Does the fact that we are born into sin mean that there is no good thing in us? I believe that the foundation for this idea is rooted in a verse from Romans being taken out of context. Paul writes, “I know that nothing good lives in me…” But, alas, in the very the context of this verse there is a truth that combats the idea that Christians should retain the identity of “broken.”
Romans 7:17-18 says: As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. (18) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature….
Paul makes a point to distinguish, “that is, in my sinful nature,” in his flesh. He is saying that nothing good lives in his sinful nature, not nothing in him. Further study of Romans 7 and 8 reveals that he makes a distinction between what he desires to do in his heart, what his true self, his true identity wants to do and what his flesh wants to do.
Romans 7:20-22 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (21) So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. (22) For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
Paul makes a point to repeat the battle raging in his body over and over in this passage. He describes the conflict of a man who is divided between what his flesh craves and what his heart, his true self, his inner being delights in. In his inner being he loves truth and justice but his flesh wins the fight, most of the time.
Even in light of the true purpose of these verses, I still had a conflict within me. There are verses buzzing at the back of my brain that says the heart is deceitful… wicked. “OK, so what is it, Lord?” I ask. Is the heart (our true self) good or is it bad and wicked?
I could not get clear understanding around this until I began to notice the frequency of seemingly contradictory references to the heart, in the bible. I have been very frustrated over these perceived contradictions, to the point that I began to do research of the word “heart.” There are over 740 references to the word “heart” or “hearts” in the bible.
In this process, I very neatly wrote the word “evil” at the top of one page and “good” at the top of another. I wanted to categorize verses that referred to the heart being evil or being good. I wanted to see the origin of the words used there. But I had a problem… there was a wealth of verses that didn’t fit into either one of those categories and the “ah-ha!” moment came when I ran across the word: “double-hearted.”
Interestingly enough, this verse was difficult to pin down because it is used in the KJV. It says “with a double heart they speak.” But in the NIV it says, “…their lips speak deception.” (Psalm 12:2) The word “double-hearted” in the Hebrew is actually
What an amazing understanding fills me when looking at these versions side by side. When our heart is deceitful we are in the state of being double-hearted! There are two hearts at work in my body, one that desires to do good and the other that is drawn to the most wretched things of this world.
Then the wealth of seemingly contradictory verses starts to make a little more sense. One verse refers to the wicked heart (Duet. 15:9) and another refers to the integrity of the heart (Gen 20:5.) It is a little easier to understand that my system would be somewhat conflicted if there are two driving forces that want to control me. Still this term “double hearted” is a little awkward. I have hard time envisioning two hearts in me because I actually only have one physical heart.
Another verse in which the heart is described as being deceitful in the NIV, the KJV describes the heart as being “divided.” (Hosea 10:2) Now it is starting to make even more sense to me. I can clearly envision that there is a certain part of my heart that is devoted to wickedness. Regardless of what my true self desires to do, I am drawn to evil.
The concept of the divided heart really hits home when reading verses that are very familiar to me and are repeated over and over again in the bible. I wish I had the attention span to sit and count just how many verses implore us to do things with ALL of our heart.
Deuteronomy 4:29 says But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Why would the Lord implore us to seek him, love him… look for him with ALL our heart unless our heart was divided? If our heart was all good we would naturally follow God, right? If our heart was all bad, then what is it that would cause us to turn to him?
Even in the verses that refer to the evil in man’s heart describes evil as the “inclination of the thoughts of his heart” (Gen 5:5) or the “imagination of the man’s heart” (Gen 8:21) and not the actual heart. It is describing that evil as what tends to come out of a man’s heart or the inclination of the thoughts of the heart. This is precisely what I believe it is talking about in Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 17:5, 9 say: This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. (9) The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
I believe Jeremiah is saying that, in our divided heart, the thing that floats to the top, “above all things” is wickedness. The thought that comes out of our heart is evil. Notice in this passage that it says our hearts “turn away from the LORD.” Does that not indicate that our heart is initially with the Lord? I believe that in the broken order of the fall of man, without a savior, our divided heart is only going to desire evil if we do not find the cure. It is inevitable that the wickedness in our heart will win in a battle of will. I also believe that there is a good part of our heart that desperately wants truth and justice and wants to rid the heart of evil. The heart, at the core, is good.
I think the reason this verse refers to our divided hearts as incurable is found in the synonym for the root word translated “deceitful” also means “polluted.” Our hearts in which the glory of God was deposited have been “polluted” with wickedness. That is why at the end of the day, when operating out of our flesh, what will come out of our natural heart is going to be contaminated.
If I gave you a glass of water poisoned with cyanide, it would not matter how much pure water I poured into that glass, you still would not drink it! There is no power on earth that can purify our contaminated hearts. Only the power of Christ can purify us. Jesus is the dialysis for man’s heart!
The bible uses yet another illustration of the state of our natural heart.
Deuteronomy 10:16 says Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.
It may seem a little gross that the bible useless this illustration but there is a layer of skin that men naturally have from birth that has been proven to be beneficial to remove. The bible is saying the same thing when it describes the foreskin on our heart. It is a natural thing for our hearts to have a layer of evil over it (or dividing it) preventing it from functioning as well as it should. We go about the process of being circumcised when Christ comes into our lives.
Christ circumcises our hearts to allow our hearts to return to the state in which it was created. Our heart is circumcised so we can, once again, begin to reflect the glory of the Lord. The fall of man is not the beginning, nor the end of our story. The Word of the Lord was written on our heart at the beginning of time. The Word is in there.
Deuteronomy 30:6, 11-14 says: The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. (11) Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. (12) It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" (13) Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" (14) No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
This is the truth that I believe has been right at our very fingertips. The Lord makes a point to tell us to circumcise our hearts so that it will no longer be divided and then we can love God will ALL of our hearts. The Lord also points out in this verse that this is not an impossible task. (Remember that this is written to people who did not yet have Christ.) God explains that it is not too difficult to unite our divided heart. It is not up in heaven or beyond the sea. No! The word is very near to us! It is written on our hearts.
When seeking to circumcise our wayward heart we need to remember the truth. In light of the fact that we were created in God’s image and his truth was written on our hearts from the beginning of time, we cannot continue to say that our heart is nothing but evil and villainy. That defames the name of the One who created us. The truth, the righteousness, the glory of God was written on our hearts BEFORE our hearts became divided.
1 Chronicles 28:9 says "Acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.
You see, from the time wickedness came into the world and polluted the glory in which we were created, God had a plan to reunite our hearts. The Lord desires that we are transformed and that we come to a place in which our hearts are whole. This process was made possible by Christ. We have to submit ourselves to allow the Lord to search our heart, set our heart on a pilgrimage, if you will. There is a part of our heart that desires to walk in truth, to walk with the one who created us.
Psalms 86:11 says: Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
Do you desire to have your heart restored to the glory in which you were created? We have but to cry out to the Lord and ask, as the Psalmist did, that our heart be undivided. God made a way for this to happen.
Ezekiel 11:19 says: I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Is that not an awesome plan? Oh how I desire to come into a place when my heart desires only goodness and truth. I don’t want wickedness to float to the top of my heart. I don’t want my heart’s inclination to be evil. I want a new heart… a transformed, circumcised heart!
I cry out: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalms 51:10) “Remove the pollutant of evil in my heart!” I believe the goodness of the One who wrote His Word on my heart cannot cohabitate with the wickedness in my divided heart. Thanks be to God that he provided a way for my heart to be reunited.
Read the rest of this series here:
http://heisthepotteriamtheclay.blogspot.com/2010/11/part-3-glory-hidden-glory-restored.html
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