Have you ever heard someone describe another person with words such as “He/she has a good heart”? Sure you have but did you know everyone in Christ has a good heart? This includes you! How do we know this is true?
God said to us through Ezekiel, 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. Ezekiel 36:25 Do you see what is true about your old heart? It was stubborn meaning it was in rebellion towards God. Yet, your new heart loves God fully and is tender towards Him.
You may wonder about Jeremiah 17:9 which emphatically proclaims The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jesus, Himself echoed this in Mark 7:21-22. What do we do with these Scriptures? We understand that both are referring to the heart of those in Adam, not those in Christ! So, if you hear someone teach either of these as true about you, dismiss it!
Believing we have a good heart leads us to understand our complete forgiveness in Christ. Otherwise, we can be lead to believe God does not mind if we sin. Being confident that He gave us this wonderful good heart blows that misunderstanding to pieces.
Then why do we still sin? It’s because of indwelling sin and the flesh. According to Romans 7:15-25, indwelling sin is an unholy force that is in your body but it’s not the real you. This doesn’t mean our body is evil. The flesh is the sinful strategies we look to trying to make life work for us instead of depending on God.
When I was pastor many years ago, a lady in our church named Julie often requested prayer for her dad. Why? His heart was very diseased and failing him. She described in detail how he had to walk incredibly slow to his mailbox close by. Yet, he would be exhausted. His “bad” heart was draining the life from him. One day Julie had a broad smile and her eyes lit up as she announced that her dad had received a heart transplant. Within a matter of weeks, he had such an abundance of energy he could walk to the mailbox rather fast and still feel energized when he returned. His new “good” heart gave him his life back.
That’s what happened to you and everyone in Christ. We were born with a sin-diseased heart in Adam, but God removed it and transplanted a righteous-healthy heart that gives us the energy of the Holy Spirit to live a fully alive life. Why don’t you verbally confess right now, “In Christ, I have a good heart that God gave me when He saved me!” Shout it if you want to!
