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NASB | Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, |
Subject: Are our hearts HOLY or Wicked? |
Bible Note: Angel - please note Paul's discourse in Romans 7:14-25. He declares that he knows that no good thing dwells in him, where is this? (v 18)It is not his heart- it is in his flesh. By Christ's death and resurrection and indwelling Spirit upon our confession of faith, we have been freed from the penalty for sin and we have been freed from the power of sin. In heaven we will be free from the presence of sin. My sense is that we are ignorant of or complacent about the power that is in us, by the indwelling Spirit of God. Our hearts have been regenerated, they have been circumsized by God. "Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live." Dt 30:6 Apart from God's enabling we cannot keep His commands. In no way am I claiming that we do not still sin! Our old nature is still resident as Paul declares in Romans 7. Evil dwells in our flesh; yet, God can not exist with evil( No evil dwells with You. Ps 5:4). . . God's dwelling place is holy (Ps 46:4) Although we have sin dwelling in our flesh, the Spirit of God dwells in us: For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; 1 Cor 6:16; Christ dwells in our hearts thorugh faith (Eph 3:17) This is the realization of Lev 19:2 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.Lev 19:2 Our hearts of stone have been changed, transformed by God."Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Ezek 36:26 As believers, our hearts have been changed, though once wicked and dead to God, He has made them to be His dwelling place: clean,good and holy, Through the power of Christ, we can resist sin. Daily we have a choice, to live from the heart or live from the flesh. (Rom 8:1-14) Think of it, this is the effect of the Incarnation - God with IN us! We have been crucified with Christ, we are dead to sin and it's penalty and we CAN be freed from its power if we allow Christ to live through us.(Rom 12:1-2) What potential we have - we can be all that God desires us to be. Blessings, mommapbs |