John Calvin Quotes
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The door is closed to prayer unless it is opened with the key of trust.
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Man with all his shrewdness is as stupid about understanding by himself the mysteries of God, as an ass is incapable of understanding musical harmony.
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As far as sacred Scripture is concerned, however much froward men try to gnaw at it, nevertheless it clearly is crammed with thoughts that could not be humanly conceived. Let each of the prophets be looked into: none will be found who does not far exceed human measure. Consequently, those for whom prophetic doctrine is tasteless ought to be thought of as lacking taste buds.
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Men will never worship God with a sincere heart, or be roused to fear and obey Him with sufficient zeal, until they properly understand how much they are indebted to His mercy.
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When our faith is tested by suffering "as gold is tried in a furnace" and we depend with confidence on God and rely entirely on his help, we will be granted the most excellent gift of patience and through faith we may victoriously persevere to the end.
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Hypocrisy can plunge the mind of a man into a dark abyss, when he believes his own self-flattery instead of God's verdict.
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Whoever is not satisfied with Christ alone, strives after something beyond absolute perfection.
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My heart I give you, Lord, eagerly and entirely.
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To be Christians under the law of grace does not mean to wander unbridled outside the law, but to be engrafted in Christ, by whose grace we are free from the curse of the law, and by whose Spirit we have the law engraved upon our hearts.
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The Human heart is an idol factory.
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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.
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We shall never be clothed with the righteousness of Christ except we first know assuredly that we have no righteousness of our own.
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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.
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The sufferings of Christ are the means of forgiveness of sin and eternal glory.
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Prayers will never reach God unless they are founded on free mercy.
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The world was no doubt made, that it might be a theatre of the divine glory.
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A man that extols himself is a fool and an idiot.
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Faith is not a distant view, but a warm embrace of Christ.
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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.
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If we are proud of our talents we betray our lack of gratitude to God.
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Unless we endeavor to do good to our neighbor, through our cruelty we transgress this law.
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The whole life of Christians ought to be an exercise of piety, since they are called to sanctification. It is the office of the law to remind them of their duty and thereby to excite them to the pursuit of holiness and integrity. But when their consciences are solicitous how God may be propitiated, what answer they shall make, and on what they shall rest their confidence, if called to his tribunal, there must then be no consideration of the requisitions of the law, but Christ alone must be proposed for righteousness, who exceeds all the perfection of the law.
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For it was not after we were reconciled to him by the blood of his Son that he began to love us, but he loved us before the foundation of the world, that with his only begotten Son we too might be sons of God before we were anything at all.
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We shall never be fit for the service of God, if we look not beyond this fleeting life.