Jer 31:33
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Hi Steve,
How does the law being written on our hearts versus written on stone affect our obedience to God's law? Does it make us more obedient?
Jer 31:33 Law written on our hearts
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_Benjamin Ho
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Jer 31:33 Law written on our hearts
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
Grace and peace,
Benjamin Ho
Benjamin Ho
Hi Ben,
I think the law being written on the heart (which accompanies regeneration) does, indeed, make us more obedient, which is the desired result of the phenomenon, and the evidence that regeneration has occurred. If I understand the matter correctly, in our natural, unregenerate state, our innate sinfulness predisposes us to rebellion against God's (and all) authority. When God's authority is communicated to us through a written code (like that of the Old Testament), there is a measure of resistance and resentment toward that which is seen as an unwelcome interference with what we would prefer to do.
Because of this, we are not naturally disposed toward obedience, unless some higher self-interest (like fear of punishment) overrides our urge to disobey. Those who live in overt sin, apparently, do not sufficiently sense this fear of punishment . "By the fear of the Lord one departs from evil" (Pr.16:6).
Even where this fear is sufficiently strong as to prevent the outward expression of sinful urges, any necessary obedience is rendered only grudgingly, and is always looking for loopholes and the broadest path that may still avoid punishment. I believe that the Pharisees and many religious folks would fit this description. This is because the unregenerated heart, for lack of love toward God, is not as disposed to obey God as to please self.
In Jeremiah 31:33, the "heart" and "the inward parts" (KJV) are metaphors for the deepest motivations and dominant desires in a man or woman, including, I think, what we commonly call the "will." "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Pr.4:23). "As he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Pr.23:7). "What comes out of a man, that defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, etc." (Mark 7:20f).
The idea behind the metaphor of God putting and writing His law into the heart of His people suggests a fundamental change in the will and the dominant desires which results in an inward motivation to obey God and His laws. This is spoken of elsewhere as God exchanging the old heart for an improved model:
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you...I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them." (Ezek.36:26f)
Paul has this idea in mind when he tells the Christians in Rome that they now live a qualitatively new kind of life ("we...walk in the newness of life") which is seen in "obeying from the heart" that form of teaching delivered to us (Rom.6:4, 17).
What this amounts to is an affirmation that regeneration only can be said to be genuine when a person has experienced a fundamental shift in the orientation of the heart. The regenerated person now wants to obey God, and does so happily "from the heart." This is because that person has received, at the same time, the indwelling Holy Spirit, who produces the fruit of love (Rom.5:5/ Gal.5:22). When you love God from the heart, obedience is a delight, not a burden. "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).
This does not mean that there remains no desire for sin in the unregenerate person. There are two sets of desires in conflict in the believer. The "mind" (or "inner man" or "heart") desires to obey God, but there is also the flesh and its own desires to contend with (Rom.7:22-23/ Gal.5:17/ Eph.2:3). This results in the necessity of warfare against fleshly lusts (1 Pet.2:11) and against "principalities and powers" (Eph.6:12), which encourage us to indulge these lusts.
Due to this opposition of the enemy and of the flesh, and the duty of waging a successful warfare against them, obedience is, indeed, sometimes made the more difficult. But this does not contradict the statement that "His commandments are not burdensome." The conscience is the gauge of the state of the soul. Obedience may not always be easy, but it is always in accord with our dominant desires and agreeable with our conscience. It is sin, not obedience, that is burdensome, and that burden is felt in the conscience.
The heart that has God's law written upon it really delights in obedience. "I delight to do your will, O my God, and your law is within my heart" (Ps.40:8). That heart never succumbs to temptation without regret, and, therefore, hastens to repent when convicted of sin. This is in contrast to the unregenerate heart that prefers to rationalize sin and to blame others when feeling conviction for sin.
So long as the flesh and the Spirit are at war within, there will most likely be battles that are lost on both sides. This warfare, so far as I can tell from scripture, will continue, to a greater or lesser degree, throughout our natural lives, but this should not be an occasion for despondency, but of encouragement. The very fact that there is a warfare being waged is proof that the believer is on God's side inwardly, and will not succumb to temptation without a struggle. The unregenerate knows no such struggle. Since he has not the law of God in his heart, his heart puts up no sustained resistance to sin. Thus the struggle itself is one proof that the believer has experienced the inscribing of God's law on his/her heart.
I think the law being written on the heart (which accompanies regeneration) does, indeed, make us more obedient, which is the desired result of the phenomenon, and the evidence that regeneration has occurred. If I understand the matter correctly, in our natural, unregenerate state, our innate sinfulness predisposes us to rebellion against God's (and all) authority. When God's authority is communicated to us through a written code (like that of the Old Testament), there is a measure of resistance and resentment toward that which is seen as an unwelcome interference with what we would prefer to do.
Because of this, we are not naturally disposed toward obedience, unless some higher self-interest (like fear of punishment) overrides our urge to disobey. Those who live in overt sin, apparently, do not sufficiently sense this fear of punishment . "By the fear of the Lord one departs from evil" (Pr.16:6).
Even where this fear is sufficiently strong as to prevent the outward expression of sinful urges, any necessary obedience is rendered only grudgingly, and is always looking for loopholes and the broadest path that may still avoid punishment. I believe that the Pharisees and many religious folks would fit this description. This is because the unregenerated heart, for lack of love toward God, is not as disposed to obey God as to please self.
In Jeremiah 31:33, the "heart" and "the inward parts" (KJV) are metaphors for the deepest motivations and dominant desires in a man or woman, including, I think, what we commonly call the "will." "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Pr.4:23). "As he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Pr.23:7). "What comes out of a man, that defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, etc." (Mark 7:20f).
The idea behind the metaphor of God putting and writing His law into the heart of His people suggests a fundamental change in the will and the dominant desires which results in an inward motivation to obey God and His laws. This is spoken of elsewhere as God exchanging the old heart for an improved model:
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you...I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them." (Ezek.36:26f)
Paul has this idea in mind when he tells the Christians in Rome that they now live a qualitatively new kind of life ("we...walk in the newness of life") which is seen in "obeying from the heart" that form of teaching delivered to us (Rom.6:4, 17).
What this amounts to is an affirmation that regeneration only can be said to be genuine when a person has experienced a fundamental shift in the orientation of the heart. The regenerated person now wants to obey God, and does so happily "from the heart." This is because that person has received, at the same time, the indwelling Holy Spirit, who produces the fruit of love (Rom.5:5/ Gal.5:22). When you love God from the heart, obedience is a delight, not a burden. "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).
This does not mean that there remains no desire for sin in the unregenerate person. There are two sets of desires in conflict in the believer. The "mind" (or "inner man" or "heart") desires to obey God, but there is also the flesh and its own desires to contend with (Rom.7:22-23/ Gal.5:17/ Eph.2:3). This results in the necessity of warfare against fleshly lusts (1 Pet.2:11) and against "principalities and powers" (Eph.6:12), which encourage us to indulge these lusts.
Due to this opposition of the enemy and of the flesh, and the duty of waging a successful warfare against them, obedience is, indeed, sometimes made the more difficult. But this does not contradict the statement that "His commandments are not burdensome." The conscience is the gauge of the state of the soul. Obedience may not always be easy, but it is always in accord with our dominant desires and agreeable with our conscience. It is sin, not obedience, that is burdensome, and that burden is felt in the conscience.
The heart that has God's law written upon it really delights in obedience. "I delight to do your will, O my God, and your law is within my heart" (Ps.40:8). That heart never succumbs to temptation without regret, and, therefore, hastens to repent when convicted of sin. This is in contrast to the unregenerate heart that prefers to rationalize sin and to blame others when feeling conviction for sin.
So long as the flesh and the Spirit are at war within, there will most likely be battles that are lost on both sides. This warfare, so far as I can tell from scripture, will continue, to a greater or lesser degree, throughout our natural lives, but this should not be an occasion for despondency, but of encouragement. The very fact that there is a warfare being waged is proof that the believer is on God's side inwardly, and will not succumb to temptation without a struggle. The unregenerate knows no such struggle. Since he has not the law of God in his heart, his heart puts up no sustained resistance to sin. Thus the struggle itself is one proof that the believer has experienced the inscribing of God's law on his/her heart.
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
In Jesus,
Steve
Steve
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_Anonymous
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Steve, et al,
This subject and the passages cited in Jeremiah 31 & Ezekiel 36 are somewhat puzzling to me.
Job was said to have been "blameless and upright". Zechariah and Elizabeth were "righteous and blameless". Would that the Lord would think so well of me!
How do we explain some of the Old Testament saints doing as well at obeying God, apparently, as any Christian, without being born again and the indwelling Spirit? Do the passages only apply to Christians? The context of the passage in Ezekiel seems to point to the nation of Israel...."you shall dwell in the land I gave your fathers" &c. Wouldn't a Jew say it is absurd to claim this passage as referrring only to Christians, or to Christians at all? How would we respond if challenged?
Perhaps the answer to the "law written in the heart" lies in our response to our sin.
A better possibility that occurs to me is that the laws written in the heart are broad principles rather than rules. For example when Jesus said "...if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two", what if the person actually needed you to go five miles? The person with the "law written in the heart" would respond according to "the law of love" rather than the rule.
It seems a mistake to view Jesus teachings as a bunch of rules. As Dallas Willard comments, we make Jesus "meaner than Moses".
Your in Christ, Homer
This subject and the passages cited in Jeremiah 31 & Ezekiel 36 are somewhat puzzling to me.
Job was said to have been "blameless and upright". Zechariah and Elizabeth were "righteous and blameless". Would that the Lord would think so well of me!
How do we explain some of the Old Testament saints doing as well at obeying God, apparently, as any Christian, without being born again and the indwelling Spirit? Do the passages only apply to Christians? The context of the passage in Ezekiel seems to point to the nation of Israel...."you shall dwell in the land I gave your fathers" &c. Wouldn't a Jew say it is absurd to claim this passage as referrring only to Christians, or to Christians at all? How would we respond if challenged?
Perhaps the answer to the "law written in the heart" lies in our response to our sin.
A better possibility that occurs to me is that the laws written in the heart are broad principles rather than rules. For example when Jesus said "...if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two", what if the person actually needed you to go five miles? The person with the "law written in the heart" would respond according to "the law of love" rather than the rule.
It seems a mistake to view Jesus teachings as a bunch of rules. As Dallas Willard comments, we make Jesus "meaner than Moses".
Your in Christ, Homer
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
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_Benjamin Ho
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2004 8:16 am
- Location: Singapore
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your reply. It was really encouraging.
I would like to hear your reply to Homer's question as well. In the meantime, I'm going to make a small effort to answer his question. Could it be that though God didn't write his law onto the OT saints' hearts, these OT saints wrote God's law onto their own hearts through meditation of His Word? That would explain the encouragement in the OT to meditate on His law. Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2, 119:11, 119:99, etc.
Of course, that begs the question: do Christians need to meditate on the Bible since His law is already written on our hearts?
Thanks for your reply. It was really encouraging.
I would like to hear your reply to Homer's question as well. In the meantime, I'm going to make a small effort to answer his question. Could it be that though God didn't write his law onto the OT saints' hearts, these OT saints wrote God's law onto their own hearts through meditation of His Word? That would explain the encouragement in the OT to meditate on His law. Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2, 119:11, 119:99, etc.
Of course, that begs the question: do Christians need to meditate on the Bible since His law is already written on our hearts?
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
Grace and peace,
Benjamin Ho
Benjamin Ho
Guys, it's simple. The Law was designed to point to Christ, right? Well, the prophets were the ones who understood what the Law was intended to point to. That's why they were prophets, after all! So, they had the Holy Spirit long before it was given to all of the saints.
Damon
Damon
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
Damon/Steve,
Damon:
Do you mean to say that the prophets had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them or that others had it too? I do not know that Job was a prophet.
Steve:
I have wondered if Saul was "born again". The scripture tells us the Holy Spirit came upon him and "he became a new man". Could the answer be that some OT believers had the spirit in the same way we do, the difference being that all believers now do?
Homer
Damon:
Do you mean to say that the prophets had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them or that others had it too? I do not know that Job was a prophet.
Steve:
I have wondered if Saul was "born again". The scripture tells us the Holy Spirit came upon him and "he became a new man". Could the answer be that some OT believers had the spirit in the same way we do, the difference being that all believers now do?
Homer
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
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Reason:
A Berean
Homer,
The prophets had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, yes. That's what I meant. Certain others (like the kings of Israel) also had the Holy Spirit. But it was not generally given to all of the people.
As far as Saul being given the Holy Spirit, IMHO that's what Hebrews 6:4-6 is indirectly referring to.
Damon
The prophets had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, yes. That's what I meant. Certain others (like the kings of Israel) also had the Holy Spirit. But it was not generally given to all of the people.
As far as Saul being given the Holy Spirit, IMHO that's what Hebrews 6:4-6 is indirectly referring to.
Damon
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
In the above posts, there are two questions from Homer and one from Ben addressed to me. I will do what I can to address them.
Homer wrote:
"How do we explain some of the Old Testament saints doing as well at obeying God, apparently, as any Christian, without being born again and the indwelling Spirit? Do the passages only apply to Christians? The context of the passage in Ezekiel seems to point to the nation of Israel...."you shall dwell in the land I gave your fathers" &c. Wouldn't a Jew say it is absurd to claim this passage as referrring only to Christians, or to Christians at all? How would we respond if challenged?"
I believe that many of the Old Testament prophecies have a partial fulfillment in the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon in the sixth century, B.C., but are intended to provide a glimpse of the Messiah and His kingdom as well. In this sense, the near fulfillment is the type and the messianic fulfillment is the antitype...the first being natural,and the second being spiritual. Hence, God's giving the Jews a "new heart" and bringing them back into their land has a short term fulfillment in the remnant of the Jews returning to their land with Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah.
But there are elements in most of the prophecies of this type (especially Jeremiah 31) which the New Testament writers seemed to apply to the messianic order in the present age. Ezekiel 36 is questionable in this regard. There is a similar mention to the new heart of flesh replacing a heart of stone in Ezekiel 11:19-20, where it is probable that only the return of the exiles, and nothing more, is in view.
The difference is that the passage in Ezekiel 11 omits any reference to God giving them the Holy Spirit, which is an added feature to the imagery in Ezekiel 36:26-27. Whether the additional mention of the Spirit in the latter passage marks it as messianic or not is a judgment call that not all would agree upon. I think it does, because the promise of the Spirit is elsewhere mentioned in such passages where the outpouring at Pentecost is, in my judgment, intended (e.g., Isaiah 32:15/Joel 2:28ff/ Zech.12:10). In the next chapter of Ezekiel (37) there are clear references to the messianic order (37:24-28) and also to the coming of the Spirit (37:14).
Whether chapter 37 is talking about the same thing as is chapter 36, or whether it has moved on to other ideas, would be dispiuted. If these chapters all have the same ideas in view, then this would convince me that Ezekiel 36:26ff is not only about the returning exiles, but about the Spirit being given at Pentecost as well.
That one prophetic passage would give some details that applied only to the type (e.g., the people dwelling in their land) and others that applied only to the antitype (e.g., the giving of the Spirit) is not unusual, I think. This seems to be the case, for example, in 2 Samuel 7:12ff and Isaiah 7:14ff. Alternatively, one could see the reference to the land being applied to the natural land of Israel in the type, and to the spiritual land in the antitype (Heb.11:15).
The question of whether O.T. saints were regenerated is unclear in scripture. Reformed people, I think, believe that regeneration has always preceded faith, even in O.T. times. Therefore they would say that Abraham and Job, for example, were indeed born again. On the other hand, Peter seems to attribute our rebirth to the resurrection of Christ (1 Pet.1:3), raising questions about the availability of that blessing prior to Christ.
It is true that some poeple, whether regenerated or not, have greater piety and (possibly) less selfishness than do others. Not all fallen people are equally eager to cultivate their sinfulness. Some have made decisions to seek God, even before being regenerated (e.g., Cornelius, Acts 10:1ff). Ben's suggestion (addressed below) may give some good insight into this phenomenon.
Of course, Damon is correct, as well, in pointing out that the Spirit was indeed given to some individuals in Old Testament times (notably, the prophets), though it is not clear to me that they were born again or that Spirit resided permanently in any of them prior to Pentecost.
Homer also wrote:
"A better possibility that occurs to me is that the laws written in the heart are broad principles rather than rules. For example when Jesus said "...if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two", what if the person actually needed you to go five miles? The person with the "law written in the heart" would respond according to "the law of love" rather than the rule. It seems a mistake to view Jesus teachings as a bunch of rules."
I agree that the royal law that is written in our hearts is the law of love (James 2:8). This will often incline the believer to do even more than what the written code ever demanded. The written law always requires one to do what is fair, but love inclines one to be more than fair, and to gladly do more than is required (Matt.5:38-47/ 1 Cor.9:14-18/ Philemon 21). However, love will not allow us to approve of our doing anything that is less than fair.
Ben wrote:
"Could it be that though God didn't write his law onto the OT saints' hearts, these OT saints wrote God's law onto their own hearts through meditation of His Word? That would explain the encouragement in the OT to meditate on His law. Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2, 119:11, 119:99, etc. Of course, that begs the question: do Christians need to meditate on the Bible since His law is already written on our hearts?"
Good question. Your suggestion makes sense. I don't know the answer to the first part, that is, whether O.T. saints had to write the law on their own hearts or not, though Proverbs seems to point that direction (Pr.2:1-5; 3:3; 7:3). However, nobody had better try to take the privilege of meditating day and night on the Word of God from me in this present dispensation!
I still think that God's writing of His law on our hearts is a metaphor for changing our heart's attitude concerning obedience--not that He writes the specific rules or legislation there, as if we automatically always know what is right without reading or meditating on God's Word. The regenerated heart now wants to do what is loving; the study of and meditation on the scriptures educates the heart as to what the loving thing to do is in each case, in order to fulfill that desire.
Homer wrote:
"How do we explain some of the Old Testament saints doing as well at obeying God, apparently, as any Christian, without being born again and the indwelling Spirit? Do the passages only apply to Christians? The context of the passage in Ezekiel seems to point to the nation of Israel...."you shall dwell in the land I gave your fathers" &c. Wouldn't a Jew say it is absurd to claim this passage as referrring only to Christians, or to Christians at all? How would we respond if challenged?"
I believe that many of the Old Testament prophecies have a partial fulfillment in the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon in the sixth century, B.C., but are intended to provide a glimpse of the Messiah and His kingdom as well. In this sense, the near fulfillment is the type and the messianic fulfillment is the antitype...the first being natural,and the second being spiritual. Hence, God's giving the Jews a "new heart" and bringing them back into their land has a short term fulfillment in the remnant of the Jews returning to their land with Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah.
But there are elements in most of the prophecies of this type (especially Jeremiah 31) which the New Testament writers seemed to apply to the messianic order in the present age. Ezekiel 36 is questionable in this regard. There is a similar mention to the new heart of flesh replacing a heart of stone in Ezekiel 11:19-20, where it is probable that only the return of the exiles, and nothing more, is in view.
The difference is that the passage in Ezekiel 11 omits any reference to God giving them the Holy Spirit, which is an added feature to the imagery in Ezekiel 36:26-27. Whether the additional mention of the Spirit in the latter passage marks it as messianic or not is a judgment call that not all would agree upon. I think it does, because the promise of the Spirit is elsewhere mentioned in such passages where the outpouring at Pentecost is, in my judgment, intended (e.g., Isaiah 32:15/Joel 2:28ff/ Zech.12:10). In the next chapter of Ezekiel (37) there are clear references to the messianic order (37:24-28) and also to the coming of the Spirit (37:14).
Whether chapter 37 is talking about the same thing as is chapter 36, or whether it has moved on to other ideas, would be dispiuted. If these chapters all have the same ideas in view, then this would convince me that Ezekiel 36:26ff is not only about the returning exiles, but about the Spirit being given at Pentecost as well.
That one prophetic passage would give some details that applied only to the type (e.g., the people dwelling in their land) and others that applied only to the antitype (e.g., the giving of the Spirit) is not unusual, I think. This seems to be the case, for example, in 2 Samuel 7:12ff and Isaiah 7:14ff. Alternatively, one could see the reference to the land being applied to the natural land of Israel in the type, and to the spiritual land in the antitype (Heb.11:15).
The question of whether O.T. saints were regenerated is unclear in scripture. Reformed people, I think, believe that regeneration has always preceded faith, even in O.T. times. Therefore they would say that Abraham and Job, for example, were indeed born again. On the other hand, Peter seems to attribute our rebirth to the resurrection of Christ (1 Pet.1:3), raising questions about the availability of that blessing prior to Christ.
It is true that some poeple, whether regenerated or not, have greater piety and (possibly) less selfishness than do others. Not all fallen people are equally eager to cultivate their sinfulness. Some have made decisions to seek God, even before being regenerated (e.g., Cornelius, Acts 10:1ff). Ben's suggestion (addressed below) may give some good insight into this phenomenon.
Of course, Damon is correct, as well, in pointing out that the Spirit was indeed given to some individuals in Old Testament times (notably, the prophets), though it is not clear to me that they were born again or that Spirit resided permanently in any of them prior to Pentecost.
Homer also wrote:
"A better possibility that occurs to me is that the laws written in the heart are broad principles rather than rules. For example when Jesus said "...if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two", what if the person actually needed you to go five miles? The person with the "law written in the heart" would respond according to "the law of love" rather than the rule. It seems a mistake to view Jesus teachings as a bunch of rules."
I agree that the royal law that is written in our hearts is the law of love (James 2:8). This will often incline the believer to do even more than what the written code ever demanded. The written law always requires one to do what is fair, but love inclines one to be more than fair, and to gladly do more than is required (Matt.5:38-47/ 1 Cor.9:14-18/ Philemon 21). However, love will not allow us to approve of our doing anything that is less than fair.
Ben wrote:
"Could it be that though God didn't write his law onto the OT saints' hearts, these OT saints wrote God's law onto their own hearts through meditation of His Word? That would explain the encouragement in the OT to meditate on His law. Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2, 119:11, 119:99, etc. Of course, that begs the question: do Christians need to meditate on the Bible since His law is already written on our hearts?"
Good question. Your suggestion makes sense. I don't know the answer to the first part, that is, whether O.T. saints had to write the law on their own hearts or not, though Proverbs seems to point that direction (Pr.2:1-5; 3:3; 7:3). However, nobody had better try to take the privilege of meditating day and night on the Word of God from me in this present dispensation!
I still think that God's writing of His law on our hearts is a metaphor for changing our heart's attitude concerning obedience--not that He writes the specific rules or legislation there, as if we automatically always know what is right without reading or meditating on God's Word. The regenerated heart now wants to do what is loving; the study of and meditation on the scriptures educates the heart as to what the loving thing to do is in each case, in order to fulfill that desire.
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
In Jesus,
Steve
Steve
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_Benjamin Ho
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2004 8:16 am
- Location: Singapore
Hi Steve,Steve wrote: I still think that God's writing of His law on our hearts is a metaphor for changing our heart's attitude concerning obedience--not that He writes the specific rules or legislation there, as if we automatically always know what is right without reading or meditating on God's Word. The regenerated heart now wants to do what is loving; the study of and meditation on the scriptures educates the heart as to what the loving thing to do is in each case, in order to fulfill that desire.
Thanks for answering Homer's and my questions.
What are the Bible verses that support the view that God's writing of His law on our hearts (i.e. the New Covenant) is a metaphor for a change in our heart attitude? Certainly this change of heart attitude wasn't forced upon us (that would sound to Calvinistic), was it?
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:
Reason:
Grace and peace,
Benjamin Ho
Benjamin Ho