I love the Puritans.

I think, especially in the Reformed world, we can be tempted to downplay the beauty of the Puritans out of fear of losing sight of God’s grace. Somehow it has become common to confuse sanctification with justification. Any mention of honoring Christ with any act of reverence or work of love quickly gets reprimanded for taking away Christ’s merit, as if our love and gratitude to Christ is coerced with a belief that our devotion merits us anything. (For emphasis, it does not.)

But I think something the Puritans saw better than we do is the worthiness of Christ, the holiness of God, and His Lordship over us. These things can be downplayed in our Christian culture, with an overemphasis on grace (*I’m not sure grace can be overemphasized honestly. It is what has saved us and why we rejoice. But hear me out…)

The Puritans did not downplay grace. They so often spoke of their own vileness and sinfulness and helplessness without Christ. It was their understanding of their complete dependence upon Christ that they clung to Him for dear life.

They saw clearly that Christ was their Savior, but they also saw clearly that He was their Lord. Along with writing of their inward sinfulness, their writings are filled with exalting the glory of Christ and the worthiness of Christ. They saw Him as their King to whom was due all honor and reverence, and they delighted in giving that to Him—knowing that they could never give Him what He rightfully deserves. 

They could never give Him enough, therefore they never ceased to give Him their all. 

Again this is where some may be quick to say, “You’re speaking too much on works! Look outward to Christ and His work, not your own!” But this again is confusing merit and gratitude. The Puritans looked so much to Christ that they were overwhelmed with gratitude that manifested in joyful godliness.

They were overwhelmed with the majesty of Christ that their natural response was to bow before Him in reverence and humble submission. They saw so clearly the goodness of Christ that they did not fear Him as a tyrant (which many avoid any form of adhering to or valuing the concept of submission out of fear of tyranny), but trusted Him so fully as to submit to Him with gladness and delight, knowing He is full of love and will only lead His sheep with all-knowing wisdom and care.

I think we have been so immersed in our “you do you” culture that this mentality has seeped into our Christian mind frame, and we have become afraid to spur each other on to live biblically with reverence to Christ out of fear of being judgmental or legalistic. But the result of this is a lack of godliness and sanctification and glory to Christ.

I think something we have forgotten that the Puritans knew well was the transforming power of the Holy Spirit for our sanctification. To downplay sanctification is to downplay the work of the Holy Spirit. God saves us not to remain the same, but to transform us into His likeness—to purify us and reflect His holiness. Perhaps because we know so well that we are covered by His blood and righteousness we have forgotten how much He hates sin. I can quote passage after passage of Scripture showing how God abhors sin. We see it in the devastating result of Adam’s sin in Genesis, and we see it in God’s unspeakable wrath poured out on His only begotten Son on the cross. 

God’s anger burns against sin. He does not take it lightly. He cannot be near it. Yet we tend to take it lightly, or take His Lordship over our lives lightly, with what I can only estimate is from an entitled, self-governing mindset that we have inherited from the world. 

But we would do well to remember that we are not our own; we have been bought with a price. Therefore we belong to Christ, not ourselves. He is our God and King. He is worthy of all our devotion and obedience and submission. His worthiness is not acknowledged nearly enough as it should be. He is God. He graciously rescued us from our miserable state when He did not have to. The only appropriate response is to bow down to Him and say “Take my life and let it be all for You and for Your glory.” —Not to earn anything, not to gain favor, but because that is what the Creator and Savior of the world is worth. 

What seems lacking in our day is a spirit that says “I surrender all—all to Thee my Blessed Savior—I surrender all.” Instead, the more common mindset is that which says, in the words of a modern pop artist, “I’m too free for that.” One reverences Christ. One reverences self. While yes, there is truth in our freedom—for who the Son sets free is free indeed—what are we free from? The debt of our sin and the wrath of God, to be sure. And thank God almighty for that! But we are also free from the power of sin. We are free from the chains of bondage that keep us living for ourselves, and we are free to live for Christ—NOT free to keep living as we please (all of Romans 6 is about this). 

So yes, we are free indeed—to live with hearts of flesh that love Christ because He first loved us. Free to love the law rather than view it as a burden. Far too often when mentioning the joy of submitting to Christ or the encouragement of any spiritual discipline I hear, “Yes but that’s law”—as if the law is a stick that God uses to beat us with rather than a joy to walk with and abide by and take shelter in (ask Luther).

So in a long winded way as I always do 🤭, my encouragement is to read the Puritans—To, along with them, think much on the worthiness of Christ, and to submit to His Lordship alongside rejoicing in His saving grace. He is our Savior, our Lord, our God, who loves us and calls us to surrender our lives to Him in humble trust and reverence and gratitude. This is the safest and most joyful path to follow ❤️. I can’t help but notice those who downplay sanctification tend to be the most frazzled, as we have a tendency to ruin our lives when we live our own way. But God has a tendency to beautify and flourish our lives when we live His way (I’m not talking about material prosperity but inward redemption), as His yoke is easy and His burden is light. We forget this, thinking His ways are burdensome, but what a lie this is from the enemy. God’s path is filled with peace, joy, and rest for our souls. This world will give us trouble, but we can take heart, for He has overcome the world ❤️.

O God whose will conquers all, 

There is no comfort in anything

Apart from enjoying Thee.

The heavens declare Thy glory, the earth Thy riches,

The universe is Thy temple, 

Thy presence fills immensity.

In Thee I live and move and have my being;

Thy providence has set the bounds of my habitation, and wisely administered all my affairs.

I thank Thee for Thy riches to me in Jesus.

I rejoice to think that all things are at Thy disposal,

And it delights me to leave them there.

Then prayer turns wholly to praise, and all I can do is to adore and bless Thee.

Wrap my life in divine love,

And keep me ever desiring Thee.

Help me to live to Thee forever, 

To make Thee my last and only end.

Grant me to stand with my dying Savior,

To be content to be rejected,

To be willing to take up unpopular truths,

And to hold fast despised teachings unto death.

Grant me more and more of the resurrection life:

May I walk in its power, and be strengthened through its influence.

Thou art worthy of an adoration greater than my dull heart can yield;

Invigorate my love that it may rise worthily to Thee,

That my walk may be endless praise.

-Excerpts from The Valley of Vision