Change of Heart

Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture from the book of Romans.

Romans 2  ²⁸ For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: ²⁹ But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

The Jews were circumcised in their flesh, but the Apostle teaches that they needed to be circumcised in their hearts. Although many people display an outward appearance of religion, salvation requires much more than that. It is the heart that needs to undergo a complete change in order to obtain eternal life. If that doesn’t happen, then you might as well forget the rest, because that is the dividing line between true Spirituality and fleshy religion. Genuine faith is to possess a sincere love for God, which will result in obedience towards His will, and true righteousness in one’s heart.

“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20

“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” Galatians 5:6

Many people felt that they were going to attain eternal life simply because they were circumcised, but without repentance from dead works, people will perish.

“Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.” 1 Corinthians 7:19

True inward love for the Lord Jesus will manifest itself in perfect obedience to His will, similar to an obedient wife, who lovingly submits to her husband’s every command.

John 14 ²¹ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. ²² Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? ²³ Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

²⁴ He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

Loving obedience to God’s purpose proves that we are walking in the truth.

1 John 2 ³ And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. ⁴ He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

The Apostle Paul was born and raised a Jew, but when he became a Christian, he defined what true Jewishness really is. It is to possess the same faith that Abraham had deep inside of his heart. Out of his deep love and affection for God, He obediently served Him in the spirit. Without this genuine and heartfelt faith, it is impossible to please God. 

“They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” John 8:39

Galatians 3 ⁶ Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. ⁷ Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

Salvation requires more than simply claiming you are a relative of Abraham. In order to obtain eternal life, we must become a child of God just like Him. 

“That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Romans 9:8

God has already proved His great love for this world, not only by what Jesus did on the cross, but through His creation, with each of us received free of charge when we were born into this world. The reason why many people will not enter into eternal life is because they never loved God in return. They never showed it by their actions by submitting to the will of Christ. They never turned away from the old sinner that they were in their past to become a new creature in Christ. They never truly repented in their heart.

Galatians 6 ¹⁵ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. ¹⁶ And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Genuine peace with God comes through repentance, and the only way that will happen is if you possess Godly sorrow in your heart. The further that people get involved with sin, the harder the heart will become. It is like a snare that gets tighter and tighter each hour that passes, as pride slowly suffocates one’s soul. The Lord Jesus cared for the Israelites so much, that He delivered them out of the hand of pharaoh. But although He did so many wonderful things for them, with a lot of them He was not pleased. Rather than choosing to love the Lord in return and humbly submitting to His will, their hearts became hard. Rather than walk in love, they walked in rebellion.

“Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.” Hebrews 3:10

Even in the Old Testament, the status of their heart was in question.

“Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.” Deuteronomy 10:16

The same types of things are happening today in many places that claim to follow Christ. Some of them will quickly condemn certain jews, but then refuse to admit it when they do the exact same things themselves. It seems that everything has gone full circle. Through His precious Son, God grants all of us an incredible gift of His grace so people can change and amend their ways. But really, many Christians are no different than the Jews of old who profess that they love God but in works deny Him. Some of them refuse the path of obedience which is the outward evidence that their hearts have become defiled.

“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” Matthew 15:8

Many of the religious leaders of Jesus day were caught up in an outward display of religion, but there are many people who profess to be Christian who are involved with the exact same things today. For years I’ve seen it with my own eyes, surrounded by hypocrites and frauds. Rather than giving alms in secret, they do it to be seen. Rather than praying privately, they pray to be seen. Rather than fasting in secret, they do it to be noticed. Their works are not driven by a love for Christ Jesus, but their great desire to be seen by men. Be very careful about what your love is placed upon, because it can guide your soul to eternal life or to eternal damnation.

“But all their works they do for to be seen of men: Matthew 23:5

To fulfill the first and great commandment requires that we love God perfectly out of a pure heart. This means humbly submitting to the commands and teachings of Jesus. As I told one student at a high school many years ago, Jesus loved you enough to die on the cross for your sins. Will you love Him enough to do what He says? 

The true Jew is one inwardly, who like Abraham, serves Him in the spirit. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him in such a manner, and the path to His blessings begins with a….

…. Change of Heart

Let’s think about these things for right now.  We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc  where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious goups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

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