God gives us a new heart when we submit to Him. This daily devotional looks at how He also gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
Nuggets
- After conversion, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us.
- The Holy Spirit helps us to break the hold that our former manner of life has on us so that we can follow God’s laws and commandments.
- The Holy Spirit lives within God’s children to strengthen us.
Devotions in the From a Wrong Heart to a Right Heart series
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezek. 36: 26 ESV)
We’ve been using a verse in Ezekiel as the foundation of the From a Wrong Heart to a Right Heart series. We’re at the last devotion of the series.
In the last devotion, we discussed getting a heart made right. This devotion talks about getting a new spirit.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Let's Put It into Context #2
- A heart of stone is a soul without faith in God.
- A heart of flesh convicts us of sin because it possesses a tenderness which identifies the sin as wrong.
- Conversion is when a sinner ABCDs in order to mend their sinful ways to follow God, changing hearts and habits.
- The heart is our inner being that houses our character and conscience
Gift of the Holy Spirit within Us
“And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezek. 36: 27 NIV)
After conversion, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us.
Before conversion, the Holy Spirit works on us to convict us of our sin and to show us the way to Jesus. He doesn’t, however, take up residence in our hearts.
How can He? We aren’t God’s children yet.
Glossary
How do we know we have gained salvation? It is by the tenderness of our heart.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
Glossary
Spurgeon believed that is the whole point of the gospel. He wrote, “All the Christian virtues promote warmth and tenderness of heart.”
Resource
Isn’t that logical? We have had a couple of series on virtues/moralities/spiritual graces. They looked a lot like the attributes of God to which we can aspire.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
The whole point of salvation is to have the heart of God. We want to be men and women after God’s own heart.
Don’t gloss over the fact that it is “… my Spirit in you …” (Ezek. 36: 27 NIV). It is the Spirit of God Himself.
We may look at the Holy Spirit as the low man in the Trinity, but He isn’t. He is God Himself.
Old Hearts v New Hearts
“To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires” (Eph. 4: 22 ESV)
The Holy Spirit helps us to break the hold that our former manner of life has on us so that we can follow God’s laws and commandments.
Before conversion, we live lives of sin. Even if we think we are a good person, we are sinners if we do not submit our lives to God.
It can be really hard to take our focus off of this physical world and put it on God’s spiritual world.
The Holy Spirit helps us in this regard. Birch wrote, “But when God gives the new spirit, we are ruled by the mind that was in Jesus; and though there were only one Christian in an opposing world, that Christian would be against the world.”
Resource
Isn’t it great to have this Helper? Look at it this way.
Upon conversion, we are freed from the consequences of sin. It doesn’t mean we can’t and don’t sin anymore.
Those who haven’t submitted their lives to God don’t resist sin. Those who have ABCDed are tempted by Satan to renounce God and sin against Him. We have the Holy Spirit to strengthen us.
Birch reminded us that our walk is not a limp. Ooo, baby! Don’t we feel like we limp a lot of times?
God is healing us through our obedience to His laws and commandments. The Holy Spirit is leading us to obedience.
Our Heart Becomes a Temple
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (I Cor. 6: 19-29 NIV)
The Holy Spirit lives within God’s children to strengthen us.
M’Culloch gave us a good list of what the Holy Spirit does in our hearts.
- He strengthens us
- He asks God to help us with our weaknesses
- He teaches them how to communicate with God
- He is in charge of our sanctification.
- He helps us live in holiness.
- He is our Comforter.
- He draws us deeper into a knowledge of God.
- He helps us draw hear to God.
Resource
The Holy Spirit is tasked to help us in our walk. In this wal means we are humble, reverent, teachable servants of God.
Spurgeon made a good point. Regeneration is more than just a requickening of what is already in us. It is a new birth.
Resource
I guess — in a way — we can argue that it is both. We are made in Adam’s image, but we are also made in God’s image.
While we aren’t like Adam and have totally been in the image of God, it is still within us. Some might could argue that it is a rebirth since the Holy Spirit is implanted in us.
But it is a requickening because we are still made in the image of God.
Yes, we have complex bodies.
We can’t forget about what walking with God really is. We have to have a heart that is willing to be taught.
Making the Connections
We have to remember that it is a walk. Spurgeon reminded us that this means activity. We can’t just sit back and be passive.
Resource
We talked about changing habits. The Holy Spirit leads us to do this. “And I will … move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezek. 36: 27 NIV).
Yep, sometimes the Holy Spirit moves us and makes us careful — and we sin anyway.
That is our choice. That is what makes us a habit.
That is what brings the joy.
How Do We Apply This?
There are expectations for our conduct after the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. M’Culloch wrote, “Those who have the Spirits of God put within them, shall be made to walk in God’s statutes, and to keep His judgments and do them. The statutes of God are the rule by which they shall walk, His judgments point out the work which they ought to do.”
Resource
We’ve been calling God’s statutes His laws and commandments. Same thing.
We have to choose to follow God. He isn’t a dictator Who will force us to submit to Him.
God is a loving God Who gives us free will. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
We have to make it a habit. It is an every-day choice, not a once-and-done one.
We have to keep all of God’s laws and commandments. We can’t rewrite Scriptures to sugarcoat it to our wants.
Did you catch where this went? It started out as a stony heart that became softened by the Holy Spirit’s promptings. It was turned into a new heart when we ABCDed.
But then it turns into a pure heart when we follow God’s laws and commandments. That is our goal.
To be like God.
Father God. Thank You for saving us. Thank You for creating a new, pure heart. You do this through sending the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. Help us to listen to His soft promptings. Amen.
What do you think?
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