Comment on Summary Ch. 4 Book 1

I like your summary of chapter 4 of book 1 on the institutes, the idea that we rely on ourselves and our experience as the standard for our living rather than the knowledge supplied by God seems to be the core issue of most problems in life. Folks of a similar sub-culture and experience may find consensus however at the exclusion of all, or at least most, other perspectives. If we rely on the holy standard provided by God in scripture then the standard for our living becomes truth and a true knowledge of God. It’s understandable how the Pharisees and Jewish church leaders failed to recognize the Messiah and missed the divinity of Jesus since they had reformed the scriptures to the convenience of their own experience and thoughtful considerations; consequently, they no longer saw the messianic passages clearly. Since the resurrection of Jesus, folks will sometimes fall into a trap of reforming the Gospels and New Testament scriptures to the convenience of their experience and/or thoughtful considerations. It’s unfortunate because our faith in the divinity of Jesus is the true knowledge of God and it represents the power which permits a Christian to live a redeemed life, that is, a life which fulfils our purpose for existence and allows us to develop an ever increasing knowledge of God through our faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in our daily activities. I often think of the ignorance, wickedness and superstition, which Calvin focuses on, as a force similar to gravity. The evil principalities and powers which we contend with are surely present in this life however they are quite subtle. Since man lost grace, at the time of Adam and Eve, only God’s personal intervention, into the life of man, has kept the glory of God from being “smothered” by this error to create God in our own image rather than the realization that we are created in His image.