John Calvin Commentary Romans 5

Being then justified, etc. The Apostle begins to illustrate by its effects what he has until now said concerning the righteousness of faith. Therefore, this entire chapter is filled with amplifications, which are as much designed to explain as to confirm.

He had said before that faith is abolished if righteousness is sought by works. In such a case, perpetual restlessness would disturb miserable souls, since they can find nothing substantial in themselves. But he now teaches us that when we have obtained righteousness by faith, we are made quiet and tranquil: we have peace with God; and this is the unique fruit of the righteousness of faith.

When anyone strives to seek tranquility of conscience by works (which is the case with profane and ignorant people), he labors for it in vain; for either his heart is asleep through his disregard or forgetfulness of God’s judgment, or else it is full of trembling and dread, until it rests on Christ, who alone is our peace.

Peace, then, means tranquility of conscience, which arises from this: the conscience feels itself to be reconciled to God. The Pharisee, who swells with false confidence in his own works, does not have this peace. Nor does the dull sinner, who is not disturbed because he is intoxicated by the sweetness of vices.

For although neither of these seems to have an obvious disturbance, like one who is struck by a consciousness of sin, yet because they do not truly approach God's tribunal, they have no reconciliation with Him. Indeed, insensibility of conscience is, so to speak, a kind of retreating from God.

Peace with God is opposed to the dead security of the flesh. This is because the first step is for everyone to be awakened to the account he must give of his life. No one can stand boldly before God except he who relies on a gratuitous reconciliation; for as long as He is God, all others must tremble and be confounded.

And this is the strongest of proofs that our opponents do nothing but talk idly when they ascribe righteousness to works. For this conclusion of Paul is derived from the fact that miserable souls always tremble, unless they rest on the grace of Christ.

Through whom we have access, etc. Our reconciliation with God depends only on Christ, for He alone is the beloved Son, and we are all by nature the children of wrath. But this favor is communicated to us by the gospel, for the gospel is the ministry of reconciliation, by which we are in a way brought into the kingdom of God.

Rightly, then, Paul sets before our eyes in Christ a sure pledge of God’s favor, so that he might more easily draw us away from all confidence in works. And as he teaches us by the word access, that salvation begins with Christ, he excludes those preparations by which foolish men imagine they can anticipate God’s mercy, as if he said, “Christ does not come to you, nor help you, on account of your merits.”

He then adds that it is through the continuance of the same favor that our salvation becomes certain and sure, by which he intimates that perseverance is not founded on our power and diligence but on Christ. However, at the same time, by saying that we stand, he indicates that the gospel ought to strike deep roots into the hearts of the godly, so that, being strengthened by its truth, they may stand firm against all the devices of Satan and of the flesh.

And by the word stand, he means that faith is not a changeable persuasion, only for one day, but that it is immutable and sinks deep into the heart, so that it endures through life. It is, then, not the one who by a sudden impulse is led to believe who has faith and is to be reckoned among the faithful, but the one who constantly and, so to speak, with a firm and fixed foot, abides in that station appointed to him by God, so as to hold fast always to Christ.

And glory in the hope, etc. The reason that the hope of a future life exists and dares to exult is that we rest on God’s favor as on a sure foundation. For Paul’s meaning is that though the faithful are now pilgrims on the earth, they yet by hope scale the heavens, so that they quietly enjoy in their hearts their future inheritance.

This overturns two of the most destructive dogmas of the sophists. First, they tell Christians to be satisfied with moral conjecture regarding their perception of God’s favor toward them; and secondly, they teach that all are uncertain about their final perseverance.

But unless there is at present sure knowledge, and a firm and undoubting conviction as to the future, who would dare to glory? The hope of the glory of God has shone upon us through the gospel, which testifies that we shall be participators of the divine nature; for when we shall see God face to face, we shall be like Him (2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 3:2).

Not only so, etc. Lest anyone scoffingly object that Christians, with all their glorying, are still strangely harassed and distressed in this life (a condition far from happy), he meets this objection and declares that not only are the godly prevented by these calamities from being blessed, but also that their glorying is thereby promoted. To prove this, he takes his argument from the effects, adopts a remarkable progression, and finally concludes that all the sorrows we endure contribute to our salvation and ultimate good.

When he says that the saints glory in tribulations, he is not to be understood as if they did not dread or avoid adversities, or were not distressed by their bitterness when they occurred (for there is no patience when there is no feeling of bitterness). Rather, since in their grief and sorrow they are not without great consolation—because they consider that whatever they bear is given to them for good by the hand of a most loving Father—they are rightly said to glory. For whenever salvation is promoted, there is no lack of reason for glorying.

We are taught here, then, what the purpose of our tribulations is, if indeed we are to prove ourselves to be the children of God. They should accustom us to patience. If they do not achieve this purpose, the work of the Lord is made void and ineffective through our corruption. For how else does he prove that adversities do not hinder the glorying of the faithful, except by showing that through their patience in enduring them, they experience God's help, which nourishes and confirms their hope? Therefore, those who do not learn patience certainly do not make good progress.

Nor is it an objection that Scripture records some complaints full of despondency made by the saints. For the Lord sometimes so depresses and constrains His people for a time that they can hardly breathe and can hardly remember any source of consolation; but in a moment He brings to life those whom He had nearly sunk in the darkness of death. So, what Paul says is always accomplished in them—

“We are in every way oppressed, but not made anxious; we are in danger, but we are not in despair; we suffer persecution, but we are not forsaken; we are cast down but we are not destroyed.”
(2 Corinthians 4:8)

Tribulation produces (efficiat) patience, etc. This is not the natural effect of tribulation. For we see that a large portion of humankind are thereby provoked to murmur against God, and even to curse His name. But when that inward meekness, infused by the Spirit of God, and the consolation, conveyed by the same Spirit, replace our stubbornness, then tribulations become the means of producing patience—indeed, those tribulations that in the obstinate can produce nothing but indignation and noisy discontent.

Patience, probation, etc. James, adopting a similar gradation, seems to follow a different order, for he says that patience proceeds from probation; however, the different meaning of the word reconciles both. Paul takes probation to be the experience that the faithful have of God's sure protection, when, by relying on his aid, they overcome all difficulties; even when, while patiently enduring and standing firm, they experience how much the Lord's power avails—the power he has promised to be always present with his people. James takes the same word to mean tribulation itself, according to the common usage of Scripture; for by these God proves and tries his servants, and they are often called trials.

According to the present passage, then, we make advances in patience as we ought only when we regard it as having been sustained for us by God’s power and, as a result, cherish hope for the future: that God’s favor, which has always aided us in our necessities, will never be lacking for us. Thus, he adds that from probation arises hope, for we would be ungrateful for benefits received unless the recollection of them confirms our hope for the future.

Hope maketh not ashamed, etc.; that is, it considers salvation to be most certain. From this it appears that the Lord tests us with adversities for this purpose—that our salvation may by this means be gradually advanced. Therefore, those evils cannot make us miserable, which in a way promote our happiness. And so, what he had said is proved: that the godly have reasons for glorying in the midst of their afflictions.

For the love of God, etc. I do not refer this only to the last sentence, but to the whole of the previous passage. I would therefore say—that through tribulations we are stimulated to patience, and that patience experiences divine help, by which we are more encouraged to embrace hope. For however much we may be pressed and seem to be nearly consumed, we still feel God’s favor towards us, which affords the richest consolation—much more abundant than when all things happen prosperously.

For just as apparent happiness is misery itself when God is opposed to us and displeased with us, so when He is favorable, even calamities themselves will surely be turned into a prosperous and joyful outcome.

Since all things must serve the will of the Creator, who, according to His paternal favor towards us (as Paul declares in Romans 8), directs all the trials of the cross for our salvation, this knowledge of divine love towards us is instilled into our hearts by the Spirit of God. For the good things which God has prepared for His servants are hidden from the ears, eyes, and minds of men, and the Spirit alone is the One who can reveal them.

And the word 'diffused' is very emphatic, for it means that the revelation of divine love towards us is so abundant that it fills our hearts. Being thus spread through every part of them, it not only lessens sorrow in adversities but also, like a sweet seasoning, makes tribulations to be loved by us.

He says further that the Spirit is given—that is, bestowed through the free goodness of God, and not conferred for our merits. This is according to what Augustine has well observed, who, though he is mistaken in his view of the love of God, gives this explanation: that we courageously bear adversities and are thus confirmed in our hope because we, having been regenerated by the Spirit, love God. It is indeed a pious sentiment, but not what Paul means, for 'love' here is not to be taken in an active but a passive sense. And it is certain that Paul teaches nothing other than that the true fountain of all love is when the faithful are convinced that they are loved by God, and that they are not merely lightly touched with this conviction, but have their souls thoroughly permeated by it.