A Call To The Remnant

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

At first glance, this verse appears to stand in tension with God’s promise:

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” (Ezekiel 36:26)

Yet the two passages are not contradictory. It is my conviction that, while the believer has indeed received a new heart and a regenerated spirit through the new birth, he must still contend with the lingering influence of the old self-life operating through the soul and the flesh. The possession of a regenerated spirit does not remove the necessity of daily taking up the Cross, nor does the gift of a new heart eliminate the believer’s need for ongoing sanctification.

The deceitfulness spoken of by Jeremiah reminds us that the heart, as Scripture frequently employs the term, often refers to the comprehensive inner life of man and, at times, to the whole man himself. It is my conviction that Jeremiah is speaking of fallen man in his totality. The entire man,body, soul, and spirit,was corrupted through Adam’s fall and therefore stands in need of God’s redeeming and renewing work.

Yet, within fallen humanity, the soul, intimately allied to the flesh and the self-life, remains particularly susceptible to deception. The mind, will, and emotions, when operating independently of the regenerated spirit and the Holy Spirit, naturally gravitate toward self-rule, self-preservation, and independence from God. Consequently, the believer must learn not to trust the impulses of the natural man, but to walk according to the regenerated spirit under the government of the Holy Spirit.

This understanding sheds light on David’s prayer:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

David’s prayer acknowledges that the believer cannot fully discern the hidden workings of the self-life. Only God, through His Word and Spirit, can expose those areas where self still seeks dominion.

This is precisely why the ministry of the Word of God is indispensable in the life of the believer:

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

The expression “dividing asunder” is translated from the Greek word merismos, derived from the verb merizō, meaning to divide, separate, distribute, apportion, or distinguish one thing from another. The emphasis is not merely upon dividing something in half, but upon making an exact distinction between things so intimately united that man cannot separate them by himself.

The idea conveyed is one of precise discernment and exposure. The Word of God penetrates so deeply into the inner life of man that it exposes what is truly soulish and what is truly spiritual. The imagery is surgical rather than destructive. It is the work of a Divine Physician, laying bare those hidden motivations and impulses that remain concealed even from the believer himself.

It is particularly significant that the writer (I believe it to be Paul) speaks not of the division of body and spirit, which would be self-evident, but of “soul and spirit.” These two aspects of man’s inner life have become so deeply intertwined through the Fall that only the searching ministry of the Word of God, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, can accurately distinguish between them.

The progression within the verse itself is striking. The Word pierces to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, then of joints and marrow, and finally discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. Thus, the Word reaches the deepest and most hidden realities of man’s being.

The soul and the spirit, though closely intertwined, must therefore be separated. What has become deeply entangled through the Fall can only be distinguished and divided by the searching ministry of the Word of God illuminated by the Holy Spirit. The believer may sincerely believe that he is acting spiritually, when in reality he is merely acting from the self-life operating through the soul.

Thus, Hebrews 4:12 teaches that only the Word of God can accurately distinguish between that which proceeds from the soulish self-life and that which proceeds from the regenerated spirit. Such discernment is indispensable if the believer is to walk under the government of the Holy Spirit rather than under the subtle dominion of self.

An important aspect of this conflict concerns the relationship between the will and the emotions. It is my conviction that men are principally governed either by their will or by their emotions. The emotions, though God-given, belong largely to the realm of the soul and, when left unchecked, are often strongly influenced by the self-life and the flesh. Consequently, emotions frequently seek to lead man away from the will of God.

True obedience to God ultimately requires an act of the will. The believer must choose to submit himself to God, even when his emotions pull him in another direction. Spiritual maturity is therefore not measured by the intensity of one’s feelings, but by the steadfastness of one’s obedience.

The Garden of Gethsemane provides the supreme example. There, the Lord Jesus experienced the full weight of human emotion as He contemplated the Cross, even to the point that His anguish was expressed as great drops of blood:

“And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” (Mark 14:36)

The emotions of our Lord recoiled from the unspeakable sufferings that lay before Him. Yet even more profoundly, His human will shrank from drinking the cup that was set before Him. When Jesus prayed, “not what I will, but what thou wilt,” He revealed the reality of a human will that had to be consciously and deliberately surrendered to the will of His Father. It was only through this act of perfect submission that His will came into complete alignment with the Father’s will. Gethsemane therefore stands as the supreme example of obedience, demonstrating that true holiness consists not in the absence of conflicting desires or emotions, but in the surrender of the human will to the will of God.

This is not to suggest that all emotion is soulish or fleshly. The regenerated spirit itself possesses holy affections, produced and governed by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the Scriptures call us to “rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep” (Romans 12:15). We are also exhorted to “comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:4). Such responses are not the product of the self-life, but rather the outflow of a regenerated spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

The believer is therefore not called to emotional detachment, but to sanctified emotion. To love deeply, to grieve with those who grieve, to rejoice with exceeding joy, and to express compassion and tenderness are all part of the life of Christ manifested within the believer. God has not given His people “the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). These holy affections arise not from the fallen self-life, but from the regenerated spirit operating under the government of the Holy Spirit.

The question, therefore, is not whether emotion is present, but whether those emotions proceed from the self-life or from the life of Christ within. Emotions governed by the self-life often lead man away from God, whereas emotions governed by the Holy Spirit become powerful instruments for the expression of the love, compassion, and joy of Christ.

Empowered by God, the believer learns to overcome emotional reactions to any given situation and is led into the safe harbor of the will of God. Outside of His will there is a storm of indecision and anxiety, as the Scripture declares that the double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8)

The description of the “double minded man” in James 1:8 may be understood as illustrating the profound conflict that exists within the believer. The Greek word dipsychos literally means “two-souled,” suggesting a divided inner life. Such a man is unstable because competing principles are at work within him. The mind of Christ, operating within the regenerated spirit, draws him toward obedience, surrender, and faith. At the same time, the mind of the flesh, operating through the soul and the self-life, seeks independence, self-preservation, and unbelief. Until the soul is increasingly brought under the government of the regenerated spirit, where Christ rules supreme, instability and inward conflict will inevitably result.

The conflict described throughout this discussion finds perhaps its clearest expression in Romans 7, where the Apostle Paul speaks of the inward struggle experienced by the believer:

“For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind…” (Romans 7:22-23)

Romans 7 encapsulates the very conflict we have been considering, the struggle between the regenerated inner man and the principle of sin still operating within the flesh and the self-life. Yet Romans 8 immediately presents the Divine solution to the Romans 7 dilemma.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)

The first seventeen verses of Romans 8 repeatedly call the believer to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. The answer to the conflict is not found in self-effort, nor in attempting to reform the old self-life, but in living under the government of the Holy Spirit.

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5)

The believer is continually confronted with two realms, two minds, and two governing principles. The mind of the flesh remains hostile toward God:

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Romans 8:7)

Yet the believer is not left powerless, for “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). The Holy Spirit empowers the regenerated spirit, enabling the believer to progressively bring the soul and body under the government of Christ.

Paul therefore exhorts:

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” (Romans 8:13)

The Christian life is thus not lived by the power of the soul, nor by the determination of the flesh, but by walking in continual dependence upon the indwelling Holy Spirit. As the believer walks according to the Spirit, the self-life increasingly loses its dominion, and the life of Christ gains ever greater expression through the whole man.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)

The distinction between the soulish self-life and the regenerated spirit also sheds significant light upon our Lord’s solemn warning in Matthew 7:21-23:

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

It is deeply instructive that, when these men stand before Christ, they present not a life of obedience, submission, and conformity to the Father’s will, but rather a catalogue of impressive works:

“Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Matthew 7:22)

The issue was not necessarily the outward nature of the works themselves, for prophecy, deliverance, and mighty works may all, in certain circumstances, be genuine ministries. Rather, the question concerns the source and motive from which these works proceeded. The emphasis of Matthew 7:21 falls not upon performing works, but upon doing “the will of my Father.” Gethsemane stands as the supreme illustration of this principle. There, our Lord set aside every other consideration and surrendered Himself wholly to the Father’s will, praying, “Nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt” (Mark 14:36).

True spirituality is therefore not measured by the abundance of one’s activity, nor by outward manifestations of power, but by obedience born out of union with God and submission to His will. The will of God is discerned and embraced within the regenerated spirit under the government of the Holy Spirit. By contrast, religious activity may proceed from the soul, from the self-life, or even from fleshly ambition while still appearing outwardly impressive.

The tragedy of Matthew 7 is that these individuals apparently never experienced the searching ministry described in Hebrews 4:12. They desperately needed the Word of God to pierce to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, exposing the true motives and hidden intentions of their hearts before they stood before Christ. Had such Divine discernment been received and embraced during their earthly lives, they might have been brought to repentance, self-renunciation, and genuine submission to the will of God.

Matthew 7 therefore stands as a solemn warning to every believer. The great question at the judgment will not simply be, “What did I do?” but rather, “why did I do it,” and “was I doing the will of the Father, and from what source did my life and ministry proceed?” Only the searching Word of God, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, can answer that question rightly.