We Are Not Our Own

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19–20

In the middle of the Institutes, between the chapters on repentance and on justification, Calvin placed five short chapters on the Christian life (3.6–10). They are so warm and practical that they were soon printed separately, and they have been read on their own ever since, often under the title The Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life. If you read nothing else of Calvin, read these. And at their heart is the chapter on self-denial, which begins with some of the finest lines he ever wrote.

Whose we are

Calvin builds the whole chapter on Paul’s words: ye are not your own. We are not our own, he says (Institutes 3.7.1); therefore let neither our reason nor our will sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own; therefore let us not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us according to the flesh. We are not our own; therefore let us, as far as we can, forget ourselves and all that is ours.

And then he turns it round. We are God’s; let us therefore live for Him and die for Him. We are God’s; let His wisdom and will rule all our actions. We are God’s; let every part of our life strive towards Him as our only lawful goal.

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. ROMANS 14:7–8

The rhythm of that passage is the rhythm of Calvin’s own life. It is his motto — the heart offered promptly and sincerely — turned into a rule for every believer. He had wanted a quiet life among his books, and he gave it up because he was not his own. What he asked of his readers he had first asked of himself.

Self-denial towards God

Calvin says that self-denial has two sides: one towards God, the other towards our neighbours. Towards God it means surrendering our plans, our wishes and our judgement to His will. It means seeking His glory rather than our own. The greatest enemy here, Calvin says, is self-love, which lies hidden deep in every heart and turns even our good works into a kind of display.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. MATTHEW 16:24

It also means accepting whatever God sends. In Institutes 3.7.8–10 Calvin writes that the believer will not seek wealth, honour or success by any means that God forbids, nor count on his own skill and effort to obtain them. He will commit his plans to God, and if things do not go as he hoped, he will bear it with a quiet mind, because he knows that it is God who gives and withholds. This, says Calvin, is the only way to be at peace in a world of constant change.

Self-denial towards our neighbour

The second side of self-denial is towards other people, and here Calvin is at his most searching. Every one of us, he says, thinks himself superior to others. We flatter our own gifts and belittle theirs. We are quick to notice the faults of others and slow to notice our own. Self-denial means humbling ourselves before one another, honouring the gifts of God in others, and seeking their good rather than our own.

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. PHILIPPIANS 2:3

Then comes one of the most remarkable passages in the whole Institutes (3.7.6). Scripture tells us to do good to all people. But many of them, Calvin says, are unworthy — by their own merits they deserve nothing from us. How then can we love them? Calvin answers that we must not look at what they deserve, but at the image of God in them, which deserves all our honour and love. Is someone a stranger? The Lord has given him a mark that ought to be familiar to you. Is he contemptible and worthless? The Lord shows him to be one whom He has honoured with His image. Has he wronged you? Remember not his malice but the image of God in him, which covers and blots out his offences.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. MATTHEW 5:44

This is Calvin at his best, and it is worth setting beside the harshness that marked some of his public life. The same man who could be so severe with opponents wrote that we must love even those who hate us, for the sake of the image they bear. The reader is entitled to hold him to his own teaching.

Stewards, not owners

Calvin draws another practical rule from this. Whatever gifts we have, he says, we hold as stewards, and we will have to give account of them (Institutes 3.7.5). The only right use of every gift is to share it freely and kindly with others. He compares the church to a body, in which no member keeps its strength for itself but uses it for the whole. The Christian who is rich, gifted or strong has these things not for himself but for his neighbour.

As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 PETER 4:10

This was not theory in Geneva. Calvin’s city was full of refugees, and he pressed the prosperous to give generously for their relief. A later chapter of this book will describe that work.

Freedom in surrender

It might seem that such self-denial would crush the human spirit. Calvin believed the opposite. The person who belongs to himself is a slave to his own desires, anxious, restless and never satisfied. The person who knows he is God’s is free. He does not have to manage his own destiny, defend his own glory, or secure his own future. Those are in better hands.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. MATTHEW 16:25

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Read Calvin’s chapter on self-denial (Institutes 3.7) this week; it is short and among the best things he wrote.

2. Say to yourself each morning: I am not my own. Then ask what that means for one decision you face today.

3. Think of someone you find hard to love. Look for the image of God in them, and do them one practical kindness.

4. List your gifts — money, time, skill, strength — and ask how each could be used for others rather than yourself.

5. Name a plan that has failed or been frustrated. Commit it to God and ask for a quiet mind about it.

A PRAYER

Lord, I am not my own. I was bought with a price, and I belong to You in body and spirit.

Root out the self-love that hides in my heart and spoils even my good works.

Teach me to see Your image in every person, even those who wrong me, and to love them for Your sake.

Make me a faithful steward of all You have given me, and set me free by the surrender of myself to You. Amen.