The great Reformer...
Illustration
Object:
The great Reformer John Calvin claimed that this text testifies to "how great is the blindness of the human mind..." (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XX/1, p. 396). "Hence it is necessary that we should be directed by the Spirit of God, or we shall wander forever. From this too it follows, that all things that pertain to the true knowledge of God are the gifts of the Holy Spirit" (Ibid., p. 397). The Holy Spirit works all the good things we have in life. All the gifts we have in the ministry of the church are gifts of the Holy Spirit. But our gifts only help the church when "we stay in our own lane." Calvin again offers good advice: "... every one is to be satisfied with his own calling and not to invade in another's territory..." (Ibid., p. 404).
The text has implications for how we talk about and operate in the church in order to keep harmony. Martin Luther's primary colleague in the Reformation, Philip Melanchthon, offered a stimulating observation in this connection:
For he [Paul] says that love is a bond or unbroken chain in order to show that he is talking about linking and binding together the many members of the church with one another. In all families and communities harmony needs to be nurtured by mutual responsibilities, and it is not possible to preserve tranquility unless people overlook and forgive certain mistakes among themselves.
(The Book of Concord [2000 ed.], p. 155)
The text has implications for how we talk about and operate in the church in order to keep harmony. Martin Luther's primary colleague in the Reformation, Philip Melanchthon, offered a stimulating observation in this connection:
For he [Paul] says that love is a bond or unbroken chain in order to show that he is talking about linking and binding together the many members of the church with one another. In all families and communities harmony needs to be nurtured by mutual responsibilities, and it is not possible to preserve tranquility unless people overlook and forgive certain mistakes among themselves.
(The Book of Concord [2000 ed.], p. 155)
