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TOPIC: Pink, Arthur - Practical Christianity (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: Chapter 03c. The Great Change 4
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Conclusion
That which occasions the honest Christian the most difficulty and distress as he seeks to ascertain whether a miracle of grace has been wrought within him is the discovery that so much remains what it always was, yea, often his case appears to be much worse than formerly—more uprisings of opposition to God, more upsurges of pride, more hardness of heart, more foul imaginations. Yet that very consciousness of and grief over indwelling corruptions is, itself, both an effect and an evidence of the great change. It is proof that such a person has his eyes open to see and a heart to feel evils which previously he was blind unto and insensible of. An unregenerate person is not troubled about the weakness of his faith, the coldness of his affections, the stirrings of self within. You were not yourself while you were dead Godwards! But if such things now exercise you deeply, if your eyes be open to and you mourn over that within to which no fellow creature is privy, must you not be very different now from what you once were?
But, asks the exercised reader, if I have been favored with a supernatural change of heart, how can such horrible experiences consist therewith? Surely if my heart had been made pure there would not still be a filthy and foul sea of iniquity within me! Dear friend, that filth has been in you from birth, but it is only since you were born again that you have become increasingly aware of its presence. A pure heart is not one from which all sin has been removed, as is clear from the histories of Abraham, Moses, David. The heart is not made wholly pure in this life: as the understanding is only enlightened in part (much ignorance and error still remaining), so at regeneration the heart is cleansed but in part. Observe that Act_15:9, does not say "purified their hearts by faith," but "purifying"—a continued process. A pure heart is one which is attracted by "the beauty of holiness" and longs to be fully conformed thereunto, and therefore one of the surest proofs I possess a pure heart is my abhorring and grieving over impurity—as Lot dwelling in Sodom "vexed his righteous soul" by what he saw and heard there.
Then are we not obliged to conclude that the Christian has two "hearts"—the one pure and the other impure? Perhaps the best way for us to answer that question is to point out what is imported by the "heart" as that term is used in Scripture. In a few passages, where it is distinguished from the "mind" (1Sa_2:35; Heb_8:10) and from the "soul" (Deu_6:5), the heart is restricted to the affections; but generally it has reference to the whole inner man, for in other places it is the seat of the intellectual faculties too, as in "I gave my heart to know wisdom," etc. (Ecc_1:17) — I applied my mind unto its investigation. In its usual and wider signification the "heart" connotes the one indwelling the body. "The heart in the Scriptures is variously used: sometimes for the mind and understanding, sometimes for the will, sometimes for the affection, sometimes for the conscience.. Generally it denotes the whole soul of man and all the faculties of it" (J. Owen). We have carefully tested that statement by the Word and confirmed it. The following passages make it clear that the "heart" has reference to the man himself as distinguished from his body.
Its first occurrence is, "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen_6:5). "Before I had spoken in my heart" (Gen_24:45) plainly means "within myself." It does so in "Esau said in his heart"—determined in himself (Gen_27:41). "Now Hannah, she spake in her heart" (1Sa_1:13). "Examine me, O Lord, prove me: try my reins [motives] and my heart" (Psa_26:2)—my inner man. "With my whole heart [my entire inner being] have I sought Thee" (Psa_26:2). In the New Testament the "mind" often has the same force. On Rom_12:2, C. Hodge pointed out, "The word nous ["mind"] is used, as it is here frequently in the New Testament (Rom_1:28; Eph_4:17, Eph_4:23; Col_2:18, etc.). In all these and similar cases it does not differ from the heart, i.e. in its wider sense, for the whole soul." Ordinarily, then, the "heart" signifies the whole soul, the "inner man," the "hidden man of the heart" (1Pe_3:4) at which God ever looks (1Sa_16:7).
Now "the heart" of the natural man (that is, his entire soul—understanding affections, will, conscience) is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer_17:9), which is but another way of saying he is "totally depraved"— the whole of his inner being is corrupt. And therefore God bids us "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your hearts. . .wash thine heart from wickedness [in true repentance from the love and pollution of sin] that thou mayest be saved" (Jer_4:4, Jer_4:14). Yea He bids men "Cast away from you all your transgressions. . . and make you a new heart" (Eze_18:31), and holds them responsible so to do. That man cannot effect this change in himself by any power of his own is solely because he is bound by the cords of his sins: the very essence of his depravity consists in being of the contrary spirit. So far from excusing him, that only aggravates his case, and compliance with those precepts is as much man’s duty and as proper a subject for exhortation as is faith, repentance, love to God. So in the New Testament, "purify your hearts ye double minded" (Jas_4:8).
"Make you a new heart." But, says the awakened and convicted sinner, that is the very thing which I am unable to produce: alas, what shall I do? Why, cast yourself upon the mercy and power of the Lord, and say to Him as the leper did, "If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." Beg Him to work in you what He requires of you. Nay, more, lay hold of His Word and plead with Him: Thou hast made promise "A new heart also will I give you" (Eze_36:26), so "do as Thou hast said" (2Sa_7:25). It is a blessed fact that God’s promises are as large as His exhortations, and for each of the latter there is one of the former exactly meeting it. Does the Lord bid us circumcise our hearts (Deu_10:16)? Then He assures His people "I will circumcise thine heart" (Deu_30:16). Does He bid us purify our heart (Jas_4:8)? He also declares "From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you" (Eze_36:25). Are Christians told to cleanse themselves "from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2Co_7:1)? Then they are promised "He which hath begun a good work in you will finish it."
God, then, does not leave the hearts of His people as they were born into this world, and as they are described in Jeremiah 17:9. No, blessed be His name, He works a miracle of grace within them, which changes the whole of their inner man. Spiritual life is communicated to them, Divine light illumines them, a principle of holiness is planted within them. That principle of holiness is a fountain of purity, from which issue streams of godly desires, motives, endeavors, acts. It is a supernatural habit residing in every faculty of the soul, giving a new direction to them, inclining them Godwards. Divine grace is imparted to the soul subjectively, so that it has entirely new propensities unto God and holiness and newly created antipathies to sin and Satan, making us willing to endure suffering for Christ’s sake rather than to retain the friendship of the world. To make us partakers of His holiness is the substance and sum of God’s purpose of grace for us, both in election (Eph_1:4), regeneration (Eph_4:24), and all His dealings with us afterwards (Heb_12:10). Not that finite creatures can ever be participants of the essential holiness of God, either by imputation or transubstantiation, but only by fashioning us in the image thereof. It is the communication of Divine grace, or the planting within us of the principle and habit of holiness, which both purifies the heart or soul, and which gives the death-wound unto indwelling sin. Grace is not only a Divine attribute of benignity and free favour that is exercised unto the elect, but it is also a powerful influence that works within them. It is in this latter sense the term is used when God says "My grace is sufficient for thee," and when the apostle declared "by the grace of God, I am what I am." That communicated grace makes the heart "honest" (Luk_8:15), "tender" (2Ki_22:10), "pure" (Mat_5:8). An honest heart is one that abhors hypocrisy and pretence, that is fearful of being deceived, that desires to know the truth about itself at all costs, that is sincere and open, that bares itself to the Sword of the Spirit. A "tender" heart is one that is pliant Godwards: that of the unregenerate is likened unto the "nether" millstone" (Job_41:24), but that which is wrought upon by the Spirit resembles wax—receptive to His impressions upon it (2Co_3:3). It is sensitive—like a tender plant—shrinking from sin and making conscience of the same. It is compassionate, gentle, considerate.
In addition to our previous remarks thereon, we would add that a heart (or "soul") which has been made inchoately yet radically pure, and which is being continually purified, is one in which the love of God has been shed abroad, and therefore it loathes what He loathes; one wherein the fear of the Lord dwells, so that evil is hated and departed from. It is one from which the corrupting love of the world has been cast out. A pure heart is one wherein faith is operative (Act_15:9), attracting and conforming it unto a Holy Object, drawing the affections unto things above. It is one from which self has been deposed and Christ enthroned, so that it sincerely desires and earnestly endeavors to please and honour Him in all things. It is one that is purged, progressively, from ignorance and error by apprehending and obeying the Truth (1Pe_1:22). A pure heart is one that makes conscience of evil thoughts, unholy desires, foul imaginations, which grieves over their prevalency and weeps in secret for indulging them. The purer the heart becomes, the more is it aware of and distressed by inward corruptions.
The Puritans were wont to say that at regeneration sin receives its "death-wound." We are not at all sure what exactly they meant by that expression, nor do we know of any Scripture which expressly warrants it—certainly such passages as Rom_6:6-7, and Gal_5:24, do not; yet we have no objection to it providing it be understood something like this. When faith truly lays hold of the atoning sacrifice of Christ the soul is for ever delivered from the condemnation and guilt of sin, and it can never again obtain legal "dominion" over him. By the moral purification of the soul it is cleansed from the prevailing love and power of sin, so that the lusts of the flesh are detested and resisted. Sin is divested of its reigning power over the faculties of the soul, so that full and willing subjection is no longer rendered to it. Its dying struggles are hard and long, powerfully felt within us, and though God grants brief respites from its ragings, it breaks forth with renewed force and causes us many a groan.
In our earlier days we rejected the expression "a change of heart" because we confounded it with "the flesh." The heart is changed at regeneration, but "the flesh" is not purified or spiritualized, though it ceases to have uncontrolled and undisputed dominion over the. soul. Indwelling sin is not eradicated, but its reign is broken and can no longer produce hatred of God. The appetites and tendencies of "the flesh" in a Christian are precisely the same after he is born again as they were before. They are indeed "subdued" by grace, and conversion is often followed by such inward peace and joy it appears as though they were dead, but they soon seek to reassert themselves, as Satan left Christ "for a season" (Luk_4:13), but later renewed his assaults. Nevertheless, grace opposes sin, the "spirit" or principle of holiness strives against the flesh, preventing it from having full sway over the soul. As life is opposed to death, purity to impurity, spirituality to carnality, so there is henceforth experienced within the soul a continual and sore conflict between sin and grace, each striving for the mastery.
While then it be true that there are two distinct and diverse springs of action in the Christian, the one prompting to evil and the other unto good, it is better to speak of them as two "principles" than "natures." To conceive of there being two minds, two wills, or two hearts in him, is no more warrantable than to affirm he has two souls, which would mean two moral agents, two centers of responsibility, which would destroy the identity of the individual and involve us in hopeless confusion of thought. "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Heb_3:12) would be meaningless if the saint possessed two "hearts"—the one incapable of anything but unbelief the other incapable of unbelief. The Christian is a unit, a person with one heart or soul, and he is responsible to watch and be sober, to be constantly on his guard against the workings of his corruptions, to prevent sin hardening his heart so that he comes under the power of unbelief and turns away from God.
"Incline my heart [my whole soul] unto Thy testimonies and not to covetousness" (Psa_119:36). This is another one of many verses which expose the error of a Christian’s having two "hearts," the one carnal and the other spiritual, and making them synonymous with "the flesh" and "the spirit." It would be useless my asking God to incline "the flesh" (indwelling sin) unto His testimonies for it is radically opposed unto them. Equally unnecessary is it for me to ask God not to incline "the Spirit" (indwelling grace) unto covetousness, for it is entirely holy. But no difficulty remains if we regard the "heart" as the inner man: "incline me unto Thy testimonies," etc. The saint longs after complete conformity unto God’s will but is conscious of much within him that is prone to disobedience, and therefore he prays that the habitual bent of his thoughts and affections may be unto heavenliness rather than worldliness: let the reasons and motives unto godliness Thou hast set before me in Thy Word be made effectual by the powerful operations of Thy Spirit.
The heart of man must have an object unto which it is inclined or whereto it cleaves. The thoughts and affections of the soul cannot be idle or be without some object on which to place them. Man was made for God, to be happy in the enjoyment of Him, to find in Him a satisfying portion, and when he apostatized from God he sought satisfaction in the creature. While the heart of fallen man be devoid of grace it is wholly carried out to the things of time and sense. As soon as he is born, he follows his carnal appetites and for the first few years is governed entirely by his senses. Sin occupies the throne of his heart, and though conscience may interpose some check, it has no power to incline the soul Godwards, and sin cannot be dethroned by anything but a miracle of grace. That miracle consists in giving the soul a prevailing and habitual bent Godwards. The heart is taken off from the love of base objects and set upon Christ, yet we are required to keep our hearts with all diligence, mortify our lusts, and seek the daily strengthening of our graces.
Great as is the change effected in the soul by the miracle of grace, yet, as said before, it is neither total nor complete, but is carried forward during the whole subsequent process of sanctification, a process that involves a daily and lifelong conflict within the believer, so that his "experience" is like that described in Rom_7:13-25. The Christian is not the helpless slave of sin, for he resists it—to speak of a "helpless victim" fighting is a contradiction in terms. So far from being helpless, the saint can do all things through Christ strengthening him (Php_4:13). As a new object has won his heart, his duty is to serve his new Master: "yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Rom. 6:13) use to His glory the same faculties of soul as you as you formerly did in the pleasing of self. The Christian’s responsibility consists in resisting his evil propensities and acting according to his inclinations and desires after holiness.
The great change in and upon the Christian will be completed when dawns that "morning without clouds," when the Day breaks "and the shadows flee away. For then shall he not only see the King in His beauty, see Him face to face, but he shall be made "like Him," fashioned unto the body of His glory, fully and eternally conformed unto the image of God’s Son.
That which occasions the honest Christian the most difficulty and distress as he seeks to ascertain whether a miracle of grace has been wrought within him is the discovery that so much remains what it always was, yea, often his case appears to be much worse than formerly—more uprisings of opposition to God, more upsurges of pride, more hardness of heart, more foul imaginations. Yet that very consciousness of and grief over indwelling corruptions is, itself, both an effect and an evidence of the great change. It is proof that such a person has his eyes open to see and a heart to feel evils which previously he was blind unto and insensible of. An unregenerate person is not troubled about the weakness of his faith, the coldness of his affections, the stirrings of self within. You were not yourself while you were dead Godwards! But if such things now exercise you deeply, if your eyes be open to and you mourn over that within to which no fellow creature is privy, must you not be very different now from what you once were?
But, asks the exercised reader, if I have been favored with a supernatural change of heart, how can such horrible experiences consist therewith? Surely if my heart had been made pure there would not still be a filthy and foul sea of iniquity within me! Dear friend, that filth has been in you from birth, but it is only since you were born again that you have become increasingly aware of its presence. A pure heart is not one from which all sin has been removed, as is clear from the histories of Abraham, Moses, David. The heart is not made wholly pure in this life: as the understanding is only enlightened in part (much ignorance and error still remaining), so at regeneration the heart is cleansed but in part. Observe that Act_15:9, does not say "purified their hearts by faith," but "purifying"—a continued process. A pure heart is one which is attracted by "the beauty of holiness" and longs to be fully conformed thereunto, and therefore one of the surest proofs I possess a pure heart is my abhorring and grieving over impurity—as Lot dwelling in Sodom "vexed his righteous soul" by what he saw and heard there.
Then are we not obliged to conclude that the Christian has two "hearts"—the one pure and the other impure? Perhaps the best way for us to answer that question is to point out what is imported by the "heart" as that term is used in Scripture. In a few passages, where it is distinguished from the "mind" (1Sa_2:35; Heb_8:10) and from the "soul" (Deu_6:5), the heart is restricted to the affections; but generally it has reference to the whole inner man, for in other places it is the seat of the intellectual faculties too, as in "I gave my heart to know wisdom," etc. (Ecc_1:17) — I applied my mind unto its investigation. In its usual and wider signification the "heart" connotes the one indwelling the body. "The heart in the Scriptures is variously used: sometimes for the mind and understanding, sometimes for the will, sometimes for the affection, sometimes for the conscience.. Generally it denotes the whole soul of man and all the faculties of it" (J. Owen). We have carefully tested that statement by the Word and confirmed it. The following passages make it clear that the "heart" has reference to the man himself as distinguished from his body.
Its first occurrence is, "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen_6:5). "Before I had spoken in my heart" (Gen_24:45) plainly means "within myself." It does so in "Esau said in his heart"—determined in himself (Gen_27:41). "Now Hannah, she spake in her heart" (1Sa_1:13). "Examine me, O Lord, prove me: try my reins [motives] and my heart" (Psa_26:2)—my inner man. "With my whole heart [my entire inner being] have I sought Thee" (Psa_26:2). In the New Testament the "mind" often has the same force. On Rom_12:2, C. Hodge pointed out, "The word nous ["mind"] is used, as it is here frequently in the New Testament (Rom_1:28; Eph_4:17, Eph_4:23; Col_2:18, etc.). In all these and similar cases it does not differ from the heart, i.e. in its wider sense, for the whole soul." Ordinarily, then, the "heart" signifies the whole soul, the "inner man," the "hidden man of the heart" (1Pe_3:4) at which God ever looks (1Sa_16:7).
Now "the heart" of the natural man (that is, his entire soul—understanding affections, will, conscience) is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer_17:9), which is but another way of saying he is "totally depraved"— the whole of his inner being is corrupt. And therefore God bids us "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your hearts. . .wash thine heart from wickedness [in true repentance from the love and pollution of sin] that thou mayest be saved" (Jer_4:4, Jer_4:14). Yea He bids men "Cast away from you all your transgressions. . . and make you a new heart" (Eze_18:31), and holds them responsible so to do. That man cannot effect this change in himself by any power of his own is solely because he is bound by the cords of his sins: the very essence of his depravity consists in being of the contrary spirit. So far from excusing him, that only aggravates his case, and compliance with those precepts is as much man’s duty and as proper a subject for exhortation as is faith, repentance, love to God. So in the New Testament, "purify your hearts ye double minded" (Jas_4:8).
"Make you a new heart." But, says the awakened and convicted sinner, that is the very thing which I am unable to produce: alas, what shall I do? Why, cast yourself upon the mercy and power of the Lord, and say to Him as the leper did, "If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." Beg Him to work in you what He requires of you. Nay, more, lay hold of His Word and plead with Him: Thou hast made promise "A new heart also will I give you" (Eze_36:26), so "do as Thou hast said" (2Sa_7:25). It is a blessed fact that God’s promises are as large as His exhortations, and for each of the latter there is one of the former exactly meeting it. Does the Lord bid us circumcise our hearts (Deu_10:16)? Then He assures His people "I will circumcise thine heart" (Deu_30:16). Does He bid us purify our heart (Jas_4:8)? He also declares "From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you" (Eze_36:25). Are Christians told to cleanse themselves "from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2Co_7:1)? Then they are promised "He which hath begun a good work in you will finish it."
God, then, does not leave the hearts of His people as they were born into this world, and as they are described in Jeremiah 17:9. No, blessed be His name, He works a miracle of grace within them, which changes the whole of their inner man. Spiritual life is communicated to them, Divine light illumines them, a principle of holiness is planted within them. That principle of holiness is a fountain of purity, from which issue streams of godly desires, motives, endeavors, acts. It is a supernatural habit residing in every faculty of the soul, giving a new direction to them, inclining them Godwards. Divine grace is imparted to the soul subjectively, so that it has entirely new propensities unto God and holiness and newly created antipathies to sin and Satan, making us willing to endure suffering for Christ’s sake rather than to retain the friendship of the world. To make us partakers of His holiness is the substance and sum of God’s purpose of grace for us, both in election (Eph_1:4), regeneration (Eph_4:24), and all His dealings with us afterwards (Heb_12:10). Not that finite creatures can ever be participants of the essential holiness of God, either by imputation or transubstantiation, but only by fashioning us in the image thereof. It is the communication of Divine grace, or the planting within us of the principle and habit of holiness, which both purifies the heart or soul, and which gives the death-wound unto indwelling sin. Grace is not only a Divine attribute of benignity and free favour that is exercised unto the elect, but it is also a powerful influence that works within them. It is in this latter sense the term is used when God says "My grace is sufficient for thee," and when the apostle declared "by the grace of God, I am what I am." That communicated grace makes the heart "honest" (Luk_8:15), "tender" (2Ki_22:10), "pure" (Mat_5:8). An honest heart is one that abhors hypocrisy and pretence, that is fearful of being deceived, that desires to know the truth about itself at all costs, that is sincere and open, that bares itself to the Sword of the Spirit. A "tender" heart is one that is pliant Godwards: that of the unregenerate is likened unto the "nether" millstone" (Job_41:24), but that which is wrought upon by the Spirit resembles wax—receptive to His impressions upon it (2Co_3:3). It is sensitive—like a tender plant—shrinking from sin and making conscience of the same. It is compassionate, gentle, considerate.
In addition to our previous remarks thereon, we would add that a heart (or "soul") which has been made inchoately yet radically pure, and which is being continually purified, is one in which the love of God has been shed abroad, and therefore it loathes what He loathes; one wherein the fear of the Lord dwells, so that evil is hated and departed from. It is one from which the corrupting love of the world has been cast out. A pure heart is one wherein faith is operative (Act_15:9), attracting and conforming it unto a Holy Object, drawing the affections unto things above. It is one from which self has been deposed and Christ enthroned, so that it sincerely desires and earnestly endeavors to please and honour Him in all things. It is one that is purged, progressively, from ignorance and error by apprehending and obeying the Truth (1Pe_1:22). A pure heart is one that makes conscience of evil thoughts, unholy desires, foul imaginations, which grieves over their prevalency and weeps in secret for indulging them. The purer the heart becomes, the more is it aware of and distressed by inward corruptions.
The Puritans were wont to say that at regeneration sin receives its "death-wound." We are not at all sure what exactly they meant by that expression, nor do we know of any Scripture which expressly warrants it—certainly such passages as Rom_6:6-7, and Gal_5:24, do not; yet we have no objection to it providing it be understood something like this. When faith truly lays hold of the atoning sacrifice of Christ the soul is for ever delivered from the condemnation and guilt of sin, and it can never again obtain legal "dominion" over him. By the moral purification of the soul it is cleansed from the prevailing love and power of sin, so that the lusts of the flesh are detested and resisted. Sin is divested of its reigning power over the faculties of the soul, so that full and willing subjection is no longer rendered to it. Its dying struggles are hard and long, powerfully felt within us, and though God grants brief respites from its ragings, it breaks forth with renewed force and causes us many a groan.
In our earlier days we rejected the expression "a change of heart" because we confounded it with "the flesh." The heart is changed at regeneration, but "the flesh" is not purified or spiritualized, though it ceases to have uncontrolled and undisputed dominion over the. soul. Indwelling sin is not eradicated, but its reign is broken and can no longer produce hatred of God. The appetites and tendencies of "the flesh" in a Christian are precisely the same after he is born again as they were before. They are indeed "subdued" by grace, and conversion is often followed by such inward peace and joy it appears as though they were dead, but they soon seek to reassert themselves, as Satan left Christ "for a season" (Luk_4:13), but later renewed his assaults. Nevertheless, grace opposes sin, the "spirit" or principle of holiness strives against the flesh, preventing it from having full sway over the soul. As life is opposed to death, purity to impurity, spirituality to carnality, so there is henceforth experienced within the soul a continual and sore conflict between sin and grace, each striving for the mastery.
While then it be true that there are two distinct and diverse springs of action in the Christian, the one prompting to evil and the other unto good, it is better to speak of them as two "principles" than "natures." To conceive of there being two minds, two wills, or two hearts in him, is no more warrantable than to affirm he has two souls, which would mean two moral agents, two centers of responsibility, which would destroy the identity of the individual and involve us in hopeless confusion of thought. "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Heb_3:12) would be meaningless if the saint possessed two "hearts"—the one incapable of anything but unbelief the other incapable of unbelief. The Christian is a unit, a person with one heart or soul, and he is responsible to watch and be sober, to be constantly on his guard against the workings of his corruptions, to prevent sin hardening his heart so that he comes under the power of unbelief and turns away from God.
"Incline my heart [my whole soul] unto Thy testimonies and not to covetousness" (Psa_119:36). This is another one of many verses which expose the error of a Christian’s having two "hearts," the one carnal and the other spiritual, and making them synonymous with "the flesh" and "the spirit." It would be useless my asking God to incline "the flesh" (indwelling sin) unto His testimonies for it is radically opposed unto them. Equally unnecessary is it for me to ask God not to incline "the Spirit" (indwelling grace) unto covetousness, for it is entirely holy. But no difficulty remains if we regard the "heart" as the inner man: "incline me unto Thy testimonies," etc. The saint longs after complete conformity unto God’s will but is conscious of much within him that is prone to disobedience, and therefore he prays that the habitual bent of his thoughts and affections may be unto heavenliness rather than worldliness: let the reasons and motives unto godliness Thou hast set before me in Thy Word be made effectual by the powerful operations of Thy Spirit.
The heart of man must have an object unto which it is inclined or whereto it cleaves. The thoughts and affections of the soul cannot be idle or be without some object on which to place them. Man was made for God, to be happy in the enjoyment of Him, to find in Him a satisfying portion, and when he apostatized from God he sought satisfaction in the creature. While the heart of fallen man be devoid of grace it is wholly carried out to the things of time and sense. As soon as he is born, he follows his carnal appetites and for the first few years is governed entirely by his senses. Sin occupies the throne of his heart, and though conscience may interpose some check, it has no power to incline the soul Godwards, and sin cannot be dethroned by anything but a miracle of grace. That miracle consists in giving the soul a prevailing and habitual bent Godwards. The heart is taken off from the love of base objects and set upon Christ, yet we are required to keep our hearts with all diligence, mortify our lusts, and seek the daily strengthening of our graces.
Great as is the change effected in the soul by the miracle of grace, yet, as said before, it is neither total nor complete, but is carried forward during the whole subsequent process of sanctification, a process that involves a daily and lifelong conflict within the believer, so that his "experience" is like that described in Rom_7:13-25. The Christian is not the helpless slave of sin, for he resists it—to speak of a "helpless victim" fighting is a contradiction in terms. So far from being helpless, the saint can do all things through Christ strengthening him (Php_4:13). As a new object has won his heart, his duty is to serve his new Master: "yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Rom. 6:13) use to His glory the same faculties of soul as you as you formerly did in the pleasing of self. The Christian’s responsibility consists in resisting his evil propensities and acting according to his inclinations and desires after holiness.
The great change in and upon the Christian will be completed when dawns that "morning without clouds," when the Day breaks "and the shadows flee away. For then shall he not only see the King in His beauty, see Him face to face, but he shall be made "like Him," fashioned unto the body of His glory, fully and eternally conformed unto the image of God’s Son.