Jeremiah 17:9The heart is deceitful above all thingsand beyond cure.Who can understand it?
One of the first big questions I want to address in this series on “pursuing truth” is “Why can we trust the Bible?” The opening verse from Jeremiah 17 gives a simple yet harsh answer to start this conversation—because we cannot trust our own hearts. I want to give you several key verses from the Bible today that talk about the nature of the human heart as well as verses that talk about who God is. Ultimately, I want to build up your trust in the fact that God and His Word alone are good and trustworthy, while our human hearts are not. Understanding these truths will help lay a firm foundation for why we can trust the Bible and God’s purpose for giving us His Word, which is incredibly important in a world proclaiming “Follow your heart!”
While I firmly believe that God’s Word is enough to prove He is good and reliable, I understand that for many people, that’s not enough. I would challenge anyone who doubts the reputation of the Bible to consider how consistent its form has stayed for nearly 2,000 years. I would point them to the fact that most historians, whether they are Christians or not, acknowledge the Bible’s historical accuracy and value in our world’s history and development of culture and government systems. I would also encourage the skeptic of the Bible to consider the common “morals” that most people hold around the world, and then challenge them to find any other religious or historic text that teaches those moral principles consistently outside of the Bible. I would love to point anyone curious towards resources which can aid the critic’s understanding of why we can trust the Bible, but for the rest of this talk I’m going to focus back on what the Bible says about God and ourselves for reasons why we can trust it.
From the beginning of Creation, sin has corrupted the human heart. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and follow a lie that appealed to their own hearts. That opened the floodgate of sin which then consumed their hearts and all humans who followed them. No longer were our hearts full of only what God told us was good, but now it is cursed with the disease of sin. We see this concept reinforced throughout Scripture.
In Genesis, we read that our wicked hearts were the reason God sent the great flood to destroy the earth:
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. Genesis 6:5
But the flood did not end all sin and wickedness. Even though Noah had been seen by God as “righteous,” his descendants still carried the sinful nature, and their hearts once again deceived them into following lies rather than truth. The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, saw and understood the deceitfulness of his own heart:
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.Proverbs 4:23
Jesus continued this teaching and assessment of the nature of our human hearts during His life and ministry as well:
But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.John 2:24-25
For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.Mark 7:21-23
So why do I keep talking about how bad our hearts are? I promise it’s not to make you feel guilty, hopeless, or depressed. I want you to see the danger of the world’s teaching to “Follow your heart!” As a Christian, we should not be believing this lie or teaching it to others. We must boldly stand on the foundation of God’s Word, the Bible, that never changes. If we all “follow our hearts,” we all end up choosing what’s best for ME, which ultimately hurts others and does not show obedience to the command to “love others as yourself.”
King David in the Bible experienced the hurt and pain that came from following his own heart rather than the commands God had given. In 2 Samuel, we read about David committing adultery with Bathsheba and then murdering her husband to cover up his sin. This man, who was called “a man after God’s own heart,” still fell into the trap of believing he could obey God AND get something he sinfully desired. In Psalm 51, there is a beautiful prayer of confession and repentance by David regarding these specific sins:
Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love.Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin…For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me…Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow…Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me…Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.Psalm 51:1-12
After the prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin, David humbly recognized that God’s Word and way was good. David realized his own way, chasing his heart’s desires, led only to pain and destruction for him and his loved ones. He knew God was the only one who could cleanse his heart from its sinful nature.
Later in the Old Testament, God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to warn the Israelite people of coming judgments and trials because of their sinful ways. But God also told Ezekiel “why” those hardships would be coming—He was punishing the people’s sins to show the holiness and goodness of His Name. He promised the people a day when He would take away their suffering and would cleanse them from their sins:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:26-27
Only God can clean us and make our hearts new because He is the only perfect, holy, and righteous one. No one is like Him or compares to Him. He makes us clean through the perfect life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He alone is GOOD and worthy of trusting.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.Proverbs 3:5-6
Here are several other passages that talk about the goodness of God throughout Scripture:
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.Psalm 145:9
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.Psalm 34:8
The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.He cares for those who trust in him.Nahum 1:7
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.James 1:17
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.”Mark 10:18
So why should we not follow our hearts? Because only God is good. Why can we trust the Bible? Because only God is good. Pursuing biblical truth and seeking to know more and more of what God has instructed us is the best way for us to live our lives, because HE IS GOOD. As a Christian, we must be diligent to keep God’s truth at the forefront of our minds so that we are not easily swayed by the ways of the world or into thinking we can come up with our own moral standards. Because He is good, we can trust that He is only commanding us to do what is for our good as well.
I hope today’s topic was an encouragement to you, and I look forward to addressing other questions about the importance of pursuing truth together again soon. I pray you delight in the goodness of God this week, my friends. HE IS GOOD. Thanks for giving this a listen, and please share with anyone you think might enjoy it!
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