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V Faith

1. Aspects of faith

Behold the elation(or, as others translates,whoever fortifies himself),his soul is not upright within him; but the just shall live by his faith. Hab. 2:4.

This verse is to be connected with the previous one. The prophet wants to emphasize that when all sorts of temptations beset our minds, we can do no better than rely upon the word of God. He does not present us with a new teaching; he tells us once again that our only solid and certain security lies in the promise of God, and that we must seek no other door to safety when we suffer under all the attacks of Satan and the world.

The two clauses present opposites. All who try to provide their own security will always be turning anxiously in all directions, and can have no peace of mind. The second clause is the logical consequence of this: we shall find quiet nowhere except in faith.

The first clause is interpreted in different ways. Some think that'uppelahis a noun and take it as " loftiness." This meaning does not fit badly, and I do not hesitate to accept it as the more correct. The Hebrews called the citadel'ophel, and those who say that the name is derived from the verb'aphal" to go up" are correct. (Those who think the root means " strength" are wrong.) Others misinterpret the verse as meaning that the unbelieving are seeking a citadel where they may defend themselves. But this makes little difference to the main point.

However, some interpreters differ more seriously and disagree as to substance. They put the predicate for subject and the subject for predicate, and get from the prophet's words: " whoever lacks peace of mind seeks a citadel for himself in which he may rest safely or make himself strong." Others take it: " Whoever is proud and thinks himself well fortified will always have a troubled mind." This latter interpretation pleases me more, but I myself keep to the meaning of the word'uppelah, and I think the prophet said, " Where there is elation of mind, there will be no tranquillity."

However, we must first see what those who interpret differently are aiming at. They say that the unbelieving, who are perverse and refractory, are always seeking a place to loiter safely, because they are suspicious of everyone; and further that they do not look to God, but try to find in this world some way of warding off all calamities and dangers. That is what they think.

But as I said, the prophet is rather stating the penalty of all unbelievers; he means that, when they torment themselves, they only get what they deserve. This gives us a better antithesis. And the prophet's teaching is more suggestive when we say that God imposes a due penalty on unbelievers by allowing them to be pulled in all directions and by letting their minds be troubled with hidden torments. When the prophet says that no peace of mind exists among those who think they have protected themselves well [by their own efforts] he knows that they are their own torturers, because they heap upon themselves many troubles, griefs, and anxieties, and are always upset and confused by their many different schemes. They decide first on one thing; then they prefer another. The Hebrews used the term " right-minded" to describe those who agree on some one thing and stand quiet. When uneasy thoughts drive people in various directions, then they say " the mind is not right in us." We should keep to the plain sense of the prophet's words. . . .

Then followsbut the just will live in faith. I have no doubt that the prophet here sets faith over against all the safeguards with which men blind themselves in order to neglect God himself and to avoid asking aid from him. Because men put themselves in subjection to earthly things, and rely upon the falsehoods in which they trust, the prophet here ties life to faith. But faith, as we know and as I shall later explain more fully, depends upon God alone. Therefore,to live by faithmeans to abandon voluntarily all the defenses which so often fail us. One who know himself destitute of all protection will live in his faith if he seek whatever he needs from God alone; if he disregards the world and fixes his mind on heaven.

Since'amunahin Hebrew is " truth," some take it here a " integrity" ; as though the prophet had said that a righteous man had more protection in his own honesty and clear conscience than the sons of this world have in all the fortifications in which they take such pride. But these interpreters chill and dilute the prophet's meaning because they do not understand the power of justification, which is free and by faith, which alone gives us our security. It is certain that the prophet meant here by the word'amunahthe faith which takes from us all arrogance and sets us naked and helpless before God, to ask from him alone the safety which otherwise would be beyond our reach. . . .

All unbelievers desire to make themselves secure, and they strengthen themselves with whatever they think can help them. But what does the just man do? He brings God nothing of his own, for man takes hold of faith by prayer alone; faith is not in our own hands. He who lives by faith does not have life in himself; he flees to God because he does not possess it. The verb here is in the future tense to show that life in faith will be lasting.

Now we must come to Paul who used this prophet's witness to teach that salvation is not from works but solely from God's mercy and therefore from faith (Rom. 1:17). Paul seems to have twisted the words to his own purpose, and even beyond what their sense will bear. For the prophet was here speaking of the present life, and he made no mention of heavenly life. As we have said, he was testifying to the faithful that God would be their liberator, and so he was encouraging them to be patient. Then he added that the just will live by his faith, even though he have no other help, and seem to be completely exposed to all the blows of fortune, of the wicked, and even of the devil. Anyone may well ask what this has to do with the eternal salvation of the soul. Paul seems too subtle when he drags this passage into a discussion of free justification by faith.

But we must keep firmly to this principle: All the benefits God confers upon the faithful in this life are for the strengthening of their hope that they shall inherit eternal life. However freely God acts in our behalf, our situation will still be miserable if our hope is restricted to earthly life. Therefore, as often as God aids us in this world and declares himself our Father, he wishes to turn our minds to the hope of eternal salvation. Equally, when the prophet says that men of faith shall live, he does not shut that life within narrow limits; he does not say that God will watch over us for two or three days (that is, for a few years); he goes much further and declares that we shall be truly and solidly blessed. Even if this whole world perishes or keeps changing for the worse, men of faith shall yet endure in firm and real safety. When Habakkuk promises life to the faithful in the future tense, there is no doubt that he goes beyond the bounds of this earth and promises them a life which shall be better than the one they had in this world where it is beset with so many calamities. Besides, the brevity of life here shows that too much of it is not desirable.

We conclude therefore that Paul used the words of the prophet wisely and properly as support for his own teaching. Surely the just live by faith alone, and there is no salvation for the soul apart from God's mercy. . . .

Yesterday we compared Habakkuk's statement that we shall live by faith with the teaching of Paul who inferred from it that we are justified by faith apart from works. The purpose of life and of righteousness is the same. Our life can be sought nowhere except in the Fatherly kindness of God. Therefore, for us, to live is to be bound to God. And there can be no hope of communion with God when our sins are charged to us. For since God is just, and cannot renounce himself, sin must always be hateful to him. Therefore, so long as he accounts us sinners, we are necessarily hated; and where God's enmity is, there is death and destruction. It follows that no hope of life is left us unless we are reconciled to God. And there is no other way for God to bring us back to his favor except by accounting us righteous. Therefore Paul's reasoning is excellent when he takes us from life to justification. The two are bound together, and are inseparable.

And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. Gen. 15:6.

None of us would guess, if Paul had not showed it to us, how rich and profound a doctrine this verse contains. It is a strange thing, almost a prodigy, that when the Spirit of God kindles so bright a light, most interpreters grope around with closed eyes, as if in the darkness of night. (I am not counting the Jews whose blindness is obvious.) Even those who have in Paul a most lucid interpreter corrupt this passage so insipidly that, as I said, it must be counted a prodigy. Indeed in all ages Satan seems to have fought more violently against free justification by faith than against any other teaching, striving to extinguish it and smother it.

The words of Moses are,he believed God, and he counted it to himfor righteousness. First, Moses commends the faith of Abraham by which he embraced the promise of God. Secondly, he adds a eulogy of that faith, saying that because of it Abraham acquired (adeptus sit) righteousness before God, and that by imputation. For the verbhashab, which Moses uses, stands in relation to God's judgment; so also it is used in Ps. 106:31 where we read that the zeal of Phineaswas counted to him for righteousness. The exact meaning of the word appears more clearly with the negative. In Lev. 7:18, it is said that iniquity will not be imputed to a man when expiation has been made. See also Lev. 17:4; 2 Sam. 19:19; 2 Kings 12:15.

We know that there exist criminals before God to whom iniquity is imputed. Exactly in the same way, God approves as righteous those to whom he imputes righteousness. Therefore Abram was received into the number and rank of the righteous by imputation of righteousness. In order to show distinctly the force and nature of this righteousness, Paul brings us before the heavenly tribunal of God.

Therefore those who twist this passage and interpret it as a description of righteousness, as if it said that Abram was a righteous and upright man, are talking insipid nonsense. The meaning of the text is corrupted no less by those who say ignorantly that Abram attributed to God the glory of righteousness and therefore dared confidently to credit God's promises knowing him to be faithful and true. Although Moses does not expressly name God in the second clause, the usual mode of speaking in Scripture leaves no ambiguity. Certainly it is no less stupid than presumptuous to give to the wordscounted for righteousnessany other meaning than that Abram's faith was accepted by God instead of righteousness.

Yet it seems absurd that Abram was justified because he believed that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars of heaven. For believing in one such promise could not make the whole man righteous. Besides, what earthly and temporal promise could be valid ground for eternal salvation? I answer that the faith which Moses records here is not restricted to one point, but includes the whole promise of God. The promise of seed to Abram was not limited to this verse; it is given also in others where a special blessing is added. Hence we conclude that Abram did not in the ordinary fashion hope merely for descendants, but for offspring in which the world was to be blessed.

Now if anyone stubbornly insists that what was said of the children of Abram in general is distorted when applied to Christ, in the first place, it cannot be denied that God's earlier promise, to his servant, is now repeated over again in answer to Abram's complaint. But we have said before, and the account as a whole plainly shows, that it was his knowledge of the promised blessing which led Abram to desire seed so greatly. Hence it follows that the promise in this passage cannot be taken by itself, separated from the other promises. To conclude the whole matter, I say that if we are to judge the faith of Abram properly, we must consider all that is involved [in the stories about Abram].

God does not promise to give this or that good thing to his servant, in the way that he scatters benefits upon unbelievers who have no taste of his Fatherly love. He assures Abram that he himself will be gracious to him, and he promises him the enjoyment of his own protection and grace, and the confidence of salvation. A man whose heritage is God does not rejoice in flimsy pleasures, but as though already raised to heaven, he delights in the solid joy of eternal life. Certainly it must be held as self-evident that all God's promises, which are destined for the faithful, flow from God's gracious mercy and are proofs of his Fatherly love and free adoption on which their safety is founded. Therefore we say that Abram was justified not because he snatched at one little word about producing offspring, but because he embraced God the Father. Truly, faith justifies us for no other reason than that it reconciles us to God, and this not by its own merit, but only because as we receive the grace offered to us in the promises and are certainly persuaded that we are loved by God as sons, we also come to possess the assurance of life eternal.

Therefore Paul argues further that he to whom faith is reckoned for righteousness is not justified by works. For the merits of anyone who seeks justification by works are measured by God [before whom they are worthy of condemnation]. We comprehend the meaning of justification by faith when we know that God reconciles us to himself freely. Hence it follows that [concern with] the merit of works ends when justification is sought through faith. For if anyone is to possess righteousness by faith, it must necessarily be given by God and proffered to us by his Word.

To make this more clearly understood, when Moses says that faith was counted to Abram for righteousness, this does not mean that faith was the first cause (what is called the efficient cause) of righteousness; it was only the formal cause.[88]The words of Moses mean: " Abram was justified because relying on the Fatherly kindness of God, he had confidence in God's goodness alone, and not in himself and his merits." We need especially to understand that faith obtains (mutuari) from elsewhere a righteousness which we do not possess. Otherwise Paul would not oppose faith to works as a way of obtaining righteousness. And the mutual relation between free promise and faith leaves no room for doubt.

The sequence of time must now be noted. Abram was justified by faith many years after he had been called by God, after he had left his native land and had become a voluntary exile, after he had been a conspicuous mirror of endurance and self-control, after he had devoted himself wholly to holiness, after he had practiced himself in the spiritual and the external worship of God and had led an almost angelic life. So it follows that, even at the end of life, we are brought into God's eternal Kingdom by justification by faith.

At this point many are grossly deceived. They admit indeed that the righteousness which is given freely to sinners and offered to the undeserving is received by faith alone. But they limit this justification by faith to a moment of time, so that a man, once at the beginning having obtained righteousness by faith is afterwards made righteous by good works. Faith is merely the beginning of righteousness, and as life continues righteousness consists in works. Those who so interpret the teaching must be insane. For if the angelic integrity of Abram, exercised faithfully and consistently for so many years, did not prevent the necessity of fleeing to faith to find righteousness, where in the world will be found a perfection which can meet God's scrutiny? Therefore we conclude from the time sequence [which I previously mentioned] that justification of works is not to be substituted for justification of faith as if the latter began and the former completed justification; but that the saints, so long as they live in the world, are justified by faith. If anyone objects that Abram had formerly believed God when he followed his call and committed himself to his instruction and guardianship, the answer is easy. No statement is made as to when Abram first began to be justified by believing God; but this one passage does show in what way he was justified in his whole life. If Moses had spoken thus about Abram's first calling the objection I have just mentioned (that initial righteousness, but not perpetual, is of faith) would have more color. But when Abram is said to become righteous by faith after having gone through so much, it easily appears that the saints are justified by grace until they die.

I admit indeed that after those who believe are born again, in the Spirit of God, the mode of their justification differs somewhat. For those born of the flesh only, God reconciles to himself while they are empty of all good. When he finds in them nothing except a filthy heap of dreadful evils, he holds them righteous by imputation. But those to whom he has given the Spirit of holiness and righteousness, he clothes with his gifts. But even then, if their good works please God, this must be by his gracious imputation, because something of sin always remains in them.

This truth holds: men are justified by believing, not by what they do. It is by faith they obtain grace: and grace cannot be earned as a payment for works. Since Abram, with all his preeminence in virtue, after a long life of unique service of God, was yet justified by faith, the righteousness of each perfected man consists in faith alone. It is important to say plainly that what is here told of one man must be applied to all men. For Abram was called " father of the faithful" with good reason, and there are not diverse ways of seeking salvation. Paul rightly teaches that what is here described is not the righteousness of an individual man, but true righteousness as such.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24.

It is not enough to know his teaching that he came to raise the dead, unless we also know how he liberates us from death. He declares that we obtain life by hearing his doctrine, but as he soon adds byhearinghe means faith. And faith has its seat not in the ears but in the heart; which gives faith its great power, as we have explained before. But let us always keep in mind what the gospel offers us. It is no wonder that anyone who receives Christ with all his merits is both reconciled with God and freed from condemnation of death; for he who receives the Holy Spirit puts on a heavenly righteousness and walks in newness of life (Rom. 6:4).

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. Phil. 3:10.

Here the apostle describes the nature and efficacy of faith, which is the knowledge of Christ; not a general and vague faith, but the faith we have in the power of his resurrection. Since resurrection completes the work of redemption, it presupposes death. But it is not enough to know that Christ was crucified and rose from the dead, unless we know these things in our lives. This is why Paul speaks explicitly of the power of his resurrection. We know Christ in the right way when we experience the meaning of his death and resurrection within us and as they become effective in us. The expiation and obliteration of sins, freedom from condemnation, satisfaction, victory over death, the attainment of righteousness, and the hope of a blessed immortality -- all these are ours by the power of his resurrection.

And the fellowship of his sufferings. After he speaks of the righteousness which was received freely by partaking in the resurrection of Christ, he speaks in addition of the actions of the Godly, so as not to seem to have advocated an idle faith, having no fruits in our life. And, since the false apostles were so aggressive with their empty ceremonials, he indicates the kind of exercises which God requires his people to pursue. Let, therefore, everyone who has shared in all the benefits which Christ has conferred upon us know that his whole life ought to conform to the death of Christ.

Moreover, we participate in the death of Christ and associate with him in it in a twofold way. The one way is inward, which Scripture usually calls the mortification of the flesh, or the crucifixion of the old man. It is of this that Paul speaks in Romans 6. The other is outward, which is called the mortification of the outward man. Of this, he speaks in the eighth chapter of that epistle, and, if I am not mistaken, also in this place. After the all-inclusive power of the resurrection, he sets before us Christ crucified, so that we may be his followers through tribulations and sufferings. When he speaks of the resurrection of the dead in particular, it is to teach us that before we live, we must die. The faithful ought to meditate upon this, so long as they sojourn upon this earth.

It is our singular consolation that, as members of his body, in all our sufferings we are associated in the cross of Christ; that, as he says elsewhere, through afflictions we are shown a way to eternal blessedness. If we die, we shall live. If we suffer, we shall reign (2 Tim. 2:11-12). We must, therefore, be ready to let our whole life be in the image of death, until it issues in death itself, just as the life of Christ was nothing else than an anticipation of death. In the meantime, we have joy in the consolation that the end is eternal blessedness. The death of Christ, therefore, is joined with his resurrection. This is why Paul says that he was conformed to Christ's death, that he might attain a glorious resurrection. The phraseby any means, indicates not doubt but difficulty. It is meant to arouse our zeal, because ours is no light skirmish, but a battle against many and great obstacles.

For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. John 16:27.

These words remind us that the only bond which unites us with God is union with Christ. But the faith which unites us with Christ is not something contrived; it grows out of a genuine feeling which is here calledlove. Such faith does not merely believe about Christ; it embraces him with the soul. Therefore,loveexpresses well the power and the nature of faith. Truly, if God begins to love us only when we already love Christ, it follows that our love comes before God's grace, and that the beginning of our salvation is in us. But many passages in Scripture cry out against such a statement. The promise of God is, " I shall make them to love me," and John says, " It is not that we first loved him" (1 John 4:10). It is unnecessary to cite many passages. There is nothing more certain than the teaching that the Lord calls a people who are not; that he revives the dead, unites to himself those who are strangers, turns hearts of stone into flesh, and appears to those who do not even seek after him. I reply that the elect, before they are called, are secretly loved by God who loves his own before they exist. But before they are reconciled to God, they are rightly regarded as his enemies, as we read in Paul and elsewhere (Rom. 5:10). We are here said to be loved of God when we love Christ; because when we love Christ, we receive a pledge that God loves us as Father; whereas, before we love Christ, he terrifies us as a hostile judge.

And keep my Sabbaths holy, and they will be for a sign between one and you, for understanding(that is,that you may understand or know)that I am the Lord your God. Ezek. 20:20. (Calvin's wording.)

The way to keep the Sabbath holy had already been explained. Mere idleness was unimportant. Therefore he repeatsand they shall be for a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. God bears witness in these words that if the Jews kept the Sabbath rightly, they would experience the working of his grace, which he wished his Sabbath to represent. For we have said that God wished the Sabbath to be a sacrament of the new birth. He promises the people that his Spirit will work among them if only they do not close the door to him by their own impiety and contempt.

Hence we see that sacraments are never without the power of the Spirit except when men make themselves unfit to receive the grace offered. The papists say of the sacraments that they are effective if we do not interpose the barrier of a mortal sin. They make no mention of faith. For example, if someone without a single drop of faith pushes up to the Lord's Supper, they say he will receive not only Christ's body and blood but also the fruit of his death and resurrection, on the sole condition that he has not committed a mortal sin; that is, if he cannot be convicted of theft or murder. We see in what blindness they are sunk; and this by the just judgment of God.

But by us the mutual relation between faith and sacrament must be steadily maintained. The sacraments become effective through faith; and men's unworthiness does not lessen their effect.

Sacraments always retain their own character. Baptism is the water of rebirth, though the whole world disbelieve. The Table of Christ is the communion of his body and blood, even if there were not the tiniest spark of faith in the world. But we do not perceive [without faith] the grace which is offered to us. And although the spiritual content remains always the same, we neither obtain the effect nor feel the power of the sacraments unless we are careful that our lack of faith does not profane what God has sanctified for our salvation.

But continue thou in those things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. 2 Tim. 3:14.

He commands Timothy to stay put, even when evil is on the rampage and scatters destruction very far and wide. And surely this is the real proof of faith, that we resist all the machinations of the devil with a tireless constancy; that we be not deflected from the right course by every wind that blows, but remain fixed on God's truth as on a sacred anchor.

Now with the phraseknowing from whom thou hast learned them, he tells us we can be certain that the doctrine is true. No one who has been taught a wrong doctrine should hold on to it. On the contrary, if we would be Christ's disciples, we ought to unlearn any doctrine which ignores Christ; wherefore, the beginning of sound instruction in the faith is to reject and forget the whole doctrine of the papacy. In fact, the apostle enjoins Timothy not to keep every doctrine handed down to him, but to use discrimination, and to retain that which he has confirmed as true. Besides, he does not claim that what he himself has taught as a private person should be received as an oracle. He confronts Timothy confidently with his own authority, which was already recognized as evident from the apostle's calling and his faithfulness. Since Timothy was convinced that he was taught by an ambassador of Christ, he understood that the teaching he had received belonged not to men but to Christ.

This passage warns us that as we must be zealous to avoid obstinacy in matters where no certainty is to be had (and to this class belong all the teachings of men): we must be adamant in our constancy only in holding on to God's truth. Besides, we learn here that faith needs to be combined with good sense, to distinguish the word of God from the word of men, so that we may not grab at everything that happens to be within our reach. Nothing is further from faith than lightheaded credulity which embraces and champions senselessly everything, no matter what it is and where it comes from. Above all, the foundation of faith is the knowledge that its author is God.

Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. Josh. 10:12.

Joshua spoke to the Lordis the literal translation. But some explain this asbefore the Lord, because tospeak to the Lordwhom reverence teaches us to petition humbly seems inconsistent with the humility of faith, and also because Joshua immediately afterwards addressed his words to the sun. However, I have no doubt that in the first clause a vow or prayer is meant, and that the second clause gives evidence of Joshua's faith after he has been heard by God. It would certainly have been an act of rash pride to order the sun to stand still, if God had not granted the favor.

Joshua consults God and petitions him, and when he has been answered, he boldly orders the sun to do what he knows God approves. Such is the strength of the privilege of faith, praised by Christ, which subjugates mountains and seas to its power (Matt. 17:20; Luke 17:6). The more the strength of the faithful is exhausted, the more generously does God transfer his power to them, revealing his own power through that faith which is bound to the Word. Briefly, faith founded upon the Word is transmuted into confident power. So Elijah closed heaven and opened it at his command and brought fire down from heaven (1 Kings 17-18). So Christ endowed his disciples with heavenly power so that the elements were subject to them.

Only, it is necessary to be on guard against bursting out with rash commands at one's own will. For this reason, Joshua did not begin to delay and hold back the course of the sun until he was duly informed of God's plan. When it is said that Joshua spoke with God, the words do not properly express the meekness and submission with which a servant of God ought to begin his prayers. Yet they serve to show us that Joshua asked of God the thing he desired and then, after he had prayed, he was the free and brave herald of an incredible miracle which had not yet occurred. He never would have given a command to the sun so confidently in front of all Israel unless he had been sure of his own vocation. Otherwise he would only have exposed himself to shame and humiliation.

Unhesitatingly he shouts his order to the sun and moon to turn aside from the perpetual law of nature. He knows that he is commanding them by the power of God which has been given to him.

For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 2 Tim. 1:12.

This is the only refuge of the godly; whenever the world counts them condemned and without hope; it is enough that God approves of them. For, what would be the end if they depended upon men?

This shows how different faith is from opinion. When Paul says, I know whom I have believed, he means that it is far from enough for you to believe unless [your belief rest] on the authority of God, and unless you be certain of what you believe. Faith therefore does not lean upon the authority of men; and as it leans upon God, it knows no wavering. Thus, faith must be joined with knowledge, otherwise it would have no firmness against the countless assaults of Satan. Anyone who possesses this knowledge with Paul knows by experience that it is not for nothing that our faith has been called thevictory that overcometh the world; or that Christ said,The gates of hell shall not prevail against it(Matt. 16:18). I say, The man who remains tranquil in the midst of storms and tempests is one who has the firm knowledge that God has spoken, and will not lie; that he will not deceive, but will certainly perform what he has promised. On the contrary, anyone in whom this truth has not been sealed is swayed endlessly back and forth like a reed.

This passage deserves special attention as a superb statement of the power of faith; it teaches us to glorify God, even in the most desperate situations, by not doubting that he is true and faithful; it also teaches us to be content with the Word, as though God himself appeared to us from heaven. Anyone who is not thus persuaded understands nothing. Besides, let us always remember that Paul does not philosophize in the dark, but testifies to the power of confident hope in eternal life as one who, even at present, knows it.

And I am persuaded that he is able. Since the perils which assail us are at once great and powerful, and often tempt our spirits to distrust, it is necessary for us to go about with the shield that God has power enough to protect us. In the same way, when Christ bids us to be confident, he argues, saying, " The Father, who gave you to me is greater than all" (John 10:29). He thus declares that we are above the reach of peril, because the Lord who has taken us under his protection, abounds in power and is able to repel every assault. Satan does not dare to suggest directly that God is powerless, or that he can be prevented from doing whatever he promises, because our minds abhor such blasphemy against God. But he does deprive us of all sense of God's power, by preoccupying our eyes and our minds with other things. The soul of man, therefore, needs to be purified, not only to taste the power of God, but also to keep tasting it under sundry temptations.

Besides, whenever Paul speaks of God's power we must conceive it as, so to speak, active, or e) nergoume/ nhn, as he calls it elsewhere (Col. 1:29). Faith always connects the power of God with the Word, and does not imagine it as something distant, but conceives and possesses it in the inner man. So, Rom. 4:20 says of Abram, " He did not hesitate, or dispute, but gave God the glory, being fully convinced that what he had promised, he was able to perform." And it was life eternal that the apostle trusted in God: which means that we are to put our well-being in God's hand as we put our possessions in the hand of a trustee whom we trust as a faithful man. If our well-being depended upon ourselves, it would be endlessly exposed to peril: it is well, therefore, that we turn it over to such a protector; for then it is safely beyond all peril.

Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. Titus 1:1.

I believe we shall interpret this verse rightly if we take the wordandin the latter half of the sentence as meaningthat is. Thus the last clause of the verse explains the nature ofthe faith of God's elect, even though what we have here is not a full definition of faith but a characterization of it adapted to the apostle's present purpose. He sets his apostleship apart from error and imposture, by asserting that it contains nothing except truth which is at once evident and certain, and which instructs men in a pure worship of God. But since every word in this verse is weighty, we would benefit greatly if we looked at the whole mosaic, section by section.

In the first place, faith is called knowledge, not as against opinion, but as against the hazy affair invented by the papists: for they have contrived an " implicit faith" with no understanding in it. But when Paul makes this knowledge of truth a proper function of faith, he makes it clear that there is no such thing as faith without knowledge.

And the wordtruthexpresses even more clearly the certainty that is essential to faith. For faith is not content with the probabilities provided by our reasonings. Its proper object is the truth itself. Besides, we are concerned not with any truth, but with that truth from heaven which stands in contrast to the vanities proposed by the human mind. Since it is this truth which reveals God himself to us, it alone deserves to go by that name; and so it is honored commonly in Scripture: John 16:13:And the Spirit shall lead you unto all truth; John 17:17:Thy word is truth; Gal. 3:1:Who hath bewitched you that you do not obey the truth; Col. 1:5:Having heard the word of truth, the gospel of the Son of God; 1 Tim. 2:4:He would have all come to the knowledge of the truth; 1 Tim. 3:15:The church is the pillar and foundation of the truth. In short, truth is that right and sincere knowledge of God which frees us from all lies and error. And surely such knowledge should be very precious to us, since there is nothing more miserable than for us to wander around all our lives like dumb cattle.

According to godliness, which follows, puts a special restriction upon the meaning oftruth; at the same time, it commends the teaching of Paul by its fruit and end, which tends toward nothing else than the right worship of God and the flourishing of pure religion among men. It is thus that he defends his teaching as free from every mark of godless curiosity, as he had done before Felix (Acts 24:10) and then before Agrippa (Acts 26:1). Therefore, it is only right that the godly should be suspicious of and detest all empty questioning which does not make for the building up of the church. The only legitimate recommendation that can be given to doctrine is that it teaches reverence and the fear of God. Thus we are reminded that the best disciple of Christ is one who has made the greatest progress in reverence; and he alone is to be considered a true theologian who builds up the consciences of men in the fear of God.

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entered into that within the veil. Heb. 6:19.

This is an eloquent comparison between an anchor and faith resting upon the Word of God. It is obvious that while we wander in this world, we do not stand on firm ground; on the contrary, we are as in the middle of the sea, tossed about by turbulent waves. The devil does not cease stirring up innumerable storms, which almost overturn and sink our ship, unless we throw our anchor deep in the sea. Our eyes see no harbor anywhere. In whatever direction we look, we see only water, and the waves keep rising with deadly threat. Just as the anchor is thrown into the midst of the waters to some dark and secret place, and while it remains there, it keeps the ship from being broken up by the waves surrounding it -- so our hope needs to hold fast to the invisible God. But there is a difference between the anchor and our hope; the former is thrown down into the sea because the earth is at the bottom of it; the latter, on the other hand, is lifted up and soars on high because it finds nothing to hold on to on this earth. For our hope must not cling to the creature, but must find its quietness in God. As the cable tied to the anchor connects the vessel with the earth at a long distance through the dark waters, so God's truth is a bond which connects us with himself; and no distance, or foggy darkness, can keep us from clinging to him. When we are thus tied to God, even when we struggle constantly with storms, we remain beyond the danger of shipwreck. This is why he says that the anchor is sure and firm. It can, of course, be that the rush of the waters will pull the anchor off, or break the cable, and tear the beaten ship to pieces. Such a thing can happen in the sea. But the power of God which sustains us is different; different is the fortitude of hope, and different the firmness of his Word.

Which entered into that. As we have said, unless faith reaches God, it finds nothing except what is unstable and in flux. Therefore, it needs to penetrate as far as heaven. But since the apostle was dealing with the Jews, he refers to the old tabernacle, and says that they should not tarry with the things visible, but should rather penetrate into the inmost holy places hidden behind the veil: the old and external copies are to be set aside in order that faith may rest in Christ alone.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. James 1:6.

Here he teaches first the right way to pray. Since we can pray only as we are led by the Word of God, it follows that faith comes before prayer. When we pray, we testify to the grace which is the promise of God to us: and so testifying, we have hope. Thus, anyone who does not believe the promises, has only the semblance of prayer. Thus also we learn what true prayer is; for as James bids us to ask in faith, he explains in addition that we are to hesitate at nothing. Faith, therefore, rests upon God's promises and gives us the certainty that what we ask for we shall receive; whence it follows that a confident trust in us goes with the love of God toward us. The word diakri/ neqaiused in this place means properly to inquire into both sides of a controversy. He would have us be persuaded that once God has made a promise there is no room left for doubt as to whether we shall or shall not be heard

He who wavers. By an elegant simile, he tells us how God punishes the infidelity of those who doubt his promises. Such people are tortured by their own inquietude, for there is no such thing as tranquillity for our spirits unless they lean upon the truth of God. He concludes finally that those who doubt God do not deserve anything from him. This is an excellent passage with which to refute the impious dogma, accepted as an oracle throughout papal lands, that we should pray in a state of doubt, hardly knowing what will come out of our praying. On the contrary, we hold the principle that the Lord will not hear our prayers unless there is the confident expectation that what we ask for we shall receive. But considering the weakness of the flesh, it is all too true that we are agitated by various temptations, which are engines for the shattering of our confidence in God. Hence, we find no one who is not in fact led by the feelings of his flesh to waver and shake in his boots. But it is the business of faith finally to overcome temptations of this kind; for faith is like a tree which has sunk deep roots; indeed, when the winds blow, it sways and bends, but it is not heaved out of the ground; on the contrary, it remains standing and firm where it belongs.

[88]Calvin is following Aristotle's classification of causes as material, formal, efficient, and final. The conventional classroom illustration today is the pair of trousers of which the cloth is the material cause, the pattern is the formal cause, the tailor is the efficient cause, and the reception at which the trousers are to be worn is the final cause.

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