Calvin's Doctrine of Union with Christ

Introduction

It will not have escaped your notice that this year the 10^th of July marks the birthday of John Calvin. At a Reformed Ministers' Fraternal I would expect that the influence of John Calvin would be keenly felt – or at least it ought to be! However, mention the name of John Calvin in non-reformed Christian circles and indeed in society at large, and you will find degrees of distaste, even anger and revilement. Yet there is no doubt that the objective enquirer will find that John Calvin has been one of the most influential thinkers in the history of the West. His thinking began with God as revealed in Scripture, but spread into many other areas of everyday life and found their application in the city of Geneva during his work there. David W Hall has recently published a little book entitled, The Legacy of John Calvin: His Influence on the Modern World, where he outlines ten ways that the modern western world owes a debt to John Calvin. This debt goes largely unacknowledged in wider society. It is noticeable for example that a great deal is being made of the influence of Charles Darwin and his work – I keep coming across TV programmes that praise him to the heights. Yet John Calvin's thought has profoundly affected the areas of education, care for the poor, the structure of government, the conduct of politics and economics, to name but a few. We would not be where we are today without him..

This afternoon, since we are pastors of Christ's church, I do not want to dwell on these wider areas. Instead, I want to dwell on an area of John Calvin's theology – his doctrine of union with Christ. Really, it was this area that first got me interested in Calvin, as I began to consider the question of how the work of Christ in history gets applied to me personally. In this regard, I was and am particularly interested in the relationship of union with Christ to his doctrines of justification and sanctification.

Now I need to say that I am by no means an expert on this topic, but I speak as one with a growing love for Calvin's writings who hopes to learn much more before I have to leave this mortal coil! I intend to give a little historical background, look at how he analyses Romans and finally how he structures his argument in Book 3 of his Institutes.

Historical Background

If you were to ask what the central doctrine of the Reformation was, no doubt everyone would identify the doctrine of Justification by Faith (alone) as the most important doctrine recovered from Scripture at that time. It was, of course, the great discovery of Martin Luther in Wittenberg in 16^th century. Luther was a young man on a search for certainty about his destiny. To do this, he became a monk in 1505 and embarked on the monastic life, devoting himself to fasting, long hours in prayer, pilgrimage, and frequent confession. It was the doctrine of the Catholic Church that good works led to righteousness in the eyes of God, and Luther threw himself into the spiritual exercises that would bring this righteousness. However, his religious life only increased his awareness of his own sinfulness. He later described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair.

It is well documented how through his studies of Scripture, especially Psalms, Hebrews, Romans and Galatians, Luther discovered that justification was obtained through faith alone. He came to understand that the necessary righteousness that he needed before God did not come from within himself, whether by his own efforts or infused into him by the Spirit of God. Rather, it was Christ's righteousness, alien to Luther but imputed to him through faith, that he needed and received. Thus, it was that Justification by Faith became the core doctrine of the Lutherans. In his commentary on Galatians, Luther stated,

This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification, is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness.

That's quite a sweeping statement! Justification is the foundational rock which supports every other aspect of the Christian life. He also called this doctrine the "article of the standing and falling of the church". For Lutherans, the doctrine of Justification by Faith was no less than the gospel itself.

John Calvin certainly agreed with Luther on the vital importance of Justification by Faith. In his Institutes 3.11.1, he describes Justification by Faith as :

... the main hinge on which religion turns, so we devote the greater attention and care to it. For unless you grasp what your relationship to God is, and the nature of the judgement concerning you, you have neither a foundation on which to establish your salvation nor one on which to build piety toward God.

We will return to this statement later. Suffice it to say at this stage that he sees Justification by faith to be of pivotal importance to the Christian life.  

John Calvin was younger than Luther, who was born on July 10, 1509. He was aged 8 when Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg in 1517.

• It was while studying law in Paris that he was converted to the Protestant faith some time in 1533-34.
• Out of fear of the spread of Protestantism, and triggered by the appointment of a Protestant, Nicholas Cop, to lead the university of Paris, King Francis I began a crackdown in late 1533. Paris became a dangerous place for Protestants and Calvin left to seek a peaceful place to pursue his studies.
• In 1536, he intended to make his way to Strasbourg for a quiet academic life. But in Geneva, at the insistence of William Farel, Calvin stayed to begin his reforming work as Lecturer at the Church of Geneva. A significant factor in Calvin's decision was the imprecatory prayers against Calvin should he choose any other path! 
• Genevan politics led to his exile to Strasbourg in 1538 until 1541
• However, apart from this period, Calvin ministered in Geneva until his death in 1564.

The Institutes and Commentaries

What I want to note at this point was his intense desire to teach the Bible to the people under his care. His preaching was much in demand in Geneva. In addition there Calvin was keen to put into print the fruits of his doctrinal and exegetical studies. I want to draw our attention to two important streams of publication. The first is his Institutes of the Christian Religion. Of course, we need to understand that 'Institutes' here means 'elementary principles' – the elementary principles of the Christian religion. The organisational framework for this work was the Apostles Creed, which he used to flesh out the main heads of doctrine. This work was intended for those in training for the ministry as basic instruction in the Christian faith. It is notable that theology that was once considered 'basic' is now considered by many as 'deep'!

The Institutes underwent several revisions: 1536, 1539, 1543, 1550, and 1559, and in that process a small work of six chapters or so became the large work we have today. The most important factor stimulating the expansion, I believe, was his continuing study of Scripture and the regular production of commentaries. Of particular interest for us today, was the production of his commentary on Romans. This was first published in 1540 during his time in exile in Strasbourg. It was expanded slightly in 1551 and then greatly in 1556, three years before his final edition of the Institutes.

One of the interesting features of Calvin's writings is the clear demarcation of roles for these writings. In the Institutes Calvin does not perform detailed exegesis of text. For that the reader needs to turn to his commentaries. Likewise, in the commentaries, Calvin refrains from detailed discussion of points of doctrine. This was an innovation for that time, as most other writers of the age tended to mix exegesis and theology in the same works. Thus in order to understand Calvin, one ought to read both!

Observations of the structure of Institutes

At this point, I would like to begin to look at how Calvin orders his material in his final edition of the Institutes. Calvin spends all of Book 1 expounding what we know about God as Creator. There, he covers the areas of creation, revelation (general and special), the oneness of God and the threeness of God, and his providence in governing his Creation.

In Book 2, he expounds what we may know about God as Redeemer in Christ. There, he unfolds the doctrine of man, and how he has fallen into sin, and far from having free will such that he is able to pull himself up to a state of righteousness should he so choose, mankind is actually in slavery to the power of sin, and under the curse of God for his disobedience. Calvin is thoroughly Augustinian in his doctrine of man! Man can only await the final judgement that his sin deserved. In other words, there is a two-fold problem for mankind – there is the penalty for man's sin, which cannot be revoked by the virtue of his efforts, and there is the power of sin, which enslaves him and renders him utterly impotent.

In the rest of Book 2, God as Redeemer is unfolded. God gave the Law to make the people of God aware of their sin, and promises, types and shadows to foster a future hope of salvation. In due time the gospel is revealed with the coming of Christ as Mediator. Calvin explains how the Son of God assumed the substance of human flesh at his incarnation - one person, but two natures. He also explains the work of Christ as Mediator, best understood in his roles as Prophet, Priest and King, as first he was humiliated in his life as a man under the Law and his death on the cross, and then exalted in his resurrection and ascension.  In doing all of this, Jesus Christ our Redeemer has done all that is necessary for the salvation of the elect.

Book 3 is entitled, "The way in which we receive the grace of Christ: What benefits come to us from it, and what effects follow." In other words, Calvin is concerned in Book 3 with how God applies this redemption to us. Right at the beginning, in 3.1.1 Calvin makes this key statement:

We must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. (3.1.1)

What this statement shows is that the key to our understanding of the application of redemption is to understand our relationship to Christ. Is Christ "outside of us"? Are we "separated from him"? If so, then Christ's work of salvation, his suffering, death and resurrection are utterly useless to us. To put it in other words, unless we are united to Christ, then his work is of no value.

Now, everyone will see union with Christ as an important aspect of our salvation. But, Calvin sees this as controlling all thinking about the application of salvation. It is here that differences emerge between the Lutherans and the Reformed. As we have already noted, the most important doctrine that was recovered at the Reformation was justification by faith alone. Therefore, in any Reformational treatment of the application of the work of Christ to a sinner, one would expect to begin with the doctrine of Justification and then move to the doctrine of Sanctification. Both doctrines are necessary to deal with the dual problem of, firstly, the penalty of our sin through the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us, and, secondly, the power of sin through the power of the life-giving Spirit who enables us to mortify sin and live to righteousness.

What does Calvin do in Book 3? Does Calvin, begin with Justification? The answer is 'no'. In the first 10 chapters, he first deals with what faith is, then a number of items: repentance, living the Christian life, denying oneself, bearing the cross. Only after spending 184 pages on matters concerning sanctification does he then turn to the doctrine of justification, on which he spends a relatively modest 123 pages, and a large chunk of which he spends refuting the views of the wayward Lutheran, Ossiander.

Why does Calvin treat Sanctification before Justification in his discussion of the application of the redemptive work of Christ? I believe that it is because he had come to understand that most fundamental to salvation, more fundamental than justification by faith alone, was union with Christ through faith. From this union comes what he called the twofold grace (duplex gratia) of justification and sanctification.

Observations from Commentary on Romans

How did he come to this conclusion? I believe his understanding of Romans was crucial. Three years before his final edition of the Institutes in 1559, Calvin had published a greatly expanded and final edition of his commentary on Romans. The impact of his study of Romans should not be underestimated. One scholar has noted that in the first edition there are 162 references to Romans, but in the final edition there are 573!

For Calvin, the main subject of Paul's letter is justification by faith and sees its main treatment up to the end of Romans chapter 5. He summarises this section of Romans in his argumentum of the letter, saying

...man's only righteousness is through the mercy of God in Christ, which being offered by the Gospel is apprehended by faith.

Paul is addressing readers who may flatter and deceive themselves into considering their own righteousness adequate for justification.  So in the first three chapters, he must destroy their foolish notions by showing how all, without exception, are sinners and fall short. Having destroyed trust in self, says Calvin, Paul then presents righteousness by faith. Abraham is the example of this faith in Romans 4. Then in chapter 5, to demonstrate how completely our sins have been "devoured" through the love of God in Christ, Paul introduces a series of comparisons: sin and righteousness, Christ and Adam, death and life, law and grace.

At this point Calvin turns his attention to Paul's transition from justification-righteousness in chapters 1-5 to sanctification-righteousness found in the sixth chapter. Let me quote Calvin's summary of Romans 6:

He proceeds in the sixth chapter to mention the sanctification which we obtain in Christ. It is indeed natural to our flesh, as soon as it has had some slight knowledge of grace, to indulge quietly in its own vices and lusts, as though it had become free from all danger: but Paul, on the contrary, contends here, that we cannot partake of the righteousness of Christ, except we also lay hold on sanctification. He reasons from baptism, by which we are initiated into a participation of Christ, and in it we are buried together with Christ, so that being dead in ourselves, we may through his life be raised to a newness of life. It then follows, that without regeneration no one can put on his righteousness.

This is a particularly significant statement. In Calvin's understanding of Paul, he sees that sanctification through faith must come simultaneously with justification through faith. Otherwise, owing to the untouched sinfulness of the flesh, the hint that we are free of danger as a result of a righteousness outside of ourselves, would result in continuing quietly in "lusts and vices". However, Calvin sees in Paul that is impossible to receive justification without sanctification. Why? Because the believer has been baptised into Christ in his death and resurrection. What is the significance of baptism? It is the sign and seal of that spiritual union with Christ himself by faith. What Calvin is arguing for here is the simultaneity of justification and sanctification by faith. Calvin sees that both justification and sanctification are founded upon a causally prior union with Christ by Spirit-worked faith. In other words, justification is not the cause of sanctification as the Lutherans might argue, nor is sanctification the cause of justification, as the Catholics argue. Rather, the root cause of both our justification and sanctification is spiritual union with Christ. Because of this union with Christ, to claim to have justification without sanctification, as some have tried to do at various times in history, is, as Calvin graphically put it, to "tear Christ to pieces".

The Order in the Institutes

If we now return to Book 3 of Calvin's Institutes, we can begin to understand how it is that he can treat sanctification before he treats justification. At the beginning of his treatment of justification in 3.11.1, which follows his lengthy treatment of sanctification, Calvin sums up where he has got to:

Christ was given to us by God's generosity, to be grasped and possessed by us in faith. By partaking of him, we principally receive a double grace: namely that being reconciled to God through Christ's blamelessness, we may have in heaven instead of a Judge a gracious Father; and secondly, that sanctified by Christ's spirit we may cultivate blamelessness and purity of life.

Calvin then goes on to explain why he treated sanctification (or, as he calls it, regeneration) first:

Of regeneration, ... the second of these gifts, I have said what seemed sufficient. The theme of justification was more lightly touched upon because it was more to the point to understand first how little devoid of good works is the faith, through which alone we obtain free righteousness by the mercy of God ...

It is likely that lurking in the background of Calvin's thinking was the charge of the Roman Catholic Church that the Reformation doctrine of justification by faith alone, which excluded works, was a mere "legal fiction". Such a faith, argued the Catholics, leads to slothfulness and indifference to holy living. Calvin therefore begins Book 3 with the nature of saving faith and its relationship to good works. He shows at length that a faith that appropriates the righteousness of Christ for justification is also a faith that has an inherent disposition and concern for holiness.

I need to return to a comment quoted from Calvin right at the start, where he wrote that Justification by Faith alone is "the main hinge on which religion turns". This expression implies a certain priority of justification over sanctification. Indeed, in the nature of the case the lifelong process of sanctification continues long after definitive justification. And it is certainly true in Calvin's thinking that a believer needs to know that he has God, no longer as a Judge, but instead as a gracious Father, (in other words, to have settled the forensic nature of the relationship) in order that he may have a "foundation on which to establish ... salvation" and "on which to build piety" (3.11.1). For the conscious, practical religion, then, justification is the crucial hinge. However, it must be understood that a hinge only functions when it is firmly anchored. As Richard Gaffin has noted, a hinge is not a "skyhook"! For Calvin the anchoring point is the spiritual union with Christ by faith.

The Value of the Doctrine of Union with Christ

In conclusion, it is worth dwelling on the value of seeing union with Christ as foundational to our salvation. Of course, justification by faith alone is a most glorious doctrine. It removes from us any notion of righteousness to be found in ourselves. Left to ourselves we are utterly sinful and utterly helpless in the face of God's righteous judgement. So to know that our sins are forgiven and we are declared righteous in his sight is a matter of infinite importance. In the practical experience of the believer, it enables us to get on with serving God with a clear conscience. 

Nevertheless, great though that is, union with Christ delivers up to us not simply a status and a power for living, but it delivers up Christ, and with him the forensic and transformative benefits of his saving work. It seems to me that to think of salvation in terms of the benefits of salvation runs the risk of relegating Christ himself to a background role. As John Piper once put it so graphically (!), to focus on the benefits of salvation primarily, is to use Christ as a ticket to the benefits on offer, which is disposable once the benefits are obtained. However, it is clear from the Apostle Paul's writings that though he is able to reach the heights in his expositions of the saving work the triune God, his greatest desire in life and in eternity was to gain Christ, as seen in Philippians 3:8. The great value of Calvin's doctrine of union with Christ, and I dare say it is Paul's doctrine, as the foundational doctrine of salvation, is that it keeps our eyes firmly fixed on our Lord Jesus Christ and does not separate him from his benefits.