THE FRUIT
of a
CHANGED HEART
Jer.17: 9 The
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Every person born
after Adam is born with a fallen nature, or in other words a fallen and sinful
heart. That little baby, although innocent compared with adults, has a fallen
nature which will be revealed and honed after some months and years of growth.
Every child comes with a capacity to sin and every child exercises that
capacity with great energy. The deception that is inherent within a human heart
is so deep and so clever, that it even deceives the person it inhabits. It is
an evil miracle so to speak.
The evil heart of
man knows no limits and can even invent evil things. It will sin not only with
impunity, but it will sin cloaked as a good deed. This kind of diabolical
energy comes from the evil one and from the profound strength of sin itself.
Sin builds upon sin and produces an earthly strength which imprisons the souls
and reaches out to imprison others. This kind of evil can even appear as
messengers of righteousness and as prophets of the Most High God when in
reality they are agents of Satan himself. And all this and more emanates from
within the hidden places of the human heart. The prophet rightly asks the
question, “Who can know it?”
But within that
fallen heart there is a knowledge of the existence of a god on some level. And
all men are held accountable before God. No man can find God and the Lord Jesus
without the Holy Spirit draws him. And the Spirit seeks to draw all men unto
Christ, and so even a sinful man must surrender to that drawing. I do believe a
sinner can seek God, but I also believe the spirits of antichrist roam the
earth and deceive even some searching hearts. Yes, it is a mystery. But I
unequivocally believe that Christ died for every sinner and desires that all
sinners be saved. I will address that in another post, however how does God get
more glory by dying for a miniscule few rather than dying for the entire race
when it was in His capacity to do it? And without a free will given to man the
entire redemptive narrative is a colossal game of divine solitaire with man
being little more than unwilling pawns in a chess game already played.
But the problem
man faces is not what religion to espouse or even how to adjust his morals to
align with the will of God. In fact, man has the capacity to adjust those
morals without knowing God and without being born again of the Spirit of God.
That kind of metamorphosis is a strong delusion and is humanism in its most
obvious form. Many people join religions and cults and have a remarkable change
in their behavior which includes giving up addictions, rejecting previous
immoral behaviors, and even a new sense of hope and love for people. But they
have just made alterations through the power of the human will. Yes, it
happens.
But only through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can a sinner receive a brand new heart, which is
another way of saying a new nature. Without a new heart everything is just
religion and morality without redemption.
Matt.12: 35 A
good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and
an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Rom.10: 8 But what
saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is,
the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
When a person is born again he receives a new nature, a
new heart, created in the essence and likeness of Christ Jesus. Everything
changes. People look different; family looks different; your job is different;
the temporal things give way to the eternal. You are not perfect and many
things will continue to change, but from that moment when the Spirit of God
comes into your being you will never be the same. Before you were changed when
people talked about Jesus you could not really understand, but now you do. Now
when a person gives a testimony about how they were saved you can identify. You
have been given a brand new heart and you now belong completely to God.
You hear all the arguing about politics and it seems so
meaningless. You still root for sports teams, but now you realize it has only a
place. You love your family but all things must bow to your love for Jesus.
II Cor.1: 21 Now he
which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
22 Who hath also sealed
us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
II Cor.3: 3 Forasmuch
as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us,
written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of
stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
The Person of the Holy Spirit has done His work of
regeneration and has implanted a new heart within your being. Oh yes there are
still the ever present residual effects and temptations of the old nature, but
now you are free and you are a brand new creation. This is not religion. This
is a divine miracle which translates a living being from the kingdom of darkness
into the kingdom of God’s Dear Son. It cannot be copied; it cannot be
duplicated. Many have tried to simulate it by conforming their outward man to
rules and regulations, and many have suggested they have pleased God because of
their outward transformation.
However without faith it is impossible to please God. And
unless the outward changes are the visible effects of an inward change because
of a faith in Jesus Christ then the outward changes are useless and filthy
rags. Attempting to regulate behavior from the outside is self righteousness and
is an affront to God. Without holiness no man shall see God, and that holiness
can only come through faith in Jesus Christ. The sinners around us do not need
a lesson on marriage or stealing or abortion or sexual purity. What they need
is a new heart.
II Cor.4: 5 For we
preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants
for Jesus' sake.
6 For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
People around us notice a change in our speech and our
behavior. But we must let them know it is because we have a new heart. Not
earned and not deserved, but given by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. We
are still not yet perfect, but we can never be the same. Our being pulsates
with the power and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes all things new.
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