We come to the last article in the series examining Edwards’ arguments in his classic treatise, Religious Affections, and a second possible objection to Christian practice as the chief sign of true religious affections: Does the principle of works as evidence of God’s grace in the heart contradict the doctrine of justification by grace through […]
Gleanings from The Religious Affections (Part 31): Distinguishing Sign Twelve: Gracious Affections Produce Christian Works (5)
In the previous article we saw how Christian works provide the greatest evidence of saving faith to our own conscience. We turn now to see that holy practice “confirms and crowns all other signs of godliness,” [1] that it forms the proper and best evidence of every grace the Holy Spirit gives to the believer […]
Gleanings from The Religious Affections (Part 29): Distinguishing Sign Twelve: Gracious Affections Produce Christian Works (3)
We come to the third section of Edwards’ treatment of Christian practice as evidence of true religious affections, of a true and saving work of the Holy Spirit in a believer. Not only does Edwards call this the “chief” evidence of God’s grace in the heart, he spends twenty percent of the entire treatise on […]
Gleanings from The Religious Affections (Part 27): Distinguishing Sign Twelve: Gracious Affections Produce Christian Works (1)
We come to the final sign of a true work of God in the heart of a believer, what Edwards considers “the chief of all the signs of grace”—Christian practice. As the net effect, or that which flows from the preceding eleven distinguishing signs, a holy life constitutes the best evidence of true faith in […]
