John Calvin’s Sermons on Galatians, translated by Kathy Childress.
Published by the Banner of Truth Trust. Hardback, 683 pages, price £21.95, but obtainable at £18.95 from the Free Presbyterian Bookroom, 133 Woodlands Road, Glasgow G3 6LE.
THESE 43 sermons were preached by the great Reformer of Geneva morning and evening, Sabbath by Sabbath, from November 1557 to May 1558. He brings out clearly the meaning of the text before him, usually a few verses of the Epistle, and he continually makes application of it to the circumstances of his hearers. As the translator points out, certain doctrines occur again and again: human depravity, justification by faith alone, law and grace, and holiness. And Calvin himself says at one point, “We are first brought low in order that we might perceive the curse that we are under, before we can rejoice that we have been purchased at such inestimable cost. This has been our theme throughout our study.”
Because Calvin always had an eye to the situation of his hearers, the list of subjects given by Mrs Childress includes a further item: “the errors of the Church of Rome”. For instance, when he has pointed out how the Judaisers “claimed to accept the authority of God by saying that the law must be upheld, and that was their apparent excuse,” he adds, “The Papists, however, have no such foundation, for all their rituals have arisen according to the will of men. Yes, they have woven in a little Judaism here and there, but now they have such a mixture that it is not clear which sources they have relied upon the most.” And again, “The superstitions which abound in Popery today did not originally contain the same degree of devil-inspired blasphemy when first conceived as they do now. For their ceremonies, which are considered necessary for God’s service, are idolatrous, and are deceptions inspired by Satan himself. In short, they are all abominable in God’s sight. Why is this? Because they suppose these things are necessary for salvation, and that men can redeem themselves through such means and acquire remission of sins. Worse than this, these ceremonies obscure the Lord Jesus Christ and the grace which He has brought us.” Such remarks are still relevant today.
Even in the first paragraph of his first sermon, Calvin emphasises human weakness: “Since we have no strength of our own, we need to draw it from another source” – and that source must be God Himself. Calvin draws attention to the situation in Galatia when the Epistle was written: Paul had “only just turned around to leave Galatia when Satan rushed in, seeking to ruin everything and to bring desolation to the entire area.” And Calvin adds: “Should not such a situation cause us to bow our heads and acknowledge that God is exhorting us to take refuge in Him?” Shortly afterwards he warns: “We must remember the true condition of man in this world; we must not believe everything we are told, nor allow ourselves to be ‘driven with the wind and tossed’. For if we do not determine to persevere in the doctrine that has been revealed to us (once we are sure that it is the pure truth of God), then we too will go the way of the Galatians.” He sums up perhaps the whole argument of the Epistle when he says, “To keep the ceremonies as if we are living under the law is to detract from the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. . . We ought to realise that we enjoy a better and a more privileged condition today than our fathers of old, since our Lord Jesus Christ has been given to us and in Him we have all that was prefigured in former days.” Again he describes the main purpose of the shadows of the Old Testament: “to point to the grace which has now been showered upon us in the Lord Jesus Christ, on whom our souls must entirely rest.” Calvin puts the matter as strongly as this, but not more strongly than Paul himself: “If we attribute to ourselves even a little merit, we are robbing and spoiling God of what rightfully belongs to Him. . . . To believe that we can obtain salvation by our works is to enter the very mouth of hell, for we annul the death and passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all our righteousness is found.”
To whet the appetite of the reader, some more quotations are given below.
Mrs Childress has succeeded in rendering these sermons, originally preached in French, into good, readable English. She has the necessary academic background; her University degree was in Renaissance French. In her translation she consistently uses the Authorised Version, except for a few occasions when one assumes that Calvin himself quoted the Scriptures loosely then the translation is much less satisfactory. That apart, we are grateful to have in our hands another specimen of the preaching of one of the greatest of God’s gifts to His Church. The volume is attractively produced with a larger than normal size of print.
Another edition of this book was published a little earlier in America by Old Paths Publications, who used the translation by Arthur Golding originally published in the 1550s, but with modern spelling. Such duplication of effort is a pity, but perhaps unavoidable in the absence of some form of cooperation between reformed publishers.
-Rev. K. D. MacLeod
Quotations from Calvin
Extracted from John Calvin’s Sermons on Galatians. See review above.
“THE devil sometimes uses apparently small, subtle issues to distance us from the gospel, without our even perceiving it.”
“The only true source of happiness is in the knowledge that God loves us and that we are his children.”
“When we speak of God, everything else must pale into insignificance.”
“Whenever God bestows his grace on a person, even if it enriches him beyond measure, he must not exalt himself but ensure that the praise is given to whom it belongs, and to whom it is due. Thus, let us hold on to this principle of humility. Let us not seek to be noticed, or to be esteemed above our neighbours, despite any gifts that God may have given us.”
“Our most vital study in God’s school, second only to glorifying God, is how a person is saved.”
“The way to glorify God is by esteeming his Word and his promises so highly that nothing we see in this world might hinder us from seeking him, reaching out to him, and desiring him with all our hearts.”
“The law presupposes that if we fulfil what God requires of us we will be found good servants and he will give us the reward he has promised; faith, on the other hand, presupposes that we are poor, lost, condemned souls and that we are to find in Jesus Christ what we so desperately need.”
“Faith is a belief in things which our minds cannot comprehend; faith is forsaking this world and seeking the kingdom of God; faith is esteem for the pure and simple Word which proceeds from the mouth of God, and disregard for what we see around us.”
“All gospel doctrine is designed to make us forsake the world and cleave to God.”
“Our moderation should be such that we prove that we are not given over to the things of this world, although we live here. It should be like a strange land to us, because we are pressing towards our heavenly rest.”
“We are born in sin and, therefore, can do nothing else; we continually offend God until he sets us free by his Holy Spirit and grants us his liberty.”
“Should it please [God] to exalt us, let us, nevertheless, remain bridled by modesty and sobriety, knowing that we have nothing of our own, and that all that God has given us he must preserve in us moment by moment.”
“Before God we must either stand condemned or free, not according to whether we are better or worse than others, but according to the rule of our Judge, that is, his Word.”
“A man will never be led to true repentance, and will never acknowledge his sins without hypocrisy, unless he is able to close his eyes to all that others are doing, and ask, ‘Now, what does my God require of me? How will I fare before his judgement throne? How will he judge me?’ According to his Word. This will fill us with true reverence for God, and also make us uncomfortable in our sin and subsequently humble us.”