John Calvin Quotes

178 Sourced Quotes

To 'justify' means nothing else than to acquit of guilt him (her) who was accused as if his own innocence were confirmed.

John Calvin
Scripture urges and warns us that whatever favors we may have obtained from the Lord, we have received them as a trust on condition that they should be applied to the common benefit of the church.

John Calvin
Free will does not enable any man to perform good works, unless he is assisted by grace; indeed, the special grace which the elect alone receive through regeneration. For I stay not to consider the extravagance of those who say that grace is offered equally and promiscuously to all

John Calvin
Faith is tossed about by various doubts, so that the minds of the godly are rarely at peace.

John Calvin
Let this be our rule for goodwill and helpfulness, that whenever we are able to assist others we should behave as stewards who must someday give an account of ourselves.

John Calvin
Those little children have not yet any understanding to desire His blessing; but when they are presented to Him, He gently and kindly receives them, and dedicates them to the Father by a solemn act of blessing.

John Calvin
The grace of God has no charms for men till the Holy Spirit gives them a taste for it.

John Calvin
You cannot imagine a more certain rule or a more powerful suggestion than this, that all the blessings we enjoy are divine deposits which we have received on this condition that we distribute them to others.

John Calvin
The Holy Spirit is the bond by which Christ efficaciously unites us to himself.

John Calvin
Hatred grows into insolence when we desire to excel the rest of mankind and imagine we do not belong to the common lot; we even severely and haughtily despise others as our inferiors.

John Calvin
It is entirely the work of grace and a benefit conferred by it that our heart is changed from a stony one to one of flesh, that our will is made new, and that we, created anew in heart and mind, at length will what we ought to will.

John Calvin
Faith is a knowledge of the benevolence of God toward us, and a certain persuasion of His veracity.

John Calvin
Pagan philosophers set up reason as the sole guide of life, of wisdom and conduct; but Christian philosophy demands of us that we surrender our reason to the Holy Spirit; and this means that we no longer live for ourselves, but that Christ lives and reigns within us (Rom 12:1; Eph 4:23; Gal 2:20).

John Calvin
When we see that the whole sum of our salvation, and every single part of it, are comprehended in Christ, we must beware of deriving even the minutest portion of it from any other quarter.

John Calvin
It is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God's face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself.

John Calvin
Faith consists, not in ignorance, but in knowledge, and that, not only of God, but also of the divine will.

John Calvin
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.

John Calvin
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.

John Calvin
Human will does not by liberty obtain grace, but by grace obtains liberty.

John Calvin
Our true wisdom is to embrace with meek docility, and without reservation, whatever the holy scriptures have delivered.

John Calvin
We ought always to beware of making the smallest claim for ourselves.

John Calvin
No Task will be so sordid and base, provided you obey your calling in it, that it will not shine and be reckoned very precious in God's sight.

John Calvin
First of all, Scripture draws our attention to this, that if we want ease and tranquility in our lives, we should resign ourselves and all that we have to the will of God, and at the same time we should surrender our affections to him as our Conqueror and Overlord.

John Calvin
Can true repentance exist without faith? By no means. But although they cannot be separated, they ought to be distinguished.

John Calvin
Let us fall before the majesty of our great God, acknowledging our faults, and praying that he will make us ever more conscious of them.

John Calvin
It is only the goodness of God sensibly experienced by us which opens our mouth to celebrate His praise.

John Calvin
The first part of a good work is the will, the second is vigorous effort in the doing of it. God is the author of both. It is, therefore, robbery from God to arrogate anything to ourselves, either in the will or the act.

John Calvin
Since we are all naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of righteousness is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself.

John Calvin