John Calvin Quotes

Distinction between virtuous and vicious actions has been engraven by the Lord in the heart of every man. While all men seek after happiness, scarcely one in a hundred looks for it from God. It is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself. The human heart is a factory of idols...Everyon e of us is, from his mother's womb, expert in inventing idols. We shall never be fit for the service of God, if we look not beyond this fleeting life. Faith consists, not in ignorance, but in knowledge, and that, not only of God, but also of the divine will. The most accomplished in the Scripture are fools, unless they acknowledge that they have need of God for their schoolmaster all the days of their life. For it is better, with closed eyes, to follow God as our guide, than, by relying on our own prudence, to wander through those circuitous paths which it devises for us. Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone. A soul, therefore, when deprived of the Word of God, is given up unarmed to the devil for destruction Unless we endeavor to do good to our neighbor, through our cruelty we transgress this law The grace of God has no charms for men till the Holy Spirit gives them a taste for it. We unjustly defraud God of his right, unless each of us lives and dies in dependence on His sovereign pleasure. We must make the invisible kingdom visible in our midst. Justification by faith is the hinge on which all true religion turns. Let this point therefore stand: that those whom the Holy Spirit has inwardly taught truly rest upon Scripture, and that Scripture itself is self-authenticated. . . . Therefore, illumined by his power, we believe neither by our own nor by any one else's judgment that Scripture is from God; but above human judgment we affirm with utter certainty (just as if we were gazing upon the majesty of God himself) that it has flowed to us from the very mouth of God by the ministry of men. Whenever the Lord holds us in suspense, and delays his aid, he is not therefore asleep, but, on the contrary, regulates all His works in such a manner that he does nothing but at the proper time. The very word baptize, however, signifies to immerse; and it is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient church. The world was no doubt made, that it might be a theatre of the divine glory. It is only the goodness of God sensibly experienced by us which opens our mouth to celebrate His praise. Our hearts are enfeebled by PROSPERITY so that we cannot make an effort to pray. The Creation is quite like a spacious and splendid house, provided and filled with the most exquisite, and at the same time, the most abundant furnishings. Everything in it tells of God. Prayers belong strictly to the worship of God. Fasting is a subordinate aid, which is pleasing to God no farther than as it aids the earnestness and fervency of prayer. Involvement in public life provides the opportunity to shape our manners in accordance with civil justice. The only right stewardship is that which is tested by the rule of love. The whole gospel is contained in Christ. While sin is overflowing, [grace] pours itself forth so exuberantly, that it not only overcomes the flood of sin, but wholly absorbs it. There is no group or type of people anywhere in the world that is excluded from salvation, because God desires that the gospel be proclaimed to all without exception. The blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clarity of the gospel; the sun is no less bright because blind men do not perceive its light. We shall never be clothed with the righteousness of Christ except we first know assuredly that we have no righteousness of our own.