Topical Bible: The Gifts of God: Spiritual: A New Heart

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The concept of receiving a "new heart" is a profound spiritual gift from God, deeply rooted in the biblical narrative. This transformation signifies a fundamental change in one's inner being, aligning the believer's desires and actions with God's will. The promise of a new heart is a central theme in both the Old and New Testaments, reflecting God's redemptive plan for humanity.

Old Testament Foundations

The promise of a new heart is vividly articulated in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. In Ezekiel 36:26, God declares, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." This passage highlights God's initiative in transforming the hardened, rebellious heart of His people into one that is responsive and obedient to His commands. The imagery of a "heart of flesh" suggests a heart that is alive, sensitive, and capable of genuine love and devotion to God.

Jeremiah also speaks to this transformation in Jeremiah 31:33, where God promises a new covenant with His people: "I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people." This new covenant involves an internalization of God's law, moving beyond external adherence to a deep, personal relationship with the Creator.

New Testament Fulfillment

The New Testament reveals the fulfillment of these Old Testament promises through the work of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the Apostle Paul writes, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!" This transformation into a new creation is synonymous with receiving a new heart, as believers are renewed and empowered to live according to God's purposes.

The role of the Holy Spirit is crucial in this transformation. In Romans 8:9, Paul explains, "You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you." The indwelling Spirit enables believers to overcome the sinful nature and live in accordance with God's will, reflecting the change of heart promised in the Old Testament.

Practical Implications

Receiving a new heart is not merely a theological concept but has practical implications for the believer's life. It involves a shift in priorities, values, and behaviors, as the believer seeks to love God wholeheartedly and love others selflessly. This transformation is evident in the fruit of the Spirit, as described in Galatians 5:22-23, which includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Moreover, the new heart empowers believers to fulfill the greatest commandments as articulated by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-39: "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" The new heart enables believers to live out these commandments authentically and consistently.

Conclusion

The gift of a new heart is a transformative work of God, promised in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament through Christ and the Holy Spirit. It signifies a profound change in the believer's inner being, aligning them with God's will and enabling them to live a life of love and obedience. This spiritual gift is foundational to the Christian experience, marking the believer as a new creation in Christ.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Ezekiel 11:19
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Entering the Covenant: with all the Heart
... But spiritual gifts are only to be received and enjoyed in unceasing communication
with God Himself. The new heart is not a power I have in myself, like the ...
/.../murray/the two covenants/chapter xviii entering the covenant .htm

The Spiritual Gifts.
... affection sanctified and raised to the spiritual sphere, or ... a faith which removes
mountains, are nothing before God. ... the most needful of all the gifts on earth ...
/.../history of the christian church volume i/section 45 the spiritual gifts.htm

Rejection of Errors
... of man no new qualities, powers, or gifts can be ... sufficient to make the natural man
spiritual; indeed, that ... of Satan, consists in this that God promises eternal ...
//christianbookshelf.org/anonymous/synod of dort/rejection of errors 3.htm

Of the Third Degree of the Spiritual Coming of Christ
... rather forgo all consolations and all gifts, that it ... "God," says St Basil, "is the
Perfect Beauty which ... which actual bodily pangs accompany the spiritual crisis ...
/.../john/the adornment of the spritual marriage/chapter xxii of the third.htm

Gifts to the Prodigal
... the prodigal is meant to be translated into the terms of spiritual experience ... offers
forgiveness as preliminary to the bestowal of the highest gifts of God. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture e/gifts to the prodigal.htm

Whosoever Confesses that one God is the Author of Both Testaments ...
... and which excels all the other gifts [of God]. ... might blaspheme Him who made these
things, that is, God. ... of Scriptures, he who is truly spiritual will interpret ...
/.../irenaeus/against heresies/chapter xxxiii whosoever confesses that one.htm

The Corruption of Man, his Conversion to God, and the Manner ...
... in Scripture, that renewal, new creation, resurrection ... owes eternal gratitude to
God, and gives ... altogether regardless of these spiritual gifts and satisfied ...
//christianbookshelf.org/anonymous/synod of dort/the corruption of man his.htm

Man and the New Covenant.
... have described an inward and purely spiritual process? ... clear as ever prophet did
that God's pardon for ... the first, the necessary preliminary to His other gifts. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/smith/jeremiah/2 man and the new.htm

The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing
... God's gifts now take the place of God, and the whole ... against the steep sides of the
mount of God. ... true, this New Testament principle of spiritual life finds ...
/.../tozer/the pursuit of god/ii the blessedness of possessing.htm

The Old Store an the New
... The new ever comes before the old is all eaten up ... same thought of the unbroken
continuity of God's gifts to the higher region of our spiritual experience? ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the old store an the.htm