1S10-14: Why Circumcision Of The ‘Heart’ Really Means Circumcision Of The MIND

Holy cow!

Verse 9 tells us as soon as Saul was appointed king, God gave him another heart?!?!?!

What?!

Did we just travel back in time from 1020 BC to 30 AD?

Am I reading the New Testament here?!

What on God’s green earth is going on in this context?!

Well, the reason I’m all excited is this statement is a pretty clear description of what happens when a person sincerely professes faith in Yeshua and is born again.

But what exactly does it mean that Saul became a new man and received a new heart?

First of all, let me remind you the Biblical definition of “heart” is different than the Greek and Western culture’s understanding of the word.

In the Bible, the “heart” is NOT the seat of our feelings and emotions…

Rather it was considered the organ of our rational and reasoning intellects.

Ya feeling me here?

You could literally take a pen and cross out the word “heart” every time it appears in your Bible and then jot down “mind” in place of it.

That would give you a far more accurate understanding of what the Scripture really meant back in those days.

What happened to Saul is that God so affected his innermost being he was gifted a new understanding.

In other words, Saul began to THINK differently…

As opposed to feeling differently.

Again, the word “heart” in Scripture ain’t about emotions folks.

It’s referring to the mind and one’s will and conscious thoughts.

So the truth is when we speak about “circumcision of the heart”…

If we were to translate it for modern times, we should say “circumcision of the mind“…

Because that’s really what the Scripture is saying.

Got it?

Alrighty, I feel an interesting takeaway tugging at my heart…err, I mean mind here.

So whenever I read about Saul’s transformation after being anointed King, I become suspicious.

Why?

Because we all know the guy ended up a total failure, right?

I mean how in the world could someone who was given a new mind and who by all measures was legitimately born again turn out to be such a freakin’ disaster?

Well, there’s a HUGE lesson here homies.

Or maybe I should say there’s a huge warning here.

It is this.

EVEN IF you are given a new mind…

EVEN IF you are born again…

Or…

EVEN IF God has placed you in a position of importance in God’s Kingdom…

It’s totally possible to go completely off the rails if you don’t walk in the spirit instead of fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.

You either take control of the evil inclination that lies within you and all human beings, or it’ll take control of you.

Ya, feel me?

I leave with you these verses from the prophet Jeremiah & Ezekiel:

“I will give them a heart to know Me,
for I am the Lord;
and they will be My people,
and I will be their God,
for they will return to Me
with their whole heart.”
-Jeremiah 24:7

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart
and put a new spirit within you;
and I will remove the heart of stone
from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
-Ezekiel 36:26

Oh, and this is an awesome verse from the Psalmist:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“But he is a Jew who is one inwardly;
and circumcision is that
which is of the heart,
by the Spirit, not by the letter;
and his praise is not from men,
but from God.”
-Romans 2:29

“And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind,
so that you may prove what
the will of God is, that which is
good and acceptable and perfect.”
-Romans 12:2

“Therefore if anyone is in Messiah,
he is a new creature;
the old things passed away;
behold, new things have come.”
-2 Corinthians 5:17