I. Calvin’s Catechism of the Church of Geneva (1545)
Q. 86. M[aster]. Does it give any delight to our conscience that Christ will one day be the judge of the world?
S[cholar]. Indeed singular delight. For we know assuredly that he will come only for our salvation.
Q. 91. M. This requires a clearer explanation.
S. I mean that the Spirit of God, while he dwells in our hearts, makes us feel the virtue of Christ (Rom. 8:11). For when our minds conceive the benefits of Christ, it is owing to the illumination of the Holy Spirit; to his persuasion it is owing that they are sealed in our hearts (Eph. 1:13). In short, he alone makes room in us for them. He regenerates us and makes us to be new creatures. Accordingly, whatever gifts are offered us in Christ; we receive by the agency of the Spirit.
Q. 111. M. As we understand the foundation on which faith ought to rest, it will be easy to extract from it a true definition of faith.
S. It will. It may be defined—a sure and steadfast knowledge of the paternal goodwill of God toward us, as he declares in the gospel that for the sake of Christ he will be our Father and Saviour.
Q. 112. M. Do we conceive faith of ourselves, or do we receive it from God?
S. Scripture teaches that it is the special gift of God, and this experience confirms.
Q. 113. M. What experience do you mean?
S. Our mind is too rude to be able to comprehend the spiritual wisdom of God which is revealed to us by faith, and our hearts are too prone; either to diffidence or to a perverse confidence in ourselves or creatures, to rest in God of their own accord. But the Holy Spirit by his illumination makes us capable of understanding those things which would otherwise far exceed our capacity, and forms us to a firm persuasion, by sealing the promises of salvation on our hearts.
Q. 119. M. In what way, then, do you say that we are justified by faith?
S. Because, while we embrace the promises of the gospel with sure heartfelt confidence, we in a manner obtain possession of the righteousness of which I speak.
Q. 148. M. But when we pray do we do it fortuitously, uncertain of success, or ought we to feel assured that the Lord will hear us?
S. The foundation of our prayer should always be, that the Lord will hear us, and that we shall obtain whatever we ask, in so far as is for our good. For this reason Paul tells us, that true prayer flows from faith (Rom. 10:14). For no man will ever duly call upon him, without previously resting with firm reliance on his goodness.
Q. 249. M. What then will become of those who pray in doubt, and without fixing in their minds what profit they are to gain by praying, nay, are uncertain whether or not their prayers will be heard by God?
S. Their prayers are vain and void, not being supported by any promise. For we are ordered to ask with sure faith, and the promise is added, that whatever we shall ask, believing, we shall receive (Matt. 21:22; Mark 11:24; James 1:6).
Q. 250. M. It remains to be seen wherein we have such great confidence, that while unworthy, on so many accounts, of appearing in the presence of God, we however dare to assist ourselves before him.
S. First, we have promises by which we must simply abide, without making any reference to our own worthiness. Secondly, if we are sons, God animates and instigates us by his Spirit, so that we doubt not to betake ourselves to him in a familiar manner, as to a father. As we are like worms, and are oppressed by the consciousness of our sins, God, in order that we may not tremble at his glorious majesty, sets forth Christ as a Mediator, through whom we obtain access, and have no doubt at all of obtaining favour (Ps. 4:5; 91:15; 145:18; Isa. 30:19; 65:1; Jer. 29:12; Joel 2: 32; Rom. 8:25; 10:13).
Q. 284. M. What advantage accrues to us from this forgiveness?
S. We are accepted, just as if we were righteous and innocent, and at the same time our consciences are confirmed in a full reliance on his paternal favour, assuring us of salvation.
Q. 310. M. What is a sacrament?
S. An outward attestation of the divine benevolence towards us, which, by a visible sign, figures spiritual grace, to seal the promises of God on our hearts, and thereby better confirm their truth to us.
Q. 311. M. Is there such virtue in a visible sign that it can establish our consciences in a full assurance of salvation?
S. This virtue it has not of itself, but by the will of God, because it was instituted for this end.
Q. 312. M. Seeing it is the proper office of the Holy Spirit to seal the promises of God on our minds, how do you attribute this to the sacraments?
S. There is a wide difference between him and them. To move and affect the heart, to enlighten the mind, to render the conscience sure and tranquil, truly belongs to the Spirit alone; so that it ought to be regarded as wholly his work, and be ascribed to him alone, that no other may have the praise; but this does not at all prevent God from employing the sacraments as secondary instruments, and applying them to what use he deems proper, without derogating in any respect from the agency of the Spirit.
Q. 319. M. Seeing that faith is requisite for the use of them, how do you say that they are given us to confirm our faith, to make us more certain of the promises of God?
S. It is by no means sufficient that faith is once begun in us. It must be nourished continually, and increase more and more every day. To nourish, strengthen, and advance it, the Lord instituted the sacraments. This indeed Paul intimates, when he says that they have the effect of sealing the promises of God (Rom. 4:11).
Q. 320. M. But is it not an indication of unbelief not to have entire faith in the promises of God until they are confirmed to us from another source?
S. It certainly argues a weakness of faith under which the children of God labour. They do not, however, cease to be believers, though the faith with which they are endued is still small and imperfect; for as long as we continue in this world remains of distrust cleave to our flesh, and these there is no other way of shaking off than by making continual progress even unto the end. It is therefore always necessary to be going forward.
II. Calvin’s Other Confessional Documents
Calvin’s Catechism (1537): “14. What True Faith Is. One must not imagine that the Christian faith is a bare and mere knowledge of God or an understanding of the Scripture which flutters in the brain without touching the heart, as it is usually the case with the opinion about things which are confirmed by some probable reason. But faith is a firm and solid confidence of the heart, by means of which we rest surely in the mercy of God which is promised to us through the Gospel. For thus the definition of faith must be taken from the substance of the promise. Faith rests so much on this foundation that, if the latter be taken away, faith would collapse at once, or, rather, vanish away. Hence, when the Lord presents to us his mercy through the promise of the Gospel, if we certainly and without hesitation trust him who made the promise, we are said to apprehend his word through faith. And this definition is not different from that of the apostle (Heb. 11:1) in which he teaches that faith is the certainty of the things to be hoped for and the demonstration of the things not apparent; for he means a sure and secure possession of the things that God promises, and an evidence of the things that are not apparent, that is to say, the life eternal. And this we conceive through confidence in the divine goodness which is offered to us through the Gospel. Now, since all the promises of God are gathered together and confirmed in Christ, and are, so to speak, kept and accomplished in him, it appears without doubt that Christ is the perpetual object of faith. And in that object, faith contemplates all the riches of the divine mercy.
15. Faith Is a Gift of God. If we honestly consider within ourselves how much our thought is blind to the heavenly secrets of God and how greatly our heart distrusts all things, we shall not doubt that faith greatly surpasses all the power of our nature and that faith is a unique and precious gift of God. For, as St. Paul maintains (I Cor. 2:11), if not one can witness the human will, except the spirit of man which is in man, how will man be certain of the divine will? And if the truth of God in us wavers even in things that we see by the eye, how will it be firm and stable where the Lord promises the things that the eye does not see and man’s understanding does not comprehend? Hence there is no doubt that faith is a light of the Holy Spirit through which our understandings are enlightened and our hearts are confirmed in a sure persuasion which is assured that the truth of God is so certain that he can but accomplish that which he has promised through his holy word that he will do. Hence (II Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13), the Holy Spirit is called like a guarantee which confirms in our hearts the certainty of the divine truth, and a seal by which our hearts are sealed in the expectation of the day of the Lord. For it is the Spirit indeed who witnesses to our spirit that God is our Father and that similarly we are his children (Rom. 8:16)” (James T. Dennison, Jr. (ed.), Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English Translation, vol. 1 [Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2008], pp. 367-368).
Geneva Confession (1537): “XI. Faith. We confess that the entrance which we have to such great treasures and to such great riches of the goodness of God, which is lavished upon us, is by faith; as with certain trust and certainty of heart, we believe the promises of the gospel and receive Jesus Christ as He is offered to us by the Father and described to us by the Word of God” (James T. Dennison, Jr. (ed.), Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English Translation, vol. 1 [Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2008], pp. 397-398).
Calvin’s Catechism (1538): “14. What True Faith Is. Now we are to conceive the Christian faith as no bare knowledge of God or understanding of Scripture which rattles around the brain and affects the heart not at all. Such is the common view of matters of this sort confirmed to us by some rational proof or other. But it is a firm and staunch confidence of the heart by which we securely repose in God’s mercy promised us through the Gospel. For it is from the substance of the promises that the definition of faith is to be sought, which so rests on that foundation that once it is removed, utterly falls or rather vanishes. Accordingly, while the Lord bestows his mercy upon us through the promise of his gospel, if we surely and unhesitatingly have confidence in the Promiser, we are said to grasp his Word by faith. And not different from this definition is that of the apostle where he teaches that it is ‘the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’ [Heb. 11:1]. For Paul means a sure and secure possession of those things which have been promised by God, and an evidence of things not seen, namely, of life eternal, whose expectation we grasp by confidence in the divine goodness offered us through the Gospel. But since all God’s promises are confirmed in Christ, and, so to speak, are presented and fulfilled, it is beyond a shadow of doubt that Christ himself is the everlasting object of faith, in whom we are to contemplate all the riches of divine mercy.
15. Faith, God’s Gift. If we duly ponder both how much our minds are blinded to God’s heavenly mysteries and with how much unfaith our hearts labor in all things, we will have no doubt that faith far surpasses all our natural powers and is an excellent and singular gift of God. For if, as Paul reasons, no one is witness to the human will save the spirit of man which is in him, what man is sure of the divine will? And if God’s truth among us wavers even in those things which we at present behold with our eyes, how could it be firm and steadfast when the Lord promises such things as neither eye can see nor human understanding can grasp? Therefore, it is perfectly clear that faith is the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit by which our minds are illumined and our hearts confirmed in a sure persuasion within, which establishes that God’s truth is so sure that he cannot but supply what he has promised he will do by his Holy Word. On this account it is also called a pledge which establishes in our hearts the assurance of divine truth, and a seal whereby our hearts will be sealed unto the day of the Lord. For he it is who testifies to our spirit that God is Father to us, and we in turn are his children” (James T. Dennison, Jr. (ed.), Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English Translation, vol. 1 [Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2008], pp. 420-421).
Brief Confession of Faith: “I confess that we are made partakers of Jesus Christ, and of all his blessings, by the faith which we have in the gospel, that is, when we are truly and surely persuaded that the promises comprehended in it belong to us. But since this altogether surpasses our capacity, I acknowledge that faith is obtained by us, only through the Spirit of God, and so is a peculiar gift which is given to the elect alone, whom God, before the foundation of the world, without regard to any worthiness or virtue in them, freely predestinated to the inheritance of salvation” (Treatises on the Sacraments, trans. Henry Beveridge [Great Britain: Christian Heritage, 2002], p. 132).
Confession of Faith in [the] Name of the Reformed Churches of France (1562): “Now we understand that we are made partakers of all his blessings by means of faith; for this it is which brings us into communication with Christ, in order that he may dwell in us, that we may be ingrafted into him as our root, that we may be members of his body, that we may live in him, and he in us, and possess him, with all his benefits. And that it may not be thought strange that we attribute such virtue to faith, we do not take it for a fleeting opinion, but for a certainty which we have of the promises of God, in which all these blessings are contained, and by which we embrace our Lord Jesus Christ as the surety of all our salvation, and apply to our own use what he has received of God his Father to impart unto us. This faith we likewise know that we cannot have if it be not given us from above, and as Scripture declares (Eph. 2:9; 1:18) till the Holy Spirit enlightens us to comprehend what is beyond all human sense, and seals in our hearts what we ought to believe” (Treatises on the Sacraments, trans. Henry Beveridge [Great Britain: Christian Heritage, 2002], pp. 144-145).
