Affections

'Withhold not thy affection from us'

        That's an unusual admonition, isn't it? For it implies that we have a choice as to whether we will have or show affection or “tender mercies” towards other people. Love is not something you generate yourself but it's a gift from God because “God is love” and the fruit of the Spirt begins with love: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. . . .” Gal. 5:22-23

         Not only so, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5 ESV But the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit told us that it's possible for us to block that love or “withhold it.” He wrote to his Corinthian brethren, “We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.” 2 Cor. 6:11-13 So you can either “close your heart” towards others or “open wide your heart.”

        The Apostle John speaks to the same matter: ^'By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.' 1 John 3:16-18 esv

        “Affection” is a very interesting word. Similar to love but not quite the same, perhaps a sub-division within the broader category of the word love. Jonathan Edwards has written extensively about the importance of our affections and how they are directed. We do well to heed his many scriptural teachings. Philippians 1:8 speaks of the “affection of Christ Jesus and Luke 1:78 and many places in the Psalms speak of “the tender mercy of our God.” That's what affection does. Love may or may not have emotion, but affection always does. Even more than fondness, affection has pity and compassion and emotional feeling for the other person. You esteem them highly, respect them and admire them. Affection certainly motivates you to serve and help and encourage the other person.

        And when we think of our affection towards God, it goes even deeper because of the majesty and glory of God Himself. Jonathan Edwards, 1703-1758, wrote 250 years ago, 'There is a divine and superlative glory . . .an excellency that is of a vastly higher kind, and more sublime nature than in other things, a glory greatly distinguishing from all that is earthly and temporal . . . . We rationally believe that God is glorious, and we also have a sense of the gloriousness of God in our heart. There is not only a rational belief that God is holy, and that holiness is a good thing, but there is a sense of the loveliness of God in our heart. We know that God is gracious but we also have a sense of the beauty of this divine attribute.'

        We understand truths about God but God also gives us 'the sense of the heart, as when there is a sense of the beauty, amiableness, or sweetness of a thing, so that the heart is sensible of pleasure and delight in the presence of the idea of it.'

        'There is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and gracious and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness. If you've never tasted honey, you do not know exactly how it tastes.

       'So there is a difference between believing that a person is beautiful, and having a sense of her beauty. . . . There is a wide difference between speculative rational judging any thing to be excellent and having a sense of its sweetness and beauty. . . . Wlhen the heart is sensible of the beauty of something or someone, it necessarily feels pleasure. . . .

      “This sense of the divine excellency of things contained in the word of God brings a conviction of the truth and reality of them.'” from The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards by John Gerstner, vol. I, pages 201-202.

       Love longs for response and affection gives it. One of the most satisfying parts of love is to be able to share a particular event or situation with someone you love. When you see something beautiful or desirable or worthwhile, your first reaction is to want to share it with someone you love. That's an important part of enjoyment and pleasure. It is part of our fellowship with the other person. “I carry you in my heart” even when they are not with you.

       But affection can also simply mean “tender mercies.” And Ephesians 4:32 tells us to be kind and “tenderhearted” one to another. God treats His people with “tender mercies.” We see them daily. 'The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.' Ps.145:9 'Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord. . .' Ps. 119:156

       And in Psalm 40:11 David prays that God will not “withhold” His tender mercies from him. He won't withhold them because God is in His Being, in His attributes, “tenderhearted” towards all He has made. He always does what is best for them. But it is possible, as we have seen, for us to “withhold” our affection or tender mercies from each other. That's why Jesus told His disciples that “By this shall all know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35 So affection and love are the “final apologetic” to show the truth of the Gospel and its reality in our lives and the Presence of God Himself giving us that love and affection.