Thomas Chalmers, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2020), 72 pp.
“The heart is not so constituted, and the only way to dispossess it of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one.” So says Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), professor of philosophy and theology at the University of St. Andrews and the University of Edinburgh.
The heart is the target of Chalmers in his short book, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection. Part of the Crossway Short Classics, this work shows the inner workings of Chalmers and the solution he proposes for sinners. The author uses 1 John 2:15 as a launching pad that will be of immense help for his readers:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Chalmers maintains that there are two approaches for Christians who seek to obey this first. They may either flee from the world or foster godly affections. The second approach is not only preferred; it is the approach that renders power to followers of Christ. Chalmers holds that the former approach is “altogether ineffectual” while “the latter method will alone suffice for the rescue and recovery of the heart for the wrong affection that domineers over it.”
The author develops this theme as prescribes the expulsive power of a new affection. In other words, only a heart that has been regenerated may move in the direction of obedience. And by definition, a regenerate heart is one that is being renewed day by day (2 Cor. 3:18). The regenerate heart is being sanctified by the Spirit.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
Veritas et Lux 