Calvin’s Institutes: Justification and humility.

The Bible says, “Pride breeds quarrels.” (Prov 13:10).  Our pride makes us quarrel with God.  Mankind in his sinful fallen nature hates God and is always at enmity with him.  For this to be corrected God must justify (make right) man the sinner. 

When God justifies a man or woman, they will be humbled and experience the blessing of humility.  Calvin explains this in his Institutes Book 3, chapter 12.  I have summarized this chapter in the points below.

1.         Man needs no justification if he merely compares his morality and so called virtue with other men.  However, when man’s state is brought before the holy bar of God, mankind’s justification is of greatest necessity.

2.         The problem with fallen man is that they love to hide themselves from what they hate.  In other words they love to hide in their self righteousness while hating the holiness of God’s Person and Word.

3.         If we would know true justification we must expose our minds to true righteousness.  Calvin wrote: “Awe must apply our mind if we would profitably inquire concerning true righteousness: How shall we reply to the Heavenly Judge when he calls us to account?  Let us envisage for ourselves that Judge, not as our minds naturally imagine him, but as he is depicted for us in Scripture.”  (Pg., 755) Look up these passages: Job 9:5-6; 5:13; 25:5; 4:18; 9:20; Deut. 32:22; Job 26:6).  It is this holy God who judges the deeds of men by His law.  (Is. 33:14-15; Job 4:17-20; 15:15-16; Gal. 3:10; Deut 27:26)

4.         Before God, man the sinner is found empty of all righteousness; but he is blind to this.  Only the grace of God will make the sinner see himself for who he really is and who God really is. The Bible tells us this many times.  Look up Prov 12:2; 16:2; Job 25:6; 15:6; 14:4; 9:20; Is 53:6; 1 Peter 5:5; Eph 2:8-10; James 4:6.

            So the proud sinner must humble himself before God.  The sinner must be humble about himself and about his so called good works.  As Calvin writes, we cannot be humble “without immediately trampling upon whatever seems glorious in us.”  (Pg., 760)

5.         Humility has two parts according to Calvin.  (1) Salvation will never come unless, by God’s grace “we have laid aside all pride and taken upon ourselves perfect humility.” (Pg., 760)  (2) Humility is “an unfeigned submission of our heart, stricken down in earnest with an awareness of its own misery and want, For so it is everywhere described by the Word of God.”  (Pg., 760) (Zeph. 3:11-12; Isa 66:2; 57:15)

            The Pharisee loved to hide in his self righteousness while hating the humility of the publican.  On the other hand, the publican hated his sin and loved to hide in the righteousness of God.  (Lk. 18:11-14)

6.         Calvin correctly wrote, “We will never have enough confidence in him unless we become deeply distrustful of ourselves; we will never lift up our hearts enough in him unless they be previously cast down in us; we will never have consolation enough in him unless we have already experienced desolation in ourselves.”  (Pg., 762)

7.         We have no merits at all.  All our merit is found in the merit of Christ.  “Therefore we are ready to seize and grasp God’s grace when we have utterly cast out confidence in ourselves and rely only on the assurance of his goodness ‘when”, as Augustine says, ‘forgetting our own merits, we embrace Christ’s gifts.’” (Pg., 762)