Today is John Calvin's 500th birthday. I find while reading the blogs on John Calvin that we end up praising the man more than God who worked through the man, which would have displeased Calvin greatly. That being said, I cannot let the day go by without sharing some of my favorite quotes by Calvin. Just know that in these quotes we should not praise the genius of the man but the Maker that endowed him with that genius and uses it for His glory.
"However many blessings we expect from God, His infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts." ~ Commentary on Ephesians 3
"For prayer was not ordained that we should be haughtily puffed up before God, or greatly esteem anything of ours, but that, having confessed our guilt, we should deplore our distresses before Him, as children unburden their troubles on their parents." The Institutes of Christian Religion
"We ought to bear in mind, that our happiness consists in this, that his hand is stretched forth to govern us, that we live under his shadow, and that his providence keeps watch and ward over our welfare. Although, therefore, we have abundance of all temporal good things, yet let us be assured that we cannot be truly happy unless God vouchsafe to reckon us among the number of his flock. Besides, we then only attribute to God the office of a Shepherd with due and rightful honor, when we are persuaded that his providence alone is sufficient to supply all our necessities. As those who enjoy the greatest abundance of outward good things are empty and famished if God is not their shepherd; so it is beyond all doubt that those whom he has taken under his charge shall not want a full abundance of all good things." Commentary on Psalm 23
"Man’s mind is like a store of idolatry and superstition; so much so that if a man believes his own mind it is certain that he will forsake God and forge some idol in his own brain." The Institutes of Christian Religion
"In one word, those who are bound by the yoke of the law are like servants who have certain tasks daily assigned them by their masters. Such servants think that nought has been done; and they dare not come into the presence of their masters until the exact amount of labour has been performed. But sons who are treated in a more candid and liberal manner by their parents, hesitate not to offer them works that are only begun or half finished, or even with something faulty in them, trusting that their obedience and readiness of mind will be accepted, although the performance be less exact than was wished." Of Christian Liberty
"Joy and thanksgiving expressed in prayer and praise according to the Word of God are the heart of the Church’s worship." Worship
"For God’s will is so much the highest rule of righteousness that whatever He wills, by the very fact that He wills it, must be considered righteous. When, therefore, one asks why God has so willed one is seeking something greater and higher than God’s will, which cannot be found." Institutes of Christian Religion
By His Grace,
Taylor
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Sin Boldly
"Therefore let us arm our hearts with these and similar statements of Scripture so that, when the devil accuses us by saying:
'You are a sinner; therefore you are damned',
we can reply: 'The very fact that you say I am a sinner makes me want to be just and saved.'
'Nay, you will be damned', says the devil.
'Indeed not,' I reply, 'for I take refuge in Christ, who gave Himself for my sins. Therefore you will accomplish nothing, Satan, by trying to frighten me by setting the greatness of my sins before me and thus seducing me to sadness, doubt, despair, hatred, contempt, and blasphemy of God. Indeed, by calling me a sinner you are supplying me with weapons against yourself so that I can slay and destroy you with your own sword; for Christ died for sinners. Furthermore, you yourself proclaim the glory of God to me; you remind me of God's paternal love for me, a miserable and lost sinner; for He so loved the world that He gave His Son. Again, whenever you throw up to me that I am a sinner, you revive in my memory the blessing of Christ, my Redeemer, on whose shoulders, and not on mine, lie all my sins; for "the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" and "for the transgression of His people was He stricken" (Is. 53:6-8). Therefore when you throw up to me that I am a sinner, you are not terrifying me; you are comforting me beyond measure.'" ~ Martin Luther
What a great reminder of how to turn the accusations of satan back on to him. It is this kind of confidence in Christ's work and God's love that led Luther to say in a letter to Melanchthon, "Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for He is victorious over sin, death, and the world." Luther was not advocating cheap grace or free license to sin, but what he was doing was fighting against the tendency of believers to either let guilt or underestimation of sin keep them from running to Christ and letting Him fix it. It is our underestimation of sin that makes us self-righteous and our wallowing in guilt that makes us afraid. Both keep us from going to a savior who would forgive us and change us. Steve Brown comments, "Sinning isn't the worst thing you can do. The worst thing you can do is pretending that you don't. Repentance is the bridge which leads to a loving and gracious God. When you burn the bridge... you burn the bridge to the only hope you've got. So if you sin, sin boldly then go to Him and let Him fix it. He won't be angry, He'll be pleased with your coming." When we sin if we say, "Fine, I sinned, it was a big one, and I feel really bad about it, but Christ's work paid for that one too so take that, satan!" and then run to God, He will work on us and change us in His time. If we try to cover it up or let guilt overtake us then nothing will change.
By His Grace,
Taylor
'You are a sinner; therefore you are damned',
we can reply: 'The very fact that you say I am a sinner makes me want to be just and saved.'
'Nay, you will be damned', says the devil.
'Indeed not,' I reply, 'for I take refuge in Christ, who gave Himself for my sins. Therefore you will accomplish nothing, Satan, by trying to frighten me by setting the greatness of my sins before me and thus seducing me to sadness, doubt, despair, hatred, contempt, and blasphemy of God. Indeed, by calling me a sinner you are supplying me with weapons against yourself so that I can slay and destroy you with your own sword; for Christ died for sinners. Furthermore, you yourself proclaim the glory of God to me; you remind me of God's paternal love for me, a miserable and lost sinner; for He so loved the world that He gave His Son. Again, whenever you throw up to me that I am a sinner, you revive in my memory the blessing of Christ, my Redeemer, on whose shoulders, and not on mine, lie all my sins; for "the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" and "for the transgression of His people was He stricken" (Is. 53:6-8). Therefore when you throw up to me that I am a sinner, you are not terrifying me; you are comforting me beyond measure.'" ~ Martin Luther
What a great reminder of how to turn the accusations of satan back on to him. It is this kind of confidence in Christ's work and God's love that led Luther to say in a letter to Melanchthon, "Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for He is victorious over sin, death, and the world." Luther was not advocating cheap grace or free license to sin, but what he was doing was fighting against the tendency of believers to either let guilt or underestimation of sin keep them from running to Christ and letting Him fix it. It is our underestimation of sin that makes us self-righteous and our wallowing in guilt that makes us afraid. Both keep us from going to a savior who would forgive us and change us. Steve Brown comments, "Sinning isn't the worst thing you can do. The worst thing you can do is pretending that you don't. Repentance is the bridge which leads to a loving and gracious God. When you burn the bridge... you burn the bridge to the only hope you've got. So if you sin, sin boldly then go to Him and let Him fix it. He won't be angry, He'll be pleased with your coming." When we sin if we say, "Fine, I sinned, it was a big one, and I feel really bad about it, but Christ's work paid for that one too so take that, satan!" and then run to God, He will work on us and change us in His time. If we try to cover it up or let guilt overtake us then nothing will change.
By His Grace,
Taylor
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