I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26 KJV)
Prophet Ezekiel described in vivid terms God’s promise of the new birth in Christ. He uses the words “heart” and “spirit” synonymously in this verse to refer to the human spirit. As I have taught before, the scriptures use the term “heart” to refer to the spirit, soul, or the entire inner being of man (spirit and soul).
The Lord goes further and says He will take away the stony heart of our flesh. There are mysteries of human nature hidden in this simple phrase. If the Lord takes away the heart out of the flesh, it implies the heart is in the flesh! Flesh in this context does not mean the body, but our entire human nature made of the outward and inward parts. The spirit is in the flesh, meaning it is the energizing force that animates the state and functioning of the soul and body.
The stony heart is a spirit that is rebellious and disobedient. At the new birth, God takes away the old spirit (the old man) and gives us a new spirit (the new man) that is obedient and responsive to Him.
Read more: the two tablets of the human heart.
Meditate
What is the meaning of “heart of stone” and “heart of flesh”?
Apply the Word
There are two tablets of the heart: spirit and soul. The Lord removed the stony human spirit and replaced it with the responsive human spirit at salvation. However, the other tablets of the heart, the soul, are the part of us that is the seat of our earthly experience and expression. The soul needs to be renewed by the Word and Spirit. Allow the Word to bring about the complete transformation in you! You are a new creation.
Pray
Thank the Father for the gift of a new heart.
Read more:
- There is a spirit in man.
- Preparing your heart for the move of the Holy Spirit.
- Biblical Psychology: the mystery of the human mind.
- Biblical Psychology: a must for every believer.
- Featured article: what is a devotional?
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