Hear His Voice and Believe

If it is not all of Christ for all of life, then we will spend all of life becoming far to comfortable with none of Christ, and when that hardening reaches its final point, we will enter into eternity where all of the goodness of life with Christ is gone.

If the process of heart hardening continues unabated, a day will arrive when the Word of God loses all impact on the person. Whether he reads it or hears it, it no longer serves as a voice of conviction. This final step is the refusal to repent. This is great moment of apostasy.  

In the face of the hardness of our hearts, the prophet Ezekiel brings a message of profound hope and assurance to those entrapped in the deceitfulness of sin. In Ezekiel 36 we are introduced to the promise of a New Covenant, one that Hebrews will continue to show is better in every way to the Old Covenant. Here in Ezekiel 36, we find a beautiful portrait of God's abundant grace and transforming power. The Lord declares, "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. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Ezekiel 36:26-27). 

These words speak of a radical transformation, regeneration in fact, that comes not by our own efforts, but by the gracious work of God. He does not merely clean up our old hardened sin sick hearts; He provides us with a completely new one, soft and responsive to His Word. Moreover, He puts His Spirit within us, enabling us not just to know His decrees but to live by them, not just to hear his voice, but to believe his voice. This promise, fulfilled through Jesus Christ, assures us that no matter how hardened our hearts may have become, God's grace in the New Covenant can bring about the renewal and spiritual transformation we desperately need.

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Believe in Christ and be saved!