John Calvin Commentary Luke 18:11

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican." — Luke 18:11 (ASV)

God, I thank thee. Yet he is not blamed for boasting of the strength of his free will, but for trusting that God was reconciled to him by the merits of his works. For this thanksgiving, presented exclusively in his own name, does not at all imply that he boasted of his own virtue, as if he had obtained righteousness from himself or merited anything by his own industry. On the contrary, he ascribes it to the grace of God that he is righteous.

Now, though his thanksgiving to God implies an acknowledgment that all the good works he possessed were purely the gift of God, yet because he places reliance on works and prefers himself to others, himself and his prayer are alike rejected. Hence we infer that people are not truly and properly humbled—even if convinced they can do nothing—unless they also distrust the merits of works and learn to place their salvation in the undeserved goodness of God, resting all their confidence upon it.

This is a remarkable passage. Some think it is enough if they take from humankind the glory of good works, insofar as these are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, they admit that we are justified freely, because God finds in us no righteousness but what he bestowed.

But Christ goes farther, not only ascribing to the grace of the Spirit the power of acting rightly, but also stripping us of all confidence in works. For the Pharisee is not blamed on the ground of claiming for himself what belongs to God, but because he trusts that God will be reconciled to him through his works, because he believes he deserves it.

Let us therefore know that even if anyone ascribes to God the praise of works, yet if they imagine the righteousness of those works to be the cause of their salvation, or rest upon it, they are condemned for wicked arrogance.

Observe, too, that the Pharisee is not charged with the vainglorious ambition of those who indulge in boasting before others while they are inwardly conscious of their own wickedness; rather, he is charged with concealed hypocrisy. For he is not said to have been the herald of his own praises but to have prayed silently within himself. Though he did not proclaim aloud the honor of his own righteousness, his internal pride was abominable in the sight of God.

His boasting consists of two parts: first, he acquits himself of the guilt in which all people are involved; and, secondly, he brings forward his virtues. He asserts that he is not as other men, because he is not chargeable with crimes that prevail everywhere in the world.