by Pastor John Kim
Greetings to the LBC family and friends!
Jonathan Edwards Resolution #48
Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. (May 26, 1723)
To “have truly an interest in Christ” – this is something that cuts to the heart of all that we do. I find it to be sad at times that those who would say they are Christians, particularly in the Lighthouse family, who would do things that really do not have the interests of Christ at stake but their own interests, especially in relation to how they treat other people. But it is more than an issue of external behavior or how one might interact with someone. Someone might even appear to be supportive and helpful, all the while harboring resentment, bitterness, a critical spirit that does not have the interests of Christ reflecting the state of their soul.
Edwards often puts death into his perspective regarding many of these resolutions and we see that his goal was that he would not have anything to repent of in neglecting the importance of pursuing the interests of Christ. We will all too quickly find ourselves at the end of our lives and be faced with the daunting task of evaluating our life’s work and to see what we have accumulated in light of eternity. Gone will be the material desires as they no longer will be relevant once we die. Most people will look to how they will have lived in light of what was truly meaningful and as Christians, I think there are essentially two things that will show whether we have shown an interest in Christ or not.
The first would be our love for God. Matthew 22:37-40 dictates that we love God with our entire being. Anything less would show a disinterest as God is not worthy of anything less. Not that we will do it perfectly but is the heart passion truly there? The second thing that would show whether we have an interest in Christ is how we love people. It seems like some people really don’t exhibit any kind of care or compassion toward people, whether Christian or not. There is something to be said about people being deliberate and purposefuly in showing genuine Christian love toward people.
Edwards uses three thoughts in how he would assess his soul. First, to exercise the “utmost niceness” – I’m not sure if there is something that he understood niceness to be that would be different from today, but I would venture to say that when people get involved with self-reflection and evaluation that they can sometimes become very mean in how they think, not only toward themselves but in also how they end up judging others. I don’t think this means you are trying to purposely be easy on yourself but it really is a reflection of the heart attitude. What is the point of self-reflection if you are only going to be condemning? The point isn’t to condemn but to confess and repent and to learn.
The second thought would be diligence. To confront one’s own soul is not an easy task as we often do not want to face the reality of where we are spiritually. There are some Christians who would acknowledge that they are lazy and apathetic when it comes to their faith but they don’t really want accountability or to expend the energy to really address their struggles. We must be diligent and as Edwards says have no negligence when it comes to really pursuing our interest in Christ. To lack diligence would only seem to mean an increase in negligence and there is no good end in sight when one is negligent about the state of their soul.
The third thought would be that of strict scrutiny. To be specific and particular about addressing the things that would keep our eyes off of Christ. Hebrews 12:1-3 talks about the sin that entangles and the encumbrances that would distract us from running with endurance the race that is set before us. It is no surprise to see the extent of the 70 resolutions that Edwards wrote as it shows that he wanted to exercise strict scrutiny over his spiritual life before God.
We need to get off our comfy chairs and really take the Christian life seriously. Are you even remotely interested in Christ? Can others tell? Or is the primary interest in your life Jesus Christ and can people really tell? Take that to heart this week as you do all that you do.
In His grace,
Pastor John