iCrucified

I’ve been attending other reading and other studies, but have been drawn back to my “Romans Road Rules” thoughts and wanted to pick back up again with that exploration.  I’m picking up with chapter 10 of Paul’s letter to the Roman believers and following through chapter 13.

The passage that grabbed my attention on this reading adventure follows:

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.  As the Scriptures tell us, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.’ Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him.  For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.’” Romans 10:9-13   

My question is; “what does it really mean to believe in your heart“?

While it is not my place to or intent to come off as critical or judgmental, I think many of us have an incorrect interpretation of “believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth…” According to my experiential witness and observation (I know I am painting with a broad brush, so I restrict my commentary to include the general populous of my tribe affiliation…white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant, Americans), we believe “confess” means audible and  verbal agreement to a statement. We understand and define “belief/believe” to include the act of “confessing” with association to an acknowledgment of agreement toward a system or thing. An example of “believe” by this definition might be me confessing my acknowledgment in a friend’s integrity or character; I might say, “I believe in you…” to them. This confession may or may not change my behavior toward the rest of the world or how I respond to said friend; it is simply an open confession that I recognize their integrity/character. I could present other examples, but I am hopeful that this one is sufficient to support my premise. My point is that I think, while this example is an accurate explanation for “believe,” I think it is just one example and a shallow representation of what is intended by “believe in your heart” from Paul’s letter.

Why do I think our general understanding and definition of “believe” is shallow? Let’s examine a couple of definitions, but before we do, let me add that I do not think we put emphasis (from the perspective of the western mind) on what it means when we add “with heart” to believe. I think that we perceive those added words to act more as a descriptive identifier much like an adjective or adverb as opposed to describing the origin of the belief. Hopefully, our definitions will help to clarify my thoughts.

Heart, as defined by the English dictionary (Merriam-Webster), is as follows:

• A hollow muscular organ of vertebrate animals…
• A playing card marked with a stylized figure of a red heart…
• Personality; Disposition <a cold heart>
• The emotional or moral as distinguished from the intellectual nature…

Heart, as defined and used in the Greek (from our passage – Romans 10:9), is as follows:

Kardiða [Strong's #2588]

• that organ in the animal body which is the centre of the circulation of the blood, and hence was regarded as the seat of physical life
• denotes the centre of all physical and spiritual life
• the vigour and sense of physical life
• the centre and seat of spiritual life
  • the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavour
  • of the understanding, the faculty and seat of the intelligenc
  • of the will and character
  • of the soul so far as it is affected and stirred in a bad way or good, or of the soul as the seat of the sensibilities, affections, emotions, desires, appetites, passions

Heart, as defined and used in the Hebrew (from our passage – Romans 10:8 quoting Deut. 30:12-14), is as follows:

Lebab [Strong's #3824]

• inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding
  • inner part, midst
    • midst (of things)
    • heart (of man)
    • soul, heart (of man)
    • mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory
    • inclination, resolution, determination (of will)
    • conscience
    • heart (of moral character)
    • as seat of appetites
    • as seat of emotions and passions
• as seat of courage

I think as we work our way backwards through the translations and cultural usage of the word “heart” we begin to notice that meaning and intended use of the word has changed. The primary use and understanding of the word “heart” from the Hebrew mind is the “inner man” and the locus of all that a man is…mind, body, soul, intellect, conscience, passion…everything. The Greek understanding is similar to the Hebrew, but there begins a separation of this same inclusiveness as the Hebrew understanding. Two millennia later, we arrive at our current English understanding of the usage for “heart.” We see that separation of meaning-definition has been completed and there is little resemblance to the original intent of the Biblical texts. Why is this significant?

The significance of this observation is recognized in the current state of lackluster Christianity (specifically in the Western world) displayed to the world. The great sadness is that Christianity, as it is witnessed today, resembles nothing of the man-God, Jesus, or his teaching from which Christianity takes its name. I looked at a number of polls reporting statistics over the last ten years and find the general consensus to be eighty-five to ninety-five percent of Americans profess a belief in God… Now, I’m not sure if that should be “god” or God, because the clear evidence is that the direction of our country’s beliefs are not indicative of “believe in your heart” according to the Hebrew intent of “believe” and “heart.” If we drop numbers of people who believe in a higher power other than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the website adherents.com still reports the numbers of Christians (or people who aligned themselves with Christian beliefs) to be around eight-five percent. I wonder, if these numbers are true, why our country struggles with the social issues that we do. My conclusion is that we do not “believe with our hearts…” We (westerners), by the larger percentage, believe with our minds and acknowledge God with verbal confession, but our hearts are left unchanged. Unfortunately, the end result of this truth remains a soul (or souls) that are no closer to God than the person who boldly rejects Him.  Even sadder, many of those people professing belief in God, do not realize they are separated (see Matt. 7:21) from God because they still remain unbelieving in their hearts. I realize there might be people that will read this and accuse me of judging people unfairly. I’m reasonably sure that I will have people accuse me of having a “holier than thou” attitude…being a “Pharisee.” I am sorry if I come across like that, because that is the furthest thing from what I intend. My heart is heavy for the people I love; friends, family, relatives, and acquaintances alike. Maybe, I should change the focus of my writing and sharing from the negative to investigative. Maybe we should see what the Bible shares with us regarding “believe with your heart” and how that confession of the heart is evidenced in a physically visible way.

Here are a few scripture thoughts that immediately come to mind…

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:14-17)

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice– the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

I think that we can interpret the scriptures above to mean that “believe with your heart” is evidenced by a changed life. It is not enough to merely confess with the mouth that “I believe.” The evidence of belief is realized by the change in every aspect of an individual’s life. The “new heart” that is mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel is “Lebab.” This means that God changes the person who “believes with their heart.” He (God) puts a “heart” that is predisposed toward Him into the person who submits their whole self to Him. Let me summarize how the apostle Paul illustrates this in word pictures…he writes:

“Don’t pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Live in harmony with each other…and don’t think you know it all. Do all you can to live in peace with everyone. Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see.” (Romans 10:9-12; 13:13)

We see an even more powerful illustration in the short discourse on love (AGAPE) from the apostle in his letter to the church in Corinth (you can read this series here).

…believe with your heart. It is more than a profession of faith; it is a changed life because of a new heart, a new locus of being. The Hebrew mind, and the original intent of the authors of scripture meant this change would be evidenced in the inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, and understanding. It would affect the heart (of man), soul (of man), mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory (of man), inclination, resolution, determination (of will of the man), and the conscience (of the man). It would change the appetites, emotions, and passions of the man…all of which would be now predisposed and effectual toward the Creator God. Final question; Do I believe with my heart? I believe that I do because my hunger continues to be for God with an overwhelming appetite. I want to see the answer of Jesus’ prayer (John 17) become true in my life. I want to know the Creator Father, Savior Son, and Indwelling Holy Spirit as One not only as the Person of God, but in my life as Jesus Christ prayed on that night. Because of this desire and the change that has been wrought in my life, I believe with my heart. I pray, God, continue to create in me that new heart. Amen.

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