Institutes of the Christian Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)
VII. The same reasoning may be applied to the second and
third classes of men in the division stated above. For the
impurity of the conscience proves, that they are neither of them
yet regenerated by the Spirit of God; and their unregeneracy
betrays also their want of faith: whence it appears, that they
are not yet reconciled to God, or justified in his sight, since
these blessings are only attained by faith. What can be performed
by sinners alienated from God, that is not execrable in
his view? Yet all the impious, and especially hypocrites, are
inflated with this foolish confidence. Though they know that
their heart is full of impurity, yet if they perform any specious
actions, they esteem them too good to be despised by God.
Hence that pernicious error, that though convicted of a polluted
and impious heart, they cannot be brought to confess themselves
destitute of righteousness; but while they acknowledge
themselves to be unrighteous, because it cannot be denied, they
still arrogate to themselves some degree of righteousness. This
vanity the Lord excellently refutes by the prophet. “Ask
now,” saith he, “the priests, saying, If one bear holy flesh in
the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, 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.”[27]
I wish that this
passage might either obtain full credit with us, or be deeply
impressed on our memory. For there is no one, however flagitious
his whole life may be, who can suffer himself to be
persuaded of what the Lord here plainly declares. The greatest
sinner, as soon as he has performed two or three duties of
the law, doubts not but they are accepted of him for righteousness;
but the Lord positively denies that any sanctification is
acquired by such actions, unless the heart be previously well
purified; and not content with this, he asserts that all the
works of sinners are contaminated by the impurity of their
hearts. Let the name of righteousness, then, no longer be given
to these works which are condemned for their pollution by the
lips of God. And by what a fine similitude does he demonstrate
this! For it might have been objected that what the
Lord had enjoined was inviolably holy. But he shows, on the
contrary, that it is not to be wondered at, if those things which
are sanctified by the law of the Lord, are defiled by the pollution
of the wicked; since an unclean hand cannot touch any
thing that has been consecrated, without profaning it.
VIII. He excellently pursues the same argument also in
Isaiah: “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination
unto me; your new moons and your appointed feasts my
soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear
them. 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.”[28]
What is the reason that
the Lord is so displeased at an obedience to his law? But, in
fact, he here rejects nothing that arises from the genuine observance
of the law; the beginning of which, he every where
teaches, is an unfeigned fear of his name.[29]
If that be wanting,
all the oblations made to him are not merely trifles, but
nauseous and abominable pollutions. Let hypocrites go now,
and, retaining depravity concealed in their hearts, endeavour by
their works to merit the favour of God. But by such means
they will add provocation to provocation; for “the sacrifice of
the wicked is an abomination to the Lord; but the prayer of
the upright” alone “is his delight.”[30]
We lay it down,
therefore, as an undoubted truth, which ought to be well known
to such as are but moderately versed in the Scriptures, that
even the most splendid works of men not yet truly sanctified,
are so far from righteousness in the Divine view, that they are
accounted sins. And therefore they have strictly adhered to
the truth, who have maintained that the works of a man do
not conciliate God’s favour to his person; but, on the contrary,
that works are never acceptable to God, unless the person who
performs them has previously found favour in his sight. And
this order, to which the Scripture directs us, is religiously to be
observed. Moses relates, that “The Lord had respect unto
Abel and to his offering.”[31]
Does he not plainly indicate
that the Lord is propitious to men, before he regards their
works? Wherefore the purification of the heart is a necessary
prerequisite, in order that the works which we perform may be
favourably received by God; for the declaration of Jeremiah is
always in force, that the “eyes of the Lord are upon the
truth.”[32]
And the Holy Spirit has asserted by the mouth of
Peter, that it is “by faith” alone that the “heart” is “purified,”[33]
which proves that the first foundation is laid in a
true and living faith.
IX. Let us now examine what degree of righteousness is
possessed by those whom we have ranked in the fourth class.
We admit, that when God, by the interposition of the righteousness
of Christ, reconciles us to himself, and having granted
us the free remission of our sins, esteems us as righteous persons,
to this mercy he adds also another blessing; for he dwells
in us by his Holy Spirit, by whose power our carnal desires
are daily more and more mortified, and we are sanctified, that
is, consecrated to the Lord unto real purity of life, having our
hearts moulded to obey his law, so that it is our prevailing inclination
to submit to his will, and to promote his glory alone by
all possible means. But even while, under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, we are walking in the ways of the Lord,—that we
may not forget ourselves, and be filled with pride, we feel such
remains of imperfection, as afford us abundant cause for humility.
The Scripture declares, that “there is not a just man
upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not.”[34]
What kind
of righteousness, then, will even believers obtain from their own
works? In the first place, I assert, that the best of their performances
are tarnished and corrupted by some carnal impurity
and debased by a mixture of some alloy. Let any holy servant
of God select from his whole life that which he shall conceive
to have been the best of all his actions, and let him examine it
with attention on every side; he will undoubtedly discover in
it some taint of the corruption of the flesh; since our alacrity
to good actions is never what it ought to be, but our course is
retarded by great debility. Though we perceive that the blemishes
which deform the works of the saints, are not difficult
to be discovered, yet suppose we admit them to be very diminutive
spots, will they not be at all offensive in the sight of God,
in which even the stars are not pure? We have now ascertained,
that there is not a single action performed by the saints,
which, if judged according to its intrinsic merit, does not justly
deserve to be rewarded with shame.
