Something is deeply wrong when people claim the Spirit of God while discarding the very Word the Spirit inspired. In today’s reading from John Calvin, we confront the perennial temptation of “spiritual” enthusiasm that substitutes private revelations for Scripture itself. Calvin argues with force and clarity that the Spirit of Christ never leads believers away from the written Word but seals that Word upon the heart. To sever Spirit from Scripture is not freedom but delusion—and it opens the door to endless deception. True illumination comes when the same Spirit who spoke through the prophets and apostles confirms their words within us, binding Word and Spirit together in an unbreakable union (Isaiah 59:21; John 16:13; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Corinthians 3:6).

Readings: John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 9 (Sections 1–3)

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