As Jonathan Edwards put it, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections.”[10] He was thinking primarily of love for Christ and joy in him, and he wrote one of his main works (Religious Affections) largely to unpack that conviction. What Edwards was getting at was the fact that the Spirit is not about bringing us to a mere external performance for Christ, but bringing us actually to love him and find our joy in him. And any performance “for him” that is not the expression of such love brings him no pleasure at all.
