John Calvin Commentary John 1:12

"But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:" — John 1:12 (ASV)

But to as many as received him. So that no one may be hindered by this stumbling block—that the Jews despised and rejected Christ—the Evangelist exalts above heaven the godly who believe in him. For he says that by faith they obtain this glory of being reckoned the sons of God.

The universal term, as many, contains an implied contrast, for the Jews were carried away by a blind boasting, as if they exclusively had God bound to themselves. The Evangelist declares that their condition is changed, because the Jews have been rejected, and their place, which had been left empty, is occupied by the Gentiles; for it is as if he transferred the right of adoption to strangers.

This is what Paul says: that the destruction of one nation was the life of the whole world (Romans 11:12). For the Gospel, which might be said to have been banished from them, began to be spread far and wide throughout the whole world. They were thus deprived of the privilege which they enjoyed above others. But their impiety was no obstruction to Christ, for he erected his throne elsewhere and called indiscriminately to the hope of salvation all nations which formerly appeared to have been rejected by God.

He gave them power. The word ἐξουσία here appears to me to mean a right or claim, and it would be better to translate it so, in order to refute the false opinions of the Papists. For they wickedly pervert this passage by understanding it to mean that nothing more than a choice is allowed to us, if we see fit to avail ourselves of this privilege.

In this way they extract free will from this phrase; but they might as well try to extract fire from water. There is some plausibility in this at first sight, for the Evangelist does not say that Christ makes them sons of God, but that he gives them power to become such. Hence they infer that it is only this grace that is offered to us, and that the liberty to enjoy or to reject it is placed at our disposal.

But this frivolous attempt to catch at a single word is set aside by what immediately follows. For the Evangelist adds that they become the sons of God, not by the will which belongs to the flesh, but when they are born of God. But if faith regenerates us, so that we are the sons of God, and if God breathes faith into us from heaven, it plainly appears that not by possibility only, but actually—as we say—is the grace of adoption offered to us by Christ. And, indeed, the Greek word ἐξουσία is sometimes put for ἀξίωσις (a claim), a meaning that fits admirably with this passage.

The circumlocution that the Evangelist has employed serves more to magnify the excellence of grace than if he had said in a single word that all who believe in Christ are made by him sons of God. For he speaks here of the unclean and profane who, having been condemned to perpetual ignominy, lay in the darkness of death. Christ exhibited an astonishing instance of his grace in conferring this honor on such persons, so that they began, all at once, to be sons of God. The greatness of this privilege is justly extolled by the Evangelist, and also by Paul, when he ascribes it to

God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
with which he loved us (Ephesians 2:4).

But if anyone prefers to take the word power in its ordinary meaning, still the Evangelist does not mean by it any intermediate faculty, or one that does not include the full and complete effect. On the contrary, he means that Christ gave to the unclean and the uncircumcised what appeared to be impossible. For an incredible change took place when out of stones Christ raised up children to God (Matthew 3:9). The power, therefore, is that fitness (ἱκανότης) which Paul mentions, when he

gives thanks to God, who hath made us fit (or meet) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints (Colossians 1:12).

Who believe in his name. He expresses briefly the manner of receiving Christ, that is, believing in him. Having been grafted into Christ by faith, we obtain the right of adoption, so as to be the sons of God. And, indeed, as he is the only-begotten Son of God, this honor belongs to us only insofar as we are members of him.

Here again the notion of the Papists about the word power is refuted. The Evangelist declares that this power is given to those who already believe. Now it is certain that such persons are in reality the sons of God. They detract too much from the value of faith who say that, by believing, a man obtains nothing more than that he may become a son of God, if he chooses; for instead of present effect, they put a power that is held in uncertainty and suspense.

The contradiction appears still more glaring from what immediately follows. The Evangelist says that those who believe are already born of God. It is not, therefore, a mere liberty of choice that is offered, since they obtain the very privilege in question.

Although the Hebrew word שם (Name) is sometimes used to denote power, here it denotes a relation to the doctrine of the Gospel; for when Christ is preached to us, then it is that we believe in him. I speak of the ordinary method by which the Lord leads us to faith, and this ought to be carefully observed.

For there are many who foolishly contrive for themselves a confused faith, without any understanding of doctrine, as nothing is more common among the Papists than the word believe, though there is not among them any knowledge of Christ from hearing the Gospel. Christ, therefore, offers himself to us by the Gospel, and we receive him by faith.