Sunday, September 19, 2010

".. I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone ...and give you a heart of flesh"


"This removal and replacement is the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, which animates the soul with new and holy affections, appetites, and abilities. In Philippians 2:13, Paul says, "it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." The exhortations that are set forth in Ephesians 4:25-32 are to those who are recipients of the grace outlined in the first three chapters.

The Gospel announces what God graciously gives in the person and work of His Son. which includes the imputation of His righteousness for our justification. God's promises also include the gifts of a new heart and new affections toward His law, from which our sanctification flows. The conclusion Paul makes is that the beauty and majesty of the law of God that was obscured and distorted by sin has now (by the regenerating light of His Spirit) been renewed in the hearts of His chosen people. Therefore, as the sanctifying work of the Spirit conforms each of God's children to the image of His Son, our behavior (words, thoughts, and deeds) will be motivated by proper love for God our Father and proper love for our neighbor." -Rev. Ken Jones is senior pastor of Greater Union Baptist Church in Compton, California

MICHELANGELO 1510
Ezekiel

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