A Change of Heart

Just before the flood, we read in the book of Genesis that God surveyed the human condition and "saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5, ESV) Likewise, in the same account, after the flood, we read that God told Noah that "the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth." (Genesis 8:21, ESV) Also, we are informed in one of the books of the prophets that God once said, "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" (Jeremiah 17:9, NLT) Indeed, the Apostle Paul once wrote to the saints at Rome that "the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so." (Romans 8:7, NET)

Moreover, the intractability of the human mind/heart required a plan to make humans more susceptible to righteousness. Indeed, when God anticipated the failure of the children of Israel to observe the tenets of his covenant with them, he also predicted that he would someday "change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!" (Deuteronomy 30:6, NLT) Long-time readers of this blog will also recognize that this passage from Torah includes one of the great commandments which Christ pointed out during his ministry on this earth. This passage from Torah is also consistent with what was predicted in the prophets. In the book of Jeremiah, we read: "'But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,' says the Lord. 'I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts.'" (Jeremiah 31:33, NLT) Likewise, in the book of Ezekiel, we read: "I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations." (Ezekiel 36:26-27, NLT)

This, of course, all pointed to the New Covenant in and through Jesus of Nazareth. In the preface to that passage from Romans about our minds being hostile to God and his law, Paul wrote: "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace." (Romans 8:1-6, NLT) Once again, Paul wrote to the disciples at Rome: "For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people." (Romans 2:28-29, NLT)

Clearly, from a scriptural perspective, Jesus Christ makes the necessary change of heart possible. He accomplished this by reconciling those of us who were alienated from God by our sins (everyone) to God and making the Holy Spirit available to us to change our hearts - to make us more amenable to performing God's will for us.

Before leaving this subject, we should also note that there is another element to this process of making us more amenable to God's Law. In the book of Isaiah, it was also predicted that God would "magnify his law and make it glorious." (Isaiah 42:21, ESV) Once again, Christ accomplished this in his "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5-7) and by summarizing God's Law into two Great Commandments (Matthew 22:34-40). Going forward, the people of the New Covenant would be responsible for the intention of God's Law, not a list of dos and don'ts. (Romans 7:6) Indeed, the ninth and tenth chapters of the anonymous epistle to the Hebrews contrasts what Christ did with what was accomplished by the Old Covenant. Hence, all of the changes wrought by Jesus Christ have made this essential change of heart possible for everyone who has accepted what he has done. As Jesus told Nicodemus, humans must be reborn to be a part of God's Kingdom. (John 3:3-8) Paul wrote to the saints at Ephesus: "Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy." (Ephesians 4:21-24, NLT)