Calvin continues to outline is understanding of saving faith. He argues saving faith consists in recognising God the Father has propitiated his wrath in Christ and believers are now reconciled to him. He even quotes Romans 10.10 to argue his point. Unfortunately Romans 10.9 says something quite different about the content of saving faith.
This is part of my series on Calvin’s Institutes.
Quote
Faith consists not in ignorance, but in knowledge—knowledge not of God merely, but of the divine will.
We do not obtain salvation either because we are prepared to embrace every dictate of the Church as true, or leave to the Church the province of inquiring and determining;
but when we recognize God as a propitious Father through the reconciliation made by Christ, and Christ as given to us for righteousness, sanctification, and life.
By this knowledge, I say, not by the submission of our understanding, we obtain an entrance into the kingdom of heaven. For when the Apostle says, “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,” (Rom. 10:10); he intimates, that it is not enough to believe implicitly without understanding, or even inquiring.
The thing requisite is an explicit recognition of the divine goodness, in which our righteousness consists. (Calvin, Instit. 3.2.2)
Comment
Basically for Calvin, saving faith consists in knowing how God has saved us. His understanding does not work towards a recognition of who Jesus is.
The gospel message of Paul and the apostles argued first and foremost that Jesus is Christ and Lord. Hence it follows from this Paul can speak about the ‘obedience of faith’. He says ‘obedience’ because faith primarily recognises Jesus as Lord and King.
Had Calvin looked more closely at the scriptures to determine the content of saving faith he would have seen the most common reference to the content of saving faith is the recognition Jesus is the risen Lord and that this is specifically argued by the apostles in Acts and the Gospel.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Rom 10.9-10)
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (Jn 20.30-31)
What we see here is the movement from the biblical gospel message being;
- the fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures in the story of Jesus proving he is the Christ, Lord and King, to a
- a message about personal salvation that people are sinners under God’s wrath in need of atonement and forgiveness.
Scot McKnight highlights this in his book.
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