Institutes of the Christian Religion

by John Calvin

he passes over, pine and rot away till they are consumed.

Perseverance is the gift of God, which he does not lavish promiscuously on all, but imparts to whom he pleases.

The substance of his answer to his opponents is this: "O, man! learn from the precept what you ought to do; learn from correction, that it is your own fault you have not the power; and learn in prayer, whence it is that you may receive the power."

Should any one wish a clearer reply, let him take the following: - God works in his elect in two ways: inwardly, by his Spirit; outwardly, by his Word.

That the abilities of man are equal to the precepts of the divine law, has long been a common idea, and has some show of plausibility.

But what, pray, is meant by saying, that the Law "was added because of transgressions;" "by the law is the knowledge of sin;" "I had not known sin but by the law;"

the law was added because people are lawless

If there were merely a command and no promise, it would be necessary to try whether our strength were sufficient to fulfil the command; but since promises are annexed, which proclaim not only that aid, but that our whole power is derived from divine grace,

Again, he says, "Let God give what he orders, and order what he wills."[2]

As Augustine says, "What God promises, we ourselves do not through choice or nature, but he himself does by grace."

I deny that God cruelly mocks us when he invites us to merit blessings which he knows we are altogether unable to merit.

The promises being offered alike to believers and to the ungodly, have their use in regard to both.

As God by his precepts stings the consciences of the ungodly, so as to prevent them from enjoying their sins while they have no remembrance of his judgements, so, in his promises, he in a manner takes ...

The greater our desire of righteousness, the greater will be our earnestness to obtain the grace of God.

And thus it is, that in the protestations, "if we be willing", "if thou shalt hearken", the Lord neither attributes to us a full power of willing and hearkening, nor yet mocks us for our impotence.

But while they admit that grace is so far necessary, they insist on reserving some ability for man.

Meanwhile, we deny not the truth of Augustine's doctrine, that the will is not destroyed, but rather repaired, by grace - the two things being perfectly consistent, viz.,

that the human will may be said to be renewed when its vitiosity and perverseness being corrected, it is conformed to the true standard of righteousness and that, at the same time, the will may be said to be made new, being so vitiated and corrupted that its nature must be entirely changed.

There is nothing then to prevent us from saying, that our will does what the Spirit does in us, although the will contributes...

For, if the dominion spoken of refers to sin, no man can have any doubt that the form of expression is imperative, declaring not what we are able, but what it is our duty to do, even if beyond our ability.

Christ being offered to them in various ways by their heavenly Father.

Christ declares that inasmuch as he is a propitiator, he is life. And, indeed, the inheritance of heaven belongs to none but the sons of God,

In fine, God, in thus preserving his Church, intended that its security and salvation should depend on Christ as its head.

but what I wish to impress upon my readers in this way is, that the first step in piety is, to acknowledge that God is a Father, to defend, govern, and cherish us, until he brings us to the eternal inheritance of his kingdom;

In this sense, Irenaeus says, that the Father, who is boundless in himself, is bounded in the Son, because he has accommodated himself to our capacity, lest our minds should be swallowed up by the immensity of his glory,

In short, the whole legal worship (if considered by itself apart from the types and shadows of corresponding truth) is a mere mockery.

But the type shows that God did not enjoin sacrifice, in order that he might occupy his worshippers with earthly exercises, but rather that he might raise their minds to something higher.

For Christ not yet having been made familiarly known to the Jews, they were like children whose weakness could not bear a full knowledge of heavenly things.

Although they were required, in order to appease God, to approach him daily with new sacrifices,

yet Isaiah promises, that all their sins would be expiated by one single sacrifice, and with this Daniel concurs, (Isa 53: 5; Dan 9: 26, 27).

"The Lord has sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek," (Psa 110: 4).

it is of importance to know how our being instructed in the Moral Law renders us more inexcusable. If

Nor can it be denied, that the reward of eternal salvation, as promised by the Lord, awaits the perfect obedience of the Law, (Deu 30: 19).

for, in none of us is that righteousness of the Law manifested, and, therefore, being excluded from the promises of life, we again fall under the curse.

say, that if we go back to the remotest period, we shall not find a single saint who, clothed with a mortal body, ever attained to such perfection as to love the Lord with all his heart, and soul, and mind, and strength; and, on the other hand, not one who has not felt the power of concupiscence.

Thus the Law is a kind of mirror. As in a mirror we discover any stains upon our face, so in the Law we behold, first, our impotence; then, in consequence of it, our iniquity; and, finally, the curse, as the consequence of both.

Thus Augustine says, "If the Spirit of grace be absent, the law is present only to convict and slay us."[3]

but since our carnal and corrupt nature is at enmity with the Divine law, and is in no degree amended by its discipline, the consequence is, that the law which, if it had been properly attended to, would have given life, becomes the occasion of sin and death.

For they show that it is only our weakness and depravity that prevents us from enjoying the blessedness which the law openly sets before us.

Hence additional sweetness is given to divine grace, which comes to our aid without the law, and

With the children of God the effect is different. The

Apostle testifies that the law pronounces its sentence of condemnation in order "that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God,"

"The utility of the law is, that it convinces man of his weakness, and compels him to apply for the medicine of grace, which is in Christ."

Again, "The law was given, that it might make you guilty - being made guilty might fear; fearing, might ask indulgence, not presume on your own strength."

but a fear useful to the extent of instructing them in true piety according to their capacity.

For all who have remained for some time in ignorance of God will confess, as the result of their own experience, that the law had the effect of keeping them in some degree in the fear and reverence of God, till, being regenerated by his Spirit, they began to love him from the heart.

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

Such passages are not inconsistent with those of Paul, which show not the utility of the law to the regenerate, but what it is able of itself to bestow.

Since, in regard to believers, the law has the force of exhortation, not to bind their consciences with a curse, but by urging them, from time to time, to shake off sluggishness and chastise imperfection,

In regard to the knowledge of ourselves, we showed that it principally consists in renouncing all idea of our own strength, and divesting ourselves of all confidence in our own righteousness,

while, on the other hand, under a full consciousness of our wants, we learn true humility and self-abasement.