Sublime

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John Calvin broke with the view that the state was autonomous, arguing for the sole rule of Christ over both church and state (as well as the noninterference between the official bodies). He reopened the way to a Christian view of the state, taking it to be subject, not to the church, but only to the laws of God.

Thus Calvin emphasized that the sacraments “are not strictly the works of men but of God. In Baptism or the Lord’s Supper we do nothing; we simply come to God to receive His grace. Baptism, from our side, is a passive work. We bring nothing to it but faith, which has all things laid up in Christ.”

Calvin the doctrine of the “magistratus inferiores.”

Starting with the sinfulness of humans and the wrath of God against sin, he moves on to tell of God’s grace in salvation, which comes to us through God-given faith and not our works.

The God of Calvinism demanded of his believers not single good works, but a life of good works combined into a unified system.