New heart in the bible
The concept of a "new heart" is a significant theme in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. Here are some key passages that mention a "new heart":
- Ezekiel 36:26-27: "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh, that you may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God."
- Jeremiah 31:31-34: "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
- Deuteronomy 30:6: "And the Lord your God will circumcise the heart and the kidneys of the nations of the earth, and you shall go in and possess the nations that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall possess them and dwell among them."
- Psalm 51:10: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."
- Isaiah 57:15: "For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'"
In these passages, a "new heart" refers to a transformed and renewed heart, one that is no longer hardened and rebellious against God. It is a heart that is capable of loving and obeying God, and is characterized by a desire to follow God's laws and commands.
The concept of a "new heart" is closely tied to the idea of regeneration and salvation. In the Old Testament, it is often associated with the promise of a future restoration and redemption, when God would restore his people and give them a new heart. In the New Testament, this idea is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, who offers salvation and a new heart to all who believe in him (e.g., Ezekiel 36:25-27; Romans 2:29; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
In summary, the concept of a "new heart" in the Bible refers to a transformed and renewed heart, one that is capable of loving and obeying God, and is characterized by a desire to follow God's laws and commands. It is a central theme in the Old Testament, and is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.