Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians John Calvin
John Calvin
things.
To distinguish here means to render eminent. 227 Augustine, however, does not ineptly make frequent use of this declaration for maintaining, in opposition to the Pelagians, 228 that whatever there is of excellence in mankind, is not implanted in him by nature, so that it could be ascribed either to nature or to descent; and farther, that it is not acquired by free will, so as to bring God under obligation, but flows from his pure and undeserved mercy. For there can be no doubt that Paul here contrasts the grace of God with the merit or worthiness of men. 229
And what hast thou? This is a confirmation of the preceding statement, for that man cannot on good ground extol himself, who has no superiority above others. For what greater vanity is there than that of boasting without any ground for it? Now, there is no man that has anything of excellency from himself; therefore the man that extols himself is a fool and an idiot. The true foundation of Christian modesty is this — not to be self-complacent, as knowing that we are empty and void of everything good — that, if God has implanted in us anything that is good, we are so much the more debtors to his grace; and in fine, that, as Cyprian says, we must glory in nothing, because there is nothing that is our own.
Why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Observe, that there remains no ground for our glorying, inasmuch as it is by the grace of God that we are what we are, (1 Corinthians 15:10.)
And this is what we had in the first chapter, that Christ is the source of all blessings to us, that we may learn to glory in the Lord, (1 Corinthians 1:30, 31,) and this we do, only when we renounce our own glory. For God does not obtain his due otherwise than by our being emptied, so that it may be seen that everything in us that is worthy of praise is derived.
8. Now ye are full Having in good earnest, and without the use of any figure, beat down their vain confidence, he now also ridicules it by way of irony, 230 because they are so self-complacent, as if they were the happiest persons in the world. He proceeds, too, step by step, in exposing their insolence. In the first place, he says, that they were full: this refers to the past. He then adds, Ye are rich: this applies to the future. Lastly, he says, that they had reigned as kings this is much more than either of those two. It is as though he had said, "What will you attain to, when you appear to be not merely full for the present, but are also rich for the future — nay more, are kings?" At the same time, he tacitly upbraids them with ingratitude, because they had the audacity to despise him, or rather those, through means
227"Rendre excellent, ou mettre en reputation;" — "To render eminent, or exalt to fame." 228The reader will find a variety of passages of this tenor quoted from Augustine in the Institutes, volume 1. — Ed.
229"Comme estans ehoses contraires;" — "As being things opposite." 230"Vsant d'ironie, c'est a dire, d'vne facon de parler qui sonne en mocquerie;" — "Making use of irony, that is to say, a form of speech that has a tone of mockery."