John Calvin Quotes

When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.

We shall never be clothed with the righteousness of Christ except we first know assuredly that we have no righteousness of our own.

Whatever a person may be like, we must still love them because we love God.

Prayer doesn't change things - God changes things in answer to prayer.

I gave up all for Christ, and what have I found? Everything in Christ.

A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.

While all men seek after happiness, scarcely one in a hundred looks for it from God.

Only those who have learned well to be earnestly dissatisfied with themselves, and to be confounded with shame at their wretchedness truly understand the Christian gospel.

When I took the leap, I had faith I would find a net; Instead I learned I could fly.

Faith is like an empty, open hand stretched out towards God, with nothing to offer and everything to recieve

Humility is the beginning of true intelligence.

If a preacher is not first preaching to himself, better that he falls on the steps of the pulpit and breaks his neck than preaches that sermon.

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.

Whoever is not satisfied with Christ alone, strives after something beyond absolute perfection.

Nothing is more dangerous than to be blinded by prosperity.

There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make men rejoice.

The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.

The excellence of the Church does not consist in multitude but in purity.

The gospel is not a doctrine of the tongue, but of life.

We must not think that [God] takes no notice of us, when He does not answer our wishes: for He has a right to distinguish what we actually need.

It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone.

Whenever the Lord holds us in suspense, and delays his aid, he is not therefore asleep, but, on the contrary, regulates all His works in such a manner that he does nothing but at the proper time.

We are nowhere forbidden to laugh, or be satisfied with food...or to be delighted with music or to drink wine.

God works in his elect in two ways: inwardly, by his Spirit; outwardly, by his Word.

For what is idolatry if not this: to worship the gifts in place of the Giver himself?

There is no work, however vile or sordid, that does not glisten before God.

Peace is not to be purchased by the sacrifice of truth.

If God does nothing random, there must always be something to learn.

No man is excluded from calling upon God, the gate of salvation is set open unto all men: neither is there any other thing which keepeth us back from entering in, save only our own unbelief.

The blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clarity of the gospel; the sun is no less bright because blind men do not perceive its light.

We should never insult others on account of their faults, for it is our duty to show charity and respect to everyone.

Every one of us is, even from his mother's womb, a master craftsman of idols.

True wisdom consists in two things: Knowledge of God and Knowledge of Self.

Unless God's Word illumine the way, the whole life of men is wrapped in darkness and mist, so that they cannot but miserably stray.

The Lord has not redeemed you so you might enjoy pleasures and luxuries or so that you might abandon yourself to ease and indolence, but rather so you should be prepared to endure all sorts of evils.

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.

God tolerates even our stammering, and pardons our ignorance whenever something inadvertently escapes us - as, indeed, without this mercy there would be no freedom to pray.

You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy.

How do we know that God has elected us before the creation of the world? By believing in Jesus Christ.

We may rest assured that God would never have suffered any infants to be slain except those who were already damned and predestined for eternal death.

Joy is a quiet gladness of heart as one contemplates the goodness of God's saving grace in Christ Jesus.

Men will never worship God with a sincere heart, or be roused to fear and obey Him with sufficient zeal, until they properly understand how much they are indebted to His mercy.

Scripture is like a pair of spectacles which dispels the darkness and gives us a clear view of God.

Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, there a church of God exists, even if it swarms with many faults.

We must make the invisible kingdom visible in our midst.

But those who wish to prove to unbelievers that Scripture is the Word of God are acting foolishly, for only by faith can this be known.

When God designs to forgive us he changes our hearts and turns us to obedience by His Spirit.

We must remember that Satan has his miracles, too.

The grace of God has no charms for men till the Holy Spirit gives them a taste for it.

Christ is much more powerful to save, than Adam was to destroy.