Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 70:2 (Fall 2008)
Article: John Calvin’s Interpretation Of Works Righteousness In Ezekiel 18
Author: Steven R. Coxhead

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WTJ 70:2 (Fall 2008) p. 303

John Calvin’s Interpretation Of Works Righteousness In Ezekiel 18

Steven Coxhead

Steven Coxhead is a Part-time Lecturer at the Presbyterian Theological Centre and Visiting Lecturer in Hebrew at the Sydney Missionary and Bible College in New South Wales, Australia.

I. Introduction

Ezekiel 18:22b, speaking of a wicked man who repents, says: “for the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.” At face value, Ezek 18:22b and other parts of Ezek 18, such as vv. 5–9, seem to define personal righteousness in Israel in terms of obedience to the Mosaic law, and also to speak of such righteousness as being necessary for eternal life. John Calvin was aware of this teaching of Ezekiel and even acknowledged that a concept of justification by works is to be found in this particular chapter. As a result, he also acknowledged that Ezek 18 poses a “difficult question” for the traditional Protestant understanding of the doctrine of justification by faith alone.1 If, as Calvin was willing to admit, Ezek 18 indeed teaches a doctrine of justification by works, how then are we to understand this teaching? In particular, how is Ezekiel’s teaching to be reconciled with the traditional Protestant belief in justification by faith alone? Calvin attempted to answer such questions in his lectures on Ezek 18, and it is illuminating to consider his solution to this important theological problem.

II. A Summary of Calvin’s Interpretation of Ezekiel 18

Calvin basically understands Ezek 18 to be an oracle containing rebuke and instruction, both of which are aimed at correcting the people’s unjust opinion about God and calling them to a genuine repentance. He takes the famous proverb of the sour grapes in v. 2 to be a case of an impudent distortion and rejection by the people of the message of the prophets that had indicted both them and their fathers for sin (Ez., 2:214). “Twisting” the message of the prophets, the people were using the proverb to shift the blame from themselves to their ancestors for the punishment that they were currently experiencing (Ez., 2:214). According to Calvin, this is a case of Ezekiel’s listeners “shuffl[ing] so as

WTJ 70:2 (Fall 2008) p. 304

to free themselves from blame” only to “afterwa...

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