“Resolved, that no other end but religion shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it.” (Resolution 44)
This is another way of stating that Edwards wanted to be committed to the glory of God in all things. This is another provocative way of setting out how man is to be committed to the glory of God in all that he does whether it is at church, home, work, or play. The word “end” here (such as to “no other end but religion”) refers to the goal or purpose of an action. Edwards is saying that he was resolved to have no other purpose or goal other than the glory of God in Christ have any influence at all on any of his actions. Not only was he concerned about his primary purpose and goal, he did not want any other purpose or goal having any influence at all on his actions.
This is really just biblical Christianity and the Greatest Commandment applied. Man is to have God as his chief love and love nothing else unless it is out of love for God. The way Edwards puts this, however, seems to have a different slant. But he is just drawing out the real meaning that is inherent though not often thought of in terms of the Great Commandment and love for God. It is not just that God is to be the greatest love of man; in one very real sense He is to be the only love of man. The Great Commandment does not command man to love God with more love than all other things, but to love God with all of the love. God does not command man to glorify Him in most of man’s actions or to desire His glory with 56% of the intent and motives, but man is to glorify God with all of his actions and is to desire God’s glory with 100% of the intent and motives. This is what Edwards is driving at or at least driving at in a way that is parallel to it.
If man is to have no other goal or purpose but religion which is to love God, then that changes all of life. No longer is man to live a respectable life in order to glorify God, but man is to glorify God in all that he does whether it will be respectable to men or not. But the point seems to slip away as the heart of man wants to find some refuge apart from God. It is not just that man is to have no other goal or purpose but the glory of God which is true religion, but man is to have no other goal or purpose. Nothing else is to determine what man is to do but love for God and His glory. But again, not just that it is not to determine what man is to do, but it is to have no influence on it at all. This is radical to the extreme. This is surely implied in Luke 9 when Jesus told the disciples that a man must deny himself take up his cross and follow Him. The only thing that was to influence a person at that point was the love to follow Christ. Denying self was necessary in order that all the things of self would have no influence on the decision to follow Christ. Taking up the cross was a painful thing but it was to have no influence in the decision to follow Christ.
In this resolution Edwards was forcing himself and then us to look at some real hard demands of Christianity. Man is not left any wiggle room in the Christian life to love other things and himself. All people are to follow Christ and to love Him with all of our being. As defined in this resolution, that means that the only acceptable motive and goal in all of our actions would be true religion which is to love God and His glory. But of course that is unattainable for fallen man. This throws man upon grace in order to be saved and grace indwelling man to move him toward loving God as His chief and only motive and goal. All other people and things are to be loved out of a love for God and His glory.
God Loves... Himself 
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