11.17.2010

A new heart, for God's sake

Ezekiel 36:31-32 - "Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord GOD, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”

Notice two things in these two verses.
First, We loathe ourselves and our sins. This is repentance, and nothing less will do than to hate our sin and fling it from us like a greasy oil rag. But in the context of the passage, we do this AFTER we have been given a new heart. As you are repentant of your sin, be grateful that God has given You a new spirit in your heart to be so repentant.


Second, God doesn’t do this for our sake, but for His name. The nations look on and see a nation no different than them, so they blaspheme God’s name and count him as no greater than other gods. But we are to be holy because He is holy. We confess our greatest desire is to glorify God’s name, while at the same time clinging to sins, grudges and grumbling, that drag his name into the dirt.



7/11/10

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