ectypal.net

Despite important continuities, then, Calvin's "main hinge on which religion turns" (Inst. [1539] 3.11.1) is not identical with the Lutheran "doctrine of the standing or falling church," neither in nature (justification as the de facto sum-total of salvation) nor in function (justification as theological center or hermeneutical rule). Instead, Calvin's model points to a distancing effort on the part of the Reformed that distinguishes their understanding of justification and salvation from the understanding of their Lutheran counterparts.