institutes of the christian religion

so, i had mentioned that i was going to write about the study i am doing on the institutes of the Christian religion by John Calvin. I think that i will pick a small portion of the institutes and then comment on it. that should suffice to give a small peek into what a massive wealth of knowledge of Scripture Calvin possessed.

book one, chapter one, section two

Without Knowledge Of God There Is No Knowledge Of Self;

"On the other hand, it is evident that man never attains to a
true self-knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face
of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.
For (such is our innate pride) we always seem to ourselves just, and
upright, and wise, and holy, until we are convinced, by clear
evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and impurity.
Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only, and
not to the Lord also - He being the only standard by the application
of which this conviction can be produced. For, since we are all
naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of righteousness
is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself. And
since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted
with very great impurity, so long as we keep our mind within the
confines of human pollution, anything which is in some small degree
less defiled delights us as if it were most pure just as an eye, to
which nothing but black had been previously presented, deems an
object of a whitish, or even of a brownish hue, to be perfectly
white. Nay, the bodily sense may furnish a still stronger
illustration of the extent to which we are deluded in estimating the
powers of the mind. If, at mid-day, we either look down to the
ground, or on the surrounding objects which lie open to our view, we
think ourselves endued with a very strong and piercing eyesight; but
when we look up to the sun, and gaze at it unveiled, the sight which
did excellently well for the earth is instantly so dazzled and
confounded by the refulgence, as to oblige us to confess that our
acuteness in discerning terrestrial objects is mere dimness when
applied to the sun. Thus too, it happens in estimating our spiritual
qualities. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite
pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address
ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than
demigods. But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and
reflect what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of
that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard,
we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its
false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest
iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom
will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance
of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable
impotence. So far are those qualities in us, which seem most
perfect, from corresponding to the divine purity."


so in other words, we are self deceiving, self righteous sinners who do not know what is good until we look to God. i love how he talks about the eye that looks on black, when it sees a brown or dirty white it thinks it to be pure white even though it's far from it. so when we look at man our entire lives, a person who has some moral standards tends to look like that pure white. in reality they are nothing more then brown. we need to look to God to see the real white. is this not what we hear over and over again on the streets, "oh yes i'm a good person" "i'm not really any worse then anyone else" or "compared to some people i am really good". well there it is, compared to people a lot of others are good, but compared to God there are none righteous no not one!

hagee the heretic?

i am not sure what kind of theology this is. i have some idea about what he believes, and just by hearing the few things in this video i think its safe to say the man is a heretic. i mean he flat out denies that Jesus Christ is the messiah. he claims that Jesus never said he was messiah and that the Jew's never denied him. i do not go around randomly calling people heretics, still and all Paul says to mark them and so i did. thoughts?

obamanation!

ok last political statement for a while! thought it was worth it for a little laugh.

green house gases good for the earth?

very interesting indeed. see here. we all know by now that kyoto and every other agreement like it are nothing more then a ploy to keep a liberal agenda in motion. one that threatens the very existence of this nation. not to mention if this info is correct, it's a danger to the very earth it's claiming to protect.

the crown only comes after the cross

Matthew Henry comments,"there is a proneness in good men to expect the crown without the cross". He said that about this text, "Mat 17:4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias". R.C. Sproul says "Peter is ready to celebrate the fullness of the messianic age". he had missed the whole picture. in fact most everyone thought Christ would be setting up the kingdom right away. they where looking for a king, not a lamb, and certainly not a sacrifice. we as a fallin people often see what we want, we expect certain things in certain ways according to our own desires. the problem with this is that when God steps in and reveals to us His way, the right way, we have a hard time excepting it, and an even harder time understanding it. somethings we never understand. but none the less God still comes in his grace and mercy to correct his lost sheep. to pull us back and right us on the straight and narrow way. when we trust in our own understanding and refuse to be open to the leading of spiritual men, and the Spirit of God, we do ourselves a huge disservice. not to mention we miss our chance to be used by God. let's not forget, God ordains that men be his mouth piece here on earth. but if we don't understand the message what good are we.

John Calvin

thus it comes about that we see men who in his absence normally remained firm and constant, but who, when he manifests his glory, are so shaken and struck dumb as to be laid low by the dread of death - are in fact overwhelmed by it and almost annihilated: John Calvin 1538 .

Shai Linne - theology rapper?

how do you feel about this? i tend to think it's fine, and not only fine but kinda of amazing. this guy puts more theology into one rap then most preachers put into a year of sermons! and that is the sad fact. the man is preaching flows that are biblically sound in doctrine, exalting Christ, Glorifying God, faithful to scripture, and not only that...... he is good. but i would like to know, what do you think about it?