Calvin in the Grip of God’s Goodness

What drove John Calvin to teach the Bible and to preach the Gospel of Christ every single day until his death? Was the leader of the Reformation driven by some narrow theological points? Rather the bedrock of his theology was something very plain and practical. A simple truth separated John Calvin from the world and from worry, and gave him pastoral wisdom like few other men. The great experiential counterweight for the burden of his own sin and for the work of the Reformation was the simple goodness of God. This perfection of God was the single driving force of all Calvin’s devotion. Goodness is the great thing above all things Calvin wants us to know about God

In the Institutes Calvin immediately gives credit to God’s goodness alone. In the very first sentence of the introduction he speaks of God’s “boundless goodness” in giving success to the Institutes for the benefit of the Church of God.

In Book I, Chapter 2 Calvin describes God as “the origin and fountain of all goodness”. He saw goodness as alive in God, but also on the move among men.

Calvin elaborates in Book II Chapter 3: “The goodness of God is so connected with His Godhead, that it is not more necessary to be God than to be good. . . He cannot do evil”. Calvin knew fallen man is sinful. He knew that God alone is good. But he also saw the Bible truth that God is always good. From day one to the day of his passing, Calvin loved God for the perfection and assurance of all His goodness.

In Book I, Chapter 5 Calvin writes, “If it be asked what cause induced Him to create all things at first, and now inclines Him to preserve them, we shall find that there could be no other cause than His own goodness. . . But if this is the only cause, nothing more should be required to draw forth our love towards Him. . .” Such simplicity buttresses the warmest of theology and fosters loving worship towards God.

Calvin sounds the glory of God’s goodness in his commentary on Ephesians 1:12. “There is nothing more His own, in which he desires to be glorified, than His goodness.”

God’s goodness was Calvin’s constant song in all his writings. Calvin could easily have barely mentioned the truth of God’s goodness. He could easily have stressed other Biblical truths or some finely-pitched theological point in place of this theme. Rather he so often spoke of the goodness of God because he saw it so often in the Bible. Look for this theme in all Calvin’s writing, but especially in all the Scriptures.

What drives you and me to keep living the Christian life? May it be the Scripture truth of the goodness of God. Without grasping this most basic truth, all our talk of the God’s sovereignty and salvation will be gray. But when we are in the grip of God’s goodness, then all God’s ways in our lives are vibrant. Then the very real blood of His only Son will be “the good news of Christ” to us and to our hearers, just as it is to God.

Phil Urie is a member of the Hazleton Area Reformed Presbyterian Church in Hazleton, PA (RPCNA). He graduated from Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh in 2000 with a Masters in Theological Studies degree. Phil and his wife, Fran, married in 1982 and they have three grown children. He works as a State Agriculture Inspector in Northeastern PA.