Top 350 John Calvin Quotes (2024 Update)
Page 6 of 8

251. “Faith consists, not in ignorance, but in knowledge, and that, not only of God, but also of the divine will.”

— John Calvin

252. “Even if this earth is only a vestibule, we ought undoubtedly to make such a use of its blessing that we are assisted rather than delayed in our journey.”

— John Calvin

253. “The Fanaticism which discards the Scripture, under the pretense of resorting to immediate revelations is subversive of every principle of Christianity. For when they boast extravagantly of the Spirit, the tendency is always to bury the Word of God so they may make room for their own falsehoods.”

— John Calvin

254. “I have become used to swallowing insults for so long that I am almost insensitive; yet.”

— John Calvin

255. “Unless we endeavor to do good to our neighbor, through our cruelty we transgress this law.”

— John Calvin

256. “The whole comes to this, that Christ, when he produces faith in us by the agency of his Spirit, at the same time ingrafts us into his body, that we may become partakers of all spiritual blessings.”

— John Calvin

257. “The denial of ourselves which Christ has so diligently commanded his disciples from the beginning will at last dominate all the desires of our heart.”

— John Calvin

258. “The vices of which we are full we carefully hide from others, and we flatter ourselves with the notion that they are small and trivial; we sometimes even embrace them as virtues.”

— John Calvin

259. “It is amazing how much our lack of trust provokes God if we request of him a boon that we do not expect.”

— John Calvin

260. “To will is human, to will the bad is of fallen nature, but to will the good is of Grace.”

— John Calvin

261. “The principle exercise which the children of god have is to pray. For in this way they give true proof of their faith.”

— John Calvin

262. “Let us, however, remember this truth: No one has made much progress in the school of Christ who doesn’t look forward joyfully both to his death and the day of his final resurrection.”

— John Calvin

263. “But the present life should never be hated, except insofar as it subjects us to sin, although even that hatred should not properly be applied to life itself.”

— John Calvin

264. “He makes this favor common to all, because it is propounded to all, and not because it is in reality extended to all; for though Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world, and is offered through God’s benignity indiscriminately to all, yet all do not receive him.”

— John Calvin

265. “We unjustly defraud God of his right, unless each of us lives and dies in dependence on His sovereign pleasure.”

— John Calvin

266. “We both felt that the chief virtue of an interpreter consists in clarity combined with brevity. And.”

— John Calvin

267. “Involvement in public life provides the opportunity to shape our manners in accordance with civil justice.”

— John Calvin

268. “There is no inconsistency when God raises up those who have fallen prostrate.”

— John Calvin

269. “For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any books however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly.”

— John Calvin

270. “The name of Christ excludes all merit of our own.”

— John Calvin

271. “But we have nothing of the Spirit except through regeneration. Everything, therefore, which we have from nature is flesh.”

— John Calvin

272. “Whether each of the faithful has a particular angel assigned him for his defense, I cannot venture certainly to affirm; not one angel only has the care of every one of us, but that all the angels together with one consent watch over our salvation...”

— John Calvin

273. “Every person, on coming to the knowledge of himself, is not only urged to seek God, but is also led as by the hand to find Him.”

— John Calvin

274. “When we know God to be our Father, should we not desire that he be known as such by all? And if we do not have this passion, that all creatures do him homage, is it not a sign that his glory means little to us?”

— John Calvin

275. “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

276. “Angels are the dispensers and administrators of the divine beneficence toward us.”

— John Calvin

277. “In a way, the futile excuses many people use to cover their superstitions are demolished. They think it is enough to have some sort of religious fervor, however ridiculous, not realizing that true religion must be according to God’s will as the perfect measure; that He can never deny Himself and is no mere spirit form to be changed around according to individual preference.”

— John Calvin

278. “Nobody seriously believes the universe was made by God without being persuaded that He takes care of His works.”

— John Calvin

279. “There are people who are known to be very liberal, yet they never give without scolding or pride or even insolence.”

— John Calvin

280. “There is also an old proverb, that they who pay much attention to the body generally neglect the soul.”

— John Calvin

281. “Unless God’s Word illumine the way, the whole life of men is wrapped in darkness and mist, so that they cannot but miserably stray.”

— John Calvin

282. “I exhort all, who reverence the Word of the Lord, to read it, and diligently imprint it on their memory.”

— John Calvin

283. “This is plainly to ascribe divinity to ‘free will.’”

— John Calvin

284. “Indeed, a Christian ought to be disposed and prepared to keep in mind that he has to reckon with God every moment of his life.”

— John Calvin

285. “It behooves us to accomplish what God requires of us, even when we are in the greatest despair respecting the results.”

— John Calvin

286. “God promised by the mouth of Isaiah that queens should be the nursing mothers of the church...”

— John Calvin

287. “Distinction between virtuous and vicious actions has been engraven by the Lord in the heart of every man.”

— John Calvin

288. “Prayers will never reach God unless they are founded on free mercy.”

— John Calvin

289. “Each of us thinks we have just cause for elevating ourselves and despising all others in comparison to ourselves – our self-love ruins us with such blindness. If, in fact, God has gifted us with something that is good in itself, we immediately make it the basis for praising ourselves to such a degree that we not only swell up but almost burst with pride.”

— John Calvin

290. “If the gospel be not preached, Jesus Christ is, as it were, buried.”

— John Calvin

291. “Because the will renewed is the Lord’s work, it is wrongly attributed to man that he obeys prevenient grace with his will as attendant.”

— John Calvin

292. “This is how we can distinguish true religion from superstition: when the Word of God directs us, there is true religion; but when each man follows his own opinion, or when men join together to follow an opinion they hold in common, the result is always concocted superstition.”

— John Calvin

293. “No one has rightly denied himself unless he has wholly resigned himself to the Lord and is willing to leave every detail to his good pleasure. If we put ourselves in such a frame of mind, then, whatever may happen to us, we shall never feel miserable or accuse God falsely because of our lot.”

— John Calvin

294. “Life is not found in commandments or declarations of penalties, but in the promise of mercy and only in a gratuitous promise.”

— John Calvin

295. “We carefully conceal our abundant vices from others – and we pretend they’re small and insignificant. In fact, we so delude ourselves that we sometimes embrace our vices as virtues. When.”

— John Calvin

296. “He who is most deeply abased and alarmed, by the consciousness of his disgrace, nakedness, want, and misery, has made the greatest progress in the knowledge of himself.”

— John Calvin

297. “The answer of our prayers is secured by the fact that in rejecting them God would in a certain sense deny His own nature.”

— John Calvin

298. “The more closely we see ourselves being watched by our enemies, the more time intent we should be to avoid their slanders.”

— John Calvin

299. “We ought always to beware of making the smallest claim for ourselves.”

— John Calvin

300. “We must always speak of the efficacy of the ministry in such a manner that the entire praise of the work may be reserved for God alone.”

— John Calvin