As Luther and Melancthon were to the reformation in Germany, so William Farel and John Calvin were to the reformation in France. Even before Farel and Calvin, the work of the reformation had begun in France. Around 1512, James Lefevre, a doctor at the university of Paris, preached that “true religion had but one foundation, one object, one head — Jesus Christ.” Lefevre was the first to translate the entire Bible into French.
William Farel
William Farel was born in Dauphiny in the year 1489. As a student at the University of Paris, he heard the teaching of James Lefevre. With his heart stirred by the gospel, he searched the scriptures, and the light of the glorious gospel shone into his life: “The apostles shed a strong light upon my soul. A voice, till now unknown, the voice of Jesus, my Shepherd, my Master, my Teacher, speaks to me with power.”
William Farel was an energetic man. Wherever he went, he boldly proclaimed the gospel, also speaking out against popery. Naturally, such a man stirred up many who would silence him. Seeing his way cut off, in 1524 Farel moved from France to Basle in Switzerland. Continuing his work in Switzerland, he worked his way towards Geneva, reaching that city in the autumn of 1532. The effect of his preaching was such that he had to leave that city for a time, but he returned again in December, 1533. Eventually, not only Geneva, but also Lausanne and its territories were converted to the reformed faith. At this time, Switzerland became a refuge for those fleeing persecution in other lands. Among those that arrived in Geneva was one, John Calvin, a feeble and sickly man but of tremendous ability.
John Calvin
John Calvin was born on July 10th, 1509, at Noyon in France. Having received a good education, he went on to study in Paris. Calvin was a rigid Romanist, and resisted the teaching of the reformers. For three years, from 1523 to 1527, Calvin struggled with the truth until, in his own words: “When I was the obstinate slave of the superstitions of popery, and it seemed impossible to drag me out of the deep mire, God by a sudden conversion subdued me, and made my heart more obedient to His word.” Giving up the altar of Rome, he turned to the study of Civil Law, but theology was his interest, and he returned to the study of the scriptures. Like Farel before him, he was compelled to flee France for Switzerland.
In 1535, while at Basle, he published the Institutes of the Christian Religion, a work that he continued to expand and amend over the years. In 1536, at the age of 27, while passing through Geneva, he came to the attention of William Farel. Though young, he was well known as the author of The Institutes. Farel, in his energetic style, compelled Calvin to remain in Geneva. Calvin found his new posts in that city no easy tasks. He treated the state as a theocracy and under the threatened judgments of the Old Testament, sought to compel the citizens to conform to the law of God. As a result, both Farel and Calvin were banished by the citizens of the city in 1538. However, two years later, the council was urging Master Jean Calvinus to return, “to be minister in this city.”
Calvin was a most prodigious writer; besides books he was also the author of innumerable letters. Calvin treated subjects intellectually with a certain coldness and hardness. He pursued subjects to the point of falling into positive error, particularly regarding the sufferings of Christ. He took predestination too far — the 21st chapter of The Institutes addresses predestination, “of some to salvation and others to destruction.” The latter thought is positively in error; no man has been predestinated to destruction.
Predestination
To predestinate means to mark out beforehand, to predetermine. And what was predetermined? That we should be conformed to the image of His Son. It is not merely that God saw beforehand what some would be, and do, or believe. His foreknowledge was of persons: “whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate.”
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [His] purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-3028And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:28‑30)).
To suggest that God saw in time past something in us, by which we gained by merit the distinction of being predestinated for blessing, is completely contrary to our understanding of salvation. We do not merit salvation. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation. It is only through His sovereign grace that we are saved: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8)).
Predestination goes deeper yet. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.
If we feel uncomfortable with this, is it perhaps because our minds spring to the opposite — therefore God created some men for destruction? God did not predestinate any to destruction. He would have all men to be saved. The work of Calvary goes out to all — “Who gave Himself a ransom for all”9 — the provision has been made. We do not feel that the man of Luke 14:16-2416Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. (Luke 14:16‑24) was unfair to the men that refused the invitation to the great supper, when he compelled those in the highways and hedges to come in — “that my house may be filled.” Nevertheless, those in the highways and hedges would not have come of their own accord either. Predestination does not absolve man of responsibility. We see God’s grace and man’s responsibility throughout scripture. All men will be held accountable for accepting or rejecting the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Presbyterianism
Calvin distinguished between charges and gifts; consequently he saw the difference between the bishop (a charge or office) and pastor (a gift, Ephesians 4:1111And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; (Ephesians 4:11)). He admitted that gifts were needed for ministry. Calvin founded the system of church government called Presbyterianism, where the elders, or presbyters, are equal.
While Calvin made progress on many things, he was not entirely freed from the thoughts of the day. In the words of another: I may see a clearness and recognition of the authority of scripture in Calvin, which delivered him and those he taught (yet more than Luther) from the corruptions and superstitions which had overwhelmed Christendom, and through it the minds of most saints. Calvin admitted the things that he found in the Word, then added traditions and customs. He created a system which the light that then existed bore with.10