Calvin points out in his work on justification in the Institutes that, Scripture affirms that “Christ is both righteousness and life, and that the blessing of justification is possessed by faith alone.”
(Inst. 3.14.17)
Evidence of God’s Love
Calvin has some beautiful comments on God’s discipline of his people in his Institutes (Inst. 3.4.32).
“the chastening of God carries his blessing with it, and is an evidence of love, as Scripture teaches.” (see Job 5:17; Prov. 3:11; Heb. 12:5)
“All the calamities which the wicked suffer in the present life are depicted to us as a kind of anticipation of the punishment of hell. In these they already see, as from a distance, their eternal condemnation…the Lord chastens his servants sore, but does not give them over to death (Ps. 118:18).”
God’s Two Judgments
Calvin points out the differences in the judgment of God.
“One judgment we call, for the sake of teaching, that of vengeance, the other, of chastisement.
Now, by the judgment of vengeance, God should be understood as taking vengeance upon his enemies; so that he exercises his wrath against them, he confounds them, he scatters them, he brings them to nought. Therefore, let us consider this to be God’s vengeance, properly speaking: when punishment is joined with his indignation.
In the judgment of chastisement he is not so harsh as to be angry, nor does he take vengeance so as to blast with destruction. Consequently, it is not, properly speaking, punishment or vengeance, but correction and admonition.
The one is the act of a judge; the other, the act of a father.”
(Institutes, 3.4.31)
Summing Up The Apostle’s Creed
Here is Calvin’s summation of the Apostle’s Creed
“We see that our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ [Acts 4:12]. We should therefore take care not to derive the least portion of it from anywhere else. If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that it is “of him” [I Cor. 1:30]. If we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, they will be found in his anointing. If we seek strength, it lies in his dominion; if purity, in his conception; if gentleness, it appears in his birth. For by his birth, he was made like us in all respects [Heb. 2:17] that he might learn to feel our pain [cf. Heb. 5:2]. If we seek redemption, it lies in his passion; if acquittal, in his condemnation; if remission of the curse, in his cross [Gal. 3:13]; if satisfaction, in his sacrifice; if purification, in his blood; if reconciliation, in his descent into hell; if mortification of the flesh, in his tomb; if newness of life, in his resurrection; if immortality, in the same; if inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom, in his entrance into heaven; if protection, if security, if abundant supply of all blessings, in his Kingdom; if untroubled expectation of judgment, in the power given to him to judge. In short, since rich store of every kind of good abounds in him, let us drink our fill from this fountain, and from no other. Some men, not content with him alone, are borne hither and thither from one hope to another; even if they concern themselves chiefly with him, they nevertheless stray from the right way in turning some part of their thinking in another direction. Yet such distrust cannot creep in where men have once for all truly known the abundance of his blessings.” (Institutes, Book 2.16.19)
Unworldliness and Self-Denial
This introductory section by Calvin on self-denial is among my favorite pieces in all the Institutes.
“Although the Law of God contains a perfect rule of conduct admirably arranged, it has seemed proper to our divine Master to train His people by a more accurate method to the rule that is enjoined in the Law. The leading principle in the method is that it is the duty of believers to present their “bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is their reasonable service” (Rom 12:1). Hence He draws the exhortation: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:2). The great point then is that we are consecrated and dedicated to God and therefore should not henceforth think, speak, design, or act without a view to His glory. What He hath made sacred cannot, without signal insult to Him, be applied to profane use. But if we are not our own but the Lord’s (1Co 6:19), it is plain both what error is to be shunned and to what end the actions of our lives ought to be directed. We are not our own: therefore, neither our own reason nor will is to rule our acts and counsels. We are not our own: therefore, let us not make it our end to seek what may be agreeable to our carnal nature. We are not our own: therefore, as far as possible, let us forget ourselves and the things that are ours. On the other hand, we are God’s: let us therefore live and die to Him (Rom 14:8). We are God’s: therefore, let His wisdom and will preside over all our actions. We are God’s: to Him, then, as the only legitimate end, let every part of our life be directed (Rom 14:8; 1Cor 6:19). O, how great the proficiency of him who, [when] taught that he is not his own, has withdrawn the dominion and government of himself from his own reason that he may give them to God! For as the surest source of destruction to men is to obey themselves, so the only haven of safety is to have no other will, no other wisdom than to follow the Lord wherever He leads. Let this then be the first step: to abandon ourselves and devote the whole energy of our minds to the service of God. By service, I mean not only that which consists in verbal obedience but that by which the mind, divested of its own carnal feelings, implicitly obeys the call of the Spirit of God. This transformation, which Paul calls the renewing of the mind (Rom 12:2; Eph 4:23), though it is the first entrance to life, was unknown to all the philosophers. They give the government of man to reason alone, thinking that she alone is to be listened to; in short, they assign to her the sole direction of the conduct. But Christian philosophy bids her give place and yield complete submission to the Holy Spirit so that the man himself no longer lives, but Christ lives and reigns in him (Gal 2:20).”
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