A Question of Union with Christ? Calvin and Trent on Justification

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386 WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
change <strong>of</strong> character signalized by the terms regeneration <strong>and</strong> sanctification.’’ 60
The question might then be raised: to what extent does appealing to <strong>Calvin</strong>
promote a rapprochement between Protestants <strong>and</strong> Roman Catholics Although
<strong>Calvin</strong> certainly believes that justification precedes any sustained moral
improvement by the believer (progressive sanctification), the way he coordinates
regeneration, the formation <strong>of</strong> <strong>and</strong> exercise <strong>of</strong> faith, union <strong>with</strong> <strong>Christ</strong>,
<strong>and</strong> justification as a particular benefit <strong>of</strong> this union leads one to doubt that, if
he were alive today, he would level his polemic against Roman Catholic soteriology
on the precise sequence <strong>of</strong> salvation’s renovative <strong>and</strong> juridical aspects in
the believer. This, however, is precisely what many Protestant apologists who
identify themselves <strong>with</strong> <strong>Calvin</strong> have historically done <strong>and</strong> what some are doing
<strong>with</strong> respect to ECT <strong>and</strong> ‘‘The Gift <strong>of</strong> Salvation.’’ Just as he did in his own day,
I suspect that <strong>Calvin</strong> would spend more energy challenging Rome’s view <strong>of</strong> sin
<strong>and</strong> depravity, on the one h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> union <strong>with</strong> <strong>Christ</strong>, on the other, always
underscoring the controlling significance <strong>of</strong> this union for every saving benefit,
including justification by faith. 61
60 Hodge, ‘‘The Ordo Salutis,’’ 311.
61 I am grateful, in particular, to Pr<strong>of</strong>essors Richard Gaffin, Stephen Taylor, <strong>and</strong> Timothy
Trumper for providing helpful comments on an earlier draft <strong>of</strong> this article.