Impartial hatred of sin (A. A. Hodge)

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Reformed Covenanter

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No man has any right to presume that he hates sin in general unless he practically hates every sin in particular; and no man has any right to presume that he is sorry for and ready to renounce his own sins in general unless he is conscious of practically renouncing and grieving for each particular sin into which he falls.

Archibald Alexander Hodge, A Commentary on the Confession of Faith, ed. William H. Goold (British edn, London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1870), p. 216.
 
Also p. 216 in the Banner of Truth ed. My Banner of Truth ed. was given to me by the man who introduced me to Reformed theology. I wrote in the book it was the start of a blessed journey.

Hodges quote reminds me of an important truth. It is not enough to have Reformed theology in the head. One must also 'practically renounce and grieve for each particular sin into which he falls.'
 
I read Hodge on the Confession in high school - it was the start of my journey into a deeper faith, and one of the most instrumental books in my growth. I was repeating the same exact point that he makes here in a conversation with a friend recently, and it's wonderful and edifying to be reminded of where I first heard it from. Thanks for sharing!
 
True. Banner of Truth have reprinted many old books in their original format and font. I like the fact that they are now reprinting the books in a modern typeset.
 
I can't help but be troubled by this. I know that there is a difference between false assurance (mere complacency) and true assurance (resting in Christ), and I wonder if I'm troubled because God is showing me through this that I've been complacent lately. All the same, Hodge's statement feels like a large heaping of burdensome law. Could I ever measure up to what he says there? Should I doubt my salvation unless and until I have been able to name and grieve every single one of my sins individually? I can't help but feel that what's prescribed here is similar to a Romish "justification by faith working through love" doctrine.

I'm well aware of Hodge's reformed bona fides, so I'm quite open to the possibility that I'm the one who's wrong here (or that I'm misunderstanding Hodge). And I know that I've been very influenced by the Escondido folks. I can't imagine any of them saying something like this.
 
I can't help but be troubled by this. I know that there is a difference between false assurance (mere complacency) and true assurance (resting in Christ), and I wonder if I'm troubled because God is showing me through this that I've been complacent lately. All the same, Hodge's statement feels like a large heaping of burdensome law. Could I ever measure up to what he says there? Should I doubt my salvation unless and until I have been able to name and grieve every single one of my sins individually? I can't help but feel that what's prescribed here is similar to a Romish "justification by faith working through love" doctrine.

I'm well aware of Hodge's reformed bona fides, so I'm quite open to the possibility that I'm the one who's wrong here (or that I'm misunderstanding Hodge). And I know that I've been very influenced by the Escondido folks. I can't imagine any of them saying something like this.

It's a question of the relationship between the general and the particular. It's like Linus saying, "I love mankind. It's people I can't stand." That's fairly absurd. So you don't actually hate sin, unless you hate your own individual sins. Hodge doesn't say that you will do this with no room for growth or improvement; nor does he urge you to doubt your salvation; but it is a call not to stop short and be satisfied with a profession of hatred for sin that has no verifiable impact.
 
I guess it's the words "every" and "each" that are tripping me up. Those words sound like he's saying, "You don't actually hate your own individual sins, unless you can name and renounce every single one."
 
I wouldn't take it as laying the burden on you to have perfect knowledge of every sin you commit. This is why in a lot of writings there's a distinction between known sins and those we're unaware of (cf. Psalm 19:12). The idea that purposefully tolerating a known sin is incompatible with a genuine profession of Christianity is not unique to Hodge by any means. So I would take it as saying, "If you know something is sin and don't hate it, you don't really hate sin." That doesn't mean you don't hate anything that is a sin, but that its sinfulness is not the reason you hate it. And if we are reconciled to a holy God and sanctified in Christ, wouldn't the sinfulness of anything be the worst thing about it in our eyes?
 
Thanks, that helps a lot, and it is certainly consonant with plenty of other things I've heard through the years. But I still know that I do love some of my sins. I know that, for example, the whole reason I engage in certain sins (certain manifestations of lust and gossip and slothfulness, especially) is because I enjoy them. And even when I'm not actively committing them, it often feels more like an annoying thing that I ought to put them to death than it does like a sorrowful thing that I ever indulge them. When I notice this, it does make me more conscious of my need for a savior and more thankful for Christ's work in and for me and more eager for my redemption in the hereafter. But it also makes me wonder sometimes, is this a sign that I'm still carnal?
 
That's where it's helpful to distinguish a little bit. In you, that is to say, in your flesh there is nothing good that dwells. So yes, your flesh loves things that are sinful for the pleasure they convey or even for the thrill of defiance. Your flesh will never be anything other than carnal.

The vital question is not so much how do you feel (though as you grow in grace I think your feelings will be increasingly corrected also), but that awareness you mention is a good step. You know you need Christ; you know you need Christ in order to hate sin; you know that sin ought to be killed, which is probably a more important ingredient in hatred than vehemence of disgust or grief. I'd put more stock in quiet consistency of restraining impatience than in a searing agony of regret that didn't lead to any change.
 
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The vital question is not so much how do you feel, though as you grow in grace I think your feelings will be increasingly corrected also, but that awareness is a good step. You know you need Christ; you know you need Christ in order to hate sin; you know that sin ought to be killed, which is probably a more important ingredient in hatred than vehemence of disgust or grief. I'd put more stock in quiet consistency of restraining impatience than in a searing agony of regret that didn't lead to any change.
Amen, Ruben. I've been grappling with how to express this. We are indeed supposed to grieve our sins, but when we try to work up enough grief, we are relying on self-power, not God.

Even grieving sin is a gift from God. It comes from contemplating Christ's work and his patience with us.

These thoughts arise out of meditating on Isaiah 58:5 and false reliance on our penance.
 
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