To understand the necessity of justification by faith, we must first abandon the small standards of human courts and stand before the blinding refulgence of the heavenly tribunal. John Calvin invites us to contemplate the purity of a Judge before whom even the heavens are not clean, and to see how the most brilliant human virtues vanish like stars at sunrise when compared to divine holiness. By appealing to the humble confessions of Job, David, Augustine, and Bernard of Clairvaux, we learn that a safe conscience is found only in abjuring our own merits and resting entirely in the wounds of the Savior. This episode challenges the lethargy of self-justification, calling us to a serious inquiry into that standard of righteousness where our only hope is gratuitous mercy.

Today’s Readings:

John Calvin — Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 3, Chapter 12 (Sections 1–4)

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