37 lines
4.7 KiB
HTML
37 lines
4.7 KiB
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Day By Day By Grace — Bob Hoekstra</title>
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Day By Day By Grace
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Bob Hoekstra
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June 1
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<h1>The New Covenant Promise of a New Heart</h1>
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<div class="block"><i>"I will give you a <b>new heart</b> and put a <b>new spirit</b> within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Eze', 36, '26-26');">Ezekiel 36:26</a>)</div>
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<p>To live in obedience to the will of God, man needs more than his own best efforts and intentions. The history of Israel emphatically demonstrates this. God gave His law. He commanded them, saying, <i>"<b>Walk</b> in My statutes, <b>keep</b> My judgments, and <b>do</b> them"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Eze', 20, '19-19');">Ezekiel 20:19</a>). Israel had promised to obey. <i>"<b>All</b> that the LORD has said <b>we will do</b>, and <b>be obedient</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Exd', 24, '7-7');">Exodus 24:7</a>). Nevertheless, they failed miserably. <i>"Notwithstanding, the children <b>rebelled</b> against Me; they did <b>not</b> walk in My statutes, and were <b>not</b> careful to observe My judgments"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Eze', 20, '21-21');">Ezekiel 20:21</a>).</p>
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<p>In order to live obedient lives, people need a new life from God, followed by an understanding in how to develop that new life. Here, we see a promise from God to supply that new life. <i>"I will give you a <b>new heart</b> and put a <b>new spirit</b> within you."</i> These promises are related to the new covenant of grace that the prophets proclaimed for Israel some day. <i>"Behold, the days are coming…when I will make a <b>new covenant</b> with the house of Israel…<b>not</b> according to the <b>covenant</b> that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Jer', 31, '31-32');">Jeremiah 31:31-32</a>). The book of Hebrews elaborates on this new covenant of grace and applies it to the church today: <i>"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a <b>new and living way</b> which He <b>consecrated</b> for <b>us</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Hbr', 10, '19-20');">Hebrews 10:19-20</a>).</p>
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<p>When anyone embraces the grace of God offered in Jesus Christ (the mediator, the great High Priest of the new covenant), that person is born again by the Spirit of God. <i>"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is <b>born</b> of the <b>Spirit</b> is spirit"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Jhn', 3, '6-6');">John 3:6</a>). This is a necessity. <i>"Unless one is <b>born again</b>, he <b>cannot</b> see the kingdom of God"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Jhn', 3, '3-3');">John 3:3</a>). Human "flesh-birth" brings with it a hard spiritual heart (a dead spirit). Spiritual new birth from God replaces this hard heart (this dead, non-responsive spirit). <i>"I will give you a <b>new heart</b> and put a <b>new spirit</b> within you."</i> Think of our desperate need for this work of God that brings us a new heart, a new life. Those not born again are described as living <i>"in the <b>futility</b> of their mind, having their understanding <b>darkened</b>, being <b>alienated</b> from the <b>life</b> of <b>God</b>… because of the <b>hardening</b> of their <b>heart</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Eph', 4, '17-18');">Ephesians 4:17-18</a>). Yet, whoever relies upon the grace of God offered in Jesus Christ becomes a <b>new-born</b> child of God. <i>"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a <b>new creation</b>; old things have passed away; behold, <b>all</b> things have become <b>new</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('2Cr', 5, '17-17');">2 Corinthians 5:17</a>).</p>
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<div class="dbdbg_prayer">Dear Lord, giver of new life, I praise You for replacing my old, hard, dead heart with a new, responsive, living heart. Now I long to grow in the newness of Christ, Amen.</div>
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