“Converted on Calvary” is a phrase often attributed to the nineteenth-century preacher H.F. Kohlbrugge. However, we do not encounter this exact statement with him. Yet the words are characteristic of all the pastoral work and preaching of Kohlbrugge.

“Once again I was born in Bethlehem and on Calvary,” is a phrase from a sermon for Pentecost by Kohlbrugge. The words could be heard on 5 June 1854 from the pulpit of the Niederländisch-reformierte Gemeinde (Dutch Reformed Church) in Elberfeld.

Speaking Canaanite⤒🔗

It is Pentecost Monday and Kohlbrugge leads his church’s service that morning. As the theme for his sermon, he chooses: “Speaking Canaanite.” This time he wants to teach his church as a catechist, and he does this in question-and-answer format. “Because the form of a catechism is the best way of teaching now, we, too, want to teach ourselves by way of questions and answers. You look at me and I look at you, and we ask and answer the following based on God’s Word.”

This sermon is an adaptation of the booklet The Language of Canaan, which appeared around 1850 and deals, in an allegorical way, with what a Christian encounters on his way to the heavenly Jerusalem. In this writing, “Ask-Freely” and “Straight-Forward” have a conversation.

In the sermon’s introduction, Kohlbrugge says that he wants everyone to know what country he is from, “whether he says Schibboleth or Sibboleth.” The first questions he asks are: “What is your name, what is your religion, and how old are you?”

Birthplace←⤒🔗

Then comes question four: “Where were you born?” Kohlbrugge mentions six places where he was born (again): “First I was born in a paradise, but I died there. Furthermore, I reckon my birth from that moment when God’s counsel of peace was held for me. But I saw the first light in the city of destruction, in the land of the Amorites and the Hittites. I was born again in Bethlehem and on Calvary; and finally in the abyss of my lostness. There I lay in my blood, with no one to look after me but God.”

Hill of the Cross←⤒🔗

As the fifth place, Kohlbrugge refers us to the hill of the cross: born on Golgotha. What is the secret of these words, what does the preacher from Elberfeld actually mean by this? This statement must be seen against the background of Kohlbrugge’s theology, in which Christ the Crucified is actually the main theme. In his personal knowledge of faith of Calvary, he has learned that his salvation lies only in the finished work of Christ. The heart of God’s love beats at Calvary. Christ died there for our sins. He took on our sinful existence in such a way that he became “sin.” My old man was crucified with him at Calvary. In a sermon on Romans 6:6, Kohlbrugge puts it this way: “For not two men hung on the cross at Calvary, but one man, the man in our place: Christ Jesus, the Mediator of God and of men. This just one for us unjust, has taken up our old man and allowed himself to be nailed to the cross with it, in our place.” We also read the same idea in The Doctrine of Salvation, where Kohlbrugge asks the question: when have we put off our old man and put on the new man and then answers: “in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, in which he brought all things back to God and restored all things.”

At that point, the rebirth of all believers has taken place once in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We were there! Christ took on our flesh and blood and did for us what we could never accomplish. God gathers, as it were, all times and all generations in that one moment and at that one place of history. There and then God reckons all present in Christ who have ever believed in him, believes in him now, and will still believe in him (J.H. Grolle).

Our Experience←⤒🔗

Rather than looking inside ourselves and into our own hearts, Kohlbrugge wants us to fix our gaze on this unique event at Calvary, where the secret of our atonement was wrought. This message is always central to his preaching, and so he has little interest in the aspect of the inner experience; in fact, it is hardly mentioned in his theology.

Our experience should not supersede the authority of God’s revelation. That is why he wants to focus all the attention on faith: “Where there is true regeneration, faith will not be missing either.” In rebirth something is not implanted into us, but we are implanted into Christ through the influence of the Holy Spirit. The believer, says Kohlbrugge, considers that he has put off the old man and has put on the new man.

Boasting in the Cross←⤒🔗

Converted at Calvary means a liberating word for all who are challenged. We often tend to want to point to something in our lives that makes us believe that we are a converted person after all. Especially in a week of preparation, we can wrestle with the question: may I partake of the Lord’s Supper? Isn’t Kohlbrugge’s word then a discovery, a liberation? Instead of looking into our own heart, where there is nothing to be found, we focus on the heart of God’s love that beats at Calvary. There I see that my repentance, justification, and sanctification have been purchased by him. At the foot of the cross I confess my existence as a sinner and allow myself to be filled with his unparalleled love for sinners. In this way I may glory in the cross of our Lord and Saviour, who have accomplished all things for me. “I worked it out for you on the cross, for I threw myself into your death. I threw myself into the breach for you with cheerfulness and free will.” Who would not be satisfied with such a Saviour?