Thursday, July 30, 2009

A Drunken Dream of Our Brain

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 20 - Prayer as exercise of faith and way we receive God's benefits
Sections 21-27 - Rejecting intercession of saints
21. Departed saints can only petition God through Christ, like us - John 14:6. Appealing to saints takes honor from Christ, whose role it is to intercede for us. They do so thinking Jesus either insufficient (not true) or too severe (He is our Elder Brother).

22. God rebuked Israel for having a god for each city - Jer 2:28; 11:13 - yet Rome teaches us to pray to a different saint, depending on the need. The Carthage Council of 397 forbade praying to saints from the altar.

23. Rome confuses the role of angels - Heb 1:14; Ps 91:11; 34:7; Eph 3:10 - with that of departed saints. They claim Jer 15:1 - "Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me..." but they did not intercede, in an ultimate sense. Ezek 14:14.


24. Prayers to departed saints would disturb their own repose from earthly cares. We commend one another on earth by praying for each other - 1 Tim 2:1-2; James 5:15-16 - but "He has left us no contact with them - Eccl 9:5-6 - and as far as we can conjecture, not even left them any with us."

25. They claim Gen 48:16, where Jacob invokes Abraham and Isaac, but he only asks God to remember His promises to his ancestors, "not thinking about any intercession but paying attention to the benefit of the covenant." See Isa 63:16-17. Now that we have Jesus, we need put forward no other name. They claim Ps 132:10 - "for David's sake" - but thus "is the covenant considered, rather than the man, and under a figure the sole intercession of Christ is declared."

26. "Some are obviously influenced by the fact that we often read of the prayers of the saints being heard. Why? Because they prayed, of course." See Ps 22:4-5; James 5:17-18. We are to pray, as they did, and we will be heard, as they were - Ps 142:7; 52:6; 64:10; 34:6; 32:6.

27. "Faith grounded upon the Word is the mother of right prayer." See Rom 10:14, 17. "What pertains to the office of intercession... is peculiar to Christ." "We have nowhere read that [the dead] have been bidden to pray for us." See James 5:16. Appealing to saints "leaves nothing for Christ to do."

A surer advocate

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 20 - Prayer as exercise of faith and way we receive God's benefits
Sections 17-20 - Prayer in the name of Jesus
17. Jesus is our advocate and mediator with the Father, so we pray in His name. 1 John 2:1; 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 4:16; John 16:24, 626; 14:13; 2 Cor 1:20.

18. Christ has propitiated the Father's wrath, by His sacrifice, and so intercedes for us with Him in heaven. John 16:26; Ex 28:9-21; Heb 10:20.

19. Jesus is the only mediator; without Him, "nothing is left in [God's] throne but wrath, judgment, and terror." When we pray for each other, we should appeal to Christ's intercession, not depend on our own.

20. Rome says Christ is our mediator for redemption, while saints can mediate in intercession. What about 1 John 2:1; Rom 8:34; 1 Tim 2:1-5? Scripture never tells believers to mediate for others, but simply to pray for one another as equals - Rom 15:30; Eph 6:19; Col 4:3; 1 Cor 12:25-26; Rom 12:5.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

All prayers a mixture of faith and error

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 20 - Prayer as exercise of faith and way we receive God's benefits
Sections 15-16 - God even hears defective prayers
15. Examples: Judges 9:20; 16:28; Ps 107:6, 13, 19; 1 Kings 21:29. He does this to emphasize His mercy. Ps 106:13, 43; Judg 3:9; Matt 5:45. Sometimes saints in Scripture prayed without God's promise - Gen 18:23 - or even against His command - 1 Sam 15:11; Jer 32:16. "They pray according to His will, not that hidden and unchangeable will but the will that He inspires in them." In such a case, "we must ask of God conditionally." See Ps 7:6. The "prayers of the saints.... are a mixture of faith and error."

16. God answers our prayer only by constantly forgiving the error and irreverent emotions with which our prayers are mixed. David's Psalms have this! Ps 39:13. These should be repudiated [!], but God quickly forgives as we confess. We lift our hands in prayer to agree our hearts should be lifted up to God, though they "stay on the ground." We must confess our sins, how little we feel the weight of our sins, and how few of our sins we are aware of. Our prayers are often tinged with questions in trial - Ps 80:4; Lam 3:8. These are defects of faith, but forgiven as we remain humble and reverent before God.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Encouraged to pray by a sure hope

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 20 - Prayer as exercise of faith and way we receive God's benefits
Sections 4-16 - Rules of prayer
Sections 11-14 - 4th rule: Pray with confident hope
11. While humbling ourselves before God in fear, we are also to take encouraging refuge in Him, trusting He will hear us. Faith is our guide in prayer, and obtains what is sought - Mark 11:24; Matt 21:22; James 1:5-7; Rom 10:14, 17.

12. We don't come uncertain if God will hear us, as if that were a mark of piety - Heb 4:16; Eph 3:12; Ps 33:22; 56:9; 5:3. We do come with anxiety over our sin and trials, but we unburden ourselves before Him "as children unburden their troubles to their parents." See Ps 41:4.

13. We can pray like this because God commands us to, and promises to answer - Ps 50:15; Matt 7:7; Ps 65:1-2; 145:19.

14. We should pray "without terror but with reverential fear." We should also be confident, for He promises to hear us - Jer 2:13; Prov 18:10; Joel 2:32; Rom 10:13; Acts 2:21; Isa 65:24; Ps 91:15; 145:18; 1 Pet 5:7; 2 Sam 7:27-29; Ps 119:76; Gen 32:10-13.

Put away all self-assurance

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 20 - Prayer as exercise of faith and way we receive God's benefits
Sections 4-16 - Rules of prayer
Sections 8-10 - Come humbly, with no confidence in self

8. OT saints prayed for forgiveness acknowledging nothing in them or in Israel deserved it - Dan 9:18-19; Ps 143:2; Isa 64:5-9; Jer 14:7. Calvin also quotes the Apocryphal book Baruch 2:18-19; 3:2 to the same purpose.

9. Repentance is the main part of prayer, even when asking for other things - Ps 25:7, 18; 51:5. We can't pray for deliverance from bondage to sin, or for alleviation of consequences of sin, without confessing them - Matt 9:2; 1 John 1:9. "Under the law prayers had to be consecrated with blood atonement" - Gen 12:8; 26:25; 33:20; 1 Sam 7:9.

10. What does it mean when OT saints ask God to answer them because they are righteous? Ps 86:2; 2 Kings 20:3; Isa 38:3. "By their regeneration itself they are attested as servants and chileren of God to whom He promises that He will be gracious." See Ps 34:15. "He does not set the value of prayer according to the merits of works," but assures us as we are free of guile. He won't listen if we "slumber and repose in [our] own sins without any desire for righteousness." Answered prayer still depends on God's mercy, not anyone's personal righteousness.

Monday, July 27, 2009

With sincere affection of heart

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 20 - Prayer as exercise of faith and way we receive God's benefits
Sections 4-16 - Rules of prayer
Sections 6-7 - Pray from your lack, and with penitence
6. Pray knowing your own insufficiency, and with an earnest, sincere desire for what you ask, not to get through a duty or to appease God.
7. We pray according to felt need - James 5:13; Ps 32:6; 94:19. But we also pray without ceasing - Eph 6:18; 1 Thess 5:17. Lawful prayer requires repentance, since we are always in need of forgiveness - Ps 145:18; Jer 29:13-14; John 9:31; Prov 15:8; 21:27; 28:9; Isa 1:15; 29: 13; Jer 11:7, 8, 11; James 4:3; 1 John 3:22.

Don't vegetate in carelessness

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 20 - Prayer as exercise of faith and way we receive God's benefits
Sections 4-16 - Rules of prayer
Sections 4-5 - Reverence
4. Have your mind in a fit frame for conversation with God. No carnal thoughts, though anxieties naturally creep in from time to time. Ps 130:1. Use the Psalms as a model. The mind by itself wanders.
5. Levity and frivolity, "devoid of awe," are contrary to reverence. Raising hands in prayer shows that we are far from God unless we lift our thoughts to Him - Ps 25:1; Isa 37:4. We should not ask for things beyond what He promises - 1 John 5:14. The Spirit helps us to pray - Rom 8:26. We are not to "vegetate in carelessness," but to ward off "inertia and dullness." 1 Cor 14:15.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Not so much for His own sake as for ours

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 20 - Prayer as exercise of faith and way we receive God's benefits
Sections 1-3 - Intro - Nature and Value of Prayer
1. We cannot seek God's salvation in ourselves, but must go to Him in Christ. "True faith cannot be indifferent about calling upon God." See Rom 10:14-17; 8:15-16, 26.
2. If God promises us something in the Gospel, we should ask for it in prayer. Burdened with sin, we should find peace of conscience in prayer to God, asking for forgiveness of Him. Joel 2:32.
3. Why pray if God's will is fixed? God ordains prayer "not so much for His own sake as for ours." To fire our hearts with zeal, to have Him bear witness to our heart's desires, to train ourselves to receive His gifts with gratitude (ps 145:15-16), to consider His kindness when He answers prayer, to take more delight in what He gives through answered prayer, to "confirm His providence" through tangible provision for us. He is ready to hear and answer us - Ps 145:18; 1 Pet 3:12; Ps 34:15; 121:4.

A good conscience before God

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 19 - Christian Freedom
14-16 - Freedom, tradition, and government
14. Freedom in Christ - 1 Pet 1:18-19 - is from other men binding the believer's conscience Gal 2:21.
15. There are two kingdoms, one spiritual and the other political. The spiritual impacts "the inner mind, while the latter regulates only outward behavior." Freedom in the spiritual realm from the laws of men does not translate into freedom from political obligation - Rom 13:1, 5. Our conscience testifies to our guilt or innocence before God, not men - Rom 2:15-16; 1 Pet 3:21; Heb 10:2.
16. A good conscience is "inward integrity of heart" toward God. See 1 Tim 1:5, 19; Acts 24:16. When binding your actions, to keep from stumbling a brother, your freedom before God doesn't disappear; you are still inwardly free with regard to God, "while binding outward actions" - 1 Cor 10:28-29.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Free to edify

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 19 - Christian Freedom
10-13 - Christian freedom and offending weaker brothers

10. Some think you don't have the freedom unless you use it, but you are as free when you abstain as when you use a gift of God. Some think you don't have the freedom unless you use it before men, but we must remember not to stumble the weak. We DO have to declare our freedom before men, at times.
11. An offense is given when something is done out of place, by the doer's fault, stumbling the weak. Rom 14:1, 13; 15:1-2; 1 Cor 8:9; 10:25, 29, 32; Gal 5:13. An offense is received when the act is appropriate, but received with ill will or intent, by a Pharisaical mind. Matt 15:12-14. "We shall so temper the use of our freedom as to allow for the ignorance of our weak brothers, but for the rigor of the Pharisees, not at all!"
12. Continuing the distinction, Paul circumcised Timothy, to not stumble the weak and to be a Jew to the Jews - Acts 16:3; 1 Cor 9:19-20, 22. But he would not circumcise Titus, to resist the Pharisees - Gal 2:3-5. "We should use our freedom if it results in the edification of our neighbor, but if it does not help our neighbor, then we should forgo it." See 1 Cor 10:23-24.
13. We may not offend God, while saying we are trying to accommodate a weaker brother. Rome does this, saying the Mass is like milk for weak Christians, when it is really poison that offends God.

Freedom from condemnation, to obey and enjoy

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 19 - Christian Freedom
1-3 - Introduction
1. Our liberty is an important extension of our justification. We either go hog wild with it, into sin, or we are so afraid of it doing just that.
2. There are three parts to our freedom. ONE: our conscience, "worried how to render God favorable," should be free of trying to use the law to do so.
3. This is the main point of Galatians - Gal 3:13; 5:1-4; 4:5.

4-6 - part two of three: freedom obeys the law
4. TWO: "freed from the law's yoke they willingly obey God's will." We can't keep the first commandment of the law (Deut 6:5), anyway.
5. We can seek to obey the law, not daring approach God before having done each task. Or we can seek to obey God joyfully as children, free to offer Him our imperfect works, with confidence He will accept us - Mal 3:17.
6. We need not fear God's judgment on us for the remants of sin in us, justified as we are by faith - Heb 11; Rom 6:12-14.

7-9 - part three of three: freedom in indifferent things
7. We need to understand this, or "our consciences will have no repose and there will be no end to superstitions." If we think it wrong to use a certain fine linen, we'll eventually think it wrong to use anything but the most coarse. If we think it wrong to drink sweet wine, we'll eventually think it wrong to drink water that is cleaner and sweeter than other water. Scruples tend to multiply beyond God's Word. "he will come to the point of considering it wrong to step upon a straw across his path."
8. We should receive all lawful things with gratitude (1 Tim 4:4-5), and use them as God intended without troubled conscience.
9. Luxuries are indifferent things, "provided they are used indifferently," but not when coveted, boasted of, or shown off. They become sin when used by corrupt men - Titus 1:15; Luke 6:24-25; Amos 6:4; Isa 5:8, 12. "Where there is plenty, to wallow in delights, to gorge oneself, to intoxicate mind and heart with present pleasures and be always panting after new ones - such are very far removed from a lawful use of God's gifts."

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Our justification rests upon God's mercy alone and Christ's merit

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 18 - Works righteousness wrongly inferred from reward
5-10 - Answering objections
5. 2 Tim 4:8 implies a reward for works. God can't reward us without first graciously forgiving us. Our faith brings about work, by love - Gal 5:6 - but imperfect works that must be forgiven, to be approved by God.
6. Our treasure is to be in heaven - Luke 16:9; 1 Tim 6:17-19; Matt 6:21. We are to lend to God by giving to the poor - Prov 19:17. This helps us be more godly in this life, but we don't earn heavenly treasure by it.
7. 2 Thess 1:5-7; Heb 6:10 say He will reward our sufferings, but the cause isn't our merit, but God's will. Heb 6:10; Rom 8:29; Luke 24:26; Acts 14:22; Gal 6:17; 2 Cor 4:10; Phil 3:10-11. The point is to spur us on to works, and to "strengthen our hope." Augustine says God is our debtor in that He has promised us all things, but not in that He accepts anything from us.
8. Objection: Love is greater than faith, so it must justify, more than faith. 1 Cor 13:2, 13; Col 3:14. Answer: love is greater, but because it endures forever. Faith justifies without any love-based works, but by "God's mercy alone and Christ's merit." "It is as if someone argued that a king is more capable of making a shoe than a shoemaker is because he is infinitely more eminent." If they speak of God's love, it moved Him to send Christ on whom we rely; if they speak of our works of love, they are imperfect and cannot justify.
9. Objection: In Matt 19:17 Jesus says to be justified we must keep the commandments." Answer: He said this to one who was looking only to the law for his salvation. If you can keep it, go for it. But elsewhere, Jesus calls all to Himself for rest - Matt 11:28-30.
10. Objection: if our sin is imputed as unrighteousness, our good deeds can be imputed as righteousness. Answer: Unbelief is the "first defection from God," the root of all other sins. But a good work and a bad work aren't equal opposites, that result in "tighteousness" if you have more good than bad. One sin in a life makes the whole life unrighteous - James 2:10-11.

He will reward works with what He gave freely before works

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 18 - Works righteousness wrongly inferred from reward
1-4 - Passages about reward do not make works the cause of salvation
1. What does Scripture mean, to say we will be rewarded according to our works? Matt 16:27; 2 Cor 5:10; Rom 2:9-10, 6; John 5:29; Matt 25:34-35; Prov 12:14; Isa 3:11; Prov 13:13; Matt 5:12; Luke 6:23; 1 Cor 3:8. This is about sequence of events, not cause. Those justified are afterward glorified - Rom 8:30. Our work is not opposed to grace. God began the work, and will finish it - Phil 1:6.
2. Our rewards is an inheritance given by free adoption, not as wages.
Eph 1:5-6, 18; Gal 4:7, 30; Matt 25:34; Col 3:24. God made sovereign, free promises to Abraham, Gen 15:5; 17:1; 18:18, though it sounds like Abraham merited it in Gen 22:16-18. God has no reason to favor us, except by His mercy in Christ.
3. God spurs us on with promised rewards for works, which reward He promised us before in the Gospel - Col 1:4-5. The parable of the 11th hour vineyard workers shows that our work does not merit reward - the reward is based on grace - Matt 20:1ff. Eternal life is the fruition of our works, not theearned reward of them. Mark 10:30; Matt 25:34; Rom 8:18; 1 Pet 1:9.
4. God gives comfort in our earthly affiction and restrains our pride with promised reward - this is recompense for our trials, not earning your way to the reward - 1 Cor 15:19.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Justification according to works in Scripture?

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 17 - The Law's Promises Agree with the Gospel
6. The OT has more than one kind of promise. It talks in a merit-reward kind of way ("do this and you will live"). It also says "the Lord keeps covenant of mercy with those who love Him" - Deut 7:9; 1 Kings 8:23; Neh 1:5.
7. The first kind of promise of righteousness, based on doing the law, is sometimes called righteousness (Deut 6:25; 24:13; Ps 106:30-31). But it doesn't please God unless it observes the whole law, which never happens.
8. How do we reconcile Rom 4:3 and Gal 3:6 with Ps 106:31? Our works can only please God when they are cleansed by and based on the righteousness we have by faith in Christ - Rom 5; 3:20.
9. Any righteousness we have is impure in itself - Deut 27:26; Job 25:5; 4:18 - and depends on justification by faith to be pleasing to God.
10. Your sins must be pardoned before God will accept your works. "By faith alone not only we ourselves but our works as well are justified." See Ps 32:1-2. When Scripture speaks of men as blessed who do certain things - - this depends on their forgiveness, which depends on justification by faith alone.
11. Isn't James clear that we are justified by works? (Jas 2:21, 24) Scripture cannot contradict itself. James is speaking of a pseudo-faith, not real faith, when he says faith alone doesn't justify.
12. James uses "justify" as in "prove your righteousness," not as in "have righteousness imputed to you by doing this."
13. Romans 2:13 doesn't help them. It just means the Jews weren't justified by having the law, not that they could be justified by keeping it (Rom 2:12).
14. What about when the Psalmist asks God to look favorably on His righteousness? Ps 7:8; 17:1, 3; 18:20-21, 23; 26:1, 4, 9-11. He pleads innocence in particular matters, not absolutely throughout life. Or he pleads innocence compared to his enemies, not according to God. - 1 Sam 26:23; 2 Cor 1:12; 1 Cor 4:4. Ps 130:3; 143:2 are still true.
15. Can we be perfect? Prov 20:7; 12:28; Ezek 18:9, 21 seem to say so. But no one is perfect - our only perfection is knowing we are imperfect. Paul prays for believers' perfection - Col 1:22; Eph 1:4; 1 Cor 1:8; 1 Thess 3:13; 5:23. But this is when we appear before God, not while here on earth yet.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

God accepting our works?

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 17 - The Law's Promises Agree with the Gospel
1. Justification is not in works, so we don't rely on works, so our assurance is only in Christ, so our hope is only in God's grace, "not by our worth." Rome says the benefits and rewards of the law (Deut 7:12-13; Jer 7:5-7; Deut 11:26; 30:15) are moot if justification is by faith alone. In truth, no one can merit the law's rewards; redemption frees us from the curse of the law.
2. Righteousness does not come partially by the law, but only through Christ - Gal 2:16.
3. The promises of the law didn't fall to the ground, though, but are fulfilled and given to us by faith in Christ. He reconciles us to Him "without the help of works."
4. They say works must be involved in justification, the way Cornelius is described in Acts 10:34-35. But Cornelius, to be so accepted by God, must have trusted in God's mercy, not in his own works.
5. God is pleased with our good works because He sees His own image and righteousness in them. "Regeneration is a renewal of the divine image in us." God embraces our good works only "in Christ rather than in themselves." God keeps His covenant of mercy with us in this way - Deut 7:9; 1 Kings 8:23; Neh 1:5; Deut 29:19.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Too Precious

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 16 - Refuting false accusations about justification by faith alone
1. Rome says this doctrine keeps people from doing good works. But when you are justified in Christ, you are also sanctified in Him. Good works are not downplayed, but "encouraged and strengthened" by justification by faith alone. "Having admitted that faith and good works must cleave together, we still lodge justification in faith, not in works."
2. Rome says this doctrine keeps people from wanting to do good works - no reward results! But if you do a work for the reward, instead of to freely serve God, it isn't a good work, anyway. Scripture lodges our motivation for doing good in "the end of our redemption," our calling to be holy: 1 John 4:19; Heb 9:14; 10:29; Luke 1:74-75; Rom 6:18, 6, 4; Col 3:1-3; Matt 6:20; Titus 2:11-13; 1 Cor 3:16-17; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21; Eph 5:8-9; 1 Thess 5:4-5; 4:7, 3; 1 John 4:11; John 13:34; 1 John 3:10; 2:10-11; 1 Cor 6:15, 17; 12:12, 25; 1 John 3:3; 2 Cor 7:1; 1 Pet 2:21; John 15:10; 13:15.
3. We are to be motivated by God being glorified in us - Matt 5:16. Occasionally, we have to remember His benefits to be prodded on to good, but Rome sets up a tit for tat system that contradicts 2 Cor 9:7. Scripture does speak of God rendering to us according to our works - Rom 2:6-7; Matt 16:27; 1 Cor 3:8, 14-15; 2 Cor 5:10. But this isn't the root of our relationship with God; trust in His mercy is- Ps 130:4.
4. Rome says this doctrine invites people to sin, since it is free. But "not so for Christ, who dearly bought it at the cost of His most sacred blood." How can we defile our souls again (Song of Sol 5:3)? Our works of satisfaction themselves are but dung - Phil 3:8. The righteousness we have received in Christ is "too precious to be matched by any compensation of works."

The Sum of All Piety

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 15 - Boasting in Our Merit Destroys God Glory for Giving Righteousness, as Well as Our Assurance of Salvation
Sections 5-8 - Replacing Christ's merit with man's no good
5. The only foundation for our lives is in Christ being our righteousness. Jesus didn't come to have us fulfill our righteousness ourselves. Since Christ has all we need, "in us there is nothing." 1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:4-5; Col 1:14, 20; Rom 8:17; Gal 4:5-7; Rom 5:9-10; John 10:28; Rom 11:19.
6. Those who are dead cannot bring forth life - 1 John 5:12; Rom 14:23; Matt 7:18; Luke 6:43; John 5:24. "As soon as you become engrafted into Christ thorugh faith, you are made a son of God... you obtain not the opportunity to gain merit but all the merits of Christ, for they are communicated to you."
7. Justfication by faith is "the sum of all piety." The schoolmen, following Aquinas, say merit comes from free will, even if God gives grace to make it possible. Even sober Lombard didn't follow Augustine, though quoting him alot. Eph 2:10 proves it. No good work comes from us, except by regeneration, which is completely from God. Thus, we can't "claim an ounce of good works for ourselves." We can still "cheer hearts" over good works that please God, though they are gifts of God.
8. Don't be drawn off of your sure foundation in Christ's righteousness! Phil 2:8; John 4:34; Luke 2:49; John 8:50; 7:16-18; 10:15; 15:13; Luke 6:27, 35; 23:34; 2 Cor 4:8-10; 2 Tim 2:11-12; Phil 3:10-11; Rom 8:29, 38-39, 28. Men aren't justified by works before God; they are reborn - 1 Pet 1:3 - as a new creation by God - 2 Cor 5:17 - and then are judged by Him, by their new fruits - Matt 7:20; 12:33; Luke 6:44.

Against "Merit"

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 15 - Boasting in Our Merit Destroys God Glory for Giving Righteousness, as Well as Our Assurance of Salvation
Sections 1-4 - Merit in justification opposed

1. Justification is the "chief turning point."
2. Merit is an unfortunate word that shouldn't have been introduced for discussion. It will "produce great offense and very little fruit." It is possible to use it without corrupting the Gospel, though. 2 Tim 2:13 and Ezek 36:22, 32 are good correctives.
3. Any good work we do comes from God's grace, ruling out our merit entirely - Luke 17:10.
4. A verse in the apocrypha "for every man according to the merit of his works," is mistranslated. It should say "according to his works," which just means God is pleased with our deeds, not saying where they came from, ultimately. Our works cannot win favor with God; He gives His favor freely - Isa 55:1; John 1:16.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Works of supererogation

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 14 - The beginning and progress of justification
Sections 12-21 - Objections to justification by faith alone
12. They say our works make up for our sins, only when they "accept grace." But "Christ's righteousness... must appear in court on our behalf, and stand surety in judgment."
13. Our works cannot make partial satisfaction for any sins. "Men's whole righteousness, gathered together in one heap, could not make compensation for a single sin."
14. Rather than boasting in works that go beyond what God requires, Jesus says that when we have done all that is required, to say "that we have done no more than we ought to have done" Luke 17:10. Of course, we ought to seek to do more than we have yet been able, but not to think that we have done more than is required by God.
15. 1 Cor 9:1ff doesn't refer to works of supererogation. The only such works that exist are those God describes as hypocrisy, or seeking God in the wrong place - Isa 1:12; 55:2.
16. We must not put any confidence or boasting into any work. Ps 143:2; Isa 45:25.
"It is not very laborious for these leisured rabbis to dispute these matters under the shade in easy chairs. But when that supreme Judge sits in His judgment seat such windy opinions will have to vanish. It is this that we had to seek: what confidence we can bring to His judgment seat in our defense, not what we can talk about in the schools and corners."
17. Works aren't a cause of our salvation, no matter how you look at it. True causes are God's mercy, Christ's righteousness, our faith, and God's vindication. Rom 3:23-26; John 3:16; Eph 1:3-14.
18. We can take some solace in the good works we do, but only as they are an outworking of God's grace, not as meriting grace themselves.
19. We can proclaim the benefits of God's salvation (our adoption, regeneration, indwelling Spirit and resulting purity) without denying His salvation was freely given.
20. Augustine prayed that God would not look on his works, but on God's works through him: "see in me Thy work, not mine."
21. Scripture does speak of works as causing salvation, sometimes. This is done to show the order of events (righteousness on earth and vindication before God's throne at death, e.g.), not so we rely on our works instead of God's mercy for the final cause of our salvation.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The pivotal point

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 14 - The beginning and progress of justification
Sections 7-8 - Hypocrites and nominal believers condemned
7. They both have "impurity of conscience," "have not yet been reconciled to God," and "their hearts teem with impurities."
8. God hates the sacrifices of the wicked, when hypocrites try to win his favor with works - Isa 1:13-16; Prov 15:8. Faith must be the foundation, then works build upon that - Gen 4:4; Acts 15:9.

Sections 9-11 - The regenerate are justified by faith alone
9. Even in believers, our every action is mixed with sin - Ecc 7:20.
10. Just one sin removes any previous righteousness we had - Ezek 18:24; James 2:10.
11. Even a believer's righteousness only deserves condemnation. The "pivotal point of our disputation" with Rome is that we are justified by faith alone, not by faith and works considered together. - Rom 4:3; Eph 2:8-9; Hab 2:4.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A resurrection from death into life

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 14 - The beginning and progress of justification
Sections 1-6 - Man is dead in sins and needs redemption
1. Man is one of four things:
a. a non-Christian - without knowledge of God and an idolater
b. a nominal Christian - baptized but with a corrupt heart
c. a hypocritical Christian - acting sincere but a corrupt heart
d. a true Christian - regenerate in heart
All men are corrup, without regeneration - Jer 17:9; Gen 8:21; 6:3; Ps 94:11; Ex 20:20; Ps 14:2; Gal 5:19-21.
2. When non-Christians have comparative moral virtue, it is God-given.
3. But true virtue requires faith.
4. True holiness is only found in faith in Christ - 1 John 5:12; Heb 11:6. Augustine says, it is better to limp on the path (faith) than to run fast and be off course (zealous works without faith).
5. We attain righteousness before God only by His grace, not our works. John 5:25; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 2:4-5; Rom 4:17; Job 41:11; Rom 11:35; Eph 2:8-10; 2 Tim 1:9; Titus 3:4-7; Rom 11:6; Matt 9:13.
6. Before God cleanses and unites us to Himself in mercy, we have no righteousness to commend ourselves before Him - Isa 59:15-16; Hos 2:19, 23; Rom 5:10; Col 1:21; 1 John 4:10; Hos 14:4; 1 Cor 6:11; 1 Pet 1:2; Phil 1:29.

Monday, July 6, 2009

A Righteousness so Steadfast

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 13 - Two things, on Justification
1. Justification vindicates God.
2. Justification puts our consciences at rest.

1. Rom 3:25-26 - God demonstrates His righteousness, His justice. We have nothing to commend us. See Rom 3:19; Ezek 20:43-44. "So long as man has anything to say in his own defense, he detracts somewhat from God's glory." See Jer 9:23-24.
2. Isa 45:24-25 teaches this: if we boast in ourselves in any way, we rob God of honor. Also Eph 2:8-9; 1 Pet 2:9.
3. No man will ever be fully assured that he has satisfied God's law - Prov 20:9; Rom 4:14. Faith is a restful assurance, and man can never have that in himself - 1 Cor 2:5. We must have a "righteousness so steadfast" it will "support our soul in the judgment of God."
4. Besides robbing God of honor, depending on our own works also voids God's offered promise of mercy - Rom 4:14; Ps 119:76. He quotes Augustine and Bernard saying the same thing, "lest you suppose we are saying something new."
5. Only faith in God's grace to justify us (Rom 5:1), from the Spirit (Rom 5:5), can give peace of conscience (Rom 8:35, 39) and joy in prayer (Ps 23:1, 4; Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15; Eph 3:12). "Faith is... bringing nothing of ours to the recovering of God's favor but receiving from Christ that which we lack."

Looking upon ourselves without flattery

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 12 - Convinced you are justified
Sections 4-8 - Embracing God's mercy, upon self-examination
4. The awakened conscience realizes God's mercy is the only safe haven.
5. We have to examine ourselves without flattery or self-love - Prov 21:2; 16:2. We must take into account our depravity - Job 25:6; 15:16; 14:4; 9:20; Isa 53:6; 1 Pet 5:5; James 4:6; Prov 3:34.
6. We have to be humble, which means by definition not thinking we have anything in ourselves to commend ourselves - Ps 18:27; Zeph 3:11-12. For God to lift you up, your heart must be contrite - Isa 66:2; 57:15.
7. The publican praying in the temple was justified, was sincere, because he acknowledged his sin - Luke 18:13-14; Isa 61:1-3; Matt 11:28; 9:13.
8. Arrogance and complacency before God block our way to Christ. We try to take credit for God's grace in our own works. Bernard says this is like a wall saying it made the sun that comes through the window, which sun the wall blocks! "We will never have enough confidence in Him unless we become deeply distrustly of ourselves."

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Standing before God

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 12 - Convinced you are justified
Sections 1-3 - in light of God's majesty and perfection
1. Before God, none are righteous - Job 3:9; 9:5-6; 5:13; 25:5; 4:18; 9:20; Deut 32:22; Job 26:6; Isa 33:14-15; Ps 130:3; Job 4:17-20; 15:15-16; Gal 3:10.
2. It is easy to compare yourself favorably to other men, but not when standing before God. Luke 16:15; Ps 143:2; 1 Cor 4:4.
3. Augustine and Bernard both agreed. Our merit (righteousness) is to know we have no merit before God.1 Tim 2:5-6; Ezek 36:22, 32.

Righteousness is reconciliation is forgiveness

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 3 of 4 - How We Receive the Grace of Christ

Chapter 11:21-23 - Forgiveness only by Christ's righteousness
21. Receiving the righteousness of Christ by faith is the same as reconciliation with God and forgiveness of sins. Isa 59:1-2; Rom 5:8-10.
22. 2 Cor 5:19, 21; Rom 4:6-8; Ps 32:1-2; Luke 1:77; Acts 13:38-39. Augustine says rightly that our righteousness lies in our forgiveness, not our virtue.
23. We receive the righteousness of Christ, His obedience, by imputation of it from outside of us. We receive it by union with Him. This is like Jacob putting on Esau's clothes, and so pleasing Isaac and receiving his blessing (Ambrose's illustration, which Calvin uses).