Chalmers concludes that you cannot simply tell a man to be holy if he has no fellowship with the Holy One. You cannot separate “the demand and the doctrine.” Chalmers said, “The true disciple of Christ is able to do the one through the other strengthens him.” Obedience to the gospel is not beyond his strength because it is not based on his performance but on his acceptance by faith of its truth. 

We come now to the conclusion of Thomas Chalmers’ sermon, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection. His repeated focus has been to aid the believer in expelling an old affection by the greater power of a new one. He now concludes by focusing on the “power” that can expel the sinful old and make way for the gracious new. I do not know if Chalmers’ diagnosis was popular in his day. It will certainly not be popular to modern listeners. The power lies in the combination of faith and doctrine, or orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

Doubts and unbelief, says Chalmers, screen the mind from seeing the new affection clearly. They do not have eyes to see God’s love in sending His Son. They do not see the sufficiency and power of His atonement, or appreciate His sufferings unto death for them. They do not see the combined attraction of holiness and compassion in the Godhead. He loved His creatures enough to forgive their transgressions, but not without expiation for their sins. Though not quoted, 2 Corinthians 5:21 comes to mind, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” What a marvelous exchange, and yet how sad that some profess faith who cannot see these gifts of God’s love and compassion. They cannot let go of their old affections because they cannot see by faith the beauty, truth, and power of what is available to them.

However, when one does hear the gospel and believe, a powerful change comes over him. Chalmers includes a refrain for this section, “When he is told…” When he is told to love God with everything he has, he no longer balks.

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