The Corruption Of 'Teachings In John Calvin's Letter'

In the letter John Calvin brought up several key points, which support how important scripture is in someone’s life. First of all, Calvin introduced king Francis to the circumstances the book was written, then he talked about the plea for the persecuted evangelicals, where he addressed that a king should be a Godly king in order to fulfill his roles. Furthermore, he explained more in depth that the church leaders oppose the reformation teachings in many forms, then he suggested that church fathers seem to favor customs over truth. Finally, he drew the king’s attention to be aware of false charges as the innocent await divine vindication. Calvin was trying to build the king’s awareness, and discussed many potential issues that the church is facing and could face in the near future.

Calvin indicated his reasons clearly at the beginning of the letter, where he stated, “From this you may learn the nature of the doctrine against which those madmen burn with range who today disturb your realm with sword and fire” (Calvin, J., Battles, F., & H.H.

Meeter, 1986). He explained that the king as a ruler has to follow God’s order and fully submit himself to serve God’s glory; and only then he is fulfilling his role as a king. He further explains that we often use God Word as our pretext, but we often corrupt it and twist the meaning of His Words for our own benefits (Calvin, et. al., 1986). Moreover, the Bible talks about that “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God” (“Bible Gateway passage,” n.d.). This supports Calvin statement as a scriptural evidence that God’s Word is holy and should not be corrupted and used for our own

goods.
Furthermore, Calvin touched on a key component and a concurrent issue, that many were more appealed to customs than to the word of God, which is the eternal truth. He talks about sin and refers to the story of Noah, specifically to the flooding. As flooding was a result of the people being sinful and corrupt so he called the kings attention to the fact that multitude of sin, could result something disastrous. Moreover, he discussed that if people are in Christ then the Church of Christ has lived and will live as long as Christ, therefore, forever. Calvin futher explains what he meant by the church by giving examples that the church can exist without any visible appearance. At that period, even now people like to attach something tangible with something meaningful. He highlighted to the king that as Christ has descended to the Heavens the church is still present in Him. The scripture supports his point in the following verse, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ” (“Bible Gateway passage,” n.d.). The church might be invisible, but this does not mean it is not there, therefore, believers should not loose courage due to this, but conquer the invisibility through faith.
In conclusion, Calvin’s letter to king Francis shook the awareness concerning the issues that the church was facing during that time. He supported his statements by God’s own Words from the scripture; moreover, he highlighted the importance of truly submitting ourselves to the truth. Finally, what stood out to me the most in his letter to Francis, is when he talked about the church as it is being invisible to us. This gives me assurance that God is in control of the Church, which is the body of Christ, and I cannot do anything about it, but believe and have faith. This is one of the major components that Christianity is focused on, which sometimes seem to be challenging.