A Masterpiece on the doctrine of Christian Love

I have been reading an advanced copy that I received from Crossway entitled “Charity and It’s Fruits: Living in the Light of God’s Love,” which was written by Puritan Devine Jonathan Edwards over 250 years ago but recently has been edited by Kyle Strobel to help readers get a deeper grasp of Edward’s Theology on Christian Love. The numerous explanatory notes, definitions on archaic words, and relevant quotes and concepts that Strobel compiled to assist readers was tremendously helpful, as this was the first Edwards work I have ever read through. I hope many other new people will be introduced to Edwards through this book! The complexity of Edwards thinking was an initial hindrance in reading this book because I knew that the difficulty would be much, but in times where I was walking close with the Lord I was able to comprehend the teaching more closely, if that makes sense. It almost seems that since Edward’s mind was so renewed by the Spirit of God that one has to put on that same mind of Christ to fully value this book. In reading this book I found often that God used it to convict me of areas in my life that are not pleasing to the Lord and needed correction. There is a strong emphasis in the on the proper Christian conduct in our daily lives we must have as we run this race with page upon page of devotional application. One statement that Edwards makes in regards to a redeemed spirit versus a carnal-unbelieving spirit that seem so obvious but after a moment of chewing on the cud is “A Christian spirit is contrary to a selfish spirit.” In another statement worth pondering is in regards to Christians being created in Christ for good works, Edwards says, “God converts [us] and then infuses grace into [us] for that end, that [we] might exercise [ourselves] in holy practice.” – The regenerated person has the Word of God enduring in their heart thus their affections have been changed and their heart made truly gracious. Edwards goes on to say, “Christ thus redeemed the elect and purchased grace for them to that end, that they might walk in holy practice. He has reconciled them to God by his death to redeem them from wicked works, that they might be holy and unblameable in their lives.” Strobel in the end provides a very helpful conclusion in which several core aspects of Edwards’s work are highlighted in an attempt for the reader to more directly apply the topic of Christian love into their lives. The first being the theme of the Knowledge of God and Knowledge of Self; to know God personally rather than just knowing about him and then also to remember often our own sins so that we do not grow proud or pharisaical. Strobel adds the point – “Grasping the depth of who we are in our sins is the impetus to grasping who God truly is in his grace, holiness, and love.” The second major theme is Recollection and Stillness. Recollection meaning that our minds and hearts should often be re-collected around the new creation we really are in Christ and Stillness being an absolute trust in the Sovereignty of God thus one’s mind and heart rest in that fact. The third and final theme is The Concatenation of Virtues and Christian Living – The root of virtue is love; and this love is the Holy Spirit that works in the Christian and as Strobel so corrects states is the “source and goal of God’s redemptive activity."