What it Means to Believe with the Heart !

WHAT IT MEANS TO BELIEVE WITH THE HEART: "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:10). We have established certain facts in the previous lessons which will be summarize here. When God speaks in His Word of the heart, He is not speaking of the physical organ which pumps blood through our bodies and keeps the body alive. He is speaking of the human spirit, which is the very center of man's being. I've never forget a man whom I heard speak as a youngster. He called it preaching, but actually he was just giving an intellectual discussion. It wasn't preaching because it wasn't New Testament; it was the Word of God. His so-called sermon poked fun at those of us who believe in old-fashioned, heartfelt salvation. He used the term "heart" literally and said that if a man had a "change of heart," he would have heart trouble and die. This is because without that man was only mind and body. But man is more than just mind and body; he is spirit, soul and body. The un-regenerated man is body, soul and spirit. Therefore, the unsaved person is dominated by the soul and body. Man was created in the image and likeness of God. Jesus said, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). We have seen that the spirit of man is not his mind. The mind is the part of the souls qualities. You can readily identify spirit if you speak with other tongues, because this speaking comes from your heart, or out of your spirit. Now you can see that to believe God with your heart means to believe God with your spirit, the inner man. In the previous lessons I referred to two scriptures which gives us God's definition of the human spirit: (1 Peter 3:4) "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." (Romans 7:22) "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man." "The hidden man of the heart" is the spirit, the real man or woman. This real man, the hidden man, the inward man, is spirit. He has a soul and he lives in a body. With our spirit, we contact the spiritual realm. With our soul, we contact the intellectual and emotional realm. With our body, we contacted physical realm. You and I cannot contact God with our mind. You cannot contact God with your body. You can only contact God with your spirit. And God contacts you through your spirit. When you really hear the Word of God preached, you hear it with your physical ears's. It then goes through your natural mind. But if it is to affect you, you must receive it in your spirit. CONCEPTION OF THE WORD OF GOD: Can you remember how the Word of God affected you on the inside, in your spirit, before you were born again ? The Holy Spirit through the Word spoke to your heart, or spirit. And this inward consumption of the Word of God gave you and me the substance for the New Birth.