"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:90-10
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
The good news with the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we don’t have to live with an old deceitful heart of stone and a spirit that is dead to God. Jesus told us out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. (Matthew 18:19, Mark 7:21-22). As a result because of all these things we walk in the judgments of God rather than His blessings. But just for the asking, we can get freely from God a heart transplant and a new spirit. God’s word is unchanging:
"Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? "For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!" Ezekiel 18:13-32
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. "Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. "I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. "And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Ezekiel 36:25-30
A new heart is important because we will be a new creature in Christ and we will not do and say the evil and wicked things that we did before. Because of a new spirit within us we will have the power to walk in God’s statues and keep His judgments and do them. As a result we shall be greatly blessed by God for we shall be His people and He will be our God and He will deliver us from all things and bless us with all things. Because of God’s spirit within us and upon us we can hear God’s voice continually give us direction, counsel and correction. We literally can have the mind of Christ for God’s word is unchanging:
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:7-16
Yes, we have received, the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. Yes, these things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Yes, he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. Yes, we have the mind of Christ and you cannot ask for more than this? God’s word is unchanging:
“The God of our Lord Jesus Christ,…raised Him from the dead, and made Him to side at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” (Ephesians 1:17-21)
“And raised us up with Him, and made us to sit with Him in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:…for by grace have you been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, that no man should glory.” (Ephesians 2:6-9)
Yes, “God…made Jesus to sit…and made us to sit with Him.” Sit reveals the secret of a heavenly life. Christianity does not begin with walking; it beings with sitting. The Christian era began with Christ, of whom we are told when he cleansed us of our sins, “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High.” (Hebrews 1:3) Now, we can say that our Christian life begins with us seated “in Christ.” By faith, we see ourselves, seated with Jesus on His throne! As a result Ephesians opens with the statement that God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3. From the beginning we are invited to sit down and enjoy what God has done for us. We are not asked to try to get it for ourselves.
Walking means effort. But God says that we are saved, not by works, but “by grace through faith.” (Ephesians 2:8) We often speak of being “saved through faith, but what do we mean by it? It means we are saved by resting in Christ. We did nothing to save ourselves. We laid on Him our sin and our sickness. The first step in our walk of faith is to see we can do nothing to save ourselves or to heal ourselves. We must also see it was all “done” for us by Jesus. We are and always will be totally dependent upon Him for everything including salvation, healing, deliverance, blessings and prosperity. He will give us everything we need but we have to totally trust Him. “Sitting” is an attitude of rest. The work was finished by Jesus. Now, we are truly seated with Christ in Heavenly places. We are one with Him on His throne in Heaven.
How does this work out in real life—sitting in Christ? Well, it’s like sitting in a chair—we trust the chair to hold our weight as we sit on it. We get tired when we walk or stand but when we sit down we feel rested after a while. When we sit our whole body relaxes because the work is being done by something outside of our body--like a chair. This is true in the spiritual realm too, because it means we are resting the whole weight of our Christian life upon Jesus. Our load, our future, our behavior, everything is rested on Him. We understand that it is Jesus who is carrying the load and not us. We stop trying to carry it ourselves because we can’t carry it anyway. God’s word is unchanging:
Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. Psalm 98:1
When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." The LORD has done great things for us, And we are glad. Psalm 126:1-3
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith. 1 John 5:4
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