Deep Dive into Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards - The First Objective Ground of Gracious Affections, Is the Transcendently Excellent and Amiable Nature of Divine Things as They Are...

Based on the sources, the core distinction between true religious affections (gracious affections) and false or self-serving affections lies in their foundation.Genuine spiritual affections are primarily founded on the transcendently excellent and amiable nature of divine things as they are themselves. This means true saints love God, Christ, and divine truths for their inherent beauty, glory, and supreme loveliness. This apprehension and love for God's inherent excellence first draws the heart to Him, prior to any consideration of personal interest or happiness. God is the lowest foundation for the true saint.In contrast, affections arising from self-serving motivations are founded primarily on self-love and a conceived relation divine things bear to self, or self-interest. This type of affection stems from a focus on benefits received or depended on, or an opinion of God's favor towards oneself as the first cause. This cannot be a truly gracious and spiritual love because self-love is a natural principle.This difference in foundation manifests in various affections:Love: True love is for God's inherent nature; self-love based "love" is for conceived benefits or favor.Gratitude: Gracious gratitude arises from a prior love for God's excellence, seeing His goodness as part of His nature; natural gratitude is a response to kindness that suits self-love, existing even without true love for the benefactor.Joy: A true saint's joy is primarily in the divine beauty of things as they are in themselves. A hypocrite's joy is in himself, delighting in his own privilege, happiness, or experiences.For true saints, their affections begin with God. For hypocrites, they begin with self. True self-knowledge, seeing one's own sinfulness, purifies true affections because they are founded outside of self, while it would destroy false affections built on self-conceit and perceived merit.Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologianPatreon: patreon.com/edi_reformed