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The Essence of Saving Grace Explained | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. This is the show where we take a
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deep dive into the sources you share with us, providing clear,
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targeted insight into what really matters.
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Today we are spending some time with one of the most rigorous
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theological minds in American history, Jonathan Edwards.
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The source material we're looking at is from his treatise
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on grace, specifically the part that asks showing where in all
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saving grace does summarily consist.
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Now this isn't just a broad summary of piety, it's a very
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targeted theological investigation.
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Our mission, our whole objective for this deep dive is to figure
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out what Edwards isolates as the radical single governing
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principle behind all true Christian holiness.
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He's trying to take the entire spiritual life, everything from
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faith to patience to love, and boiled it all down to 1
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identifiable supernatural route. We've got to follow his argument
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step by step to see if we can find the single seed.
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And he kicks things off by asking the one question that
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really drives the entire work. He asks what is the nature of
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the principle that's put into the soul during regeneration, A
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principle that's completely different from anything that's
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naturally in the human soul. He's hunting for the source of
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that supernatural difference between a converted heart and an
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unconverted 1. And his answer comes pretty
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fast. Immediately, and it's
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provocative, he just states flat out that saving grace is
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radically but one. Radically but one.
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Exactly. And that's the essential
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starting point. It forces us to rethink how we
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usually talk about the spiritual life.
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I mean, we're constantly talking about different graces, right?
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Repentance, humility, resignation, thankfulness,
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patience. Sure.
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We treat them like they're all separate, distinct principles of
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holiness. We give them their own names as
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if they're different things entirely.
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Well, that's natural, isn't it? When you look at your own
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spiritual life, where you read the scriptures, you see these
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distinct commands. Be patient, be thankful,
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forgive. They feel like separate states
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of mind. You know, separate jobs you have
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to do. If I'm struggling with pride, I
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think I need to work on humility.
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I'm bitter. I work on forgiveness.
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They seem like they need separate efforts.
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And that is precisely the common mistake Edwards is trying to
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fix. He argues we misunderstand how
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God works if we assume these are actually distinct principles at
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their root in the heart. He insists they all come from
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the same fountain. These virtues are, and this is
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his phrase, various exertions and conditions of the same
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thing. OK, so the different names we
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give them. The names like repentance,
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humility, thankfulness, they're just different labels we put on
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them depending on how that single principle shows up.
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The names change based on the occasion, the object, the
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circumstances of how it's being exercised.
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So if I show humility, that's the single principle reacting
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to, say, me thinking about my own faults.
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And if I show patience, it's that same principle reacting to
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a long wait or some kind of irritation.
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The occasion gives the virtue its name, but the source is the
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same thing you've. Got it exactly right.
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Yeah. If we could look deep enough
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into the soul, we'd find one single holy principle that is
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the essence and sum of all grace.
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It's the root and the source of every holy action.
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It's the fountain where every good stream starts.
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The variety we see is just the complexity of life putting
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different names on the output of that one divine source.
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And this is where he brings in some of that famous imagery to
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really make the idea stick. He doesn't want us to think of
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grace as, you know, a bunch of separate little fountains.
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He says it's 1 fountain of water of life pointing to John chapter
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4 and when God regenerates someone, the spirit plants one
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single heavenly seed in the soul, not a bag of mixed seeds
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for different virtues. He points to 1st John where it
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says his seed remaineth in him, one seed.
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He even says the spiritual day that has arisen on the soul is
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but one. It's one work of the Spirit that
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produces a single pure light, the consistency of Fountain Seed
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Day. It's all meant to show that
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unity is the core reality here. And that leads to a word that I
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think is one of the most powerful in the whole treatise.
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He talks about the consentination of Graces.
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Consentination. That's a word you don't hear
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every day. No, you don't.
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And it's critical because it pushes us past simple ideas of,
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you know, theological cooperation.
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We hear words like alliance or cooperation, like 1.
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Grace helps another. Maybe faith helps you repent,
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but consentination sounds stronger than that.
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It is much stronger. It means that 1 is really
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implied in the other. The very nature of 1 virtue
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involves the nature of another, because they share the same
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single essence. OK, can you give an example of
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that? Sure, take true Christian
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repentance. By necessity it has to be based
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on divine love. You can't just repent of sin
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because sin hurts you. That's just worldly sorrow.
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It's driven by self love. True repentance is being sorry
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because the sin offends A supremely lovable and excellent
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God. So true repentance implies love.
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They aren't two separate things working together, they're two
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sides of the same coin made from the same stuff.
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I see. And this idea of implication is
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how he explains that radical unity.
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If you strip away all the circumstances, the occasions,
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the consequences, the things that go along with it, what's
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left of any Christian virtue has to be the same single principle.
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Repentance is love reacting to sin.
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Patience is love reacting to suffering.
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Thankfulness is love reacting to a benefit.
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So if you strip away all the circumstances, all the
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appendages and the occasions, what's left?
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What is that single essence? That's the real heart of the
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matter. Then, if we can isolate that, we
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found the single principle that is the summary of all grace.
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We have. We've established that this one
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radical principle is the source of a holiness.
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Now we have to name it. That sets up the second part of
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his argument perfectly. Edwards moves from just saying
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grace is unified to identifying exactly what that single grand
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Christian virtue is, and he names it clearly.
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He said that single principle, the soul and essence and summary
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comprehension of all grace is divine love.
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And the way he proves this is just so logical.
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He argues that if all the right dispositions of the heart, all
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the obedience that's required, is summed up in love, then all
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grace, which is the internal ability to do those duties, must
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also be summed up in love. So he just sets out to prove
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from Scripture that love is the sum of all our duty.
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And he starts right where a reformed thinker would with the
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law. He cites Romans 13, verses 8 and
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10, which teaches that he who loves another has fulfilled the
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law, and that love is the fulfilling of the law.
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That's his first pillar. That's a crucial point, isn't
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it? Gets to the very nature of what
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obedience is. It is because if the law is
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fulfilled, that means you've obeyed the sum of what it
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requires. Edwards argues that for love to
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fulfill the law, it has to contain the essence of
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everything the law demands. It's not just that love stops
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you from breaking the law, it's that love actively produces the
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kind of heart the law requires. For instance, if I love my
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neighbor, I don't just not steal from him, I actually want his
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welfare and property to increase.
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That positive desire born of love is the true fulfillment of
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the command. And he also points to First
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Timothy, where Paul says now the end of the commandment is
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charity, which is love. The end there means the ultimate
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goal, the whole reason the command was given.
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So the purpose of every command of the law is to create or show
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the single principle of love. Exactly.
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Then Edwards expands the scope way beyond just the 10
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Commandments. He looks at the law in its
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biggest sense, as the entire written word of God that existed
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at the time. And here he goes straight to
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Christ's own words. In Matthew 22 to Christ says
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that on these two precepts of loving God and our neighbor hang
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all the law and the prophets. That is so powerful.
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The Law and the Prophets was the common way of referring to the
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entire Old Testament, the whole body of revealed Scripture.
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So the entire Revelation, history, prophecy, instruction,
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all of it is unified and hangs on these two poles of love.
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Love for God and love for your neighbor.
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Right. And if a whole structure hangs
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on just two points, those two points have to be strong enough
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to hold the entire weight and essence of that structure.
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He then breaks the argument down even further into the 2 tables
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of the law just to show how complete love.
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Is let's start with the second table, our duties to other
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people. In Romans 13, verse 9, Paul
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lists the specific commands. Don't commit adultery, don't
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kill, don't steal, don't covet. And then he wraps it all up by
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saying, If there be any other commandment, it is briefly
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comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy
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neighbor as thyself. So the principle of love acts
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like the great summary, the engine of our morality toward
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other people. It does.
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If you really love your neighbor as yourself, you can't possibly
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commit adultery against them or murder them or steal from them,
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because those actions violate the very essence of how you
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treat yourself. Love stops the bad stuff and
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compels the good stuff. OK, so that's the second table.
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What about the first table? Our duty to God.
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Edwards says the structure is identical.
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He points to Matthew 22 where Christ himself says the command
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to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind is
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the greatest and 1st commandment.
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That's the sum of the first table.
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We also see this when the lawyer in Luke chapter 10 summarizes
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the 2 tables as loving God and loving neighbor and Christ
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approves his answer. He says Thou hast answered right
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this do, and thou shalt live. Christ is confirming that to do
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this, to genuinely love God and neighbor, is to fully obey the
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entire law. And Edwards calls all this
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evidence irrefragable. Proof A.
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Strong term. Very strong.
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It means proof that can't be broken or refuted, and he uses
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it because he needs to establish love supremacy beyond any doubt.
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He points out that Scripture teaches this total completeness
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of love, that it includes every duty of the heart, but it never
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says the same thing about anything else.
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What about things like the fear of God?
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Good question. Sometimes other virtues, like
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fearing God or knowing God are used as fuckers of speech, as
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metonyms for religion in general.
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You know, you might read a Psalm that says the fear of the Lord
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is the beginning of wisdom. But Edward's point is that
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nowhere does Scripture ever say that the fear of God is the
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fulfilling of all the law and the prophets, or that all the
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commandments hang on it. Only Divine Love gets that total
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unqualified, exhaustive endorsement as the sum of all
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duty. So that really settles the case
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then. All grace, every single
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Christian disposition, especially with supernatural and
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divine in it, consists in divine love.
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All the other things we see are just different expressions of
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this one core. All right, so he's established
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from Scripture that love sums up the law and the prophets.
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But that leads to a critical question.
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How does love separate the true believer from the religious
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phony? This is where First Corinthians
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13 becomes absolutely devastating to just going
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through the motions. It really is.
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In the chapters right before chapter 13, Paul was talking
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about the gifts of the Spirit. Things like wisdom, knowledge,
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prophecy, miracles, speaking in tongues.
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And the Corinthian church was well, they were obsessed with
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these spectacular gifts. Edwards reminds us that these
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gifts are common. They can be found in both Saints
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and sinners. Paul tells the Corinthians to
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desire the best gifts, but then he immediately switches gears.
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He says. And yet I show you a more
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excellent way. He shifts from the common gifts
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of the Spirit to the saving grace of the Spirit, which he
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calls a gape, love or charity. So the whole point of the
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chapter is a direct comparison. It's a comparison to show that
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the saving grace of love is superior to every single gift
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that might look like true piety on the outside.
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But Edwards is very specific about the scope of this love.
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When we read First Corinthians 13, we often think about
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brotherly love, patience, kindness, not being envious.
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But Edwards argues we have to understand this principle in its
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full extent, which primarily has God as its object, because all
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true Christian love for other people flows out of love for
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God. And we can see that if you just
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look back a few chapters to 1st Corinthians 8.
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Paul is comparing knowledge and charity.
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He says knowledge puffs up but charity builds up.
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And he ends by saying, but if any man love God, the same is
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known of him. So the superior essential grace
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he's talking about, the charity, is explicitly defined as the
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love of God. This is the supernatural love
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that marks out the true St. OK, so with that in mind,
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chapter 13 becomes about the absolute necessity of this
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divine love. It's the very thing we're in.
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A gracious sincerity consists. It is.
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It's the most excellent, necessary and distinguishing
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part of all genuine religion, and we really need to sit with
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the theological force of Paul's nothing clauses.
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Edwards uses this list to show that love is the only thing that
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can't be faked by self-interest or natural talent.
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That list of worthless things is it's shocking.
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Without this love, having the tongues of men and angels is
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just noise sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.
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It sounds nice, but it's empty. And he goes beyond just
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eloquence into spiritual power without love, having the gift of
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prophecy, understanding all mysteries, having all knowledge,
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and even having all faith. Faith powerful enough to remove
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mountains. All of it.
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That amounts to nothing. Wait a minute, if faith that can
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move mountains is nothing without love, doesn't that
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completely change how we think about spiritual power?
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We tend to measure spirituality by what we can see but tangible
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results like knowledge or miracles.
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It completely flips the script on how we measure spiritual
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progress. It means the outward act, even a
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miraculous one, has no saving value at all if the heart's main
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principle is wrong. Edwards argues that this kind of
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faith, the mountain moving kind, is a gift, not saving grace.
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It's a tool God can use in both the regenerate and the
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unregenerate, but it's not the saving principle itself.
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If you can move a mountain but you hate the one who made it,
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you are still nothing. And Paul pushes it even further
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into action and sacrifice. If someone bestow all their
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goods to feed the poor and even give their bodies to be burned,
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without this love, there's still nothing.
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Those are the highest achievements of external piety,
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charity and ultimate self sacrifice.
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Just think about that for a second.
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Giving away everything you own to the poor?
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Nullified. Dying as a martyr, The ultimate
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external proof of your sincerity?
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Nullified. The sheer list of things that
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are dismissed as worthless without love proves Edward's
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point. What is missing in the person
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who prophesized, has amazing knowledge, performs the highest
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level of charity, and makes the ultimate sacrifice?
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And Edward says it plainly. Only one thing is missing, the
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very quintessence, life and soul of all religion, and that's the
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supernatural divine principle of Love.
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Everything else, even martyrdom, can be done from pride or fear
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or ambition or self-interest. But love is the one single test
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for sincerity, spirituality and divinity and religion.
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Paul's intent, then, is to show how this principle basically
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includes everything that is good.
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That's it. He shows how all good and
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excellent dispositions toward both God and man just flow from
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this one source. Think about the descriptions of
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love. It's patient, it's kind, it
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doesn't envy, it endures all things.
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These aren't separate virtues that love just happens to have.
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These are the ways the principle of love acts in different
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situations. So long-suffering is love
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reacting to being irritated. Exactly.
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Kindness is love reacting to someone in need.
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They all flow out of it as the one source that contains
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everything. This also explains why love is
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the lasting virtue. Edwards points out that in the
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most perfect state in heaven, the divine nature and the Saint
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will be at its purest. It will be stripped of all the
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accessories it has in this life. That's right.
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When that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part
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shall be done away. Patience will be gone because
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there's no suffering. Repentance will be gone because
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there's no sin. Even faith will be gone because
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we'll see God face to face and belief will be replaced by
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sight. So what's left?
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Edwards argues that in that pure final state, love is what
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remains because love is the principle of perfect union with
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and enjoyment of God's Excellency.
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All the other names for grace will be swallowed up in the name
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of charity or love. And that's why Paul calls
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charity the greatest grace at the end of First Corinthians 13.
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It's the greatest because it is the source and sum of all
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graces, just like the command to love God is the sum of all
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commands. It is the end and the essence of
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all duty and all good in the heart.
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So this section of Scripture is a powerful confirmation of what
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Edwards is arguing. True, religion isn't defined by
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its spectacular outward effects, but by its singular inward
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essence, which is love. So we've seen the overwhelming
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scriptural case for the unity and the supremacy of love.
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But Edwards is known for using both revelation and reason.
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In this next part, he shifts from the revealed word to what
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he calls the universal testimony of reason.
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He uses it to bear witness to the same truth that love is
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essential, and it's comprehensive.
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And his first rational argument is that love is the thing that
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separates sincere religion from every kind of hypocrisy.
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He starts with a really simple definition.
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Religion, at its heart, is the exercise and expression of
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regard toward the divine being. So if there's no love, there can
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be no sincere regard. And why is that?
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Because love is the only proper response to Supreme Excellency.
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If you take love out of the equation, all the appearances of
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respect in Word or deed become hypocrisy and a vain show.
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They have 0 value in the eyes of the God who searches the heart.
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That's a devastating point for anyone who's just relying on
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their external religious behavior.
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The outward performance of duties, if it's done only from
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fear of punishment or hope of reward, is a lie.
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The fear of God without love, he says, is no other than the fear
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of devils. It's admitting God's power and
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wrath, but completely rejecting his goodness and loveliness.
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So any outward obedience or resignation or repentance or
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devotion, that's done only from that kind of fear, without any
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principle of love, It's a practical falsehood.
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Edwards even uses Psalm 66 to make the point.
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He notes that when the verse says enemies will submit
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themselves, the original Hebrew is better translated as
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shalvine. Enemies lie unto thee.
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Meaning a fake obedience. A feigned lying, obedience and
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respect, while their hearts are still enemies.
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And to really bring this chilling idea home, he gives the
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undeniable example of the devil himself for Luke chapter 8.
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This example is designed to shock you into realizing how
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perfect external worship can be while the heart is still totally
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empty. It is so the devil was forced to
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acknowledge Christ. Edwards recounts the scene of
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the demon possessed man meeting Jesus.
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When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and
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with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus,
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thou Son of God Most High, I beseech thee, torment meant me
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not. Look at all the elements of
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worship there. It's external worship that looks
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perfect. The devil is religious.
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He prays. He prays in a humble posture,
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falling down prostate before Christ.
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He prays earnestly, crying with a loud voice.
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And he uses these incredibly respectful, even adoring
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theological phrases. Jesus, thou son of God, most.
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High that image of the devil on the ground, using perfect
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theological language. It's terrifying.
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It suggests that outward religious performance means
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literally nothing unless the principle of love is there.
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All the forms of devotion were there, but they were all driven
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by the circumstance of fear and the object of self preservation.
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Torment me, not what was missing.
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Nothing was wanting but that singular, essential,
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supernatural principle of love. And to make the rational point
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even stronger, Edwards uses these relatable examples from
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human relationships. Think about our duties to other
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people. No good deed done by one person
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for another would be accepted if the person receiving it could
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see into their heart and know it didn't come from any real
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respect or affection, right? Take a child and a father.
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Suppose a child is extremely respectful, uses perfect
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manners, always says honoring words.
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But the father knows without any doubt that this behavior only
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comes from a deep fear of being punished or a desire to get a
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big inheritance. It's not from any genuine,
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heartfelt respect. Would that outward honor be
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acceptable to the father? Would it be satisfying?
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No, of course not. It would be an insult.
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The father would resent it because the action on the
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outside contradicts the reality on the inside.
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Or his example of a wife who behaves perfectly toward her
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husband, but only for other reasons.
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Financial security. Social status.
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And not from any true love or regard for him would the husband
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enjoy her outward respect, any more than if, as Edwards puts
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it, a wooden image were contrived to make respectful
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motions in his presence. Wow, that's a blunt analogy.
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It is, but it's effective. It means the outward act is
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stripped of all its meaning if the internal motivation is
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missing or worse, corrupt. And the application to our
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worship of God is immediate. Yes, sincerity hinges completely
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on love. His second rational argument
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then flows right out of the first one.
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Love comprehends all duty and practice.
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Reason itself shows that all good dispositions and duties
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have to flow from Divine Love. Because to regard God and men in
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our hearts the way we ought to, and to have the nature of heart
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toward them that we ought to have, is the exact same thing as
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having divine love. So this proper regard, this
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love, must contain all the virtue of the heart.
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And he uses the same logic he used with the scriptural proof.
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He goes back to Romans 13 verse 10.
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Love works, No I'll to his neighbor.
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And while that's a negative statement, it works no I'll.
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Edwards points out that Paul's reasoning implies much more.
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It implies that love works. Not just no I'll, but it works
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all good. All our duty to our neighbor.
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And if love compels, all good toward man.
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Then by the same logic, love to God works no ill, but all our
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duty towards God. Love is the one principle that
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not only governs but actively make sure all moral obligations
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are performed, because it seeks the excellence of its object.
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OK, so if divine love is the single root, the comprehensive
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essence of all grace, the next logical step has to be to answer
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what is this principle itself? We need a solid robust
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definition to separate it from the self love and the hypocrisy
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we just talked about. Before he gives the definition,
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he clarifies the structure of Christian love.
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He confirms that love to God and Christian love to men are
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radically the same principle. They're just flowing toward
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different objects. God is the first 'cause the
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fountain the source of all good. We love men because they are
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derived from Him, or because they bear His image, or because
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they're objects of His mercy. He's saying the principle is one
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thing. It's unitary and the first
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epistle John confirms this. Chapter 4 says he who doesn't
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love his brother cannot love God.
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Chapter 5 says whoever loves the one who begat loves the one who
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is begotten of him. It makes it clear the principle
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is 1. But because God is the primary
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object, our definition has to focus on love to God, since
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that's the fountain all other Christian love flows from.
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Edwards does admit it's hard to define love.
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He says things like this, spiritual affections, are better
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felt than defined. But he offers a description, a
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precise statement that's meant to limit the term, to separate
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it from the counterfeits and to capture its supernatural nature.
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And this description is the absolute crux of the entire
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treatise. We have to pause here because
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this is where Edwards really sets himself apart.
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Divine Love, as it has God for its object, is the souls relish
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of the supreme Excellency of the Divine nature, inclining the
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heart to God as the chief good. That phrase relish of the
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Supreme Excellency of the divine nature, that's the starting
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point. Let's break that down.
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What does he mean by relish? He means a spiritual taste or a
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sense. When you taste something, you
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perceive its quality immediately.
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You don't analyze a lemon to decide it's sour, you just taste
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it. And you know, in the same way
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the immediate effect of God's power and regeneration, the one
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necessary thing the Spirit does is to give the heart a divine
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taste, or sense a relish of God's inherent loveliness.
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So it's an immediate, intuitive appreciation for the beauty and
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goodness of God as he is in himself.
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That's it. And Edwards claims this relish
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is all the immediate effect of the divine power that there is.
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That's a huge theological claim. It suggests the Spirit of God
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only needs to do one single thing.
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Open the spiritual sense to taste God's superlative
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loveliness. It really simplifies the
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mechanism of conversion. He argues that once the soul is
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brought to taste the superlative loveliness of the divine being,
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all the other good effects will just follow of themselves.
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Well, if God plants this spiritual relish, this divine
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taste for His Excellency, other things just proceed naturally
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and necessarily. If I taste something supreme
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sweet, I'm going to want more of it.
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If I see something supremely beautiful, I want to be near it.
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The person who has this taste doesn't need anything more to
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make him long for the enjoyment of God, to rejoice in God's
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happiness, and to desire that this supremely excellent being
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should be pleased and glorified. And this brings us to the most
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critical distinction in the whole work separating this
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divine love from self love. If the basis of the love is the
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Excellency of God's own nature, where does that leave gratitude
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for the good things we receive? This is where Edwards is so
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rigorous. The main ground of true love has
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to be the Excellency of God's own nature, His inherent
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perfection, His justice, His wisdom, His Holiness.
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It can't be based on any benefit we have received or hope to
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receive from His goodness to us. But gratitude is a good thing,
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isn't? It Of course, gratitude for
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mercies is good, and God's acts of kindness can be occasions and
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incitements to the exercise of true love.
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But, and this is the key, and affection that is based only on
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the benefit you received or hoped for is fundamentally
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flawed. If it lacks any sense of delight
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in God's absolute Excellency, it has nothing divine in it.
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Let's try an analogy to make that clear.
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Suppose a master painter creates A magnificent work of art.
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I can love that painting for one of two reasons.
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I can love it because I see it's inherent genius, the beauty of
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its composition and color, it's objective Excellency.
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Or I can love it just because the painter gave it to me and
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now it's worth millions of dollars, which benefits me.
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That analogy is perfect. The second one is just self love
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pretending to be appreciation. Edwards points out that natural
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men working curely from self love can feel gratitude for
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kindness, just like they would to a nice neighbor who saved the
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money or gave him a place to stay that.
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Kind of. Gratitude doesn't require any
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supernatural principle, it's just human nature reacting to
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getting a benefit. A principle of self Love Is All
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you need for that kind of affection toward God, so it
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can't be the real source of saving grace.
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Exactly. Therefore divine love has to be
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a principle that is entirely distinct from self love.
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And we come back to the priority of the relish, the divine taste
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or relish of the soul, the sweetness you perceive in God's
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perfections. That has to exist first.
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It has to be the foundational motivation.
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I see only after that initial relish is there that delight in
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God's inherent beauty. Can self love then cause an
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appetite for the enjoyment of that sweetness?
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The person loves God because God is supremely lovely, not just
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because God is good to him. The fact that God is good to him
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then becomes an additional joy, a consequence of his existing
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love. But it's not the foundation of
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the love itself. This supernatural relish, this
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taste for God's inherent excellence, is the single seed
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of all saving grace. We took the stack of sources and
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followed Edward's extremely tight argument, and we found the
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root of all holiness. He took the seemingly complex
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very landscape of Christian duty and unified it all into one
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supernatural, coherent principle.
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The whole structure is simplified and unified in love.
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And to summarize for you, the listener, Edwards forces us to
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stop seeing repentance, faith, patience, and humility as
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different separate things. He traces them all back to 1
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singular principle, the seed planted in regeneration.
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This principle is divine love, but it's defined not as an
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emotion based on getting something, but as a
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supernatural, God-given taste, a relish for God's inherent
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absolute Supreme Excellency. Everything else is just the
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different ways that relish expresses itself in different
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situations. But the final provocative
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thought comes back to that distinction Edwards draws
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between true love and mere self love dressed up as piety.
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We learned that the devil himself can perform outward acts
27:45
of devotion from fear and self-interest.
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So if we know that even the most spectacular acts, prophecy,
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charity, even martyrdom are nothing without true love, how
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often might we in our own hearts substitute the pleasure of a
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received benefit for a true relish of the Giver's absolute
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self existent excellence? When you evaluate your own
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religious affections, what does it truly mean for you to test
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them against that rigorous high definition of divine love?
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Thank you for sharing your source material with us for this
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deep dive into Edward's thought.