Changed On The Inside

About a week ago when we were in a Bible study the comment was made that, "Only God knows the condition of the heart." I have been pondering this and how it relates to the new covenant. You see, if our heart condition cannot be seen then there is no difference between the old covenant and the new. If I go to church, tithe my income, eat the right things, and do not sleep around on my wife then I am just as good as the next guy. Right?

The new covenant says “no” that is not the case. The new covenant is about relationship but also it is about a new life that is more than doing the right things. There is a new “want to” inside of us that likes different things, talks about different things, has an attraction to different things. This makes us, well, different.

Let me quote a couple of Scriptures that you are familiar with but listen to them again. In Romans 8:5-6 it says:

“Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”

Then again in Ephesians 4:23-24 it says:

"that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

So, can we tell if a man has been saved and has the spirit of God inside of them? I would say "yes. " I have to admit that I say this with a little hesitation because someone who got saved yesterday may look and act the same as they did the day before. on the other hand, if a man tells me that he has been saved for 20 years and there is no difference between the man that he was and the man that he is today I would say there is a big problem. Jesus Himself said that you shall know a believer by his fruit in Matthew 7 and then Paul backs that up in Galatians 5 with the evidence of that fruit.

In my own life I know that each and every day God is dealing with me in some arena of my life to conform me into the image of His Son. I can only pray that I am not one of those who claim to be saved and then look like the world around me. The new covenant promises an inward change that displays itself in outward ways.

Lord help me if I am not changed on the inside. His Spirit is the only One Who can change us.

#change #bible #newcovenant #oldcovenant #newheart #oldheart