First we must understand why we are born with an evil heart, not a good heart. We are not born good and learn to be bad. Instead, we are born with an evil heart and He reveals it to us in His Word.
Adam and Eve were given life with a good heart, free will, and direct communion with God. This is revealed in Genesis. But they chose to disobey God’s very simple command and thrust mankind into a cursed life from birth. All are born under the bondage of sin.
What does this actually mean?
Paul tells Christians, “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NLT) It is hard to understand that there is a division in our makeup. But God reveals we have a spirit and soul, and they are separate pieces of us in a similar way that our body has different divisions.
A soul is made up of your mind, will, and emotions. An animal has a soul. For instance a dog has a mind, definitely has a will, and also shows emotion. But an animal does not have an eternal spirit. We learn this in Genesis when God created everything. He breathed life into man, but created all other life.
But what are the functions of the human spirit? Your conscience, creativity, faith, fellowship, passion and drive, enthusiasm, joy and peace are all products of your heart. Since we are created in God’s image our spirit images God’s but ruined by our evil hearts. God is spirit and connects to man through the spirit. Then discernment, spiritual gifts, etc. can come to life. It will explained later.
For now let me explain to you how the stubborn heart of disobedience affects the human spirit? We must begin with Christ’s words.
Matthew 12:34,35 (NLT)
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.
These are the words of God, and I do not care about the theories of psychologists or other ideas of men. Do not be fooled, God says evil hearted people can only produce evil things. This evil heart pours out into a person’s words and actions and affects every part of a person’s life. Even if you think a person is good, like Judas Iscariot, their secret sin reveals their crimes to God who sees all people’s motives and secrets.
Romans 3:10-18 (GW)
10 as Scripture says, “Not one person has God’s approval.
11 No one understands. No one searches for God.
12 Everyone has turned away. Together they have become rotten to the core. No one does anythinggood, not even one person.
13 Their throats are open graves. Their tongues practice deception. Their lips hide the venom of poisonous snakes.
14 Their mouths are full of curses and bitter resentment.
15 They run quickly to murder people.
16 There is ruin and suffering wherever they go.
17 They have not learned to live in peace.
18 They are not terrified of God.”
You really need to understand the seriousness of the stubborn heart because it means everybody is an enemy of God inherently bent to love the things God hates. And all are stubbornly self centered and unconcerned about the things of God. No one can fix themselves or change their eternal destiny. We are a lost race of humanity.
God in the flesh helped his original followers understand our horrible evil condition. He stated:
“Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts.”Matthew 13:18-19(NLT)
Like he explained in Matthew 12:34,35 Jesus deciphers the truth about the evil heart but here he explains the three different types of evil heart to the disciples. The hardcore sinner has nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus, period! This is your relative or friend who shuts you up the moment you want to talk about their sin and the gospel. They are content and happy with their religion and supposed relationship with God. They have created a god in their minds that accepts them the way they are.
For example, the rich young ruler that Jesus spoke to claimed his relationship with God was already perfect. He had no understanding of his true condition. He saw himself as righteous and pleasing to God just the way he was. When the Lord exposed his greed he immediately rejected the gospel. His stubbornly disobedient heart chose the riches of this world over eternal life and immediately walked away.
Next Jesus revealed the truth about those that many call backsliders.
“The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.”Matthew 13:20-21(NLT)
Millions of sincerely religious “Christians” will be stunned at Judgment Day when they finally see their evil hearts have never been changed and they are rejected by Jesus. Even though they choose with their mind, will, and emotions to accept Christ their hearts are still evil. Therefore they cannot produce good fruit. Human effort will only leave a person powerless to obey and serve Jesus. Just like Judas Iscariot they will give up over time and depart from the church.
Then Jesus explains the great mystery of the deceived who live among the saints.
“The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.”Matthew 13:22 (NLT)
As this group of people live among the Christians they really only focus their attention on their families and careers. They are too busy to really, Biblically, personally follow Jesus. They hold to the doctrines that make them feel eternally safe and if they choose a local church they are not committed. They read their Bibles but do not obey what it says. The Bible does not affect the way they live their lives. They can attend a church each week or once a month and have no worries that they will miss heaven. After all, they prayed a little prayer and accepted Christ in their minds.
Paul explains it this way.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NLT) 1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
Finally the Savior reveals the extreme good the person with a good heart produces.
“The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Matthew 13:23 (NLT)
The only way people are able to be good and be flooded with goodness is when they have a good heart NOT an evil heart. And this dilemma can only be solved by a miracle that God can do. You must be born again.
The desperate plight of man is his evil heart. We all need God’s forgiveness and we need to be rescued (saved) from the bondage of our evil heart. The only hope of true and complete change is for our evil heart to be removed and replaced with a good heart. But this is purely a spiritual thing. Who can change wicked people? Who can save us? Only Jesus! There is no other person but Jesus because he paid our debt.
What is the gospel?
God promised through the prophet Ezekiel that He would one day alter people’s lives by literally removing their evil heart and replacing it with a new good heart. This began to be fulfilled through Jesus when he died in our place on the Roman cross of capital punishment, was buried, and resurrected three days later.Justice was served and we were offered forgiveness. Then God fulfilled His promise to Christians on Pentecost which you can read about in Acts chapter two. He gives all believers a new heart and new spirit.
God is spirit and that means He is invisible to our eyes. His true nature is like the sun and we would die in His presence. But He created us with a spirit so that man can connect with Him. As our graphic shows, since we cannot see Him we can only see the results of His presence. His righteous character and supernatural presence are revealed in “everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
So what is grace and how does God use supernatural grace to bring people to salvation?
We find in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, Greece, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” Ephesians 2:8 (NLT)
Most skim past these words. But we need to stop and understand what grace is. We find in Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary the definition of grace.
GRACE: graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart,and its reflection in the life;
This may not be what you thought. According to this grace is God’s hand influencing our hearts like the wind leaving His mark in our lives. No one can decide to follow Jesus. No one can save themselves. No one can change their heart. And that is because Jesus is clear, “…no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.” John 6:44 (NLT)
God uses grace, the divine influence upon the evil heart to draw the sinner to Jesus. Here is how He does it.
The Holy Spirit uses grace to bring conviction to the evil heart of man. He works to open the spiritual eyes of the spiritually dead spirit. The Holy Spirit stabs the conscience to influence a person to admit their sin.
The Holy Spirit presses God’s Law upon the conscience until it produces guilt.
This unmerited grace of conviction is a free gift of God. With the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) a Christian shares the gospel with someone and God thrusts the Law past their mind, will, and emotions and stabs the Word into the conscience, exposing “the very thoughts and motives of a man’s heart.” Why does God do this? The reason is simple, God is working to bring that person to repentance. Man must respond to the gospel, but because of their evil heart, they cannot repent without the grace of God.
Here is what I mean. According to the Lord Jesus, the people who see they have no good inside them and realize their horrible sin are the only people promised heaven.
The type of “poor” He speaks of are those who know their evil hearts have absolutely no good in them at all. But the problem is to gain this realization people must be convinced by the Holy Spirit to see how sinful they really are.
Let’s look at the first sermon the apostle Peter gave in Acts 2 to understand this. You need to see what God does to draw sinners to Jesus, and how the Law of God probes the guilty conscience.
Acts 2:22-24 (NLT)
22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.
23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.
As Peter shares the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, he also uses the sixth commandment and points out they are murderers. You see, the Jews rejected their Messiah and murdered him. Peter is not trying to convince them to accept Jesus, he is aiming at their conscience to bring them to repentance.
Acts 2:29-31(NLT)
29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us.
30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne.
31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.
Next, Peter repeats his words and stabs them again by saying, “whom you crucified.” And it is important to remember the words of Jeremiah the prophet while he spoke for the LORD, “Is not my Word like a fire?…and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” God cracked open many of the Jews’ stubborn hearts and they saw themselves as horrible sinners.
Acts 2:36-37(NLT)
36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
As the book of Hebrews stated the Word of God, “exposes the thoughts and motives of a man’s heart”. Yes, the free gift of grace greatly influences the conscience. The Holy Spirit uses the Law of God like a hammer and powerfully pierces the conscience. So we see here Peter preached and suddenly 3000 people realized just how sinful they really were.
Remember the words “pierced their hearts” were used to describe what happened to the people moved by Peter’s words. To understand the Greek word meaning look at two other Bible translations of this statement.
Acts 2:37 (NCV) “When the people heard this, they felt guilty and asked Peter and the other apostles, ‘What shall we do?’”
You see the Holy Spirit was not finished with just making these sinners realize in their minds that they were evil. In Matthew 5:4 Jesus tells us the people who are grieved and sorrowful for seeing their sin are the ones God blesses with His eternal comfort. So He pressed them hard with His law until they felt guilty. God knows our evil hearts and only this grace will move us to actually be deeply grieved for our sin.
The Holy Spirit holds the guilt upon the conscience until it produces grief (sorrow).
If we look back deeply into the Greek word translated “pierced” we find “it properly denotes to pierce or penetrate with a needle, lancet, or sharp instrument; and then to pierce with grief, or acute pain of any kind.” – Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament.
So the next Bible translation of this statement helps us further understand why grief, sorrow or mourning is important and taught by Jesus. “Now, having heard this, they were stung to the heart with poignant sorrow.” Acts 2:37 (WuestNT) God blesses the people who deeply grieve over their evil hearts.
For the Holy Spirit to enter our spirit and give us a new heart the conscience must be pierced until we see our true sinful nature. We all must realize and confess our specific spiritual crimes like they did under Peter’s sermon. To receive salvation our hard heart must be broken.
As Paul explains, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that [the murmurs and excuses of] every mouth may be hushed and all the world may be held accountable to God.For no person will be justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable) in His sight by observing the works prescribed by the Law. For [the real function of] the Law is to make men recognize and be conscious of sin [not mere perception, but an acquaintance with sin which works toward repentance, faith, and holy character].“Romans 3:19-20 (AMP)
And as God’s grace pierces the guilty conscience it produces godly sorrow. Deep grief is the normal response when a sinner actually sees their guilt.
Finally, godly sorrow produces repentance.
As God’s Word says, “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation.” This grace affects the soul and frees the person to respond to God in humility instead of reacting to God from their evil heart. As the Word says, “But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).” James 4:6 (AMP)
The only way a person can be humbled to the place that allows the Holy Spirit to enter them and give them a new spirit and new heart is by this grace process. The sinner screams “I am a good person!” But the convicted sinner shuts their mouth, grieved over their horrible sin before their Creator, and surrenders to His control.
God’s process is GUILT… GRIEF… REPENTANCE. This is why Jesus taught from the start only the spiritually poverty-stricken get heaven, only the grief-stricken who mourn over their sin will God truly comfort, and only the meek will receive God’s eternal blessing of a new heart and spirit.
So when Jesus says God blesses the meek he is describing repentance.
God only blesses the broken sinner who fully surrenders to God and receives His forgiveness. No more resistance to the will of God. No more excuses for doing things their own way. Instead, they now humbly FOLLOW THEIR LORD JESUS!
And the blessings begin immediately on this earth, not just later when they get to heaven after death. Finally, as Jesus revealed, now they “…understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Matthew 13:23 (NLT)
God only blesses the broken sinner who fully surrenders to God and receives His forgiveness. The broken sinner stops his resistance to the will of God. He stops making excuses for doing things his own way. Instead, he now humbly FOLLOWS HIS LORD JESUS! “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10 (NKJV)
What happens to those who really repent?
Remember the Ezekiel prophecy says that two things will happen to the born again. All receive a new spirit and a new heart.
So first of all, at the point of repentance, the Holy Spirit enters the spirit of the broken sinner. This is what it means to be born again. And now the supernatural transformation begins. That is right, the Almighty God pours Himself into the human spirit.
Everything about this is miraculous! Can you comprehend the fact that the living God lives inside a person’s spirit? This is not a theological theory, but a new reality! The great promise of Ezekiel, “I will put a new spirit in you” is fulfilled in every true Christian. Everything is DIFFERENT! Everything changes!
What is the evidence of a new heart?
The first thing the Lord Jesus tells us about this new heart change is found in Matthew 5:6. Immediately brand new godly passions surge from the grace the Holy Spirit releases which cause a starving desperate hunger to gnaw inside the new believer. With the evil heart removed the new heart pangs of hunger for God and His goodness. The great desire to please and obey God floods into their soul and forces the Christian to use their mind to read the Bible and pray. Desire always precedes action.
Remember the good heart can produce a lot of good fruit. The evil heart produces NO good fruit. But the harvest is in response to understanding the word of God. As Jesus taught, “The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Matthew 13:23 (NLT)
So this NEW hunger and thirst is the first evidence of salvation. This is not a natural hunger but the miraculous change of God’s presence inside a new heart. The desire to please God and not sin, the hunger to read God’s Word, and the pull to be with other Christians is the work of the Holy Spirit and the tender, responsive heart.
But there is far more to this miraculous transformation than just desires. Jesus promises the born-again Christian will be flooded and stuffed with righteousness. We know this from His words in Matthew 5:6, “they will be satisfied.” The Greek is “gorged” a stronger meaning than just satisfied. Years later the apostle Paul clarifies this truth by saying, “…Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:12-13 (NLT)
Next, the apostle Peter writes, “Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! 4 We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.” 2 Peter 1:3-4 (MSG)
The miraculous grace of God brings people to repentance and continues to miraculously transform the Christian as the Holy Spirit lives inside their spirit. Peter also makes it clear that “terrific promises” like we find from Ezekiel are the ticket “that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” 2 Peter 1:4 (NLT) This is amazing grace!
How does the tender heart of obedience affect the human spirit?
The divine nature implanted in our spirit releases an endless river of grace inside us from the Holy Spirit. Again grace is the “divine influence upon the heart” but now a tidal wave that floods from the new divine nature of God Almighty dwelling within every Christian. This is what frees the disciple of Jesus from the “corruption” of the old sinful heart.
This is important, you must understand that this is not a fair fight! Your human desires (strong desires for your own will and sin) are overpowered by God’s divine nature. This is why Ezekiel’s promise is your ticket to freedom! The promise is CLEAR! “I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in youso thatyou will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”
Notice also, He does not say that you should, ought to, or are supposed to obey God’s commands. No, it says, “…you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”
What will be gushing from your heart by the Holy Spirit?
Jesus described the result of spiritual birth as “Rivers of living water will flow from (your) heart.” The Greek used here is a gushing flood. But what exactly will be gushing from your heart by the Holy Spirit?
Again remember the born-again Christian is flooded and stuffed with righteousness. Now he has a good heart, not an evil heart.
Now one of the first things we discover is that righteousness floods from the Holy Spirit lifting the normal Christian to live life in such a way that they easily do far MORE than fulfill the law of God.
“For I tell you, unless your righteousness (your uprightness and your right standing with God) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20 (AMP)
You must understand this righteousness is not just an applied righteousness from God like a coat, but the real righteousness from within that transforms your behavior. You cannot live like the Pharisees and just believe you are more righteous because of Jesus. He makes this abundantly clear through the next whole section of His talk.
He compared the lifestyle demanded by the Law that the Pharisees taught to the FAR MORE righteous lifestyle of the new heart and new spirit that He provides through the Holy Spirit.
In fact, the very Greek word that is translated more or exceed is not the same as we use in English. It is superabounding and it means not just a little more, but it is the difference between having one billion dollars and everyone else having a penny. Jesus is not saying Christians must have two cents worth of righteousness instead of one cent like the Pharisees, but the Pharisees have zero and true Christians have billions.
The Lord makes it clear in Matthew 5, the superabounding flood of righteousness, mercy, purity, and peacemaking gushing out of the Holy Spirit alters the way a Christian thinks, acts, and feels about others, and actually everything.
The ABUNDANTLYMORERIGHTEOUSNESS of the Spirit drives Christians to such extremes that they show so much mercy that murder is not even an option. Instead of revenge, they forgive, reconcile with their enemies, and settle their differences even when it is the hardest thing they ever had to do in their lives. Nothing stops them from restoring relationships.
If the Christian has offended or wrongfully gained from another, they let nothing stop them from doing the right thing by paying the last penny back without being threatened with punishment. The narrow road follower of Jesus shows mercy and forgiveness and works hard to restore any relationship back to where it was before an offense was committed.
The righteous Christian does the will of God because they are flooded by the Spirit of God.
How does the Holy Spirit affect the human spirit?
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” [2 Corinthians 5:17] And God’s Word guarantees “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” [Romans 8:16 NKJV]
How does He “bear witness with our spirit” so that we know we are Christians? Well, remember, a witness in a courtroom gives testimony and evidence. So when the Holy Spirit invades your spirit He brings life-changing evidence!
A born again person is someone who has a direct connection with Almighty God by receiving the Holy Spirit inside their human spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. They are new creatures by the revolutionary change that takes place inside them when the Holy Spirit enters their spirit, and this permanent transformation establishes them as adopted children of God.
Like plugging a pinball machine into the electrical wall socket, new spiritual life ignites and activates all kinds of new things once dormant or non-existent in the human spirit without God. Yes, the Holy Spirit activates or gives life to the dead spirit of the sinner. His grace rushes into you and connects you directly to Him which makes you a brand new, supernatural creature.
This grace of God…
1/ surges into the human spirit lighting up the conscience,
2/ establishes and stretches real faith,
3/ starts cravings for fellowship with God and other Christians,
4/ activates spiritual gifts,
5/ initiates a hunger for worship,
6/ kick starts new ideas of creativity,
7/ stirs up new thoughts and ideas for discernment,
8/ and enlightens the heart with new wisdom.
All these functions of the human spirit were turned off or fully corrupted because your stubborn evil heart was dead in trespasses and sin, but immediately at salvation, spring to life by His mighty power! This flow of supernatural energy never ceases, because God’s grace has no end. And these new spiritual experiences are the evidence of being a new creature in Christ.
For example, before new birth, the conscience of the human is clouded and dark without God’s presence emblazing the holy standards of His Law upon it. Before salvation, the evil heart cannot produce good fruit. After salvation, the harvest of the good heart produces massive activity in your spirit.
And finally, the great harvest of fruit promised by Jesus grows from each true disciple because the bent of the heart is driven by the love of God. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:14 (AMP) “For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us…”. No longer does selfishness and personal dreams drive the disciple of Jesus because the “love of God has poured into our hearts” and we focus our love and obedience to following Jesus and fulfilling His will. We disciple others because He gave us all that command. We help teach new Christians how to follow Jesus because we love to obey Jesus. The harvest of the fruit of the Spirit is a reality that strengthens us to fulfill God’s will and goals!
Called to die to my goals. Called to live for His goals.
Jesus says in John 15:8-11 (NLT)
8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.
10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
Luke 9:57-58 (GW) As they were walking along the road, a man said to Jesus, “I’ll follow you wherever you go.” Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to sleep.”
How do we know what God’s will is for our lives?
1/ God’s Word tells us God’s will
The Bible is the clear and concise truth that shows God’s will for every person. Everything that we need to know to please God is given to us from God’s Word. If you need to take a trip to a distant location you do not need a complete world map of every road and location. No, all you need is a small piece of the truth that leads you to your destination.
There is no further truth that is hidden, has been hidden, or ever will be needed in this life. God Almighty made sure we got exactly what WE NEEDED TO FOLLOW JESUS! Anything else would be a distraction.
You see, Jesus is the eternal TRUTH, the eternal WORD of God. We are told, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. So the Word became human and made his home among us …and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1,14a (NLT), John 1:14b (NKJV) Before He came to earth through a supernal birth in a human baby and was resurrected proving He was God and our life, He was the full and complete TRUTH.
The Greek is “logos” that we translate into “word”. This Greek word is always used to describe the scripture which is our Bible. But, we do not have the full and complete TRUTH today. John also tells us in John 21:25 (NLT), “Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.”
But it does not matter, we have enough. All the commands and information included in the Bible give us everything we need to follow Jesus. The Lord clearly commanded the first disciples what we need to do because He commanded, “Therefore, go and make disciples…Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 (NLT)
At the beginning of His public ministry He gave the first command to all mankind. “From then on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’” Matthew 4:17 (NLT)
The second was proclaimed immediately after the first command. “Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’” Matthew 4:19 (NLT)
And keep reading. These are not suggestions, but the very commands that Jesus told them to teach to every new follower of Jesus. His will is that all believers know these commands, follow them, and teach every new disciple to live by them generation after generation until He returns to earth.
But are we left alone to complete this task? Don’t we need divine guidance? How does God guide us?
2/ The Holy Spirit helps us understand God’s will
We find in our instruction book examples of God’s guidance. For example Peter was given an assignment to reach a Roman soldier with the gospel. But, Peter needed some prep work to get him ready to do something that was contradictory to everything he was raised to believe. They would never enter a gentile’s home because they thought it dishonored God.
So God gave him a vision that commanded him to eat food that the Law commanded to never eat. That confused him and he resisted doing something wrong. But God was not talking about food. We learn in Acts 10:19-20 (NKJV), “While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
So the Holy Spirit spoke a word (rhema not logos), which is divine guidance, telling Peter to obey the command and “go and make disciples”. And yes, this man was a Roman not a Jew, but a man who needed the gospel. You need to understand this was not some new revelation that added to the Word of truth, but simply divine guidance.
Before Jesus was crucified and resurrected He began explaining how God would guide them as His followers. But, they could not understand at that point.
John 16:12-15 (NLT2)
12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
Peter had to learn the truth that God always loved the Gentiles. And the Holy Spirit had to give him a vision, then nudge him, guide him to fulfill God’s will, and share the GOOD NEWS.
We have another example when Paul and the church at Antioch received a rhema through the Holy Spirit when they were praying for God’s will. We find in Acts 13:2 (NKJV), “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” The Logos did not change, but the rhema helped them to know God’s will.
If you fear God is not speaking to you because you never heard “His voice” do not worry. Whenever a specific scripture captures you, flashes into your mind, or grips your heart you can be assured the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. This is a rhema from the Lord and He is guiding you just like He did with the first Christians.
The Holy Spirit and Jesus Are Under Authority
John 8:25-27; 12:49-50 (NLT)
25 “Who are you?” they demanded. Jesus replied, “The one I have always claimed to be. 26 I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but I won’t. For I say only what I have heard from the one who sent me, and he is completely truthful.” 27 But they still didn’t understand that he was talking about his Father…
49 I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded mewhat to say and how to say it. 50 And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”
The Holy Spirit is Under Authority to Help You Understand God’s Will (the whole truth)
Here is what Jesus explained in John 16:13 (AMP) “But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].”
The unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is very real. The Holy Spirit resides in true believers to lead, not follow. Under the direction of the Father, He speaks to you helping you obey the commands of Christ. He will guide you into the truth, push you to change your way of thinking, lead you to God’s will, and help you do what is right. He never sleeps and is always with you.
Paul says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 (NLT)
3/ The Holy Spirit also guides us with His grace
You cannot forget grace is the divine influence upon your heart. This is why Paul explained in Philippians 2:13 (NLT) “…God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” And as you see in Mark 1:12-13 the Holy Spirit pressed, pushed, and drove Jesus in his heart to go into the wilderness to face severe temptation.
Mark 1:12-13 (NKJV)
“Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.”
It may be hard to explain, but the Holy Spirit motivates us to fulfill God’s will by pouring into our hearts strong holy desires that drive us to follow His guidance.
And this also goes deeper because like an umpire the Holy Spirit also guides us by our gut. Well what I mean is an unexplained peace prevails inside us as we walk in His will or an unsettling frustration grows when we need to stop and change course. Paul explains in Colossians 3:15 (AMP), “let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].”
As you humbly seek God’s will also let the umpire direct you with His divine influence on your heart..
-1 The Holy Spirit will guide you through rhemas and grace
-2 The Holy Spirit is under authority to reinforce what the Father and Son already revealed in the Bible
-3 The Holy Spirit transforms your character by changing the way you think
-4 As you submit to HIS authority you will LEARN God’s will for you
Our example is Jesus who meekly submitted to his parent’s authority.
Luke 2:46-52 (NLT)
“Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. His parents didn’t know what to think. ‘Son,’ his mother said to him, ‘why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.’”
“’But why did you need to search?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?’”
“But they didn’t understand what he meant. Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart. Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.”
As you can see the eternal Son of God submitted to His Father’s authority through human authority. His submission to obey Joseph and Mary helped him grow in wisdom which greatly pleased the Heavenly Father. Yes Jesus, was God, but at that time was trapped inside a boy’s body. He was an immature twelve year old physically, His hormones, his brain, and his body were still developing so that even though he had great knowledge and youthful zeal to do the will of God. He needed to have wisdom for the timing of His ministry.
God the Father used his earthly parents to prepare him for that day. God uses our human authorities to guide us also. If we truly are meek as Jesus lived and taught us, we will change the way we think and allow God to direct us through our human authorities. In fact, one of our great downfalls is failing to hear God through those responsible for us and we lose God’s grace because of it. Yes we resist God’s divine influence upon our hearts simply because we are blind to God trying to give us wisdom as He did with his twelve year old Son.
How can Christians not receive the powerful grace of God?
Hebrews 12:15 (NLT) “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”
Romans 13:1-3 [NKJV]
1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
The Bible explains human authorities are established by Him, and He requires us to submit to them to prove we are submissive to Him and to receive the character development necessary for spiritual maturity. You can either be a rebel or servant to God, and if you ignore God or make your own rules, you are a rebel!
The hardest thing for Americans to understand is to be like Jesus means you submit to authority to fulfill the will of God. No one seems to know that Jesus and the Holy Spirit willfully submit to the will of the Father. Christ said, “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded mewhat to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.” We are commanded to follow Jesus but tend to resist and refuse to follow human authority.
So many resist their parents, hate the president, rebel against their boss, quite the church and turn in bitterness because they did not get what they wanted from them. Someone died and they blame God for it. They lose their job and want revenge from the company. But, every time this happens they forget “ that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 (NLT)
Joseph was dragged off to be a slave in Egypt so later he could save his family. Moses was stolen from his mother so he could be prepared to save all Israel. Solomon built the temple that his dad left him to finish. And the innocent Jesus was crucified for all the crimes we committed. The will of God is given to us through the authorities we are under.
The arms and hands of God the Father are the human authorities in your life. You are a valuable diamond in the rough that the Father wants to cut to make a great and glorious diamond to show off for all eternity. Human authorities are meant to chip away at you transforming your character to be like Jesus. You must be like Jesus and surrender to their control to grow in wisdom. The unwanted and unfair actions of your authorities teach you faith, humility, forgiveness, patience, kindness, and how to love your enemies, just like Jesus. Will you receive God’s grace or reject His grace and experience the poison of bitterness?
But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).
7 So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].
9 [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins].
10 Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant]. James 4:6-10 (AMP)
The path to God’s will is always through a humble admission of sin, sadness over our rebellion to His authority, and surrender to His will that we do not understand or comprehend. Do not rest until you yield all your rights to Him. Offer your life, all of it, to DO THE WILL OF GOD!
We learn from King Saul that partial obedience is viewed by God as full blown defiance and rebellion. In 1 Samuel 15:23-24 NKV we read, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he also has rejected you from being king.” Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.”
No believer would openly worship the devil or blatantly practice witchcraft and still claim they are followers of Jesus. But when we stubbornly refuse to fully yield our lives to God’s sovereignty we are no different than those who openly blaspheme the Lord. Our meek and lowly life must be real. Therefore it is up to us to be thorough and root out every bit of self-will and rebellion hidden inside our hearts.
These 12 areas will always be our road to anger and bitterness or the place of peace as we rest in the protective hand of God
01 Yield your right to self-will, and what you want to do with your life
02 Yield your right to choose who you date-relationships
03 Yield your right to pick your clothes-appearance
04 Yield your right to spend your money your way, and give your possessions to His control
05 Yield your right to choose what knowledge to have and give ownership to Him
06 Yield your right to what friends you have
07 Yield your right to what music you listen to
08 Yield your right to choose your future
09 Yield your right to have perfect health and surrender to what God allows in your life
10 Yield your right to what you think is a good reputation
11 Yield your right to make your own schedule and give God control of your time
12 Yield your right to choose your activities
Your path to peace with God includes admitting who or what makes you angry. Like a warning light in your car, that which makes you angry is your sign that you have not yielded a right to God. What about your job angers you? How dare those stupid drivers get in your way? Who do those neighbors think they are to let their dog poop in your yard? Who do they think they are trying to tell you what to do? No one tells me what to do! What is wrong with those slow people in front of me in the checkout line? Well I think you get it.
1 So identify the rights you have not given up through your anger
2 Then surrender that right to God. For example, “I turn the right to spend my money any way I want over to God’s control.” Take responsibility to support your family, your church, and pray about how to spend your money. Read the Bible and follow the instructions of God. This is a whole new way of life.
So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship. Romans 12:1 (NCV)
3 Offer your whole life to Him. Transfer your whole life and everything you have to His ownership. Become a manager, not an owner. Truly surrender your all. Become a servant of God with nothing held back from Him.
4 Once you really give over everything to Him you will find you are no longer angry. And then you can actually thank God for your circumstances because you know “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God.” Whether to test your faith, build your character to be like Christ, or open doors of ministry thank God for His sovereign love that leads you to the will of God.
Paul says, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 (NLT)
So have you given your all andare you really, Biblically, personally following Jesus? What is more important to you than obeying God’s will for your life, whatever it is and whatever it costs you?
Luke 9:57-62 (GW)
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to Jesus, “I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to sleep.”
59 He told another man, “Follow me!” But the man said, “Sir, first let me go to bury my father.”
60 But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You must go everywhere and tell about the kingdom of God.”
61 Another said, “I’ll follow you, sir, but first let me tell my family goodbye.”
62 Jesus said to him, “Whoever starts to plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 10:1-3 (GW)
“After this, the Lord appointed 70 other disciples to go ahead of him to every city and place that he intended to go. They were to travel in pairs. He told them, ‘The harvest is large, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord who gives this harvest to send workers to harvest his crops. Go! I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves.'”
Paul tells Christians, “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NLT) It is hard to understand that there is a division in our makeup. But God reveals we have a spirit and soul, and they are separate pieces of us in a similar way that our body has different divisions.
But what are the functions of the human spirit? Your conscience, creativity, faith, fellowship, passion and drive, enthusiasm, joy and peace are all products of your heart. Since we are created in God’s image our spirit images God’s but ruined by our evil hearts. God is spirit and connects to man through the spirit. Then discernment, spiritual gifts, etc. can come to life. It will explained later.
Like he explained in Matthew 12:34,35 Jesus deciphers the truth about the evil heart but here he explains the three different types of evil heart to the disciples. The hardcore sinner has nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus, period! This is your relative or friend who shuts you up the moment you want to talk about their sin and the gospel. They are content and happy with their religion and supposed relationship with God. They have created a god in their minds that accepts them the way they are.
As Peter shares the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, he also uses the sixth commandment and points out they are murderers. You see, the Jews rejected their Messiah and murdered him. Peter is not trying to convince them to accept Jesus, he is aiming at their conscience to bring them to repentance.
Next, Peter repeats his words and stabs them again by saying, “whom you crucified.” And it is important to remember the words of Jeremiah the prophet while he spoke for the LORD, “Is not my Word like a fire?…and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” God cracked open many of the Jews’ stubborn hearts and they saw themselves as horrible sinners.
As the book of Hebrews stated the Word of God, “exposes the thoughts and motives of a man’s heart”. Yes, the free gift of grace greatly influences the conscience. The Holy Spirit uses the Law of God like a hammer and powerfully pierces the conscience. So we see here Peter preached and suddenly 3000 people realized just how sinful they really were.
God’s process is GUILT… GRIEF… REPENTANCE. This is why Jesus taught from the start only the spiritually poverty-stricken get heaven, only the grief-stricken who mourn over their sin will God truly comfort, and only the meek will receive God’s eternal blessing of a new heart and spirit.
Again remember the born-again Christian is flooded and stuffed with righteousness. Now he has a good heart, not an evil heart.
John 8:25-27; 12:49-50 (NLT)
These 12 areas will always be our road to anger and bitterness or the place of peace as we rest in the protective hand of God
So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship. Romans 12:1 (NCV)
So have you given your all and are you really, Biblically, personally following Jesus? What is more important to you than obeying God’s will for your life, whatever it is and whatever it costs you?