We’ve all heard sayings like “Your heart is deceitful and wicked” or “check your heart” or “make sure your heart is right with God” Perhaps you think this way about your own heart. Where do these ideas come from, and how much truth is in them?
First off, if you’re a believer YOU DO NOT HAVE A WICKED, SICK, or EVIL HEART. Actually, you have the opposite – you are the recipient of a NEW HEART (along with a NEW SPIRIT- the Holy Spirit!) Now that we’ve got that covered, let’s address some misunderstandings.
Is the heart deceitful, wicked, and sick?
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” The Bible said it, it’s forever true, case closed… Right?
(Let’s remember that anytime we read a passage of Scripture, we must always read it within the context of the ENTIRE Bible) In our fallen and sinful state, we have hearts that are sick (infected because of sin) and at enmity with God. This statement about the human heart is 100% TRUE, but only for unbelievers…
Taking the Old and giving the New:
We know that the Lamb of God took away our sins (John 1:29), but that is not the only thing God took from us because of the Cross. Ezekiel 36:26 says “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.” Part of being born again is an exchange of heart. Now think about this: If God took your sick heart of stone away, did He replace it with another sick one? NO! God doesn’t give sick, wicked, or evil things; He gives good things. Therefore, THE NEW HEART IS GOOD.
When you became a believer, when you were born again, you received a new heart and a new spirit (the Holy Spirit). NOW you have a new, clean, and holy heart.
The new heart is good, but does it stay that way?
Yes. The new heart is THE DWELLING PLACE OF CHRIST (Ephesians 3:16-17a) and He does not dwell in unclean places (this is why He did not dwell in our hearts before our sins were forgiven). Christ had to cleanse us before He could dwell within us – and his cleansing was once for all. The only thing that could corrupt the new heart would be sin… but remember every one of your sins was dealt with on the cross! His one sacrifice has forgiven your sins for all time (Hebrews 10:12, 14, 18). Your new heart is always clean and right with God because of the cross.
The new heart is part of the new you:
As a believer, you are a new creation in Christ. Your new heart is part of the new you. As a believer, you do not have a sick, deceitful, or wicked heart anymore, you have a new heart – a new heart with new desires – a new heart where Christ dwells forever!
Your heart is not wicked, you are not wicked.
Your heart is new, and so are you.
May God richly bless you in His Son,
Dr. Aaron George Glover