GOD’S LAWS WRITTEN ON A NEW HEART
Jeremiah 31:33
Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567
Ever wonder if it is possible to obey the command to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16)? Even though Adam and Eve who walked and talked with God in paradise only had four simple commands: to be fruitful, increase in number, take care of or rule over the fish, birds and animals and to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 1:27-30, 2:15-17); they sinned against God. Even though Israel wandered in the wilderness, separate from the evils of the foreign nations, they too could not obey God’s commands. Tozer is correct when he said, “humanity’s noblest efforts at purity are merely dust building upon dust” for the sins engraved on their stone hearts are entrenched so deep that any decree of holiness is seen as mere foolishness to those who are perishing in their sins (1 Corinthians 1:18). And for those who are saved do we not share Apostle Paul’s predicament, every time we do good evil is not only present but also obeyed (Romans 7:18-20)? So, does this mean that God’s command to be holy is beyond our reach? In today’s sermon we are going to find out that once God writes His laws upon one’s heart they can be obeyed!
Which of God’s Laws are we to Obey?
Are those who believe in God to obey His laws and if so which ones? For example, are we to obey the 613 moral, cultural and judicial laws of the Old Testament? Most Christians would instantly object for if the law had not been set aside in His flesh (Ephesians 2:14-25) “then neither has the Levitical priesthood, and Christ is not our High Priest today.” Since no one will be justified (Romans 3:11) and declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law (Romans 3:20) then why follow that which can only bring wrath (Romans 4:15) and death (Romans 4:15, 7:10)? While we are not to place the yoke of the Law (Acts 15:10) around our necks as those who are slaves to sin (Romans 6:15) we are to continue to obey the spirit of the Law. As born again believers we are to “live under the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2) or the law of the Spirit of life in Christ (Romans 8:2). While the law of Christ contains only some of the written commands of the Old Testament, the spirit or reason behind these Mosaic commands are still to be obeyed by every born again believer. So, when we read the letter of the Old Testament law saying do not murder or commit adultery; Jesus says we are to obey the spirit of these laws that says to not hate or lust after one another (Matthew 5).
Humanity’s Struggle to Obey God
Knowing the Law of Christ is one thing, but obedience is quite another! Obedience to His commands not only shows we love Jesus (John 14:21) but also is the means in which we draw nearer to Him and Him to us (James 4:8-10)! Knowing this to be true however does not remove the struggle to stop sinning. Even in the most perfect of conditions humanity has been far from holy. Has there ever been a more perfect environment than the Garden of Eden to encourage obedience? Having only four instead of 600 plus laws, surely Adam and Eve could remain faithful after all if they ever had any questions they got to speak to God face to face! And what about the children of Israel’s journey in the wilderness? Would not being separate from the evil of this world (1 John 2:15) make obedience to God who was ever present in the pillar of the cloud and fire and the Ark of the Covenant, obtainable? And yet when given a choice Adam and Israel’s desire to love and obey the god of self was simply stronger than their desire to love and obey the God of Israel!
Charles Spurgeon summarizes humanity’s condition well when he said, “on the footing of the law, God never did have communion with man, and never can have, since man has fallen.” Since the human heart is “blotted, blurred, blacked, smeared, smudged, fouled, and stained,” our attempts at righteousness will forever remain no more than filthy rags in God’s sight (Isaiah 64:6)! In respect to sin we are like David and are sinful at birth (Psalms 51:5) and later like Paul who new the good he ought to do but could not do it. Our attempts to stop being “gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful” (Romans 1:28-30) are like writing in the sand box one’s goals only to later have it shaken and destroyed by our old-self’s desire to be like this world and constantly gratify the evil desires of our hearts (James 1:14)! No matter how hard we strive our black, stony hearts simply cannot remain faithful for who can stand with a foundation built on the shifting sands of our desires? While God chose to write once on stone (Exodus 31:18), He refuses to write on an unstable, treacherous thing as an unrenewed heart, for how can His pure eyes ever look upon evil (Habakkuk 1:13)?
The Need for a New Heart
Since the old stone heart cannot accept or follow God’s laws this means it must be cut out and replaced with a new one. We however, are not like the starfish that can regenerate severed limbs, the conch that can regenerate an eye, a deer who can regrow back its antlers, crayfish that can regrow their claws, the zebrafish that can regrow its tail, the salamander that can regrow its limbs, spiders that can regrow their legs or the sea cucumber that can regrow any part of its body. While our hair, finger nails, the epidermal layer of our skin, blood, bone marrow, intestinal mucosa, and liver are all regenerative; no body part, especially the heart can grow back if cut away. While scientist are getting closer to using stem cells being able to regrow a heart they are not quite there yet. In the mean time if one’s heart goes bad the best one can do is to have a heart transplant from someone else and pray that the body does not reject it!
Even if one was to regrow their heart or have a transplant that would not solve the human condition of not being able to follow God’s commands. When Jeremiah said there would be a New Covenant in which we would be given a new heart he was not referring to the physical but the spiritual one! This new heart is not one of stone but of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26) with the divine inscriptions of the law of Christ written upon it! If God gave us a new heart with nothing written on it would not the Devil soon arrive and finding our “house” clean write his evil desires upon this blank heart and our condition would be worse than before (Luke 11:24-26)? He certainly would for what would be stopping him from doing so? As it is, unlike David who had to hide the word of God in his heart so that he would not sin Him (Psalms 119:11); those who are born again already have the laws of God written upon their hearts and have the Spirit of truth living within who acts as their very own divine interpreter (John 14:11)! This means that those who have this new heart no longer experience His commands as burdensome because everyone born of God has overcome the world (1 John 5:3).
The Law of Christ is written upon the heart where it can be loved and can control the whole person. Jeremiah predicted there would be a New Covenant in which the Laws would be written not only on a person’s mind but also on their hearts (31:33). It is necessary to have the Laws written on the heart because knowing the Laws is not enough to save a person. For example, while the Pharisees knew the Law Jesus called them white washed tombs full of dead man’s bones and all things unclean (Matthew 23:27) because their knowledge never made it to their hearts! Even the demons have knowledge that there is but one God and shudder, and yet they are not going to heaven (James 2:19)! Doing works in accordance with the Law does not save a person either. We are not saved by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9) because deeds can become merely a form of religion (2 Timothy 3:5). The old heart of stone has way too many sins firmly etched into it to allow us to obey God. It is not by knowledge or works that the Law becomes effective in our lives but through belief in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus (John 3:16) and by making Him the Lord of our lives (Romans 10:9)! Once born again we receive a new heart with the Laws written upon it and the Holy Spirit who teaches and empowers our entire being to obey.
Application
What does this sermon mean to you? Let me first address the non-Christian pretender. You know the person who reads the Bible, prays, goes to church but still feels like the Laws are a burden and cannot be obeyed. Or the person who is proud of their vast and perceived, superior knowledge of God and yet has not felt His presence or seen any fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) in their lives. Or those who feel that the faith of others such as a spouse or parents is going to save them. To the pretenders I would like to say that Jesus has loved you with an undying love before the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9). He who created this universe (Colossians 1:16) and knit you in your mother’s womb (Psalms 139:13) intimately knows every sin etched on your stone heart and yet still loves you and wants you to have a personal relationship with you (2 Peter 3:9). God sent His Son Jesus Christ to atone for your sins (John 3:16) on the cross and as such has paved the way for you to get the spiritual heart transplant you so desperately need (Ezekiel 36:26). No one comes to the Father except through belief in the Son (John 14:6) and no one who believes is ever rejected from becoming part of His family (Romans 10:9)! So, I implore you (2 Corinthians 5:17) if you truly want to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16) then I invite you to ask Jesus into your heart with the following prayer:
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”
For those who have already received their new hearts this I want to say to both you and me: be holy as God is holy! While you do not have the power to keep from sinning the Holy Spirit dwelling within you will grant you not only the ability to stop sinning but also to obey and be more like Jesus (James 4:7)! While the old self might try to rear its ugly head from time to time (Ephesians 4:22-23) do not forget when we who have been purchased at a price (1 Corinthians 7:23) cry out “have mercy on me a sinner” (Luke 18:13) we can feel the unspeakable joy (1 Peter 1:6-9) of holiness because we have asked and received power from the Spirit to be forgiven (1 John 1:9) and to have our minds renewed daily (Romans 12:1-2). May His word truly be a lamp and a light in our lives (Psalms 119:105) as we seek to conform no longer to the patterns of this world but in our zeal and with spiritual fervour may we serve the Lord (Romans 12:11) with all our heart, mind soul and strength (Matthew 22:37). May our one soul’s desire be to please our Lord for there truly is nothing we desire in heaven or on earth (Psalms 73:25) but to one day hear from our Master “Good and faithful servant.”
The main source used for this sermon was
C. H. Spurgeon, “God’s Writing upon Man’s Heart,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 52 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1906).
