John Calvin Commentary John 8:41

"Ye do the works of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God." — John 8:41 (ASV)

We were not born of fornication. They claim no more for themselves than they did previously, for to them, being Abraham’s children was the same as being God’s children. But they erred gravely in this: they imagined that God was bound to the whole seed of Abraham. For they reason as follows: “God adopted for himself the family of Abraham; therefore, since we are Abraham’s descendants, we must be the children of God.” We now see how they thought they possessed holiness from birth, because they were descended from a holy root. In short, they maintain that they are the family of God because they are descended from the holy fathers.

Similarly, the Papists today are extremely proud of an uninterrupted succession from the fathers. By deceptions like these, Satan misleads them, so that they separate God from his word, the Church from faith, and the kingdom of heaven from the Spirit.

Let us understand, therefore, that those who have corrupted the seed of life are very far from being the children of God, even though, according to the flesh, they are not illegitimate but claim a right to the plausible title of the Church. For let them beat around the bush as much as they please, they will never avoid the realization that the only basis for their arrogant boasting is, “We have succeeded the holy fathers; therefore, we are the Church.” And if Christ’s reply was sufficient for refuting the Jews, it is no less sufficient now for rebuking the Papists. Indeed, hypocrites will never cease to use the name of God falsely, with the most wicked, shameless audacity; but those false grounds for boasting, on which they pride themselves, will never cease to appear ridiculous to all who will abide by Christ’s decision.