The Practical Implications of the Sovereignty of God - Part Nine

The sovereignty of God also assures us that he is able to change the human heart. The “heart” in the Bible is the center of the human personality. Proverbs 4:23 tells us: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” However, the Bible also tells us that our hearts are corrupt by nature. Paul’s sober assessment is both gloomy and accurate. “There is no one righteous; not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-18). Given such a pessimistic evaluation, unless God changes the human heart, our ministries are a complete waste of time. Heart change takes more than clever arguments, a certain style of music, the right atmosphere, or the eloquence of a polished communicator. Given the moral and spiritual darkness that dwells in our hearts nothing short of the sovereign life-giving power of God is able to make human beings new creations in Christ Jesus. And this is what we find emphasized in the Bible time and time again.

Thus we are told that Peter was the first of the Twelve to begin to grasp the truth about the person of Jesus in a clear substantial way because the Father, in heaven, revealed it to him (Matthew 16:17). When some of the Gentiles believed as a result of the preaching of Paul and Barnabas it was because they had been appointed for eternal life (Acts 13:48). And when Lydia responded to Paul’s message it was because unknown to her the Lord came and opened her heart (Acts 16:14). Nor are these examples exceptional. This is what always happens when people come to faith in Christ. God is at work opening the eyes and the ears of the heart and liberating the will from its bondage of sin, so that people can see and hear and therefore come most freely to Jesus. What Paul says of the Christians in Thessalonica is true of all believers everywhere. “For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5). And again: “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).

This point will be be continued in my next post...