For as in Adam all die, euen so in Christ shall all be made aliue, But euery man in his owne order: the first fruites is Christ, afterward, they that are of Christ, at his coming shall rise againe. Then shalbe the end, when he hath deliuered vp the kingdome to God, euen the Father, when he hath put downe all rule, and all authoritie and power. For he must reigne till hee hath put all his enemies vnder his feete.
(1 Corinthians 15:22-25 Geneva)



Thursday, January 6, 2011

The prayerless Christian. Oxymoron?

"To know God as the sovereign disposer of all good, inviting us to present our requests, and yet not to approach or ask of him, were so far from availing us, that it were just as if one told of a treasure were to allow it to remain buried in the ground. Hence the Apostle, to show that a faith unaccompanied with prayer to God cannot be genuine, states this to be the order: As faith springs from the Gospel, so by faith our hearts are framed to call upon the name of God (Rom. 10:14). And this is the very thing which he had expressed some time before, viz., that the Spirit of adoption, which seals the testimony of the Gospel on our hearts, gives us courage to make our requests known unto God, calls forth groanings which cannot be uttered, and enables us to cry, Abba, Father (Rom. 8:26)."

-John Calvin "on Prayer"