What are "The Religious Affections"?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Written by Jonathon Edwards, The Religious Affections addresses distinguishing genuine marks of the Holy Spirit’s work—how one knows one’s experience of faith is genuine. It came out of the First Great Awakening, a greatly emotional spiritual revival which some Christians dismissed as emotionalism. Edwards cautioned against disregarding emotional signs, showing that the reliable affections are not emotional upheaval but rather one’s life being conformed to God’s will (Romans 12:2). By “affection,” Edwards meant the emotional response of one’s will toward something, such as joy expressed toward God.

His book is in three parts. Part 1 argues that true religion will have true affections; thus, emotionless religion is not real (cf. Deuteronomy 6:5; Psalm 42:1–2). Part 2 argues that many affections are unreliable, not inherently false but easily counterfeited. If unbelievers can also emote the same affections, they are unreliable (Matthew 7:21–23; 13:20–21). Part 3, the bulk of the work, argues for twelve reliable signs of the Holy Spirit working in one’s life, ordered from nearly hidden, such as the internal, experiential knowledge that God is holy, to the most visible: a holy life (Galatians 5:22–23).

This book helps us to remember that emotions are neither bad nor definitive of one’s spiritual state. Our assurances should be grounded in evidence of fruit in our lives, and such fruit indicates a true love for God which we may express through emotion.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• “Affection” refers to one’s emotional response to God. Deuteronomy 6:4–5 expresses this as a command to Israel, saying, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Notice that one’s response to God is to be their whole selves, not merely intellectual. One is to have affections for God.
• David poetically expressed such affections when he wrote, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:1–2). Edwards was keen to show that emotional responses, affections, are the natural result of true love for God.
• True emotion, however, is the fruit of one truly grounded in God. The Psalmist of Psalm 1 said that the one who “delights in the Law of the LORD … is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2–3).
• Because true affections are evidence of that internal grounding, God could say, “the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7b). Edwards was concerned with distinguishing purely external affections that even unbelievers can have from the true affections that arose from a heart that loved God.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Jesus reiterated that the heart of the life of God’s people is one of love. He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40).
• However, He also warned that external affections can be counterfeited. He warned, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness '” (Matthew 7:21–23). Despite external affections, it’s possible for one not to have genuine faith, which is why Edwards cautions that external signs that unbelievers can replicate are unreliable gauges of genuine faith.
• When speaking about true and false salvation, using the parable of a Sower sowing seed, He commented about one unfruitful seed: “As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matthew 13:20–21). That type of individual is described as having great affection: joy. Yet it proves to be only surface-deep, with no roots, and thus withers and dies.
• The distinguishing mark between unbelievers and believers, then, is not great emotion but the Spirit’s fruit in the believer. Regarding one’s own assurance, nearly hidden affections, such as one’s genuine love for God, are signs of faith. Even the demons know intellectual facts about God (James 2:19), so this is different than knowing about God but knowing God personally.
• Though these foundational fruits are more subtle because they are internal, they become visible to others as holy living. We learn that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23a). The life of a faithful Christian is the evidence of true, Spirit-caused affections.
• Edwards' concern was not that emotion was a distraction but that emotion alone was an unreliable gauge of whether the Spirit was working in someone’s life. The only reliable gauge was seeing His fruit in their lives, which demonstrated that God was conforming them to His will (Romans 12:2).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Edwards wrote The Religious Affections, desiring believers to acknowledge two realities. First, emotions are God-given, and love for God can express itself in emotion. Second, emotions can be faked or triggered by non-spiritual means, meaning we can’t place confidence in an emotional experience. Rather, he argued that our confidence can only be found in seeing evidence of the Spirit’s work.

Jesus warned that He will reject many who call Him “Lord, Lord” (Matthew 7:21–23) because being a follower of Christ is different than claiming to be a follower. In this and other examples, He showed that there’s a distinction between claiming faith and being saved.

In the context of the First Great Awakening, when many were emotionally stirred and repenting, Edwards expressed the balance we all need. It’s OK for us to sing a worship song and suddenly feel great joy or to cry or to have a tingling feeling. That’s all part of being human and of responding emotionally. It may also be part of our salvation experience. However, because we can have the same feelings during a movie, at a concert, or when speaking with a friend, those emotions are poor indicators of a spiritual experience. Our confidence, therefore, should not be in those experiences, but in seeing how our lives are growing more in conformity to Christ over time.

Jesus, referring to false teachers, said “you will know them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:16–20). Likewise, as believers, we are known (identified) by our Spirit-produced fruit (Galatians 5:22–23), which may show itself in short-term emotions but is evidenced over the long term as He makes us more and more like Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

UNDERSTAND

• The Religious Affections, written by Jonathon Edwards, argues that genuine faith produces true affections.
• The Religious Affections shows that an emotionless religion is no true religion at all, but emotions alone are unreliable signs of genuine faith.
• The Religious Affections shows that the most reliable mark of genuine Spirit-wrought faith is a holy life conformed to God's will.

REFLECT

• How does Edwards' distinction between reliable and unreliable affections challenge the way you evaluate the genuineness of your own faith?
• How do you understand the role of emotions in your life when it comes to your faith?
• On what basis are you confident of the genuineness of your faith?

ENGAGE

• Why are emotional experiences often treated as the strongest evidence of spiritual authenticity, and how can we see emotions rightly when it comes to our faith?
• How can we encourage genuine emotional expression in worship while still guarding against confusing emotion with true spiritual growth?
• How can we encourage others to passionately follow Christ while not just chasing emotional experiences?