John Calvin Quotes

#1. While all men seek after happiness, scarcely one in a hundred looks for it from God.

John Calvin

#2. Is it not rather meant that it was placed far above us, in order to convince us of our utter feebleness?

John Calvin

#3. The only right stewardship is that which is tested by the rule of love.

John Calvin

#4. Faith and patience are exceptional virtues in those that suffer. Patience is the fruit and evidence of faith.

John Calvin

#5. 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 ...

John Calvin

#6. 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

#7. The one condition for spiritual progress is that we remain sincere and humble.

John Calvin

#8. If at any time, then we are troubled at the small number of those who believe, let us, on the other hand, call to mind, that none comprehend the mysteries of God save those to whom it is given.

John Calvin

#9. 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.

John Calvin

#10. Scripture points out this difference between believers and unbelievers; the latter, as old slaves of their incurable perversity, cannot endure the rod; but the former, like children of noble birth, profit by repentance and correction.

John Calvin

#11. Our assurance, our glory, and the sole anchor of our salvation are that Christ the Son of God is ours, and we in turn are in him sons of God and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, called to the hope of eternal blessedness by God's grace, not by our worth.

John Calvin

#12. There is no group or type of people anywhere in the world that is excluded from salvation, because God desires that the gospel be proclaimed to all without exception.

John Calvin

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

John Calvin

#14. Prayer is the chief exercise of faith.

John Calvin

#15. 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

#16. Shall we, indeed, distinguish between right and wrong by that judgment which has been imparted to us, yet will there be no judge in heaven?

John Calvin

#17. In discussing the subject of free will, the question is not, whether external obstacles will permit a man to execute what he has internally resolved, but whether, in any matter whatever, he has a free power of judging and of willing.

John Calvin

#18. Hence there is nothing that Satan so much endeavors to accomplish as to bring on mists with the view of obscuring Christ, because he knows, that by this means the way is opened up for every kind of falsehood.

John Calvin

#19. For we always seem to ourselves righteous and upright and wise and holy - this pride is innate in all of us - unless by clear proofs we stand convinced of our own unrighteousness, foulness, folly, and impurity.

John Calvin

#20. For what is idolatry if not this: to worship the gifts in place of the Giver himself?

John Calvin

#21. The majesty of God in itself goes beyond the capacity of human understanding and cannot be comprehended by it..
We must adore its loftiness rather than investigate it, so that we do not remain overwhelmed by so great a splendor.

John Calvin

#22. The Gospel acts without threats ... it teaches us about the supreme goodwill of God towards us.

John Calvin

#23. Let us consider this settled, that no one has made progress in the school of Christ who does not joyfully await the day of death and final resurrection.

John Calvin

#24. The word "hope" I take for faith; and indeed hope is nothing else but the constancy of faith.

John Calvin

#25. Human will does not by liberty obtain grace, but by grace obtains liberty.

John Calvin

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

John Calvin

#27. God sometimes bestows his bounty more profusely, and, at other times, more sparingly, upon his children, according as he sees it to be most for their good;

John Calvin

#28. The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.

John Calvin

#29. 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

#30. For it is a moroseness too imperious, to wish that what we ourselves follow as right, and consonant with our duty, should be prescribed as a law to others.

John Calvin

#31. All things being at God's disposal, and the decision of salvation or death belonging to him, he orders all things by his counsel and decree in such a manner, that some men are born devoted from the womb to certain death, that his name may be glorified in their destruction.

John Calvin

#32. There is no inconsistency in saying that God rewards good works, provided we understand that nevertheless men obtain eternal life gratuitously.

John Calvin

#33. Therefore by the example of Abram, entire self-renunciation is enjoined, that we may live and die to God alone.

John Calvin

#34. Man with all his shrewdness is as stupid about understanding by himself the mysteries of God, as an ass is incapable of understanding musical harmony.

John Calvin

#35. Whenever the Lord holds us in suspense, and delays his aid, he is not therefore asleep, but, on the contrary, regulates all His works in such a manner that he does nothing but at the proper time.

John Calvin

#36. 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

#37. Who does not see that Paul descends from a general to a particular adoption, in order to teach us, that not all who occupy a place in the Church are to be accounted as true members of the Church?

John Calvin

#38. O grant, that in the trials by which we must be daily exercised, we may raise upwards our minds to thee, and never cease to think that thou art near us;

John Calvin

#39. O, man! learn from the precept what you ought to do; learn from correction, that it is your own fault you have not the power; and learn in prayer, whence it is that you may receive the power.

John Calvin

#40. The cross of Christ only triumphs in the breast of believers over the devil and the flesh, sin and sinners, when their eyes are directed to the power of His Resurrection.

John Calvin

#41. Their [the Jews] rotten and unbending stiffneckedness deserves that they be oppressed unendingly and without measure or end and that they die in their misery without the pity of anyone.

John Calvin

#42. Here, if any where, in considering the hidden mysteries of Scripture, we should speculate soberly and with great moderation, cautiously guarding against allowing either our mind or our tongue to go a step beyond the confines of God's word.

John Calvin

#43. Let everyone regard himself as the steward of God in all things which he possesses.

John Calvin

#44. The faith of the gospel is called the knowledge of God's grace; for no one has ever tasted of the gospel but the man that knew himself to be reconciled to God, and took hold of the salvation that is held forth in Christ.

John Calvin

#45. 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

#46. We are nowhere forbidden to laugh, or be satisfied with food ... or to be delighted with music or to drink wine.

John Calvin

#47. It is a most blessed thing to be subject to the sovereignty of God.

John Calvin

#48. This then is the highest adornment of the Kingdom of Christ, that he rules over his church by his Spirit. He

John Calvin

#49. But as a heathen tells us, there is no nation so barbarous, no race so brutish as not to be imbued with the conviction that there is a God.

John Calvin

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

John Calvin

#51. Hence the unskilful rashly infer, that man did not sin by free choice.

John Calvin

#52. For very few persons are concerned about the way that leads to heaven, but all are anxious to know, before the time, what passes there.

John Calvin

#53. Is it faith to understand nothing, and merely submit your convictions implicitly to the Church?

John Calvin

#54. We are surrounded by God's benefits. The best use of these benefits is an unceasing expression of gratitude.

John Calvin

#55. Without knowledge of self there is no knowledge of God ... without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self.

John Calvin

#56. A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent

John Calvin

#57. The marks of Jesus are imprisonment, chains, scourgings, blows and stoning in bearing testimony to the Gospel. Galatians 6:17 - 17 Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

John Calvin

#58. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host; a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy. (Psalm 33:16-18)

John Calvin

#59. Only those who have learned well to be earnestly dissatisfied with themselves, and to be confounded with shame at their wretchedness truly understand the Christian gospel.

John Calvin

#60. All whom the Lord has chosen and received into the society of his saints ought to prepare themselves for a life that is hard, difficult, laborious and full of countless griefs.

John Calvin

#61. the reason for God's keeping some for himself and rejecting others is to be sought nowhere but in God himself. When

John Calvin

#62. What then is the Word of God which gives us life; what but the law, the prophets, and the gospel? Anyone

John Calvin

#63. The fire of affliction reveals the quality of our faith

John Calvin

#64. There is no inconsistency when God raises up those who have fallen prostrate.

John Calvin

#65. Faith consists not in ignorance, but in knowledge - knowledge not of God merely ... but when we recognize God as a propitious Father through the reconciliation made by Christ, and Christ as given to us for righteousness, sanctification, and life.

John Calvin

#66. If people mean that man has in himself the power to work in partnership with God's grace they are most wretchedly deluding themselves.

John Calvin

#67. True knowledge of God and of the secret of his wisdom comes from faith, because the obedience of faith opens to us the gate of the Kingdom of Heaven.

John Calvin

#68. There cannot be a surer rule, nor a stronger exhortation to the observance of it, than when we are taught that all the endowments which we possess are divine deposits entrusted to us for the very purpose of being distributed for the good of our neighbor.

John Calvin

#69. No man is excluded from calling upon God, the gate of salvation is set open unto all men: neither is there any other thing which keepeth us back from entering in, save only our own unbelief.

John Calvin

#70. There is nothing in afflictions which ought to disturb our joy.

John Calvin

#71. We both felt that the chief virtue of an interpreter consists in clarity combined with brevity. And

John Calvin

#72. How do you know yourself to be a son of God in fact as well as in name?"
Answer: "Because I am baptized in the name of God the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." - John Calvin (from his catechism)

John Calvin

#73. Now we must remark, that there are two parts in the Commandment-the first forbids the erection of a graven image, or any likeness; the second prohibits the transferring of the worship which God claims for Himself alone, to any of these phantoms or delusive shows.

John Calvin

#74. But those who wish to prove to unbelievers that Scripture is the Word of God are acting foolishly, for only by faith can this be known.

John Calvin

#75. Against the persecution of a tyrant the godly have no remedy but prayer.

John Calvin

#76. Prosperity inebriates men, so that they take delights in their own merits.

John Calvin

#77. We ought always to beware of making the smallest claim for ourselves.

John Calvin

#78. But we have nothing of the Spirit except through regeneration. Everything, therefore, which we have from nature is flesh.

John Calvin

#79. 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

#80. For it is through the prophets that God adapts to our need whatever might seem to us remote and of no concern to us. Surely

John Calvin

#81. From the power of God we are naturally led to consider his eternity since that from which all other things derive their origin must necessarily be selfexistent and eternal. Moreover,

John Calvin

#82. 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

#83. 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

#84. Faith needs to be bound directly to the Word of God; for, according to Paul, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). And

John Calvin

#85. But Jacob was divinely chosen and his brother, the first-born, was rejected.

John Calvin

#86. Assuredly, when the word of God is despised, all reverence for Him is gone. His majesty cannot be duly honoured among us, nor his worship maintained in its integrity, unless we hang as it were upon his lips.

John Calvin

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

John Calvin

#88. The Bible is the sceptre by which the Heavenly King rules His Church.

John Calvin

#89. In knowing God, each of us also knows himself.

John Calvin

#90. It is a promise which eminently deserves our observation that all who are united to Christ and acknowledge Him to be Christ and Mediator will remain to the end safe from all danger, for what is said of the body of the Church belongs to each of its members since they are one in Christ.

John Calvin

#91. 8. I have told you that it is I. Here we see how the Son of God not only submits to death of his own accord, that by his obedience he may blot out our transgressions, but also how he discharges the office of a good Shepherd in protecting his flock.

John Calvin

#92. To this it must be added that a sincere love of the law of God is a sure sign of our adoption because it is a work of the Spirit. . .

John Calvin

#93. The illumination of our minds by the Holy Spirit belongs to our renewal, and thus faith flows from regeneration as from its source; but since it is by the same faith that we receive Christ, who sanctifies us by his Spirit, on that account it is said to be the beginning of our adoption.

John Calvin

#94. We are superstitiously timid, I say, if whenever creatures threaten us or forcibly terrorize us we become as fearful as if they had some intrinsic power to harm us, cor might wound us inadvertently and accidentally, or there were not enough help in God against their harmful acts.

John Calvin

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

John Calvin

#96. What is said of the law applies to the whole of Scripture: when it is not directed toward Christ as its one aim, it is tortured badly and twisted.

John Calvin

#97. Accordingly, we shall find angels and men to be dry, heaven to be empty, the earth to be unproductive, and, in short, all things to be of no value, if we wish to be partakers of the gifts of God in any other way than through Christ.

John Calvin

#98. 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

#99. 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

#100. No matter what evils they perpetrate, the enemies of Christ shall not prevail, because Christ sits at God's right hand, not for a time but in eternity. Therefore,

John Calvin