THE HEART IS THE PLACE
Encounters with God happen in only one place: the heart of New Covenant disciples. The heart is the place where all spiritual activity occurs as we see in the following table:

It is worth noting that all of the characteristics of a clean, pure heart are essentially invisible to everyone except God who knows our hearts. It is also true, however, that the overflow of our hearts is evident to others as good works which include, but are not limited to, the following:

When all of the above characteristics are present in the hearts and activities of any person, and when that person otherwise rejects all of the principles that characterize Defiled Religion that others can observe in favor of Pure Religion that only God can observe, that person may be said to be a New Covenant disciple.

It must also be said that people in whom these characteristics are present have God’s name (i.e. character) and spiritual laws written on their hearts. This is how they qualify for status as a New Covenant disciple.

But, the heart is not always a positive place as we see in the following scriptures:

STUDY TIP: See HIDDEN LIFE OF OUR HEART for more about the heart.

Because these characteristics of the heart are not consistent with God’s character (i.e. name), it must be said that people in whom these characteristics reside are not New Covenant disciples. Rather, they are Old/First Covenant religionists who observe religious laws. This is true for practitioners of any religion (including Jews, Christians, and Muslims) and for those who practice no religion at all. It is also true for people who who do not even believe in God because even unbelievers still observe their own personal laws, household laws, civil laws, institutional laws which are all created by people who may or may not claim to have been inspired by God when they created those laws.

What people who make laws of one kind or another claim about the source of their inspiration makes no difference to God and should not be a matter of concern for anyone who follows the laws which they have created. Sometimes these human laws are consistent with God’s spiritual laws, but generally they are not.

Generally, we want to interpret scripture’s symbolic meaning. However, the scripture that says the heart is deceptive and sick beyond cure is one of those scriptures that may be interpreted literally. We can also easily understand scriptures that say only God knows our hearts. That means also that we do not know our own hearts the way God knows them. Thus we don’t know when any of the above negative aspects of our hearts are at work. That is why we are dependent on God to show us what is in our hearts so we might know our hearts the way God knows them.

The process begins when God tests our hearts.

STUDY TIP: See Death, Resurrection and New Life, DISCIPLINE THROUGH CONFLICT, Examine Yourself and Study for Discipline.