Rewire Your Heart Day #10

[Mayflower]

@Hidden In Him I just took the scriptures to audio Bible this morning. I do a lot better that way with long passages like this.

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Alright, I'm not 100% sure I know what argument the study writer is making. Is he saying that God circumcises our hearts purely by grace, or through a process like what He put the Israelites through? See, that is how I interpret the passage above. The WAY God brought them to that place of finally having eyes to see and ears to hear was by through the hardships they experienced. Before they experienced the 40 years in the wilderness, they might have not fully believed in the curses and blessings of God for either disobedience or obedience. Now they had proof of it. They had now seen what had happened to those who fell in the wilderness.

I think he used that example to ultimately say we need a new heart to turn from sin, that only God can give us.

Arthur-

. Thankfully, in the next chapter of Deuteronomy God makes a promise to fix our hearts. This is our text for today.

God says that he will circumcise our hearts, so that we will love him. God himself must and will perform an inner surgery on us. He will change our hearts.

"Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
Ezekiel 36:26‭-‬27 NASB1995

What are some good New Testament verses that point to this? I know when we are born again, God does put new life inside of us. We do not even have the ability to repent of sin before Christ... Here is just one scripture that points to this:

"When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”
Acts 11:18 NASB1995

At my last church, it blew my mind of the idea that repentance is not just a command, but a gift. God really does have to put a new heart in us in order to come to Him. That is the gift of Christ to come to salvation that is available to all. But I believe that God still works in our hearts after salvation too when we let Him, renew and follow His Word.

 

[Mayflower]

I was so proud to have got through the mega monster and glean from it, and now I see several other long posts. LOL!!!! Forgive a snail y'all. I'll come back in awhile and read some more. But this is real good discussion, was a good study, and hope y'all got some pearls out of it. Kids keeping me busy now, because my son is on the move now. He is curious about everything. LOL

 

[Ronald Nolette]

Greetings, Ronald.

Never been a believer in eternal security myself, but I would be interested in any other scriptures you have suggesting the Spirit merely dwelt upon God's people in OT times. I have never come to a full conclusion on that, though I do recall reading an excellent post one time that quoted scriptures which seemed to say the opposite.

Well we do have passages of people being anointed by the Spirit and the Spirit leaving Saul, but the most definitive verse is this:
John 14:

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Luke 24:48-50
King James Version

48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

In the OT the spirit always was an anointing, but in the NT it is a filling. As a matter of fact the requirement to be a believer is to have been born anew and filled with the Holy spirit.

 

[Hidden In Him]

What are some good New Testament verses that point to this? I know when we are born again, God does put new life inside of us. We do not even have the ability to repent of sin before Christ... Here is just one scripture that points to this:

"When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”
Acts 11:18 NASB1995

At my last church, it blew my mind of the idea that repentance is not just a command, but a gift. God really does have to put a new heart in us in order to come to Him. That is the gift of Christ to come to salvation that is available to all. But I believe that God still works in our hearts after salvation too when we let Him, renew and follow His Word.

Ok, here might be our first real disagreement on matters of theology, but that's ok. That's just food for thought and an opportunity for growth among true brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now, let's take a look at your verse first. In context:

1 Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, 3 saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” 4 But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me. 6 When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’ 10 Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven. 11 At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea. 12 Then the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, 14 who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” 18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.” (Acts 11:1-18)

At first glance, this looks as though Cornelius and his family who sent for Peter here were just being chosen by God arbitrarily, but that's not the case. Cornelius was chosen to be the first Gentile to hear the gospel and receive the outpouring because he was a Devout man, and gave alms and prayed. In the previous Chapter is says:

1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”... (Acts 10:1-3)

What I'm trying to say is, God was not simply granting repentance to anyone, but He was selecting out Gentiles who by the lives they were leading before Him were demonstrating a will to be obedient. Same thing with Acts 16:6-10. The Lord was not just directing the apostles to any Gentiles, but to those who specifically were already demonstrating the kind of character that would make them especially receptive. The Thessalonians were also known for their generosity (2 Corinthians 8:1-6).

Is while God does indeed choose who will hear the gospel and receive the outpouring, He basis these decisions on their receptiveness to it going in. And I would say the new life they receive is in some ways just a furtherance in their spiritual growth. They were being drawn and prepared long beforehand, as is apparent from their behavior.

So I suppose what I am saying is that I might agree with the doctrine that repentance is a "gift" in the above sense, but not at all in the sense that men do nothing to prepare themselves for either being able to receive it or reject it. It's the same thing with the Parables. For those who have drawn close to God, they understand them. But those who are already distant from God, they never will. It's not that God has not wanted them to receive, but that they did not desire Him enough to draw close to Him and make themselves ready for what He wanted to give, for as the Scripture says, "To Him who has shall more be given, but to him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken from him."

I'll let you respond to that and see what you think.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I was so proud to have got through the mega monster and glean from it, and now I see several other long posts. LOL!!!! Forgive a snail y'all. I'll come back in awhile and read some more. But this is real good discussion, was a good study, and hope y'all got some pearls out of it.

Yes! This has been fun! I love discussing the word.

Anything that invites that is a good exercise IMO, so I'm glad you posted these studies. I hope you find some more in the future : )

 

[Mayflower]

Yes! This has been fun! I love discussing the word.

Anything that invites that is a good exercise IMO, so I'm glad you posted these studies. I hope you find some more in the future : )

I have a topic, but am debating on posting it. LOL. Another forum did bring up a good question to something, but am a bit angry too and do not want to frame the topic in a wrong way. It is over the origins to haikus/yoga/other things, and effects that it has on Christians. When to consider it and when to throw it out. But I have questioned origins in other things like holidays before. It is about where to draw the line. I'm not sure if I am the one to post it though. I think haikus are permissible and beneficial.

 

[Mayflower]

I know this is causing me a mind battlefield today.

 

[Mayflower]

I believe that God has as many ways of working in His children as He has children.

At the end of the day, I believe when we are born again, we become completely new, born from God, as spiritually alive as we ever will be. I believe that we are living in bodies which are corrupted by the effects of sin, and that these bodies being currupted this way act accordingly, in corruption and sin.

I think that when we are reborn, there needs to come a renewing of the mind, when is God retraining us to think in our minds His new way, and not our old ways.

I think that the body continues in this fashion until it's physical demise, and therefore we will always find ourselves in conflict with it, however, when we are reborn, it's power over us ends. But we have a tendency to not believe it.

Old ways are ingrained into our brains, literally. By faith we live a transcendant life of the spirit/Spirit, and these things don't matter. In those times we are not attaining to that "Higher Ground", we are seeking to promote what is good, and subdue what is bad, improving our character. I think of this as giving ourselves a better toolbox.

But in faith in Christ, we are able to sidestep that entirely, and simply trust and love, in a moment by moment life with our Creator, transcendant over the flesh. Totally deaf to it's screaming. Able to assess and appropriately address it's various appetites.

For me, this is what "rewiring your heart" is all about. It's trusting in the victory won for us by Jesus Christ. That it's real, and it's now, and that our life can be lived in that victory over all of our passions, walking in His good works.

Now we are children of God, but it doesn't yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when we see Him, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure.

This hope . . . the expectation of the good to come, in this case, our transformation to be like Him . . . He will change our vile body to be like His glorious body . . . this hope causes us to live pure lives.

If you want to know victory over sin, and evil desires, the sinful passions of the flesh, this is how. Set your mind in faith on the fact that when you see Jesus as He is, you WILL be like Him!

This is the faith that He has won for us the victory.

Much love!

This is a really good way to put it. Old ways are ingrained in the brain!!! Very grateful for the victory won through Jesus Christ and that we are overcomers because of His blood!!!!

 

[Mayflower]

The biggest difference between the relationships in the old and New TEstament is in the New we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as an eternal pledge, while in the Old they only had the ondwelling presence of the Spirit.

That is why David prayed in Psalm 51, take not your Holy Spirit from me. We do not pray this prayer because He will never leave us or forsake us!

Both Old and New testament saints had eternal security based on the blood of Jesus, but we have greater advbantages over the OT saints.

Hope this helps.

Indwelling versus ondwelling of the Holy Spirit is an interesting thought

 

[Hidden In Him]

I have a topic, but am debating on posting it. LOL. Another forum did bring up a good question to something, but am a bit angry too and do not want to frame the topic in a wrong way. It is over the origins to haikus/yoga/other things, and effects that it has on Christians.

Are they kidding? I'm being effected by poems about scripture and Christian themes because they use 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables respectively? What a foreboding and "unlawful" form of human communication. Total No, No in the spirit world, LoL.

Yes, yoga includes Eastern meditation techniques, and "Christian" holidays are mostly pagan in origin. But I think turning scripture into poetry won't send you to Hell. Just me, but I'm gonna go out on a limb.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Well we do have passages of people being anointed by the Spirit and the Spirit leaving Saul, but the most definitive verse is this:
John 14:

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Luke 24:48-50
King James Version

48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

In the OT the spirit always was an anointing, but in the NT it is a filling. As a matter of fact the requirement to be a believer is to have been born anew and filled with the Holy spirit.

It does seem to suggest the Spirit only came upon them, but did not always preside, for instance in Numbers 29:11: But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, [and] that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them!”

That, plus the fact that the Spirit dwelt within the temple. It would have made no sense for the Spirit to dwell within the temple if it could also dwell within the saints... only after the veil was torn did the Spirit actually dwell in them. And you're right. John 14:17 has Jesus telling them the Spirit did not yet dwell within them, but that it would (i.e. after the veil was torn).

Thanks for the post. I think the reason I always balked at the teaching that they "didn't have the Spirit of God" was because so many Christians today don't seem to either, even while teaching it. I would give a lot more for a prophet in the OT who had the Spirit of God come upon him then I would for most Christians today who claim the Spirit dwells within them when it doesn't.

 

[Mayflower]

Ok, here might be our first real disagreement on matters of theology, but that's ok. That's just food for thought and an opportunity for growth among true brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now, let's take a look at your verse first. In context:

1 Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, 3 saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” 4 But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me. 6 When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’ 10 Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven. 11 At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea. 12 Then the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, 14 who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” 18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.” (Acts 11:1-18)

At first glance, this looks as though Cornelius and his family who sent for Peter here were just being chosen by God arbitrarily, but that's not the case. Cornelius was chosen to be the first Gentile to hear the gospel and receive the outpouring because he was a Devout man, and gave alms and prayed. In the previous Chapter is says:

1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”... (Acts 10:1-3)

What I'm trying to say is, God was not simply granting repentance to anyone, but He was selecting out Gentiles who by the lives they were leading before Him were demonstrating a will to be obedient. Same thing with Acts 16:6-10. The Lord was not just directing the apostles to any Gentiles, but to those who specifically were already demonstrating the kind of character that would make them especially receptive. The Thessalonians were also known for their generosity (2 Corinthians 8:1-6).

Is while God does indeed choose who will hear the gospel and receive the outpouring, He basis these decisions on their receptiveness to it going in. And I would say the new life they receive is in some ways just a furtherance in their spiritual growth. They were being drawn and prepared long beforehand, as is apparent from their behavior.

So I suppose what I am saying is that I might agree with the doctrine that repentance is a "gift" in the above sense, but not at all in the sense that men do nothing to prepare themselves for either being able to receive it or reject it. It's the same thing with the Parables. For those who have drawn close to God, they understand them. But those who are already distant from God, they never will. It's not that God has not wanted them to receive, but that they did not desire Him enough to draw close to Him and make themselves ready for what He wanted to give, for as the Scripture says, "To Him who has shall more be given, but to him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken from him."

I'll let you respond to that and see what you think.

I agree that people have to prepare themselves and work towards healing/freedom/obedience themselves. I also agree that God chooses those receptive to listening and obeying Him. Reason I say repentance is a gift, is I always saw it as a work. I was taught and believe that salvation is not by works, but by faith in Jesus Christ alone, even though we are commanded to repent of our sins to be forgiven.

Without Jesus Christ, no one can truly repent of their sin, because they are going to Hell without Him. So repentance is a gift to come to Christ and reaps reward as we use the gift in our Christian walk. Unbelievers do not go to Hell because of sin, but for the rejection of the payment for their sin. So it is a grace.

"Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?"
Romans 2:4 NASB1995

 

[Hidden In Him]

I agree that people have to prepare themselves and work towards healing/freedom/obedience themselves. I also agree that God chooses those receptive to listening and obeying Him. Reason I say repentance is a gift, is I always saw it as a work. I was taught and believe that salvation is not by works, but by faith in Jesus Christ alone, even though we are commanded to repent of our sins to be forgiven.

Without Jesus Christ, no one can truly repent of their sin, because they are going to Hell without Him. So repentance is a gift to come to Christ and reaps reward as we use the gift in our Christian walk. Unbelievers do not go to Hell because of sin, but for the rejection of the payment for their sin. So it is a grace.

"Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?"
Romans 2:4 NASB1995

I agree with the statement that salvation is by faith, and will always be by faith in the redemptive work of Christ. And I believe the preaching of the gospel and the outpouring are both gifts that when granted will lead us to repentance. So yes, the verse is a good one. It is the kindness of God in granting us such things that leads to repentance.

 

[Ronald Nolette]

Indwelling versus ondwelling of the Holy Spirit is an interesting thought

That is a very new thing that happened to the righteous when the church was born.

 

[Ronald Nolette]

It does seem to suggest the Spirit only came upon them, but did not always preside, for instance in Numbers 29:11: But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, [and] that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them!”

That, plus the fact that the Spirit dwelt within the temple. It would have made no sense for the Spirit to dwell within the temple if it could also dwell within the saints... only after the veil was torn did the Spirit actually dwell in them. And you're right. John 14:17 has Jesus telling them the Spirit did not yet dwell within them, but that it would (i.e. after the veil was torn).

Thanks for the post. I think the reason I always balked at the teaching that they "didn't have the Spirit of God" was because so many Christians today don't seem to either, even while teaching it. I would give a lot more for a prophet in the OT who had the Spirit of God come upon him then I would for most Christians today who claim the Spirit dwells within them when it doesn't.

Well I am grateful for the mercy and grace of God! Even though we do not act like Christians sometimes, we still have the Spirit within us, convicting and exhorting us to name our sin to have our fellowship with the Father restored.