8. What changes my heart?

law- friend or foe?
what can it do? what can't it do?

When you look into the Law of God (not bits of it...the supposed 'moral' bits) you will see God is all about purity, bright shining purity, and any blending of a hint of evil with good is TOTALLY not going to happen, accepted, in any shape or form. So for anyone who bears the mark of 'SIN" in their heart (spirit) will immediately be obvious to a God who looks on the matter of the heart.

There's no way to talk your way around this, the gift of the 'gab' will not help. The analogy on how God indentifies evil is typically the blast furnance: He does what a metalurgist does and pours the people / stuff in and what is not pure is immediately obvious, it burns in His presence, or like a bowl of molten metal other impurities float to the top and easily skimmed off and discarded. Its not cruel, unfair, wrong, the purification process is what we do, it's what God does. We hate dirt in our food, a stone in our shoe, black paint mixed in the white, we love things to be 'just right' so does God.

Gods law is a reflection of His exacting perfection.
Do you lie? a bit, alot....you are a liar
Have you stolen anything? a little thing, a big thing doesn't matter the law says you are a thief.
Have you Loved God perfectly with all your heart? ....then you must have other attractions and are an idolator
Have you looked at a woman with desire? Jesus says you are an adulterer.
Have you expressed hatred for another person. Jesus said you have murdered them in your heart. You are a murderer.

These laws bear Gods hallmark of Holiness. Do you get what this means. It means God would never lie to you. When He declares something is true, He's not making it up, stretching the truth, telling you mostly the right thing, twisting the story a bit, no, it is completely true. The same with love, honour, faithfulness, He does these things WITHOUT hint of hipocracy or error. This is Holiness because it is SOOOO unlike us. We duck and weave, always put on a good show, but underneath we are full of deceit, lies, murder, malice, selfishness ..and it goes on.

The Law of God is there to make you face your imperfections, but they are not little blemishes, they are hidden (usually) evil inside a whole lot of apparent 'good' in you, and like an achor rope heading for the ocean floor, you with evil (in a hidden form called sin) are like having leg caught in that rope and it is going to pull you inevitably to a grave for you flesh. And if you remain unaided, it will keep dragging you to what Jesus called the second death. Adam was warned of it: in dying you will die he was told. The second death Jesus said was what must be feared. All men (so far) have died, both the good and the bad, the second death is for those who sear their conscience to allow them to do what is forbidden: lust, greed, selfishness, and everything else.

WHO will rescue us from this body of flesh? Who can change the heart of man?

This is the point of CONVICTION. It is here, now the Holy Spirit is telling you without a SAVIOUR you are hopeless lost. Hopelessly. WHATEVER you do, don't go the grave without HIM. Here is also the point the sinful heart will look around and say: "but isn't there another way, isn't there someone else who knows how I can stay the same and not be impacted by this"....but stay the same?

Why would you want to live in your own fears, uncertainties, guilt for the failures you remember, never be certain what is true or right, always living in ambiguity?? why stay there? is it really safe? The Law says no and it is ignored at great peril. The law says there is a Holy one who is love, honour repect, faithful ..and haven't you been hurt by the lack of these things in people, haven't they let you down?

WHAT CAN I DO?

God has, before time, seen your predicament. He's seen the hurt, the loneliness, the hatred, everything, and before time he set in motion a rescue plan.

You are now on the cusp of a changed heart. It is like waking up and you are on the edge of huge cliff face. You didn't know while you were asleep that such a vast cliff was there!. You have seen your predicament probably for the first time, and the peril you really are in, by the morning light of God's Law, or maybe you have been convicted for a long time, struggling with the imperfections you have already clearly seen in your life...you know what misery, hatred, lies, murder is first hand, you've been to hell already and seen for yourself that there are principles operating in this world that are soooooo wrong, evil is around every corner, and you canot get free from it. God has set a rescue plan. God had done something that you being in sin could never do. Before this point there was no point being told Sunday School stories, or had the rescue plan explained, you were not ready or willing to hear. God has now got your attention. Is there a way out?