It is sometimes thought that whereas the blessings that God gave to his people in the Old Testament were earthly, the blessings that he promises to give his New Testament people in Christ are heavenly. Calvin disagreed with drawing such…
John Calvin is a covenant theologian. That is to say, he comprehends the whole biblical teaching on salvation under the category God’s gracious covenant for the redemption of his people in Christ. While Calvin recognizes differences between the Old and…
Calvin now begins to emphasise what has become apparent in Chapter 8. There we saw that there is one law of God, as obligatory in the New Testament era as in the Mosaic era. So now he insists that there…
Calvin’s approach to the moral law is not moralistic but evangelical. Keeping the commands is to spring from the fear of God which the Gospel engenders. For the Law and the Prophets give first place to faith. (Here Calvin is…
Calvin’s distinctive way of setting forth of the true purpose of the law is now apparent. And so bearing false witness stands for having a general regard for truth, for God is truth, and we should tell the truth, and…
The commands forbidding murder and adultery are, if anything, interpreted even more widely by Calvin. The command not to kill implies not merely a refraining form certain kinds of action, but carries the obligation to look out for a neighbour’s…
Calvin’s understanding of the Fourth Commandment is notably restrained. Its present rationale has chiefly to do with the ordering of public worship at a set time, appropriately enough a time (or times) during the day of the Lord’s resurrection. But remembering…
Institutes 2.8.28-32Calvin on the Sabbath. The “Continental view”! “The purpose of this commandment is that, being dead to our own inclinations and works, we should meditate on the Kingdom of God . . ..”There are three conditions involved for Calvin…
Ungodly people always take the higher ground when arguing with God and the lower ground when living their own lives. Is God unjust to visit iniquities on successive generations? On the contrary, Calvin argues, we are all responsible human beings…
How misunderstood the Law of Moses has been! It begins with and is grounded in–grace. Always! For the Exodus from Egypt was but the foreshadowing of the greater Exodus of gospel deliverance in Christ. This is why, says Calvin, “There…
