Sermons of M. John Calvin upon the Epistle of Saint Paul to the GalatiansSermons of M. Iohn Caluine vpon the Epistle of Saincte Paule to the Galathians

but none of us performeth it, & therefore all of us are damned, saith he. The Papists consider not this consequence, but take only this saying broken off from the rest, namely that such as perform the law shall be justified. Yea verily, if there were any such, but where are they?¹ Also in the same Epistle to the Romans he declareth afterward that Gods promising of us eternal life upon condition that we perform the Law, standeth us in no steed at all, because we shall never bring it to pass, forasmuch as by nature we be utterly contrary to his righteousness, and afterward when he hath begotten us again by his holy spirit, we be so much the more bound unto him: we have received all our goodness at his hand: and he shall but crown his own gifts in us. Are these then merits or deservings? [No.] Howbeit we must pass yet further, namely that although our Lord vouchsafe to crown our works when they be good, yet they be but partly good, and there will always be matter enough found to condemn us with. So then we be quite and clean bereft of all trust in our own righteousness, not only because our works are not of sufficient worthiness before God: but also because they be to be utterly misliked if we should fall to entering into account, and that God listed to judge according to the said sentence, He that doth these things shall live in them: for it is all one as if he should say, you are all of you dead, damned and past recovery. For why, none of you performeth the things that I require of him, and yet you owe them to me. And that is the cause why I said that we must go to the second remedy, that is to wit, to live by faith. And S. Paul in the text by me even now alleged, in stead of rehearsing the saying of Habakkuk which he had set down in the .xvij. verse of the first chapter,² sayeth that the righteousness of faith hath good record in the Law. For the righteousness of the Law, that is too say, the rule that God giveth us in his Law too justify us with all, is that we should keep and perform all his commandments. But the righteousness of faith speaketh another manner of language. For it saith that it is not for men too seek ⟨p. 138⟩in themselves the means too make their life allowable before God, and so to receive the hire or crown of it:

but none of vs performeth it, & therfore all of vs are damned, sayth he. The Papistes consider not this consequence, but take onely this saying broken off from the rest, namely that such as performe the law shall be iustified. Yea verely, if there were any such, but where are they?