Jonathan Edwards

For Jonathan Edwards those that have received the Holy Spirit as a free gift receive the affections that the Spirit brings with it. The Spirit is the one that causes mankind to act in line with the will of God and according to Edwards those actions only come about through the affections in which they feel.

This is not something that happens only for Christians though. In fact, Edwards argues that all humanity is driven by the affections of the heart. Meaning that those that have not received the Spirit are driven by the affections of the world whether that be covetousness, ambition or lust. But for the Christians we have been reborn into a new life that is full of new affections. This drives us to ‘do’ and to ‘be’ as God would desire. This
is the ‘spring of action’.

I have seen this demonstrated in my own life, unfortunately not always in the most Godly ways.
I remember as a child beginning my pursuit of baseball glory. I remember running to the ball diamond full of fear that my friends would possibly be enjoying the game without me. I was full of ambition to be the best player on the team and as I grew I coveted the potential of a career in baseball; willing to do whatever was necessary to get ahead. Thankfully the Lord intervened and made it an impossible pursuit.

It was only once that dream was taken away that my love for the Lord grew. God began touching the depths of my heart and I finally was able to see clearly that the pursuit of baseball glory was vain and outside of his will for me. The deeper my love for God grew the more committed to him I became. Although I missed the game it was never something I regretted because my affections for God had grown so much that the rest was inconsequential in
comparison.

I had fallen so deeply in love with him that I desired to do nothing but his will.
As I read the scriptures one evening I came across a passage in 2 Timothy 2 in my devotions that evening and upon reading verses 23-24 I was cut deep to the heart. “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,” I was instantly reminded of an argument I had earlier in the day with a professor. It was not just about that argument it was more about my attitude with this professor at all times. I had prided myself on being argumentative with him all year even laughing with classmates about arguments I would instigate just for fun. I loved God so deeply and had such an honest fear of God that I knew this needed to change. I went to school differently the next day. I apologized to my professor and did not enter arguments with this professor but submitted to him as I submitted to God.
Deuteronomy 10:12-22 speaks explicitly of some affections, namely Love and Fear but there are others that are implied through the actions we are to do. We see that out of love for God and a fear of God we are to keep his commandments, serving him and to be holy. Later on in the text though we see that God also calls us to love strangers, which is an act of compassion. He also calls us to worship and praise him which flow from gratitude for what God has done for
us.

For me there have been two affections that have been the driven me more than any others. These are gratitude and love. I was consumed by a love for God at a young age and it was like a ruder that directed me through life. The second, gratitude, was my primary way of engaging with him. I had a deep thankfulness for his salvation that came out primarily in worship and praise. I knew deep inside, long before I had the theology to help me explain it, that I did not deserve what I had received. I saw my own depravity and when God showed himself to me the contrast and the beauty of his grace was so striking that it has imprinted me for life.

The affection that I have known the least till recently has been sorrow. Although life held areas of sorrow for me never had I felt that in my relationship with the Lord. Recently though he has introduced me to sorrow in a way I never would have expected and has best been described by St. John of the Cross as A dark night of the soul. There is no circumstance but that drives it but a state of the heart and it has caused me to understand the sorrow of the Cross of Christ in a more intimate way but has also been of great importance in my role as a Pastor. I understand how Jesus Christ truly is the answer to our pain; both in healing but also in showing us we are not alone even in the darkest of times. Pastorally this has been the greatest gift God has given me to help shepherd others in their walk with Jesus.