the heart of a Christian

[I_love_Springtime]

I have a huge question regarding the heart of a Christian. I'm aware that in the old Testament God says "who may know the heart?? it's desperately wicked.." In Romans, Paul says "no one is righteous, no not one..." and goes on to describe the reasons/examples. But is he talking before conversion only, or also after conversion?

In Jeremiah God promised to take out the stony heart and replace with a heart of flesh. Also, Abraham believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness. That implies to me that if a man, who has a wicked heart, comes to faith in Christ and believes, there is a new creation and the old is gone, the new is here. And in that "newness" is a righteous heart because of faith.

And how could it be any different? Christ has come into our heart to live, and to intertwine with us so He is in us, and we in Him. But a lot of Christians talk about their heart is not good and is wicked, when this contradicts scripture that says through faith, we are in fact righteous.

Thoughts/ideas?

 

[Christ_empowered]

so odd...i was pondering this the other day (really, not playing)...

the best I can come up with is that we're all works in progress, so don't buy into the worldly, unbelieving culture that tells you to "...listen to your heart," follow your heart, blah blah blah.

feelings are -important-. thoughts are more important. the 2 need not be in constant conflict, either, but..."...come, let us reason together..."

following Christ, and really...life, in general, especially as a Christian...requires use of reason and lots of -thinking-.

i've come to this conclusion after repenting of all the crazy talk jibber jabber i was force fed in years of substandard "mental health treatment," etc.

 

[Who Me]

And how could it be any different? Christ has come into our heart to live, and to intertwine with us so He is in us, and we in Him. But a lot of Christians talk about their heart is not good and is wicked, when this contradicts scripture that says through faith, we are in fact righteous.

Yes Jesus's Spirit lives in us and as promised we no longer have a heart of stone but a living caring heart.
That said we are still creatures of habit and one habit we struggle with is sinning.

It is one reason Paul stresses so much the greatness of Gods love for us, we need all the grace he lavishly pours on us and we still struggle with sin.

 

[for_his_glory]

Upon the Spiritual rebirth Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus in John 3:1-7 we are renewed, regenerated, transformed from walking in the flesh to now walking in the Spirit as all former things are passed away and we are made new again with a clean heart.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Read the whole chapter)

Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Read the whole chapter)

 

[Christ_empowered]

thanks, fhg. I appreciate that.

 

[nmwings]

e a huge question regarding the heart of a Christian. I'm aware that in the old Testament God says "who may know the heart?? it's desperately wicked.." In Romans, Paul says "no one is righteous, no not one..." and goes on to describe the reasons/examples. But is he talking before conversion only, or also after conversion?

I think its both. Before AND after. But what is wickedness? 1st we have to understand righteousness. Over and over and over again the Bible tells us very plainly that the Word of God as given to us by the hand of Moses is righteousness and holiness. The Law is righteousness. And anything different from or opposing to that Law is wickedness. And that includes our hearts. If our heart abhors His Rules, our heart is desperately wicked. But if our heart loves His Rules and pursues them and performs them, than our heart is righteous.

In Jeremiah God promised to take out the stony heart and replace with a heart of flesh. Also, Abraham believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness. That implies to me that if a man, who has a wicked heart, comes to faith in Christ and believes, there is a new creation and the old is gone, the new is here. And in that "newness" is a righteous heart because of faith.

What makes a heart hard or “stony?” Rebellion. Against what? Doing something we don’t want to do. And what don’t we like to do? Obey. Just like little kids, we throw tantrums and want to do things our way. So that rebellion is true for the believer and unbeliever alike. Abraham believed and it was counted to him as righteousness. But what did he do after that? He obeyed the whole Law even before it was given at Mt Sinai. He observed the Biblical Feasts, he ate kosher, etc. And if you recall, God called that “Perfection.” Did Abraham do it perfectly? No way! Only Messiah did that. But Abraham’s heart LOVED God’s Commandments and he performed them! That’s having a “newness” of spirit and a heart of flesh.

And how could it be any different? Christ has come into our heart to live, and to intertwine with us so He is in us, and we in Him. But a lot of Christians talk about their heart is not good and is wicked, when this contradicts scripture that says through faith, we are in fact righteous.

Thoughts/ideas?

Yes, Messiah DOES come into our heart to live, but when we accept Him what do we do with ourselves to change? We forget that each time Messiah healed someone, He always told them to either “Go and sin no more” (which means “Obey My Commandments”) or he tells them to show themselves to the priests in the Temple (oops, there’s another “Obey My Commandments.”) We also forget that the whole reason Messiah came in the 1st place was to forgive us for NOT obeying His Commandments. So if we, as self-proclaimed believers abhor anything to do with Sabbath or Festivals or eating clean, than we have hearts of stone that are desperately wicked. Thankfully, God does promise that He will give His people a heart of flesh and then circumcise them. Meaning, that in the Kingdom to come we will ALL observe Sabbath and Festivals and eat clean…. And we will do it joyously!
I hope and pray this helps.

 

[Truthfrees]

I have a huge question regarding the heart of a Christian. I'm aware that in the old Testament God says "who may know the heart?? it's desperately wicked.." In Romans, Paul says "no one is righteous, no not one..." and goes on to describe the reasons/examples. But is he talking before conversion only, or also after conversion?

In Jeremiah God promised to take out the stony heart and replace with a heart of flesh. Also, Abraham believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness. That implies to me that if a man, who has a wicked heart, comes to faith in Christ and believes, there is a new creation and the old is gone, the new is here. And in that "newness" is a righteous heart because of faith.

And how could it be any different? Christ has come into our heart to live, and to intertwine with us so He is in us, and we in Him. But a lot of Christians talk about their heart is not good and is wicked, when this contradicts scripture that says through faith, we are in fact righteous.

Thoughts/ideas?

if we choose to walk in our own ability we will be walking in the weakness we all have apart from God -

 

[Christ_empowered]

yeah, im with Truthfrees. one aspect of Christianity that appeals to me (in part because its True, the other part because its so otherworldly, even counter-cultural...) is the ongoing process of dying to self, to become more and more Christ-like.

it starts with genuine conversion --"ye must die to be Born Again.." -- and continues on thru the sanctification process.

obedience is key. 'rebellion is as witchcraft' (probably a paraphrase, not sure of the address). but...how does on obey, even as a Christian, when...well, left to my own devices, I certainly cannot.

CS Lewis writes on this. I wish i could post the material...it was stuff I read a while back...but the idea is that a Christian 'comes to the end of himself,' as they say, and reaches up to God for help. Thru Christ, in Christ, a believer can do a lot, even if its just shining a light to a dark+dying world, being a bit of salt unto the earth, etc.

so...speaking as a Christian who was once steeped in myth and new age...this is the real deal. there's also the 'heart of flesh, not of stone' to consider...

over time, as Christians are more and more conformed unto the likeness of Christ, our inner-most being, our heart of hearts, is transformed...like the words to a song i barely remember, "break my heart for what breaks yours..."

its a big deal. personally, i went from being a "nice guy," lacking in substance and character, to having...a genuine transformation, in and thru Christ...

so now, I can't even watch a lot of violent or sexual material on TV...part of it is the 'guard your heart' admonition, part of it is just...the new man kind of prefers to read and not be brainwashed by a cold, uncaring world.

ok. finished, now.