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Sincere heart and full assurance of faith
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January 14, 2024 |
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 “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22)
In the Book of Hebrews, God of love tells us the reason why God’s children should long for a sincere heart and full assurance of faith. This is because when they accomplish a sincere heart and have full assurance of faith, they can find great favor from God who is the LORD of hosts, the Almighty, and our everlasting Father.
What then should we do in our prayers to accomplish a sincere heart and have full assurance of faith according to God’s will? Let us take a lesson from the Israelites who failed to enter the promised land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey even after they were led out of Egypt and wandered in wilderness for 40 years.
1. The reason why we have to long for sincere heart and full assurance of faith
A sincere heart refers to a pure and true heart without lies or changes. That is the heart of a person of whole spirit.
Full assurance of faith refers to perfect faith that is given from above by God to those who have accomplished sincere heart. They understand God’s heart and will and obey Him completely so that they can please God. It is true faith without any doubt.
While living in the Garden of Eden, the first man Adam was a living being and there was no need of the expression of sincere heart with him because his heart was of spirit itself. As his heart was filled with truths, he simply obeyed God and gained a great favor from Him. He communicated with God who is Spirit, and had wealth and power as the lord of all creatures.
After Adam committed a sin, untruths began entering his heart and he was no longer of spirit itself. He became a man of flesh whose heart is mingled with truths and untruths. As a result, he lost all power and everything he had received from God. He was driven out of the garden into the earth and was accursed and could eat bread only by the sweat of his face.
It was the greatest pain to him that he could no longer communicate with the living God. As time passed, his heart and his descendants’ hearts became increasingly tainted with untruth. They were distanced from God further and further, and instead, they belonged to the enemy devil and began to listen to Satan’s voice. However, so much thankfully, our loving Father God did not abandon them at all.
Romans 8:15 says, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” God gave His only begotten Son Jesus as a propitiation to forgive our sins and make us His children, thereby reconciling us with Him, and He sent the Holy Spirit as our Helper so that we can call God “Abba, Father.”
In this sense God leads us believers to achieve a sincere heart and possess full assurance of faith so that we can share true love with Father God and lead a happy life. In addition, He wants us to enjoy the right to become God’s children on earth and lack nothing in any aspect. He is looking forward to us entering the city of New Jerusalem housing the throne of God and inheriting the best things in heaven.
We have to measure this love of God and yearn to accomplish a sincere heart and possess perfect faith as quickly as possible.
2. What is the mirror of the Word that reflects and helps us to have a sincere heart and full assurance of faith?
1) The Israelites changed their mind until the end
God of love had mercy on the Israelites who groaned and cried out to God under the exhausting slavery in Egypt. In response God sent Moses to liberate them from the oppression of Pharaoh and bring them into the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey.
However, after the Exodus, the Israelites continually grumbled and complained against God, saying, “There is no water to drink. I want to eat meat. Moses and Aaron brought us out of Egypt, a good place to live, to die in this wilderness.”
When God parted the Red Sea and they crossed on the dry land, and when He rained down manna every day and brought them quail, they were thankful only then but complained and grumbled time and again whenever faced with difficulties. They changed their mind repeatedly. Because of their changing mind, they couldn’t believe the promises of the faithful God.
But God was so much patient with them bearing their leader Moses in His mind, and led them to the gate of the land of Canaan after they wandered in the wilderness for four decades.
Unfortunately, some of them complained there, saying “There is no water to drink. The road is too difficult.” As that result, though the Israelites had just finished wandering in wilderness in 40 years, many were bitten by fiery serpents and died a hollow death at the door of blessing.
It is the same today. No matter how many miracles, signs, and wonders we see and experience, we cannot receive blessings unless we cast off changing attributes and fleshly nature. With such fleshly nature, we rejoice and appreciate when we prosper but we complain under poor condition and depending on situations, thereby overturning the vessel of blessing.
We cannot possess perfect faith until we get rid of the fleshly nature of changeableness and cultivate sincere heart.
2) The Israelites had a lingering attachment to the world until the end
God promised the Israelites, saying, “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” and told them to obey His commandments such as: “Have no other gods before God. Do not worship idols. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not covet what is your neighbor. Do not do abominations like the inhabitants of Canaan did.” He repeatedly asked them to be sanctified.
God did not only give them the commandments. When they sinned, He let them slaughter an animal and offer its blood for their sin offering, and through it He made them know that the result of sin is death. They also witnessed their neighbors were judged by God and put to death in wilderness because of their sins.
When they arrived at the door of the land of Canaan, the Israelites began to commit harlotry with Moabite women and perversely worshiped idols. It resulted in deaths of more than 20,000 by plague. And in the middle of conquering the land of Canaan, Achan was so greedy that he stole the spoils dedicated to God. Because of his sin, Israel was defeated in the battle and he was stoned to death.
The promised land of Canaan was a rich land flowing with milk and honey. At the same time, it was so full of the inhabitants’ sins that they couldn’t but help being judged. That’s why if the Israelites were not of sober spirit in that land, they would lead a lukewarm life in material abundance or indulge in secular pleasures. For that reason, God had trained Israel in those long years of wilderness to make them a holy nation.
Suppose you lived in a wilderness for long and suddenly began to enjoy material abundance. Could you still look to God and keep His commandments as before? You should completely cast off the love of this world to love God first of all, have a sincere heart and to possess the full assurance of faith.
3) The Israelites could not win a complete victory in the warfare to conquer Canaan.
Caleb from the tribe of Judah completely relied on God and by faith he conquered the land God had promised him as inheritance. But some tribes including the tribe of Dan couldn’t fully occupy their inheritance land because they relied on their own methods and strength. Joshua, Moses’ successor, prospered when he inquired of God’s will, but he was deceived by the inhabitants of Gibeon in Canaan when he did not inquire of God (Joshua 9).
‘Arrogance’ is deeply rooted in heart. Hebrews 10:22 says, “… let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
When we possess spiritual faith by relying on the power of God the Creator and dedicate ourselves to the Word and prayers with the power of the blood of Jesus Christ and the help of the Holy Spirit, we will not only cast away evident evils but get rid of the evil of conscience and the root of evil hidden deep in our nature without any residue.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We can cultivate a true heart and have full assurance of faith in the Lord through the circumcision of heart. If your defiled heart is washed away clean through the blood of Jesus Christ by repentance but defile your heart again by committing a sin, your heart cannot be deemed to be circumcised. Just as physical circumcision is performed by removing foreskin dirty and smelly, the heart is circumcised when the skin of sin is completely removed from a defiled heart (Jeremiah 4:4).
Therefore, when we circumcise our heart and fill it with the truth, we will achieve a sincere heart and possess a full assurance of faith. I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ you may accomplish a sincere heart and possess full assurance of faith and come closer to God.
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