John Calvin Quotes
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Human will does not by liberty obtain grace, but by grace obtains liberty.
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Without Christ, sciences in every department are vain....The man who knows not God is vain, though he should be conversant with every branch of learning. Nay more, we may affirm this too with truth, that these choice gifts of God -- expertness of mind, acuteness of judgment, liberal sciences, and acquaintance with languages, are in a manner profaned in every instance in which they fall to the lot of wicked men.
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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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In our good works nothing is our own.
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Involvement in public life provides the opportunity to shape our manners in accordance with civil justice.
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Prayers will never reach God unless they are founded on free mercy.
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Because I know that I am not my own master, I offer my heart as a true sacrifice to the Lord.
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I have not so great a struggle with my vices, great and numerous as they are, as I have with my impatience. My efforts are not absolutely useless; yet I have never been able to conquer this ferocious wild beast.
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Without knowledge of self there is no knowledge of God.
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In truth we know by experience that song has great force and vigour to move and inflame the hearts of men to invoke and praise God with a more vehement and ardent zeal.
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If everything proceeded according to their wishes, they would not understand what it means to follow God.
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Whether each of the faithful has a particular angel assigned him for his defence, I cannot venture certainly to affirm... not one angel only has the care of every one of us, but that they all with one consent watch for our salvation.
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Without the fear of God, men do not even observe justice and charity among themselves.
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Unless we fix certain hours in the day for prayer, it easily slips from our memory.
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God is undoubtedly ready to pardon whenever the sinner turns. Therefore, he does not will his death, in so far as he wills repentance. But experience shows that this will, for the repentance of those whom he invites to himself, is not such as to make him touch all their hearts. Still, it cannot be said that he acts deceitfully; for though the external word only renders, those who hear it, and do not obey it, inexcusable, it is still truly regarded as an evidence of the grace by which he reconciles men to himself.
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No one in this earthly prison of the body has sufficient strength of his own to press forward with a due degree of watchfulness, and the great majority of Christians are kept down with such great weakness that they stagger and halt and even creep on the ground, and so make very slight advances.
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We must not think that God takes no notice of us, when He does not answer our wishes: for He has a right to distinguish what we actually need.
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We must resist wandering thoughts in prayer. Raising our hands reminds us that we need to raise up our minds to God, setting aside all irrelevant thoughts.
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If we are given gold, would we not test it to determine it's value? If we doubted its genuineness - we would test it by fire...and so God with us.
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To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin.
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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.
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In the maxims of the law, God is seen as the rewarder of perfect righteousness and the avenger of sin. But in Christ, His face shines out, full of grace and gentleness to poor, unworthy sinners.
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While all men seek after happiness, scarcely one in a hundred looks for it from God.
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Faith will tell us Christ is present, When our human senses fail.