I'm reading a book called "Gospel Centered Discipleship" by Jonathan Dodson. He speaks of the concept of religious affections. Jonathan Edwards wrote much about religious affections. Essentially such true affection is a genuine adoration of God that results in changed lives. We love the Lord therefore we obey His commands. Only true believers can have such a love for Jesus Christ. The unbeliever remains hardened against the things of the Lord. The result of such a love for Jesus Christ is joy. It is an eternal, wondrous and marvelous joy in knowing the Savior and tasting to see that He is good.
Dodson writes:
" The gospel changes our motivations; it is an altering of joy. In Christ, we secure a new heart, capable of untold and altogether superior joy. Religious affection, then, is a gospel motivation because it is a new taste for God that arises from His work of new creation. Affectionate faith in Jesus is the gift of the gospel...We possess the strength to deny sinful pleasures because of our delight in a superior pleasure."
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