The Work of the Spirit: A Changed Heart

April 22, 2025

In Ezekiel chapter 36, God reminds His people how they had strayed very far from Him.  The house of Israel had defiled the land by their ways (36:17).  They had shed blood in the land and worshiped idols (36:18).  They had profaned the name of God (36:20).  In short, the nation of Israel was rebellious and disobedient to God, and He punished them severely (36:18-19).

But despite all of their disobedience, we also see the grace and mercy of God toward His people.  Later in the same chapter we read, “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36:24–27 NASB95)

What a wonderful promise that there was coming a time when God would cleanse His people, give them a new heart, and put His Spirit within them.  They had hearts of stone—hearts that were stubborn, unresponsive, and unrepentant.  But He would give them a heart of flesh—hearts that were tender, humble, and open to hearing His voice.  God promised to put His Spirit within them.  While the Holy Spirit was always around in Old Testament times (and from all eternity), this was something new!  This was something powerful!  For through His Spirit, God would cause His people to walk in His ways.  He was going to change their hearts and empower their obedience!

Of course, you and I live in that promised time.  God has placed His Spirit within us.  God has given us new hearts.  God is molding and shaping us within our inner being.  That means you and I can obey God from the heart.  Our obedience to Him goes far beyond a mere code of rules and regulations.  Our obedience comes from a changed heart and is empowered by the Spirit of God.

And this means that there is hope for you and me if we are struggling with sin.  We must be diligent to hear and obey the voice of God, but as we do so, let’s realize that we have divine help!  Let us trust in God’s promise to change our hearts, and let us rely on God’s power that works within us through His Spirit.   

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

God, the Examiner of Hearts

August 8, 2023

One theme that we find in the Sermon on the Mount is that God sees the thoughts and intentions of our hearts, and that those inner thoughts and intentions will determine our standing with God.  It’s not merely our actions that God is concerned about, but the condition of our inner being.  For example, in the Beatitudes, Jesus pronounces a blessing upon those who are “poor in spirit,” on those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness,” and on those who are “pure in heart.”  Each of these qualities are first and foremost a condition of the inner person (though they certainly create noticeable, external effects).

Later in Jesus’ sermon, He continues teaching about the condition of our hearts.  “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court…” (Matthew 5:21-22a NAS95) We all get angry at times, but Jesus is teaching us that to continue in anger toward another, to nurse our anger and hold on to it makes us guilty before God.  This is entirely a matter of the heart!  Notice that Jesus hasn’t said anything about the words we say in anger, or the things we do in anger.  It’s all about what is going on inside—things that only God could know!  Yes, Jesus deals with the words that we might say in anger (later in the same verse). But notice that it all starts as thoughts within the heart.

Similarly, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28 NAS95) Here is another case where no physical act is taking place.  One might think they are in a right relationship with God because they didn’t “do” anything.  But Jesus says that God looks at lust in the heart as adultery.

Sometimes people will flippantly say, in order to lightly excuse their sinful behavior, “God knows my heart!”  Yes, God does indeed know our hearts, and the sin that dwells there can condemn us eternally.  We must have a deep concern about the condition of our hearts!  The teaching of Jesus, when heard carefully, will not cause us to casually dismiss our sinfulness, but will drive us into the arms of Jesus to beg for His mercy, His cleansing, and His continual transformation of our hearts through His Spirit.  Thank God for the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus!      

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

A Heart for God

July 28, 2023

God has always been supremely interested in the heart of man. He is always looking inside of us to see if we have a genuine love in our hearts for Him. The scriptures are quite clear that God has never been interested in religion without heart. In fact, going through religious motions when our hearts are disengaged is a great offense to Him. Jesus said to the Pharisees of His day, “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’” (Matthew 15:7–9 NAS95) The Pharisees were simply going through the religious motions. They were doing things by rote and thought that this pleased God. Their religion was an external one—it may have had the correct form, but in God’s eyes—because He didn’t have their hearts—it was all in vain. It meant nothing to God.

Why is God so interested in our heart? It is because everything about our lives flows from our hearts. When the heart is set on God and His ways, wonderful, God-honoring things flow out of our lives. But when our hearts are far away from God, our lives become defiled. As Jesus said in the same passage as above, “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man…” (Matthew 15:18-20 NAS95). And how do you think God will feel when our actions are continually in direct opposition to Him, yet we come before Him with empty praises and simply go through the motions? Will God accept worship such as this?

Does God have your heart? Do the words that you sing and the prayers that you pray genuinely reflect the life you are striving to live? If not, what should you do? Be honest with Him. Admit your sin to Him. Ask for His help. Cry out for His mercy and grace. Genuine, heartfelt responses such as these will always find favor with God. He desires truth in our innermost being, and a broken and contrite heart He will not despise. May God help us all to offer a genuine, heartfelt worship to Him today.

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Russell Holden