Message
From the memory verse, we see straightaway that the visa to heaven is a pure heart. The state of your heart determines whether you will go to heaven or not. This is because your words and actions will be based on the state of your heart. Matthew 12:34 says:
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Mathew 5:28 says that if you look at a woman to lust after her, you have committed adultery already. The same is true for women. Leviticus 17:11 says the life of an animal is in its blood. The heart is the organ that pumps blood into the body; this means that the heart is the seat of life. Keep your heart diligently for indeed, out of it are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).
When you become born again, your bloodline changes. You are now from the bloodline of God. Your heart therefore becomes brand new. This is why 2 Corinthians 5:17 says when you become born again, you are now a new creature. In Ezekiel 36:26, the Lord says He will give you a new heart. With this new heart now, you have a new life flowing within you - the life of Christ Himself. 1 John 3:9 says:
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
If you are born of God, your heart now pumps the life of Jesus into your body, so you cannot commit sin. This is why I wonder at the doctrine of the 'extreme grace' preachers who say you can become born again and still continue sinning. If you are still permitting sin in your life, don't deceive yourself, you don't have the life of Christ in you. Holiness is not a doctrine of the Old Testament, it is the lifestyle and nature of children of God, whether in the Old Testament or not. Yesterday, in this devotional, we discussed holiness and we did not make reference to any Old Testament Scripture; all the Scriptures were from the New Testament. Don't let anyone deceive you with false doctrines of grace coexisting with sin. Without holiness, no man can see God.