What actually happens to those who really repent and follow Jesus?
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 inside your spirit, 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.
And 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 ( from the New Living Translation)
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)
So how does the tender heart of obedience affect the human spirit?
The divine nature implanted in our spirit releases endless grace inside us from the Holy Spirit. Again grace is the “divine influence upon the heart” but now it is a tidal wave that floods each Christian, from the new divine nature of God Almighty dwelling within them. 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 you so that you 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 does Jesus say will be gushing from your heart by the Holy Spirit?
Well, 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?
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