Calvin: slain

Monday, March 16, 2015
Meditation:
    For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
    —Romans 8:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As we have a natural aversion to God, we shall never aim at that which is right, without a previous renunciation of ourselves. Therefore we are so frequently commanded to put off the old man, to renounce the world and the flesh, to forsake our lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Besides, the very word mortification reminds us how difficult it is to forget our former nature; for it implies that we cannot be formed to the fear of God, and learn the rudiments of piety, without being violently slain and annihilated by the sword of the Spirit. As though God had pronounced that, in order to our being numbered among his children, there is a necessity for the destruction of our common nature.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.iii.8, p. 541 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:13-14; 8:7; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 6:17; Col. 3:5; Heb. 4:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, assist me to dispatch my sinful nature. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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