Find out why following your heart is a bad idea

[TheBibleforDummies]

When we were born again we were given new hearts with God's ways programmed into them. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). This guy is preaching Old Covenant truths to New Covenant people. Not helpful. Wrongly dividing the word. Hebrews 8:10 says, "I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts." I rest my case.

[SensusDivinitatis7]

@TheBibleforDummies

The point is that your own will, which is still influenced by the sinful nature which is not taken away until we die, is not a good guide. Rather, we must obey God. Its not that the totality of our being is determined by God. Its still wrong to follow your o w n heart.

[TheBibleforDummies]

@SensusDivinitatis You're blurring the new heart with the flesh. It's wrong to follow sinful desires, but sinful desires do not come from our heart. They come from believing a lie or the flesh. I am a new creation. I have been given a good heart. Therefore, I can follow my heart.

[TomAdams20]

Gnosticism. Read Ezekiel 36:26. Also 2 Corinthians 5:17....looks like some other Truth-lovers beat me to it. Lol

[JIKface]

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

does that include our heart?

oh yeah!

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness.. (skippd 28 for space:)

[joshuapitka]

@JIKface It's true. A redeemed heart that Jesus and the Father through the Holy Spirit of truth - how can a born-again Christian still be evil?

[JIKface]

@joshuapitka Hallelujah! Hes changed my heart and has given me new desires! Motivations for HIS GLORY! Joy in what pleases HIM! PEACE that is grounded in the only consistent thing there is.. HIMSELF!

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

praise the Lord the part of me i couldnt trust is DEAD

[EmzLoveJesus]

Wow! GREAT WORD!

[iLike2scream7]

I'm getting the impression that this speakers thinks that we have to think so lowly of ourselves to be 'real' Christians, but Jesus said to love our neighbours as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31).

[l33tpwnzord]

@iLike2scream7

You don't have to agree with him but I think we all need to account for why that scripture is there and how it fits into our worldview.

[joshuapitka]

@l33tpwnzord Pre Christ it is true. Without Christ it is true (see Ephesians 2:1-3). WITH Christ all things are made new - a new creation - a new heart. This is good preaching to the life without Christ - the life that needs Jesus. But terrible preaching for the Christian!

[iLike2scream7]

If the heart is desperately sick, then why would God give us the desires of our hearts if we follow Him? Does he want to make us sick? Psalm 34:7 says "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Of course He doesn't! Our hearts can be in good places and desire good things.

[1DarcsenOfLegend7]

@iLike2scream7 Yes, very true. The idea that God was trying to get across is that we are naturally sinful, therefore so the heart naturally is. But... God's love can change the heart. Our thoughts and desires come from our hearts; it's in constant war with good and evil. That's why Jesus said that food can't defile you, but your words, which come from the heart, can. (Matthew 15:1-20) Also (from the movie Fireproof) you can't follow your heart, you gotta LEAD it.

[iLike2scream7]

He has a mic, so there's no need for him to shout!

[joshuapitka]

@iLike2scream7 I like shouting preachers! Apparently by your name you should too! :D

[Sarot65]

feelings change from moment to moment- we are not to live by feelings. I presume that is what he is saying here.

[Sarot65]

Why are all the young pastors dressing like t.v. personalities dress today? The spike hair and t-shirts thing? If he means by not to follow your heart but is actually referring to not trusting your feelings then he's right.

[Bros928]

Got to.love the Gospel,  ;)

[MrCharrrles]

whats with all the greasy-haired pastors in this church?

[MrOhjames]

Guys, go read the bible and You will find that what He is saying is totally biblical. I mean He put the flippen verse on the screen guys.

[joshuapitka]

@MrOhjames Do you read the New Testament? Have you ever read Romans 6? "We are dead to sin and slaves to righteousness." He put an old testament verse on the screen - a verse pertinent to people under the law (ie. ALL SINNERS) - not those under the glorious grace of Jesus Christ.

[sbergz76]

@joshuapitka Yes we are slaves to righteousness if we are led by the Spirit. Our old self, our evil desires that come from our deceitful heart (ie. Jeremiah 17:9) are still there (Romans 7:21-25). When you become a Christian you don't just stop having evil desires, but Paul promised that God would not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability (1 Corinthians 10:13) and that he is healing our hearts. So this pastor is right in saying that we should not be led by our hearts.

[joshuapitka]

@sbergz76 Clearly, what is working against the born-again believer is the flesh. If your heart is right with God, you desire righteousness, but don't always do it because you find another power at work - sin. The point is this: if you are in Christ, you are no longer 'a sinner' - you are 'a saint' - a holy one. Yes, you have tendencies and habits in your life (flesh) that need dealing with and you need to change. It's not a heart issue anymore, it's a habit issue.

[sbergz76]

@joshuapitka You're right. We did receive a heart of flesh, and God's statutes are written on our hearts. Jesus said in Matthew 15:18-19 that evil desires come from the heart. If, after receiving a new heart we still experience fleshly desires, then where do those desires come from? I do agree that the desires are of the flesh, but I still think that they proceed from the heart, as Jesus said. Where else would they flow from? It is a matter of interpreting metaphorical language I guess.

[TheBibleforDummies]

@sbergz76 They come from believing a lie.

[woodone007]

YES! This guy is SICK (in a bad way)!

[beshxo]

this is so gnostic and unbiblical it makes me want to throw up!

[joranjake235890]

@beshxo ? I don't understand that fully?

You should explain your opinion farther

[InnateWhisper]

Okay, so if we're filled with the Holy Spirit, how then are we following? The spirit dwells in my heart and I'm not deceived. Maybe if you explained how following your heart parallels following your flesh, this would have made sense to me but you didn't do that. The voice of God is not audible to me AND the Word doesn't always have the answers I need. But the Spirit dwelling in my heart guides me in His way and continues to change the lives of others.

[mooney137]

I don't understand what he means when he says sin is something we are instead of something we do. That sounds like he's saying we're created sick and God is angry at us because we're not well. It doesn't seem just at all.

[jrforesh]

@mooney137 We are all born in sin and that is a Biblical certainty. I disagree with just about everything that comes out of this church but this message is absolutely true.

[BristinNan]

I believe that our hearts can be full of junk, but if we set our hearts to seek the Lord then He reveals the garbage that He will then give us grace to change. I mean Psalm 37:4 says to "delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Why would God give us the desires of our heart if they are evil? He is our redeemer and our savior and His grace is so sufficient for us that it changes our heart to desire purity, holiness, righteousness.

[teed60]

One last thought...what is up with the t-shirt brother!

[teed60]

Follow Christ,be separated from the world we know his voice.We ask that our hearts be opened by the Lord and examined.

[therepentantmouth]

God's commandments are written in our hearts, conviction is from the heart, but we shouldn't listen to our hearts? If I didn't listen to my heart and kept listening to what my mind wanted, I wouldn't be Christian...I love God/Christ isn't love from the heart? Why would God give nonbelievers a heart of stone, in so hardening their hearts? I'd rethink this one a little more...God Bless

[MrOhjames]

@therepentantmouth No You are wrong in some of what You are saying here, biblically. Conviction is NOT from the heart it is from the Holy Spirit. What You think was Your heart was the Holy Spirit. And what You say is Your "mind" is actually Your heart. This is a biblical truth.

[rosiet613]

personally i believe that humanity is the reflection of God. Therefore we were never born as failures. if we failed in something that was from our own doing. which is freewill, a gift from God all its own. adam and eve were not born failures, they failed because they followed their own free will. that's a private choice.

I don't want to be attacked for my ideas etc I don't care what religion people come from. religion is beautiful if it's allowed to grow on its own. not preached. not recruited.

[rosiet613]

perhaps he should've continued with that quote:

"the human heart is most deceitful and desperately sick. who really knows how bad it is? But I know! I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve".

therefore one can argue that it is okay to follow one's heart, for judgement can only be cast by the LORD and no other. the passage is talking about faith and wisdom... not the birth of human sin.

[33AlterEgo33]

Imwatchingu7 if you had a shred of biblical understanding you'd understand exactly.

[Imwatchingu7]

The hart is deceitful above all things ?

The hart is sick ?

We are all failures ?

We were born desperately sick ?

I must say I disagree  With all of that

Thats a load of crap