the condition that we " do," the evangelical under the condition
that we " believe."

7. Argument from the passages which distinguish good works by the

name of righteousness, and declare that man is justified by them.
Answer to the former part of the argument respecting the name.
Why the works of the saints called works of righteousness. Distinc
tion to be observed.

8. Answer to the second part of the argument, viz., that man is justi

fied by works. Works of no avail by themselves ; we are justified
by faith only. This kind of righteousness defined. Whence the
value set on good works.

9. Answer confirmed and fortified by a dilemma.

10. In what sense the partial imperfect righteousness of believers accept

ed. Conclusion of the refutation.

11. Argument founded on the Epistle of James. First answer. One

Apostle cannot be opposed to another. Second answer. Third
answer, from the scope of James. A double paralogism in the term
Faith. In James the faith said not to justify is a mere empty opi
nion ; in Paul it is the instrument by which we apprehend Christ
our righteousness.

1 2. Another paralogism on the -wordjustify. Paul speaks of the cause,

James of the effects, of justification. Sum of the discussion.

13. Argument founded on Horn. ii. 13 Answer, explaining the Apostle's

meaning. Another argument, containing a reductio ad impossibili.
Why Paul used the argument.

14. An argument founded on the passages in which believers confidently

appeal to their righteousness. Answer, founded on a consideration
of two circumstances. 1. They refer only to a special cause. 2. They
claim righteousness in comparison with the wicked.

15. Last argument from those passages which ascribe righteousness and

life to the ways of believers. Answer. This proceeds from the
paternal kindness of God. What meant by the perfection of saints.

1. LET us now consider the other arguments which Satan
by his satellites invents to destroy or impair the doctrine of
Justification by Faith. I think we have already put it out of
the power of our calumniators to treat us as if we were the
enemies of good works — justification being denied to works,
not in order that no good works may be done, or that those

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 393

which are done may be denied to be good ; but only that
we may not trust or glory in them, or ascribe salvation to
them. 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 king
dom, being called, not by our worth, but the kindness of
God, to the hope of eternal blessedness. But since, as has
been said, they assail us with other engines, let us now pro
ceed to demolish them also. First, they recur to the legal
promises which the Lord proclaimed to the observers of the
law, and they ask us whether we hold them to be null or
effectual. Since it were absurd and ridiculous to say they
are null, they take it for granted that they have some effi
cacy. Hence they infer that we are not justified by faith
only. For the Lord thus speaks : " Wherefore it shall come
to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and do
them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the cove
nant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers ; and
he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee," (Deut.
vii. 12, 13.) Again, "If ye thoroughly amend your ways
and your doings ; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between
a man and his neighbour ; if ye oppress not the stranger, the
fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in
this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt : then
will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I
gave to your fathers, for ever and ever," (Jer. vii. 5-7.) It
were to no purpose to quote a thousand similar passages,
which, as they are not different in meaning, are to be ex
plained on the same principle. In substance, Moses declares
that in the law is set down " a blessing and a curse," life
and death, (Deut. xi. 26;) and hence they argue, either that
that blessing is become inactive and unfruitful, or that justi
fication is not by faith only. We have already shown,1 that
if we cleave to the law we are devoid of every blessing, and
have nothing but the curse denounced on all transgressors.
The Lord does not promise any thing except to the perfect
observers of the law ; and none such are any where to be

1 See Book II. chap. vii. sec. 2-8, 15 ; chap. viii. sec. 3 : chap. xi. sec.
8 ; Book III. chap. xix. sec. 2.

394 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

found. The result, therefore, is, that the whole human race
is convicted by the law, and exposed to the wrath and curse
of God : to be saved from this they must escape from the
power of the law, and be as it were brought out of bondage
into freedom, — not that carnal freedom which indisposes us for
the observance of the law, tends to licentiousness, and allows
our passions to wanton unrestrained with loosened reins ; but
that spiritual freedom which consoles and raises up the alarm
ed and smitten conscience, proclaiming its freedom from the
curse and condemnation under which it was formerly held
bound. This freedom from subjection to the law, this manu
mission, if I may so express it, 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.

2. For this reason, the promises offered in the law would
all be null and ineffectual, did not God in his goodness send
the gospel to our aid, since the condition on which they
depend, and under which only they are to be performed, viz.,
the fulfilment of the law, will never be accomplished. Still,
however, the aid which the Lord gives consists not in leav
ing part of justification to be obtained by works, and in sup
plying part out of his indulgence, but in giving us Christ as
in himself alone the fulfilment of righteousness. For the
Apostle, after premising that he and the other Jews, aware
that " a man is not justified by the works of the law," had
" believed in Jesus Christ," adds as the reason, not that they
might be assisted to make up the sum of righteousness, by
faith in Christ, but that they " might be justified by the faith
of Christ, and not by the works of the law," (Gal. ii. 16.) If
believers withdraw from the law to faith, that in the latter
they may find the justification which they see is not in the for
mer, they certainly disclaim justification by the law. There
fore, whoso will, let him amplify the rewards which are said
to await the observer of the law, provided he at the same
time understand, that, owing to our depravity, we derive no
benefit from them until we have obtained another righteousness
by faith. Thus David, after making mention of the reward
which the Lord has prepared for his servants, (Ps. xxv.

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 395

almost throughout,) immediately descends to an acknowledg
ment of sins, by which the reward is made void. In Psalm
xix., also, he loudly extols the benefits of the law; but imme
diately exclaims, " Who can understand his errors ? cleanse
thou me from secret faults," (Ps. xix. 12.) This passage per
fectly accords with the former, when, after saying, "All the
paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his
covenant and his testimonies," he adds, " For thy name's
sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity : for it is great," (Ps. xxv.
10, 11.) Thus, too, we ought to acknowledge that the favour
of God is offered to us in the law, provided by our works we
can deserve it ; but that it never actually reaches us through
any such desert.

3. What then ? Were the promises given that they might
vanish away without fruit ? I lately declared that this is not
my opinion. I say, indeed, that their efficacy does not extend
to us so long as they have respect to the merit of wrorks, and,
therefore, that, considered in themselves, they are in some
sense abolished. Hence the Apostle shows, that the cele
brated promise, " Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and
my judgments : which if a man do, he shall live in them,"
(Levit. xviii. 5 ; Ezek. xx. 10,) will, if we stop at it, be of
no avail, and will profit us not a whit more than if it were
not given, being inaccessible even to the holiest servants of
God, who are all far from fulfilling the law, being encom
passed with many infirmities. 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 favour 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 of the faithful are rewarded with the promises
which God gave in his law to the cultivators of righteous
ness and holiness ; but in this reward we should always
attend to the cause which procures favour to works. This
cause, then, appears to be threefold. First, God turning his
eye away from the works of his servants which merit re
proach more than praise, embraces them in Christ, and by

396 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

the intervention of faith alone reconciles them to himself
without the aid of works. Secondly, the works not being
estimated by their own worth, he, by his fatherly kindness
and indulgence, honours so far as to give them some degree
of value. Thirdly, he extends his pardon to them, not im
puting the imperfection by which they are all polluted, and
would deserve to be regarded as vices rather than virtues.
Hence it appears how much Sophists1 were deluded in think
ing they admirably escaped all absurdities when they said,
that works are able to merit salvation, not from their intrinsic
worth, but according to agreement, the Lord having, in his
liberality, set this high value upon them. But, meanwhile,
they observed not how far the works which they insisted on
regarding as meritorious must be from fulfilling the condition
of the promises, were they not preceded by a justification
founded on faith alone, and on forgiveness of sins — a for
giveness necessary to cleanse even good works from their
stains. Accordingly, of the three causes of divine liberality
to which it is owing that good works are accepted, they
attended only to one : the other two, though the principal
causes, they suppressed.

4. They quote the saying of Peter as given by Luke in
the Acts, " Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter
of persons : but in every nation he that feareth him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted with him," (Acts x. 34,
35.) And hence they infer, as a thing which seems to them
beyond a doubt, that if man by right conduct procures the
favour of God, his obtaining salvation is not entirely the
gift of God. Nay, that when God in his mercy assists the
sinner, he is inclined to mercy by works. There is no way
of reconciling the passages of Scripture, unless you observe
that man's acceptance with God is twofold. As man is by
nature, God finds nothing in him which can incline him to
mercy, except merely his wretchedness. If it is clear then
that man, when God first interposes for him, is naked and
destitute of all good, and, on the other hand, loaded and filled
with all kinds of evil, — for what quality, pray, shall we say

1 French, " Les Sophistes de Sorbonne ;" — the Sophists of Sorbonnc.

CHAr. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 397

that lie is worthy of the heavenly kingdom ? Where God
thus clearly displays free mercy, have done with that empty
imagination of merit. Another passage in the same book,
viz., where Cornelius hears from the lips of an angel, " Thy
prayer and thine alms are come up for a memorial before
God," (Acts x. 4,) is miserably wrested to prove that man
is prepared by the study of good works to receive the favour
of God. Cornelius being endued with true wisdom, in
other words, with the fear of God, must have been en
lightened by the Spirit of wisdom, and being an observer
of righteousness, must have been sanctified by the same
Spirit ; righteousness being, as the Apostle testifies, one of
the most certain fruits of the Spirit, (Gal. v. 5.) Therefore,
all those qualities by which he is said to have pleased God
he owed to divine grace : so far was he from preparing him
self by his own strength to receive it. Indeed, not a syl
lable of Scripture can be produced which does not accord
with the doctrine, that the only reason why God receives
man into his favour is, because he sees that he is in every
respect lost when left to himself; lost, if he does not dis
play his mercy in delivering him. We now see that in thus
accepting, God looks not to the righteousness of the indi
vidual, but merely manifests the divine goodness towards
miserable sinners, who are altogether undeserving of this
great mercy.

5. But after the Lord has withdrawn the sinner from the
abyss of perdition, and set him apart for himself by means
of adoption, having begotten him again and formed him to^
newness of life, he embraces him as a new creature, and bestows
the gifts of his Spirit. This is the acceptance to which Peter
refers, and by which believers after their calling are approved
jjy 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. But we must always bear jn
mind, that the only way in which men are accepted of God
In. respect of works is, that whatever good works he has
^conferred upon those whom he admits to favour, he by an
increase of liberality honours with his acceptance. For
whence their good works, but just that the Lord having

398 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

chosen them as vessels of honour, is pleased to adorn them
with true purity ? And how are their actions deemed good
as if there was no deficiency in them, but just that their
merciful Father indulgently pardons the spots and blemishes
which adhere to them ? 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. We have else
where said, that regeneration is a renewal of the divine image
in us. Since God, therefore, whenever he beholds his own
face, justly loves it and holds it in honour, the life of be
lievers, when formed to holiness and justice, is said, not with
out cause, to be pleasing to him. But because believers,
while encompassed with mortal flesh, are still sinners, and
their good works only begun savour of the corruption of the
flesh, God cannot be propitious either__to

their works, unless he embraces them more in Christ than
in themselves. In this way are we to understand the pass
ages in which God declares that he is clement and merciful
to the cultivators of righteousness. Moses said to the Israel
ites, " Know, therefore, that the Lord thy God, he is God,
the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with
them that love him and keep his commandments, to a thou
sand generations." These words afterwards became a com
mon form of expression among the people. Thus Solomon
in his prayer at the dedication says, " Lord God of Israel,
there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth be
neath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants
that walk before thee with all their heart," (1 Kings viii. 23.)
The same words are repeated by Nehemiah, (Neh. i. 5.) As
the Lord in all covenants of mercy stipulates on his part for
integrity and holiness of life in his servants, (Deut. xxix. 18,)
lest his goodness might be held in derision, or any one, puffed
up with exultation in it, might speak flatteringly to his soul
while walking in the depravity of his heart, so he is pleased
that in this way those whom he admits to communion in the
covenant should be kept to their duty. Still, however, the
covenant was gratuitous at first, and such it ever remains.
Accordingly, while David declares, " according to the clean-

CHAP. XVIT. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 399

ness of my hands hath he recompensed me," yet does he not
omit the fountain to which I have referred ; " he delivered
me, because he delighted in me," (2 Sam. xxii. 20, 21.) In
commending the goodness of his cause, he derogates in no
respect from the free mercy which takes precedence of all the
gifts of which it is the origin.

6. Here, by the way, it is of importance to observe how
those forms of expression differ from legal promises. By
legal promises, I mean not those which lie scattered in the
books of Moses, (for there many Evangelical promises occur,)
but those which properly belong to the legal dispensation.
All such promises, by whatever name they may be called,
are made under the condition that the reward is to be paid
on the things commanded being done. But when it is said
that the Lord keeps a covenant of mercy with those who
love him, the words rather demonstrate what kind of servants
those are who have sincerely entered into the covenant, than
express the reason why the Lord blesses them. The nature
of the demonstration is this : As the end for which God be
stows upon us the gift of eternal life is, that he may be loved,
feared, and worshipped by us, so the end of all the promises
of mercy contained in Scripture justly is, that we may
reverence and serve their author. Therefore, whenever we
hear that he does good to those that observe his law, let us
remember that the sons of God are designated by the duty
which they ought perpetually to observe, that his reason
for adopting us is, that we may reverence him as a father.
Hence, if we would not deprive ourselves of the privilege
of adoption, we must always strive in the direction of our
calling. On the other hand, however, let us remember, that
the completion of the Divine mercy depends not on the works
of believers, but that God himself fulfils the promise of salva
tion to those who by right conduct correspond to their call
ing, because he recognises the true badges of sons in those
only who are directed to good by his Spirit. To this we
may refer what is said of the members of the Church, " Lord,
who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? who shall dwell in thy
holy hill ? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteous
ness, and speaketh the truth in his heart," &c., (Ps. xv. 1, 2.)

4:00 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

Again, in Isaiah, " Who among us shall dwell with the
devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting
burnings? He that walketh righteously," &c., (Isa. xxxiii. 14,
15.) For the thing described is not the strength with which
believers can stand before the Lord, but the manner in which
our most merciful Father introduces them into his fellow
ship, and defends and confirms them therein. For as he
detests sin and loves righteousness, so those whom he unites
to himself he purifies by his Spirit, that he may render them
conformable to himself and to his kingdom. 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 in the fifteenth Psalm.

7. There seems much more difficulty in those passages
which distinguish good works by the name of righteousness,
and declare that man is justified by them. The passages of the
former class are very numerous, as when the observance of the
commandments is termed justification or righteousness. Of
the other classes we have a description in the words of Moses,
" It shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these
commandments," (Deut. vi. 25.) But if you object, that it is a
legal promise, which, having an impossible condition annexed
to it, proves nothing, there are other passages to which the
same answer cannot be made ; for instance, "If the man be
poor," " thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun
goeth down :" " and it shall be righteousness unto thee before
the Lord thy God," (Deut. xxiv. 13.) Likewise the words
of the prophet, " Then stood up Phinehas, and executed
judgment : and so the plague was stayed. And that was
counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for
evermore," (Psal. cvi. 30, 31.) Accordingly, the Pharisees
of our day think they have here full scope for exultation.1
For, as we say, that when justification by faith is established,
justification by works falls ; they argue on the same principle,

1 French, " de crier centre nous en cest endroit ;" — here to raise an
outcry against us.

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 401

If there is a justification by works, it is false to say that we
are justified by faith only. When I grant that the precepts
of the law are termed righteousness, I do nothing strange : for
they are so in reality. I must, however, inform the reader,
that the Hebrew word CD^pH has been rendered by the
Septuagint, not very appropriately, &?ia/w/Aara, justifications,
instead of edicts.1 But I readily give up any dispute as to
the word. Nor do I deny that the Law of God contains a
perfect righteousness. For although we are debtors to do
all the things which it enjoins, and, therefore, even after a full
obedience, are unprofitable servants ; yet, as the Lord has
deigned to give it the name of righteousness, it is not ours to
take from it what he has given. We readily admit, there
fore, that the perfect obedience of the law is righteousness,
and the observance of any precept a part of righteousness,
the whole substance of righteousness being contained in the
remaining parts. But we deny that any such righteousness
ever exists. Hence we discard the righteousness of the law,
not as being in itself maimed and defective, but because of the
weakness of our flesh it nowhere appears. But then Scripture
does not merely call the precepts of the law righteousness, it
also gives this name to the works of the saints : as when it
states that Zacharias and his wife " were both righteous be
fore God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances
of the Lord blameless," (Luke i. 6.) Surely when it thus
speaks, it estimates works more according to the nature of the
law than their own proper character. And here, again, I
must repeat the observation which I lately made, that the
law is not to be ascertained from a careless translation of the
Greek interpreter. Still, as Luke chose not to make any
change on the received version, I will not contend for this.
The things contained in the law God enjoined upon man for
righteousness, but that righteousness we attain not unless
by observing the whole law : every transgression whatever
destroys it. While, therefore, the law commands nothing
but righteousness, if we look to itself, every one of its pre
cepts is righteousness : if we look to the men by whom they

1 French, " Edits ou Statuts j" — Edicts or Statutes.
VOL. II. 2 C

402 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

are performed, being transgressors in many things, they by
no means merit the praise of righteousness for one work, and
that a work which, through the imperfection adhering to it,
is always in some respect vicious.1

8. I come to the second class, (sec. 1, 7, ad init.,) in
which the chief difficulty lies. Paul finds nothing stronger
to prove justification by faith than that which is written of
Abraham, he " believed God, and it was counted unto him
for righteousness," (Rom. iv. 3; Gal. iii. 6.) Therefore,
when it is said that the achievement of Phinehas "was counted
unto him for righteousness," (Psal. cvi. 30, 31,) we may
argue that what Paul contends for respecting faith applies
also to works. Our opponents, accordingly, as if the point
were proved, set it down that though we are not justified
without faith, it is not by faith only ; that our justification is
completed by works. Here I beseech believers, as they
know that the true standard of righteousness must be derived
from Scripture alone, to consider with me seriously and re
ligiously, how Scripture can be fairly reconciled with that
view. Paul, knowing that justification by faith was the re
fuge of those who wanted righteousness of their own, confi
dently infers, that all who are justified by faith are excluded
from the righteousness of works. But as it is clear that this
justification is common to all believers, he with equal confi
dence infers that no man is justified by works ; nay, more,
that justification is without any help from wrorks. But 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. If a price is to be
put upon works according to their own worth, we hold that

1 The French here adds the two following sentences : — " Nostre response
done est, que quand les ceuvres des saincts sont nominees justice, cela ne
vient point de leurs merites : mais entant qu'elles tendent k la justice que
Dieu nous a commandee, laquelle est nulle, si elle n'est parfaite. Or elle
ne se trouve parfaite en nul homme de monde ; pourtant faut couclure,
q'une bonne oeuvre de soy ne merite pas le nom de justice." — Our reply
then is, that when the works of the saints are called righteousness, it is
not owing to their merits, but is in so far as they tend to the righteous
ness which God has commanded, and which is null if it be not perfect.
Now it is not found perfect in any man in the world. Hence we must
conclude, that no good work merits in itself the name of righteousness.

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 403

they are unfit to appear in the presence of God : that man,
accordingly, has no works in which he can glory before God,
and that hence, deprived of all aid from works, he is justified
by faith alone. Justification, moreover, we thus define : The
sinner being admitted into communion with Christ is, for his
sake, reconciled to God ; when purged by his blood he ob
tains the remission of sins, and clothed with righteousness, just
as if it were his own, stands secure before the judgment-seat
of heaven. Forgiveness of sins being previously given, 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 cog
nisance of the divine tribunal. The guilt of all transgressions,
by which men are prevented from offering God an accept
able service, being thus effaced, and the imperfection which
is wont to sully even good works being buried, the good
works which are done by believers are deemed righteous, or,
which is the same thing, are imputed for righteousness.

9. Now, should any one state this to me as an objection
to justification by faith, I would first ask him, Whether a man
is deemed righteous for one holy work or two, while in ah1
the other acts of his life he is a transgressor of the law?
This were, indeed, more than absurd. I would next ask,
Whether he is deemed righteous on account of many good
works if he is guilty of transgression in some one part ?
Even this he will not venture to maintain in opposition to
the authority of the law, which pronounces, " Cursed be he
that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them,"
(Deut. xxvii. 26.) I would go still farther and ask, Whether
there be any work which may not justly be convicted of im
purity or imperfection ? How, then, will it appear to that
eye before which even the heavens are not clean, and angels
are chargeable with folly? (Job iv. 18.) Thus he will be
forced to confess that no good work exists that is not defiled,
both by contrary transgression and also by its own corrup
tion, so that it cannot be honoured as righteousness. But if
it is certainly owing to justification by faith that works, other
wise impure, unclean, defective, unworthy of the sight, not

404 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

to say of the love of God, are imputed for righteousness,
why do they by boasting of this imputation aim at the de
struction of that justification, but for which the boast were
vain ? Are they desirous of having a viper's birth P1 To
this their ungodly language tends. They cannot deny that
justification by faith is the beginning, the foundation, the cause,
the subject, the substance, of works of righteousness, and yet
they conclude that justification is not by faith, because good
works are counted for righteousness. Let us have done then
with this frivolity, and confess the fact as it stands ; if any
righteousness which works are supposed to possess depends
on justification by faith, this doctrine is not only not im
paired, but on the contrary confirmed, its power being there
by more brightly displayed. Nor let us suppose, that after
free justification works are commended, as if they afterwards
succeeded to the office of justifying, or shared the office with
faith. For did not justification by faith always remain entire,
the impurity of works would be disclosed. There is nothing
absurd in the doctrine, that though man is justified by faith,
he is himself not only not righteous, but the righteousness
attributed to his works is beyond their own deserts.

10. In this way we can admit not only that there is a par
tial righteousness in works, (as our adversaries maintain,)
but that they are approved by God as if they were absolutely
perfect. 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.
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, be
cause 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. Now,
if that righteousness of works, whatever it be, depends on faith

1 French, " Voudrions nous faire une lignee serpentine, que les enfans
meurtrissent leur mere ?" — Would we have a viperish progeny, where the
children murder the parent ?

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 405

and free justification, and is produced by it, it ought to be
included under it and, so to speak, made subordinate to it, as
the effect to its cause ; so far is it from being entitled to be
set up to impair or destroy the doctrine of justification.1
Thus Paul, to prove that our blessedness depends not on our
works, but on the mercy of God, makes special use of the
words of David, " Blessed is he whose transgression is for
given, whose sin is covered ;" " Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity." Should any one here ob
trude the numberless passages in which blessedness seems to
be attributed to works, as, " Blessed is the man that feareth
the Lord ;" " He that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he ;"
" Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly," and " that endure th temptation;" " Blessed are they
that keep judgment," that are " pure in heart," " meek,"
" merciful," &c.,2 they cannot make out that Paul's doctrine
is not true. For seeing that the qualities thus extolled never
all so exist in man as to obtain for him the approbation of
God, it follows, that man is always miserable until he is ex
empted from misery by the pardon of his sins. Since, then,
all the kinds of blessedness extolled in the Scripture are
vain, so that man derives no benefit from them until he ob
tains blessedness by the forgiveness of sins, a forgiveness
which makes way for them, it follows that this is not only the
chief and highest, but the only blessedness, unless you are pre
pared to maintain that it is impaired by things which owe
their entire existence to it. There is much less to trouble us
in the name of righteous which is usually given to believers.
I admit that they are so called from the holiness of their
lives, but as they rather exert themselves in the study of
righteousness than fulfil righteousness itself, any degree of it

1 The whole sentence In French stands thus : — " Or si cette justice des
oeuvres telle quelle procede de la foy et de la justification gratuite,
il ne faut pas qu'on la prenne pour destruire ou obscurcir la grace dont
elle depend ; mais plustost doit estre enclose en icelle, comme le fruict a
1'arbre." — Now, if this righteousness of works, such as it is, proceeds from
faith and free justification, it must not be employed to destroy or obscure
the grace on which it depends, but should rather be included in it, like
the fruit in the tree.

2 Rom. iv. 7 ; Ps. xxxii. 1, 2 ; cxii. 1 ; Prov. xiv. 21 ; Ps. i. 1 ; cvi. 3 ;
cxix. 11; Matth. v. 3.

406 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

which they possess must yield to justification by faith, to
which it is owing that it is what it is.

11. But they say that we have a still more serious busi
ness with James, who in express terms opposes us. For he
asks, " Was not Abraham our father justified by works ?"
and adds, " You see then how that by works a man is justi
fied, and not by faith only," (James ii. 21, 24.) What then ?
WTill they engage Paul in a quarrel with James ? If they hold
James to be a servant of Christ, his sentiments must be
understood as not dissenting from Christ speaking by the
mouth of Paul. By the mouth of Paul the Spirit declares that
Abraham obtained justification by faith, not by works ; we also
teach that all are justified by faith without the works of the
law. By James the same Spirit declares that both Abraham's
justification and ours consists of works, and not of faith only.
It is certain that the Spirit cannot be at variance with him
self. Where, then, will be the agreement ? It is enough for
our opponents, provided they can tear up that justification by
faith which we regard as fixed by the deepest roots i1 to
restore peace to the conscience is to them a matter of no
great concern. Hence you may see, that though they indeed
carp at the doctrine of justification by faith, they meanwhile
point out no goal of righteousness at which the conscience
may rest. Let them triumph then as they will, so long as
the only victory they can boast of is, that they have deprived
righteousness of all its certainty. This miserable victory they
will indeed obtain when the light of truth is extinguished,
and the Lord permits them to darken it with their lies. But
wherever the truth of God stands they cannot prevail. I
deny, then, that the passage of James which they are con
stantly holding up before us as if it were the shield of Achilles,
gives them the slightest countenance. To make this plain,
let us first attend to the scope of the Apostle, and then show
wherein their hallucination consists. As at that time (and
the evil has existed in the Church ever since) there were
many who, while they gave manifest proof of their infidelity,

1 French, " II suffit a nos adversaires s'ils peuvent deraciner la justice
de foy, laquelle nous voulons estre plantee au profond du coeur." — It is
enough for our opponents if they can root up justification by faith, which
\ve desire to be planted at the bottom of the heart.

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 407

by neglecting and omitting all the works peculiar to believers,
ceased not falsely to glory in the name of faith. James here
dissipates their vain confidence. His intention therefore is,
not to derogate in any degree from the power of true faith,
but to show how absurdly these triflers laid claim only to the
empty name, and resting satisfied with it, felt secure in unre
strained indulgence in vice. This state of matters being
understood, it will be easy to see where the error of our
opponents lies. They fall into a double paralogism, the one
in the term faith, the other in the term justifying. The
Apostle, in giving the name of faith to an empty opinion alto
gether differing from true faith, makes a concession which
derogates in no respect from his case. This he demonstrates
at the outset by the words, " What doth it profit, my breth
ren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works ?"
(James ii. 14.) He says not, " If a man have faith without
works," but " if he say that he has." This becomes still
clearer when a little after he derides this faith as worse than
that of devils, and at last when he calls it " dead." You may
easily ascertain his meaning by the explanation, " Thou be
lie vest that there is one God." Surely if ah1 which is con
tained in that faith is a belief in the existence of God, there
is no wonder that it does not justify. The denial of such a
power to it cannot be supposed to derogate in any degree
from Christian faith, which is of a very different description.
For how does true faith justify unless by uniting us to Christ,
so that being made one with him, we may be admitted to a
participation in his righteousness ? It does not justify because
it forms an idea of the divine existence, but because it reclines
with confidence on the divine mercy.

12. We have not made good our point until we dispose of
the other paralogism : since James places a part of justifica
tion in works. If you would make James consistent with
the other Scriptures and with himself, you must give the
word justify, as used by him, a different meaning from what
it has with Paul. In the sense of Paul we are said to be
justified when the remembrance of our unrighteousness is
obliterated, and we are counted righteous. Had James had
the same meaning it would have been absurd for him to quote

408 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

the words of Moses, " Abraham believed God," &c. The
context runs thus : " Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar ?
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works
was faith made perfect ? And the Scripture was fulfilled
which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed
unto him for righteousness." If it is absurd to say that the
effect was prior to its cause, either Moses falsely declares in
that passage that Abraham's faith was imputed for righteous
ness, or Abraham, by his obedience in offering up Isaac, did
not merit righteousness. Before the existence of Ishmael,
who was a grown youth at the birth of Isaac, Abraham was
justified by his faith. How then can we say that he obtained
justification by an obedience whicli followed long after ?
Wherefore, either James erroneously inverts the proper order,
(this it were impious to suppose,) or he meant not to say that
he was justified, as if he deserved to be deemed just. What
then ? It appears certain that he is speaking of the manifes
tation, not of the imputation of righteousness, as if he had
said, Those who are justified by true faith prove their justifica
tion by obedience and good works, not by a bare and imagi
nary semblance of faith. In one word, he is not discussing
the mode of justification, but requiring that the justification
of believers shall be operative. And as Paul contends that
men are justified without the aid of works, so James will
not allow any to be regarded as justified who are destitute of
good works. Due attention to the scope will thus disentangle
every doubt ; for the error of our opponents lies chiefly in
this, that they think James is defining the mode of justifica
tion, whereas his only object is to destroy the depraved secu
rity of those who vainly pretended faith as an excuse for
their contempt of good works. Therefore, let them twist the
words of James as they may, they will never extract out of
them more than the two propositions : That an empty phan
tom of faith does not justify, and that the believer, not con
tented with such an imagination, manifests his justification
by good works.

13. They gain nothing by quoting from Paul to the same
effect, that " not the hearers of the law are just before God,

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 409

but the doers of the law shall be justified," (Rom. ii. 13.) I
am unwilling to evade the difficulty by the solution of Am
brose, that Paul spoke thus because faith in Christ is the
fulfilment of the law. This I regard as a mere subterfuge,
and one too for which there is no occasion, as the explanation
is perfectly obvious. 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
were its greatest despisers. That they might not plume
themselves so much on a bare acquaintance with the law, he
reminds them that when justification is sought by the law,
the thing required is not the knowledge but the observance
of it. We certainly mean not to dispute that the righteous
ness of the law consists in works, and not only so, but that
justification consists in the dignity and merits of works.
But this proves not that we are justified by works unless
they can produce some one who has fulfilled the law. That
Paul had no other meaning is abundantly obvious from the
context. After charging Jews and Gentiles in common with
unrighteousness, he descends to particulars, and says, that
" as many as have sinned without law shall also perish with
out law," referring to the Gentiles, and that "as many as
have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law," referring to
the Jews. Moreover, as they, winking at their transgressions,
boasted merely of the law, he adds most appropriately, that
the law was passed with the view of justifying not those who
only heard it, but those only who obeyed it ; as if he had said,
Do you seek righteousness in the law ? do not bring forward
the mere hearing of it, which is in itself of little weight, but
bring works by which you may show that the law has not
been given to you in vain. Since in these they were all defi
cient, it followed that they had no ground of boasting in the
law. Paul's meaning, therefore, rather leads to an opposite
argument. The righteousness of the law consists in the per
fection of works ; but no man can boast of fulfilling the law
by works, and, therefore, there is no righteousness by the law.
14. They now betake themselves to those passages in
which believers boldly submit their righteousness to the
judgment of God, and wish to be judged accordingly ; as in

410 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

the following passages : " Judge me, O Lord, according to
my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is
in me." Again, " Hear the right, O Lord ;" " Thou hast
proved mine heart ; thou hast visited me in the night ; thou
hast tried me, and shalt find nothing." Again, " The Lord
rewarded me according to my righteousness ; according to
the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. For
I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly
departed from my God." " I was also upright before him,
and I kept myself from mine iniquity." Again, <( Judge
me, O Lord ; for I have walked in mine integrity ;" " I have
not sat with vain persons ; neither will I go in with dissem
blers ;" " Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with
bloody men ; in whose hands is mischief, and their right
hand is full of bribes. But as for me, I will walk in mine
integrity."1 I have already spoken of the confidence whicli
the saints seem to derive simply from works. The passages
now quoted will not occasion much difficulty, if we attend
to their Kigtffraffig, their connection, or (as it is commonly
called) special circumstances. These are of twro kinds ; for
those who use them have no wish that their whole life should
be brought to trial, so that they may be acquitted or con
demned according to its tenor ; all they wish is, that a deci
sion should be given on the particular case ; and even here
the righteousness which they claim is not with reference to the
divine perfection, but only by comparison with the wicked
and profane. When the question relates to justification, the
thing required is not that the individual have a good ground
of acquittal in regard to some particular matter, but that
his whole life be in accordance with righteousness. But
when the saints implore the divine justice in vindication
of their innocence, they do not present themselves as free
from fault, and in every respect blameless, but while placing
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. And when they

1 Ps. vii. 9 ; xvii. 1 ; xviii. 20; xxvi. 1, 9, 10. Farther on, see Chap,
xiv. s. 18 i Chap. xx. s. 10.

CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 411

sist themselves with their adversaries at the tribunal of God,
they pretend not to an innocence corresponding to the divine
purity were inquiry strictly made, but knowing that in com
parison of the malice, dishonesty, craft, and iniquity of their
enemies, their sincerity, justice, simplicity, and purity, are as
certained and approved by God, they dread not to call upon
him to judge between them. Thus when David said to Saul,
" The Lord render to every man his righteousness and his
faithfulness," (1 Sam. xxvi. 23,) he meant not that the Lord
should examine and reward every one according to his de
serts, but he took the Lord to witness how great his inno
cence was in comparison of Saul's injustice. Paul, too, when
he indulges in the boast, " Our rejoicing is this, the testi
mony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sin
cerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we
have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly
to you- ward," (2 Cor. i. 12,) means not to call for the
scrutiny of God, but compelled by the calumnies of the
wicked he appeals, in contradiction of all their slanders, to
his faith and probity, which he knew that God had indul
gently accepted. For we see how he elsewhere says, " I
know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified,"
(1 Cor. iv. 4;) in other words, he was aware that the divine
judgment far transcended the blind estimate of man. There
fore, however believers may, in defending their integrity
against the hypocrisy of the ungodly, appeal to God as their
witness and judge, still when the question is with God alone,
they all with one mouth exclaim, " If thou, Lord, should
mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" Again, " Enter
not into judgment with thy servant ; for in thy sight shall
no man living be justified," Distrusting their own works,
they gladly exclaim, " Thy loving-kindness is better than
life," (Ps. cxxx. 3 ; cxliii. 2 ; Ixiii. 3.)

15. There are other passages not unlike those quoted
above, at which some may still demur. Solomon says,
" The just man walketh in his integrity," (Prov. xx. 7.)
Again, " In the way of righteousness is life ; and in the path
way thereof there is no death," (Prov. xii. 28.) For this
reason Ezekiel says, He that " hath walked in my statutes,

412 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly ; he is just, he
shall surely live," (Ezek. xviii. 9, 21; xxxiii. 15.) 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
betake themselves to the asylum of mercy. Still we deny
not that the integrity of believers, though partial and im
perfect, is a step to immortality. How so, but just that the
works of those whom the Lord has assumed into the cove
nant of grace, he tries not by their merit, but embraces with
paternal indulgence. By this we understand not with the
Schoolmen, that works derive their value from accepting
grace. For their meaning is, that works otherwise unfit to
obtain salvation in terms of law, are made fit for such a
purpose by the divine acceptance. On the other hand, I
maintain that these works being sullied both by other trans
gressions and by their own deficiencies, have no other value
than this, that the Lord indulgently pardons them ; in other
words, that the righteousness which he bestows on man is
gratuitous. Here they unseasonably obtrude those passages
in which the Apostle prays for ah1 perfection to believers,
" To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in
holiness before God, even our Father," (1 Thess. iii. 13, and
elsewhere.) These words were strongly urged by the Celes-
tines of old, in maintaining the perfection of holiness in the
present life. To this we deem it sufficient briefly to reply
with Augustine, that the goal to which all the pious ought
to aspire is, to appear in the presence of God without spot
and blemish ; but as the course of the present life is at best
nothing more than progress, we shall never reach the goal
until we have laid aside the body of sin, and been com
pletely united to the Lord. If any one choose to give the
name of perfection to the saints, I shall not obstinately
quarrel with him, provided he defines this perfection in the
words of Augustine, " When we speak of the perfect virtue
of the saints, part of this perfection consists in the recog
nition of our imperfection both in truth and in humility,"
(August, ad Bonif. Lib. iii. c. 7.)

CHAP. XVIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 413

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF WORKS IMPROPERLY INFERRED
FROM REWARDS.

There are three divisions in this chapter, — I. A solution of two general
objections which are urged in support of justification by works. First,
That God will render to every one according to his works, sec. 1.
Second, That the reward of works is called eternal, sec. 2-6. II. An
swer to other special objections derived from the former, and a perver
sion of passages of Scripture, sec. 6-9. III. Refutation of the sophism
that faith itself is called a work, and, therefore, justification by it is by
works, sec. 10.

Sections.

1. Two general objections. The former solved and explained. What

meant by the term working.

2. Solution of the second general objection. 1. Works not the cause of

salvation. This shown from the name and nature of inheritance.
2. A striking example that the Lord rewards the works of believers
with blessings which he had promised before the works were
thought of.

3. First reason why eternal life said to be the reward of works. This

confirmed by passages of Scripture. The concurrence of Ambrose.
A rule to be observed. Declarations of Christ and an Apostle.

4. Other four reasons. Holiness the way to the kingdom, not the

cause of obtaining it. Proposition of the Sophists.

5. Objection that God crowns the works of his people. Three answers

from Augustine. A fourth from Scripture.

6. First special objection, viz., that we are ordered to lay up treasure

in heaven. Answer, showing in what way this can be done.

7. Second objection, viz., that the righteous enduring affliction are said

to be worthy of the kingdom of heaven. Answer. What meant
by righteousness.

8. A third objection founded on three passages of Paul. Answer.

9. Fourth objection founded on our Saviour's words, u If ye would

enter into life, keep the commandments." Answer, giving an ex
position of the passage.

10. Last objection, viz., that faith itself is called a work. Answer — it
is not as a work that faith justifies.

414 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

1. LET us now proceed to those passages which affirm
that God will render to every one according to his deeds.
Of this description are the following : " We must all
appear before the judgment-seat of Christ ; that every one
may receive the things done in his body, according to that
he hath done, whether it be good or bad ;" " Who will render
to every man according to his deeds : to them who by
patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, and honour,
and immortality, eternal life;" but "tribulation and anguish
upon every soul of man that doeth evil;" " They that have
done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have
done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation ;" " Come, ye
blessed of my Father ;" " For I was an hungered, and ye
gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink," &c.
To these we may add the passages which describe eternal
life as the reward of works, such as the following : " The
recompense of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him ;"
" He that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded ;"
" Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in
heaven ;" " Every man shall receive his own reward, accord
ing to his own labour."1 The passages in which it is said
that God will reward every man according to his works are
easily disposed of. For that mode of expression indicates
not the cause but the order of sequence. Now, it is beyond
a doubt that the steps by which the Lord in his mercy con
summates our salvation are these," Whom he did predestinate,
them he also called; and whom he called, them he also
justified ; and whom he justified, them he also glorified,"
(Rom. viii. 30.) But though it is by mercy alone that God
admits his people to life, yet as he leads them into possession
of it by the course of good works, that he may complete
his work in them in the order which he has destined, it is
not strange that they are said to be crowned according to
their works, since by these doubtless they are prepared for
receiving the crown of immortality. Nay, for this reason they
are aptly said to work out their own salvation, (Phil. ii. 12,)
while by exerting themselves in good works they aspire to

1 Matth. xvi. 27 ; 2 Cor. v. 10 ; Horn. ii. 6 ; John v. 29 ; Matth. xxv.
34 ; Prov. xii. 14 ; xiii. 13 ; Matth. v. 12 ; Luke vi. 23 ; 1 Cor. iii. 8.

CHAP. XVIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 415

eternal life, just as they are elsewhere told to labour for the
meat which perisheth not, (John vi. 27,) while they acquire
life for themselves by believing in Christ ; and yet it is
immediately added, that this meat " the Son of man shall
give unto you." Hence it appears, that working is not at all
opposed to grace, but refers to pursuit,1 and, therefore, it
follows not that believers are the authors of their own salva
tion, or that it is the result of their works. What then ?
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
hath begun a good work in them " will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ," (Phil. i. 6.) And it is performed when
in righteousness and holiness they bear a resemblance to their
heavenly Father, and prove that they are not degenerate
sons.

2. There is nothing in the term reward to justify the
inference that our works are the cause of salvation. First,
let it be a fixed principle in our hearts, that the kingdom of
heaven is not the hire of servants, but the inheritance of
sons, (Eph. i. 18 ;) an inheritance obtained by those only
whom the Lord has adopted as sons, and obtained for no
other cause than this adoption, a The son of the bond-woman
shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman," (Gal.
iv. 30.) And hence in those very passages in which
the Holy Spirit promises eternal glory as the reward of
works, by expressly calling it an inheritance, he demon
strates that it comes to us from some other quarter.
Thus Christ enumerates the works for which he bestows
heaven as a recompense, while he is calling his elect to
the possession of it, but he at the same time adds, that it
is to be possessed by right of inheritance, (Matth. xxv. 34.)
Paul, too, encourages servants, while faithfully doing their
duty, to hope for reward from the Lord, but adds, " of the
inheritance," (Col. iii. 24.) You see how, as it were, in
formal terms they carefully caution us to attribute eternal
blessedness not to works, but to the adoption of God. Why,

1 French, " mais seulement emporte zele et estude ; " — but only imports
zeal and study.

416 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

then, do they at the same time make mention of works ?
This question will be elucidated by an example from
Scripture, (Gen. xv. 5 ; xvii. 1.) Before the birth of Isaac,
Abraham had received promise of a seed in whom all the
families of the earth should be blessed ; the propagation of
a seed that for number should equal the stars of heaven, and
the sand of the sea, &c. Many years after he prepares, in
obedience to a divine message, to sacrifice his son. Having
done this act of obedience, he receives the promise, " By
myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast
done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son ;
that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will
multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand
which is upon the sea-shore, and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies ; and in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice,"
(Gen. xxii. 16—18.) What is it we hear? Did Abraham
by his obedience merit the blessing which had been promised
him before the precept was given ? 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. And yet the Lord does not act in vain, or delude us
when he says, that he renders to works what he had freely
given previous to works. As he would have us to be exercised
in good works, while aspiring to the manifestation, or, if I may
so speak, the fruition of the things which he has promised, and
by means of them to hasten on to the blessed hope set before
us in heaven, the fruit of the promises is justly ascribed to
those things by which it is brought to maturity. Both
things were elegantly expressed by the Apostle, when he
told the Colossians to study the offices of charity, " for the
hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard
before in the word of the truth of the gospel," (Col. i. 5.)
For when he says that the gospel informed them of the
hope which was treasured up for them in heaven, he declares
that it depends on Christ alone, and not at all upon works.
With this accords the saying of Peter, that believers " are

CHAP. XVIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 417

kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready
to be revealed in the last time," (1 Pet. i. 5.) 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, our Lord introduced a parable, in which he repre
sented himself as a householder, who sent all the labourers
whom he met to work in his vineyard, some at the first hour
of the day, others at the second, others at the third, some
even at the eleventh ; at evening he paid them all alike.
The interpretation of this parable is briefly and truly given
by that ancient writer (whoever he was) who wrote the book
De Vocations Gentium, which goes under the name of
Ambrose. I will give it in his words rather than my own : l
" By means of this comparison, our Lord represented the many
various modes of calling as pertaining to grace alone, where
those who were introduced into the vineyard at the eleventh
hour and made equal to those who had toiled the whole day,
doubtless represent the case of those whom the indulgence
of God, to commend the excellence of grace, has rewarded
in the decline of the day and the conclusion of life ; not
paying the price of labour, but shedding the riches of his
goodness on those whom he chose without works ; in order
that even those who bore the heat of the day, and yet received
no more than those who came last, may understand that
they received a gift of grace, not the hire of works," (Lib.
i. cap. 5.) Lastly, it is also worthy of remark, that in those
passages in which eternal life is called the reward of works,
it is not taken simply for that communion which we have with
God preparatory to a blessed immortality, when with paternal
benevolence he embraces us in Christ, but for the possession,
or, as it is called, the fruition of blessedness, as the very
words of Christ express it, " in the world to come eternal
life," (Mark x. 30 ;) and elsewhere, " Come, ye blessed of
my Father, inherit the kingdom," &c., (Matth. xxv. 34.)

1 French, " Pource que c'est un Doctcur ancien, j'aimc mieux user de
ses paroles que des miennes ;" — Because he is an ancient Doctor, I prefer
making use of his words rather than my own.

VOL. II. 2 D

418 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

For this reason also, Paul gives the name of adoption to that
revelation of adoption which shall be made at the resurrec
tion ; and which adoption he afterwards interprets to mean,
the redemption of our body, (Rom. viii. 23.) But, other
wise, as alienation from God is eternal death, — so when man
is received into favour by God that he may enjoy communion
with him and become one with him, he passes from death
unto life. This is owing to adoption alone. Although after
their manner they pertinaciously urge the term reward, we
can always carry them back to the declaration of Peter, that
eternal life is the reward of faith, (I Pet. i. 9.)

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. Nay, rather its
whole object is to repress, humble, cast down, and completely
crush our pride. But in this way help is given to our weak
ness, which would immediately give way were it not sus
tained by this expectation, and soothed by this comfort.
First, let every man reflect for himself how hard it is not
only to leave ah1 things, but to leave and abjure one's self. And
yet this is the training by which Christ initiates his disciples,
that is, all the godly. Secondly, he thus keeps them all their
lifetime under the discipline of the cross, lest they should
allow their heart to long for or confide in present good. In
short, his treatment is usually such, that wherever they turn
their eyes, as far as this world extends, they see nothing be
fore them but despair ; and hence Paul says, " If in this life
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miser
able," (1 Cor. xv. 19.) That they may not fail in these great
straits, the Lord is present reminding them to lift their head
higher and extend their view farther, that in him they may
find a happiness which they see not in the world : to this
happiness he gives the name of reward, hire, recompense, not
as estimating the merit of works, but intimating that it is a
compensation for their straits, sufferings, and affronts, &c.
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

CHAP. XVIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 419

affliction to a prosperous and desirable condition, from sor
row to joy, from poverty to affluence, from ignominy to glory ;
in short, exchanges all the evils which they endured for bless
ings. Thus there will be no impropriety in considering
holiness of life as the way, not indeed the way which gives
access to the glory of the heavenly kingdom ; but a way by
which God conducts his elect to the manifestation of that
kingdom, since his good pleasure is to glorify those whom he
has sanctified, (Rom. viii. 30.) Only let us not imagine that
merit and hire are correlative terms, a point on which the
Sophists absurdly insist, from not attending to the end to
which we have adverted. How preposterous is it when the
Lord calls us to one end to look to another ? Nothing is
clearer than that a reward is promised to good works, in
order to support the weakness of our flesh by some degree
of comfort ; but not to inflate our minds with vain glory. He,
therefore, who from merit infers reward, or weighs works
and reward in the same balance, errs very widely from the
end which God has in view.

5. Accordingly, when the Scripture speaks of " a crown of
righteousness which God the righteous Judge shall give" " at
that day," (2 Tim. iv. 8,) I not only say with Augustine,
" 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
justifies the ungodly ? how could these be paid as things
due were not things not due previously given ?" (August, ad
Valent. de Grat. et Lib. Art. ;) but I also add, how could he
impute righteousness to our works, did not his indulgence hide
the unrighteousness that is in them ? How could he deem
them worthy of reward, did he not with boundless goodness
destroy what is unworthy in them ? Augustine is wont to
give the name of grace to eternal life, because, while it is the
recompense of works, it is bestowed by the gratuitous gifts
of God. But Scripture humbles us more, and at the same
time elevates us. For besides forbidding us to glory in works,
because they are the gratuitous gifts of God, it tells us that
they are always defiled by some degrees of impurity, so that
they cannot satisfy God when they are tested by the standard

420 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

of his justice ; but that, lest our activity should be destroyed,
they please merely by pardon. But though Augustine speaks
somewhat differently from us, it is plain from his words that
the difference is more apparent than real. After drawing a
contrast between two individuals, the one with a life holy and
perfect almost to a miracle ; the other honest indeed, and of
pure morals, yet not so perfect as not to leave much room for
desiring better, he at length infers, " He who seems inferior
in conduct, yet on account of the true faith in God by which
he lives, (Hab. ii. 4,) and in conformity to which he accuses
himself in all his faults, praises God in all his good works,
takes shame to himself, and ascribes glory to God, from
whom he receives both forgiveness for his sins, and the love
of well-doing, the moment he is set free from this life is
translated into the society of Christ. Why, but just on
account of his faith ? For though it saves no man without
works, (such faith being reprobate and not working by love,)
yet by means of it sins are forgiven ; for the just lives by
faith : without it works wrhich seem good are converted into
sins," (August, ad Bonifac., Lib. iii. c. 5.) Here he not ob
scurely acknowledges what we so strongly maintain, that the
righteousness of good works depends on their being approved
by God in the way of pardon.1

6. In a sense similar to the above passages our opponents
quote the following : " Make to yourselves friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness ; that when ye fail, they may
receive you into everlasting habitations," (Luke xvi. 9.)
" Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not
high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living
God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy : that they do
good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing to communicate ; laying up in store for themselves a
good foundation against the time to come, that they may
lay hold on eternal life," (1 Tim. vi. 17-19.) For the good
works which we enjoy in eternal blessedness are compared
to riches. I answer, that we shall never attain to the true
knowledge of these passages unless we attend to the scope of

1 The French adds, "C'est k dire, en misericorde, et non pas en juge-
ment ;" — that is to say, in mercy, and not in judgment.

CHAP. XVIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 421

the Spirit in uttering them. If it is true, as Christ says,
" Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,"
(Matth. vi. 21,) then, as the children of the world are intent
on providing those things which form the delight of the pre
sent life, so it is the duty of believers, after they have learned
that this life will shortly pass away like a dream, to take care
that those things which they would truly enjoy be transmitted
thither where their entire life is to be spent. We must,
therefore, do like those who begin to remove to any place
where they mean to fix their abode. As they send forward
their effects, and grudge not to want them for a season, be
cause they think the more they have in their future resi
dence the happier they are ; so, if we think that heaven is
our country, we should send our wealth thither rather than
retain it here, where on our sudden departure it will be lost
to us. But how shall we transmit it ? By contributing to the
necessities of the poor, the Lord imputing to himself what
ever is given to them. Hence that excellent promise, " He
that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord," (Prov. xix.
17 ; Matth. xxv. 40 ;) and again, " Pie which soweth bounti
fully shall reap also bountifully," (2 Cor. ix. 6.J What we
give to our brethren in the exercise of charity is a deposit
with the Lord, who, as a faithful depositary, will ultimately
restore it with abundant interest. Are our duties, then, of
such value with God that they are as a kind of treasure
placed in his hand ? Who can hesitate to say so when Scrip
ture so often and so plainly attests it ? But if any one would
leap from the mere kindness of God to the merit of works,1
his error will receive no support from these passages. For
all you can properly infer from them is the inclination on the
part of God to treat us with indulgence. For, in order to
animate us in well-doing, he allows no act of obedience, how
ever unworthy of his eye, to pass unrewarded.

7. But they insist more strongly on the words of the
apostle when, in consoling the Thessalonians under their tri
bulations, he tells them that these were sent, " that ye may

1 French, " Mais si quelcun pour obscurcir la benignitt^ de Dieu veut
cstablir la dignite des oeuvres ;" — but if any one to obscure the benignity of
God would establish the dignity of works.

422 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK 111.

be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also
suffer; seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recom
pense tribulation to them that trouble you ; and to you who
are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be re
vealed from heaven with his mighty angels," (2 Thess. i. 5-7.)
The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, " God is not
unrighteous to forget your work arid labour of love, which ye
have showed towards his name, in that ye have ministered to
the saints, and do minister," (Heb. vi. 10.) To the former
passage I answer, that the worthiness spoken of is not that of
merit, but as God the Father would have those whom he has
chosen for sons to be conformed to Christ the first born, and
as it behoved him first to suffer, and then to enter into his
glory, so we also, through much tribulation, enter the king
dom of heaven. Therefore, while we suffer tribulation for
the name of Christ, we in a manner receive the marks with
which God is wont to stamp the sheep of his flock, (Gal. vi.
17.) Hence we are counted worthy of the kingdom of God,
because we bear in our body the marks of our Lord and
Master, these being the insignia of the children of God. In
this sense are we to understand the passages : " Always bear
ing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the
life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body," (2
Cor. iv. 10.) u That I may know him and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death," (Phil. iii. 10.) The reason
which is subjoined is intended not to prove any merit, but
to confirm our hope of the kingdom of God ; as if he had
said, As it is befitting the just judgment of God to take ven
geance on your enemies for the tribulation wyhich they have
brought upon yon, so it is also befitting to give you release
and rest from these tribulations. The other passage, which
speaks as if it were becoming the justice of God not to overlook
the services of his people, and almost insinuates that it were
unjust to forget them, is to be thus explained : God, to arouse
us from sloth, assures us that every labour which we under
take for the glory of his name shall not be in vain. Let us
always remember that this promise, like all other promises,
will be of no avail unless it is preceded by the free covenant

CHAP. XVIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 423

of mercy, on which the whole certainty of our salvation de
pends. Trusting to it, however, we ought to feel secure that
however unworthy our services, the liberality of God will not
allow them to pass unrewarded. To confirm us in this expec
tation, the Apostle declares that God is not unrighteous ;
but will act consistently with the promise once given. Right
eousness, therefore, refers rather to the truth of the divine
promise than to the equity of paying what is due. In this
sense there is a celebrated saying of Augustine, which, as con
taining a memorable sentiment, that holy man declined not
repeatedly to employ, and which I think not unworthy of
being constantly remembered : " Faithful is the Lord, who
hath made himself our debtor, not by receiving any thing
from us, but by promising us all things," (August, in Ps.
xxxii., cix., et alibi.)

8. Our opponents also adduce the following passages from
Paul : " Though I have all faith, so that I could remove moun
tains, and have not charity, I am nothing," (1 Cor. xiii. 2.)
Again, u Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three ; but
the greatest of these is charity," (1 Cor. xiii. 13.) "Above
all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfect-
ness," (Col. iii. 14.) From the two first passages our
Pharisees1 contend that we are justified by charity rather
than by faith, charity being, as they say, the better virtue.
This mode of arguing is easily disposed of. I have elsewhere
shown that what is said in the first passage refers not to true
faith. In the second passage we admit that charity is said
to be greater than true faith, but not because charity is more
meritorious, but because it is more fruitful, because it is of
wider extent, of more general service, and always flourishes,
whereas the use of faith is only for a time. If we look to
excellence, the love of God undoubtedly holds the first place.
Of it, however, Paul does not here speak ; for the only thing
he insists on is, that we should by mutual charity edify one
another in the Lord. But let us suppose that charity is in
every respect superior to faith, what man of sound judgment,
nay, what man with any soundness in his brain, would argue

1 See Calvin's Answer to Sadolet, who had said that charity is the first
and principal cause of our salvation.

424 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

that it therefore does more to justify ? The power of justify
ing which belongs to faith consists not in its worth as a work.
Our justification depends entirely on the mercy of God and
the merits of Christ: when faith apprehends these, it is said to
justify. Now, if you ask our opponents in what sense they
ascribe justification to charity, they will answer, Being a duty
acceptable to God, righteousness is in respect of its merit im
puted to us by the acceptance of the divine goodness. Here
you see how beautifully the argument proceeds. 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. They overlooking
the mercy of God, and passing by Christ, the sum of right
eousness, maintain that we are justified by charity as being
superior to faith ; just as if one were to maintain that a king
is fitter to make a shoe than a shoemaker, because the king is
infinitely the superior of the two. This one syllogism is
ample proof that all the schools of Sorbonne have never had
the slightest apprehension of what is meant by justification
by faith. Should any disputant here interpose, and ask why
we give different meanings to the term faith as used by Paul
in passages so near each other, I can easily show that I have
not slight grounds for so doing. For while those gifts which
Paul enumerates are in some degree subordinate to faith and
hope, because they relate to the knowledge of God, he by
way of summary comprehends them all under the name of
faith and hope ; as if he had said, Prophecy and tongues, and
the gift of interpreting, and knowledge, are all designed to
lead us to the knowledge of God. But in this life it is only
by faith and hope that we acknowledge God. Therefore,
when I name faith and hope, I at the same time comprehend
the whole. " Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three ;"
that is, how great soever the number of the gifts, they are all
to be referred to them ; but " the greatest of these is charity."
From the third passage they infer, If charity is the bond of
perfection, it must be the bond of righteousness, which is
nothing else than perfection. First, without objecting that
the name of perfection is here given by Paul to proper union
among the members of a rightly constituted church, and ad-

CHAP. XVIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 425

mitting that by charity we are perfected before God, what
new result do they gain by it ? I will always object in reply,
that we never attain to that perfection unless we fulfil all the
parts of charity ; and will thence infer, that as all are most re
mote from such fulfilment, the hope of perfection is excluded.
9. I am unwilling to discuss all the things which the fool
ish Sorbonnists have rashly laid hold of in Scripture as it
chanced to come in their way, and throw out against us.
Some of them are so ridiculous, that I cannot mention them
without laying myself open to a charge of trifling. I will,
therefore, conclude with an exposition of one of our Saviour's
expressions with which they are wondrously pleased. When
the lawyer asked him, " Good Master, what good thing shall
I do, that I may have eternal life?" he answers, "If thou
wilt enter into life, keep the commandments," (Matth. xix. 16,
17.) What more (they ask) would we have, when the very
author of grace bids us acquire the kingdom of heaven by the
observance of the commandments ? As if it were not plain that
Christ adapted his answers to the characters of those whom
he addressed. Here he is questioned by a Doctor of the Law
as to the means of obtaining eternal life ; and the question is
not put simply, but is, What can men do to attain it ? Both
the character of the speaker and his question induced our
Lord to give this answer. Imbued with a persuasion of legal
righteousness, the lawyer had a blind confidence in works.
Then all he asked was, what are the works of righteousness
by which salvation is obtained ? Justly, therefore, is" he re
ferred to the law, in which there is a perfect mirror of right
eousness. We also distinctly declare, that if life is sought in
works, the commandments are to be observed. And the
knowledge of this doctrine is necessary to Christians ; for how
should they betake themselves to Christ, unless they per
ceived that they had fallen from the path of life over the pre
cipice of death ? Or how could they understand how far
they have wandered from the way of life unless they pre
viously understand what that way is ? Then only do they feel
that the asylum of safety is in Christ when they see how
much their conduct is at variance with the divine righteous
ness, which consists in the observance of the law. The sum

426 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

of the whole is this, If salvation is sought in works, we must
keep the commandments, by which we are instructed in per
fect righteousness. But we cannot remain here unless we
would stop short in the middle of our course ; for none of us
is able to keep the commandments. Being thus excluded
from the righteousness of the law, we must betake ourselves
to another remedy, viz., to the faith of Christ. Wherefore,
as a teacher of the law, whom our Lord knew to be puffed
up with a vain confidence in works, was here directed by
him to the law, that he might learn he was a sinner exposed
to the fearful sentence of eternal death ; so others, who were
already humbled with this knowledge, he elsewhere solaces
with the promise of grace, without making any mention of
the law. " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." " Take my yoke upon you,
and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye
shall find rest unto your souls," (Matth. xi. 28, 29.)

10. At length, after they have wearied themselves with
perverting Scripture, they have recourse to subtleties and
sophisms. One cavil is, that faith is somewhere called a work,
(John vi. 29 ;) hence they infer that we are in error in oppos
ing faith to works ; as if faith, regarded as obedience to the
divine will, could by its own merit procure our justification,
and did not rather, by embracing the mercy of God, thereby
seal upon our hearts the righteousness of Christ, which is
offered to us in the preaching of the Gospel. My readers
will pardon me if I stay not to dispose of such absurdities ;
their own weakness, without external assault, is sufficient to
destroy them. One objection, however, which has some sem
blance of reason, it will be proper to dispose of in passing,
lest it give any trouble to those less experienced. As com
mon sense dictates that contraries must be tried by the same
rule, and as each sin is charged against us as unrighteousness,
so it is right (say our opponents) that each good work should
receive the praise of righteousness. The answer which some
give, that the condemnation of men proceeds on unbelief
alone, and not on particular sins, does not satisfy me. I agree
with them, indeed, that infidelity is the fountain and root
of all evil ; for it is the first act of revolt from God, and is

CHAP. XVJ1I. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 427

afterwards followed by particular transgressions of the law.
But as they seem to hold, that in estimating righteousness
and unrighteousness, the same rule is to be applied to good
and bad works, in this I dissent from them.1 The righteous
ness 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. Hence it appears, that righteousness is not
obtained by a few works, but by an indefatigable and inflex
ible observance of the divine will. But the rule with regard to
unrighteousness is very different. The adulterer or the thief
is by one act guilty of death, because he offends against the
majesty of God. The blunder of these arguers of ours lies
here : they attend not to the words of James, " Whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery,
said also, Do not kill," &c., (James ii. 10, 11.) Therefore,
it should not seem absurd when we say that death is the just
recompense of every sin, because each sin merits the just in
dignation 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.

1 French, " Mais touchant ce qu'ils semblent advis contrepoiser en une
mesme balance les bonnes ceuvres etles mauvaises, pour estimer la justice
ou 1'injustice de 1'homme, en cela je suis contreint de leur repugner." —
But as they seem disposed to put good and bad works into the opposite
scales of the same balance, in order to estimate the righteousness or un
righteousness of man, in this I am forced to dissent from them.

428 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III

CHAPTER XIX.

OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY.

The three divisions of this chapter are, — I. Necessity of the doctrine
of Christian Liberty, sec. 1. The principal parts of this liberty ex
plained, sec. 2-8. II. The nature and efficacy of this liberty against
the Epicureans and others who take no account whatever of the weak,
sec. 9 and 10. III. Of offence given and received. A lengthened and
not unnecessary discussion of this subject, sec. 11-16.

Sections.

. Connection of this chapter with the previous ones on Justification.
A true knowledge of Christian liberty useful and necessary. 1. It
purifies the conscience. 2. It checks licentiousness. 3. It main
tains the merits of Christ, the truth of the Gospel, and the peace
of the soul.

2. This liberty consists of three parts. First, Believers renouncing the

righteousness of the law, look only to Christ. Objection. An
swer, distinguishing between Legal and Evangelical righteous
ness.

3. This first part clearly established by the whole Epistle to the Gala-

tians.

4. The second part of Christian liberty, viz., that the conscience, freed

from the yoke of the law, voluntarily obeys the will of God. This
cannot be done so long as we are under the law. Reason.

5. When freed from the rigorous exactions of the law, we can cheer

fully and with much alacrity answer the call of God.

6. Proof of this second part from an Apostle. The end of this liberty.

7. Third part of liberty, viz., the free use of things indifferent. The

knowledge of this part necessary to remove despair and supersti
tion. Superstition described.

8. Proof of this third part from the Epistle to the Romans. Those

who observe it not only use evasion. 1. Despisers of God.
2. The desperate. 3. The ungrateful. The end and scope of this
third part.

9. Second part of the chapter, showing the nature and efficacy of Christian

liberty, in opposition to the Epicureans. Their character described.
Pretext and allegation Use of things indifferent. Abuse detected.
Mode of correcting it.

CHAP. XIX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 429

10. This liberty maintained in opposition to those who pay no regard to

the weak. Error of this class of men refuted. A most pernicious
error. Objection. Reply.

11. Application of the doctrine of Christian liberty to the subject of

oifences. These of two kinds. Offence given. Offence received.
Of offence given, a subject comprehended by few. Of Pharisaical
offence, or offence received.

12. Who are to be regarded as weak and Pharisaical. Proved by ex

amples and the doctrine of Paul. The just moderation of Christian
liberty. Necessity of vindicating it. ]STo regard to be paid to
hypocrites. Duty of edifying our weak neighbours.

13. Application of the doctrine to things indifferent. Things necessary

not to be omitted from any fear of offence.

14. Refutation of errors in regard to Christian liberty. The consciences

of the godly not to be fettered by human traditions in matters of
indifference.

15. Distinction to be made between Spiritual and Civil government.

These must not be confounded. How far conscience can be bound
by human constitutions. Definition of conscience. Definition ex
plained by passages from the Apostolic writings.

16. The relation which conscience bears to external obedience ; first, in

things good and evil ; secondly, in things indifferent.

1. WE are now to treat of Christian Liberty, the explana
tion of which certainly ought not to be omitted by any one
proposing to give a compendious summary of Gospel doctrine.
For it is a matter of primary necessity, one without the
knowledge of which the conscience can scarcely attempt any
thing without hesitation, in many must demur and fluctuate,
and in all proceed with fickleness and trepidation. In parti
cular, it forms a proper appendix to Justification, and is of
no little service in understanding its force. Nay, those who
seriously fear God will hence perceive the incomparable
advantages of a doctrine which wicked scoffers are constantly
assailing with their jibes ; the intoxication of mind under
which they labour leaving their petulance without restraint.
This, therefore, seems the proper place for considering the
subject. Moreover, though it has already been occasionally
adverted to, there was an advantage in deferring the fuller
consideration of it till now, for the moment any mention is
made of Christian liberty lust begins to boil, or insane commo
tions arise, if a speedy restraint is not laid on those licentious

430 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

spirits by whom the best things are perverted into the worst.
For they either, under pretext of this liberty, shake off all
obedience to God, and break out into unbridled licentious
ness, or they feel indignant, thinking that all choice, order,
and restraint, are abolished. What can we do when thus
encompassed with straits ? Are we to bid adieu to Christian
liberty, in order that we may cut off all opportunity for such
perilous consequences ? But, as we have said, if the subject
be not understood, neither Christ, nor the truth of the
Gospel, nor the inward peace of the soul, is properly known.
Our endeavour must rather be, while not suppressing this
very necessary part of doctrine, to obviate the absurd objec
tions to which it usually gives rise.

2. Christian liberty seems to me to consist of three parts.
First, the consciences of believers, while seeking the assur
ance of their justification before God, must rise above the
law, and think no more of obtaining justification by it. For
while the law, as has already been demonstrated, (supra,
chap. xvii. sec. 1 ,) leaves not one man righteous, we are either
excluded from all hope of justification, or we must be loosed
from the law, and so loosed as that no account at all shall
be taken of works. For he who imagines that in order to
obtain justification he must bring any degree of works what
ever, cannot fix any mode or limit, but makes himself debtor
to the whole law. Therefore, laying aside all mention of
the law, and all idea of works, we must in the matter of
justification have recourse to the mercy of God only ;
turning away our regard from ourselves, we must look only
to Christ. For the question is, not how we may be right
eous, but how, though unworthy and unrighteous, we may
be regarded as righteous. If consciences would obtain
any assurance of this, they must give no place to the law.
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, although it is not recognised by their con
sciences before the judgment-seat of God. The two things
are very different, and should be well and carefully
distinguished. The whole lives of Christians ought to be
a kind of aspiration after piety, seeing they are called unto *

CHAP. XIX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 431

holiness, (Eph. i. 4 ; 1 Thess. iv. 5.) The office of the law
is to excite them to the study of purity and holiness, by
reminding them of their duty. For when the conscience
feels anxious as to how it may have the favour of God,
as to the answer it could give, and the confidence it would
feel, if brought to his judgment-seat, in such a case the
requirements of the law are not to be brought forward, but
Christ, who surpasses all the perfection of the law, is alone
to be held forth for righteousness.

3. On this almost the whole subject of the Epistle to the
Galatians hinges ; for it can be proved from express passages
that those are absurd interpreters who teach that Paul there
contends only for freedom from ceremonies. Of such passages
are the following : " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us." " Stand fast, there
fore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and
be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold,
I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is
circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ
is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law ; ye are fallen from grace," (Gal. iii. 13 ;
v. 1—4.) These words certainly refer to something of a
higher order than freedom from ceremonies. I confess,
indeed, that Paul there treats of ceremonies, because he was
contending with false apostles, who were plotting to bring
back into the Christian Church those ancient shadows of the
law which were abolished by the advent of Christ. But,
in discussing this question, it was necessary to introduce
higher matters, on which the whole controversy turns.
First, because the brightness of the Gospel was obscured by
those Jewish shadows, he shows that in Christ we have a full
manifestation of all those things which were typified by Mosaic
ceremonies. Secondly, as those imposters instilled into the
people the most pernicious opinion, that this obedience was
sufficient to merit the grace of God, he insists very strongly
that believers shall not imagine that they can obtain justifi
cation before God by any works, far less by those paltry
observances. At the same time, he shows that by the cross

432 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

of Christ they are free from the condemnation of the law,
to which otherwise all men are exposed, so that in Christ
alone they can rest in full security. This argument is
pertinent to the present subject, (Gal. iv. 5, 21, &c.) Lastly,
he asserts the right of believers to liberty of conscience, a
liberty which may not be restrained without necessity.

4. Another point which depends on the former is, that
consciences obey the law, not as if compelled by legal
necessity ; but being free from the yoke of the law itself,
voluntarily obey the will of God. Being constantly in terror
so long as they are under the dominion of the law, they are
never disposed promptly to obey God, unless they have
previously obtained this liberty. Our meaning shall be
explained more briefly and clearly by an example. The
command of the law is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy might," (Deut. vi. 5.) To accomplish this, the soul
must previously be divested of every other thought and
feeling, the heart purified from all its desires, all its powers
collected and united on this one object. Those who, in
comparison of others, have made much progress in the way
of the Lord, are still very far from this goal. For although
they love God in their mind, and with a sincere affection ot
heart, yet both are still in a great measure occupied with
the lusts of the flesh, by which they are retarded and pre
vented from proceeding with quickened pace towards God.
They indeed make many efforts, but the flesh partly enfeebles
their strength, and partly binds them to itself. What can
they do while they thus feel that there is nothing of which
they are less capable than to fulfil the law ? They wish, aspire,
endeavour ; but do nothing with the requisite perfection.
If they look to the law, they see that every work which
they attempt or design is accursed. Nor can any one
deceive himself by inferring that the work is not altogether
bad, merely because it is imperfect, and, therefore, that any
good which is in it is still accepted of God. For the law
demanding perfect love condemns all imperfection, unless its
rigour is mitigated. Let any man therefore consider his work
which he wishes to be thought partly good, and h( will find

CHAP. XIX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 433

that it is a transgression of the law by the very circum
stance of its being imperfect.

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 ? On
the other hand, if freed from this severe exaction, or rather
from the whole rigour of the law, they hear themselves
invited by God with paternal lenity, they will cheerfully and
alertly obey the call, and follow his guidance. In one word,
those who are bound by the yoke of the law are like
servants who have certain tasks daily assigned them by their
masters. Such servants think that nought has been done ;
and they dare not come into the presence of their masters
until the exact amount of labour has been performed. But
sons who are treated in a more candid and liberal manner
by their parents, hesitate not to offer them works that are
only begun or half finished, or even with something faulty
in them, trusting that their obedience and readiness of mind
will be accepted, although the performance be less exact
than wras wished. Such should be our feelings, as we cer
tainly trust that our most indulgent Parent will approve our
services, however small they may be, and however rude and
imperfect. Thus He declares to us by the prophet, " I will
spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him,"
(Mai. iii. 17 ;) where the word spare evidently means indul
gence, or connivance at faults, while at the same time service
is remembered. This confidence is necessary in no slight
degree, since without it every thing should be attempted in
vain ; for God does not regard any work of ours as done to
himself, unless truly done from a desire to serve him. But
how can this be amidst these terrors, while we doubt whether
God is offended or served by our work?

6. This is the reason why the author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews ascribes to faith all the good works which the holy
patriarchs are said to have performed, and estimates them
merely by faith, (Heb. xi. 2.) In regard to this liberty there
is a remarkable passage in the Epistle to the Romans, where
Paul argues, " Sin shall not have dominion over you ; for ye

VOL. II. 2 E

434 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

are not under the law, but under grace," (Rom. vi. 14.)
For after he had exhorted believers, " Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof : Neither yield ye your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin ; but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as
instruments of righteousness unto God ;" they might have
objected that they still bore about with them a body full of
lust, that sin still dwelt in them. He therefore comforts
them by adding, that they are freed from the law ; as if he
had said, 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. Let those, however, who infer that they may sin
because they are not under the law, understand that they
have no right to this liberty, the end of which is to encour
age us in well-doing.

7. The third part of this liberty is, that we are not bound
before God to any observance of external things which are
in themselves indifferent, (d&apoga,) but that we are now at
full liberty either to use or omit 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 super
stition. In the present day many think us absurd in raising
a question as to the free eating of flesh, the free use of dress
and holidays, and similar frivolous trifles, as they think them ;
but they are of more importance than is commonly supposed.
For when once the conscience is entangled in the net, it
enters a long and inextricable labyrinth, from which it is
afterwards most difficult to escape. When a man begins to
doubt whether it is lawful for him to use linen for sheets,
shirts, napkins, and handkerchiefs, he will not long be secure
as to hemp, and will at last have doubts as to tow ; for he
will revolve in his mind whether he cannot sup without
napkins, or dispense with handkerchiefs. Should he deem
a daintier food unlawful, he will afterwards feel uneasy for
using loaf-bread and common eatables, because he will think •

CHAP. XIX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 435

that his body might possibly be supported on a still meaner
food. If he hesitates as to a more genial wine, he will
scarcely drink the worst with a good conscience ; at last he
will not dare to touch water if more than usually sweet and
pure. 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 prece
dence of all our acts and counsels. Here some must by
despair be hurried into an abyss, while others, despising
God and casting off his fear, will not be able to make a way
for themselves without ruin. When men are involved in
such doubts, whatever be the direction in which they turn,
every thing they see must oifend their conscience.

8. " I know," says Paul, (s that there is nothing unclean of
itself," (by unclean meaning unholy ;) "but to him that
esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean,"
(Rom. xiv. 14.) By these words he makes all external
things subject to our liberty, provided the nature of that
liberty approves itself to our minds as before God. But if
any superstitious idea suggests scruples, those things which
in their own nature were pure are to us contaminated.
Wherefore the apostle adds, "Happy is he that condemn-
eth not himself in that which he alloweth. And he that
doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of
faith : for whatsoever is not of faith is sin," (Rom. xiv.
22, 23.) When men, amid such difficulties, proceed with
greater confidence, securely doing whatever pleases them,
do they not in so far revolt from God ? Those who are
thoroughly impressed with some fear of God, if forced to do
many things repugnant to their conscience, are discouraged
and filled with dread. All such persons receive none of
the gifts of God with thanksgiving, by which alone Paul
declares that all things are sanctified for our use, (1 Tim.
iv. 5.) By thanksgiving I understand that which proceeds
from a mind recognising the kindness and goodness of
God in his gifts. For many, indeed, understand that the
blessings which they enjoy are the gifts of God, and praise
God in their works ; but not being persuaded that these have

436 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

been given to them, how can they give thanks to God as
the giver? In one word, we see whither this liberty tends,
viz., that we are to use the gifts of God without any scruple
of conscience, without any perturbation of mind, for the pur
pose for which he gave them : in this way our souls may
both have peace with him, and recognise his liberality to
wards us. 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 remem
ber that, by the kindness of God, the use of them is made
subservient to edification.

9. It is, however, to be carefully observed, that Christian
liberty is in all its parts a spiritual matter, the whole force of
which consists in giving peace to trembling consciences,
whether they are anxious and disquieted as to the forgive
ness of sins, or as to whether their imperfect works, polluted
by the infirmities of the flesh, are pleasing to God, or are per
plexed as to the use of things indifferent. It is, therefore,
perversely interpreted by those who 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. Under this head, the sins of the
present age are more numerous. For there is scarcely any
one whose means allow him to live sumptuously, who does
not delight in feasting, and dress, and the luxurious grandeur
of his house, who wishes not to surpass his neighbour in
every kind of delicacy, and does not plume himself amazingly
on his splendour. And all these things are defended under
the pretext of Christian liberty. They say they are things
indifferent : I admit it, provided they are used indifferently.
But when they are too eagerly longed for, when they are
proudly boasted of, when they are indulged in luxurious pro
fusion, things which otherwise were in themselves lawful are
certainly defiled by these vices. Paul makes an admirable
distinction in regard to things indifferent : " Unto the pure
all things are pure : but unto them that are defiled and un
believing is nothing pure ; but even their mind and con
science is defiled," (Tit. i. 15.) For why is a woe pronounced'

CHAP. XIX. CHKISTIAN RELIGION. 437

upon the rich who have received their consolation ? (Luke vi.
24,) who are full, who laugh now, wrho " lie upon beds of ivory,
and stretch themselves upon their couches ;" " join house
to house," and " lay field to field ;" " and the harp and the
viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts,"
(Amos vi. 6 ; Is. v. 8, 10.) Certainly ivory and gold, and
riches, are the good creatures of God, permitted, nay des
tined, by divine providence for the use of man ; nor was it
ever forbidden to laugh, or to be full, or to add new to old
and hereditary possessions, or to be delighted with music, or
to drink wine. This is true, but when the means are sup
plied, to roll and wallow in luxury, to intoxicate the mind
and soul with present and be always hunting after new
pleasures, is very far from a legitimate use of the gifts
of God. Let them, therefore, suppress immoderate desire,
immoderate profusion, vanity, and arrogance, that they may
use the gifts of God purely with a pure conscience. When
their mind is brought to this state of soberness, they will be
able to regulate the legitimate use. On the other hand,
when this moderation is wanting, even plebeian and ordinary
delicacies are excessive. For it is a true saying, that a
haughty mind often dwells in a coarse and homely garb,
while true humility lurks under fine linen and purple. Let
every one then live in his own station, poorly or moderately,
or in splendour; but 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 in what
ever state they are, u therewith to be content," to knoAV " both
how to be abased," and " how to abound," " to be full and to
be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need," (Phil. iv. 11.)
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 offence to weak brethren. You may see some
in the present day who cannot think they possess their
liberty unless they come into possession of it by eating flesh
on Friday. Their eating I blame not, but this false notion
must be driven from their minds : for they ought to think
that their liberty gains nothing new by the sight of men, but

438 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

is to be enjoyed before God, and consists as much in abstain
ing as in using. If they understand that it is of no conse
quence in the sight of God whether they eat flesh or eggs,
whether they are clothed in red or in black, this is amply
sufficient. The conscience to which the benefit of this liberty
was due is loosed. Therefore, though they should afterwards,
during their whole life, abstain from flesh, and constantly
wear one colour, they are not less free. Nay, just because
they are free, they abstain with a free conscience. But they
err most egregiously in paying no regard to the infirmity of
their brethren, with which it becomes us to bear, so as not
rashly to give them offence. But l it is sometimes also of
consequence that we should assert our liberty before men.
This I admit : yet must we use great caution in the mode,
lest we should cast off the care of the weak whom God has
specially committed to us.

11. I will here make some observations on offences, what
distinctions are to be made between them, what kind are to
be avoided and what disregarded. This will afterwards en
able us to determine what scope there is for our liberty
among men. We are pleased with the common division into
offence given and offence taken, since it has the plain sanction
of Scripture, and not improperly expresses what is meant. If
from unseasonable levity or wantonness, or rashness, you do
any thing out of order or not in its own place, by which the
weak or unskilful are offended, it may be said that offence
has been given by you, since the ground of offence is owing to
your fault. And in general, offence is said to be given in any
matter where the person from whom it has proceeded is in
fault. Offence is said to be taken when a thing otherwise
done, not wickedly or unseasonably, is made an occasion of
offence from malevolence or some sinister feeling. For here
offence was not given, but sinister interpreters causelessly take
offence. By the former kind, the weak only, by the latter,
the ill-tempered and Pharisaical are offended. Wherefore,
we shall call the one the offence of the weak, the other the
offence of Pharisees, and we will so temper the use of

1 French, " Mais quclcun dira ;" — But some one will say.

CHAP. XIX. CHKISTIAN RELIGION. 439

our liberty as to make it yield to the ignorance of weak
brethren, but not to the austerity of Pharisees. What is
due to infirmity is fully shown by Paul in many passages.
" Him that is weak in the faith receive ye." Again, " Let
us not judge one another any more : but judge this rather,
that no man put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to fall, in
his brother's way ;" and many others to the same effect in the
same place, to which, instead of quoting them here, we refer
the reader. The sum is, li We then that are strong ought to
bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edi
fication." Elsewhere he says, " Take heed lest by any means
this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that
are weak." Again, (e Whatsoever is sold in the shambles,
that eat, asking no question for conscience sake." " Con
science, I say, not thine own, but of the other." Finally,
" Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles,
nor to the Church of God." Also in another passage,
" Brethren, ye have been called into liberty, only use not
liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one
another." l Thus, indeed, it is : our liberty was not given us
against our weak neighbours, whom charity enjoins us to
serve in all things, but rather that, having peace with God
in our minds, w^e should live peaceably among men. What
value is to be set upon the offence of the Pharisees we learn
from the words of our Lord, in which he says, " Let them
alone : they be blind leaders of the blind," (Matth. xv. 14.)
The disciples had intimated that the Pharisees were offended
at his words. He answers, that they are to be let alone, that
their offence is not to be regarded.

12. The matter still remains uncertain, unless we under
stand who are the weak and who the Pharisees : for if this
distinction is destroyed, I see not how, in regard to offences,
any liberty at all would remain without being constantly in
the greatest danger. But Paul seems to me to have marked
out most clearly, as well by example as by doctrine, how far
our liberty, in the case of offence, is to be modified or main-

1 Rom. xiv. 1, in ; xv. 1 ; 1 Cor. viii. 9 ; x. 25, 29, 32 ; Gal. v. 13.

440 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

tained. When he adopts Timothy as his companion, ho
circumcises him : nothing can induce him to circumcise
Titus, (Acts xvi. 3 ; Gal. ii. 3.) The acts are different, but
there is no difference in the purpose or intention ; in circum
cising Timothy, as he was free from all men, he made him
self the servant of all : " Unto the Jews I became as a Jew,
that I might gain the Jews ; to them that are under the law,
as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the
law ; to them that are without law, as without law, (being
not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that
I might gain them that are without law. To the weak be
came I as weak, that I might gain the weak : I am made all
things to all men, that I might by all means save some," (1
Cor. ix. 20-22.) We have here the proper modification of
liberty, when in things indifferent it can be restrained with
some advantage. What he had in view in firmly resisting
the circumcision of Titus, he himself testifies when he thus
writes : " But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek,
was compelled to be circumcised : and that because of false
brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out
our liberty Avhich we have in Christ Jesus, that they might
bring us into bondage : to whom we gave place by subjec
tion, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might
continue with you," (Gal. ii. 3-5.) We here see the neces
sity of vindicating our liberty when, by the unjust exactions
of false apostles, it is brought into danger with weak con
sciences. In all cases we must study charity, and look to
the edification of our neighbour. " All things are lawful for
me," says he, " but all things are not expedient ; all things
are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek
his own, but every man another's wealth," (1 Cor. x. 23, 24.)
There is nothing plainer than this rule, that we are to use
our liberty if it tends to the edification of our neighbour, but
'if inexpedient for our neighbour, we are to abstain from it.
There are some who pretend to imitate this prudence of Paul
by abstinence from liberty, while there is nothing for which
they less employ it than for purposes of charity. Consult
ing their own ease, they would have all mention of liberty
buried, though it is not less for the interest of our neighbour

CHAP. XIX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 441

to use liberty for their good and edification, than to modify it
occasionally for their advantage. It is the part of a pious
man to think, that the free power conceded to him in exter
nal things is to make him the readier in all offices of charity.
13. Whatever I have said about avoiding offences, I wish
to be referred to things indifferent.1 Things which are neces
sary to be done cannot be omitted from any fear of offence.
For as our liberty is to be made subservient to charity, so
charity must in its turn be subordinate to purity of faith.
Here, too, regard must be had to charity, but it must go as
far as the altar ; that is, we must not offend God for the sake
of our neighbour. We approve not of the intemperance of
those who do every thing tumultuously, and would rather
burst through every restraint at once than proceed step by
step. But neither are those to be listened to who, while
they take the lead in a thousand forms of impiety, pretend
that they act thus to avoid giving offence to their neighbour,
as if in the meantime they did not train the consciences of
their neighbours to evil, especially when they always stick
in the same mire without any hope of escape. When a neigh
bour is to be instructed, whether by doctrine or by example,
then smooth-tongued men say that he is to be fed with
milk, while they are instilling into him the worst and most
pernicious opinions. Paul says to the Corinthians, " I have
fed you with milk, and not with meat," (1 Cor. iii. 2 ;) but
had there then been a Popish mass among them, would he
have sacrificed as one of the modes of giving them milk ? By
no means : milk is not poison. It is false then to say they
nourish those whom, under a semblance of soothing, they
cruelly murder. But granting that such dissimulation may
be used for a time, how long are they to make their pupils
drink that kind of milk ? If they never grow up so as to be
able to bear at least some gentle food, it is certain that they
have never been reared on milk.2 Two reasons prevent me
from now entering farther into contest with these people ;
first, their follies are scarcely worthy of refutation, seeing all

1 The French adds, " Lesquelles ne sont de soy no bonnes ne mau-
vais ;" — which in themselves are neither good nor bad.

2 French, " de bon laict ;" — good milk.

442 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

men of sense must nauseate them ; and, secondly, having
already amply refuted them in special treatises, I am unwill
ing to do it over again.1 Let my readers only bear in mind,
first, that whatever be the offences by which. Satan and the
world attempt to lead us away from the law of God, we must,
nevertheless, strenuously proceed in the course which he pre
scribes ; and, secondly, that whatever dangers impend, we
are not at liberty to deviate one nail's breadth from the com
mand of God, that on no pretext is it lawful to attempt any
thing but what he permits.

14. Since by means of this privilege of liberty which we
have described, believers have derived authority from Christ
not to entangle themselves by the observance of things in which
he wished them to be free, we conclude that their consciences
are exempted from all human authority. For it were unbe
coming that the gratitude due to Christ for his liberal gift
should perish, or that the consciences of believers should de
rive no benefit from it. We must not regard it as a trivial
matter when we see how much it cost our Saviour, being
purchased not with silver or gold, but with his own blood,
(1 Pet. i. 18, 19 ;) so that Paul hesitates not to say that
Christ has died in vain, if we place our souls under subjec
tion to men, (Gal. v. 1, 4 ; 1 Cor. vii. 23.) Several chapters
of the Epistle to the Galatians are wholly occupied with
showing that Christ is obscured, or rather extinguished to
us, unless our consciences maintain their liberty ; from which
they have certainly fallen, if they can be bound with the
chains of laws and constitutions at the pleasure of men. But
as the knowledge of this subject is of the greatest im
portance, so it demands a longer and clearer exposition. For
the moment the abolition of human constitutions is mention
ed, the greatest disturbances are excited, partly by the sedi
tious, and partly by calumniators, as if obedience of every
kind were at the same time abolished and overthrown.

15. Therefore, lest this prove a stumbling-block to any,
let us observe that in man government is twofold : the one

1 See Epist. de Fu^iendis Impiorum Illicitis Sacris. Also Epist. dc
Abjiciendis vel Administrandis Sacerdotiis. Also the short treatise, l)e
Vitandis Superstitionibus.

CHAP. XIX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 443

spiritual, by which the conscience is trained to piety and
divine worship ; the other civil, by which the individual is
instructed in those duties which, as men and citizens, we
are bound to perform, (see Book IV. chap. x. sec. 3-6.) To
these two forms are commonly given the not inappropriate
names of spiritual and temporal jurisdiction, intimating that
the former species has reference to the life of the soul,
while the latter relates to matters of the present life, not only
to food and clothing, but to the enacting of laws which re
quire a man to live among his fellows purely, honourably,
and modestly. The former has its seat within the soul, the
latter only regulates the external conduct. We may call the
one the spiritual, the other the civil kingdom. 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 dif
ferent kings and different laws can preside. By attending
to this distinction, we will not erroneously transfer the doc
trine of the gospel concerning spiritual liberty to civil order,
as if in regard to external government Christians were less
subject to human lawrs, because their consciences are unbound
before God, as if they were exempted from all carnal service,
because in regard to the Spirit they are free. Again, be
cause even in those constitutions which seem to relate to the
spiritual kingdom, there may be some delusion, it is neces
sary to distinguish between those which are to be held legiti
mate as being agreeable to the word of God, and those, on
the other hand, which ought to have no place among the
pious. We shall elsewhere have an opportunity of speaking
of civil government, (see Book IV. chap, xx.) For the pre
sent, also, I defer speaking of ecclesiastical laws, because that
subject will be more fully discussed in the Fourth Book
when we come to treat of the Power of the Church. We
would thus conclude the present discussion. The question,
as I have said, though not very obscure, or perplexing in
itself, occasions difficulty to many, because they do not dis
tinguish with sufficient accuracy between what is called the
external/or urn, and the forum of conscience. What increases

444 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

the difficulty is, that Paul commands us to obey the magi
strate, " not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake,"
(Rom. xiii. 1, 5.) Whence it follows that civil laws also
bind the conscience. Were this so, then what we said a little
ago, and are still to say of spiritual government, would fall.
To solve this difficulty, the first thing of importance is to
understand what is meant by conscience. The definition must
be sought in the etymology of the word. For as men, when
they apprehend the knowledge of things by the mind and
intellect, are said to know, and hence arises the term know
ledge or science, so when they have a sense of the divine justice
added as a witness which allows them not to conceal their
sins, but drags them forward as culprits to the bar of God,
that sense is called conscience. For it stands as it were be
tween God and man, not suffering man to suppress what he
knows in himself; but following him on even to conviction.
It is this that Paul means when he says, " Their conscience
also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile
accusing, or else excusing one another," (Rom. ii. 15.)
Simple knowledge may exist in man, as it were shut up ;
therefore this sense, which sists man before the bar of God, is
set over him as a kind of sentinel to observe and spy out all his
secrets, that nothing may remain buried in darkness. Hence
the ancient proverb, Conscience is a thousand witnesses.
For the same reason Peter also employs the expression, " the
answer of a good conscience," (1 Pet. iii. 21,) for tranquillity
of mind ; when persuaded of the grace of Christ, we boldly
present ourselves before God. And the author of the Epistle
to the Hebrews says, that we have " no more conscience of
sins," (Heb. x. 2,) that we are held as freed or acquitted, so
that sin no longer accuses us.

16. Wherefore, as works have respect to men, so conscience
bears reference to God, a good conscience being nothing else
than inward integrity of heart. In this sense Paul says, that
" the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart,
and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned," (1 Tim. i.
5.) He afterwards, in the same chapter, shows hoAv much
it differs from intellect when he speaks of " holding faith, and
a good conscience ; which some having put away, have made

CHAP. XIX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 445

shipwreck," (1 Tim. i. 19.) For by these words he intimates,
that it is a lively inclination to serve God, a sincere desire
to live in piety and holiness. Sometimes, indeed, it is even
extended to men, as when Paul testifies, " Herein do I exer
cise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence to
ward God, and toward men," (Acts xxiv. 16.) He speaks
thus, because the fruits of a good conscience go forth and
reach even to men. But, as I have said, properly speaking,
it refers to God only. Hence a law is said to bind the con
science, because it simply binds the individual, without look
ing at men, or taking any account of them. For example, God
not only commands us to keep our mind chaste and pure
from lust, but prohibits all external lasciviousness or obsce
nity of language. My conscience is subjected to the obser
vance of this law, though there were not another man in the
world, and he who violates it sins not only by setting a bad
example to his brethren, but stands convicted in his con
science before God. The same rule does not hold in things
indifferent. We ought to abstain from every thing that pro
duces offence, but with a free conscience. Thus Paul, speak
ing of meat consecrated to idols, says, " If any man say unto
you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake
that showed it, and for conscience sake :" " Conscience, I
say, not thine own, but of the other," (1 Cor. x. 28, 29.) A
believer, after being previously admonished, would sin were
he still to eat meat so offered. But though abstinence, on
his part, is necessary, in respect of a brother, as it is prescrib
ed by God, still he ceases not to retain liberty of conscience.
We see how the law, while binding the external act, leaves
the conscience unbound.

446 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

CHAPTER XX.

OF PRAYER — A PERPETUAL EXERCISE OF FAITH. THE
DAILY BENEFITS DERIVED FROM IT.

The principal divisions of this chapter are, — I. Connection of the
subject of prayer with the previous chapters. The nature of prayer, and
its necessity as a Christian exercise, sec. 1, 2. II. To whom prayer is
to be offered. Refutation of an objection which is too apt to present
itself to the mind, sec. 3. III. Rules to be observed in prayer, sec. 4-
16. IV. Through whom prayer is to be made, sec. 17-19. Y. Refutation
of an error as to the doctrine of our Mediator and Intercessor, with
answers to the leading arguments urged in support of the intercession of
saints, sec. 20-27. VI. The nature of prayer, and some of its accidents,
sec. 28-33. VII. A perfect form of invocation, or an exposition of the
Lord's Prayer, sec. 34-50. VIII. Some rules to be observed with regard
to prayer, as time, perseverance, the feeling of the mind, and the assur
ance of faith, sec. 50-52.

Sections.

1. A general summary of what is contained in the previous part of the

work. A transition to the doctrine of prayer. Its connection
with the subject of faith.

2. Prayer defined. Its necessity and use.

3. Objection, that prayer seems useless, because God already knows

our wants. Answer, from the institution and end of prayer.
Confirmation by example. Its necessity and propriety. Perpetu
ally reminds us of our duty, and leads to meditation on divine
providence. Conclusion. Prayer a most useful exercise. This
proved by three passages of Scripture.

4. Rules to be observed in prayer. First, reverence to God. How the

mind ought to be composed.

5. All giddiness of mind must be excluded, and all our feelings seriously

engaged. This confirmed by the form of lifting the hand in prayer.
"We must ask only in so far as God permits. To help our weak
ness, God gives the Spirit to be our guide in prayer. What the
office of the Spirit in this respect. We must still pray both with
the heart and the lips.

6. Second rule of prayer, a sense of our want. This rule violated, 1.

By perfunctory and formal prayer. 2. By hypocrites, who have no
sense of their sins. 3. By giddiness in prayer. Remedies.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 447

7. Objection, that we are not always under the same necessity of

praying. Answer, we must pray always. This answer confirmed
by an examination of the dangers by which both our life and our
salvation are every moment threatened. Confirmed farther by the
command and permission of God, by the nature of true repentance,
and a consideration of impenitence. Conclusion.

8. Third rule, the suppression of all pride. Examples. Daniel, David,

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch.

9. Advantage of thus suppressing pride. It leads to earnest entreaty

for pardon, accompanied with humble confession and sure confi
dence in the Divine mercy. This may not always be expressed
in words. It is peculiar to pious penitents. A general introduc
tion to procure favour to our prayers never to be omitted.

10. Objection to the third rule of prayer. Of the glorying of the saints.

Answer. Confirmation of the answer.

11. Fourth rule of prayer, — a sure confidence of being heard animating

us to prayer. The kind of confidence required, viz., a serious
conviction of our misery, joined with sure hope. From these true
prayer springs. How diffidence impairs prayer. In general, faith
is required.

12. This faith and sure hope regarded by our opponents as most absurd.

Their error described and refuted by various passages of Scripture,
which show that acceptable prayer is accompanied with these
qualities. No repugnance between this certainty and an acknoAv-
ledgment of our destitution.

13. To our unworthiness we oppose, 1. The command of God. 2. The

promise. Rebels and hypocrites completely condemned. Passages
of Scripture confirming the command to pray.

14. Other passages respecting the promises which belong to the pious

when they invoke God. These realised though we are not possessed
of the same holiness as other distinguished servants of God, pro
vided we indulge no vain confidence, and sincerely betake ourselves
to the mercy of God. Those who do not invoke God under urgent
necessity are no better than idolaters. This concurrence of fear
and confidence reconciles the different passages of Scripture, as to
humbling ourselves in prayer, and causing our prayers to ascend.

15. Objection founded on some examples, viz., that prayers have proved

effectual, though not according to the form prescribed. Answer.
Such examples, though not given for our imitation, are of the
greatest use. 2. Objection, the prayers of the faithful sometimes
not effectual. Answer confirmed by a noble passage of Augustine.
Rule for right prayer.

16. The above four rules of prayer not so rigidly exacted, as that every

prayer deficient in them in any respect is rejected by God. This
shown by examples. Conclusion, or summary of this section.

17. Through whom God is to be invoked, viz., Jesus Christ. This

448 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

founded on a consideration of the divine majesty, and the precept
and promise of God himself. God therefore to be invoked only in
the name of Christ.

18. From the first all believers were heard through him only : yet this

specially restricted to the period subsequent to his ascension. The
ground of this restriction.

19. The wrath of God lies on those who reject Christ as a Mediator.

This excludes not the mutual intercession of saints on the earth.

20. Refutation of errors interfering with the intercession of Christ. 1.

Christ the Mediator of redemption ; the saints mediators of inter
cession. Answer confirmed by the clear testimony of Scripture,
and by a passage from Augustine. The nature of Christ's inter-
cejssion.

21. Of the intercession of saints living with Christ in heaven. Fiction

of the Papists in regard to it. liefuted. 1. Its absurdity. 2. It
is no where mentioned by Scripture. 3. Appeal to the conscience
of the superstitious. 4. Its blasphemy. Exception. Answers.

22. Monstrous errors resulting from this fiction. Refutation. Exception

by the advocates of this fiction. Answer.

23. Arguments of the Papists for the intercession of saints. 1. From

the duty and office of angels. Answer. 2. From an expression of
Jeremiah respecting Moses and Samuel. Answer, retorting the
argument. 3. The meaning of the prophet confirmed by a similar
passage in Ezekiel, and the testimony of an apostle.

24. 4. Fourth papistical argument from the nature of charity, which is

more perfect in the saints in glory. Answer.

25. Argument founded on a passage in Moses. Answer.

26. Argument from its being said that the prayers of saints are heard.

Answer, confirmed by Scripture, and illustrated by examples.

27. Conclusion, that the saints cannot be invoked without impiety. 1.

It robs God of his glory. 2. Destroys the intercession of Christ.
3. Is repugnant to the word of God. 4. Is opposed to the due
method of prayer. 5. Is without approved example. 6. Springs
from distrust. Last objection. Answer.

28. Kinds of prayer. Vows. Supplications. Petitions. Thanksgiving.

Connection of these, their constant use and necessity. Particular
explanation confirmed by reason, Scripture, and example. Rule
as to supplication and thanksgiving.

29. The accidents of prayer, viz., private and public, constant, at stated

seasons, &c. Exception in time of necessity. Prayer without
ceasing. Its nature. Garrulity of Papists and hypocrites refuted.
The scope and parts of prayer. Secret prayer. Prayer at all
places. Private and public prayer.

30. Of public places or churches in which common prayers are offered

up. Right use of churches. Abuse.

81. Of utterance and singing. These of no avail if not from the heart.
The use of the voice refers more to public than private prayer.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 449

32. Singing of the greatest antiquity, but not universal. How to be

performed.

33. Public prayers should be in the vulgar, not in a foreign tongue.

Reason, 1. The nature of the Church. 2. Authority of an apostle.
Sincere affection always necessary. The tongue not always
necessary. Bending of the knee, and uncovering of the head.

34. The form of prayer delivered by Christ displays the boundless good

ness of our heavenly Father. The great comfort thereby afforded.

35. Lord's Prayer divided into six petitions. Subdivision into two

principal parts, the former referring to the glory of God, the latter
to our salvation.

36. The use of the term Father implies, 1. That we pray to God in the

name of Christ alone. 2. That we lay aside all distrust. 3. That
we expect every thing that is for our good.

37. Objection, that our sins exclude us from the presence of him whom

we have made a Judge, not a Father. Answer, from the nature of
God, as described by an apostle, the parable of the prodigal son,
and from the expression, Our Father. Christ the earnest, the
Holy Spirit the witness, of our adoption.

38. Why God is called generally, Our Father.

39. We may pray specially for ourselves and certain others, provided

we have in our mind a general reference to all.

40. In what sense God is said to be in heaven. A threefold use of this

doctrine for our consolation. Three cautions. Summary of the
preface to the Lord's Prayer.

41. The necessity of the first petition a proof of our unrighteousness.

What meant by the name of God. How it is hallowed. Parts of
this hallowing. A deprecation of the sins by which the name of
God is profaned.

42. Distinction between the first and second petitions. The kingdom
of God, what. How said to come. Special exposition of this
petition. It reminds us of three things. Advent of the kingdom
of God in the world.

43. Distinction between the second and third petitions. The will here

meant not the secret will or good pleasure of God, but that mani
fested in the word. Conclusion of the three first petitions.

44. A summary of the second part of the Lord's Prayer. Three petitions.

What contained in the first. Declares the exceeding kindness of
God, and our distrust. What meant by bread. Why the petition
for bread precedes that for the forgiveness of sins. Why it is
called ours. Why to be sought this day, or daily. The doctrine
resulting from this petition, illustrated by an example. Two
classes of men sin in regard to this petition. In what sense it is
called, our bread. Why we ask God to give it to us.

45. Close connection between this and the subsequent petition. Why

our sins are called debts. This petition violated, 1. By those who
VOL. II. 2 F

450 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

think they can satisfy God by their own merits, or those of others.
2. By those who dream of a perfection which makes pardon
unnecessary. Why the elect cannot attain perfection in this life.
Refutation of the libertine dreamers of perfection. Objection
refuted. In what sense we are said to forgive those who have
sinned against us. How the condition is to be understood.

46. The sixth petition reduced to three heads. 1. The various forms

of temptation. The depraved conceptions of our minds. The wiles
of Satan, on the right hand and on the left. 2. What it is to be
led into temptation. We do not ask not to be tempted of God.
What meant by evil, or the evil one. Summary of this petition.
How necessary it is. Condemns the pride of the superstitious.
Includes many excellent properties. In what sense God may be
said to lead us into temptation.

47. The three last petitions show that the prayers of Christians ought to

be public. The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer. Why the word
Amen is added.

48. The Lord's Prayer contains every thing that we can or ought to ask

of God. Those who go beyond it sin in three ways.

49. We may, after the example of the saints, frame our prayers in

different words, provided there is no difference in meaning.

50. Some circumstances to be observed. Of appointing special hours of

prayer. What to be aimed at, what avoided. The will of God,
the rule of our prayers.

51. Perseverance in prayer especially recommended, both by precept and

example. Condemnatory of those who assign to God a time and
mode of hearing.

52. Of the dignity of faith, through which we always obtain, in answer

to prayer, whatever is most expedient for us. The knowledge of
this most necessary.

1. FROM the previous part of the work we clearly see how
completely destitute man is of all good, how devoid of every
means of procuring his own salvation. Hence, if he would
obtain succour in his necessity, he must go beyond himself,
and procure it in some other quarter. It has farther been
shown that the Lord kindly and spontaneously manifests
himself in Christ, in whom he offers all happiness for our
misery, all abundance for our want, opening up the treasures
of heaven to us, so that we may turn with full faith to his
beloved Son, depend upon him with full expectation, rest in
him, and cleave to him with full hope. This, indeed, is that
secret and hidden philosophy which cannot be learned by

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 451

syllogisms, a philosophy thoroughly understood by those
whose eyes God has so opened as to see light in his light.
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, it remains for us to
seek and in prayer implore of him what wre have learned to
be in him. To know God as the sovereign disposer of all
good, inviting us to present our requests, and yet not to ap
proach or ask of him, were so far from availing us, that it
were just as if one told of a treasure were to allow it to
remain buried in the ground. Hence the Apostle, to show
that a faith unaccompanied with prayer to God cannot be
genuine, states this to be the order : As faith springs from
the Gospel, so by faith our hearts are framed to call upon
the name of God, (Rom. x. 14.) And this is the very thing
which he had expressed some time before, viz., that the
Spirit of adoption, which seals the testimony of the Gospel
on our hearts, gives us courage to make our requests known
unto God, calls forth groanings which cannot be uttered,
and enables us to cry, Abba, Father, (Rom. viii. 26.) This
last point, as we have hitherto only touched upon it slightly
in passing, must now be treated more fully.

2. To prayer, then, are we indebted for penetrating to
those riches which are treasured up for us with our heavenly
Father. For there is a kind of intercourse between God
and men, by which, having entered the upper sanctuary, they
appear before Him and appeal to his promises, that when
necessity requires, they may learn by experience, that what
they believed merely on the authority of his word was not
in vain. Accordingly, we see that nothing is set before us
as an object of expectation from the Lord which we are
not enjoined to ask of Him in prayer, so true it is that prayer
digs up those treasures which the Gospel of our Lord dis
covers to the eye of faith. The necessity and utility of
this exercise of prayer no words can sufficiently express.
Assuredly it is not without cause our heavenly Father de
clares that our only safety is in calling upon his name, since

452 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

by it we invoke the presence of his providence to watch
over our interests, of his power to sustain us when weak
and almost fainting, of his goodness to receive us into favour,
though miserably loaded with sin ; in fine, call upon him to
manifest himself to us in all his perfections. Hence, admir
able peace and tranquillity are given to our consciences ; for
the straits by which we were pressed being laid before the
Lord, we rest fully satisfied with the assurance that none of
our evils are unknown to him, and that he is both able and
willing to make the best provision for us.

3. 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 ?l Those
who argue thus attend not to the end for which the Lord
taught us to pray. It was not so much for his sake as for
ours. He wills indeed, as is just, that due honour be paid
him by acknowledging that all which men desire or feel to
be useful, and pray to obtain, is derived from him. But even
the benefit of the homage which we thus pay him redounds to
ourselves. Hence the holy patriarchs, the more confidently
they proclaimed the mercies of God to themselves and others,
felt the stronger incitement to prayer. It will be sufficient to
refer to the example of Elijah, who being assured of the pur
pose of God, had good ground for the promise of rain which he
gives to Ahab, and yet prays anxiously upon his knees, and
sends his servant seven times to inquire, (1 Kings xviii. 42 ;)
not that he discredits the oracle, but because he knows it to
be his duty to lay his desires before God, lest his faith should
become drowsy or torpid. Wherefore, although it is true
that while we are listless or insensible to our wretchedness,
he wakes and watches for us, and sometimes even assists us

1 French, " Dont il serableroit que ce fust chose superflue de le solici-
ter par prieres ; veu que nous avons accoustume de soliciter ceux qui ne
pensent a nostre affaire, et qui sont endormis." — Whence it would seem
that it was a superfluous matter to solicit him by prayer ; seeing we are
accustomed to solicit those who think not of our business, and who are
slumbering.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 453

unasked ; it is very much for our interest to be constantly
supplicating him; first, that our heart may always be inflamed
with a serious and ardent desire of seeking, loving, and
serving him, while we accustom ourselves to have recourse
to him as a sacred anchor in every necessity ; secondly, that
no desire, no longing whatever, of which we are ashamed to
make him the witness, may enter our minds, while we learn to
place all our wishes in his sight, and thus pour out our heart
before him ; and, lastly, that we may be prepared to receive
all his benefits with true gratitude and thanksgiving, while
our prayers remind us that they proceed from his hand.
Moreover, having obtained what we asked, being persuaded
that he has answered our prayers, we are led to long more
earnestly for his favour, and at the same time have greater
pleasure in welcoming the blessings which we perceive to
have been obtained by our prayers. Lastly, use and experi
ence confirm the thought of his providence in our minds in
a manner adapted to our weakness, when we understand that
he not only promises that he will never fail us, and spon
taneously gives us access to approach him in every time of
need, but has his hand always stretched out to assist his
people, not amusing them with words, but proving himself
to be a present aid. For these reasons, though our most
merciful Father never slumbers nor sleeps, he very often
seems to do so, that thus he may exercise us, when we might
otherwise be listless and slothful, in asking, entreating, and
earnestly beseeching him to our great good. It is very ab
surd, therefore, to dissuade men from prayer, by pretending
that Divine Providence, which is always watching over the
government of the universe, is in vain importuned by our
supplications, when, on the contrary, the Lord himself de
clares, that he is " nigh unto all that call upon him, to all
that call upon him in truth," (Ps. cxlv. 18.) 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 con
ceded to our prayers. This is testified by that memorable
sentence in the psalm, to which many others correspond, " The

454 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are
open unto their cry," (Ps. xxxiv. 15.) This passage, while
extolling the care which Divine Providence spontaneously
exercises over the safety of believers, omits not the exercise
of faith by which the mind is aroused from sloth. The eyes
of God are awake to assist the blind in their necessity, but
he is likewise pleased to listen to our groans, that he may
give us the better proof of his love. And thus both things
are true, " He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor
sleep," (Ps. cxxi. 4 ;) and yet whenever he sees us dumb and
torpid, he withdraws as if he had forgotten us.

4. Let the first rule of right prayer then be, to have our
heart and mind framed as becomes those who are entering
into converse with God. This we shall accomplish in regard
to the mind, if, laying aside carnal thoughts and cares which
might interfere with the direct and pure contemplation of
God, it not only be wholly intent on prayer, but also, as far as
possible, be borne and raised above itself. I do not here
insist on a mind so disengaged as to feel none of the gnaw-
ings of anxiety; on the contrary, it is by much anxiety
that the fervour of prayer is inflamed. Thus we see that
the holy servants of God betray great anguish, not to say
solicitude, when they cause the voice of complaint to ascend
to the Lord from the deep abyss and the jaws of death.
What I say is, that all foreign and extraneous cares must
be dispelled by which the mind might be driven to and
fro in vague suspense, be drawn down from heaven, and kept
grovelling on the earth. When I say it must be raised above
itself, I mean that it must 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.

5. Both things are specially worthy of notice. First, let
every one in professing to pray turn thither all his thoughts
and feelings, and be not (as is usual) distracted by wander
ing thoughts ; because nothing is more contrary to the reve
rence due to God than that levity which bespeaks a mind too
much given to license and devoid of fear. In this matter we

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN KELIGION. 455

ought to labour the more earnestly the more difficult we ex
perience it to be ; for no man is so intent on prayer as not
to feel many thoughts creeping in, and either breaking off the
tenor of his prayer, or retarding it by some turning or digres
sion. Here let us consider how unbecoming it is when God
admits us to familiar intercourse, to abuse his great conde
scension by mingling things sacred and profane, reverence for
him not keeping our minds under restraint ; but just as if in
prayer we were conversing with one like ourselves, forgetting
him, and allowing our thoughts to run to and fro. 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 xxv. 1.) And
Scripture repeatedly uses the expression to raise our prayer,
meaning, that those who would be heard by God must not
grovel in the mire. The sum is, that the more liberally God
deals with us, condescendingly inviting us to disburden our
cares into his bosom, the less excusable we are if this admir
able and incomparable blessing does not in our estimation
outweigh all other things, and win our affection, that prayer
may seriously engage our every thought and feeling. This
cannot be unless our mind, strenuously exerting itself
against all impediments, rise upward.

Our second proposition was, that we are to ask only in so
far as God permits. For though he bids us pour out our
hearts, (Ps. Ixii. 9,) he does not indiscriminately give loose
reins to foolish and depraved affections ; and when he pro
mises that he will grant believers their wish, his indulgence
does not proceed so far as to submit to their caprice. In
both matters grievous delinquencies are everywhere com
mitted. For not only do many without modesty, without
reverence, presume to invoke God concerning their frivoli
ties, but impudently bring forward their dreams, whatever
they may be, before the tribunal of God. Such is the folly
or stupidity under which they labour, that they have the

456 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

hardihood to obtrude upon God desires so vile, that they
would blush exceedingly to impart them to their fellow men.
Profane writers have derided and even expressed their detes
tation of this presumption, and yet the vice has always pre
vailed. Hence, as the ambitious adopted Jupiter as their
patron; the avaricious, Mercury; the literary aspirants, Apollo
and Minerva ; the warlike, Mars ; the licentious, Venus : so in
the present day, as I lately observed, men in prayer give
greater license to their unlawful desires than if they were
telling jocular tales among their equals. God does not
suffer his condescension to be thus mocked, but vindicating
his own right, places our wishes under the restraint of his
authority. We must, therefore, attend to the observation of
John, " This is the confidence that we have in him, that if
we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us," (1 John
v. 14.)

But as our faculties are far from being able to attain to
such high perfection, we must seek for some means to assist
them. As the eye of our mind should be intent upon God,
so the affection of our heart ought to follow in the same
course. But both fall far beneath this, or rather, they faint
and fail, and are carried in a contrary direction. To assist
this weakness, God gives us the guidance of the Spirit in our
prayers to dictate what is right, and regulate our affections.
For seeing " we know not what we should pray for as we
ought," " the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered," (Rom. viii. 26 ;) not that
he actually prays or groans, but he excites in us sighs, and
wishes, and confidence, which our natural powers are not at
all able to conceive. Nor is it without cause Paul gives the
name of groanings which cannot be uttered to the prayers
which believers send forth under the guidance of the Spirit.
For those who are truly exercised in prayer are not unaware
that blind anxieties so restrain and perplex them, that they
can scarcely find what it becomes them to utter ; nay, in
attempting to lisp they halt and hesitate. Hence it appears
that to pray aright is a special gift. We do not speak thus
in indulgence to our sloth, as if we were to leave the office of
prayer to the Holy Spirit, and give way to that carelessness

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 457

to which we are too prone. Thus we sometimes hear the im
pious expression, that we are to wait in suspense until he
take possession of our minds while otherwise occupied. Our
meaning is, that, weary of our own heartlessness and sloth, we
are to long for the aid of the Spirit. Nor, indeed, does Paul,
when he enjoins us to pray in the Spirit, (1 Cor. xiv. 15,)
cease to exhort us to vigilance, intimating, that while the
inspiration of the Spirit is effectual to the formation of prayer,
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.

6. Another rule of prayer is, that in asking we must always
truly feel our wants, and seriously considering that we need
all the things which we ask, accompany the prayer with
a sincere, nay, ardent desire of obtaining them. Many
repeat prayers in a perfunctory manner from a set form, as
if they were performing a task to God ; and though they
confess that this is a necessary remedy for the evils of their
condition, because it were fatal to be left without the divine
aid which they implore, it still appears that they perform the
duty from custom, because their minds are meanwhile cold,
and they ponder not what they ask. A general and confused
feeling of their necessity leads them to pray, but it does not
make them solicitous as in a matter of present consequence,
that they may obtain the supply of their need. Moreover,
can we suppose anything more hateful or even more execrable
to God than this fiction of asking the pardon of sins, while
he who asks at the very time either thinks that he is not a
sinner, or, at least, is not thinking that he is a sinner; in
other words, a fiction by which God is plainly held in deri
sion ? But mankind, as I have lately said, are full of depra
vity, so that in the way of perfunctory service they often ask
many things of God which they think come to them without
his beneficence, or from some other quarter, or are already
certainly in their possession. There is another fault which
seems less heinous, but is not to be tolerated. Some murmur
out prayers without meditation, their only principle being that
God is to be propitiated by prayer. Believers ought to be
specially on their guard never to appear in the presence of

458 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

God with the intention of presenting a request unless they
are under some serious impression, and are, at the same time,
desirous to obtain it. Nay, although in these things which
we ask only for the glory of God, we seem not at first sight
to consult for our necessity, yet we ought not to ask with
less fervour and vehemency of desire. For instance, when
we pray that his name be hallowed, that hallowing must, so
to speak, be earnestly hungered and thirsted after.

7. If it is objected, that the necessity which urges us to pray
is not always equal, I admit it, and this distinction is pro
fitably taught us by James : " Is any among you afflicted ?
let him pray. Is any merry ? let him sing psalms," (James
v. 13.) Therefore, common sense itself dictates, that as we are
too sluggish, we must be stimulated by God to pray earnest
ly whenever the occasion requires. This David calls a time
when God " may be found," (a seasonable time ;) because, as
he declares in several other passages, that the more hardly
grievances, annoyances, fears, and other kinds of trial press
us, the freer is our access to God, as if he were inviting us
to himself. Still not less true is the injunction of Paul to
pray " always," (Eph. vi. 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 riot an
instant of time during which our want does not exhort us to
prayer A mana bounds in wheat and wine ; but as he can
not enjoy a morsel of bread, unless by the continual bounty
of God, his granaries or cellars will not prevent him from
asking for daily bread. Then, if we consider how many
dangers impend every moment, fear itself will teach us that
no time ought to be without prayer. This, however, may be
better known in spiritual matters. For when will the many
sins of which wre are conscious allow us to sit secure without
suppliantly entreating freedom from guilt and punishment ?
When will temptation give us a truce, making it unnecessary
to hasten for help ? Moreover, zeal for the kingdom and glory
of God ought not to seize us by starts, but urge us without
intermission, so that every time should appear seasonable.
It is not without cause, therefore, that assiduity in prayer is
so often enjoined. I am not now speaking of perseverance,

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 459

which shall afterwards be considered ; but Scripture, by
reminding us of the necessity of constant prayer, charges us
with sloth, because we feel not how much we stand in need
of this care and assiduity. By this rule hypocrisy and the
device of lying to God are restrained, nay, altogether banish
ed from prayer. God promises that he will be near to those
who call upon him in truth, and declares that those who seek
him with their whole heart will find him : those, therefore,
who delight in their own pollution cannot surely aspire to
him.

One of the requisites of legitimate prayer is repentance.
Hence the common declaration of Scripture, that God does
not listen to the wicked ; that their prayers, as well as their
sacrifices, are an abomination to him. 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 hard-heartedness, pro
voke his severity should find him inflexible. In Isaiah he
thus threatens : " When ye make many prayers, I will not
hear : your hands are full of blood," (Isaiah i. 15.) In like
manner, in Jeremiah, " Though they shall cry unto me, I will
not hearken unto them," (Jer. xi. 7, 8, 11;) because he re
gards it as the highest insult for the wicked to boast of his
covenant while profaning his sacred name by their whole
lives. Hence he complains in Isaiah : " This people draw
near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour
me ; but have removed their heart far from me," (Isaiah
xxix. 13.) Indeed, he does not confine this to prayers alone,
but declares that he abominates pretence in every part of his
service. Hence the words of James, " Ye ask and receive
not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your
lusts," (James iv. 3.) It is true, indeed, (as we shall again
see in a little,) that the pious, in the prayers which they
utter, trust not to their own worth ; still the admonition of
John is not superfluous : u Whatsoever we ask, we receive
of him, because we keep his commandments," (1 John iii. 22 ;)
an evil conscience shuts the door against us. Hence it fol
lows, that none but the sincere worshippers of God pray
aright, or are listened to. Let every one, therefore, who
prepares to pray feel dissatisfied with what is wrong in his con-

460 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

dition, and assume, which he cannot do without repentance,
the character and feelings of a poor suppliant.

8. The third rule to be added is, that he who comes into
the presence of God to pray must divest himself of all vain
glorious thoughts, lay aside all idea of worth ; in short, dis
card 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, we have numerous examples
in the servants of God. The holier they are, the more humbly
they prostrate themselves when they come into the presence
of the Lord. Thus Daniel, on whom the Lord himself be
stowed such high commendation, says, " We do not present
our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for
thy great mercies. O Lord, hear ; O Lord, forgive ; O Lord,
hearken and do ; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God :
for thy city and thy people are called by thy name." This
he does not indirectly in the usual manner, as if he were one
of the individuals in a crowd : he rather confesses his guilt
apart, and as a suppliant betaking himself to the asylum of
pardon, he distinctly declares that he was confessing his own
sin, and the sin of his people Israel, (Dan. ix. 18-20.) David
also sets us an example of this humility : " Enter not into
judgment with thy servant : for in thy sight shall no man
living be justified," (Psalm cxliii. 2.) In like manner, Isaiah
prays, " Behold, thou art wroth ; for we have sinned : in those
is continuance, and we shall be saved. But we are all as an
unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ;
and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind,
have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon
thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee : for
thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because
of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, thou art our Father ; we
are the clay, and thou our potter ; and we all are the work of
thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember
iniquity for ever : Behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy
people," (Isa. Ixiv. 5-9.) You see how they put no confidence
in any thing but this : considering that they are the Lord's,
they despair not of being the objects of his care. In the-

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 461

same way, Jeremiah says, " O Lord, though our iniquities
testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake," (Jer. xiv.
7.) For it was most truly and piously written by the uncer
tain author (whoever he may have been) that wrote the
book which is attributed to the prophet Baruch,1 " But the
soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and feeble,
and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give thee
praise and righteousness, O Lord. Therefore, we do not
make our humble supplication before thee, O Lord our God,
for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings."
" Hear, O Lord, and have mercy ; for thou "art merciful :
and have pity upon us, because we have sinned before thee,"
(Baruch ii. 18, 19 ; iii. 2.)

9. In fine, supplication for pardon, with humble and inge
nuous confession of guilt, forms both the preparation and
commencement of right prayer. For the holiest of men can
not hope to obtain any thing from God until he has been
freely reconciled to him. God cannot be propitious to any
but those whom he pardons. Hence it is not strange that
this is the key by which believers open the door of prayer, as
we learn from several passages 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 xxv. 7.) Again, "Look upon my affliction and my
pain, and forgive my sins," (Psalm xxv. 18.) Here also we
see that it is not sufficient to call ourselves to account for the
sins of each passing day ; we must also call to mind those
which might seem to have been long before buried in oblivion.
For in another passage the same prophet, confessing one
grievous crime, takes occasion to go back to his very birth,
" I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother con
ceive me," (Psalm li. 5 ;) not to extenuate the fault by the
corruption of his nature, but as it were to accumulate the
sins of his whole life, that the stricter he was in condemning
himself, the more placable God might be. But although the

1 French, u Pourtant ce qui est escrit en la prophetic qu'on attribue
a Baruch, combien que 1'autheur soit incertain, est tres saincteraent dit;" —
However, what is written in the prophecy which is attributed to Baruch,
though the author is uncertain, is very holily said.

462 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

saints do not always in express terms ask forgiveness of sins,
yet if we carefully ponder those prayers as given in Scripture,
the truth of what I say will readily appear ; namely, that their
courage to pray was derived solely from the mercy of God,
and that they always began with appeasing him. For when
a man interrogates his conscience, so far is he from presuming
to lay his cares familiarly before God, that if he did not trust
to mercy and pardon, he would tremble at the very thought
of approaching him. There is, indeed, another special confes
sion. When believers long for deliverance from punishment,
they at the same time pray that their sins may be pardoned ;x
for it were absurd to wish that the effect should be taken
away while the cause remains. For we must beware of
imitating foolish patients, who, anxious only about curing
accidental symptoms, neglect the root of the disease.2 Nay,
our endeavour must be to have God propitious even before
he attests his favour by external signs, both because this is
the order which he himself chooses, and it were of little avail
to experience his kindness, did not conscience feel that he is
appeased, and thus enable us to regard him as altogether
lovely. Of this we are even reminded by our Saviour's re
ply. Having determined to cure the paralytic, he* says,
" Thy sins are forgiven thee ;" in other words, he raises our
thoughts to the object which is especially to be desired, viz.,
admission into the favour of God, and then gives the fruit of
reconciliation by bringing assistance to us. But besides
that special confession of present guilt which believers em
ploy, in supplicating for pardon of every fault and punish
ment, that general introduction which procures favour for our
prayers must never be omitted, because prayers will never
reach God unless they are founded on free mercy. To this we
may refer the words of John, " If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness," (1 John i. 5.) Hence, under the law

1 French, " il recognoissent le chastiement qu'ils ont merite ;" — they
acknowledge the punishment which they have deserved.

2 The French adds, " Us voudront qu'on leur oste le mal de teste et
des reins, et seront contens qu'on ne touche point a la fievre ;"— They
would wish to get quit of the pain in the head and the loins, and would
be contented to leave the fever untouched.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 463

it was necessary to consecrate prayers by the expiation of
blood, both that they might be accepted, and that the people
might be warned that they were unworthy of the high privi
lege, until being purged from their defilements, they founded
their confidence in prayer entirely on the mercy of God.

10. Sometimes, however, the saints, in supplicating God,
seem to appeal to their own righteousness, as when David
says, " Preserve my soul ; for I am holy," (Ps. Ixxxvi. 2.)
Also Hezekiah, " Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee,
how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect
heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight," (Is.
xxxviii. 2.) All they mean by such expressions is, that re
generation declares them to be among the servants and
children to whom God engages that he will show favour.
We have already seen how he declares by the Psalmist that
his eyes " are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto
their cry," (Ps. xxxiv. 16 :) and again by the apostle, that
" whatsoever we ask of him we obtain, because we keep his
commandments," (John iii. 22.) In these passages he
does not fix a value on prayer as a meritorious work, but de
signs to establish the confidence of those who are conscious
of an unfeigned integrity and innocence, such as all believers
should possess. For the saying of the blind man who had
received his sight is in perfect accordance with divine truth,
" God heareth not sinners," (John ix. 31,) provided we
take the term sinners in the sense commonly used by Scrip
ture to mean those who, without any desire for righteous
ness, are sleeping secure in their sins ; since no heart wTill
ever rise to genuine prayer that does not at the same time
long for holiness. Those supplications in which the saints
allude to their purity and integrity correspond to such
promises, that they may thus have, in their own experience,
a manifestation of that which all the servants of God are
made to expect. Thus they almost always use this mode of
prayer when before God they compare themselves with their
enemies, from whose injustice they long to be delivered by
his hand. When making such comparisons, there is no
wonder that they bring forward their integrity and simplicity
of heart, that thus, by the justice of their cause, the Lord

464 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

may be the more disposed to give them succour. We rob
not the pious breast of the privilege of enjoying a conscious
ness of purity before the Lord, and thus feeling assured of
the promises with which he comforts and supports his true
worshippers, but we would have them to lay aside all thought
of their own merit, and found their confidence of success in
prayer solely on the divine mercy.

11. The fourth rule of prayer is, that notwithstanding of
our being thus abased and truly humbled, we should be ani
mated to pray with the sure hope of succeeding. There is,
indeed, an appearance of contradiction between the two things,
between a sense of the just vengeance of God and firm con
fidence in his favour, and yet they are perfectly accordant, if
it is the mere goodness of God that raises up those who are
overwhelmed by their own sins. For, as wTe have formerly
shown (chap. iii. sec. 1, 2) that repentance and faith go hand
in hand, being united by an indissoluble tie, the one causing
terror, the other joy, so in prayer they must both be present.
This concurrence David expresses in a few words : " But as
for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy
mercy; and in thy fear will 1 worship toward thy holy
temple," (Ps. v. 7.) Under the goodness of God he compre
hends faith, at the same time not excluding fear ; for not only
does his majesty compel our reverence, but our own un wor
thiness also divests us of all pride and confidence, and keeps
us in fear. The confidence of which I speak is not one
which frees the mind from all anxiety, and soothes it with
sweet and perfect rest ; such rest is peculiar to those who,
while all their affairs are flowing to a wish, are annoyed
by no care, stung with no regret, agitated by no fear. But
the best stimulus which the saints have to prayer is when, in
consequence of their own necessities, they feel the greatest dis
quietude, and are all but driven to despair, until faith season
ably 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. It is necessary, therefore,

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 465

that the prayer of the believer should be the result of both
feelings, and exhibit the influence of both ; namely, that while
he groans under present and anxiously dreads new evils, he
should, at the same time, have recourse to God, not at all
doubting that God is ready to stretch out a helping hand to
him. For it is not easy to say how much God is irritated by
our distrust, when we ask what we expect not of his goodness.
Hence, nothing is more accordant to the nature of prayer
than to lay it down as a fixed rule, that it is not to come
forth at random, but is to follow in the footsteps of faith. To
this principle Christ directs all of us in these words, " There
fore, I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye
pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them,"
(Mark xi. 24.) The same thing he declares in another
passage, " All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, be
lieving, ye shall receive," (Matth. xxi. 22.) In accordance
with this are the words of James, " If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and up-
braideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in
faith, nothing wavering," (James i. 5.) He most aptly ex
presses the power of faith by opposing it to wavering. No
less worthy of notice is his additional statement, that those
who approach God with a doubting, hesitating mind, without
feeling assured whether they are to be heard or not, gain
nothing by their prayers. Such persons he compares to a
wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. Hence,
in another passage he terms genuine prayer "the prayer of
faith," (James v. 15.) Again, since God so often declares
that he will give to every man according to his faith, he inti
mates that we cannot obtain any thing without faith. In
short, it is faith which obtains every thing that is granted to
prayer. This is the meaning of Paul in the well known
passage to which dull men give too little heed, " How then
shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed ?
and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not
heard ?" " So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God," (Rom. x. 14, 17.) Gradually deducing
the origin of prayer from faith, he distinctly maintains that
God cannot be invoked sincerely except by those to whom,

VOL. II. 2 G

466 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

by the preaching of the Gospel, his mercy and willingness
have been made known, nay, familiarly explained.

12. This necessity our opponents do not at all consider.
Therefore, when we say that believers ought to feel firmly
assured, they think we are saying the absurdest thing in the
world. But if they had any experience in true prayer, they
would assuredly understand that God cannot be duly in
voked without this firm sense of the Divine benevolence. But
as no man can well perceive the power of faith, without at the
same time feeling it in his heart, what profit is there in dis
puting with men of this character, who plainly show that they
have never had more than a vain imagination ? The value and
necessity of that assurance for which we contend is learned
chiefly from prayer. Every one who does not see this gives
proof of a very stupid conscience. Therefore, leaving those
who are thus blinded, let us fix our thoughts on the wrords
of Paul, that God can only be invoked by such as have
obtained a knowledge of his mercy from the Gospel, and feel
firmly assured that that mercy is ready to be bestowed upon
them. 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." None of the saints whose
prayers are given in Scripture thus supplicated. Nor are
we thus taught by the Holy Spirit, who tells us to " come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need," (Heb. iv. 16;)
and elsewhere teaches us to " have boldness and access
with confidence by the faith of Christ," (Eph. iii. 12.) This
confidence of obtaining what we ask, a confidence which
the Lord commands, and aU the saints teach by their ex
ample, we must therefore hold fast with both hands, if we
would pray to any advantage. The only prayer acceptable
to God is that which springs (if I may so express it) from
this presumption of faith, and is founded on the full assur
ance of hope. He might have been contented to use the
simple name of faith, but he adds not only confidence,
but liberty or boldness, that by this mark he might distin
guish us from unbelievers, who indeed like us pray to God,

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 407

but pray at random. Hence, the whole Church thus prays,
" Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope
in thee," (Ps. xxxiii. 22.) The same condition is set down
by the Psalmist in another passage, " When I cry unto thee,
then shall mine enemies turn back : this I know, for God is
for me," (Ps. Ivi. 9.) Again, " In the morning will I direct my
prayer unto thee, and will look up," (Ps. v. 3.) From these
words we gather, that prayers are vainly poured out into the
air unless accompanied with faith, in which, as from a watch-
tower, we may quietly wait for God. With this agrees the
order of Paul's exhortation. For before urging believers to
pray in the Spirit always, with vigilance and assiduity, he
enjoins them to take " the shield of faith," " the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God," (Eph. vi. 16-18.)

Let the reader here call to mind what I formerly observed,
that faith by no means fails, though accompanied with a re
cognition of our wretchedness, poverty, and pollution. How
much soever believers may feel that they are oppressed
by a heavy load of iniquity, and are not only devoid of
every thing which can procure the favour of God for them,
but justly burdened with many sins which make him an
object of dread, yet they cease not to present themselves,
this feeling not deterring them from appearing in his presence,
because there is no other access to him. Genuine prayer is
not that by which we arrogantly extol ourselves before God,
or set a great value on any thing of our own, but that by
which, while confessing our guilt, we utter our sorrows before
God, just as children familiarly lay their complaints before
their parents. Nay, the immense accumulation of our sins
should rather spur us on and incite us to prayer. Of this
the Psalmist gives us an example, " Heal my soul : for I have
sinned against thee," (Ps. xli. 4.) I confess, indeed, that
these stings would prove mortal darts, did not God give
succour ; but our heavenly Father has, in ineffable kindness,
added a remedy, by which, calming all perturbation, soothing
our cares, and dispelling our fears, he condescendingly allures
us to himself; nay, removing all doubts, not to say obstacles,
makes the way smoot1' before us.

13. And first, indeed, in enjoining us to pray, he by the

468 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

very injunction convicts us of impious contumacy if we
obey not. He could not give a more precise command than
that which is contained in the psalm, " Call upon me in the
day of trouble," (Ps. 1. 15.) But as there is no office of
piety more frequently enjoined by Scripture, there is no occa
sion for here dwelling longer upon it. e6 Ask," says our
Divine Master, " and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye
shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," (Matth.
vii. 7.) Here, indeed, a promise is added to the precept,
and this is necessary. For though all confess that we must
obey the precept, yet the greater part would shun the in
vitation of God, did he not promise that he would listen
and be ready to answer. These two positions being laid
down, 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. There is the more occasion to
attend to this, because hypocrites, under a pretence of humi
lity and modesty, proudly contemn the precept, as well as
deny all credit to the gracious invitation of God ; nay, rob
him of a principal part of his worship. For when he re
jected sacrifices, in which all holiness seemed then to con
sist, he declared that the chief thing, that which above all
others is precious in his sight, is to be invoked in the day of
necessity. Therefore, when he demands that which is his
own, and urges us to alacrity in obeying, no pretexts for
doubt, how specious soever they may be, can excuse us.
Hence, all the passages throughout Scripture in which we
are commanded to pray, are set up before our eyes as so
many banners, to inspire us with confidence. It were pre
sumption to go forward into the presence of God, did he not
anticipate us by his invitation. Accordingly, he opens up the
way for us by his own voice, " I will say, It is my people :
and they shall say, The Lord is my God," (Zech. xiii. 9.)
We see how he anticipates his worshippers, and desires them
to follow, and therefore we cannot fear that the melody
which he himself dictates will prove unpleasing. Espe
cially let us call to mind that noble description of the divine
character, by trusting to which we shall easily overcome
every obstacle : " O thou that nearest prayer, unto thee

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 469

shall all flesh come," (Ps. Ixv. 2.) What can be more lovely
or soothing than to see God invested with a title which as
sures us that nothing is more proper to his nature than to
listen to the prayers of suppliants ? Hence the Psalmist
infers, that free access is given not to a few individuals,
but to all men, since God addresses all in these terms, " Call
upon me in the day of trouble : I will deliver thee, and thou
shalt glorify me," (Ps. 1. 15.) David, accordingly, appeals
to the promise thus given, in order to obtain what he asks :
" Thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to
thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house : therefore
hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto
thee," (2 Sam. vii. 27.) Here we infer, that he would have
been afraid but for the promise which emboldened him. So
in another passage he fortifies himself with the general
doctrine, " He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him,"
(Ps. cxlv. 19.) Nay, we may observe in The Psalms, how
the continuity of prayer is broken, and a transition is made
at one time to the power of God, at another to his good
ness, at another to the faithfulness of his promises. It
might seem that David, by introducing these sentiments,
unseasonably mutilates his prayers ; but believers well know
by experience, that their ardour grows languid unless new
fuel be added, and, therefore, that meditation as well on the
nature as the word of God during prayer, is by no means
superfluous. Let us not decline to imitate the example of
David, and introduce thoughts which may reanimate our
languid minds with new vigour.

14. It is strange that these delightful promises affect us
coldly, or scarcely at all, so that the generality of men pre
fer 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. " The name of the Lord," says Solomon, "is a strong
tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Joel,
after predicting the fearful disaster which was at hand, sub
joins the following memorable sentence : " And it shall come
to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be delivered." This we know properly refers to the
course of the Gospel. Scarcely one in a hundred is moved to

470 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

come into the presence of God, though he himself exclaims
by Isaiah, " And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I
will answer ; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
This honour he elsewhere bestows upon the whole Church
in general, as belonging to all the members of Christ : " He
shall call upon me, and I will answer him : I will be with him in
trouble ; I will deliver him, and honour him."1 My intention,
however, as I already observed, is not to enumerate all,
but only select some admirable passages as a specimen how
kindly God allures us to himself, and how extreme our ingra
titude must be when with such powerful motives our slug
gishness still retards us. Wherefore, let these words always
resound in our ears : " The Lord is nigh unto all them that
call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth," (Ps.
cxlv. 18.) Likewise those passages which we have quoted
from Isaiah and Joel, in which God declares that his ear is
open to our prayers, and that he is delighted as with a sacri
fice of sweet savour when we cast our cares upon him. The
special benefit of these promises we receive when we frame
our prayer, not timorously or doubtingly, but wrhen trusting
to his word whose majesty might otherwise deter us, we are
bold to call him Father, he himself deigning to suggest this
most delightful name. Fortified by such invitations, it re
mains for us to know that we have therein sufficient materials
for prayer, 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, so that they need no other
support, and require not to look up and down on this hand
and on that. It must therefore be fixed in our minds, that
though we equal not the lauded sanctity of patriarchs, pro
phets, and apostles, yet as the command to pray is common
to us as well as them, and faith is common, so if we lean
on the word of God, we are in respect of this privilege their
associates. For God declaring, as has already been seen,
that he will listen and be favourable to all, encourages the
most wretched to hope that they shall obtain what they
ask ; and, accordingly, we should attend to the general
forms of expression, which, as it is commonly expressed,

1 Jer. ii. 13 ; Prov. xviii. 10 ; Joel ii. 32 ; Is. Ixv. 24 ; Ts. xci. 15 ;
cxlv. 18.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 471

exclude none from first to last ; only let there be sincerity
of heart, self-dissatisfaction, humility, and faith, that we
may not, by the hypocrisy of a deceitful prayer, profane
the name of God. Our most merciful Father will not reject
those whom he not only encourages to come, but urges in
every possible way. Hence David's method of prayer to
which I lately referred : " And now, O Lord God, thou art
that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised
this goodness unto thy servant, that it may continue for ever
before thee," (2 Sam. vii. 28.) So also, in another passage,
" Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort,
according to thy word unto thy servant," (Psalm cxix. 76.)
And the whole body of the Israelites, whenever they fortify
themselves with the remembrance of the covenant, plainly
declare, that since God thus prescribes they are not to pray
timorously, (Gen. xxxii. 10.) In this they imitated the
example of the patriarchs, particularly Jacob, who, after con
fessing that he was unworthy of the many mercies which he
had received of the Lord's hand, says, that he is encouraged
to make still larger requests, because God had promised
that he would grant them. But whatever be the pretexts
which unbelievers employ, when they do not flee to God as
often as necessity urges, nor seek after him, nor implore his
aid, they defraud him of his due honour just as much as if
they were fabricating to themselves new gods and idols, since
in this way they deny that God is the author of all their
blessings. On the contrary, nothing more effectually frees
pious minds from every doubt, than to be armed with the
thought that no obstacle should impede them while they are
obeying the command of God, who declares that nothing is
more grateful to him than obedience. Hence, again, what I
have previously said becomes still more clear, namely, that a
bold spirit in prayer well accords with fear, reverence, and
anxiety, and that there is no inconsistency when God raises
up those who had fallen prostrate. In this way forms of
expression apparently inconsistent admirably harmonize. Je
remiah and David speak of humbly laying their supplications1

1 Latin, " prosternere preces." French, "mettent has lev.rs prieres ;"
— lay low their prayrs.

472 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

before God. In another passage Jeremiah says, " Let, we
beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and
pray for us unto the Lord thy God, even for all this rem
nant." On the other hand, believers are often said to lift
up prayer. Thus Hezekiah speaks, when asking the prophet
to undertake the office of interceding. And David says,
" Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense ; and the
lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."1 The expla
nation is, that though believers, persuaded of the paternal
love of God, cheerfully rely on his faithfulness, and have no
hesitation in imploring the aid which he voluntarily offers,
they are not elated with supine or presumptuous security ;
but climbing up by the ladder of the promises, still remain
humble and abased suppliants.

15. Here, by way of objection, several questions are raised.
Scripture relates that God sometimes complied with certain
prayers which had been dictated by minds not duly calmed or
regulated. It is true, that the cause for which Jotham impre
cated on the inhabitants of Shechem the disaster which after
wards befell them was well founded ; but still he was inflamed
with anger and revenge, (Judges ix. 20 ;) and hence God, by
complying with the execration, seems to approve of passion
ate impulses. Similar fervour also seized Samson when he
prayed, (t Strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O
God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for
my two eyes," (Judges xvi. 28.) For although there was
some mixture of good zeal, yet his ruling feeling was a fer
vid, and therefore vicious longing for vengeance. God assents,
and hence apparently it might be inferred that prayers are
effectual, though not framed in conformity to the rule of the
word. But I answer, j#rs#, that a perpetual law is not abro
gated by singular examples ; and, secondly, that special sug
gestions have sometimes been made to a few individuals,
whose case thus becomes different from that of the generality
of men. For we should attend to the answer which our Sa
viour gave to his disciples when they inconsiderately wished
to imitate the example of Elias, " Ye know not what manner

1 Jer. xlii. 9 ; Dan. ix. 18 ; Jer. xlii. 2 ; 2 Kings xix. 4 ; Ts. cxliv. 2.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 473

of spirit ye are of," (Luke ix. 55.) We must, however, go
farther and say, that the wishes to which God assents are
not always pleasing to him ; but he assents, because it is ne
cessary, by way of example, to give clear evidence of the
doctrine of Scripture, viz., that he assists the miserable, and
hears the groans of those who unjustly afflicted implore his
aid : and, accordingly, he executes his judgments when the
complaints of the needy, though in themselves unworthy of
attention, ascend to him. For how often, in inflicting punish
ment on the ungodly for cruelty, rapine, violence, lust, and
other crimes, in curbing audacity and fury, and also in over
throwing tyrannical power, has he declared that he gives
assistance to those who are unworthily oppressed, though they
by addressing an unknown deity only beat the air ? There
is one psalm which clearly teaches that prayers are not with
out effect, though they do not penetrate to heaven by faith,
(Ps. cvii.) For it enumerates the prayers which, by natural
instinct, necessity extorts from unbelievers not less than
from believers, and to which it shows by the event, that
God is, notwithstanding, propitious. Is it to testify by such
readiness to hear that their prayers are agreeable to him ?
Nay ; it is, first, to magnify or display his mercy by the cir
cumstance, 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,
however, is no reason why believers should deviate from the
law divinely imposed upon them, or envy unbelievers, as if
they gained much in obtaining what they wished. We have
observed, (chap. iii. sec. 25,) that in this way God yielded
to the feigned repentance of Ahab, that he might show how
ready he is to listen to his elect when, with true contrition,
they seek his favour. Accordingly, he upbraids the Jews,
that shortly after experiencing his readiness to listen to their
prayers, they returned to their own perverse inclinations.
It is also plain from the Book of Judges that, whenever
they wept, though their tears were deceitful, they were deli
vered from the hands of their enemies. Therefore, as God
sends his sun indiscriminately on the evil and on the good,

4.74 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

so he despises not the tears of those who have a good cause,
and whose sorrows are deserving of relief. Meanwhile,
though he hears them, it has no more to do with salvation
than the supply of food which he gives to other despisers of
his goodness.

There seems to be a more difficult question concerning
Abraham and Samuel, the one of whom, without any instruc
tion from the word of God, prayed in behalf of the people
of Sodom, and the other, contrary to an express prohibition,
prayed in behalf of Saul, (Gen. xviii. 23; 1 Sam. xv. 11.)
Similar is the case of Jeremiah, who prayed that the city
might not be destroyed, (Jer. xxxii. 16.) It is true their
prayers were refused, but it seems harsh to affirm that they
prayed without faith. Modest readers will, I hope, be
satisfied with this solution, viz., that leaning to the general
principle on which God enjoins us to be merciful even to the
unworthy, they were not altogether devoid of faith, though
in this particular instance their wish was disappointed. Au
gustine shrewdly remarks, " How do the saints pray in faith
when they ask from God contrary to what he has decreed?
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," (August, de Civit. Dei, Lib. xxii. c. 2.) This
is truly said : for, in his incomprehensible counsel, he so re
gulates events, that the prayers of the saints, though involv
ing a mixture of faith and error, are not in vain. And yet
this no more sanctions imitation than it excuses the saints
themselves, who I deny not exceeded due bounds. Where
fore, whenever no certain promise exists, our request to
God must have a condition annexed to it. Here we may
refer to the prayer of David, " Awake for me to the judg
ment that thou hast commanded," (Ps. vii. 6;) for he reminds
us that he had received special instruction to pray for a
temporal blessing.1

16. It is also of importance to observe, that the four laws of
prayer of which I have treated are not so rigorously enforced,

1 The French adds, " duquel il n'eust pas autrement este asseure ;" —
of which he would not otherwise have felt assured.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 475

as that God rejects the prayers in which he does not find
perfect faith or repentance, accompanied with fervent zeal
and \vishes duly framed. We have said, (sec. 4,) that though
prayer is the familiar intercourse of believers with God, yet
reverence and modesty must be observed : we must not give
loose reins to our wishes, nor long for any thing farther than
God permits ; and, moreover, lest the majesty of God should
be despised, our minds must be elevated to pure and chaste
veneration. This no man ever performed writh due perfec
tion. For, not to speak of the generality of men, how often
do David's complaints savour of intemperance ? Not that he
actually means to expostulate with God, or murmur at his
judgments, but failing, through infirmity, he finds no better
solace than to pour his griefs into the bosom of his heavenly
Father. Nay, 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. But although it was
David's intention to submit himself entirely to the will of
God, and he prayed with no less patience than fervour, yet
irregular emotions appear, nay, sometimes burst forth, — emo
tions not a little at variance with the first law which we
laid down. In particular, we may see in a clause of the
thirty-ninth Psalm, how this saint was carried away by the
vehemence of his grief, and unable to keep within bounds.
" O spare me,1 that I may recover strength, before I go
hence, and be no more," (Ps. xxxix. 13.) You would call this
the language of a desperate man, who had no other desire
than that God should withdraw and leave him to perish in his
distresses. Not that his devout mind rushes into such intem
perance, or that, as the reprobate are wont, he wishes to have
done with God ; he only complains that the divine anger is
more than he can bear. During those trials, wishes often
escape which are not in accordance with the rule of the word,
and in which the saints do not duly consider what is lawful
and expedient. Prayers contaminated by such faults, indeed,
deserve to be rejected ; yet provided the saints lament, admi
nister self-correction, and return to themselves, God pardons.
1 Latin, " Desine a mo " French, " Retire-toy ;" — Withdraw from rce.

476 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

Similar faults are committed in regard to the second law,
(as to which, see sec. 6,) for the saints have often to struggle
with their own coldness, their want and misery not urging
them sufficiently to serious prayer. It often happens, also,
that their minds wander, and are almost lost ; hence in this
matter also there is need of pardon, lest their prayers, from
being languid or mutilated, or interrupted and wandering,
should meet with a refusal. One of the natural feelings
which God has imprinted on our mind is, that prayer is not
genuine unless the thoughts are turned upward. Hence the
ceremony of raising the hands, to which we have adverted,
a ceremony known to all ages and nations, and still in com
mon use. But who, in lifting up his hands, is not conscious
of sluggishness, the heart cleaving to the earth ? In regard
to the petition for remission of sins, (sec. 8,) though no be
liever omits it, yet all who are truly exercised in prayer feel
that they bring scarcely a tenth of the sacrifice of which
David speaks, " The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise,"
(Ps. li. 17.) 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
offences, and pray for the remission of punishment by the
judge. The thing which most of all vitiates prayer, did not
God indulgently interpose, is weakness or imperfection of
faith ; but it is not wonderful that this defect is pardoned by
God, who often exercises his people with severe trials, as if
he actually wished to extinguish their faith. The hardest of
such trials is when believers are forced to exclaim, " O Lord
God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer
of thy people?" (Ps. Ixxx. 4,) as if their very prayers offended
him. In like manner, when Jeremiah says, " Also when I
cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer," (Lam. iii. 8,)
there cannot be a doubt that he was in the greatest perturba
tion. Innumerable examples of the same kind occur in the
Scriptures, from which it is manifest that the faith of the saints •

CHAP. XX. CHKISTIAN RELIGION. 477

was often mingled with doubts and fears, so that while believ
ing and hoping, they, however, betrayed some degree of
unbelief. But because they do not come so far as were to be
wished, that is only an additional reason for their exerting
themselves to correct their faults, that they may daily ap
proach nearer to the perfect law of prayer, and at the same
time feel into what an abyss of evils those are plunged, who,
in the very cures they use, bring new diseases upon them
selves : since there is no prayer which God would not deser
vedly disdain, did he not overlook the blemishes with which
all of them are polluted. I do not mention these things that
believers may securely pardon themselves in any faults which
they commit, but that they may call themselves to strict
account, and thereby endeavour to surmount these obstacles ;
and though Satan endeavours to block up all the paths in
order to prevent them from praying, they may, nevertheless,
break through, being firmly persuaded that though not disen
cumbered of all hinderances, their attempts are pleasing to
God, and their wishes are approved, provided they hasten on
and keep their aim, though without immediately reaching it.
17. But since no man is worthy to come forward in his
own name, and appear in the presence of God, our heavenly
Father, to relieve us at once from fear and shame, with which
all must feel oppressed,1 has given us his Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, to be our Advocate and Mediator, that under his
guidance we may approach securely, confiding that with him
for our Intercessor nothing which we ask in his name will be
denied to us, as there is nothing which the Father can deny
to him, (1 Tim. ii. 5 : 1 John ii. 1 ; see sec. 36, 37.) To
this it is necessary to refer all that we have previously taught
concerning faith ; because, as the promise gives us Christ as
our Mediator, so, unless our hope of obtaining what we ask
is founded on him, it deprives us of the privilege of prayer.
For it is impossible to think of the dread majesty of God
without being filled with alarm ; and hence the sense of our
own unworthiness must keep us far away, until Christ inter
pose, and convert a throne of dreadful glory into a throne of

1 French, " Confusion que nous avons, ou devons avoir en nous-
mesmes ;" — confusion \\ I.ich we have, or ought to have, in ourselves.

478 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

grace; as the Apostle teaches that thus we can "come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need," (Heb. iv. 16.) And
as a rule has been laid down as to prayer, as a promise has
been given that those who pray will be heard, so we are
specially enjoined to pray in the name of Christ, the promise
being that we shall obtain what we ask in his name.
" Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name," says our Saviour,
" that will I do ; that the Father may be glorified in the
Son;" "Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name; ask,
and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full," (John xiv.
13 ; xvi. 24.) 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 ;" that is, are confirmed and fulfilled in
him.

18. And we must carefully attend to the circumstance of
time. Christ enjoins his disciples to have recourse to his
intercession after he shall have ascended to heaven : " At
that day ye shall ask in my name," (John xvi. 26.) It is
certain, indeed, that from the very first all who ever prayed
were heard only for the sake of the Mediator. For this
reason God had commanded in the Law, that the priest
alone should enter the sanctuary, bearing the names of the
twelve tribes of Israel on his shoulders, and as many
precious stones on his breast, while the people were to stand
at a distance in the outer court, and thereafter unite their
prayers with the priest. Nay, the sacrifice had even the
effect of ratifying and confirming their prayers. 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. And we see that the saints, when they desired

CHAP. XX.

CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

479

to obtain any thing, founded their hopes on sacrifices,
because they knew that by sacrifice all prayers were ratified :
" Remember all thy offerings/' says David, " and accept thy
burnt sacrifice," (Ps. xx. 3.) Hence we infer, that in receiv
ing the prayers of his people, God was from the very first
appeased by the intercession of Christ. Why then does
Christ speak of a new period ("at that day") when the
disciples were to begin to pray in his name, unless it be that
this grace, being now more brightly displayed, ought also to be
in hio;her estimation with us ? In this sense he had said a little

O

before, " Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name ; ask."
Not that they were altogether ignorant of the office of
Mediator, (all the Jews were instructed in these first rudi
ments,) but they did not clearly understand that Christ by
his ascent to heaven would be more the advocate of the
Church than before. Therefore, to solace their grief for his
absence by some more than ordinary result, he asserts his
office of advocate, and says, that hitherto they had been
without the special benefit which it would be their privilege
to enjoy, when aided by his intercession they should invoke
God with greater freedom. In this sense the Apostle says,
that we have u boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us," (Heb. x. 19, 20.) Therefore, the more
inexcusable we are, if we do not with both hands (as it is
said) embrace the inestimable gift which is properly destined
for us.

19. Moreover, since he himself is the only way and the
only access by which we can draw near to God, those who
deviate from this way, and decline this access, have no other
remaining ; his throne presents nothing but wrath, judgment,
and terror. In short, as the Father has consecrated him our
guide and head, those who abandon or turn aside from him
in any way endeavour, as much as in them lies, to sully and
efface the stamp which God has impressed. Christ, there
fore, is the only Mediator by whose intercession the Father
is rendered propitious and exorable, (1 Tim. ii, 5.) For
though the saints are still permitted to use intercessions, by
which they mutually beseech God in behalf of each others*

480 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

salvation, and of which the Apostle makes mention, (Eph.
vi. 18, 19 ; 1 Tim. ii. 1 ;) still these depend on that one
intercession, so far are they from derogating from it. For
as the intercessions which as members of one body we offer
up for each other, spring from the feeling of love, so they
have reference to this one head. Being thus also made in
the name of Christ, what more do they than declare that no
man can derive the least benefit from any prayers without
the intercession of Christ ? As there is nothing in the inter
cession of Christ to prevent the different members of the
Church from offering up prayers for each other, so let it be
held as a fixed principle, that all the intercessions thus used
in the Church must have reference to that one intercession.
Nay, we must be specially careful to show our gratitude on
this very account, that God pardoning our unworthiness, not
only allows each individual to pray for himself, but allows all
to intercede mutually for each other. God having given a
place in his Church to intercessors who would deserve to be
rejected when praying privately on their own account, how
presumptuous were it to abuse this kindness by employing it
to obscure the honour of Christ ?

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. Such,
forsooth, is the treatment which he receives from those who
pretend only to take from him a minute portion of honour.
Very different is the language of Scripture, with whose
simplicity every pious man will be satisfied, without paying
any regard to those imposters. For when John says, " If
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous," (1 John ii. 1,) does he mean merely
that we once had an advocate ; does he not rather ascribe to
him a perpetual intercession ? What does Paul mean when
he declares that he " is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us" ? (Rom. viii. 32.) But when
in another passage he declares that he is the only Mediator
between God and man, (1 Tim. ii. 5,) is he not referring t"o

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 481

the supplications which he had mentioned a little before ?
Having previously said that prayers were to be offered up
for all men, he immediately adds, in confirmation of that
statement, that there is one God, and one Mediator between
God and man. Nor does Augustine give a different inter
pretation when he says, " Christian men mutually recommend
each other in their prayers. But he for whom none inter
cedes, while he himself intercedes for all, is the only true
Mediator. Though the Apostle Paul was under the head a
principal member, yet because he was a member of the body
of Christ, and knew that the most true and High Priest of the
Church had entered not by figure into the inner veil to the
holy of holies, but by firm and express truth into the inner
sanctuary of heaven to holiness, holiness not imaginary, but
eternal, he also commends himself to the prayers of the
faithful. He does not make himself a mediator between
God and the people, but asks that all the members of the
body of Christ should pray mutually for each other, since
the members are mutually sympathetic : if one member
suffers, the others suffer with it. And thus the mutual
prayers of all the members still labouring on the earth ascend
to the Head, who has gone before into heaven, and in whom
there is propitiation for our sins. For if Paul were a media
tor, so would also the other apostles, and thus there would
be many mediators, and Paul's statement could not stand,
' There is one God, and one Mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus;' in whom we also are one if we
keep the unity of the faith in the bond of peace," l (August.
Contra Parmenian, Lib. ii. cap. 8.) Likewise in another
passage Augustine says, " If thou requirest a priest, he is
above the heavens, where he intercedes for those who on earth
died for thee," (August, in Ps. xciv.) We imagine not that
he throws himself before his Father's knees, and suppliantly
intercedes for us ; but we understand with the Apostle, that
he appears in the presence of God, and that the power of
his death has the effect of a perpetual intercession for us ;
that having entered into the upper sanctuary, he alone con-

1 Ileb. ix. 11, 24 ; Rom. xv. 30 ; Eph. vi. 19 ; Col. iv. 3 ; 1 Cor. xii.
25 ; 1 Tim. ii. 5 ; Epb iv. 3.

VOL. II. 2 II

482 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

tinues to the end of the world to present the prayers of his
people, who are standing far off in the outer court.

21. In regard to the saints who having died in the body
live in Christ, if we attribute prayer to them, let us not ima
gine that they have any other way of supplicating God than
through Christ who alone is the way, or that their prayers
are accepted by God in any other name. Wherefore, since
the Scripture calls us away from all others to Christ alone,
since our heavenly Father is pleased to gather together all
things in him, 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. But who can deny that this was the practice for
several ages, and is still the practice, wherever Popery prevails?
To procure the favour of God, human merits are ever and anon
obtruded, and very frequently while Christ is passed by, God
is supplicated in their name. I ask if this is not to transfer to
them that office of sole intercession which we have above
claimed for Christ ? Then what angel or devil ever announced
one syllable to any human being concerning that fancied in
tercession of theirs ? There is not a word on the subject in
Scripture. What ground then was there for the fiction ?
Certainly, while the human mind thus seeks help for itself
in which it is not sanctioned by the word of God, it plainly
manifests its distrust, (see s. 27.) But if we appeal to the con
sciences of all who take pleasure in the intercession of saints,
we shall find that their only reason for it is, that they are
filled with anxiety, as if they supposed that Christ were insuf
ficient or too rigorous. By this anxiety they dishonour
Christ, and rob him of his title of sole Mediator, a title which
being given him by the Father as his special privilege, ought
not to be transferred to any other. By so doing they obscure
the glory of his nativity and make void his cross ; in short,
divest and defraud of due praise everything which he did or
suffered, since all which he did and suffered goes to show that
he is and ought to be deemed sole Mediator. At the same
time, they reject the kindness of God in manifesting himself
to them as a Father, for he is not their Father if they do not
recognise Christ as their brother. This they plainly refuse

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 483

to do if they think not that he feels for them a brother's
affection ; affection than which none can be more gentle or
tender. Wherefore Scripture offers him alone, sends us to
him, and establishes us in him. " He," says Ambrose, " is
our mouth by which we speak to the Father ; our eye by
which we see the Father ; our right hand by which we offer
ourselves to the Father. Save by his intercession neither we
nor any saints have any intercourse with God," (Ambros.
Lib. de Isaac et Anima.) If they object that the public
prayers which are ~ offered up in churches conclude with the
words, through Jesus Christ our Lord, it is a frivolous evasion ;
because no less insult is offered to the intercession of Christ
by confounding it with the prayers and merits of the dead,
than by omitting it altogether, and making mention only of
the dead. Then, in all their litanies, hymns, and proses, where
every kind of honour is paid to dead saints, there is no men
tion of Christ.

22. But here stupidity has proceeded to sucli a length as
to give a manifestation of the genius of superstition, wrhich,
when once it has shaken off the rein, is wont to wanton with
out limit. 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. And thus not only were gods set
up according to the number of the cities, (the charge which
the prophet brought against Israel of old, Jer. ii. 28 ; xi. 13,)
but according to the number of individuals. But while the
saints in all their desires refer to the will of God alone, look to
it, and acquiesce in it, yet to assign to them any other prayer
than that of longing for the arrival of the kingdom of God,
is to think of them stupidly, carnally, and even insultingly.
Nothing can be farther from such a view than to imagine
that each, under the influence of private feeling, is disposed to
be most favourable to his own worshippers. At length vast
numbers have fallen into the horrid blasphemy of invoking
them not merely as helping but presiding over their salvation.
See the depth to w^ich miserable men fall when they forsake

484 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

their proper station, that is, the word of God. I say no
thing of the more monstrous specimens of impiety in which,
though detestable to God, angels, and men, they themselves
feel no pain or shame. Prostrated at a statue or picture of
Barbara or Catherine, and the like, they mutter a Pater
Noster ;l and so far are their pastors2 from curing or curbing
this frantic course, that, allured by the scent of gain, they
approve and applaud it. But while seeking to relieve them
selves of the odium of this vile and criminal procedure, with
what pretext can they defend the practice of calling upon
Eloy or Medcird to look upon their servants, and send them
help from heaven ? or the Holy Virgin to order her Son to
do what they ask?3 The Council of Carthage forbade direct
prayer to be made at the altar to saints. It is probable
that these holy men, unable entirely to suppress the force of
depraved custom, had recourse to this check, that public
prayers might not be vitiated with such forms of expression
as Sancti Petre, ora pro nobis — St Peter, pray for us. But how
much farther has this devilish extravagance proceeded when
men hesitate not to transfer to the dead the peculiar attri
butes of Christ and God ?

1 Erasmus, though stumbling and walking blindfold in clear light, ven
tures to write thus in a letter to Sadolet, 1530 : " Primum, constat nullum
esse locum in divinis voluminibus, qui permittat invocare divos, nisi fortasse
detorquere hue placet, quod dives in Evangelica parabola implorat opem
Abraham Quanquam autem in re tanta novare quicquam praeter auctori-
tatem Scriptura?, merito periculosum videri possit, tamen invocationem
divorum nusquam improbo," &c. — First, it is clear that there is no passage
in the Sacred Volume which permits the invocation of saints, unless we are
pleased to wrest to this purpose what is said in the parable as to the rich
man imploring the help of Abraham. But though in so weighty a matter
it may justly seem dangerous to introduce anything without the authority
of Scripture, I by no means condemn the invocation of saints, &c.

2 Latin, " Pastores ;" — French, u ceux qui se disent prelats, cures, ou
precheurs ;" — those who call themselves prelates, curates, or preachers.

3 French, " Mais encore qu'ils taschent de laver leur mains d'un si
vilain sacrilege, d'autant qu'il ne se commet point en leurs messes ni en
leurs vespres ; sous quelle couleur defendront ils ces blasphemes qu'il lisent
a pleine gorge, ou ils prient St Eloy ou St Medard, de regarder du ciel
leurs serviteurs pour les aider ? mesmes ou ils supplient la vierge Marie
de commander a son fils qu'il leur ottroye leur requestes ?" — But although
they endeavour to wash their hands of the vile sacrilege, inasmuch as it is
not committed in their masses or vespers, under what pretext will they
defend those blasphemies which they repeat with full throat, in which they
pray St Eloy or St Medard to look from heaven upon their servants and
assist them ; even supplicate the Virgin Mary to command her Son to
grant their requests ?

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 485

23. In endeavouring to prove that such intercession derives
some support from Scripture they labour in vain. We fre
quently read (they say) of the prayers of angels ; and not
only so, but the prayers of believers are said to be carried
into the presence of God by their hands. But if they would
compare saints who have departed this life with angels, it
will be necessary to prove that saints are ministering spirits, to
whom has been delegated the office of superintending our
salvation, to whom has been assigned the province of guiding
us in all our ways, of encompassing, admonishing, and com
forting us, of keeping watch over us. All these are assigned
to angels, but none of them to saints. How preposterously
they confound departed saints with angels is sufficiently ap
parent from the many different offices by which Scripture
distinguishes the one from the other. No one unless ad
mitted will presume to perform the office of pleader before
an earthly judge ; whence then have worms such license as
to obtrude themselves on God as intercessors, while no such
office has been assigned them ? God has been pleased to give
angels the charge of our safety. Hence they attend our sacred
meetings, and the Church is to them a theatre in which they
behold the manifold wisdom of God, (Eph. iii. 10.) Those
who transfer to others this office which is peculiar to them,
certainly pervert and confound the order which has been
established by God and ought to be inviolable. With simi
lar dexterity they proceed to quote other passages. God
said to Jeremiah, " Though Moses and Samuel stood before
me, yet my mind could not be toward this people," (Jer.
xv. 1.) How (they ask) could he have spoken thus of the
dead but because he knew that they interceded for the living?
My inference, on the contrary, is this : since it thus appears
that neither Moses nor Samuel interceded for the people of
Israel, there was then no intercession for the dead. For who
of the saints can be supposed to labour for the salvation of
the people, while Moses who, when in life, far surpassed all
others in this matter, does nothing ? Therefore, if they persist
in the paltry quibble, that the dead intercede for the living,
because the Lord said, " If they stood before me" (inter ces-
serint,) I will argue far more speciously in this way : Moses,

486 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

of whom it is said, if he interceded, did not intercede for the
people in their extreme necessity : it is probable, therefore,
that no other saint intercedes, all being far behind Moses in
humanity, goodness, and paternal solicitude. Thus all they
gain by their cavilling is to be wounded by the very arms
with which they deem themselves admirably protected. But
it is very ridiculous to wrest this simple sentence in this
manner ; for 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 : a 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," (Ezck. xiv. 14.) Here there can be no doubt that we
are to understand the words as if it had been said, If two of
the persons named were again to come alive ; for the third
wras still living, namely, Daniel, who it is well known had
then in the bloom of youth given an incomparable display of
piety. Let us therefore leave out those whom Scripture de
clares to have completed their course. Accordingly, when
Paul speaks of David, he says not that by his prayers he
assisted posterity, but only that he a served his own genera
tion," (Acts xiii. 36.)

24. They again object, Are those, then, to be deprived of
every pious wish, who, during the whole course of their
lives, breathed nothing but piety and mercy ? I have no
wish curiously to pry into what they do or meditate ; but the
probability is, that instead of being subject to the impulse of
various and particular desires, they, with one fixed and im-
moveable will, long for the kingdom of God, which consists
not less in the destruction of the ungodly than in the salva
tion of believers. If this be so, there cannot be a doubt that
their charity is confined to the communion of Christ's body,
and extends no farther than is compatible witli the nature
of that communion. But though I grant that in this way
they pray for us, they do not, however, lose their quiescence
so as to be distracted with earthly cares : far less are they,
therefore, to be invoked by us. Nor does it follow that

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 487

such invocation is to be used, because, while men are alive
upon the earth, they can mutually commend themselves to
each other's prayers. It serves to keep alive a feeling of
charity when they, as it were, share each other's wants, and
bear each other's burdens. Tins they do by the command of
the Lord, and not without a promise, the two things of primary
importance in prayer. But all such reasons are inapplicable
to the dead, with whom the Lord, in withdrawing them from
our society, has left us no means of intercourse, (Eccles. ix.
5, 6,) and to whom, so far as we can conjecture, he has left
no means of intercourse with us. But if any one allege that
they certainly must retain the same charity for us, as they
are united with us in one faith, who has revealed to us that
they have ears capable of listening to the sounds of our
voice, or eyes clear enough to discern our necessities. Our
opponents, indeed, talk in the shade of their schools of some
kind of light Avhich beams upon departed saints from the
divine countenance, and in which, as in a mirror, they, from
their lofty abode, behold the affairs of men ; but to affirm this
with the confidence which these men presume to use, is just
to desire, by means of the extravagant dreams of our own
brain, and without any authority, to pry and penetrate into
the hidden judgments of God, and trample upon Scripture,
which so often declares that the wisdom of our flesh is at
enmity with the wisdom of God, utterly condemns the vanity
of our mind, and humbling our reason, bids us look only to
the will of God.

25. The other passages of Scripture which they employ to
defend their error are miserably wrested. Jacob (they gay)
asks for the sons of Joseph, " Let my name be named on
them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac,"
(Gen. xlviii. 1G.) First, let us see what the nature of this
invocation was amolig the Israelites. They do not implore
their fathers to bring succour to them, but they beseech God
to remember his servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their
example, therefore, gives no countenance to those who use
addresses to the saints themselves. But such being the
dulness of these blocks, that they comprehend not what it is
to invoke the nam^ of Jacob, nor why it is to be invoked, it

488 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

is not strange that they blunder thus childishly as to the
mode of doing it. The expression repeatedly occurs in
Scripture. Isaiah speaks of women being called by the name
of men, when they have them for husbands and live under
their protection, (Isa. iv. 1.) The calling of the name of
Abraham over the Israelites consists in referring the origin of
their race to him, and holding him in distinguished remem
brance as their author and parent. Jacob does not do
so from any anxiety to extend the celebrity of his name, but
because he knows that all the happiness of his posterity con
sisted in the inheritance of the covenant which God had
made with them. Seeing that this would give them the sum
of all blessings, he prays that they may be regarded as of his
race, this being nothing else than to transmit the succession
of the covenant to them. They again, when they make
mention of this subject in their prayers, do not betake them
selves to the intercession of the dead, but call to remem
brance that covenant in which their most merciful Father
undertakes to be kind and propitious to them for the sake of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How little, in other respects,
the saints trusted to the merits of their fathers, the public
voice of the Church declares in the prophet, " Doubtless thou
art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and
Israel acknowledge us not ; thou, O Lord, art our Father,
our Redeemer," (Isa. Ixiii. 16.) And while the Church thus
speaks, she at the same time adds, " Return for thy servants'
sake," not thinking of any thing like intercession, but ad
verting only to the benefit of the covenant. Now, indeed,
when we have the Lord Jesus, in whose hand the eternal
covenant of mercy was not only made but confirmed, what
better name can we bear before us in our prayers ? And
since those good Doctors would make out by these words
that the Patriarchs are intercessors, I should like them to tell
me why, in so great a multitude,1 no place whatever is given
to Abraham, the father of the Church ? We know weil from
what a crew they select their intercessors.2 Let them then

1 The French adds, "et quasi en une fourmiliere de saincts ;" — and as it
were a swarm of saints.

2 " C'est chose trop iiotoire de quel bourbieu ou de quelle racaille ils
tirent leur saincts." — It is too notorious out of what mire or rubbish they
draw their saints.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 489

tell me what consistency there is in neglecting and rejecting
Abraham, whom God preferred to all others, and raised to the
highest degree of honour. The only reason is, that as it
was plain there was no such practice in the ancient Church,
they thought proper to conceal the novelty of the practice by
saying nothing of the Patriarchs : as if by a mere diversity
of names they could excuse a practice at once novel and
impure. They sometimes, also, object that God is entreated
to have mercy on his people " for David's sake," (Ps. cxxxii.
1, 10 ; see Calv. Com.) This is so far from supporting their
error, that it is the strongest refutation of it. We must con-

/ O

sider the character which David bore. He is set apart from
the whole body of the faithful to establish the covenant
which God made in his hand. Thus regard is had to the
covenant rather than to the individual. Under him as a
type the sole intercession of Christ is asserted. But what
was peculiar to David as a type of Christ is certainly inap
plicable to others.

26. But some seem to be moved by the fact, that the
prayers of saints are often said to have been heard. Why ?
Because they prayed. "They cried unto thee," (says the
Psalmist,) " and were delivered : they trusted in thee, and
were not confounded," (Ps. xxii. 5.) Let us also pray after
their example, that like them we too may be heard. Those
men, on the contrary, absurdly argue that none will be heard
but those who have been heard already. How much better
does James argue, " Elias was a man subject to like passions
as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain :
and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years
and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven
gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit," (James v.
17, 18.) What? 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. For the kindness and readiness of
God to hear others is malignantly interpreted, if their ex
ample does not inspire us with stronger confidence in his pro
mise, since his declarntion is not that he will incline his ear
to one or two, or a few individuals, but to all who call upon

490 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

his name. In this ignorance they are the less excusable,
because they seem as it were avowedly to contemn the
many admonitions of Scripture. David was repeatedly deli
vered by the power of God. Was this to give that power to
him that we might be delivered on his application ? Very dif
ferent is his affirmation : " The righteous shall compass me
about ; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me," (Ps. cxlii.
7.) Again, " The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall
laugh at him," (Ps. lii. 6.) " This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles," (Ps.
xxxiv. 6.) In The Psalms are many similar prayers, in which
David calls upon God to give him what he asks, for this
reason, viz., that the righteous may not be put to shame, but
by his example encouraged to hope. Here let one passage
suffice, "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto
thee in a time when thou mayest be found," (Ps. xxxii. 6,
Calv. Corn.) This passage I have quoted the more readily,
because those ravers who employ their hireling tongues in
defence of the Papacy, are not ashamed to adduce it in proof
of the intercession of the dead. As if David intended any
thing more than to show the benefit which he shall obtain from
the divine clemency and condescension when he shall have
been heard. In general, we must hold that the experience of
the grace of God, as well towards ourselves as towards others,
tends in no slight degree to confirm our faith in his promises.
I do not quote the many passages in which David sets forth
the loving-kindness of God to him as a ground of confidence,
as they will readily occur to every reader of The Psalms.
Jacob had previously taught the same thing by his own ex
ample, "I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of
all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant : for
with my staff I passed over this Jordan ; and now I am become
two bands," (Gen. xxxii. 10.) He, indeed, alleges the pro
mise, but not the promise only ; for he at the same time adds
the effect, to animate him with greater confidence in the
future kindness of God. God is not like men AVJIO grow
weary of their liberality, or whose means of exercising it
become exhausted ; but he is to be estimated by his own
nature, as David properly does when he says, " Thou hast •
redeemed me, O Lord God of truth," (Ps. xxxi. 5.) After

CHAP. XX.

CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

491

ascribing the praise of his salvation to God, he adds that he
is true : for were he not ever like himself, his past favour
would not be an infallible ground for confidence and prayer.
But when we know that as often as he assists us, he gives
us a specimen and proof of his goodness and faithfulness,
there is no reason to fear that our hope will be ashamed or
frustrated.

27. 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. Hence it
is said in the psalm : " If we have forgotten the name of
our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god, shall
not God search this out?" (Ps. xliv. 20, 21.) Again,
since it is only in faith that God desires to be invoked, and
he distinctly enjoins us to frame our prayers according to the
rule of his word : in fine, since faith is founded on the word,
and is the parent of right prayer, the moment wre decline
from the word, our prayers are impure. But we have already
shown, that 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

O '

is peculiar to Christ, and that no prayer is agreeable to God
which he as Mediator does not sanctify. And though
believers mutually offer up prayers to God in behalf of their
brethren, we have shown that this derogates in no respect
from the sole intercession of Christ, because all trust to that
intercession in commending themselves as well as others to
God. Moreover, we have shown that this is ignorantly
transferred to the dead, of whom we no where read that they
were commanded to pray for us. The Scripture often ex
horts us to offer up mutual prayers ; but says not one syllable
concerning the dead ; nay, James tacitly excludes the dead
when he combines the two things, to " confess our sins one
to another, and to pray one for another," (James v. 16.)
Hence it is sufficient to condemn this error, that the begin
ning of right prayer springs from faith, and that faith conies
by the hearing of the word of God, in Avhich there is no
mention of fictitious intercession, superstition having rashly

492 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

adopted intercessors who have not been divinely appointed.
While the Scripture abounds in various forms of prayer, we
find no example of this intercession, without which Papists
think there is no prayer. Moreover., it is evident that this
superstition is the result of distrust, because they are either
not contented with Christ as an intercessor, or have alto
gether robbed him of this honour. This last is easily proved
by their effrontery in maintaining, as the strongest of all their
arguments for the intercession of the saints, that we are un
worthy of familiar access to God. This, indeed, we acknow
ledge to be most true, but we thence infer that they leave
nothing to Christ, because they consider his intercession
as nothing, unless it is supplemented by that of George and
Hypolyte, and similar phantoms.

28. But though prayer is properly confined to vows and
supplications, yet so strong is the affinity between petition
and thanksgiving, that both may be conveniently compre
hended under one name. For the forms which Paul enu
merates (1 Tim. ii. 1) fall under the first member of this
division. By prayer and supplication we pour out our desires
before God, asking as well those things which tend to pro
mote his glory and display his name, as the benefits which
contribute to our advantage. By thanksgiving we duly cele
brate his kindnesses toward us, ascribing to his liberality
every blessing which enters into our lot. David accordingly
includes both in one sentence, " Call upon me in the day of
trouble : I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me," (Ps.
1. 15.) Scripture, not without reason, commands us to use
both continually. We have already described the greatness
of our want, while experience itself proclaims the straits
which press us on every side to be so numerous and so great,
that all have sufficient ground to send forth sighs and groans
to God without intermission, and suppliantly implore him.
For even should they be exempt from adversity, still the
holiest ought to be stimulated first by their sins, and, secondly,
by the innumerable assaults of temptation, to long for a re
medy. The sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving can never
be interrupted without guilt, since God never ceases to load
us with favour upon favour, so as to force us to gratitude,-

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 493

however slow and sluggish we may be. In short, so great
and widely diffused are the riches of his liberality towards
us, so marvellous and wondrous the miracles which we behold
on every side, that we never can Avant a subject and mate
rials for praise and thanksgiving.

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 our
selves and our all to him. Then whatever we deliberate,
speak, or do, should be deliberated, spoken, and done under
his hand and will ; in fine, under the hope of his assistance.
God has pronounced a curse upon all who, confiding in them
selves or others, form plans and resolutions, who, with
out regarding his will, or invoking his aid, either plan or
attempt to execute, (James iv. 14 ; Isaiah xxx. 1 ; xxxi. 1.)
And since, as has already been observed, he receives the
honour which is due when he is acknowledged to be the
author of all good, it follows that, in deriving all good from
his hand, we ought continually to express our thankfulness,
and that we have no right to use the benefits which proceed
from his liberality, if we do not assiduously proclaim his
praise, and give him thanks, these being the ends for which
they are given. When Paul declares that every creature of
God "is sanctified by the word of God and prayer," (1 Tim.
iv. 5,) he intimates that without the word and prayer, none
of them are holy and pure, word being used metonymically
for faith. Hence David, on experiencing the loving-kind
ness of the Lord, elegantly declares, "lie hath put anew
song in my mouth," (Ps. xl. 3 ;) intimating, that our silence is
malignant when we leave his blessings unpraised, seeing every
blessing he bestows is a new ground of thanksgiving. Thus
Isaiah, proclaiming the singular mercies of God, says, " Sing
unto the Lord a new song." In the same sense David says
in another passage, " O Lord, open thou my lips ; and my
mouth shall show forth thy praise," (Ps. li. 15.) In like
manner, Hezekiah and Jonah declare that they will regard it
as the end of their deliverance " to celebrate the goodness of
God with songs in hi. temple," (Is. xxxviii. 20 ; Jonah ii. 10.)

494 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

David lays down a general rule for all believers in these
words, " What shall I render unto the Lord for all his bene
fits toward me ? I will take the cup of salvation, and call
upon the name of the Lord," (Ps. cxvi. 12, 13.) This rule
the Church follows in another psalm, " Save us, O Lord our
God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks
unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise," (Ps. cvi.
47.) Again, "He will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the
generation to come : and the people which shall be created
shall praise the Lord." " To declare the name of the Lord in
Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem," (Ps. cii. 18, 21.) Nay,
whenever believers beseech the Lord to do any thing for Ins
own name's sake, as they declare themselves unworthy of ob
taining it in their own name, so they oblige themselves to
give thanks, and promise to make the right use of his loving-
kindness by being the heralds of it. Thus Hosea, speaking of
the future redemption of the Church, says, " Take away all
iniquity, and receive us graciously ; so will we render the
calves of our lips," (Hos. xiv. 2.) Not only do our tongues
proclaim the kindness of God, but they naturally inspire us
with love to him. " I love the Lord, because he hath heard
my voice and my supplications," (Ps. cxvi. 1.) In another
passage, speaking of the help which he had experienced, he
says, "I will love thce, O Lord, my strength," (Ps. xviii. 1.)
No praise will ever please God that docs not flow from this
feeling of love. Nay, we must attend to the declaration of
Paul, that all wishes are vicious and perverse which are not
accompanied with thanksgiving. His words are, " In every
thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known unto God," (Phil. iv. 6.) Because
many, under the influence of moroseness, weariness, impa
tience, bitter grief and fear, use murmuring in their prayers,
he enjoins us so to regulate our feelings as cheerfully to bless
God even before obtaining what we ask. But if this con
nection ought always to subsist in full vigour between things
that are almost contrary, the more sacred is the tie which
binds us to celebrate the praises of God whenever he grants
our requests. And as we have already shown that our prayers,

CHAP. XX.

CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

495

which otherwise would be polluted, are sanctified by the inter
cession of Christ, so the Apostle, by enjoining us " to offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually" by Christ, (Heb.
xiii. 15,) reminds us, that without the intervention of his
priesthood our lips are not pure enough to celebrate the name
of God. Hence we infer that a monstrous delusion prevails
among Papists, the great majority of whom wonder when
Christ is called an intercessor. The reason why Paul enjoins,
"Pray without ceasing ; in every thing give thanks," (1 Thess.
v. 17, 18,) is, because he would have us with the utmost assi
duity, at all times, in every place, in all things, and under all
circumstances, direct our prayers to God, to expect all the
things which we desire from him, and when obtained ascribe
them to him ; thus furnishing perpetual grounds for prayer
and praise.

29. This assiduity in prayer, though it specially refers to
the peculiar private prayers of individuals, extends also in
some measure to the public prayers of the Church. These,
it may be said, cannot be continual, and ought not to be made,
except in the manner which, for the sake of order, has been
established by public consent. This I admit, and hence cer
tain hours are fixed beforehand, hours which, though indifferent
in regard to God, are necessary for the use of man, that the
general convenience may be consulted, and all things be done
in the Church, as Paul enjoins, " decently and in order," (1
Cor. xiv. 40.) But there is nothing in this to prevent each
church from being now and then stirred up to a more fre
quent use of prayer, and being more zealously affected under
the impulse of some greater necessity. Of perseverance in
prayer, which is much akin to assiduity, we shall speak
towards the close of the chapter, (sec. 51, 52.) This assi
duity, moreover, is very different from the BarroXo^/a, vain
speaking, which our Saviour has prohibited, (Matth. vi. 7.)
For he does not there forbid us to pray long or frequently,
or with great fervour, 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. We know that hypocrites, because they
consider not that they have to do with God, offer up their

496 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

prayers as pompously as if it were part of a triumphal show.
The Pharisee, who thanked God that he was not as other
men, no doubt proclaimed his praises before men, as if he
had wished to gain a reputation for sanctity by his prayers.
Hence that vain speaking, which for a similar reason prevails so
much in the Papacy in the present day, some vainly spinning
out the time by a reiteration of the same frivolous prayers,
and others employing a long series of verbiage for vulgar
display.1 This childish garrulity being a mockery of God, it
is not strange that it is prohibited in the Church, in order
that every feeling there expressed may be sincere, proceeding
from the inmost heart. Akin to this abuse is another which
our Saviour also condemns, namely, when hypocrites for the
sake of ostentation court the presence of many witnesses,
and would sooner pray in the market-place than pray without
applause. The true object of prayer being, as we have
already said, (sec. 4, 5,) to carry our thoughts directly to
God, whether to celebrate his praise or implore his aid, we
can easily see that its primary seat is in the mind and heart,
or rather that prayer itself is properly an effusion and mani
festation of internal feeling before Him who is the searcher of
hearts. Hence, (as has been said,) when our divine Master
was pleased to lay down the best rule for prayer, his injunc
tion was, " Enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly," (Matth. vi.
6.) Dissuading us from the example of hypocrites, who
sought the applause of men by an ambitious ostentation in
prayer, he adds the better course — enter thy chamber, shut
thy door, and there pray. By these words (as I understand
them) he taught us to seek a place of retirement which might
enable us to turn all our thoughts inwards, and enter deeply

1 French, " Cette longueur de priere a aujourd'hui sa vogue en la
Papaute, et precede de cette mesme source ; c'est que les uns barbotant
force Ave Maria, et reiterant cent fois un chapelet, perdent une partie
du temps ; les autres, comme les chanoines et caphars, en abayant le
parchemin jour et nuict, et barbotant leur breviaire vendent leur coquillcs
au peuple." — This long prayer is at present in vogue among the Papists,
and proceeds from the same cause : some muttering a host of Ave Marias,
and going over their beads a hundred times, lose part of their time ;
others, as the canons and monks, grumbling over their parchment night
and day, and muttering their breviary, sell their cocklc-fchells to the people.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 497

into our hearts, promising that God would hold converse with
the feelings of our mind, of which the body ought to be the
temple. He meant not to deny that it may be expedient to
pray in other places also, but he shows that prayer is some
what of a secret nature, having its chief seat in the mind,
and requiring a tranquillity far removed from the turmoil of
ordinary cares. And hence it was not without cause that
our Lord himself, when he would engage more earnestly in
prayer, Avithdrew into a retired spot beyond the bustle of the
world, thus reminding us by his example that we are not to
neglect those helps which enable the mind, in itself too much
disposed to wander, to become sincerely intent on prayer.
Meanwhile, as he abstained not from prayer when the occa
sion required it, though he were in the midst of a crowd, so
must we, whenever there is need, lift up " pure hands" (1 Tim.
ii. 8) at all places. And hence we must hold that he who
declines to pray in the public meeting of the saints, knows
not what it is to pray apart, in retirement, or at home. On
the other hand, he who neglects to pray alone and in private,
however sedulously he frequents public meetings, there gives
his prayers to the wind, because he defers more to the opinion
of man than to the secret judgment of God. Still, lest the
public prayers of the Church should be held in contempt, the
Lord anciently bestowed upon them the most honourable
appellation, especially when he called the temple the " house
of prayer" (Isa. Ivi. 7.) For by this expression he both
showed that the duty of prayer is a principal part of his wor
ship, and that to enable believers to engage in it with one
consent his temple is set up before them as a kind of banner.
A noble promise was also added, " Praise waiteth for thee, O
God, in Sion : and unto thee shall the vow be performed," 1
(Ps. Ixv. 1.) By these words the Psalmist reminds us that
the prayers of the Church are never in vain ; because God
always furnishes his people with materials for a song of joy.
But although the shadows of the law have ceased, yet be
cause God was pleased by this ordinance to foster the unity
of the faith among us also, there can be no doubt that the

1 Calvin translates, " Te expectat Deus, laus in Sion ;" — God, the
praise in Sion waiteth for thee.

VOL. II. 2 I

498 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

same promise belongs to us — a promise which Christ sanc
tioned with his own lips, and which Paid declares to be per
petually in force.

30. As God in his word enjoins common prayer, so public
temples are the places destined for the performance of them,
and hence those who refuse to join with the people of God
in this observance have no ground for the pretext, that they
enter their chamber in order that they may obey the com
mand of the Lord. For he who promises to grant whatso
ever two or three assembled in his name shall ask, (Matth.
xviii. 20,) declares, that he by no means despises the prayers
which are publicly offered up, provided there be no ostenta
tion, or catching at human applause, and provided there be
a true^ and sincere affection in the secret recesses of the
heart.1 If this is the legitimate use of churches, (and it
certainly is,) we must, on the other hand, beware of imitating
the practice which commenced some centuries ago, of
imagining that churches are the proper dwellings of God,
where he is more ready to listen to us, or of attaching to
them some kind of secret sanctity, which makes prayer there
more holy. For seeing we are the true temples of God, we
must pray in ourselves if we would invoke God in his holy
temple. Let us leave such gross ideas to the Jews or the
heathen, knowing that we have a command to pray without
distinction of place, ." in spirit and in truth," (John iv. 23.)
It is true that by the order of God the temple was anciently
dedicated for the offering of prayers and sacrifices, but this
was at a time when the truth (which being now fully mani
fested, we are not permitted to confine to any material temple)
lay hid under the figure of shadows. 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 con
template 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. Ixvi. 2 ; Acts vii. 48.)

1 See Book I. chap. xi. sec. 7, 13, on the subject of images in churches.
Also Book IV. chap. iv. sec. 8, and chap. v. sec. 18, as to the ornaments
of churches.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 499

31. Hence it is perfectly clear that neither words nor
singing (if used in prayer) are of the least consequence, or
avail one iota with God, unless they proceed from deep
feeling in the heart. Nay, rather they provoke his anger
against us, if they come from the lips and throat only, since
this is to abuse his sacred name, and hold his majesty in deri
sion. This we infer from the words of Isaiah, which, though
their meaning is of wider extent, go to rebuke this vice also :
" Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,
and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their
heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the
precept of men : therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a mar
vellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a
wonder : for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the
understanding of their prudent men shall be hid," (Isa. xxix.
13.) Still we do not condemn words or singing, but rather
greatly commend them, provided the feeling of the mind
goes along with them. For in this way the thought of God
is kept alive on our minds, which, from their fickle and ver
satile nature, soon relax, and are distracted by various objects,
unless various means are used to support them. Besides,
since the glory of God ought in a manner to be displayed in

ach part of our body, the special service to which the tongue
should be devoted is that of singing and speaking, inasmuch as
it has been expressly created to declare and proclaim the
praise of God. This employment of the tongue is chiefly in
the public services which are performed in the meeting of the
saints. In this way the God whom we serve in one spirit
and one faith, wre glorify together as it were with one voice
and one mouth ; and that openly, so that each may in turn
receive the confession of his brother's faith, and be invited
and incited to imitate it.

32. It is certain that the use of singing in churches (which
I may mention in passing) is not only very ancient, but was
also used by the Apostles, as we may gather from the words
of Paul, " I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the
understanding also," (1 Cor. xiv. 15.) In like manner he
says to the Colossians, " Teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing

500 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

with grace in your hearts to the Lord," (Col. iii. 16.) In the
former passage, he enjoins us to sing with the voice and the
heart ; in the latter, he commends spiritual songs, by which
the pious mutually edify each other. That it was not an
universal practice, however, is attested by Augustine, (Con
fess. Lib. ix. cap. 7,) who states that the church of Milan
first began to use singing in the time of Ambrose, when the
orthodox faith being persecuted by Justina, the mother of
Valentinian, the vigils of the people were more frequent
than usual ; ] and that the practice was afterwards followed
by the other Western churches. He had said a little before
that the custom came from the East.2 He also intimates
(Retract. Lib. ii.) that it was received in Africa in his own
time. His words are, " Hilarius, a man of tribunitial rank,
assailed with the bitterest invectives he could use the custom
which then began to exist at Carthage, of singing hymns
from the book of Psalms at the altar, either before the
oblation, or when it was distributed to the people; I an
swered him, at the request of my brethren."3 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 ardour 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.
Augustine confesses (Confess. Lib. x. cap. 33) that the fear
of this danger sometimes made him wish for the introduction
of a practice observed by Athanasius, who ordered the
reader to use only a gentle inflection of the voice, more
akin to recitation than singing. But on again considering
how many advantages were derived from singing, he inclined
to the other side.4 If this moderation is used, there cannot

1 This clause of the sentence is omitted in the French.

2 The French adds, " ou on en avoit tousj ours use ;" — where it had
always been used.

3 The whole of this quotation is omitted in the French.

4 French, " Mais il adjouste d'autre part, que quand il se souvenoit du
fruict et de 1'edification qu'il avoit recue en oyant chanter a 1'Eglise il
enclinoit plus a 1'autre partie, c'est, approuver le chant ;" — but he adds on
the other hand, that when he called to mind the fruit and edification which
he had received from hearing singing in the church, he inclined more td
the other side ; that is, to approve singing.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 501

be a doubt that the practice is most sacred and salutary. On
the other hand, songs composed merely to tickle and delight
the ear are unbecoming the majesty of the Church, and
cannot but be most displeasing to God.

33. It is also plain that the public prayers are not to be
couched in Greek among the Latins, nor in Latin among the
French or English, (as hitherto has been every where prac
tised,) but in the vulgar tongue, so that all present may
understand them, since they ought to be used for the edifi
cation of the whole Church, which cannot be in the least
degree benefited by a sound not understood. Those who
are not moved by any reason of humanity or charity, ought
at least to be somewhat moved by the authority of Paul,
whose words are by no means ambiguous : " When thou shalt
bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room
of the unlearned say, Amen, at thy giving of thanks, seeing
he understandeth not what thou sayest ? For thou verily
givest thanks, but the other is not edified," (1 Cor. xiv. 16,
17.) How then can one sufficiently admire the unbridled
license of the Papists, who, while the Apostle publicly pro
tests against it, hesitate not to bawl out the most verbose
prayers in a foreign tongue, prayers of which they them
selves sometimes do not understand one syllable, and which
they have no wish that others should understand ? l Different
is the course which Paul prescribes, " What is it then ? I
will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the under
standing also ; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing
with the understanding also :" meaning by the spirit the
special gift of tongues, which some who had received it
abused when they dissevered it from the mind, that is, the
understanding. The principle we must always hold is, that
in all prayer, public and private, the tongue without the

1 French, " Qui est-ce done qui se pourra assez esmerveiller d'une
audacc tant effrenee qu'ont eu les Papistes et ont encore, qui centre la
defense de 1'Apostre, chantent et brayent de langue estrange et inconnuo,
en laquelle le plus souvent ils n'entendent pas eux mesmes ime syllabe, et
ne veulent que les autres y entendent ?" — Who then can sufficiently admire
the unbridled audacity which the Papists have had, and still have, who,
contrary to the prohibition of the Apostle, chant and bray in a foreign
and unknown tongue, in which, for the most part, they do not understand
one syllable, and which they have no wish that others understand ?

502 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

mind must be displeasing to God. Moreover, the mind must
be so incited, as in ardour of thought far to surpass what the
tongue is able to express. Lastly, the tongue is not even
necessary to private prayer, unless in so far as the internal
feeling is insufficient for incitement, or the vehemence of the
incitement carries the utterance of the tongue along with it.
For although the best prayers are sometimes without utterance,
yet when the feeling of the mind is overpowering, the tongue
spontaneously breaks forth into utterance, and our other
members into gesture. Hence that dubious muttering of
Hannah, (1 Sam. i. 13,) something similar to which is expe
rienced by all the saints when concise and abrupt expressions
escape from them. The bodily gestures usually observed in
prayer, such as kneeling and uncovering of the head, (Calv.
in Acts xx. 36,) are exercises by which we attempt to rise
to higher veneration of God.

34. We must now attend not only to a surer method, but
also form of prayer, that, namely, which our heavenly Father
has delivered to us by his beloved Son, and in which we may
recognise his boundless goodness and condescension, (Matth.
vi. 9 ; Luke xi. 2.) Besides admonishing and exhorting us
to seek him in our every necessity, (as children are wont to
betake themselves to the protection of their parents when
oppressed with any anxiety,) seeing that we were not fully
aware how great our poverty was, or what was right or for
our interest to ask, he has provided for this ignorance ; that
wherein our capacity failed he has sufficiently supplied. For
he has given us a form in which is set before us as in a pic
ture 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. Plato, seeing
the ignorance of men in presenting their desires to God,
desires which if granted would often be most injurious to
them, declares the best form of prayer to be that which
an ancient poet has furnished : " O king Jupiter, give what
is best, whether we wish it or wish it not ; but avert from us

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 503

what is evil even though we ask it/' (Plato, Alcibid. i.) This
heathen shows his wisdom in discerning how dangerous it is
to ask of God what our own passion dictates ; while, at the
same time, he reminds us of our unhappy condition in not
being able to open our lips before God without danger, unless
his Spirit instruct us how to pray aright, (Rom. viii. 26.)
The higher value, therefore, ought we to set on the privilege,
when the only begotten Son of God puts words into our lips,
and thus relieves our minds of all hesitation.

35. This form or rule of prayer is composed of six petitions.
For I am prevented from agreeing with those who divide it
into seven by the adversative mode of diction used by the
Evangelist, who appears to have intended to unite the two
members together ; as if he had said, Do not allow us to be
overcome by temptation, but rather bring assistance to our
frailty, and deliver us that we may not fall. Ancient writers1
also agree with us, that what is added by Matthew as a
seventh head is to be considered as explanatory of the sixth
petition.2 But though in every part of the prayer the first
place is assigned to the glory of God, still this is more
especially the object of the three first petitions, in which we
are to look to the glory of God alone, without any reference
to what is called our own advantage. The three remaining
petitions are devoted to our interest, and properly relate to
things which it is useful for us to ask. When we ask that
the name of God may be hallowed, as God wishes to prove
whether wTe love and serve him freely, or from the hope of
reward, we are not to think at all of our own interest ; we
must set his glory before our eyes, and keep them intent
upon it alone. In the other similar petitions, this is the only
manner in which we ought to be affected. It is true, that
in this way our own interest is greatly promoted, because,
when the name of God is hallowed in the way we ask, our

1 August, in Encliirid. ad Laurent, cap. 116. Chrysost. in an imper
fect work. See end of sec. 53.

2 " Dont il est facile de juger c^ue ce qui est adjoustc en S. Matthieu, et
qu'aucuns ont pris pour nne septieme requestc, n'est qu'un explication de
la sixieme, et se doit a icelle rapporter ;" — Whence it is easy to perceive
that what is added in St Matthew, and which some have taken for a
seventh petition, is only an explanation of the sixth, and ought to be refer
red to it.

504 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III."

own sanctification also is thereby promoted. But in regard
to this advantage, we must, as I have said, shut our eyes,
and be in a manner blind, so as not even to see it ; and
hence were all hope of our private advantage cut off, we still
should never cease to wish and pray for this hallowing,
and every thing else which pertains to the glory of God.
We have examples in Moses and Paul, who did not count
it grievous to turn away their eyes and minds from them
selves, and with intense and fervent zeal long for death, if
by their loss the kingdom and glory of God might be pro
moted, (Exod. xxxii. 32 ; Rom. ix. 3.) On the other hand,
when we ask for daily bread, although we desire what is
advantageous for ourselves, we ought also especially to seek
the glory of God, so much so that we would not ask at all
unless it were to turn to his glory. Let us now proceed to
an exposition of the Prayer.

OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN.

36. The first thing suggested at the very outset is, as
we have already said, (sec. 17-19,) that all our prayers to
God ought only to be presented in the name of Christ, as
there is no other name which can recommend them. In call
ing God our Father, we certainly plead the name of Christ.
For with what confidence could any man call God his Father ?
Who would have the presumption to arrogate to himself the
honour of a son of God were we not gratuitously adopted as
his sons in Christ ? He 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. As John says, u As many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe in his name," (John i. 12.)
Hence he both calls himself our Father, and is pleased to be
so called by us, by this delightful name relieving us of all
distrust, since no where can a stronger affection be found
than in a father. Hence, too, he could not have given us a
stronger testimony of his boundless love than in calling us his

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 505

sons. But his love towards us is so much the greater and
more excellent than that of earthly parents, the farther he
surpasses all men in goodness and mercy, (Isaiah Ixiii. 18.)
Earthly parents, laying aside all paternal affection, might
abandon their offspring ; he will never abandon us, (Ps.
xxvii. 10,) seeing he cannot deny himself. For we have his
promise, u If ye thou, being evil, know how to give good
gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father
which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him ?"
(Matth. vii. 11.) In like manner in the prophet, "Can a
woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have
compassion on the son of her womb ? Yea, they may for
get, yet will not I forget thee," (Isaiah xlix. 15.) But if
we are his sons, then as a son cannot betake himself to the
protection of a stranger and a foreigner without at the same
time complaining of his father's cruelty or poverty, so we
cannot ask assistance from any other quarter than from him,
unless we would upbraid him with poverty, or want of means,
or cruelty and excessive austerity.

37. Nor let us allege that we are justly rendered timid
by a consciousness of sin, by which our Father, though mild
and merciful, is daily offended. For if among men a son can
not have a better advocate to plead his cause with his father,
and cannot employ a better intercessor to regain his lost
favour, than if he come himself suppliant and downcast,
acknowledging his fault, to implore the mercy of his father,
wrhose paternal feelings cannot but be moved by such entrea
ties, what will that " Father of all mercies, and God of all
comfort," do ? (2 Cor. i. 3.) 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, be
cause th4y are distrustful of their father's mildness and
clemency ? The exuberance of his paternal kindness he sets
before us in the parable, (Luke xv. 20; see Calv. Comm.)
when the father with open arms receives the son who had
gone away from him, wasted his substance in riotous liv
ing, and in all ways grievously sinned against him. He
waits not till pardon is asked in words, but, anticipating

506 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

the request, recognises him afar off, runs to meet him, con
soles him, and restores him to favour. By setting before us
this admirable example of mildness in a man, he designed to
show in how much greater abundance we may expect it from
him who is not only a Father, but the best and most merciful
of all fathers, however ungrateful, rebellious, and wicked
sons we may be, provided only we throw ourselves upon his
mercy. And the better to assure us that he is such a Father
if we are Christians, he has been pleased to be called not
only a Father, but OUR Father, as if we were pleading with
him after this manner, O Father, who art possessed of so
much affection for thy children, and art so ready to forgive,
we thy children approach thee and present our requests,
fully persuaded that thou hast no other feelings towards us
than those of a father, though we are unworthy of such a
parent.1 But as our narrow hearts are incapable of compre
hending such boundless favour, Christ is not only the earnest
and pledge of our adoption, but also gives us the Spirit as a
witness of this adoption, that through him we may freely
cry aloud, Abba, Father. Whenever, therefore, we are re
strained 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.

38. The instruction given us, however, is not that every
individual in particular is to call him Father, but rather that
we are all in common to call him 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. For if He
from whom we all obtain whatever is good is our common
Father, (Matth. xxiii. 9,) every thing which has been distri
buted to us we should be prepared to communicate to each
other, as far as occasion demands. But if we* are thus
desirous, as we ought, to stretch out our hand, and give
assistance to each other, there is nothing by which we can
more benefit our brethren than by committing them to the

1 French, " Quelque mauvaistie qu'ayons cue, ou quelque imperfection
on pourete qui soit en nous ;" — whatever wickedness we may have done,
or whatever imperfection or poverty there may be in us.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 507

care and protection of the best of parents, since if He is
propitious and favourable nothing more can be desired.
And, indeed, we owe this also to our Father. For as he
who truly and from the heart loves the father of a family,
extends the same love and good-will to all his household, so
the zeal and affection which we feel for our heavenly Parent
it becomes us to extend towards his people, his family, and,
in fine, his heritage, which he has honoured so highly as to
give them the appellation of the " fulness" of his only begotten
Son, (Eph. i. 23.) Let the Christian, then, so regulate his
prayers as to make them common, and embrace all who are his
brethren in Christ ; not only those whom at present he sees and
knows to be such, but all men who are alive upon the earth.
What God has determined with regard to them is beyond
our knowledge, but to wish and hope the best concerning
them is both pious and humane. Still it becomes us to
regard with special affection those who are of the household
of faith, and whom the Apostle has in express terms recom
mended to our care in every thing, (Gal. vi. 10.) In short,
all our prayers ought to bear reference to that community
which our Lord has established in his kingdom and family.

39. This, however, does not prevent us from praying
specially for ourselves, and certain others, provided our mind
is not withdrawn from the view of this community, does not
deviate from it, but constantly refers to it. For prayers,
though couched in special terms, keeping that object still in
view, cease not to be common. All this may easily be
understood by analogy. There is a general command from
God to relieve the necessities of all the poor, and yet this
command is obeyed by those who with that view give
succour to all whom they see or know to be in distress,
although they pass by many whose wants are not less urgent,
either because they cannot know or are unable to give
supply to all. 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.

508 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

It is true that prayer and the giving of our substance are
not in all respects alike. We can only bestow the kindness
of our liberality on those of whose wants we are aware,
whereas in prayer we can assist the greatest strangers, how
wide soever the space which may separate them from us.
This is done by that general form of prayer which, including
all the sons of God, includes them also. To this we may
refer the exhortation which Paul gave to the believers of his
age, to lift up " holy hands, without wrath and doubting,"
(1 Tim. ii. 8.) By reminding them that dissension is a bar
to prayer, he shows it to be his wish that they should with
one accord present their prayers in common.

40. The next words are, WHICH AUT IN HEAVEN.
From this we are not to infer that he is enclosed and con
fined within the circumference of heaven, as by a kind of
boundaries. Hence Solomon confesses, " The heaven of
heavens cannot contain thee," (1 Kings viii. 27 ;) and he
himself says by the Prophet, " The heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool," (Isa. Ixvi. 1 ;) thereby inti
mating, that his presence, not confined to any region, is
diffused over all space. 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
splendour and majesty. While, then, we are accustomed to
regard every object as confined to the place where our senses
discern it, no place can be assigned to God ; and hence, if
we would seek him, we must rise higher than all corporeal
or mental discernment. Again, this form of expression
reminds us that he is far beyond the reach of change or corrup
tion, that he holds the whole universe in his grasp, and rules
it by his power. The effect of the expression, therefore, is
the same as if it had been said, that he is of infinite majesty,
incomprehensible essence, boundless power, and eternal
duration. When we thus speak of God, our thoughts must
be raised to their highest pitch ; we must not ascribe to him
any thing of a terrestrial or carnal nature, must not measure
him by our little standards, or suppose his will to be like
ours. At the same time, we must put our confidence in him,
understanding that heaven and earth are governed by his

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 509

providence and power. 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. We thus ascend
from the only begotten Son to the supreme Father of angels
and of the Church. Then when his throne is fixed in heaven,
we are reminded that he governs the world, and, therefore,
that it is not in vain to approach him whose present care we
actually experience. " He that cometh to God," says the
Apostle, " must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him," (Heb. xi. 6.) Here Christ
makes both claims for his Father, first, that we place our faith
in him ; and, secondly, that we feel assured that our salva
tion is not neglected by him, inasmuch as he condescends to
extend his providence to us. By these elementary principles
Paul prepares us to pray aright ; for before enjoining us to
make our requests known unto God, he premises in this way,
" The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing," (Phil. iv. 5,
6.) Whence it appears that doubt and perplexity hang
over the prayers of those in whose minds the belief is not
firmly seated, that " the eyes of the Lord are upon the
righteous," (Ps. xxxiv. 15.)

41. The first petition is, HALLOWED BE THY NAME.
The necessity of presenting it bespeaks our great disgrace.
For what can be more unbecoming than that our ingratitude
and malice should impair, our audacity and petulance should
as much as in them lies destroy, the glory of God ? But
though all the ungodly should burst with sacrilegious rage,
the holiness of God's name still shines forth. Justly does
the Psalmist exclaim, "According to thy name, O God, so
is thy praise unto the ends of the earth," (Ps. xlviii. 10.)
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. Therefore, as the name of God
is not duly hallowed on the earth, and we are otherwise
unable to assert it, it is at least our duty to make it the

510 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

subject of our prayers. The sum of the whole is, 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. The opposite of this reverence is pro
fanity, which has always been too common in the world, and
is very prevalent in the present day. Hence the necessity
of the petition, which, if piety had any proper existence among
us, would be superfluous. But if the name of God is duly
hallowed only when separated from ah1 other names it alone is
glorified, we are in the petition enjoined to ask not only that
God would vindicate his sacred name from all contempt and
insult, but also that he would compel the whole human race
to reverence it. Then since God manifests himself to us
partly by his word, and partly by his works, he is not sanc
tified unless in regard to both of these wre ascribe to him
what is due, and thus embrace whatever has proceeded from
him, giving no less praise to his justice than to his mercy.
On the manifold diversity of his works he has inscribed the
marks of his glory, and these ought to call forth from every
tongue an ascription of praise. Thus Scripture will obtain its
due authority with us, and no event will hinder us from
celebrating the praises of God, in regard to every part of his
government. On the other hand, the petition implies a
wish that all impiety which pollutes this sacred name may
perish and be extinguished, that every thing which obscures
or impairs his glory, all detraction and insult, may cease ;
that all blasphemy being suppressed, the divine majesty may
be more and more signally displayed.

42. The second petition is, THY KINGDOM COME. This
contains nothing new, and yet there is good reason for dis
tinguishing it from the first. For if we consider our lethargy
in the greatest of all matters, we shall see how necessary it
is that what ought to be in itself perfectly known should be
inculcated at greater length. Therefore, after the injunction
to pray that God would reduce to order, and at length com
pletely efface every stain which is thrown on his sacred name,
another petition, containing almost the same wish, is added,
viz., Thy kingdom come. Although a definition of this king
dom has already been given, I now briefly repeat that God

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 511

reigns when men, in denial of themselves, and contempt of
the world and this earthly life, devote themselves to right
eousness and aspire to heaven, (see Calvin, Harm. Matth. vi.)
Thus this kingdom consists of two parts ; the first is, when
God by the agency of his Spirit corrects all the depraved
lusts of the flesh, which in bands war against Him ; and the
second, when he brings all our thoughts into obedience to his
authority. This petition, therefore, is duly presented only
by those who begin with themselves ; in other words, who
pray that they may be purified from all the corruptions which
disturb the tranquillity and impair the purity of God's king
dom. Then as the word of God is like his royal sceptre,
we are here enjoined to pray that he would subdue all minds
and hearts to voluntary obedience. This is done when by
the secret inspiration of his Spirit he displays the efficacy
of his word, and raises it to the place of honour which it
deserves. We must next descend to the wicked, who per
versely and with desperate madness resist his authority. God,
therefore, sets up his kingdom, by humbling the whole world,
though in different ways, taming the wantonness of some, and
breaking the ungovernable pride of others. We should desire
this to be done every day, in order that God may gather
churches to himself from all quarters of the world, may extend
and increase their numbers, enrich them with his gifts, estab
lish due order among them ; on the other hand, beat down
all the enemies of pure doctrine and religion, dissipate their
counsels, defeat their attempts. Hence it appears that there
is good ground for the precept which enjoins daily progress,
for human affairs are never so prosperous as when the im
purities of vice are purged away, and integrity flourishes in
full vigour. The completion, however, is deferred to the
final advent of Christ, when, as Paul declares, " God will
be all in all," (1 Cor. xv. 28.) This prayer, therefore, ought
to withdraw us from the corruptions of the world which sepa
rate 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.

512 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOR III.

It ought not to grieve us that the outward man decays, pro
vided the inner man is renewed. For such is the nature of
the kingdom of God, that while we submit to his righteous
ness he makes us partakers of his glory. This is the case
when continually adding to his light and truth, by which the
lies and the darkness of Satan and his kingdom are dissipated,
extinguished, and destroyed, he protects his people, guides
them aright by the agency of his Spirit, and confirms them
in perseverance ; while, on the other hand, he frustrates the
impious conspiracies of his enemies, dissipates their wiles and
frauds, prevents their malice and curbs their petulance, until
at length he consume Antichrist " with the spirit of his
mouth," and destroy all impiety " with the brightness of his
coming," (2 Thess. ii. 8, Calv. Com.)

43. The third petition is, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH
AS IT is IN HEAVEN. Though this depends on his kingdom,
and cannot be disjoined from it, yet a separate place is not
improperly given to it on account of our ignorance, which does
not at once or easily apprehend what is meant by God reign
ing in the world. This, therefore, may not improperly be
taken as the explanation, that God wTill be King in the world
when all shall subject themselves to his will. We are not here
treating of that secret will by which he governs all things,
and destines them to their end, (see chap. xxiv. s. 17.) For
although devils and men rise in tumult against him, he
is able by his incomprehensible counsel not only to turn aside
their violence, but make it subservient to the execution of
his decrees. What we here speak of is another will of God,
namely, that of which voluntary obedience is the counterpart ;
and, therefore, heaven is expressly contrasted with earth, be
cause, as is said in The Psalms, the angels " do his command
ments, hearkening unto the voice of his word," (Ps. ciii. 20.)
We are, therefore, enjoined to pray that as everything done in
heaven is at the command of God, and the angels are calmly
disposed to do all that is right, so the earth may be brought
under his authority, all rebellion and depravity having been
extinguished. In presenting this request we renounce the
desires of the flesh, because he who does not entirely resign
his affections to God, does as much as in him lies to oppose

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 513

the divine will, since everything which proceeds from us is
vicious. Again, by this prayer we are taught to deny our
selves, that God may rule us according to his pleasure ; and not
only so, but also having annihilated our own may create new
thoughts and new minds, so that we shall have no desire save
that of entire agreement with his will ; in short, wish nothing
of ourselves, but have our hearts governed by his Spirit, under
whose inward teaching we may learn to love those things
which please and hate those things which displease him.
Hence also we must desire that he would nullify and suppress
all affections which are repugnant to his will.

Such are the three first heads of the prayer, in presenting
which we should have the glory of God only in view, taking
no account of ourselves, and paying no respect to our own
advantage, which, though it is thereby greatly promoted, is
not here to be the subject of request. And though all the
events prayed for must happen in their own time, without being
either thought of, wished, or asked by us, it is still our
duty to wish and ask for them. And it is of no slight im
portance to do so, that we may testify and profess that we are
the servants and children of God, desirous by every means in
our power to promote the honour due to him as our Lord and
Father, and truly and thoroughly devoted to his service. Hence
if men, in praying that the name of God may be hallowed,
that his kingdom may come, and his will be done, are not
influenced by this zeal for the promotion of his glory, they are
not to be accounted among the servants and children of God ;
and as all these things will take place against their will, so
they will turn out to their confusion and destruction.

44. Now comes the second part of the prayer, in which we
descend to our own interests, not, indeed, that we are to lose
sight of the glory of God, (to which, as Paul declares, we
must have respect even in meat and drink, 1 Cor. x. 31,) and
ask only what is expedient for ourselves ; but the distinction,
as we have already observed, is this : God claiming the three
first petitions as specially his own, carries us entirely to
himself, that in this way he may prove our piety. Next he
permits us to look to our own advantage, but still on the con-
VOL. n. 2 K

514 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

dition, that when we ask anything for ourselves it must be
in order that all the benefits which he confers may show forth
his glory, there being nothing more incumbent on us than to
live and die to him.

By the first petition of the second part, GIVE us THIS DAY
OUR DAILY BEEAD, we pray in general that God would give
us all things which the body requires in this sublunary state,
not only food and clothing, but everything which he knows
will assist us to eat our bread in peace. In this way we
briefly cast our care upon him, and commit ourselves to his
providence, that he may feed, foster, and preserve us. For
our heavenly Father disdains not to take our body under his
charge and protection, that he may exercise our faith in those
minute matters, while we look to him for everything, even to
a morsel of bread and a drop of water. For since, owing to
some strange inequality, we feel more concern for the body
than for the soul, many who can trust the latter to God still
continue anxious about the former, still hesitate as to what
they are to eat, as to how they are to be clothed, and are in
trepidation whenever their hands are not filled with corn, and
wine, and oil, (Ps. iv. 8 :) so much more value do we set
on this shadowy, fleeting life, than on a blessed immortality.
But those who, trusting to God, have once cast away that
anxiety about the flesh, immediately look to him for greater
gifts, even salvation and eternal life. It is no slight exercise of
faith, therefore, to hope in God for things which would other
wise give us so much concern; nor have we made little
progress when we get quit of this unbelief, which cleaves, as
it were, to our very bones.

The speculations of some concerning supersubstantial bread
seem to be very little accordant with our Saviour's meaning ;
for our prayer would be defective were we not to ascribe to
God the nourishment even of this fading life. The reason
which they give is heathenish, viz., that it is inconsistent
with the character of sons of God, who ought to be spiritual,
not only to occupy their mind with earthly cares, but to sup
pose God also occupied with them. As if his blessing and
paternal favour were not eminently displayed in giving us

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 515

food, or as if there were nothing in the declaration that god
liness hath " the promise of the life that now is, and of that
which is to come," (1 Tim. iv. 8.) But although the for
giveness of sins is of far more importance than the nourish
ment of the body, yet Christ has set down the inferior in the
prior place, in order that he might gradually raise us to the
other two petitions, which properly belong to the heavenly
life, — in this providing for our sluggishness. We are enjoined
to ask our bread, that we may be contented with the measure
which our heavenly Father is pleased to dispense, and not
strive to make gain by illicit arts. Meanwhile, we must hold
that the title by which it is ours is donation, because, as
Moses says, (Levit. xxvi. 20 ; Deut. viii. 17,) neither our
industry, nor labour, nor hands, acquire any thing for us,
unless the blessing of God be present ; nay, not even would
abundance of bread be of the least avail were it not divinely
converted into nourishment. And hence this liberality of
God is not less necessary to the rich than the poor, because,
though their cellars and barns were full, they would be
parched and pine with want did they not enjoy his favour
along with their bread. The terms this day, or, as it is in
another Evangelist, daily, and also the epithet daily, lay a
restraint on our immoderate desire of fleeting good — a de
sire which we are extremely apt to indulge to excess, and
from which other evils ensue : for when our supply is in
richer abundance we ambitiously squander it in pleasure,
luxury, ostentation, or other kinds of extravagance. Where
fore, we are only enjoined to ask as much as our necessity
requires, and as it were for each day, confiding that our
heavenly Father, who gives us the supply of to-day, will
not fail us on the morrow. How great soever our abun
dance may be, however well filled our cellars and granaries,
we must still always ask for daily bread, for we must feel
assured that all substance is nothing, unless in so far as the
Lord, by pouring out his blessing, make it fruitful during its
whole progress ; for even that which is in our hand is not
ours except in so far as he every hour portions it out, and
permits us to use it. As nothing is more difficult to
human pride than the admission of this truth, the Lord

516 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

declares that he gave a special proof for all ages, when he
fed his people with manna in the desert, (Deut. viii. 3,) that
he might remind us that " man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God," (Matth. iv. 4.) It is thus intimated, that by his
power alone our life and strength are sustained, though he
ministers supply to us by bodily instruments. In like man
ner, whenever it so pleases, he gives us a proof of an opposite
description, by breaking the strength, or, as he himself calls
it, the staff of bread, (Levit. xxvi. 26,) and leaving us even
while eating to pine with hunger, and while drinking to be
parched with thirst. Those who, not contented with daily
bread, indulge an unrestrained insatiable cupidity, or those
who are full of their own abundance, and trust in their own
riches, only mock God by offering up this prayer. For the
former ask what they w^ould be unwilling to obtain, nay,
what they most of all abominate, namely, daily bread only,
and as much as in them lies disguise their avarice from God,
whereas true prayer should pour out the whole soul and every
inward feeling before him. The latter, again, ask what they
do not at all expect to obtain, namely, what they imagine that
they in themselves already possess. In its being called ours,
God, as we have already said, gives a striking display of his
kindness, making that to be ours to which we have no just
claim. Nor must we reject the view to which I have already
adverted, viz., that this name is given to what is obtained by
just and honest labour, as contrasted with what is obtained
by fraud and rapine, nothing being our own which we obtain
with injury to others. When we ask God to give us, the
meaning is, that the thing asked is simply and freely the
gift of God, whatever be the quarter from which it comes to
us, even when it seems to have been specially prepared by
our own art and industry, and procured by our hands,
since it is to his blessing alone that all our labours owe their
success.

45. The next petition is, FORGIVE us OUR DEBTS. In
this and the following petition our Saviour has briefly com
prehended whatever is conducive to the heavenly life, as
these two members contain the spiritual covenant which God .

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 517

made for the salvation of his Church, " I will put my law in
their inward parts, and write it on their hearts." " I will
pardon all their iniquities," (Jer. xxxi. 33 ; xxxiii. 8.) Here
our Saviour begins with the forgiveness of sins, and then
adds the subsequent blessing, viz., that God would protect us
by the power, and support us by the aid of his Spirit, so
that we may stand invincible against all temptations. To
sins he gives the name of debts, because we owe the punish
ment due to them, a debt which we could not possibly pay
were we not discharged by this remission, the result of his
free mercy, when he freely expunges the debt, accepting
nothing in return ; but of his own mercy receiving satisfac
tion in Christ, who gave himself a ransom for us, (Rom. iii.
24.) Hence, those who expect to satisfy God by merits of
their own or of others, or to compensate and purchase for
giveness by means of satisfactions, have no share in this free
pardon, and while they address God in this petition, do no
thing more than subscribe their own accusation, and seal
their condemnation by their own testimony. For they con
fess that they are debtors, unless they are discharged by
means of forgiveness. This forgiveness, however, they do
not receive, but rather reject, when they obtrude their merits
and satisfactions upon God, since by so doing they do not
implore his mercy, but appeal to his justice. Let those,
again, who dream of a perfection which makes it unnecessary
to seek pardon, find their disciples among those whose itch
ing ears incline them to imposture,1 (see Calv. on Dan. ix.
20 ;) only let them understand that those whom they thus
acquire have been carried away from Christ, since he, by
instructing all to confess their guilt, receives none but sin
ners, not that he may soothe, and so encourage them in
their sins, but because he knows that believers are never so
divested of the sins of the flesh as not to remain obnoxious
to the justice of God. It is, indeed, to be wished, it ought
even to be our strenuous endeavour, to perform all the parts
of our duty, so as truly to congratulate ourselves before God

1 French, " Telles disciples qu'ils voudront ;" — such disciples as they
will.

518 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

as being pure from every stain ; but as God is pleased to
renew his image in us by degrees, so that to some extent
there is always a residue of corruption in our flesh, we ought
by no means to neglect the remedy. But if Christ, accord
ing to the authority given him by his Father, enjoins us,
during the whole course of our lives, to implore pardon, who
can tolerate those new teachers who, by the phantom of per
fect innocence, endeavour to dazzle the simple, and make
them believe that they can render themselves completely
free from guilt ? This, as John declares, is nothing else than
to make God a liar, (1 John i. 10.) In like manner, those
foolish men mutilate the covenant in which we have seen that
our salvation is contained by concealing one head of it, and
so destroying it entirely ; being guilty not only of profanity
in that they separate things which ought to be indissolubly
connected ; but also of wickedness and cruelty in overwhelm
ing wretched souls with despair — of treachery also to them
selves and their followers, in that they encourage themselves
in a carelessness diametrically opposed to the mercy of God.
It is excessively childish to object, that when they long for the
advent of the kingdom of God, they at the same time pray
for the abolition of sin. In the former division of the -prayer
absolute perfection is set before us ; but in the latter our
own weakness. Thus the two fitly correspond to each other —
we strive for the goal, and at the same time neglect not the
remedies which our necessities require.

In the next part of the petition we pray to be forgiven,
" as we forgive our debtors ;" that is, as we spare and pardon
all by whom we are in any way offended, either in deed by
unjust, or in word by contumelious treatment. Not that we
can forgive the guilt of a fault or offence ; this belongs to
God only ; but we can forgive to this extent : we can volun
tarily divest our minds of wrath, hatred, and revenge, and
efface the remembrance of injuries by a voluntary oblivion.
Wherefore, we are not to ask the forgiveness of our sins
from God, unless we forgive the offences of all who are or
have been injurious to us. If we retain any hatred in our
minds, if we meditate revenge, and devise the means of
hurting ; nay, if we do not return to a good understanding

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 519

with our enemies, perform every kind of friendly office, and
endeavour to effect a reconciliation with them, we by this
petition beseech God not to grant us forgiveness. For we
ask him to do to us as we do to others. This is the same as
asking him not to do unless we do also. What, then, do
such persons obtain by this petition but a heavier judg
ment ? Lastly, it is to be observed that the condition of
being forgiven as we forgive our debtors, is not added
because by forgiving others we deserve forgiveness, as if the
cause of forgiveness were expressed ; but by the use of this
expression the Lord has been pleased partly to solace the
weakness of our faith, using it as a sign to assure us that our
sins are as certainly forgiven as we are certainly conscious of
having forgiven others, when our mind is completely purged
from all envy, hatred, and malice ; and partly using as a badge
by which he excludes from the number of his children all
who, prone to revenge and reluctant to forgive, obstinately
keep up their enmity, cherishing against others that indigna
tion which they deprecate from themselves; so that they
should not venture to invoke him as a Father. In the
Gospel of Luke, we have this distinctly stated in the words
of Christ.

46. The sixth petition corresponds (as we have observed)
to the promise1 of writing the law upon our hearts ; but be
cause we do not obey God without a continual wrarfare,
without sharp and arduous contests, we here pray that he
would furnish us with armour, and defend us by his protec
tion, that we may be able to obtain the victory. By this we
are reminded that we not only have need of the gift of the
Spirit inwardly to soften our hearts, and turn and direct them
to the obedience of God, but also of his assistance, to render
us invincible by all the wiles and violent assaults of Satan.
The forms of temptation are many and various. The de
praved conceptions of our minds provoking us to transgress
the law — conceptions which our concupiscence suggests or
the devil excites, are temptations ; and things which in their
own nature are not evil, become temptations by the wiles of

1 The French adds, " que Dieu nous a donnee et faite;" — which God
has given and performed to us.

520 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

the devil, when they are presented to our eyes in such a way
that the view of them makes us withdraw or decline from
God.1 These temptations are both on the right hand and
on the left. On the right, when riches, power, and honours,
which by their glare, and the semblance of good which they
present, generally dazzle the eyes of men, and so entice by
their blandishments, that, caught by their snares, and in
toxicated by their sweetness, they forget their God : on
the left, when offended by the hardship and bitterness of
poverty, disgrace, contempt, afflictions, and other things of
that description, they despond, cast away their confidence
and hope, and are at length totally estranged from God.
In regard to both kinds of temptation, which either enkindled
in us by concupiscence, or presented by the craft of Satan,
war against us, we pray God the Father not to allow us to
be overcome, but rather to raise and support us by his hand,
that strengthened by his mighty power we may stand firm
against all the assaults of our malignant enemy, whatever be
the thoughts which he sends into our minds ; next we pray
that whatever of either description is allotted us, we may
turn to good, that is, may neither be inflated with prosperity,
nor cast down by adversity. Here, however, we do not ask
to be altogether exempted from temptation, which is very
necessary to excite, stimulate, and urge us on, that we may not
become too lethargic. It was not without reason that David
wished to be tried, nor is it without cause that the Lord daily
tries his elect, chastising them by disgrace, poverty, tribulation,
and other kinds of cross.2 But the temptations of God and
Satan are very different : Satan tempts, that he may destroy,
condemn, confound, throw headlong ; God, that by proving his
people he may make trial of their sincerity, and by exercising
their strength confirm it ; may mortify, tame, and cauterise
their flesh, which, if not curbed in this manner, would wanton
and exult above measure. Besides, Satan attacks those who
are unarmed and unprepared, that he may destroy them

» James i. 2, 14 ; Matth. iv. 1,3; 1 Thess. iii. 5 ; 2 Cor. vi. 7, 8.

2 Ps. xxvi. 2 ; Gen. xxii. 1 ; Deut. viii. 2 ; xiii. 3 ; 1 Cor. x. 13 ; 2 Pet.
ii. 9 ; 1 Pet. v. 8. For the sense in which God is said to lead us into
temptation, see the end of this section.

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 521

unawares ; whereas, whatever God sends, he " will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able
to bear it." Whether by the term evil we understand the
devil or sin, is not of the least consequence. Satan is indeed
the very enemy who lays snares for our life, but it is by sin
that he is armed for our destruction.

Our petition, therefore, is, that we may not be overcome
or overwhelmed with temptation, but in the strength of the
Lord may stand firm against all the powers by which we are
assailed ; in other words, may not fall under temptation :
that being thus taken under his charge and protection, we
may remain invincible by sin, death, the gates of hell, and the
whole power of the devil ; in other w^ords, be delivered from
evil. Here it is carefully to be observed, that we have no
strength to contend with such a combatant as the devil, or
to sustain the violence of his assault. Were it otherwise, it
would be mockery of God to ask of him what we already
possess in ourselves. Assuredly those who in self-confidence
prepare for such a fight, do not understand how bold and
well-equipped the enemy is with whom they have to do.
Now we ask to be delivered from his power, as from the
mouth of some furious raging lion, who would instantly tear
us with his teeth and claws, and swallow us up, did not the
Lord rescue us from the midst of death ; at the same time
knowing that if the Lord is present and will fight for us
while we stand by, through him " we shall do valiantly," (Ps.
Ix. 12.) Let others if they will confide in the powers and
resources of their free will which they think they possess ;
enough for us that we stand and are strong in the power of
God alone. But the prayer comprehends more than at first
sight it seems to do. For if the Spirit of God is our strength
in waging the contest with Satan, we cannot gain the victory
unless we are filled with him, and thereby freed from all
infirmity of the flesh. Therefore, when we pray to be de
livered from sin and Satan, we at the same time desire to be
enriched with new supplies of divine grace, until completely
replenished with them, we triumph over every evil. To some
it seems rude and harsh to ask God not to lead us into
temptation, since, as James declares, (James i. 13,) it is

522 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

contrary to his nature to do so. This difficulty has already
been partly solved by the fact that our concupiscence is the
cause, and therefore properly bears the blame of all the
temptations by which we are overcome. All that James
means is, that it is vain and unjust to ascribe to God vices
which our own consciousness compels us to impute to our
selves. But this is no reason why God may not when he
sees it meet bring us into bondage to Satan, give us up to a
reprobate mind and shameful lusts, and so by a just, indeed,
but often hidden judgment, lead us into temptation. Though
the cause is often concealed from men, it is well known to
him. Hence we may see that the expression is not impro
per, if we are persuaded that it is not without cause he so
often threatens to give sure signs of his vengeance, by blind
ing the reprobate, and hardening their hearts.

47. These three petitions, in which we specially commend
ourselves and all that we have to God, clearly show what
we formerly observed, (sec. 38, 39,) that the prayers of
Christians should be public, and have respect to the public
edification of the Church and the advancement of believers
in spiritual communion. For no one requests that anything
should be given to him as an individual, but we all ask in
common for daily bread and the forgiveness of sins, not to
be led into temptation, but delivered from evil. Moreover,
there is subjoined the reason for our great boldness in asking
and confidence of obtaining, (sec. 11, 36.) Although this
does not exist in the Latin copies, yet as it accords so well
with the whole, we cannot think of omitting it.

The words are, THINE is THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER,
AND THE GLORY, FOR EVER. Here is the calm and firm
assurance of our faith. For were our prayers to be com
mended to God by our own worth, who would venture even
to whisper before him ? Now, however wretched we may be,
however unworthy, however devoid of commendation, we
shall never want a reason for prayer, nor a ground of confi
dence, since the kingdom, power, and glory, can never be
wrested from our Father. The last word is AMEN, by which
is expressed the eagerness of our desire to obtain the things
which we ask, while our hope is confirmed, that all things

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 523

have already been obtained, and will assuredly be granted to
us, seeing they have been promised by God, who cannot de
ceive. This accords with the form of expression to which
we have already adverted : " Grant, O Lord, for thy name's
sake, not on account of us or of our righteousness." By
this the saints not only express the end of their prayers, but
confess that they are unworthy of obtaining did not God find
the cause in himself, and were not their confidence founded
entirely on His nature.

48. All things that we ought, indeed all that we are able, to
ask of God, are contained in this formula, and as it were rule,
of prayer delivered by Christ, our divine Master, whom the
Father has appointed to be our teacher, and to whom alone
he would have us to listen, (Matth. xvii. 5.) For he ever
was the eternal wisdom of the Father, and being made man,
was manifested as the Wonderful, the Counsellor, (Isa. xi. 2.)
Accordingly, this prayer is complete in all its parts, so com
plete, that whatever is extraneous and foreign to it, whatever
cannot be referred to it, is impious and unworthy of the
approbation of God. For he has here summarily prescribed
what is worthy of him, what is acceptable to him, and what is
necessary for us ; in short, whatever he is pleased to grant.
Those, therefore, who presume to go further and ask some
thing more from God, first seek to add of their own to the
wisdom of God, (this it is insane blasphemy to do ;) secondly,
refusing to confine themselves within the will of God, and
despising it, they wander as their cupidity directs ; lastly,
they will never obtain anything, seeing they pray without
faith. For there cannot be a doubt that all such prayers are
made without faith, because at variance with the word of
God, on which if faith do not always lean it cannot possibly
stand. Those who, disregarding the Master's rule, indulge
their own wishes, not only have not the word of God, but as
much as in them lies oppose it. Hence Tertullian (De Fuga
in Persequutione) has not less truly than elegantly termed it
Lawful Prayer, tacitly intimating that all other prayers are
lawless and illicit.

49. By this, however, we would not have it understood
that we are so astricted to this form of prayer as to make it

524 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

unlawful to change a word or syllable of it. For in Scripture
we meet with many prayers differing greatly from it in word,
yet written by the same Spirit, and capable of being used by
us with the greatest advantage. Many prayers also are con
tinually suggested to believers by the same Spirit, though in
expression they bear no great resemblance to it. All we
mean to say is, that no man should wish, expect, or ask any
thing which is not summarily comprehended in this prayer.
Though the words may be very different, there must be no
difference in the sense. In this way, all prayers, both those
which are contained in the Scripture, and those which come
forth from pious breasts, must be referred to it, certainly none
can ever equal it, far less surpass it in perfection. It omits
nothing which we can conceive in praise of God, nothing
which we can imagine advantageous to man, and the whole
is so exact that all hope of 'improving it may well be re
nounced. In short, let us remember that we have here the
doctrine of heavenly wisdom. God has taught what he willed ;
he willed what was necessary.

50. But although it has been said above, (sec. 7, 27, &c.,)
that we ought always to raise our minds upwards towards
God, and pray without ceasing, yet such is our weakness, which
requires to be supported, such our torpor, which requires to be
stimulated, that it is requisite for us to appoint special hours
for this exercise, hours which are not to pass away without
prayer, and during which the whole affections of our minds
are to be completely occupied ; namely, when we rise in the
morning, before we commence our daily work, when we sit
down to food, when by the blessing of God we have taken it,
and when we retire to rest. This, however, must not be
a superstitious observance of hours, by which, as it were,
performing a task to God, we think we are discharged
as to oilier hours ; it should rather be considered as a
discipline by which our weakness is exercised, and ever
and anon stimulated. In particular, it must be our anxious
care, whenever we are ourselves pressed, or see others pressed
by any strait, instantly to have recourse to him not only with
quickened pace, but with quickened minds ; and again, we
must not in any prosperity of ourselves or others omit to

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 525

testify our recognition of his hand by praise and thanksgiving.
Lastly, we must in all our prayers carefully avoid wishing to
confine God to certain circumstances, or prescribe to him the
time, place, or mode of action. In like manner, we are taught
by this prayer not to fix any law or impose any condition
upon him, but leave it entirely to him to adopt whatever
course of procedure seems to him best, in respect of method,
time, and place. For before we offer up any petition for our
selves, we ask that his will may be done, and by so doing place
our will in subordination to his, just as if we had laid a curb
upon it, that, instead of presuming to give law to God, it
may regard him as the ruler and disposer of all its wishes.

51. If, with minds thus framed to obedience, we allow our
selves to be governed by the laws of Divine Providence, we
shall easily learn to persevere in prayer, and suspending our
own desires wait patiently for the Lord, certain, however
little the appearance of it may be, that he is always present
with us, and will in his own time show how very far he was
from turning a deaf ear to prayers, though to the eyes of men
they may seem to be disregarded. This will be a very present
consolation, if at any time God does not grant an immediate
answer to our prayers, preventing us from fainting or giving
way to despondency, as those are wont to do who, in invok
ing God, are so borne away by their own fervour, that unless
he yield on their first importunity and give present help, they
immediately imagine that he is angry and offended with them,
and abandoning all hope of success cease from prayer. On
the contrary, deferring our hope with well tempered equani
mity, let us insist with that perseverance which is so strongly
recommended to us in Scripture. We may often see in The
Psalms how David and other believers, after they are almost
weary of praying, and seem to have been beating the air by
addressing a God who would not hear, yet cease not to pray,
because due authority is not given to the word of God, unless
the faith placed in it is superior to all events. Again, let us
not tempt God, and by wearying him with our importunity,
provoke his anger against us. Many have a practice of for
mally bargaining with God on certain conditions, and, as if he
were the servant of their lusts, binding him to certain stipu-

526 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

lations ; with which if he do not immediately comply, they
are indignant and fretful, murmur, complain, and make a
noise. Thus offended, he often in his anger grants to such
persons what in mercy he kindly denies to others. Of this
we have a proof in the children of Israel, for whom it had
been better not to have been heard by the Lord, than to
swallow his indignation with their flesh, (Num. xi. 18, 33.)

52. But if our sense is not able till after long expectation
to perceive what the result of prayer is, or experience any
benefit from it, still our faith will assure us of that which can
not be perceived by sense, viz., that we have obtained what
was fit for us, the Lord having so often and so surely engaged
to take an interest in all our troubles from the moment they
have been deposited in his bosom. In this way we shall
possess abundance in poverty, and comfort in affliction. For
though all things fail, God will never abandon us, and he can
not frustrate the expectation and patience of his people. He
alone will suffice for all, since in himself he comprehends all
good, and will at last reveal it to us on the day of judgment,
when his kingdom shall be plainly manifested. We may add,
that although God complies with our request, he does not
always give an answer in the very terms of our prayer,
but while apparently holding us in suspense, yet in an
unknown way, shows that our prayers have not been in vain.
This is the meaning of the words of John, " If we know that
he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of him," (1 John v. 15.) It might
seem that there is here a great superfluity of words, but the
declaration is most useful, namely, that God, even when he
does not comply with our requests, yet listens and is favour
able to our prayers, so that our hope founded on his word is
never disappointed. But believers have always need of being
supported by this patience, as they could not stand long if
they did not lean upon it. For the trials by which the Lord
proves and exercises us are severe, nay, he often drives us to
extremes, and when driven allows us long to stick fast in the
mire before he gives us any taste of his sweetness. As
Hannah says, " The Lord killeth, and maketh alive ; he
bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up," (1 Sam. ii. 6.)-

CHAP. XX. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 52

What could they here do but become dispirited and rush on
despair, were they not, when afflicted, desolate, and half dead,
comforted with the thought that they are regarded by God,
and that there will be an end to their present evils. But how
ever secure their hopes may stand, they in the meantime
cease not to pray, since prayer unaccompanied by persever
ance leads to no result.

528 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

CHAPTER XXI.

OF THE ETERNAL ELECTION, BY WHICH GOD HAS PREDES
TINATED SOME TO SALVATION, AND OTHERS TO DESTRUC
TION.

The divisions of this chapter are, — I. The necessity and utility of the
doctrine of eternal Election explained. Excessive curiosity restrained,
sec. 1, 2. II. Explanation to those who through false modesty shun
the doctrine of Predestination, sec. 3, 4. III. The orthodox doctrine
expounded.

Sections.

1. The doctrine of Election _and JPredestinatipn. It is useful, necessary,

and most sweet. Ignorance of it impairs the glory of God, plucks
up humility by the roots, begets and fosters pride. The doctrine
establishes the certainty of salvation, peace of conscience, and the
true origin of the Church. Answer to two classes of men : 1. The
curious.

2. A sentiment of Augustine confirmed by an admonition of our Saviour

and a passage of Solomon.

3. An answer to a second class, viz., those who are unwilling that the

doctrine should be adverted to. An objection founded on a pass
age of Solomon, solved by the words of Moses.

4. A second objection, viz., That this doctrine is a stumbling-block to

the profane. Answer 1. The same may be said of many other
heads of doctrine. 2. The truth of God will always defend itself.
Third objection, viz., That this doctrine is dangerous even to
believers. Answer 1. The same objection made to Augustine. 2.
We must not despise anything that God has revealed. Arrogance
and blasphemy of such objections.

5. Certain cavils against the doctrine. 1. Prescience regarded as the

cause ofjorede^stination. Prescience and predestination explained.
Not prescience, 16ut the good pleasure of God the cause of predesti-^
nation. This apparent from the gratuitous election of theposterity
oTSbraham and the rejection of all others.

6. Even of the posterity of Abraham some elected and others rejected

by special grace.

7. The Apostle shows that the same thing has been done in regard to

individuals under the Christian dispensation.

CHAP. XXI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 529

1. THE covenant of life is not preached equally to all, and
among those to whom it is preached, does not always meet
•with the same reception. This diversity displays the un
searchable depth of the divine judgment, and is without doubt
subordinate to God's purpose of eternal election. But if it
is plainly owing to the mere pleasure of God that salvation is
spontaneously offered to some, while others have no access to
it, great and difficult questions immediately arise, questions
which are inexplicable, when just views are not entertained
concerning election and predestination. To many this seems
a perplexing subject, because they deem it most incongruous
that of the great body of mankind some should be predestin
ated to salvation, and others to destruction. How causelessly
they entangle themselves will appear as we proceed. We
may add, that in the very obscurity which deters them, we
may see not only the utility of this doctrine, but also its
most pleasant fruits. We shall never feel persuaded as we
ought that our salvation flows from the free mercy of God as
its fountain, until we are made acquainted with his eternal
election, the grace of God being illustrated by the contrast,
viz., that he does not adopt all promiscuously to the hope of
salvation, but gives to some what he denies to others. It is
plain how greatly ignorance of this principle detracts from
the glory of God, and impairs true humility. But though
thus necessary to be known, Paul declares that it cannot be
known unless God, throwing w^orks entirely out of view, elect
those whom he has predestined. His words are, "Even so
then at this present time also, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more
of works : otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of
works, then it is no more grace : otherwise work is no more
work," (Rom. xi. 6.) If to make it appear that our salvation
flows entirely from the good mercy of God, we must be car
ried back to the origin of election, then those who would
extinguish it, wickedly do as much as in them lies to ob
scure what they ought most loudly to extol, and pluck up
humility by the very roots. Paul clearly declares that it is
only when the salvation of a remnant is ascribed to gratuitous
election, we arrive at the knowledge that God saves whom he

VOL. II. 2 L

530 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

wills of his mere good pleasure, and does not pay a debt, a
debt which never can be due. Those who preclude access,
and would not have any one to obtain a taste of this doc
trine, are equally unjust to God and men, there being no
other means of humbling us as we ought, or making us feel
how much we are bound to him. Nor, indeed, have we else
where any sure ground of confidence. This we say on the
authority of Christ, who, to deliver us from all fear, and ren
der us invincible amid our many dangers, snares, and mortal
conflicts, promises safety to all that the Father hath taken
under his protection, (John x. 26.) From this we infer, that
all who know not that they are the peculiar people of God,
must be wretched from perpetual trepidation, and that those,
therefore, who, by overlooking the three advantages which
we have noted, would destroy the very foundation of our
safety, consult ill for themselves and for all the faithful.
What ? Do we not here find the very origin of the Church,
which, as Bernard rightly teaches, (Serai, in Cantic.) could
not be found or recognised among the creatures, because it
lies hid (in both cases wondrously) within the lap of blessed
predestination, and the mass of wretched condemnation ?

But before I enter on the subject, I have some remarks to
address to two classes of men. The subject of predestination,
which in itself is attended with considerable difficulty, is ren
dered very perplexed, and hence perilous by human curiosity,
which cannot be restrained from wandering into forbidden
paths, and climbing to the clouds, determined if it can that
none of the secret things of God shall remain unexplored.
When we see many, some of them in other respects not bad
men, every where rushing into this audacity and wickedness,
it is necessary to remind them of the course of duty in this
matter. First, then, when they inquire into predestination,
let them remember that they are penetrating into the recesses
of the divine wisdom, where he who rushes forward securely
and confidently, instead of satisfying his curiosity will enter
an inextricable labyrinth.1 For it is not right that man

1 Thus Eck boasts that he had written of predestination to exercise his
youthful spirits.

CHAP. XXI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 531

should with impunity pry into things which the Lord has
been pleased to conceal within himself, and scan that sub
lime eternal wisdom which it is his pleasure that we should
not apprehend but adore, that therein also his perfections may
appear. Those secrets of his, will, which he has seen it meet
to manifest, are revealed in his word — revealed in so far as
he knew to be conducive to our interest and welfare.

2. " We have come into the way of faith," says Augustine :
" let us constantly adhere to it. It leads to the chambers of
the king, in which are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. For our Lord Jesus Christ did not speak invi
diously to his great and most select disciples when he said,
c I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear
them now,' (John xvi. 12.) We must walk, advance, in
crease, that our hearts may be able to comprehend those
things which they cannot now comprehend. But if the last
day shall find us making progress, we shall there learn what
here we could not," (August. Horn, in Joann.) If we give
due weight to the consideration, that the word of the Lord
is the only way which can conduct us to the investigation
of whatever it is lawful for us to hold with regard to him — is
the only light which can enable us to discern what we ought
to see with regard to him, it will curb and restrain all pre
sumption. For it will show us that the moment we go
beyond the bounds of the word we are out of the course, in
darkness, and must every now and then stumble, go astray,
and fall. Let it, therefore, be our first principle that to
desire any other knowledge of predestination than that which
is expounded by the word of God, is no less infatuated than
to walk where there is no path, or to seek light in darkness.
Let us not be ashamed to be ignorant in a matter in which
ignorance is learning. Kather let us willingly abstain from
the search after knowledge, to which it is both foolish as well
as perilous, and even fatal to aspire. If an unrestrained ima
gination urges us, our proper course is to oppose it with these
words, " It is not good to eat much honey : so for men to
search their own glory is not glory," (Prov. xxv. 27.) There
is good reason to dread a presumption which can only plunge
us headlong into ruin.

532 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

3. There are others who, when they would cure this disease,
recommend that the subject of predestination should scarcely
if ever be mentioned, and tell us to shun every question con
cerning it as we would a rock. Although their moderation
is justly commendable in thinking that such mysteries should
be treated with moderation, yet because they keep too far
within the proper measure, they have little influence over the
human mind, which does not readily allow itself to be curbed.
Therefore, in order to keep the legitimate course in this
matter, we must return to the word of God, in which we are
furnished with the right rule of understanding. For Scrip
ture is the school of the Holy Spirit, in which as nothing
useful and necessary to be known has been omitted, so no
thing is taught but what it is of importance to know. Every
thing, therefore, delivered in Scripture on the subject of pre
destination, we must beware of keeping from the faithful,
lest we seem either maliciously to deprive them of the bless
ing of God, or to accuse and scoff at the Spirit, as having
divulged what ought on any account to be suppressed. Let
us, I say, allow the Christian to unlock his mind and ears
to all the words of God which are addressed to him, provided
he do it with this moderation, viz., that whenever the Lord
shuts his sacred mouth, he also desists from inquiry. The
best rule of sobriety is, not only in learning to follow where-
ever God leads, but also when he makes an end of teaching,
to cease also from wishing to be wise. The danger which
they dread is not so great that we ought on account of it to
turn away our minds from the oracles of God. There is a
celebrated saying of Solomon, " It is the glory of God to
conceal a thing," (Prov. xxv. 2.) But since both piety and
common sense dictate that this is not to be understood of
every thing, we must look for a distinction, lest under the
pretence of modesty and sobriety we be satisfied with a
brutish ignorance. This is clearly expressed by Moses in a few
words, " The secret things belong unto the Lord our God :
but those things which* are revealed belong unto us, and to
our children for ever," (Deut. xxix. 29.) We see how he
exhorts the people to study the doctrine of the law in accord
ance with a heavenly decree, because God has been pleased

CHAP. XXI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 533

to promulgate it, while lie at the same time confines them
within these boundaries, for the simple reason that it is not
lawful for men to pry into the secret things of God.

4. I admit that profane men lay hold of the subject of
predestination to carp, or cavil, or snarl, or scoff. But if
their petulance frightens us, it will be necessary to conceal all
the principal articles of faith, because they and their fellows
leave scarcely one of them unassailed with blasphemy. A
rebellious spirit will display itself no less insolently when it
hears that there are three persons in the divine essence, than
when it hears that God when he created man foresaw every
thing that was to happen to him. Nor will they abstain
from their jeers when told that little more than five thousand
years have elapsed since the creation of the world. For they
will ask, Why did the power of God slumber so long in idle
ness ? In short, nothing can be stated that they will not
assail with derision. To quell their blasphemies, must we
say nothing concerning the divinity of the Son and Spirit ?
Must the creation of the world be passed over in silence ?
No ! The truth of God is too powerful, both here and every
where, to dread the slanders of the ungodly, as Augustine
powerfully maintains in his treatise, De Bono Perseverantiae,
(cap. xiv.-xx.) For we see that the false apostles were
unable, by defaming and accusing the true doctrine of Paul,
to make him ashamed of it. There is nothing in the allega
tion that the whole subject is fraught with danger to pious
minds, as tending to destroy exhortation, shake faith, dis
turb and dispirit the heart. Augustine disguises not that
on these grounds he was often charged with preaching the
doctrine of predestination too freely, but, as it was easy
for him to do, he abundantly refutes the charge. As a great
variety of absurd objections are here stated, we have thought
it best to dispose of each of them in its proper place, (see
chap, xxiii.) Only I wish it to be received as a general rule,
that the secret things of God are not to be scrutinized, and
that those which he has revealed are not to be overlooked,
lest we may, on the one hand, be chargeable with curiosity,
and, on the other, with ingratitude. For it has been
shrewdly observed by Augustine, (de Genesi ad Literam,

534 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

Lib. v.,) that we can safely follow Scripture, which walks
softly, as with a mother's step, in accommodation to our
weakness. Those, however, who are so cautious and timid,
that they would bury all mention of predestination in order
that it may not trouble weak minds, with what colour, pray,
will they cloak their arrogance, Avhen they indirectly charge
God with a want of due consideration, in not having foreseen
a danger for which they imagine that they prudently provide ?
Whoever, therefore, throws obloquy on the doctrine of pre
destination, openly brings a charge against God, as having
inconsiderately allowed something to escape from him which
is injurious to the Church.

5. The predestination by which God adopts some to the
hope of life, and adjudges others to eternal death, no man who
would be thought pious ventures simply to deny ; but it is
greatly cavilled at, especially by those who make prescience
its cause. We, indeed, ascribe both prescience and predes
tination to God ; but we say, that it is absurd to make the
latter subordinate to the former, (see chap. xxii. sec. 1.)
When we attribute prescience to God, we mean that all
things always were, and ever continue, under his eye ; that
to his knowledge there is no past or future, but all things
are present, and indeed so present, that it is not merely the
idea of them that is before him, (as those objects are which
we retain in our memory,) but that he truly sees and con
templates them as actually under his immediate inspection.
This prescience extends to the whole circuit of the world,
and to all creatures. By predestination we mean the eternal
decree of God, by which he determined with himself what
ever he wished to happen with regard to every man. All
are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to
eternal life, others to eternal damnation ; and, accordingly,
as each has been created for one or other of these ends, we
say that he has been predestinated to life or to death. This
God has testified, not only in the case of single individuals ;
he has also given a specimen of it in the whole posterity of
Abraham, to make it plain that the future condition of each
nation was entirely at his disposal : " When the Most High
divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated

CHAP. XXI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 535

the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according
to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's
portion is his people ; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance,"
(Deut. xxxii. 8, 9.) The separation is before the eyes of all ;
in the person of Abraham, as in a withered stock, one people
is specially chosen, while the others are rejected; but the
cause does not appear, except that Moses, to deprive posterity
of any handle for glorying, tells them that their superiority
was owing entirely to the free love of God. The cause
which he assigns for their deliverance is, " Because he loved
thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them," (Deut.
iv. 37 ;) or more explicitly in another chapter, " The Lord
did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you
were more in number than any people : for ye were the
fewest of all people : but because the Lord loved you," (Deut.
vii. 7, 8.) He repeatedly makes the same intimation,
"Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, is the
Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them,
and he chose their seed after them," (Deut. x. 14, 15.)
Again, in another passage, holiness is enjoined upon them,
because they have been chosen to be a peculiar people ;
while in another, love is declared to be the cause of their
protection, (Deut. xxiii. 5.) This, too, believers with one
voice proclaim, " He shall choose our inheritance for us, the
excellency of Jacob, whom he loved," (Ps. xlvii. 4.) The
endowments with which God had adorned them, they all
ascribe to gratuitous love, not only because they knew that
they had not obtained them by any merit, but that not even
was the holy patriarch endued with a virtue that could pro
cure such distinguished honour for himself and his posterity.
And the more completely to crush all pride, he upbraids
them with having merited nothing of the kind, seeing they
were a rebellious and stiff-necked people, (Deut. ix. 6.)
Often, also, do the prophets remind the Jews of this election
by way of disparagement and opprobrium, because they had
shamefully revolted from it. Be this as it may, let those
who would ascribe the election of God to human worth or
merit come forward. When they see that one nation is

536 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

preferred to all others, when they hear that it was no feeling
of respect that induced God to show more favour to a small
and ignoble body, nay, even to the wicked and rebellious,
will they plead against him for having chosen to give such
a manifestation of mercy ? But neither will their obstreper
ous words hinder his work, nor wrill their invectives, like
stones thrown against heaven, strike or hurt his righteous
ness ; nay, rather they will fall back on their own heads.
To this principle of a free covenant, moreover, the Israelites
are recalled whenever thanks are to be returned to God, or
their hopes of the future to be animated. " The Lord he
is God," says the Psalmist ; " it is he that hath made us,
and not we ourselves : we are his people, and the sheep of
his pasture," (Ps. c. 3 ; xcv. 7.) The negation which is
added, " not we ourselves," is not superfluous, to teach us
that God is not only the author of all the good qualities in
which men excel, but that they originate in himself, there
being nothing in them worthy of so much honour. In the
following words also they are enjoined to rest satisfied with the
mere good pleasure of God : " O ye seed of Abraham, his
servant; ye children of Jacob, his chosen," (Ps. cv. 6.) And
after an enumeration of the continual mercies of God as
fruits of election, the conclusion is, that he acted thus kindly
because he remembered his covenant. With this doctrine
accords the song of the whole Church, " They got not the
land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own
arm save them ; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the
light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto
them," (Ps. xliv. 3.) It is to be observed, that when the
land is mentioned, it is a visible symbol of the secret election
in which adoption is comprehended. To like gratitude
David elsewhere exhorts the people, " Blessed is the nation
whose God is the Lord, and the people whom he hath chosen
for his own inheritance," (Ps. xxxiii. 12.) Samuel thus
animates their hopes, " The Lord will not forsake his people
for his great name's sake : because it hath pleased the Lord
to make you his people," (1 Sam. xii. 22.) And when
David's faith is assailed, how does he arm himself for the
battle ? " Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and

CHAF. XXI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 537

causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy
courts," (Ps. Ixv. 4.) But as the hidden election of God was
confirmed both by a first and second election, and by other
intermediate mercies, Isaiah thus applies the term, "The
Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and Avill yet choose Israel,"
(Isa. xiv. 1.) Referring to a future period, the gathering
together of the dispersion, who seemed to have been aban
doned, he says, that it will be a sign of a firm and stable
election, notwithstanding of the apparent abandonment.
When it is elsewhere said, " I have chosen thee, and not cast
thee away," (Isa. xli. 9,) the continual course of his great
liberality is ascribed to paternal kindness. This is stated
more explicitly in Zechariah by the angel, the Lord " shall
choose Jerusalem again," as if the severity of his chastise
ments had amounted to reprobation, or the captivity had
been an interruption of election, which, however, remains
inviolable, though the signs of it do not always appear.

6. We must add a second step of a more limited nature,
or one in which the grace of God was displayed in a more
special form, when of the same family of Abraham God re
jected some, and by keeping others within his Church showed
that he retained them among his sons. At first Ishmael had
obtained the same rank with his brother Isaac, because the
spiritual covenant was equally sealed in him by the symbol
of circumcision. He is first cut off, then Esau, at last an
innumerable multitude, almost the whole of Israel. In Isaac
was the seed called. The same calling held good in the case
of Jacob. God gave a similar example in the rejection of
Saul. This is also celebrated in the psalm, " Moreover, he
refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of
Ephraim : but chose the tribe of Judah," (Ps. Ixxviii. 67, 68.)
This the sacred history sometimes repeats, that the secret
grace of God may be more admirably displayed in that
change. I admit that it was by their own fault Ishmael, Esau,
and others, fell from their adoption ; for the condition an
nexed was, that they should faithfully keep the covenant of
God, whereas they perfidiously violated it. The singular
kindness of God consisted in this, that he had been pleased
to prefer them to other nations ; as it is said in the psalm,

538 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

" He hath not dealt so with any nation : and as for his judg
ments, they have not known them," (Ps. cxlvii. 20.) But I
had good reason for saying that two steps are here to be
observed ; for in the election of the whole nation, God had
already shown that in the exercise of his mere liberality he
was under no law but was free, so that he was by no means
to be restricted to an equal division of grace, its very inequa
lity proving it to be gratuitous. Accordingly, Malachi en
larges on the ingratitude of Israel, in that being not only
selected from the whole human race, but set peculiarly apart
from a sacred household, they perfidiously and impiously
spurn God their beneficent parent. " Was not Esau Jacob's
brother ? saith the Lord : yet I loved Jacob, and I hated
Esau," (Mai. i. 2, 3.) For God takes it for granted, that as
both were the sons of a holy father, and successors of the
covenant, in short, branches from a sacred root, the sons of
Jacob were under no ordinary obligation for having been
admitted to that dignity ; but when by the rejection of Esau
the first born, their progenitor though inferior in birth was
made heir, he charges them with double ingratitude, in not
being restrained by a double tie.

7. Although it is now sufficiently plain that God by his
secret counsel chooses whom he will while he rejects others,
his gratuitous election has only been partially explained until
we come to the case of single individuals, to whom God not
only offers salvation, but so assigns it, that the certainty of
the result remains not dubious or suspended.1 These are
considered as belonging to that one seed of which Paul
makes mention, (Rom. ix. 8 ; Gal. iii. 16, &c.) For although
adoption was deposited in the hand of Abraham, yet as many
of his posterity wrere cut off as rotten members, in order that
election may stand and be effectual, it is necessary to ascend
to the head in w7hom the heavenly Father hath connected
his elect with each other, and bound them to himself by an in
dissoluble tie. Thus in the adoption of the family of Abra-

1 On predestination, see the pious and very learned observations of
Luther, torn. i. p. 86, fin., and p. 87, fin. Tom. iii. ad Psal. xxii. 8.
Tom. v. in Joann. cxvii. Also his Prefatio in Epist. ad Rom. and Adv.
Erasmum de Servo Arbitrio, p. 429, sqq. 452, 463. Also in Psal. cxxxix.

CHAP. XXI. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 539

ham, God gave them a liberal display of favour which he has
denied to others ; but in the members of Christ there is a far
more excellent display of grace, because those ingrafted into
him as their head never fail to obtain salvation. Hence Paul
skilfully argues from the passage of Malachi which I quoted,
(Rom. ix. 13 ; Mai. i. 2,) that when God, after making a
covenant of eternal life, invites any people to himself, a spe
cial mode of election is in part understood, so that he does
not with promiscuous grace effectually elect all of them. The
words, " Jacob have I loved," refer to the whole progeny of
the patriarch, which the prophet there opposes to the posterity
of Esau. But there is nothing in this repugnant to the fact,
that in the person of one man is set before us a specimen of
election, which cannot fail of accomplishing its object. It is
not without cause Paul observes, that these are called a
remnant, (Rom. ix. 27 ; xi. 5 ;) because experience shows that
of the general body many fall away and are lost, so that often
a small portion only remains. The reason why the general
election of the people is not always firmly ratified, readily
presents itself, viz., that on those with whom God makes the
covenant, he does not immediately bestow the Spirit of
regeneration, by whose power they persevere in the covenant
even to the end. The external invitation, without the internal
efficacy of grace which would have the effect of retaining them,
holds a kind of middle place bet ween the rejection of the human
race and the election of a small number of believers. The
whole people of Israel are called the Lord's inheritance, and
yet there were many foreigners among them. Still, because
the covenant which God had made to be their Father and
Redeemer was not altogether null, he has respect to that free
favour rather than to the perfidious defection of many ; even
by them his truth was not abolished, since by preserving some
residue to himself, it appeared that his calling was without
repentance. When God ever and anon gathered his Church
from among the sons of Abraham rather than from profane
nations, he had respect to his covenant, which, when violated
by the great body, he restricted to a few, that it might not
entirely fail. In short, that common adoption of the seed of
Abraham was a kind of visible image of a greater benefit

540 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

which God deigned to bestow on some out of many. This
is the reason why Paul so carefully distinguishes between the
sons of Abraham according to the flesh and the spiritual sons,
who are called after the example of Isaac. Not that simply to
be a son of Abraham was a vain or useless privilege, (this
could not be said without insult to the covenant,) but that
the immutable counsel of God, by which he predestinated to
himself whomsoever he would, was alone effectual for their
salvation. But until the proper view is made clear by the
production of passages of Scripture, I advise my readers not
to prejudge the question. We say, then, that Scripture clearly
proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable coun
sel determined once for all those whom it was his pleasure one
day to admit to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand,
it was his^jpjeasure to doom to destruction. We maintain that
this counsel, as regards the elect, is founded on his free mercy,
without any respect to human worth, while those whom he
dooms to destruction are excluded from access to life by a
just and blameless, but at the same time incomprehensible
judgment. In regard to the elect, we regard calling as the
evidence of election, and justification as another symbol of its
manifestation, until it is fully accomplished by the attainment
of glory. But as the Lord seals his elect by calling and
justification, so by excluding the reprobate either from the
knowledge of his name or the sanctification of his Spirit,
he by these marks in a manner discloses the judgment which
awaits them. I will here omit many of the fictions wrhich
foolish men have devised to overthrow predestination. There
is no need of refuting objections which the moment they are
produced abundantly betray their hollo wn ess. I will dwell
only on those points which either form the subject of dispute
among the learned, or may occasion any difficulty to the
simple, or may be employed by impiety as specious pretexts
for assailing the justice of God.

CHAP. XXII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 511

CHAPTER XXII.

THIS DOCTRINE CONFIRMED BY PROOFS FROM SCRIPTURE.

The divisions of this chapter are, — I. A confirmation of the orthodox
doctrine in opposition to two classes of individuals. This confirmation
founded on a careful exposition of our Saviour's words, and passages in
the writings of Paul, sec. 1-7. II. A refutation of some objections
taken from ancient writers, Thomas Aquinas, and more modern writers,
sec. 8-10. III. Of reprobation, which is founded entirely on the right
eous will of God, sec. 11.

Sections.

11. Some imagine that God elects or reprobates according to a fore
knowledge of merit. Others make it a charge against God that he
elects some and passes by others. Both refuted, 1. By invincible
arguments ; 2. By the testimony of Augustine.

2. Who are elected, when, in whom, to what, for what reason.

3. The reason is the good pleasure of God, which so reigns in election

that no works, either past or future, are taken into consideration.
This proved by notable declarations of our Saviour and passages
of Paul.

4. Proved by a striking discussion in the Epistle to the Romans. Its

scope and method explained. The advocates of foreknowledge
refuted by the Apostle, when he maintains that election is spe
cial and wholly of grace.

5. Evasion refuted. A summary and analysis of the Apostle's dis

cussion.

6. An exception, with three answers to it. The efficacy of gratui

tous election extends only to believers, who are said to be elected
according to foreknowledge. This foreknowledge or prescience is
not speculative but active.

7. This proved from the words of Christ. Conclusion of the answer,

and solution of the objection with regard to Judas.

8. An objection taken from the ancient fathers. Answer from Augus

tine, from Ambrose, as quoted by Augustine, and an invincible
argument by an Apostle. Summary of this argument.

9. Objection from Thomas Aquinas. Answer.

10. Objection of more modern writers. Answers. Passages in which
there is a semblance of contradiction reconciled. Why many
called and few chosen. An objection founded on mutual con-

542 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

sent between the word and faith. Solution confirmed by the
words of Paul, Augustine, and Bernard. A clear declaration by
our Saviour.

11. The view to be taken of reprobation. It is founded on the right
eous will of God.

1. MANY controvert all the positions which we have laid
down, especially the gratuitous election of believers, which,
however, cannot be overthrown. For they commonly ima
gine that God distinguishes between men according to the
merits which he foresees that each individual is to have,
giving the adoption of sons to those whom he foreknows will
not be unworthy of his grace, and dooming those to destruc
tion whose dispositions he perceives will be prone to mischief
and wickedness. Thus by interposing foreknowledge as a
veil, they not only obscure election, but pretend to give it a
different origin. Nor is this the commonly received opinion
of the vulgar merely, for it has in all ages had great support
ers, (see sec. 8.) This I candidly confess, lest any one
should expect greatly to prejudice our cause by opposing it
with their names. The truth of God is here too certain to
be shaken, too clear to be overborne by human authority.
Others, who are neither versed in Scripture, nor entitled to
any weight, assail sound doctrine with a petulance and im
probity which it is impossible to tolerate.1 Because God of
his mere good pleasure electing some passes by others, they
raise a plea against him. But if the fact is certain, what
can they gain by quarrelling with God ? We teach nothing
but what experience proves to be true, viz., that God has
always been at liberty to bestow his grace on whom he
would. Not to ask in what respect the posterity of Abraham
excelled others, if it be not in a worth, the cause of which has
no existence out of God, let them tell why men are better
than oxen or asses. God might have made them dogs when

1 French, " II y en a d'aucuns, lesquels n'estans exerces en 1'Ecriture ne
sont dignes d'aucun credit ne reputation ; et toutes fois sont plus hardis
et temeraires h, diffamer la doctrine qui leur est incognue ; et ainsi ce
n'est pas raison que leur arrogance soit supportee." — There are some who,
not being exercised in Scripture, are not worthy of any credit or reputa
tion, and yet are more bold and presumptuous in defaming the doctrine
which is unknown to them, and hence their arrogance is insupportable.

CHAP. XXII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 543

he formed them in his own image. Will they allow the lower
animals to expostulate with God, as if the inferiority of their
condition were unjust ? It is certainly not more equitable that
men should enjoy the privilege which they have not acquired
by any merit, than that he should variously distribute favours
as seems to him meet. If they pass to the case of individuals
where inequality is more offensive to them, they ought at least,
in regard to the example of our Saviour, to be restrained by
feelings of awe from talking so confidently of this sublime
mystery. He is conceived a mortal man of the seed of
David ; what, I would ask them, are the virtues by which he
deserved to become in the very womb, the head of angels, the
only begotten Son of God, the image and glory of the
Father, the light, righteousness, and salvation of the world ?
It is wisely observed by Augustine,1 that in the very head of
the Church we have a bright mirror of free election, lest it
should give any trouble to us the members, viz.^ that he did
not become the Son of God by living righteously, but was
freely presented with this great honour, that he might after
wards make others partakers of his gifts. Should any one
here ask, why others are not what he was, or why we are all
at so great a distance from him, why we are all corrupt while
he is purity, he would not only betray his madness, but his
effrontery also. But if they are bent on depriving God of
the free right of electing and reprobating, let them at the
same time take away what has been given to Christ. It will
now be proper to attend to what Scripture declares con
cerning each. When Paul declares that we were chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world, (Eph. i. 4,) he
certainly shows that no regard is had to our own worth ; for
it is just as if he had said, Since in the whole seed of Adam
our heavenly Father found nothing worthy of his election, he
turned his eye upon his own Anointed, that he might select
as members of his body those whom he was to assume into
the fellowship of life. Let believers, then, give full effect to
this reason, viz., that we were in Christ adopted unto the

1 August, de Corrept. et Gratia ad Valcnt. c. 15. Horn, de Bono Per-
scveran. c. 8. Item, de Verbis Apost. Serm. viii.

544 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

heavenly inheritance, because in ourselves we were incapable
of such excellence. This he elsewhere observes in another
passage, in which he exhorts the Colossians to give thanks
that they had been made meet to be partakers of the inherit
ance of the saints, (Col. i. 12.) If election precedes that
divine grace by which we are made fit to obtain immortal
life, what can God find in us to induce him to elect us ?
What I mean is still more clearly explained in another pass
age : God, says he, (s hath chosen us in him before the founda
tion of the world, that we might be holy and without blame
before him in love : having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will," (Eph. i. 4, 5.) Here he opposes the
good pleasure of God to our merits of every description.

2. That the proof may be more complete, it is of import
ance to attend to the separate clauses of that passage. When
they are connected together they leave no doubt. From
giving them the name of elect, it is clear that he is address
ing believers, as indeed he shortly after declares. It is,
therefore, a complete perversion of the name to confine it
to the age in which the gospel was published. By saying
they were elected before the foundation of the world, he
takes away all reference to worth. For what ground of
distinction was there between persons who as yet existed
not, and persons who were afterwards like them to exist in
Adam? But if they were elected in Christ, it follows not
only that each wras elected on some extrinsic ground, but
that some were placed on a different footing from others,
since we see that all are not members of Christ. In the addi
tional statement that they were elected that they might be
holy, the apostle openly refutes the error of those who de
duce election from prescience, since he declares that what
ever virtue appears in men is the result of election. Then,
if a higher cause is asked, Paul answers that God so predes
tined, and predestined according to the good pleasure of his
will. By these words, he overturns all the grounds of election
which men imagine to exist in themselves. For he shows that
whatever favours God bestows in reference to the spiritual
life flow from this one fountain, because God chose whom he

CHAP. XXII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 545

would, and before they were born had the grace which he
designed to bestow upon them set apart for their use.

3. Wherever this good pleasure of God reigns, no good
works are taken into account. The Apostle, indeed, does
not follow out the antithesis, but it is to be understood, as
he himself explains it in another passage, " Who hath called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began," (1 Tim. ii. 9.) We
have already shown that the additional words, u that we might
be holy," remove every doubt. If you say that he foresaw
they would be holy, and therefore elected them, you invert
the order of Paul. You may, therefore, safely infer, If he
elected us that we might be holy, he did not elect us because
he foresaw that we would be holy. The two things are
evidently inconsistent, viz., that the pious owe it to election
that they are holy, and yet attain to election by means of
works. There is no force in the cavil to which they are ever
recurring, that the Lord does not bestow election in recom
pense of preceding, but bestows it in consideration of future
merits. For when it is said that believers were elected that
they might be holy, it is at the same time intimated that the
holiness which was to be in them has its origin in election.
And how can it be consistently said, that things derived
from election are the cause of election ? The very thing which
the Apostle had said, he seems afterwards to confirm by add
ing, " According to his good pleasure which he hath pur
posed in himself," (Eph. i. 9 ;) for the expression that God
ii purposed in himself," is the same as if it had been said,
that in forming his decree he considered nothing external to
himself; and, accordingly, it is immediately subjoined, that
the whole object contemplated in our election is, that " we
should be to the praise of his glory." Assuredly divine grace
would not deserve all the praise of election, were not election
gratuitous ; and it would not be gratuitous, did God in elect
ing any individual pay regard to his future works. Hence,
what Christ said to his disciples is found to be universally
applicable to all believers, " Ye have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you," (John xv. 16.) Here he not only excludes
VOL. n. 2 M

546 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

past merits, but declares that they had nothing in themselves
for which they could be chosen, except in so far as his mercy
anticipated. And how are we to understand the words of
Paul, " Who hath first given to him, and it shall be recom
pensed unto him again ?" (Kom. xi. 35.) His meaning
obviously is, that men are altogether indebted to the pre
venting goodness of God, there being nothing in them, either
past or future, to conciliate his favour.

4. In the Epistle to the Romans, (Rom. ix. 6,) in which
he again treats this subject more reconditely and at greater
length, he declares that " they are not all Israel which are of
Israel ;" for though all were blessed in respect of hereditary
right, yet all did not equally obtain the succession. The
whole discussion was occasioned by the pride and vain-glory
ing of the Jews, who, by claiming the name of the Church for
themselves, would have made the faith of the Gospel depend
ent on their pleasure ; just as in the present day the Papists
would fain under this pretext substitute themselves in place
of God. Paul, while he concedes that in respect of the
covenant they were the holy offspring of Abraham, yet con
tends that the greater part of them were strangers to it, and
that not only because they were degenerate, and so had
become bastards instead of sons, but because the principal
point to be considered was the special election of God, by
which alone his adoption was ratified. If the piety of some
established them in the hope of salvation, and the revolt of
others was the sole cause of their being rejected, it would
have been foolish and absurd in Paul to carry his readers
back to a secret election. But if the will of God (no cause
of which external to him either appears or is to be looked
for) distinguishes some from others, so that all the sons of
Israel are not true Israelites, it is vain for any one to seek
the origin of his condition in himself. He afterwards prose
cutes the subject at greater length, by contrasting the cases
of Jacob and Esau. Both being sons of Abraham, both
having been at the same time in the womb of their mother,
there was something very strange in the change by which
the honour of the birthright was transferred to Jacob, and
yet Paul declares that the change was an attestation to the
election of the one and the reprobation of the other.

CHAP. XXII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 547

The question considered is the origin and cause of election.
The advocates of foreknowledge insist that it is to be found
in the virtues and vices of men. For they take the short
and easy method of asserting, that God showed in the person
of Jacob, that he elects those who are worthy of his grace ;
and in the person of Esau, that he rejects those whom he
foresees to be unworthy. Such is their confident assertion ;
but what does Paul say ? a For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the pur
pose of God according to election might stand, not of works,
but of him that calleth ; it was said unto her, [Rebecca,] The
elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated," (Rom. ix. 11-13.) If fore
knowledge had anything to do with this distinction of the
brothers, the mention of time would have been out of place.
Granting that Jacob was elected for a worth to be obtained
by future virtues, to what end did Paul say that he was not
yet born ? Nor would there have been any occasion for
adding, that as yet he had done no good, because the answer
was always ready, that nothing is hid from God, and that
therefore the piety of Jacob was present before him. If
Works procure favour, a value ought to have been put upon
them before Jacob was born, just as if he had been of full
age. But in explaining the difficulty, the Apostle goes on
to show, that the adoption of Jacob proceeded not on works
but on the calling of God. In works he makes no mention
of past or future, but distinctly opposes them to the calling
of God, intimating, that when place is given to the one the
other is overthrown ; as if he had said, The only thing to be
considered is what pleased God, not what men furnished of
themselves. Lastly, it is certain that all the causes which
men are wont to devise as external to the secret counsel of
God, are excluded by the use of the terms purpose and
election.

5. Why should men attempt to darken these statements
by assigning some place in election to past or future works ?
This is altogether to evade what the Apostle contends for,
viz., that the distinction between the brothers is not founded
on any ground of works, but on the mere calling of God,

548 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

inasmuch as it was fixed before the children were born. Had
there been any solidity in this subtlety, it would not have
escaped the notice of the Apostle, but being perfectly aware
that God foresaw no good in man, save that which he had
already previously determined to bestow by means of his
election, he does not employ a preposterous arrangement
which would make good works antecedent to their cause.
We learn from the Apostle's words, that the salvation of
believers is founded entirely on the decree of divine election,
that the privilege is procured not by works but free calling.
We have also a specimen of the thing itself set before us.
Esau and Jacob are brothers, begotten of the same parents,
within the same womb, not yet born. In them all things are
equal, and yet the judgment of God with regard to them is
different. He adopts the one and rejects the other. The only
right of precedence was that of primogeniture ; but that is
disregarded, and the younger is preferred to the elder. Nay,
in the case of others, God seems to have disregarded primo
geniture for the express purpose of excluding the flesh from
all ground of boasting. Rejecting Ishmael he gives his
favour to Isaac, postponing Manasseh he honours Ephraim.

6. Should any one object that these minute and inferior
favours do not enable us to decide with regard to the future life,
that it is not to be supposed that he who received the honour
of primogeniture was thereby adopted to the inheritance
of heaven ; (many objectors do not even spare Paiil, but
accuse him of having in the quotation of these passages
wrested Scripture from its proper meaning;) I answer as
before, that the Apostle has not erred through inconsidera-
tion, or spontaneously misapplied the passages of Scripture ;
but he saw (what these men cannot be brought to consider)
that God purposed under an earthly sign to declare the spiri
tual election of Jacob, which otherwise lay hidden at his in
accessible tribunal. For unless we refer the primogeniture
bestowed upon him to the future world, the form of blessing-
would be altogether vain and ridiculous, inasmuch as he
gained nothing by it but a multitude of toils and annoyances,
exile, sharp sorrows, and bitter cares. Therefore, when Paul
knew beyond a doubt that by the external, God manifested the

CHAP. XXII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 549

spiritual and unfading blessings, which he had prepared for his
servant in his kingdom, he hesitated not in proving the latter
to draw an argument from the former. For we must remem
ber that the land of Canaan was given in pledge of the heaven
ly inheritance ; and that therefore there cannot be a doubt
that Jacob was like the angels ingrafted into the body of
Christ, that he might be a partaker of the same life. Jacob,
therefore, is chosen, while Esau is rejected ; the predestina
tion of God makes a distinction where none existed in respect
of merit. If you ask the reason the Apostle gives it, " For
he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have com
passion," (Rom. ix. 15.) And what, pray, does this mean?
It is just a clear declaration by the Lord that he finds nothing
in men themselves to induce him to show kindness, that it is
owing entirely to his own mercy, and, accordingly, that their
salvation is his own work. Since God places your salvation
in himself alone, why should you descend to yourself? Since
he assigns you his own mercy alone, why will you recur
to your own merits ? Since he confines your thoughts to his
own mercy, why do you turn partly to the view of your own
works ?

We must therefore come to that smaller number whom
Paul elsewhere describes as foreknown of God, (Rom. xi. 2 ;)
not foreknown, as these men imagine, by idle, inactive contem
plation, but in the sense which it often bears. For surely when
Peter says that Christ was " delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God," (Acts ii. 23,) he does not
represent God as contemplating merely, but as actually ac
complishing our salvation. Thus also Peter, in saying that
the believers to whom he writes are elect " according to the
foreknowledge of God," (1 Pet. i. 2,) properly expresses
that secret predestination by which God has sealed those
whom he has been pleased to adopt as sons. In using the
term purpose as synonymous with a term which uniformly
denotes what is called a fixed determination, he undoubt
edly shows that God, in being the author of our salvation,
does not go beyond himself. In this sense he says in the
same chapter, that Christ as " a lamb" " was foreordained

550 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

before the creation of the world," (1 Pet. i. 19, 20.) What
could have been more frigid or absurd than to have repre
sented God as looking from the height of heaven to see
whence the salvation of the human race was to come ? By a
people foreknown, Peter means the same thing as Paul does
by a remnant selected from a multitude falsely assuming the
name of God. In another passage, to suppress the vain
boasting of those who, \vhile only covered with a mask, claim
for themselves in the view of the world a first place among
the godly, Paul says, " The Lord knoweth them that are his,"
(2 Tim. ii. 19.) In short, by that term he designates two
classes of people, the one consisting of the whole race of
Abraham, the other a people separated from that race, and
though hidden from human view, yet open to the eye of God.
And there is no doubt that he took the passage from Moses,
who declares that God would be merciful to whomsoever he
pleased, (although he was speaking of an elect people whose
condition was apparently equal ;) just as if he had said, that
in a common adoption was included a special grace which he
bestows on some as a holier treasure, and that there is nothing
in the common covenant to prevent this number from being
exempted from the common order. God being pleased in
this matter to act as a free dispenser and disposer, distinctly
declares, that the only ground on which he will show mercy
to one rather than to another is his sovereign pleasure ; for
when mercy is bestowed on him who asks it, though he indeed
does not suffer a refusal, he, however, either anticipates or
partly acquires a favour, the whole merit of which God claims
for himself.

7. Now, let the supreme Judge and Master decide on the
whole case. Seeing such obduracy in his hearers, that his
words fell upon the multitude almost without fruit, he to
remove this stumbling-block exclaims, " All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me." "And this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me
I should lose nothing," (John vi. 37, 39.) Observe that the
donation of the Father is the first step in our delivery into
the charge and protection of Christ. Some one, perhaps,
will here turn round and object, that those only peculiarly

CHAP. XXII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 551

belong to the Father who make a voluntary surrender by
faith. But the only thing which Christ maintains is, that
though the defections of vast multitudes should shake the
world, yet the counsel of God would stand firm, more stable
than heaven itself, that his election would never fail. The
elect are said to have belonged to the Father before he
bestowed them on his only begotten Son. It is asked if
they were his by nature? Nay, they were aliens, but he
makes them his by delivering them. The words of Christ
are too clear to be rendered obscure by any of the mists of
cavilling. " No man can come to me except the Father
which hath sent me draw him." " Every man, therefore,
that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me,"
(John vi. 44, 45.) Did all promiscuously bend the knee to
Christ, election would be common ; whereas now in the small
number of believers a manifest diversity appears. Accord
ingly our Saviour, shortly after declaring that the disciples
who were given to him were the common property of the
Father, adds, " I pray not for the world, but for them which
thou hast given me ; for they are thine," (John xvii. 9.)
Hence it is that the whole world no longer belongs to its
Creator, except in so far as grace rescues from malediction,
divine wrath, and eternal death, some, not many, who would
otherwise perish, while he leaves the world to the destruc
tion to which it is doomed. Meanwhile, though Christ
interpose as a Mediator, yet he claims the right of electing
in common with the Father, "I speak not of you all : I know
whom I have chosen," (John xiii. 18.) If it is asked whence
he hath chosen them, he answers in another passage, " Out
of the world ;" which he excludes from his prayers when he
commits his disciples to the Father, (John xv. 19.) We
must, indeed, hold, when he affirms that he knows whom he
has chosen, first, that some individuals of the human race are
denoted ; and, secondly, that they are not distinguished by the
quality of their virtues, but by a heavenly decree. Hence it
follows, that since Christ makes himself the author of elec
tion, none excel by their own strength or industry. In
elsewhere numbering Judas among the elect, though he was
a devil, (John vi. 70,) he refers only to the apostolical office,

552 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

which, though a bright manifestation of divine favour, (as Paul
so often acknowledges it to be in his own person,) does not,
however, contain within itself the hope of eternal salvation.
Judas, therefore, when he discharged the office of Apostle
perfidiously, might have been worse than a devil ; but not
one of those whom Christ has once ingrafted into his body
will he ever permit to perish, for in securing their salvation,
he will perform what he has promised ; that is, exert a divine
power greater than all, (John x. 28.) For when he says,
" Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of
them is lost but the son of perdition," (John xvii. 12,) the
expression, though there is a catachresis in it, is not at all
ambiguous. The sum is, that God by gratuitous adoption
forms those whom he wishes to have for sons ; but that the
intrinsic cause is in himself, because he is contented with his
secret pleasure.

8. But Ambrose, Origen, and Jerome, were of opinion, that
God dispenses his grace among men according to the use which
he foresees that each will make of it. It may be added, that
Augustine also was for some time of this opinion ; but after he
had made greater progress in the knowledge of Scripture, he
not only retracted it as evidently false, but powerfully confut
ed it, (August. Retract. Lib. i. c. 13.) Nay, even after the re
tractation, glancing at the Pelagians who still persisted in
that error, he says, " Who does not wonder that the Apostle
failed to make this most acute observation ? For after stating
a most startling proposition concerning those who were not yet
born, and afterwards putting the question to himself by way
of objection, ( What then ? Is there unrighteousness with God?'
he had an opportunity of answering, that God foresaw the
merits of both, he does not say so, but has recourse to the
justice and mercy of God," (August. Epist. 106, ad Sixtum.)
And in another passage, after excluding all merit before elec
tion, he says, a Here, certainly, there is no place for the vain
argument of those who defend the foreknowledge of God
against the grace of God, and accordingly maintain that we
were elected before the foundation of the world, because
God foreknew that we would be good, not that he himself
would make us good. This is not the language of him who

CHAP. XXII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 553

says, ' Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,'
(John xv. 16.) For had he chosen us because he foreknew
that we would be good, he would at the same time also have
foreknown that we were to choose him," (August, in Joann.
viii. ; see also what follows to the same effect.) Let the
testimony of Augustine prevail with those who willingly
acquiesce in the authority of the Fathers : although Augus
tine allows not that he differs from the others,1 but shows by
clear evidence that the difference which the Pelagians invi
diously objected to him is unfounded. For he quotes from
Ambrose, (Lib. de Pradest. Sanct. cap. 19,) " Christ calls
whom he pities." Again, " Had he pleased he could have
made them devout instead of undevout ; but God calls whom
he deigns to call, and makes religious whom he will." Were
we disposed to frame an entire volume out of Augustine, it
were easy to show the reader that I have no occasion to use
any other words than his : but I am unwilling to burden
him with a prolix statement. But assuming that the
fathers did not speak thus, let us attend to the thing itself.
A difficult question had been raised, viz., Did God do justly
in bestowing his grace on certain individuals ? Paul might
have disencumbered himself of this question at once by saying,
that God had respect to works. Why does he not do so ? Why
does he rather continue to use a language which leaves him
exposed to the same difficulty? Why, but just because it
would not have been right to say it ? There was no oblivious-
ness on the part of the Holy Spirit, who was speaking by
his mouth. He, therefore, answers without ambiguity, that
God favours his elect, because he is pleased to do so, and
shows mercy because he is pleased to do so. For the words,
" I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and show
mercy on whom I will show mercy," (Exod. xxxiii. 19,) are
the same in effect as if it had been said, God is moved to
mercy by no other reason than that he is pleased to show
mercy. Augustine's declaration, therefore, remains true.
The grace of God does not find, but makes persons fit to be
chosen.

1 Latin, u a reliquis ;" French, " les autre Docteurs anciens ;" — the other
ancient Doctors.

554 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK ITT.

9. Nor let us be detained by the subtlety of Thomas, that
the foreknowledge of merit is the cause of predestination,
not, indeed, in respect of the predestinating act, but that on
our part it may in some sense be so called, namely, in respect
of a particular estimate of predestination ; as when it is said,
that God predestinates man to glory according to his merit,
inasmuch as he decreed to bestow upon him the grace by
which he merits glory. For while the Lord would have us to
see nothing more in election than his mere goodness, for any
one to desire to see more is preposterous affectation. But
were we to make a trial of subtlety, it would not be diffi
cult to refute the sophistry of Thomas. He maintains that
the elect are in a manner predestinated to glory on account
of their merits, because God predestines to give them the
grace by which they merit glory. What if I should, on the
contrary, object that predestination to grace is subservient
to election unto life, and follows as its handmaid ; that grace
is predestined to those to whom the possession of glory was
previously assigned, the Lord being pleased to bring his
sons by election to justification ? For it will hence follow
that the predestination to glory is the cause of the predestin
ation to grace, and not the converse. But let us have done
with these disputes as superfluous among those who think
that there is enough of wisdom for them in the word of God.
For it has been truly said by an old ecclesiastical writer,
Those who ascribe the election of God to merits, are wise
above what they ought to be, (Ambros. de Vocat. Gentium,
Lib. i. c. 2.)

10. Some object that God would be inconsistent with
himself, in inviting all without distinction while he elects
only a few. Thus, according to them, the universality of
the promise destroys the distinction of special grace. Some
moderate men speak in this way, not so much for the pur
pose of suppressing the truth, as to get quit of puzzling
questions, and curb excessive curiosity. The intention is
laudable, but the design is by no means to be approved,
dissimulation being at no time excusable. In those again
who display their petulance, we see only a vile cavil or a
disgraceful error. The mode in which Scripture reconciles

CHAP. XXII. CHKISTIAN RELIGION. 555

the two things, viz., that by external preaching all are
called to faith and repentance, and that yet the Spirit of
faith and repentance is not given to all, I have already
explained, and will again shortly repeat. But the point
which they assume I deny as false in two respects :
for he who threatens that when it shall rain on one city
there will be drought in another, (Amos iv. 7 ;) and declares
in another passage, that there will be a famine of the word,
(Amos viii. 11,) does not lay himself under a fixed obligation
to call all equally. And he who, forbidding Paul to preach
in Asia, and leading him away from Bithynia, carries him
over to Macedonia, (Acts xvi. 6,) shows that it belongs to
him to distribute the treasure in what wray he pleases. But
it is by Isaiah he more clearly demonstrates how he destines
the promises of salvation specially to the elect, (Isa. viii. 16 ;)
for he declares that his disciples would consist of them only,
and not indiscriminately of the whole human race. Whence
it is evident that the doctrine of salvation, which is said to
be set apart for the sons of the Church only, is abused when
it is represented as effectually available to all. For the
present let it suffice to observe, that though the word of the
gospel is addressed generally to all, yet the gift of faith is
rare. Isaiah assigns the cause when he says, that the arm of
the Lord is not revealed to all, (Isa. liii. 1.) Had he said,
that the gospel is malignantly and perversely contemned,
because many obstinately refuse to hear, there might perhaps
be some colour for this universal call. It is not the purpose
of the Prophet, however, to extenuate the guilt of men, when
he states the source of their blindness to be, that God
deigns not to reveal his arm to them ; he only reminds us
that since faith is a special gift, it is in vain that external
doctrine sounds in the ear. But I would fain know from
those doctors whether it is mere preaching or faith that makes
men sons of God. Certainly when it is said, " As many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name," (John i. 12,)
a confused mass is not set before us, but a special order is
assigned to believers, who are "born not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

556 INSTITUTES OP THE BOOK III.

But it is said, there is a mutual agreement between faith
and the word. That must be wherever there is faith. But
it is no new thing for the seed to fall among thorns or in
stony places ; not only because the majority appear in fact
to be rebellious against God, but because all are not gifted
with eyes and ears. How, then, can it consistently be said,
that God calls while he knows that the called will not come ?
Let Augustine answer for me: " Would you dispute with me ?
Wonder with me, and exclaim, O the depth ! Let us both
agree in dread, lest we perish in error," (August, de Verb.
Apost. Serm. xi.) Moreover, if election is, as Paul declares,
the parent of faith, I retort the argument, and maintain
that faith is not general, since election is special. For
it is easily inferred from the series of causes and effects,
when Paul says, that the Father " hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,"
(Eph. i. 3, 4,) that these riches are not common to all, be
cause God has chosen only whom he would. And the
reason why in another passage he commends the faith of the
elect is, to prevent any one from supposing that he acquires
faith of his own nature ; since to God alone belongs the glory of
freely illuminating those whom he had previously chosen,
(Tit. i. 1.) For it is well said by Bernard, " His friends
hear apart when he says to them, Fear not, little flock : to
you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom. Who
are these ? Those whom he foreknew and predestinated to
be conformed to the image of his Son. He has made known
his great and secret counsel. The Lord knoweth them that
are his, but that which was known to God was manifested
to men ; nor, indeed, does he deign to give a participation
in this great mystery to any but those whom he foreknew
and predestinated to be his own," (Bernard, ad Thomam
Praspos. Benerlae. Epist. 107.) Shortly after he concludes,
" The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear him ; from everlasting through predesti
nation, to everlasting through glorification : the one knows no
beginning, the other no end." But why cite Bernard as a
witness, when we hear from the lips of our Master, " Not

CHAP. XXII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 557

that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of
God"? (John vi. 46.) By these words he intimates that all
who are not regenerated by God are amazed at the bright
ness of his countenance. And, indeed, faith is aptly con
joined with election, provided it hold the second place. This
order is clearly expressed by our Saviour in these words,
" This is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing ;" " And this
is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life,"
(John vi. 39, 40.) If he would have all to be saved, he
would appoint his Son their guardian, and would ingraft
them all into his body by the sacred bond of faith. It is
now clear that faith is a singular pledge of paternal love,
treasured up for the sons whom he has adopted. Hence
Christ elsewhere says, that the sheep follow the shepherd
because they know his voice, but that they will not follow a
stranger, because they know not the voice of strangers,
(John x. 4.) But whence that distinction, unless that their
ears have been divinely bored ? For no man makes himself
a sheep, but is formed by heavenly grace. And why does
the Lord declare that our salvation will always be sure and
certain, but just because it is guarded by the invincible
power of God ? (John x. 29.) Accordingly, he concludes
that unbelievers are not of his sheep, (John x. 16.) The
reason is, because they are not of the number of those who,
as the Lord promised by Isaiah, were to be his disciples.
Moreover, as the passages which I have quoted imply per
severance, they are also attestations to the inflexible con
stancy of election.

11. We come now to the reprobate, to whom the Apostle
at the same time refers, (Rom. ix. 13.) For as Jacob, who
as yet had merited nothing by good works, is assumed into
favour ; so Esau, while as yet unpolluted by any crime, is
hated. If we turn our view to works, we do injustice to the
Apostle, as if he had failed to see the very thing which is
clear to us. Moreover, there is complete proof of his not
having seen it, since he expressly insists that when as yet
they had done neither good nor evil, the one was elected,

558 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

the other rejected, in order to prove that the foundation of
divine predestination is not in works. Then after starting
the objection, Is God unjust ? instead of employing what
would have been the surest and plainest defence of his justice,
viz., that God had recompensed Esau according to his
wickedness, he is contented with a different solution, viz.,
that the reprobate are expressly raised up, in order that the
glory of God may thereby be displayed. At last, he con
cludes that God hath mercy on whom he will have mercy,
and whom he will he hardeneth, (Rom. ix. 18.) You see
how he refers both to the mere pleasure of God. There
fore, if we cannot assign any reason for his bestowing mercy
on his people, but just that it so pleases him, neither can we
have any reason for his reprobating others but his will. When
God is said to visit in mercy or harden whom he will, men
are reminded that they are not to seek for any cause beyond
his will.

CHAP. XXIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 559

CHAPTER XXIIL

REFUTATION OF THE CALUMNIES BY WHICH THIS DOCTRINE
IS ALWAYS UNJUSTLY ASSAILED.

This chapter consists of four parts, which refute the principal objec
tions to this doctrine, and the various pleas and exceptions founded on
these objections. These are preceded by a refutation of those who hold
election but deny reprobation, sec. 1. Then follows, I. A refutation of
the first objection to the doctrine of reprobation and election, sec. 2-5.
II. An answer to the second objection, sec. 6-9. III. A refutation of
the third objection. IY. A refutation of the fourth objection ; to which
is added a useful and necessary caution, sec. 12-14.

Sections.

1. Error of those who deny reprobation. 1. Election opposed to repro

bation. 2. Those who deny reprobation presumptuously plead
with God, whose counsels even angels adore. 3. They murmur
against God when disclosing his counsels by the Apostle. Excep
tion and answer. Passage of Augustine.

2. First objection, viz., that God is unjustly offended with those whom

he dooms to destruction without their own desert. First answer,
from the consideration of the divine will. The nature of this will,
and how to be considered.

1 3. Second answer. God owes nothing to man. His hatred against
those who are corrupted by sin is most just. The reprobate con
vinced in their own consciences of the just judgment of God.
•> 4. Exception, viz., that the reprobate seem to have been preordained
to sin. Answer. Passage of the Apostle vindicated from calumny.

5. Answer, confirmed by the authority of Augustine. Illustration.

Passage of Augustine.

6. Objection, that God ought not to impute the sins rendered necessary

by his predestination. First answer, by ancient writers. This
not valid. Second answer also defective. Third answer, pro
posed by Valla, well founded.

7. Objection, that God did not decree that Adam should perish by his

fall, refuted by a variety of reasons. A noble passage of Augus
tine.

8. Objection, that the wicked perish by the permission, not by the will

of God. Answer. A pious exhortation.

560 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

9. Objection and answer.

10. Objection, that, according to the doctrine of predestination, God is a

respecter of persons. Answer.

11. Objection, that sinners are to be punished equally, or the justice of

God is unequal. Answer. Confirmed by passages of Augustine.

12. Objection, that the doctrine of predestination produces overweening

confidence and impiety. Different answers.

13. Another objection, depending on the former. Answer. The doctrine

of predestination to be preached, not passed over in silence.

14. How it is to be preached and delivered to the people. Summary of

the orthodox doctrine of predestination, from Augustine.

1. THE human mind, when it hears this doctrine, cannot
restrain its petulance, but boils and rages as if aroused by
the sound of a trumpet. Many professing a desire to defend
the Deity from an invidious charge admit the doctrine of
election, but deny that any one is reprobated, (Bernard, in
Die Ascensionis, Serm. 2.) This they do ignorantly and
childishly, since there could be no election without its opposite
reprobation. God is said to set apart those whom he adopts
for salvation. It were most absurd to say, that he admits
others fortuitously, or that they by their industry acquire
what election alone confers on a few. Those, therefore,
whom God passes by he reprobates, and that for no other
cause but because he is pleased to exclude them from the
inheritance which he predestines to his children. Nor is it
possible to tolerate the petulance of men, in refusing to be
restrained by the word of God, in regard to his incompre
hensible counsel, which even angels adore. We have already
been told that hardening is not less under the immediate
hand of God than mercy. Paul does not, after the example
of those whom I have mentioned, labour anxiously to defend
God, by calling in the aid of falsehood ; he only reminds us
that it is unlawful for the creature to quarrel with its
Creator. Then how will those who refuse to admit that any
are reprobated by God explain the following words of
Christ ? " Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not
planted shah1 be rooted up," (Matth. xv. 13.) They are
plainly told that all whom the heavenly Father has not been
pleased to plant as sacred trees in his garden, are doomed
and devoted to destruction. If they deny that this is a sign

CHAP. XXIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 561

of reprobation, there is nothing, however clear, that can be
proved to them. But if they will still murmur, let us in
the soberness of faith rest contented with the admonition
of Paul, that it can be no ground of complaint that God,
" willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known,
endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath
fitted for destruction : and that he might make known the
riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had
afore prepared unto glory," (Rom. ix. 22, 23.) Let my read
ers observe that Paul, to cut off all handle for murmuring and
detraction, attributes supreme sovereignty to the wrath and
power of God ; for it were unjust that those profound judg
ments, which transcend all our powers of discernment, should
be subjected to our calculation. It is frivolous in our oppo
nents to reply, that God does not altogether reject those
whom in lenity he tolerates, but remains in suspense with
regard to them, if peradventure they may repent ; as if Paul
were representing God as patiently waiting for the conver
sion of those whom he describes as fitted for destruction.
For Augustine, rightly expounding this passage, says, that
where power is united to endurance, God does not permit,
but rules, (August. Cont. Julian., Lib. v. c. 5.) They add
also, that it is not without cause the vessels of wrath are said
to be fitted for destruction, and that God is said to have pre
pared the vessels of mercy, because in this way the praise of
salvation is claimed for God, whereas the blame of perdition
is thrown upon those who of their own accord bring it upon
themselves. But were I to concede that by the different
forms of expression Paul softens the harshness of the former
clause, it by no means follows, that he transfers the prepara
tion for destruction to any other cause than the secret counsel
of God. This, indeed, is asserted in the preceding context,
where God is said to have raised up Pharaoh, and to harden
whom he will. Hence it follows, that the hidden counsel of
God is the cause of hardening. I at least hold with Augustine,
that when God makes sheep out of wolves, he forms them
again by the powerful influence of grace, that their hardness
may thus be subdued, and that he does not convert the obsti
nate, because he does not exert that more powerful grace, a

VOL. II. 2 N

562 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

grace which he has at command, if he were disposed to use
it, (August, de Praedest. Sanct., Lib. i. c. 2.)

2. These observations would be amply sufficient for the
pious arid modest, and such as remember that they are men.
But because many are the species of blasphemy which these
virulent dogs utter against God, we shall, as far as the case
admits, give an answer to each. Foolish men raise many
grounds of quarrel with God, as if they held him subject to
their accusations. First, they ask why God is offended with
his creatures, \vlio have not provoked him by any pre
vious offence ; for to devote to destruction whomsoever he
pleases, more resembles the caprice of a tyrant than the legal
sentence of a judge ; and, therefore, there is reason to expostu
late with God, if at his mere pleasure men are, without any
desert of their own, predestinated to eternal death. If at any
time thoughts of this kind come into the minds of the pious,
they will be sufficiently armed to repress them, by consider
ing how sinful it is to insist on knowing the causes of the
divine will, since it is itself, and justly ought to be, the cause of
all that exists. For if his will has any cause, there must be
something antecedent to it, and to which it is annexed ; this
it were impious to imagine. The will of God is the supreme
rule of righteousness,1 so that everything which he wills
must be held to be righteous by the mere fact of his willing
it. Therefore, when it is asked why the Lord did so, we must
answer, Because he pleased. But if you proceed farther to
ask why he pleased, you ask for something greater and more
sublime than the will of God, and nothing such can be found.
Let human temerity then be quiet, and cease to inquire after
what exists not, lest perhaps it fails to find what does exist.
This, I say, will be sufficient to restrain any one who would
reverently contemplate the secret things of God. Against
the audacity of the wicked, who hesitate not openly to
blaspheme, God will sufficiently defend himself by his own
righteousness, without our assistance, when depriving their
consciences of all means of evasion, he shall hold them under
conviction, and make them feel their guilt. We, however,

1 This is taken from Auguste Dein Gen. cont. Manicli., Lib. i. c. 3.

CHAP. XXIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 563

give no countenance to the fiction of absolute power,1 which,
as it is heathenish, so it ought justly to be held in destesta-
tion by us. We do not imagine God to be lawless. He is a
law to himself; because, as Plato says, men labouring under
the influence of concupiscence need law ; but the will of God
is not only free from all vice, but is the supreme standard of
perfection, the law of all laws. But we deny that he is bound
to give an account of his procedure ; and we moreover deny
that we are fit of our own ability to give judgment in such a
case. Wherefore, when we are tempted to go farther than we
ought, let this consideration deter us, Thou shalt be "justified
when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest," (Ps.
li. 4.)

3. God may thus quell his enemies by silence. But lest
we should allow them with impunity to hold his sacred name
in derision, he supplies us with weapons against them from
his word. Accordingly, when we are accosted in such terms
as these, Why did God from the first predestine some to
death, when, as they were not yet in existence, they could
not have merited sentence of death ? let us by way of reply
ask in our turn, What do you imagine that God owes to
man, if he is pleased to estimate him by his own nature ? As
we are all vitiated by sin, we cannot but be hateful to God,
and that not from tyrannical cruelty, but the strictest justice.
But if all whom the Lord predestines to death are natu
rally liable to sentence of death, of what injustice, pray, do
they complain^ ? Should all the sons of Adam come to dispute
and contend with their Creator, because by his eternal pro
vidence they were before their birth doomed to perpetual
destruction, when God comes to reckon with them, what
will they be able to mutter against this defence ? If all are
taken from a corrupt mass, it is not strange that all are sub
ject to condemnation. Let them not, therefore, charge God
with injustice, if by his eternal judgment they are doomed to
a death to which they themselves feel that whether they will

1 French, " Toutesfois en parlant ainsi, nous n'approuvons pas la reverie
dcs theologiens Papistes touchant la puissance absolue de Dieu ;" — still in
speaking thus, we approve not of the reverie of the Popish theologians
touching the absolute power of God.

564 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

or not they are drawn spontaneously by their own nature.
Hence it appears how perverse is this affectation of murmur
ing, when of set purpose they suppress the cause of condem
nation which they are compelled to recognise in themselves,
that they may lay the blame upon God. But though I
should confess a hundred times that God is the author, (and
it is most certain that he is,) they do not, however, thereby
efface their own guilt, which, engraven on their own con
sciences, is ever and anon presenting itself to their view.

4. They again object, Were not men predestinated by the
ordination of God to that corruption which is now held forth
as the cause of condemnation ? If so, when they perish in
their corruption, they do nothing else than suffer punish
ment for that calamity, into which, by the predestination of
God, Adam fell, and dragged all his posterity headlong with
him. Is not he, therefore, unjust in thus cruelly mocking his
creatures ? I admit that by the will of God all the sons of
Adam fell into that state of wretchedness in which they are
now involved ; and this is just what I said at the first, that
we must always return to the mere pleasure of the divine
will, the cause of which is hidden in himself. But it does
not forthwith follow that God lies open to this charge. For
we will answer with Paul in these words, " Nay but, O man,
who art thou that repliest against God ? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me
thus ? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same
lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dis
honour ?" (Rom. ix. 20, 21.) They will deny that the justice
of God is thus truly defended, and will allege that we seek
an evasion, such as those are wont to employ who have no
good excuse. For what more seems to be said here than
just that the power of God is such as cannot be hindered, so
that he can do whatsoever he pleases ? But it is far other
wise. For what stronger reason can be given than when we
are ordered to reflect who God is? How could he who is
the Judge of the world commit any unrighteousness ? If it
properly belongs to the nature of God to do judgment, he
must naturally love justice and abhor injustice. Wherefore,
the Apostle did not, as if he had been caught in a difficulty, -

CHAP. XXIII. CHKISTIAN RELIGION. 565

have recourse to evasion ; he only intimated that the pro
cedure of divine justice is too high to be scanned by human
measure, or comprehended by the feebleness of human intel
lect. The Apostle, indeed, confesses that in the divine judg
ments there is a depth in which all the minds of men must
be engulfed if they attempt to penetrate into it. But he also
shows how unbecoming it is to reduce the works of God to
such a law as that we can presume to condemn them the
moment they accord not with our reason. There is a well-
known saying of Solomon, (which, however, few properly
understand,) " The great God that formed all things both
rewardeth the fool and rewardeth transgressors," (Prov. xxvi.
10.) For he is speaking of the greatness of God, whose
pleasure it is to inflict punishment on fools and transgressors,
though he is not pleased to bestow his Spirit upon them.
It is a monstrous infatuation in men to seek to subject that
which has no bounds to the little measure of their reason.
Paul gives the name of elect to the angels who maintained
their integrity. If their stedfastness was owing to the good
pleasure of God, the revolt of the others proves that they were
abandoned.1 Of this no other cause can be adduced than
reprobation, which is hidden in the secret counsel of God.

5. Now, should some Manes or Crelestinus2 come forward
to arraign Divine Providence, (see sec. 8,) I say with Paul,
that no account of it can be given, because by its magnitude
it far surpasses our understanding. Is there any thing
strange or absurd in this ? Would we have the power of
God so limited as to be unable to do more than our mind
can comprehend ? I say with Augustine, that the Lord has
created those who, as he certainly foreknew, were to go to
destruction, and he did so because he so willed. Why he
willed it is not ours to ask, as we cannot comprehend, nor
can it become us even to raise a controversy as to the justice
of the divine will. Whenever we speak of it, we are speak
ing of the supreme standard of justice. (See August. Ep.

1 French, " Si leur Constance et fermete a etc fondee au bon plaisir
de Dieu, la revolte des diables monstre qu'ils n'ont pas ete retenus, mais
plustost delaissez ;" — if their constancy and firmness was founded on
the good pleasure of God, the revolt of the devils shows that they were
not restrained, but rather abandoned.

2 The French adds, " on autre heretique ;" — or other heretic.

566 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

106.) But when justice clearly appears, why should we
raise any question of injustice? Let us not, therefore, be
ashamed to stop their mouths after the example of Paul.
Whenever they presume to carp, let us begin to repeat :
Who are ye, miserable men, that bring an accusation against
God, and bring it because he does not adapt the great
ness of his works to your meagre capacity ? As if every
thing must be perverse that is hidden from the flesh. The
immensity of the divine judgments is known to you by
clear experience. You know that they are called " a great
deep," (Ps. xxxvi. 6.) Now, look at the narrowness of your
own mind, and say whether it can comprehend the decrees
of God. Why then should you, by infatuated inquisitive-
iiess, plunge yourselves into an abyss which reason itself tells
you will prove your destruction ? Why are you not deterred,
in some degree at least, by what the Book of Job, as well
as the Prophetical books, declare concerning the incompre
hensible wisdom and dreadful power of God ? If your mind is
troubled, decline not to embrace the counsel of Augustine,
" You a man expect an answer from me : I also am a man.
Wherefore, let us both listen to him who says, ' O man, who
art thoti ?' Believing ignorance is better than presumptuous
knowledge. Seek merits ; you will find nought but punish
ment. O the height ! Peter denies, a thief believes. O the
height ! Do you ask the reason ? I will tremble at the height.
Reason you, I will wonder ; dispute you, I will believe. I see
the height ; I cannot sound the depth. Paul found rest,
because he found wonder. He calls the judgments of God
c unsearchable ;' and have you come to search them ? He
says that his ways are l past finding out,' and do you seek to
find them out?'' (August, de Verb. Apost. Serm. 20.) We
shall gain nothing by proceeding farther. For neither will
the Lord satisfy the petulance of these men, nor does he
need any other defence than that which he used by his Spirit,
who spoke by the mouth of Paul. We unlearn the art of
speaking well wrhen we cease to speak with God.

6. Impiety starts another objection, which, however, seeks
not so much to criminate God as to excuse the sinner ;
though he who is condemned by God as a sinner cannot .
ultimately be acquitted without impugning the judge. This,

CHAP. XXIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 567

then, is the scoffing language which profane tongues employ.
Why should God blame men for things the necessity of which
he has imposed by his own predestination ? What could
they do ? Could they struggle with his decrees ? It were
in vain for them to do it, since they could not possibly suc
ceed. It is not just, therefore, to punish them for things
the principal cause of which is in the predestination of God.
Here I will abstain from a defence to which ecclesiastical
writers usually recur, that there is nothing in the prescience
of God to prevent him from regarding man as a sinner, since
the evils which he foresees are man's, not his. This would
not stop the caviller, who would still insist that God might,
if he had pleased, have prevented the evils which he foresaw,
and not having done so, must with determinate counsel have
created man for the very purpose of so acting on the earth.
But if by the providence of God man was created, on the con
dition of afterwards doing whatever he does, then that which
he cannot escape, and which he is constrained by the will of
God to do, cannot be charged upon him as a crime. Let us,
therefore, see what is the proper method of solving the diffi
culty. First, all must admit what Solomon says, " The
Lord hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil," (Prov. xvi. 4.) Now, since the arrange
ment of all things is in the hand of God, since to him belongs
the disposal of life and death, he arranges all things by his
sovereign counsel, in such a way that individuals are born,
who are doomed from the womb to certain death, and are to
glorify him by their destruction. If any one alleges that no
necessity is laid upon them by the providence of God, but
rather that they are created by him in that condition, because
he foresaw their future depravity, he says something, but
does not say enough. Ancient writers, indeed, occasionally
employ this solution, though with some degree of hesitation.
The Schoolmen, again, rest in it as if it could not be gain
say ed. I, for my part, am willing to admit, that mere pre
science lays no necessity on the creatures ; though some do not
assent to this, but hold that it is itself the cause of things.
But Valla, though otherwise not greatly skilled in sacred
matters, seems to me to have taken a shrewder and more

5G8 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

acute view, when he shows that the dispute is superfluous,
since life and death are acts of the divine will rather than of
prescience. If God merely foresaw human events, and did
not also arrange and dispose of them at his pleasure, there
might be room for agitating the question, how far his fore
knowledge amounts to necessity; but since he foresees the
things which are to happen, simply because he has decreed
that they are so to happen, it is vain to debate about pre
science, while it is clear that all events take place by his
sovereign appointment.

7. They deny that it is ever said in distinct terms, God
decreed that Adam should perish by his revolt.1 As if the
same God, who is declared in Scripture to do whatsoever he
pleases, could have made the noblest of his creatures without
any special purpose. They say that, in accordance with
free-will, he was to be the architect of his own fortune, that
God had decreed nothing but to treat him according to his
desert. If this frigid fiction is received, where will be the
omnipotence of God, by which, according to his secret coun
sel on which every thing depends, he rules over all ? But
whether they will allow it or not, predestination is manifest
in Adam's posterity. It was not owing to nature that they
all lost salvation by the fault of one parent. Why should
they refuse to admit with regard to one man that which
against their will they admit with regard to the whole human
race ? Why should they in cavilling lose their labour ? Scrip
ture proclaims that all were, in the person of one, made liable
to eternal death. As this cannot be ascribed to nature, it is
plain that it is owing to the wonderful counsel of God. It
is very absurd in these worthy defenders of the justice of
God to strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. I again ask
how it is that the fall of Adam involves so many nations with
their infant children in eternal death without remedy, unless
that it so seemed meet to God ? Here the most loquacious
tongues must be dumb. The decree, I admit, is dreadful ;
and yet it is impossible to deny that God foreknew what
the end of man was to be before he made him, and foreknew,

1 See Calvin, De Prsedestinatione.

CHAP. XXIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 569

because he had so ordained by his decree. Should any
one here inveigh against the prescience of God, he does it
rashly and unadvisedly. For why, pray, should it be made
a charge against the heavenly Judge, that he was not igno
rant of what was to happen ? Thus, if there is any just or
plausible complaint, it must be directed against predestina
tion. Nor ought it to seem absurd when I say, that God
not only foresaw the fall of the first man, and in him the
ruin of his posterity ; but also at his own pleasure arranged
it. For as it belongs to his wisdom to foreknow all future
events, so it belongs to his power to rule and govern them by
his hand. This question, like others, is skilfully explained
by Augustine : " Let us confess with the greatest benefit,
what we believe with the greatest truth, that the God and
Lord of all things, who made all things very good, both fore
knew that evil was to arise out of good, and knew that it
belonged to his most omnipotent goodness to bring good out
of evil, rather than not permit evil to be, and so ordained the
life of angels and men as to show in it, first, what free-will
could do ; and, secondly, what the benefit of his grace and his
righteous judgment could do," (August. Enchir. ad Laurent.)
8. Here they recur to the distinction between will and
permission, the object being to prove that the wicked perish
only by the permission, but not by the will of God. But
why do we say that he permits, but just because he wills ?
Nor, indeed, is there any probability in the thing itself, viz.,
that man brought death upon himself, merely by the per
mission, and not by the ordination of God ; as if God had
not determined what he wished the condition of the chief
of his creatures to be. I will not hesitate, therefore,
simply to confess with Augustine that the will of God is
necessity, and that every thing is necessary which he has
willed ; just as those things will certainly happen which he
has foreseen, (August, de Gen. ad Lit., Lib. vi. cap. 15.)
Now, if in excuse of themselves and the ungodly, either the
Pelagians, or Manichees, or Anabaptists, or Epicureans, (for
it is with these four sects we have to discuss this matter,)
should object the necessity by which they are constrained,
in consequence of the divine predestination, they do nothing

570 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

that is relevant to the cause. For if predestination is
nothing else than a dispensation of divine justice, secret
indeed, but unblameable, because it is certain that those pre
destinated to that condition were not unworthy of it, it is
equally certain, that the destruction consequent upon pre
destination is also most just. Moreover, though their
perdition depends on the predestination of God, the cause
and matter of it is in themselves. The first man fell because
the Lord deemed it meet that he should : why he deemed it
meet, we know not. It is certain, however, that it was just,
because he saw that his own glory would thereby be dis
played. When you hear the glory of God mentioned,
understand that his justice is included. For that which
deserves praise must be just. Man therefore falls, divine
providence so ordaining, but he falls by his own fault. The
Lord had a little before declared that all the things which
he had made were very good, (Gen. i. 31.) Whence then
the depravity of man, which made him revolt from God ?
Lest it should be supposed that it was from his creation,
God had expressly approved what proceeded from himself.
Therefore, man's own wickedness corrupted the pure nature
which he had received from God, and his ruin brought with
it the destruction of all his posterity. Wherefore, let us in
the corruption of human nature contemplate the evident
cause of condemnation, (a cause which comes more closely
home to us,) rather than inquire into a cause hidden and
almost incomprehensible in the predestination of God. Nor
let us decline to submit our judgment to the boundless wisdom
of God, so far as to confess its insufficiency to comprehend
many of his secrets. Ignorance of things which we are not
able, or which it is not lawful to know, is learning, while the
desire to know them is a species of madness.

9. Some one, perhaps, will say, that I have not yet stated
enough to refute this blasphemous excuse. I confess that it
is impossible to prevent impiety from murmuring and object
ing ; but I think I have said enough, not only to remove the
ground, but also the pretext for throwing blame upon God.
The reprobate would excuse their sins by alleging that they
are unable to escape the necessity of sinning, especially

CHAP. XXIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 571

because a necessity of this nature is laid upon them by the
ordination of God. We deny that they can thus be validly
excused, since the ordination of God, by which they com
plain that they are doomed to destruction, is consistent with
equity, — an equity, indeed, unknown to us, but most certain.
Hence we conclude, that every evil which they bear is
inflicted by the most just judgment of God. Next we have
shown that they act preposterously when, in seeking the origin
of their condemnation, they turn their view to the hidden
recesses of the divine counsel, and wink at the corruption of
nature, which is the true source. They cannot impute this
corruption to God, because he bears testimony to the good
ness of his creation. For though, by the eternal providence
of God, man was formed for the calamity under which he
lies, he took the matter of it from himself, not from God,
since the only cause of his destruction was his degenerating
from the purity of his creation into a state of vice and
impurity.

10. There is a third absurdity by which the adversaries
of predestination defame it. As we ascribe it entirely to the
counsel of the divine will, that those whom God adopts as
the heirs of his kingdom are exempted from universal
destruction, they infer that he is an accepter of persons; but
this Scripture uniformly denies : and, therefore, Scripture
is either at variance with itself, or respect is had to merit in
election. First, the sense in which Scripture declares that
God is not an accepter of persons, is different from that
which they suppose : since the term person means not man^
but those things which, when conspicuous in a man, either
procure favour, grace, and dignity, or, on the contrary, pro
duce hatred, contempt, and disgrace. Among these are,
on the one hand, riches, wealth, power, rank, office, country,
beauty, &c. ; and, on the other hand, poverty, want, mean
birth, sordidness, contempt, and the like. Thus Peter and
Paul say, that the Lord is no accepter of persons, because
he makes no distinction between the Jew and the Greek;
does not make the mere circumstance of country the ground
for rejecting one or embracing the other, (Acts x. 34 ; Rom.
ii. 10 ; Gal. iii. 28.) Thus James also uses the same words,

572 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

when he would declare that God has no respect to riches in
his judgment, (James ii. 5.) Paul also says in another pass
age, that in judging God has no respect to slavery or free
dom, (Eph. vi. 9 ; Col. iii. 25.) There is nothing inconsistent
with this when we say, that God, according to the good
pleasure of his will, without any regard to merit, elects those
whom he chooses for sons, while he rejects and reprobates
others. For fuller satisfaction the matter may be thus
explained, (see August. Epist. 115, et ad Bonif., Lib. ii. cap.
7.) It is asked, how it happens that of two, between whom
there is no difference of merit, God in his election adopts
the one, and passes by the other ? I, in my turn, ask, Is
there any thing in him who is adopted to incline God
towards him ? If it must be confessed that there is nothing,
it will follow, that God looks not to the man, but is influ
enced entirely by his own goodness to do him good. There
fore, when God elects one and rejects another, it is owing
not to any respect to the individual, but entirely to his own
mercy, which is free to display and exert itself when and
where he pleases. For we have elsewhere seen, that in
order to humble the pride of the flesh, " not many wise men
after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called,"
(1 Cor. i. 26;) so far is God in the exercise of his favour
from showing any respect to persons.

11. Wherefore, it is false and most wicked to charge
God with dispensing justice unequally, because in this pre
destination, he does not observe the same course towards all.
If (say they) he finds all guilty, let him punish all alike : if
he finds them innocent, let him relieve all from the severity
of judgment. But they plead with God as if he were either
interdicted from showing mercy, or were obliged, if he show
mercy, entirely to renounce judgment. What is it that
they demand ? That if all are guilty, all shall receive the
same punishment. We admit that the guilt is common, but
we say, that God in mercy succours some. Let him (they
say) succour all. We object, that it is right for him to show
by punishing that he is a just judge. When they cannot
tolerate this, what else are they attempting than to deprive
God of the power of showing mercy ; or, at least, to allow it _

CHAP. XXIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 573

to him only on the condition of altogether renouncing judg
ment ? Here the words of Augustine most admirably apply :
" Since in the first man the whole human race fell under
condemnation, those vessels which are made of it unto
honour, are not vessels of self-righteousness, but of divine
mercy. When other vessels are made unto dishonour, it
must be imputed not to injustice, but to judgment," (August.
Epist. 106, De Prasdest. et Gratia ; De Bono Persever., cap.
12.) Since God inflicts due punishment on those whom he
reprobates, and bestows unmerited favour on those whom he
calls, he is free from every accusation ; just as it belongs to
the creditor to forgive the debt to one, and exact it of
another. The Lord therefore may show favour to whom he
will, because he is merciful ; not show it to all, because he is
a just judge. In giving to some what they do not merit,
he shows his free favour ; in not giving to all, he declares
what all deserve. For when Paul says, " God hath con
cluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon
all," it ought also to be added, that he is debtor to none ;
for " who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed
unto him again?" (Rom. xi. 32, 35.)

12. Another argument which they employ to overthrow
predestination is, that if it stand, all care and study of well
doing must cease. For what man can hear (say they) that
life and death are fixed by an eternal and immutable decree
of God, without immediately concluding that it is of no con
sequence how he acts, since no work of his can either hinder
or further the predestination of God ? Thus all will rush on,
and like desperate men plunge headlong wherever lust in
clines. And it is true that this is not altogether a fiction ;
for there are multitudes of a swinish nature who defile the
doctrine of predestination by their profane blasphemies, and
employ them as a cloak to evade all admonition and censure.
" God knows what he has determined to do with regard to
us : if he has decreed our salvation, he will bring us to it in
his own time ; if he has doomed us to death, it is vain for
us to fight against it." But Scripture, while it enjoins us
to think of this high mystery with much greater reverence
and religion, gives very different instruction to the pious,

574 INSTITUTES OF THE

BOOK III.

and justly condemns the accursed license of the ungodly.
For it does not remind us of predestination to increase our
audacity, and tempt us to pry with impious presumption
into the inscrutable counsels of God, but rather to humble
and abase us, that we may tremble at his judgment, and
learn to look up to his mercy. This is the mark at which
believers will aim. The grunt of these filthy swine is duly
silenced by Paul. They say that they feel secure in vice,
because, if they are of the number of the elect, their vices
will be no obstacle to the ultimate attainment of life. But
Paul reminds us that the end for which we are elected is,
" that we should be holy, and without blame before him,"
(Eph. i. 4.) If the end of election is holiness of life, it
ought to arouse and stimulate us strenuously to aspire to it,
instead of serving as a pretext for sloth. How wide the dif
ference between the two things, between ceasing from well
doing because election is sufficient for salvation, and its being
the very end of election, that we should devote ourselves to
the study of good works. Have done, then, with blasphemies
which wickedly invert the whole order of election. When
they extend their blasphemies farther, and say that he who
is reprobated by God will lose his pains if he studies to
approve himself to him by innocence and probity of life, they
are convicted of the most impudent falsehood. For whence
can any such study arise but from election ? As all who are
of the number of the reprobate are vessels formed unto dis
honour, so they cease not by their perpetual crimes to pro
voke the anger of God against them, and give evident signs
of the judgment which God has already passed upon them; so
far is it from being true that they vainly contend against it.
13. Another impudent and malicious calumny against this
doctrine is, that it destroys all exhortations to a pious life.
The great odium to which Augustine was at one time sub
jected on this head he wiped away in his treatise De Correp-
tione et Gratia, to Valentinus, a perusal of which will easily
satisfy the pious and docile. Here, however, I may touch
on a few points, which will, I hope, be sufficient for those
who are honest and not contentious. We have already seen
how plainly and audibly Paul preaches the doctrine of free .

CHAP. XXIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 575

election : is he, therefore, cold in admonishing and exhorting ?
Let those good zealots compare his vehemence with theirs, and
they will find that they are ice, while he is all fervour. And
surely every doubt on this subject should be removed by the
principles which he lays down, that God hath not called us
to uncleanness ; that every one should possess his vessel in
honour ; that we are the workmanship of God, " created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them," (I Thess. iv. 4, 7 ;
Eph. ii. 10.) In one word, those who have any tolerable
acquaintance with the writings of Paul will understand,
without a long demonstration, how well he reconciles the
two things which those men pretend to be contradictory to
each other. Christ commands us to believe in him, and yet
there is nothing false or contrary to this command in the state
ment which he afterwards makes : " No man can come unto
me, except it wrere given him of my Father," (John vi. 65.)
Let preaching then have its free course, that it may lead
men to faith, and dispose them to persevere with unin
terrupted progress. Nor, at the same time, let there be any
obstacle to the knowledge of predestination, so that those who
obey may not plume themselves on anything of their own,
but glory only in the Lord. It is not without cause our
Saviour says, " Who hath ears to hear, let him hear," (Matth.
xiii. 9.) Therefore, while we exhort and preach, those who
have ears willingly obey : in those, again, who have no ears
is fulfilled what is written : a Hear ye indeed, but understand
not," (Isaiah vi. 9.) " But why (says Augustine) have some
ears, and others not ? Who hath known the mind of the
Lord ? Are we, therefore, to deny what is plain because
we cannot comprehend what is hid ?" This is a faithful
quotation from Augustine ; but because his words will per
haps have more authority than mine, let us adduce the fol
lowing passage from his treatise, De Bono Persever., cnp. 15.
" Should some on hearing this turn to indolence and sloth,
and leaving off all exertion, rush headlong into lust, are we,
therefore, to suppose that what has been said of the fore
knowledge of God is not true? If God foreknew that they
would be good, will they not be good, however great their

576 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

present wickedness? and if God foreknew that they would
be wicked, will they not be wicked, how great soever the
goodness now seen in them ? For reasons of this description,
must the truth which has been stated on the subject of
divine foreknowledge be denied or not mentioned ? and more
especially when, if it is not stated, other errors will arise ?"
In the sixteenth chapter he says, " The reason for not men
tioning the truth is one thing, the necessity for telling the
truth is another. It were tedious to inquire into all the
reasons for silence. One, however, is, lest those who under
stand not become worse, while we are desirous to make those
who understand better informed. Now, such persons, when
we say anything of this kind, do not indeed become better
informed, but neither do they become worse. But when
the truth is of such a nature, that he who cannot compre
hend it becomes worse by our telling it, and he who can
comprehend it becomes worse by our not telling it, what
think ye ought we to do ? Are we not to tell the truth, that
he who can comprehend may comprehend, rather than not
tell it, and thereby not only prevent both from comprehend
ing, but also make the more intelligent of the two to become
worse, whereas if he heard and comprehended others might
learn through him ? And we are unwilling to say what, on
the testimony of Scripture, it is lawful to say. For we
fear lest, when we speak, he who cannot comprehend may
be offended ; but we have no fear lest, while we are silent, he
wrho can comprehend the truth be involved in falsehood."
In chapter twentieth, glancing again at the same view, he
more clearly confirms it. " Wherefore, if the apostles and
teachers of the Church who came after them did both ; if
they discoursed piously of the eternal election of God, and
at the same time kept believers under the discipline of a
pious life, how can those men of our day, when shut up by
the invincible force of truth, think they are right in saying,
that what is said of predestination, though it is true, must
not be preached to the people ? Nay, it ought indeed to be
preached, that whoso hath ears to hear may hear. And who
hath ears if he hath not received them from him who has
promised to give them ? Certainly, let him who receives not,

CHAP. XXIII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 577

reject. Let him who receives, take and drink, drink and
live. For as piety is to be preached, that God may be duly
worshipped ; so predestination also is to be preached, that he
who hath ears to hear may, in regard to divine grace, glory
not in himself, but in God."

14. And yet as that holy man had a singular desire to
edify, he so regulates his method of teaching as carefully, and
as far as in him lay, to avoid giving offence. For he reminds
us, that those things which are truly should also be fitly
spoken. Were any one to address the people thus : If you
do not believe, the reason is, because God has already doomed
you to destruction : he would not only encourage sloth, but
also give countenance to wickedness. Were any one to give
utterance to the sentiment in the future tense, and say, that
those who hear will not believe because they are reprobates, it
were imprecation rather than doctrine. Wherefore, Augus
tine not undeservedly orders such, as senseless teachers or
sinister and ill-omened prophets, to retire from the Church.
He, indeed, elsewhere truly contends that " a man profits by
correction only when He who causes those whom He pleases
to profit without correction, pities and assists. But why
is it thus with some, and differently with others ? Far be it
from us to say that it belongs to the clay and not to the
potter to decide." He afterwards says, "When men by
correction either come or return to the way of righteousness,
who is it that works salvation in their hearts but he who
gives the increase, whoever it be that plants and waters ?
When he is pleased to save, there is no free-will in man to
resist. Wherefore, it cannot be doubted that the will of
God (who hath done whatever he hath pleased in heaven
and in earth, and who has even done things which are to
be) cannot be resisted by the human will, or prevented from
doing what he pleases, since with the very wills of men he
does so." Again, " When he would bring men to himself,
does he bind them with corporeal fetters ? He acts inwardly,
inwardly holds, inwardly moves their hearts, and draws them
by the wills which he has wrought in them." What he im
mediately adds must not be omitted : " Because we know not
who belongs to the number of the predestinated, or does not

VOL. II. 2 O

578 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

belong, our desire ought to be that all may be saved ; and
hence every person we meet, we will desire to be with us a
partaker of peace. But our peace will rest upon the sons of
peace. Wherefore, on our part, let correction be used as a
harsh yet salutary medicine for -all, that they may neither
perish, nor destroy others. To God it will belong to make it
available to those whom he has foreknown and predes
tinated."

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 579

CHAPTER XXIY.

ELECTION CONFIRMED BY THE CALLING OF GOD. THE RE
PROBATE BRING UPON THEMSELVES THE RIGHTEOUS DE
STRUCTION TO WHICH THEY ARE DOOMED.

The title of this chapter shows that it consists of two parts, — I. The
case of the Elect, from sec. 1-11. II. The case of the Reprobate, from
sec. 12-17.

Sections.

1. The election of God is secret, but is manifested by effectual calling.

The nature of this effectual calling. How election and effectual
calling are founded on the free mercy of God. A cavil of certain
expositors refuted by the \vords of Augustine. An exception dis
posed of.

2. Calling proved to be free, 1. By its nature and the mode in which

it is dispensed. 2. By the word of God. 3. By the calling of
Abraham, the father of the faithful. 4. By the testimony of John.
5. By the example of those who have been called.

3. The pure doctrine of the calling of the elect misunderstood, 1. By

those who attribute too much to the human will. 2. By those who
make election dependent on faith. This error amply refuted.

4. In this and the five following sections the certainty of election vin

dicated from the assaults of Satan. The leading arguments are :
1. Effectual calling. 2. Christ apprehended by faith. 3. The protec
tion of Christ, the guardian of the elect. We must not attempt to
penetrate to the hidden recesses of the divine wisdom, in order to
learn what is decreed with regard to us at the judgment-seat. We
must begin and end with the call of God. This confirmed by an
apposite saying of Bernard.

5. Christ the foundation of this calling and election. He who does not
^ lean on him alone cannot be certain of his election. He is the

faithful interpreter of the eternal counsel in regard to our salvation.
G. Another security of our election is the protection of Christ our Shep
herd. How it is manifested to us. Objection 1. As to the future
state. 2. As to perseverance. Both objections refuted.
7. Objection, that those who seem elected sometimes fall away. An-
X^ swer. A passage of Paul dissuading us from security explained.
The kind of fear required in the elect.

580 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III,

8. Explanation of the saying, that many are called, but few chosen. A

twofold call.

9. Explanation of the passage, that none is lost but the son of perdi

tion. Refutation of an objection to the certainty of election.

10. Explanation of the passages urged against the certainty of election.

Examples by which some attempt to prove that the seed of election
is sown in the hearts of the elect from their very birth. Answer.
1. One or two examples do not make the rule. 2. This view
opposed to Scripture. 3. Is expressly opposed by an apostle.

11. An explanation and confirmation of the third answer.

12. Second part of the chapter, which treats of the reprobate. Some of

them God deprives of the opportunity of hearing his word. Others
he blinds and stupifies the more by the preaching of it.

13. Of this no other account can be given than that the reprobate are

vessels fitted for destruction. This confirmed by the case of the
elect ; of Pharaoh and of the Jewish people both before and after
the manifestation of Christ.

14. Question, Why does God blind the reprobate ? Two answers. These

confirmed by diiferent passages of Scripture. Objection of the
reprobate. Answer.

15. Objection to this doctrine of the righteous rejection of the reprobate.

The first founded on a passage in Ezekiel. The passage explained.

16. A second objection founded on a passage in Paul. The apostle's mean

ing explained. A third objection and fourth objection answered.

17. A fifth objection, viz., that there seems to be a twofold will in God.

Answer. Other objections and answers. Conclusion.

1. BUT that the subject may be more fully illustrated, we
must treat both of the calling of the elect, and of the blind
ing and hardening of the ungodly. The former I have already
in some measure discussed, (chap. xxii. sec. 10, 11,) when
refuting the error of those who think that the general terms
in which the promises are made place the whole human race
on a level. The special election which otherwise would
remain hidden in God, he at length manifests by his calling.
" For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son." Moreover, " whom lie
did predestinate, them he also called ; and whom he called,
them he also justified," that he may one day glorify, (Rom.
viii. 29, 30.) Though the Lord, by electing his people,
adopted them as his sons, we, however, see that they do not
come into possession of this great good until they are called ;
but when called, the enjoyment of their election is in some

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 581

measure communicated to them. For which reason the Spirit
which they receive is termed by Paul both the " Spirit of adop
tion," and the " seal" and " earnest" of the future inheritance;
because by his testimony he confirms and seals the certainty
of future adoption on their hearts. For although the preach
ing of the gospel springs from the fountain of election, yet
being common to them with the reprobate, it would not be
in itself a solid proof. God, however, teaches his elect effec
tually when he brings them to faith, as we formerly quoted
from the words of our Saviour, " Not that any man hath
seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the
Father," (John vi. 46.) Again, " I have manifested thy name
unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world," (John
xvii. 6.) He says in another passage, " No man can come
to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him,"
(John vi. 44.) This passage Augustine ably expounds in
these words : " If (as Truth says) every one who has learned
cometh, then every one who does not come has not learned.
It does not therefore follow, that he who can come does come,
unless he have willed and done it ; but every one who hath
learned of the Father, not only can come, but also comes ; the
antecedence of possibility,1 the affection of will, and the effect
of action being now present," (August, de Grat. Chr. Cont.
Pelag., Lib. i. c. 14, 31.) In another passage, he says still
more clearly, u What means, Every one that hath heard and
learned of the Father cometh unto me, but just that there is
no one who hears and learns of the Father that does not come
to me ? For if every one who has heard and learned, comes ;
assuredly every one who does not come, has neither heard
nor learned of the Father : for if he had heard and learned,
he would come. Far removed from carnal sense is this school
in which the Father is heard and teaches us to come to the
Son," (August, de Prrcdes. Sanct. c. 8.) Shortly after, he
says, " This grace, which is secretly imparted to the hearts of
men, is not received by any hard heart ; for the reason for
which it is given is, that the hardness of the heart may first
be taken away. Hence, when the Father is heard within,

1 Latin, " possibilitatis profectus." — French, " I'avancement de possi-
bilite."

582 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

he takes away the stony heart, and gives a heart of flesh.
Thus he makes them sons of promise and vessels of mercy,
which he has prepared for glory. Why then does he not
teach all to come to Christ, but just because all whom he
teaches he teaches in mercy, while those whom he teaches not
he teaches not in judgment ? for he pities whom he will, and
hardens whom he will." Those, therefore, whom God has
chosen he adopts as sons, while he becomes to them a Father.
By calling, moreover, he admits them to his family, and
unites them to himself, that they may be one with him.
When calling is thus added to election, the Scripture
plainly intimates that nothing is to be looked for in it but
the free mercy of God. For if we ask whom it is he calls,
and for what reason, he answers, it is those whom he had
chosen. When we come to election, mercy alone every
where appears ; and, accordingly, in this the saying of Paul
is truly realised, " So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy," (Rom.
ix. 16;) and that not as is commonly understood by those who
share the result between the grace of God and the will and
agency of man. For their exposition is, that the desire and
endeavour of sinners are of no avail by themselves, unless
accompanied by the grace of God, but that when aided by
his blessing, they also do their part in procuring salvation.
This cavil I prefer refuting in the words of Augustine rather
than my own : " If all that the apostle meant is, that it is
not alone of him that willeth, or of him that runneth, unless
the Lord be present in mercy, wre may retort and hold the
converse, that it is not of mercy alone, unless willing and
running be present," (August. Enchir. ad Laurent., c. 31.)
But if this is manifestly impious, let us have no doubt that
the apostle attributes all to the mercy of the Lord, and leaves
nothing to our wills or exertions. Such were the sentiments
of that holy man. I set not the value of a straw on the
subtlety to which they have recourse, viz., that Paul would
not have spoken thus had there not been some will and effort
on our part. For he considered not what might be in man ;
but seeing that certain persons ascribed a part of salvation to
the industry of man, he simply condemned their error in the

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 583

former clause, and then claimed the whole substance of salva
tion for the divine mercy. And what else do the prophets
than perpetually proclaim the free calling of God ?

2. Moreover, this is clearly demonstrated by the nature
and dispensation of calling, which consists not merely of the
preaching of the word, but also of the illumination of the
Spirit. Who those are to whom God offers his word is
explained by the prophet, " I am sought of them that asked
not for me : I am found of them that sought me not : I said,
Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by
my name," (Isaiah Ixv. 1.) And lest the Jews should think
that that mercy applied only to the Gentiles, he calls to
their remembrance whence it was he took their father Abra
ham when he condescended to be his friend, (Isaiah xxiv. 3 ;)
namely, from the midst of idolatry, in which he was plunged
with all his people. When he first shines with the light of
his word on the undeserving, he gives a sufficiently clear
proof of his free goodness. Here, therefore, boundless good
ness is displayed, but not so as to bring all to salvation, since
a heavier judgment awaits the reprobate for rejecting the
evidence of his love. God also, to display his own glory, with
holds from them the effectual agency of his Spirit. There
fore, this inward calling is an infallible pledge of salvation.
Hence the words of John, " Hereby we know that he abid-
eth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us," (1 John iii.
24.) And lest the flesh should glory, in at least responding
to him, when he calls and spontaneously offers himself, he
affirms that there would be no ears to hear, no eyes to
see, did not he give them. And he acts not according to the
gratitude of each, but according to his election. Of this you
have a striking example in Luke, when the Jews and Gen
tiles in common heard the discourse of Paul and Barnabas.
Though they were all instructed in the same word, it is
said, that " as many as were ordained to eternal life believ
ed," (Acts xiii. 48.) How can we deny that" calling is
gratuitous, when election alone reigns in it even to its con
clusion ?

3. Two errors are here to be avoided. Some make man a
fellow-worker with God in such a sense, that man's suffrage

584 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

ratifies election, so that, according to them, the will of man
is superior to the counsel of God. As if Scripture taught
that only the power of being able to believe is given us, and
not rather faith itself. Others, although they do not so
much impair the grace of the Holy Spirit, yet, induced by
what means I know not, make election dependent on faith, as
if it were doubtful and ineffectual till confirmed by faith.
There can be no doubt, indeed, that in regard to us it is so
confirmed. Moreover, we have already seen, that the secret
counsel of God, which lay concealed, is thus brought to light,
by this nothing more being understood than that that which
was unknown is proved, and as it were sealed. But it is false
to say that election is then only effectual after we have em
braced the gospel, and that it thence derives its vigour. It
is true that we must there look for its certainty, because, if
we attempt to penetrate to the secret ordination of God, we
shall be engulfed in that profound abyss. But when the
Lord hath manifested it to us, we must ascend higher in
order that the effect may not bury the cause. For what can
be more absurd and unbecoming, than while Scripture teaches
that we are illuminated as God has chosen us, our eyes should
be so dazzled with the brightness of this light, as to refuse
to attend to election ? Meanwhile, I deny not that, in order
to be assured of our salvation, we must begin with the word,
and that our confidence ought to go no farther than the
word Avhen we invoke God the Father. For some, to obtain
more certainty of the counsel of God, (which is nigh us in
our mouth, and in our heart, Deut. xxx. 14,) absurdly desire
to fly above the clouds. We must, therefore, curb that
temerity by the soberness of faith, and be satisfied to have
God as the witness of his hidden grace in the external word ;
provided always that the channel in which the water flows,
and out of which we may freely drink, does not prevent us
from paying due honour to the fountain.

4. Therefore, as those are in error who make the power of
election dependent on the faith by which we perceive that
we are elected, so we shall follow the best order, if, in seeking
the certainty of our election, we cleave to those posterior
signs which are sure attestations to it. Among the tempta-

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 585

tions with which Satan assaults believers, none is greater
or more perilous, than when disquieting them with doubts as
to their election, he at the same time stimulates them with a
depraved desire of inquiring after it out of the proper way.
(See Luther in Genes, cap. xxvi.) By inquiring out of the
proper way, I mean when puny man endeavours to penetrate
to the hidden recesses of the divine wisdom, and goes back
even to the remotest eternity, in order that he may under
stand what final determination God has made with regard to
him. In this way he plunges headlong into an immense
abyss, involves himself in numberless inextricable snares, and
buries himself in the thickest darkness. For it is right that
the stupidity of the human mind should be punished with
fearful destruction, whenever it attempts to rise in its own
strength to the height of divine wisdom. And this tempta
tion is the more fatal, that it is the temptation to which of all
others almost all of us are most prone. For there is scarcely a
mind in which the thought does not sometimes rise, Whence
your salvation but from the election of God ? But what
proof have you of your election ? When once this thought
has taken possession of any individual, it keeps him perpe
tually miserable, subjects him to dire torment, or throws him
into a state of complete stupor. I cannot wish a stronger
proof of the depraved ideas, which men of this description
form of predestination, than experience itself furnishes, since
the mind cannot be infected by a more pestilential error than
that which disturbs the conscience, and deprives it of peace
and tranquillity in regard to God. Therefore, as we dread
shipwreck, we must avoid this rock, which is fatal to every
one who strikes upon it. And though the discussion of pre
destination is regarded as a perilous sea, yet in sailing over
it the navigation is calm and safe, nay pleasant, provided we
do not voluntarily court danger. For as a fatal abyss en
gulfs those who, to be assured of their election, pry into
the eternal counsel of God without the word, yet those who
investigate it rightly, and in the order in which it is exhi
bited in the word, reap from it rich fruits of consolation.

Let our method of inquiry then be, to begin with the
calling of God and to end with it. Although there is nothing

586 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

in this to prevent believers from feeling that the blessings
which they daily receive from the hand of God originate in
that secret adoption, as they themselves express it in Isaiah,
" Thou hast done wonderful things ; thy counsels of old are
faithfulness and truth," (Isa. xxv. 1.) For with this as a
pledge, God is pleased to assure us of as much of his counsel
as can be lawfully known. But lest any should think that
testimony weak, let us consider what clearness and certainty
it gives us. On this subject there is an apposite passage in
Bernard. After speaking of the reprobate, he says, " The
purpose of God stands, the sentence of peace on those that
fear him also stands, a sentence concealing their bad and
recompensing their good qualities ; so that, in a wondrous
manner, not only their good but their bad qualities work
together for good. Who will lay any thing to the charge of
God's elect ? It is completely sufficient for my justification
to have him propitious against whom only I have sinned.
Every thing which he has decreed not to impute to me, is as
if it had never been." A little after he says, " O the place
of true rest, a place which I consider not unworthy of the
name of inner-chamber, where God is seen, not as if disturbed
with anger, or distracted by care, but where his will is proved
to be good, and acceptable^ and perfect. That vision does not
terrify but soothe, does not excite restless curiosity but calms
it, does not fatigue but tranquillises the senses. Here is true
rest. A tranquil God tranquillises all things ; and to see him
at rest, is to be at rest," (Bernard, super Cantic. Serm. xiv.)
5. First, if we seek for the paternal mercy and favour of
God, we must turn our eyes to Christ, in whom alone the
Father is well pleased, (Matth. iii. 17.) When we seek for
salvation, life, and a blessed immortality, to him also must
we betake ourselves, since he alone is the fountain of life,
and the anchor of salvation, and the heir of the kingdom of
heaven. Then what is the end of election, but just that,
being adopted as sons by the heavenly Father, we may by
his favour obtain salvation and immortality ? How much
soever you may speculate and discuss, you will perceive that
in its ultimate object it goes no farther. Hence, those whom
God has adopted as sons, he is said to have elected, not in

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 587

themselves, but in Christ Jesus, (Eph. i. 4 ;) because he
could love them only in him, and only as being previously
made partakers with him, honour them with the inheritance
of his kingdom. But if we are elected in him, we cannot
find the certainty of our election in ourselves ; and not even
in God the Father, if we look at him apart from the Son.
Christ, then, is the mirror in which we ought, and in which,
without deception, we may contemplate our election. For
since it is into his body that the Father has decreed to in
graft those whom from eternity he wished to be his, that he
may regard as sons all whom he acknowledges to be his
members, if we are in communion with Christ, we have proof
sufficiently clear and strong that we are written in the Book
of Life. Moreover, he admitted us to sure communion with
himself, when, by the preaching of the gospel, he declared
that he was given us by the Father, to be ours with all his
blessings, (Rom. viii. 32.) We are said to be clothed with
him, to be one with him, that we may live, because he him
self lives. The doctrine is often repeated, " God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso
ever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life," (John iii. 16.) He who believes in him is said to have
passed from death unto life, (John v. 24.) In this sense he
calls himself the bread of life, of which if a man eat, he shall
never die, (John vi. 35.) He, I say, was our witness, that
all by whom he is received in faith will be regarded by our
heavenly Father as sons. If we long for more than to be
regarded as sons of God and heirs, we must ascend above
Christ. But if this is our final goal, how infatuated is it
to seek out of him what we have already obtained in him,
and can only find in him ? Besides, as he is the Eternal
Wisdom, the Immutable Truth, the Determinate Counsel of
the Father, there is no room for fear that any thing which he
tells us will vary in the minutest degree from that will of the
Father after which we inquire. Nay, rather he faithfully
discloses it to us as it was from the beginning, and always
will be. The practical influence of this doctrine ought also
to be exhibited in our prayers. For though a belief of our
election animates us to invoke God, yet when we frame our

588 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

prayers, it were preposterous to obtrude it upon God, or to
stipulate in this way, " O Lord, if I am elected, hear me."
He would have us to rest satisfied with his promises, and
not to inquire elsewhere whether or not he is disposed to
hear us. We shall thus be disentangled from many snares, if
we know how to make a right use of what is rightly written ;
but let us not inconsiderately wrest it to purposes different
from that to which it ought to be confined.

6. Another confirmation tending to establish our confi
dence is, that our election is connected with our calling. For
those whom Christ enlightens with the knowledge of his
name, and admits into the bosom of his Church, he is said
to take under his guardianship and protection. All whom
he thus receives are said to be committed and entrusted to
him by the Father, that they may be kept unto life eternal.
What would we have ? Christ proclaims aloud that all whom
the Father is pleased to save he hath delivered into his pro
tection, (John vi. 37-39; xvii. 6, 12.) Therefore, if we
would know whether God cares for our salvation, let us ask
whether he has committed us to Christ, whom he has appoint
ed to be the only Saviour of all his people. Then, if we
doubt whether we are received into the protection of Christ,
he obviates the doubt when he spontaneously offers himself
as our Shepherd, and declares that we are of the number of
his sheep if we hear his voice, (John x. 3, 16.) Let us,
therefore, embrace Christ, who is kindly offered to us, and
comes forth to meet us : he will number us among his flock,
and keep us within his fold. But anxiety arises as to our
future state.1 For as Paul teaches, that those are called who
were previously elected, so our Saviour shows that many are
called, but few chosen, (Matth. xxii. 14.) Nay, even Paul
himself dissuades us from security, when he says, " Let him
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he foil," (1 Cor. x.
12.) And again, "Well, because of unbelief they were
broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded,

1 French, " Mais quelcun dira qu'il nous faut soucier de ce qui pent
nous advenir : et quand nous pensons au temps futur que nostre imbeci-
lite nous adraoneste d'etre en solicitude ;" — But some one will say, that
we must feel anxious as to Avhat may happen to us ; and that when we
think on the future, our weakness warns us to be solicitous.

CHAP. XXIY. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 589

but fear : for if God spared not the natural branches, take
heed lest he also spare not thee," (Rom. xi. 20, 21.) In fine,
we are sufficiently taught by experience itself, that calling and
faith are of little value without perseverance, which, however,
is not the gift of all. But Christ has freed us from anxiety
on this head ; for the following promises undoubtedly have
respect to the future : " All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out." Again, " This is the will of him that sent me,
that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing ;
but should raise it up at the last day," (John vi. 37, 39.)
Again, uMy sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me : and I give unto them eternal life, and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of
my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than
all : and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's
hand," (John x. 27, 28.) Again, when he declares, "Every
plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be
rooted up," (Matth. xv. 13,) he intimates conversely that
those who have their root in God can never be deprived of
their salvation. Agreeable to this are the words of John,
" If they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued
with us," (1 John ii. 19.) Hence, also, the magnificent
triumph of Paul over life and death, things present, and
things to come, (Rom. viii. 38.) This must be founded on
the gift of perseverance. There is no doubt that he employs
the sentiment as applicable to all the elect. Paul elsewhere
says, " Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ," (Phil. i. 6.) David, also, when his faith
threatened to fail, leant on this support, u Forsake not the
works of thy hands." Moreover, it cannot be doubted, that
since Christ prays for all the elect, he asks the same thing for
them as he asked for Peter, viz., that their faith fail not,
(Luke xxii. 32.) Hence we infer, that there is no danger of
their falling away, since the Son of God, who asks that their
piety may prove constant, never meets with a refusal. What
then did our Saviour intend to teach us by this prayer, but

590 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

just to confide, that whenever we are his our eternal salva
tion is secure ?

7. But it daily happens that those who seemed to belong
to Christ revolt from him and fall away : Nay, in the very
passage where he declares that none of those whom the
Father hath given to him have perished, he excepts the son
of perdition. This, indeed, is true ; but it is equally true that
such persons never adhered to Christ with that heartfelt con
fidence by which I say that the certainty of our election is
established : " They went out from us," says John, " but
they were not of us ; for if they had been of us, they would,
no doubt, have continued with us," (1 John ii. 19.) I deny
not that they have signs of calling similar to those given to
the elect ; but I do not at all admit that they have that sure
confirmation of election which I desire believers to seek from
the word of the gospel. Wherefore, let not examples of this
kind move us away from tranquil confidence in the promise of
the Lord, when he declares that all by whom he is received
in true faith have been given him by the Father, and that
none of them, while he is their Guardian and Shepherd, will
perish, (John iii. 16 ; vi. 39.) Of Judas we shall shortly
speak, (sec. 9.) Paul does not dissuade Christians from
security simply, but from careless, carnal security, which
is accompanied with pride, arrogance, and contempt of
others, which extinguishes humility and reverence for God,
and produces a forgetfulness of grace received, (Rom. xi. 20.)
For he is addressing the Gentiles, and showing them that
they ought not to exult proudly and cruelly over the Jews,
in consequence of whose rejection they had been substituted
in their stead. He also enjoins fear, not a fear under which
they may waver in alarm, but a fear which, teaching us to
receive the grace of God in humility, does not impair our
confidence in it, as has elsewhere been said. We may add,
that he is not speaking to individuals, but to sects in general,
(see 1 Cor. x. 12.) The Church having been divided into
two parties, and rivalship producing dissension, Paul reminds
the Gentiles that their having been substituted in the place of
a peculiar and holy people was a reason for modesty and

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 591

fear. For there were many vain-glorious persons among them,
whose empty boasting it was expedient to repress. But we
have elsewhere seen, that our hope extends into the future,
even beyond death, and that nothing is more contrary to its
nature than to be in doubt as to our future destiny.

8. The expression of our Saviour, " Many are called, but
few are chosen," (Matth. xxii. 14,) is also very improperly
interpreted, (see Book III. chap. ii. sec. 11, 12.) There
Avill be no ambiguity in it if we attend to what our former
remarks ought to have made clear, viz., that there are
two species of calling : for there is an universal call, by
which God, through the external preaching of the word,
invites all men alike, even those for whom he designs the

' O

call to be a savour of death, and the ground of a severer con
demnation. Besides this there is a special call which, for
the most part, God bestows on believers only, when by the
internal illumination of the Spirit he causes the word preach
ed to take deep root in their hearts. Sometimes, however,
he communicates it also to those whom he enlightens only
for a time, and whom afterwards, in just punishment for their
ingratitude, he abandons and smites with greater blindness.
Now, our Lord seeing that the gospel was published far and
wide, was despised by multitudes, and justly valued by few,
describes God under the character of a King, who, preparing
a great feast, sends his servants all around to invite a great
multitude, but can only obtain the presence of a very few,
because almost all allege causes of excuse ; at length, in
consequence of their refusal, he is obliged to send his ser
vants out into the highways to invite every one they meet.
It is perfectly clear, that thus far the parable is to be under
stood of external calling. He afterwards adds, that God
acts the part of a kind entertainer, who goes round his table
and affably receives his guests ; but still if he finds any
one not adorned with the nuptial garment, he will by no
means aUow him to insult the festivity by his sordid dress. I
admit that this branch of the parable is to be understood of
those who, by a profession of faith, enter the Church, but
are not at all invested with the sanctification of Christ.
Such disgraces to his Church, such cankers God will not

592' INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

always tolerate, but will cast them forth as their turpitude
deserves. • Few, then, out of the great number of called are
chosen ; the calling, however, not being of that kind which
enables believers to judge of their election. The former call
is common to the wicked, the latter brings with it the spirit
of regeneration, which is the earnest and seal of the future
inheritance by which our hearts are sealed unto the day of
the Lord, (Eph. i. 13, 14.) In one word, while hypocrites
pretend to piety, just as if they were true worshippers of God,
Christ declares that they will ultimately be ejected from the
place which they improperly occupy, as it is said in the
psalm, " Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? who shall
dwell in thy holy hill ? He that walketh uprightly, and work-
eth righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart,"
(Psalm xv. 1, 2.) Again, in another passage, "This is the
generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O
Jacob," (Psalm xxiv. 6.) And thus the Spirit exhorts
believers to patience, and not to murmur because Ishmael-
ites are mingled with them in the Church, since the mask
will at length be torn off, and they will be ejected with dis
grace.

9. The same account is to be given of the passage lately
quoted, in which Christ says, that none is lost but the son of
perdition, (John xvii. 12.) The expression is not strictly
proper ; but it is by no means obscure : for Judas was not
numbered among the sheep of Christ, because he was one
truly, but because he held a place among them. Then, in
another passage, where the Lord says, that he was elected
with the apostles, reference is made only to the office, " Have
I not chosen you twelve," says he, uand one of you is a
devil ?" (John vi. 70.) That is, he had chosen him to the
office of apostle. But when he speaks of election to salva
tion, he altogether excludes him from the number of the elect,
a I speak not of you all : I know whom I have chosen,"
(John xiii. 18.) Should any one confound the term election
in the two passages, he will miserably entangle himself;
whereas if he distinguish between them, nothing can be
plainer. Gregory, therefore, is most grievously and perni
ciously in error, when he says that we are conscious only of

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 593

our calling, but are uncertain of our election ; and hence he
exhorts all to fear and trembling, giving this as the reason, that
though we know what we are to-day, yet we know not what
we are to be, (Gregor. Horn. 38.) But in that passage he
clearly shows how he stumbled on that stone. By suspending
election on the merit of works, he had too good a reason for
dispiriting the minds of his readers, while, at the same time,
as he did not lead them away from themselves to confidence in
the divine goodness, he was unable to confirm them. Hence
believers may in some measure perceive the truth of what we
said at the outset, viz., predestination duly considered does
not shake faith, but rather affords the best confirmation of
it. I deny not, however, that the Spirit sometimes accom
modates his language to our feeble capacity ; as when he
says, " They shall not be in the assembly of my people,
neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of
Israel," (Ezek. xiii. 9.) As if God were beginning to write
the names of those whom he counts among his people in the
Book of Life ; whereas we know, even on the testimony of
Christ, that the names of the children of God were written
in the Book of Life from the beginning, (Luke x. 20.) The
words simply indicate the abandonment of those who seemed
to have a chief place among the elect, as is said in the psalm,
" Let them be blotted out of the Book of the Living, and
not be written with the righteous," (Psalm Ixix. 28.)

10. For the elect are brought by calling into the fold of
Christ, not from the very womb, nor all at the same time, but
according as God sees it meet to dispense his grace. Before
they are gathered to the supreme Shepherd they wander dis
persed in a common desert, and in no respect differ from
others, except that by the special mercy of God they are
kept from rushing to final destruction. Therefore, if you
look to themselves, you will see the offspring of Adam giving
token of the common corruption of the mass. That they
proceed not to extreme and desperate impiety is not owing
to any innate goodness in them, but because the eye of God
watches for their safety, and his hand is stretched over them.
Those who dream of some seed of election implanted in their
hearts from their birth, by the agency of which they are ever
VOL. II. 2 P

594 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

inclined to piety and the fear of God, are not supported by
the authority of Scripture, but refuted by experience. They,
indeed, produce a few examples to prove that the elect before
they were enlightened were not aliens from religion ; for in
stance, that Paul led an unblemished life during his Pharisa
ism, that Cornelius was accepted for his prayers and alms,
and so forth, (Phil. iii. 5 ; Acts x. 2.) The case of Paul we
admit, but we hold that they are in error as to Cornelius ; for
it appears that he was already enlightened and regenerated, so
that all which he wanted was a clear revelation of the Gospel.
But what are they to extract from these few examples ? Is it
that all the elect were always endued with the spirit of
piety ? Just as well might any one, after pointing to the
integrity of Aristides, Socrates, Xenocrates, Scipio, Curius,
Camillus, and others, (see Book II. c. iv. sec. 4,) infer that
all who are left in the blindness of idolatry are studious of
virtue and holiness. Nay, even Scripture is plainly opposed
to them in more passages than one. The description which
Paul gives of the state of the Ephesians before regeneration
shows not one grain of this seed. His words are, " You
hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins ;
wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience :
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind ; and were by nature the children of wrath, even
as others," (Eph. ii. 1-3.) And again, " At that time ye
were without Christ," " having no hope, and without God
in the world," (Eph. ii. 12.) Again, " Ye were sometimes
darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord : walk as children
of light," (Eph. v. 8.) But perhaps they will insist that in
this last passage reference is made to that ignorance of the
true God, in which they deny not that the elect lived before
they were called. Though this is grossly inconsistent with
the Apostle's inference, that they were no longer to lie or
steal, (Eph. iv. 28.) What answer will they give to other
passages ; such as that in which, after declaring to the Corin
thians that " neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 595

nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extor
tioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God," he immediately
adds, " Such were some of you : but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and by the Spirit of our God "? (1 Cor. vi. 9-11.) Again,
he says to the Romans, " As ye have yielded your members
servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity ; even
so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto
holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free
from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things
whereof ye are now ashamed?" (Rom. vi. 19-21.)

11. Say, then, what seed of election germinated in those
who, contaminated in various ways during their whole lives, in
dulged as with desperate wickedness in every kind of abomina
tion ? Had Paul meant to express this view, he ought to have
shown how much they then owed to the kindness of God, by
which they had been preserved from falling into such pollu
tion. Thus, too, Peter ought to have exhorted his countrymen
to gratitude for a perpetual seed of election. On the contrary,
his admonition is, " The time past of our life may suffice us
to have wrought the will of the Gentiles," (1 Pet. iv. 3.)
What if we come to examples ? Was there any germ of
righteousness in Rahab the harlot before she believed ? (Josh,
ii. 4 ;) in Manasseh when Jerusalem was dyed and almost
deluged with the blood of the prophets ? (2 Kings xxiii. 16 ;)
in the thief who only with his last breath thought of repent
ance? (Luke xxiii. 42.) Have done, then, with those argu
ments which curious men of themselves rashly devise without
any authority from Scripture. But let us hold fast what
Scripture states, viz., that " All we like sheep have gone
astray, we have turned every one to his own way," (Isa. liii.
6 ;) that is, to perdition. In this gulf of perdition God leaves
those whom he has determined one day to deliver until his
own time arrive ; he only preserves them from plunging into
irremediable blasphemy.

12. As the Lord by the efficacy of his calling accomplishes
towards his elect the salvation to which he had by his eternal
counsel destined them, so he has judgments against the re-

596 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

probate, by which he executes his counsel concerning them.
Those, therefore, whom he has created for dishonour during
life and destruction at death, that they may be vessels of
wrath and examples of severity, in bringing to their doom, he
at one time deprives of the means of hearing his word, at
another by the preaching of it blinds and stupifies them the
more. The examples of the former case are innumerable,
but let us select one of the most remarkable of all. Before
the advent of Christ, about four thousand years passed away,
during which he hid the light of saving doctrine from all
nations. If any one answer, that he did not put them in
possession of the great blessing, because he judged them un
worthy, then their posterity will be in no respect more
worthy. Of this in addition to experience, Malachi is a suffi
cient witness ; for while charging them with mixed unbelief
and blasphemy, he yet declares that the Redeemer will come.
Why then is he given to the latter rather than to the former ?
They will in vain torment themselves in seeking for a deeper
cause than the secret and inscrutable counsel of God. And
there is no occasion to fear lest some disciple of Porphyry
with impunity arraign the justice of God, while we say
nothing in its defence. For while we maintain that none
perish without deserving it, and that it is owing to the free
goodness of God that some are delivered, enough has been
said for the display of his glory ; there is not the least occa
sion for our cavilling. The supreme Disposer then makes
wTay for his own predestination, when depriving those whom
he has reprobated of the communication of his light, he leaves
them in blindness. Every day furnishes instances of the
latter case, and many of them are set before us in Scripture.
Among a hundred to whom the same discourse is delivered,
twenty, perhaps, receive it with the prompt obedience of
faith ; the others set no value upon it, or deride, or spurn,
or abominate it. If it is said that this diversity is owing
to the malice and perversity of the latter, the answer is not
satisfactory : for the same wickedness would possess the minds
of the former, did not God in his goodness correct it. And
hence we will always be entangled until we call in the aid of
Paul's question, "Who maketh thee to differ?" (1 Cor. iv.

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGIOX. 597

7,) intimating that some excel others, not by their own vir
tue, but by the mere favour of God.

13. Why, then, while bestowing grace on the one, does he
pass by the other ? In regard to the former, Luke gives
the reason, Because they " were ordained to eternal life,"
(Acts xiii. 48.) What, then, shall we think of the latter,
but that they are vessels of wrath unto dishonour ? Where
fore, let us not decline to say with Augustine, " God could
change the will of the wicked into good, because he is
omnipotent. Clearly he could. Why, then, does he not do
it ? Because he is unwilling. Why he is unwilling remains
with himself," (August, de Genes, ad Lit. Lib. ii.) We
should not attempt to be wrise above what is meet, and it is
much better to take Augustine's explanation, than to quibble
with Chrysostom, " that he draws him who is willing, and
stretching forth his hand," (Chrysost. Horn, de Convers.
Pauli,) lest the difference should seem to lie in the judgment
of God, and not in the mere will of man. So far is it, indeed,
from being placed in the mere will of man, that we may
add, that even the pious, and those who fear God, need this
special inspiration of the Spirit. Lydia, a seller of purple,
feared God, and yet it was necessary that her heart should
be opened, that she might attend to the doctrine of Paul,
and profit in it, (Acts xvi. 14.) This was not said of one
woman only, but to teach us that all progress in piety is
the secret work of the Spirit, Nor can it be questioned,
that God sends his word to many whose blindness he is
pleased to aggravate. For why does he order so many
messages to be taken to Pharaoh ? Was it because he
hoped that he might be softened by the repetition ? Nay,
before he began he both knew and had foretold the result :
" The Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into
Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh,
which I have put in thine hand : but I will harden his heart,
that he will not let the people go," (Exod. iv. 21.) So when
he raises up Ezekiel, he forewarns him, " I send thee to the
children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled
against me." " Be not afraid of theiv words." " Thou dwellest
in the midst of n rebellious house, which hath eyes t£> see,

598 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

and see not ; they have ears to hear, and hear not," (Ezek.
ii. 3, 6 ; xii. 2.) Thus he foretels to Jeremiah that the
effect of his doctrine would be, " to root out, and pull down,
and to destroy," (Jer. i. 10.) But the prophecy of Isaiah
presses still more closely ; for he is thus commissioned by
the Lord, " Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed,
but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears
heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart,
and convert and be healed," (Isa. vi. 9, 10.) Here he directs
his voice to them, but it is that they may turn a deafer ear ;
he kindles a light, but it is that they may become more blind ;
he produces a doctrine, but it is that they may be more
stupid ; he employs a remedy, but it is that they may not be
cured. And John, referring to this prophecy, declares that
the Jews could not believe the doctrine of Christ, because
this curse from God lay upon them. It is also incontrover
tible, that to those whom God is not pleased to illumine, he
delivers his doctrine wrapt up in enigmas, so that they may
not profit by it, but be given over to greater blindness. Hence
our Saviour declares that the parables in which he had
spoken to the multitude he expounded to the Apostles only,
" because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given," (Matth.
xiii. 11.) What, you will ask, does our Lord mean, by
teaching those by whom he is careful not to be understood ?
Consider where the fault lies, and then cease to ask. How
obscure soever the word may be, there is always sufficient
light in it to convince the consciences of the ungodly.

14. It now remains to see why the Lord acts in the
manner in which it is plain that he does. If the answer be
given, that it is because men deserve this by their impiety,
wickedness, and ingratitude, it is indeed well and truly said ;
but still, because it does not yet appear what the cause of the
difference is, why some are turned to obedience, and others
remain obdurate, we must, in discussing it, pass to the passage
from Moses, on which Paul has commented, namely, " Even
for tl^is same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 599

my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth," (Rom. ix. 17.) The refusal of the
reprobate to obey the word of God when manifested to them,
will be properly ascribed to the malice and depravity of their
hearts, provided it be at the same time added, that they
were adjudged to this depravity, because they were raised
up by the just but inscrutable judgment of God, to show
forth his glory by their condemnation. In like manner, when
it is said of the sons of Eli, that they would not listen to
salutary admonitions, " because the Lord would slay them,"
(1 Sam. ii. 25,) it is not denied that their stubbornness was
the result of their own iniquity ; but it is at the same time
stated why they were left to their stubbornness, when the
Lord might have softened their hearts : namely, because his
immutable decree had once for all doomed them to destruc
tion. Hence the words of John, " Though he had done so
many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him ;
that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled
which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report?"
(John xii. 37, 38 ;) for though he does not exculpate their
perverseness, he is satisfied with the reason that the grace of
God is insipid to men, until the Holy Spirit gives it its
savour. And Christ, in quoting the prophecy of Isaiah,
" They shall be all taught of God," (John vi. 45,) designs
only to show that the Jews were reprobates and aliens from
the Church, because they would not be taught : and gives
no other reason than that the promise of God does not
belong to them. Confirmatory of this are the words of
Paul, " Christ crucified" was u unto the Jews a stumbling-
block, and unto the Greeks foolishness ; but unto them
which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power
of God, and the wisdom of God," (1 Cor. i. 23.) For after
mentioning the usual result wherever the gospel is preached,
that it exasperates some, and is despised by others, he says,
that it is precious to them only who are called. A little
before he had given them the name of believers, but he was
unwilling to refuse the proper rank to divine grace, Avhich
precedes faith ; or rather, he added the second term by way
of correction, th^t those who had embraced the gospel might

600 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

ascribe the merit of their faith to the calling of God. Thus,
also, he shortly after shows that they were elected by God.
When the wicked hear these things, they complain that God
abuses his inordinate power, to make cruel sport with the
miseries of his creatures. But let us, who know that all
men are liable on so many grounds to the judgment of God,
that they cannot answer for one in a thousand of their trans
gressions, (Job ix. 3,) confess that the reprobate suffer
nothing which is not accordant with the most perfect justice.
When unable clearly to ascertain the reason, let us not
decline to be somewhat in ignorance in regard to the depths
of the divine wisdom.

15. But since an objection is often founded on a few
passages of Scripture, in which God seems to deny that the
wicked perish through his ordination, except in so far as
they spontaneously bring death upon themselves in opposi
tion to his warning, let us briefly explain these passages, and
demonstrate that they are not adverse to the above view.
One of the passages adduced is, " Have I any pleasure at all
that the wicked should die ? saith the Lord God ; and not
that he should return from his ways and live ?" (Ezek.xviii.23.)
If we are to extend this to the whole human race, why are not
the very many whose minds might be more easily bent to obey
urged to repentance, rather than those who by his invitations
become daily more and more hardened ? Our Lord declares
that the preaching of the gospel and miracles would have pro
duced more fruit among the people of Nineveh and Sodom
than in Judea, (Matth. xiii. 23.) How comes it, then, that
if God would have all to be saved, he does not open a door
of repentance for the wretched, wrho would more readily
have received grace ? Hence we may see that the passage
is violently wrested, if the will of God, which the prophet
mentions, is opposed to his eternal counsel, by which he
separated the elect from the reprobate.1 Now, if the
genuine meaning of the prophet is inquired into, it will be
found that he only means to give the hope of pardon to
them who repent. The sum is, that God is undoubtedly

1 Bernard, in his Sermon on the Nativity, on 2 Cor. i. 3, quoting the
two passages, Eom.ix. 18, and Ezek. xviii. 32, admirably reconciles them.

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN EELIGION. 601

ready to pardon whenever the sinner turns. Therefore, he
does not will his death, in so far as he wills repentance. But
experience shows that this will, for the repentance of those
whom he invites to himself, is not such as to make him touch
all their hearts. Still, it cannot be said that he acts deceit
fully ; for though the external word only renders those who
hear it, and do not obey it, inexcusable, it is still truly
regarded as an evidence of the grace by which he reconciles
men to himself. Let us therefore hold the doctrine of the
prophet, that God has no pleasure in the death of the sinner ;
that the godly may feel confident that whenever they repent
God is ready to pardon them ; and that the wicked may feel
that their guilt is doubled, when they respond not to the
great mercy and condescension of God. The mercy of God,
therefore, will ever be ready to meet the penitent ; but all
the prophets, and apostles, and Ezekiel himself, clearly tell
us who they are to whom repentance is given.

16. The second passage adduced is that in which Paul
says that " God will have all men to be saved," (1 Tim. ii.
4.) Though the reason here differs from the former, they
have somewhat in common. I answer, first, That the mode
in which God thus wills is plain from the context ; for
Paul connects two things, a will to be saved, and to come to
the knowledge of the truth. If by this they will have it
to be fixed by the eternal counsel of God that they are to
receive the doctrine of salvation, what is meant by Moses in
these words, " What nation is there so great, who hath God
so nigh unto them?" (Deut. iv. 7.) How comes it that
many nations are deprived of that light of the Gospel which
others enjoy ? How comes it that the pure knowledge of
the doctrine of godliness has never reached some, and others
have scarcely tasted some obscure rudiments of it ? It will
now be easy to extract the purport of Paul's statement. He
had commanded Timothy that prayers should be regularly
offered up in the church for kings and princes; but as it
seemed somewhat absurd that prayer should be offered up
for a class of men who were almost hopeless, (all of them
being not only aliens from the body of Christ, but doing their
utmost to overthrow his kingdom,) he adds, that it was

602 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

acceptable to God, who will have all men to be saved. By
this he assuredly means nothing more than that the way
of salvation was not shut against any order of men ; that,
on the contrary, he had manifested his mercy in such a way,
that he would have none debarred from it. Other passages
do not declare what God has, in his secret judgment, deter
mined with regard to all, but declare that pardon is prepared
for all sinners who only turn to seek after it. For if they
persist in urging the words, " God hath concluded all in
unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all," (Kom. xi. 32,)
I will, on the contrary, urge what is elsewhere written,
" Our God is in the heavens : he hath done whatsoever he
hath pleased," (Ps. cxv. 3.) We must, therefore, expound
the passage so as to reconcile it with another, I " will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy
on whom I will show mercy," (Exod. xxxiii. 19.) He who
selects those whom he is to visit in mercy does not impart
it to all. But since it clearly appears that he is there
speaking not of individuals, but of orders of men, let us
have done with a longer discussion. At the same time,
we ou^ht to observe, that Paul does not assert what God

O '

does always, everywhere, and in all circumstances, but
leaves it free to him to make kings and magistrates partakers
of heavenly doctrine, though in their blindness they rage
against it. A stronger objection seems to be founded on the
passage in Peter ; the Lord is " not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance," (2 Pet. iii.
9.) But the solution of the difficulty is to be found in the
second branch of the sentence, for his will that they should
come to repentance cannot be used in any other sense than
that which is uniformly employed. Conversion is undoubt
edly in the hand of God, whether he designs to convert all
can be learned from himself, when he promises that he will
give some a heart of flesh, and leave to others a heart of
stone, (Ezek. xxxvi. 26.) It is true, that if he were not dis
posed to receive those wrho implore his mercy, it could not
have been said, " Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of Hosts,
and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts," (Zech.
i. 3 ;) but I hold that no man approaches God unless prevf-

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 603

ously influenced from above. And if repentance were placed
at the will of man, Paul Avould not say, " If God peradven-
ture will give them repentance/' (2 Tim. ii. 25.) Nay, did
not God at the very time when he is verbally exhorting all
to repentance, influence the elect by the secret movement of
his Spirit, Jeremiah would not say, C( Turn thou me, and I
shall be turned ; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after
that I was turned, I repented," (Jer. xxxi. 18.)

17. But if it is so, (you will say,) little faith can be put in
the Gospel promises, which, in testifying concerning the
will of God, declare that he wills what is contrary to his in
violable decree. Not at all ; for however universal the pro
mises of salvation may be, there is no discrepancy between
them and the predestination of the reprobate, provided we
attend to their effect. We know that the promises are
effectual only when we receive them in faith, but, on the con
trary, when faith is made void, the promise is of no effect.
If this is the nature of the promises, let us now see whether
there be any inconsistency between the two things, viz., that
God, by an eternal decree, fixed the number of those whom
he is pleased to embrace in love, and on whom he is pleased
to display his wrath, and that he offers salvation indiscri
minately to all. I hold that they are perfectly consistent,
for all that is meant by the promise is, just that his mercy is
offered to all who desire and implore it, and this none do,
save those whom he has enlightened. Moreover, he en
lightens those whom he has predestinated to salvation. Thus
the truth of the promises remains firm and unshaken, so that it
cannot be said there is any disagreement between the eternal
election of God and the testimony of his grace which he offers
to believers. But why docs he mention all men ? Namely,
that the consciences of the righteous may rest the more secure
when they understand that there is no difference between
sinners, provided they have faith, and that the ungodly may
not be able to allege that they have not an asylum to which
they may betake themselves from the bondage of sin, while
they ungratefully reject the offer which is made to them.
Therefore, since by the Gospel the mercy of God is offered
to both, it is faith; in other words, the illumination of God,

604 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

which distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked,
the former feeling the efficacy of the Gospel, the latter ob
taining no benefit from it. Illumination itself has eternal
election for its rule.

Another passage quoted is the lamentation of our Saviour,
" O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered
thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, and ye would not !" (Matth. xxiii. 37 ;) but
it gives them no support. I admit that here Christ speaks
not only in the character of man, but upbraids them with
having, in every age, rejected his grace. But this will of
God, of which we speak, must be defined. For it is well
known what exertions the Lord made to retain that people,
and how perversely, from the highest to the lowest, they
followed their own wayward desires, and refused to be
gathered together. But it does not follow that by the
wickedness of men the counsel of God was frustrated. They
object that nothing is less accordant with the nature of God
than that he should have a double will. This I concede,
provided they are sound interpreters. But why do they not
attend to the many passages in which God clothes himself
with human affections, and descends beneath his proper
majesty P1 He says, " I have spread out my hands all the
day unto a rebellious people," (Isa. Ixv. 1,) exerting himself
early and late to bring them back. Were they to apply
these qualities without regarding the figure, many unneces
sary disputes would arise which are quashed by the simple
solution, that what is human is here transferred to God.
Indeed, the solution wrhich we have given elsewhere (see
Book I. c. xviii. sec. 3 ; and Book III. c. xx. sec. 43) is
amply sufficient, viz., that though to our apprehension the
will of God is manifold, yet he does not in himself will
opposites, but, according to his manifold wisdom, (so Paul
styles it, Eph. iii. 10,) transcends our senses, until such
time as it shall be given us to know how he mysteriously
wills Avhat now seems to be adverse to his will. They also
amuse themselves with the cavil, that since God is the

1 The French adds, " pour se conformer a notre rudessc ;" — in accom
modation to our weakness.

CHAP. XXIV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 605

Father of all, it is unjust to discard any one before he has by
his misconduct merited such a punishment. As if the kind
ness of God did not extend even to dogs and swine. But if
we confine our view to the human race, let them tell why
God selected one people for himself and became their father,
and why, from that one people, he plucked only a small
number as if they were the flower. But those who thus charge
God are so blinded by their love of evil speaking, that they
consider not that as God ee maketh his sun to rise on the evil
and on the good," (Matth. v. 45,) so the inheritance is trea
sured up for a few to whom it shall one day be said, " Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom," &c., (Matth.
xxv. 34.) They object, moreover, that God does not hate any
of the things which he has made. This I concede, but it
does not affect the doctrine which I maintain, that the repro
bate are hateful to God, and that with perfect justice, since
those destitute of his Spirit cannot produce any thing that
does not deserve cursing. They add, that there is no dis
tinction of Jew and Gentile, and that, therefore, the grace
of God is held forth to all indiscriminately : true, provided
they admit (as Paul declares) that God calls as well Jews
as Gentiles, according to his good pleasure, without being
astricted to any. This disposes of their gloss upon another
passage, " God hath concluded all in unbelief, that he might
have mercy upon all," (Rom. xi. 32 ;) in other words, he wills
that all who are saved should ascribe their salvation to his
mercy, although the blessing of salvation is not common to
all. Finally, after all that has been adduced on this side and
on that, let it be our conclusion to feel overawed with Paul
at the great depth, and if petulant tongues will still murmur,
let us not be ashamed to join in his exclamation, " Nay, but,
O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" (Rom. ix.
20.) Truly does Augustine maintain that it is perverse to
measure divine by the standard of human justice, (De Pra>
dest. et Gra. c. ii.)

606 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

CHAPTER XXV.

OF THE LAST RESURRECTION.

There are four principal heads in this chapter, — I. The utility, neces
sity, truth, and irrefragable evidence of the orthodox doctrine of a final
resurrection — a doctrine unknown to philosophers, sec. 1-4. II. Refu
tation of the objections to this doctrine by Atheists, Sadducees, Chiliasts,
and other fanatics, sec. 5-7. III. The nature of the final resurrection
explained, sec. 8, 9. IV. Of the eternal felicity of the elect, and the
everlasting misery of the reprobate.

Sections.

1. For invincible perseverance in our calling, it is necessary to be ani

mated with the blessed hope of our Saviour's final advent.

2. The perfect happiness reserved for the elect at the final resurrection

unknown to philosophers.

3. The truth and necessity of this doctrine of a final resurrection. To

confirm our belief in it we have, 1. The example of Christ; and,
2. The omnipotence of God. There is an inseparable connection
between us and our risen Saviour. The bodies of the elect must
be conformed to the body of their Head. It is now in heaven.
Therefore, our bodies also must rise, and, reanimated by their souls,
reign with Christ in heaven. The resurrection of Christ a pledge
of ours.

4. As God is omnipotent, he can raise the dead. Resurrection explained

by a natural process. The vision of dry bones.

5. Second part of the chapter, refuting objections to the doctrine of

resurrection. 1. Atheists. 2. Sadducees. 3. Chiliasts. Their eva
sion. Various answers. 4. Universalists. Answer.

6. Objections continued. 5. Some speculators who imagine that death

destroys the whole man. Refutation. The condition and abode of
souls from death till the last day. What meant by the bosom of
Abraham.

7. Refutation of some weak men and Manichees, pretending that new

bodies are to be given. Refutation confirmed by various arguments
and passages of Scripture.

8. Refutation of the fiction of new bodies continued.

9. Shall the wicked rise again ? Answer in the affirmative. Why the

wicked shall rise again. Why resurrection promised to the elect
only.

CHAP. XXY. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 607

10. The last part of the chapter, treating of eternal felicity ; 1. Its excel

lence transcends our capacity. Rules to be observed. The glory
of all the saints will not be equal.

11. Without regarding questions which merely puzzle, an answer given

to some which are not without use.

12. As the happiness of the elect, so the misery of the reprobate, will be

without measure, and without end.

1. ALTHOUGH. Christ, the Sun of righteousness, shining
upon us through the gospel, hath, as Paul declares, after
conquering death, given us the light of life ; and hence on
believing we are said to have passed from " death unto life,"
being no longer strangers and pilgrims, but fellow citizens
with the saints, and of the household of God, who has made
us sit with his only begotten Son in heavenly places, so that
nothing is wanting to our complete felicity ; yet, lest we
should feel it grievous to be exercised under a hard warfare,
as if the victory obtained by Christ had produced no fruit,
we must attend to what is elsewhere taught concerning the
nature of hope. For since we hope for what we see not,
and faith, as is said in another passage, is " the evidence of
things not seen," so long as we are imprisoned in the body
we are absent from the Lord. For which reason Paul says,
"Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with him in glory." Our present condition, therefore,
requires us to " live soberly, righteously, and godly ;" " look
ing for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Here there is
need of no ordinary patience, lest, worn out with fatigue,
we either turn backwards or abandon our post. Wherefore,
all that has hitherto been said of our salvation calls upon us
to raise our minds towards heaven, that, as Peter exhorts,
though we now see not Christ, " yet believing," we may
" rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory," receiving
the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls.1 For
this reason Paul says, that the faith and charity of the saints
have respect to the faith and hope which is laid up for them

i 2 Tim. i. 10 ; John v. 24; Eph. ii. 6, 19 ; Rom. viii. 16-18 ; Hcb.
xi. 1 ; 2 Cor. v. 6 ; Col. iii. 3 ; Titus ii. 12.

G08 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK IIT.

in heaven, (Col. i. 5.) When we thus keep our eyes fixed
upon Christ in heaven, and nothing on earth prevents us
from directing them to the promised blessedness, there is a
true fulfilment of the saying, " where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also," (Matth. vi. 21.) Hence the reason
why faith is so rare in the world ; nothing being more diffi
cult for our sluggishness than to surmount innumerable
obstacles in striving for the prize of our high calling. To
the immense load of miseries which almost overwhelm us,
are added the jeers of profane men, who assail us for our
simplicity, when spontaneously renouncing the allurements
of the present life we seem, in seeking a happiness which
lies hid from us, to catch at a fleeting shadow. In short,
we are beset above and below, behind and before, with
violent temptations, which our minds would be altogether
unable to withstand, were they not set free from earthly
objects, and devoted to the heavenly life, though apparently
remote from us. Wherefore, he alone has made solid pro
gress in the Gospel who has acquired the habit of meditating
continually on a blessed resurrection.

2. In ancient times philosophers discoursed, and even
debated with each other, concerning the chief good : none,
however, except Plato acknowledged that it consisted in
union with God. He could not, however, form even an
imperfect idea of its true nature ; nor is this strange, as he
had learned nothing of the sacred bond of that union. We
even in this our earthly pilgrimage know wherein our perfect
and only felicity consists, — a felicity which, while we long
for it, daily inflames our hearts more and more, until we
attain to full fruition. Therefore I said, that none partici
pate in the benefits of Christ save those who raise their
minds to the resurrection. This, accordingly, is the mark
which Paul sets before believers, and at which he says they
are to aim, forgetting every thing until they reach it, (Phil,
iii. 8.) The more strenuously, therefore, must we contend
for it, lest if the world engross us we be severely punished
for our sloth.1 Accordingly, he in another passage distin-

1 French, " nous recevions un povre salaire de nostre laschete et par-
esse ;" — we receive a poor salary for our carelessness and sloth.

CHAP. XXV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. G09

guislies believers by this mark, that their conversation is
in heaven, from whence they look for the Saviour, (Phil. iii.
20.) And that they may not faint in their course, he asso
ciates ah1 the other creatures with them. As shapeless ruins
are every where seen, he says, that all things in heaven and
earth struggle for renovation. For since Adam by his fall
destroyed the proper order of nature, the creatures groan
under the servitude to which they have been subjected
through his sin ; not that they are at ah1 endued with sense,
but that they naturally long for the state of perfection from
which they have fallen. Paul therefore describes them as
groaning and travailing in pain, (Bom. viii. 19 ;) so that we
who have received the first-fruits of the Spirit may be
ashamed to grovel in our corruption, instead of at least imi
tating the inanimate elements which are bearing the punish
ment of another's sin. And in order that he may stimulate
us the more powerfully, he terms the final advent of Christ
our redemption. It is true, indeed, that all the parts of our
redemption are already accomplished; but as Christ was
once offered for sins, (Heb. ix. 28,) so he shall again appear
without sin unto salvation. Whatever, then, be the afflic
tions by which we are pressed, let this redemption sustain us
until its final accomplishment.

3. The very importance of the subject ought to increase
our ardour. Paul justly contends, that if Christ rise not
the whole gospel is delusive and vain, (1 Cor. xv. 13-17 ;)
for our condition would be more miserable than that of other
mortals, because we are exposed to much hatred and insult,
and incur danger every hour ; nay, are like sheep destined
for slaughter ; and hence the authority of the gospel would
fail, not in one part merely, but in its very essence, includ
ing both our adoption and the accomplishment of our salva
tion. Let us, therefore, give heed to a matter of all others
the most serious, so that no length of time may produce
weariness. I have deferred the brief consideration to be
given of it to this place, that my readers may learn, when
they have received Christ, the author of perfect salvation,
to rise higher, and know that he is clothed with heavenly
immortality and orlory, in order that the whole body may be

VOL. II. 2 Q

610 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

rendered conformable to the Head. For thus the Holy
Spirit is ever setting before us in his person an example of
the resurrection. It is difficult to believe that after our bodies
have been consumed with rottenness, they will rise again at
their appointed time. And hence, while many of the philo
sophers maintained the immortality of the soul, few of them
assented to the resurrection of the body. Although in this
they were inexcusable, we are thereby reminded that the
subject is too difficult for human apprehension to reach it.
To enable faith to surmount the great difficulty, Scripture
furnishes two auxiliary proofs, the one the likeness of Christ's
resurrection, and the other the omnipotence of God. There
fore, whenever the subject of the resurrection is considered,
let us think of the case of our Saviour, who, having com
pleted his mortal course in our nature which he had assumed,
obtained immortality, and is now the pledge of our future
resurrection. For in the miseries by which we are beset,
we always bear " about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest
in our mortal flesh," (2 Cor. iv. 10.) It is not lawful, it
is not even possible, to separate him from us, without divid
ing him. Hence Paul's argument, " If there be no resur
rection of the dead, then is Christ not risen," (1 Cor. xv.
13;) for he assumes it as an acknowledged principle, that
when Christ was subjected to death, and by rising gained a
victory over death, it was not on his own account, but in the
Head was begun what must necessarily be fulfilled in all the
members, according to the degree and order of each. For it
would not be proper to be made equal to him in all respects.
It is said in the psalm, u Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy
One to see corruption," (Ps. xvi. 10.) Although a portion of
this confidence appertain to us according to the measure be
stowed on us, yet the full effect appeared only in Christ, who,
free from all corruption, resumed a spotless body. Then, that
there may be no doubt as to our fellowship with Christ in a
blessed resurrection, and that we may be contented with this
pledge, Paul distinctly affirms that he sits in the heavens,
and will come as a judge on the last day for the express
purpose of changing our vile body, " that it may be fashioned

CHAP. XXV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 611

like unto his glorious body," (Phil. iii. 21.) For he elsewhere
says that God did not raise up his Son from death to give
an isolated specimen of his mighty power, but that the Spirit
exerts the same efficacy in regard to them that believe ; and
accordingly he says, that the Spirit when he dwells in us is
life, because the end for which he was given is to quicken
our mortal body, (Rom. viii. 10, 11 ; Col. iii. 4.) I briefly
glance at subjects which might be treated more copiously,
and deserve to be adorned more splendidly, and yet in
the little I have said I trust pious readers will find sufficient
materials for building up their faith. Christ rose again, that
he might have us as partakers with him of future life.
He was raised up by the Father, inasmuch as he was the
Head of the Church, from which he cannot possibly be dis
severed. He was raised up by the power of the Spirit, who
also in us performs the office of quickening. In fine, he was
raised up to be the resurrection and the life. But as we have
said, that in this mirror we behold a living image of the resur
rection, so it furnishes a sure evidence to support our minds,
provided we faint not, nor grow weary at the long delay,
because it is not ours to measure the periods of time at our
own pleasure ; but to rest patiently till God in his own time
renew his kingdom. To this Paul refers when he says, " But
every man in his own order : Christ the first-fruits ; after
ward they that are Christ's at his coming," (1 Cor. xv. 23.)
But lest any question should be raised as to the resurrec
tion of Christ on which ours is founded, we see how often and
in what various ways he has borne testimony to it. Scoffing
men will deride the narrative which is given by the Evangelist
as a childish fable. For what importance will they attach
to a message which timid women bring, and the disciples,
almost dead with fear, afterwards confirm ? Why does not
Christ rather place the illustrious trophies of his victory in
the midst of the temple and the forum ? Why does he not
come forth, and in the presence of Pilate strike terror ? Why
does he not show himself alive again to the priests and all
Jerusalem? Profane men will scarcely admit that the wit
nesses whom he selects are well qualified. I answer, that
though at the commencement their infirmity was contemptible,

612 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

yet the whole was directed by the admirable providence of
God, so that partly from love to Christ and religious zeal,
partly from incredulity, those who were lately overcome with
fear now hurry to the sepulchre, not only that they might be
eye-witnesses of the fact, but that they might hear angels
announce what they actually saw. How can we question the
veracity of those who regarded what the women told them as
a fable, until they saw the reality ? It is not strange that the
whole people and also the governor, after they were furnished
with sufficient evidence for conviction, were not allowed to
see Christ or the other signs, (Matth. xxvii. 66; xxviii. 11.)
The sepulchre is sealed, sentinels keep watch, on the third
day the body is not found. The soldiers are bribed to
spread the report that his disciples had stolen the body. As
if they had had the means of deforcing a band of soldiers, or
been supplied with weapons, or been trained so as to make
such a daring attempt. But if the soldiers had not courage
enough to repel them, why did they not follow and appre
hend some of them by the aid of the populace ? Pilate,
therefore, in fact, put his signet to the resurrection of Christ,
and the guards who were placed at the sepulchre by their
silence or falsehood also became heralds of his resurrection.
Meanwhile, the voice of angels was heard, " He is not here,
but is risen," (Luke xxiv. 6.) The celestial splendour
plainly shows that they were not men but angels. After
wards, if any doubt still remained, Christ himself removed it.
The disciples saw him frequently; they even touched his hands
and his feet, and their unbelief is of no little avail in confirm
ing our faith. He discoursed to them of the mysteries
of the kingdom of God, and at length, while they beheld,
ascended to heaven. This spectacle was exhibited not to
eleven apostles only, but was seen by more than five hundred
brethren at once, (1 Cor. xv. 6.) Then by sending the Holy
Spirit he gave a proof not only of life but also of supreme
power, as he had foretold, " It is expedient for you that I go
away : for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto
you," (John xvi. 7.) Paul was not thrown down on the way
by the power of a dead man, but felt that he whom he was
opposing was possessed of sovereign authority. To Stephen

CHAP. XXV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 613

he appeared for another purpose, viz., that he might over
come the fear of death by the certainty of life. To refuse
assent to these numerous and authentic proofs is not diffi
dence, but depraved and therefore infatuated obstinacy.

4. We have said that in proving the resurrection our
thoughts must be directed to the immense power of God.
This Paul briefly teaches, when he says that the Lord Jesus
Christ " shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body, according to the working of that
mighty power whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself," (Phil. iii. 21.) Wherefore, nothing can be more
incongruous than to look here at what can be done naturally
when the subject presented to us is an inestimable miracle,
which by its magnitude absorbs our senses. Paul, however,
by producing a proof from nature, confutes the senselessness
of those who deny the resurrection. " Thou fool, that which
thou sowest is not quickened except it die," £c., (1 Cor. xv.
36.) He says that in seed there is a species of resurrec
tion, because the crop is produced from corruption. Nor
would the thing be so difficult of belief were we as attentive
as we ought to be to the wonders which meet our eye in
every quarter of the world. But let us remember that none
is truly persuaded of the future resurrection save he who,
carried away with admiration, gives God the glory.

Elated with this conviction, Isaiah exclaims, (i Thy dead
men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise,
Awrake and sing, ye that dwrell in dust," (Isaiah xxvi. 19.)
In desperate circumstances he rises to God, the author of
life, in whose hand arc " the issues from death," (Psalm Ixviii,
20.) Job also, when liker a dead body than a living being,
trusting to the power of God, hesitates not as if in full vigour
to rise to that day : " 1 know that my Redeemer liveth, and
that he will stand at the latter day upon the earth ;" (that is,
that he will there exert his power :) " and though after my
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see
God ; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall
behold, and not another," (Job xix. 25-27.) For though
some have recourse to a more subtle interpretation, by which
they wrest these mssages, as if they were not to be under-

G14 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

stood of the resurrection, they only confirm what they are
desirous to overthrow ; for holy men, in seeking consolation
in their misfortunes, have recourse for alleviation merely to
the similitude of a resurrection. This is better learned from
a passage in Ezekiel. When the Jews scouted the promise
of return, and objected that the probability of it was not
greater than that of the dead coming forth from the tomb,
there is presented to the prophet in vision a field covered
with dry bones, which at the command of God recover sinews
and flesh. Though under that figure he encourages the
people to hope for return, yet the ground of hope is taken
from the resurrection, as it is the special type of all the de
liverances which believers experience in this world. Thus
Christ declares that the voice of the Gospel gives life ; but
because the Jews did not receive it, he immediately adds,
" Marvel not at this ; for the hour is coining in which all that
are in the grave shall hear his voice, and shall come forth,"
(John v. 28, 29.) Wherefore, amid all our conflicts let us
exult after the example of Paul, that he who has promised us
future life " is able to keep that" which te is committed unto
him," and thus glory that there is laid up for us " a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give,"
(2 Tim. i. 12 ; iv. 8.) Thus all the hardships which we may
endure will be a demonstration of our future life, " seeing it is
a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to
them that trouble you ; and to you who are troubled rest
with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels, in flaming fire," (2 Thess. i. 6-8.) But
we must attend to what he shortly after adds, viz., that he
" shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in
all them that believe," by receiving the Gospel.

5. Although the minds of men ought to be perpetually
occupied with this pursuit, yet as if they actually resolved to
banish all remembrance of the resurrection, they have called
death the end of ah1 things, the extinction of man. For
Solomon certainly expresses the commonly received opinion
when he says, "A living dog is better than a dead lion,"
(Eccl. ix. 4.) And again, "Who knoweth the spirit of man
that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth

CHAP. XXV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 615

downward to the earth?"1 In all ages a brutish stupor has
prevailed, and, accordingly, it has made its way into the very
Church ; for the Sadducees had the hardihood openly to
profess that there was no resurrection, nay, that the soul was
mortal, (Mark xii. 18; Lukexx. 27.) But that this gross ig
norance might be no excuse, unbelievers have always by natural
instinct had an image of the resurrection before their eyes.
For why the sacred and inviolable custom of burying, but
that it might be the earnest of a new life ? Nor can it be said
that it had its origin in error, for the solemnity of sepulture
always prevailed among the holy patriarchs, and God was
pleased that the same custom should continue among the
Gentiles, in order that the image of the resurrection thus
presented might shake off their torpor. But although that
ceremony was without profit, yet it is useful to us if we pru
dently consider its end ; because it is no feeble refutation of
infidelity that all men agreed in professing what none of them
believed. But not only did Satan stupify the senses of man
kind, so that with their bodies they buried the remembrance
of the resurrection ; but he also managed by various fictions so
to corrupt this branch of doctrine that it at length was lost.
Not to mention that even in the days of Paul he began to
assail it, (1 Cor. xv.,) shortly after the Chiliasts arose, who
limited the reign of Christ to a thousand years. This fiction
is too puerile to need or to deserve refutation. Nor do they
receive any countenance from the Apocalypse, from which it
is known that they extracted a gloss for their error, (Rev.
xx. 4,) since the thousand years there mentioned refer not to
the eternal blessedness of the Church, but only to the various
troubles which await the Church militant in this world. The
whole Scripture proclaims that there will be no end either to
the happiness of the elect, or the punishment of the reprobate.
Moreover, in regard to all things which lie beyond our sight,
and far transcend the reach of our intellect, belief must
either be founded on the sure oracles of God, or altogether
renounced. Those who assign only a thousand years to the

1 Calvin translates, " Quis scit an hominis anima ascendit sursum ?'' &c.
—Who knows whether the soul of man goes upward? &c.

616 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK 111.

children of God to enjoy the inheritance of future life, observe
not how great an insult they offer to Christ and his kingdom.
If they are not to be clothed with immortality, then Christ
himself, into whose glory they shall be transformed, has not
been received into immortal glory ; if their blessedness is to
have an end, the kingdom of Christ, on whose solid structure
it rests, is temporary. In short, they are either most igno
rant of all divine things, or they maliciously aim at subverting
the whole grace of God and power of Christ, which cannot
have their full effect, unless sin is obliterated, death swallow
ed up, and eternal life fully renewed. How stupid and frivo
lous their fear that too much severity will be ascribed to
God, if the reprobate are doomed to eternal punishment, even
the blind may see. The Lord, forsooth, will be unjust if
he exclude from his kingdom those who, by their ingratitude,
shall have rendered themselves unworthy of it. But their
sins are temporary, (see Bernard, Epist. 254.) I admit it;
but then the majesty of God, and also the justice which they
have violated by their sins, are eternal. Justly, therefore, the
memory of their iniquity does not perish. But in this way
the punishment will exceed the measure of the fault. It is
intolerable blasphemy to hold the majesty of God in so little
estimation, as not to regard the contempt of it as of greater
consequence than the destruction of a single soul. But let
us have done with these triflers, that we may not seem (con
trary to what we first observed) to think their dreams
deserving of refutation.

6. Besides these, other two dreams have been invented by
men who indulge a wicked curiosity. Some, under the idea
that the whole man perishes, have thought that the soul will
rise again with the body; while others, admitting that spirits
are immortal, hold that they will be clothed with new bodies,
and thus deny the resurrection of the flesh. Having already
adverted to the former point when speaking of the creation of
man, it will be sufficient again to remind the reader how
grovelling an error it is to convert a spirit, formed after the
image of God, into an evanescent breath, which animates the
body only during this fading life, and to reduce the temple
of the Holy Spirit to nothing ; in short, to rob of the badge

CHAP. XXV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 617

of immortality that part of ourselves in which the divinity
is most refulgent, and the marks of immortality conspicuous,
so as to make the condition of the body better and more
excellent than that of the soul. Very different is the course
taken by Scripture, which compares the body to a tabernacle,
from which it describes us as migrating when we die, because
it estimates us by that part which distinguishes us from the
lower animals. Thus Peter, in reference to his approaching
death, says, " Knowing that shortly I must put off this my
tabernacle," (2 Pet. i. 14.) Paul5 again, speaking of believers,
after saying, " If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis
solved, we have a building of God," adds, " Whilst we are at
home in the body, we are absent from the Lord," (2 Cor. v. 1,
6.) Did not the soul survive the body, how could it be present
with the Lord on being separated from the body ? But an
Apostle removes all doubt when he says that we go " to the
spirits of just men made perfect," (Heb. xii. 23 ;) by these
words meaning, that we are associated with the holy patri
archs, who, even when dead, cultivate the same piety, so that
we cannot be the members of Christ unless we unite with
them. And did not the soul, when unclothed from the
body, retain its essence, and be capable of beatific glory, our
Saviour would not have said to the thief, " To-day shalt
thou be with me in paradise," (Luke xxiii. 43.) Trusting to
these clear proofs, let us doubt not, after the example of our
Saviour, to commend our spirits to God when we come to die,
or after the example of Stephen, to commit ourselves to the
protection of Christ, who, with good reason, is called " The
Shepherd and Bishop " of our souls, (Acts vii. 59 ; 1 Pet. ii.
25.) Moreover, to pry curiously into their intermediate
state is neither lawful nor expedient, (see Calv. Psychopan-
nychia.) Many greatly torment themselves with discussing
what place they occupy, and whether or not they already
enjoy celestial glory. It is foolish and rash to inquire into
hidden things, farther than God permits us to know. Scrip
ture, after telling that Christ is present with them, and
receives them into paradise, (John xii. 32,) and that they are
comforted, while the souls of the reprobate suffer the torments
which they have merited, goes no farther. What teacher or

618 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

doctor will reveal to us what God has concealed ? As to the
place of abode, the question is not less futile and inept, since
we know that the dimension of the soul is not the same as
that of the body.1 When the abode of blessed spirits is de
signated as the bosom of Abraham, it is plain that, on quitting
this pilgrimage, they are received by the common father of
the faithful, who imparts to them the fruit of his faith. Still,
since Scripture uniformly enjoins us to look with expectation
to the advent of Christ, and delays the crown of glory till
that period, let us be contented with the limits divinely pre
scribed to us, viz., that the souls of the righteous, after their
warfare is ended, obtain blessed rest where in joy they wait
for the fruition of promised glory, and that thus the final
result is suspended till Christ the Redeemer appear. There
can be no doubt that the reprobate have the same doom as
that which Jude assigns to the devils, they are " reserved
in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of
the great day," (Jude, ver. 6.)

7. Equally monstrous is the error of those who imagine
that the soul, instead of resuming the body with which it is
now clothed, will obtain a new and different body. Nothing
can be more futile than the reason given by the Manichees,
viz., that it were incongruous for impure flesh to rise again : as
if there were no impurity in the soul ; and yet this does not
exclude it from the hope of heavenly life. It is just as if
they were to say, that what is infected by the taint of sin
cannot be divinely purified ; for I now say nothing to the
delirious dream that flesh is naturally impure as having been
created by the devil. I only maintain, that nothing in us at
present, which is unworthy of heaven, is any obstacle to the
resurrection. But, first, Paul enjoins believers to purify
themselves from (i all filthiness of the flesh and spirit," (2 Cor.
vii. 1 ;) and then denounces the judgment which is to fol
low, that every one shall "receive the things done in his
body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or

1 French, " La question quant au lieu est bien frivole et sotte : veu
que nous savons que 1'ame n'a pas ses mesures de longet de large, comme
le corps ;" — the question as to place is very frivolous and foolish, seeing
we know that the soul has no measures of length and breadth like tjie
body

CHAP. XXV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 619

bad," (2 Cor. v. 10.) With this accords what he says to the
Corinthians, "That the life also of Jesus might be made
manifest in our body," (2 Cor. iv. 10.) For which reason
he elsewhere says, " I pray God your whole spirit and soul
and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ," (1 Thess. v. 23.) He says "body" as
well as " spirit and soul," and no wonder ; for it Avere most
absurd that bodies which God has dedicated to himself as
temples should fall into corruption without hope of resur
rection. What ? are they not also the members of Christ ?
Does he not pray that God would sanctify every part of
them, and enjoin them to celebrate his name with their
tongues, lift up pure hands, and offer sacrifices ? That part
of man, therefore, which the heavenly Judge so highly
honours, what madness is it for any mortal man to reduce
to dust without hope of revival ? In like manner, when Paul
exhorts, "glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which are God's," he certainly does not allow that that
which he claims for God as sacred is to be adjudged to eter
nal corruption. Nor, indeed, on any subject does Scripture
furnish clearer explanation than on the resurrection of our
flesh. " This corruptible (says Paul) must put on incor-
ruption, and this mortal must put on immortality," (1 Cor.
xv. 53.) If God formed new bodies, where would be this
change of quality ? If it were said that we must be renewed,
the ambiguity of the expression might, perhaps, afford room
for cavil; but here pointing with the finger to the bodies
with which we are clothed, and promising that they shall
be incorruptible, he very plainly affirms that no new bodies
are to be fabricated. " Nay," as Tertullian says, " he could
not have spoken more expressly, if he had held his skin in
his hands," (Tertull. de Resurrect. Carnis.) Nor can any
cavil enable them to evade the force of another passage, in
which saying that Christ will be the Judge of the world, he
quotes from Isaiah, if As I live, saith the Lord, every knee
shall bow to me," (Rom. xiv. 11 ; Isa. xix. 18 ;) since he
openly declares that those whom he was addressing will have
to give an account of their lives. This could not be true if
new bodies were to be sisted to the tribunal. Moreover,

G20 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

there is no ambiguity in the words of Daniel, " Many of them
that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to ever
lasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt,"
(Dan. xii. 2 ;) since he does not bring new matter from the
four elements to compose men, but calls forth the dead from
their graves. And the reason which dictates this is plain.
For if death, which originated in the fall of man, is adventi
tious, the renewal produced by Christ must be in the same
body which began to be mortal. And, certainly, since the
Athenians mocked Paul for asserting the resurrection, (Acts
xvii. 32,) we may infer what his preaching was : their derision
is of no small force to confirm our faith. The saying of our
Saviour also is worthy of observation, " Fear not them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul : but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell,"
(Matth. x. 28.) Here there would be no ground for fear, were
not the body which we now have liable to punishment. Nor
is another saying of our Saviour less obscure, " The hour is
coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his
voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto
tha resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto
the resurrection of damnation," (John v. 28, 29.) Shall we
say that the soul rests in the grave, that it may there hear
the voice of Christ, and not rather that the body shall at his
command resume the vigour which it had lost ? Moreover,
if we are to receive new bodies, where will be the conformity
of the Head and the members ? Christ rose again. Was it by
forming for himself a new body ? Nay, he had foretold,
" Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,"
(John ii. 19.) The mortal body which he had formerly
carried he again received ; for it Avould not have availed us
much if a new body had been substituted, and that which
had been offered in expiatory sacrifice been destroyed. We
must, therefore, attend to that connection which the Apostle
celebrates, that we rise because Christ rose, (1 Cor. xv. 12 ;)
nothing being less probable than that the flesh in which we
bear about the dying of Christ, shall have no share in the
resurrection of Christ. This was even manifested by a strik
ing example, when, at the resurrection of Christ, many

CHAP. XXV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 621

bodies of the saints came forth from their graves. For it
cannot be denied that this was a prelude, or rather earnest, of
the final resurrection for which we hope, such as already
existed in Enoch and Elijah, whom Tertullian calls candidates
for resurrection, because, exempted from corruption, both in
body and soul, they were received into the custody of God.

8. I am ashamed to waste so many words on so clear a
matter ; but my readers will kindly submit to the annoyance,
in order that perverse and presumptuous minds may not be
able to avail themselves of any flaw to deceive the simple. The
volatile spirits with whom I now dispute adduce the fiction
of their own brain, that in the resurrection there will be a
creation of new bodies. Their only reason for thinking so is,
that it seems to them incredible that a dead body, long
wasted by corruption, should return to its former state. There
fore, mere unbelief is the parent of their opinion. The Spirit
of God, on the contrary, uniformly exhorts us in Scripture
to hope for the resurrection of our flesh. For this reason
Baptism is, according to Paul, a seal of our future resurrection;
and in like manner the holy Supper invites us confidently
to expect it, when with our mouths we receive the sym
bols of spiritual grace. And certainly the whole exhortation
of Paul, " Yield ye your members as instruments of righteous
ness unto God," (Rom. vi. 13,) would be frigid, did he not add,
as he does in another passage, " He that raised up Christ from
the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies," (Rom. viii.
11.) For what would it avail to apply feet, hands, eyes, and
tongues, to the service of God, did not these afterwards par
ticipate in the benefit and reward? This Paul expressly
confirms when he says, " The body is not for fornication,
but for the Lord ; and the Lord for the body. And God
hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by
his own power," (1 Cor. vi. 13, 14.) The words which
follow are still clearer, " Know ye not that your bodies are
the members of Christ ?" u Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost?" (1 Cor. vi. 15, 19.) Mean
while, we see how he connects the resurrection with chastity
and holiness, as he shortly after includes our bodies in the
purchase of redemption. It would be inconsistent with rea-

622 INSTITUTES or THE BOOK in.

son, that the body, in which Paul bore the marks of his
Saviour, and in which he magnificently extolled him, (Gal.
vi. 17,) should lose the reward of the crown. Hence he
glories thus, "Our conversation is in heaven; from whence
also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ : Who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body," (Phil. iii. 20, 21.) As it is true, "That
we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of
God," (Acts xiv. 22 ;) so it were unreasonable that this
entrance should be denied to the bodies which God exercises
under the banner of the cross, and adorns with the palm of
victory.

Accordingly, the saints never entertained any doubt that
they would one day be the companions of Christ, who trans
fers to his own person all the afflictions by which wre are
tried, that he may show their quickening power.1 Nay,
under the law, God trained the holy patriarch in this belief,
by means of an external ceremony. For to what end was the
rite of burial, as we have already seen, unless to teach that
new life was prepared for the bodies thus deposited ? Hence,
also, the spices and other symbols of immortality, by which
under the law the obscurity of the doctrine was illustrated
in the same way as by sacrifices. That custom was not the
offspring of superstition, since we see that the Spirit is not
less careful in narrating burials than in stating the principal
mysteries of the faith. Christ commends these last offices as
of no trivial importance, (Matth. xvi. 10,) and that, certainly,
for no other reason than just that they raise our eyes from the
view of the tomb, which corrupts and destroys all things, to
the prospect of renovation. Besides, that careful observance
of the ceremony for which the patriarchs are praised, suffi
ciently proves that they found in it a special and valuable
help to their faith. Nor would Abraham have been so
anxious about the burial of his wife, (Gen. xxiii. 4, 19,)
had not the religious view, and something superior to
any worldly advantage, been present to his mind ; in other
words, by adorning her dead body with the insignia of

1 Latin, u ut vivificas esse doceat." — French, " pour monstrer quelles
nous meinent a vie ;" — to show that they conduct us to life.

CHAP. XXV. CHRISTIAN RELIGIOX. 623

the resurrection, he confirmed his own faith, and that of his
family. A clearer proof of this appears in the example of
Jacob, who, to testify to his posterity that even death did
not destroy the hope of the promised land, orders his bones
to be carried thither. Had he been to be clothed with a
new body, would it not have been ridiculous in him to give
commands concerning a dust which was to be reduced to
nothing ? Wherefore, if Scripture has any authority with us,
we cannot desire a clearer or stronger proof of any doctrine.
Even tyros understand this to be the meaning of the words,
resurrection, and raising up. A thing which is created for
the first time cannot be said to rise again ; nor could our
Saviour have said, " This is the Father's will which hath
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day," (John
vi. 39.) The same is implied in the word sleeping, which is
applicable only to the body. Hence, too, the name of
cemetery, applied to burying-grounds.

It remains to make a passing remark on the mode of
resurrection. I speak thus because Paul, by styling it a
mystery, exhorts us to soberness, in order that he may curb
a licentious indulgence in free and subtle speculation. First,
we must hold, as has already been observed, that the body
in which we shall rise will be the same as at present in
respect of substance, but that the quality will be different ; just
as the body of Christ which was raised up was the same as
that which had been offered in sacrifice, and yet excelled in
other qualities, as if it had been altogether different. This
Paul declares by familiar examples, (1 Cor. xv. 39.) For as
the flesh of man and of beasts is the same in substance, but
not in quality : as all the stars are made of the same matter,
but have different degrees of brightness : so he shows, that
though we shall retain the substance of the body, there will
be a change, by which its condition will become much more
excellent. The corruptible body, therefore, in order that we
may be raised, will not perish or vanish away, but, divested of
corruption, will be clothed with incorruption. Since God has
all the elements at his disposal, no difficulty can prevent him
from commanding the earth, the fire, and the water, to give

624 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

up what they seem to have destroyed. This, also, though not
without figure, Isaiah testifies, "Behold, the Lord cometh
out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for
their iniquity : the earth also shall disclose her blood, and
shall no more cover her slain," (Isa. xxvi. 21.) But a
distinction must be made between those who died long ago,
and those who on that day shall be found alive. For as
Paul declares, " We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed," (1 Cor. xv. 51 ;) that is, it will not be necessary
that a period should elapse between death and the beginning
of the second life, for in a moment of time, in the twinkling
of an eye, the trumpet shall sound, raising up the dead
incorruptible, and, by a sudden change, fitting those who are
alive for the same glory. So, in another passage, he comforts
believers who were to undergo death, telling them that those
who are then alive shall not take precedence of the dead,
because those who have fallen asleep in Christ shall rise first,
(1 Thess. iv. 15.) Should any one urge the Apostle's decla
ration, " It is appointed unto all men once to die," (Heb. ix.
27,) the solution is easy, that when the natural state is
changed there is an appearance of death, which is fitly so
denominated, and, therefore, there is no inconsistency in the
two things, viz., that all when divested of their mortal body
shall be renewed by death ; and yet that where the change
is sudden, there will be no necessary separation between the
soul and the body.

9. But a more difficult question here arises, How can the
resurrection, which is a special benefit of Christ, be common
to the ungodly, who are lying under the curse of God ? We
know that in Adam all died. Christ has come to be the resur
rection and the life, (John xi. 25.) Is it to revive the whole
human race indiscriminately? But what more incongruous
than that the ungodly in their obstinate blindness should
obtain what the pious worshippers of God receive by faith
only ? It is certain, therefore, that there will be one resur
rection to judgment, and another to life, and that Christ will
come to separate the kids from the goats, (Matth. xxv. 32.)
I observe, that this ought not to seem very strange, seeing
something resembling it occurs every day. We know that

CHAP. XXV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 625

in Adam we were deprived of the inheritance of the whole
world, and that the same reason which excludes us from
eating of the tree of life excludes us also from common food.
How comes it, then, that God not only makes his sun to rise
on the evil and on the good, but that, in regard to the uses
of the present life, his inestimable liberality is constantly flow
ing forth in rich abundance ? Hence we certainly perceive,
that things which are proper to Christ and his members,
abound to the wicked also ; not that their possession is legi
timate, but that they may thus be rendered more inexcusable.
Thus the wicked often experience the beneficence of God,
not in ordinary measures, but such as sometimes throw
all the blessings of the godly into the shade, though they
eventually lead to greater damnation. Should it be objected,
that the resurrection is not properly compared to fading and
earthly blessings, I again answer, that when the devils
were first alienated from God, the fountain of life, they
deserved to be utterly destroyed ; yet, by the admirable
counsel of God, an intermediate state was prepared, where
without life they might live in death. It ought not to seem in
any respect more absurd that there is to be an adventitious
resurrection of the ungodly which will drag them against their
will before the tribunal of Christ, whom they now refuse to re
ceive as their master and teacher. To be consumed by death
would be a light punishment were they not, in order to the
punishment of their rebellion, to be sisted before the Judge
whom they have provoked to a vengeance without measure
and without end. But although we are to hold, as already
observed and as is contained in the celebrated confession of
Paul to Felix, " That there shall be a resurrection of the dead,
both of the just and unjust," (Acts xxiv. 15;) yet Scripture
more frequently sets forth the resurrection as intended, along
with celestial glory, for the children of God only : because,
properly speaking, Christ comes not for the destruction, but
for the salvation of the world : and, therefore, in the Creed
the life of blessedness only is mentioned.

10. But since the prophecy, that death shall be swallowed
up in victory, (Hosea xiii. 14,) will then only be completed,

VOL. II. 2 R

626 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

let us always remember that the end of the resurrection
is eternal happiness, of whose excellence scarcely the minutest
part can be described by all that human tongues can say.
For though we are truly told that the kingdom of God
will be full of light, and gladness, and felicity, and glory, yet
the things meant by these words remain most remote from
sense, and as it were involved in enigma, until the day arrive
on which he will manifest his glory to us face to face, (1 Cor.
xv. 54.) " Now," says John, " are we the sons of God ; and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we know that, when
he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as
he is," (1 John iii. 2.) Hence, as the prophets were unable
to give a verbal description of that spiritual blessedness, they
usually delineated it by corporeal objects. On the other
hand, because the fervour of desire must be kindled in us
by some taste of its sweetness, let us specially dwell upon
this thought, If God contains in himself as an inexhaustible
fountain all fulness of blessing, those who aspire to the su
preme good and perfect happiness must not long for any
thing beyond him. This we are taught in several passages,
" Fear not, Abraham ; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding
great reward," (Gen. xv. 1.) With this accords David's
sentiment, " The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance,
and of my cup : thou maintainest my lot. The lines are
fallen unto me in pleasant places," (Ps. xvi. 5, 6.) Again,
" I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness," (Ps.
xvii. 15.) Peter declares that the purpose for which believers
are called is, that they may be "partakers of the divine
nature," (2 Pet. i. 4.) How so ? Because " he shall come to
be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that
believe," (2 Thess. i. 10.) If our Lord will share his glory,
power, and righteousness, with the elect, nay, will give him
self to be enjoyed by them ; and what is better still, will, in a
manner, become one with them, let us remember that every
kind of happiness is herein included. But when we have
made great progress in thus meditating, let us understand
that if the conceptions of our minds be contrasted with the
sublimity of the mystery, we are still halting at the very en-

CHAP. XXV. CH1USTIAN RELIGION. 627

trance.1 The more necessary is it for us to cultivate sobriety
in this matter, lest, unmindful of our feeble capacity, we pre
sume to take too lofty a flight, and be overwhelmed by the
brightness of the celestial glory. We feel how much we are
stimulated by an excessive desire of knowing more than is
given us to know, and hence frivolous and noxious questions
are ever and anon springing forth : by frivolous, I mean
questions from which no advantage can be extracted. But
there is a second class which is worse than frivolous ; because
those who indulge in them involve themselves in hurtful specu
lations. Hence I call them noxious. The doctrine of Scrip
ture on the subject ought not to be made the ground of any
controversy, and it is that as God, in the varied distribution of
gifts to his saints in this world, gives them unequal degrees of
light, so when he shall crown his gifts, their degrees of glory
in heaven will also be unequal. When Paul says, " Ye are our
glory and our joy," (2 Thess. ii. 19,) his words do not apply
indiscriminately to all ; nor do those of our Saviour to his
apostles, " Ye also shall sit on twelve thrones judging the
twelve tribes of Israel," (Matth. xix. 28.) But Paul, who
knew that as God enriches the saints with spiritual gifts in
this world, he will in like manner adorn them with glory in
heaven, hesitates not to say, that a special crown is laid up
for him in proportion to his labours. Our Saviour, also, to
commend the dignity of the office which he had conferred on
the apostles, reminds them that the fruit of it is laid up in
heaven. This, too, Daniel says, (t They that be wise shall
shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn
many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever," (Dan.
xii. 3.) Any one who attentively considers the Scriptures
will see net only that they promise eternal life to believers,
but a special reward to each. Hence the expression of Paul,
" The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the

^ French, " Et encore quand nous aurons bien profite en cette medita
tion, si nous faut il entendre que nous sonimes encore tout an has et a la
premiere entree, et que jamais nous n'approcherons durant cette vie a la
hautesse de ce mystere." — And still, when we shall have profited much by
thus meditating, we must understand that we are still far beneath it, and
at the very threshold, and that never during this life shall we approach
the height of this myster

628 INSTITUTES OF THE BOOK III.

Lord in that day," (2 Tim. i. 18 ; iv. 14.) This is confirmed
by our Saviour's promise, that they " shall receive an hundred
fold, and shall inherit everlasting life," (Matth. xix. 29.) In
short, as Christ, by the manifold variety of his gifts, begins
the glory of his body in this world, and gradually increases it,
so he will complete it in heaven.

11. While all the godly with one consent will admit this, be
cause it is sufficiently attested by the word of God, they will,
on the other hand, avoid perplexing questions which they
feel to be a hinderance in their way, and thus keep within
the prescribed limits. In regard to myself, I not only indi
vidually refrain from a superfluous investigation of useless
matters, but also think myself bound to take care that 1 do
not encourage the levity of others by answering them.
Men puffed up with vain science are often inquiring how
great the difference will be between prophets and apostles,
and again, between apostles and martyrs; by how many de
grees virgins will surpass those who are married ; in short,
they leave not a corner of heaven untouched by their specu
lations. Next it occurs to them to inquire to what end the
world is to be repaired, since the children of God will not be
in want of any part of this great and incomparable abun
dance, but will be like the angels, whose abstinence from food
is a symbol of eternal blessedness. I answer, that independent
of use, there will be so much pleasantness in the very sight, so
much delight in the very knowledge, that this happiness will
far surpass all the means of enjoyment which are now afforded.
Let us suppose ourselves placed in the richest quarter of the
globe, where no kind of pleasure is wanting, who is there that
is not ever and anon hindered and excluded by disease from
enjoying the gifts of God? who does not oftentimes interrupt
the course of enjoyment by intemperance ? Hence it follows,
that fruition, pure and free from all defect, though it be of no
use to a corruptible life, is the summit of happiness. Others
go further, and ask whether dross and other impurities in
metals will have no existence at the restitution, and are in
consistent with it. Though I should go so far as concede
this to them, yet I expect with Paul a reparation of those
defects which first began with sin, and on account of which

CHAP. XXV. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 629

the whole creation groaneth and travaileth with pain, (Rom.
viii. 22.) Others go a step further, and ask, What better
condition can await the human race, since the blessing of
offspring shall then have an end ? The solution of this
difficulty also is easy. When Scripture so highly extols the
blessing of offspring, it refers to the progress by which God
is constantly urging nature forward to its goal ; in perfec
tion itself we know that the case is different. But as such
alluring speculations instantly captivate the unwary, who are
afterwards led farther into the labyrinth, until at length, every
one becoming pleased with his own view, there is no limit to
disputation, the best and shortest course for us will be to
rest contented with seeing through a glass darkly until we
shall see face to nice. Few out of the vast multitude of man
kind feel concerned how they are to get to heaven ; all would
fain know before the time what is done in heaven. Almost
all, while slow and sluggish in entering upon the contest, are
already depicting to themselves imaginary triumphs.

12. Moreover, as language cannot describe the severity of
the divine vengeance on the reprobate, their pains and tor
ments are figured to us by corporeal things, such as dark
ness, wailing and gnashing of teeth, unextinguishable fire, the
ever-gnawing worm, (Matth. viii. 12 ; xxii. 13 ; Mark ix.
43 ; Isa. Ixvi. 24.) It is certain that by such modes of ex
pression the Holy Spirit designed to impress all our senses
with dread, as when it is said, " Tophet is ordained of old ;
yea, for the king it is prepared : he hath made it deep and
large ; the pile thereof is fire and much wood ; the breath of
the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it," (Isa.
xxx. 33.) As we thus require to be assisted to conceive the
miserable doom of the reprobate, so the consideration on which
we ought chiefly to dwell is the fearful consequence of being
estranged from all fellowship with God, and not only so, but
of feeling that his majesty is adverse to us, while we cannot
possibly escape from it. For, first, his indignation is like a
raging fire, by whose touch all things are devoured and anni
hilated. Next, all the creatures are the instruments of his
judgment, so that those to whom the Lord will thus publicly
manifest his anger vill feel that heaven, and earth, and sea, all

630 INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. BOOK III.

beings, animate and inanimate, are, as it were, inflamed with
dire indignation against them, and armed for their destruc
tion. Wherefore, the Apostle made no trivial declaration,
when he said that unbelievers shall be " punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and
from the glory of his power," (2 Thess. i. 9.) And whenever
the prophets strike terror by means of corporeal figures,
although in respect of our dull understanding there is no extra
vagance in their language, yet they give preludes of the future
judgment in the sun and the moon, and the whole fabric of
the world. Hence unhappy consciences find no rest, but
are vexed and driven about by a dire whirlwind, feeling
as if torn by an angry God, pierced through with deadly
darts, terrified by his thunderbolt, and crushed by the
weight of his hand; so that it were easier to plunge into
abysses and whirlpools than endure these terrors for a mo
ment. How fearful, then, must it be to be thus beset through
out eternity ! On this subject there is a memorable passage
in the ninetieth Psalm : Although God by a mere look
scatters all mortals, and brings them to nought, yet as his
worshippers are more timid in this world, he urges them the
more, that he may stimulate them, while burdened with the
cross, to press onward until he himself shall be all in all.

END OF VOLUME SECOND,

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Just Published, price Two Shillings, in extra cloth board s,

THE

MERITS OF CALVIN

*

AS AN INTERPRETER OF

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF

PROFESSOR THOLUCK OF HALLE,

BY

PROFESSOR WOODS OF ANDOVER.

TO WHICH ARE ADDED,

OPINIONS AND TESTIMONIES

OF FOREIGN AND BRITISH DIVINES AND SCHOLARS AS TO THE VALUE
AND IMPORTANCE OF THE WRITINGS OF JOHN CALVIN.

WITH A PREFACE,

BY THE REV. WILLIAM PRINGLE.

EXTRACTS FROM CRITIQUES:

I.

" This is a tract from the pen of the eloquent and learned Professor
THOLUCK of Halle, which appeared in the 'Literary Advertiser for
Christian Theology and General Intelligence for 1831,' has been trans
lated from the original German by Professor WOODS of Andover, and
is in this edition introduced to the English reader by a well-written
preface by the Rev. WILLIAM PRINGLE of Auchterarder, so favourably
known to the public by his excellent translations of Calvin and Witsius.
It will be read with veiv much pleasure and advantage by all who take

an interest in Bible studies, and more especially by students of Theology
and Biblical Interpretation, none of whom ought to be satisfied with
themselves until they have obtained and perused it. Of the distinguished
man whose 'merits as an interpreter of the Holy Scriptures' are so
acutely and impartially discussed in this performance of Professor
THOLUCK, it is enough to say, in opposition to the misrepresentations
of so much ignorance and prejudice on -the part of many, that no one has
ever united so much the voices of the most learned and pious of all
Churches and countries in his praise as he has done. A numerous list
of opinions and testimonies in favour of Calvin is appended to the pre
sent edition of this Tract."

II.

"It isone of the favourable signs of the times that the merits of CALVIN,
as a theologian and an expositor, are appreciated with so much fairness,
and in so much a better spirit, than was long the fashion among too
many writers of almost all denominations. Dr THOLUCK shows his
characteristic acuteness in this pamphlet of observations — pointing out
striking examples of the enlarged and liberal spirit, the soundness of
mind, and the critical acumen which distinguish the exegetical writings
of this great Reformer. As was to be apprehended from Dr THOLUCK'S
doctrinal sentiments, his remarks, in a few instances, require to be quali
fied. This Mr Pringle has attended to in the preface with candour and
discrimination. The editor has our best thanks for the treat he has
furnished us, to the value of which he has added by appending the testi
monies of divines and scholars, both British and Foreign, to the import
ance of Calvin's writings : in the list will be found some of the most
illustrious names in Christendom, from the Reformer's days to the pre
sent."

III.

"This neat little volume is intended to direct attention to CALVIN in the
character described above, [as an Interpreter of Scripture;] and to bring
his works within the reach and understanding of the public in general,
a Society has lately been established under the title of ' THE CALVIN
TRANSLATION SOCIETY.' A member of this Society secures, from a
moderate yearly subscription, four volumes of Calvin's theological works,
newly and accurately translated for that undertaking. Mr Pringle's re
commendatory introduction is well calculated to advance this object ; and
his own translation of ' Witsius on the Lord's Prayer ' points him out
as one admirably qualified to assist in that office."

LONDON: SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 65, CORNHILL ;

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