Institutes of Christian religion - Calvin - LI - Chapter 20 of Book 3 concluded

Required reading
Institutes of Christian religion by John Calvin (Available from Amazon or free here) - Conclude Chapter 20 of Book 3.

My summary
This week we conclude Calvin's chapter on prayer.

Calvin now looks at what we can learn from the Lord's prayer.

Calvin teaches us that:
(i) 'our father' reminds us of brotherly love;
(ii) 'who art in heaven' reminds us that God is far beyond reach of change or corruption;
(iii) 'hallowed be thy name' bespeaks of our great disgrace in not honouring his name;
(iv) 'thy kingdom come' shows we must deny ourselves and be devoted to righteousness;
(v) 'thy will be done' is not referring to the secret will of God but to voluntary obedience;
(vi) 'give us this day our daily bread' refers to physical food;
(vii) 'forgive us our debts' is linked with the forgiveness we show others;
(viii) 'lead us not into temptation' shows our need of assistance to render us invincible to all the wiles and violent assaults of Satan;
(ix) 'thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever' is a calm and firm assurance of our faith.

Calvin concludes his discussion of the Lord's prayer by remarking that although it may be modified, 'no man should wish, expect, or ask anything which is not summarily comprehended in this prayer.'

What grabbed me
I liked Calvin's comments about the need to forgive others: ' it is to be observed that the condition of being forgiven as we forgive our debtors, is not added because by forgiving others we deserve forgiveness, as if the cause of forgiveness were expressed; but by the use of this expression the Lord has been pleased partly to solace the weakness of our faith, using it as a sign to assure us that our sins are as certainly forgiven as we are certainly conscious of having forgiven others, when our mind is completely purged from all envy, hatred, and malice; and partly using as a badge by which he excludes from the number of his children all who, prone to revenge and reluctant to forgive, obstinately keep up their enmity, cherishing against others that indignation which they deprecate from themselves; so that they should not venture to invoke him as a Father. In the Gospel of Luke, we have this distinctly stated in the words of Christ. '

If you can forgive others, it is a sign that you have been forgiven.

Next week's reading
Read Chapter 21 of Book 3.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.