The Institution of Christian Religion

There are also alleged these sayings of Paul. If I have all faith,§8 so that I remove mountains out of their place,¹ but have not charity, I am nothing. Again, Now there remain hope, faith & charity, but the greatest among these is charity.² Again, Above all things have charity, which is the bond of perfection. By the first two places our Pharisees affirm that we are rather justified by charity than by faith, namely by the chiefer virtue as they say. But this fond argument is easily wiped away. For we have in an other place already declared, that those things which are spoken in the first place pertain nothing to true saith. The other place we also expound of true faith, than which he saith that Charity is greater: not that it is more meritorious, but because it is more fruitful, because it extendeth further, because it serveth more, because it remaineth alway in force, whereas the use of faith continueth but for a time. If we have regard so excellence, the love of God should worthily have the chief place, of which Paul here speaketh not. For he enforceth this thing only, that we should with mutual charity edify one an other in the Lord, but let us imagine that charity doth every way excel faith: yet what man of sound judgement, yea or of sound brain, will gather thereof that it doth more justifie•punc; The power of justifying which faith hath, consisteth not in the worthiness of the work. Our justification standeth upon the only mercy of God & the deserving of Christ, which justification when faith taketh hold of, it is said to justify. Now if you ask our adversaries in what cause they assign justification to charity, they will answer that because it is a dutiful doing acceptable to God, therefore by the deserving thereof righteousness is imputed to us by the acceptation of the goodness of God. Here you see ⟨image 286⟩how well the argument proceedeth. We say that faith justifieth, not because by the worthiness of it self it deserveth righteousness to us, but because it is an instrument by which we freely obtain the righteousness of Christ. These men, omitting the mercy of God, and passing over Christ, (where the sum of righteousness standeth) do affirm that we are justified by the benefit of charity because it excelleth above faith: even as if a man would reason that a king is fitter to make a shoo than is a shoemaker, because he is an infinite way more excellent.