Hello
@rockytopva,
Those are some good passages, they reminded me of the ones from my original post. However, the one you shared in greek there is a word within those passages called homologeo, which means that the mouth confesses with what the heart believes. Anyone can believe in the Lord Jesus, and confess his name but at the same time be lying within their heart.
It reminds me of passages like this;
John 12:42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
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Even though in the face of these passages it begs the question again, where is the heart? Do you need to cast out demons, or prophesy in the name of Jesus, or do mighty works in your name? I do no think so. It does take faith, and that is faithfully believed in the heart, and it is personal and it starts there. Do things overtime sometimes die? According to Jesus they do, concerning the parable of the sower sowing seeds. Sometimes the seed doesn't even make it into the ground and is taken away, sometimes the seed is on rocky ground but gets choked out by the riches and things of the world. Then there is the seed which sprouts and grows and carries onward.
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Matthew 13:
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
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A changed heart, is vital and that comes from learning and growing in whom the Lord Jesus is, and also abiding in Christ, and allowing the Lord Yeshua to work in and through us. To love all people believer or not, and to understand it isn't us who is doing the work but it is the Lord Yeshua whom is doing the work in and through us by the Spirit of Christ.
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Romans 8:
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
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Ultimately I would suggest that a heart for God, is something that Yahavah is looking for. Even though we dabble in a world where we have to goto work, take care of family, children. Etc... 1 Samuel 16:7
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Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
