The Work of Efficacious Grace and Regeneration
6/25 Reading Portions: Deuteronomy 30; Psalm 119:73-96; Isaiah 57; Matthew 5
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6/25 Reading Portions: Deuteronomy 30; Psalm 119:73-96; Isaiah 57; Matthew 5
Deuteronomy 30:6
“And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”
CIRCUMCISION
The circumcision of the heart is a spiritual and supernatural work; a work that must be performed by God alone. Although circumcising the heart is a commandment of God (Deut 10:16), the conundrum of its requirement causes us to cry out to God for it to be done. Heart circumcision is the work of efficacious grace and regeneration, without which man cannot be saved at all. Because God’s “name is Holy” and that He dwells “in the high and lofty place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit” (Isa 57:15), unless the Holy Spirit circumcises our hearts, we will never have a contrite and lowly spirit. Before we were saved by God’s grace in Christ, our hearts were “deceitful above all things, and desperately sick,” with a wickedness beyond our knowledge and understanding (Jer 17:9). The hearts of men estranged from God are arrogant and haughty, filled with all manner of idolatry and sins against the Almighty. Humility is far from the wicked. The best unsaved man can muster is a false humility with ulterior motives. True humility is a grace of God which comes with the grace of salvation and the grace of Christ’s presence. Yet because of the remaining corruptions in human flesh, we all have a tendency toward pride (the biblical, unholy kind), some more than others. God’s truth, with instruction from the Spirit as He exalts Christ Jesus in God’s truth, is the remedy for our lack in humility. God’s Word is the truth by which we are sanctified, set apart, made holy (John 17:17); and thus, it is by God’s truth that we are humbled. May we rejoice today in God’s goodness, as well as for the grace of His work of having circumcised our hearts. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
The lowly heart of humble souls
Dwells with the Lord on high;
And by His truth He makes us whole,
By grace, makes us contrite.