"A New Heart"

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26 ESV)

This promise of transformation, spoken by God to His prophet Ezekiel, is a beacon of hope for all of us, a testament to the miraculous power of God's salvation process. God spoke these words to His prophet Ezekiel. This is part of a message God was sending to Israel. Today, for us, this speaks of the necessity of the supernatural changing of the heart during God’s process of salvation, which is the divine plan for rescuing humanity from sin and its consequences.

Israel was idolatrous and had been cast out among the nations. In the process, the name of God was being maliciously maligned and misspoken. In the Book of Ezekiel, God tells us that, “when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.” (vv20-21) God is not vain, nor proud, but God is all-powerful, and when His will is misinterpreted or called into question, God will not be slandered; He will defend His glory. God will not only defend His honor, but will do so with the utmost wrath, driving His point home to those who insult His holiness.

Yet in the same chapter, God's patience and mercy shine through. He is merciful and patient with Israel, just as He is with us. God spoke further to Ezekiel, saying that through the act of repentance, He would not only heal the people but also restore all things, including the land and the cities, thereby returning the land and people to the image of Eden. In doing so, God would silence the nations that spoke evil against God, and they would “know I am the Lord.”

Even though God had patience with Israel, they continued to stray from God until the people of God completely broken the Old Covenant. But, like all scripture, Christ and the New Covenant of His blood are foretold through Ezekiel. Let us look at verses 36:25-27:

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶ And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” Is this not the Christ? Is this not what God brought forth through the incarnation of the Son of God? Is this not the result of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus?

What I find comforting in verse 27 is that God will cause the newly made righteous to “walk in God’s statutes, and be careful to obey” His rules. When we are justified, we will still sin. In salvation, we, in our sin, are convicted by the Holy Spirt who lives in us. We are aware of our sin because we understand what it means to walk in Christ. While we are still sinful, we are “careful to obey God’s rules.” In our failure, we are still forgiven through repentance and become more diligent in our care to obey God as we grow in sanctification.

While the intent of these passages was meant for Israel, we see Christ in them and how God’s plan of redemption fulfills the very same promises to His elect today through the finished work of Christ. This fulfillment of God's promises in Christ should fill us with reassurance and hope.

Grace and Peace.