John Calvin Quotes
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If the gospel be not preached, Jesus Christ is, as it were, buried.
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Faith is tossed about by various doubts, so that the minds of the godly are rarely at peace.
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If we believe heaven to be our country, it is better for us to transmit our wealth thither, than to retain it here, where we may lose it by a sudden removal.
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This is plainly to ascribe divinity to 'free will.'
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As by the revolt of the first man, the image of God could be effaced from his mind and soul, so there is nothing strange in His shedding some rays of grace on the reprobate, and afterwards allowing these to be extinguished.
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Doctrine is not an affair of the tongue but of the life.
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Indeed, a Christian ought to be disposed and prepared to keep in mind that he has to reckon with God every moment of his life.
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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.
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The glory of God shines, indeed, in all creatures on high and below, but never more brightly than in the cross.
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Satan, who is a wonderful contriver of delusions, is constantly laying snares to entrap ignorant and heedless people.
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Our physical illnesses serve us for medicines to purge us from worldly affections and retrench what is superfluous in us, and since they are to us the messengers of death, we ought to learn to have one foot raised to take our departure when it shall please God.
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For so great is the difference between just and unjust, that it is visible even in the lifeless image of it. For what order will be left in the world, if these opposites be confounded together? Such a distinction as this, therefore, between virtuous and vicious actions, has not only been engraven by the Lord in the heart of every man, but has also been frequently confirmed by his providential dispensations.
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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?
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Faith consists not in ignorance, but in knowledge - knowledge not of God merely...but when we recognize God as a propitious Father through the reconciliation made by Christ, and Christ as given to us for righteousness, sanctification, and life.
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If God contains the fullness of all good things in Himself like an inexhaustible fountain, nothing beyond Him is to be sought by those who strike after the highest good and all the elements of happiness.
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If people mean that man has in himself the power to work in partnership with God's grace they are most wretchedly deluding themselves.
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The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.
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I exhort all, who reverence the Word of the Lord, to read it, and diligently imprint it on their memory.
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When I took the leap, I had faith I would find a net; Instead I learned I could fly.
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The door is closed to prayer unless it is opened with the key of trust.
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For, since the fall of Adam had brought disgrace upon all his posterity, God restores those, whom He separates as His own, so that their condition may be better than that of all other nations. At the same time it must be remarked, that this grace of renewal is effaced in many who have afterwards profaned it
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Let our chief goal, O God, be your glory, and to enjoy You forever.
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Human will does not by liberty obtain grace, but by grace obtains liberty.
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Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.