John Calvin’s Commentary on Colossians Chapter One

Christ is the center of The Faith.

 

Anything else purporting to be so denies him his rightful role. In preparation for a sermon in the morning, I came across the following quote in John Calvin’s commentary on Colossians chapter one. How many of us can say we understand the truth of the Gospel so well that we can begin to divide it as succinctly from falsehood and in that underscore it so wonderfully?:

 

“Papists in common with us acknowledge one and the same Christ; yet in the meantime how great a difference there is between us and them, inasmuch as they, after confessing Christ to be the Son of God, transfer his excellence to others, and scatter it hither and thither, and thus leave him next to empty, or at least rob him of a great part of his glory, so that he is called, it is true, by them the Son of God, but, nevertheless, he is not such as the Father designed he should be towards us. If, however, Papists would cordially embrace what is contained in this chapter, we would soon be perfectly agreed, but the whole of Popery would fall to the ground, for it cannot stand otherwise than through ignorance of Christ. This will undoubtedly be acknowledged by everyone that will but consider the main article of this first chapter; for his grand object here is that we may know that Christ is the beginning, middle, and end—that it is from him that all things must be sought—that nothing is, or can be found, apart from him.”