Reading John Calvin on any theological or biblical subject is a most delightful spiritual experience for those who love the Bible and its teaching. But to those who love mere theology, it must be a most threatening thing to do. For those who have departed from his balanced exegesis of the Scripture. will not find Calvin a comfort.
When it come to those issues that are somewhat 'foreign' to international Calvinism, one could be forgiven for believing that Calvin is in reality an Arminian in other dress! In my early years as a Christian, there was a lot of Wesleyan Arminianism influence on my thinking, influence that I had absorbed lock, stock and barrel. I struggled with its emphasis on the surrendered life, and discovered that no matter how much I thought I had surrendered my life to the Lordship of Christ, there was always to be found in me a column of resistance raising its ugly head. The issue of the surrendered life, while most appealing to the Christian, was unattainable so far as I was concerned.
The result was a revolt against this idea altogether! Until, that is, I read that Calvin in his commentary on Ps.119 taught this very thing! I had believed that this was an Arminian emphasis, and not a reformed one; but how wrong was I? Calvin speaks quite fully and openly on this idea of the surrendered life to Christ it's Lord. It is a most challenging spiritual idea, and one that confronts the stubborn will. And we must remember that "the stubborn will is a rebellious will." The stubborn will has not been surrendered to the Lordship of Christ over it, so if Christ is not a man's Lord, how can He be his Saviour? Is this the theological thinking that lies behind the second blessing theology that is so much part of Arminianism? If a preacher can cause his hearers to believe that they have not yet surrendered their lives fully to Christ, then they had better do it and the doing of it is the second blessing!
Calvin's theology is based on something quite different. His is based on his understanding of the three offices of Christ - Propohet, Priest and King. For Calvin, faith, for it to be real faith, must embrace all three offices. So, if we believe in Christ as King, than that demands that we surrender our lives to Him day by day, living under His kingship on a daily basis. Dr Billy Graham and Dr J. Edwin Orr both emphasised this sadly neglected aspect of the Gospel, as did the FM people and those of a kindred spirit. But it is also an authentically Calvinist emphasis, and one that needs to be reclaimed in our Gospel preaching.
Of course, because many reformed people 'cherry-pick' Calvin's theology, and accept only those parts that agree with Westminster theology, they not only miss out on the gems that Calvin possesses and shares with his readers,they are also in grave danger of mis-representing the great reformer, not a minor sin!
But whatever our theological background and convictions, the question that ought to haunt us is this: are you fully surrendered to Christ as lord of your life?
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