A New Heart, a New Spirit, a New Home

Do you ever wish there was a reset button for your day? Or maybe your life?

We make the same mistakes over and over again and think we can never change. We give in to worry, anger, pride, envy, laziness, or any number of sins, and we feel trapped. We are ashamed and feel separated from God. 

Even believers feel this way sometimes because they have forgotten the freedom they have in the Gospel: Jesus provides our reset button. 

Prophesies made to Israel in the Old Testament point us forward to this hope that we have in Jesus. In Him, every believer has freedom from sin, having received a new heart, a new spirit, and a new home.

God's People Needed a Reset

When Ezekiel was a prophet among God’s people, they definitely needed a reset. Their kings had failed, leading the entire nation into sin. They rebelled against God, disobeying His law and worshiping idols. Eventually, discord even caused them to split up into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. But dividing the kingdom did nothing to resolve their sin problem. They were stuck in their sin. Because of their faithlessness, God allowed first Israel, then Judah, to be captured by their enemies and taken into exile. 

In Ezekiel 36:22-24, God used His prophet, who was living in exile in Babylon, to assure the people that He would save them and restore them to their land. He would do it, not because they deserved it, but so that he could bring Himself glory among His people and all the nations. 

He went on to say in verses 25-28 that He would cleanse them from their sin and give them new hearts and spirits that delighted in obedience. He promised to make them a home in the land of their fathers and to dwell with them as their God.

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. 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. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules, You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 
Ezekiel 36:22-28

Jesus Provides Our Reset

These promises were not just for God’s people living in exile during the 6th century B.C.. This prophecy predicts more than a return to a physical place, but the restoration of all of God’s people (including you and me) to a right relationship with God. Even if you feel trapped by sin, restoration is made possible through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

A New Heart

Jesus’ blood washes and cleanses us from our sin. The sinless Son of God takes on our transgressions so that we might be seen as righteous before the Father (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Instead of hearts that are hardened in rebellion, we are given new, soft hearts that will respond to God’s just and gracious leadership. 

A New Spirit

The Spirit of God dwells inside us so that we can be sanctified: transformed into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). God’s law is written on our hearts so that our very desires change: we delight to do His will (Psalm 40:8). 

A New Home

We are also not rejected or sent away from God. Instead, we are welcomed into His family as dearly loved children (Ephesians 5:1). We are also promised a future, perfect, eternal home with Him on the New Earth:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:1-4

Have Hope

If you feel trapped in sin today, remember the promises God has given to each and every believer. We have a new heart, a new spirit, and a new home, so that we don’t have to feel stuck anymore. We have hope. Jesus gave us a reset. If we pray that God will remind us of these truths and give us faith to believe them, He will faithfully do so as He continues to transform us into the image of Christ.

Precious Father, thank you for sending your son to make me clean from my sin. Help me not to be tempted by sin and worldly idols, but fulfill your promise to make me more like Christ: a brand new person.  Give me a new heart that is soft and responsive to your Word. Fill me with the Holy Spirit so that my greatest desire is to obey you with joy and gratitude. Thank you for adopting me into your family, and preparing a home for me in eternity. Amen.

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Respond

How should our understanding of the new heart, spirit, and home that Jesus offers change the way we live? How can we remind ourselves of this truth when we feel stuck in sin?

3 Ways Repentance Can Lead You to Joy

There’s a lot of baggage surrounding the idea of repentance.

I don’t know about you, but the first thing that enters my mind when I hear the word “repent” is people standing on street corners carrying signs and shouting into megaphones: “Repent, sinners!”

Probably not the most effective way to spread the Gospel.

I think these sorts of tactics are part of why many people have a negative association with the idea of repentance. It seems too harsh and unloving to tell anyone, believer or unbeliever, that they must repent of their sin.

What an impoverished misconception! Repentance is essential to the Gospel: the most beautiful and loving message of all.

But, that message doesn’t make sense or seem loving without acknowledging sin. Why would anyone need Christ to save them from their sins if they don’t actually believe they’re sinners? If they think they’re already a “pretty good” person without Him? If they’ve already been saved, and think that means they can just do as they please?

True repentance begins with brokenness:

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Psalm 51:3-4

To repent, you must be grieved by your sin to the point that you accept the blame for your choices and are willing to make any change necessary to be rid of it. Any pleasure that your sin formerly brought you is replaced with repulsion.

Repentance is not at all easy or pleasant, at least not to begin with, but it leads to deep and lasting joy. It will lead you to joy because of God’s abundant mercy, because you have the security of your forgiveness, and because you have freedom from enslavement to sin.

Joy in Mercy

Repentance gives us joy because of God’s mercy. To understand the depths of that mercy, we must first understand our sin, and its consequences in our lives.

Sin is rebellion against God. Anything less than perfect obedience to God is a sin: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

(I don’t know about you, but I’m really starting to sweat here...)

God’s Word clearly articulates that our rebellion against God has a divisive and deadly impact.

Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2), because God’s perfect holiness cannot be contaminated, or it wouldn’t be perfectly holy anymore.  It’s also deadly. Paul’s letter to believers in Rome doesn’t mince words on this point. He says, "the wages of sin is death” (Romans 8:23, emphasis mine). When we disobey God, that sin must be paid for, and the price is death. Without Christ, that means that we not only physically die, but spiritually die by being separated from God for eternity. Yikes.

Amazingly, instead of allowing us to suffer the proper consequences for our rebellion, God interceded to absorb our punishment Himself:  “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:23).

In his justice and mercy, God sent his Son to absorb His righteous wrath for us so that we could exchange condemnation for holiness: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

His mercy to us is incomparable. A repentant believer can be filled with joy knowing the lengths to which God has gone to save them from sin.

Joy in the Security of Your Forgiveness

Repentance also gives us joy because we have confidence that God will forgive us: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf gives us confidence to approach God for forgiveness. Because of the cross, we can be sure that we will receive mercy and grace from God when we approach him with humble repentance. He will not turn us away.

For me, this is the hardest part of repentance: believing that God completely forgives me the instant I repent. His forgiveness does not hinge on my ability to make amends for my sin.

Here on Earth, a genuine, humble confession will more often be met with anger or hard-heartedness than with immediate forgiveness and restoration of relationship. We’re simply not used to people forgiving us right away without them becoming angry. Even in a deep relationship, we expect that trust and love will require time to heal.

Not so with God.

God will not reject us when we humbly repent. His forgiveness is perfect and complete the moment we confess. The sacrifice of Jesus has already paid the price, and there is nothing more we could or would need to do to restore our relationship with Him. We are already loved and forgiven:  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Joy in Freedom

When we have repented and been forgiven we are not only set free from guilt, but also from slavery to our sin.

Before Christ, we were enslaved to sin because our selfish desires held us captive. Once justified before God through Christ, we are set free from our slavery to sin and take on Christ’s righteousness as our own (Romans 6:17-18, 2 Corinthians 5:21). We receive the Holy Spirit, who enables us to obey God joyfully, just as Christ does.

Although God delights in our obedience (1 Samuel 15:22), we must remember that it does not elevate us in His eyes: we are always His children.. Obedience is what we owed God anyway, so we will not be more our less his children based on our righteous deeds. Our standing before God is secure, once and forever.

For the believer, obedience is freedom. It is an act of worship and love (John 14:!5). It is the path of life, giving us fullness of joy in God’s presence, and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 
Psalm 16:11

Repentance is difficult but life-giving. It is an essential part of our initial justification before God and of our life-long sanctification. Growing in Christlikeness is an ongoing process; perfection in this life cannot be attained, so consistent repentance is crucial. As we become more like Him, we will continually come before God with our sins and find joy in God’s mercy, forgiveness, and freedom.

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Resource

Gavin Ortlund for Desiring God: “Four Steps Toward Joy in Repentance.”

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Respond

When you feel broken in your sin, how does repentance return you to joy? What scriptures remind you of the joy you have in God's mercy, steadfast forgiveness, and freedom when you repent?