# “By the knowledge of the gospel” by John Calvin

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2009/07/25/by-the-knowledge-of-the-gospel-by-john-calvin/
- Published: 2009-07-25T10:20:37-05:00
- Author: tollelege

“Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not
Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom folly before God;
strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God.
But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God, brothers of Jesus
Christ, fellow townsmen with the saints, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, heirs
of God with Jesus Christ, by whom the poor are made rich, the weak strong, the fools
wise, the sinner justified, the desolate comforted, the doubting sure, and slaves
free.

The gospel is the Word of life and truth. It is the power of God for the salvation
of all those who believe; and the key to the knowledge of God, which opens the door
of the Kingdom of Heaven to the faithful by releasing them from sins, and closes
it to the unbelievers, binding them in their sins. Blessed are all they who hear
the gospel and keep it; for in this way they show that they are children of God.
Woe to those who will not heart it and follow it; because they are children of the
devil.”

–John Calvin, “Preface to Olivetan’s New Testament,” in [_Calvin: Commentaries (Library of Christian Classics, Vol. XXIII)_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0664241603?ie=UTF8&tag=toletaupanre-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0664241603),
Ed. Joseph Haroutunian (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1958), 66-67. Available
online [here](http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Calvin%20-%20Commentaries.pdf).

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