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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 3, 1911

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 31.

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Editorial

By F. M. W.

A New Heart

A CHANGED heart must precede true Christian deportment. This is the very essence of the new covenant relationship. In every age men have labored to obtain righteousness through forced conformity to outward observances, but the righteousness of God does not come in this way. The Jews of old sought it thus, and they sought it in vain. “Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.” Depending upon resolution, upon the exercise of the will, upon the power of their strength, they fell short of God’s standard. Every soul in every age of earth’s history has fallen in the same way who has sought to effect a change of the heart by such means.
Works of righteousness have their place in Christian experience; indeed, they are set forth in the Scriptures of truth as the evidence of the genuineness of saving faith; but good works are not the means by which righteousness may be obtained. Rather, they are the fruit of righteousness. Righteousness is the gift of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The record is that “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” We obtain righteousness in precisely the same way; for “it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.”
A changed heart can be obtained only by the miraculous working of God’s mighty power. It is wrought by a divine creative act. For this the psalmist prays: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” To this appeal on the part of every believer the Lord responds: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh.”
The creation of this new heart puts within the soul new motives and new purposes. The heart’s affections become changed; sin is seen in its exceeding sinfulness; Christ is enthroned in the soul temple as the supreme object of its affections. Of the results of this changed heart and of the manner in which the changed condition will be manifested in the life, the Lord declares: “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
Sin in the life can not be overcome until the love of sin is rooted out of the heart. Many at this point make a fatal mistake in their experience. While cherishing the love of sin, while allowing their mental vision to contemplate the pleasing, fanciful pictures which sin has created, they are seeking to prevent these sins from taking concrete form in their outward life. Thus they become the constant sport of Satan and the prey of his evil devices. They repent of iniquity only to repeat it in their experience. These need to strike at the root and mainspring of the heart’s affections. They need to pray, as did the psalmist: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” No surface work is sufficient. Thoroughly, throughly, through and through, must the cleansing process go to be effective. When this experience has been gained, there will come into the soul the joy of His salvation. Then shall we be able to teach transgressors his ways; and sinners shall be converted unto him.”
Let us look well to the secret, underlying motives and purposes of the life. Let us make sure that the soul temple has been cleansed from sin and defilement. Let us not be content to go on loving sin, and regaling ourselves in its contemplation, while seeking outwardly to conform to God’s requirements. O we need, and must have, the experience of a changed heart, the power of the indwelling Christ life! In our flesh, in our poor mortal bodies, the life of Christ is to-day seeking manifestation. Let us invite Jesus in; let us plead with him for deliverance from all the power of sin. Let us not rest content until his power has changed the heart’s affections, has taken away the love of the contemplation of all iniquity, and has taken out of our minds every impure thought, every feeling of envy and jealousy. This experience is possible to gain by his grace; this experience he will give to every soul who, in full surrender and in simple faith, will come to him for cleansing. Shall we not make this experience ours through the mighty working in us of his blessed Spirit?
F. M. W.