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The gospel is not a doctrine of the tongue, but of life. It cannot be grasped by reason and memory only, but it is fully understood when it possesses the whole soul and penetrates to the inner recesses of the heart.

John Calvin

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John Calvin
Age: 54 †
Born: 1509
Born: July 10
Died: 1564
Died: May 27
Lawyer
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Protestant Reformer
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Noviomagus Veromanduorum
Jehan Cauvin
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More quotes by John Calvin

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Many people have accused me of such ferocious cruelty that (they allege) I would like to kill again the man I have destroyed. Not only am I indifferent to their comments, but I rejoice in the fact that they spit in my face.
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Repentance is the true turning of our life to God, a turning that arises from a pure and earnest fear of Him and it consists in the mortification of the flesh and the renewing of the Spirit.
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We are not to reflect on the wickedness of men but to look to the image of God in them, an image which, covering and obliterating their faults, an image which, by its beauty and dignity, should allure us to love and embrace them.
John Calvin
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Because I know that I am not my own master, I offer my heart as a true sacrifice to the Lord.
John Calvin
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It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies can never be alone.
John Calvin
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Seeing God hath thus set us at liberty, what rashness it is for worms of the earth to make new laws as though God had not been wise enough.
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The happiness promised us in Christ does not consist in outward advantages-such as leading a joyous and peaceful life, having rich possessions, being safe from all harm, and abounding with delights such as the flesh commonly longs after. No, our happiness belongs to the heavenly life!
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The highest honor in the church is not government but service.
John Calvin
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The whole comes to this, that Christ, when he produces faith in us by the agency of his Spirit, at the same time ingrafts us into his body, that we may become partakers of all spiritual blessings.
John Calvin
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The human heart has so many crannies where vanity hides, so many holes where falsehood works, is so decked out with deceiving hypocrisy, that it often dupes itself.
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It is a very important consideration that we are consecrated and dedicated to God it means that we may think, speak, meditate, or do anything only with a view to his glory.
John Calvin
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Who will venture to place the authority of Copernicus above that of the Holy Spirit?
John Calvin
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For astronomy is not only pleasant, but also very useful to be known: it cannot be denied that this art unfolds the admirable wisdom of God.
John Calvin
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Tears that are shed in time of affliction are rarely tears of penitence, but more likely they are shed out of self pity and pain or sorrow.
John Calvin
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The Bible is the sceptre by which the Heavenly King rules His Church.
John Calvin
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Though Satan instils his poison, and fans the flames of our corrupt desires within us,we are yet not carried by any external force to the commission of sin, but our own flesh entices us, and we willingly yield to its allurements.
John Calvin
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The sum is, that the worship of God must be spiritual, in order that it may correspond with His nature. For although Moses only speaks of idolatry, yet there is no doubt but that by synecdoche, as in all the rest of the law, he condemns all fictitious services which men in their ingenuity have invented.
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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.
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On the contrary, therefore, Christ declares that the doctrine of the Gospel, though it is preached to all without exception, cannot be embraced by all, but that a new understanding and a new perception are requisite and, therefore, that faith does not depend on the will of men, but that it is God who gives it.
John Calvin
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We should ask God to increase our hope when it is small, awaken it when it is dormant, confirm it when it is wavering, strengthen it when it is weak, and raise it up when it is overthrown.
John Calvin