The Holy Spirit, Our Affections, and the Glory of Christ
Question:
Pastor Jason, there are times when I am overwhelmed by emotion when listening to a sermon or a beloved hymn. What role, if any, do emotions play in the Christian life?
The Gospel reaches us in the depths of our humanity. We hear its promises while carrying real grief. We confess our sins with troubled consciences. We rejoice to learn that Christ has fully accomplished the salvation of His people. Sometimes that joy brings tears. Sometimes the comfort of the Gospel settles upon us quietly, giving us strength to face another difficult day.
What role, then, do emotions play in the life of the Christian?
Our emotions belong within the life of faith. God created us with the capacity to feel, and His grace renews our affections as He brings us to know and love His Son. Yet our feelings require the guidance of His Word. They cannot determine what is true, establish our standing before God, or serve as sufficient evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work.
What is more, a trembling voice may or may not express sincere faith. A quiet confession spoken through exhaustion may or may not agree with sound doctrine. Neither the intensity of our feelings nor the manner of our expression can establish the truth of what we confess. Emotions are a natural part of human experience, and the truths of the Gospel often move us deeply. Yet our feelings are subjective and changeable, shaped by circumstances, temperament, weariness, and even misunderstanding. They can never serve as a valid test of what is true, right, and good in the sight of Almighty God. Ultimately, the question concerns the truth we believe and the Christ upon whom we rest. God’s Word must judge our feelings, for our feelings have no authority to judge His Word.
A Heart That Feels
Our Lord Jesus Christ lived a truly human life, without sin. He experienced sorrow and expressed compassion. Standing at the grave of Lazarus, He wept.
“Jesus wept.”
John 11:35
Those two words should make us careful about treating tears as spiritual weakness. The holy Son of God shed them.
Scripture also commands believers to enter sympathetically into the emotional lives of others:
“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.”
Romans 12:15
There is a proper place for gladness in the congregation. There is also room for the grieving widow, the exhausted parent, and the believer whose heart aches under a burden that others cannot see. Christian fellowship makes room for these experiences because the people of God are called to love one another.
The Gospel itself awakens deep affection for Christ. Peter describes believers who love the Saviour whom they have never seen:
“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”
1 Peter 1:8–9
“Joy unspeakable” is such a strong phrase! The apostle plainly allows for profound feelings in the Christian life. Our concern, therefore, should never be to extinguish every expression of emotion. We should desire affections awakened and governed by the truth of God.
Our Feelings Need the Word of God
Sin has affected the whole person, including our desires and emotional responses. We sometimes enjoy what we ought to mourn. We fear what God has told us to entrust to Him. We may feel confident while walking carelessly, or feel forsaken while resting securely in the covenant mercy of our Lord.
Scripture warns us:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Jeremiah 17:9
The depth of a feeling does not establish the truth of its interpretation. A person can sincerely feel that God approves of something He has forbidden. Another can feel that God has abandoned him even while the Lord faithfully sustains him.
The psalmist shows us what it means to bring a troubled heart under the instruction of truth:
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
Psalm 42:11
He acknowledges his distress. He questions it. He speaks to his own soul about God.
There is pastoral wisdom here. We need not pretend that sorrow has disappeared before we can exercise faith. We may bring our sorrow into the presence of God and remind our hearts of what He has promised. Faith can speak while tears are still falling.
What Happened at Pentecost?
Pentecost provides a commanding example of the Holy Spirit’s work. The disciples were filled with the Spirit and spoke in languages they had never learned. Those gathered in Jerusalem heard intelligible testimony concerning the works of God.
“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Acts 2:4
The hearers described what they understood:
“Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”
Acts 2:11
Some responded with wonder. Others mocked:
“Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.”
Acts 2:13
Peter immediately rejected the accusation:
“For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.”
Acts 2:15
We should allow Luke’s account to tell us what happened. The accusation of drunkenness came from mockers. It gives us no warrant to make drunken behavior a mark of spiritual fullness. The passage describes a miraculous gift of speech through which people heard the wonderful works of God in their own languages.
Peter then preached Christ. He proclaimed His crucifixion and resurrection, declaring:
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Acts 2:36
That preaching produced a deeply felt response:
“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Acts 2:37
There was emotion at Pentecost. There was piercing conviction. People were brought face to face with their guilt and with the glory of the risen Lord.
The passage directs our attention to the relationship between the truth proclaimed and the hearts affected. The Spirit worked through the testimony concerning Christ. The resulting church continued in the apostles’ doctrine and in fellowship. Pentecost gives us every reason to expect the Word of God to reach the heart.
The Spirit Glorifies Christ
Our Lord explained the ministry of the Holy Spirit in unmistakable terms:
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
John 16:13–14
“He shall glorify me.”
Here is an essential standard by which to examine claims about spiritual experiences. What place does Christ occupy? Is His Gospel faithfully proclaimed? Are sinners directed to His finished work? Does the teaching agree with the Scriptures given by the Spirit?
The Spirit gives life to sinners who are dead in sin. He brings us to faith in Christ and grants repentance. He opens our understanding to the sufficiency of the Saviour whose blood cleanses His people from all sin. Our salvation, including the faith by which we receive Christ, belongs wholly to the grace of God.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8–9
Any ministry claiming the power of the Spirit should welcome careful examination of its message. A gathering may produce overwhelming excitement while leaving those present with little understanding of Christ. That is a serious pastoral failure, however impressive the atmosphere may appear.
Spiritual Claims Must Be Tested
Reports of falling gold dust, Bibles producing oil, or episodes of uncontrollable laughter do not establish the presence or approval of God. Neither does the intensity of a crowd’s response. Claims of extraordinary experiences must submit to the judgment of Scripture.
The apostle John writes:
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
1 John 4:1
That command belongs to the whole church. Discernment is an act of obedience.
Music can move us deeply. Repetition can intensify anticipation. The behavior of a crowd can affect an individual’s response. These realities call for care, especially among those entrusted with leading worship. Tears alone cannot establish that a message is faithful, any more than a quiet congregation proves that its people are spiritually indifferent.
We should also be careful with the people before us. An outward reaction does not disclose everything happening within a person. Some weep readily. Others struggle to express what they feel. A distressed person deserves patient care, and a leader’s claims deserve biblical scrutiny. We should never confuse those responsibilities.
God’s Word gives clear instruction concerning congregational worship:
“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”
1 Corinthians 14:33
“Let all things be done decently and in order.”
1 Corinthians 14:40
The fruit of the Spirit includes both joy and temperance, or self-control:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22–23
A claim of spiritual power must never become an excuse to disregard the character and conduct that the Spirit Himself commends.
When the Christian Feels Very Little
This subject has another side that pastors must address tenderly. Some believers hear descriptions of powerful religious experiences and begin to fear that their own faith is defective. They remember days when prayer came easily and the Scriptures stirred them deeply. Now they feel weary. Their affections seem faint.
Beloved, the saving worth of Christ’s blood does not fluctuate with your emotional condition. His righteousness remains perfect when your heart is troubled. The strength of His hold upon His people does not depend upon the strength of their present feelings.
Our Lord says:
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
John 10:28–29
These promises direct the weary believer to the faithfulness of the Saviour. Seasons of grief, illness, or exhaustion may affect our capacity to feel and express gladness. Such experiences are not, in themselves, evidence that God has withdrawn His love.
We should examine ourselves honestly. We should confess sin and seek the Lord. Yet that examination must remain governed by His Word. Scripture never instructs us to measure the sufficiency of Christ by the intensity of yesterday’s worship experience.
Even a believer who walks in darkness is called to trust:
“Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.”
Isaiah 50:10
Stay upon your God. Bring Him the heart you presently have, with all its weariness. Ask Him to renew your joy, and rest in the mercy He has revealed in His Son.
Our Affections Brought to Christ
What role do emotions play in the Christian life? They become part of our response to the truth of God. We grieve over sin. We find comfort in His promises. Love for Christ grows as we understand more fully the grace by which He has saved us.
These affections deserve cultivation through the means God has appointed. Daily attend to the Scriptures. Pray honestly. Gather with the saints to hear the Gospel and worship the Lord. Let the truth of Christ dwell richly in your understanding, and ask God to bring your desires into agreement with His Word.
The church must take this responsibility seriously. Faithful preaching gives the people of God substantial truth upon which their hearts may feed. A suffering believer needs to hear why Christ can be trusted. A guilty sinner needs to hear what the Saviour has accomplished. The congregation needs the Gospel in all its gracious fulness.
Where the Spirit works, He glorifies Christ and produces fruit consistent with His Word. We rejoice when sinners confess the Saviour and when troubled saints find comfort in His promises. We also trust the Spirit’s work when its fruit develops quietly, over time, beyond our immediate ability to measure.
Beloved, there is room in the Christian life for tears and deep rejoicing. There is room for the trembling prayer and the quiet confidence of a soul resting upon God. Bring all your affections under the care of His Word.
Christ remains the ground of our hope. His finished work gives peace to the conscience, and His unfailing promises sustain the heart.
Jason K. Boothe serves as a pastor at Redeemer Church of Piketon, Ohio.
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