Top 350 John Calvin Quotes (2024 Update)
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151. “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

152. “The real proof of spiritual poverty is to patiently endure the loss of worldly goods and without any regret when it pleases our heavenly Father that we should be despoiled of them.”

— John Calvin

153. “But a faithful believer will in all circumstances mediate on the mercy and fatherly goodness of God.”

— John Calvin

154. “Prayer unaccompanied by perseverance leads to no result.”

— John Calvin

155. “That man is truly humble who neither claims any personal merit in the sight of God, nor proudly despises brethren, or aims at being thought superior to them, but reckons it enough that he is one of the members of Christ, and desires nothing more than that the Head alone should be exalted.”

— John Calvin

156. “Faith is the evidence of divine adoption.”

— John Calvin

157. “For though we very truly hear that the kingdom of God will be filled with splendor, joy, happiness and glory, yet when these things are spoken of, they remain utterly remote from our perception, and as it were, wrapped in obscurities, until that day.”

— John Calvin

158. “God works in his elect in two ways: inwardly, by his Spirit; outwardly, by his Word.”

— John Calvin

159. “If true religion is to beam upon us, our principle must be, that it is necessary to begin with heavenly teaching, and that it is impossible for any man to obtain even the minutest portion of right and sound doctrine without being a disciple of Scripture.”

— John Calvin

160. “For by a kind of mutual bond the Lord has joined together the certainty of his Word and of his Spirit so that the perfect religion of the Word may abide in our minds when the Spirit, who causes us to contemplate God’s face, shines.”

— John Calvin

161. “Whomever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of His fellowship ought to prepare themselves for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life, crammed with very many and various kinds of evil.”

— John Calvin

162. “Let us not cease to do the utmost, that we may incessantly go forward in the way of the Lord; and let us not despair of the smallness of our accomplishments.”

— John Calvin

163. “It teaches us not to regard others according to their own merits, but to consider in them the image of God to which we owe both honor and love. But.”

— John Calvin

164. “It is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.”

— John Calvin

165. “Hence that dread and amazement with which as Scripture uniformly relates holy men were struck and overwhelmed whenever they beheld the presence of God. Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance until they have.”

— John Calvin

166. “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

167. “Whoever shall now contend that it is unjust to put heretics and blasphemers to death will knowingly and willingly incur their very guilt.”

— John Calvin

168. “The Angels are the dispensers and administrators of the Divine beneficence toward us. They regard our safety, undertake our defense, direct our ways, and exercise a constant solicitude that no evil befall us.”

— John Calvin

169. “The door is closed to prayer unless it is opened with the key of trust.”

— John Calvin

170. “The happiness promised us in Christ does not consist in outward advantages-such as leading a joyous and peaceful life, having rich possessions, being safe from all harm, and abounding with delights such as the flesh commonly longs after. No, our happiness belongs to the heavenly life!”

— John Calvin

171. “The majesty of God is too high to be scaled up to by mortals, who creep like worms on the earth.”

— John Calvin

172. “The only skills I have the patience to learn are those that have no real application in life.”

— John Calvin

173. “It is a sign of a perverse and treacherous disposition to wound the good name of another, when he has no opportunity of defending himself.”

— John Calvin

174. “Therefore, as Paul testifies, election, which is the cause of good works, does not depend upon men.”

— John Calvin

175. “For it is better, with closed eyes, to follow God as our guide, than, by relying on our own prudence, to wander through those circuitous paths which it devises for us.”

— John Calvin

176. “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.”

— John Calvin

177. “For, until men feel that they owe everything to God, that they are cherished by his paternal care, and that he is the author of all their blessings, so that nought is to be looked for away from him, they will never submit to him in voluntary obedience; nay, unless they place their entire happiness in him, they will never yield up their whole selves to him in truth and sincerity.”

— John Calvin

178. “Where God’s Spirit does not reign, there is no humility, and men ever swell with inward pride.”

— John Calvin

179. “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

180. “It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son, granted her the highest honor.”

— John Calvin

181. “Now we shall possess a right definition of faith if we call it a firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence toward us, founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”

— John Calvin

182. “Mingled vanity and pride appear in this, that when miserable men do seek after God, instead of ascending higher than themselves as they ought to do, they measure him by their own carnal stupidity, and neglecting solid inquiry, fly off to indulge their curiosity in vain speculation.”

— John Calvin

183. “We should never insult others on account of their faults, for it is our duty to show charity and respect to everyone.”

— John Calvin

184. “Wherefore all theology, when separated from Christ, is not only vain and confused, but is also mad, deceitful, and spurious; for, though the philosophers sometimes utter excellent sayings, yet they have nothing but what is short-lived, and even mixed up with wicked and erroneous sentiments.”

— John Calvin

185. “The very word baptize, however, signifies to immerse; and it is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient church.”

— John Calvin

186. “For astronomy is not only pleasant, but also very useful to be known: it cannot be denied that this art unfolds the admirable wisdom of God.”

— John Calvin

187. “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.”

— John Calvin

188. “A perfect faith is nowhere to be found, so it follows that all of us are partly unbelievers.”

— John Calvin

189. “Whenever our sins press hard against us, whenever Satan would drive us to despair, we must hold up this shield, that God does not want us to be overwhelmed in everlasting destruction, for He has ordained His Son to be the salvation of the world.”

— John Calvin

190. “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.”

— John Calvin

191. “Who will venture to place the authority of Copernicus above that of the Holy Spirit?”

— John Calvin

192. “He who has learned to look to God in everything he does is at the same time diverted from all vain thoughts.”

— John Calvin

193. “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

194. “However many blessings we expect from God, His infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts.”

— John Calvin

195. “Thus the woman, who had perversely exceeded her proper bounds, is forced back to her own position. She had, indeed, previously been subject to her husband, but that was a liberal and gentle subjection; now, however, she is cast into servitude.”

— John Calvin

196. “We shall never be fit for the service of God, if we look not beyond this fleeting life.”

— John Calvin

197. “For earthly princes lay aside their power when they rise up against God, and are unworthy to be reckoned among the number of mankind. We ought, rather, utterly to defy them.”

— John Calvin

198. “To be pure in heart is to take no delight in cunning, but converse sincerely with men, and express nothing, by word or look, which is not felt in the heart.”

— John Calvin

199. “So great and boundless is God’s wisdom that he knows right well how to use evil instruments to do good.”

— John Calvin

200. “Let that ethical philosophy therefore of free-will be far from a Christian mind.”

— John Calvin