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Why True Love Gives Freely and Gladly | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Imagine throwing a really lavish dinner party, like you spend
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thousands of dollars on catering.
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You hire a live band, you set up the most beautiful seating
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arrangements. Right, a really high end event.
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Yeah, the whole works. And then you intentionally send
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invitations only to people who actively despise you.
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Oh wow. Right you invite like the Co
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worker who tried to get you fired or the neighbor who sued
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you over a property line. That is a terrible guest list.
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It is, and you invite a dozen strangers who will eat your
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really expensive food and never even look you in the eye to say
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thank you. Man, that sounds completely
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insane. It sounds like a total disaster.
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Yeah, In our modern world, well, that is a recipe for just being
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taken advantage of. Absolutely.
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But according to a manuscript written 3 centuries ago, that
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scenario is the baseline for Christian goodness.
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So welcome to Reformed thinking. I am thrilled you were joining
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us for this deep dive into our source material today, because
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we are going to look at an economy of giving that makes
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absolutely zero sense to Wall Street.
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Zero sense at all. And quite frankly, it often
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makes zero sense to our own natural instincts.
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Yeah. That dinner party scenario,
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well, it is the perfect entry point.
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It immediately highlights the friction between how society
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operates and the biblical standard of love.
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It really does. Because we usually operate with
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this internal Ledger, you know, we like human interactions to be
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predictable. We like them balance well, it's.
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Quid pro quo? Spot on.
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You help a friend move their furniture across town and the
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expectation is, well, they buy you a pizza.
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Yeah, or they help you move next time.
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Yeah, or you donate your resources to a local cause and
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you get a tax deduction. Or maybe a brass nameplate on a
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wall. It is a closed system, debit and
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credit. Yes, very transactional.
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But when we look at the historical text we are analyzing
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today, that entire Ledger just gets thrown right out the
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window. So the text we are unpacking is
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from the theologian Jonathan Edwards, specifically his
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writings on the book of First Corinthians, chapter 13, verse
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four. And the phrase we are zeroing in
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on is charity suffereth long and is kind for anyone listening,
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you know, maybe on your commute or while doing dishes.
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Right now. The mission of this deep dives
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is to systematically breakdown what it genuinely means to
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possess a Christian spirit that freely and cheerfully does good
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to others. Which is a lot harder than it
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sounds. It really is, yeah.
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We're going to examine the physical act of doing good, the
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specific people who are supposed to receive this good, and the
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internal attitude required to execute.
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It and the motivations driving the whole thing.
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Yes, the motivations, too. And Edwards?
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He starts by splitting the concept of doing good into two
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distinct categories, the soul and the body.
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Right. He calls these spiritual good
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and temporal good, and he sets up a very clear hierarchy right
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out of the gate. He does.
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Doing good to the souls of others you know, providing
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spiritual good, is the highest and most excellent form of
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charity. He argues that if you are the
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instrument of spiritual and eternal good to someone, you
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have given them something greater than the wealth of the
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entire universe. Yeah, the logic here is rooted
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in eternal weight. If human beings are eternal
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creatures, then temporary physical comfort, while
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necessary, is infinitely less weighty than their eternal
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standing before God. Spiritual good addresses the
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eternal reality precisely, and he details specific methods for
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how we are supposed to provide this.
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Spiritual good like he talks about taking pains to instruct
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the ignorant, leading them to knowledge.
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Which takes a lot of patience. It really does.
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He talks about counseling, warning others and stirring them
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up to care for their own welfare.
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Yeah, he even includes reproving those who are out of the way of
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duty. Now this is interesting in a
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modern cultural context. Telling someone they are, you
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know, out of the way of duty, or warning them about their
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spiritual state, well, that is often viewed as the ultimate
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taboo. Highly taboo.
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We are so conditioned to just mind our own business.
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The idea of reproving someone feels almost arrogant to the
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modern year. So how does Edwards frame this?
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So it is an act of charity rather than like an act of
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tried. That is a really crucial
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distinction to make, because modern culture views reproof as
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an attack on autonomy. Right.
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Don't judge me. Yeah, exactly that.
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But Edwards, drawing from the broader Reformed tradition, he
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views reproof as the ultimate rescue mission.
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OK, a rescue mission. Yeah, think about it like this.
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If you see a blind man walking toward the edge of a Cliff,
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minding your own business is not an act of love.
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No, it is an act of callousness. Spot on.
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Warning him is an act of charity.
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However, Edwards understands human nature.
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He knows that people are, well, naturally resistant to being
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corrected. Nobody likes being told they are
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wrong. No, not at all.
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And this brings us to one of the most striking points in this
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first section, his absolute insistence on the role of
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example. Yes, Edwards argues that setting
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a good example is the most needful tool of all.
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This part stopped me in my tracks when I was reading it.
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He basically says that if you are instructing or counseling
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someone but your own life does not reflect the truth you were
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speaking, well, those words and warnings are entirely in vain.
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They fall completely flat. It is a massive reality check.
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You can have the most articulate theological arguments, you can
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offer the most eloquent counsel to a secure and careless person,
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but if your daily conducts contradicts your speech, it is
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completely empty. Hypocrisy kills the message.
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It really does. Example is the most effectual
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method for promoting the good of another person's soul.
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Without a corresponding life, your spiritual counsel lacks any
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force to take effect. Can you give an example what
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that looks like? Sure.
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So if you tell a friend that they need to trust God's
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Providence during a financial crisis, but you yourself are
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constantly anxious, grasping and, you know, cutting corners
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in your business deals, your friend will look at your life
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and conclude that your theology has no actual substance.
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The example has to accompany the means.
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Because your life provides the visible proof that the spiritual
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realities you speak of are actually real.
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Yes, they have to see it working in you.
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OK, so we have this extremely high calling for spiritual good,
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demanding both truth telling and a matching lifestyle.
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But Edwards does not just leave us floating in a purely
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spiritual realm. No, he brings it right down to
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earth. He immediately addresses
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temporal good, which involves helping people with their
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outward state in this world. And this raises a really
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interesting tension for them. Yeah.
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If spiritual good is the goal and it has eternal value, why
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should a person spend so much time and resources on physical
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temporal needs? Let me run an analogy by you.
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OK, let's hear it. Is temporal aid sort of like
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anesthesia? Like if someone needs life
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saving surgical intervention, the surgeon has to administer
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anesthesia first. That makes sense.
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Because the physical pain of the body is so loud and so
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overwhelming that, well, you have to address it before you
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can do the necessary internal work.
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Is that kind of how Edwards views temporal charity?
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He uses a very similar logic, though perhaps less clinical
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than anesthesia. Right.
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Sure. He argues that meeting external
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needs, you know, feeding the hungry, helping strangers,
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visiting the sick, it literally opens the door for spiritual
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instruction. It's often the ground.
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Yes, when your theological counsel is accompanied by
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outward kindness, it gives those spiritual words their full
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force. People are far more likely to
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appreciate and receive your efforts for their eternal
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welfare when you have first demonstrated that you care about
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their immediate physical suffering.
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It bridges the gap. It does.
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The physical relief validates the spiritual concern.
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If a person is freezing and starving, the immediate crisis
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of the body consumes their entire capacity.
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You can't preach to a starving man.
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Exactly. Stepping into that crisis with
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tangible help shows a holistic love.
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It reflects the way Christ healed the sick and fed the
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multitudes alongside preaching the Kingdom.
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And Edwards lays out three very specific ways we are supposed to
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help temporally. Yes, he does.
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First, by giving what we have, this means parting with our
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actual substance, whether that is money, food, or resources.
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This is, you know, the most straightforward method.
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Right, writing a check or buying groceries.
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Yeah, if you have extra and someone lacks you, give it to
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them. It is the transfer of material
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wealth. Second, he says, we are to do or
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labor for others. He references the Apostle Paul
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laboring night and day. So this is about giving our time
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and physical energy. Exactly.
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You might not have a massive bank account to write a check
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for someone's medical bills, but you can drive them to their
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appointment. You can mow their lawn.
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Yeah, you can fix their broken water heater.
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You labor for them. And the third category is
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perhaps the most challenging. He talks about suffering for
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others or bearing their burdens. Suffering.
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That is a heavy word. It is.
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He points to Galatians 6 verse 2 for this.
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This means taking on inconvenience and actual
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hardship to make someone else's load lighter.
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OK. So going beyond just being
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helpful, right? It is one thing to write a check
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from your surplus. It is an entirely different
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thing to absorb someone else's pain or inconvenience into your
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own life. These three categories, you
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know, giving, laboring and suffering, they cover the entire
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spectrum of human capability. It really leaves no room for
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excuses, none at all. That is a brilliant point,
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because the excuse of I do not have enough money to be
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charitable completely evaporates under this framework.
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It vanishes. You have time, you have energy,
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you have the capacity to sit with someone in their grief or
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bear the brunt of their physical struggles.
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Everyone has something they can offer.
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So knowing what actions to take, whether spiritual or temporal,
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giving, laboring or suffering, well, that leads us to the
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question of who is supposed to be on the receiving end of all
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this effort. And this is where Edwards
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introduces a truly uncomfortable definition of the neighbor.
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Uncomfortable is definitely the right word.
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He looks at the lawyer in the Gospel of Luke who asks who is
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my neighbor? And he breaks the answer down
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into 3 distinct pairs of recipients.
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OK, what are the pairs? The first pair is the good and
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the bad. The second pair is friends and
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enemies and the third pair is the thankful and the unthankful.
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Wow. Yeah, he systematically
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dismantles our natural tendency to filter our charity.
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I really want to push back on this, or at least voice the
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frustration that any modern listener is going to feel
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hearing this list. It is a very natural frustration
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to. To have because it is entirely
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natural to help our friends and the people we consider good, but
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helping the outright bad or the constantly unthankful?
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It feels like a total misuse of limited resources.
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It feels like a bad investment, yeah.
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We hear so much today about, you know, setting boundaries and
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protecting our peace from toxic people.
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If someone constantly takes advantage of your kindness, or
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if they take your money and use it poorly without a shred of
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gratitude, why should a person keep giving to them?
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It is exhausting. It feels like throwing good seed
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on a concrete sidewalk. Edwards actually anticipates
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that exact reaction. Does he?
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He does. The desire to protect our
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resources and demand a return on our investment is deeply
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ingrained in us. But Edwards grants his response
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entirely in The Theology of Matthew, Chapter 5.
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I'll. Get the Sermon on the Mount.
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Yes, we are explicitly called to imitate our Heavenly Father.
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And what does the Father do? He makes his Son to rise on the
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evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust.
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He blesses indiscriminately. Precisely.
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The world is full of people with hateful dispositions, people who
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are proud, covetous, profane or unjust.
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Edwards argues that these bad qualities should never hinder
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our beneficence. Never, never.
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In fact, those bad qualities are the very reason we should be
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diligent to benefit them with the hope of winning them over.
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That is a staggering thought. It is the logic of common grace.
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God sustains the breath of the very people who curse His name.
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If we are called to bear the image of Christ, our charity
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must reflect that same unmerited benevolence.
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He is particularly sharp when it comes to the unthankful.
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I noticed a really strong critique in the text for people
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who use ingratitude as an excuse to stop giving.
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Oh, he pulls no punches there. He doesn't.
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People will say, well, if I help them, they will never thank me
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and they might even return my kindness with injury.
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Right. They use that as a shield, yeah.
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And Edwards responds to that mindset by claiming that it
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shows a severe lack of acquaintance with the rules of
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Christianity. Like if you require a thank you
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note to validate your charity, you are missing the entire
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framework. Because if your charity is
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contingent on the recipient's gratitude, then your charity was
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never actually about the recipient.
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It was about you. Spot on.
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It was about your own ego. You are purchasing a feeling of
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moral superiority and the price was your donation.
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Wow. When the recipient failed to
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provide the gratitude, the transaction fell through and you
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felt cheated. Edwards exposes that hidden
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selfishness so clearly. That stings a bit to hear.
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It does. The biblical mandate, as Edwards
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points out in Romans 12, is to overcome evil with good.
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When we look at the category of the enemy, Edwards notes that
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retaliation is strictly forbidden.
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No getting even no. Doing good to those who hate us
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is the only acceptable response for a Christian.
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We are not to render evil for evil, but Contra really wise
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blessing. So if someone slanders you at
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work and you know, ruins your reputation, the natural response
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is to retaliate, or at least cut them out of your life
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completely. Set those boundaries.
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Right. But Edwards is saying that if
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that person suddenly falls into a desperate situation, like,
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say, their house burns down, you are obligated to help them.
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And not just with a reluctant check, but with genuine labor
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and burden bearing. You have to overcome their evil
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with your good. Just it's a massive shift in
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perspective. Because if the list of
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recipients includes our bitter enemies and the profoundly
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ungrateful, then the internal attitude required to execute
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this kind of charity well, it must be entirely free of selfish
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motives. You cannot fake that kind of
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goodwill for very long. No, you really can't.
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Which leads us right into the next major concept.
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Edwards unpacks the manner of our goodwill, or what it means
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to do good freely. The word freely is the hinge on
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which this entire teaching turns.
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OK, unpack that. Well, you can perform all the
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right outward actions for all the wrong inward reasons.
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Edwards defines doing good freely through three specific
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criteria. What are they?
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1st the action must not be mercenary, second, it must be
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Hardy or cheerful, and 3rd it must be liberal or bountiful.
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Let us look at that first one. A mercenary spirit.
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A mercenary spirit is one that acts for the sake of a reward
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received or expected from the person being helped.
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Which is how the entire world operates.
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I look at a modern world built almost entirely on networking,
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quid pro quo arrangements and, you know, return on investment.
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Everything is an investment. It is you take someone to lunch
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to secure a business deal. You do a favor for a colleague
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so they owe you one later. We even see this in
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philanthropy. Oh, definitely.
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Corporations donate millions to charity, but they spend equal
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amounts on marketing campaigns to ensure the public knows about
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their donation. It is PR, right?
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In light of that culture, Edwards command to invite the
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poor and the maimed people who possess absolutely zero capacity
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to repay you, is wildly countercultural.
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It completely disrupts the way we are trained to operate.
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Edwards looks at the parable in Luke 14 to make this point.
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When you make a feast, you are commanded not to call your
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friends or your rich neighbors. Because they can pay you back.
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Precisely because they might invite you back and recompense
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you. Instead, you call the lame and
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the blind. Doing good cannot be about
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securing temporal gain, honor or profit.
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It has to stem solely from a spirit of love.
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Yes, if you are tracking the return on your charitable
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investment, it ceases to be charity, it becomes commerce.
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A mercenary spirit turns every relationship into a transaction.
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Edwards is calling for a radical break from that commercial
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mindset. You give simply because the need
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exists and you have the capacity to meet it.
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That is it. That brings us to the second
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criteria. It must be Hardy and cheerful.
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The requirement here is to give without grudging.
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No heavy size. Right.
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It is not enough to just open your wallet or sacrifice your
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Saturday. You have to actually want to do
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it. You cannot grit your teeth and
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force the action while harboring resentment in your mind.
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God loves a cheerful giver. But let us be honest, there are
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times when helping someone is deeply inconvenient.
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If your phone rings AT2 pointer VM because someone needs help,
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your initial reaction is probably not unbridled joy.
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No, it is usually panic or annoyance.
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Exactly. So how do we reconcile the
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command to be cheerful with the reality of human fatigue and
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frustration? Is it just a matter of like
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faking it till you make it? Not at all.
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It is not about manufacturing fake enthusiasm.
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Edwards explains the psychology behind this beautifully.
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He says that an action done from true love is always done with
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delight. Even at 2:00 AM.
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Even at 2:00 AM, if you genuinely love the person you
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are helping, the act of helping them brings you joy, even if the
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physical task is exhausting. Give me an example of.
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That Think about a mother waking up at 3:00 AM to care for a sick
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infant. All right, she is exhausted.
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The task is unpleasant, but because she possesses a very
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abiding love for the child, she does not do it grudgingly.
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She doesn't willingly. The love overrides the
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inconvenience. That makes perfect sense.
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He quotes step Corinthians 9 highlighting that God loves a
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cheerful giver. The very essence of acceptable
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giving in the Scriptures requires a cordial spirit.
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You are not supposed to be grieved in your heart when you
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give to your neighbor. And the third criteria is that
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the giving must be liberal and bountiful.
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We are commanded to be open handed, not scant or sparing.
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Generosity is key. Edwards points to the
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agricultural concept of sowing bountifully.
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To reap bountifully, you don't just give the bare minimum to
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check a moral box. You abound to every good work.
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Right. If you see a need, you meet it
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abundantly. You don't calculate the absolute
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lowest amount of effort required to assuage your conscience.
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You can see how these three criteria, you know, non
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mercenary, cheerful and bountiful work together to form
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a complete picture of a renewed. Heart.
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They interlock perfectly. But the standard is incredibly
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high. You have the action itself
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reaching both the body and the soul.
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You have the recipients encompassing your worst enemies
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and you have the attitude demanding cheerful, bountiful,
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non transactional giving. It is a lot to take in.
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It is. Naturally a person looking at
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this framework has to ask, well, how do I even diagnose my own
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heart? How do I know if my goodwill is
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genuine or just a performance? That leads to a vital
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theological distinction Edwards makes, which is really
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fascinating. OK, what is it?
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He contrasts the love of complacence with the love of
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benevolence. When I first read this, it
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clarifies so much of the internal conflict we feel when
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dealing with difficult people. It is a game changer.
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So does this mean I do not have to delight in the evil actions
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or the toxic personality of my enemy, which would be
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complacence, in order to still wish them well and seek their
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benefit, which is benevolence? That is the exact distinction he
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is drawing. The love of complaisance is a
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delight in the inherent qualities of the object.
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Like enjoying a good meal or a nice sunset.
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Right. Or feeling complacence toward a
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virtuous person or a close friend who shares your values.
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You enjoy them for who they are. The benevolence is entirely
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different. How so?
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Benevolence is goodwill. It is the desire for the good of
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another person, regardless of their inherent loveliness or
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unloveliness. OK, so I don't have to like my
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enemy. No, you do not have to find your
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enemy charming. You do not have to endorse their
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behavior. You do not have to enjoy their
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company. But you must possess benevolence
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toward them. You must genuinely desire their
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physical and spiritual welfare. This makes so much sense when
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you view it through the lens of Reformed theology regarding how
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God loves fallen humanity. Yes, the parallel is perfect.
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Because God did not look at a rebellious, sinful humanity and
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feel the love of complaisance. There was nothing inherently
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lovely about our rebellion that God would delight in it.
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Our condition was one of total depravity.
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Right. Instead, God exercised the love
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of benevolence. He willed our good, providing A
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mediator and a path to redemption despite our
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unloveliness. It is a massive display of
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grace. If we are called to be imitators
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of God, our charity has to function the same way.
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We look at the unthankful and the enemy, we acknowledge their
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unloveliness and we will their good anyway.
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It is a profound reflection of grace.
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Benevolence is the main thing in Christian love.
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It is a spirit that delights in seeking the good of others.
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But Edwards does not let us off the hook with just a private
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internal feeling of benevolence, does he?
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Not at all, because we humans are very good at deceiving
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ourselves. We really are.
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We like to think we are loving people because we feel a vague
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sense of goodwill toward humanity in general.
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But Edwards introduces the ultimate test of sincerity to
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Pierce through that self deception.
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The test of action. Yes, he says.
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The conclusive evidence that you actually possess this
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benevolence is action. The proof of willing good is
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doing it. He.
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Argues that the ACT always follows the will, assuming
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there's power to act. If you sincerely desire the good
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of another person, you will seek it in your practice.
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Sincerity of desire never stops at words.
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If you have the means to help but you do nothing, your
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internal feeling of goodwill is an illusion, and Edwards brings
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in The Book of James Chapter 2 to hammer this point home.
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It is the perfect scripture for this.
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If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and
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you simply say to them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled,
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but you do not actually hand them a coat or a meal.
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What is a profit? Right, it yields 0 profit to the
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starving person. And more importantly for
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Edwards's argument, it yields 0 evidence of sincerity on your
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part. Your so-called love is a
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complete fiction. Ouch.
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Yeah, if you actually desired them to be warm, you would
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provide the heat. The Apostle James uses this
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analogy to explain the relationship between faith and
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works. A faith that produces no action
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is a dead faith. So a love that produces no
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charity is a dead love. Exactly.
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The outward action is the necessary fruit of the inward
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reality. You cannot claim to possess the
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Christian spirit of charity if your hands are closed.
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It strips away all the comfortable illusions we build
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for ourselves. We can post all the right things
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on social media. We can say all the right
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prayers. We can feel a deep sense of pity
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when we watch the Evening News, but Edwards says those feelings
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are meaningless without the corresponding deeds.
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The Ledger of your actual actions is the only reliable
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diagnostic tool for your heart. That is a tough pill to swallow.
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Having set this uncompromising standard and providing the test
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for sincerity, Edwards moves into the final section of his
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teaching, which is a combination of very sharp critique and
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highly motivating exhortation. He begins with the director
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reproof, calling out specific types of individuals.
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He targets the malicious, the selfish, and those with a
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grasping, avaricious spirit. People who just take and take.
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Yes, he describes people who are entirely consumed with their own
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interests, who never look beyond their own property lines.
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But what is truly fascinating here is how Edwards takes this
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very lofty theological text and applies it directly to everyday
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economics. Yes, I want to camp out here for
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a minute because this is where the theology hits the pavement.
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He does not leave this in the clouds.
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No, he brings it right into the marketplace.
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He specifically condemns those who extort others or who grind
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down prices in their business deals.
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The everyday transactions. Right.
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He describes people who ask more for what they sell than it is
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truly worth, forcing out of their neighbor every last cent
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they can get. Price gouging.
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Yeah, price gouging. And conversely, he condemns
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those who are highly selfish when buying, grinding the seller
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down to the lowest possible price with no regard for the
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actual value of the labor involved.
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We all know people who pride themselves on being ruthless
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negotiators. Oh.
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Absolutely. People who will saggle A
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struggling contractor down to a price where the contractor
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barely breaks even. And in modern business, that is
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often praised as savvy. Right, it is seen as a skill.
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But Edwards labels it a violation of the core law of
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love. He points out that this economic
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ruthlessness is the exact opposite of a Christian spirit.
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It violates the Golden Rule, which is doing unto others as
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you would have them do unto you. It is that simple.
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It is. If you are the seller, you want
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a fair price that compensates your labor.
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If you are the buyer, you want a product that is reasonably
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priced. A Christian operating in the
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marketplace should not be looking to squeeze every drop of
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blood out of the person across the table.
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Their benevolence should extend to their economic transactions.
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Yes, they should want the other person to walk away from the
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deal feeling respected and fairly treated.
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It really makes you look at your daily transactions in a
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completely different light, like, are you paying people
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fairly? Are you tipping generously?
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Are you demanding unreasonable disc?
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Exactly. These microtransactions reveal
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the true nature of your benevolence just as much as a
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large charitable donation does. But Edwards does not end his
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discourse on critique. No, he knows that human beings
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need positive motivation. So he transitions into an
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exhortation, giving the listener 4 distinct motivations to
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execute this kind of charity. The first motivation is the
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sheer honor of being an instrument of good.
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He uses some beautiful imagery here.
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He compares humans who do good to the sun, the moon and the
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stars that shed light on the Earth.
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That is a high comparison. It is.
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He compares them to angels who are ministering spirits sent out
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to help, and most astonishingly, he compares them to God himself,
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who is the great fountain of all good.
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So when you act in charity, you are aligning your nature with
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the nature of the cosmos as God designed it.
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Yes, and you are reflecting the characters of the Creator.
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It is an elevated status. You are participating in the
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divine nature in a sense. The second motivation he offers
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is the golden Rule. We all highly commend kindness
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when we are the recipients of it.
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We love being helped. We do.
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When someone drops everything to bear our burdens in a crisis, we
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speak well of them and recognize the beauty of their action.
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We feel the relief of being helped, so Edwards argues that
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we ought to replicate what we so highly approve of in others.
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It is an appeal to our own lived experience.
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The third motivation is looking at the example of Christ.
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He points to 2nd Corinthians 8 verse 9 for this, noting that
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Christ was universally wealthy, possessing all the riches of the
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universe, yet for our sakes he became poor so that we through
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his poverty, might become rich. And he did this while we were
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utterly unthankful and deserving only of wrath.
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Right. If the one who possessed
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everything gave it all up for enemies who possess nothing, how
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much more should we, who are merely stewards of God's
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resources, be willing to share with our fellow humans?
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That brings to mind how temporary our resources really
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are. And then we hit the 4th
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motivation, which is the promise of massive rewards from God.
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Yes, the rewards. And I have to push back here
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because I spawn an apparent paradox.
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OK, let's hear. We spent a significant amount of
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time earlier discussing how Edwards was adamant that we must
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not be mercenary. We did.
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We cannot expect anything in return.
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We cannot operate on a quid pro quo basis.
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But now, at the very end of his argument, he is openly
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motivating us with the promise of rewards.
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He is. He talks about scattering and
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increasing and eternal blessings.
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So how do these two ideas coexist without contradicting
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each other? Like if I am giving because I
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want the reward God promises, haven't I just become mercenary
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again just on a cosmic scale? It is a brilliant tension to
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notice and it is a classic theological hurdle.
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Edwards resolves this by distinguishing between human
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manipulation and trusting God's Providence.
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You could break that down for me.
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Well, a mercenary spirit is one that manipulates A transaction
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for a direct payoff. You give a gift to a wealthy
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man, so he will give you a bigger gift.
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You invite the boss to dinner so you get the promotion.
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Right, you're working the system.
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Yes, that is mercenary. You are relying on human
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mechanisms, but trusting God for a reward is different.
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God has structured the universe so that his blessing, both
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temporal and eternal, is the natural harvest of bountiful
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sewing. So is built into the fabric of
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creation. Exactly.
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Trusting his character and his promises is an act of faith, not
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a mercenary scheme. So it is the difference between
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bribing a judge and trusting a farmer's field.
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That is a great way to put it. You don't bribe a field to grow
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corn. You throw the seed out
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generously because you trust the nature of the soil and the laws
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of harvest that God set in place.
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You are not doing the math to force a return on investment.
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You're operating in faith. Yes, you give freely and you
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leave the results entirely in God's hands, knowing that he's a
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good father who loves to bless his children.
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That takes the manipulation right out of it.
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It does. Even unregenerate men who give
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generously are often prospered by Providence simply because
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they're operating in alignment with the way God designed the
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world to work. Generosity breeds trust,
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community and mutual aid. But the ultimate focus for
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Edwards is on the eternal reward, isn't it?
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It is, he points to the Judgement Day separation
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depicted in Matthew 25. When all people are gathered,
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the King will say to those who are benevolent.
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In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these,
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my brethren, you have done it unto me.
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The ultimate reward is not a bigger bank account.
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No, the ultimate reward is the commendation of Christ.
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The actions of charity were the visible proof of the invisible
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faith. That brings the entire framework
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full circle. To summarize this massive vision
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Edwards has laid out, true Christian charity is an
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all-encompassing force. It reaches both the physical
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body and the eternal soul. It covers everything.
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It extends to the closest friend and the most bitter enemy.
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It demands a heart that is cheerful and hands that are
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entirely open. No closed fists it.
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Forces you to look at the annoying, ungrateful person in
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your life not as a nuisance to be avoided, but as an
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opportunity to reflect the unmerited benevolence of God.
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It requires an individual to completely abandoned the
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internal Ledger we talked about at the beginning.
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You throw away the scoreboards. You do.
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You are no longer keeping score of who owes you what or who is
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thank you sufficiently. You are operating from a
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wellspring of benevolence that desires the good of the object
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simply because it is the nature of a Christian spirit to do so.
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You give because Christ gave. Yes, you love because you were
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first loved when you were still an enemy.
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And so we leave you with a final thought to Mull over.
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If you were listening to this right now, think about your own
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life over the last 30 days. A little self examination.
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We have discussed how the ultimate test of sincerity is
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action and how true grace manifests in outward deeds,
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especially toward those who have zero capacity to repay you.
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So if that is the standard, what would a complete stranger
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conclude about your theology just by looking at your bank
31:18
statements and your calendar for the past month?
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That is a very revealing test. Would they see the closed,
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calculated Ledger of the world, or would they see the open hands
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of a cheerful giver? Thank you for joining us on this
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deep dive into the source material today.
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Keep thinking critically about how you live out your beliefs.