A New Heart and a New Spirit

Synopsis

Ezekiel 36 promises what no religious reform ever could produce by itself: 'A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.' God also promises to sprinkle clean water on His people to cleanse them from filthiness, and to put His Spirit within them to cause them to walk in His statutes. This threefold promise — cleansing, new heart, and indwelling Spirit — is the essence of the gospel's transforming power, distinct from mere external reform or resolution. The stony heart is unresponsive and unfeeling toward God; the heart of flesh is tender and responsive. This chapter clarifies that God does not simply forgive and leave the sinner unchanged; He recreates the very source of moral action so that obedience becomes the spontaneous overflow of a renewed nature, made possible only through the indwelling Holy Spirit secured by Christ's atoning work.