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The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome. Welcome to Reformed Thinking.
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Today we are starting a pretty massive deep dive into a text
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that has well, challenged and convicted readers for three
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centuries. Now.
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We are looking at the 70 resolutions of Jonathan Edwards.
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Now, to give you some context right out of the gate, Edwards
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penned these largely between the years 1722 and 1723.
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He was not. He wasn't some old weather
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theologian looking back on a long life of ministry when he
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wrote this list. He was a young man, roughly 18
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or 19 years old, actually fresh out of Yale and stepping into
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his very first pastoral roles. The mission of the Specific Deep
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Dive is to dissect these intense, highly structured
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personal resolutions. We want to extract the practical
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habits, the theological framework and the daily routines
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of a brilliant young Puritan mind.
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You are going to see a blueprint for living a life of extreme
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intentionality and spiritual focus.
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In an age like hours, where distraction is pretty much the
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default state of the human brain, examining an 18th century
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list of rules might seem unusual, but I assure you,
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looking at how Edwards structured his mind and his days
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offers a staggering contrast to modern living.
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So let's untag this. Before we even get to resolution
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number one, we really have to look at the preamble.
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How does a teenager even begin to write 70 rules for his own
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life without falling into absolute arrogance?
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That is a critical question, and the preamble gives us the
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theological key to reading the entire document before he lists
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a single rule. Edwards writes this and I will
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quote it here. He says, being sensible, that I
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am unable to do anything without God's help.
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I do humbly entreat him by His grace to enable me to keep these
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resolutions so far as they are agreeable to His will for
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Christ's sake. What is fascinating here is the
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immediate, explicit rejection of human self-sufficiency.
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If we connect this to the broader picture of Reformed
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theology in the Westminster Confession, Edwards is starting
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with a clear confession of human inability, which we often refer
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to as total depravity. He is not.
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He is not relying on his own free will, his own intellect or
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his own moral fortitude to keep these 70 rules.
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If you were doing that, this would just be a standard
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moralistic self help manual. Instead, he begins with a
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declaration of bankruptcy. He knows he cannot do it on his
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own. He relies entirely on divine
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grace to enable his obedience. He binds his efforts to the will
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of God and the merit of Christ. This aligns perfectly with the
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Westminster doctrines of grace. The believers are completely
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dependent on the Holy Spirit to kill sin and pursue
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righteousness. He also adds A practical note
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right after the preamble, telling himself to read over
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these resolutions once a week. He knew his own heart.
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He knew he would forget, grow cold and drift.
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So he built in a weekly mechanism for conviction and
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realignment. That weekly reading must have
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been a heavy, convicting exercise.
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When you realize how strictly he views his daily habits, it
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naturally begs the question of what his overall baseline was.
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What was the absolute core of his operating system?
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When you look at Resolution One, it hits you like a freight
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train. He resolves to do whatsoever he
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thinks to be most to God's glory and his own good, profit and
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pleasure. And then he says he will do this
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without any consideration of the time, whether now or never, so
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many myriads of ages. Hence he resolves to do whatever
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is his duty, whatever difficulties he meets with,
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however many and however great. Here's where it gets incredibly
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interesting. Edwards thinks with an eternal
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horizon. When you or I make a five year
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plan, we are thinking about career, family, maybe
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retirement. Edwards is making a 10,000 year
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plan. He decides how to act today
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based on what will bring glory to God, myriads of ages hence.
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He couples this in resolution 4 where he resolves never to do
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any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, unless it tends to
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the glory of God. He refuses to allow any neutral
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actions in his life. Every single movement, every
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thought, every physical act must be aligned with the glory of God
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for you, the listener. Consider what it would mean to
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view your Tuesday morning commute, your emails, or your
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grocery shopping through an eternal.
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Lens, That eternal lens is the very heartbeat of Protestant
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Reformed thought. If you look at resolution one,
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it perfectly mirrors the very first question of the
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Westminster Shorter Catechism, which asks what the chief end of
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man is. The answer, of course, is that
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man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
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Edwards takes that Catechism answer, which you would have
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memorized as a small child, and turns it into a strict
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operational mandate for his daily life.
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Notice how the Shorter Catechism links glorifying God with
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enjoying him. Edwards does the identical thing
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in Resolution 22. He addresses the pursuit of
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happiness. He writes that he is resolved to
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endeavor to obtain for himself as much happiness in the other
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world as he possibly can, with all the might, vigor, and
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vehemence. Yay violence.
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He is capable of The language there is startling humans.
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Yay, violence. He's talking about an
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aggressive, forceful pursuit of joy in God.
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This completely shatters the terrible historical stereotype
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of the miserable, dower Puritan who was afraid someone,
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somewhere was having fun. Edwards wanted maximum
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happiness, but he recognized that true, lasting happiness is
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only found in the eternal realm, in the presence of God.
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The violence he speaks of recalls Matthew 11.12, where the
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Kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it
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by force. He ruthlessly cuts away anything
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that offers cheap, temporary pleasure to secure maximum
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eternal joy. I really love that phrase
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Vehemence, yay of violence. It demands action.
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It refuses to let you sit back. We see that demand for action
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again in Resolution 6, which is incredibly brief but packs a
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massive punch. He simply writes, resolved to
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live with all my might while I do live.
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There is no coasting allowed in the Christian life for Jonathan
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Edwards. Then, he pairs that relentless
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vigor with creativity and resolution too.
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He resolves to be continually endeavoring to find out some new
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invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned
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things. He is not just trying to avoid
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sin, he is playing offense. He wants to invent new ways to
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glorify God and do good. So what does this all mean for
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you? Listening right now, it
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challenges your daily vigor. Are you spiritually passive,
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just hoping you do not accidentally fall into major sin
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today? Or are you creatively proactive?
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Edwards essentially creates a spiritual research and
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development department in his own mind, constantly asking how
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he can invent a new way to benefit mankind and glorify his
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Creator. Today, that completely flips the
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script on how we view Christian obedience.
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It is not just rule keeping, It is creative, forceful energy
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directed toward the good of the world.
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It absolutely is, and we see the creative, proactive energy
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applied directly to both his intellectual life and his
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practical charity. Look at resolutions 11/13 and
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69. In Resolution 11 he says that
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when he thinks of any theological problem or theorem
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and divinity to be solved, he resolves immediately to do what
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he can towards solving it. If circumstances do not hinder
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him, he does not let intellectual laziness set in.
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If there's a difficult doctrine, A challenging text of Scripture
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or theological puzzle, he attacks it right then and there.
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He wants to know God thoroughly. Then in Resolution 13, he
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resolves to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity
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and liberality. Notice the phrase endeavoring to
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find out. He is not waiting for a poor
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person to knock on his door. He actively hunts for
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opportunities to be generous. He seeks out people who need
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help. Resolution 69 provides a
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brilliant psychological trick. He resolves always to do that
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which he shall wish he had done when he sees others do it.
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We all know that feeling. You see someone else perform a
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quiet act of service, give generously or speak a word of
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comfort, and you think you should have done that.
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Edwards takes that future feeling of missed opportunity
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and uses it as a catalyst for present action.
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This is the practical outworking of his faith.
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Westminster theology stresses that while we are justified by
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faith alone, that faith is never alone.
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It is always accompanied by all other saving graces and is the
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root of good works. Edwards cultivates the soil for
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those good works with extreme prejudice.
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That idea of using your future feelings to dictate your present
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actions brings us to how he viewed time management and the
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urgency of eternity. Edwards had an acute, almost
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shocking awareness of his own mortality.
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Let's look at resolutions 5717 and 19.
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In resolution five, he resolves never to lose 1 moment of time,
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but to improve it in the most profitable way possible.
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But the method he uses to value his time is what stands out.
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In resolution seven he resolves never to do anything which he
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would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of his life.
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In resolution 17, he resolves to live so as he shall wish he had
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done when he comes to die. In Resolution 19, he says he
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will never do anything he would be afraid to do if he expected
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to hear the last Trump in less than an hour.
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He constantly, relentlessly frames his daily mundane actions
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around his deathbed and the return of Christ.
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He brings the end of his life right into his current living
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room. If you are listening to this,
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try to subject your own calendar to the last hour test.
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Imagine you have precisely 60 minutes left to live.
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Would you spend it scrolling through social media?
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Would you spend it arguing with a stranger on the Internet?
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Would you spend it holding a bitter grudge against a family
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member? Edwards forces himself to view
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every single minute through the lens of sudden death.
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It strips away all the trivial, meaningless distractions we
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allow to clutter our days. The psychological weight of that
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framing is immense. He employs what we might call a
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future self on it. He uses incredible mental
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exercises to project himself forward in time, and then he
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looks backward at his present decisions.
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Consider resolutions 505152 and 55.
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In resolution 52, he knows that he frequently hears old people
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say how they would live if they could do it all over again.
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So he resolves to live precisely how he thinks he will wish he
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had lived when he reaches old age.
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He borrows the wisdom of the elderly before he actually
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acquires the wrinkles, but it goes even further than old age.
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In resolution 55, he endeavors to act as if he had already seen
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the happiness of heaven and the torments of hell.
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He tries to live with a veil pulled back.
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He wants the sensory reality of eternal glory and eternal
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judgement to govern his actions right now.
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Preface most severely in Resolution 51.
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He resolves to act in every respect, as he thinks he shall
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wish he had done if he should alas be damned.
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He imagines himself in hell, looking back on his earthly
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life, realizing his hypocrisy or his wasted time.
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And then he uses that terrifying hypothetical regret to crush his
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current sinful inclinations. This raises A crucial point
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about Reformed theology. Some critics argue that the
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Reformed doctrines of predestination and election lead
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to fatalism or lazy living. Edwards proves the complete
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opposite. A high view of God's sovereignty
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over eternity produces the most rigorous, intense, intentional
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living imaginable. Wait, I want to push back on
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that for a second. Thinking about yourself in hell,
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looking back and regretting your life.
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Isn't that just terrifying? Does reformed theology just make
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you live in a constant state of terror?
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It sounds like a horrific mental burden for an 18 year old kid to
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carry around on a Tuesday afternoon.
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How is that psychologically sustainable?
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It sounds terrifying to the modern ear because we go to
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great lengths to insulate ourselves from the reality of
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death and judgement. We sanitize it.
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Edwards lived in an era where death was a visible daily
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reality. But more to the point, from a
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theological perspective, this mental exercise is not designed
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to produce paralyzing terror. It is designed to produce
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sobering clarity. The terror of that hypothetical
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scenario breaks the intoxicating spell of present sin.
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Sin always lies to us. It promises joy but delivers
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death. Edwards uses the hypothetical
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reality of hell to shock his system back to truth.
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It is a severe mercy he inflicts upon himself.
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It clears the fog. Furthermore, because he has
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already established in his preamble that his hope rests
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entirely on Christ's grace, this exercise does not drive him to
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despair. It drives him to Christ.
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It makes him cherish the gospel more fiercely.
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When he imagines the horrors of being damned, he runs back to
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the cross with immense gratitude, and that gratitude
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fuels his obedience. It is an intense psychological
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tactic, absolutely, but it is rooted in a desire for truth
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rather than a desire for morbid self torture.
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That makes a lot of sense. He uses the shock to wake
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himself up and the intensity does not stop with long term
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hypothetical thinking. He applies it to the very end of
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every single day. Let's talk about his nightly and
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weekly audits. In resolutions 3740 and 41, we
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see a man obsessed with self examination.
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In resolution 37, he resolves to inquire every night before going
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to bed where he has been negligent, what sin he has
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committed, and where he has denied himself.
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He does this daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.
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He keeps a strict spiritual Ledger and he gets incredibly
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specific. Look at resolution 40.
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He resolves to inquire every note whether he has acted in the
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best way he possibly could with respect to eating and drinking.
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He tracks his caloric intake and his self troll at the dinner
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table, viewing gluttony or indulgence as a direct offense
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against God's glory. Then, in resolution 41, he asked
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himself at the end of every time period wherein he could possibly
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in any respect have done better. He is never satisfied.
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There is always room for a tighter grip on holiness.
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It is a relentless pursuit of perfection in the mundane
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details of a Tuesday night. It is vital to frame those daily
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audits correctly or they will sound like a crushing burden of
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legalism. A listener might hear that and
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think it sounds exhausting. They might assume he tries to
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earn his way to heaven by checking off boxes and obsessing
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over every bite of food. But from a Reformed perspective,
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this is not legalism aimed at earning salvation.
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Edwards already laid the groundwork in his preamble.
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He relies entirely on Christ's grace justification.
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Being declared righteous before God is a settled reality for him
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based solely on the finished work of Jesus.
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What we see in these daily audits is the rigorous self
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examination of a justified believer pursuing
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sanctification. Sanctification is the ongoing
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lifelong process of being made holy.
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The Westminster Concession teaches that while the dominion
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of sin is destroyed and the believer, there is still a
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continuous and irreconcilable war against the remaining
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corruption in our nature. Edwards fights that war with
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military precision. He reviews the battlefield every
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single night. He wants to know where the enemy
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breached the walls, whether it was through a negligent word and
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arrogant thought or an overindulgence.
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At meals, he confesses, it repents and prepares for the
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next day's battle. This nightly review prevents
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sins from taking root and becoming unbreakable habits.
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That military precision in fighting sin applies heavily to
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how he handles his own mouth. Edwards knew that the hardest
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thing to tame is the human tongue.
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He put strict ironclad controls on his speech.
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Let's look at resolutions 163134 and 36.
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In resolution 16, he vows never to speak evil of anyone tending
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to their dishonor, except for some real good.
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He reinforces this in resolution 36.
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He will not spread gossip, he will not tear someone down
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unless there is a specific righteous necessity for it,
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perhaps warning someone of a false teacher or a dangerous
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individual. Resolution 31 is particularly
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intense. He filters all the speech
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through a massive set of criteria.
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He resolves never to say anything against anybody unless
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it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian
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honor, agreeable to love for mankind, agreeable to the lowest
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humility in a sense of his own faults, and agreeable to the
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Golden Rule. And then he says he will often
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bring his words back to this resolution to test them
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strictly. Imagine running every critical
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comment you want to make through that filter.
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First, does this show Christian honor?
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Second, does it show love for this person?
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Third, am I speaking from a place of lowest humility,
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remembering my own wretchedness? 4th, is this how I would want to
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be spoken about? If you applied that test to
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modern communication, the Internet would shut down
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immediately. The servers would go completely
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quiet. He takes this strict ethical
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control directly into his family dynamics.
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Which brings us to Resolution 46.
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This is a brilliant application of the 5th Commandment.
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Honor your father and your mother.
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Edwards resolves never to allow the least measure of any
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fretting uneasiness that his father or mother.
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But he does not stop at internal feelings.
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He continues resolving to suffer no effects of it so much as in
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the least alteration of speech or motion of his eye, and to be
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especially careful of it with respect to any of his family.
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Think about the specificity there.
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He will not allow the motion of his eye to show disrespect.
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He will not roll his eyes at his parents.
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He will not use his harcastic sigh.
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He will not allow a clipped, short tone in his voice.
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The Westminster Larger Catechism has a massive section detailing
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the requirements of the 5th Commandment, extending it not
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just to parents but to all superiors, inferiors, and equals
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in their various places and relations.
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Edwards internalizes that massive theological concept and
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applies it to the micro expressions on his own face
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during family dinner. He understands that massive,
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systemic rebellion against God often starts with tiny,
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tolerated acts of disrespect toward the authorities God has
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placed in our homes. Controlling the eye roll is a
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level of self mastery that is genuinely difficult to
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comprehend. We are talking about an 18 year
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old kid making a spiritual vow to never roll his eyes at his
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mom. Try applying that to a modern
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teenager's life. But he goes even further than
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just suppressing bad behavior. He forces a benevolent
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disposition. He commands himself to project
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goodness. Look at resolutions 585966 and
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70. In resolution 58, he resolves
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not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness and
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anger and conversation, but to actually exhibit an air of love,
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cheerfulness and benignity. He mandates a positive posture,
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but resolution 59 is the one that really challenges me.
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He writes that when he is most conscious of provocations to
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I'll nature and anger, he will strive most to feel and act good
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naturedly. When he is provoked, when
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someone insults him, when circumstances conspire to make
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him furious, he uses that precise moment as the trigger to
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manifest good nature. He forces the opposite reaction
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for the listener. I want you to consider who
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directly this confronts modern reactionary culture.
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We are taught today that if you are offended, you have a right
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to lash out. You have a right to vent your
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anger, to be snarky, to quote, tweet someone with a devastating
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insult, Edwards says no. The moment you feel the heat of
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anger rising because of a provocation, that is a precise
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moment you must force an air of cheerfulness and venidity.
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He resolves in Resolution 70 that there be something of
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benevolence in all that he speaks.
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He refuses to let external provocations dictate his
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internal spiritual state. That refusal to let external
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circumstances dictate his state is a hallmark of his approach to
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everything, including intense suffering.
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This leads us to how he viewed radical mortification and
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affliction. Edwards had a very high,
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uncompromising view of God's sovereignty over all
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afflictions. Let us analyze Resolutions 91057
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and 67. Edwards did not live in a world
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with modern medicine. Pain, disease, and sudden death
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were constant companions in the 18th century.
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In Resolution 10, he resolves that when he feels pain, he will
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think of the pains of martyrdom and of hell.
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When he gets a toothache or a fever, he does not complain
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about the physical discomfort. He uses the physical sensation
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of pain as a theological tutor. He reflects on what martyrs
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suffered for Christ, which humbles him and makes him
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grateful. He reflects on the eternal
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torments of hell, which makes him praise God for his salvation
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and deliverance. In resolution 67, he resolves
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that after afflictions he will inquire what he is the better
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for them, what good he has got by them, and what he might have
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got by them. He treats suffering as an
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educational tool designed by a sovereign God for his
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sanctification. If he goes through a period of
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sickness or relational hardship and he comes out the other side
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without having grown in holiness, he views that as a
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wasted affliction. He believes God ordains the
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hardship for a specific purifying purpose, and he
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refuses to miss the lesson. The idea of a wasted affliction
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is such a piercing concept. It assumes that every pain has a
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purpose we're meant to discover. And Edwards applied that same
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intense scrutiny to his own sinful actions.
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He committed to tracing sin to its very root.
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Look at resolutions 23 and 24. He resolves that whenever he
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does any conspicuously evil action, you'll trace it back
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until it comes to the original 'cause then he will carefully
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endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all his
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might against the original of it.
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He acts like a spiritual detective.
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If he snaps at a family member, he does not just apologize for
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the words, he traces it back. Why did I snap?
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Because I was irritated. Why was I irritated?
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Because I was interrupted. Why does being interrupted make
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me so angry? Because I value my own time in
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my own thoughts higher than the needs of others.
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Oh, the root is pride and a lack of love.
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He finds the root and he attacks the root.
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He refuses to just trim the weeds of his behavior.
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He wants to pull the sin out by the roots.
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He does the same thing in resolution 23 with actions that
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might seem good on the surface. He takes deliberate actions that
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are supposedly done for the glory of God and traces them
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back to their original intentions.
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If he finds out his real motive was actually to look good in
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front of others, he counts it as a breach of his resolutions.
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He audits his own motives ruthlessly.
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That rigorous self auditing requires a very clear
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understanding of 1's own nature. This brings us to a practical
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application of the doctrine of total depravity, specifically
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seen in Resolution 8. He resolves to act in all
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respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so
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vile as him, and as if he committed the same sins or had
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the same infirmities or failings as others.
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He resolved that he will let the knowledge of their feelings
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promote nothing but shame in himself and prove only an
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occasion of confessing his own sins and misery to God.
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This is a staggering posture of humility.
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When he sees another person caught in a scandalous sin, his
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reaction is not self righteousness.
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His reaction is not to say he is thankful he is not like that
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Sinner. Instead, he recognizes the
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depravity of his own heart. He understands that without the
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restraining grace of God, he is entirely capable of committing
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the same sin or worse. The feelings of others do not
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make him feel superior. They act as a mirror reflecting
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his own innate wretchedness, prompting him to confess his own
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misery to God. This perfectly aligns with
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Reformed understanding that any good in US is solely the result
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of the Holy Spirit's work, and any evil in the world is display
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of what our own human nature is fully capable of producing if
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left to its own devices. Hold on, I need to jump in here
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and ask about that. Resolving to act as if nobody
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had been as vile as you. Again, to a modern listener,
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that sounds incredibly unhealthy.
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It sounds like performative self loathing.
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If a friend told you they walked around all day pretending they
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were the worst person on earth, you would probably suggest they
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seek counseling. How is this psychologically
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healthy? You were right to point out how
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jarring that sounds Today. In modern psychology, self
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esteem is the highest virtue, and in Puritan theology, self
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esteem is actually the root of pride, which is the original
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sin. Edwards is not engaging in
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performative self loathing. He is engaging in objective
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theological realism. He knows the sheer volume of his
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own internal sinful thoughts. He knows his own selfish
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motives. He does not know the internal
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motives of the person next to him.
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Therefore, he can only judge himself as the chief of sinners,
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much like the Apostle Paul did. It is not about hating himself
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for the sake of misery. It is about destroying any
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lingering self righteousness. When you truly believe you are
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capable of immense evil, you stop judging others harshly.
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You become infinitely more patient.
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You become radically forgiving. If someone offends you, your
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reaction is softened by the realization that you have
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offended God. Far more so.
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Ironically, this severe view of his own depravity actually
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produces A remarkably gentle, gracious, and forgiving posture
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toward other people. It kills the pride that causes
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so much relational destruction. That reframes it beautifully.
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It is a tool for empathy, not just a tool for self punishment.
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Because he views his own heart as such a factory of potential
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sin, he commits to a life of relentless warfare against it.
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I want to look closely at Resolution 56.
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It is one of the most encouraging statements in the
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entire list, he writes. Resolved never to give over, nor
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in the least a slack in my fight with my corruptions, however
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unsuccessful I may be for you. Listening right now.
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If you are a Christian, you know the exhaustion of battling the
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same recurring sin. You know the defeat of
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repenting, promising to do better and then failing again.
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You feel unsuccessful. Edwards felt that too.
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He knew the bitter taste of spiritual failure.
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But his resolution is not a promise of unbroken victory.
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It is a vow and unbroken resistance.
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The success is found in the refusal to stop fighting.
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Even when he feels completely unsuccessful, he vows never to
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slacken the fight. He will not call a truce with
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his flesh. He will not make peace with his
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corruptions. He will keep throwing himself
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back into the battle, relying on God's grace day after day, year
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after year. That shifts the focus from
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achieving immediate, flawless perfection to maintaining a
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gritty, stubborn perseverance in the face of ongoing spiritual
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warfare. That stubborn perseverance
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requires massive spiritual fuel, Which brings us to his spiritual
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life. Specifically, assurance, the
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Word and worship. Let's break down his approach to
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assurance and resolutions 252648 and 49.
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In Westminster theology, the doctrine of the assurance of
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faith is an immense comfort. The confession teaches that true
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believers can be infallibly assured that they are in a state
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of grace. It is not presumption.
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It is a promise based on the truth of God's Word and the
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inward evidence of the Spirit. Edwards fought violently for
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this assurance. In Resolution 25, he resolves to
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examine carefully and constantly what the one thing is in him
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that causes him in the least to doubt the love of God, and he
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directs all his forces against it.
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If he finds a specific sin, a nagging doubt or false belief
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that dampens his assurance of God's love, he launches a full
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scale assault on it. He treats doubt as an invader.
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In Resolution 48, he resolves constantly with the utmost
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diligence and the strictest scrutiny to look into the state
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of his soul to know whether he truly has an interest in Christ.
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He refuses to live with ambiguity regarding his eternal
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destiny. He wants to know that he belongs
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to Jesus so that when he comes to die he will not have any
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negligence to repent of. He secures his peace for the
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deathbed by doing the hard work of self scrutiny in the present.
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He fueled that assurance through his interaction with God in
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prayer and the Word. Let's highlight Resolutions 2829
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and 64. His approach to Scripture in
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resolution 28 is intensely practical.
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He resolves to study the Scriptures so steadily,
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constantly, and frequently that he may find and plainly perceive
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himself to grow in the knowledge of them.
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He does not measure his Bible study by the amount of time
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spent reading or the number of chapters completed.
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He measures it by actual perceivable growth in knowledge.
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If he does not understand God better, he is not reading
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correctly. Then his view on prayer in
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resolution 29 is remarkably strict.
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He resolves never to count something as a prayer or let it
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pass as a petition if it is made in such a way that he cannot
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hope God will answer it, He will not accept a confession if he
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cannot hope God will accept it. He guards against vain
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repetitions. He refuses to go through the
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religious motions. If his heart is not engaged, if
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faith is not present, he will not check the box that says he
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prayed today. Instead, as we see in Resolution
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64, he promotes the deep, agonizing work of the soul.
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He quotes Romans 8 about the groanings which cannot be
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uttered, and Psalm 119 about the breakings of soul.
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When he feels those intense, desperate longings for God, he
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promotes them to the utmost of his ability.
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He refuses to be weary of earnestly venting his desires to
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God. He leans into the spiritual
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agony of longing for holiness. That intensity of worship
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carried over directly into his corporate life and his
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observance of the Lord's Day. Look at Resolution 38, he
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writes, resolved never to speak anything that is ridiculous,
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sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord's Day.
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To the modern ear, that sounds incredibly restrictive, almost
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suffocating. But we must understand this
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through the lens of the Reformed regulative principle and the
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Westminster view of the Sabbath. Think of the regulative
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principle like a spiritual diet. Edwards is saying that on
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Sundays he isn't just taking a break from work.
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He's fasting from worldly entertainment entirely so his
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mind confused on God. It is a total dopamine detox for
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the soul. The Confession teaches that the
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Sabbath requires believers to take up the whole time in public
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and private exercises of worship.
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Edwards takes us with absolute seriousness.
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He views the entire Lord's Day as consecrated time.
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Speaking of sport of things or engaging in frivolous laughter
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distracts the mind from the immense, glorious realities of
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God's grace, the resurrection of Christ, and the eternal rest
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that the Sabbath signifies. He sweeps away worldly
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entertainment for one day a week so his soul can feast entirely
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on divine things without interruption.
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It is an act of deliberate spiritual fasting from the world
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to cultivate an appetite for heaven.
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A spiritual dopamine detox is a great way to phrase it.
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It makes the strictness suddenly look very practical.
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That concept of consecration brings us to the final point of
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his spiritual life, his absolute surrender of himself as God's
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property. We see this in resolutions
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424344 and 45. In resolution 42 he frequently
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renews the dedication of himself to God made at his baptism.
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But resolution 43 makes it painfully explicit.
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He resolves never henceforward till he dies, to act as if he
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were any way his own, but entirely an altogether gods.
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He signs over the title deed to his own life.
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He recognizes that he was bought with a price.
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Because of that, Resolution 44 declares that no other end but
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religion shall have any influence at all on any of his
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actions, And Resolution 45 might be the most comprehensive of
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all. He resolves never to allow any
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pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at
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all. But what helps religion.
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He subordinates his entire emotional spectrum to the cause
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of Christ. If a particular joy does not
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make him love God more, he rejects it.
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If a particular sorrow turns him to bitterness, instead of
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turning him to prayer, he rejects it.
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Every tear and every laugh must be vetted by its usefulness to
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his spiritual growth. It is a level of self mastery
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that requires constant vigilant reliance on the Holy Spirit.
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As we synthesize everything we have covered today in this deep
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dive into Edward's mind, we are left looking at a methodical,
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almost extreme approach to holiness.
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This is a life totally subjected to the scrutiny of the gospel
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and the glory of God. He left no stone unturned.
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He audited his sleep, his food, his casual conversations, his
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eye movements, his intellectual pursuits, and his deepest
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emotional reactions. He viewed the brevity of life as
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a constant ticking clock, demanding that he waste nothing.
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But he did all of this, not as a slave cowering before a cruel
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taskmaster, but as a justified son, relying entirely on the
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grace of his Father. He began with confession of
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total inability, and he proceeded with a violent, joyful
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pursuit of the glory of God. The resolutions are a
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magnificent display of what the Westminster divines meant when
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they spoke of the grace of sanctification.
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Where the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, the
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several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified,
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and the believer is quickened and strengthened in all saving
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graces to the practice of true holiness.
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Edward Simply put a practical, rigorous framework around that
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theological truth and lived it out with every ounce of strength
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he possessed. Reading 70 intense rules
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covering every microinteraction of a person's life can feel
30:38
overwhelming. If you are listening to this,
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you might be feeling a mix of heavy conviction and utter
30:44
exhaustion. It is vital to frame the take
30:46
away correctly. The goal of reading Jonathan
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Edwards is not to demand that you copy his list precisely.
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You do not need to adopt an 18th century Puritan schedule.
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But you absolutely should try to capture his intense, burning
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desire for God's glory in your daily habits.
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You should want his eternal horizon.
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You should want his hatred for his own sin and his love for the
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beauty of Christ. Let these resolutions act as a
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mirror, showing you where you have allowed complacency,
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laziness, or worldly distraction to dull your spiritual
31:16
affections. And that leads to a final,
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provocative thought for you to ponder.
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We know Edwards read his massive list of 70 resolutions once a
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week to keep himself accountable for God.
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But imagine you're not allowed to write 70.
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Imagine you are forced to write down just one singular
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resolution today, one single rule that would govern your
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entire life, your private thoughts, your calendar, your
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spending, and your interactions with others from now until
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eternity. What would that one resolution
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be? How would you summarize your
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entire theological belief and your practical duty into a
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single sentence of resolve? Think about that today.
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Thank you for joining us on this deep dive on reformed thinking.