God has continuously commanded us to love; to love Him, to love our neighbors and to love one another.
In the Old Testament, He commanded us to love our neighbors. However, the root of our sin nature is self-centeredness and to live a life apart from God. The first reaction from our sin nature after we are hurt, offended and sinned against, is to take revenge and bear a grudge. It is not part of the natural man to want to walk in love and forgiveness. Our inability to love unconditionally is because of the natural reaction of hardening our hearts in order to protect us from being hurt again. Consequently, it is impossible to love our neighbors unconditionally as we love ourselves in the Old Testament. This is also true for those who are not born again today.
Thus, God prophesied that He would do something new in us, for us to be able to do what He required of us.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
He then gave us new hearts, hearts with His Spirit, and we became new creations.
There is a huge difference between the Old and New Covenant living because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the born-again experience with the new creation and having the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. The fulfilment of the prophecy enabled us to do what the people in the Old Covenant were not able to do.
The Holy Spirit will empower and enable us to love one another despite the resistance of our flesh. We need to learn to yield to Him as He speaks to us, so we will be able to love our neighbors as ourselves just as the Lord loves us.
Romans 8:4 so that the [righteous and just] requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not live our lives in the ways of the flesh [guided by worldliness and our sinful nature], but [live our lives] in the ways of the Spirit [guided by His power].
Therefore, when we are hurt, offended and sinned against, we should not react from the flesh or the mind, rather, from the spirit or the new heart that has the abundance of God’s love endowed by the Holy Spirit to love that person.
Sermon Series: CG Campaign – Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow (Part 1)
一颗新的心
在旧约中，祂命令我们爱我们的邻居。但是，我们罪恶本性的根源在于自我中心和要脱离上帝而活。在我们受到伤害，被冒犯和被得罪之后，我们罪恶本性的第一反应就是报仇和怀恨在心。在爱和宽恕中行走并不是我们自然人的一部分。我们无法无条件去爱的原因是我们本能地硬起心肠好叫自己不再受到伤害。因此，在旧约中我们不可能无条件的爱邻如己。对于今天那些尚未重生的人来说也是如此。
因此，上帝预言祂会在我们里面做新事，以便让我们能够行出祂要我们所行的。
以 西 結 書 36:26-27 我 也 要 赐 给 你 们 一 个 新 心 ， 将 新 灵 放 在 你 们 里 面 ， 又 从 你 们 的 肉 体 中 除 掉 石 心 ， 赐 给 你 们 肉 心 。我 必 将 我 的 灵 放 在 你 们 里 面 ， 使 你 们 顺 从 我 的 律 例 ， 谨 守 遵 行 我 的 典 章 。
歌 林 多 後 書 5:17 17 若 有 人 在 基 督 里 ， 他 就 是 新 造 的 人 ， 旧 事 已 过 ， 都 变 成 新 的 了 。
然后，祂给了我们新的心，心中有祂的灵，于是我们成为新造的人。
由于耶稣基督的救赎工作，重生为新人的经历及圣灵居住在我们中间，旧约生活与新约生活之间存在巨大差异。预言的实现使我们能够做旧约中的人们无法做到的事情。
尽管肉体抗拒，圣灵将赋予我们力量使我们能够彼此相爱 。我们需要学会在祂对我们说话时顺服祂，这样我们才能爱邻如己，如同主爱我们一样。
罗马书8:4 使 律 法 的 义［正义和公义］成 就 在 我 们 这 不 随 从 肉 体［由世俗和我们罪恶本性所指引］、 只 ［过我们的生活］随 从 圣 灵 的 人 身 上 ［由祂的能力引导］。
因此，当我们受到伤害，被冒犯和被得罪时，我们不应从肉体或思想上来作出反应，而应从灵里或由圣灵赋予了上帝丰富的爱的新心中作出反应，来爱那个人。
讲章系列：细胞小组活动 – 教会通过属灵恩赐得以成长 (1)