Alex Tang
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Medical Students /Paediatric notes
The Heart of Love
Dr. Alex Tang
1. Defining the Heart of Love
OT lebab bb;le
NT kardia kardiva
(a) kardia as the center of physical life and psychological make up.
q NT kardia rarely as body organ ( Lk 21:34; Acts 14:17; Jas 5:5)
q Frequently denotes the seat of intellectual and spiritual life
q inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding
q The inner life as opposed to external appearances. (2 Cor 5;12; 1 Thess 2:17)
(b) kardia as the center of spiritual life.
q kardia; man standing before God.
q The heart is that in man which is addressed by God.
q The heart is the seat of doubt and hardness as well as of faith and obedience.
2. Sin marks, dominates and spoils the Heart
q The heart enslaved by sin, the whole man is in bondage
q Evil thoughts come from the heart (Mk 7:21; Matt 15:19)
q Shameful desires dwell in the heart (Rom 1:24)
q The heart is disobedient and impenitent (Rom 2:5; 2 Cor 3:14ff)
q Hard and faithless (Heb 3:12)
q Dull and darkened (Rom 1:21; Eph 4:18)
3. God alone can reveal the things hidden in the heart of man (1Cor 4:5), examine them (Rom 8:27) and test them (1 Thess 2:4)
q Conversion to faith cannot be achieved through the will or desire of the human heart (1 Cor 2:9)
q God opens a man’s heart (Acts 16:14) and let His light illumine the heart (2 Cor 1:22)
q God bears witness by sending in the heart the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 1:22)
q God pours His love into his heart (Rom 5:5)
q Through faith God can take up residence in the heart (Eph 3:17)
4. Faith in the Heart leads to obedience and patience (Rom 6:17; 2 Thess 3:5)
q In the heart, the word of God is kept (Lk 8:15)
q Peace of God begins its rule (Col 3:15)
q God’s grace strengthened and establishes the heart (Heb 13:9)
q Blood of God cleanses it – the heart is pure (Heb 10:22; cf 1 Jn 1:7)
q Christ dwells in it by faith (Eph 3:17).
Conclusion
The human heart (an organ) lasts for the years we have on earth but the heart of love lasts for eternity.
Reference:
Colin Brown, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol 2. Pp. 180-184)
