187

CHAPTER 9
CHRIST, ALTHOUGH HE WAS KNOWN TO THE
JEWS UNDER THE LAW, WAS AT LENGTH
CLEARLY REVEALED ONLY IN THE GOSPEL F319

(The grace of Christ anticipated and manifested, 1-2)

1. THE ADVANTAGE OF THE COMMUNITY

OF THE NEW COVENANT
It was not in vain that God of old willed, through expiations and sacrifices,
to attest that he was Father, f320 and to set apart for himself a chosen
people. Hence, he was then surely known in the same image in which he
with full splendor now appears to us. Accordingly, after Malachi has
bidden the Jews heed the law of Moses, and continue in it earnestly
because after his death there was to be an interruption of the prophetic
office, he immediately afterward declares: “The sun of righteousness shall
rise” [<390402> Malachi 4:2]. By these words he teaches that while the law
serves to hold the godly in expectation of Christ’s coming, at his advent
they should hope for far more light. For this reason, Peter says: “The
prophets …searched and diligently inquired about this salvation,” which
has now been made manifest by the gospel [<600110> 1 Peter 1:10]. And “it
was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves,” or their age,
“but us, in the things which have …been announced” through the gospel
[<600112> 1 Peter 1:12 p.]. Not that the teaching of these things was useless
to the ancient people or without value for the prophets themselves, but
because they did not come to possess that treasure which God has
transmitted to us by their hand! For today the grace of which they bore
witness is put before our very eyes. They had but a slight taste of it; we
can more richly enjoy it. Accordingly, Christ declares that Moses bore
witness to him [<430546> John 5:46], yet He extols the measure of grace in
which we surpass the Jews. For he addresses his disciples: “Blessed are
the eyes which see what you see; and blessed are the ears which hear what
 188
you hear. For many kings and prophets longed for this and did not attain
it” [<421023> Luke 10:23-24; <401316> Matthew 13:16-17; conflated]. That
God has preferred us to the holy patriarchs, who were men of rare piety,
is no slight commendation of the gospel revelation. In close agreement with
this thought is another passage, where Abraham is said to have seen
Christ’s day and to have rejoiced [<430856> John 8:56]. Even if the sight of
something far off was rather indistinct, Abraham nevertheless had
assurance of good hope. From this came that joyousness which
accompanied the holy patriarch even to his death. And John the Baptist’s
statement — “No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in
the bosom of the Father, has made him known” [<430118> John 1:18] — does
not exclude the pious who died before Christ from the fellowship of the
understanding and light that shine in the person of Christ. But, by
comparing their lot with ours, he teaches that those mysteries which they
but glimpsed in shadowed outline are manifest to us. The author of The
Letter to the Hebrews clearly explains this: “In many and various ways
God spoke of old …, by the prophets …but now by his beloved Son”
[<580101> Hebrews 1:1-2 p.]. That only-begotten Son, who today is for us
“the splendor of the glory of God the Father and the very stamp of his
nature” [<580103> Hebrews 1:3 p.], became known of old to the Jews. In
another place we have quoted Paul’s view that Christ was the leader of the
former deliverance [cf. <461004> 1 Corinthians 10:4]. f321 It is, moreover, true,
as Paul elsewhere teaches, that God, who “ordered light to shine out of
darkness, now has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” [ <470406> 2 Corinthians 4:6 p.].
For when he appeared in this, his image, he, as it were, made himself
visible; whereas his appearance had before been indistinct and shadowed.
All the more detestable and base, then, is the ungratefulness and depravity
of those who are blind at midday! And Paul says their minds have been
darkened by Satan that they may not see the glory of Christ shining in the
gospel without an intervening veil [<470314> 2 Corinthians 3:14-15; cf. ch.
4:4].

2. THE GOSPEL PREACHES THE REVEALED CHRIST

Now I take the gospel to be the clear manifestation of the mystery of
Christ. I recognize, of course, that since Paul calls the gospel “the doctrine
 189
<540406>
of faith” [ 1 Timothy 4:6], all those promises of free remission of
sins which commonly occur in the law, whereby God reconciles men to
himself, are counted as parts it. For he contrasts faith with the terrors that
would trouble and vex the conscience if salvation were to be sought in
works. From this it follows that the word “gospel,” taken in the broad
sense, includes those testimonies of his mercy and fatherly favor which
God gave to the patriarchs of old. In a higher sense, however, the word
refers, I say, to the proclamation of the grace manifested in Christ. This is
not only accepted as a matter of common usage, but rests upon the
authority of Christ and the apostles [<400417> Matthew 4:17,23; 9:35].
Hence, the fact that he preached the gospel of the Kingdom is properly
attributed to him. And Mark prefaces his Gospel with: “The beginning of
the gospel of Jesus Christ” [<410101> Mark 1:1]. There is no need to heap up
passages to prove something so fully known. “By his advent Christ …has
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” [<550110> 2
Timothy 1:10 p.] Paul does not mean by these words that the patriarchs
were shrouded in the shadows of death until the Son of God took flesh.
Rather, he claims this privilege of honor for the gospel, teaching that it is a
new and unusual sort of embassy [cf. <470520> 2 Corinthians 5:20] by which
God has fulfilled what he had promised: that the truth of his promises
would be realized in the person of the Son. Believers have found to be true
Paul’s saying that “all the promises of God find their yea and amen in
Christ” [2 Corinthians 1: 20 p.], for these promises had been sealed in their
hearts. [Cf. <470122> 2 Corinthians 1:22.] Nevertheless, because he has in his
flesh accomplished the whole of our salvation, this living manifestation of
realities has justly won a new and singular commendation. From this
derives Christ’s saying: “Afterward you will see heaven opened, and the
angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man”
[<430151> John 1:51 p.]. Although he seems here to allude to the ladder
shown in a vision to the patriarch Jacob [ <012812> Genesis 28:12], how
excellent his advent is he has marked through opening by it the gate of
heaven, that each one of us may enter there.
(Refutation of errors on the relation of law and gospel: intermediate
position of John the Baptist, 3-5)
 190
3. THE PROMISES ARE NOT ABROGATED FOR US
Yet we ought to beware of the devilish imagination of Servetus, who —
while he wishes to extol the greatness of Christ’s grace or at least pretends
to wish this — entirely abolishes the promises, as if they had ended at the
same time as the law. He pretends that by faith in the gospel we share in
the fulfillment of all the promises. f322 As if there were no difference
between us and Christ!
I just declared that Christ left unfinished nothing of the sum total of our
salvation. But it is wrong to assume from this that we already possess the
benefits imparted by him — as if that statement of Paul’s, that “our
salvation is hidden in hope” [<510303> Colossians 3:3 p.; cf. <450824> Romans
8:24], were false! I admit, indeed, that in believing Christ we at once pass
from death into life. But at the same time we must remember that saying of
John’s: although we know that “we are the children of God, it does not yet
appear …until we shall become like him, when we shall see him as he is”
[1 John :2 p.]. Although, therefore, Christ offers us in the gospel a present
fullness of spiritual benefits, the enjoyment thereof ever lies hidden under
the guardianship of hope, until, having put off corruptible flesh, we be
transfigured in the glory of him who goes before us. Meanwhile, the Holy
Spirit bids us rely upon the promises, whose authority with us ought to
silence all the barkings of that unclean dog. For, according to Paul,
“Godliness …holds promise for the life to come as well as for the present
life” [<540408> 1 Timothy 4:8]. For this reason, Paul boasts of himself as “an
apostle of Christ …according to the promise of the life which is in him”
[<550101> 2 Timothy 1:1 p.]. And in another passage he teaches that we have
the same promises [<470701> 2 Corinthians 7:1; cf. <470616> 2 Corinthians
6:16-18] as were given to the holy men of old. Finally, he considers it the
height of felicity that we are sealed with the “Holy Spirit of promise”
[<490113> Ephesians 1:13 p.]. We enjoy Christ only as we embrace Christ
clad in his own promises. Thus it comes to pass that he indeed dwells in
our hearts [cf. <490317> Ephesians 3:17], and yet: “We are absent from him.
For we walk by faith, not by sight” [<470505> 2 Corinthians 5:5-7]. Now
these two things agree rather well with each other: we possess in Christ all
that pertains to the perfection of heavenly life, and yet faith is the vision
of good things not seen [cf. <581101> Hebrews 11:1]. Only, we must note a
 191
difference in the nature or quality of the promises: the gospel points out
with the finger what the law foreshadowed under types.

4. THE OPPOSITION BETWEEN LAW AND GOSPEL OUGHT

NOT TO BE EXAGGERATED
Hence, also, we refute those who always erroneously compare the law
with the gospel by contrasting the merit of works with the free imputation
of righteousness. This is indeed a contrast not at all to be rejected. For Paul
often means by the term “law” the rule of righteous living by which God
requires of us what is his own, giving us no hope of life unless we
completely obey him, and adding on the other hand a curse if we deviate
even in the slightest degree. This Paul does when he contends that we are
pleasing to God through grace and are accounted righteous through his
pardon, because nowhere is found that observance of the law for which the
reward has been promised. Paul therefore justly makes contraries of the
righteousness of the law and of that of the gospel from. 3:21 ff.;
<480310>
Galatians 3:10 ff.; etc.].
But the gospel did not so supplant the entire law as to bring forward a
different way of salvation. Rather, it confirmed and satisfied whatever the
law had promised, and gave substance to the shadows. f323 When Christ
says, “The Law and the Prophets were until John” [<421616> Luke 16:16; Cf.
<401113>
Matthew 11:13], he does not subject the patriarchs to the curse
that the slaves of the law cannot escape. He means: they had been trained
in rudiments only, thus remaining far beneath the height of the gospel
teaching. Hence Paul, calling the gospel “the power of God unto salvation
for every believer” [<450116> Romans 1:16 p.], presently adds: “The Law
and the Prophets bear witness to it” [<450321> Romans 3:21]. And at the end
of the same letter, although he teaches that “the preaching of Jesus Christ
is the revelation of the mystery kept in silence through times eternal”
[<451625> Romans 16:25 p.], he qualifies this statement by adding an
explanation, teaching that he was “made known through the prophetic
writings” [<451626> Romans 16:26 p.]. From this we infer that, where the
whole law is concerned, the gospel differs from it only in clarity of
manifestation. Still, because of the inestimable abundance of grace laid
open for us in Christ, it is said with good reason that through his advent
 192
God’s Heavenly Kingdom was erected upon earth [cf. <401228> Matthew
12:28].

5. JOHN THE BAPTIST

John stood between the law and the gospel, holding an intermediate office
related to both. He called Christ the “Lamb of God” and the sacrifice for
the cleansing of sins [<430129> John 1:29], thus setting forth the sum of the
gospel. Yet he did not express that incomparable power and glory which at
length shone forth in the resurrection. Hence, Christ said that he was not
equal to the apostles; this is the meaning of his words: “John excels among
the sons of women, yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is
greater than he” [<401111> Matthew 11:11 p.]. He does not commend here
the persons of men, but after setting John ahead of all the prophets, he
raises the preaching of the gospel to the highest rank. As we have seen
elsewhere, he denotes this preaching by “Kingdom of Heaven.” Now John
answers that he himself is only a “voice” [<430123> John 1:23; cf.
<234003>
Isaiah 40:3], as if he were beneath the prophets. He does not do
this out of reigned humility, but he wishes to teach the real
ambassadorship was not entrusted to him, but that he performed the office
of harbinger, as Malachi had foretold: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes”
[<390405> Malachi 4:5]. Indeed, during the whole course of his ministry he
did nothing else than prepare disciples for Christ. He even proves from
Isaiah that this task was enjoined upon him by God. In this sense Christ
calls him “a burning and shining lamp” [<430535> John 5:35], because full
daylight had not yet come. Yet this does not prevent him from being
numbered among the preachers of the gospel, for he actually used the same
baptism as was afterward entrusted to the apostles [<430133> John 1:33].
But what John began the apostles carried forward to fulfillment, with
greater freedom, only after Christ was received into heaven.