In the last BLOG we looked at some distinctions between legal humiliation and evangelical humiliation. The main difference that was set out is the sight and sense of the beauty of the holiness of God and His Law. The natural man can have a legal humiliation because he can see that he has broken the Law of God and then fear His wrath. But the spiritual man can have an evangelical humiliation because from a sight and sense of the holiness of God and His Law this person will turn against self rather than against God. The one that has seen God will take the side of God against self. The one that has seen God will adore God and abhor self. The quote from below is a part of a quote taken from the Religious Affections of Jonathan Edwards. The whole quote can be seen in Humility 36.
“In a legal humiliation men are made sensible that they are nothing before the great and terrible God, and that they are undone, and wholly insufficient to help themselves; as wicked men will be at the day of judgment; but they have not an answerable frame of heart, consisting in a disposition to abase themselves, and exalt God alone. This disposition is given only in evangelical humiliation, by overcoming the heart, and changing its inclination, by a discovery of God’s holy beauty. In a legal humiliation, the conscience is convinced; as the consciences of all will be most perfectly at the day of judgment; but because there is no spiritual understanding, the will is not bowed, nor the inclination altered. In legal humiliation, men are brought to despair of helping themselves; in evangelical, they are brought voluntarily to deny and renounce themselves; in the former, they are subdued and forced to the ground; in the latter, they are brought sweetly to yield, and freely and with delight to prostrate themselves at the feet of God.”
In this section of the quote Edwards opens up a few other points about the distinction between legal humiliation and evangelical humiliation. We could also look at this as the distinction between the unbeliever’s humility (legal) and the true believer’s humility (evangelical). While it is the case that for Edwards and virtually the whole Reformed world prior to the mid 1800’s that a sinner must be totally undone within themselves and before God in order to be saved, this is not true in our day. Yet clearly in this point Edwards is saying that people can be sensible of being nothing before God, totally undone, and utterly and wholly insufficient to help themselves and still be unconverted. While these are things that must be done, they are not things that actually convert the person. They are still consistent with having an unconverted nature as can be seen as this is the state of those on judgment day just before they are thrown into the lake of fire.
While these people are made sensible or aware with corresponding affections about what they are sensible of regarding their undone state and their inability to help themselves, they do not have “an answerable frame of heart.” While the person with legal humiliation is “forced” to see self and recognize that s/he is utterly undone and insufficient to save self or help self, their hearts do not love to be humbled before God in that way. Their hearts are still full of pride and self and they do not like to see self in a place that hurts their pride and makes them feel so helpless. But the one that has received an answerable heart is one that corresponds to seeing what it is and loves to humble self before God. The heart that has been humbled in the evangelical humiliation way is a heart that has the disposition to abase itself and to exalt God. This is true humility. It is the very disposition or nature of a heart that has a spiritual nature to love to abase itself in order that God will be exalted.
This does not sound attractive to the modern man and seems so out of touch. However, it is biblical. Those who have no righteousness in themselves or claim to it are truly blessed. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 5:3). Those who are attacked and yet return love are the ones truly blessed. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth” (Mat 5:5). Those who see the glory and holiness of God see themselves in truth. “Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isa 6:5). The contrite and lowly are those God dwells with and that is the true blessing. “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isa 57:15). Those who have a heart to love God and His glory understand that it is their own proud and selfish hearts that keeps them from seeing His glory. They desire His glory and not their own so they live and pray to that end: “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth” (Psa 115:1). He is their true love and that which prevents the manifestation must go, even when it is self. That is a disposition of the heart that loves God.
God Loves... Himself 
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