Blog 173: 4.3.1 – 4.3.7
For Calvin the Christian ministry was a glorious calling from God, but it was never grounded in the superior qualities of the minister himself. This therefore raises the question for…
Sinclair Ferguson
Blog 172: 4.2.6 – 4.2.12
The episcopacy that holds the church together in unity is not man’s but Christ’s. The unity of the church, therefore, is not a formal, historical reality made concrete in an…
Blog 171: 4.2.1 – 4.2.5
When is a “church” not a church? How do we recognize the true church of Jesus Christ? And how do we discern the false? Calvin’s answer to what was in…
Blog 170: 4.1.22 – 4.1.29
The 16th century Reformers fought to win back the keys of the kingdom. Calvin held that ordinarily there is no salvation outside of the church, but he did not hold…
Blog 169: 4.1.5 – 4.1.21
Calvin’s teaching has never been for shrinking violets, nor is John Calvin himself thought of as “soft.” He uses strong language about those who are enemies of the gospel (“pigs,”…
Blog 120: 3.10.5 – 3.11.4
The Institutes is a great work of theology. But it is difficult to find the right adjective for the kind of theology it represents–systematic, biblical ecclesiastical, pastoral? It is certainly…
Blog 119: 3.9.5 – 3.10.4
How can we happily contemplate the future life when the access route to it is by death? The natural fear of the dissolution of our bodies surely makes encouragement to…
Blog 118: 3.8.11 – 3.9.4
Christians are not the only ones who have discussed the virtue of patience. But what distinguishes biblical teaching from that of the philosophers is the grand sense of purpose and…
Blog 117: 3.8.4 – 3.8.10
Christians are crucifers, cross bearers. The cross is laid across the back of the spiritually obese. We are “fattened and flabby” wrote the lean and spare Genevan reformer. We might…
Blog 116: 3.7.8 – 3.8.3
The Institutes almost demand multiple readings. Not only because the work is so rich in doctrinal perspective, but also because it is, in fact, full of striking “one-liners.” Such surely…