Delighting in God’s Word: A Response to ACBC’s View of Overcoming Disordered Affections

Joey Parker’s article, Delighting in God’s Word to Remedy Disordered Affections, presents a thoughtful discussion on the necessity of reorienting our affections toward Christ and the role of Scripture in that transformation. The article rightly identifies the insufficiency of mere behavioral modification and emphasizes that true change occurs when our hearts are captivated by something greater than the desires of the world. This principle, famously articulated in Thomas Chalmers’ The Expulsive Power of a New Affection, is a foundational truth in spiritual growth.

However, while the article presents valuable insights, it also carries certain theological emphases that can place an unnecessary burden on believers by shifting the focus toward self-effort. A clearer understanding of transformation in the Christian life is needed—one that emphasizes not striving to change our affections, but resting in the reality of our union with Christ and trusting the Spirit to manifest His life through us.

Strengths of the Article

1. Recognizing That Sin Is Not Overcome by Willpower Alone
   The article rightly challenges the notion that we can simply “quit sin” by sheer discipline. This is a crucial truth—sin is not merely an external issue but a matter of misplaced affections. As Parker points out, attempting to forsake sin without replacing it with something greater leaves a vacuum that will inevitably be filled by another idol. The human heart is never neutral; it will always set its affections on something.

2. Affirming That True Transformation Involves the Heart
   The reference to Ephesians 4:22-24 and the necessity of a change in affections is well-placed. The biblical language of “putting off” the old self and “putting on” the new self is not just about modifying behavior but about living according to the new nature that has already been given to us. The emphasis on what we delight in rather than merely what we do is a needed correction to moralistic approaches to sanctification.

3. Highlighting the Role of the Word in Spiritual Growth
   Psalm 119 provides a beautiful picture of what it means to delight in God’s Word. The psalmist’s language—clinging, longing, panting after the Word—reveals a heart captivated by God. Scripture is not just a manual for moral improvement but a revelation of God Himself. It is through His Word that we come to know Him more deeply.

4. Acknowledging That Transformation Is a Work of God
   The article does not promote raw self-effort as the means of change but acknowledges that it is God who empowers us to desire Him. It rightly states that any growth in godly affections is a result of the Spirit’s work.

Areas That Need Reexamination

While the article makes important points, its overall framework leans too heavily on the idea that believers must work to cultivate affections for God. This perspective places an undue emphasis on striving and disciplines that, while valuable, can unintentionally reinforce a sense of self-reliance rather than a deep trust in the Spirit’s work.

1. The Burden of Striving Rather Than the Freedom of Resting
   The article repeatedly uses language such as striving, fighting, putting in effort, and cultivating affections. While it acknowledges God’s empowerment, it still subtly places the responsibility on the believer to generate these affections through diligence and effort.

   Scripture, however, presents a different picture. Affections for God are not something believers must work up but something that naturally flows from abiding in Christ. Jesus did not call His followers to strive but to abide (John 15:4-5). Paul did not urge believers to muster up their own affections but to reckon themselves dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:11). The Christian life is not a battle to love God more, but a life of resting in His love and allowing that love to transform us from the inside out.

2. Misunderstanding the “Put Off/Put On” Principle
   The article presents the “put off/put on” principle of Ephesians 4:22-24 as an active discipline in which believers must replace bad behaviors with godly ones. While this principle is certainly biblical, its application must be rooted in a correct understanding of identity.

   Paul is not telling believers to work at replacing their old selves with their new selves. He is reminding them that they already have a new self, created in righteousness and holiness. The call is not to create something new through effort, but to live according to what is already true. The old self is not something believers need to continually put off—it was crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6). The new self is not something we need to strive to put on—it is who we already are in Christ.

   The correct application of this passage is not effort-driven replacement but faith-driven alignment with the truth. The more a believer understands their true identity in Christ, the more their affections naturally align with Him.

3. Lack of Emphasis on Union with Christ
   The article recognizes that believers have been given new desires, but it stops short of fully developing what that means. The key to transformation is not striving to cultivate affections for God, but recognizing that Christ is already our life (Colossians 3:4). His desires are now our desires. Rather than working to love God more, we rest in the reality that Christ in us already loves the Father perfectly. Our role is not to force our hearts into affection for God but to yield to the life of Christ already at work within us.

4. The Role of the Holy Spirit in Transformation
   The article acknowledges the Spirit’s role but does not fully develop what it means to live by the Spirit. The psalmist in Psalm 119 did not merely try to love God more—he was responding to a work that God had already done in him. Likewise, believers are not called to labor to love God but to yield to the Spirit, who naturally produces that love within us (Galatians 5:22-23).

   Instead of telling believers to fight to be holy, the correct biblical emphasis is that holiness is the fruit of the Spirit’s work. It is not a matter of determining to love God but of walking by the Spirit and allowing Him to manifest His life through us.

A Clearer Biblical Framework for Overcoming Disordered Affections

1. Recognizing That Christ Is Our Life
   Transformation does not begin with effort but with identity. Rather than laboring to develop affections for God, believers must first recognize that they have already been given a new heart with new desires (Ezekiel 36:26-27). God has already placed His Spirit within us, and that Spirit naturally desires the things of God. The task is not to generate those desires but to yield to them.

2. Living from a Place of Rest, Not Striving
   Jesus’ invitation was not to work harder but to rest in Him (Matthew 11:28-30). If our approach to transformation feels exhausting, something is off. The correct posture is one of trust—trusting that as we abide in Christ, He will produce in us the affections we could never produce on our own.

3. Yielding to the Spirit’s Work
   Rather than fighting to be holy, the biblical call is to walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). The Spirit produces love, joy, peace, and all godly affections. The question is not whether we are trying hard enough, but whether we are allowing Him to lead.

4. Delighting in God as a Response, Not a Duty
   The psalmist delighted in God’s Word not because he worked at it but because God had already captured his heart. True delight in God flows naturally from a relationship with Him. Our affections are transformed not by force but by beholding Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Conclusion

Joey Parker’s article presents valuable insights into the importance of delighting in God’s Word, but its emphasis on effort places an unnecessary burden on believers. The biblical reality is far more freeing: transformation is not about striving to love God more but about resting in the truth that Christ already lives in us. Our affections are transformed as we abide in Him, allowing the Spirit to do what only He can do—produce in us a love for God that we could never manufacture ourselves.