 CHAPTER 18 The Righteousness of Works Improperly Inferred There are three divisions in this chapter. One, a solution of two general objections which are urged in support of justification by works. First, that God will render to everyone according to His works, section one. Second, that the reward of works is called eternal, sections two through six. Two, answer to other special objections derived from the former and a perversion of passages of scripture, sections six through nine. Three, refutation of the Sophism that faith itself is called a work and therefore justification by it is by works, section ten. Sections one, two general objections the former solved and explained what meant by the term working. Two, solution of the second general objection. One, works not the cause of salvation, this shown from the name and nature of inheritance. Two, a striking example that the Lord rewards the works of believers with blessings which He had promised before the works were thought of. Three, first reason why eternal life said to be the reward of works. This was confirmed by passages of scripture, the concurrence of Ambrose, a rule to be observed, declarations of Christ and an apostle. Four, other four reasons, holiness the way to the kingdom not the cause of obtaining it, proposition of the Sophists. Five, objection that God crowns the works of His people, three answers from Augustine, a fourth from scripture. Six, first special objection that is that we are ordered to lay up treasure in heaven answer showing in what way this can be done. Seven, second objection that is that the righteous enduring affliction are said to be worthy of the kingdom of heaven answer what meant by righteousness. Eight, a third objection founded on three passages of Paul answer. Nine, fourth objection founded on our Saviour's words if he would enter into life keep the commandments answer giving an exposition of the passage. Ten, last objection that is that faith itself is called a work answer it is not as a work that faith justifies. One, let us now proceed to those passages which affirm that God will render to everyone according to his deeds. Of this description are the following, quote, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he has done whether it be good or bad. Quote, who will render to every man according to his deeds, to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality eternal life, end quote. Quote, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that does evil. Quote, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Quote, come ye blessed of my father. Quote, for I was in hunger and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty and ye gave me drink, end quote, etc. To these we may add the passages which describe eternal life as the reward of works such as the following, quote, the recompense of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him. Quote, he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded. Quote, rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. Quote, every man shall receive his own rewards according to his own labor, end quote. The passages in which it is said that God will reward every man according to his works are easily disposed of. For that mode of expression indicates not the cause but the order of sequence. Now it is beyond a doubt that the steps by which the Lord in his mercy consummates our salvation are these. Quote, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans 8.30 Philippians 2.12 And therefore it follows not that believers are the authors of their own salvation, for that it is the result of their works. What then? The moment they are admitted to fellowship with Christ by the knowledge of the Gospel and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, their eternal life is begun, and then he which has begun a good work in them, quote, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1.6 And it is performed when in righteousness and holiness they bear a resemblance to their heavenly Father and prove that they are not degenerate sons. 2. There is nothing in the term reward to justify the inference that our works are the cause of salvation. First, let it be a fixed principle in our hearts that the kingdom of heaven is not the higher of servants, but the inheritance of sons. Ephesians 1.18 An inheritance obtained by those only whom the Lord has adopted as sons, and obtained for no other cause than this adoption, quote, the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. Galatians 4.30 And hence in those very passages in which the Holy Spirit promises eternal glory as the reward of works, by expressly calling it an inheritance, he demonstrates that it comes to us from some other quarter. Thus Christ enumerates the works for which he bestows heaven as a recompense, while he is calling his elect to the possession of it, but he at the same time adds that it is to be possessed by right of inheritance. Matthew 25.34 Paul too encourages servants, while faithfully doing their duty, to hope for reward from the Lord, but adds of the inheritance. Galatians 3.24 You see how, as it were, informal terms they carefully caution us to attribute eternal blessedness not to works, but to the adoption of God. Why then do they at the same time make mention of works? This question will be elucidated by an example from Scripture. Genesis 15.5.17.1 Before the birth of Isaac, Abraham had received promise of a seed in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed. The propagation of a seed that for number should equal the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea, etc. Many years after, he prepares in obedience to a divine message to sacrifice his son. Having done this act of obedience, he receives the promise, quote, By myself have I sworn, sayeth the Lord, For because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea shore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. Genesis 22.16-18 What is it we hear? Did Abraham by his obedience merit the blessing which had been promised him before the precept was given? Here assuredly we see without ambiguity that God rewards the works of believers with blessings which he had given them before the works were thought of. There still being no cause for the blessings which he bestows but his own mercy. 3. And yet the Lord does not act in vain or delude us when he says that he renders to works what he had freely given previous to works. That he would have us to be exercised in good works while aspiring to the manifestation, or if I may so speak, the fruition of the things which he has promised. And by means of them to hasten on to the blessed hope set before us in heaven, the fruit of the promises is justly ascribed to those things by which it is brought to maturity. Both things were elegantly expressed by the apostle when he told the Colossians to study the offices of charity, quote, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, Colossians 1.5. For when he says that the gospel informed them of the hope which was treasured up for them in heaven, he declares that it depends on Christ alone and not at all upon works. With this, accords the saying of Peter that believers, quote, are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1.5. When he says that they strive on account of it, he intimates that believers must continue running during the whole course of their lives in order that they may attain it. But to prevent us from supposing that the reward which is promised becomes a kind of merit, our Lord introduced a parable in which he represented himself as a householder who sent all the laborers whom he met to work in his vineyard, some at the first hour of the day, others at the second, others at the third, some even at the eleventh. At evening he paid them all alike. The interpretation of this parable is briefly and truly given by that ancient writer, whoever he was, who wrote the book De Vocatione Gentium, which goes under the name of Ambrose. I will give it in his words rather than my own. Quote, By means of this comparison, our Lord represented the many various modes of calling as pertaining to grace alone, where those who were introduced into the vineyard at the eleventh hour and made equal to those who had toiled the whole day, doubtless represent the case of those whom the indulgence of God, to commend the excellence of grace, has rewarded in the decline of the day and the conclusion of life, not paying the price of labor, but shedding the riches of his goodness on those whom he chose without works. In order that even those who bore the heat of the day, and yet received no more than those who came last, may understand that they received a gift of grace, not the hire of works. Lastly, it is also worthy of remark that in those passages in which eternal life is called the reward of works, it is not taken simply for that communion which we have with God preparatory to a blessed immortality, when with paternal benevolence he embraces us in Christ, but for the possession, or, as it is called, the fruition of blessedness, as the very words of Christ express it. Quote, in the world to come eternal life, Mark 1030, and elsewhere, quote, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom, et cetera, Matthew 2534. For this reasons also, Paul gives the name of adoption to that revelation of adoption which shall be made at the resurrection, and which adoption he afterwards interprets to mean the redemption of our body, Romans 823. But otherwise, as alienation from God is eternal death, so when man is received into favor by God that he may enjoy communion with him and become one with him, he passes from death unto life. This is owing to adoption alone. Although after their manner they pertinaciously urge the term reward, we can always carry them back to the declaration of Peter that eternal life is the reward of faith. 1 Peter 1 9 4. Let us not suppose, then, that the Holy Spirit, by this promise, commends the dignity of our works as if they were deserving of such a reward. For Scripture leaves us nothing of which we make glory in the sight of God. Nay, rather, its whole object is to repress, humble, cast down, and completely crush our pride. But in this way help is given to our weakness, which would immediately give way were it not sustained by this expectation and soothed by this comfort. First, let every man reflect for himself how hard it is not only to leave all things, but to leave and abjure oneself. And yet this is the training by which Christ initiates His disciples, that is, all the godly. Secondly, He thus keeps them all their lifetime under the discipline of the cross, lest they should allow their heart to long for or to confide in present good. In short, His treatment is usually such that wherever they turn their eyes, as far as this world extends, they see nothing before them but despair. And hence Paul says, quote, If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 1 Corinthians 15 19 That they may not fail in these great straits, the Lord is present reminding them to lift their head higher and extend their view farther, that in Him they may find a happiness which they see not in the world. To this happiness He gives the name of reward, hire, recompense, not as estimating the merit of works, but intimating that it is a compensation for their straits, sufferings, and affronts, etc. Therefore there is nothing to prevent us from calling eternal life a recompense after the example of scripture, because in it the Lord brings His people from labor to quiet, from affliction to a prosperous and desirable condition, from sorrow to joy, from poverty to affluence, from ignominy to glory. In short, exchanges all the evils which they endured for blessings. Thus there will be no impropriety in considering holiness of life as the way, not indeed the way which gives access to the glory of the heavenly kingdom, but a way by which God conducts His elect to the manifestation of that kingdom, since His good pleasure is to glorify those whom He has sanctified. Only let us not imagine that merit and hire are correlative terms, a point on which the Sophists absurdly insist, from not attending to the end to which they have adverted. How preposterous is it when the Lord calls us to one end to look to another. Nothing is clearer than that a reward is promised to good works in order to support the weakness of our flesh by some degree of comfort, but not to inflate our minds with vain glory. He therefore, who from merit infers reward, or weighs works and reward in the same balance, heirs very widely from the end which God has in view. 5. Accordingly, when the scripture speaks of, quote, a crown of righteousness which God the righteous judge shall give at that day, 2 Timothy 4.8, I not only say with Augustine, quote, to whom could the righteous judge give the crown if the merciful father had not given grace, and how could there have been righteousness but for the precedence of grace which justified the ungodly, how could these be paid as things do were not things not do previously given, end quote, but I also add how could he impute righteousness to our works did not his indulgence hide the unrighteousness that is in them. How could he deem them worthy of reward did he not with boundless goodness destroy what is unworthy in them. Augustine is want to give the name of grace to eternal life, because, while it is the recompense of works, it is bestowed by the gratuitous gifts of God, but scripture humbles us more and at the same time elevates us. For besides forbidding us to glory in works, because they are the gratuitous gifts of God, it tells us that they are always defiled by some degrees of impurity, so that they cannot satisfy God when they are tested by the standard of his justice. But that lest our activity should be destroyed, they please merely by pardon. But though Augustine speaks somewhat differently from us, it is plain from his words that the difference is more apparent than real. After drawing a contrast between two individuals, the one with a life holy and perfect, almost to a miracle, the other honest indeed, and of pure morals, yet not so perfect as not to leave much room for desiring better. He at length infers, quote, he who seems inferior in conduct, yet on account of the true faith in God by which he lives, Habakkuk 2.4, and in conformity to which he accuses himself in all his faults, praises God in all his good works, takes shame to himself, and ascribes glory to God, from whom he receives both forgiveness for his sins and the love of well-doing. The moment he has set free from this life is translated into the society of Christ. Why, but just on account of his faith? For though it saves no man without works, such faith being reprobate and not working by love, yet by means of it sins are forgiven, for the just lives by faith, without it works which seem good are converted into sins, end quote. Here he not obscurely acknowledges what we so strongly maintain, that the righteousness of good works depends on their being approved by God in the way of pardon. 6. In a sense similar to the above passages, our opponents quote the following, quote, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. Luke 16.9, quote, charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. 1 Timothy 6.17-19, for the good works which we enjoy in eternal blessedness are compared to riches. I answer, that we shall never attain to the true knowledge of these passages unless we attend to the scope of the Spirit in uttering them. If it is true, as Christ says, quote, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also, Matthew 6.21, then, as the children of the world are intent on providing these things which form the delight of the present life, so it is the duty of believers, after they have learned that this life will shortly pass away like a dream, to take care that those things which they would truly enjoy be transmitted thither where their entire life is to be spent. We must, therefore, do like those who begin to remove to any place where they mean to fix their abode, as they send forward their effects and grudge not to want them for a season because they think the more they have in their future residence the happier they are. So, if we think that heaven is our country, we should send our wealth thither rather than retain it here, where on our sudden departure it will be lost to us. But how shall we transmit it? By contributing to the necessities of the poor, the Lord imputing to himself whatever is given to them. Hence, that excellent promise, quote, he that has pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord, Proverbs 19.17, Matthew 25.40, and again, quote, he which soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully, 2 Corinthians 9.6. What we give to our brethren in the exercise of charity is a deposit with the Lord, who, as a faithful depositary, will ultimately restore it with abundant interest. Are our duties, then, of such value with God that they are as a kind of treasure placed in his hand? Who can hesitate to say so when Scripture so often and so plainly attests it? But if anyone would leap from the mere kindness of God to the merit of works, his error will receive no support from these passages. For all you can properly infer from them is the inclination on the part of God to treat us with indulgence. For, in order to animate us in well-doing, he allows no act of obedience, however unworthy of his eye, to pass unrewarded. 7. But they insist more strongly on the words of the apostle when, in consoling the Thessalonians under their tribulations, he tells them that these were sent, quote, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye also suffer, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 2 Thessalonians 1, 6, and 7. 3. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews says, quote, God is not unrighteous to forget your work in labor of love which ye have showed towards his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister, Hebrews 6, 10. 4. To the former passage I answer that the worthiness spoken of is not that of merit, but as God the Father would have those whom he has chosen for sons to be conformed to Christ the first born, and as it behaved him first to suffer, and then to enter into his glory, so we also, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, while we suffer tribulation for the name of Christ, we in a manner receive the marks with which God is want to stamp the sheep of his flock, Galatians 6, 17. Hence we are counted worthy of the kingdom of God because we bear in our body the marks of our Lord and Master, these being the insignia of the children of God. In this sense are we to understand the passages, quote, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body, 2 Corinthians 4, 10, quote, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death, Philippians 3, 10. The reason which is subjoined is intended not to prove any merit, but to confirm our hope of the kingdom of God, as if he had said, as it is befitting the just judgment of God to take vengeance on your enemies for the tribulation which they have brought upon you, so it is also befitting to give you release and rest from these tribulations. The other passage, which speaks as if it were becoming the justice of God not to overlook the services of his people, and almost insinuates that it were unjust to forget them, is to be thus explained. God, to arouse us from sloth, assures us that every labor which we undertake for the glory of his name shall not be in vain. Let us always remember that this promise, like all other promises, will be of no avail unless it is preceded by the free covenant of mercy on which the whole certainty of our salvation depends. Trusting to it, however, we ought to feel secure that, however unworthy our services, the liberality of God will not allow them to pass unrewarded. To confirm us in this expectation, the apostle declares that God is not unrighteous, but will act consistently with the promise once given. Righteousness, therefore, refers rather to the truth of the divine promise than to the equity of paying what is due. In this sense, there is a celebrated saying of Augustine which, as containing a memorable sentiment, that holy man declined not repeatedly to employ, and which I think not unworthy of being constantly remembered. Faithful is the Lord, who has made himself our debtor, not by receiving anything from us, but by promising us all things. 8. Our opponents also adduced the following passages from Paul, quote, Though I have all faith, so that I could move mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13, 2. Again, quote, Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Corinthians 13, 13, quote, Above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Colossians 3, 14. From the two first passages our Pharisees contend that we are justified by charity rather than by faith, charity being, as they say, the better virtue. This mode of arguing is easily disposed of. I have elsewhere shown that what is said in the first passage refers not to true faith. In the second passage we admit that charity is said to be greater than true faith, but not because charity is more meritorious, but because it is more fruitful, because it is of wider extent, of more general service, and always flourishes, whereas the use of faith is only for a time. If we look to excellence, the love of God undoubtedly holds the first place. Of it, however, Paul does not hear speak, for the only thing he insists on is that we should by mutual charity edify one another in the Lord. But let us suppose that charity is in every respect superior to faith. What man of sound judgment, nay, what man with any soundness in his brain, would argue that it therefore does more to justify. The power of justifying, which belongs to faith, consists not in its worth as a work. Our justification depends entirely on the mercy of God and the merits of Christ. When faith apprehends these, it is said to justify. Now, if you ask our opponents in what sense they ascribe justification to charity, they will answer, being a duty acceptable to God, righteousness is in respect of its merit imputed to us by the acceptance of the divine goodness. Here you see how beautifully the argument proceeds. We say that faith justifies not because it merits justification for us by its own worth, but because it is an instrument by which we freely obtain the righteousness of Christ. They overlooking the mercy of God and passing by Christ the sum of righteousness, maintain that we are justified by charity as being superior to faith, just as if one were to maintain that a king is fitter to make a shoe than a shoemaker, because the king is infinitely the superior of the two. This one syllogism is ample proof that all the schools of Sarbonne have never had the slightest apprehension of what is meant by justification by faith. Should any disputant here interpose and ask why we have different meanings to the term faith as used by Paul in passages so near each other, I can easily show that I have not slight grounds for so doing. For while those gifts which Paul enumerates are in some degree subordinate to faith and hope, because they relate to the knowledge of God, he by way of summary comprehends them all under the name of faith and hope. As if he had said, prophecy and tongues and the gift of interpreting and knowledge are all designed to lead us to the knowledge of God. But in this life it is only by faith and hope that we acknowledge God. Therefore, when I name faith and hope, I at the same time comprehend the whole. Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three. That is, how great so ever the number of the gifts, they are all to be referred to them. But the greatest of these is charity. From the third passage they infer, if charity is the bond of perfection, it must be the bond of righteousness, which is nothing else than perfection. First, without objecting that the name of perfection is here given by Paul to proper union among the members of a rightly constituted church, and admitting that by charity we are perfected before God, what new results do they gain by it? I will always object and reply that we never attain to that perfection unless we fulfill all the parts of charity, and will then sin for that as all are most remote from such fulfillment, the hope of perfection is excluded. 9. I am unwilling to discuss all the things which the foolish Sarbonists have rashly laid hold of in Scripture as a chance to come in their way and throw out against us. Some of them are so ridiculous that I cannot mention them without laying myself open to a charge of trifling. I will therefore conclude with an exposition of one of our Saviour's expressions with which they are wondrously pleased. When the lawyer asked him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? He answers, If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Matthew 19, 16, and 17. What more they ask would we have when the very author of grace bids us acquire the kingdom of heaven by the observance of the commandments. As if it were not plain that Christ adapted his answers to the characters of those whom he addressed. Here he is questioned by a doctor of the law as to the means of obtaining eternal life. And the question is not put simply but is, what can men do to attain it? Both the character of the speaker and his question induced our Lord to give this answer. When viewed with a persuasion of legal righteousness the lawyer had a blind confidence in works. Then all he asked was, What are the works of righteousness by which salvation is obtained? Justly therefore he is referred to the law in which there is a perfect mirror of righteousness. We also distinctly declare that if life is sought in works the commandments are to be observed. The knowledge of this doctrine is necessary to Christians. For how should they retake themselves to Christ unless they perceived that they had fallen from the path of life over the precipice of death? Or how could they understand how far they have wandered from the way of life unless they previously understand what that way is? Then only do they feel that the asylum of safety is in Christ when they see how much their conduct is at variance with the divine righteousness which consists in the observance of the law. The sum of the whole is this. If salvation is sought in works we must keep the commandments by which we are instructed in perfect righteousness. But we cannot remain here unless we would stop short in the middle of our course for none of us is able to keep the commandments. Being thus excluded from the righteousness of the law we must retake ourselves to another remedy that is to the faith of Christ. Wherefore as a teacher of the law whom our Lord knew to be puffed up with a vain confidence in works was here directed by him to the law that he might learn he was a sinner exposed to the fearful sentence of eternal death. So others who were already humbled with this knowledge he elsewhere solaces with the promise of grace without making any mention of the law. Quote, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11, 28 and 29. 10. At length, after they have wearied themselves with perverting scripture, they have recourse to subtleties and sophisms. One cavill is that faith is somewhere called a work, John 6, 29. Hence they infer that we are in error in opposing faith to works, as if faith, regarded as obedience to the divine will, could by its own merit procure our justification, and did not rather by embracing the mercy of God thereby seal upon our hearts the righteousness of Christ which is offered to us in the preaching of the gospel. My readers will pardon me if I stay not to dispose of such absurdities. Their own weakness, without external assault, is sufficient to destroy them. One objection, however, which has some semblance of reason, it will be proper to dispose of in passing, lest it give any trouble to those less experienced. As common sense dictates that contraries must be tried by the same rule, and as each sin is charged against us as on righteousness, so it is right, say our opponents, that each good work should receive the praise of righteousness. The answer which some give, that the condemnation of men proceeds on unbelief alone, and not on particular sins, does not satisfy me. I agree with them, indeed, that infidelity is the fountain and root of all evil, for it is the first act of revolt from God, and is afterwards followed by particular transgressions of the law. But as they seem to hold that in estimating righteousness and unrighteousness the same rule is to be applied to good and bad works, in this I dissent from them. The righteousness of works consists in perfect obedience to the law. Hence you cannot be justified by works unless you follow this straight line, if I may so call it, during the whole course of your life. The moment you decline from it you have fallen into unrighteousness. Hence it appears that righteousness is not obtained by a few works, but by an indefatigable and inflexible observance of the divine will. But the rule with regard to unrighteousness is very different. The adulterer or the thief is by one act guilty of death, because he offends against the majesty of God. The blunder of these arguers of ours lies here. They attend not to the words of James, quote, whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all. For he that said do not commit adultery, said also do not kill, etc. James 2, 10 and 11. Therefore it should not seem absurd when we say that death is the just recompense of every sin, because each sin merits the just indignation and vengeance of God. But you reason absurdly if you infer the converse, that one good work will reconcile a man to God, not withstanding of his meriting wrath by many sins. Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 3 by John Calvin Translated by Henry Beverage Chapter 19 Part 1 Of Christian Liberty The three divisions of this chapter are 1. Necessity of the doctrine of Christian Liberty Section 1. The principal parts of this liberty explained Sections 2 to 8 2. The nature and efficacy of this liberty against the Epicureans and others who take no account whatever of the weak. Sections 9 and 10 3. Off offence given and received A lengthened and not unnecessary discussion of this subject. Sections 11 to 16 Sections 1. Connection of this chapter with the previous one on justification A true knowledge of Christian Liberty useful and necessary 1. It purifies the conscience 2. It checks licentiousness 3. It maintains the merits of Christ The truth of the Gospel and the peace of the soul 2. This liberty consists of three parts 1. Believers renouncing the righteousness of the law Look only to Christ Objection Answer Distinguishing between legal and evangelical righteousness 3. This first part clearly established by the whole episode to the Galatians 4. The second part of Christian Liberty That is, that the conscience freed from the yoke of the law Voluntarily obeys the will of God This cannot be done so long as we are under the law Reason 5. When freed from the rigorous exactions of the law We can cheerfully and with much alacrity answer the call of God 6. Proof of the second part from an apostle The end of this liberty 7. Third part of Liberty That is, the free rise of things indifferent The knowledge of this part necessary to remove this parent superstition Superstition described 8. Proof of this third part from the episode to the romance Those who observe it not only use evasion 1. The Spicers of God 2. The Desperate 3. The Ungrateful The end and scope of this third part 9. Second part of the chapter Showing the nature and efficacy of Christian Liberty In opposition to the Epicurians Their character described Pretext and allegation Use of things indifferent Abuse detected Mode of correcting it 10. This liberty maintained in opposition to those who pay no regard to the weak Error of this class of men refuted A most pernicious error 11. Application of the doctrine of Christian Liberty to the subject of offenses These of two kinds Offense given Offense received Of offense given A subject comprehended by few Of farisaical offense or offense received 12. Who are to be regarded as weak and farisaical Proved by examples and the doctrine of Paul The just moderation of Christian Liberty Necessity of indicating it No regard to be paid to hypocrites Duty of edifying are weak neighbors 13. Application of the doctrine to things indifferent Things necessary not to be omitted from any fear of offense 14. Refutation of errors in regard to Christian Liberty The consciences of the godly not to be fettered by human traditions in matters of indifference 15. Distinction to be made between spiritual and civil Ritual and civil government This must not be confounded How far conscience can be bound by human constitutions Definition of conscience Definition explained by passages from the apostolic writings 16. The relation which conscience bears to external obedience First in things good and evil Secondly in things indifferent 1. We are now to treat of Christian Liberty The explanation of which certainly ought not to be omitted by anyone proposing To give a compendious summary of gospel doctrine For it is a matter of primary necessity One without the knowledge of which the conscience can scarcely attempt anything without hesitation In many must demure and fluctuate And in all proceed with fickleness and trepidation In particular, it forms a proper appendix to justification And is of no little service in understanding its force 2. Nay, those who seriously fear God will hence perceive the incomparable advantages of a doctrine which wicked scoffers are constantly assailing with their jives The intoxication of mind under which they labor leaving their petulance without restraint 3. This, therefore, seems the proper place for considering the subject Moreover, though it has already been occasionally adverted to There was an advantage in deferring the fuller consideration of it till now For the moment any mention is made of Christian Liberty, last begins to boil Or insane commotions arise If a speedy restraint is not laid on those licentious spirits by whom the best things are perverted into the worst For they either, under pretext of this liberty, shake off all obedience to God And break out into unbridled licentiousness Or they feel indignant, thinking that all choice, order, and restraint are abolished What can we do when thus encompassed with straits? Are we to bid adieu to Christian Liberty in order that we may cut off all opportunity for such perilous consequences? But as we have said, if the subject be not understood, neither Christ, nor the truth of the Gospel, nor the inward peace of the soul is properly known Our endeavor must rather be, while not suppressing this very necessary part of doctrine, to obviate the absurd objections to which it usually gives rise 2. Christian Liberty seems to me consists of three parts First, the consciences of believers, while seeking the assurance of their justification before God, must rise above the law and think no more of obtaining justification by it For while the law, as has already been demonstrated, leaves not one man righteous, we are either excluded from all hope of justification Or we must be loosed from the law, and so loosed, as that no account at all shall be taken of works For he who imagines that in order to obtain justification, he must bring any degree of works whatever, cannot fix any mode or limit, but makes himself debtor to the whole law Therefore, laying aside all mention of the law, and all idea of works, we must, in the matter of justification, have recourse to the mercy of God only Turning away our regard from ourselves, we must look only to Christ For the question is not how we may be righteous, but how, though unworthy and unrighteous, we may be regarded as righteous If consciences would obtain any assurance of this, they must give no place to the law Still it cannot be rightly inferred from this, that believers have no need of the law It ceases not to teach, exhort, and urge them to good, although it is not recognized by their consciences before the judgment seat of God The two things are very different, and should be well and carefully distinguished The whole lives of Christians ought to be a kind of aspiration after piety, seeing they are called unto holiness Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 5 The office of the law is to excite them to the study of purity and holiness by reminding them of their duty For when the conscience feels anxious as to how it may have the favor of God as to the answer it could give And the confidence it would feel if brought to his judgment seat In such a case, the requirements of the law are not to be brought forward But Christ, who surpasses all the perfection of the law, is alone to be held forth for righteousness On this, almost the whole subject of the epistle to the Galatians hinges For it can be proved from express passages that those are absurd interpreters who teach that Paul there contends only for freedom from ceremonies Of such passages are the following Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to the whole law Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace Galatians chapter 3, verse 13, and chapter 5, verses 1-4 These words certainly refer to something of a higher order than freedom from ceremonies I confess indeed that Paul there treats of ceremonies because he was contending with false apostles who were plotting to bring back into the Christian church those ancient shadows of the law which were abolished by the advent of Christ But in discussing this question, it was necessary to introduce higher matters on which the whole controversy turns First, because the brightness of the Gospel was obscured by those Jewish shadows, he shows that in Christ we have a full manifestation of all those things which were typified by mosaic ceremonies Secondly, as those imposters instilled into the people the most pernicious opinion that this obedience was sufficient to merit the grace of God He insists very strongly that believers shall not imagine that they can obtain justification before God by any works, far less by those paltry observances At the same time, he shows that by the cross of Christ they are free from the condemnation of the law to which otherwise all men are exposed so that in Christ alone they can rest in full security This argument is pertinent to the present subject, Galatians 4, verses 5 and 21, etc Lastly, he asserts the right of believers to liberty of conscience, a liberty which may not be restrained without necessity Four, another point which depends on the former is that conscience says obey the law, not as if compelled by legal necessity but being free from the yoke of the law itself, voluntarily obey the will of God Being constantly in terror so long as they are under the dominion of the law, they are never disposed promptly to obey God unless they have previously obtained this liberty Our meaning shall be explained more briefly and clearly by an example The command of the law is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might Deuteronomy 6, verse 5 To accomplish this, the soul must previously be divested of every other thought and feeling The heart purified from all its desires, all its powers collected and united on this one object Those who, in comparison of others, have made much progress in the way of the Lord are still very far from this goal for although they love God in their mind and with a sincere affection of heart, yet both are still in a great measure occupied with the lusts of the flesh by which they are retarded and prevented from proceeding with quickened pace towards God They indeed make many efforts, but the flesh partly enfeebles their strength and partly binds them to itself What can they do while they thus feel that there is nothing of which they are less capable than to fulfill the law? They wish, aspire, endeavor, but do nothing with the requisite perfection If they look to the law, they see that every work which they attempt or design is accursed nor can anyone deceive himself by inferring that the work is not altogether bad merely because it is imperfect and therefore that any good which is in it is still accepted of God For the law demanding perfect love condemns all imperfection, unless its rigor is mitigated Let any man therefore consider his work which he wishes to be thought partly good and he will find that it is a transgression of the law by the very circumstance of its being imperfect 5. See how our works lie under the curse of the law if they are tested by the standard of the law How can unhappy souls set themselves with alacrity to a work from which they cannot hope to gain anything in return but cursing? On the other hand, if freed from the severe exaction or rather from the whole rigor of the law they hear themselves invited by God with paternal levity They will cheerfully and alertly obey the call and follow his guidance In one word, those who are bound by the yoke of the law are like servants who have certain tasks daily assigned them by their masters Such servants think that not has been done and they dare not come into the presence of their masters until the exact amount of labor has been performed But sons who are treated in a more candid and liberal manner by their parents hesitate not to offer them works that are only begun or have finished for even with something faulty in them trusting that their obedience and readiness of mind will be accepted although the performance be less exact than was wished Such should be our feelings as we certainly trust that our most indulgent parent will approve our services however small they may be and however rude and imperfect Thus he declares to us by the prophet, I will spare them as a man spareeth his own son that serveth him Malachi chapter 3 verse 17 Where the words spare evidently means indulgence or connivance at faults while at the same time service is remembered This confidence is necessary in no slight degree Since without it everything should be attempted in vain For God does not regard any sack of hours as done to himself unless truly done from a desire to serve him But how can this be amidst these terrors while we doubt whether God is offended or served by our work 6. This is the reason why the author of the episode to the Hebrews ascribes to faith all the good works which the holy patriarchs are said to have performed and estimates them merely by faith Hebrews chapter 11 verse 2 In regard to this liberty, there is a remarkable passage in the episode to the Romans where Paul argues, Sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the law but under grace Romans chapter 6 verse 14 For after he had exhorted believers, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in the last thereof Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness and to sin but yield yourselves unto God as those that are allied from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness and to God They might have objected that they still bore about with them a body full of lust that sin still dwelt in them He therefore comforts them by adding that they are freed from the law As if he had said, although you feel that sin is not yet extinguished and that righteousness does not plainly live in you you have no cause for fear and dejection as if God were always offended because of the remains of sin since by grace you are freed from the law and your works are not tried by its standard Let those, however, who infer that they may sin because they are not under the law understand that they have no right to this liberty the end of which is to encourage us in well-doing 7. The third part of this liberty is that we are not bound before God to any observance of external things which are in themselves indifferent, adia fora but that we are now at full liberty either to use or meet them The knowledge of this liberty is very necessary to us where it is wanting our consciences will have no rest there will be no end of superstition In the present day, many think us absurd in raising a question as to the free-eating of flesh the free use of dress and holidays and similar frivolous trifles as they think them but they are of more importance than is commonly supposed for when once the conscience is entangled in the net it enters a long and inextricable labyrinth from which it is afterwards most difficult to escape When a man begins to doubt whether it is lawful for him to use linen for sheets, shirts, napkins, and handkerchiefs he will not long be secure as to hemp and will at last have doubts as to toe for he will revolve in his mind whether he cannot suck without napkins or dispense with handkerchiefs Should he deem a daintier food unlawful he will afterwards feel uneasy for using loaf bread and common eatables because he will think that his body might possibly be supported on a still-minor food If he hesitates as to a more genial wine he will scarcely drink the worst with a good conscience at last he will not dare to touch water if more than usually sweet and pure In fine he will come to this that he will deem it criminal to trample on a straw lying in his way For it is no trivial dispute that is here commenced the point in debate being whether the use of this thing or that is in accordance with the divine will which ought to take precedence of all our acts and counsels Here some must by despair be hurried into an abyss while others despising God and casting off his fear will not be able to make a way for themselves without ruin When men are involved in such doubts whatever be the direction in which they turn everything they see must offend their conscience Eight I know says Paul that there is nothing unclean of itself by unclean meaning unholy but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean to him it is unclean Romance chapter 14 verse 14 By these words he makes all external things subject to our liberty I did the nature of that liberty approves itself to our minds as before God but if any superstitious idea suggests scruples those things which in their own nature were pure are to us contaminated Wherefore the apostle adds Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that which he alloweth and he that doubteth is damned if he eat because he eateth not of faith for whatsoever is not of faith is seen Romance chapter 14 verses 22 to 23 When men amid such difficulties proceed with greater confidence securely doing whatever pleases them do they not in so far revolt from God Those who are thoroughly impressed with some fear of God if forced to do many things repugnant to their consciences are discouraged and filled with dread All such persons receive none of the gifts of God with thanksgiving by which alone Paul declares that all things are sanctified for our use 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 5 By thanksgiving I understand that which proceeds from a mind recognizing the kindness and goodness of God in his gifts For many indeed understand that the blessings which they enjoy are the gifts of God and praise God in their words But not being persuaded shall these have been given to them How can they give thanks to God as the giver In one word we see with their disliberty tense That is that we are to use the gifts of God without any scruple of conscience without any perturbation of mind for the purpose for which he gave them In this way our souls may both have peace with him and recognize his liberality towards us For here are comprehended all ceremonies of the observance so that while our consciences are not to be laid under the necessity of observing them we are also to remember that by the kindness of God the use of them is made subservient to edification 9 It is, however, to be carefully observed that Christian liberty is in all its parts a spiritual matter the whole force of which consists in giving peace to trembling consciences whether they are anxious and disquieted as to the forgiveness of sins or as to whether their imperfect works polluted by the infirmities of the flesh are pleasing to God or are perplexed as to the use of things indifferent It is therefore perversely interpreted by those who use it as a cloak for their lusts that they may licentiously abuse the good gifts of God or who think there is no liberty unless it is used in the presence of men and, accordingly, in using it pay no regard to their weak brethren Under this head the sins of the present age are more numerous For there is scarcely anyone whose means allow him to live sumptuously who does not delight in feasting and dress and the luxurious grandeur of his house who wishes not to surpass his neighbor in every kind of delicacy and does not plume himself amazingly on his splendor and all these things are defended under the pretext of Christian liberty They say they are things indifferent I admit it provided they are used indifferently but when they are too eagerly longed for when they are proudly boasted of when they are indulged in luxurious profusion things which otherwise were in themselves lawful are certainly defiled by these vices Paul makes an admirable distinction in regard to things indifferent unto the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure but even their mind and conscience is defiled Titus chapter 1 verse 15 For why is a woe pronounced upon the rich who have received their consolation? Chapter 6 verse 24 who are full, who laugh now who lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches join house to house and lay field to field and the harp and the vial the tablet and pipe and wine are in their feasts Amos chapter 6 verse 6 and Isaiah chapter 5 verses 8 and 10 Certainly ivory and gold and riches are the good creatures of God permitted, nay, destined by divine providence for the use of man nor was it ever forbidden to laugh or to be full or to add new to old and hereditary possessions or to be delighted with music or to drink wine This is true, but when the means are supplied to roll and wallow in luxury to intoxicate the mind and soul with present and be always hunting after new pleasures is very far from a legitimate use of the gifts of God for them therefore suppress immoderate desire immoderate profusion, vanity, and arrogance that they may use the gifts of God purely with a pure conscience When their mind is brought to this state of suburness they will be able to regulate the legitimate use On the other hand, when this moderation is wanting even plebeian and ordinary delicacies are excessive For it is a true saying that a hotty mind often dwells in a coarse and homely garb that the body lurks under fine linen and purple that everyone then live in his own station fully or moderately or in splendor but let all remember that the nourishment which God gives is for life, not luxury and let them regard it as the law of Christian liberty to learn with Paul in whatever state they are their will to be content to know both how to be abased and how to abound to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need Philippians chapter 4 verse 11 End of section 31 Recording by Shana Serres, Fresno, California Section 32 of Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 3 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 3 by John Calvin Translated by Henry Beverage Chapter 19, Part 2 10 Very many also err in this as if their liberty were not safe and entire without having men to witness it they use it indiscriminately and imprudently and in this way often give offence to weak brethren You may see some in the present day who cannot think they possess their liberty unless they come into possession of it by eating flesh on Friday Their eating I blame not but this false notion must be driven from their minds for they ought to think that their liberty gains nothing new by the sight of men but is to be enjoyed before God and consists as much in abstaining as in using If they understand that it is of no consequence in the sight of God whether they eat flesh or eggs whether they are clothed in red or in black this is amply sufficient The conscience to which the benefit of this liberty was due is loosed therefore though they should afterwards during their whole life abstain from flesh and constantly wear one color they are not less free Nay, just because they are free they abstain with a free conscience They are most egregiously in paying no regard to the infirmity of their brethren with which it becomes us to bear so as not rushily to give them offence but it is sometimes also of consequence that we should assert our liberty before men This I admit yet must we use great caution in the mode lest we should cast off the care of the weak whom God has specially committed to us 11. I will here make some observations on offences What distinctions are to be made between them What kind are to be avoided and what is regarded This will afterwards enable us to determine what scope there is for our liberty among men We are pleased with the common division into offence given and offence taken since it has the plain sanction of scripture and not improperly expresses what is meant If from unseasonable levity or wantonness or rushness you do anything out of order or not in its own place by which the weak or unskillful are offended it may be said that offence has been given by you since the ground of offence is owing to your fault And in general, offence is said to be given in any matter for the person from whom it has proceeded is in fault Offence is said to be taken when a thing otherwise done not wickedly or unseasonably is made an occasion of offence from malevolence or some sinister feeling For here offence was not given but sinister interpreters ceaselessly take offence by the former kind, the weak only by the latter, the ill-tempered and pharisaical are offended Wherefore, we shall call the one the offence of the weak the other the offence of pharises And we will so temper the use of our liberty as to make it yield to the ignorance of weak brethren but not to the austerity of pharises What is due to infirmity is fully shown by Paul in many passages him that is weak in the faith receiveee Again, let us not judge one another anymore but judge this rather that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way and many others to the same effect in the same place to which instead of quoting them here we refer the reader The sum is, we then that are strong ought to bear the infimities of the weak and not to please ourselves Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification Elsewhere, he says take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak Again, what so ever is sold in the shambles that eat asking no question for conscience's sake Conscience, I say, not thine own but of the other Finally, give none offence neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles nor to the church of God Also in another passage brethren, you have been called into liberty only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh but by love serve one another Thus indeed it is our liberty was not given us against our weak neighbors whom charity enjoins us to serve in all things but rather that having peace with God in our minds we should live peaceably among men What value is to be set upon the offence of the Pharisees we learn from the words of our Lord in which he says let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind Matthew chapter 15 verse 14 the disciples had intimated that the Pharisees were offended at his words he answers that they are to be let alone that their offence is not to be regarded 12. The matter still remains uncertain unless we understand who are the weak and who the Pharisees for if this distinction is destroyed I see not how in regard to offences any liberty at all would remain without being constantly in the greatest danger but Paul seems to me to have marked out most clearly as well by example as by doctrine how far our liberty in the case of offence is to be modified or maintained when he adopts Timothy as his companion he circumcises him nothing can induce him to circumcise Titus Acts chapter 16 verse 3 and Galatians chapter 2 verse 3 the acts are different but there is no difference in the purpose or intention in circumcising Timothy as he was free from all men he made himself the servant of all unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the law as under the law that I might gain them that are under the law to them that are without law as without law being not without law to God but under the law to Christ that I might gain them that are without law to the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some first Corinthians chapter 9 verses 20 to 22 we have here the proper modification of liberty when in things indifferent it can be restrained with some advantage but he had in view infirmly restricting the circumcision of Titus he himself testifies when he thus writes but neither Titus who was with me being a Greek was compelled to be circumcised and that because of false brethren unawares brought in who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage whom we gave place by subjection no not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you Galatians chapter 2 verses 3 to 5 we here see the necessity of indicating our liberty when by the unjust exceptions of false apostles it is brought into danger with weak consciences in all cases we must study charity and look to the edification of our neighbor all things are lawful for me says he but all things are not expedient all things are lawful for me but all things edify not let no man seek his own but every man another's wealth first Corinthians chapter 10 verses 23 and 24 there is nothing planer than this rule that we are to use our liberty if it tends to the edification of our neighbor but if inexpedient for our neighbor we are to abstain from it there are some who pretend to imitate this prudence of Paul by abstinence from liberty while there is nothing for which they less employ it than for purposes of charity consulting their own ease they would have all mentioned of liberty buried though it is not less for the interest of our neighbor to use liberty for their good and edification than to modify it occasionally for their advantage it is the part of a pious man to think that the free power conceded to him in external things is to make him the reddier in all offices of charity 13 whatever I have said about avoiding offenses I wish to be referred to things indifferent things which are necessary to be done cannot be omitted from any fear of offense for as our liberty is to be made subservient to charity so charity must in its turn be subordinate to purity of faith here too regard must be had to charity but it must go as far as the outer that is we must not offend God for the sake of our neighbor we approve not of the intemperance of those who do everything tumultously and would rather burst through every restraint at once than proceed step by step but neither are those to be listened to who while they take the lead in a thousand forms of impiety pretend that they act thus to avoid giving offense to their neighbor as if in the meantime they did not train the consciences of their neighbors to evil especially when they always stick in the same mar without any hope of escape when a neighbor is to be instructed whether by doctrine or by example then smooth-tongued men say that he is to be fed with milk while they are instilling into him the worst and most pernicious opinions Paul says to the Corinthians I have fed you with milk and not with meat first Corinthians chapter 3 verse 2 but had there then been a poppish mass among them would he have sacrificed as one of the modes of giving them milk by no means milk is not poison it is false then to say they nourish those whom under the semblance of soothing they cruelly murder but granting that such dissimulation may be used for a time how long are they to make their pupils drink that kind of milk if they never grow up so as to be able to bear at least some gentle food it is certain that they have never been reared on milk two reasons prevent me from now entering farther into contest with these people first their follies are scarcely worthy of reputation seeing all men of sense must nauseate them and secondly having already amply refuted them in special treatises I am unwilling to do it over again let my readers only bear in mind first that whatever be the offenses by which Satan and the world attempt to lead us away from the law of God we must nevertheless strenuously proceed in the course which he prescribes and secondly that whatever dangers impend we are not at liberty to deviate one nail's breath from the command of God that on no pretext is it lawful to attempt anything but what he permits 14. Since by means of this privilege of liberty which we have described believers have derived authority from Christ not to entangle themselves by the observance of things in which he wished them to be free we conclude that their consciences are exempted from all human authority for it were unbecoming that the gratitude due to Christ for his liberal gift should perish or that the consciences of believers should derive no benefit from it we must not regard it as a trivial matter when we see how much it cost our saviour being purchased not with silver or gold but with his own blood 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 18 and 19 so that Paul hesitates not to say that Christ has died in vain if we place our souls under subjection to men Galatians chapter 5 verses 1 and 4 and 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 23 several chapters of the epistle to the Galatians are wholly occupied with showing that Christ is obscured or rather extinguished to us unless our consciences maintain their liberty from which they have certainly fallen if they can be bound with the chains of laws and constitutions at the pleasure of men but as the knowledge of this subject is of the greatest importance so it demands a longer and clearer exposition for the moment the abolition of human constitutions is mentioned the greatest disturbances are excited partly by the seditious and partly by columnators as if obedience of every kind were at the same time abolished and overthrown 15 therefore lest this prove a stumbling black 20 that has observed that in man government is twofold the one spiritual by which the conscience is trained to piety and divine worship the other civil by which the individual is instructed in those duties which as men and citizens we are bold to performs see book 4 chapter 10 sections 3 to 6 to these two forms are commonly given the not inappropriate names of spiritual and temporal jurisdiction intimating that the former species has reference to the life of the soul while the latter relates to matters of the present life not only to food and clothing but to the enacting of laws which require a man to live among his fellows purely honorably and modestly the former has its seat within the soul the latter only regulates the external conduct we may call the one the spiritual the other the civil kingdom now these two as we have divided them are always to be viewed apart from each other when the one is considered we should call up our minds and not allow them to think of the other for there exists in man a kind of two worlds over which different kings and different laws can preside by attending to these distinction we will not erroneously transfer the doctrine of the gospel concerning spiritual liberty to civil order as if in regard to external government Christians were less subject to human laws because their consciences are unbound before God as if they were exempted from all carnal service because in regard to the spirit they are free again because even in those constitutions which seem to relate to the spiritual kingdom there may be some delusion it is necessary to distinguish between those which are to be held legitimate as being agreeable to the word of God and those on the other hand which ought to have no place among the pious we shall elsewhere have an opportunity of speaking of civil government see book 4 chapter 20 for the present also I defer speaking of ecclesiastical laws because that subject will be more fully discussed in the fourth book when we come to treat of the power of the church we would thus conclude the present discussion the question as I have said though not very obscure or perplexing in itself occasions difficulty to many because they do not distinguish with sufficient accuracy between what is called the external forum and the forum of conscience what increases the difficulty is that Paul commands us to obey the magistrate not only for wrath but also for conscience sake Romans chapter 13 verses 1 and 5 whence it follows that civil laws also bind the conscience word is so then what we said a little ago and are still to say of spiritual governments would fall to solve this difficulty the first thing of importance is to understand what is meant by conscience the definition must be sought in the etymology of the word for us men when they apprehend the knowledge of things by the mind and intellects are said to know and hence arises the term knowledge or science so when they have a sense of the divine justice added as a witness which allows them not to conceal their sins but drags them forward as culprits to the bar of God that sense is called conscience for it stands as it were between God and man not suffering man to suppress what he knows in himself but following him on even to conviction it is these that Paul means when he says their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another Romans chapter 2 verse 15 simple knowledge may exist in man as it were shut up therefore this sense which assists man before the bar of God is set over him as a kind of sentinel to observe and spy out all his secrets that nothing may remain buried in darkness hence the ancient proverb conscience is a thousand witnesses for the same reason Peter also employs the expression the answer of a good conscience first Peter chapter 3 verse 21 for tranquility of mind when persuaded of the grace of Christ we boldly present ourselves before God and the author of the episode to the Hebrew says that we have no more conscience of sins Hebrews chapter 10 verse 2 that we are held as freed or acquitted so that sin no longer accuses us 16 wherefore as works have respect to man so conscience bears reference to God a good conscience being nothing else an inward integrity of heart in this sense Paul says that the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfaith first Timothy chapter 1 verse 5 he afterwards in the same chapter shows how much it differs from intellect when he speaks of holding faith and a good conscience which some having put away have made shipwreck first Timothy chapter 1 verse 19 for by these words he intimates that it is a lively inclination to serve God a sincere desire to live in piety and holiness sometimes indeed it is even extended to men as when Paul testifies herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men Acts chapter 24 verse 16 he speaks thus because the fruits of a good conscience go forth and reach even to men but as I have said it refers to God only hence a law is said to bind the conscience because it simply binds the individual without looking at men or taking any account of them for example God not only commands us to keep our mind chaste and pure from lust but prohibits all external assivismness or obscenity of language my conscience is subjected to the observance of this law though there were not another man in the world and he who violates its sins not only by setting about the example to his brethren but stands convicted in his conscience before God the same rule does not hold in things indifferent we ought to abstain from everything that produces offense but with a free conscience thus Paul speaking of me consecrated to idols says if any man say unto you this is offered in sacrifice unto idols it not for his sake that showed it and for conscience's sake conscience I say not dine-owned but of the other first Corinthians chapter 10 verses 28 and 29 a believer after being previously admonished would seen were he still to eat meat so offered but though abstinence on his part is necessary in respect of a brother as it is prescribed by God still he ceases not to retain liberty of conscience we see how the law while binding the external act leaves the conscience unbound end of section 32 recording by Shana Serre Fresno, California