John Calvin

I just finished “Portrait of Calvin”, by T.H.L. Parker, a short biography on John Calvin. Here are a few things I learned about John Calvin from the book.

John Calvin married a widower who already had 2 kids. His wife became pregnant with what turned out to be Calvin’s only biological child. However, the son was born prematurely and died. Calvin’s wife never fully recovered and died three years after the death of his son. In an amazing show of faith in God, Calvin wrote to one of his friends:
“The Lord has certainly inflicted a severe and bitter wound in the death of our baby son. But He is Himself a Father and knows best what is good for His children.”

Calvin also was grounded in several doctrines that seem commonplace, but aren’t. Calvin held strongly that the only way that we can know God is His word, the Bible. Calvin was extremely emphatic that men, in particular preachers, must not teach anything but the Bible. In the Institutes he says “When we enter into the pulpit it is not so that we may introduce our own ideas and dreams”. Calvin was very aware that man often wants to follow his own God, not the true God: “Men’s conceptions of God are formed, not according to the representations He gives of Himself, but by the inventions of their own presumptuous imaginations...They worship, not God, but a figment of their own brains in His stead”. This is why we must only follow the scriptures, God’s word to us. Calvin’s theology on this topic can best be summed up in this quote from the Institutes:

“The very unhappy results of this temerity should warn us to study this question with more docility than subtlety, and not allow ourselves to investigate God anywhere but in His sacred Word, or to form any ideas of Him but such as are agreeable to His Word, or to speak anything concerning Him but what is derived from the same Word.”

Calvin also held a lofty view of the excellency of Christ. Calvin believed that the best way to live the Christian life was to live with Christ in the center of all things. We must always look to and understand the excellency of Christ, something one of my favorite present day preachers, John Piper, would call “Future Grace”. Here, in his commentary on Colossians, Calvin emphasizes this:

“For Christ alone makes all other things suddenly vanish. Hence thee is nothing that Satan so much tries to effect as to call up mists so as to obscure Christ; because he knows that by this means the way is opened up for every kind of falsehood. This, therefore, is the only means of retaining, as well as restoring, pure doctrine: to place Christ before the view such as He is with all his blessings, that His excellence may be truly perceived.”

There are many other things I could mention: Calvin’s surrender to the will of God , his emphatic defense of predestination, or his astounding commentaries on almost every book of the Bible. Still, I think the only thing I can do is recommend that you familiar yourself with Calvin, as I have begun, and I further recommend the starting point of this journey to be “Portrait of Calvin”, by T.H.L. Parker. It is a short 130 page book that will wet your appetite for this theologian from Geneva.

The Gospel According to John Calvin

For your enjoyment, a quote of John Calvin, briefly explaining in his words the gospel:

“That he (man) was alienated from God by sin, an heir of wrath, liable tot he punishment of eternal death, excluded from all hope of salvation, a total stranger to the blessing of God, a slave to Satan, a captive under the yoke of sin, and, in a word, condemned to and already involved in, a horrible destruction; that, in this situation, Christ interposed as an intercessor; that He has taken upon Himself and suffered the punishment which by the righteous judgment of God impended over all sinners; that by His blood He has expiated those crimes which make them odious to God; that by the expiation God the Father has been duly satisfied and atoned; that by this intercessor His wrath has been appeased; that this is the foundation of peace between God and men; that this is the bone of His benevolence towards us”

Yep, I had to read it twice too.

Prayer in Times of Trouble

The way we act when trials come matters. Recently I heard of an EMT who fell out of the faith because he saw no difference when Christians suffered then when others category suffered. While many have heard the expression “there’s no atheist in a foxhole”, this EMT said there’s no Christian in a hospital bed.

Books have been written on the subject of suffering with joy as a Christian, and I can recommend a few excellent ones (a good reading through Acts and James for starters; “When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy” by John Piper). But in this blog I want to address how we pray in times of suffering. For this, let us look to what our savior said about this in John 12:27, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” The faith in God shown here by Jesus is amazing. Many of us, when we go through trials, beg God to take away the trouble. We ask for miracles. Yet, Jesus does not ask for a miracle, although he could easily have gotten one (Matthew 26:53); in fact, he doesn’t even ask for God to take the trial away. He basically says, “Why would I ask my Father to save me? This is the purpose I have”. In other words, the trial was part of his purpose. Do we ever consider this? Maybe our worst trial is for God’s purpose. Paul realized this (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), as did Job (Job 42:1-6). This realization led Christ to be able to pray “My Father...not as I will, but as you will.” Our primary concern is God’s will, not our comfort. We must take comfort and have great faith in the promises of Hebrews 12:10-11 and Romans 8:28:

“He (God) disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose”

We can pray for miracles, we can pray for deliverance, we can ask for trials to be lifted. Yet, before all of these, we must pray “not my will, but yours be done God”. Our trials may be for a greater purpose. Sometimes a miracle is not the best thing that could happen.

My Kinship with Jonathan Edwards

I was listening to Marsden's "A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards" audiobook recently and noticed many similarities between Jonathan Edwards and myself. Of course, I don't mean we are similar in things such as intellect, spiritual disciplines, or theological understanding; Edwards obviously far surpasses me in these. However, I notice that we are very similar in our spiritual experiences and struggles. Particularly we share a similar conversion experience. Perhaps the word "conversion" is not quite right, perhaps "awakening" would be better. Both Edwards and myself were brought to fully strive for spiritual sanctification because of sickness in our youth.

Edwards, when he was sixteen, was suddenly stricken by a deep sickness that brought him face to face with his own mortality, and his need for God's grace. He later said that it was as if "God had dangled me over the pit of hell". This experience would shape the rest of his spiritual walk and ministry, leading him to preach the difference between believing God and having faith in God. He later described this as knowing about honey and it's viscosity and various other specifics of it's existence, and yet not ever tasting it's richness and sweet flavor. "Thus there is a difference between having an opinion, that God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace." (Edwards in his sermon "A Divine and Supernatural Light")

My similar experience, familiar to those who know me, happened during my senior year of high school. One night in December I became so sick I collapsed in my bathroom and was rushed to the hospital. Although I might not describe it as God dangling me over the pit of hell, he certainly dangled me over the pit of a wasted life. My life up to that point would leave me in the category that Paul described in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15: "each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire". That's right, it is possible to be saved from eternal damnation by the grace of God and suffer loss. This is what I would have been had I died that December night; one save as through fire. After recovering I devoted myself to being a Christian that could say on the day I actually die, as the apostle Paul did, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

As Jonathan Edward and I both learned, I hope you will learn to love Christ's appearing.

Humility

A few quotes to think about:

"Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call "humble" nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him." -C.S. Lewis

"False humility is also a form of pride. The person who is always hanging his head and has nothing good to say about himself is usually more prideful than the person who graciously accepts a compliment." -John Koessler

What is true humility?