John Calvin Quotes
All whom the Lord has chosen and received into the society of his saints ought to prepare themselves for a life that is hard, difficult, laborious and full of countless griefs.
When we hear any mention of our mystical union with Christ, we should remember that holiness is the channel to do it.
There is no erratic power or action or motion in creatures but they are governed by God's secret plan in such a way that nothing happens except what is knowingly and willingly decreed by Him.
To 'justify' means nothing else than to acquit of guilt him (her) who was accused as if his own innocence were confirmed.
There is no golden mean between these two extremes; either this early life must become low in our estimation, or it will have our inordinate love.
Our true wisdom is to embrace with meek docility, and without reservation, whatever the holy scriptures have delivered.
In truth we know by experience that song has great force and vigour to move and inflame the hearts of men to invoke and praise God with a more vehement and ardent zeal.
Tears that are shed in time of affliction are rarely tears of penitence, but more likely they are shed out of self pity and pain or sorrow.
It would be the height of absurdity to label ignorance tempered by humility "faith"! (Institutio III.2.3)
If everything proceeded according to their wishes, they would not understand what it means to follow God.
It is a very important consideration that we are consecrated and dedicated to God; it means that we may think, speak, meditate, or do anything only with a view to his glory.
Faith and patience are exceptional virtues in those that suffer. Patience is the fruit and evidence of faith.
In the maxims of the law, God is seen as the rewarder of perfect righteousness and the avenger of sin. But in Christ, His face shines out, full of grace and gentleness to poor, unworthy sinners.
No Task will be so sordid and base, provided you obey your calling in it, that it will not shine and be reckoned very precious in God's sight.
If we are given gold, would we not test it to determine it's value? If we doubted its genuineness - we would test it by fire...and so God with us.
But as a heathen tells us, there is no nation so barbarous, no race so brutish as not to be imbued with the conviction that there is a God.
The vices of which we are full we carefully hide from others, and we flatter ourselves with the notion that they are small and trivial; we sometimes even embrace them as virtues.
Seeing God hath thus set us at liberty, what rashness it is for worms of the earth to make new laws; as though God had not been wise enough.
Every person, on coming to the knowledge of himself, is not only urged to seek God, but is also led as by the hand to find Him.
It is a sign of a perverse and treacherous disposition to wound the good name of another, when he has no opportunity of defending himself.
Because the will renewed is the Lord's work, it is wrongly attributed to man that he obeys prevenient grace with his will as attendant.
How can it be said that the weakness of the human will is aided so as to enable it to aspire effectually to the choice of good, when the fact is, that it must be wholly transformed and renewed?
When we recognize the rod of a father, should we not show ourselves docile children rather than rebelliously desperate men who have been hardened in their evil doings?
When we see that the whole sum of our salvation, and every single part of it, are comprehended in Christ, we must beware of deriving even the minutest portion of it from any other quarter.
It is amazing how much our lack of trust provokes God if we request of him a boon that we do not expect
For earthly princes lay aside their power when they rise up against God, and are unworthy to be reckoned among the number of mankind. We ought, rather, utterly to defy them.
Unless we ardently and prayerfully devote ourselves to Christ's righteousness we do not only faithlessly revolt from our Creator, but we also abjure him as our Savior.
The invention of the arts, and other things which serve the common use and convenience of life, is a gift of God by no means to be despised, and a faculty worthy of commendation.
Even if this earth is only a vestibule, we ought undoubtedly to make such a use of its blessing that we are assisted rather than delayed in our journey.
The denial of ourselves which Christ has so diligently commanded his disciples from the beginning will at last dominate all the desires of our heart.
The only skills I have the patience to learn are those that have no real application in life.
It is not lawful for you to make a compromise with God: to try to fulfill part of your duties and to omit others at your own pleasure.
I don't need to compromise my principles, because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway.
We would do our theology better if more was at stake in what we said.
It would be the height of absurdity to label ignorance tempered by humility "faith"!(Institutio III.2.3)
It is now clear that faith is a singular pledge of paternal love, treasured up for the sons whom he has adopted.
Indeed, men who have either quaffed or even tasted the liberal arts penetrate with their aid far more deeply into the secrets of the divine wisdom." - John Calvin
The salvation of all the elect is not less certain than the power of God is invincible.
When God descends to us he, in a certain sense, abases himself and stammers with us, so He allows us to stammer with Him
There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.
He who neglects to pray alone and in private, however assiduously he frequents public meetings, there gives his prayers to the wind.
He regards it as the highest insult for the wicked to boast of His covenant while profaning His sacred Name by their whole lives.
Men in prayer give greater license to their unlawful desires than if they were telling jocular tales among their equals.
We shall never arrive at true meekness by any other way than by humiliating ourselves and by honoring others from the depth of our hearts.
There is no inconsistency when God raises up those who have fallen prostrate.
For very few persons are concerned about the way that leads to heaven, but all are anxious to know, before the time, what passes there.