John Calvin on True Piety

“True piety consists in a sincere feeling which loves God as Father as much as it fears and reverences him as Lord, embraces his righteousness, and dreads offending him worse than death.”

How is piety obtained? “Piety is always built on knowledge of the true God and knowledge requires instruction.” “That which can educate a man’s piety demands sane doctrine.”

– Quoted in David B. Calhoun, Knowing God and Ourselves: Reading Calvin’s Institutes Devotionally (Banner of Truth: Edinburgh, 2016), 16-17.