I'm not sure anyone, however logical or illogical in their thinking, tries to "beat sin with logic" -- anyone with an understanding of reason in the context of the Christian experience knows its place is not to replace grace or anything like that. They are complimentary. Without logic and rationality you cannot, for example, gain one bit of knowledge from the Scriptures or know what grace even is.

The transforming work of grace in our lives is a thinking transformation as much as and more than it is a transformation of our actions. The Scriptures speak to this over and over:

Ro. 6:10-11 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Ro. 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

1 Cor. 2:12 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

2 Cor. 4:3-4 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

Col. 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

The reason we can't "think our way to a pure heart" is because our reasoning is fallen in the first place; the noetic affect of sin. Adam and Eve thought illogically about Satan's temptation and plunged humanity into ignorance and slavery. Grace restores us to God's image, of which logical thinking is a part. Logic is how God thinks; Christianity is the training of the mind to think God's thoughts after him.

And apart from logical thinking, you can't even begin to read the Scriptures or believe the gospel. Faith is not where logic ends -- the two are entirely complimentary.

Yeah you did. The thesis of the article is that logic and rationality are powerless against sin in our pursuit of holiness and that only grace can grant us that ability (to fight sin, etc.). It's poor thinking, really.

I'm not sure anyone, however logical or illogical in their thinking, tries to "beat sin with logic" -- anyone with an understanding of reason in the context of the Christian experience knows its place is not to replace grace or anything like that. They are complimentary. Without logic and rationality you cannot, for example, gain one bit of knowledge from the Scriptures or know what grace even is.

The transforming work of grace in our lives is a thinking transformation as much as and more than it is a transformation of our actions. The Scriptures speak to this over and over:

Ro. 6:10-11 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Ro. 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

1 Cor. 2:12 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

2 Cor. 4:3-4 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

Col. 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

The reason we can't "think our way to a pure heart" is because our reasoning is fallen in the first place; the noetic affect of sin. Adam and Eve thought illogically about Satan's temptation and plunged humanity into ignorance and slavery. Grace restores us to God's image, of which logical thinking is a part. Logic is how God thinks, and Christianity is the training of the mind to think God's thoughts after him.

And apart from logical thinking, you can't even begin to read the Scriptures or believe the gospel. Faith is not where logic ends -- the two are entirely complimentary.