John Calvin on the Transforming Power of the Book of Romans

From Season Five, Episode One of the Blessed Hope Podcast

Calvin’s commentary on the Book of Romans was his first commentary on any book of the Bible. It was written in 1539 and published the following year while Calvin was still in Strasbourg. His Romans commentary was revised in 1551 and again in 1556. It is my guess that many who have consulted Calvin on Romans have read neither Calvin’s dedication of the commentary to Simon Grynaeus nor his introductory essay on the theme of Romans. In these two essays, we get a fascinating glimpse of Calvin’s goal as a biblical interpreter and his estimation of the importance of grasping the central message of Paul’s great letter—the doctrine of justification by faith. We also get a sense of how Calvin felt about the transforming power of the Book of Romans.

In his dedication to Grynaeus, Calvin reminds him that “both of us felt that lucid brevity constituted the particular virtue of an interpreter.” Conversely, says Calvin, a commentator “misses his mark, or at least strays outside his limits by the extent to which he leads his readers away from the meaning of his author.” It is especially important to be brief and lucid when commenting on Romans, writes Calvin, “because if we understand this epistle we have a passage opened to us to the understanding of the whole of Scripture.”[1]

While Calvin lauds the recent commentaries of Melanchthon, Bullinger, and Bucer, he felt a lucid and brief commentary on Romans should be produced “for no other reason that the common good of the Church.”[2] While Calvin admired Martin Bucer’s genius, Bucer’s own commentary on Romans was over 500 double-column pages with a title approaching one hundred words.[3] That was too much for the current need. Although Calvin felt at times compelled to depart from the views of his illustrious predecessors, this stemmed not from a desire to be an innovator, to slander others, or from personal ambition. Rather, Calvin felt that the power and importance of the Book of Romans was too great not to comment upon it. Because of the necessity of expounding Holy Scripture for God’s people plainly and simply—particularly this book of the Bible, in which we learn so clearly of Christ and the gospel—Calvin attempted to set forth Paul’s gospel to the church in Rome in a brief and lucid form.

In Calvin’s essay on the theme of Romans, he makes the point that while Romans has many outstanding virtues, there is one virtue in particular that all Christians must appreciate: “If we have gained an understanding of this Epistle, we have an open door to all the most profound treasures of Scripture.”[4] According to Calvin, in the Book of Romans, we truly do have the key to understanding the whole Bible. If we understand Paul here and grasp his main point—“that we are justified by faith”—we will be able to navigate our way through much of the Old Testament, since Paul quotes over sixty passages from the Old Testament and alludes to a number of others. We will also understand the gospel as it was preached by the apostles.

Therefore, to understand the Book of Romans, says Calvin, is to understand the gospel. And that gospel is centered in Paul’s message of justification by faith alone.

__________________________

[1] John Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians, trans., Ross McKenzie (William B. Eerdmans, 1979), 1.

[2] Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians, 3.

[3] T. H. L Parker, Commentaries on Romans: 1532-1542 (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1986), 37. Calvin considered Melancthon’s commentary, “unbalanced and insufficient,” but praised Bullinger’s work on Romans since he has “the gift of teaching” (75).

[4] Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians, 5.