Paul’s
quotation of Ps. 32:1 (“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and
whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom God does not impute sin”) in
Rom. 4:6 provides the occasion for Calvin to confront two challenges to his
view that the imputed righteousness of Christ alone apart from any works is
determinative for salvation. First, Calvin refutes the scholastic doctrine that
in justification the fault of sin is forgiven but the punishment remains and
hence penance is required (Comm. Rom, p. 84, lines 47-49; Romans,
p. 86). David’s statement, Calvin claims, declares both that sins are removed
from God’s sight and that they are not imputed; the forgiveness in
justification is complete, and (as Calvin adds in 1551) this free righteousness
continues to be imputed throughout one’s life. Second, Calvin underscores his
position that works, however righteous, cannot justify, in a discussion of Ps.
106:30-31, a text not quoted by Paul. These verses praise the priest Phinehas
for a deed described in Num. 25:6-9. Steinmetz points out the difficulty that
Phinehas created for certain sixteenth-century interpreters, since Ps. 106:31
praises Phinehas’s action and declares that it “has been reckoned to him as
righteousness from generation to generation for ever.” Moreover, Numbers
25:10-13 relates that Phinehas received a covenant of peace and perpetual
priesthood because of his deed. Calvin’s solution to the obvious difficulty
that these passages present is to insist that Phinehas must have been first
justified by faith in order for his deed to have been accounted righteous (Comm.
Rom., p. 84-85, lines 63-73 and notes; Romans, p. 86-86). Without
the righteousness of faith, no work would be counted just. There is a
righteousness of works, but it is an effect of the righteousness of faith,
which alone justifies. (Barbara Pitkin, What Pure Eyes Could See: Calvin’s
Doctrine of Faith in Its Exegetical Context [Oxford Studies in Historical
Theology; New York: Oxford University Press, 1999], 47)
Calvin’s
Pauline view of the relationship between works and faith provides the key to
his interpretation of the deeds of the Old Testament catalogued in this
passage. The opening sentence in his comments on Heb. 1:4 on the figure heading
up the list. Abel, reiterates the point that he made, for example, when he
dealt with Phinehas: “From here on [the author] will explain that however
excellent the works of the saints were, it was from faith that they derived
their value, their worthiness, and whatever excellence they possessed.” Abel’s
sacrifice was acceptable “because he himself enjoyed God’s favor.” He found
favor with God because his heart had been purified by faith (Comm. Heb., pp.
184-185). (Ibid., 78)
In the endnote to the above:
Calvin
repeats this point at least twice in his exegesis of this verse alone: “He
confirms what I have already stated, that no work coming from us can please God
until we ourselves have been received into his favor. Or more briefly, no works
are reckoned just before God except those of a just man.” “Let us learn
therefore that no right work can proceed from us until we are justified before
God.” Calvin makes similar claims with respect to Noah. From Noah’s example
(Heb. 11:7) “it is evident that in all ages men have neither been approved by
God nor done anything worthy of praise otherwise than by faith” (p. 189). When
the verse declares that Noah became the heir of that righteousness that is
according to faith, Calvin writes: “Moses reports that he was just. Because
that history does not report that the cause and root of his righteousness was
faith, the apostle declares this from the matter itself. This is true not only
because no one ever devotes himself sincerely in service to God unless, relying
on God’s promises of fatherly benevolence, he trusts that his life will be
approved by him. [It is true] also because when estimated according to God’s
standard no one’s life, however holy, can please God without pardon. Therefore
it is necessary that righteousness rest on faith” (p. 191). (Ibid., 207-8 n.
37)
