Sárospataki Füzetek 13. (2009)
2009 / 4. szám - TANULMÁNYOK
I. John Hesselink 7. The Life of the Christian I shall be quoting from the final 1559 edition of the Institutes which differs slightly from the version published as The Golden Booklet of the Christian Life. The greatest differences are in the shorter titles given by the translator of The Golden Booklet. For example he titles Chapter I “Humble Obedience, the True Imitation of Christ,” whereas the title of the equivalent chapter in the Institutes (Book III, Chapter 6) reads: “The Life of the Christian Man; and First, by What Arguments Scripture Urges Us to It.” Chapter VII is on “The Sum of the Christian Life: The Denial of Ourselves”; Chapter VIII, “Bearing the Cross, A Part of Self-Denial”; Chapter IX, “Meditation on the Future Life”; and Chapter X, “How We Must Use the Present Life and Its Helps.” The focus of this lecture is on the last two chapters, which I shall discuss in that order, despite the title of this lecture. Before proceeding to the topic at hand, however, I want to quote at length one of the most eloquent passages in this part of the Institutes. It is an illustration of rhetoric at its best, in this case the repetition of the phrases “We are not our own ... we are God’s.” This is based on two texts: Romans 12:1 and 2: “. . . present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. . .; and 1 Corinthians 6:19: “. . . you are not your own.” Then follows one of the most frequently quoted passages from the Institutes: Now the great thing is this: we are consecrated and dedicated to God in order that we may thereafter think, speak, meditate, and do, nothing except to his glory. For a sacred thing may not be applied to profane uses without marked injury to him. If we, then, are not our own [cf. 1 Cor. 6:19] but the Lord’s, it is clear what error we must flee, and whither we must direct all the acts of our life. We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us according to the flesh. We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours. Conversely, we are God’s: let us therefore live for him and die for him. We are God’s: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. We are God’s: let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal [Rom. 14:8; cf. 1 Cor. 6:19]. O, how much has that man profited who, having been taught that he is not his own, has taken away dominion and rule from his own reason that he may yield it to God! For, as consulting our self-interest is the pestilence that most effectively leads to our destruction, so the sole haven of salvation is to be wise in nothing and to will nothing through ourselves but to follow the leading of the Lord alone. Let this therefore be the first step, that a man depart from himself in order that he may apply the whole force of his ability in the service of the
