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

He Set His Heart

September 20, 2022

The Babylonian Captivity is difficult to imagine. The temple was destroyed, and much of Israel’s religious practice had to cease. How do you keep the faith alive in such a hostile environment? Part of the answer is found in the life of Ezra, a priest and scribe.

“For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10, ESV)

Set His Heart to Study the Law. The phrase “set his heart” is the main verb of this sentence followed by three infinitives, things that Ezra does. Let me suggest that Ezra sets his heart to do each of them, to study, to do, and to teach.* The first thing to notice is that Ezra as priest and scribe studied the law. But I appreciate how it is expressed: “Ezra had set his heart.” The verse not only expresses the idea of Ezra studying but also the commitment that Ezra made to study. Commitment is important in accomplishing goals. As a scribe, Ezra may have made hand copies of Bible scrolls. Having grown up in a world with photo copiers, it is difficult for me to imagine hand copying anything of significant length, but I suspect the discipline would make the text of a copied book very familiar. Study takes effort because it is more than reading. It is the attempt to understand. It involves working through some difficult passages. It requires understanding certain passages in light of other passages.

He Set His Heart to Do It. The study of the Bible is not to be just an intellectual exercise. It is to be applied and lived. Ezra understood that and modeled it. We have sayings like “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one.” The reality is we need both, but the saying emphasizes that we need to see it lived. Those who proclaim God’s word must also walk the walk. People must see in us that we take the Word of God seriously in our own life. The scripture must be transforming those of us who preach and teach. Ezra is a positive example of this.

He Set His Heart to Teach. In Ezra 8, we see that Ezra is commissioned to return to Jerusalem. He is a prepared man for an important work. When he arrives in Jerusalem, he is confronted with a problem, “the people have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations” (9:1). Teaching also includes correction. One of the great teaching scenes in the Old Testament is in Nehemiah 8:1. The people are gathered to the Water Gate in Jerusalem. Ezra reads from the law from early morning to midday. Helpers were moving among the crowd to help the people to understand (Neh. 8:7).

Ezra had a tremendous task of bring Israel back to Torah. And in fulfilling that task, he leaves us a powerful example. We also need to study scripture, practice scripture, and teach scripture. Ezra was faithful in these things because of his commitment. He set his heart.

—Russ Holden

*Devotions on the Hebrew Bible, ed. Milton Eng and Lee M. Fields; Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015), 161.  

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Posted by Scott Colvin

The Ultimate Screening Test

November 4, 2016

During my student days when I worked as a gas station attendant (and yes, we pumped people’s gas back then), I had to sign an agreement that I would be willing to take a lie detector test. The company wanted to protect itself from employee theft, and the lie detector was one way of screening employees when problems arose. When I applied to graduate school, I had to take a psychological profile test — it was one way the school had for screening applicants and alerting the school to potential problems. Currently, most employers will have new hires take a drug screening test.

These illustrations confirm that a variety of screening tests exist which provide all kinds of information about us, whether we want them to or not. But an ultimate screening test also exists. We frequently fail to think about it, and the result is that we live our lives carelessly. What is this ultimate screening test? God searches the hearts and minds of all of us.

We may make excuses to ourselves and to others that deep down we know are flimsy. Billy Sunday said, “An excuse is the skin of reason stuffed with a lie.” We need to remind ourselves that all of these excuses are known by God who searches minds and hearts. Listen to what the Bible says:

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. (Proverbs 21:2, ESV)

I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. (Jeremiah 17:10, ESV)

And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15 ESV)

Will I feel guilty when I face such truths? Possibly, but God provides a way of handling guilt. He has paid the price for our sin. He invites us to repent and confess. If there is any place where we should be honest about ourselves it is in our prayers to God, because God knows the truth about us.

We may hide from others, but we can’t hide from God. Knowing that I am being tested helps me to avoid carelessness. Honesty with God is the best policy. God knows our hearts. May we live so as to pass the ultimate screening test.

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Posted by Russell Holden