Thomas Watson

Question: In what sense must a Christian not deny himself?

Response 2: A Christian must not deny his grace. He must not disown any good work wrought in him. He ought not to say that he is a dry tree when the dew of heaven lies upon his branches. As it is a sin for a man to make himself better than he is, so it is to make himself worse. To say he has grace when he has none is presumption. To say he has no grace when he has is ingratitude. It is bearing false witness against the Spirit of God.

I found this fascinating. I think most people can grasp the idea of a person making themselves out to be better and more than they are. But, it is a little harder to see how we make ourselves out to be less than we are. I think that Watson's point is that we are not to wallow in or long for our misery. But more than that we are not to diminish who we are in Christ. That's quite a tension. Watson's warning is against this tendency: We say we are not struggling when we are struggling greatly and we say we are struggling when we are not struggling greatly.

What is Rev. Watson's answer for this fight? First, trust in Christ. Rest in His grace. Also believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the incarnation and the doctrine of the resurrection. That's good advice, no?

I've been reading more of these puritans lately and man can they be pretty dark. Rev. Watson's sermon The Duty of Self-Denial was published in 1675. They lived in dark times and evidently social convention didn't mandate them to just grin and bear it in their writings. You definitely don't hear "peace, peace when there is no peace." from these men. I thank God for their writing because their answers to life's questions are weighty and point to joy in Christ.