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Love That Lives Holy | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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You break a bone and the X-ray shows this jagged white line.
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The diagnosis is binary, right? Broken or not broken?
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Yeah, it's a very clean, very visible categorization.
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Right, but how do you take an X-ray of a human soul?
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When you step into the world of theology, specifically looking
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at the condition of a person's heart, that empirical X-ray
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machine just vanishes. It does.
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It really is. And we find ourselves looking at
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this diagnostic landscape that is notoriously murky.
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Welcome to reformed thinking. I am very glad you're joining us
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today. Yes, thanks for listening.
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It's great to be here. So for you listening right now,
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our mission for this deep dive is to unpack this brilliant
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historical theological framework.
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We're analyzing an excerpt from Jonathan Edwards, specifically
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his work Charity and Its Fruits. Right.
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And he is taking a very rigorous look at a section of Paul's
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letter to the Corinthians. Yeah, the verse stating that
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love rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.
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And we're going to look at Edward's central doctrine from
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that verse, which is the idea that all true Christian grace in
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the heart inevitably results in holy practice in the life.
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It is a massive theological argument, isn't it?
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And, you know, one that makes people a little uncomfortable.
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Oh, absolutely. I mean, Edwards uses that single
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verse to construct this airtight case against a very common, very
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comfortable misconception. And what is that misconception,
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really? Well, misconception is that
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grace can exist as this dormant deposit inside a person.
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Right. And that is really the hook for
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our conversation today. People treat Grace like a get
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out of jail free card tucked into their wallet.
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It just sits there. Yeah, you don't really have to
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look at it. You don't have to use it in your
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daily interactions. But you possess the comforting
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thought that you have it. You think the transaction is
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complete, right? And your daily life can just
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continue on autopilot. Which is such a dangerous place
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to be. We're going to dismantle that
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idea entirely today using Edward's logic.
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Government grace concept is incredibly prevalent today.
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It is just as much as it was in the 18th century, actually.
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People just assume that an internal invisible change
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doesn't necessarily have to yield a measurable external
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result. But Edwards looks at the
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biblical text and systematically proves that such logic is flawed
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at its absolute core. He really does.
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Let us establish the definitions Edwards uses, because he starts
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by isolating the words in that verse from the Corinthians.
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Right. The rejoiceth not in in
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iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth part.
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Yeah, what does he mean by iniquity and truth in this
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specific context? Because, you know, we tend to
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think of iniquity as grand scale villainy.
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Right. Like historical atrocities or
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something. But Edwards is very precise with
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his terms here. He states that iniquity
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signifies all sinful actions in daily living.
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So just everyday stuff. Yeah, he is not restricting the
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definition to massive scandalous crimes.
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He means the daily habitual practices of sin.
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Like the small cruelties. Exactly.
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I mean, yes, precisely that. The selfish financial decisions.
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The coroner's cut at work. The sharp words spoken in
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frustration. Yeah, all of that is iniquity to
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Edwards. And on the flip side, he defines
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truth as encompassing all holy practice and virtue.
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So it's very broad. It is he references the letter
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of Third John where the apostle rejoices over believers walking
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in the truth. Walking in the truth, that is a
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very active image. It is entirely active.
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Truth in this framework is not a static list of theological
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propositions you just agree with in your head.
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Right, it's not just checking a box.
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No, it is a way of moving through the world.
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It is the physical conformity of your daily conduct to those
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great theological propositions. Hold on, I need to stop you
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right there. Because the moment you say grace
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inevitably results in holy practice, alarm bells are going
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off for a lot of people. Oh, for sure.
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It sounds dangerously close to a works based righteousness.
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You know, get that? Yeah.
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Because if my outward actions are the definitive proof of my
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spiritual state, are we just saying that a person earns their
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standing by doing good things? Right.
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How is this not just a behavioral modification program
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dressed up in theological language?
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Yeah. How do we answer that?
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There's a critical distinction to make early on.
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Edwards is absolutely not arguing that the fruit produces
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the. Root.
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OK, that's key. He is a staunch defender of
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justification by faith alone, but he is arguing that the root,
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if it is genuinely alive, inevitably produces the fruit.
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So the actions do not purchase the grace.
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No. The actions are the unavoidable
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biological byproduct of the grace.
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I mean, if you plant an apple tree, the apples do not make it
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an apple tree. The apples prove that it already
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is an apple tree. So we're talking about evidence,
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not currency. Precisely.
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And that brings us right back to the false notion of dormant
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grace. Edwards is attacking the idea of
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an invisible route that never, ever breaks the soil.
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This false view of dormant grace, you know, it is kind of
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like a downloaded software update on a smartphone.
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Oh, I like that analogy. Yeah, you know when you get that
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little notification in the corner of your screen and you
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finally click download and. You just let it sit there.
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Yeah, the files transferred to your hard drive.
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The code is sitting there on the disk, but it sits unopened.
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It is dormant. It never alters how the machine
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runs. Right, it never speeds up the
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processing and never changes the user interface the person
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assumes. Well, the file is on my phone,
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so my phone is updated. But nothing has actually changed
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in the operation of the device. Yeah, that is a very accurate
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modern equivalent of the error Edwards is targeting.
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Edwards asserts that grace is not an inert file sitting on a
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hard drive. It is an active principle that
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dictates the operation of the entire human being.
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Because if a supposed change in the heart does not yield an
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outward change in conduct, the person's understanding of what
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grace is is fundamentally wrong. Yeah, if I claim the software
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update is installed but my screen still freezes every 5
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minutes and the old bugs are still rooting by workflow, the
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update is not actually running. If grace is present, it acts.
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It dictates behavior. Edwards makes the point that if
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someone supposes that the change made by Grace somehow improved
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the invisible heart, but has 0 tendency to improve the outward
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life, they have a fabricated notion of grace.
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True grace is an active governing force, so.
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It really is. So if grace inherently dictates
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our actions, we have to look at the divine blueprint behind her
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right? We do like why is it built this
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way? Why is grace designed to force
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outward action rather than just remaining an internal comfort?
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Edwards goes straight to the foundation of the Christian
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religion for this, looking at the divine architecture of
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election, redemption and. He does.
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Edwards presents a series of massive theological arguments to
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support his doctrine, and his first argument is rooted in the
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aim of election. Yeah, he states that God's
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eternal election aims at holy practice.
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God does not just choose people for the sake of making a list.
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No, he chooses them with a highly specific goal in mind.
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I want to pause for a second because you mentioned a contrast
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Edwards makes regarding election in the text, right?
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For anyone who is not spending their weekends reading
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historical treatises, what is the competing view he is arguing
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against? Well, Inwards is specifically
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targeting the Armenian perspective, which was highly
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debated in his era. OK, So what does that look like?
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In that theological framework, the idea is that God looks down
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the corridors of time, sees a person making a free will
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decision to believe, sees them performing good works, and based
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on that foreseen action, God chooses them.
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So the choosing is a reaction to human action?
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Yeah. So in that view, God is
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essentially a talent scout. He watches the tape of your
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life, sees who has a good swing, and drafts them based on their
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anticipated performance. That is a highly accurate way to
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frame that opposing view. But Edwards disagrees.
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He absolutely disagrees. He looks at the biblical text,
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specifically passages from Paul's letter to the Ephesians,
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and argues that the talent scout view gets the sequence entirely
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backward. God does not choose people
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because he foresees they will be holy.
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No, He chooses them with the explicit goal that they shall be
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holy. The holiness is the intended
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result of the election, not the prerequisite for it.
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So, sticking with the analogy, God drafts someone who has never
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even held a bat right? And his drafting of them
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includes the provision of the coaches, the training and the
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physical capacity to eventually hit a home run.
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The choice guarantees the result.
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Yes. Edwards also references the
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Gospel of John where Christ tells his disciples that he
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chose them and ordained them, so they should go and bring forth
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fruit. The sequence is chronological
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and logical. Choosing leads to fruit.
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Fruit does not lead to choosing. That makes total logical sense.
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God is a master builder, you know.
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Yeah, and a master builder does not use a hammer when he needs a
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saw. Right.
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If the stated goal of the builder is a holy life, the
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grace provided will mathematically result in a holy
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life. Otherwise God would be using an
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ineffective tool. That is the very logic Edwards
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employs. Since holy practice is the scope
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and aim of election, then holy practice must logically be the
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tendency of grace itself. So that covers the aim of
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election. But he doesn't stop there.
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No, he moves to the purpose of redemption next.
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How does the historical action of Christ fit into this
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architecture? Because Christ did not suffer
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and die just to offer blank checks for a future heaven while
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leaving the present life unaltered.
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Far from it. Edwards points out that the
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redemption accomplished by Christ was specifically executed
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to purchase a holy people. He cites Titus, right?
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Yeah, he mentions that Christ gave himself for us, that he
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might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
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himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
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Zealous of good works, not indifferent to them, right.
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Not capable of them on rare convenient occasions.
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Zealous for them. And here Edwards brings in a
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vivid Old Testament type to illustrate the purpose of
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redemption. He looks at the rescue of Israel
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from Egypt. The Exodus.
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Yeah, the exodus. This is one of the clearest
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physical pictures of salvation in the text, but let's unpack
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what actually happened, because people often view the Exodus as
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just a grand escape act. They do, but Edward sees the
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Exodus as the most striking physical representation of
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redemption in the Old Testament. When God sent Moses to Pharaoh,
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the demand was not, you know, let my people go so they can
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have a permanent vacation in the desert.
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Right, the demand repeated over and over was let my people go
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that they may serve me. God delivered them from making
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bricks for Pharaoh so that they could build a Tabernacle for
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him. God did not bring them out of
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slavery so they could sit idly. He brought them out, gave them a
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highly structured set of laws, and demanded active obedience.
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Freedom had a specific, structured goal.
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The Liberation was an entrance into service.
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If the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea, watch the Egyptian
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army drown, sat down on the opposite bank, folded their arms
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and said, great, we are saved from slavery now, we do not have
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to do anything ever again. They would have completely
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missed the purpose of their deliverance.
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They really would have. Their freedom was purchased for
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a specific active end. OK, so we have eternal election
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and historical redemption, both pointing like massive arrows
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toward holy practice. What about the the actual
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individual moment a person believes what theology calls
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effectual calling? Edwards rounds out this divine
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architecture by explaining that when the spirit awakens and
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convicts an individual soul, the direct goal is good works.
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He goes back to Ephesians for this, right?
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He does. He notes that we are his
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workmanship created under good works.
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When God calls someone out of spiritual death, He leads them
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to the active exercise of grace. The calling is not a summons to
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a waiting room. No, it is a summons to a
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battlefield. So the Divine plan clearly aims
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at action, election, redemption, calling.
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They are all synchronized to produce outward holiness.
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They are, but we need to pivot here because we understand the
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high level theory. But how does this heavenly plan
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actually alter human psychology on a proctoral level?
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That is a huge question. Yeah, how does the machinery,
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the mind, change so that a person who previously loved sin
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suddenly starts producing holy actions?
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That is the next logical problem Edwards tackles.
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He moves from the cosmic architecture down to the
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microscopic workings of the human mind.
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And he starts by drawing a very sharp line between speculative
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knowledge and practical knowledge.
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Right, let's define those because a lot of people sit in
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church pews might be confusing the two.
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Speculative knowledge is possessing vast theological
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learning. A person might know the original
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Greek and Hebrew syntax. They might be able to outline
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the entire book of Romans from memory.
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Yeah, they might be able to debate Florida State about the
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attributes of God, but Edwards argues that a profoundly wicked
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person might possess all of that.
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Even a demon possesses all of that.
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Exactly. I mean, yeah, spot on.
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That knowledge sits in the intellect without descending
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into the affections or the will. It is like knowing all the
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aerodynamic physics of how an airplane flies.
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You understand the jet engines and the cabin pressure.
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But you refuse to ever buy a ticket and get on board.
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You have all the data but no practical application.
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That is a perfect parallel. Practical knowledge, on the
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other hand, which Edwards equates with saving knowledge,
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actually sees the Excellency of holiness.
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It does not just know the facts about God.
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No, it sees the beauty of God. And if you truly see the
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hatefulness of sin and the loveliness of God, your mind
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naturally inclines you to walk toward that beauty.
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Edwards uses a fascinating example from the Old Testament
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to illustrate someone who had data but lacked practical
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knowledge. He points to Pharaoh.
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Yes, in the book of Exodus Pharaoh says who is the Lord?
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That I should obey his voice. I know not the Lord.
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Now, Pharaoh probably knew about the Hebrew God intellectually.
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Moses had been standing in his court giving him plenty of data
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about this God. But Pharaoh did not have a true
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practical knowledge of God's authority or beauty.
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Right. And because he did not know God
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in that practical sense, he saw zero reason to alter his
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political policies. He saw no reason to obey.
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Seeing the beauty dictates the behavior.
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If you do not see the value in something, you will not alter
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your life to obtain it. That leads Edwards to focus on
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the human will, which he identifies as the immediate seat
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of grace. This is a crucial piece of the
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psychological puzzle, Edwards states.
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The will is the faculty that commands all a person's actions.
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Every executive power of the mind and the physical body is
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subject to the will. Therefore, if a genuine
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principle of grace is seated in this faculty, it must
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necessarily force outward practice.
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Think about the steering wheel of a car.
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The steering wheel commands the direction of the tires.
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Now imagine you are sitting in the passenger seat and the
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driver looks at you and says I have turned the steering wheel
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sharply to the right. But you look at the windshield
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and the car is continuing to drive perfectly straight down
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the highway at 60 miles an hour. You would immediately know the
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driver is either lying or disconnected from reality.
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You cannot claim the wheel is turned to the right if the car
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continues driving straight. No, you can't.
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A definitive proof of the wheel's position is the physical
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trajectory of the vehicle. In the same way, the definitive
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proof of the Will's disposition is the trajectory of the
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person's daily life. You cannot claim your will has
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been captured by divine grace if your daily life continues
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straight down the highway of sin.
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The trajectory reveals the internal mechanics.
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It is an unavoidable physical law.
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Edwards then introduces A striking comparison between
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shadow and substance to hammer this point home.
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He talks about a finely drawn picture of a mighty giant.
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Yeah, he says, you can paint a portrait of a massive, muscular
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giant. The artist can make it
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incredibly realistic. It might look terrifying, it
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might look powerful. It might intimidate anyone who
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walks into the room. But that picture can accomplish
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nothing in the real world. It cannot lift a Pebble.
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It cannot fight a single battle. Why?
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Because it lacks reality. It is just an image on a canvas.
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It is a shadow. Counterfeit race is like that
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painting. It might look incredibly
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impressive on a Sunday morning. The person might know all the
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right theological terms, they might pray eloquently, they
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might even fool the elders of the church.
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But when it comes time to actually forgive a bitter enemy
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or actually sacrifice financial gain for honesty in a business
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deal, the counterfeit grace can do absolutely nothing.
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It has no substance. True grace, however, is
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substantial because it is real, it is effectual, it acts itself
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out in practice. He links this directly to the
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biological concept of life. Right, he seats a stark
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biological fact. Dead men do not move.
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A corpse does not act or move or bring anything to pass.
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You can dress a corpse up in a tuxedo, but it remains
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stationary. Living individuals, however,
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display their life through a continuous course of action from
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day-to-day. They breathe, they walk, they
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consume food, they work. If grace is a vital principle of
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spiritual life, it must produce spiritual movement.
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A stationary inactive faith is a dead faith.
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That makes a lot of sense. So we understand the machinery
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of the mind now. We see the steering wheel, we
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see the difference between a canvas painting and a real
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giant. We see the biological necessity
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of movement in a living Organism.
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But how do the specific individual graces function in
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the grit of daily life? Edwards takes all this high
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level theory and applies it to the ground level.
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Let's look first at faith. Let's examine the economics of
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faith and trap. Edwards draws a hard line
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between saving faith and what he terms common faith.
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Saving faith is characterized by its work, right?
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It is. It involves a conviction of
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reality that alters human behavior.
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Common faith might assent to historical facts, but it does
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not change the daily routine. If a person hears massive life
17:52
altering news concerning themselves but changes
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absolutely nothing about their routine, observers rightly
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conclude they do not actually believe the news.
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Imagine sitting in a coffee shop.
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Someone runs in and yells. The building's on fire.
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The roof is collapsing. If you reply wow, I believe you,
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that is an incredible historical fact.
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But then you just stay seated, open your laptop and take
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another sip of your latte. No one watching you would think
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you actually believe the warning.
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Humans govern their physical actions by what they genuinely
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believe to be true. If you are truly convinced of
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the reality of the gospel, that there is an eternal world, that
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your sin brings imminent ruin, and that Christ offers an actual
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eternal rescue. It is psychologically impossible
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to just go about your mundane business without any alteration.
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If the news is real to you, you drop the coffee and run out the
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door. This extends to how we evaluate
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risk and reward, which brings us to Edward's financial analogy.
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He calls it parting with a pound to gain 1000.
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Let's modernize this investment scenario.
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If a legitimate investment broker offered you a guaranteed
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return of $1 million in exchange for an initial investment of
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1000. And you possessed absolute,
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unshakable certainty that the broker was trustworthy and that
19:07
the funds were securely in escrow.
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You would hand over the $1000 immediately.
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You would drain your checking account without a second
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thought. You would be thrilled to part
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with $1000. In the spiritual realm, A
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believer who is genuinely convinced of Christ's
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sufficiency and who actually believes the promises of eternal
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riches will readily part with worldly pleasures.
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They will forsake the temporary, fleeting things of the world to
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secure the eternal reward. If someone refuses to let go of
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their worldly idols, it proves they do not actually believe the
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promise of the greater reward. They think the heavenly broker
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is lying. That concept of evaluating the
19:45
guarantee leads right into what Edwards calls venturing on God.
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I found this concept fascinating because it demands risk.
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True trust is not passive. Edwards clarifies what true
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trust actually entails. Trusting God while remaining
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completely negligent is what the Bible calls tempting God.
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And trusting God while deliberately sinning is
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presumption. True trust is resting in God's
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faithfulness enough to venture into hardships, labor, and
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suffering, confident in His promised reward.
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Venturing. It is a word of commerce, of
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ocean exploration. It implies putting skin in the
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game. You venture your capital in a
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startup. You venture into the unknown.
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If you trust a friend to pay you back a hundredfold, you lend
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them the money. You venture it.
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If you have full confidence in God, you are not afraid to
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venture your time, your reputation, your comfort and
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your bank account for Him. Because you rest in the full
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persuasion that God is sufficient to cover the risk.
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Those who are not willing to venture anything, who want their
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religion to cost them absolutely 0 inconvenience, they
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demonstrate that they do not actually trust him.
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But wait, what about the thief on the cross?
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That is a great question. He did not have time to venture
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anything. He just believed and died a few
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hours later. So how does Edwards account for
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someone who has no time to produce a lifetime of outward
21:05
action? Well, the thief actually did
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venture the only capital he had left.
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His dying breath. Yeah, his final social standing
21:12
and his vocal allegiance in front of a violently hostile
21:15
crowd. He publicly rebuked the other
21:17
mocking thoof. He made a public declaration of
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Christ's innocence and kingly authority while Christ was being
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executed as a criminal. The disposition of his will
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shifted instantly, and he ventured his final moments on
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that truth. That makes a lot of sense when
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you look at it that way. Venturing everything requires
21:33
immense internal motivation. No one takes those kinds of
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risks for a mild preference. No, they don't.
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What drives a person to make that leap?
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Edwards points to love, repentance and humility as
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massive drivers of action. Let's start with love.
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Edwards views love as a highly active force.
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He compares love for God to secular loves.
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Look at people who love money. They regulate their entire
21:57
existence to acquire it. They wake up at 4:00 in the
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morning. They work 80 hour weeks.
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They obsess over spreadsheets. They sacrifice their physical
22:04
health and their relationships. The love of wealth governs their
22:08
practice. Or look at the love of fame.
22:10
People who crave status will map out every social interaction.
22:14
They tailor their wardrobe and curate their online presence for
22:18
hours every single day just to achieve that honor.
22:22
True love for God operates on that same mechanical level, but
22:26
directed toward a holy end. It means continually seeking His
22:30
acceptance and glory. It is a governing force.
22:34
It is not just a warm, fuzzy emotional state you enter while
22:37
singing a hymn on Sunday. No, it is an active, relentless
22:41
pursuit. He brings it down to the basic
22:43
logical test of human friendship.
22:45
If I have a friend who constantly texts me saying you
22:47
are my best friend, I love you, I would do anything for you.
22:50
But every time I actually need help moving a couch or I need a
22:53
ride to the airport at 4:00 in the morning, they are suddenly
22:55
busy. I'm going to ignore their grand
22:57
declarations of loyalty. Any rational person would if the
23:00
the friend is never willing to suffer a minor inconvenience for
23:03
you. The friendship is a fiction.
23:05
Reason teaches us that a man's actions are the most proper test
23:08
of his love. If we see a man who by his
23:11
constant behavior shows himself ready to take pains and put
23:15
himself out of the way for God. Reason dictates that he gives
23:18
solid evidence of love. The man who talks eloquently
23:21
about his emotional affection for God but is backward to do
23:25
any great matter for him is exactly like the friend who will
23:28
not help you move. That cuts through a lot of
23:31
religious hypocrisy. Let's move to repentance.
23:34
We often think of repentance as just feeling really guilty about
23:36
something we did. But Edwards gets in the
23:38
mechanics of repentance based on the original language of the New
23:41
Testament. The concept of repentance
23:43
signifies a change of mind, right?
23:45
Yes. A person repents of sin when
23:48
they change their mind with respect to it.
23:49
Formerly they approved of the sin.
23:51
Yeah, they utterly dislike it. Yeah, and a sincere change of
23:54
mind must inevitably result in a change of practice.
23:58
Let's use a financial scam as a scenario.
24:00
If a person realizes a past business pursuit was foolish.
24:05
Let's say they were putting money into a crypto scheme they
24:08
suddenly realize is a complete fraud.
24:11
They stop doing it. They change their mind about the
24:13
legitimacy of the business, so they change their physical
24:16
actions and stop wiring money. If they keep sending money to
24:19
the identical scam the next day, it proves their mind never
24:22
actually changed. Sorrow for sin, if it is
24:25
thorough and sincere, will tend in practice to the forsaking of
24:28
sin. Going back to the identical
24:30
behavior without any resistance proves the repentance was
24:33
superficial. Then he looks at humility.
24:37
Now I want to push back a bit here.
24:38
Sure, could love and repentance seem like active engines, but
24:42
humility is passive. It is just a state of feeling
24:45
small. That's how we usually define it,
24:47
yeah. How does a passive feeling force
24:49
an active result in someone's life?
24:51
It acts as an engine by draining the fuel tank of pride.
24:54
Oh, that's a good way to put it. Humility is an internal sense of
24:57
your own littleness and unworthiness before a holy God.
25:01
So the person who used to be fiercely ambitious, constantly
25:05
striving to appear above others. The one enraged by anyone who
25:09
cut them off in traffic or stood in their way at work.
25:12
That outward aggressive behavior was fueled entirely by internal
25:16
pride. So if you drain the pride.
25:19
The machinery stops producing scorn and ambition.
25:22
You stop fighting for the best parking spot.
25:25
Humility creates a physical demeanor that is resigned to
25:28
God's will and meek toward other people.
25:30
You become condescending to inferiors without being
25:33
patronizing. Respectful to superiors, gentle,
25:37
peaceful and not disposed to resent injuries.
25:40
The humble internal heart necessitates a humble outward
25:44
behavior. It is easy to claim humility and
25:46
love when things are calm and peaceful in your life.
25:49
But how do other internal attitudes like fear and
25:52
gratitude dictate our reactions to a chaotic world?
25:55
That is the next logical step. Let's look at the fear of God.
25:59
Edwards takes on the fear of God, and he defines this not as
26:02
a blind panic or a terror of arbitrary punishment.
26:05
He defines it as a holy dread of offending God.
26:07
Think about a poisonous snake. OK, yeah, If someone claims they
26:10
are absolutely terrified of a deadly rattlesnake, they say
26:14
they have a dread of it. They know the venom can kill.
26:16
Them, but then you see them casually walking barefoot right
26:19
next to the snake's enclosure. Or trying to pet it.
26:21
Or leaving the cage door wide open in their bedroom.
26:24
No one believes their claim of. If you actually fear the snake,
26:27
you take active steps to shun it.
26:30
You stay away from the enclosure, fearing the snake
26:33
alters your physical steps. That which men are truly afraid
26:37
of, they will shun. True fear of sin means actively
26:40
avoiding it. Edwards points to the historical
26:43
account of Joseph in the Book of Genesis.
26:45
When Joseph was tempted day after day by Potiphar's wife.
26:49
His response was, how can I do this great wickedness and sin
26:53
against God? His internal fear of offending
26:56
God resulted in the outward physical action of fleeing the
26:59
room, leaving his garment behind.
27:01
The fear dictated the physical running away.
27:03
What about gratitude? How does thankfulness demand a
27:06
physical action? Edwards uses a powerful scenario
27:10
of rescue. Imagine someone saves you from a
27:12
terrible death. Let's say you are drowning in a
27:15
raging, freezing river. A stranger dives in, undergoes
27:19
great personal hardship, risks their own life, and drags you to
27:23
the shore. You are saved.
27:25
I am visualizing this. I am on the shore, coughing up
27:28
water, freezing, and this exhausted stranger is lying
27:32
beside me. If you are truly thankful for
27:34
what they did, you will naturally seek to return the
27:37
benefit. You would never stand up, hurl
27:39
insults at your deliverer, steal their wallet and cast contempt
27:43
on them. If you acted wickedly toward the
27:45
person who just saved your life, no observer would give any
27:48
weight to your verbal professions of gratitude.
27:51
Applying that to theology, no one can be truly thankful to God
27:55
for the infinite mercy of salvation and yet lead a
27:57
continuously wicked life that dishonors the one who saved
28:00
them. Sincere gratitude demands a
28:02
return of benefit. It demands a life that seeks to
28:05
please the benefactor. This ties directly into what
28:08
Edwards calls weenedness from the world or heavenly
28:11
mindedness. Weenedness.
28:13
It paints A vivid picture of a child being detached from
28:15
something they used to rely on completely for their survival.
28:18
If the heart is taken off from the world, it will take the
28:21
person's physical pursuits off from the world.
28:24
Edwards says that if a person claims the world is vanity and
28:27
they speak eloquently about how heaven is their true home.
28:31
In practice, they tightly hug their wealth and refuse to let
28:34
any of it go for charitable uses.
28:36
Their physical practice exposes their empty profession.
28:40
It is the ultimate test of where your treasure actually resides.
28:43
If God promises you a thousandfold return in heaven
28:47
for being generous on earth, but you refuse to part with a single
28:50
dollar. You are basically saying I do
28:52
not believe the heavenly bank is solvent.
28:55
I am keeping my cash under the earthly mattress.
28:58
Judging by their practice, there is sad reason to believe their
29:01
profession of heavenly mindedness is completely
29:04
fabricated. How we handle our wealth
29:06
naturally leads to how we handle our neighbors.
29:08
Edwards talks about love to men and gracious hope.
29:11
This section relies heavily on the book of James and the
29:14
epistles of John. Edwards argues that if the
29:16
spirit of love to man is sincere, it will manifest in
29:19
physical deeds of love. Hypocritical love appears only
29:22
in Word and tongue. James is devastating on this
29:24
point. Wishing a destitute person well
29:28
without providing actual food or shelter profits absolutely
29:32
nothing. Saying depart in peace, be
29:35
warmed and filled, but refusing to hand them a coat or a
29:38
sandwich. It means the words just
29:40
evaporate into the air. Edwards brings in an analogy
29:43
that strikes right at the core of human relationships.
29:46
He looks at parental love. We universally assume parents
29:51
love their children, right? It is a biological given.
29:53
But imagine a father who beholds his child in suffering
29:56
circumstances. The child is hungry or cold or
30:00
in physical danger, and the father will not put himself out
30:03
of the way to relieve the child. He acts utterly careless of the
30:06
child's comfort, refusing to lift a finger to help.
30:09
If we saw that father, we would scarcely believe he had anything
30:12
of a father's love in his heart. We would call social services.
30:16
Love to children disposes parents to loving deeds for
30:18
their children. Children.
30:19
They will stay up all night with a sick baby.
30:22
They will empty their bank accounts for medical bills.
30:24
They will step in front of traffic to shield their kids.
30:27
Therefore, if a Christian claims to possess a supernatural divine
30:30
love for their neighbor, that love must produce loving deeds.
30:34
Love works no I'll to its neighbor, and it actively seeks
30:38
their physical and spiritual good.
30:40
Without the deeds, the claim of love is as empty as the
30:44
negligent father's claim. Edwards then shifts to gracious
30:47
hope. This is an interesting pivot.
30:50
How does hope oppose licentiousness?
30:53
Because a lot of people think that if you hope for heaven, you
30:55
can just relax on earth. A false hope makes people
30:58
careless. If someone possesses a false
31:00
hope of salvation, they think I am safe.
31:02
My ticket is punched, therefore I can indulge my lusts.
31:06
I can sin and it does not matter.
31:08
The false hope emboldens them in the way of evil, but a true hope
31:11
pursues a holy happiness. It looks forward to being in the
31:14
presence of a completely holy God.
31:17
The Apostle John writes that every man that hath this hope in
31:19
him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
31:22
If your genuine hope is to live in a completely cure environment
31:25
with a completely pure savior. That hope will purify your
31:28
actions right now. It keeps the believer diligent.
31:31
A hope that breeds laziness is a counterfeit hope.
31:34
I want to pause here and speak directly to the listener.
31:36
Sure, if you are listening to this on your commute right now
31:39
or while washing dishes, you might be feeling an immense
31:42
weight. We have gone through faith,
31:46
love, repentance, humility, fear, gratitude, detachment, and
31:50
hope. If every single one of these
31:52
graces demands flawless outward action, you might be gripping
31:56
the steering wheel thinking I was incredibly selfish to my
31:59
spouse this morning. I lost my temper with my kids.
32:02
My Grace seems to be taking a nap.
32:04
Does that mean I am lost? If Grace cannot sleep, how do we
32:08
handle our daily failures without falling into absolute
32:12
despair? Edwards does not leave his
32:14
readers hanging over a Cliff of despair.
32:16
He brings us to the ultimate test which is self examination,
32:20
but before he delivers the test, he offers a massive pastoral
32:23
comfort regarding our imperfections.
32:25
This is vital. He addresses the reality of sin
32:28
in the life of a believer. He makes a critical distinction.
32:31
He is not demanding absolute sinless perfection.
32:34
Edward states clearly that a Christian's life may be attended
32:36
with many and exceeding great imperfections, and yet still be
32:40
a holy life. The fruits demonstrate the good
32:42
nature of the tree, even if some of the apples have bruises or if
32:46
a storm knocks some branches down.
32:49
It is an apple tree tree, not a thorn brush.
32:51
The habitual output, the trajectory of the growth is
32:54
apples. To help the listener analyze
32:56
their own tree without falling into despair, Edwards provides a
33:00
series of seven rigorous tests. Let's spend some real time
33:03
walking through these, because this is where the theology hits
33:06
the pavement. The first two tests are about
33:08
our reaction to sin. Test 1 asks, Are your past
33:12
failures loathsome to you? Does your supposed grace have
33:16
such an influence that your past sinful practices are hateful in
33:20
your eyes? Do you mourn before God for
33:22
them, and is it a genuine burden to you that your current
33:25
practice is no better than it is?
33:27
Let's look at a real world scenario.
33:29
Let's say a man used to cheat on his taxes or he had a habit of
33:33
lying to his clients to close deals.
33:36
He claims he has experienced grace.
33:38
Does he look back at those lies and justify them?
33:41
Does he say, well, it's just business, everyone was doing it?
33:44
Or does he genuinely loathe those actions?
33:47
It is the difference between feeling bad because you got
33:49
caught and hating the sin itself because it offends God.
33:53
True grace creates A revulsion to past sin.
33:57
Test 2 Moves from the past to the future.
34:00
Do you carry a habitual dread of Finn?
34:03
Do you view it as a terrible enemy that has wounded you?
34:06
An enemy you want to stand on watch against.
34:09
This goes back to our snake analogy.
34:10
Yeah. Do you recognize sin as
34:13
venomous? If you know your temper as a
34:15
venomous snake, do you take precaution?
34:17
Do you apologize quickly? Do you bite your tongue when you
34:20
feel the anger rising? Or do you just let the snake out
34:23
of the cage every time you feel annoyed?
34:24
That shifts us to Test 3 and 4, which focus heavily on what we
34:27
find beautiful. I found this distinction
34:29
absolutely fascinating. Edwards distinguishes between
34:33
heathen moral virtues and peculiarly Christian virtues.
34:37
It is an amazing insight into human sociology.
34:40
Edwards notes that even heathen philosophers, ancient societies,
34:44
and secular moralists esteemed certain virtues.
34:47
Things like justice, generosity, fortitude and courage.
34:50
It is easy for a natural man to admire a brave warrior, a stoic
34:54
leader or a just judge. Those virtues often bring
34:58
worldly glory and respect. Think about ancient Rome or even
35:02
modern hustle culture. Society praises the alpha male.
35:06
Society praises the CEO who dominates the competition, shows
35:10
incredible resilience and builds an empire.
35:12
We admire courage and strength, but Christian virtues are
35:15
entirely different. Edwards lists the peculiar
35:18
Christian virtues meekness, poverty of spirit, self
35:22
renunciation, loving enemies, forgiving injuries.
35:25
The natural secular man despises those.
35:27
The worldly philosopher sees turning the other cheek as
35:30
weakness. The modern hustle guru sees
35:32
poverty of spirit as a loser's mentality.
35:34
So Edwards asked the listener, which set of virtues do you
35:37
truly esteem? Do you hold these peculiarly
35:40
Christian virtues and special esteem because they are full of
35:43
the spirit of your Savior? Or do you just want to be known
35:46
as a strong, generous, successful person in the eyes of
35:49
the world? Do you admire courage because it
35:52
is human, or do you admire meekness because it is divine?
35:55
It is an incredibly sharp diagnostic tool.
35:58
Test 5 asks Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness?
36:02
Is conformity to God what you long for and live for?
36:06
And Test 6 builds directly on that hunger.
36:10
Do you make a business of holy living?
36:12
Let's talk about the word business because that implies
36:15
structure, effort, and daily attention.
36:17
It implies a vocation. Just as a soldiers entire
36:20
business is fighting or merchants entire business is
36:23
trading is Christian practice your great concern?
36:26
Is it your serious, constant aim to keep all of God's
36:29
commandments and not to willfully neglect any known
36:31
duty? It is the difference between a
36:34
hobby and a vocation. You might play golf on the
36:37
weekends when the weather is nice, but it does not dictate
36:40
your life. A lot of people treat
36:41
Christianity like a hobby. They participate when it is
36:44
convenient, when the music is good, when their schedule is
36:47
clear. But a business, a vocation,
36:51
dictates how you budget your money, how you schedule your
36:54
time. And what you prioritize on a
36:56
stressful Tuesday afternoon. Edwards is asking if your
36:59
religion is your primary enterprise.
37:01
And the final Test, Test 7 might be the most searching of all.
37:06
Do you pray like Job asking God to show you your hidden faults
37:10
specifically so you can stop doing them?
37:12
Job prayed that which I see not teach thou me.
37:16
If I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
37:18
Think about the terror of actually asking an omniscient
37:21
God to expose your blind spots. A hypocrite never wants to know
37:24
their hidden faults, they want to keep them hidden.
37:27
But a person with true grace genuinely desires to know all
37:30
their duty so that they can actually perform it, even if the
37:33
revelation is painful. Gathering all seven of these
37:36
tests together, they provide a rigorous metric.
37:38
But they also provide a comforting metric for you to
37:40
analyze your own life. If you can answer yes to these
37:42
questions, If you loathe your sin, If you dread its return.
37:46
If you esteem meekness, if you make a business of obedience,
37:50
and if you beg God to show you your hidden flaws.
37:52
Then, even if your daily execution is terribly flawed,
37:56
you have solid evidence that your grace is alive.
37:59
The intention, the grief over failure, the love for the
38:03
Christian virtues, the act of striving, these are the
38:06
undeniable heartbeats of a living faith.
38:08
This brings us to a final synthesis of everything we have
38:11
covered. I want to thank you for breaking
38:13
down Edward's dense logic. It was a pleasure to unpack it.
38:16
We have seen that true grace is never a shadow.
38:20
It is never just a painting of a giant on a canvas.
38:23
It is an active living force. It is a root that inevitably,
38:27
relentlessly, produces a plant. Edwards leaves absolutely no
38:31
room for the passive spectator in the Christian life.
38:33
The divine architecture of Election and Redemption is
38:36
specifically designed to produce a people zealous for good works.
38:40
The internal mechanics of the human will guarantee that true
38:42
affection for God will steer the vehicle of your life toward
38:45
physical obedience. I want to leave you the listener
38:48
with the final challenge to Mull over.
38:49
We have talked about massive theological concepts today.
38:53
We have talked about election, redemption and the faculties of
38:55
the mind. But look at your daily habitual
38:58
routine. Look at the way you budget your
39:01
money each month. Look at the way you react to
39:03
minor inconveniences, like when someone cuts you off in traffic
39:07
or when your spouse forgets to run an errand.
39:09
Look at the way you utilize your free time when absolutely no one
39:13
is watching. If grace is an active principle
39:16
that governs the whole person, what is the mundane reality of
39:20
your Tuesday afternoon suggest about the operating system
39:24
running your life? Are you running a dormant
39:26
software file, or is the vital principle of life actively
39:30
moving you? The evidence of the root is
39:33
always eventually found in the fruit.
39:35
Think back to that broken X-ray machine we talked about at the
39:38
very beginning. The Muddy Waters of diagnosing
39:40
the human heart. It turns out the diagnostic tool
39:43
is not a snapshot you can take in a single emotional moment at
39:46
an altar or during a prayer. The diagnostic tool is a time
39:50
lapse camera. You have to watch the life
39:52
overtime. You have to look at the
39:54
trajectory of the vehicle down the highway.
39:56
If you watch long enough, the Muddy Waters clear up and the
39:58
true nature of the tree becomes visible for all to see.
40:01
It really does. Thank you so much for joining us
40:04
for this deep dive on reformed thinking.
40:06
Keep examining the evidence, keep seeking the truth, and we
40:09
will catch you next time.