Latest / Reformed Thinking / Gracious Affections Soften the Heart | Jonathan Edwards

Transcript

Gracious Affections Soften the Heart | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Welcome to the Deep Dive. We're here to look closely at
0:03
key texts and ideas, trying to make them really clear and,
0:07
well, useful for you today. And today, we're tackling
0:09
something pretty central to spiritual life.
0:13
How can we tell the difference between a real, authentic
0:16
spiritual experience and something that just looks
0:20
spiritual on the surface? That's right, we're going to
0:23
focus on how genuine faith actually shapes our hearts, our
0:26
inner life, through what our main source calls religious
0:29
affections. And maybe we should clarify
0:32
affections here. It's not just talking about
0:33
feelings that come and go, like being happy one minute and sad
0:36
the next. Good point.
0:37
It's more about the the deep inclinations of the soul, the
0:40
desires, the motivations, what really moves us deep down, what
0:44
drives our will and actions. OK, so the engine room of the
0:47
soul. Almost.
0:48
You could put it that way, Yeah. And the material we're drawing
0:50
on today is, well, it's a really significant work dealing
0:53
specifically with these affections.
0:55
It helps us look at what's actually going on inside a
0:57
believer's heart when God's grace is genuinely at work.
1:01
And when it's not? And crucially, when it's not, it
1:05
gives us a kind of framework, a way to think about our own walk
1:08
with God, you know, beyond just appearances or assumptions.
1:12
So our goal here is to unpack how these true spiritual
1:15
affections lead to what the source calls a tender heart.
1:18
It's a really evocative phrase. It is.
1:20
And then look at the flip side, how false affections actually
1:23
result in a kind of spiritual hardness.
1:26
We'll dig into the different attitudes and behaviors that go
1:28
along with each, using some of the examples and analogies from
1:31
the text to hopefully make it clearer.
1:33
Sounds good. Yeah, Let's get into into it,
1:35
Eddie. The hardening effect of false
1:38
affections. A counterfeit spiritual state.
1:41
OK, so let's start with those false affections.
1:43
What's interesting and maybe a bit surprising is how our source
1:46
describes their beginning. It says they might initially
1:50
seem to melt the heart. Like they appear really intense,
1:54
maybe emotional, very moving when they first show up.
1:56
Yes, that's a key observation. They can be very deceptive.
1:59
So how does that initial appearance, that seeming melt,
2:03
end up misleading people and actually will hardening the
2:06
heart instead of softening it? Well, it's because those
2:08
feelings, however intense they seem, aren't rooted in the right
2:12
place. False affections tend to
2:14
establish dispositions that are fundamentally about self.
2:18
You know, self seeking, wanting spiritual experiences for what I
2:21
get out of them, maybe a tendency towards self
2:24
exaltation, feeling superior because of these experiences,
2:28
and sometimes even in opposition to others who might not share
2:32
the same intensity or who might question things.
2:35
And the source suggests these affections can actually stupify
2:38
the mind. Stupify.
2:40
Like make it dull. Exactly.
2:42
Numb it, almost close it off from the kind of sensitivity
2:45
that marks true heart tenderness.
2:48
So over time this leads to individuals being less affected
2:51
by their own sins. Less bothered by them.
2:53
Yes, less inwardly disturbed when they sin now, and less
2:57
genuinely sorrowful about sins they committed in the past.
3:00
They start to become less conscientious about avoiding sin
3:02
in the future. To that initial heat wears off,
3:05
you could say, and what's left is a kind of spiritual dullness.
3:08
So they're not as worried about falling into sin again.
3:11
Not really, no. It could become almost casual.
3:14
And this extends to how they respond to God.
3:16
They become less moved by warnings in Scripture, less
3:19
receptive to cautions, even less responsive to God's
3:22
chastisements in their life. You know when difficult
3:25
circumstances might be meant to correct them, right?
3:28
Any spiritual sensitivity they might have had, maybe during an
3:31
earlier time of conviction, just slowly gets eroded.
3:34
It's a gradual slide into a state where they're kind of OK
3:37
with their own compromises. Spiritual stupor.
3:40
That dulling it sounds really dangerous because it's probably
3:44
quite subtle. Does it show up in outward
3:46
behavior too? I mean, how does this
3:48
carelessness play out day-to-day?
3:50
Oh. Absolutely.
3:51
It definitely spills over into practical life.
3:53
The person becomes becomes, well, more careless about the
3:55
state of their own heart, less inclined to really examine
3:58
themselves honestly, and they also become careless about their
4:00
outward behavior, how they act, and what effect it has.
4:03
So less self aware maybe? Less self aware and less quick
4:07
to recognize when something is actually sinful or displeasing
4:11
to God. And here's a really interesting
4:13
point the source makes. They become less afraid of the
4:16
appearance of evil than they might have been when they were
4:19
first under conviction. What do you mean by under
4:22
conviction? Like afraid of hell.
4:24
Yeah, often it's that initial fear of consequences, fear of
4:27
punishment, what the text calls legal awakenings.
4:30
It's a fear mostly driven by self preservation.
4:33
But once they get this false assurance, this idea that
4:36
they're safe, that fear goes away.
4:38
But it's not replaced by a genuine heart driven desire to
4:41
please God. I see.
4:43
So the motivation changes, or rather disappears, right?
4:47
And because they often develop a pretty high opinion of
4:49
themselves, believing their spiritual state is secure, it
4:52
becomes much easier for them to skip duties that are difficult
4:55
or inconvenient. Like what?
4:57
Well, things like consistent private prayer on a self
4:59
examination, maybe wrestling with difficult passages of
5:03
scripture. Those things take effort.
5:05
They become easier to push aside.
5:07
They also tend to be slower, maybe more selective in obeying
5:11
commands that require real self denial or humility.
5:15
They're less alarmed when they notice their own flaws or when
5:18
they actually sin. They might just brush it off.
5:20
Minimize it. Exactly.
5:22
Minimize it. And this feeling of security
5:25
emboldens them to, well, cut corners, to be less diligent,
5:29
less careful, less exact in their daily walk with God.
5:33
So it leads to laziness, spiritually speaking.
5:36
In a way, yes. Yeah.
5:37
It makes them more likely to give in to temptation to follow
5:40
the desires of their flesh. And this carelessness even shows
5:43
up in worship. They show less careless
5:46
reverence when they come into God's presence, whether that's
5:48
in church or in private, the source notes something quite
5:52
striking. After maybe putting in a lot of
5:54
effort, initially driven by that fear of consequences, perhaps
5:57
denying themselves things to try and feel secure, now thinking
6:00
they're out of danger, they essentially put off the burden
6:03
of the cross. They just settle into seeking
6:05
ease and fulfilling their own desires.
6:08
It's ironic, isn't it? The effort to get assurance
6:10
leads to less effort in actual obedience.
6:13
It's. A sad irony, yes.
6:14
It paints a pretty grim picture, but you mentioned earlier how
6:18
self-interest drives this. How does this distorted view
6:21
affect how they see Christ? Because that seems critical.
6:25
It is critical, and it's perhaps the most disturbing part.
6:28
Instead of seeing Christ as their savior from Finn, the one
6:32
who delivers them from its power and guilt, enabling them to live
6:35
differently, they start to trust in Him as the savior of their
6:39
sins. Savior of their sins, What does
6:41
that mean? Think about it, instead of
6:43
running to Christ for refuge from their spiritual enemies,
6:46
like pride or lust or greed, seeking His help to fight
6:49
against them, they essentially use Christ as a shield for those
6:53
enemies, protecting them from God's displeasure.
6:56
Wow, so Christ becomes like an excuse.
6:58
Exactly an excuse or even an enabler.
7:01
They trust Christ to kind of cover for them while they
7:03
continue in their sin, maybe even enjoying it quietly.
7:06
He becomes a defense of their sin against God rather than the
7:09
one who conquers sin. The source even says they might
7:11
come close to him to fight against Him.
7:14
How could that be? By clinging to his grace as a
7:17
license to disobey his commands. It's what the book of Jude calls
7:21
turning the grace of God into wantonness, into moral
7:24
recklessness. Using grace as a cover for sin.
7:27
Precisely. And it connects to that passage
7:29
in Ezekiel 33 where trusting in your own righteousness makes you
7:32
bold enough to commit iniquity. They sin with a kind of courage,
7:36
feeling safe from God's warnings because they think, well, Christ
7:39
has got me covered regardless of how they're living.
7:42
That is deeply unsettling, using Christ himself to shield ongoing
7:47
sin. It really brings home the
7:48
Harding effect. And the source uses this
7:51
analogy, doesn't it, about iron? Iron that has been suddenly
7:54
heated and quenched? How does that capture this
7:57
state? It's a very powerful image.
7:59
The idea is that a false conversion, this false assurance
8:02
actually puts an end to convictions of conscience.
8:05
Any real sensitivity to sin, any fear of consequences that might
8:08
have been there during those initial legal stirrings, it gets
8:11
shut down or greatly reduced. So it doesn't just fail to
8:14
soften the heart. It actively hardens it.
8:17
It becomes much harder than before.
8:18
Just like iron, you heat it up. It becomes momentarily workable,
8:21
maybe pliable. If you then suddenly plunge it
8:25
into cold water, quench, it doesn't just cool down, it
8:29
becomes incredibly hard and brittle, much harder to shape
8:32
that it was even before you heated it.
8:34
I see. So the false hope, the false
8:35
assurance is like the cold water.
8:37
Exactly. It quenches any genuine
8:40
spiritual warmth or conviction that might have been starting.
8:43
It leaves the heart more resistant, more impenetrable to
8:47
God's truth than maybe it ever was before.
8:50
It takes that potential for change and turns it into rigid
8:53
resistance. It's a really tragic outcome. 2
8:56
The softening power of gracious affections.
8:59
A true spiritual transformation. OK, that picture of the hardened
9:03
heart, the quenched iron, is really quite sobering.
9:06
It shows the danger of mistaking emotional highs for real grace.
9:09
But now let's turn to the positive side.
9:11
Let's look at the opposite effect, the genuine work of
9:13
grace. How do gracious affections
9:15
reshape the heart? What does that look like?
9:17
It's a welcome shift, isn't it? The source says.
9:20
Gracious affections have a quite contrary tendency.
9:23
Instead of hardening, they work to turn that heart of stone more
9:27
and more into a heart of flesh. A heart of flesh meaning soft,
9:31
responsive. Yes, exactly.
9:33
Soft, receptive, sensitive to God's Spirit, to his Word.
9:37
And the source argues that principles like holy love, a
9:41
genuine love for God himself, and holy hope, a confidence
9:44
rooted in God's promises, are far more effective in making the
9:47
heart tender than just a slavish fear of punishment.
9:51
More effective than just being afraid of hell.
9:53
Much more effective, that kind of fear might make you avoid
9:56
certain actions to save your own skin, like a servant dodging a
9:59
whipping. But holy love and hope.
10:01
They create a deep desire to please God, to honor him, to
10:04
avoid anything that would grieve his spirit or dishonor his name.
10:07
It's about the relationship. So the motivation is completely
10:10
different. Completely.
10:11
It shifts from self preservation to God centered affection and
10:14
these principles, love, hope, gratitude, attitude are what
10:16
truly motivate watchfulness, care and welly desire for
10:20
strictness in life. Not a rigid legalism, but a
10:23
carefulness born out of love. That makes sense.
10:26
Love makes you careful not to offend the one you love.
10:29
Where does this tenderness actually come from?
10:30
What's its root? It flows directly from what the
10:33
text calls a contrite heart. And that word contrite, it
10:36
literally means bruised or crushed.
10:39
Bruised, yes. So a contrite heart is one
10:41
that's been broken by godly sorrow over sin.
10:45
Think about physical bruising. Bruised flesh is tender, right?
10:48
Easily hurt by even a light touch.
10:51
In the same way, a heart broken by godly sorrow becomes
10:54
spiritually tender, sensitive to sin, sensitive to God's
10:58
holiness. And this godly sorrow is
11:01
different from just feeling bad about getting caught.
11:03
Very different. That's what the source calls
11:06
legal sorrow. Sorrow based on selfish motives
11:09
like fear of punishment or loss of reputation.
11:12
Godly sorrow though, comes from seeing how sin offends a holy
11:15
and loving God. It's sorrow for dishonouring
11:17
him, grieving his spear, breaking his law.
11:20
Not just sorrow, but the consequences for me.
11:22
OK, so it's God centered sorrow versus self-centered sorrow.
11:25
Precisely. And that kind of sorrow, godly
11:28
sorrow, has a much greater influence in making the heart
11:30
truly soft and pliable to God's will.
11:33
So what about convictions of sin then?
11:36
If someone has this godly sorrow and experiences grace, you might
11:39
think, OK, I'm forgiven, so I shouldn't feel convicted
11:41
anymore. But the source says something
11:43
else entirely, doesn't it? It does, and it's one of those
11:46
beautiful, maybe unexpected aspects of grace.
11:50
True grace doesn't end convictions of sin.
11:52
If anything, it deepens. Them deepens them how?
11:55
So it doesn't dull the conscience, it actually makes it
11:57
more sensitive, more alert, more able to discern the sinfulness
12:01
and actions, even in thoughts and attitudes that might seem
12:04
subtle. So this leads to a greater
12:07
awareness of just how serious sin is.
12:10
It's heinous nature, as the text puts.
12:12
It you see sin more clearly for what it is.
12:14
Yes, and you feel it's weight more readily.
12:17
There's also a greater conviction of your own
12:19
sinfulness, the tendency of your own heart towards evil.
12:21
This makes a person more watchful over their heart, more
12:24
aware of its capacity to deceive.
12:26
More self suspicious in a healthy way.
12:28
In a healthy, humble way, yes. And grace does something more
12:32
than just show us the consequences of sin, which is
12:34
what legal conviction often focuses on.
12:37
Grace convicts the soul of the infinitely hateful nature of sin
12:41
itself. Hateful in God's eyes.
12:43
Exactly. Hateful because it offends His
12:45
Holiness, not just because it gets us into trouble.
12:48
And understanding that the inherent ugliness of sin before
12:52
a holy God is what really makes the heart tender towards it.
12:55
Can you give an example well? The source uses David.
12:58
After he cut off the corner of Saul's robe.
13:00
His heart smote him. He felt immediate conviction,
13:03
not because he was afraid Saul would find out, but because he
13:06
had violated the respect due to the Lord's anointed.
13:09
It showed a tender conscience, sensitive even to seemingly
13:13
small offenses against God's order.
13:15
And there's another analogy used.
13:17
The heart of a true penitent is like a burnt child that dreads
13:20
the fire. A burnt child, yeah.
13:22
Someone who has truly felt the pain of sin, not just the
13:25
external consequences, but the inner grief it causes, develops
13:28
a deep aversion to it, a tender dread of getting close to that
13:32
fire again. Three the little child metaphor.
13:38
Understanding Christian tenderness.
13:40
That image of the burnt child is really vivid.
13:42
It conveys that heightened sensitivity, that caution around
13:45
sin, and it makes me think of another comparison.
13:47
The source uses quite a bit to explain this tenderness, the
13:50
analogy of a little child. How does that help us understand
13:54
the heart-shaped by grace? It's a really rich metaphor,
13:57
isn't it? Especially when you consider how
13:58
Jesus himself pointed to children.
14:01
The source points out that just as a little child's skin, their
14:04
flesh is very tender, easily bruised, so is the heart of
14:07
someone who is newborn spiritually.
14:09
Newborn like being born again. Exactly, and it even draws a
14:13
parallel to Naman in the Old Testament, whose disease flesh
14:16
became like under the flesh of a little child after he obeyed
14:19
God's command. It signifies cleansing, renewal,
14:23
a fresh start resulting in this spiritual tenderness.
14:26
So it's about a kind of spiritual softness, like a
14:28
child's skin. Yes, but it's not just about
14:30
being easily hurt. It's also about the mind.
14:34
A child's mind is generally considered tender in the sense
14:37
that it's easily influenced, easily shaped, easily bowed or
14:40
submitted in spiritual matters. So.
14:42
Teachable Open. Teachable, open, responsive to
14:45
guidance. This mirrors how a Christian
14:48
heart softened by grace becomes responsive to God's Spirit,
14:52
willing to be led by his Word. Pliable meaning not rigidly set
14:55
in its own ways, but open to correction and growth.
14:58
OK, that helps. So beyond just being generally
15:01
soft or pliable, what other specific traits of a Christian
15:03
heart does this little child analogy bring out?
15:06
Well, several really helpful parallels emerge.
15:08
First, think about sympathy. Children often feel others pain
15:12
quite acutely, right? Similarly, a Christian heart
15:15
grows in compassion, learning to genuinely weep with those who
15:18
weep, finding it hard to see others suffer without feeling it
15:20
themselves. It's a cultivated empathy.
15:22
OK, what else? Kindness.
15:25
A child is often easily won over by kindness, responding warmly
15:28
to affection. The Christian heart is like
15:30
that, too. It's drawn to God by his love
15:33
and grace, responding to his goodness rather than just being
15:36
pushed by fear. Then there's grief over sin.
15:40
A child might grieve intensely over losing a toy or some other
15:43
temporary problem. The Christian heart, the tender
15:46
heart, grieves over the evil of sin itself, melting easily,
15:50
weeping over its offense against God.
15:52
It's a sorrow that goes deeper than just consequences.
15:55
Also think about fear. A child is easily scared by loud
15:59
noises or big dogs. Outward dangers.
16:02
A Christian with spiritual discernment becomes alarmed by
16:05
the appearance of moral evil things that threaten the soul,
16:09
even if they look harmless on the outside.
16:11
It's a different kind of sensitivity focused on spiritual
16:13
danger. A refined sense of.
16:15
Alarm and dependence. When a child faces a threat,
16:18
what do they do? They don't usually try to fight
16:20
it themselves. They run to their parents,
16:21
right? Right.
16:22
Similarly, the Saint, the true believer, isn't self confident
16:26
when facing spiritual enemies. They don't trust their own
16:29
strength. They instinctively fly to Christ
16:31
for refuge. There's this deep sense of
16:33
dependence. That's a great image, flying to
16:35
Christ. It is, and linked to that is
16:37
vigilance and self distrust. A St. is aware of spiritual
16:41
dangers, watchful over themselves, maybe even fearful
16:45
when the path forward isn't clear.
16:47
They're afraid of being left alone, spiritually speaking, or
16:49
drifting away from God, like a child who's weary in a strange
16:53
place or scared of the dark. So a kind of holy caution.
16:56
Exactly. It reminds me of Proverbs 28.14.
16:59
Happy is the man that feareth always.
17:02
Not a paralyzing fear, but a constant, humble vigilance.
17:05
OK. And one more.
17:06
Yes, reverence. A child naturally shows a
17:09
certain fear or respect towards superiors, parents, teachers.
17:13
The Christian heart cultivates a similar disposition towards God,
17:16
a dread of His holy anger or trembling at His Word and His
17:19
judgments. Trembling.
17:20
That sounds quite strong. It does, but think of passages
17:23
like Psalm 119. My flesh tremble it for fear is
17:26
he or Isaiah 66 those who tremble with it.
17:29
My word. It's mentioned quite often.
17:31
This holy fear is so basic to true godliness that the Bible
17:35
often just calls the whole thing the fear of God.
17:37
So it's not terror, but awe. Precisely.
17:41
Not a servile dread that makes you run away, but a profound awe
17:44
and reverence that comes from seeing God's majesty and
17:47
holiness and understanding our own smallness before Him.
17:50
It's the kind of fear that makes you want to please Him, not just
17:53
escape getting zapped. 4 Reconciling holy boldness and
17:57
true reverence. OK, that explanation of holy
18:00
fear as reverence linked to the tenderness of a child is really
18:04
helpful, but it does bring up something else.
18:06
We often talk about having holy boldness, especially in prayer,
18:09
right? Coming boldly to the throne of
18:11
grace, How does that fit with this idea of trembling and
18:14
reverence? They sound almost opposite.
18:16
That's a really common question and a fair one.
18:19
The source tackles it directly. It fully acknowledges that holy
18:22
boldness is real. It's seen particularly in, you
18:25
know, mature Saints, those with great faith and deep love for
18:27
God. But, and this is the crucial
18:29
part, this holy boldness is not the opposite of reverence.
18:32
They aren't mutually exclusive. True holy boldness removes the
18:36
kind of fear that comes from alienation, from sin, driving a
18:39
wedge between US and God. Moral Distance.
18:42
Right. And it removes the fear that
18:43
comes from being like a slave before a master, that distance
18:46
of relation. But it doesn't remove and
18:50
shouldn't remove the awe and deep respect that's due because
18:54
of the infinite natural distance between us as finite creatures.
18:57
And God is the infinite Creator. So we can be bold because we're
19:01
invited in as children, but we still recognize He's God.
19:04
Exactly. Sinful people who truly see God
19:07
for who He is and see themselves honestly will approach Him with
19:10
just as much reverence, maybe even more in a way, as the holy
19:13
angels who cover their faces before His throne.
19:16
Our boldness is the freedom of access granted by grace, not a
19:20
casual forgetfulness of His Majesty is the confidence of a
19:23
beloved child coming to a loving Father who is also the King of
19:26
Kings. That's a very helpful
19:28
distinction. It's not familiarity breeding
19:30
contempt, but intimacy breeding deeper reverence.
19:33
Does the source give examples of this?
19:35
Yes, it provides some really beautiful biblical
19:37
illustrations. Think of Rebecca in Genesis 24.
19:41
She's seen as a type, a symbol of the church, Christ's bride.
19:46
When she meets Isaac, her bridegroom, the text says she
19:49
got off her camel and put on a veil.
19:51
A veil? Why?
19:52
It's seen as an act of humility, modesty, and profound reverence.
19:56
Even if she's about to enter this incredibly close union, it
19:59
shows respect for the one she's joining.
20:02
Then there's Elijah on Mount Horeb.
20:04
Remember the story, the wind, the earthquake, the fire,
20:07
Terrifying displays of God's power.
20:10
But then God speaks to and is still.
20:11
Small voice like a friend. Even then, after the scary stuff
20:15
was over and God was speaking gently, what does Elijah do?
20:18
He wrapped his face in his mantle.
20:20
Why? Not because he was terrified God
20:22
would strike him, but out of reverential awe he was in the
20:25
presence of the Holy One, even an intimate communion.
20:27
It was reverence, not servile fear.
20:29
And Moses? Moses is another key example.
20:32
He spoke with God face to face, the text says, like a friend.
20:36
Yet when God revealed His glory to Moses on the mountain, Moses
20:39
immediately made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and
20:42
worshipped. Even Moses, who had such
20:44
closeness. Even Moses.
20:46
These examples show that the closer true Saints get to God,
20:49
the more grace they experience, the deeper their humility and
20:52
reverence become. It's not about losing awe, but
20:56
gaining a more profound sense of.
20:57
It that really clarifies things and it makes you think about
21:00
what sometimes passes for boldness today.
21:03
Maybe it's not the same thing at all.
21:05
Well, the source is quite critical of what it calls
21:07
unsuitable and unsufferable boldness, this kind of showy
21:11
display of supposed nearness or familiarity with God.
21:14
Ostentation it calls it. Yes, ostentation.
21:17
The argument is that if these people truly saw the infinite
21:20
distance between themselves and God, if they really grasped His
21:24
Holiness and their own sinfulness, the very thought
21:26
would make them shrink into nothing with horror and
21:29
confusion. Strong words.
21:30
Very. It compares this attitude to the
21:33
Pharisee in Luke 18. Remember him?
21:35
He boldly came up near confident in his own righteousness,
21:38
basically telling God how good he was.
21:40
Right, contrasted with the tax collector.
21:42
Exactly, The tax collector stood afar off, wouldn't even look up
21:46
to heaven, beat his breast and just said God be merciful to me,
21:49
a Sinner. That, the source says is the
21:52
proper posture for a sinful creature before a holy God.
21:55
Humble, contrite, aware of unworthiness, desperate for
21:59
mercy. It's self a basement versus self
22:02
exultation. So true Saints, even when they
22:05
feel closest to God, approach with this deep sense of
22:08
humility, even maybe shame over their sin.
22:12
Precisely. It's fitting for sinful
22:14
creatures like us to come before a holy God, with contrition,
22:17
with penitent shame, a sense of our unworthiness.
22:20
This isn't a lack of faith. It's a mark of genuine grace,
22:23
seeing ourselves rightly in the light of His glory.
22:24
Is that perspective found elsewhere in Scripture?
22:27
Oh yes, the source points to Ezekiel 16A prophecy about the
22:31
church and its future glory. Even then, when God has shown
22:34
immense mercy and established His covenant, the Church will
22:37
remember its pathways. And be ashamed, and never open
22:40
thy mouth anymore because of thy shame.
22:43
When I am pacified toward Thee, it suggests this humble
22:46
awareness of sinfulness remains even amidst great blessing.
22:50
Even when God is reconciled to them.
22:52
Even then it fuels gratitude and humility.
22:54
And think of the woman in Luke 7, the one who washed Jesus feet
22:57
with her tears. Christ himself said she loved
23:00
much because she was forgiven much.
23:02
She was clearly an eminent St., Yet how did she approach him?
23:06
With humble modesty, reverence, and shame, standing behind him
23:09
at his feet, weeping, as if feeling unfit even to look him
23:12
in the face. That, the source suggests, is
23:15
the beautiful, acceptable way for a truly changed heart to
23:17
approach the Savior, tender, broken, yet full of love and
23:20
respect, the paradoxical qualities of gracious
23:23
affections, strength, and tenderness together.
23:26
That image of the woman in Luke 7 is really powerful.
23:29
Her humility, her reverence, her love, all mixed together.
23:34
It perfectly leads into this final section where we look at
23:37
some of the, well, almost paradoxical qualities of a heart
23:41
truly marked by grace. Things that might seem
23:43
contradictory but actually fit together.
23:45
Yes, it's a fascinating aspect of genuine spiritual life.
23:49
The source explains that all gracious affections contribute
23:52
to this Christian tenderness. We've been talking about not
23:54
just godly sorrow, but also grace's joy and gracious hope.
23:58
Joy leads to tenderness. That seems counterintuitive.
24:01
It does, doesn't it? But think of Psalm 2.11.
24:04
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling joy, and
24:07
reverential fear and trembling. Existing together, they aren't
24:10
opposites in a gracious heart. They complement each other.
24:13
And even the strongest, most assured hope, if it's genuinely
24:16
from God, doesn't make a person arrogant or careless.
24:20
Instead, it fosters this very tenderness.
24:22
A hope rooted in God's unchanging character actually
24:25
deepens awe and humility. The more you realize how great
24:29
His grace is, the more humble you become.
24:32
So how do confidence and fear work together then?
24:34
If assurance grows, doesn't fear decrease?
24:38
It depends on the kind of fear. Our source explains it this way.
24:41
As Holy Assurance grows, banishing that servile fear, the
24:45
fear of punishment, the self interested fear, there's a
24:48
proportionate increase in reverential fear.
24:50
The awe, the respect, the fear of displeasing.
24:53
Him exactly. The fear of God's displeasure
24:55
itself, not just the consequences.
24:57
So less fear of hell often means more fear of sin, because sin is
25:01
what offends the God you now love and trust.
25:05
OK, that makes sense. And there's another paradox.
25:08
As doubts about your spiritual state decrease as your assurance
25:11
gets stronger, there's actually an increase in jealousy over
25:14
your own heart. Jealousy.
25:16
Meaning a greater awareness of its weakness is potential for
25:19
deceit. It's instability.
25:21
You become more distrustful of your own strength and wisdom
25:23
even as you become more confident in God's grace.
25:26
Humility deepens as assurance grows.
25:28
It's not self-confidence that increases, but God confidence.
25:32
OK, that's a key distinction. And does this change how a
25:34
person views different kinds of trouble or evil?
25:36
Yes, significantly, their priorities shift.
25:40
While a Christian whose heart is tender might become less afraid
25:44
of natural evil things like financial loss, sickness,
25:47
worldly setbacks, because their heart is fixed, trusting in God,
25:52
they become more likely to be alarmed by the appearance of
25:55
moral evil, the evil of sin. So less worried about losing
25:59
their job, maybe, but more worried about harboring
26:01
resentment. That's a good example.
26:03
Their spiritual senses are heightened to the things that
26:05
truly displease God and harm the soul.
26:08
Even if the world considers them small things.
26:10
Their greatest fear shifts from temporal loss to spiritual
26:14
compromise. These balances are really
26:16
interesting. Are there other examples of
26:17
these seemingly contradictory qualities coexisting?
26:21
Yes, the source lists several more that paint this rich
26:23
picture. As someone grows in holy
26:26
boldness towards God, they often show less self-confidence and
26:29
more genuine modesty towards other people.
26:31
Think of Paul again. Bold apostle yet called himself
26:34
the chief of sinners. As they become more sure they're
26:37
saved from hell, they paradoxically gain a deeper
26:41
sense of how much they actually deserve it.
26:43
Not in a despairing way, but leading to greater gratitude and
26:47
humility for the grace they've received.
26:48
Seeing the depth of mercy more clearly.
26:50
Exactly. They become firmer in their
26:52
faith, less easily shaken, yet more easily moved by solemn
26:56
warnings from Scripture, by signs of God's displeasure, or
27:00
by the suffering of others. Their stability in God makes
27:03
them more sensitive, not less, and the source sums it up
27:06
beautifully. The tallest and strongest St. is
27:09
also the least and tenderest child among them.
27:12
They have the firmest comfort, but the softest heart.
27:15
They are richer than others in grace, yet the poorest of all in
27:18
spirit, meaning the most aware of their utter dependence on
27:21
God. Wow.
27:23
Strength and tenderness, confidence and humility, joy and
27:25
reverence, all held together. That's the picture of a heart
27:28
truly being reshaped by God's grace.
27:31
That really does paint a compelling and perhaps
27:33
challenging picture of what genuine faith looks like in the
27:36
heart. It underlines that core idea.
27:39
Real grace doesn't numb us or make us complacent.
27:43
It actually heightens our sensitivity.
27:44
Sensitivity to sin, yes, but also sensitivity to God's
27:48
holiness, leading to this tender heart that loves deeply but also
27:51
reveres deeply. And maybe a final thought for
27:54
anyone listening is this. When you examine your own
27:57
spiritual experiences, don't just look at how intense your
27:59
feelings are. Ask what do these feelings,
28:02
these affections actually produce?
28:05
Do they lead you towards this kind of tenderness towards sin?
28:07
A deeper reverence for God? More humility?
28:10
Or do they maybe subtly make you harder, more self confident in a
28:13
bad way, more careless about sin?
28:15
That's the crucial test. A very searching question to end
28:18
on. Thank you for walking us through
28:20
that and thank you, our listeners, for joining us for
28:22
this deep dive. We hope considering these
28:24
distinctions as helpful as you reflect on your own heart and
28:26
walk with God Reformed thinking.