not <\/em>to do, then we have not grasped their true meaning.<\/p>\nThe Order of Loves<\/h4>\n
Just as Jesus prioritizes love for God when summarizing the Law and Prophets, so does Calvin when expositing \u201cthe Decalogue,\u201d or the Ten Commandments. Knowing and glorifying God is the ultimate goal of life. The first four commandments which summarize duties of personal piety, take priority because God created and redeemed us so we may worship him. And as Calvin exclaims in a sermon on the Decalogue, \u201cthe worship of God\u201d is treated before commandments 5 through 10, commands on how to love others, \u201cbecause it is impossible for men to act as they should toward their neighbors unless they are led by the fear of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the first table of the Decalogue (Ex. 20:1\u201311) takes priority, the second table (Ex. 20:12\u201317) is by no means optional for believers and is in fact a way of worshiping God. Calvin even asserts that God tests our obedience to him in giving us the second table. Observing the second table, then, is one way we prove our faith. In a sermon on the Ten Commandments, Calvin exclaims that while we must first yield to God the worship he deserves, we must \u201clive in such justice and equity with our neighbors that we demonstrate thereby that we are true children of God<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\nThe reason obedience to the second table proves the existence of piety and faith is that, as Calvin states in the Institutes<\/em>, \u201cthe intention of the heart\u201d is not always visible, and hypocrites \u201ccontinually [busy] themselves with ceremonies.\u201d As Reformation historian Elsie Anne McKee explains, \u201cThe order of precedence\u201d in Calvin\u2019s understanding of worship is \u201cinward faith, outward acts of worship (ceremonies), and then love [that is, obedience to the second table]. Unhappily, ceremonies are always susceptible of distortion and hypocrisy. Thus, in some instances, love toward neighbor may better evince faithful worship of God than liturgical or devotional practices.\u201d<\/p>\nThis does not mean that personal piety is supplanted. After all, we cannot rightly love our neighbors unless we first love God. The two tables are inseparable, though distinguishable. Yet Calvin makes a provocative point while preaching on the Ten Commandments: People who suppose they can observe only the first table without also observing the second do not actually keep the first table. Or, as he writes in the Institutes<\/em>, \u201cOur life shall best conform to God\u2019s will and the prescription of the law when it is in every respect most fruitful for our brethren<\/em>\u201d (emphasis added).<\/p>\nLoving others is a way of living piously toward God. Calvin even suggests that the good works that prove our righteous standing before God refer specifically to deeds of charity toward others and not acts of piety toward God. Although charity is subordinate to piety, \u201cthe observance of justice and equity towards men is \u2026 the<\/em>means<\/em> which we are to employ in testifying a pious fear of God, if we truly possess it.\u201d Thus, while Calvin prioritizes piety, he sees charity as an indispensable means by which we express our love for God.<\/p>\nThe Meaning of Neighborly Love<\/h4>\n
So what exactly does Calvin mean by charity<\/em>, love for neighbor?<\/p>\nTo modern ears, charity<\/em> often connotes monetary donations. While Calvin certainly includes almsgiving as part of charity, he means far more than that. Translators rightly render Calvin\u2019s use of caritas<\/em> as \u201clove,\u201d yet Calvin\u2019s notion of neighborly love is not merely sentimental, involving only warm feelings toward others. His understanding of the term has a wide-ranging meaning and cannot be reduced to either mere feeling or affectionless giving. As McKee states, \u201cCaritas <\/em>[for Calvin] is not only kindness or sharing, whether alms, hospitality, or vocational service; caritas <\/em>is also justice\u2014legal and personal.\u201d For this reason, Calvin frequently refers to the second table, which summarizes love for neighbor, with justice<\/em> and sometimes with terms like equity <\/em>and kindness. <\/em><\/p>\nWe see this in Calvin\u2019s lectures on Ezekiel 18, a passage that emphasizes \u201cjustice and judgment.\u201d According to Calvin, these are aspects of charity, or general duties of the second table. Calvin explains, \u201cTo do judgment and justice is nothing else than to abstain from all injury by cultivating good faith and equity with our neighbors: then<\/em> to defend all good causes, and to take the innocent under our patronage when we see them unjustly injured and oppressed\u201d (emphasis added). Obeying the second table, therefore, means actively seeking the good of others in addition to refraining from harming them. This is the essence of charity for Calvin.<\/p>\nMore specifically, Calvin teaches\u2014in his various treatments of the Decalogue\u2014that neighborly love, or justice, consists in:<\/p>\n
Rendering honor to authority figures<\/em><\/strong>, which includes respecting and obeying our parents and others in authority over us. Paying such honor, when<\/em> it is due, preserves the order of society.<\/p>\nPromoting our neighbors\u2019 physical and economic well-being<\/em><\/strong>. This includes seeking peace, helping others in physical and financial need, and openly opposing injustice.<\/p>\nProtecting our neighbors\u2019 reputation<\/em><\/strong>, which includes affirming the truth about God and others, promoting and maintaining unity with others by our speech, and opposing slander and lies.<\/p>\nPreserving chastity<\/em><\/strong>. This includes not only upholding sexual propriety but also fighting for the rights of those who have been victimized by sexual misconduct.<\/p>\nPromoting our neighbors\u2019 spiritual well-being<\/em><\/strong>, which includes praying for others (both Christians and non-Christians), warning others of their sin, and proclaiming God\u2019s truth to others.<\/p>\nCalvin\u2019s understanding of justice is profoundly social\u2014that is, biblical justice ought to permeate society. And again, biblical justice includes far more than refraining from harming others. It requires intentional action toward just outcomes.<\/p>\n
While it is impossible to retrieve all the ways Calvin believed Christians could or should exercise justice, it is clear that he understands justice\u2014that love we extend to others\u2014in broad terms. In his commentary on Hebrews 6:10, where he describes the good works or \u201clabor of love\u201d that God rewards, Calvin writes,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We are not to spare labor, if we desire to perform our duty towards our neighbors; for they are not only to be helped by money, but also by counsel, by labor, and in various other ways. Great sedulity, then, must be exercised, many troubles must be undergone, and sometimes many dangers must be encountered. Thus let him who would engage in the duties of love, prepare himself for a life of labor.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Loving others requires hard work and commitment, says Calvin, and it is quite extensive, taking on many forms. Charity, then, seems to be any assistance given to others in need, whether physically or spiritually, and any act that appeals to their rights.<\/p>\n
The Reasons for Love and Justice<\/h4>\n
Calvin wants us to understand not just that love for God and love for neighbor are inextricably connected and that justice is integral to the double love. He also wants us to understand the reasons Christians are obligated to love and help others by seeking just outcomes.<\/p>\n
First, God has united all humans together with a common bond, since all people are created in his image. In fact, we act \u201ccontrary to nature\u201d if we \u201chate our [own] flesh,\u201d Calvin preaches. The natural bond between all humans is the most basic reason we should seek each other\u2019s well-being. Yet there is an even stronger reason why believers should exercise charity and justice: \u201cthey must remember that they are members of our Lord Jesus Christ and that there exists a more strict and sacred bond of nature which is common in all human beings.\u201d For Calvin, therefore, there is an anthropological reason and<\/em> a Christological reason, by nature of the Incarnation, why believers should exercise love toward others, both inside and outside the church.<\/p>\nYet he also lists a theological reason. Commenting on Exodus 23:4\u2014which commands Israelites to attend to their enemy\u2019s wandering or struggling livestock\u2014Calvin states that believers should \u201cimitate their heavenly Father\u201d by bestowing kindness upon both the worthy and unworthy. We should extend kindness indiscriminately because God has done so toward us and because loving our neighbor is a means whereby we express our love for God. In pursuing love and justice, we not only honor our fellow humans and demonstrate our piety but also become more Christlike and Godlike.<\/p>\n
In an age when many Christians separate justice from piety, assume it\u2019s sufficient to merely refrain from harming others, or reduce worship to songs of praise, Calvin would have us think again. For him, worship, piety, neighborly love, and justice are inextricably connected. Calvin gave justice significant attention in his understanding of what it means to love God and others. What might it look like if we did too?<\/p>\n
Kevin P. Emmert (PhD, London School of Theology) is an academic book editor and former CT theology editor. He lives in Wheaton, Illinois, with his wife, Ashley, and two sons, Jack and Charlie. You can follow him on Twitter @Kevin_P_Emmert.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n