“Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Philippians 1:27)
John Calvin’s Description of the Gospel-Centred Life
[Part 1 of 3]
Without the gospel
everything is useless and vain;
without the gospel
we are not Christians;
without the gospel
all riches is poverty,
all wisdom folly before God;
strength is weakness, and
all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God.
But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made
children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ,
fellow townsmen with the saints,
citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven,
heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom
the poor are made rich,
the weak strong,
the fools wise,
the sinner justified,
the desolate comforted,
the doubting sure, and
slaves free.
It is the power of God for the salvation of all those who believe.
– from John Calvin’s preface to Pierre Robert Olivétan’s
French translation of the New Testament (1534)