John Calvin Commentary Acts 13:33

"that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." — Acts 13:33 (ASV)

To their children, namely, to us. It is certain that Paul speaks of natural children, who had their origin from the holy fathers. We must note this because certain deluded men, interpreting all things as allegories, imagine that in this passage no regard is to be given to lineage, but only to faith. And with such a fabrication, they nullify the holy covenant of God, where it is said:

“I will be thy God, and the God of thy seed,”
(Genesis 17:7).

It is faith (they say) alone which makes us the children of Abraham. But I say, on the other hand, that even those who are born the children of Abraham according to the flesh are also counted as the spiritual children of God, unless they degenerate through unbelief. For the branches are naturally holy because they spring from a holy root, until they become profane through their own fault (Romans 11:16). And certainly, Paul's aim is to draw the Jews to Christ; and for him to do this, they must be distinguished from ordinary people by some privilege.

And yet it does not therefore follow (which these scoundrels offensively object) that the grace of God is tied to physical descent; because, although the promise of life came by inheritance to Abraham's descendants, yet many were deprived of it through their unbelief. Therefore, faith is the reason that out of a great multitude, only a few are counted as children.

And that is the double election of which I spoke before. The one is common to the whole nation alike, because the first adoption of God contains the whole family of Abraham. The other, which is restricted to the secret counsel of God, is finally established by faith, so that it may be confirmed to men.

Therefore Paul rightly and truly affirms that what God had promised to the fathers was fulfilled for the Jews. For it was promised to them also, as Zechariah says in his song, “The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would give himself for us,” etc. And yet the special status of that nation does not prevent the grace of Christ from also spreading throughout the whole world, because the firstborn has the first degree of honor, so that he nevertheless leaves the second place to his brothers. For when the former people were cast off, the possession of the church was left vacant for outsiders, it became a new opportunity for gathering the Church of the Gentiles. But if that people had stood firm in the faith, the Gentiles would have been joined into the common fellowship of honor.

After that he had raised Christ. The word raised, in my judgment, reaches farther than it does where it is shortly after repeated. For he not only says that Christ rose from the dead, but that He was appointed by God, and, so to speak, brought to light by the hand of God, so that He might fulfill the office of the Messiah, as Scripture teaches everywhere that kings and prophets are raised up. For the word ἀναστῆσαι (anastēsai) is sometimes taken in this sense. And this reason leads me to think this way, because God, by sending His Son into the world, fulfilled His promise made to His servants in times past, by the actual event.

As also, in the second Psalm. Although the Greek manuscripts agree on the number, yet we must not overlook what Erasmus says, that many of the old writers read the first Psalm. And it may be that Luke wrote so; for that which today is counted as the second Psalm might have been called the first with good reason, since it is likely that the first Psalm was added as a preface by the scribes and priests, through whose diligence the Psalms were gathered into one body.

For the name of the author is not attached to it, and it only exhorts to meditate on the law of God. But that matter is not of great importance. For this is the most important thing: that we understand how properly and how well Paul applies the testimony taken from the Psalm to the matter he is addressing.

We do not deny that David, when he saw that he was on every side assailed by his enemies, and that they were of greater power and might than he was able to resist, sets against them God’s aid, whom he knew was the author of his kingdom and reign. But inasmuch as he was a figure of the true Messiah, we know that those things were foreshadowed in his person, which pertain wholly and perfectly to the Messiah alone. And the text itself sufficiently proves that it does not only contain a simple and mere thanksgiving related to David’s kingdom, but it is a higher prophecy. For it is well known that David in his life scarcely tasted a hundredth part of the glory that is spoken of in this passage, concerning which we have spoken more extensively in chapter 4.

Now let us examine the words more closely: Kings are indeed called sons of God (Psalms 82:6). But since God intends to prefer David above all other kings, and to set him apart from their number, this title of honor is given to him principally above all others; not because such great honor rests in his person, because by this means he would surpass the angels, as it is in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 1.

Therefore, he is thus magnificently presented in relation to Christ, whose image he was, that God does not consider him one of the common crowd, or as one among a great multitude, but He, so to speak, acknowledges him as His only begotten Son. The proof follows: because God begot him when He established the kingdom in his hand.

For that was not done by human effort, but God showed from heaven the invincible power of His hand, by which it might plainly appear that he reigned according to God’s counsel. Therefore, this begetting, which he mentioned, must be referred to human understanding and knowledge. That is to say, it was then openly known that He was begotten of God when He was wonderfully set upon the throne of the kingdom, contrary to the expectation of all men. And, by the heavenly power of the Spirit, He broke infinite conspiracies, because He could not reign until He had brought all surrounding nations into subjection, as if a whole world were subdued.

Now, let us come to Christ. He did not come into the world without testimony, by which He proved that He was the Son of God. For His glory appeared as befitted the only begotten Son of God, as it is written (John 1:14), and He says everywhere that He has God as the witness and sustainer of this honor.

Therefore, God begot Christ when He gave Him certain marks, by which He might be known to be His true and living image and Son. And yet this does not prevent Christ from being the Wisdom begotten of the Eternal Father before time. But that is the secret generation; and now David declares that it was revealed to men, so that the reference is, as we have said, to men and not to God, because that which was hidden in the heart of God was made known to men.

And it is a very fine figure of speech, because Christ’s divinity was no less declared and established than if He had been begotten of God before the eyes of men. I know that Augustine’s profound insight pleases some, that by today is meant perpetuity. But when the Spirit of God Himself is His own interpreter, and since He expounds through Paul what He had said through David, we must not invent any other meaning.

And inasmuch as (Paul himself witnesses) Christ was declared to be the Son of God in power when He rose from the dead (Romans 1:4), we gather that this was the principal sign of heavenly excellence, and that the Father then truly brought Him to light, so that the world might know that He was begotten of Him.

Therefore, although God began to raise Christ when He came into the world, yet His raising was then, so to speak, perfect and complete. Because, whereas He was humbled before, having taken, so to speak, the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7), He then appeared to be the conqueror of death and the Lord of life, so that He lacked nothing of that majesty which was fitting for the Son of God, and that, indeed, for the only begotten Son.