In the last BLOG on humility we looked at the fact that legal humiliation has no spiritual good in it and yet it is necessary to make room for evangelical humiliation. In other words, a soul can go far in this way and yet be deceived to stay in that thinking that it is true salvation. Yet as long as the soul does not have evangelical humiliation, it is without saving grace and the life of Christ in the soul. It has merely been brought down closer to a state of reality from its great heights of pride that it lived in previously. The one with mere legal humiliation has indeed been broken from much of the self that it has trusted in for morality and salvation previously, but the beauty of God Himself who only dwells in souls by grace alone is not in that soul.
The following quote is taken from The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards. The total quote being used can be seen in the BLOG Humility 36.
“Legal humiliation has in it no spiritual good, nothing of the nature of true virtue; whereas evangelical humiliation is that wherein the excellent beauty of a Christian grace does very much consist. Legal humiliation is useful, as a means in order to evangelical; as a common knowledge of the things of religion is a means requisite in order to spiritual knowledge. Men may be legally humbled and have no humility; as the wicked at the day of judgment will be thoroughly convinced that they have no righteousness, but are altogether sinful, exceeding guilty, and justly exposed to eternal damnation-and be fully sensible of their own helplessness-without the least mortification of the pride of their Hearts. But the essence of evangelical humiliation consists in such humility as becomes a creature in itself exceeding sinful, under a dispensation of grace; consisting in a mean esteem of himself, as in himself nothing, and altogether contemptible and odious; attended with a mortification of a disposition to exalt himself, and a free renunciation of his own glory…This is a great and most essential thing in true religion. The whole frame of the gospel, every thing appertaining in the new covenant, and all God’s dispensations towards fallen man, are calculated to bring to pass this effect. They that are destitute of this, have no true religion, whatever profession they may make, and high soever their religious affections may be.”
Men may be legally humbled and yet have no true humility. Words can deceive us and so we must be careful. As there is a common knowledge of religious things, so there is a spiritual knowledge of religious things. So legal humiliation of the soul is something that can happen to natural men and yet those men still not have true humility that goes along with saving grace. As Edwards points out here, on judgment day there will be many people who will be thoroughly convinced of their sin and of their lack of righteousness. When standing before God and they will see the depths of their own sinfulness and know that they are justly exposed to eternal damnation and know for sure that they are utterly helpless before God. Yet despite all of that the pride in their hearts will remain virtually untouched in terms of the pride being mortified or killed. Pride must die in us or we will perish.
This points us to great danger in the methods of evangelism in our day. If we even realize that a person must be broken from pride in some way and not get the person to just realize that s/he has sinned, we may stop with a form of legal humiliation and try to get the person to pray a prayer or to make some act of commitment. We will evangelize people much differently if we realize that they have to be truly broken from their pride in order to have the life of grace in their souls. We cannot just stop with a person realizing that s/he is a sinner, and we cannot just stop with a person coming to a realization that s/he has no hope in self. We must know that a person is not converted until the person has been changed by grace and loves to exalt free grace rather than self. A person is not converted until that person has what Edwards describes above as parts of evangelical grace. A person can have much of natural religion and be very religious, a preacher, and a Pharisee and not be converted. Jesus taught us that unless a man is turned and receives the kingdom as a little child that person will not enter the kingdom (Mat 18:1-4). Those verses mean something and they have a very important meaning that we will do well not to ignore as so many have done for so long. Edwards is giving us at least part of that meaning in setting out evangelical humiliation. Unless a soul is broken from the self and not just understand that self is helpless to save self, it will not receive the kingdom of God as the kingdom of God. The soul that is in bondage to the kingdom of the devil which consists in self-love, self-sufficiency, and self-centeredness will have a Christ to save it from hell but not from self which is its great idol and love. The soul that is legally humbled is still in the bondage of self-love. The soul that has evangelical humiliation is free in the bonds of love to God. The difference is eternal.
God Loves... Himself 
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