Rewire Your Heart by David Bowden

Author:David Bowden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2018-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

HOW RESPONSE FUNCTIONS

How does being redeemed by Jesus elicit the response of hating sin? It rewires our hearts by reordering our affections.

Think of it like a big, loud dog next door to a woman. This lady hates this dog. In her deep dislike for the dog, she often teases him with food that she scarfs down in front of him. Then one day, while taking out the trash, a huge stray dog starts barking like mad and runs toward her. Just before the stray gets to her, the disliked neighbor’s dog jumps in and runs off the scary stray. The disliked dog then turns to the woman, sits on his back legs, and offers his head to pet.

Her affections toward this dog would change. She would start to like, even love, the dog who rescued her. But what would happen with her habit of teasing the dog with food? Surely this would stop. The activity would no longer make sense to her. She may even replace the activity by taking food out to the dog and tossing it over the fence as a treat. Her heart is rewired. Her reordered affections change her actions toward the dog.

When our lives are rescued by Jesus, our affections toward him change. When our affections toward Jesus change, our actions change as well—that’s how our hearts work.

Yet we often go back to the sins we committed before experiencing Jesus’ saving act. Going back to such sins is even more offensive than the woman going back to teasing and mistreating the dog who saved her. Why would this be offensive? Because it seems as though the woman forgot what the dog had done for her. However, as long as the woman remembers what the dog did, her actions toward him will remain kind. The same is true for us and God. We sin when we forget what Jesus has done for us. The remedy is remembrance, which leads to repentance.

We were God’s enemies (Rom. 5:10; Col. 1:21). We hated God (Rom. 8:7). We would have preferred to find our satisfaction and salvation in anything else but him (Rom. 1:25). But when the Holy Spirit softened our hearts to realize that Jesus rescued us while we held all this animosity toward him, our affections radically changed. What we once loved we will now hate. What we once hated we will now love. This is how the fight with sin begins, is sustained, and is brought to its culmination. By reflecting on, reveling in, and remembering the gospel, we stir our affections toward Jesus and away from sin. The re-evangelism brought about by the gospel of free grace fights sin far better than the self-salvation brought about by the gospel of rededication.

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