Heart
“The inner man, the center of human personality and life”
Summary
The heart in biblical usage refers to the inner center of human personality—the seat of intellect, emotions, will, and moral consciousness—from which all the issues of life proceed.
☩The Biblical Concept
In the biblical view, human life in all its operations is centered in the heart. The Hebrew words leb and lebab, along with the Greek kardia, denote not primarily the physical organ but the invisible center of the thinking and responsible life. The heart is the seat where the process of self-consciousness is developed, where the soul finds itself and becomes conscious of its actions as its own. The terms 'heart' and 'soul' are sometimes used interchangeably, as when we are commanded to love God with all our heart and soul.
☩The Heart's Functions
Scripture presents the heart as the faculty of thought, intelligence, and memory—persons ponder, muse, and reason in their hearts. It is the seat of affections and emotions, whether joyful or sorrowful, and of desires both holy and impure. The heart is the source of purpose and volition, the organ of moral discernment and religious belief. Unlike modern English usage that distinguishes heart from head, biblical usage includes the rational and intellectual nature within the heart's domain.
☩The Natural Heart
Scripture presents the doctrine of the natural wickedness of the human heart. Before the flood, God saw that 'every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually.' Jesus declared that 'out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries' and all manner of wickedness. Jeremiah pronounced the heart 'deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.' In this natural state of insusceptibility for good, the heart is called 'uncircumcised.'
☩God's Knowledge of the Heart
God alone can thoroughly search the depths of the heart. The Lord looks not on outward appearance but on the heart. While man cannot know even his own heart fully, God searches and tries it, knowing its thoughts and intentions. This divine scrutiny means that religious reality is measured by the condition of the heart, not by external observances. Jesus emphasized that what proceeds from the heart determines a person's true defilement or purity.
☩The Renewed Heart
The whole aim of divine revelation is to change the human heart. The prophets foretold a time when God would give His people 'a new heart' and put His law within them. This regeneration replaces the heart of stone with a heart of flesh, implanting the fear of God within. The process of salvation begins in the heart by faith, which gives a new direction to the inner life. The pure in heart are promised the vision of God, and believers are exhorted to love one another from a pure heart fervently.
☩Christ's Teaching on the Heart
Jesus possessed unrivaled insight into the workings of the heart and dealt persistently with its purification as the one vital concern. He taught that the heart is the source of all good or evil in men's lives, and that dispositions and motives of the heart determine the religious value of actions. Even outwardly correct conduct done from false motives—to be seen of men—has little moral value, while humble actions from genuine heart-feeling rank high in Heaven's estimation. The repentance Jesus preached meant a change of heart.
Related Verses905 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Heart," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Heart," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 3.James Hastings (ed.), "Heart," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Heart," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).