“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:9-10
Why do we argue the heart of most men is good? When God says without bias it is not. You want proof, just look at the catholic teachings. Or any religious teachings. The recently deceased pope francis always said “if you are a good person you will go to heaven.” He even pulled atheist into this equation. And in some ways it is true, but what is good in the eyes of God is very different than mans ideas. And this is the problem.
The biggest problem is man thinks and uses his heart (which is a way of saying his feelings) to live his life. But a man who lives with his feelings is like the waves of the ocean being tossed to and fro. Yet because of men like pope francis and other religious people pushing or acknowledging the emotions of people and trying to make it religiously OK with God and you will still obtain salvation while living a life in the flesh (in your feelings). You believe this lie and remain in your sin and pushed around like the waves of the ocean.
This is a perfect example, we think it is good, but is it? In the eyes of God it is not good, and why our hearts and ways are evil.
The second part of this verse is important also, because you will receive or bear fruit or in other words the results you have. They are based on how you live. Do you live to and bear the fruit of the flesh? Or of the Spirit because you die onto the flesh and allow God to change what is in your heart, to shape and mold it into his image?
To live in his image is because you listen to him and let him reform or transform your mind into how he expects you to live. No religion is teaching this today, they instead teach the opposite where God accepts you as you are ad pretends to not see your sin or gives you a simple little tradition like confession or eating the ‘holy eucharist” as the way to salvation, which then allows you to remain in your flesh and sin. They also convince you that you are following the Spirit because of some tradition, like confirmation or a sinners prayer, when there is no evidence or bearing good fruit to prove it.
But to the man with the evil heart who thinks his heart is good and does not need to change, it is music to his ears so they go along with the deception or lie.
I know this lie because I lived it. For 40 plus years I read my bible, went to the catholic church, never killed anyone or did the major sins, and the sins I did do I could justify easily in my mind. A good friend of mine for many of those years always said he was a good person, and we were the same in almost everything. We were both sales guys, loved the Hawkeyes, went to bars to drink and see half naked women… Many things we justified and between us and other like minded people we were all good people and surely God would accept us.
But I came to know him and understand this is a lie, the greatest deception we can follow. The Lord also reminded me of the Jews and the holocaust. Most of us think what happened to the poor Jews was a tragedy, but was it? God can stop anything anytime. So why did he not? I do not know the real answer to that question, however it most likely was because they were not listening to him and following false gods like they did over and over in the old testament times. When they heard and obeyed, all was good. When they did not, the wrath of God came upon them and he destroyed them, their livelihoods, and took their land… The main thing is they must not have been listening and obeying in order for God to allow this to happen to them.
But we look through our eyes as it was a HUGE sad event and bad. Like God was not in control and was up there crying and concerned over what happened and completely out of his control. I am not saying hitler was doing justice, he was an evil tool the Lord used to accomplish what he intended to accomplish. But what is being said is we think we are good and OK with God the way we are in the flesh, when we are not nor can be.
This is the biggest thing with a man who has died unto himself and those who did not. The men of the flesh and world still think like the world and they are good the way they are. Where a man of God now sees how and what God expects and tries to tell the ones of the flesh they need to repent and change, but they don’t want to know this truth which sets them free. They cannot see it, no one can when i nthe flesh. It is something which must be done in you by the way of dying onto yourself so the Spirit can invade you and lead you into all righteousness. He can only do this by re educating you according to the truth in Yeshua. We think we live in the truth but when you come to know the truth who is Yeshua, you will understand you know nothing of the truth, thst you were living a lie and did not know it. This is the real grace, the fact you lived the way you thoughts was good, but when the light showed you the truth and you saw it was not good, you repented and seeked the change necessary to become a man with a repented heart, your emotions die and you live according to the truth in the Spirit instead of letting your flesh ruin your life and then crying over poor little me. This is one of the worst things in the eyes of God, where you live your life without him, destroying it and bringing problems he did not want for you, and then you crying about it and complaining to him and blaming him. This is of the devil, and most religions in one way or another teach this as OK and send you to man counselors who tell you and keep you in this poor little old me mentality.
