Edwards captures beautifully the strange but true paradox of Christian maturity:
All gracious affections have a tendency to promote this Christian
tenderness of heart, that has been spoken of: not only a godly sorrow;
but also a gracious joy. . . .
Yea the most confident and assured hope, that is truly
gracious, has this tendency. The higher an holy hope is raised, the more
there is of this Christian tenderness.
The banishing of a servile fear,
by a holy assurance, is attended with a proportionable increase of a
reverential fear. The diminishing of the fear of the fruits of God's
displeasure in future punishment, is attended with a proportionable
increase of fear of his displeasure itself: the diminishing of the fear
of hell, with an increase of the fear of sin. The vanishing of
jealousies of the person's state, is attended with a proportionable
increase of jealousy of his heart, in a distrust of its strength,
wisdom, stability, faithfulness, etc. The less apt he is to be afraid of
natural evil, having "his heart fixed, trusting in God," and so, "not
afraid of evil tidings" (Ps 112:7); the more apt is he to be alarmed
with the appearance of moral evil, or the evil of sin. As he has more
holy boldness, so he has less of self-confidence, and a forward assuming
boldness, and more modesty. As he is more sure than others of
deliverance from hell, so he has more of a sense of the desert of it. He
is less apt than others to be shaken in faith; but more apt than others
to be moved with solemn warnings, and with God's frowns, and with the
calamities of others. He has the firmest comfort, but the softest heart:
richer than others, but poorest of all in spirit: the tallest and
strongest saint, but the least and tenderest child amongst them.
--Jonathan Edwards,
Religious Affections, page 364 of Yale edition
This is beautiful, Dane, thank you. Reminds me of scriptures from yesterday...
ReplyDelete"And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard...
God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ...
Colossians 1:22,23,27,28