Date: 10/3/2004
Time: 10:24:43 PM
Law written on the heart? Is it in there just to guide us, or is it there to mark us as belonging to God? Wondering, wandering pastor
Date: 10/10/2004
Time: 1:12:16 PM
the current debate in our country is whether to remove the ten commandment monument or anything christian from government buildings. it is a great hope for a christian that God's precepts are written in our hearts.
Many "christians" have a bible but don't read/study it.
the Lord is inviting us to Know him, there is a promise for those who seek Him.
some thoughts
John Rodriguez
Date: 10/11/2004
Time: 7:50:01 AM
We are responsible for our "own" sin, no longer the sins of our parents (of course, psychology would remind us that this is not totally true).
Thus we must be ever vigilant to hold the law within our hearts, to recognize that the covenant is an intimate relationship, and that how we live out that covenant makes all the difference in this world and the next.
tom in ga
Date: 10/12/2004
Time: 3:20:25 AM
God's law written within me and and on my heart is there because of a love affair I have with the Father. It makes me want to do good (inspite of our sinful condition), just because I would like to make our Father happy in any way I can!
Date: 10/12/2004
Time: 6:58:03 AM
The covenant is now within the human heart, the heart of flesh, it is no longer exterior but interior. We find God within who makes his home with us. No longer do we need teachers, for the Holy Spirit teaches us all things. Indeed this is the new Covenant, the sheer gift of the Cross. Such a gift empowers us to never give up or loose heart, but to struggle for the fulfilment of the promises. Indeed, the answer to prayer is transformed in our flesh as we take seriously our vocation to live deeply in the river of God which flows through our veins.
This relationship is not acheived by us, it comes from God only, and we as we accept the gift find ourselves strengthened by this new relationship: Thus our sins are our own, they are not passed down from former generations. We stand before God alone in his unconditional love.
tom in ga
Date: 10/12/2004
Time: 12:23:29 PM
Through it all, Jeremiah is asking "How can I make you people care?" and at the same time issuing a promise ... that one day the law will be written in our hearts.
... let me know when it happens!
We can plaster it all over the courthouses, but until it's in our hearts, it's useless.
Sally in GA
Date: 10/12/2004
Time: 12:27:14 PM
The OT says we'll need no more teachers because the law will be in our hearts ...
and we love it (Psalm)
The epistle says people will have itching ears and seek teachers that teach them something else - presumably something more palatable...
Begs the question of whether the law was really ever written on our hearts.
Sally in GA
Date: 10/12/2004
Time: 5:34:52 PM
What do you all think of tying this passage into the 2 Tim passage? The law is written in our hearts and we, ideally, shouldn't need to teach each other. That is - if we're in tune with the Holy Spirit. Because ... "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." Under the New Covenant we should be learning through the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth as we read the Word.
JB in PA
Date: 10/13/2004
Time: 7:31:33 AM
Jeremiah announces a day when Israel and Judah will be bound to God in a new covenant written upon their hearts and sealed with God's forgiveness.
"The days are surely coming," says the prophet. Regardless of how devastated and hopeless things may seem in the present there is a time coming when the people's knowledge and experience of God will be so intimate that God's will and desires will be imprinted in the very centre of their lives. It is a call to not lose heart and for the faithful to align themselves with all that they know, even now, of God's hopes for creation.
Date: 10/13/2004
Time: 8:04:25 AM
JB in PA - Yes, I think ALL the lections this week tie in well together.
I wonder, though, about the infamous Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts something-or-other. "How can I understand (the word) unless someone explains it to me?"
There are still those who haven't heard or read the word. It would take a major effort and possibly a crusade to inject God's Word (and then, by whose understanding of God's Word) into every heart.
Sally in GA
Date: 10/13/2004
Time: 8:46:43 AM
Sally,
Yes - I too struggle with the idea that not everyone can aptly interpret the Word. Look at the Jim Jones' of the world. I was pondering this and then considered the Timothy passage. Mention is made that he learned the scriptures as a child (it would seem he received instruction from his mother Lois and grandmother, Eunice).
As you stated, the Word must first be received - or injected into one's heart (I like that) whether it be as a child in Sunday School, or later as an adult, and then understanding is based on the Covenant as stipulated in Jere vs.33.
Just speculating here - but if we are not under the New Covenant (or if we fail to keep it), then our understanding of Scripture will be faulty. We don't have the Holy Spirit to interpret scripture for us. Without the New Covenant, hence the presence of the HS within us, then we do not have the "teacher" to guide us into understanding. Perhaps that's why much of the world miscontrues what the Bible is all about!
Food for thought. Thinking "out loud" here.
JB in PA