Calvin's Institutes: March 23

A common misunderstanding about the Bible is the idea that the Old Testament and the New Testament teach two completely different religions. In today’s reading from Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 2, Chapter 11, John Calvin argues strongly against that idea. He explains that the difference between the two testaments is not in their substance but in their administration. The promises of God are the same in both, and Christ is the foundation of both. Under the Old Testament, God guided His people toward the hope of eternal life through earthly symbols and blessings—especially the promise of the land of Canaan. These earthly gifts were never meant to be the final goal but were intended to train the people of Israel to look beyond them to a heavenly inheritance. Calvin points to Abraham and the Psalms to show that the saints of the Old Testament understood this: their true portion was not the land itself but the Lord. He then explains that the ceremonies and sacrifices of the Law functioned as shadows pointing forward to Christ, while the Gospel reveals the reality those shadows anticipated. In other words, the Old Testament prepared the Church under a veil, and the New Testament reveals clearly what was already promised—salvation through Christ alone.

Readings:

John Calvin Institutes of the Christian Religion — Book 2, Chapter 11, Sections 1–4

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