Written on
the heart, nature of God, divine nature, ways of God, His ways, grace, conduct required,
salvtion
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"For
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write
them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
(Heb 8:10)
What did the apostles
and patriarchs understand when they talked of things written on the heart?
"(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of
God, but the doers of the law will be justified; 14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law,
by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a
law to themselves) 15 who show the
work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing
witness, and between themselves)" (Rom 2:13-15)
When gentiles did
things according to 'the law', even though they didn't necessarily understand
'the law', they showed that they had 'the law' in their hearts. That is, they obeyed 'the law' or at least
parts of it even though they weren't taught 'the law' as such. But because they conducted themselves
according to 'the law' it showed that standard was written in their
heart.
So according to this
example of Paul, if one has something written on their heart it means that
they conduct themselves in accord with that something without even thinking
about it.
"Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart," (Pr 3:3)
Solomon, here in
Proverbs, encourages his son to seek and be merciful and truthful. To accomplish this He encourages his son to
'write them on…your heart'. So
Solomon expects that if his son has these principles written on his heart,
his son will always conduct himself in accord with mercy and truth. Again a principle written on the heart
causes one to act in accord with that principle.
"Then my God put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the
rulers, and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy. And I found
a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return, and
found written in it:" (Ne 7:5)
Nehemiah found it in
his heart to register the returning Israelites. So he registered the returning
Israelites. He did what was in his
heart, not in some figurative way, but literally, in bodily fact.
"He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of
you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But
their heart is far from Me." (Mk 7:6)
One can speak
wonderful words and sayings. One can
praise and glorify God, but conduct themselves contrary to their Creator and
worship in vain. (Mat 15:9)
"And these words which I command you today shall be in your
heart." (Deu 6:6)
It is quite
apparent the Creator wanted them to obey. He tried them so He
could tell what was in their heart. He wanted to know what they would
do.
"O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear
me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and
with their children for ever!" (Deu 5:29)
"And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the
way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know
what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." (Deu 8:2)
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper
than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart." (Heb 4:12)
In scripture the heart
is often metaphorically used to represent the mind and mindset. Our thoughts and intents are the drivers
behind our actions. They hold our
approach to life, one another
and our Creator. A kind-hearted person
is a kind person. Not primarily because he
thinks kind thoughts, but because he does kind deeds. This is not difficult to understand. Even English speakers use the expression
'He took it to heart'. It means he acted appropriately on whatever 'he took to heart'.
The apostles, patriarchs and our Creator
took the analogy one step farther.
They encouraged Israel to write His code of conduct on their heart so
they would never forget and always do it.
Our Creator is
faithful to the extent He will not give up on us until we understand. Some have difficulty discerning the significance of the distinction betrween the Sinai covenant and the Old covenant. When we have His law written on our heart
we will understand and be conducting ourselves in total accord with His law
and HIs way. The judgments help explain details of His
Covenant, His Law.