Jonathan Edwards Resolution #3

Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

I can’t help but wonder if Edwards isn’t addressing two separate things here: falling and becoming dull. I’m not sure if he thought that dullness accompanies falling, or perhaps the falling comes because one becomes dull. It is like a “which came first; the chicken or the egg” situation. I don’t suppose it really matters in the final analysis.

He specifies falling and becoming dull to the point where he neglects these resolutions he is making; resolutions whose purpose is to help him live life to the glory of God. Notice how he says: “when I come to myself again.” There is an implication that the condition of falling away and being dull is related to not being himself; his true self is not like this.

When we become part of the family of God, when we place our faith and trust in Christ, we are new creatures:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17.

After we have become Christians, if our repentance is sincere, we are never the same. I remember how I felt within days of becoming a Christian. Suddenly, my eyes were opened to my behaviour, my attitude, my pursuits. I was convicted that there was something wrong before I accepted Christ, but it became much more pronounced after I prayed to God to forgive me. Once we belong to Christ, when we “come back” to ourselves, it is to that new creature, not the old one. That creation God wants us to be is the “default” person to whom we return.

Edwards anticipates the possibility that something will happen that may cause him to fall from his resolve; should that happen, it need not be a permanent situation. Actually, as frail human beings who are easily led astray, there may be many times of falling away and returning. We want to be faithful; we want to remain consistent, but we are still weak, and don’t always do what we know to be the best thing. Even the apostle Paul cried out against the struggle between the spirit and the flesh:

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:22-24)

I think this is the heart of what Edwards is talking about: the struggle to live for Christ trapped inside these mortal bodies while we sojourn in a fallen world. Some days, I get up, determined to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit in all that I do; I resolve to speak only that which is edifying, or redeem my time with more wisdom, to spend more time nurturing my children in the things of the Lord. Yes, I start out that way, but by noon or 1:00 in the afternoon, I am banging my head against the wall (or my desk, usually) because I have failed already. That cry of Paul’s, “Wretched (wo)man that I am” is one I continue to utter, albeit quietly.

Edward’s resolution, notice, is not to avoid falling or becoming dull; he knew that was a tall order. No; the resolution is to repent of what we’ve done while we have been in that dull state. Really, it’s all we can do. We can’t change our natures, or make ourselves be anything but who we are. However, we have an advocate:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (I John 2:1)

Resolve to keep from falling, certainly. But don’t be surprised if your resolve is shaky. When that happens, resolve to repent.