God promises, “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” (Ezek. 36:26-27).

In both Old and New Testaments, the heart is the center and core of the inner person—including the mind, emotions, and will. God’s gift of a new heart includes the renewing of your mind, realigning your thinking to follow Him. God’s gift of a new heart includes the bridling and tempering of your emotions, bringing them in line with those of Jesus Christ. God’s gift of a new heart includes the altering of your will, forming a new disposition or attitude bent toward serving Him.

God promises to put a new spirit within you. This is another way of speaking about your basic disposition or attitude toward God, toward life, and toward others. Your new disposition is your tendency or inclination to love and embrace God and Jesus Christ, your Savior. A tendency to immediately bark with anger, lash out in hatred, or clench your fists for a fight gives way to an attitude of patience.

God promises to remove your heart of stone. A heart of stone is stoic and stubborn, demanding and demeaning. A heart of stone is cold, self-centered, uncaring, and incapable of shedding a tear. A heart of stone does not and cannot listen and learn. It refuses to yield. God promises to remove your stone-cold heart.

God’s gift is a heart of flesh, warm and tender and pliable. A heart of flesh can be molded by the Word of God and guided by the Holy Spirit. A heart of flesh is capable of godly emotional expression and response. A heart of flesh is a vessel fit to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And so God promises, “I will put my Spirit within you.” With a God-formed new heart manifesting renewed thinking, bridled emotions, and an altered will; with a new God-formed inner spirit, disposition, and attitude of love; with a God-formed pliable and teachable heart of flesh, God pours out His Spirit in you and upon you. The Spirit of God Himself empowers your new heart, your new spirit, and your heart of flesh. He is not impersonal fuel for a rebuilt engine or motor. He is the personal Spirit of the living God sent to put you on a new path, sent to give you new purpose in a new life.

God gives you the good gift of His Spirit to “cause you to walk” in His ways. On one hand, God gives you the gift of His Word. He gives you the ten commandments to show you how to love Him and how to love those around you. On the other hand, equipped with a renewed heart, disposition, and attitude, God also personally empowers you and causes you to follow His commandments.

All of the above is part of being born again, of being born anew, of being born from above. This new birth is a new beginning. God “causes” wonderful change to occur in you. As a child, you learn to live and grow. Maturity is not instantaneous. However, your direction is set and your goal is determined: you are being changed into the very image of Jesus Christ. This gift of God is His grace. We call it irresistible grace.

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