"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness" (Psalm 51:10-19).
The above passage serves as both a grim and glorious reminder of a heart untamed and inflamed by carnal cravings. And yet that same heart, by the empowerment of repentance and the love of God, is restored and reclaimed by God! David, whose name means "beloved", and even though such an act of ill repute sealed his great transgression with Bathsheba, he was forgiven. The whole of Psalm 51 weaves the essence of authentic repentance: ”The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
THE TERRIBLE TRUTH
By its very nature the human heart is bent towards sin and we have been under its sway since the dawn of human existence. It is double-dealing, prideful, untrustworthy and ruinous. If that’s not enough, it will insist in having it own way, and persist in painting pleasant portraits of insidious pranks and illusions. This is merely a characterization of a human organ whose plight is wickedness (sound familiar yet) and is intent on casting a dark shadow along the path that leads to our salvation: "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:11-17). Such a tactics, though subtle, pose as a clear and present danger and with the sole purpose of permanently separating us from the "Author and Finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). Needless to say, the Devil and Satan, the enemy of righteousness is part and parcel of such schemes.
Furthermore, the human heart will neither spend nor be spent for you, and it is at the core of every dastardly deed that has ever been perpetrated, and the carnage being left behind by its wickedness has yet to reach its full potential!!! Social media, YouTube, CNN, radio broadcasts, FOX news and just to name a few among the magnitude of media outlets that routinely report and expose the disgusting truths of the atrocities being perpetrated with regularity and at its very core stained with filth and falsehood.
And this is only a sample of what the telltale heart has in store for this secular world. "You ain't seen nothin' yet". Do not be fooled or deceived by the rhetoric. Despite opinions, philosophies or theories by so-called pundits or otherwise, it is not mysterious or complicated. Besides, it is the only thing that all of humanity has in common and it has persisted since the fall in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6). In other words, the decision to disobey God and eat of the forbidden fruit carried with it the penalty of Paradise Lost; and thus, a heart that no longer possessed the capacity to express the LOVE OF GOD: a case of being "...sold under sin" (Romans 7:14).
The prophet Jeremiah gives us the plain and simple truth about this hideous organ in its fallen state: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (Jeremiah 17:9-10).
The Book of Acts, chapter 5, unveils a scene once again portraying the wickedness of the human heart. The culprits were a husband and wife, Ananias and Sapphira. With just cause, they were found guilty of the willful and deliberate act of attempting to deceive the Holy Ghost. What a sad, sad, commentary. I will spare the details but the apostle Peter and his fellow apostles discovered that they had concealed the truth about the transaction associated with the sale of property. It was not the amount of the sale itself that was in question, but the amount that they claimed they donated to the apostles that indicted them. They mislead Peter and the apostles into thinking that their generosity was genuine but ultimately exchanged the lie for their lives: "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things" (Acts 5:3-5). Subsequently, Ananias' wife, Sapphira, would meet the same fate. (Acts 5:10).
We have gradually and systematically discussed and digested, and hopefully in bite-size pieces, a significant amount of information detailing the untenable and unpredictable state of the human heart. The apostle Paul gives us the following perspective as he addresses the dilemma of the NATURAL man. What does he mean? Are we not talking about the human heart?
Well, it is essential that we listen to him with SPIRITUAL ears if we truly desire to acquire a full and complete understanding of this subject-matter: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). In this context, it is the PHYSICAL man that Paul is alluding to, as opposed to the SPIRITUAL man. That is, one who lives in an unconverted state has yet to experience a heart that has undergone transformation, or to express a transformed life.
What is repentance? What happens when one repents of his or her sins? First of all, the inerrant, immutable and unchanging Word of God teaches us all we need to know about the need for AUTHENTIC REPENTENCE. Jesus issues a warning to all who choose not to repent and believe: "And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." (Mark 1:15). "Authentic" meaning certifiable, real, right and true according Merriam-Webster. And, of course, "Repentance" according to Merriam-Webster means “to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life.” It is a change of mind, heart and direction in confession resulting in a broken and humbled heart. You could even refer to it as "correction" (amendment). In other words, one's life (external), and with absolute certainty must reflect a heart that has been truly transformed (internal).
Remember, there is a direct correlation between repentance and salvation, along with the fact that this is nowise possible exclusive of the gift of God's Great Grace through Faith. No repentance, no salvation, no exceptions: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
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