Of the Heart of Humanity

Many are those who say that you should follow your heart. But God spoke through His prophet, saying, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). Later, Jesus Christ elaborated by saying, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." (Matthew 15:18-19).

Of course the heart to which they refer is not the physical organ that pumps blood through your body, but your inward desires, thoughts, and feelings. It is closely related to the mind, which is something more than the physical brain inside your head. These things, the heart and mind to which we refer, are spiritual, non-physical components of the human being.

And human hearts are corrupt with sin because of the fall, when sin and death came into the world through the disobedience of Adam (Genesis 3, Romans 5:12). When sin (disobeying God) feels sooo right, that is because the heart is sooo wrong. Solomon wrote that "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." (Proverbs 14:12). 

Being a follower of Jesus Christ means surrendering our hearts and minds, our consciences, to our Heavenly Father through Him. His Holy Spirit, who speaks to us through the Scriptures, also comes to live within us. He leads and guides us. He teaches us and molds us into His perfect images as we place our trust in Him and obey Him. By this life-process of sanctification, we will become just like our Lord, Savior, and Friend, Jesus Christ.

In their song, "Blind", Third Day says:

"My heart I could not trust

'Cause it lies to me too much

And my mind just couldn't 

Understand it all

How could I have been 

So blind to not see You?

The more I look the more I find

You've led me to the truth"

Indeed, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked; enslaving us to sin. But Jesus Christ is the truth that sets us free, and the Way for us to live (John 8:31-34, John 14:6). His word, the Scriptures, are truth, proceeding from Him (John 17:17). We must yield to Him as our Compass. Don't follow your heart. Follow Jesus instead. And He will give you a new heart that is in harmony with Him.

Forgiveness vs. Reconciliation

As Jesus was dying on the cross, He prayed:

 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34). 

He was praying for everyone involved in His trial and crucifixion. And so it only makes sense that He was praying for all sinners.

The question for some then arises: Why do we need trust in Jesus for salvation, since we are already forgiven? Why even think about our relationship with God, since He has already forgiven all sin?

This is actually not a very good question, because it shows the depravity of the one who asks it. But we all are sinners, and there is a very good answer in the Bible:

 "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (2nd Corinthians 5:20; emphasis added).

Jesus paid the penalty for all sin. God has forgiven you, me, everyone. But it takes two parties to reconcile a relationship.

God spoke through the prophet Isaiah saying:

 "All day long I stretch out my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths, and their own crooked schemes" (Isaiah 65:2; New Living Translation).

So we see that His arms are open, but we still have to turn and be reconciled to Him. We must repent - turn away from sin. It was sin that severed our relationship with God in the first place. And it is God's forgiveness that makes it possible to turn away from sin and be reconciled to Him. As the Scripture says:

"In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil" (Proverbs 16:6, also see Psalm 130:3-4, and Romans 2:1-4). 

Why did sin sever our relationship with God? Because God is holy, righteous, immaculate. God and sin are diametrically opposed, so it is impossible to be living a life of sin and simultaneously be right with God. And God will never stop being holy. So we must stop being sinners. As He has said to His people:

 "Be holy, for I am holy" (1st Peter 1:16, Leviticus 11:45, 19:2, 20:7).

"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).

The Christian life is a process of sanctification (becoming holy). We begin by admitting that we are sinners in need of being reconciled to God; trusting that Jesus died for our sin, and rose again. We make a personal decision to let God begin the process of making us holy, just as He is holy. As the Scriptures say:

"If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him" (1st John 2:29). 

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in [us] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:16, also see 2:13 and Isaiah 26:12).

We do not practice righteousness by our own power. Nor can we. Our sinful, fallen nature makes it impossible to become holy by our own effort. As the Son of God said:

 "...for without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). 

By faith we must trust in Him so that His righteousness becomes our righteousness. Just as He wore our sin, having no sin of His own; we wear His righteousness, having none of our own. And by His working in us who trust in Him, we will become like Him. Our fallen nature will be restored to perfect, Christ-like holiness. As the Scripture says:

"...we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1st John 3:2-3).