Self-Progress - Institutes of Christian Religion 9

John Calvin:

"...he who is most deeply abased and alarmed, by the consciousness of his disgrace, nakedness, want, and misery, has made the greatest progress in the knowledge of himself. Man is in no danger of taking too much from himself, provided he learns that whatever he wants is to be recovered in God." Institutes of Christian Religion, Book II, Chap. II, 231.

Nobody, well hardly anybody, says this kind of thing nowadays, which is why guys like John Calvin are good for the soul. It rescues the modern person from thinking more highly of themselves than they ought.

The "greatest progress"? Wouldn't many say that is nothing close to progress? Progress is thinking of yourself better; of realizing self-actualization; of esteeming yourself more...not of being conscious of your disgrace, your nakedness, your want, your misery; yet that is where, Calvin says, is the greatest progress of self-knowledge you can find. Most consider this foolishness. For many this is not progress but retrogression.

There is a key qualification here, lest one think that Calvin is simply a sin-monger and on a self-negativity binge; it is: "provided." Provided one knows that Jesus has recovered all that was lost in the fall of man; provided one knows that in Adam all are dead, and in Jesus dead men are made alive again; provided one knows that the old man has been crucified and the new man has been resurrected; provided one knows that Jesus has restored and changed fallen humanity into a new humanity--this kind of self-knowledge is good for you.

So, yes, consider your utter sinfulfness and you will know yourself truly, and then looking at your sinfulness turn your eyes to Jesus and trust in him. He has recovered and restored all that you've lost in and of yourself, and replaced sinfulness with righteousness.

I pray phrases like this increase your view of the debaseness of yourself and the deliverance found in Jesus. Think worse of yourself and more of Jesus. This is a good thing, and demonstrates mental health and psychological wholeness. To me all this sounds like that crazy guy at the beginning of the New Testament, John the Baptizer, who would probably be categorized in the DSM-IV with a mental illness due to just eating grasshoppers and honey and wandering in the wilderness, but was one of the most mentally healthy men alive. He said, speaking of Jesus and himself, "He must increase, and I must decrease" (Jn. 3:30). Thank God for this kind of self-depreciation, which is self-progress.