“Lord God, eternal and almighty Father, we confess and acknowledge without pretense before your holy Majesty, that we are poor sinners, conceived and born in iniquity and corruption; prone to do what is evil, INCAPABLE OF ANY GOOD; and that in our depravity, we ENDLESSLY TRANSGRESS YOUR HOLY COMMANDMENTS. And so, in your just judgment, we deserve ruin and damnation. But Lord, we are displeased with ourselves for having offended you, and we condemn ourselves and our vice with true repentance, longing God for your grace to relieve our distress. May you, therefore, have mercy upon us, most gentle and merciful God and Father, in the name of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And as you blot out our vices and blemishes, extend and increase the graces of your Holy Spirit to us day by day, so that as we acknowledge our unrighteousness with all our heart, we might feel the sorrow that gives birth to true penitence, which as we mortify our sins may produce fruits of righteousness and innocence pleasing to you, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
AMEN
John Calvin
Prayer of Confession
Note Calvin’s confessing that even those in Christ are INCAPABLE OF ANY GOOD. This lack of any good is according to God’s absolute standard. According to God’s absolute standard of righteousness even those in Christ are incapable of any good. This is all in terms of the Greek word Hamartia, which means “to fall short.” As Christians even our best of deeds fall short of God’s perfection and so even our best of deeds have need to be imputed with Christ’s righteousness. Calvin understood that no Christian could offer any of their good works before God saying … “This one, Holy Father, stands on its own apart from Christ’s righteousness imputed to it.”
So, no Christian ever frees himself from sin as Hamartia (falling short). Even our best of works, to be accepted by God, must be imputed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. However, Christians can be free of Anomia (Lawlessness) in the sense of being free of being against the law or in the sense of being free from being hostile to God’s law. Regeneration gives us a love for God’s law so that we no longer live in Anomia (Lawlessness). So, as regenerate and in Union with Christ we still fall short of God’s perfect standard and so must confess our sins as Calvin leads us in the opening prayer always fleeing to Christ’s righteousness as our righteousness.
Calvin reinforces all this when he goes on to confess, “WE ENDLESSLY TRANSGRESS YOUR HOLY COMMANDMENTS.” Even our good works that are part of a Holy Spirit given sanctification are good works as from those who endlessly transgress God’s commandments. There is nothing we speak, think, or do that isn’t an endless transgression of God’s Holy Commandments. The problem, of course, isn’t with the Holy Spirit in us. The problem is that we live in a fallen tent and as the Heidelberg Catechism puts it; only our death puts an end to sin.
This being “incapable of any good,” works in us a proper humility understanding that all of our righteousness is in Christ alone.
If any of us thought we could offer up even one performance (good work) that was free of any need of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness it could only be because we have not yet come to understand God’s righteous standard.
The power of the Holy Spirit to conform us to Christ is not to be diminished but even considering that our confession should be “We are unprofitable servants” (Luke 17:10). Here Jesus teaches that even in obedience, the servant should humbly confess that his obedience is only what is to be expected.
This prayer by Calvin communicates all this.
