Quotes from John Calvin

So it will be that no matter what kind of cross is placed upon us, we will steadily maintain endurance even through the narrowest straits of the soul.

Faith needs to be bound directly to the Word of God; for, according to Paul, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). And

So also Augustine, "The suffering at which you cry, is medicine, not punishment; chastisement, not condemnation. Do not drive away the rod, if you would not be driven away from the inheritance. Know, brethren, that the whole of that misery of the human race, under which the world groans, is a medicinal pain, not a penal sentence

Because of the great distance between us and his heavenly glory, he himself came down to us through the Word. This

Where do all the labyrinths of error in the world come from [the objector will continue], if not from the fact that when men follow their own minds they land in vanity and lies? So

We should always look to the Lord, that by His care we might be led to whatever lot in life He provides for us.

eLet this point therefore stand: that those whom the Holy Spirit has inwardly taught truly rest upon Scripture, and that Scripture indeed is self-authenticated;16 hence, it is not right to subject it to proof and reasoning.

Here, if any where, in considering the hidden mysteries of Scripture, we should speculate soberly and with great moderation, cautiously guarding against allowing either our mind or our tongue to go a step beyond the confines of God's word.

God's purpose remains God's secret, and he alone can justify his deeds among men. So

But it is none the less true that men do not come to God by way of their own reason; neither do they in this way get near to him, because all their intelligence is but vanity. Whence

I am rather inclined, however, to agree with ancient writers, that in those passages[1]wherein it is stated that the angel of the Lord appeared to Abraham, Jacob, and Moses, Christ was that angel.

First, we must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. Therefore, to share with us what he has received from the Father, he had to become ours and to dwell within us.

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.

Faith was a gift of God whose main function was to create in man a certain knowledge of God's goodness toward us. The

Christ cannot be seen except in the spiritual life which the world does not possess. No

Since Christ, our Head, has ascended to heaven, we should leave our carnal desires behind and lift our hearts upward to him.

because he also is flesh.' In which language God complains, that the   order appointed by him has been so greatly disturbed, that his own   image has been transformed into flesh.   

The essence of God is rather to be adored than inquired into.

natural reason can never guide men to Christ. Even

When Paul reminds the Galatians of what they were before they came to the knowledge of Gods he says that they "did service unto them which by nature are no gods," (Gal. 4:8). Because he does not say ??????, was their superstition excusable? This superstition, to which he gives the name of ?????, he condemns as much as if he had given it the name of ??????.

it would have been absurd in the Evangelist to say that the   Speech was always with God, if he had not some kind of subsistence   peculiar to himself in God. This passage serves, therefore, to refute   the error of Sabellius; for it shows that the Son is distinct from the   Father.

The fact that the outer man decays from day to day does not hurt the believers' true Life. It even helps its growth, because the inner

Man stands under the devil's power, and indeed willingly

We are taught that the salvation of all the elect is as certain as that God's power is invincible. Besides