17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,” (1 Timothy 1:17–19 (ESV)
The following is a sermon by 16th century Protestant reformer, pastor, and theologian John Calvin (1509-1564). He addresses the subject of the believer’s assurance of salvation.
If we had any worthiness in us which might come anywhere near to this glory of God, which he mentions here, we still could not help but be bound to him; but when we know that we are but worms, and that there is nothing in our nature but wretchedness and misery, and that there is neither life nor strength, nor anything else whatsoever, and come to this infinite highness, which is God; this ought to move us much more to set forth praises. We see then what St. Paul aimed at when he gave God these titles, that is to say, when he clothed him with immortality, with glory, with everlasting rule and wisdom. It is to the end that men should humble themselves and exalt the majesty of God, as it deserves.
St. Paul meant to give us here a general rule which we ought to keep and observe, thinking upon our redemption. For if a man asks us why God has chosen us, why he has enlightened us, and hath left so many miserable and wretched in blindness, why he changed us and turned us to him by his Holy Spirit, and others remain in their hardness, we cannot say that we are better than they, and therefore God preferred us before those whom he left alone, neither that we are worthier than they; there is not such matter.
So, what was it then? We must come to that which is spoken in the eleventh chapter to the Romans. When he speaks of the judgments of God he cries out, how incomprehensible are your ways! And who has given to him that he should repay them? Who can brag that he has brought anything of his own that he may say that God should be moved to love him more than another? No, no, men are void of all goodness, there is nothing in them but confusion and shame of face, and God accepts and calls whom he wants, and calls them in such a way that there is no goodness in them, but he changes them, and renews them by the grace of his Holy Spirit, that where they were inheritors of death, where there was nothing in them but curse, he reforms them to his image, he plants life and an incorruptible seed in them. When we know these things, what can we say, but be astonished and cry out as St. Paul does there. What a bottomless pit is the grace of God! How incomprehensible are his ways! So then let us mark well that we shall never know our redemption thoroughly until we come to that astonishment which was in St. Paul, and which ought to be in all the faithful. And this is the main thing we should notice from these verses.
But so that what we have discussed in a few words may be better and more fully understood, when St. Paul calls God, King of worlds, he means that we must not presume to measure him according to their sense and season. Why? What are we but a shadow which rises up suddenly, and by and by vanishes away? What distance then, and what difference is there between God and us? And who can reach unto this highness which is in his unmovable counsel? And therefore, if we will judge rightly of the works of God, let us learn to bridle our senses and not play the colts that have broken lose; for we cannot climb so high as that everlasting kingdom is, since we are but creatures which pass straight away and change at every turning of a finger. There is no certainty in us. Since this is so, we know that we must reverence the great secrets of God, for we cannot know them by our reason.
For the better confirmation hereof, he adds, that God is immortal. Not as the angels are, neither as our souls are, but as it is said in another verse, that God alone has immortality in himself. Truly God created the angels with this condition, that they should be immortal and should live forever; the soul of man likewise does not perish in death, it is not put out. But yet if we mark how our souls are immortal, it is not of their own nature, this virtue of life is not shut up within them, but it is borrowed and comes another way. For so much then as it pleases God to maintain our souls with his virtue, in this respect they have a being and have a remaining; and hence comes their immortality. As much is to be said of the angels of paradise, if God did not keep them in that state which he gave them, they would come to nothing.
Therefore, it is not without cause that here St. Paul calls God immortal; and thereby shows that there is no life in us, and if we be so foolish to persuade ourselves that we live by our own virtue, we abuse ourselves too much; seeing it is so that we hold our life at God’s hand, let us confess that he gives us all the rest likewise by his mere grace. And in calling him invisible he shows that it is not in us to seek him out to the bottom, and to search his secret and hidden things; for the more men strive to busy themselves in searching beyond measure the secrets of God more than they should, the more shall they vanish away and become fools.
Therefore, we have to note that St. Paul’s meaning is to instruct us to soberness and reverence, when he calls God invisible. We see also that pride that is in us, that if the question be to talk of God, every man will have his mouth open to speak at random; and instead of asking him to open himself up to us, so far forth as is expedient for us, there is not one of us that is not too rash to speak whatever comes into his brain without further consideration and thinking about it.
Seeing then such boldness in men, let us not think it is strange that St. Paul would bridle them here, showing them that God is invisible, so that they would not be too curious to inquire after him beyond measure. It is very true that God is invisible in such a way that he declares himself to us by his living image, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. Truly he keeps back many secrets which are hidden from us, which we cannot attain to; for if he did show himself to us in all his perfection, what humbleness would there be in us, seeing that as yet, we cannot be beaten down with our ignorance?
And although it is clearly proved to our faces that our wits are so simple, so rude, so small, so gross, that it is a wonder to see us, and we may be ashamed; yet we will be fine and subtle, and every one of us will be aloft until we break our necks again. If then God should reveal himself fully to us, how would men put forth themselves, I ask you? Therefore, it is good for us, that our Lord reveals himself in measured out portions, as the Scripture also says, that the knowledge of God is given to everyone as it pleased our Lord Jesus Christ and as he knew it would be profitable for us.
Nevertheless, God does not wholly hide himself. He shows himself to us so that we may know him, as far as it is expedient and fit for us. He is not reluctant to give to us, but we may know so much of secrets as is good for us; but let us remember first of all that he is invisible in himself. By this we are reminded that we cannot know him except by the means of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the reason why he calls himself in Scripture the image of the invisible God; for it is as much as if the Holy Spirit should condemn all our foolish speculations which we invent when there is any question to think upon God.
Every man imagines what he desires; for when men shape for themselves a God like this they wrap themselves in a thousand errors. Therefore, let us be content to be brought to Jesus Christ simply, learning to rest ourselves wholly upon him so that we may behold God whose image he is. We must remember this. Moreover, let us be content to know that which we have learned in the school of our Lord Jesus Christ- he is the image of God, in fact, the perfect image, and there is no fault to be found in this.
It is not a half-drawn picture because in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. And it is said moreover that in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and understanding. Nevertheless, our Lord Jesus Christ shows us God his Father in a way we are able to bear and understand, and in a way that is profitable and necessary for us. Let us be content with that measure, for he who would be too curious and go beyond the school of our Lord Jesus Christ will completely drown himself. It would be like a man who despises to hear Jesus Christ speak or to behold the clearness which is shown to us in the Gospel.
Truly we only know things partially, as Saint Paul says elsewhere; we only have a taste of the knowledge of our God, we profit from it daily through the whole course of our lives but we shall never come to the fullness of knowledge unless we put off our flesh. As it is said, we cannot see God as he is in his glory until the time we become wholly made like unto his image. Nevertheless, he will accomplish what St. Paul speaks of: that in the midst of our imperfections, in the midst of our rudeness, we will not cease to see God face to face, to have personal knowledge of him, that he will therein show himself truly to be our Father. This is just what our Lord Jesus Christ claimed, saying that he counts his disciples as friends instead of servants. He said, ‘for a servant will not know his master’s counsel, but I have shown myself directly to you and have revealed to you the secrets of my Father.’ (John 15:15)
This is a marvelous thing that our Lord Jesus does for us, by not giving us total knowledge while we are in this mortal life, but only according to our capacity. Yet he does not cease to reveal that this is good for us, so that we know God intimately and have free access to him, understanding his secrets to the degree that is expedient and profitable for us. All of this is what we should learn from this word where St. Paul calls God invisible. And surely a man would think that this doctrine is sufficiently well understood.
More to come. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.
Soli deo Gloria!
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