626. CHAPTER 11
IMPUTATION.
I. IMPUTATION AND THE FAITH OF THE PRESENT CHURCH (WHICH IS HELD TO BE THE SOLE GROUND OF JUSTIFICATION), MAKE ONE.
The faith of the present church, which is held to be the sole ground of justification, is imputation; that is, in the present church, faith and imputation make one, because each belongs to the other, or each mutually and interchangeably enters into the other and causes it to be. For if faith is mentioned and imputation is not added faith is mere sound; and if imputation is mentioned and faith is not added imputation is mere sound; but when the two are mentioned together, the result is something articulate, and yet without meaning; and in order that the understanding may have a perception of some thing, a third must necessarily be added, namely, Christ's merit. These form a statement that a man can utter with some reason. For it is the faith of the present church that God the Father imputes His Son's righteousness, and sends the Holy Spirit to work out its effects.
