John Calvin: We take hold upon Christ and are clothed in His righteousness by faith

John Calvin explains that justification is the legal declaration of God that we are righteous in Christ, as we take hold upon Him and are clothed in His righteousness by faith, not by works:

Now he is justified who is reckoned in the condition not of a sinner, but of a righteous man; and for that reason, he stands firm before God’s judgment seat while all sinners fall. … justified by faith is he who, excluded from the righteousness of works, grasps the righteousness of Christ through faith, and clothed in it, appears in God’s sight not as a sinner but as a righteous man. (John Calvin, Institutes, III:11:2)

For faith totters if it pays attention to work, since no one, even of the most holy, will find there anything on which to rely. (John Calvin, Institutes, III:11:11)

Farewell, then, to the dream of those who think up a righteousness flowing together of faith and works. (John Calvin, Institutes, III:11:13)