Spurred on to holiness

John Calvin’s theological writings always aimed at piety. This is, in part, due to his background in the devotio moderna and his attempt to translate the emphases of that spiritual renewal movement from the monasteries to the daily lives of every Christian. But when Calvin published his first version of the Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1539, he neglected to include instruction on “the Christian life”—which is somewhat ironic given that his Institutes are practical and religious in nature, rather than purely doctrinal and systematic. Calvin quickly amended his oversight and added the material “on the Christian life” in the second 1539 edition. In 1550 he published it as a separate booklet.

A new English version of Calvin’s work, On the Christian Life: A New Translation (Crossway 2024), is translated by Raymond Blacketer and includes an introduction by Anthony Lane with helpful background to the material. This edition’s publication is a delectable foretaste of the forthcoming translation from Crossway of Calvin’s entire Institutes.

Calvin’s writings exude a pastoral warmth, much to the surprise of those critics who have never read him. He longs for Christians to know God and to follow Christ. He expounds on multifarious motivations for holiness, such as God’s holy nature, our union with God, the way of Christ, and gratitude. And this last piece draws attention to an underlying substructure that frames Calvin’s teaching: the “indicative-imperative” schema that would later be explicitly developed in the writings of Dutch Reformed theologian Herman Ridderbos and would shape much of Reformed theology in the 20th century. Christians are moved to seek holiness first and foremost because of who God is and what He has done in Christ.

Out of that secure foundation we pursue personal transformation. Gift first, then gratitude. Furthermore, Calvin maintains that perfection in this life remains an impossibility; however, he spurs us to a single-minded pursuit of progress in holiness as we live constantly before God, long to see God, and offer back to God all that we have because it is given from Him. This offering to God is expressed primarily in service to others because it is our neighbors whom we can more directly reach with our benevolence—or, as Luther famously quipped: “God doesn’t need your good works, but your neighbor does.”

Besides his remarks about stewarding the gifts we have received in service of neighbors, Calvin also puts a great deal of emphasis on self-denial and cross-bearing. This material will probably raise the most concerns for readers, not because self-denial and cross-bearing are un-Biblical categories, of course, but because Calvin’s particular rhetoric in expounding these themes can strike readers as unduly dualistic.

For instance, he says that the “world must either become worthless to us or hold us captive through our inordinate love for it” and that the world is a “tomb” and our body is a “prison.” However, at other points he provides more nuance and explains that such strong language is comparative—that we are to despise this life in comparison to our future state. And this draws attention to another motivation for holiness: an eternal perspective.

Calvin, like Augustine, wants to unhook us from our present condition, to tether us to eternity, and thereby to help us properly relate to the goods and the hardships of this life. He wants us to hope in the life to come, not in our fickle fortunes here and now, and to long for Christ’s coming, not the accumulation of our own wealth and fame. But Calvin rounds out his teaching with positive affirmation of created goods. Earthly goods can and should be used not only for necessity, but also delight, Calvin explains, appealing to the declaration of the psalmist that “wine gladdens the heart.”

Readers might be frustrated by Calvin’s lack of systematic harmonization in this book. But this is the style of Calvin’s writings in general, largely because, more than anything, he wants to “speak Scripture.” His teachings contain copious amounts of Scriptural citations and quotations, and his rhetoric is deeply shaped by the rhetoric of Scripture, which does not smooth everything out—however, it does spur on to faith and obedience. And if one is intending to instruct in “the Christian life” rather than construct a system of doctrine, this is entirely fitting.