For Calvin, the only possible way to receive God’s mercy is with absolute humility, which he defines as “an unfeigned submission of our heart, stricken down in earnest with an awareness of its own misery and want.” Without such humility,…
Justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ is the true doctrine of acceptance. But is it necessary, vital? How serious should we be about it? Does it matter? Is it worth fighting over? It matters more than we can say,…
If, as Paul say, the law is not faith (Gal. 3.11-12), the one excludes the other. So the law is quite different from faith. And so justification is by faith alone. Calvin is sensitive to language, particular over the question…
In his attack upon Osiander Calvin adds that while ‘Christ, as he is God and man, justifies us’, nevertheless Christ’s righteousness is a work of the Saviour’s human nature, the fruit of his obedience. This is another reason why it…
After his refutation of Osiander, Calvin returns to his mainline exposition of justification, that the believer receives pardon and God’s righteousness is reckoned to be the believer as the only ground of acceptance. So are works of the law excluded?…
Is the Institutes a work of systematic theology? Yes and no. Calvin covers many of the topics of theology in his own inimitable way, but unevenly. There is much from the patristic and medieval theology that he takes for granted.…
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 all of the above. Calvin engages the mind, heart, will,…
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 contemplate the future life a counsel of perfection. Not for…
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 design. Granted pagan philosophers at times saw that affliction tests…
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 say, keeping Calvin’s universe of discourse but employing a contemporary…
