God Loves… Himself

What can Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone be the glory) mean apart from the God who is focused on Himself and loves Himself with an infinite love within the Trinity? We know that Scripture commands human beings to love God with all of their beings by doing all to His glory (I Corinthians 10:31). We know that human beings are told that nothing they can do apart from love is of any true benefit (I Corinthians 13:1-8). We are also told that we are to be holy as He is holy and that we are to be like Christ. We are told in many places that God does what He does to glorify Himself and that He will not give His glory to another.

If God is not doing all to the glory of His name out of love for Himself, then He is commanding men to do as their Great Commandment that which He is not doing. He would also be commanding them to be unlike Himself and so their holiness would not be in being holy as He is holy. In the modern day we have this unhealthy and ungodly tension going on. There is a plethora of teachers within the professing Church that want to tell men to be God-centered in some way and yet they teach as if God is man-centered. Whether this is seen or not in the people, it certainly causes a terrible confusion at best. However, most likely what it does is put man at the center in reality even though he says he is putting God at the center in theory. We may use words that say we are doing it to the glory of God but our hearts are decidedly and “lovingly” (self-love) in the pursuit of self. We even have teachers within the professing Church that teach that we must love ourselves in order to love others. The Scripture, however, teaches that we must deny self in order to follow Christ and that we must love God to love others.

Let me mention but one name in this context. James Dobson is a very popular figure within modern Christendom. He is a psychologist whose organization brings in millions and millions of dollars each year. Yet his teaching is built upon the self-love model and certainly has the very appearance of being very man-centered. He speaks about God as if God is focused on man and his needs. He speaks of the believer being able to find self-worth because Christ has died for that person. It used to be that a true believer had confidence in his or her salvation because of a God that was great enough and loved Himself enough to die for sinners and save them by grace alone. If a human being is able to look at the cross and discover his or her worth in that, then the cross of Jesus Christ was not by grace alone. That means that the Gospel is not one of grace alone either and sinners are not justified by grace alone through faith alone but by grace and worth. The value that is assigned to man as a cause for the cross is the value deducted from grace. God sent Christ to take human flesh and go to the cross not to declare the worth and value of human beings, but to show how committed God is to His own glory. When human beings look at the glory that shines in Christ at the cross, they are to realize that He did this to the praise of the glory of His grace (Ephesians 1:5ff).

We must begin to focus out thoughts, hearts, theology, and our practices upon the glorious teaching of a God-centered God who loves Himself and does all for His own glory. If God does not truly do all for His own glory, then we have no model to follow. If God does not truly do all for His own glory, then we are left up to our own efforts and works to do what we can because God may not be working His grace in us by the life of Christ in order that we would be strengthened by grace to do all for His own glory. The ramifications of a man-centered God are enormous for our theology. If God does not do all for His own glory then the cry of Soli Deo Gloria during the Reformation was and is a meaningless phrase in reality. If God does not love Himself and seek His own glory above all, then why should human beings who are made in His own image and are commanded to do all things for His glory? Scripture teaches us that falling short of His glory is what sin really is (Romans 3:23). Can we imagine God Himself falling short of His own glory and doing something that was not for that?

Reformed theology must start and end where God starts and ends which is that all is to be done for His glory. This is what Luther and Calvin did. Whenever Reformed theology focuses on academics, morality, the family, or whatever more than the glory of God in truth it has a wrong focus. We can raise our children in a sterile environment and teach them how Christians behave and they can become little Pharisees quite easily. Unless we teach them that all their morality and all of their correct theology is nothing but sin apart from a heart that loves God and intends His glory in all it does they will become little Pharisees. We can be Reformed in creed but be Pharisees indeed apart from this all important teaching of Holy Scripture. If God loves Himself and His glory and does all to the glory of His name, then the life of Christ in us and the fruit of the Spirit being worked in us will work for no other love and no other goal. No matter what else we do, if we do not love God and strive to manifest His glory in all things we are not like God in holiness and love. We are like the devil who does all for himself.

Reformed theology in history has been thoroughly centered upon God. In modern times it seems as if a slippage has occurred and we are not longer centered upon God. The problem, however, is that men speak highly of God and of Christ but do so in a man-centered way. What we must see is that all the attributes and glory of God are defined and set out by how they relate to God rather than to men. For example, we smile when we hear a worldly person say that a God of love would not send anyone to hell. However, when we speak of the love of God as if it is defined by His love for sinners, we are essentially doing the same thing. We are defining the love of God in a man-centered or man-measured way. As an infinite God, His love can only be measured by infinity. We can see signs of His love toward human beings, but until we see His love as measured only by His love for Himself we will not understand the cross of Christ either.

When we measure the love of God by human beings, we have just set out standards for how God is to love us. We have put limits on His love by our own understanding. We think that if hard trials come then God does not love us when in fact true love will bring hard trials because they are good for the soul. When we define love by ourselves that is a reason that we will not see the love of God and will lead to great misunderstandings and disappointments. Many people have lost loved ones in some form of crime or “accident” and immediately said that they would never serve God or go to church again. Our theology has suffered the same type of train wreck in that we look upon God through human centered lenses. Modern theology, which includes Reformed types as well, is not prepared to deal with the true and living God because they do not see that God loves Himself as triune and does all for His own glory. The very beauty of God is His love for Himself as triune, which is His holiness. If we adjust our theology to make God’s love focus on men, we have not only adjusted a doctrine but have entered into idolatry.

We tend to look upon men like John Calvin or Jonathan Edwards as too severe. The reason is that they did not look at God as man-centered but instead said that God was God and as such He was God-centered. God appears severe when the fallen mind looks upon Him and judges Him by fallen human standards. But when God is seen in the light of His glory, which is His own God-centeredness, what appeared as severe has the glow of divine beauty. Many recoil at the teaching of the wrath of God and of the doctrine of hell, but that is because they see things from a man-centered focus. Scripture tells us that as the smoke of the torments of the damned rise the saints of God praise Him (Revelation 18:20-19:6). When people begin to see God as God-centered and that His justice and love are focused on Himself, it changes everything. Fallen man as a result of being fallen is focused upon himself as the center of all things and wants to judge all things by himself. When fallen man looks at the biblical teachings of God, fallen man hates them because they teach a God that is centered upon Himself and not man. This leads to various forms of theology that are man-centered because the biblical teachings are adjusted to fit with the self-centeredness of man. Reformed and conservative theology that is not thoroughly God-centered will do this too.

We are told that God is a perfectly blessed or happy Being. We are told that Jesus the Christ is His Beloved Son. We are also told that Christ is the very outshining of the glory of God (Heb 1:3). We are also told that when a person loves and believes in Christ that person can have unspeakable joy that is full of glory (I Peter 1:8). What we must see is that it is in beholding the Son as He shines forth the glory of God that God Himself has great joy in. God the Father beholds Himself as He shines forth or images forth His glory in the Son and He is utter delight, joy, and love in this. The Son is ravished by the glory that He shares with the Father and loves and delights in the Father. A theology that is going to deal with God honestly and biblically is a theology that has to deal with those things as absolute facts and as the absolute and unalterable truth. Any theology that does not have God focused on God as God and loving God supremely as God is a theology that is not dealing with the truth of God.

Reformed theology in our day is dealt with by technical theologians and historians. What we need, so to speak, is someone skilled in theological aesthetics. What we need are people who behold the beauty of God to write on God Himself. What we don’t need is more and more of the man-centered drivel that is pouring forth from the presses. Some of that drivel comes to us in the guise of Reformed theology. We must be broken from our self in order to follow Christ who is the shining forth of the God-centeredness of God. We must be broken from our man-centeredness in order to preach and teach with a clarion call of the God who loves Himself and therefore there is a Gospel of justification by grace alone through faith alone. Apart from a God who loves Himself and His holiness consisting in that, there is no true foundation for the Gospel at all regardless if the person is Reformed or not.

“This view or sense of the divine glory, and unparalleled beauty of the things exhibited to us in the gospel, has a tendency to convince the mind of their divinity… He that truly sees the divine, transcendent, supreme glory of those things which are divine, does as it were know their divinity intuitively; he not only argues that they are divine, but he sees that they are divine; he sees that in them wherein divinity chiefly consists; for in this glory, which is so vastly and inexpressibly distinguished from the glory of artificial things, and all other glory, does mainly consist the true notion of divinity: God is God, and distinguished from all other beings, and exalted above ’em, chiefly by his divine beauty, which is infinitely diverse from all other beauty. They therefore that see the stamp of this glory in divine things, they see divinity in them, they see God in them because they see that in them wherein the truest idea of divinity does consist.”

(Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections p. 298)

The statement by Edwards that “he sees that in them wherein divinity chiefly consists” is another enormous statement with ramifications for preaching and theology. If our preaching and teaching primarily consists of teaching people the facts about things, this is woefully inadequate if Edwards is correct. The glory of God is not seen in teaching facts alone, but God is only seen when His glory is displayed. It is not enough to set forth a fact about God, we must teach the truth in a way to shine forth the glory of God. This is why we are to preach Christ as the shining forth of the glory of God rather than as a man-centered Deity who has done all He can do. We must know that all of our illustrations and stories may move the feelings of people but they do not in and of themselves shine forth the glory of God. It is in preaching and teaching in a way that the glory of God shines that the divinity of God shines forth in a self-evident manner. It is true, however, that no man can be the final cause of God shining His glory in the minds and hearts of other human beings. But preaching is a means of grace and when the intent in preaching is to shine the glory of God that is the means of grace of it being done. Preaching the letter of the law and preaching information only is the means to hardening and to pride (I Corinthians 8:1).

It is only when the true glory of God is set out, declared, and then admired is the truth of God then seen to be the truth of God. As Edwards says, “God is God, and distinguished from all other beings, and exalted above “em, chiefly by his divine beauty, which is infinitely diverse from all other beauty.” It is not just that God is more beautiful than all other things, but He is infinitely exalted above other things by His divine beauty and chiefly by His divine beauty. It is the sight of that glory that men and women see divine things and see God (spiritual sight of the soul by faith) in them. In our churches today we are not showing forth the true glory but we are teaching morality, intellectual theology, and intellectual exegesis. Exegesis is meant to draw out what the text is really about rather than to expound some things about the text and show how that text intellectually fits in with the rest of Scripture. God has given His Scriptures in order to reveal Himself and His glory. If a preacher did not set out the truth of the glory of God in a text, that preacher has failed in his exegesis no matter how technically accurate he was.

It is not enough to talk about and use the word “glory” a lot, but instead the glory of God must be set out in its beauty. The people in the pews are bombarded moment after moment by the beauty and desirability of the world. When they come to hear the Word of God, they need to hear the distinguishing beauty and glory of God set out so that they will not be so tempted by the allure of the world. Preachers are bombarded by the things of the world too and they need to be caught up with the glory of God in order to be kept from being captured by the allure of professionalism and of large packages and of a church growth mentality. As long as preachers talk of a god that is focused on human beings, they are doing nothing but feeding the minds of people with an idol and people are being hardened into idolatry in the name of Christianity. This is also done with hard preaching and preaching on sin and morality as the Pharisees did. If the distinctive thing about God is His beauty and glory, then the distinctive thing about true preaching is the same thing. The same thing is true with Reformed churches. People are hardened under conservative morality and conservative theology if they are not lifted up to see the glory of God. It is not just that Pelagians and Arminians do this, but Reformed people are guilty of this. The bottom line is that if we are not preaching what is distinctive about God then we are not preaching the true God. No matter how much intellectual truth or orthodoxy is declared from Reformed pulpits, the true God is not being declared when His distinctive beauty and glory is not preached. We always point the finger at other people for our problems, but perhaps we should be pointing our fingers at the image we see in the mirror. Truth apart from His glory hardens hearts.

“This view or sense of the divine glory, and unparalleled beauty of the things exhibited to us in the gospel, has a tendency to convince the mind of their divinity… He that truly sees the divine, transcendent, supreme glory of those things which are divine, does as it were know their divinity intuitively; he not only argues that they are divine, but he sees that they are divine; he sees that in them wherein divinity chiefly consists; for in this glory, which is so vastly and inexpressibly distinguished from the glory of artificial things, and all other glory, does mainly consist the true notion of divinity: God is God, and distinguished from all other beings, and exalted above ’em, chiefly by his divine beauty, which is infinitely diverse from all other beauty. They therefore that see the stamp of this glory in divine things, they see divinity in them, they see God in them because they see that in them wherein the truest idea of divinity does consist.”

Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, p. 298

In this post we will continue looking at this marvelous statement by Jonathan Edwards that should help people see what a spiritual sight means. It is possible to adhere to all the Reformed statements (in a general way since all do not teach the same exact thing on all points) and yet miss the real issue with theology. The truth of Scripture cannot be derived from historical studies and logical deductions, but it must be given by the grace of God. In the modern day we tend to think that a person knows something if the person can regurgitate the information on a test or give some verbal credence to the fact that s/he has the information in his or her brain. But Edwards tells us that divinity chiefly consists in a view or sense of the divine glory and its unparalleled beauty. To state this differently, we do not know God or theology because we can state the facts about God or theology, but we only know God and theology if we have a view or sense of the glory and beauty of Him. This is a far different thing than teaching people some facts about the Bible in a class. This is something that God alone can give.

Edwards says that the glory and beauty of God are what distinguishes the glory of God and true theology from all that is artificial. The beauty of nature in the natural sense, though it shines with the glory of God in truth, is of far more beauty to most people than that of theology. Modern biblical study and theology has devolved into historical studies of differing types of criticism and the only glory is that of the intellect of the person that is doing the study. It is no wonder that people would rather look at the ocean or mountains than engage in a Bible study like that. Of course there are other kinds of Bible studies that people have which seem to look at the Bible and simply look for moral commands to obey. So people do not see the true glory of God in those methods and end up living an external religious life or simply following what they think of as natural beauties or glories.

I Corinthians 2:9-14 gives insight into this: “‘THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

As we fight through texts like this, we must wrestle with what is spiritual and what is not. That which is spiritual is that which the Spirit reveals about things that are truly spiritual. The Spirit of God alone can give us understanding of the things of God. The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit because they are foolishness to him. Now, if we approach this from what Edwards says, we can see at least one way that this makes sense. The mind is not out of the picture, but the mind only receives what appears as good or as beautiful to it. So the Gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ has no beauty to it and so no desirableness to the natural man and so it appears foolish to him. But those in whom God opens the mind and their heart to see His glory as it shines out in the Gospel of His glory in Christ, they are ravished by His beauty and delight in His glory. They now understand with delight that the Gospel is beautiful and desirable because it shines with the very glory of God. True spiritual insight, then, is to see the glory of God in the Gospel and doctrine. The Spirit gives believers love and joy in God Himself.

“This view or sense of the divine glory, and unparalleled beauty of the things exhibited to us in the gospel, has a tendency to convince the mind of their divinity… He that truly sees the divine, transcendent, supreme glory of those things which are divine, does as it were know their divinity intuitively; he not only argues that they are divine, but he sees that they are divine; he sees that in them wherein divinity chiefly consists; for in this glory, which is so vastly and inexpressibly distinguished from the glory of artificial things, and all other glory, does mainly consist the true notion of divinity: God is God, and distinguished from all other beings, and exalted above ’em, chiefly by his divine beauty, which is infinitely diverse from all other beauty. They therefore that see the stamp of this glory in divine things, they see divinity in them, they see God in them because they see that in them wherein the truest idea of divinity does consist.”

Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, p. 298

Edwards argues in this paragraph and its own context that it is the glory and beauty of God exhibited in the Gospel that convinces minds of the divinity of the things exhibited. While some might argue that Edwards is a mystic in his argument here, I would argue that Paul sets the same type of argument out in Scripture. Jesus taught us that unless one is born again that person cannot see the kingdom. If we look at the new birth as giving the soul a faculty of spiritual sight, then we can see that Edwards is arguing along the same line as Jesus. The book of Hebrews speaks of the ancient people as seeing ahead and of Moses as “considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward” (11:26). If Edwards is overly mystical to some, then Moses was too. There is a spiritual sight of the soul that gives it a view of the divine glory and of an unparalleled sense of beauty in the Gospel and of the things of God. In fact, the text that Edwards based his work on the Religious Affections is I Peter 1:8: “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”

In the I Peter text something is going on that is beyond the physical view of the eyes and yet something that leads to a true love and a true faith. It is something that leads to a rejoicing that is with joy inexpressible and is full of glory. Hebrews speaks of men living by faith in things that were not seen. By that we can be safe in saying that they did not see them with their physical eyes. We are also told to walk by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7). But if faith is the sight of the soul rather than the physical eyes, then this means something totally different than a blind leap into the dark. It means that true faith is built upon spiritual realities and the soul lives upon the sight of spiritual realities rather than what the physical eyes see. This can be seen by reading Hebrews 11 over very carefully. The people in that Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11) lived by the sight of the glory of God and not by the data that their senses derived for them.

The statement by Edwards that follows this sentence, I think, should be interpreted in the sense of the above paragraph. “He that truly sees the divine, transcendent, supreme glory of those things which are divine, does as it were know their divinity intuitively.” Edwards is not talking about seeing the divine glory with the physical eyes, but with the spiritual sight or the eyes of the soul which is a view or sense of the divine glory. The people in Hebrews 11 had a view and sense of the glory of God and were willing to trade their lives and all they had to follow that divine glory. This was far more than an intellectual or logical glory. This was far more than a glory that the historian can pull from the rotting pages of old books. This is a sight and sense of glory that God alone can give to the soul. When God opens the eyes of the soul to spiritual things, people then know God in a way that is different than the conclusion of an argument. It is God giving the soul a sight of His glory and it is God that is giving the soul a drink of His beauty and utter majesty.

The soul does not need to be deeply humbled in order to derive God from a logical argument, but it must be deeply humble for God to give it a taste of His love for His Son by grace. The soul must be deeply humbled and broken to receive grace as grace can only be received rather than earned in any way. The soul must be truly humbled rather than to work up a false virtue of humility which passes as humility in many corners. Theology and Reformed theology too can have a type of logical glory to it that is derived by deduction and hard work. Without knocking that in all ways, what we must assert is that God alone can give us a sight of His glory. God alone can open the eyes of the soul to see His beauty and give it a drink of His glory. In other words, this is true Reformed theology.

“This view or sense of the divine glory, and unparalleled beauty of the things exhibited to us in the gospel, has a tendency to convince the mind of their divinity… He that truly sees the divine, transcendent, supreme glory of those things which are divine, does as it were know their divinity intuitively; he not only argues that they are divine, but he sees that they are divine; he sees that in them wherein divinity chiefly consists; for in this glory, which is so vastly and inexpressibly distinguished from the glory of artificial things, and all other glory, does mainly consist the true notion of divinity: God is God, and distinguished from all other beings, and exalted above ’em, chiefly by his divine beauty, which is infinitely diverse from all other beauty. They therefore that see the stamp of this glory in divine things, they see divinity in them, they see God in them because they see that in them wherein the truest idea of divinity does consist.”

(Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections p. 298)

The view of Christianity presented by Edwards in this quote is staggeringly different than almost anything heard in our day. In our day God is barely more than a divine genie handing out what people want as long as they jump through the proper hoops. In our day God is the great conclusion to an argument that is presented to convinced people that God exists. But Edwards says that a view or sense of the divine glory and beauty in the Gospel is what has the tendency to convince minds. Whether a person follows classical or pre-suppositional apologetics, the focus is on convincing the mind in a way where God is the conclusion of the argument. Without tossing those out altogether, Edwards tells us that what really convinces people is the beauty of what is exhibited in the Gospel, which is the divine glory. In other words, what truly convinces people of the Gospel is the beauty and glory of God in the Gospel. A person can be convinced that God is true and that the Gospel is true, but still that person does not believe in a saving way. What must happen is for the person to see the glory of God in the Gospel in order to understand and love the glory of God that shines in the Gospel.

In a very real and true sense the Gospel has virtually been lost in the modern times. We want to argue from logic, history, or in some way apart from setting forth the Gospel in a God-centered methodology. We have made the leap from the command to make disciples of all nations or people groups and have turned toward a man-centered focus and methodology. It is as if the very glory of the Gospel is all about man and what God has done for man. Once that focus and methodology has taken over, the heart of the Gospel has been lost. God is the heart of the Gospel and He is to be the focus and the methodology. He is not to be the focus and the methodology just in order to get people to make a decision, but He is to be the true focus. The Gospel is all about God and His glory. If we take people away from the glory of God in the Gospel, we have just taken out the heart of the Gospel and so we are not proclaiming the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

II Corinthians 4:3-4 sets out the peril of a gospel that does not focus on the glory of God: “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” This Scripture tells us that the devil blinds the minds of the unbelieving to the Gospel so that the true Gospel is veiled to those who are perishing. We simply must get this. But why is it veiled and what is hidden from them by that veil? Those who are perishing have been blinded so that they might not see the light of the Gospel. What is that? It is the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. In other words, the devil does not mind if people heart the words and historical facts of the Gospel, but he works to keep people blinded to the glory of the Gospel. He does that because what convinces people of the Gospel is the glory of God shining in the face of Christ.

Edwards saw something that was biblical and that we must see in our day if we are to see biblical revival. We must get beyond the information of the Gospel and point people to the glory of God that shines in the face of Christ in the Gospel. We can preach the external facts of Christ and the cross until we are blue in the face and we will not have touched on the most important part. In fact, we can preach the external facts of the Gospel and all that will happen is that people will make external professions and be external Christians. A person can be in line with all the historical facts of the Reformed confessions and still see nothing of the glory of the Gospel. John Owen wrote on the glory of Christ as did Edwards. We must preach the glory they did or we won’t preach the same Christ.

“This view or sense of the divine glory, and unparalleled beauty of the things exhibited to us in the gospel, has a tendency to convince the mind of their divinity.” (Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections p. 298)

This statement should ravish our souls with the mere thought. May this type of thinking become greater and greater until the very glory of God sweeps through our land and the world with the beauty of His glory. Here we are given a hint at the very least as to what the beauty of the Gospel really is. Though it may appear presumptive to change the sentence of Edwards around, in an effort to show at least part of his meaning with more clarity I will do so. “The unparalleled beauty of the things exhibited to us in the gospel which consists in this view or sense of the divine glory has a tendency to convince the mind of their divinity.” The unparalleled beauty of the things exhibited in the Gospel can only be the divine glory. The beauty of the Gospel is not that it saves sinners from hell, but that it manifests and exhibits the Divine glory. The Divine glory is seen in the Gospel by what it is and by what it does, and the beauty of that glory shines in such a way that there is nothing that can approach the glory of it. It is indeed an unparalleled beauty that is exhibited in the Gospel.

Psalm 27:4 – “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.”

Psalm 149:4 – “For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.”

2 Corinthians 4:4 – “In whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 6 For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

What do men see that render the Gospel desirable to them? What is it that Satan has to do to keep people from seeing the true Gospel? The true Gospel is all about the glory of God yet men teach it in such a way that the glory of it and the motives of it are aimed at the self-centered nature of man. In that case ministers are deceived and join hands with Satan in hiding the glory of God in a so-called gospel. We can preach and teach what is orthodox about the Gospel and yet miss the real issue. A man that is very orthodox can do a dissertation on the Gospel and yet miss what is the real issue with the Gospel. Our desire must be for the glory of God in all and we must desire and love His beauty and glory in the Gospel. If all we do is present men with self-centered motives about what is best for them, they have not been moved by the heart of the Gospel which is the glory of God. The unparalleled beauty of the Gospel is in the glory of God shining in the face of Christ. If people miss that, they have missed it all.

What is it that the soul is required to seek? It is “To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple” (Psa 27:4). What is it that will take a soul wrapped in the filth of sin and pride and make it beautiful to God? It is when “the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation” (Psalm 149:4). The Lord takes those ugly with sin and makes them beautiful in His eyes with salvation. What is it about salvation that makes them beautiful? It is because it is His glory that they are now clothed with. It is because it is His beauty that now resides in and shines through them. We can see this clearly in II Corinthians 4:6 when the Gospel is all about God who shines in hearts “to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” It is when the light of the knowledge (more than just intellectual) of God’s glory is seen in Christ from the heart that a person now truly knows the Gospel. It is then that the person is beautified with salvation and it is then that the soul desires nothing more than to behold the beauty of the Lord. The Gospel is a sight of the Divine glory in its beauty as it shines in the birth, life, cross/death, and then resurrection, ascension and mediating work of Christ. The devil is hard at work to get people to teach morality and orthodox theology in such a way that the glory of the Lord is not seen. He is hard at work to get people to see the Gospel as desirable for what it will do for them rather than the glory of God. Reformed theology is only beautiful to the degree that it shines with the beauty and glory of God. If it does not do that, it is deformed despite its orthodoxy. Let us never forget that the God who lives in sight of the beauty of His own glory displayed within the Trinity will never see anything else as beautiful other than Himself. Until souls feed upon the beauty of His glory they will not repent of their self-centeredness to being ravished by His beauty and glory. They will continue to be full of self like the devil.

“And besides the things that have been already mentioned, there arises from this sense of spiritual beauty, all true experimental knowledge of religion: which is of itself, as it were a new world of knowledge. He that sees not the beauty of holiness, knows not what one of the graces of God’s Spirit is; he is destitute of any idea or conception of all gracious exercises of soul, and all holy comforts and delights, and all effects of the saving influences of the Spirit of God on the heart” (Jonathan Edwards’ Religious Affections, 275).

Last time I noted the following: “Reformed theology can be nothing more than a logical system that sets out theology and morality with God as part of the system that feeds unregenerate and self-centered people. Without God being the true center in the beauty of His self-centeredness, Reformed theology is nothing more than a refined form of self-centeredness. Without the true beauty of God at its core, Reformed orthodoxy serves to blind self-centered men to the true glory of God.” This may seem like an attack on Reformed theology, but it is not. It is an effort to see true God-centered theology returned to its rightful place at the center of all things. In Volume VI of his works, John Owen noted that we cannot simply point out an external sin without taking that sin to the real source of it, which is the heart. If we only point out the external sin and do not go to the real source of the sin, which is the heart, we are not dealing with sin at all (Mortification of Sin, chapter VII). The same thing is true about theology. We cannot just deal with the external doctrine and then expect people to state an intellectual belief in it.

If we are going to see the true beauty of a doctrine we must trace it back to its source of true beauty. We must trace each doctrine back to its source which is the Trinity and the infinite mutual love of the triune God. If we rest satisfied with a doctrine as it sets out some benefit for man we have not moved beyond the self-interest of man which is really the heart of sin. This should show us that we can feed the sinful heart of men with orthodoxy and men continue on in self-centered and prideful ways without a change in heart. There is no beauty in holiness unless it is the beauty of God Himself.

The views that Owen and Edwards had of the experimental nature of Christianity are far different than that of today. That is because they started and ended with God with man being an instrument of God. We tend to see God as an instrument of man’s love for himself. The danger is pointed out by Edwards in the quote above: “He that sees not the beauty of holiness, knows not what one of the graces of God’s Spirit is.” This statement is a shot that should be heard around the world. The beauty of holiness is God Himself in the souls of men displaying His love for Himself in sharing His love for Himself with men. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love and the Holy Spirit does not work any love but a holy love in the hearts of His people. This love must be a love for God which can only come from the source of love and that is the God who is love itself. All of the graces of the Spirit will be from this love and in working that love in the human soul. This ends up with those men admiring the true beauty of holiness.

We can see from this that there is no way that a person who has no idea of the beauty of holiness can share in the graces of God’s Spirit. This would mean that there is no true experimental knowledge of religion in that person’s heart. At this point we must note again that the true experimental knowledge of religion is not the same thing as having true doctrine, though one must have true doctrine to have true experimental religion. The grace of God in the soul is never apart from the truth of His love for Himself, which is the true beauty of Christianity. The true beauty of holiness cannot be apart from what true holiness is within the triune God and apart from what the Spirit works in the souls of human beings. If we don’t love the true beauty of holiness then we are strangers to true holiness. All the grace and graces that the Spirit works in human hearts will always be flowing from the source of true holiness and love which is the very nature and character of God and is how the triune God relates within Himself. How can we have a true experimental knowledge of religion if we are not connected to and so obtaining all we have from the true source of religion itself? All of the gracious influences and actions of the Spirit in the soul will always tend toward love for God because the Spirit can work nothing but love for God as He is holy and lives in the love and holiness of God Himself. True theology, then, must always move human beings from a love for themselves to a true love for God. True theology that has God at its center rather than man will always have the grace of God in true holiness and love at its center. It is this beauty of God in the soul of man that is always moving man to taste of the glory and beauty of God and be His instrument in the world to manifest Himself. After all, that is true love and that is true salvation from sin which consists in pride and self-love as the devil has.

“And besides the things that have been already mentioned, there arises from this sense of spiritual beauty, all true experimental knowledge of religion: which is of itself, as it were a new world of knowledge. He that sees not the beauty of holiness, knows not what one of the graces of God’s Spirit is; he is destitute of any idea or conception of all gracious exercises of soul, and all holy comforts and delights, and all effects of the saving influences of the Spirit of God on the heart” (Jonathan Edwards’ Religious Affections, 275).

What is so rampant in our day can be seen by this statement of true Christianity. A person can be very religious and do many moral things but not see any real spiritual beauty. This person may see some beauty in one sense, but that might be the beauty of not going to hell or the beauty of self-righteousness. There is a form of beauty in the Bible and a form of beauty in theology that can be seen by anyone. That is the beauty of how all things fit together along with the beauty of consistency. But people can still miss the true spiritual beauty. We must remind ourselves that spiritual things are the things from the Holy Spirit and how they fit with God’s infinite mutual love of Himself. This is the true beauty of God and it is this that opens up what true experimental religion is. Notice the language of Edwards in this passage. It is from the sense of spiritual beauty that all true experimental knowledge of religion comes. He then goes on to say that the person that does not see the beauty of holiness does not know what one of the graces of God’s Spirit is.

Holiness is thought to be so dreary in our day and is presented as something that will benefit later if we will just labor on in its dreariness in this life. But if we could just once have a glimmer of Divine glory shine in our eyes and give us a taste of true spiritual beauty we would know what the experimental knowledge of religion is and then some idea of the beauty of holiness. On the one hand we live in a day where immorality flourishes, but on the other hand we also live in a day where the spirit of the Pharisees flourishes. The idea that there is a true spiritual beauty and that holiness is a thing of beauty is rather distant. Within religious circles we stress morality, the disciplines, and in some circles doctrine. The beauty of external morality can be self-righteousness; the beauty of the disciplines can be of self-discipline, while the beauty of doctrine can be nothing more than intellectual consistency. There is a beauty of Reformed theology in that it gives a philosophical system that answers so many questions. But unless all of those things have true spiritual beauty, they are deceptive and will lead to the perishing of the soul.

Notice Edwards says that it is from this sense of spiritual beauty that “all true experimental knowledge of religion” arises. He did not say that all experimental knowledge of religion arises from it, but “all true experimental knowledge of religion.” In other words, there are many types and kinds of experimental practices in religion but only one true one. All that we do in the realm of morality, the disciplines, and doctrine must arise from a true spiritual beauty, which arises from God Himself. We can use all of those religious things and still see nothing but the beauty of self in them. We can use the name of God but the only beauty we see is what we think He has done for self. The beauty that we will see, then, is only the beauty of self and what is beneficial to self. “For men will be lovers of self” (II Timothy 3:2) and they will pursue the beauty of self in sin and the beauty of self like the Pharisees unless their eyes are opened to see the beauty and glory of God.

The affections of people can be raised in a form of experimental religion and they think they are holy as they follow the ways of men in forms of holiness. They may love the study of doctrine and be quite orthodox in it all, but they will not have seen the glory of God in it. To be destitute of this, however, regardless of how much doctrine one knows and how outwardly moral one is, and even how much one follows the disciplines, is to be destitute of the grace of God. We simply must wake up to the true concept of God as centered upon Himself and His glory. We must see that He saves sinners to the praise of the glory of His grace (Ephesians 1:3 -7) rather than the goodness of men. We must also see that He sanctifies sinners by grace and not by their own efforts or morality. This is because God delights in the display of His own beauty and glory that He works in and through hell-deserving sinners rather than in what they can do in their own strength. Reformed theology can be nothing more than a logical system that sets out theology and morality with God as part of the system that feeds unregenerate and self-centered people. Without God being the true center in the beauty of His self-centeredness, Reformed theology is nothing more than a refined form of self-centeredness. Without the true beauty of God at its core, Reformed orthodoxy serves to blind self-centered men to the true glory of God. We must search our hearts.

For as God is infinitely the greatest Being, so he is allowed to be infinitely the most beautiful and excellent: and all the beauty to be found throughout the whole creation, is but the reflection of the diffused beams of that Being who hath an infinite fullness of brightness and glory. God’s beauty is infinitely more valuable than that of all other beings upon both those accounts mentioned, viz, the degree of his virtue and the greatness of his being, possessed of this virtue (Nature of True Virtue, 14-15).

As we try to take in this statement by Jonathan Edwards, our souls will balk at this and try to look in another direction if we do not grab ourselves by the collar and ask for grace to behold the brightness of the glory that shines. God is the greatest Being and as such He must be the most beautiful and excellent Being. Human beings (not myself or yourself or the combination of all selves) are not the most beautiful and in fact they have no beauty but what shines in and through them from God. It is in beholding His glory that we are transformed from one degree of glory to another (II Corinthians 3:18) and not beholding our own glories or that of other human beings. Perhaps there is a bit of irony here in that human beings are guilty of looking at their own glory and in some way they are formed after that, but that is simply more ugliness and defilement rather than true beauty. Human beings are to behold the glory of God and be transformed by His work of grace rather than to behold self and other human beings, becoming more and more defiled with pride and self-centeredness.

Any beauty that exists in the entire creation (He created all things) is but a reflection of Himself who is full of beauty and glory. In other words, all true beauty in nature that can be beheld by a child or by a scientist is the beauty of God. When anyone denies the being of God, that person has done nothing but cut off what is truly beautiful from himself and perhaps others. In gazing into the sky and beholding the shining of the stars, the only true beauty that truly shines is God Himself. This is not to say that unbelievers do not see beauty, but they don’t recognize what is truly beautiful and ascribe the glory that is due to the Creator.

What we must see is that this statement has massive ramifications for us. God is infinitely full of brightness and glory. All He does manifests that glory in some way. When He created, therefore, He was manifesting that beauty and glory that He is infinitely full of. In all that He did and all that He does His glory shines forth whether human beings recognize it or not. His beauty and glory are what is truly worthy in this world and in all other places and realms. It is that glory that shines with such beauty that all human beings are to behold and cry out for grace so that His beauty and glory would shine in and through them. His beauty and glory are so great that it is a vile and wicked thing not to live and do all for His glory (I Cor 10:31 and Romans 3:23). When human beings do all for their own beauty and glory they are being just like the devil and show who their father really is. Sin is ugly and hideous because it is the image of the evil one who does all for himself rather than doing all for the glory of God. A human being that is living for self is a being that is doing all for self and for the glory and honor of self. That human is in a sense admiring his or her own beauty rather than the beauty and glory of God.

The Gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ is when God restores the shining of His glory and beauty of holiness in the souls of human beings. The one who is unholy is all about self while true holiness is only found in those who love God and His glory is in them and shining through them. This happens because of the Gospel and of the God who can do nothing but manifest His beauty and glory. It is because the Gospel is all of God from the planning of it from eternity past to the carrying it out in Christ and then the application of it by the Holy Spirit that His beauty and glory shines through it. Because it is all of God and He can do nothing but manifest His glory in all that He does the Gospel is the shining forth of the glory of God in Christ.

All theology including Reformed theology is ugly and hideous when it does nothing but shine forth the intellect and morality in its teaching as it focuses on human beings. Theology must shine forth the glory of God or it is like the scientist that focuses on his study after the attempt to strip it of God. Theology can use the name of God while doing nothing to display His true beauty and glory. God can do nothing but display His beauty and glory so if we are preaching and doing theology in a way that is from Him His beauty and glory will shine forth to those with eyes to see. We live in a day of ugly preaching and theology. Let us pray that the Lord will shine His face on us that we may delight in His beauty and glory. If we do not repent of preaching Christ our own way and trying to make God look good, we will continue our descent into ugliness. It matters not how Reformed a person is in his or her external theology, apart from the beauty and glory of God shining in it that person, their preaching and theology is ugly. There is no true beauty apart from the God and that includes our preaching and our theology. That includes our preaching of Christ and our most orthodox statements. There is only one God and His beauty and glory shine through His triune being. If we miss that, we miss true beauty and fall into the most hideous and despicable ugliness even while we are orthodox and busy in the externals of religion. Our worship, our prayers, and our evangelism are despicably ugly apart from the beauty and glory of God. Even our works of righteousness are as filthy rags (menstrual cloths) if the beauty of His glory is not in them.