22 Volumes

So I just got a killer deal on a full set of John Calvin's commentaries.
Since I'm preaching through James at SIX33 now, when they arrived yesterday, I pulled the commentary on James out and started reading where I am in Chapter 1.
Already it's so rich and helpful.

Here's just a little tidbit that I came across and the thoughts it sparked:

James 1:21-22
"Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

John Calvin says of this passage:
The "doer" of v.22 is "he who from the heart embraces God's word and testifies by his life that he really believes... for he shews by the fruits what that implanting is... we ought to labor that the word of the Lord should strike roots in us, so that it may afterwards fructify."

Reading these two verses reminds me of Hosea 10:12 where it says to "sow for yourselves righetousness... break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord"

We must daily meditate on and embrace the Gospel. Our lives are a testimony to what we truly believe. A genuine believer's life will be a beautiful testimony to the Gospel. We must make every effort to plant and cultivate God's word in the soil of our hearts so that we bear much fruit and so prove to be disciples of Jesus (John 15:8).

Rob
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